Greenlemon
My Unicorn Girl is just another cross-dressing drama, bye bye hello Bromance, one set at the ice-rink of a university, hiya Skate into Love, except that:
Yeah, the concept of a girl cross-dressing as a boy has been repeatedly revamped in the contemporary online to online society alluding to an idealized fictionalized version of offline to offline life that is as farfetched as it is tangible and authentic, at least at some point. Imaginaries can be pink and cute inside in a white and blue ice-hockey outfit to fulfil a dream, unbeknownst the later awareness that reality can and might surpass any giggling dumdeedum da-dumdeedum butterfly fantasies.
Pi Ya Nuo and Du Zi Feng – by no way connected to Si Feng in Love & Redemption – fall for one another. Sang Tian and Wen Bing do the same. Tang Xue and Li Yu Bing, it was complicated. Ironically it shouldn’t be considering human evolution. Bromance dates from 2015, Skate into Love, 2020 and My Unicorn Girl also 2020 but is the dìdi of the three. Growth ought to be a progression, not a regression, that’s within the sphere of mathematical science.
Sang Tian is a Pi Ya Nuo younger version. A mascarade of a girl cosplaying into a boy who falls head over trainers in love with an actual one, Wen Bing. Handsome, smart, perfect men are an ubiquity to utopianism, a mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the egotistical of them all as if that mattered at all in an absurd monarchically follower created binarism to depreciate differences whilst exhibiting them. Wen Bing, is as graceful as an unpolished brick surface with inner sophistication and taste with his general prosopagnosia and specific Sang Tian face recognition. This is beautifully sweet as love, love is its own recognition even when in hiding.
Parallels that are like candy crush in their break the mould similarities when in the end it all comes down to execution, technique, persistence and the ability to keep fighting the odds to succeed, with blantant disregard for tv ratings in a very fortunate manner; a test of time in a demure summon for gender equality and treatment... risking the ire of si jie mentors.
My Unicorn Girl doesn’t have the flair of media buzz protruding from every social media cell on face of the dramaland's earth like Skate into Love did, neither a centimetre of the buzz, which says a lot both in a yin and yang emphatic vintage dualism. Skate into Love at one end of the spectrum, Bromance and My Unicorn Girl at the other end, the underdogs.
How trilling! No, there’s nothing remotely trilling or new about Unicorn Girl, unless it actually contained a unicorn rather than being the name of the team and a symbol of love and unity. Everything else exists already including good actors, rephrasing good performers, not necessarily young idols who play poker faces at acting.
Darren Chen expanded his entertainment drama presences that Meteor Garden’s popularity trampolined him into. He might have portrayed a stoic unflappable character whom Wen Bing mirrors to the bone in a profusion of ways including, income, social status and mannerisms that they might as well be carbon copies of one another in different societal settings. Even the zigzagged confusion between the appalling way of visually expressing his feelings and the extreme effort to make them stand out were a hit. What was amiss in My Unicorn Girl was the nonexistent second male lead attitude in a male lead role. People have flaws. Characters have flaws. Everyone has flaws.
Sebrina Chen on the other hand despite not having Darren’s female equivalent status quo in the industry nor the imperial visibility to stand out yet brought vibes of Megan Lai's acting including in her onscreen chemistry with Baron Chen, here, rather, Sebrina with Darren, which works marvelously like two witty peas in a lotus pod. It’s so interesting and jovial to watch their banter episode in, episode out that at the end of the series, the only regret is that is over. Bromance transmutted into true love. The end.
Overall rating: 10 out of 10.
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The songs are so sing along, so 20 years old, enjoying university life, pursuing careers, falling in love... is endearing, particularly the main song: Youth tour by Wang Mingyu so full of life, of dreams, of friendship that is wished to last a lifetime... everything is wished to last a lifetime... then The Most Gentle Wondering by Pinguan, a poignant ballad that expresses a dept of emotions of hope, longing, promises...
There are a plethora of medical dramas out there but there aren't any that portray the lives of medical students at university as far as awareness goes which is rather intriguing. It's as if doctors become doctors out of the blue when in fact it takes years and years and years to become one.
Do you have a dream that you think is impossible?
Imagining wanting to become a surgeon, interning with la creme de la creme in surgery to hear that your idol, who is not a singer, an actor or an entertainer by the way but a doctor has never taken any female students as mentees, the sadness, angst and disillusionment... breaking down to emerge from the ashes like a phoenix to fight for the chance to become the first one, the first female student under his guidance.
It’s impossible until it's done.
Youth Unprescribed aside from the lightness and freshness of the story is rather original showing the challenges university students go through in general, their ups and downs, their particular stories, and the specific ones to medical school life, blending medical expressions with Chinese literature in the same episode which is resourcefully ingenious!
Reading about parts of the 16th Century Chinese novel by Wu Cheng'en, Journey to the West that incorporates aspects from Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Chinese mythology and folk religion is unusually distinctive.
Love stories... what are drama stories without them right? Some tend to go all in, others are slightly more subtle as that is not the main focus of the series. Here love is the centre of the series but not 100% in a romantic way. That takes 3rd fiddle to the experiences of the Wu Yue, Gao Yi Yang, Yao Wei, Tong Yu Shi, Lan Qi Xing, Sun Shi Zhen, Wen Hao and Shi Jie in medical school.
Love is about friendship first and following one's dreams; love is about helping others and love is about the feelings of two people for one another. This is the order of Youth Unprescribed love. Love that is just love, not perfection which the performances showcase well. The youth of the cast and probably experience doesn’t detract from the story, on the contrary everyone has great chemistry on screen. The script, spot on by the way was most likely a great help to the cast as well as the directing done by Ling Guo Song, a newcomer as far as idol-dramas go but with some less prolific filmography popularity wise, under his belt.
From beginning to end the drama invokes feelings of youth, of love and carefreeness, reminding the audience that regardless of their age, youth is a state of mind that ought to be constantly cultivated. To teach is to learn every day, to learn every day is to maintain humility and to maintain humility is half-way in the internal pursuit of happiness in a state of calmness to face whatever challenges are presented in a positive manner.
The drama would have been absolutely perfect had it not have a couple of mishap detractions. One, there was a visible editing issue which marshmellowed a bit of an episode’s consistence and could have easily been corrected in the editing board. Two, dressing the cast in period costumes for 70 odd minutes, that is an episode and half of the overall 24 drama episodes was unnecessary as the only substantial contribution it provided to the story was the re-emphasizing of who the drama leads were as if the audience hadn't already guessed that in episode 1.
For all of the above reasons, Youth Unprescribed is a 9 out of 10.
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Mo Xiang Wan is like the Margaret Thatcher of showbiz, a shrewd agent - talent spotter, talent developer, artist manager, babysitter, problem solver. All in one. A professional with a conduct and no space for love in her life except for her talents. Being considered 'the agent' brings a lot of perks i.e. leading roles offers for her artists, top pick in endorsements... but also a lot of envy in her two arch-rivals: Judy and Zhu He. Judy wants her job and Zhu He, Yu Jiang's wife, shareholder of Qi Li Culture fully backs her, fermenting a volcanic hate for Mo Xiang Wan, her husband's protege.
She raised from the ashes to be successful only to be thrown to the wolves and being forced to rise again amongst them. The thing is people evolve and mature and when the world comes crumbling down, a high conscience means peace of mind and moving on. Qi Li Culture enabled Mo Xiang Wan to succeed, Judy and Zhu He plotted to bring her down but she would not stay down, rising again until the time where Qi Li Culture no longer felt like home and then it was time to part ways and forge a new path.
Although Godfrey Gao & Wang Zi Yi are listed as having main roles in the drama, the only main role belongs to Qin Lan as all other characters are the ones she influences and interacts with and share a similar screen time around Mo Xiang Wan who drives the story - she is the story.
We are all alone portrays love in showbiz; filming scheduling; filming conflict; fan wars; fan reactions and actions and how they make and break an artist; backstabbing; contract disputes; script changes; image management and damage control; love and one of the most contemporary illnesses that exist in the world: depression, here celebrity depression which is often masked with anti-depressions or painkillers taken to ease the mental pain reflected in the body due to sadness or other issues like loss of fans for example, although here in the drama is love sickness. How many young celebrities have suffered from depression? Many but how many have spoken openly about battling it? A smaller number.
Beauty and money do not necessarily equal happiness. They equal the value others attribute to it and that can cause a lot of pressure as beauty fades and money slips through the fingers when artists are no longer popular and have to work three times harder to get a certain level of popularity back. Showbiz is ruthless. We are all alone shows exactly how much.
The story has a regular pace which might appear slow at times but it's well executed and realistic. Here that's more important than speed. The themes it approaches are contemporary and modern, portraying the reality of showbiz, rather than a lovey-dovey romantic story fairy-tale set in Shanghai's entertainment industry which is brilliant and fresh.
For all of the above, we are all alone merits an overall rating of 10 out of 10.
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101 minutes of sad regret
Jade Dynasty had been on my to-watch list for months. Considering the story, movie promotion, the stills, the apparently stunning visual effects and the fantastic reviews, unbeknownst to me most likely due to Sean Xiao's work in the hit series 'The Untamed' which transformed him into a top rising star, I had to watch it.You know the famous overly-used cliché 'appearances can be deceiving'? Well here it proved to be exactly the case masked by the migration of Sean Xiao's 'The Untamed' fandom towards his recent work. Genius!
After 101 minutes, which is the duration of the film, I fail to understand what is 'Jade Dynasty'? Why has the movie been inaptly named that when there are no references to it at all in the film. Jade??? The only stone in the movie looks more like a ruby, not jade unless of course it's red Jade but Jade is mostly green. Dynasty? Where? I failed and still fail to grasp this amongst other things i.e. the reason for the male lead Xiao Fan being so dumb and simple minded when he apparently had been practicing cultivation since he was a child following his adoption into the Qing Yun Sect. A cultivation level that is not visible at all.
Xiao Fan looks more that the fool in a renaissance-esque wuxia court rather than a highly cultivated human being. He's dumb from the beginning to the end. He's weak, clownish, childish, immature and not particularly smart but he's kind and generous and he practices goodness which are high virtues. Nonewithstanding his stupidity stands out. The question is why? To pay a comic tribute to Mark Chao's brilliant performance in Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms by ridicule mimic Ye Hua's fight against evil or to go all the way Ron Weasley copy-cat scenes from Harry Potter's Quidditch matches which he didn't participate in? I didn't get it, sorry. There are better ways to pay homage to outstanding entertainment visual and literary works than trying to sell moments of pure utter idiocy to the audiences and expect them to rave about it online/offline through word of mouth, which they did about Jade Dynasty both positively and negatively.
The female leads which are three by the way seem to suffer from various degrees of general apathy and emotional attachment and detachment to the male lead. It's hard to understand which one is more logical than the other in their actions, however my credit goes to Tian Ling Er who acts like a protective older sister to Xiao Fan and whom he dearly emulates. Lu Xue Qi is always on Duracell batteries girl-power fighting mode defend/attack and Bi Yao is simply a pain like many dull characters in a movie/drama which are there simply for the purpose of not advancing the action and looking pretty in pastel colours.
The sects are nothing new or original for that matter, having been recycled over and over and over again over the years like new exquisitely crafted glass artifacts, here without the new or the exquisite, rather, a regression to the boring old and banal plain utility relics best suited for a museum.
Overall Jade Dynasty had 86 minutes of a pure delusional infliction of mental pain, one that is best avoided, resulting in a total score of 3.5 out of 10 points. The last 15 minutes of the movie were entertaining enough however as they reminded me of other works not because they produced scenes of quality story or performance wise.
Don't bother watching the film unless you have a fondness for Zhan Xiao aka Sean Xiao, or you want to experience an entertainment hell for a bit. Even then it's not worth it.
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I have watched the 2010 original version and I wasn't overly happy with it, plot, character or acting wise for that matter but somehow I was happier this time around as I thought that in general it was better than the original, a feat that is more often than not, not the case.
Xia Mo, a woman who becomes an orphan with her brother following their parents accidental deaths, re-encounters the two men that had had a huge impact in her life - Luo Xi, who loved her and was jealous of her with her then boyfriend & Ou Chen, the boyfriend who was jealous of the relationship between Xia Mo with Luo Xi - re-creating the love obsession issues that she thought she had left behind.
The tone of this remake was lighter and brighter which contrasted nicely with the saturated, annoying plot and the shenanigans of Luo Xi whom, I could not and still cannot stand. He literally drove me up the wall the entire time! At one point I wanted to scream at my screen to his assistant "can you please get him a psychologist appointment so that he can get over his Xia Mo obsession?" It's too much! He needs to get a life! Truly annoying, the character that Huang Sheng Chi brought nicely to life amidst the ever-present compulsive, dominating, controlling, addicting, tormenting, pathological puppy love of Luo Xi.
Ou Chen, on the other hand stole the show for me as I felt that from all Summer's Desire characters, he was the only one that evolved throughout the series. Yes, he was highly paranoid and devoted to Xia Mo in the beginning but throuought the drama the character grew and grew and grew on screen to become a decent, kind, trusting and warmer human being. That says volumes and the credit is all Qin Jun Jie's.
Yin Xia Mo had no depth whatsoever, regretfully. I was kind of hoping that the script this time around would portray her as a warmer character rather than a bland, insipid persona with barely any noticeable changing facial expressions except those seen in key moments. It's as if Sophie Zhang was asked to model the character 90% of the time and act the other 10%. It didn't really work.
The supporting cast was solid and the love stories were well developed and contextualized. The drama didn't have any accessory characters just there to fill the blanks, which is something that I liked and that I'm grateful for. All had a purpose and advanced the action rather than distracting the viewers from it. The same went for the music that supported all that action well from beginning to end.
Re-watch value, well it's a 6. There are better dramas to re-watch if one wants to watch the main cast in action, albeit separately.
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Listening Snow Tower is an interesting story with a plethora of well-performed martial arts moves, giving vibes of Legend of Fuyao. Somehow it seems virtually impossible to go through the drama without mentally imprinting Wuji on Yi Qing and Fuyao on Jing Rong and this is where memory lane goes incredibly right to some viewers or incredibly wrong to others, puffed out from the strenuous exercise of going backwards and forwards between the dramas.For those that have watched and enjoyed Fuyao, Listening Snow Tower is a good drama to pick up to maintain momentum as it can postpone the sad drama withdrawal. Denial isn’t good but the dramas actually are.
For those that have watched but either dropped or immensely disliked Fuyao, then stay away. This is not nor will it be a favourite flavour of tea.
For those that have absolutely no idea who Fuyao is, Listening Snow Tower is a great drama to watch and then once finished, a binge on Fuyao is a good idea. Keep in mind though that Listening Snow Tower has a faster pace, not really suitable for those that enjoy slow-paced dramas with draggy unnecessary scenes.
This drama as the title so aptly explains in three short words is about Listening Snow Tower and one should really listen. The pugilistic world is a mess, with the out-of-favour and out-of-power Snow Tower due to a rift of internal struggles. Betrayal is never done by an enemy and the cliché is proven right once again as if, it actually mattered to the story’s development.
Yi Qing is the heir of Snow Tower that takes over from his deceased father. As a first task, rebuild and restore Snow Tower’s reputation to its former glory asap. The thing is Yi Qing is ill. He has been ill with an incurable disease since childhood which mind you is not a hindrance to his state-of-the-art marital arts skills and his strategic thinking. His illness does not control his life nor does it run it. Yi Qing loves Jing Rong, the orphan daughter of the Blood Demon who also returns his feelings.
Fuyao again. Like Wuiji protects Fuyao, helping her achieve her full potential, Yi Qing protects Jin Rong, helping her become stronger so that she can fight the Moon Sect bent on destroying Snow Tower alongside him.
Jin Rong is filled with guilt when she finds out that her life is fated to bring others misfortune. Fuyao all over again. Then there are the battles for power amidst the sects, nothing out of the ordinary or remotely original but well accomplished.
The performances do not have the star power of Fuyao however the leads and remaing of the characters are well-matched and performed. Nothing exceptional but nothing to be critical about either. Indeed the drama might all appear a bit bland but bland is better than having a salty meal.
Visually Listening Snow Tower is good, not going over the top with weird-looking bright-pallet coloured costumes which have dragged many a good drama down with its fruit salad look. There’s contrast, white, red, black and it works wonderfully for those who like a more manga/comic book look in a drama with a small number of colour variations.
Overall, is a good enjoyable fast-paced drama, a bit hard to stop watching, a bit hard not to binge on it once one gets into it. Rating: 9.5 out of 10.
Should one watch it? Definitely but forget about Fuyao if possible and enjoy the series for what is worth!
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Hua Jai Sila was a phenomenal drama, riveting from beginning to end and that’s due to:
1) the script. It was extremely well written and visually accomplished on screen:
A man who was physically abused by his step-mother and brother as a child and was believed to be dead comes back years later as an adult under a different name to dispense revenge on those that hurt him. What he didn’t count on was meeting his childhood sweetheart and falling in love with her all over again, making him dwell between his feelings of revenge and the love he feels for her throughout his path to vengeance.
2) The choice of leads was spot on.
Tor as Sila was outstanding. It’s rare to see an actor portray an array of 3 or more distinctive emotions within 6 seconds. He went from aloof to kind to furious in a blink of an eye.
Fern was a good match for him as Min. Their chemistry worked and their push-pull game of love added spice and sweetness to what would have been just another revenge drama and it showed the human side of Sila.
3) The supporting cast raised the drama’s bar with equally mesmerizing performances making Hua Jai Sila a solid drama throughout its 27 episode run.
4) The OST added depth to the already a great story.
Rewatch value: 10 out of 10 when it should actually be an 11.
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Mario's gaze is worth taking the time to watch this Lakorn
The story is interesting and I liked the alternate realities and time jumps. To put it simple, Buang Banjathorn is about a woman who is betrayed by her husband of 2 years and retreats to the house she inherited from her father where she finds an old beautiful bed which transports her back in time to the period of World War II. There she meets Laoperng and love blossoms! Apart from this the Lakorn is nothing out of the ordinary really character development wise. They are all so utterly simple, basic, elemetary essential wearing their hears in their sleeves the entire time it was both a joy and an inrritating agony to watch.Mario was great! His eyes are always so sweet and kind. I don't think I have ever watched a Lakorn with him as a male lead where his eyes were not so beguiling expressive. As Laoperng he is the epitome of a man with a high degree of honour and chivalry, most unduly uncommon nearly most of the time in any era! Indeed a very sweet and principled lead!
Mai was okay. She's a good actress. Here it felt like her talent was wasted. Either that or the writers did intend to write Praenuan like a statue that always portrays the same contemplative emotions or lack of them. Praen is also constantly monocordic even when what's required is a bit of spunk and attitude by kicking Khed out of her house and out of her life instead of just plainly telling him to leave when he's going to keep ignoring her and act like the a boss doing what he pleases to his subordinates instead of a worthy Man who respects his wife's wishes! Sometimes it's really hard to get Praen's attitudes as her proactive manner scumbs to her reactive nature at every occasion, unfortunately!
Khed is exasperating, irritating, maddening, infuriating, irksome, vexing, galling, vexatious, displeasing, pesky, aggravating, infernal idiotic! Honestly! Why does he refuse to get it? Why? He doesn't love Prae. He wants her, he's possessive and a pain. Above all he betrayed her and then he kept being there all the time! Please writers, could you not have written a male character less repetitive? Someone with a bit of common sense rather than the emotional overlord who wants to keep his wife at all costs regardless of her wishes, despite her wishes to be divorced. Was he born in the wrong century or is he experiencing a constant mental regression into feudal times?
Thongriew and Sanpaeng love story was sweet, really sweet but Ruengrayub was a Cruella Deville reincarnation backwards minus the dalmatians. Truly annoying but that's something one gets used to watching Lakorns and it adds symbiosis. There is good and there is evil. Both coexist but in the end, good prevails, yay!
The end was a thorn but the story was good and the Lakorn is really worth watching for the story and for Mario!
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Dawa, a snow leopard loves her cubs! She lives in the wilderness, a vast rocky terrain where she hunts, feeds her cubs and nurtures them! She is fierce and so strong. She protects her territory for herself and her family until one day an intruder brings reinforcements and she is forced to flee her home with her cubs into a new unfamiliar territory. She has to find a new home for her family and provide for them, even when she’s hurt and she tries, she tries to feed her cubs to the end and I was left heartbroken. Why couldn’t the crew interfere? Why? They were there. Why? Why? Why? I swallowed dry the heart wretched I could not contain!Ya Ya, a cute giant panda is very protective of her daughter Mei Mei. It’s understandable but Mei Mei like any other cub wants to explore here surroundings and climb trees but Ya Ya doesn’t let her which doesn’t stop Mei Mei from trying. One day, Mei Mei succeeds in climbing the tree, a very big tree with a great view and her independence journey begins while Ya Ya gives birth and nurtures another cub and the cycle continues. Giant pandas are known for living solitary lives and enjoying their days to the fullest, resting and eating tons of bamboo!
Tao Tao is cute and like an older brother in many situations is jealous of his younger sister whom he perceives to be getting all the attention and actually getting all the attention. He’s a golden snub-nosed monkey also known as Sichuan golden hair monkey. He lives with his family in the Southwestern Chinese Forests, that is until he decides he has had enough and moves in with a group of rebel monkeys, hoping to get affection. Things don’t quite go as Tao Tao thought and eventually he goes back to his family but his dad is like – you moved out, stay out. Except one day, his sister was about to become prey of a falcon and Tao Tao saves her. He becomes a hero and is accepted back into the welcoming arms of his family.
Chiru also known as Tibetan antelopes have an interesting way of living. They mate and then the females go on peregrination to a lake where they give birth to their calves in the summer and then migrate back to the males, joining them late Fall. The thing is as the females leave for such a long period of time, the males forget whom they’ve had relationships with sort to speak and the seduction game begins once again, repeated year after year after year.
This documentary is really poignant and heart-warming for those that like David Attenborough’s movies. I smiled and nearly cried and in the end I was content. China has such a rich wildlife that is wonderful to have been able to experience stories of their species on screen.
The film was produced by Disney Nature, Chuan Films and Shanghai Media Group.
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Marmalade Boy is based on the same title manga released between 1992 - 1995. This is the 2nd live action adaptation ever made, the first one being a Taiwanese drama in 2002 therefore expectations were high. To increase expectations further, it ought to be mentioned that this adaptation is a movie and also that there is an anime version of the story comprised of 76 episodes. For fans of the story such as myself, who have watched both the drama and the anime, the movie falls short on so many fronts, it's surreal. This is not to say that the movie wasn’t enjoyable; it was but there was so much that was left out and unexplored due to the time length of the film which was normal yet, there is this nagging that after all this time fans deserved more than a movie, fans deserved at least a 10 episode drama to make the story justice instead of putting together a something that felt really rushed on screen, that made secondary characters, third, fourth in the story i.e. Meiko's love story with Shinichi Namura is only briefly dabbed upon and her story arch with Satoshi where they date for a while (when she tries to forget Mr. Namura and then realizes she can't) doesn't appear; Arimi & Ginta's relationship is non-existant - both appear in the movie, of course but their partnership to tear Yuu & Miki's apart or their subsequent feelings for one another are left out and Suzu and Kei do not appear in the movie at all.
Acting wise and of course, here it's a matter of preference when one is a fan of the story. Yoshizawa Ryo was not convincing as Yuu. He wasn't bad but somehow since the movie cast was announced and the movie was released it there has been a continuous struggle to see him as the character, regardless of how much I try. Sato Taiki as Ginta on the other hand looked and felt spot on.
Movies have to be selective. There’s no time in focusing too much on characters other than the main if it’s not essential to the story’s development but fans wanted to see those stories, fans deserved those stories and at the end it was just satisfying because fans got something which was better than nothing, so thank you but far too unsatisfying because the story was too rushed and parts of it way unexplored. So for fans, this movie is not worth it. It’s better to re-watch the drama or the anime.
For those coming into to the story for the first time, the movie is nice to watch. It's cute and the story makes sense, encorporating key elements of the manga. It's a pretty light romantic comedy that one can watch eating popcorn but it's nothing special. The drama & the anime are better so if after watching the movie there is still interest in the story watch those.
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To Us, From Us answers those questions and it shows how teachers can make the difference in students lives.This is the kind of movie that makes viewers hope that should they receive a letter from their older selves about the challenges that'll happen in their immediate future, they can work and change events. It's an emotional roller-coaster where the teacher Mr. Tangent gives vibes of John Keating in Dead Poet Society.
Overall, the movie is good and moving but it's not light and breezy so if you're looking for that, this is not it. To Us, From Us, is the kind of movie that is emotional and thoughtful.
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The simultaneous narratives were really interesting as Thai Lakorns can be somewhat typical and standardized in terms of storylines and Khun Mae Suam Roy was anything but. Saying that I wouldn’t recommend it as a first Lakorn to watch for Thai drama beginners as it will build unrealistic expectations about them. This Lakorn is like an old Port wine, one has to wait to drink it in order to fully maximize the experience of tasting the wine.
The mysteries about who shot Siriya, who caused her lover’s death, who messed up with the car breaks to cause Sina (pretending to be Siriya) accident, who shot her, and the Cluedo guessing game kept raising an array of questions about the possible suspects and sending viewers on mental wild goose chases nearly until the end. For those that like mystery games, this drama is brilliant. For those that like lovey dovey enemies to lovers kiss and slap stories, they’re not is as large a supply. The relationship between Thi and Sina is intriguing and really captivating from the beginning but it’s a bit like climbing a mountain except that when you think you reached the top and the view can’t get better, you haven’t reached the top yet and the view will get tons better.
Khun Thi, the male lead has always suffered from abandoned child syndrome both physically and emotionally by his mother which have caused him a severe emotional trauma and scarred him deep inside his heart. It was a tough issue for a young child to deal with and one that has strongly impacted on him. He’s very loyal to his father’s family who have raised him but he’s still the son of a mistress and that knowledge has always waved itself invisibly over his head, hidden away in an emotional inferiority complex. His leading lady, Sina (pretending to be her twin sister Siriya to discover who shot her, making her wheelchair bound), on the other hand is rather normal; a hardworking stunt double who kicks ass and protects her sister. Their love story is cliché and the way their emotions and their struggles play are a like an elastic band constantly expanding and shrinking, standard but at the same time so real life and both Pop and Bua have a strong chemistry onscreen. I found Darika’s obsession with Khun Thi too paranoid but that’s Lakorn stereotypical.
The writers have done a brilliant job writing the Nat and Siriya/Sina and both Khem Rujira Chuaykua and Bua Ongumpai have done a great job bringing them to life. Nat is the scorned woman who feels that her infertility caused her husband to fall for Siriya, who bore him a child and as a consequence had made her live in agony for years. Wanting to be a mother and being unable to, wanting her husband’s love but being scorned by him is something that many women can empathise with and can understand too well. As a result of those issues Nat battled depression, low self-esteem and extreme stress. Siriya is the eldest twin and the weakest one. She’s so meek and calm all the time making her look way too insipid and pitiful as she always comes across like a damsel in distress who needs to be rescued by her knight in shining armour. This makes her annoying as a character. Sina on the other hand is completely the opposite and that’s what makes her interesting, her Spice Girls, girl power attitude. The twins are so utterly simple, so devoided of complexity which is interesting as the story doesn’t need them to be multi-layered. The writers did such a great job in keeping viewers guessing, double guessing and questioning things all the time that when the Lakorn ended there the Suttarak family has finally got a sense of understanding about what happened, why it happened and was finally able to move on from that.
I liked that Khun Mae Suam Roy as a Lakorn is very well written and that the story is organic, flowing without a lot of dull or unnecessary moments. The storylines have purpose and are intrinsically connected; in one way or another they add substance to the development of main story arch which in itself is an achievement. The actors played a huge role in that but it’s easy to perform well with a great script that deals with contemporary issues relevant to current society.
I loved the romance, how the love story developed and how the drama production team gave viewers an entire episode dedicated to it. It was amazing, particularly how Thi played with the cards that were dealt to him and how, despite the denials and his own internal battles, he has overcome them and gave himself the chance to be happy with the woman he loves, freely and without reservations; but for me despite loving the romance, Khun mae suam roy was not about it, it was about the fight for justice and for a chance at happiness, underlined by a revenge plot, emphasized by a beautiful soundtrack. Roses have thorns.
For all of the above I am giving this Lakorn 10 points out of 10.
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Let's Go, JETS! From Small Town Girls to U.S. Champions?!
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The story is about a group of Japanese High Schoolers coming together to participate in cheerleading competition in the US and the process, the struggles, the challenges they had to go through to get there. The movie is in theory just another cheerleading film, one who happens to take place in Japan. There's nothing new about that but Japan doesn't have a long-standing tradition in cheerleading when compared to the US the Japanese culture is very different from the Western Culture in the broad sense of the expression, not the literal one, therefore it's inspiring. It shows that determination and hard-work can make dreams come true but that's not something new either.
The acting was good, nothing exceptional but good as was the music to put it simply.
Overall it was a nice comedy, light, breezy, fluffy and entertaining!
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Cubic is not a perfect drama. It has so many flaws but for me, currently used to watching flawless dramas with terrible production, I want to scream kind of directing and flabbergasting endings, Cubic was perfect!
The story of the youngest daughter having to repay her dad’s debt instead of her sister by working under a Mafia boss and both ending up falling in love with one another is far too simple and uninteresting considering Thai dramas Mafia themed action love stories mass production. Yet, Cubic has this unexplainable feeling that keeps one glued to the screen without knowing why. A smart and resourceful ugly duckling falling for a powerful Mafia swan who turns out to love her in return is a replica of Beauty and the Beast in reverse minus the talking furniture and the castle.
Cubic shows that outer appearance is not a reflex of interior beauty and that interior beauty and character make someone beautiful. It also demonstrates that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Nowadays society seems so hard bend focused on appearances, forgetting that one’s inside beauty shines through the surface but one’s outside diamond like beauty can hide a very ugly interior. Appearances can be deceiving and Cubic portrays that to perfection!
The characters are stereotypical indeed however, the rawness of the energy they give leaves one in complete awe. Lin Lan Ser as a character is interesting on paper, performance wise Manoonsil Taninwhich, an unquestionably handsome man depending on one’s taste with his beautiful eyes and hands and everything else, has not made the character memorable for me. He stares so much, so much and he thinks so much and he’s so stiff and he doesn’t speak enough in the drama. At times I was left wondering if the production team wanted to make Cubic a 40% silent drama as a homage to the silence movie era of the beginning of the 20th Century but in colour. Either that or the script writer might have thought, here I have a very good looking actor, he doesn’t need to talk much, he just needs to look pretty on screen and stare so that the female audience can swoon at him and Cubic can get a high viewing rating. Ruthainark was cheeky and fun and energetic and hardworking and motivated and passionate and really well portrayed by Vijitvongtong Chalida when she wasn’t on a staring contest with Lin Lan Ser. That was like mirror, mirror on the wall who’s the fairest of them all? But with mirror, mirror on the wall who stares most of all? Lin Lan Ser, Lin Lan Ser, yay.
Music wise, the OST was nice but only as memorable as the staring contest went and there was so much of it at times it felt like a metaphorical version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with their tent scenes. The movie had so many scenes with the leads in a tent it was surreal! Cubic had the same with the staring. Aw, the staring, so much, so much but good!
All in all for me Cubic is a 9.5 out of 10! I loved it! Yes, it flawed from beginning to end but we are all flawed and those flaws are what make us who we are and we should be proud of that, for that reason Cubic was special and it will continue to be special for me, perhaps because deep inside all girls/women at one point in our lives feel like Ruthainark and long for the love of a man that loves us more than any other woman that we might feel to be more beautiful than us.
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The story is simple and cliché: two very intelligent war mastermind adversaries, one a general, nicknamed the God of War, the other a female strategist. Pitting against one another they’re formidable opponents: mind versus matter, prediction versus adaptability. Together they’re unstoppable. That’s the reason everyone wants to keep them apart. It’s not that they’re weaker separately, but rather unbeatable together. Chu Bei Jie is the general of the kingdom of Jin, related to the king by blood. Bai Ping Ting is a childhood friend of the Prince He Xia, a sworn enemy of Chu Bei Jie. Chu Bei Jie and Bai Ping Ting fall in love but their love is an obstacle to the wishes of the king of Jin, the Royal Consort, the Chancellor and to He Xia. Through tick and conniving plots, Bei Jie and Ping Ting are separated. After years of turmoil in the land, they reunite again for their love towards one another to fight against He Xia and unite the land under one empire, bringing peace to the people and stability to the land they so dearly love. This is the story in a nutshell but the drama is so much more than that, is the sacrifices one makes for the loved ones, the sacrifices one makes for family, for country, for honour, the battles one faces not to conquer to dominate but to conquer to maintain peace and to fight for the ideals of a better world and at opposite ends for everything antagonistic to that. For that reason the story is a 10 out of 10 without another thought.
The main catalyst characters: Chu Bei Jie, Bai Ping Ting & He Xia
Chu Bei Jie performed by veteran Hong Kong actor Wallace Chung and embodies the personification of Mars, the mythological God of War in every sense. He’s strong, determined and wrecks havoc amongst those foolish enough to get in his way. He’s smart and a brilliant strategist, able to adapt to local circumstances like no other. He’s also fiercely loyal to his king and to the woman he loves, never doubting her, never losing faith in her. He’s also not afraid to show his emotions to her, to hold her, to comfort her, to cry in her presence. Wallace Chung performs Chu Bei Jin brilliantly. He is Chu Bei Jin. For a man in his early 40’s to perform Chu Bei Jin, a character that is over 10 years his junior, to perform the stunts that he performs in the drama with the agility of a man half his age is a feat not accomplished by many and Wallace Chung does it effortlessly.
Bai Ping Ting is performed by Chinese A-List Angelababy. She took time to get used to on screen. Initially it was a struggle to see Bai Ping Ting. She appeared to passive when the character is anything but. Every scene seemed to drag with Angelababy’s performance. Is not that she was bad, rather she wasn’t good either. She was just flat and continued to be flat. Her emotions were so utterly standardized it was hard to empathize with Bai Ping Ting, despite liking the character so much on paper. It seemed that she was despondent of life and just existed. It was sad to watch. However as the episodes moved on, her performance grew more convincing, perhaps due Wallace Chung and Sean Sun’s performances who elevated the drama and by consequence perhaps made her elevate her performance as well. Bai Ping Ting is a character with more spunk than what was portrayed but saying that Angelababy’s performance was nice to watch with Wallace Chung and Sean Sun.
He Xia is performed by Sean Sun and what a remarkable performance that was as well. He’s younger than Wallace Chung yet on screen their prowess’s are evenly matched. He Xia is despicable and vindictive and a pain in everyone’s side. He marries for power then when he loses the woman he didn’t know he loved is too late. He could’ve been happy but he chose to pursue vengeance and in the end vengeance took over him and he lost himself. Sean Sun is phenomenal performing He Xia. He’s unreadable. His face demonstrates nothing, his actions demonstrate everything.
The secondary characters: the King, the chancellor, the Queen Consort, the Princess, Lady 13…what is interesting about them is that their role in the drama doesn’t drag. Once their purpose is finished they no longer appear in the drama. Normally secondary characters tend to stay in a drama from beginning to end but here, they don’t which is different but good. Once they no longer contribute to the story, bye bye and another character appears to take their place with the exceptions of the King of Yin and Princess Bai Lan. Acting/Cast, I would give it a 7. Not all characters are convincing but that mishap I gladly overlooked as I really enjoyed the drama.
The OST is nice, it’s not outstanding but it’s nice and it matches the drama well. In a scale of 0 – 10, it’s a 6.
Re-watch value: 10 out of 10. I loved Chu Bei Jie, loved, loved, loved the character and Wallace Chung! Bai Ping Ting matched him in every way possible. They’re a couple made in drama heaven, the Ying and the Yang, complements! Their battles against one another were phenomenal and when they put their heads together to fight their enemies was amazing! The drama remained solid and consistent if, dragging at times but that didn't compromise the story, building up to the reunion which ought to be watched again and again and again!
Overall General and I is as perfect a drama as they get even with its imperfections and flaws. As everything in life is anything but perfect the drama is a pure example of it, a story that is utterly perfect despite how unperfect and challenging it was along the way!
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