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Selfless and Selfish Love

Helian Xi’s last memory before dying had been his wife stabbing him in the heart. Somehow he came back to life to see his whole Liangchuan clan attacked by Yangzhou, his wife Princess Feng Yuan from Yangzhou is believed to be one of the culprits. Because he had pledged to safeguard the safety of his people with his blood, the clan was saved by sealing them in a divine tree in Lingchuan. Once sealed, the tree died and only with the return of the twinned branch in ML and FL’s possession can the tree be revived and the clansmen restored to life. ML went on rampage in Yangzhou palace for revenge and to find his wife so he could take back her twinned branch, but unfortunately she was nowhere to be found. Fast forward 3 years later, the Crown Prince of Shouyun was supposed to wed his sweetheart Liangchan, but she was attacked before the wedding. The masked men had wanted to end her life but was intervened by ML. He discovered that Liangchan looks exactly like his wife. He kidnapped her but found out Liangchan had no memories about her past life prior to 3 years ago. ML made an agreement with Crown Prince to let Liangchan regain her memories before doing anything. But when she started to remember, things turn out to be very different from what ML had remembered it to be.

I can say this show probably has a quite high budget. The pictures, the props, the actors, the edits are actually pretty impressive for a miniseries. At least it surpassed my expectation. The actors are very talented and able to portray their characters convincingly well. ML and FL’s expressions are on point and can really deliver. They looked good together too, i can feel the spark even when ML was supposed to hate FL before he knew what really happened. The conflicted and longing look of his was very convincing, that I-really-wanna-kill-you-but-I-love-you kind of look. The plot is engaging and amazingly did not have much plotholes expected from miniseries. The songs are great too. So nice and didnt sound cheap and copied at all.

Gotta to warn readers this story is very dark, gloomy and sad. A beautiful story, but not for those who can’t handle sappy drama.

SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE____________








The only thing that ticks me is the ending. FL’s ending is pretty much expected, i dont really have a problem with that, but for the ML i think they really botched it. How come a leader of a tribe who also has a daughter in tow could make that decision? It looked stupid and selfish, unbecoming of the ML’s character as a leader who treasures his clan in the beginning of the show. As i dont believe in suicides in the name of love, i deem it stupid, weak and selfish, awfully disrespectful to FL’s sacrifice. At least hers was made for the whole clan and cant be considered suicide cuz am pretty sure FL would really want to live if she could survive the twinned branch extraction. A real man and leader wouldnt have made that decision that ML did. What, just because the main villain died and the clan is back to life, now he can abandon them to their own devices, disregarding their future and even his daughter’s? He didnt even appoint a proper leader to succeed him! What a selfish and shortsighted man! Awfully disappointing so am taking off 1 and a half star for that. Good thing is at least the side couple came through.

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Not a Zombie Show

Not quite a zombie series, but more to alien invasion, although the invasion only happened to this one tiny island. Chu Sijing, a jinyiwei captain, came to the Ninghai in the name of investigating a plague, where Bo Yan, a Ninghai army sergeant was assigned to be his guide cum assistant during this investigation. The Ninghai army was not as welcoming as they saw him as a representative of the people of the court who is looking for an excuse to stop the building of the Ninghai wall, so they keep refusing to cooperate to ML’s demands about the strange disease going on the camp. During one of his night ventures, he came across a group of islanders doing shady business, who ran off upon seeing him. As he was chasing them, he was stopped by Captain Lei. This picqued his interest to go to Wumu Island to investigate them, thinking the army was trying to hide something by denying his request to visit the island. And as he swam to the island with Bo Yan guiding him, they discovered a more sinister mystery running rampant on the island that could jeopardize the army and the kingdom’s general population as a whole.

At first the story sold the cult idea, then mystical powers, and eventually turned out to be an alien entity who was trying to control the human population. It’s kinda weird because of the ancient setting, I kinda think it wouldve been more interesting had in been in a modern time.

It’s the first time I saw Sandrine Pinna, she played a portuguese captain with a mission to bring back one of the monsters to present to her emperor. I think it is rather weak to have a foreigner to risk all her men just to help ML fight off the power behind the monsters. Somehow that doesn’t fly. And why would a bunch of portuguese sailors speak spanish? Lol. I wonder if the term “to shoot/fire” is really fire in spanish. Sounded like a direct translation. Because to shoot in malay wouldve been “tembak” and not “api (fire)”. 🤭

I’m not sold on the ending too. Why would Wo Zhan the alien entity would want to strike any deal with ML? did it really think ML was really “that” special and that it could control him like it did his twin bro? I had a hard time concentrating to the show, maybe thats why i might have missed things here and there. I dont know, this show somehow lack the wow factor to keep the audience on screen. It’s a drag to finish it, and it only had 12 episodes!

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Palace Struggle of a Warrior Queen

Usually I have a problem with tv shows that are too long with draggy unnecessary sideplots and scenes thrown in senselessly, this time I feel that this tv show needs more episodes to really give proper narrative and adequate closure to the audience.

Basically it’s about the historical Queen Woo’s struggle to manoeuvre against palace conspiracy right after the King dies out of the blue due to poisoning. The show spans about 24-36hours but with up to 28years of flashbacks that reveals the background of each key characters especially the couple the King and Queen. Queen Woo was born to a tribe in the North, was raised like a boy with military and martial prowess, aspired to be a great general, but ended up sacrificing for the tribe to be wedded off to one of the kingdom’s princes guarding the border with no chance for the throne. The original bride had been her sister, Woo Soon, but she was adamant on marrying the Crown Prince (she wanted to be the Queen so badly) and would rather die if she couldnt. So to avoid the tribe from rejecting the marriage decree, Woo Hee stepped up and volunteered to wed and live in the treacherous North border with the second prince, Go Nammoo. Much to their surprise, before the King died, the second Prince was appointed as the successor instead of the Crown Prince due to his military might and merit, for the late King entrusted for the second prince to repossess the land conquered by Han. When the second prince (now King) died after being poisoned, thereforth starts the Queen’s struggle to maintain her late husband’s reign legacy and to fight for her own survival. At the same time, the palace’s ministers struggle to find the real culprit behind the King’s demise.

The FL, Queen Woo Hee was the perfect Warrior Queen who is both intelligent and profound in military & political strategy, and possess significant physical and martial prowess, enough to fend for herself and others around her. During the less than 24 hours chase to select the King’s successor among her brother-in-laws by marrying them, she showed how a leader should decide and act during emergency, and upon her return with future King, showed how a general should lead her troops in facing the crown prince’s and the third prince’s rebellion. FL was resolute, firm and brave. She doesnt second guess herself, and most importantly she trusted her subordinates enough to lay her life for them. A true warrior queen.

The ML, i consider Eulpaso as the ML although not paired with FL romantically, is a key figure during her reign. She spends most time with this Prime Minister than her own husband since the King is frequently away for war all year round, this the Prime Minister had become her confidant, discussing military/political strategy with each other and guessing the King’s move on the battlefield, while playing huge-axx chess. As the Queen ventures out to acquire the successor right after the King died, ML held the fort in the palace as he tread the dangerous waters of palace intrigue to find the one behind the King’s assassination. He also became the Queen’s lifeline when the Queen was about to be caught up by assassins sent by the Third Prince.

The SML, the King, who looked messy and haggard in the first episode as he was shown to fight the Hans for years, i almost couldnt recognize the actor Ji Chang Wook, turned to be so dang smashing when he finally trims the beard and dons the dragon robe once he finally returns to the palace. Too bad it turned out that palace conspiracy proves to be much more fatal than the heinous battlefield he grew up in. No sword, spear or arrow could take his life, but a mere cup of wine did when he finally returns to the comfort of his own palace. The King died right in Episode 1, though he made a comeback in later episodes as numerous flashbacks detailing his origin and rise to the throne. And although he loved his wife so very dearly, he knew his responsibility to the kingdom outweighs everything else. He even gave the Queen a vial of poison, telling her to either kill herself or the enemy with it if there comes a time she is in danger/held hostage
, because he would never waver and give up the throne for her life. It was cruel, but that is just how the monarchs had to live their lives, as pawns to power. Just like how the Queen didnt take much time to decide to marry one of her brother-in-laws upon her husband’s death to ensure her survival and to ensure her control over the kingdom her late husband had painstakingly built.

Being a show with only 24 hours span, the writers made sure there is enough action to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. The Queen’s carriage chase by assassins sent by numerous tribes and prince was epic and it showed how formidable the Queen is as a fighter. The chase for the King’s poisoning case is pretty much engaging too, with riddles to whom it really was. At one point i even suspected the Queen because she was about to get deposed due to ministers’ pressure, but they never revealed who it really had been even towards the end. What a bummer.

The ending is anticlimax too because they ended it right after she yelled for the gates of the fortress to open, as she leads the troops to clash with the rebels, just like her late husband wouldve done. Although they did slide in snippets of the Queen’s victory, it was just too short and not quite satisfying. We the audience needs moreee! Historically Queen Woo reigned for more than 40 years as Queen and Queen Dowager, couldn’t they extend the episode up to the new King’s enthronement? 😭 it’s such a bummer!

The rating coould’ve been higher had they made a proper plot with satisfying ending, maybe up to 12-14 episodes instead of just 8. 😒

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One of the Best!

I have been putting off this title for soo long cuz I didnt quite like Zhao Lusi in The Long Ballad and I didnt think she would make a good main lead. But she definitely proved me wrong in Love Like the Galaxy. I must admit that this show stands almost at par with The Untamed and The Rebel Princess which are in my top favourite list, and her performance here was spectacular.

The show opened up with 15yo Cheng Shaoshang - FL - finally reunited with her parents who had left her in her grandmother’s care since birth to go for war. On the way home from where her grandmother made her stay, she met with our ML the 21yo great young general Ling Buyi on the hunt for a criminal, which turned out to be FL’s grand uncle (grandma’s bro). She showed him where she suspected the man to be hiding, which was in a strawpile in front of the small hut she lived in. This is where FL caught ML’s eye. It was like love at first sight, though he had only seen her hand at that time.

When she thought her life would be better now that her parents are home, it turned out to be even worse when her tiger soldier mom could not accept the daughter that she turned out to be - illiterate, brash, full of trickery with a loose mouth of rebuttal. The mom tried to make up for those years she lost of raising and educating FL, but it made FL hate her even more due to the harsh educating method. The mom also openly favoured FL’s cousin who was well-read, gentle, and compassionate. As FL traverse her new life with a full family that she couldn’t seem to fit in, she learned to grow into a mature young lady under the wings of the empress when ML asked the emperor for her hand. ML was the last descendent of the Huo clan, which the emperor was hugely indebted to, thus had ML raised by the Empress. With FL, he too traversed his life to avenge the extermination of his clan while at the same time fighting for the woman whom he loved.

I totally totally love love love this show. I love how they are more focussed on the familial affection than romance between the main leads. Although FL had a hard time bonding with her mom, she was on an extremely good terms with her dad, her 2 brothers (1 was actually her twin), and the demure cousin. There was no sibling rivalry at all despite their 15 year-estrangement, which i totally love. Am so tired of sibling fights, bickering and getting jealous at each other all day long. Its non existence in the Cheng Household is totally heartwarming. The only tension would only come from the mom-daughter banter as FL keep stirring up trouble whenever she got criticized by her mom and bullied by other girls outside.

I totally get the FL character. Imagine the emptiness in her heart, she was abandoned as a baby by her family and left in the care of those who doesn’t love her at all. She grew up having to rely on her own self without the ability to love other people. And even when her family returned, she still found herself drowning with her mom’s constant criticisms and complaints of her shortcomings. She was drowning and eager to grab a life line, something that her parents should have provided but failed to do so, and that was why she was quick to accept her first bethrothal and then ML’s, thinking that it was her ticket to freedom.

Although I am not a fan of damsel-in-distress type of character, which the FL is, i totally love her guts. She has no physical prowess, with a body so frail that she would faint at extreme sadness or agitation, but her wit, intelligence and stubborness make up for that. Despite her gentle look, FL is extremely quick-witted, relentless and unyielding. She has no problem talking back to others with a sharp tongue in her defense, against whoever it may be. Her mom failed to appreciate her strengths, but the Empress did, and it is understandable that FL quickly allevated her as a mother figure. I was super satisfied when FL decided to stay with the Empress in isolation, leaving her home without much qualm. Back then, her mom had left her for the loyalty to the emperor, and now when she bade farewell, she said she too chose loyalty to the empress over filial piety. What a great “in your face” moment though FL had not meant it to be a revenge. I loved FL mom’s character because she is a tiger mom like me, but it is still so satisfying to see her take her own medicine. I can’t forgive her for favouring Yangyang and keep denouncing FL in public over and over again.

Leo Wu had proven his talent in The Long Ballad, so I totally know he’d definitely be able to pull off the fierce general look, and a love stricken lover. ML is basically hell bent on taking a revenge on his clan’s extermination, and is ruthless in seeking out the truth. Him being most favoured person of the emperor made him almost untouchable. Although he was busy investigating, he realized he could not miss out a chance at romance too. And so when FL’s first bethrothal was rescinded, he immediately asked for her hand in public, without even asking if she would be okay with it or not. It showed how much confidence he has in himself, and he made sure she could not refuse by shamelessly asking the emperor to do it for him, putting FL’s parents in a tight spot. ML is a resilient soul, very similar to FL, and as they get to know each other, they realized although they very much love each other, they still lost sight of accepting each other’s shortcomings, which had cost them very dearly.

This is the first show ever that I saw where the empress and the concubine got along with each other, and they are not even pretending to be just for the sake of looks. The Emperor is quirky and lovable and I totally ship them three. Their love for the ML and for each other is truly genuine and pure. And as usual, ML’s two sidekicks always get my vote of favourite goofy characters. I don’t know how they do it, but in most of military oriented shows like this, the ML always have two sidekicks with opposite characters, 1 usually serious and 1 goofy and every time, they always caught my eyes and make it to the favourite spot. Ah Qi and Ah Fei, you guys rock!

The fights are excellently choreographed, one of the best I’ve seen without the flying or superhuman sh!t, and this is also the first show that I’ve seen where people don’t vomit blood for every injury they have. In here, even as they were being hit on the abdomen repeatedly, all i see was water or saliva coming out of the mouth, and no blood. Now that is what I call realistic! It is so stupid to see injuries like sword wound or pierced by an arrow or beatings on the butt and yet they vomit blood. Duh 😒🙄 oh and the show doesn’t pull off any poisoning or amnesia trope either. 👍🏼

All in all, the screenplay is so damn good. It is 56 episode long, but it didnt feel like that due to how engaging the story is. And although none of the main and major support roles died, I still cried buckets due to the emotional rollercoaster they put me on. This title couldve gotten an all 10 points from me had they not slacked a bit on the music side. None of the OST caught my ears or stayed in my head, so there goes the music category.

However, this is also the first show that I wished it had a tragic ending. I wished FL died on that cliff on that few last episodes, and ML lived in regret forever. He had not suffered enough for abandoning FL at the earlier cliff scene. Too bad it had a happy ending instead.

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Strong FL and ML but too many plotholes

When I watched the first episode, i felt that it was really promising, with the FL as a modern soldier turned bodyguard leading a group of biologist in a forest looking for specimens.they were attacked by a giant serpent and while protecting the group, she fell into a cavern or some sort. As the FL was looking for a way out, she stumbled upon a dagger which transmigrated her to ancient time Longyuan Continent after she unsheathed it. The girl FL woke up in was an illegitimate daughter of the chancellor of Tianque, who had been mistreated all her life growing up in the mansion as her mom the concubine died early when she was a young. The story followed FL’s journey to find a way to return to her time, while at the same time standing up for herself in the family who had mistreated her. Turned out she had a body that is immune to all kinds of poisons, and the 4th prince -the ML- her evil sister was aiming for had taken a liking at the FL during the consort candidate lineup, and chosen her as the princess consort instead of the original arrangement by the emperor for him to be with FL’s sister.

As princess consort, the FL had to keep dodging bullets thrown at her by her own family, the royal family and others who looked down upon her, while trying to find a way back to her time. She was also thrown into the royal political turmoil surrounding the ML while at the same time finding herself falling in love with him.

I liked the FL in the earlier parts of the show cuz she’s good at the portrayal as an arrogant,confident and self-reliant young lady, the personality that is apt for a soldier and bodyguard of modern time. She’s also very beautiful and pleasing to the eye. However as the story progresses, i found her to be rather stiff and wooden in intimate and romance scenes. She liked to put up a puzzled/clueless face in such scenes, and she’s really bad at sad scenes too. The emotion just didnt come through. Also, she’s just too mischievous and lively as princess consort compared to the serious persona she had in the first episode as a weapon wielding soldier. The contrast is just too big. I would expect her demeanor should be closer to Ren Xin’s in A Journey to Love as she was member of the armed forces before transmigrating. Maybe the writer forgot that she was a transmigrator rather than a native of the ancient time.

The number of times FL got kidnapped and captured hence tortured by ML’s and her enemies is also ridiculous to the point of being comical. It just seemed like FL’s superpower is getting kidnapped and captured repeatedly right up towards the end. How can a modern special force get so bad at defending herself all while posessing superb ancient ability like sword wielding, cultivating inner power and qinggong, archery and horse riding? It became comical because these ancient abilities had nothing to do with her special forces training or even the ability of the original owner of the ancient FL’s body. 😂 she just automatically became good at everything after transmigrating. Funnier even that she became good at everything and yet still need to be saved by ML over and over again. Gosh the plot repeats so much that I literally rolled my eyes and laughed. One thing i was grateful is that they did not use the common and ever so popular “got injured, in a coma, woken up with an amnesia” plot.

As for the ML, i thought he looked too old to portray a 20yo+, and isnt as handsome as most ML of other shows that i’ve seen. But one thing i had to admit, he looked very masculine and manly befitting the role as a prince who rose to power by his achievements on the battlefield. He basically volunteered to go to war at 14yo just to escape the awful life he had in the palace. The actor grew into me just like The Rebel Princess’ General Xiao Qi who didnt give much impression in earlier episodes but grew into the audience as the story progresses. The ML’s emotional expressions in all of his scenes came through unlike the wooden FL. The way he looked at FL also looked convincing, in the beginning when he was intrigued by her origins, and later as a longing lover. The happiness, sadness, anger, crazy, basically everything was executed perfectly well, as opposed to the FL who would always looked confused/clueless even when she was supposed to be looking into the eyes of the love of her life.

The show also had a ridiculous amount of flashback scenes which some can be repetitive too! Omg, i fast-forwarded so much of those. They also love to do slowmos which i ff too. What a waste of time. I guess thats why i manage to finish everything in under 3days. There’s many unnecessary scenes which are lengthy! I didnt like the scenes with second ML so i ff most of them too.

Other casts arent impressive too, many had to work harder. The supporting ML looked so awkward around FL and some of the other casts overact. I also fail to understand the plot about finding music scores to discover the origin of ancient FL. And it is also funny that the distance between kingdoms looked so close that they can move from one capital to another in a matter of a short time like they just went through a portal or something. Gosh so many plotholes and the plots are predictable too! The ending is also too stereotypical for time travel genre.

However all in all it is an enjoyable show. Both the FL and ML are likable and they looked good for each other. I could feel the attraction between the two. The storyline on the other hand, needed better writing. I understand that it was a novel adaptation, so it is acceptable that the plot might have been cramped to fit into 40 episodes.

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Straightforward Romance with a Slightly Brilliant FL

I have never heard of the names of any of the actors in this series, so u can say my review is very unbiased as i picked up this title just by the whim of the moment. Finished it within 3 days too.

The story started off with a somewhat cute cartoonish creature flying around the FL, Nan Yan, which i first thought was her fairy friend or pet. But then it was revealed that even she herself doesnt know that this creature resides inside her. Then a mysterious ML comes along, then a few others she befriends with as she was supposedly curing ML’s heart disease which was similar to her mother’s.

First off, i gotta say FL is one of the brightest and quickwitted characters ive ever watched. She just looked soft, gullible, and easily manilulated, but as the story progresses, it is revealed that she’s the exact opposite of that. Yeah in the first one third of the story, she was weak in physical and magical strength, because she only focusses on her medical skill and not interested in cultivating. But after the first love tribulation, when she came back strong and reknowned as the top demon slayer, with the combination of the intelligence and strength, she became someone you dont wanna mess around. And the best part of this character is that, in situations where FLs of other typical drama would go down the rabbit hole of misunderstanding and grudge against their better half, Nan Yan did not! Ha!

As for the ML, i like it that he manage to put on two very different attitude and demeanor of he as Shao Cang and later as Yin. Shao Cang appears to be arrogant and yet humble in his own way, aloof as the monarch of his sect and yet still cares of lives around him. While Yin, although still has the aloof aura as he doesnt really interact with people due to his demonic possession, has a much brash attitude and rather harsh in his actions.

Other supporting characters are all great. Costume are nice to look at and doesnt look too flamboyant.

The thing i dislike about the series is how badly the editing is. One scene jumps right to another in the middle of a conversation, which i sometimes had to backtrack to confirm if i had been spacing out and missed anything. This scene would eventually be explained in another scene through flashbacks. So yeah they wanted to keep it a surprise as not to reveal everything in a streamline fashion, but cutting in the middle of a conversation is such a turnoff. I keep getting dumbfounded as the scenes dont tally with the next that i eventually stopped backtracking and just went with it. Sure enough, that dumbfounding scene would then be explained later.

I feel that there is not much chemistry between the main couple. I almost felt it between Shao Cang and NanYan, but later when he came back as Yin, it somehow got diffused and became lost. The villains keep popping out episode after episode but Sen Luo is probably a major disappointment after they build up his reputation as the owner of three divine hearts and conqueror of 5 demon prisons which cannot even be vanquished by the best demi god of the realm - he can only be imprisoned while the demi god himself perish later on. All these hype and this demon lord get kicked out of the scene just like that? There was hardly any battle at all. And those banter between Yin and Sen Luo made it look like this demon lord is a mere joke instead of second biggest villain.

SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE_____________



I dont get the point of Yin having to be killed by Nan Yan in the last episode too. The drama is just nonexistent as two minutes later (3 years by the story) he would resurrect yet again. There’s no explanation of why or how he manage to live again though. So I see it as pointless. The last episode seemed rushed especially the the last battle between the lovers.

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Impressive storyline for a zombie show.

It’s a survival story of a group of townspeople who had been attacked by black smoke that came from a sinkhole, which can turn people into super athletic zombie-like mutants upon inhalation. In the chaos, ML, a towtruck driver met with FL, a detective from Seoul on the hunt for a serial killer whose among victims had been her husband, although they got separated in the beginning of the disaster, they eventually cross paths again and joined hands in their quest to find a safe place for the survivors.

First off, I am not a fan of zombie stories. I especially dislike korean zombies cuz once turned, they instantly become superhumans. When i clicked this title, i thought it’d be a sci-fi mystery show of some sort. Nuh-uh, in fact this show has the highest functioning zombie-mutants of all, some of them can even read, speak, think with vengeance! Wth man. Almost dropped it when I realized it is a zombie show, but decided to stay on cuz I was curious to see the showdown between the FL and the serial killer, and how the mainleads were going to defeat the shaman who can control zombies, and the thing in the smoke that controls everything that got infected.

I must say, Lee Hwa Seon the FL, is the most combatworthy Kdrama female detective I’ve ever seen. Other policewomen ive seen so far usually rely on brains and wits while pretty bad at hand-on-hand combat. Not Hwa Seon. She’s not No Mercy type of fighter who does the martial artist kind of fights, but a realistic ordinary person who fights with brawn and wits. She also doesn’t give a second thought at going against higher ranked elders. One pet peeves of mine on kdrama is as asians are people who puts high regards on our elders status, we rarely talk back to them, let alone fight with them. And the elders with power and status (especially those despicable chaebols) in kdrama are usually exceptionally loud, foul-mouthed, super domineering and extremely abusive. It’s satisfying to see FL standing up against those types for once. She’s not rude or disrespectful, she’s just brave and firm and people back down due to the authority she exudes. Lee Hwa Seon has become the most badass female detective in kdrama in my eyes.

I really like the chemistry of the main leads. They do not have any romantic relationship, but the chemistry is damn striking. Both are willing to go out of their ways to save strangers, even at the risk of their own lives. In earlier episodes I couldnt understand how this tow truck driver suddenly becomes a hero ready to save everyone around him disregarding his own safety without even giving it a second thought, i even got annoyed and thought this character as reckless. then they revealed who he was before and then only everything falls into place. Pretty neat, really.

The screenwriters are also really good at suspense building. Else how can anyone explain how someone who hates zombie shows like me got hooked? How humans can be desperate and sinister enough to stay alive even if it means to kill others in the name of cult sacrifice. How each characters’ dark secrets are thrown into the plot is also rather brilliant. As each secret is revealed, I got impressed even more.

One thing i noticed about kdrama is that they do so many flashbacks! I get it that it’s to build background of each character, but the flshbacks on this show is just waaay too much. For example, The scene of ML telling his partner that he got fired from the police force, was shown at least 4 times. I mean come on, 4 times? It’s no longer character background building, it’s background overload! I think if the repetitive flashbacks are compiled they couldve filled up an entire episode (or more!).

Also, I really dont get the staring contest in kdramas. They stare at each other in fights when there are still enemies around and they stare after the fights when time is essential. It’s really getting on my nerves. And when they do it in zombie shows where people can get attacked from literally anywhere, it becomes annoying af.

I can’t shake off the thought of how the enemy in here is somewhat like a combination of Train to Busan and Stephen King’s The Mist. Scary right? Superhuman zombie plus mysterious monster in the smoke. However I am glad this show has better and much more satisfying ending than the two shows.

If youre someone who love zombie or disaster survival shows, then this is definitely for you. Those who arent, well it doesnt hurt to give it a try. You can always drop it if u dont like it. Personally it has been an entertaining ride for me.

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Nice warm rom-com but rather mediocre storyline

It’s about a bandit, the FL, whose stronghold had been raided by the army after she snatched a tribute of Yeming kingdom to Pei Kingdom. She was thrown into court political struggle when the official leading the raid saw that she had an uncanny resemblance to his daughter, who died after jumping off a cliff in response to the arranged marriage to the Crown Prince of Pei, the ML. The official, the Prime Minister of Pei, grabbed the chance to threaten FL into posing as his daughter to become the Crown Princess, lest all occupant of the stronghold be killed. She had to do the Prime Minister’s bidding as she racked her brain to rescue people from the stronghold. Along the way, she grew to like the Crown Prince, who was wary of her at first, but eventually he too had fallen in love with his wife whom he consider just a spy from the Prime Minister’s residence. As the story progressed, mysteries and plots get revealed, but one thing remained for sure, the love between the Crown Prince and his princess.

I dont know where to start with this one. It’s definitely a hearty romantic comedy, but fell short of all the other aspects. The storyline, the conspiracy plotting, the court politics, the fightings, oh well like I said, everything. But the music scores are fun and catchy, although sounded much too modern for a period series. Although nice, it’s really annoying that there was too much of these interlaced songs in the scenes, especially romantic scenes, which made it sound repetetive and annoying.

Although the FL is good in acting, i think the ML has much work to do. His expressions sometimes doesnt fit the scene. He is supposed to be this intelligent, kind-hearted, quick witted Crown Prince, but ended up showing the audience someone who is adorably stupid and too slow to react in intense situations. He was shown to be quite bad in martial arts, and other characters have also mentioned this multiple times along the show, but suddenly without training much or studying from great masters like a wuxia series would show, he just suddenly become good at swordplay towards the end of the show.

Plotholes are aplenty in this one, you cant really make sense of the scenes presented unlike a high budget show has. Oh yes I blame the budget. They definitely dont have a budget high enough to hire good screenplay writers, action choreoghrapher and wardrobe manager.

Not only does the storyline strewn with plotholes, the fighting scenes are also horrendous and painful to watch. Too slow, too rehearsed, and too much wirework. Definitely not one of those that run like fluid while keeping us on the edge of our seats. They look cheap and too mediocre.

Lets not make me start on the costume the filmset. Theyre much too modern-looking, both the costume and the set, looks weird to see those designs in a period setting. The head gears are also too dangly. The make up is nice though, although I cant figure out why they had to make the FL wear such moisty lipstick that made her lower lip look swollen and bleeding. Another too modern look.

All in all, its just a show with two beautiful leads. That’s it. Definitely wont rewatch it. Recommended if youre into light romcoms. At least this is better than Royal Rumours.

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Truly a masterpiece!

I just cant move on from this drama. Everyone did a great job in it, even the small roles!

I read the novel first and thought that it was a total masterpiece despite not really into BL. I was actually reluctant to start watching this because the novel had excessively explicit sexual scenes. I didnt have much impression of Wang YiBo and XiaoZhan as I dont really know them and havent watched any of them on screen before The Untamed. I was actually curious when people keep talking about how great their friendship was when it's clear the novel had them hooked up as lovers. To be honest I was skeptical and delayed watching because I was preparing for the worst. However the drama proved me wrong as they manage to stay truthful to the novel despite a few changes to show bromance instead, which I truly adore! It's definitely different from typical love story like the other wuxia dramas that I've watched. There's no silly female characters chasing after the male leads, I hate it when they flock around male leads like leeches. And I dont care how much other people keep saying that they have BL element in this, I personally see those scenes as bromance!

I especially LOVE the sibling relationship between Jiang Cheng, Jiang YanLi and Wei WuXian. The pain suffered by WWX and JC when JYL died was so heartbreaking and I cried each time. In fact, I actually like the drama more than the novel, especially the scene where WWX broke down after JYL's death. I love the ending too!

Watched the special edition twice to relive the memorable moments after I finished with the full version, watched the anime version (up tp season 2) too, and still cant get over this. Watched behind the scenes shots and was surprised WYB was actually more goofy than XZ. It takes considerable talent to play the cold stoney Lan Zhan with someone of that character, and my hats off to all of the cast to be able to make the characters real. It was indeed really hard for me to move on from this story.

This is indeed one of the best cdrama I've ever watched. My only regret was not watching it much earlier!

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A redemption for Princess Agent fans

This is like another journey back to Eternal Love days. It’s about a spirit who is also the God of War in her realm, who falls in love with a human during her short stint of falling in the mortal realm. This human, however, turned out to be an ancient god who decided to experience mortality due to boredom. Because of his status as the only ancient god left to govern the world, he could not reciprocate her love, and she, being the big shot general of her realm, understood that they were just not meant to be. Well, turned out she understood and willing to forget her love, but it turned out the ancient god had a hard time of letting her go. Things happened, and their fates got entangled even more.

Honestly I did not have much high hopes on this series when I first saw its trailers. They looked over the top and ML looked silly because they featured Xing Yun. I thought it was going to be strong FL with weak ML (didnt read any synopsis before it was aired).

Another doubt that I had was because of Lin Geng Xin. I tried watching his other works after his superb performance in Princess Agent (PA) but I was met with disappointment. Didn't finish Zhao Yun God of War because he was so bad in it. So I had my doubt when I heard about this show. It was a mixed feeling because I really love his character as Yuwen Yue in PA but he fell short in his other tv series. Amazingly it turned out he did really well as an ancient god. I thought I wont see any better performance of a god after seeing Vengo Gao in Eternal Love of Dream, but amazingly Lin Geng Xin managed to surpass my expectation.

Most xianxia shows that I watched mostly had sad/open endings which is obviously less than satisfying, mostly frustrating (still cant get over the traumatic ending of Princess Agents, cuz the book had such a lovely ending!). Many claim to be adapted from novels and yet they really love to deviate from it. I finished reading the Yu Feng Xing novel and am happy that it had a happy ending, but then I didnt know if the tv series would be faithful to it, which kept me on edge as I watched the show. And as the story progressed, I was quite happy that they try to stay on track with the book. Only minor deviations/add on like the scenes of You Lan and Fu Rong Jun. You Lan actually got more screen time than the author wrote her on the book.

The good:

- no contradicting personality of any of the characters. The general acted like a general, the pauper like a pauper, the king as kings, the diety as dieties and so on. There’s no strong FL but with damsel in distress attitude when around ML, no clumsy trying to act cute scenes, no immature/ridiculous actions etc. Shen Li was strong, and she fights her own battle without waiting to be saved.

- There are no silly misunderstandings, stupid jealousy, ridiculous confusions around the love relationships. FL is clear about her stand on this topic, and she stayed true towards the end. SML never try to fight for her affection too, he knows the boundary and all he wanted was only for FL to be safe.

- Actors display superb performance, I couldn't really find any flaw with any of them.

- Costume is super gorgeous and not overly extravagant. I especially love love love costumes of the generals here. So smart looking and yet not overly done.

- Music is sooooo breathtaking and easy to catch on.

- storyline is easy to follow hence not many loopholes to pick on. However, this also means that the story is much too simple and straightforward with not much complicated plot thrown in.

- I really love that they decided to do the last episode. Most adaptations usually skip the very last chapter (prologue) and made audience feel dissatisfied. This show managed to capture every little part of the novel and made it into the screen. This one episode is the only moment that we get to see Shen Li and Xing Zhi as a real normal lovey-dovey couple with both of them acting cute with each other. It was so fulfilling. A real closure of both LoSL and PA combined.

The bad:

- there’s no real tension/conflict. Both Shen Li and Fu Rong Jun didnt like the arranged marriage so no conflict there. Both Shen Li and Xing Zhi know that theyre not meant to be together due to their respective responsibilities, so there’s no conflict there. In fact, Shen Li is more adamant about this more than Xing Zhi. At least Xing Zhi thought of living away quietly with Shen Li, but Shen Li never did. I truly enjoyed the moments when Xing Zhi was treating Shen Li’s torture injuries, I think that was the only sweet moments of them as lead general and ancient god setting their huge responsibility to the side to enjoy the brief moment with each other. There’s no love triangle either cuz Shen Li rejected Mo Fang right from the start, even after she realized who Xing Zhi really was. Her heart is set on stone and she never deviates.

- CGI is quite over the top. The earlier episodes of Shen Li as a phoenix looked cartoonish. Not seamless enough. The underwater scene is badly done too. But some of the battle scenes and the ocean freezing scene was great.

- Lack of good battle scenes with the villains because theyre just not strong enough until Feng Lai emerged. Yes even Fu Sheng was not really strong. The only memorable battle scenes of Fu Sheng was only the East Sea (eh was it the north sea, i get confused) battle which forced Shen Li to burn everything to crisp including herself. That was it. The torture scene was disappointing too. The torture by Fu Sheng and treatment by Xing Zhi was more gruesome in the book. But hey since they tried to stay true to the book with all the important details so I’ll let this slide.

I watched the series twice back to back because I just couldn't have enough of them. Am thinking of rewatching again in near future. Basically, I’d rate this one as one of the great pieces by Zhao Liying that I’ve watched, it was hard to move on from like how i felt after watching Ten Miles Peach Blossoms and The Untamed. I actually watched this show three times.

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Mediocre

When I started on this one I was ready for horrible acting and story, but to my surprise, the story up to the middle of the show is actually quite okay and acceptable for a low budget production. The acting is okay too, and for once I kinda got engrossed into the show. The leads are ordinary looking couple, so it kinda relate to the audience since we are generally ordinary. You don’t need extra handsome ML and super cute gorgeous FL to make a story works. Just good story and good acting actually suffice. Up to Episode 21, everything looks good and acceptable to me.

Then they went on to use the misunderstanding trope. Get the wife jealous with another woman so she would leave the husband then the bad guys won’t harm her. WTH man. Like seriously? With all the things that she knows of the bad guys, they’d just leave her alone just because she left you, is it? Whoever came up with this stupid idea? The budget is so low you cant even hire bright people to write the story is it? Youre so damn close to the ending too!

So thats it. Dropping it so fast and I actually wrote this review right after I hit the stop button. What a waste of my time.

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Why Do They Keep Fcking Up a Great Story?

Fished out of the frozen water by Yanxun after the ice lake siege, Chu Qiao found herself confused of her own identity and past, not having remembered any after months of being comatose. As Yanxun fed her more and more of their past accounts, deliberately leaving out those he didnt want her to remember, she realized things had started to come back and that Yanxun had meant a lot to her. But she also realized they were not meant to be together, partly because she knew something was not right as the ice lake nightmares she had at nights keep haunting her, and partly because all the tribes in Yanbei do not approve of their king marrying a slave from a rival kingdom. Determined to escape Yanbei, she staged her death on their wedding day and narrowly escape Yanxun’s pursuit, only to find herself being rescued yet again by the one she used to hate, the one who had given his life for her, the supposedly dead Great Yong’s general and strategist, Zhuge Yue. His return did not mark the end of their journey as he was forced to push her away again due to the predicament he was currently in, and decided to set her free into Li Ce’s arm. Will they find their way back to each other again?

First off, the editting of this show is kind of choppy with scenes jumping from one to another without much backtrack that might leave viewers who are not familiar with Princess Agent or the original novel confused. Like the deep relationship between Da Tong Guild and Yanxun and Chu Qiao. One who have watched Princess Agent or read the novel wouldve known Da Tong played a major role in Yanxun’s escape from Zhenhuang capital city and his rise to power in Yanbei. They went waaaaay back with Zhong Yu. But in Rebirth, Zhong Yu just appeared out of nowhere and Chu Qiao risked her neck and limbs just to rescue her. And how the heck did Zhuge Yue always appear just in time to rescue Chu Qiao regardless her location? Did he teleport or something? The last 10 episodes was a real mess, don’t even let me start on that faceless god cult that came out of nowhere that somehow became the drive to the second half of the plot 🫩🙄

That aside, I totally love Li Yunrui as Zhuge Yue. Although the novel’s Zhuge Yue was so much more arrogant and never lost his cool and pride even when he was around Chu Qiao trying to win her heart, I actually liked the milder Zhuge Yue of the adaptation’s, someone who is not afraid to show his emotion and feelings, especially jealousy. Fighting-wise it has always been no doubt Li Yunrui was good at this based on his performance in Blossom. His action scenes definitely did not disappoint. And the comeback of Zhuge Yue’s ice arrows is an absolute joy for me. I thought they’ve forgotten Zhuge Yue’s iconic weapon. I had always felt sorry for the novel’s Zhuge Yue, he had always been making concessions in favour of Chu Qiao despite his prideful nature, but Chu Qiao always overlooks this until the ice lake arc. And to see it materialize in Rebirth made me feel sorry for this character even more. His journey to secure the survival of the love of his life was too ardous and he literally died for it, TWICE! My complain for this character is why would they mostly clad him in scholar’s robe? Novel Zhuge Yue was supposed to be a feared general, the best leader among the best that the kingdom ever produced, how did he became nothing more than a simple scholarlike strategist here? 🤯🤔

Huangyang Tiantian’s Chu Qiao is rather borderline though. The problem isnt with the actress but the role itself. Characteristically, Chu Qiao is very prideful and rough, willing to go all out with tooth and nails in acomplishing her missions and vision. On the surface, her ideals of the perfect world didnt align with the ancient world because her character in the novel had come from the future. This was not so in the adaptation (she was not a transmigrator/time traveler in the adaptation), so while I find her dream of abolishment of slavery understandable, the equal rights idea is rather out of place. It sounded like it just came out of nowhere, until half of the show where it originated, but even then the explanation seemed half-assed.

I love the fact that Chu Qiao finally fell for for Zhuge Yue here, i was all over the moon for this after all the rumours circulating last year that there wont be any romance between them. Maybe the “romance” they refered to was french-kissing and spicy bed scenes that I see prevalent in most cdrama nowadays? Cuz there is definitely none involving Chu Qiao, which is fine by me. I am more for mature romance where you dont need the couple to be frolicking and feeling each other up whenever they meet. Chu Qiao hugging Zhuge Yue is enough, they look perfect for each other. I do want to complain about this character though. She was written to constantly be damsel in distress despite all those outstanding martial skill she’s supposed to possess. Why screenwriter, why? Novel’s Chu Qiao never needed so much saving, only two occasions did Zhuge Yue come for her, which was during the siege of Longyin Pass when she first fled Yanbei, and the retaking of Tang’s palace from Tang’s rebel princes, and in both times it had been Yanxun who was sieging her leaving an absolute no way out. Other than that she could win any battle on her own. Why oh why did they have to power her down so much? Her feats were so epic in the novel, what she went through really puts forth how she earned the famed title of Xiuli General and revered across the realm, but all I see here is a woman who thought she was all tough but fell short each time. Worst part is they not only watered down her capability, they also did the same with Zhuge Yue! WTH, man?

Actors for Yanxun and Li Ce performed with flying colours, although I still liked Shawn Dou’s Yanxun more as his was closer to the novel’s Yanxun than Rebirth’s. In this one, Yanxun is too lovestruck and obsessed with Chu Qiao, a total contrast to the original novel’s Yanxun who had let go of this fixation and focussed on accumulating power after Chu Qiao fled to Biantang, cutting all ties from him. The novel’s Yanxun had always had his ambition placed before Chu Qiao, which was why he tried to bench her in Princess Agent, so that she wouldnt get in his way and instead sit quietly as his queen in his castle because her ideals would put a stop to his advacement to conquer the Central Plains. When he realized Chu Qiao would not budge, that was when he let her go. This, however, was not the case with Rebirth’s Yanxun. This Yanxun keeps getting hung up over his lost love and blames everyone for it. Pure narcisstic dude.

It took quite a while for me to accept this new Li Ce, because Deng Lun’s Xiao Ce had been so accurate to the novel. Although this Li Ce had not been as ostentatious and flamboyant as Deng Lun’s portrayal in Princess Agent, and not as goofy, this Li Ce kind of grow into you as he appears more and more. I especially liked his banter with the usually cold Zhuge Yue, and without realizing it my lips would curve into a smile at their scenes. The love-hate relationship was evident, and very much amusing.

I used to hate Li Qin’s Chun Er in Princess Agent, she had always been a spoilt brat whom later went rabid, but somehow I loved Xia Meng’s Chun Er. For one, she resembled Li Qin quite a lot hence it was easy to see Chun Er as she used to be in Princess Agent. And Xia Meng’s portrayal of ChunEr is so on point, with her expressions of obsession and vengeance went on full blown. Being a toppled, disgraced princess that she is, she had nothing to drive her life other than the fire of grudge smoldering her heart, and Xia Meng did extremely well in playing the twisted and broken Chun Er.

Really in love with the hair in this show. Everyone had unique, luscious hair: the wavy one on Zhuge Yue, the long, shiny one on Chu Qiao, the full and curly one on Queen of Lingyue, the frizzy one on Yanxun. I love it that they did not put on elaborate hairstyles like most period drama, and they actually let the hair down when they’re sleeping, which is realistic! You dont sleep with your hair still up complete with dangling ornaments, logically one can barely move the head lying down with those heavy trinkets and hairdo weighing down the head without messing them up, but somehow these characters with elaborate hairdo and hairpieces always wake up with perfect hair despite the whole night sleeping in them. And funnily most productions tend to overlook this, maybe to save time on prep time 🤷🏻‍♀️

And I like that they don’t portray everyone to look flawlessly beautiful too! General Huan of the Snowy Tribe had smudged face with faint scar and patchy skin as a seasoned fighter of war, Cheng Yuan had a big ass scar across his face from battle injury, Yan Xun had tanned skin due to decade-long exposure to hard life from his house arrest and bitter cold of Yanbei, Zhuge Yue had blistered lips from frostbite, Chu Qiao’s face wasnt always smooth and fair, Queen of Lingyue had tanned, uneven skin tone and freckles, and Chun-er and Concubine Hu had the most realistic slap bruise on their cheeks. And did you see Chu Qiao’s burnt feet during her flashbacks? That is the most realistic burn injury I’ve ever seen on cdrama! I am really impressed to see battle-hardened face of the Yanbei people, the skin looked very tanned and rough, seemed like flawless makeup is nonexistent in this show, to which I applaud. Best part is even though Queen of Lingyue looks really rough and tanned, i find that she was the most beautiful among all the female characters, especially with her majestic hair. And to see the flashback of her old self in much fairer skintone and smooth face as the reigning queen of Lingyue before they were conquered by King Ximeng and thrown into a war was even more breathtaking. She is truly a beauty. I truly commend the make up department for making the characters look as real as possible. Most importantly they did not try hard to make the mainleads look flawless and beautiful all throughout the show like most idol drama.

I think my starting on this title with a considerable low expectation contributed to my surprise that it didnt tanked too much and this of course affected my ratings. I actually quite enjoy the show despite it being a full on deviation from my favourite novel. This adaptation is less gloomy than the dark novel, and most importantly my favourite supporting characters had slightly better endings than the novel. I mean, at least Li Ce was not killed by his own mother and Huan Huan was not hunted down and brutally killed by her trusted cousin cum brother, Yanxun! Man i had always felt so sorry for the novel’s Li Ce and Huan Huan’s tragic ending each time i read that part (mind you I read the novel 5 times!). I mean, since both adaptations (princess agent and rebirth) fcked up the plot of the novel, I don’t even know which is worse. I was seriously thinking of rating Rebirth 8.5 until i came upon the last 10 episodes. So I decided it’s a tie with the also fcked up Princess Agent. For me the overall plot is mainly acceptable except for the last 10 episodes that got really fcked up and failed to make sense.

For an avid Princess Agent fan, this might be worthwhile since our main couple had the same ending as the novel. We finally get to have the proper closure. But for somebody who just came to know the show without prior experience of the prequel or the novel, this will most likely become a disaster. Proceed with caution.

SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE!!!







Honestly i really wanna strangle the screenwriter for the lousy last 10 episode. Wth would they waste screentime with Helian-ChengYuan nonsense? 😒🙄 is it so hard to just follow the novel’s plot which is more sound and logical than this one they cooked up? Not only did they turn the plot to downgrade the ML Zhuge Yue into someone so helpless and weak, they also decided to turn Yanxun into a less power hungry monster and became a crybaby who’s so hung up over his love for Chu Qiao. And how the heck did Zhuge Yue survive his double poison that was supposed to kill him and Chu Qiao’s stab straight into his lungs? Not only did he survive those, he also managed to come to Chu Qiao’s rescue against the Quanrong, with a clean white robe that only got splashed with blood while he was charging towards Chu Qiao in the last 50 meters. I was like, what the haillll is going on here? I actually thought Zhuge Yue was Chu Qiao’s imagination before her death, like the rest of the characters who keep imagining their loved ones coming for them before dying. OMG make it make sense!

Despite all the plot chaos, they did decide to have an ending just like the novel, where our main couple lived happily ever after while Yanxun was left alone to lament in his old age without the love of his life. I think the songs, cast acting and the alternate ending was a real saving grace - of how beautiful the lives of each couple couldve been had they took a different choice. Yanxun never releasing the arrow in ice lake, Zhao Che agreeing to go with General Huan and leave the mess he made behind, and Helian Ling agreeing to elope with Cheng Yuan.

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One of the Few Adaptations that Surpasses the Novels they’re based on!

The FL Chu Yu was determined to get to the bottom of her father’s death and her brother’s serious injury on the battlefield of Fengling, which she suspected to be because of traitors, and won’t stop at nothing even if it means her reputation ruined, scorned and misunderstood by her mom and sister, and marrying a dead general, Wei Jun, who had fallen in battle. This is Chu Yu, a girl who will not stop for no one and nothing until her goal is accomplished. This is how she met with ML, Wei Yun who was the youngest brother of her dead husband. 6 of Wei Yun’s brothers perished in the battle of Baidi Valley including his father the general of Wei army, and he returned home with their bodies in tow, but inadvertantly faced the accusation of crime for valor due to the battle being lost along with the lives of seventy thousand soldiers. Chu Yu, as the eldest mistress of the mansion, received him in the capital and later fought for his release. Although Wei Yun was very wary of her motives of marrying his dead eldest brother and continuoesly opposed her presence in the family, he finally came to an agreement with Chu Yu as he realized both Fengling and Baidi Valley’s battle losses had been connected. With that, both of them started to work hand in hand to investigate, which turned into a blossoming forbidden love.

I love how they changed some parts of the novel which turned out even better on screen:

- the Song brothers to be good with each other, Song Wenchang was very lovable instead of being at odds with Song Shilan,
- The Wei widows to be more involved in the earlier power struggle instead of merely ornaments and actually possess real martial skills instead of only Jiang Chun,
- FL to have more fights and battles,
- Chu Jin is softer and not as jealous as in the novel, repents much earlier too.

I liked how they changed the plot into Zhao Yue becoming North Qi’s emperor instead of usurping Sui’s throne, cuz this version is more believable than the novel’s plot. It always bothered me how ridiculous Zhao Yue’s ascension to the throne in the novel, and the scriptwriter managed to turn this lousy arc into a masterpiece by having Sui internally disrupting North Qi political scene instead.

I liked how ML’s personality stayed true to the novel too, that he would not trade Chuyu for anyone or anything, even if it means defying the emperor. Novel’s ML and FL have always been resolute and firm, and the fact that ML’s loyalty had always been for the land and its people and never for the emperor made it easier for them to look believable instead of the usual blind loyalty to the throne that common generals usually exhibit. In the novel, Wei Yun had no qualm to replace the emperor for another when he saw him not fit for it. So I liked how the adaptation Wei Yun cared nothing about the emperor’s ridiculous expectation of him being a War Saint and would not compromise. And most importantly i adored how the scriptwriter made their relationship pure and sincere, instead of having them sneaking into each other’s room to sleep together and having a child out of wedlock like in the novel. The adaptation’s ending is also much more fulfilling than the novel. A+ for that.

I dont get the blatant accusation about victoria song abusing power by reducing Ding Yuxi’s scenes, cuz in the novel, Wei Yun is always secondary to Chu Yu. The novel is about Chu Yu and Wei Yun’s mentions are even much lesser than what’s shown on the adaptation. I like Ding Yuxi as an actor, I watched this adaptation partly because of the novel and him being the main lead, and even then i felt the production had expanded wei yun’s character much more than what the novel had of him. Not that I am complaining of course, i totally love DYX as Wei Yun, but i dont mind his scenes being lesser than Victoria Song’s Chu Yu because I know that the original novel is a female-centric piece.

By the way, IMPO this is definitely Ding Yuxi’s best show that I have seen so far. And I am glad that he finally met the perfect co-star. I had been extremely disappointed of the FL’s opposite him before this, their characters are always lacking one after another, so I am glad Victoria Song lived up to my expectation. Her action scenes were finely executed and she spared no effort to make it look grand whenever she needs to display Chu Yu’s martial prowess. Other than her being great with action scenes, the credits must also go to the action choreographer. All the fights here are amazing.

The subtle romance here is also perfect for my taste. Theyre not cheesy or cutesy, but more to mature romance that doesnt need the couple to be all too handsy and kissy with each other everytime they meet. I can’t stand the romance when DYX was with younger female actors in the shows that i’ve seen him in, cuz their characters tend to be the whiny-clingy kinds, which I completely abbhor (i have dropped his shows due to clingy cutesy FL which had gotten on my nerves more than my love for DYX). So his pairing with Victoria Song is perfect in my eyes.

Again, hat’s off to the screenwriter and actors who managed to make Zhao Yue-Grand Princess’s love into something worth to sympathize. I felt nothing for this couple in the novel, and I didnt think Grand Princess was that much in love with Zhao Yue too, but somehow in this adaptation, i could feel how deeply they love each other but torn due to loyalty. I actually felt sad for their ending here.

Anyway, honestly my rating couldve gone higher had not for the lack of memorable songs here. None manage to catch my attention and most are slow ballads. Can’t really rate any higher for that section. Too bad. But this is a good piece, i don’t understand how the rating turned out to be so low.

SO PLEASE DONT GET FOOLED BY THE GENERAL RATING ON MDL.

I am betting those are done by Song’s haters. I don’t get from where the hate was coming, i mean i have seen Luoyang and she was great there too. So I dont get it really, was it because she wasnt young, pretty or whiny-cutesy enough like how DYX’s FLs before this were? 🙄 how dense.

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Great story but they botched it with an annoying ending

For a spy wuxia show, I had to commend that this is definitely one of the best I’ve seen so far. When i first started out, i thought it was going to be the usual ‘spy assassin goes in for a target, assasssin and target fall in love with each other, assassin tries to kill target but failed and then target would go against his own men to protect the assassin’ trope. However as i watched on, they actually have more in store.

Basically FL is an assassin trained by an evil organization Wu Feng, whose aim is to control and dominate the martial world. One of the sects still left standing against Wufeng threat is the Gong family, who resides on a hill. This is where FL was supposed to go. She takes on the identity of a bride candidate, Yun Weishan, to enter the hill. The brides were supposed to be for the eldest and heir of the family, Young Lord Gong Huanyu, and the next line after him Gong Shangjue. Upon FL’s entry into the hill, she discovered that she might not be the only one that Wufeng sent in. Sometime later, a Wufeng assassin was discovered among the bride candidates, and later the Leader of Gong family - The Sword Wielder - and his heir Gong Huanyu were both killed while interrogating the assassin. As Gong Shangjue was not on the hill at that moment, the least talented, playboy, useless second son of the Sword Wielder - Gong Ziyu, the ML - was forced to take the helm as the Sword Wielder as the family’s rule stated that the Sword Wielder’s position can never be vacant. This was met with strong objection by both Gong Shangjue upon his return, with his brother Gong Yuanzhi strongly standing by his side, so they keep trying to make things difficult for ML to investigate his father’s and brother’s deaths while questioning ML’s ability to lead and protect the Gong family. FL also discovered that there was another Wufeng assassin among the brides, Shangguan Qian. As FL was chosen by ML as his bride, and Shangguan Qian chosen by Gong Shangjue, more sinister and mysterious events began to unfold, more deaths occurred, and the pressure rose upon ML to prove his worth, hence he was forced to go through the trial of the three realms while at the same time investigating Wufeng’s activity that is threatening his family.

At first, I didnt put much high hopes on this show. But as I watched on, the story began to get very interesting as there is extensive character background and building along the first 10 episodes, where we can see from various perspectives of the other roles. There are a lot of flashbacks for this character building, but instead of getting annoyed of so many flashbacks, i got more curious and empathatic towards the other roles, even as they go against ML. I especially liked Gong Yuanzhi’s character, he was supposed to be this arrogant teenager who always thought his brother Gong Shangjue is the rightful owner of the Sword Wielder position. His sinister smirks, although makes me cringe, they have a certain charm. When I looked at Gong Yuanzhi, his character seemed so similar to a character in Robin William’s Hook movie, Rufio.

I especially loved how they portray the multi-faceted types of love - Love between biological siblings, love between step/foster siblings, love between father and son, love between leader and subordinates, and of course love between lovers of opposing sides. It’s really beautiful and intricately written that I was left very impressed.

Love the costumes in this show. They match the dark setting of the Gong residence, with dark monotonous colours instead of bright and over the top that is usually the case in wuxia shows, especially in female wardrobe department.

The songs are slow and melancholic, although it grows on me as I watched on, they failed to put a print in my head.

One thing that i find weird is that everyone seem to talk like theyre whispering to each other, other than the squabbling scenes between ML and 2nd ML. All the whispers and talking in low tones gives a more darkish mystery vibe to the already dark setting of the show. The only cheery thing around the compound comes from the goofy characters which i will mention next.

Fighting sequences didnt look too CGIed, it has more earthly real life feel to it. Although they still use the usual wuxia theme of getting poisoned over and over again and recover like it has no aftermath at all (other than the fortnight flies which affected their inner strength fortnightly).

Usually with other shows, I wouldnt pay much attention to side characters and their love story, most of the time I would just fast forward them, but in this story, i kept watching and got amazed at how they play everything out. Even the goofy side characters that acts as a comic relief to a serious piece like this, such as the Eldest Young Lady Gong Zishang and Xiaohei - Young Lord Hua - kept me hooked. At first i was disgusted with Gong Zishang as she was portrayed as a flirtitious woman who likes to watch undressed men, with goofy over the top hand gestures and body movement, but as i watched more, she is really fun to watch especially when she keeps chasing Jin Fan - ML’s primary guard - while being clueless that the one who was always hanging out with her in the lab - Xiaohei - likes her. The fun part of this show is really fun, the mysterious part really mysterious and the sad part turned out super sad. Really love the plot twist towards the end.

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The fact that the brother that ML had always looked up to and love turned out to be the villain and the brother that he thought was always against him and hate him turned out to be the one who really love him is honestly so brilliantly executed.

When i started to watch this series, i am ready for a tragic ending cuz spy stories usually have that. After going through the trauma of character massacre in A Journey to Love, i don’t really think any other death can hit me that much anymore. So yeah. I was ready for ML or FL plus Jinfan or Gong Yuanzhi to die. I thought the careless act of letting FL go back to her hometown without any bodyguards is purposely to get the character killed, so am ready for that already. So imagine how dumbfounded I am to see the ending just ML with a surprised look to see whoever it is at the door of the compound? Dammit why end it like this. Honestly I was ready to see somebody handing over a box or a rug containing FL’s head. But they decided to put up an open ending instead! Are they trying to hint for S2 or what? Why just that? Gosh I dont know whether to get angry or excited. Duhhh. Just be done with it already. I am okay with ML and 2nd ML losing their lovers. Why the cliffhanger? Grrrr. I am also dissatisfied that the evil Shangguan Qian had a happy ending, free of shackles of Wufeng and Gong family. Why did she get to live a quiet life? I wouldve given 10/10 for story if they hadnt put up such a lousy ending.

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Upgraded Korean Zombies, proceed with caution!

What started as a job hunting by Professor Kwon Sejeong turned into a survival of the fittest race when the biotechnology seminar that she attended is attacked with a bio-weapon. A former employee of the company holding the seminar, Seo Yeongcheol, had turned the whole building into a quarantined area when he injected a pathogen into the CEO, turning him into a zombie that started a chain of scrambling and biting of the rest of the building’s patrons. Amid the chaos, Prof Kwon with her ex husband and a number of people managed to hide inside a shop. A police detective who is holed up with them revealed that the rescue team will not attempt any pickup unless they bring the vaccine out, which turned out to be the sacked employee, Seo Yeongcheol.

Dangit, when i thought Korean zombie being as fit as Olympic athlete had been scary enough, they then decided to up their game by having them hyper zombies able to read each others mind like a colony of ants! That is like being monitored by thousands of CCTV wherever you go, cuz the zombies that can use computers, handphones and assault rifles are everywhere. How scary is that? Not only are they quick at adapting to their surroundings, they’re also being collectively controlled by the king ant, the zero patient who is very much a high-functioning human being. I am so glad this is only a movie, cuz a prolong 8-10episodes of survival game against such creatures wouldve been too much for me. 🫣

The FL isnt nimble, athletic or possesses any martial ability, but she is one helluva brilliant professor, being able to read and analyze how the zombies function hence providing enough intel for the group of survivors to outmaneouvre them. Our usually badass Ji Changwook is just a security guard here, no special skills or fancy martial moves but he is in total control of his knife when pushed close enough to the edge.

The main villain, Seo Yeongcheol is portrayed to have one pretty twisted mind, something he acquired from a life-long trauma of losing his father in his childhood and being rejected by his boss in his adulthood. He is insanely unhinged, ready to disregard humanity in the name of evolution to creating a better communicative world.

Usually in apocalypse-zombie shows, the authority roles are usually upright, honest and responsible. Well, it is a total opposite here in the show. The detective, the professors, the minister, the police force, are all devoid of humanity very much like the zombies, really, the only thing different between them and the infecteds is their still functioning brain. They have no qualm of leaving citizens behind to the infecteds, as long as they get a hold of the vaccine. Truly detestable, but I would think that is actually the reality if this ever comes true.

Honestly this is one of the pieces that i feel more fitting to be expanded into a miniseries, like 3-4 episodes like how The Tyrant was done. The story felt too abruptly end with just less than 2.5 hours under its belt. I’d really like to see more of Ji Changwook in action, really.

The music score is brilliant by the way. The eerie sound whenever the zombies are getting ‘synchronized’ is truly creepy. I really like when theyre ‘sync’ing with each other, totally giving off what-are-they-up-to-now kind of vibe. Made the hair at the back of my neck stand, by the way.

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