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Don’t Mess with the Nerds.

If most parents would want their kids to be the top scorer in their school, Yun Gamin’s mom is satisfied enough if her son could graduate safely even if he’s at the bottom. Yun Gamin had always been the permanent resident of the bottom 5 in all the schools he attended so far, and although his future seems bleak, he decides to enrol into Yusung Technical High School as his last resort to enter college through special admittance lane. He diligently try to recruit students to join his study group to improve his exam score, and finally manages to gather four seemingly hopeless kids through blood and sweat. But then he faces yet another stumbling block, Yusung’s #1 student, son of a feared chaebol in the district, Pi Hanul would not let any of those kids to study and would try every means necessary to tear them apart even if it means to kill.

I was so excited to see Seo Yul from Alchemy of Soul playing the ML here. His looks is as gentle and harmless looking like he did in AoS, and fits the nerdy Yun Gamin perfectly well. Yun Gamin looks like a super nerdy loser just waiting to be bullied with his big ass glasses of his, but this character packed some serious punches once provoked. Little that people know, ML spends every morning training martial art. Although his physique fits more for an athlete instead of a nerd, he was adamant on studying instead, despite always occupying the bottom 5, because he felt a kind of fullfilment when he manages to answer questions right, no matter how low his overall score turned out to be. It’s an attitude that every parent would dream of to have in their kids, diligence and perseverence.

I really liked how the writer string in each kid into ML’s study group through such uncanny encounters and circumstances. Each character is very different from each other, although they all do share the same goal, which is to study for college and that they would not give in to the gangster’s pressure to quit. A special note on the one who played Pi Hanul, he looked exactly like chinese actor Ding Yuxi, it’s like seeing a younger version of him.

It is rather sad to see how the adults failed these children though. I am not sure if this is the reality in Korea, but for adults to enable this fear of school while promoting hopelessness is the absolute violation of kids’ rights for education. These enabler kids, parents and teachers really needed some ample slaps from Teach You a Lesson’s Inspector Na Hwajin.

That aside, watching the show also made me feel like I was watching a superhero show, cuz these kids fight like they have superpowers - smashing thick windows and sliding doors, crashing through walls, kicking through reinforced locked doors and jumping off high floors. Even broken/dislocated knee could not stop the ML from teaching those bullies (that look more like criminals than students) a lesson. I love it each time Uncle’s Ultimate Move makes its debut. No matter how outworldly unrealitistic the fights looked, i thoroughly enjoyed myself cuz the satisfaction of seeing the villains bleed and knocked out is very fullfilling.

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Real Adult Protects Children

Kim Deuk Pal, #2 man of Chulsang Gang encounters a suicidal teen trying to jump off the overpass during his drive back from meeting the boss. As he rushed towards the boy to save him, his soul is somehow transfered into the boy’s body, Song Yiheon, before Kim’s own body is run over by a truck. Waking up as Song Yiheon, he had no choice but to live his life while prepping the surrounding for Song’s soul’s return. Kim Deuk Pal managed to keep himself busy juggling between taking care of Song’s highly medicated depressed mom, getting rid of Song father’s secretary cum mistress who is hell-bent on taking over the legal wife position, fighting off bullies at school, making friends with Song’s classmates, all while studying hard for the college entrance exam.

I honestly started this show with a low bar because I don’t really like teenage soul swap fantasy genres. Surprisingly, this show turned out to be extremely well-written with fast paced and engaging plot. I couldnt stop myself from hitting the next episode button, so it took me less than 10hours to binge this.

First off I wanted to say that the actor Lee Seo Jin for the middle-age Kim Deuk Pal is extremely handsome and looked really good for his age. I really love his charisma as the righteous gangster challenging himself by taking the college entrance exam as the middle-age gangster boss even before his soul transference. And second, I truly commend Yoon Chan Young for being able to imitate the original Kim Deuk Pal’s character into his teenage Song Yiheon’s role. The way he successfully portrayed the outcast teenager and the domineering #2 gangster boss was very convincing. He also managed to act out a rather wide range of emotions for this dual role, and I am thoroughly impressed.

I love how the story came out to be more about friendship, loyalty, growth, and redemption with the emphasis of the role of an adult instead of pure violence. I love how the middle-age Kim tried real hard to keep the kids in school and studying, and how he protected them from missing classes even at the risk of himself being detained into juvie. The way he carried himself is exactly how a real adult shouldve acted for children. There are many character growth here, especially on Choi Sekyung and Hong Jaemin, although they did whip up a reality check scenario with the other goon highschooler who wouldnt admit their wrongs, because there are people like that in the real world.

The last episode made me cry buckets until i came to the ending, which was actually a happy ending. Glad for that.

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The Power of the Slap

This is like watching Taxi Driver operating in schools. Again, the protagonist is an ex special force who is on the road of seeking closure after the loss of a loved one. Na Hwajin lost his fiance in a stabbing at school which left him devastated. Two years later, he made an appearance as the Educational Rights Protection Bureau (ERPB) inspector who goes to schools to investigate bullying cases, the first one being the death of a schoolboy.

I am always a sucker at revenge drama especially when it involves physical fights so it is truly satisfying to see how the ML teaches school bullies - be it the student, teacher or even parents - into admitting their faults and actually paying for it in a justified manner instead of just a slap on the wrists. In his case, he carries out the slap right across the face, multiple times! And the cherry on top is the ML looked exactly like John Cena the wrestler minus bulky body with oversized muscles. 😆 No wonder he looked so dang familiar in the first episode although i am pretty sure this is the first show i ever saw of him. Took me quite a while to finally pinpoint the resemblence.

I truly commend the whole cast here. Every single one performed to their fullest regardless how small their role is. The antagonists, the protagonists, the victims, the perpetrators, you name it, I just couldnt find a flaw at all. The bullied primary school teacher did exceptionally well especially with the supposedly facial tics she suffered due to stress from the bullying by a student’s parent. It must have been hard to do the tics to look so natural whenever she’s agitated.

Although most of the scenes look very far-fetched in the real world, like how the inspectors could survive a 4-storey fall like they’re robots, it didnt stop me from cheering the ERPB at every turn. The awkward other members of ERPB only made the show even more fun to watch, the nerdy deputy director Bong and the eccentric borderline crazy Inspector Im. This is an extremely satisfying watch as the evil ones never go scot free despite being minors. I am looking forward to season 2.

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Best Friends Forever Vibe, with a Race of Who Dies the Most Efficient between Lovers.

I don’t usually watch xuanhuan genre cuz I am usually too lazy to try understand different worlds with different power systems, but somehow I just had the urge to try on this one because I saw that the ML is going to be in the upcoming Ashes to Crown, which novel I liked, so i wanted to see his work beforehand. This is the first time that i saw him anyway.

The story takes place in the middle part of Donghua’s Soul Land - the journey of Tang San, a soul master with dual martial soul, with his group of 6 other friends that he befriended in Shrek Academy. Upon graduation in the first episode, they parted ways with a promise to reunite 5 years later. The story tells about their power growth journey, about how they overcame various challenges as Martial Soul Hall sees them as a threat after defeating the Martial Soul Hall team in the Soul Arena, Especially for Tang San, whose beloved is 10,000yo Soul Beast, who had transformed into a human Xiao Wu, coveted by the Martial Soul Hall Supreme Chief Bibi Dong to advance in her cultivation in her attempt to rule the Duoluo Continent.

Honestly the plot is quite interesting with amazing powers that we could only dream of having. Tang San is the usual zero-to-hero focal point of the show, having to get the best of luck of encountering great treasures, personas and powers that helped him to advance in his cultivation. Despite being a soul master of the control branch, he is indeed the best fighter in the team surpassing Storm Attack branch Dai Mubai whom shouldve been the best of the best in fights, or the keen attack branch Zhu Zhuqing. Of course he is, he is the hero! Anyway, I love the CGI they did not look cheap at all. I’ve always loved Tang San’s spider claws in the Donghua and they really did it well here. They closely follow the donghua, some parts even have identical dialogues. I am impressed. Totally love all the action sequences, especially when it is Tang San doing the fighting.

The ML looks ordinary here, i sometimes confuse him with another character in the first few episodes. 🤣 i can’t bring myself to like Xiao Wu although I love the actress’ face. She’s so dang beautiful! I just couldnt like Xiao Wu cuz 1, she’s too whiny acting cutesy in donghua and in liveaction, 2, the character always try to look tough but usually gets injured the most in the Shrek 7’s soul fights in the donghua. Although in the liveaction the character actually execute some powerful fights after she became Tang San’s soul ring, the weakly and whiny act of the resurrected Xiao Wu just put me off each time she comes on. And 3, I can’t feel the chemistry between Tang San and Xiao Wu, in donghua and in the adaptation cuz i keep seeing them as brother and sister instead of a couple (that is how they started off in the donghua anyway) so I utilized the fastforward button each time their lovey dovey scenes came on. Too bad cuz I really liked the actress. You can say the only thing that keeps my interest on Soul Land is Tang San’s personal growth journey.

The wardrobe department needed some improvement in creativity though, some of the girls’ clothing are so tacky. The only one that had nice wardrobe was Qian Renxue. Although, as tacky as they looked, theyre definitely way better than the skimpy scraps the girl characters don in the donghua. And i can’t help but notice that some of the characters didnt do the donghua characters enough justice. Like Dean Flander, how did he become a scholar when he looks like a rouge soldier in the donghua? Honestly I think General Ge Long actually looks the closest to Donghua’s Flander with his big frame and face and I was imagining Vengo Gao as Yu Xiaogang. Anyway moving on, it is also very tiring to see how they had to display each of our seven leads’ reactions during each moment of shock or surprise. I mean, cant they share a frame instead of showing 7 reactions one frame for each character in each occasion? I roll my eyes each time they do this, cuz it took so long to finish all 7 reactions! Gosh! That little race between lovers trying to do their best to thoroughly die for their other half is touching in the first few times but becomes comical when they keep repeating the same thing over and over again. It’s like “so you think you can die for me? Hey look at this, I can die better than you, you’d go through hell on earth trying to resurrect me” kind of competition. Hilarious when you see it enough time on screen. But hey, that’s xuanhuan/xianxia for you, dying isnt the end of the story. 😆 though seeing this kind of trope every few episodes eventually tend to feel too over the top.

And I totally did not expect to see Liu Yuning making a guest appearance here!

The soundtrack is great though. It’s packed with catchy songs and bgm, some even stuck in my head i cant help but hum along.

I have seen better work, but this show isnt a waste of my time either. It’s an all right kind of show, not quite impressive but not too forgettable too.

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Catch Me If You Can

The notoriously heartless Grim Reaper 444 who had always prided himself for being a trueblood born Grim Reaper than the rest of the Grims who had been once humans, found himself in a pickle when the ex-human partner he had wanted to change by having him caught doing a bad job at collecting soul bailed on him in the mortal world. Forced to hunt down his partner before the Underworld enforcers come to get him for being an accomplice, 444 takes over the body of Detective Han Moogang who died after being shot in the head. As Han Moogang, 444 realized that a girl who could see grim reapers, Kang Ha Ram, is deeply into him as she thought Han Moogang had been her childhood crush, Kim Joon, back in Moojin the town where she grew up. Thus he decides to use Kang Ha Ram’s monkey love to make her identify the body that is taken over by his partner.

The show had a rather solid starting point, with the funny and mysterious Grim Reapers, the hectic and cooky Han Moogang Violent Crime team, and the mystery of Moojin Times Mall destruction that claimed hundreds of lives, seemingly intertwined with each other. The plot twists were really mindblowing especially that part with Han Moogang’s and Kim Joon’s past. Totally unexpected! They managed to hook me onto the show despite me not fancying neither main roles.

It really bugs me how frequent people are screaming and yelling at each other in this show. I hated this part in kdramas hence why i rarely choose to watch them. They seem to be constantly on anger management crises, as if there’s a great prize for those who could scream and cuss the loudest. Anyway, i didnt like 444 because he’s one of those characters who scream and yell whenever he wants. As for Kang Ha Ram, it is beyond me why would she fall for this foul-mouthed and abusive 444 as Han Moogang who constantly looks down on humans, even after she realized he was not the gentle and optimistic Kim Joon whom she had known since childhood. Rolled my eyes when she said she liked Han Moogang for who he was and not because of Kim Joon. Like for real girl? This guy screams and pushes you around like a mad dog since the past few weeks, and you fell for the few gestures where he protected you cuz he wanted to use your eyes? Good lord, this woman is hopeless. Other than being hopelessly in love with first Kim Joon and now Han Moogang, she also had the tendency to run into danger when she herself knows nothing on how to protect herself. She keeps getting saved by either Oh Mansoo or Han Moogang repeatedly.

I liked Han Moogang’s Violent Crime squad though. They were the outcasts, constantly being looked down upon as they existed as a spare team. The captain, Bong keeps getting sidelined from promotion, Na Gwangyung has anger management issues and renowned throughout the force with the nickname Mad Dog who never lets go once he (literally) bites, Oh Sotae with bladder issues who keeps taking a leak whenever he could, Park Gwinam with his hand tremor, and lastly Han Moogang who keeps throwing up whenever they got a corpse as a case. Their interactions always cracks me up. The same goes with 444’s Grim Reaper friends 007 with his stoic Joseon era straightface with an obsession for kdramas, and 416 who raps all through his conversations. Dang I love those two. It’s funny the ones that was keeping me on this show had been the supporting roles cuz I couldnt seem to like the main roles, especially when they started to hook up. I honestly ship Kang Ha Ran with Oh Mansoo more than 444. Gosh I FF everytime theyre together doing what couples do. Thank god there were not many of such scenes.

The ending is botched up real bad it created a crater in the plot. Just as I was happy that the ending didnt seem as bad as I thought, they just had to add up that 5 min useless clip of a crater that made quite a black hole to an already acceptable ending. The screenwriter must be seething when the director made that veto decision and filled in his stupid ending.

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Snail Paced Plot

The Junior King of Nanchen, Zhousheng Chen has been in the battlefield since he was 14yo with zero defeat, which earned him a revered reputation throughout the kingdom. When Zhousheng Chen’s elder brother, the emperor, died and empress dowager Gao tried to usurp the throne, he came to the rescue just in time to quell the coup-de-tat, and pledged allegience to his 6yo nephew, with Empress Dowager Qi rising to power. Meanwhile a 14yo Cui Shiyi of the reknowned scholar lineage Cui clan of Qinghe, the supposedly bethrothed crown princess is denied the position as empress by empress dowager Qi, and instead she pushed another prince, Liu Zixing, to step in as the little emperor’s study partner while promising the crown prince position upon him reaching 20yo. Thus to diffuse the Cuis clan’s anger at being sidelined, Cui Shiyi is to take Zhousheng Chen as her teacher, sealing the relationship with the royals before she weds the crown prince later. Having spent significant time in the King of Nanchen palace, Cui Shiyi developed affection for Zhousheng Chen, while Liu Zixing plots in the background to take what he believed rightful to him, a plot that would eventually turn the realm upside down in turmoil.

I seriously think the tag of “slowburn romance” to be misleading, because not only does the romance is slowburn, the whole freaking plot also developed as slow as a snail!

I generally could care less about romance, problem here is the show seem to spend so much time trying to push the mainleads’ idea of attraction for each other and simply dumps the plot’s pacing into the drain. When the plot is put on hold to make way for romance buildup, and yet the romance aint romancing, the show comes off boring and empty instead. If not for Forever and Ever (the modern setting of the novel, which is where the main plot actually is), i honestly wouldve dropped this show before i reach Ep10. The plot only picks up at Episode 18-24, so I’m quite relieved that I stayed on with the loyal company of FF button and 2.0 playback speed.

What’s disappointing is that 18 episodes were used up to build the romance, and yet here I am failing to see or feel the spark. No juice. Dead batteries. Nada. I didnt get any emotional connection for the rest of the characters too - the Cui clan, 10 Zhousheng Chen’s disciple, etc. The first 18 episodes were so bland I couldnt wait to jump straight to the end. I’m glad I didnt though, cuz the plot went into overdrive at Episode 18 onwards.

All the emotion tuggings happened from then on, with the peak happening when Cui Wenjin (Shiyi’s mom) finally managed to see her precious daughter held in the palace. Yep all those characters dying didnt manage to get a reaction from me, until Shiyi met her mom who broke the news. Man, Bai Lu could really cry. Eventhough I didnt feel any chemistry between her and Ren Jialun’s character, i teared up seeing her take the news. She’s really good at this! I liked Shiyi when she was in the palace because that’s when her character took real control and shine, compared to the previous 16 episodes where her character looked bland and one dimensional.

Ren Jialun is great here, he really did pull off the great general role, someone who is too strong with unbendable upright stance that rulers keep seeing him as a threat, so much so he had to take the high road and step away, vowing never to marry and have children so the emperor would be at ease and stop being wary of him. But human being humans, even eunuchs have desire, let alone a powerful man with no physical disability. He could not help but fall for his student, though he is upright enough as not to act according to his feelings and risk turning the world upside down.

A special mention for Wang Xingyue whom I first saw in The Double (which I didnt like) and The Wanted Detective (which I dropped). This time, his performance awed me, and to think that he was a newcomer here at only 19years of age, i am thoroughly impressed. He’s very good at portraying the spare part and later almost discarded prince Liu Zixing. Not only he had to endure emotional and physical torture from the empress dowager growing up as the little emperor’s study companion, he was also slowly poisoned by the same vile woman to make sure he would never become a threat to the throne. The last straw is of course when the emperor was about to have a baby that would mean Liu could kiss his crown prince position good bye. Not only would he lose his promised position and a chance at the throne, he would also lose his bethrothed Cui Shiyi whom he had admired ever since the little emperor promised him of this crown princess. His sadness, angst and regret was remarkably portrayed by Wang Xingyue without flaw. What a talent for such a young man.

I love the addition of Prince of Fengyang, although this character seem pointless (and never even mentioned in the novel), he turned out to be the pivotal role who keeps the Nanchen army whole, especially when their general is gone.

Basically if youre a romance lover, i reckon this would get into your good book. As for me whose interest lies mainly in action/wuxia, it’s pure torture to finish this, and the show only managed to reel in my interest in the last quarter. For the third time, yes I am glad I stayed on long enough to reach Episode 18 where the action really starts, but to say I enjoyed this? Naaahhhh no way. If not for the novel that caught my attention and my curiosity to see how the production expand the little plot of Shiyi’s memory of her previous life, I wouldve dropped this so fast I wouldnt even bother writing a review.

Honestly i hope the sequel would give a different vibe and proper closure to main couple as per the novel.

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What it Takes to Become A Great General

The Kingdom sequels keep getting better and better with each release. This 4th installment is really hard to move on from because Osawa Takao’s Great General Ohki made such a huge impact to the whole scene. It’s hard to believe that I used to rather despise this character in Kingdom 1 because of his attitude but with each installment I grew fonder of him and his antics even more than the ML Xin himself! I cried so hard at the end of this movie and couldnt move on for quite some time. I totally love Osawa’s acting here, he successfully made the character to be majestic and lastingly memorable. The final battle was so intense that it kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time. In fact, none of the action scenes and battles in Kingdom ever disappoint anyway, but the final one made such a huge crater that is hard to forget.

I am so rooting for Xin and his fellow friends to make their come back in Kingdom 5. I am sad that I won’t be seeing Ohki though 😔

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Gotta be a Bigger Monster to Bring Down the Monster.

When all his hope and life was sucked away as he fell from the top of the building after being forcefully injected with drugs, Kim Hui Wu, a rising prosecutor on a fiery trail to bring down a notorious politician, suddenly realizes he is back at the top of the building, all beaten and bloody with the Grim Reaper by his side. Grim Reaper offers a deal of restarting his life again if he would do all he could to bring down Assemblyman Jo Taeseop, the one who had caused his death. Kim agrees and goes back to live his life as an 18yo, with a determination to change the fate of the people around him from falling into Jo’s scheming while building an ironclad strategy to take him down as he takes the stride again as a prosecutor.

I am not sure if the reality of Korean Prosecution Service is the same as depicted in their kdramas, but i realized many of them seem to be portrayed as relentless and strong with martial prowess, which seem pretty outworldly impressive. The one who played Kim Huiwu had tonnes of action scenes that are only fit for a martial artist. He’s kinda okay for the role but i thought he looked too femininely handsome.

The premise of this show is somewhat interesting, but I just didnt get the feel of it, it felt empty with no emotional depth. I find Huiwu’s parents characters to be overly done and desperate to look comical, especially the dad. They also failed to bring out the flair of Jo’s assassin, rather he looked ridiculous with no muscle and built but yet portrayed to be indestructible, packing Ma Dongseok-like punches and moves.I almost thought he was an android or even the angel of death but apprently he was just a normal human being. I am just not convinced.

I love the friends he has around him though, Kim Huiah, Kim Hanmi, Kim Gyuri, Park Sangman, Wu Yongsu, Investigator Oh, etc etc. Though it beats me why the heck would they come up with so many characters with Kim as the surname. I keep getting them mixed up and had a hard time keeping up with the plot all because of the Kims strewn all over.

Although the plot seem shallow and too straightforward, i like the plot twists and the action scenes. Theyre pretty good ones, the only things that keep me on the show. There’s no romance if youre curious, just schemes and action thrown together in several twists. All in all, it’s an okay show to fill in your free time.

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Quite the Unusual Masterpiece Plot

Naksu, a shadow assassin feared by all in Daeho, found herself caught in a fight with Songrim mages that she could not extricate herself from. Left with no choice, she cast the forbidden sorcery of Alchemy of Souls while on the run, where she transfered her soul from her battered, dying body to another living person. When she finally came to, she found herself in the body of a blind girl on the way to be sold to a brothel, Mu-deok. Although her vision is now good, her escape attempt still failed as she posseses none of her past ability and skill as Naksu, and instead trapped in the body of an extremely weak girl. Jang Uk, one of the heir of a prominent family in Daeho, noticed that Mu-deok is a soul shifter, and hearing that Naksu had been captured dead after a failed casting of soul switching sorcery, he makes a bet that Mu-deok is Naksu after seeing the soul shifter sign in her eyes. He buys her off the brothel and made her his maid, and after several incidents, manage to make Mu-deok admit who she really was and agree to a deal of becoming his master in return for him to help her to retrieve her original powers. Thus began Jang Uk’s journey from being a useless young man born under the King’s star, whom no one dared to teach due to his father’s order, to a person that would save all of Daeho, after being under the tutelage of Naksu the feared evil assassin.

At first, I thought this is a typical reborn assassin female centric story as I saw Naksu’s overpowered performance in the opening scene, but it turned out to be zero-to-hero male centric kind. I had a hard time accepting Jang Uk as the ML due to his sharp, mischievous look with bratty character, and at some point i actually prefered the SML Seo Yul for his extremely green flag character plus gentle, sweet looking face. But Jang Uk kinda grew into me as he matured up into a responsible young man.

Jang Uk, Seo Yul and Park Danggu are the trio that one could never really prefer one from another, they kind of complement each other. Seo Yul is the extreme righteous one who would torture himself when he could do nothing to a wrong in his eyes, Jang Uk is the mischievous-often-misunderstood one who would wreak chaos just to be noticed, while Park Danggu is the balance between them, the one who is bratty enough to stand side by side with Jang Uk but with a mind sound enough to be resonate with Seo Yul, practically the balance between them all. Even with such contrasting characters, they would still stand by each other with complete trust.

I love what they did with the Crown Prince, a grey character that could turn red and green flag in a blink of an eye in accordance to situations that could benefit himself without sacrificing much conscience.

And Mu-deok is one of the most eye-catchy character of all. I love the accent she speaks with, which reminds me of a dielect in my country, though different language, the way of speaking sounded quite the same. Mu-deok is the accidental maid with conflicting assassin instinct. Realizing she had none of her powers that used to allow her reign above all, she had to resort to autracious acts that she wouldve never done before, doing housechores to serve masters and sucking up or giving in to people of higher status just to survive the day. Her private banters with her pupil is fun to watch, but when the going gets tough, she turned into the devilish Naksu that found humanity in the end.

I totally love the comic relief of the love triangle between the serious but rather slow-witted Park Jin leader of Songrim, the gentle motherlike Maidservant Kim and the chaste and reserved Master Lee.

Totally love the fight chroreograph here. They look fierce and forceful, especially when there is spells involved, and the CGI didnt look comical at all. What I like the most is that not every stab slash pound and flog would make the receivers to vomit blood, whish i see prevalent in most ancient shows.

The story ended with a rather cliffhanger but I dont mind as I didnt have to wait for the next production to release, cuz I watch this waaaay after the hype has ended. Now off I go to season 2. Toodledoo.

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Showering Chang’an with Fire and Blood

Witnessing the slaughter of his whole family, Xie Huai’an is forced to fend for himself since 10years old, moving from place to place to evade his enemies the Hubei Army with a little sister in tow and losing her later, until he came upon the remote land of Huainan where he decided to be his home. Working quietly as a small registrar, he knew he had only two ways to live, to stay in remote place such as Huainan or head to the capital to become a court official. Opportunity finally came when the son of the previous emperor (elder brother of current emperor) marched forward and captured the capital. Hearing the survival of Lie Clan Xie Huai’an, the new emperor summoned him to the capital and appointed him as his sword, to hunt down Yan Fengshan, the commander of Hubei Army and most influencial court official, which aligned with Huai’an’s mission for revenge. He gladly accepted and thus began his journey of vengeance only to find himself embroiled with a much bigger struggle than his vendetta.

Tong Mengshi who played Ye Zheng was the one that led me to this show, to my surprise it’s another of Cheng Yi’s work that I have been meaning to watch since last year and had forgotten. Tong mengshi was awesome here! I missed Joy of Life’s Wuzhu, so it’s great to see him again with a main role and real dialogues than mere robotic phrases spoken. He was very good here, acting and action-wise. His fights were fierce and forceful, and of course bloody too. And man it is such a satisfaction to see Su Changlin being taken down by Xiao Wangyu, he was such a snob after hurting Ye Zheng so badly and for using Ye Zheng’s shimei, the arrogance was a real pain to watch!

Cheng Yi has gone back up again in my rating after his flop in The Journey of Legend. Yeah I am now convinced that he fits more with roles that doesnt need romance to prop his character. And his crying here is done remarkably well compared to TJoL. Although his character Xie Huai’an is more scholarly with no martial prowess whose moves rely more on strategy than brawn, he definitely doesnt shy away from physical fights. The ruthless stabbings, whether he as inflictor or receiver, are heinously brutal. Sometimes I forget that Xie Huai’an doesnt know any martial art, cuz he doesn’t rely much on his more athletic sword-wielding friends. He makes use of the surrounding people and situations well, and he definitely doesn’t need anyone to come rescue him. This character is someone that can be thrown into a river of fire (literally) and the next moment you blinked he’s already crawling out of it somewhere in the distance where you least expected it. That is why even the King of Tiemo sees him as his biggest threat, even bigger than the invincible Yan Fengshan or the current emperor Xiao Wangyu.

The sad scenes here are considerably touching and heartfelt. It was heartbreaking when Bai Wan was recounting her earliest memories of her brother when they were on the run, while the rest of the people who listened actually knew who her brother was and where he was located, exactly next to her! But nobody said anything, as Xie Huai’an is adamant that her sister won’t be dragged into his revenge mission. OMG I was so sad for her and Huai’an. So close yet also so far apart. Though I could not understand why she is included in the main cast when her role ceased to be part of the plot even before half of the show.

I really liked the way this story is executed, the ups and downs and unexpected hits that befell on our main characters with ML racking his brains to improvise and come up with twisty strategies. What’s more surprising is I became more invested in the deposed emperor Xiao Wencheng’s interaction with his oblivious elder brother who deposed him. I really like this fake Zhang Mo character, the screenwriter managed to turn him into a very likable one as opposed to the start of the show when he ruthlessly took down ML’s beloved pageboy. His transformation and growth looked much closer to reality when despite being able to grow some spine during his adventure with Xie Huai’an’s gang, he was still torn between saving his brother or the citizen of Chang’an against Tiemo’s assault, and reverted to his cowardly nature, which cost his brother a whole lot more than a simple promise of King of Tiemo’s “to let him stay alive,”. Fake Zhang Mo is a coward by nature, although I was dumbfounded when the plot turned that way, I had to admit that this is very much expected of him according to this preset characteristics. And I must say his devotion and worry for Xie Huai’an and the elder brother who usurped his throne was very touching, and his banter with Ye Zheng never ceased to be amusing.

Love the action choreograph! They worked hard on this. Even though the plot and its twists were barely at par with Nirvana in Fire, I had to say the show is overloaded with action after action more than NiF, eventhough our ML Xie Huai’an know squat of martial art. Ye Zheng, Xie Wangyu, Yan Fengshan, Wang Pu, Su Changlin…gosh I cant even list everyone down cuz there are so many characters who had executed the action scenes remarkably well. And boy the final battle against the big boss was so fierce and gripping!

The song by Sa Dingding is so awesome i keep hearing it in my head. The lyrics are forlorn yet prideful and the melody makes you wanna hum with it.

Be warned, this is a very dark and gory show, with plot so twisty I had to rewind quite a lot to get a grip of its flow. Blood is spilled senselessly onscreen episode after episode, AND there is no romance whatsoever. Consider yourselves warned.

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Spilling Blood In Search for the Light

Blood River is an assassin organization that is reknowned throughout the realm and feared by many. Su Muyu, a quiet, reserved man under the codename Umbrella Ghost, is the head of guards of Blood River’s Patriarch and also one of most formidable assassins in Blood River. Even so, he is not your average violent assassin. He is compassionate and kind, never taking up missions against the innocent. Meanwhile, Su Changhe, with codename Undertaker, is known to be a violent, greedy and unhinged person, a total opposite of Su Muyu. These two polar opposite, however, made up an unseparable pair of brotherhood, comrade-in-arms, a relationship so strong that it is unrivalled by others, and their main goal was to lead the youngsters of Blood River towards the light, towards humanity, stripping away their identity as assassins. An opportunity emerges as the Partriach Mu Cingge was poisoned during his duel and a bloodbath of power struggle occured within Blood River’s 3 main families, Su, Mu and Xie, with each family head vying for the position of Partriach. Su Muyu, as the Partriach’s head bodyguard, found himself fighting against his own people, and his own brother Su Changhe, raising question of the viability of their dream to head into the light.

I am surprised to see Gong Jun’s excellent performance here as opposed to his bland acting in Legend of Anle. His second work ‘wow’ed me and changed my perspective completely. He was good as the aloof and quiet assassin, only speaking when necessary, but instead spoke with his eyes. Su Muyu is formidable and feared by all, but even so Blood River’s enemies are even fiercer. His fightings, although some he could not win, still made him look magnificient and mighty. I really love his formations and skills, they definitely towered above others despite him narrowly escaping. And when i said spilling blood, blood is definitely spilling though more from vomit than actual gory wounds. ML (and other fighters too) constantly gets poisoned and injured, vomitting large amount of blood at the end of almost every battle. They definitely used up quite a lot of red fluid in this one.

Chang Hua Sen’s Su Changhe is very likable despite being depicted as a grey character, someone who kills without batting an eye. His character however, is almost happy go lucky, the cheerful one between the duo. Boy, I thought i could not like the character as I truly hated Chang Hua Sen’s short fused role in A Journey to Love, but apparently he proved me otherwise. Su Changhe owed his life to Su Muyu in more than one occasion during their childhood in Blood River, hence the bond between them was as firm as a concrete, literally set in stone, way surpassing the famed bromance of The Untamed’s Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan. They trusted each other to the core, even when one had not disclosed their decisions (and actions for that matter) to the other. Basically the world could topple and tear apart one person and the other would always come through for the other with absolute trust. Definitely a rare kind of bromance.

The romance here is very mild, but because it did not go deep for one main couple but scatter around the numerous supporting couples, it felt kind of repetitive and boring (yea I sure thanked my ff button for its existence). And because there were more than 3 couple’s love story, it felt rather suffocating. Although they were mild romance with only one kissing scene of supporting couple, i honestly feel it was taking too much screentime. I would prefer they scrapped it altogether and focus entirely on the jianghu fights and court’s power struggle instead.

I really love the plot twists of strategies taken up by the duo in outsmarting their enemies while reigning in support for Blood River. Although longwinded and much of a hassle, they served their purpose and worked out towards its goal.

The show is fast paced except during romantic scenes. Man those really botched up the plot. Basically if youre not a romance fan, and more of an action lover, youre going to like this very much, the romance is still much less the those titles with ‘romance’ tag.

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Intriguing Cases, Bland Romance

Tang Yingying is an accomplished senior lawyer in Shenzhen’s Chen Law Firm owned by her mentor cum father figure, while Kang Jun is recently hired Director that previously faced off with Tang Yingying in court. They started off on the wrong foot, with Tang Yingying having a certain dislike of him, frequently and subtly opposing her new boss in front and behind others. As they solved cases and headbutts each other profesionnally, they found that they were developing feelings for each other, just as Kang Jun about to leave the firm and accept another offer in his hometown Beijing.


This is my third show of Xin Zhilei. She is actually the reason I watched this and her performance definitely did not disappoint. She is ever so formidable as a tough-to-crack lawyer with solid conviction and belief on seeking for the truth. Her pairing with one playing Kang Jun is okay, as theyre both portraying a mature relationship. Although it’s because of this seemingly professional front that made the romance between them seem bland and lacks depth. Tang Yingying is more insteresting as the tough lawyer than a lovestruck woman.

I love their cases, each one able to invoke the emotion and relates to the ups and downs of the common people. Tang Yingying’s emotional burden for her father’s abandonment of her family that led to her mom’s death was written with significant growth that doesnt disappoint. I really liked how her relationship with her half sister progressed despite FL’s reluctance at first. I think theyre a great duo because Jiang Xiaoying (the sister) is as relentless and tough as the half elder sister that she used to hate but end up idolize in the middle of the show.

The only thing that seem to be different of this series than most legal-themed dramas that I’ve seen is there was no major case/grudge that usually becomes the main drive of the story amid the small easily solved cases.

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Jumanji Cdrama Style

Wang Cui Ha is an average editor working for a company that produces drama. She is tasked to edit a novel for an adaptation, and while reading through the novel, she somehow woke up as Yu Wanyin, a supporting character who is the emperor’s consort, that met her demise quite early in the story. To her surprise, when the emperor summoned her to his chamber for the first time, she found out that he too was a transmigrator when he managed to communicate with her in english. As both characters, The emperor and concubine Yu were secondary characters that would die very soon in the novel, Yu Wanyin decided to ally with the emperor to change the course of the story into their favour.

I started this series with a low bar for a romcom. Actually i did not look at the tagged genre, i just assumed it was romcom due to the opening theme and the early scenes of the series. And because most of novel transmigration series that ive seen rarely manage to hold my attention span (other than A Dream Within a Dream, that one was good!), i did not have much expectation on this, despite it having one of notable actor Ryan Cheng. Boy was I wrong. Other than the FL who was written so perfectly well, i really love the twisty unexpected plots too. And i was so not ready for the emotional turmoil they had in store in the last 10 episodes. The cast managed to induce enough emotion that i could really feel through the screen. Why did i mention Jumanji although there was no wildlife coming to life from the book into the real world? It was the Emperor, Xiahou Dan. He was trapped inside the novel for more than 10 years, basically growing up inside the book, which reminds me of the character in Jumanji who was trapped for almost 20 years inside a game. Such a sad life. So sad that he had to guard against others while growing up, getting poisoned by the Empress Dowager in order to drive him into madness.

Although both ML and FL were transmigrators, i could really feel the bonds they developed for the 2D characters they met in the novel. They did not look or feel fake like how i felt with other novel transmigration series that I’ve seen. I noticed that the main reason I don’t quite like novel transmigration stories is because the transmigrator’s relationship with other novel characters look fake (as they are a real person from a real world while the others are just creation of the author). Amazingly it was not the case in How Dare You! For this one, I’ll have to commend the screenwriter and the cast for making it look and feel real.

And although both main characters do not know any martial art, viewers can still feast on good action choreograph executed by those around the mainleads, their shadow guards, and Mr Bei.

I am actually impressed with Ryan Cheng. I’ve seen quite a lot of his works starting from My Journey To You, and I must say he managed to develop chemistry with all his co-stars that I’ve seen so far. That is talent, on his part and his co-lead of course, but I can only comment on his performance since I’ve seen many of his works and not quite as many of his co-stars. It also worths to note that this is also the first of Ryan’s work that I saw he not donning the general’s mantel or wielding any weapon with exceptional martial skill. Oh he didnt go bare-chested too 😂😆 it’s a fresh take to see him in a different type of character with a whole different emotional range and skillset.

I am especially smitten by the wonderful themesongs, notably Blazing Light by Curley Gao. The first time i heard it, i quickly told myself this must be curley gao and when i searched for the song on youtube, yup it was her indeed.

All in all, this series went waaaaay beyond my expectation that i feel it deserves a high rating. Kudos to the cast and production team!

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The Girl who Braves the Storm

Hua Zhi is the eldest granddaughter of the Hua family, her grandfather being the imperial censor. She travelled far and wide with her grandfather as child and got an early taste of the free world. When she could no longer pose as a boy servant in her grandfather's travels as she’s grown up, she returned to the family mansion only to be labelled as an idler with no noble-lady characters, constantly looked down upon and criticized by her own parents and uncles, even her own grandmother did not like her. Everything changed when a circumstance led to the banishment of all of Hua men, while the women were left penniless as their properties and wealth was confiscated by the court. Unwilling to let the family sink further, she decided to become the glue that keeps the family together, the lifeline that keeps the family afloat, and contested against her third aunt for the helm of the household. As head of the Hua household, she went on to thrive and expand the family's wealth with the sole aim to redeem the Hua men's freedom from banishment, meeting Gu Yanxi, nephew of the emperor posing as a commoner, along the way in a relationship that soon developed into affection despite him being the person who raided the Hua Mansion earlier on.

The story really is engaging and intriguing except for the corny relationship buildup and romance between the mainleads. Honestly I failed to see the spark. I liked both characters as an individual but I can't see them as a couple. The typical trope of claiming each other as fiances and husband and wife in unwarranted situations are also just too lame and cliche.

I love Hua Zhi as the resilient, relentless and courageous young girl trying to hold up her family in her arms and brave the storm, her headstrong character really gets to my soft spot. She isnt the kind of girl who takes no nonsense and willing to do anything to achieve a goal, even if it means to lower her pride as a noble lady, which even the maids of the household find it hard to do. Although FL is not physically strong, her quickwit made up for it. She is the kind of character that would initially look like a burden and liability in a combat, but could turn the tide just by using her wits. However, as a girl with a crush, she was just too clingy and touchy-feely. Always trying to lean on ML even when they had nothing between each other and started throwing herself into his arms and kissing and holding him every chance she could get after they thought they had feelings for each other, gosh those are really too much and look fake-ish. I could relate if she was a time-travelling modern girl or a transmigrator, but as a genuine lady of the ancient world, this kind of acts are not something usual, they looked cheap even, as those are acts only seen in women of brothel, not in a noble young lady. This is the only flaw in the writing of this character, putting in modern girl's thirst for men's affection before marriage into an ancient one. I skipped most of their scenes cuz I just can't stand the sight of them trying to get the romance on as they looked awkward. And those comedic scenes they try so hard to do, especially the bethrothal misunderstanding, were wayyyyy too corny. They majorly looked like half-assed comic that failed to deliver the punchline. Instead of smiling or ROFLing in my heart, my lips moved into a cringe instead even without me realizing it.

I have seen so many romance stories of unrequited love of couples that shouldve never been separated, A Journey to Love being one of them (gosh I still bawl my eyes out each time I rewatch), but this is actually one of the series that I hope the main couple's relationship never work out. IMPO, the storyline is standalonely strong enough without this romance thingy, which looked so much like a distraction. It's too bad they (the novel writer or the screenwriter, whoever is responsible for hyping the romance) decided to make it the secondary focus as if the original storyline can’t stand on its own, so i ended up skipping so many of this couple scenes after Hua Zhi realized Gu Yanxi’s real identity.

My only drive to finish the show is how Hua Zhi was going to bring the Hua men back, and how Gu Yanxi going to end up with his seemingly good-on-the-surface-but-volatile relationship with the imperial family. To be honest, their respective personal stories are a thousand times much more intriguing than their romance, which i feel was taking up too much of the screentime. The only couples that i felt a wee bit for were Hua Pingyang-Yunniang (forth uncle and aunt) and ShenHuan-Gu Shaoyao. They really looked like couples who enjoy each other’s company, the adoration for their other half is clear in their eyes. Somehow i failed to see it in the main couple. So im left unconvinced to the end.

I totally love the rest of the cast, they acted really well and cried well too! Each sad arcs came through and after seeing many awful crying skills of actors in other series, I came to appreciate the sad scenes here. I find the one playing Gu Shaoyao particularly good, I could see bright future for her if luck is on her side.

The story was good all throughout the show only to falter in the last 3 episodes that seemed too ridiculous. I love the ending where they had a reunion. Forth uncle was truly adorable it’s a pity his scene was so little.

The songs are okay, but the background music is spectacular. The opening themsong by Curley Gao is phenomenal. Action scenes are fine too but not quite exceptional. Honestly i could give this story a solid 9 -9.5ish had not for the bland romance they tried to fit into the plot. Too bad for that.

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Entertaining Hilarious with Few Flaws

Chen Xiaoqian is a screenwriter stumbling a block when the future lead actor for her story, Mr Han criticizes her work saying it unrealistic and forced her to rewrite it. She pushed through the night and made changes to her story while having a cold, and fell asleep after her wrote the final touch. Opening her eyes next, she could not believe that she had woken up in her own story as a supporting character, the unruly and reckless Third Princess Chen Qianqian who would die on episode 3 of the script she wrote after being poisoned by the groom she stole, Crown Prince of neighbouring city Xuanhu, Han Shou. When she managed to avoid being killed cuz she basically know everything about the plot, she realized the key to her escaping the story is to stay alive til the end of the plot, falling in love with Han Shou in the process.

Looks like typical transmigration plot, and it is quite cliche, but i must say the show managed to keep my attention with the amazing performance of its actors. I usually hate whiny characters like Chen Qianqian, but somehow the way Zhao Lusi executed her role isnt cringy at all. And i think this is the second co star of Ding Yuxi that I saw didnt make me cringe and hate them. The first being Victoria Song from Fight for Love.

The plot is okay although rather typical, only the last 2 episodes made me roll my eyes when the heroine-turned-villain usurped the minister of war position and somehow able to rule the city. Like whaaat? 🫩🙄

I liked the plot twists, loved how much chemistry the mainleads had, and loved how smooth the story was. Action was so-so since this is a romance-centric show after all. The songs were catchy, though i wont be adding them to my playlist. Overal, it’s an okay show and i didnt regret the time spent.

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