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Don’t Mess with Moms

This is truly an underrated hidden gem! The show took off right away from the start. What seemed to be a wife going after a cheating husband turned out to be a butt-kicking action gripping conspiracy intoxicating hunt for a group of gang criminals working for a conglomerate. The story follows the life of three women struggling with parenthood. Samantha was an ex secret agent who had communication problem with her beloved only daughter, despite her presence around the daughter 24/7, both seemed as distanced from each other as the rarely present father. Zheng Meihui was a promising inventor who gave up her overseas university offer for her only love but ending up struggling to adapt to the life of a daughter in law, constantly being criticized and condemned by her husband’s mother. Shufen was an ex-boxer turned park ranger who carried the guilt for her non verbal son, a condition she believed due to her selfish choice during preganancy. The three women had an uncanny encounter as Samantha was looking for her supposedly cheating husband in the small town of Chenggong, that forced them to become a team in taking down a conglomerate that was aiming to amass profit and benefits by spreading a virus to the population.

I really liked Zheng Meihui character, she was so adorable and her antics with her adorable husband are sooooo dang adorable! Although what seemed to be a cheerful and loving couple turned out to be not all cheerful behind closed doors. Shufen was the serious one among the three, while Samantha the hardcore one. I love their dynamics and how they complement each other. Despite the action storyline, the story took a dive into each of their couple conflicts too and how they overcame the stumbling blocks. The husbands, although not extremely good looking in terms of chinese look, they do look macho in certain aspects. I had a hard time adjusting to the Taiwanese faces though, my only show involving actresses remotely Taiwanese had been the american sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, so I keep seeing them 3 main female actresses here to look very alike and keep confusing between them in the first few episodes, especially the characters Meihui and Shufen. It’s like when I watch kdrama (I mainly only watch period cdrama) and keep confusing characters because in my eyes they all look the same unless they have very distinctive features like Ma Dong Seok 🤣 Took quite a while for me keep up, but it’s worth it.

I’d like to consider that the M in the title would most suitable to be ‘Mothers’. It’s a Mothers’ Mission of a bunch of young women towards finding their true self worth after seemingly losing themselves upon venturing into motherhood. A very relatable theme that plagues most women after drowning themselves in the responsibilities and expectations as a wife and a mom that they gradually start to lose the sense of who they really are, and who they used to be.

The story was really gripping and heart-stirring with the notable and very relatable family struggle and values, along with great action choreograph. I really enjoy this very much and I wouldnt mind if they made a season 2. The trio was explosive, in terms of comedy and action. Excellent performances by all the casts.

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Catch Me if You Can

It all started with NT Life Insurance Service’s employer Na Jaehee who was trying to collect some merit by proving a high-paying claimant case as suicide to forfeit its payment. She hired her senior in the force, ex police who was wasting her life playing videogames, Koo Kyungyi to investigate. KKY was enticed by the computer set offered by NJH, thus agreed to set out from her home and look into it. The trip that was supposed to turn a missing person case into suicide proved to harbour a more complicated story, which led them to a series of suspicious deaths that KKY believed to be perpertrated by a serial killer. As she and her team chased after this killer before they commit the next murder, they were plunged into a deeper plot that was related to KKY’s past.

Lee Young Ae looks undeniably marvelous as a woman in her 50s, they could barely hide her beauty even by making her act as a slob. Lee Young Ae definitely nailed it as the eccentric ex police inspector turned into a waste Koo Kyungyi, always dressed in colourful bright sweatpants, baggy T-shirt with loose collar due to overstretching, and oversized dark overcoat, coupled with messy, smelly hair which makes up to her unkempt appearance. She really looked like a total waste, spending all day and night drinking and playing videogames when she was not out investigating. It’s a real different look cuz i have always seen Lee Young Ae act as an elegant beauty. Despite her appearance, KKY is a very sharp investigator who literally thinks a dozen steps ahead of the criminal, even when she met her almost-match Song Yikyung, a young adult with super twisted mind whose sole purpose is to kill those who deserved it. This character is way from perfect, she can’t really fight even when her life depends on it, she is frequently physically overpowered by Song Yikyung whenever they crossed paths, and she doesnt come out unscratched from any fights. All those ‘ouching’ and ‘owwing’ whenever she strained herself physically seem so relatable to reality. She is not formidable in all aspects like most heroes in a story, but she pulls through everytime relying on pure survival instincts, clumsy as it may be.

The one who played Song Yikyung successfully embodied the total emotional wreck serial killer, who literally has no friends but those who owed to her when she killed for them. On the surface, Song Yikyung looked like a happy go lucky young woman, although lost her parents at a very young age, she was raised with all the love she could be given by her maternal Aunt. A natural loner, her aunt had always worried that she would tumble down the rabbit hole. Intelligent as she is, she proved to be KKY’s match as they keep ouwitting each other.

Somehow it is hard to see actors with poor performance in kdrama. From all that i saw (though cant say i watch many kdrama), their acting performance is always exceptional and top notch, with the only downside being the plot and the written character itself if i ever had to rate lower. The same goes to Inspector Koo. Everyone performed exceptionally well even the smallest part on screen. The songs are very catchy and kinda got stuck in my head (yeah im gonna add it to my running playlist).

One of the other thing that impressed me about kdrama is they do not have any qualm about hiring actors in late 40s or 50s as their lead cast. It’s great to see these great actors still donning the leading hat and not find them only in supporting or guest roles, especially Lee Young Ae who remained in my heart for so long after Jewel in the Palace.

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Ordinary People with Ordinary Wishes Forced to take Extraordinary Action

Zhao Buyou and Wen Yue was an ordinary couple living in the capital. One day, a corrupt official, Gan Liang, went to harass Wen Yue in her umbrella shop, and was about to manhandle her when Zhao Buyou arrived just in time to intervene, though he ended up getting beaten. A while later, as the family went to have fun at an amusement park, Wen Yue received a message which compelled her to meet with the sender. It was Gan Liang, threatening Wen Yue with her secret to force himself on her. Left with no choice, Wen Yue stabbed him with her hairpin which killed him on the spot. Zhao Buyou found her just as the official died, and they both scampered to hide the body. While they were trying to hide their traces, they got caught up with the local authority led by Commissioner Gu Zhen who was looking for Gan Liang. Zhao Buyou realized his wife was hiding something from him, and as he tried to keep her from getting sniffed by Gu Zhen, he offered himself to help Gu Zhen investigate a high profile case involving the disappearance of Mei ship during Qingming festival, which led to numerous queer cases that inadvertently affected the whole family’s life.

This is a very close-to-heart concept as it features a very ordinary family of the common folk, the breadwinner being a lower-tiered government servant who is often bullied and ostracized by his colleague and bosses. Zhao Buyou is in his late 30s who has worked as a scribe in Court of Judicial Review for more than 15 years, while his wife Wen Yue owns an umbrella making business. The family of 5 consisting of ML,FL and ML’s father and a younger brother and younger sister get by with ML’s meager salary and FL’s humble business income. I really love the family dynamics, it is not perfect as we hoped for. Theyre very ordinary with a father who is often sick but love his liquor too much, while the younger sister and brother still looking for their life purpose and having difficulties in keeping their apprenticeship posts.

Zhao Buyou is depicted to be very timid and cowardly, while Wen Yue is shown to have the final say in the household. We can see how much Zhao Buyou loved and adored his wife when he always gives in to almost everything she says. Zhao Buyou, although seem to be weak and easily bullied in the earlier episodes, turned out to be very eloquent, clever and resourceful, especially so when it comes to the safety of his wife.

Wen Yue, although shown to be weak and reserved in the first episode, turned out to be somewhat the opposite. Laying low for almost 15years from her pirating life, she was forced to shed her skin when Gan Liang decided to threaten her with this secret. Wen Yue was indeed a far cry from a weak woman. She wears the pants in the household for a reason, that is because she has a very strong personality and even physically more capable than her husband thanks to her hidden past life. Wen Yue acts like the glue for the family, she runs the household and manages their spending, and she knows how to handle each member of the family.

Commissioner Gu Zhen and his deputy Wan Fu are the real treat of the show. From officials filled with suspicion and wariness towards ML, their relationship progressed to be buddies in arms. Their characters aren’t perfect, Wan Fu takes bribes just to provide for their fallen comrade’s family, while Gu Zhen does not hesitate to kill a criminal when he sees there is no way they could be found guilty in the court of law due to their steel backing.

There were many villains in the show, corrupt officials and strong-backing figures pop up like mushrooms after the rain as cases emerged one after another, but the most cunning and twisted one is none other than Su Zheng, FL’s long lost brother. Initially pictured as a good natured scholar, he was about to win everyone’s heart in Zhao family had he not tried to snatch FL for himself, resorting to despicable acts.

It’s a real fresh look for a show to me, as the main characters have been husband and wife for more than 10years, a seasoned couple approaching their middle life as opposed to the budding romance between beautiful people in other shows. The ML here isnt quite as handsome, and the FL, although a beauty, they manage to make her look very ordinary as how her character should be, a very different take from the usual cheesy romance of exceedingly handsome young men with ethereally elegant young women depicted in other dramas.

I totally love the anecdote of facts about Song Dynasty at the end of each episode. It’s a real different approach of attracting viewers’ attention, this definitely impressed me very much.

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I dont get why people are so worked up about Wen Yue not being a good sister to Su Zheng. First off, she had suspected something fishy about him right off the bat, like he was hiding something from her. Then later he admitted that he was the client who was also behind all the other incidents regarding Zou family since the boat incident. If you realized the little brother you doted on back then turned to be a bloodthirsty vengeful monster who doesnt even bat an eye about sacrificing innocent people which they deem as mere collateral damage, can you really embrace them like they were the innocent little boy from back then? Those who died were not even accidental, he literally instigated them to make the move, making them kill, that eventually cost their lives. And this guy also tried to rip apart your family just so he could have you all to himself. Like seriously? You guys can really love this person just for the way he is? What Su Zheng experienced after he escaped the killing was no worse than Wen Yue, how did he turned into a monster and Wen Yue the opposite? It’s lame excuse to blame traumatic childhood, because what they experienced was the same. The difference is Wen Yue still had some humanity in her because she found warmth and love from ML’s family, and deemed that this family is more important to let go for revenge, while Su Zheng placed revenge on top others. He is a monster with a twisted mind, and he could never choose love over revenge. Wen Yue saw this, she even advised him as she saw fit, but he still went on to choose to be evil. How is Wen Yue the bad sister now? Get real. 🙄She had already accepted him into her family despite her suspicion and even tried to please him, now tell me what amount of doting could she have given more to Su Zheng for him to stop doing what he was planning to do? Should she have celebrated his birthday and ignore Zhao Mo Er after she knew Su Zheng had instigated him to do something horrible? There’s literally nothing she couldve done to prevent Su Zheng from inducing more damage. He just wanted everything to go the way he wants it to be because he had a bigger backing.

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Mind Over Matter

A murder of NDT supervisor occured, with the suspect none other than his own temp worker a.k.a secret agent, Chen Duo - The Poison Saint. This directed the microscope over the rest of 6 other regions’ temp workers/secret agents whose position as such due to their mysterious backgrounds, hence endangers exposure of Feng Baobao’s identity. The highest management of NDT was leaning towards confining them indefinitely, but after further discussion, they decided to make the secret agents to track down and apprehend Chen Duo. For the first time, all agents from various regions was supposed to work together as a team and this made Zhang Chulan nervous about exposing Feng Baobao to them. The rest of the group wasnt keen about working together either, so none stepped up to plan anything with each other. But as they closed in on Chen Duo, they were forced to work together and inadvertently reached concensus to cooperate. Zhang Chulan began to calculate and devise a plan to protect Feng Baobao from pending danger that could lead to her identity exposure.

This second season moved at a much faster pace than season 1, with many new faces introduced which i suspect would be the key roles in future seasons. I dont get why people freak out about not seeing most characters from season 1. I mean come on, it’s an ongoing story, and with the incoming calamity that could doom the world, ML would definitely need more people at his disposal.

The comedy got toned down although still entertaining enough, but the action remained packed. Zhang Chulan became more calculative as he realized how important Feng Baobao is. In everything he does, it was always about FBB’s wellbeing and protection, although their relationship is a far cry from romantic. Since he keeps calling her erjie, and with her being maybe close to 100yo already, i never saw them as a lover couple but more to bro and sis. I’m fine with shows without romance, so i cant get why people keep yapping about their chemistry. I dont think theyre supposed to be lovers at all. And their chemistry as complementing partners is off the charts. I totally love this duo.

It’s also the first show that I saw about the growth of a hero that did not plant the ML at the centre of its universe. In here, the FL seemed to be a more prominent character where the ML did everything in his power to pave the way for her safety because her origin and role is greater than his.

More questions arise in this season, as to the origin of the people manipulating the antagonist became the highlight. What was their purpose? How is it connected to Feng Baobao? What other calamity will occur? Is Wu Gensheng still alive and where is he now? I wouldnt say these as plotholes since it would be the continuance to the next seasons, but it just irks me out that it would take so long to unravel.

All in all, this season definitely did not disappoint. The action is more packed than Season 1, but i can’t help but feel it was just too short. Only 13 episodes? Whyy? And i heard another production house has bought the rights to the next season adaptation, it’s just too bad cuz the casts might change.

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An Exhilirating Ride

Zhang Chulan is a university student whose life turned upside down when he discovered he is an Outsider, a person with supernatural ability, coveted by many who believed he inherited a supreme skill from his grandfather, the one who wielded one of eight supreme skills of the outsider world - Qi Apotheosis. He was whisked away by NDT Express, an Outsider entity that is like the police force controlling the Outsiders posing as a courier service company. Zhang Chulan’s grandfather, Zhang Huaiyi, died from unknown cause back when he was 10yo, and he had always wanted to know what happened. To do this, the NDT told him to join the Outsider Championship organized by a monastery on Mount Fulong, where the victor will inherit Tianshidu which will reveal the answer to all his questions. With the ever so relentless Feng Baobao, he embarked on a journey to find himself and help Feng Baobao regain her memories back.

This is one of rare dramas that i saw so entertainingly comedic and yet gripping at the same time. Because it’s like a wuxia in modern setting, it is really fresh to see ancient-like characters with modern demeanor. It is really funny to see elders in monk robes donning handphones and even hilariously took photos during their supernatural battles. The first few episodes were rather boring that i even put it on hiatus after ep 6, but it picked up the pace when i decided to continue a few months later. Oh god what show i couldve missed if i really dropped this one. Watching I am Nobody reminds me a lot of A Dream Within a Dream. You laugh like heck at one scene and the next right after they’d make you cry with a sad scene. It would come totally unexpected and you just laugh and cry like it’s on command.

I have never seen the actor playing Zhang Chulan, but he is so exceptional in his embodiment of the character, a person who acts cowardly and never put up any fight against anyone, but deep down wields a supernatural power that could knock down those bullies in a blink of an eye. Because his grandfather had told him to hide his powers, he decided to become a coward, one who would run when he can and beg for mercy when he couldnt escape a fight. But just because he would not fight, it doesnt mean he could not fight, even without using his supernatural powers. His cowardice, shamelessness and underhanded tactics could make the audience suffer from secondhand shame. It is his antics that made up most of the hilarious moments onscreen, other than ever so oblivious and straightforward emotionless Feng Baobao. This is also the first show i saw the actress in, and boy she nailed it perfectly well. In fact, all the casts did a tremendously great job at their roles, even the smallest part. The dynamic duo, Feng Baobao as the muscle and Zhang Chulan as the brain, is explosive.

The CGI looked lame in the first few episodes, too overpowered in some, which also contributed to my lack of interest to continue back then. But when i picked it up again, i realize it was not really bad. I mean, it kinda grew into you. Some of the CGI is really eyecatching like the boulder monster conjured by Wang Ye and the spirits by Feng Xingtong during the outsider championship.

To be honest, I never really watch modern cdrama nowadays, I used to during covid lockdown but lost interest as i found modern kdrama more appealing, but somehow i picked up this one on a whim cuz i am a nerd of shows on superpowers, and this one turned out to be exceptional as it progresses. Can’t wait to start on season 2. It’s just a click away but i decided to write down the review now before starting on next season lest i forget the storyline.

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Best Xukai’s Show

Li Ni is our ML, the grandson of the emperor, who was banished to the borders at Yaoyan Pass when he angers both his father Lord Liang and the emperor at one point of his teenagehood. Being born to a maid who died giving birth to him, he was never favoured in the mansion, and he never had a memory of his father hugging and being kind to him. But at Yaoyan Pass, he found kinship with his troops, fighting battles, dining, having fun with them, not putting up airs as a royal at all. The experience tempered him into a brilliant, calculative strategist who is revered by many among the army. One day they received news that one of the great generals of the dinasty, Sun Jing revolted, killing the emperor and the crown prince, while the son of the crown prince went into hiding to escape the coup. Left with no choice, Li Ni raised the Zhenxi Army to march towards the capital to reclaim the throne for the crown prince’s son. On the way there, he met our FL Lt. He, a strategist for the Cui army whose army was also marching towards the capital. They clashed a few times, experienced the spark to fall in love with each other while battling each other, and ended up working together in siezing forts after forts towards the capital, while ML at the same time trying to locate his royal cousin.

I must say, this is definitely one of Xukai’s best series. The story is interesting enough, the plot although not without plotholes, is exciting and engaging. Although I must say, for an army marshall entrusted to reclaim the capital, ML sure has a lot of time to indulge in romance. But I have to admit this is probably the best of Xukai’s performance i’ve seen so far. ML’s anguish was really real after he survived the ambush. He can really cry convincingly good, that it made me cry at that scene. Although, i totally despise his hopeless lovesick puppy character whenever he argues with FL.

The SML, Liu Cheng Feng, turned from just a person to long for his childhood sweetheart to a total psychopath who wouldnt accept that his love was rejected. While still in Cui army acting as the commander, he was shameless enough to claim as loyalist army when you collude with the traitor against another loyalist army? That’s the Cui army for you. Truly despicable. And to think that the commander isnt a Cui is even more comical. What kind of commander would sell out his own principle because of jealousy? The SML is truly despicable despite his supposedly frail look. And for a sickly man, he really was hard to die. He got stabbed with swords with two spears, and is still very much alive. Guess that’s the privelege of being SML, he’s got plot armour! An annoyingly thick one at that.

As for the FL, she lies so much sometimes i cant even figure out when she was lying and when she was being truthful. At first i thought she was toying with ML’s feelings, but gradually it looked like she really fell for him. However, FL is too caught up by her ideals and ambition that she doesnt care if forcing her loved one to be the emperor would mean a lifelong unhappiness. She doesnt like when her dad tells her the kind of life he wants her to have, but is very content about dictating how the ML should live his life. Such hypocrisy. I got so mad at that episode. I fast forwarded many of their supposedly romantic scenes afterwards because i hate seeing ML giving in to her advances every single time without her relinquishing that selfish thought of hers. Really hate seeing her leading him around like a dog so i keep wishing for them to break up. Just go separate ways already. She should feel the heartbreak and regret her decisions instead of ML every single time. I am so glad ML put his foot down when she insisted him to fight for the crown prince title. Her attitude is too horrible, always throwing tantrum when things dont go her way. It’s really a pity because ML sacrifice so much for her. She was the one who is adamant about ML becoming crown prince, and she was also the one who is mad at him when she had to marry him in a way that she didnt approve of. Most of the time this character is very sensible and reasonable, but somehow it is written to be very proud and cranky when she argues with ML.

The main leads definitely has chemistry, though I truly hate it when she was throwing tantrum and ML give in to her every time. Their romantic scenes is fun to watch when they’re sincerely happy with each other, but hard to watch when FL throws tantrums and ML gives in. It’s like ML was trying to make her happy while he himself was generally sad and angry. FL is kinda selfish and unreasonable despite being an intelligent strategist who can see through the enemy’s plans, when ML refuses to do things her way. Honestly their arguments are generally needless as even if FL lets everything go with the flow, ML would still had to become crown prince based on the circumstanaces. There was no need for for her to pressure him to do anything, really. They wouldve had a happy time in the capital had she not do what she did. What a needless and senseless argument.

The battlescenes are impressive, especially the attack on the capital. It’s the first time that i saw foot soldiers scaling the wall with parkour-like skills, and it’s also the first time that i felt any of their deaths are a huge loss to the force. They looked like minor pawns but their skills are definitely impressive.

The amount of people getting poisoned is astronomically high in this show, but sadly none really die from it. Too comical when they keep getting poisoned like flies getting sprayed. The FL suffers the brunt of it, always getting sick or injured in every other episodes 😆 too cliche.

I totally love the OST. They really didnt hokd back on getting the best in this category.

Anyway, it’s a happy ending, though i really have a hard time liking the FL in some parts of the show.

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Twists and Turns of a Strategist

Yun Xiang is a direct disciple of Yuntai sect master, who came down the mountain to save his benefactor Wen who was imprisoned in Nandu. Wen saved ML’s life when his village was massacred 15 years ago, so other than saving Wen, ML was also looking for clues to find the real perpertrator behind the massacre. Equipped with nothing but his brains, he entered the Jiang Hu and later befriended Warrior Jin and Shu Yanan, inadvertently turning them into his bodyguards in his quest for the truth.

I can’t say I liked the ML, this character is too complexly calculative and conniving, but he gets the job done indeed. FL isnt any better, although she has many secrets in her sleeve, one thing I was sure of is their love for each other. But i liked the side couple better, Warrior Jin and Tianhu. Tianhu isnt all that pretty, but she is very cute and appealing in an innocent way. The combination of the brute and the beauty is what makes it spark. I am impressed with the one playing Warrior Jin, i just realized he was actually Heavenly King in Legend of Shen Li. What a contrast from his character here. They actually aged up the actor to play the king i never thought the actor had been in his early forties!

I am not sure in which era was this story is supposed to be, but heck the costumes are so hedious, the men look like theyre stuffed into ragbags and the women had unappealing long dresses too. Even the Su family who are supposed to be the richest family in Nandu didnt look good in their clothes. I thought women costume in Blossom had been ugly enough, it’s even worse here.

The songs sound so soothing, i especially love the Cloud Farewell song by Liu Yuning, gosh the lyrics are so nice!

Although the story is okay, i dont think i will be watching season 2. Im not all into strategic/political genre cuz i have a hard time concentrating to details.

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Bluffing your way to Survival & Victory

In the first season, this special talent of ML, Zichuan Xiu, did not come into light much, but when he was stranded in Yuanzhou after feigning loyalty to North Clan just to seek revenge, ending up getting branded as traitor by the kingdom he served and criminal by the enemy, this uncanny talent of his became the major highlight of the show - bluffing and acting his way out of hurdles and coming out as the victor. With his batallion being hunted down as they too was branded as traitors as they failed to report back to camp when they decided to wait for ML for regroup, they resolved to becoming bandits before reuniting with the severely injured ML after his narrow escape from North Clan capital. No where to go, no one to turn to, ML had to lead his men to survive in the desolate land of Yuanzhou, fighting off North Clan and hiding from Zichuan, and along their path, they somehow reunited Yuanzhou under a free banner. This was their amazing journey.

Honestly I don’t get the low rating cuz I seriously think season 2 is waaaaaaaay better and more engaging than season 1. There’s more action and more screentime of ML and his troops, and less of the political struggle in Zichuan capital, navigated by his 2 sworn brothers Di Lin and Si Yilin. S2 has a wholesome intro for those who did not watch S1, which i think they shouldve done for S1 as well. I feel that S1 had been rather messy with so many question marks (which can be seen as plotholes) that are only answered in S2. We finally know how and why ML was exiled to Yuanzhou at 13yo too. Initially I thought he was framed for something that he didn’t do, but it turned out he did do it, Yang Minghua only twisted everything to be against ML’s favour and turn it into his crime instead. That political bastard had wanted to take the 13yo boy’s life, but failed because Ning and the revered great general Ge Yinxing pleaded for him.

I especially love his love-hate relationship with his deputy Baichuan, most notable dialogue of hers is, “My Lord, after so many years with you, I’m truly reluctant to part from you. But at the thought that you’re finally going to be someone else’s trouble, I am somewhat relieved,” Omg 🤣 these two are my favourite characters indeed. Although Baichuan is the most serious character in his troops, she is definitely loyal and able to play out good acting to carry out ML’s strategies against the enemy while he was absent. I really had fun seeing her trying to reign in ML and keep up with his antics.

Zichuan Ning grew a lot in this season. From the childish, naiive, spoilt young lady, she emerged to be quite resourceful as she finally steps into the clan’s political scene. Baby steps, but impressive nonetheless, compared to how her character was framed in S1. I hated her interactions with Ma Wei though. Fastforwarded most of their scenes. But I’m glad she stayed true to ML.

S2 is where Liufeng Shuang finally makes an appearance. A young female general of Ning’s peer, she was like a version of ML but with Baichuan’s countenance. She was very quickwitted and intelligent, it’s like she was made to spar with ML intellectually. It didn’t take long for her to figure out ML’s identity both in Zichuan and Yuanzhou. Honestly i feel she would make a great 4th xiongmei in the young generals brotherhood.

Although the ending wasnt as cliffhanger as S1’s, i still think they should make S3. This Zichuan novel sounds so exciting, especially when ML’s true origin hasn’t been disclosed at this point of the adaptation, it’s just too bad I couldn’t find an english translation of the novel. It’s gonna be hard to move on from. But the ending is truly not bad even if there never will be S3. There were many loose ends, considering they didnt finish adapting the whole novel, but acceptable still with lots of room to continue from if they ever decided to pick it up again.

The songs really stuck in my head. Dangit i need to search them on youtube and add to my playlist!

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Brothers for Life.

Zichuan Xiu is one of the 3 great generals of Zichuan known as Flower of Xichuan due to his mischievousnous and cunning. He is aided by his 3 loyal subordinates, Lou Jie, Lu Ming and Baichuan. Some time in his teenagehood, he was accused for something not diclosed, hence exiled to Yuanzhou, where made his name as a promising commander, though much to Zichuan clan’s leader disdain, Zichuan Canxing due to disapproval of ML’s close relationship with his niece and heir of the clan, Zichuan Ning. Xiu batallion had just scored big victory in a battle against North Clan, and he was called back to the Capital in the name of receiving reward, but in reality to eliminate him as potential threat. Facing the impending rebellion planned by Yang Minghua the minister of war, ML with the help of his 2 sworn brothers Dilin and Si Yilin made their move to counter this and later North Clan’s invasion of Yuanzhou.

ML always shows a mischievous and reckless front, but everything he does usually has an outcome he desires. This smoke screen of having people see him as incompetent, reckless fool actually made his hidden enemies let their guard down that in turn makes it easy for ML to outmaneouvre them. His methods are unconventional, giving off the idea that he was fooling around and doing shady business that always get misunderstood by his deputy commander Baichuan, ending up getting reprimanded and questioned by Baichuan the moment she felt that he was straying off their main course. Although ML looked like a loose cannon and nobody really takes him seriously other than his sworn brothers and his childhood sweetheart Zichuan Ning, he is actually very intelligent and meticulous leader who knows how to manipulate, strategize and make use of the people around him to serve his purpose. On top of it, he has a clear conscience with a genuinely good heart, and isnt as ruthless and cruel as Dilin, so he never actually manipulate people in a bad way to make them in the losing end. His manipulation actually brings the better side of these people instead.

As for his sworn brothers, the other 2 of the 3 great generals of Zichuan are Di Lin, the ruthless Executioner of the Battlefield, and Si Yilin, a very honest and upright man who knows only Black and White and nothing in the middle.

Zichuan Ning is ML’s love interest, they grew up together as ML was adopted by Ning’s father at a very young age. But because of ML’s dubious background, he never felt he was good enough for Ning, especially when the clan leader disapproves of their relationship. Ning is a very sheltered young lady who has never known any hardship at all. She was raised to become the next leader of the clan, hence her future husband should be of similar status, which sidelines ML. She is spoilt by both her uncle, and ML. It is rare that I come to like a character as dense and childish as Ning, but somehow her rash antics of always chasing after ML is entertaining and understandable even. I never likes this type of cutesy, bratty, rash, weak female character, but somehow i felt her character is hard to hate especially when she treats Princess Ka Dan with sincerity. I somehow ship her relationship with ML, but I have a feeling they might not end up together. It’s frustrating that I can’t find the novel’s translation.

My favourite character is Baichuan, a very straight forward and honest young woman, she is like the one who keeps ML in check. I feel that she is like a protective big sister looking out for a little brother who always gets in trouble every chance he’s let out into the world. She would not put up with his nonsense antics but would always be the one to help him whenever he is in a tight spot.

The flow of the story is rather slow paced as political struggle is a major part of the plot, so i don’t mind doing things in between episodes, unlike other engaging shows that makes it hard for me to put down the phone. The ambience is kinda broody-gloomy like My Journey to You. The action is nice to watch though, and the relationship between ML and his sworn brothers and his 3 deputies are really fun to watch.

The songs are rather nice and kinda lingers in my head too. They made a good job in that department. The costumes are nice, not too showy and dangly. Overall its a good show and quite memorable.

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Bloody Throne that Haunts.

Kang Chul was a serpent diety who was thrown back down to earth during his ascension to the heaven to become a Dragon because a human baby saw his ascension. Due to this, he loathed humankind and created mayhem in the world, cited in legends as an evil diety. Fast forward 100 years later, come Yeo Ri, granddaughter of a powerful shaman who inherited her grandmother’s shamanism talents. Kang Chul caught sight of her and went to pester her, as becoming the guardian spirit of a great shaman would help him ascend to heaven. When Yeo Ri then told her grandmom about him during one of her purging rituals, the townspeople began to label her as the jinx who had attracted an evil diety, hence she was blamed for her loved ones dying around her and any misfortunes that befell the town. Left to fend for herself at a young age after her grandmother was killed during a ritual which she was convinced orchestrated by Kang Chul, she came to resent the diety in her entirety. 13 years later, Yeo Ri now makes a living as spectacle maker, while far in the capital the royal family got riddled with spirit possession. Royal Scribe Yoon Gap, the only friend and first love of Yeo Ri, remembered about her and thus went to fetch her in pretense of becoming the king’s glasses maker. On the way to the capital, Yoon Gap was killed and Kang Chul decided to possess the body so he could latch on Yeo Ri. When Yeo Ri realized Yoon Gap had been possessed by Kang Chul, a fight ensued and both fell down a cliff, but fate had a better plan for them as both ended up in the palace upon rescue. And there starts their journey around palace conspiracy and intrigue which would unfold the real reason behind the possession of the king’s son.

I am not really a fan of Khorror cuz i find all the jumping and dancing ritual very disturbing and ridiculous, but because I’ve read so many positive review about it, so here I am. I can’t say I hate this show, but can’t really say I love it either. The storyline is okay, but somehow I really dont like this Kang Chul guy. I liked Yoon Gap, but Kang Chul really gets on my nerves even though both had the same face. Although I like his banter with the king, i really am not crazy about his personality as a whole. Something about his bearing just irks me. And i can’t feel the spark between him and Yeo Ri when they ‘supposedly’ realized that they liked each other. Urghh. The idea just didnt come through. I basically fast forwarded all their romantic scenes after that.

Yeo Ri is typically straightfoward, naive girl who longed for companion after years of being alone, so she jumped right up when Yoon Gap invited her to the capital. She was determined to save Yoon Gap’s soul and would stop at nothing to ensure the people she care about is safe. She lacked proper planning and strategy though, it’s like she bulldozed her way through disregarding possible risks that couldve improved the outcomes had she mitigated it. Urgh since i got here right after watching cunning and scheming FLs in Blossom, Queen Woo, Prisoner of Beauty and Qingchuan’s Veil of Vengeance, i really felt Yeo Ri lacks so much and wouldnt have survived the palace intrigues had not for the serpent diety next to her.

I really love the king and the queen though, and was looking forward to see their romantic scenes more than main leads’. The king and queen’s chemistry is so striking, i can really feel how deep their love for each other is. The King is probably the star of the show for me, he is righteous, selfless, down to earth and good, a far cry from the usual selfish, domineering and power hungry king/emperor on screen. And with the queen being so kind, gentle and demure, and strikingly beautiful, they made a perfect pair. I love it when they came up on screen. And I teared up when the queen fell victim to the eight-legged spirit, and then when the king sincerely seek for forgiveness from the vengeful spirits for what his ancestors had done 100 years before. The actor playing the king is so dang good, he could really pull off playing two different characters. I could feel his remorse as a king who uncovered the family’s skeleton, and i could also feel his resentment and fury when he was possessed by the spirit. And he is so dang handsome too 😭 hey why am i talking about this side couple more than the main leads? 😆😂 i failed to feel anything when mishaps happen to the main couple, thats how ‘meh’ i feel their relationship is.

I can say that I only stayed to the end because of the royal couple and the mystery behind eight-legged spirit. Take out these two, i wouldve dropped this so fast.

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Lovebirds that are not meant to Grow Old Together

I was contemplating to start on this one because Wu Jinyan's character in The Double didn't give me much of a good impression, but eventually decided to get on with it anyway because the novel was good. It is basically about the assassin FL whose mission was to kill the ML, solely driven by the urge to avenge her parents because ML had been the general fighting off kingdom's enemy in her hometown Qingzhou which later burnt down, killing her parents in it. Little did she know, it turned out he was the one who called for the assassination of himself to frame the evil Crown Prince as he was trying to avenge his army who died in Qingzhou after being framed of burning down the whole town. ML lived for 10 years carrying this guilt and labelled as "The General who Killed All". When FL realized ML wasn't the one who burnt down her hometown and killed her parents, she shifted her objective somewhere else - the real culprit - which of course aligns with ML's own objective so they ended up becoming partners instead of enemies. So they kinda worked together to bring down the Crown Prince, as of course fell in love with each other in the process.

Honestly, the first 2/3 of the story was definitely good despite it being totally different from the novel, all the power struggle shows how brilliant the ML, Murong Jinghe, and how resilient the FL, Mei Lin is. However, after 24 episodes of engaging plot, it took a total nosedive from there on. With the Crown Prince out of the picture, the story became bland with just inner struggle of the feelings of each FL, ML and SML. From a ruthless, brilliant strategist, ML became a lovesick puppy who spent his free time lamenting his awful luck in love. The show lost its appeal right there and then, it became a pure drag to finish each episode, and I kept ff those boring flashbacks of each main leads and SML.

Who do they wanna fool by having the FL hide from ML and SML in the very town ML governs, bordering the SML’s kingdom, in her own hometown which everyone, even the villains know, walking around freely only donning a sheer veil that is so see-through she should've just ditched it already? 😑 at least in the novel she hid in a secluded rural village so far away that it took ML 1 year to find.

I don't know why cdrama is obsessed with having lengthy episodes. When i read the novel, it only had 24 chapters so i thought even if the production had expanded on side plots it wouldnt have exceeded 25-30 episode. But danggg it turned out to be 32 episodes, complete with so many unnecessary side stories and draggy plots. Even with the expanded plot they did, it shouldve concluded within 25 episodes. All those hours wasted, gosh. The whole expansion on Princess Zigu’s character was one of the draggiest and totally unnecessary, the fast forward button really had to work hard for me. That little side plot with Wei guy from Laowuzi with A’Jia was also too forced and detached, totally unnecessary at all.

And all those torment of ML by FL would've been more satisfying to watch had the ML was the novel Murong Jinghe who kept denying his feelings for FL, emotionally tormenting her while indulging Lou Mei, instead of the lovesick TV Murong Jinghe who had done so much sacrificing for FL until the end. For the tv, it would've been satisfying if the ML had died and left FL heartbroken and forlorn for the remainder of her short life.

However dissatisfied I am with the last 10 episodes, I had to admit the show is indeed rather good with amazing cinematography. Definitely didn't look cheap. The ML and FL did a phenomenal job and their chemistry went right off the chart. This is the first show I saw the actor for ML, and his performance was superb even the screenplay made the characters out to be inconsistent and confusing. The most confusing character is definitely the SML, Yue Qin. I don’t even want to elaborate on him, he is a dodgy little fella right from the start, one point going his all to capture FL’s heart, the next so eager to send her off to Qingzhou, then he wants her back again just to send her off again? What the hell? 🥴 Although, the Yue Qin in the novel had only been 15yo, met FL during the hunt, owed her his life and went to be the sweet little brother she doted on that ML somehow grown to be jealous of. 😝 But anyway, the actors truly rocked their characters really well.

The kissing scene is rather good too! Both worked on them really well unlike most wooden lips stuck together like most cdrama i saw. So far only Prisoner of Beauty and Kill Me Love Me manage to pull this off.

Anyway, the song’s tune kinda got stuck in my head so I’ll give an 8 for that.

The ending is kinda appropriate although not quite the happy ending as written in the novel. I wouldnt say it was a sad ending at all. However, i would still prefer the ending in the novel. So those of you who are not satisfied with the tv ending, go read the novel to quench yourself!

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Vengeance that turn to love

Basically FL is Lu Zhaoyao, who was born at the Sealed Demon Mountain where she lived with her grandfather. Years ago, the Demon King sealed his son in the mountain and casted a seal on the mountain so that none of the nearby villagers can go out and none can come in too. FL is part of the Lu clan who was tasked to guard the sealed mountain, so she never stepped out and never saw anyone from outside. One day Luo Ming Xuan, titled Golden Diety from the Immortal Sect, came to the mountain to kill the son of demon king, but failed and was injured by the seal. He was found by FL and she took care of him secretly as she was smitten with how handsome he looked. He was the first person she ever saw other than her grandfather, so she clung to him and asked him to marry her as payment for her taking care of him. LMX brushed it off as a joke, and he told FL to be a good person and to live for the good of others. LMX left and after pestering by FL, the grandfather agreed to let her out if she could train hard enough and lift the seal herself. After a while, she managed to do this and set off to see the world, clutching tightly to LMX’s advice to be good and live for the prosperity of the world.

Little that they know, when seal was struck by LMX and backfired, it was broken momentarily and the son of demon king managed to slip out. So all this while the son of demon king was wandering outside, becoming an outcast because he didnt know how to interact and communicate with others. Disciples of the Immortal Sect started to notice him hence captured him to be killed. On the day of the killing, with all other 10 immortal sects convening to commence the sentence, FL came flying and freed him, as she heard from the people that this kid had done nothing wrong besides of being the son of demon king. They fled together and FL named this kid the ML, as Mo Qing with nickname Little Monster because of the mark of the seal on his face . Being the naive girl that she was, FL decided to confront the LMX as she didnt believe he would order the execution of an innocent kid just because he was the son of demon king. LMX imprisoned and tortured FL to force her to reveal the whereabouts of ML, and when he was about to kill her, the grandfather appeared and whisked her free. He cast a spell to open a portal and tossed FL through, and as he did this, LMX killed him. This event marked the point where FL swore defiance against Immortal Sect, where she started her own sect called the Wanlu and fought with Immortal Sect whenever she could. With the title Demoness, she became the worst enemy the Immortal Sect has ever seen. She crashed LMX’s wedding and sealed him, but later died when she tried to obtain the Wanjun sword that was sealed by the Demon King. ML managed to get the sword, unsealed his powers, lost the mark, and he became the Wanlu Sect leader ever since. 5 years passed, FL was revived when Qin Zhiyan’s blood was splashed on her ice tomb. She awoke but realized she had Qin Zhiyan’s face instead. With a huge grudge for ML’s betrayal, FL agreed to help Qin Zhiyan seek revenge for her father’s death if Qin Zhiyan would help her get around Wanlu Sect as a disciple so she could find an opportunity to kill ML and retained her position as leader again. But as she spent time in the sect, she realized everything did not seem like what she believed anymore. At the same time, 2nd ML Jiang Wu appeared, who was actually a demon in the heart of the purest person the immortal sect Qin Qianxian that had materialized while Qin Qianxian was meditating in front of FL’s ice tomb. Jiang Wu wreaked havoc in Jiang Hu and the immortal sect and wanlu sect was forced to join hands to defeat him, which led to a series of events that would unveil the true colours of the Golden Diety that the immortal sects has revered for years.

Gosh that is super long summary. No wonder i was puzzled by the summary in dramalist and other sites, they didnt tell quite the exact story cuz they all started when FL already became notorious as demoness. This super long show took 30 episodes for the ML and FL to reconcile and 32 episodes for the misunderstanding between them to straighten out. OMG cant believe I stayed for that long. 😂

Anyway, i think this show is okay, it’s too long but okay enough to keep me watching. Better than Burning Flame that i watched prior to this one. But the theme is kinda the same. The immortal sect that was supposed to be good and uphold justice turned out to be the real demon, and the
bad, demonic sect that was ostracized all this while had been the good one.

I especially loved the way the story is strewn. There were goofy parts and there were serious parts. Love the goofy parts when FL was walking around the sect with Qin Zhiyan’s face and thought she was seducing ML, when in reality ML had seen through all her facade right from the beginning. The proposal scene is probably the sweetest yet the goofiest that I’ve seen on screen of all cdrama so far.

This is the first time that I saw Bai Lu, and I thought she has an uncanny resemblance to Li Qin. From her facial expressions, the way she portrays the arrogant Lu Zhaoyao, the way she acted as the mischievous and haughty Qin Zhiyan double, the way she dress, looked exactly like Li Qin’s characters in Princess Agents and The Song of Glory, so from start to finish i keep seeing Li Qin instead of the one named Bai Lu. Anyway, the actress executed this character well, love her domineering act as demoness and the cutesyness when she was impersonating Qin Zhiyan. She is really good playing different types of characters at one go.

I think the one playing ML was extremely handsome with a boyish look. But even with such boyish look, he managed to pull off the look of a strict and arrogant sect leader, and that look of evil as the demon was consuming him. He didnt get much dialogue at the beginning of the show, so I failed to feel the attraction between him and FL, but as the story unfolds, the attraction becomes strong and real really quick. He was really good at sad scenes too. I really like the blue hue of his hair. The red hair on Jiang Wu is brilliant too, it kinda gives off good-bad vibe on their characters ML and 2nd ML. Blue being good and red being bad.

I need to specially mention Qin Zhiyan as the 2nd FL, gosh at first i hated this character, so cowardly, always making silly mistakes bringing trouble to FL, very childish and weak too. But I guess this character was important to nurture FL into what she became towards the middle of the story, as this may be considered the first friend she ever had after ML. This character started to be useful when the Wanlu Sect almost broke apart with Jiang Wu’s intervention as she helped with the sect management. And the ending for her is truly unpredictable cuz I never imagined it to be as such. But she looked the part so I guess this 2nd FL character must have the biggest progress among all. She became wise, reasonable, and capable in the end.

I have not much memory of the music, i think they were good but not captivating enough.

I love the fighting scenes. Although the CGI in the last few episodes especially of ML in limbo is horrible and those zapping sounds when he was fighting the dragon only make it worse, the rest of the show is bearable and okay, definitely better than Burning Flames.

SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE !!!!!!
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When i was watching, i thought the editing isnt as bad as the chats have been mentioning, because I have seen worse edits than this, but when i reached episode 53, okay this show really topped it out of having the worst editing ever. How come everything got jumbled here and there and not streamlined? They really love to keep the audience confused and frustrated is it? The ending episode is the worst, although it shows they finally got together, the scenes are all haywire! One scene FL was all in white and reminiscing her memory while waiting for ML outside the sword tomb, looking all mature, soft and aloof, and the next where ML and FL were grinning and laughing while holding hands, walking down the street filled with people, in the attire they were in was what they wore years before. Omg is this a flashback or what!!! And the next scene was of a pair of their teenage kids reenacting the scene where supposedly the parents met. Omg yes this is the most unfulfilling ending I’ve ever seen. 😡

Edit: i was not satisfied with the ending, did not comprehend it at all, so I decided to read the novel. My gosh the novel’s ending was so damn perfect and even more exhilerating! Why the heck did the writers decided to change it into this abomination of all endings? Duhhhhh. So those who feel as i did about the series horrible ending, go read the novel instead.

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Weird Xianxia Universe

So in this BF universe, there are Immortal Realm, Mortal Realm and Demon Realm. There is no God or way of heaven like the usual xianxia because in this universe, instead of being the one maintaining order of the three realms, the Immortal Realm became the evil one with no one to constrain them, the demon realm is actually the good ones, theyre the original immortals who lost the immortal war back 100,000 years ago and were forced to live underground by King of Immortal. And the mortal realm is in chaos with people being enslaved to do the immortals bidding.

ML is Wu Geng, a prince of the Xin kingdom in the mortal realm. His father is King of Xin, and the story opened up to him declaring war with the immortals and fight for freedom for the mortal realm. He was very strong and gifted and he was beating the immortal army to pulp, which forced the Immortal King out of his seclusion to fight him head on. You see it was supposed to be a big deal if u can get the king of immortal to come down to the mortal world as in a sense his henchmen should be fighting it off first. So you should get an idea how powerful King of Xin was. Although King of Xin had forged a bond with the Undying bird, an ancient divine spirit, it was still not enough so of course the Immortal King won and King Xin died. Empress of Xin brought ML to the palace tower for their last stand but in the end decided to kill both his son and herself when the immortal high priestess Xinyue Kui arrived to the tower.

Wu Geng, however, had his soul transported into A Gou, a dumb orphan of Xin Kingdom. Apparently, A Gou was a wisp of Wu Geng’s primordial spirit which the Empress had casted upon his birth into the mortal world as backup for this event that she foresaw coming. The Empress, whose name was Xinyue Hu sister of current immortal high priestess, was actually a priest of the immortal realm before she defected to the mortal realm when she fell in love with Wu Geng’s father. And so began Wu Geng’s new life as A Gou where he lived in a hut with FL - Bai Cai, and 4 other ophaned kids.

After the fall of Xin Kingdom, Bai Kingdom took over as they were in cahoots with the immortals. Under the Bai Kingdom reign, all able bodied adults are enslaved into mining bloodstones for the immortals. Bai Cai and A Gou were taken to Northern Mountain mine and stayed there for a few years before A Gou led an escape and start his journey of leading the league of anti-immortal army across the three realms. The objective was to defeat King of Immortal Realm - Hei Long, and set those who had been oppressed by the Immortal realm free of slavery and oppression.

The concept on this show took some time to sink in. Instead of the immortals usually being the ones sacrificing themselves to maintain order of three realms, they became the source of chaos instead. There was no entity that can keep them in check and the world was left in chaos for more than 100,000 years since Hei Long won the Immortal war. The demon realm was the remnants of the immortals who lost the immortal war and most of them were good, and the immortal realm was actually filled with new immortals that Hei Long had created to do his bidding, so most were evil and brutal.

The CGI was truly horrible for a 2024 production, and how they introduce skills used by the experts were so comical - with big caption of the name of the skill running across the screen. It reminds me of those shows back in the 90s.

I first saw Ren Jia Lun in The Blue Whisper, so thought this show hadnt exploited his talents to the max as they did with TBW. His character here is too one dimensional. Even as a prince he was still upright, although quite arrogant and brash, but the good trait was still similar to what he carried on as A Gou. This prince only lasted for 2 episodes so there’s not much depth of his character as Prince Wu Geng of the reigning Xin Kingdom.

The FL, Bai Cai, is one hell of an annoying character. So clingy always calling my a gou here my a gou there. The only thing she’s good for was for her healing ability. And I also don’t get the ancient divine soul thing. How come she becomes evil once this soul is awakened? It’s weird cuz divine power shouldve been good and just cuz theyre supposed to be the thing that keeps the world in order but here, everything that relates to immortality and divinity seem to be bad and evil. The universe here was so weird.

I truly pity Xinyue Kui. She was supposed to be the closest one to King of Immortal, the supreme high priestess that governs the three realms on his behalf, but she always gets her butt kicked all over by mortals, immortals and demons alike 😂😂 whats even more pathetic was that all the evil things she did to protect the reign of King of Immortal was due to her crush on him only to find out that all the things that the king did for the past 100,000 years was because to revive his loved one 😂 Gosh that is so lame.

2nd FL, A Lan is an immortal from Shenyin clan that turned their back upon King of Immortal’s reign after the war. She tries hard to fulfill the high priest of shen yin clan’s last wish that is to protect Wu Geng at all cost. The shen yin high Priest is Wu Geng’s grandfather, and father of Xinyue Kui and Xinyue Hu. He was the immortal clan’s high priest before being toppled out of his position by his own eldest daughter. I first saw Zhu Xu Dan in Fateful Love and i see her performance here hasnt improved at all. Still beautiful and yet still as wooden as ever.😂

The good thing about this show is that there was no love tug of war between the 3 women who fell in love with ML. A Lan knew ML and FL was in love with each other and she maintained her distance as a friend to both instead. The third love interest was not even worth to mention because she was like a teenage kid who just had a crush for the first time. She also got killed off quite quickly after being introduced (within a few episodes). so because everyone acts amicably, there was no tricks and jealousy drama to win ML’s heart between the women. FL also fully put her trust on ML and never wavered come what may.

The battle scenes are horrendous and hard to watch, both the first battle with Xin King and the final battle on immortal island. The CGI was bad in the first, and the manpower was laughable in the final. It’s like they came to wage war in the immortal island with less than 50 footsoldiers. 😂 gosh what a joke. Really tell you theyre on a super tight budget.

For me personally, i think Burning Flames belong to the same category as Ancient Love Poetry, the category where I had been duped by the reviews to think that theyre good. 😂 but yeah at least Burning Flame had a good enough plot to keep me watching to the end compared to ALP which i dropped after 5 torturous episodes.

SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE…….

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In this show, the ML’s skills are vastly acquired by other people giving him their cultivation years or skill. I dont know, i still think as a half immortal, ML is still too dang weak to take on the king of immortal who had reigned for 100,000 years. Even at the final battle i didnt think it’s logical even in xianxia terms. All the skills and strength he acquired was from people of the recent 2-3 generations, except for the remnant power from Sea spirit ancestor who of course was much weaker even at his prime compared King of Immortal - thats why the sea spirit ancestor ended up dead in tue immortal war.

There was no special skill from ancient people at all. Then how come he was able to win against an entity who had cultivated since over 100,000 years ago? How come he won just by using Nitian Erxing’s last breath? Nitian Erxing isnt ancient. He’s of the same generation with ML even. Although he’s the grand marshall of the demon realm and the descendant of ancient immortal, he’s a far cry from a notable ancient figure compared to king of immortal. I would understand if the ML came across really ancient power while he was gaining his skill and strength to fight King of Immortal. I could even understand if he was granted a power by a supreme being after he got pummelled to death by King of Immortal. I could also understand if somehow all the sages came together and supported him at the last minute so they somehow won over the king, but really none of that happened. So the result of the final battle is baffling to me.

I’m puzzled at the last episode too. FL is just a mere mortal, so how come she gets to be revived back after she was killed compared to other demons and immortals with higher cultivation than hers? For example A Lan. It’s puzzling even in xianxia concept of rebirth and reincarnation.

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Great show with promising storyline

This is the second show i saw with Dylan Wang, the first had been Evernight, which he didnt disappoint. Despite the criticism that I read for his role in Evernight, i thought he did a good job in accordance to the novel.

The show is about ML who got immersed in a game that he was playing with his friends in modern time. When he started playing, he went right into the game, playing the ML Xu Qi An, a somewhat low rank policeman in Dafeng. He rose through the rank and martial skills as he met with numerous significant people along the way, captivating them with his poetry, investigative skill and no nonsense persona.

I must say this ML is quite a character. I especially love his handphone-like gadget (complete with earbud 😂) when he got involved in the heavenly-something guild. I particularly love the relationship he had with his family, which didnt sound good before but improved after he got into the game. Love how they built his working relationships too, progressing from hateful superiors to loyal ones who would jump in to save him in a blink of an eye.

I didnt really want to mention FL much cuz i thought that her character was absolutely unnecessary. Had she not have that relationship with Princess Pingyang, which provided somewhat backstory information for ML’s investigation, she really doesnt function at all. The romance is totally negligible and unnecessary cuz this show is more to investigative/martial/comedy type. I feel squat spark between them, nada,zero. Honestly speaking, i thought ML has so much stronger chemistry with Cai Wei and consort of Zhenbei, even Princess Huaiqing! Whenever ML and FL got on screen, all i see is sibling vibe rather than a couple. And because FL’s character is so damn annoying in the earlier episodes, i ended up fast forwarding her scenes later on. Although this character progressed for the better towards the end after she discovered the true fate of her best friend Princess Pingyang, i still fastforward all scenes with her especially the romantic ones.

Other supporting characters are all great. All costumes are so nice, the uniforms/armours are smart and cool, and the female costumes are apt and not too flamboyant.

What did i dislike about this show? Well some of the comedic scenes are just over the top and extra. The final showdown was too short and i believe since they plan for season 2 (based on the post credit scene), the cliffhanger is somewhat a downer.

Although this show come close to Joy of Life vibe, it still falls short of it. Still a good show though, and i especially love ML’s powers and upgrades here. Overall it’s an enjoyable show and i hope season 2 wont take 4-5 years like JoL 😭 anyway, im off to read the novel since the series provided no proper ending.

Edit: ive just reached the arc where Xu Qi An beheaded the traitors Que and Cao in the novel, and as expected, novel Xu Qi An isnt as stupid as the series Xu Qi An who easily got duped by the second princess posing as Imperial Princess. Thats the one flaw of the series that doesnt compute with Xu Qi An’s intelligence. It’s impossible that he cannot deduce that Second Princess was an impostor with that many tell-tales shown. Even before reading the novel, I’ve felt that production somehow dumbed down Xu Qi An with that Second Princess. Glad i dont have to read so much of Second Princess in the novel. They shouldnt have changed this character and made her the FL. What a pointless character. Btw I liked the book’s version better than the adaptation cuz there was no memory erasing of Xu Qi An on the population at all. Everyone remembered him as a hero and the despicable Emperor was forced by his ministers to issue self reproach which exonerates Official Zheng and Xu Qi An of any wrongdoing. Wow what a satisfaction to read that part in the novel. I wonder why didnt the show follow the same line. Why make everyone forget XQA? Just for the sake of cliffhanger?

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Good storyline, Amazing Chemistry, Satisfying Ending

Gangster boy ML turned his life into an interesting one when he followed his mom’s footsteps to become a lawyer. He made his living with conniving methods of helping out his gangster kingpin uncle to work around the law, up to tricking a policeman to catch him red handed asking for bribe, has earned a luxurious life with quite a reputation in the lawyer community. While FL, a hot-headed lawyer got suspended after she beat the crap out of the judge who sentenced her client unjustly for killing her wife beating stalker husband. They end up working together in ML’s Lawless Law Firm taking uncanny types of clients.

Good start for the first episode, and it got me hooked. The following episodes revealed a much sinister plot that revolve around the life of ML, FL and the most revered person in the city - Judge Cha.

The screenwriters did a superb job in laying out the storyline and mysteries, then have the main leads unravel one secret after another in the courtroom. Both main characters spare no effort if they need to use force while chasing the leads to free their clients.

Although I was impressed by FL’s resort to brute force in Episode 1, the following ones become a downer before they never show her in action anymore. All the fightings are done by ML and his stooges. Although it is undeniable that theyre pretty good ones. Every episodes kept me on the edge of my seat, anticipating ML’s next unconventional move.

I hope they make season 2. Would really like to see the Lawless Law Firm in action again.

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