5
1
ChineseDramaFan
USA
Both Li Yuhu (Tian Xiwei) and Du Bingyan (Bai Bingke) have weddings scheduled for the same day. However, they get caught in a storm and seek refuge in a temple. After the rain subsides, and having their veils switched, they are mistakenly led to the wrong carriages, ending up in the wrong destinations. Initially reluctant brides, they decide to conceal their true identities and plan an escape. To their surprise, they find themselves falling in love with the men they were never meant for and they them.
The plot follows a predictable path, featuring a detestable antagonist and his accomplices. From a logical standpoint, there are moments of inconsistency and naivety. Notably, the antagonist manages to evade justice right under everyone's nose. In terms of acting, the entire cast delivers commendable performances, with Tian Xiwei standing out and Patrick Quan as Ke Shizhao the villain lagging behind -- he brazenly writes on his face, "I am the bad guy" -- with his robotic facial expressions. Nonetheless, the drama offers a simple and enjoyable viewing experience.
My Verdict
While not groundbreaking, this drama has its merits. With endearing side couples, a bit of romance, some light action, a wise mentor who guides both pairs, a straightforward plot, and beloved characters, it's suitable for a family audience.
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Poor Acting, Bad Script
This is a short drama with only 18 episodes, each 7-8 minutes long, and a total length of only about 2 hours. I finished the whole thing in one night like watching a movie. A talented girl (Huang Nuannuan) interested in forensic science, helps solve mysteries and crack murder cases with the help of another female investigator (Zhang Danyang). She meets a man who claims he’s the Crown Prince (Shu Yaxin) but she doesn’t believe him. When murders happen in the palace involving foreign dignitaries, the Crown Prince asks for her help. She solves the crime, at the same time solves the murder of her own father who was the palace doctor many years ago. She and the Crown Prince fall in love. The end. There would be a season 2 with a bigger plot than what has been unfolded so far.My Verdict
- Don’t watch it if you have better dramas to watch
- Acting is elementary as if the actors are in their first day of acting school
- Plot itself is not too bad, but plenty of plot holes
- Logic is bad
- Dark
- Limited humor that’s not even funny
Not recommended!
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Hair Pulling Script
Though not overly exciting, I have sort of enjoyed the first half of the story (season 1) because there is nothing out there to watch. I thought the second half would more or less be the same, continue from the first half. To my disappointment, the writing gets really bad and childish, though the storyline continues. Throughout, I have been suppressing myself from hurling pillows at my computer. And I’m glad it’s over.From season 1, we have established that Jun Wujiu (Li Xizi) is a genius investigator, and he works seamlessly with Cheng Yang (Chen Ziyou), who wears many hats (he is a police officer cum prosecutor cum magistrate - what a conflict of interest here), in solving criminal cases after cases. What seemingly unrelated, in fact all these cases are associated with each other and ultimately, pointing to a couple of villains who are behind all the killings in broad daylight. When the dots are connected, it is not difficult for the team to find evidence to put the villains away, and that’s the boring and frustrating part because of the bad writing. Though the villains are blatant and out in the open, the protagonists become very stupid and do all the dumb things that even a 3-year old wouldn’t do (well, maybe I exaggerated, but you get what I mean). The dialogues become kiddie with a bunch of noise and no substance. The timeline is all messed up (when it’s broad daylight, the dialogues refer to midnight etc.) causing eye-rolls constantly. Glaring flaws and plot holes run every minute. From episode 8 onwards, every episode is a torture – I feel like vomiting blood.
My Verdict
This is a very disappointing drama. There’s no character development, no plot build-up, no epiphany, and no planning because the protagonists are always reactionary. If you are looking for romance, there’s none either (I don’t care so much about romance here). Not one character stands out that makes viewers love and remember. The male lead character, Cheng Yang, is not very impressive though the actor looks very nice in his uniform. Perhaps that’s the only thing I like the most – beautiful constable uniform (call me skin deep).
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A Warm Chicken Soup Feel-good Drama
I discovered Bai Jing Ting in “Ping Pong Life”. I love his acting as a scrawny, lack of confidence kid in that drama. When I stumbled on “You Are My Hero”, I realized he plays a totally different role here as a commanding police officer in the special force. I was curious: how does a seemingly scrawny Bai Jing Ting play an authoritative role? I was totally swept off my feet by his unexpectedly over-the-top performance here, and his amazing charisma. Together with the ever lovable Ma Si Chun (Sandra Ma), this drama is so enjoyable to watch.This is a romance story of a police officer and a doctor, both save lives -- one heals to save, the other kills to save. Despite their respective jobs that are very demanding, they are both passionate with what they’re doing, love each other and are each other’s hero.
I was sucked into the drama within the first episode, like a tornado sweeping me off my feet. Everything is so well done here – all the scenes are very real, like the hospital where Mi Ka (Ma Si Chun) works, the surgery rooms where she operates; the police academy where Xing Ke Lei (Bai Jing Ting) trains, the dangerous hostage police scenes where he kills to protect; and most of all, the earthquake ground zero scenes with the disaster zones, survivors and rescue teams. All these scenes are so real and believable, and all actors have given their best performance here.
Both the male lead (ML) and female lead (FL) are strong, courageous and excellent in what they’re doing. Mi Ka (Ma Si Chun) is a talented neuro-surgeon. She’s kind, amiable, humble, intelligent with a sense of humor. Ma Si Chun may not have the Miss Pageant kind of beauty but she is perfect in this role as a surgeon who cares more about her skills than her look. And this is precisely the attraction for Xing Ke Lei (Bai Jing Ting) who falls in love with her for her authenticity and unpretentiousness. As Xing Ke Lei, Bai Jing Ting is serious, deadly, authoritative, but without losing his sense of humor too. His transformation from a wimpy kid in “Ping Pong Life” to a commander of a SWAT Team in this drama is awe-inspiring, and confirms Bai Jing Ting as a flexible wonderful actor. Looking like an adolescent, Bai Jing Ting may not possess the face that most consider as handsome, but oh boy, in uniform, his charisma is undeniable.
My Verdict
What a captivating drama this is. Many dialogues are light and funny, they even sound unscripted, spontaneous and natural. Many scenes make me laugh out loud, at the same time make me cry. The police scenes are nail biting and the medical emergencies are nerve cracking. Doctors and police officers are the toughest professions as they take a lot of courage and determination, passion and dedication to succeed. This drama shows in details the dedication portrayed by our characters. The romance is reciprocal with depth and understanding, and yet without compromising to each other’s professionalism.
Visually Ma Si Chun and Bai Jing Ting may not look like a perfect pair, but their chemistry is amazing and the couple and their courtship are definitely relatable to the viewers.
This drama makes me feel good and warm; it’s a story about life and death which walks within a fine line, and that the message of this amazing story.
TWO THUMBS UP!
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Devoted Emperor - An Extinct Species
I have really enjoyed this short series despite many viewers claim the story being unoriginal with an expected outcome. This is an Isekai story whereby the female lead is transported to a parallel universe in the ancient times through virtual gaming. The story may not be original for many viewers, but I still find it sweet and relaxing.I love the performances of the two main leads Li Xia (Camille Hua) and Emperor Yang Mo (Alan Luo), Though this is my first time watching their drama, I find them authentic and lovable, and the couple has great dynamics together. Apart from their good look, I really enjoy the story of an emperor who truly loves a woman and is devoted to her even when she is of a low social status and not attractive; I like watching the emperor for valuing a person from the inside rather than from the outside. It's nice to imagine that somewhere out there, such characters do exist. Alan Luo has successfully portrayed his longing for Li Xia even when their relationship is prohibited. It is interesting to watch Li Xia managing an historical character with contemporary etiquettes and Camille Hua plays the role beautifully with her beautiful sweet smile.
I also love the side couple here, Jie Qing Shu (Joseph Wen) and Fan Ru Wiang (Li Hai Shan). Both generals, Jie Qing Shu is serious, quiet and calculative but Fan Ru Wiang is totally the opposite of him. Being outspoken, rash and impatient, Fan Ru Wiang always takes the lead towards Jie Qing Shu. Their dynamics are sweet and warm.
I like the narrative at the end of each episode. It reflects the thoughts of the writer, what the journey brings to him/her, and the lessons learned. The narratives are philosophical and provide deeper searches within the viewers' hearts.
The only issue I have is how the story does not even attempt to reconcile the sudden come and go of Li Xia. There is a lot of unanswered questions for the Emperor and the Generals (and people around them) regarding Li Xia, but these are not explained to them convincingly and they simply accept Li Xia as if she is normal like them. I guess, these are just characters from a video game that don't need to make sense of anything.
The low rating here (7.2 at this moment) is not justifiable and should not be taken seriously as it is only rated by very few viewers, hence does not represent the true value of the drama. This is a short and light romance drama that may bring good entertainment value to the viewers. Worth a try.
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扮猪吃老虎 Bàn zhū chī lǎohǔ -- Pretend to be a Pig and Eat a Tiger
This drama is a very unusual rom-com; action packed, it is without the usual fluffy romance nor the love at first sight stuff. In fact, it’s rather dark despite a rather hilarious male lead with a Mr. Bean type of character, on the surface that is. Within the first 10 minutes of the first episode, I was absorbed into the story because it is both serious and funny. As the story unfolds, the plot becomes deadly and a hidden antagonist looms.Liu Qing (Zhu Yawen) is a soldier for hire. After a mission where he is wounded and lost a few of his comrades, he becomes despondent, feeling guilty of his role in causing his friends’ deaths. He is approached by the father of Mu Wanqing (Yang Zishan) who proposes to him to marry his daughter because the father wants someone with Liu Qing’s quality, and can be trusted, to protect his daughter in the company she has taken over as the Chief Executive. Liu Qing has been in love with Mu Wanqing since childhood so he immediately agrees to the arrangement. Having being betrayed by her ex-boyfriend, Mu Wanqing has lost confidence in any marital relationship, but only agrees reluctantly when her parents plead with her.
After marriage, Liu Qing is treated like one of the employees, from a car park attendant to a bodyguard, until he begins to rescue Mu Wanqing from all kinds of predicaments, and even from danger, again and again, without letting her know he has helped her. In front of her, he is just a dumb guy good for nothing. Mu Wanqing figures out his real background eventually and begins to fall in love with him.
Zhu Yawen’s Liu Qing is simply amazing, exhibiting his wonderful acting skills. Either in his tactical gears or in his office suits, he is very convincing. Without a present day’s effeminate face, many young viewers have not realized how good Zhu Yawen is. Here, he can look very silly, comedic and humble like a dork, the next minute, he is commanding and lethal. And he is so believable in both of these personalities. Indeed his acting as a pig eating a tiger is so enjoyable to watch because everyone underestimates him.
Yang Zishan’s acting is fine here, with a lot of inconsistencies as attributed to the poor script writing and mediocre directing. I’m also not particularly impressed with the side couple’s and other supporting characters’ scripts. Some actors seemed to have used their own voices. Zhu Yawen has a magnetic deep voice and with his professional dubbing skill, he makes his character come alive. Unfortunately this doesn’t apply to the other main characters, in particular He Junxiang’s Lei Shuo; his dialogues sound stiff and unnatural. One of the biggest complaints among viewers is the mouth motions don’t quite synch with the words spoken, as if the dialogues have been rewritten. Though not in his own voice, Zhu Yawen’s English dialogues are some of the best spoken English in Chinese dramas.
The drama shifts from office politics to kidnapping, to flesh trade in Indo China, to arm trade in Russia, involving company trade secrets, rescue missions, snipers, heavy machine gun fights, explosions, all unfolding in a story of adventure, thriller, murder, police, military, criminal organizations, and more. From episode 20 onwards, the story escalates into a Hollywood Rambo style of story telling.
The ultimate villain turns out to be rather disappointing and anticlimax with no compelling objective other than greed, and even with greed, he flip-flops, giving the viewers a cloud of questions, “huh?”
My Verdict
I have really enjoyed the beginning of this drama, in particular with Zhu Yawen’s pig-eats-tiger acting. Unfortunately as the plot unfolds, it deviates, making the story feel like a potpourri of multi genres. As a viewer puts it succinctly, “The first half looks like a poet, the last half looks like a hobo.”
If you’re not into rom-com and prefer watching some actions, this drama is action packed. But be warned, it is not consistent and plots holes are blatant. Some props can even look very fake too. The writing is wild, the directing is on and off, the editing is inconsistent.
This is an 8.0 from me, but I really like Zhu Yawen’s acting which I think he could deserve a 8.5.
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Fast Moving - Everything Goes in a Blur
After The Untamed, Jade Dynasty is a much hyped movie because of its main male lead, Xiao Zhan, the most popular Chinese actor currently. Many viewers, including myself, love Xiao Zhan in The Untamed playing the character Wei Wuxian. In this review, I’m trying to be objective despite my love for the actor.I’ve never read the novel related to this movie but I have watched the drama Noble Aspiration. I cannot say I was impressed by the drama; I found it too draggy, to the extent of becoming boring to watch. When it comes to the movie, it has to pack 55 episodes of the drama into about one and a half hours of the whole story. Things get moving very fast (in the movie). A big segment of the time is involved in fighting, which is pretty good at some scenes, especially the fight choreography performed by Xiao Zhan. However, there’s not enough time for character development. We hardly get to view the Bi Yao character properly; she’s simply just in and out of the scenes. There’s no time to see her and Zhang Xiao Fan’s relationship development, let alone how they fall in love with each other. We do get a peek at how Xiao Fan loves his shijie and how well she has treated him from young, how close he is with his shixiongs (senior brothers). I do prefer the Zhang Xiao Fan character played by Xiao Zhan than by Li Yi Feng. In Jade Dynasty, Zhang Xiao Fan is lovable and selfless but not lacking in his playfulness and silliness, whereas the Li Yi Feng’s portrayal in Noble Aspiration is a super slow person in every sense, so much so that many viewers are being put off by the un-charismatic character.
It is interesting to note that the Zhang Xiao Fan character is slightly similar to the Wei Wuxian character in The Untamed – among others, innocent young boy turns demonic; upstanding, altruistic and loved by all surrounding him; loves and adores his shijie (senior sister).
The whole movie is light-hearted, at times funny, but mostly cartoonish. For me, it is quite a letdown. Maybe I have geared up too high hope in the first place.
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Earthling Versus Alien, Who Wins?
I have always dreaded a sequel. That is because, despite how good the original story is, a sequel usually ruins it with a lack of new ideas and originality; it becomes repetitive and boring. For this drama, at first I thought Season 2 is one such disaster. To my surprise, not so. At the end of Season 1, Chai Xiaoqi (Wan Peng) left earth. Two years later, she returns. It was a happily-ever-after ending. The sequel starts off with her wedding with Fang Leng in 2021 upon her return. In the midst of their wedding, Chai Xiaoqi is being recalled and returned by force to her planet again.After wiping off her memories with Fang Leng (Xu Zhi Xian aka Thassapak Hsu), and reinjecting misinformation about him, Chai Xiaoqi is again sent back to earth with a mission: to steal the human's hormone from Fang Leng’s company. While traveling in her spaceship, there’s a mishap and she travels back in time to the year 2018 instead, a year before she actually met Fang Leng in the prequel (Season 1).
I was getting rather revolted for the first five episodes as Chai Xiaoqi is once again attracted to Fang Leng’s hormone; she is lustful and hovers all over his body, touching everywhere (he seems to enjoy it though). I was considering dropping the series. However, I was curious to see how the writer reconciles Season 2 with Season 1 giving that there are now two timelines. So I plodded on.
As the two meet again, everything starts with a clean slate except for Chai Xiaoqi, she has been told that Fang Leng is her husband, but for Fang Leng, he has never known her and finds her queer and annoying. The story gets better after episode 11 when she stops acting lustful. From there on, in fact it’s quite a decent watch with Fang Leng falling head over heels in love with Chai Xiaoqi, and she him.
My Verdict
This drama has so much sugar that I'm worried I may get diabetes by just watching it. There’s a lot of explicit intimacy gestures, touching, embracing and kissing. Viewers don’t need to watch Season 1 to follow Season 2 because they are standalone dramas. The writer has never attempted to reconcile the timeline with Season 1.
In Season 1, which comes later than Season 2 in terms of timeline, Fang Lie (Wang Youjun)’s mother and uncle, who were basically some cartoonish characters (even more so in Season 2), were Fang Leng’s nemeses. Here, Fang Lie’s mother becomes supportive of Fang Leng towards the last few episodes. Fang Lie himself was in love with Chai Xiaoqi in Season 1, whereas in Season 2, Fang Lie has his own love interest. Therefore, take Season 1 and Season 2 as two separate dramas that have some similarities, but that’s it. Season 2 is not really a continuation, but rather the same story told in a different way.
There is some very fine acting here by the two main leads, Xu Zhi Xian and Wan Peng. I love how Wan Peng acts when she becomes concerned and motherly, towards almost everyone in particular towards Fang Leng. I especially love Xu Zhi Xian’s portrayal as the cold CEO but without being robotic. His facial expressions and body language are very convincing, and his crying scenes can make viewers cry with him. I did.
There is also a romance between a human and a robot. I even sympathize with the alien antagonist who is perhaps the most unfortunate alien. In today’s world that is so lack of true love, affection and intimacy, this drama makes up the deficiency. If you crave for intense love, lots of kisses and hugs, this is it.
Great watch for romance buffs! Don’t miss it!
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It's My Encore
This is a youth, high school, puppy love romance. It reminds me of myself during my own years in school.I sat together with the school smartest and most good-looking boy one year in school. He was also the class captain. I looked more or less like Yan Ze with the same hair style, except I was 1,000 times uglier with a flat chest (still do). Like Yan Ze, my grades were not good (ranked lowest 10 or so). Our similarities stop here. Yan Ze is popular; I was like the air – nobody noticed me. Our class captain was the top student. I had always wondered how he managed to get such good grades without seemingly putting in as much efforts as I did. Just like Ji Xiao, my seat mate tried to help me in my school work, and I had a crush on him. When he left town, I remembered I cried for days. We were both 10 years old.
A few years later in junior high, he started writing to me. He had never expressed any admiration for me. Then his best friend who was the go-between, started to ask me out. One day, I received a letter from my ex-seat mate, expressing his admiration and love. It was too late; I was in love with his best friend, who, by coincidence, not unlike He Xin Liang – outgoing, basketball, and playful.
Until today, from time to time, I have wondered, what would have happened had he expressed his feelings to me sooner? Would things be different today?
I believe every one of us has a similar story to tell. Sometimes, these stories happened so long ago that we may have forgotten. Sometimes, these stories are seemingly unimportant and we don’t pay much attention to them. But if we look closer and think deeper, I believe we all can live through our younger years again through this drama, “Just an Encore”.
Fun watch!
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Great Performance by Little Actor
Any family that has a sicken child with a serious disease from birth can empathize with this story. In this drama, the whole story revolves around the child, trying to get him back to health. It’s tormenting and painful to see the child’s little body going through all the pains and sufferings. If you have experienced the anxiety before a surgical operation, you could empathize with the characters’ anxiety here too. This is a story that is full of loneliness, despair, longing, waiting, at the same time, lavished with determination and devotion.How this drama is being cut and edited is rather confusing at the beginning. As the story is unfolding, there is a lot of flashbacks and backstories. In fact, two timelines are playing out concurrently, one telling the present story and the other the story of how Nie Yusheng (Chung Hon Leung aka Wallace Chung) and Tan Jing (Li Xiaoran) have met during their adolescent years in high school.
I find it strange that when ex-lovers meet again, they act like strangers to each other; there’s no surprise, no nods, no eye contacts, no nervousness -- nothing, as if they have never met before. This strange phenomenon doesn’t only apply to our main leads, it also applies to our second lead couple, and even between father and son. Only the backstories reveal that these people indeed are no strangers to each other, and with flashbacks, only then viewers see their emotions and subtle expressions. As viewers get accustomed to the style of storytelling, it becomes rather enjoyable as the details are explained well in the backstories and flashbacks.
Nie Yusheng is almost like a walking corpse haunted by the past. Playing a tormented and bitter heart surgeon, Chung Hon Leung’s acting is very convincing, especially with the scene when Nie Yusheng breaks down and sobs. However, as many viewers have commented, dubbing in his own voice, it has given inconsistencies to the character. There are times when dubbing with the actors’ own voice is good, but not here because Chung Hon Leung’s native tongue is Cantonese. This has made him speaking Mandarin with a Cantonese accent which doesn’t go very well in this drama because he speaks differently, perhaps too differently from everyone else. It is even harder not to notice when the adolescent Nie Yusheng speaks perfect Mandarin and an adult Nie Yusheng doesn’t. I also find it hard to watch Chung Hon Leung playing the role of the adolescent Nie Yusheng when he loses memory as this is really a long stretch for the actor.
Tan Jing (Li Xiaoran) is mature and patient, enduring all the hardships that are thrown at her, at work and in life. A devoted mother, she would do anything for her child. Li Xiaoran has played her character convincingly showing the motherly side of her character with full marks.
I have really enjoyed watching the two young actors playing the adolescent Nie Yusheng (Zhan Yu) and Tan Jing (Fan Shiran). These two talented actors have truly captured the essence of the young couple and their amazing chemistry. I wish the director had continued to use the same actors into their adulthood instead of switching to Chung Hon Leung and Li Xiaoran because with the older pair, the whole feel of the story has shifted. Perhaps this is the effect that the director has wanted to show the viewers: how growing up has changed the couple and their chemistry.
My most enjoyable moments are probably when little Ping Ping (Mi Ke) comes on screen. The little actor is a gem and he nails the role so naturally. All his dialogues are intelligent and heart touching. His moments with his grandfather are precious as the viewers can really feel the love, joy and resignation of the relationship.
My Verdict
This is an adult romance drama that cannot be watched with skipping episodes nor with fast-forwarding as every scene is a hint to the next part of the story. From the beginning until about episode 12, it’s a rather excruciating watch as the viewers experience the longing and emotional pains of the characters. Misunderstandings are abound with words heard out of context and being misconstrued. This drama perhaps has the greatest and longest misunderstanding, from episode 1 to the last, that has kept our main characters apart. It is also a drama with mysteries, murder, coverup, office politics, family conflicts, revenge, and more. It is the little Ping Ping that has brought the adults back to reality and sanity, as watching him is the most heart warming experience. The story carries the message that, the one who is obsessed with revenge ends up with nothing; the one who leaves power and materialism aside and holds on to the people he loves gains everything.
A drama worthy of our time. Recommended!
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A Wild Tale: Chaotic Scriptwriting with Plot Holes and Logic Flaws
So, here's the scoop on this drama – it's like trying to catch a greased-up pig at a carnival. The script? It's like a squirrel on an espresso binge, darting all over the place without a care in the world. You start off thinking you're in for a sensible plot, but suddenly it nosedives off a cliff into a pit of absurdity.The story is supposed to be about this super-secret martial arts script that makes people the crème de la crème of fighters. But guess what? It's not much of a secret when everyone and their grandma are going all "gimme that script!"
The drama is set in this historical backdrop, but don't expect any history lessons. It's like mixing your cereal with orange juice – just doesn't go together. It's wuxia with a dash of xianxia thrown in for good measure.
Now, brace yourselves for the rollercoaster of relationships. At first, you've got these two buddies, Murong Chong (Ao Ruipeng) and Fu Hong (Deng Chaoyuan aka Aaron Deng), looking all chummy. But out of nowhere, they start chomping on bananas together. Yep, bananas! Then Xiao Ru (Zong Yuanyuan), a street urchin, gets roped into impersonating Murong Chong's supposedly dead sister. She's like "Oh, Fu Hong, you're handsome and sweet!" But wait, she's betrothed to Fu Hong, and he's crushing on her too. Suddenly, Murong Chong's like "Step aside, Fu Hong!" It's like a love triangle in a washing machine.
But that's not all – there are more twisted family ties here than a bowl of spaghetti. Character development? Nah, these folks are about as one-dimensional as a pancake. The acting is emotionless; even when the going gets tough, their expressions don't match the situations.
And don't even get me started on the final showdown – it's like watching synchronized swimming, literally. By the end, you're left with more questions than answers. Who's Xiao Ru, and where did she pop out from? Apparently, she's a time traveler, but it's as random as finding a pineapple in Antarctica.
My Verdict
In the end, this drama's about as clear as mud. It's a hot mess that even a GPS can't navigate. Save your sanity – go watch something else.
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Pretty Jewelry
My original title for this drama was ‘Hand in Hand They Conquer’. By the time I completed, it’s become ‘Pretty Jewelry’. That's because the plot is rather shallow, everything seems just superficial and decorative. The drama starts off so well, with all the intriguing and interwoven characters. The female lead is beautiful and cute, and both the male leads are so handsome and cool. And yet, the logic is simplistic and often incoherent, and the editing is disjointed at times.What I Like
I love the Fu Rong (Ju Jingyi) character. She is tomboyish (climbing walls and trees) and yet very feminine. She’s creative, intelligent, kind and has a way with people, and yet she’s also mischievous, stubborn and superstitious. With her curiosity and courage, she’s everywhere, investigating. How she bumps into her future husband, Xu Jin/Prince Su (Zhang Zhehan) is hilarious and lovable. She loves her family and her family loves her. I love how her big sister condones and helps her out whenever she gets into trouble. Her family’s dynamics are endearing.
There are multiple villains here, each working for his/her own agenda. At times they collaborate, but mostly, their schemes are uncoordinated, and our protagonists always come out on top winning because they are smarter than the antagonists (the antagonists are super dumb).
I love the epic military scenes – they are fearsome and grand, and look very authentic. I love how Xu Jin fights – lightning fast and deadly. And he’s infallible. Though gravely injured each time, he always miraculously heals the next day (unreal but it does take out the angsts).
I love it that whenever Fu Rong is in great danger, Xu Jin is always there to save her. Again, unreal but how they are being put together, meeting by chance over and over again is heart-warming and sweet.
I love the side couple, especially Wu Baiqi (Wang Youshuo). I love his humor, forthrightness and devotion. I also like Liu Yichang’s acting as a double character with a hidden identity as the antagonist. I feel both Wang Youshuo’s and Liu Yichang’s acting here a lot better than Zhang Zhehan’s.
What I Don’t Like
I love the Xu Jin character but not so much for Zhang Zhehan’s acting. He lacks the micro facial expressions. He maintains a frozen face, hardly a twitch of his facial muscle, not unlike a mannequin; a stern face doesn’t mean a frozen face. Having said that, at times, he can change completely with huge smiles and comedic facial expressions which are totally out of character.
I don’t like Ju Jingyi’s makeup here – it’s overly done especially with the eye section, making it uncomfortable to watch; her eye lashes are not unlike how little children drawing faces. With an overly white face, she can look horrendous closeup and unreal.
I cannot accept how no one recognizes that Xu Ping/ Prince of An (Liu Yichang) is also Ju Shui Nong Fu, not even the intelligent Xu Jin; by just wearing a half-mask doesn’t make a person unrecognizable.
I don’t like the grand scheme of things. The overall plot is basically fighting over the control of the production of jewelry for the palace consumption, a personal revenge for a misunderstanding, and a deranged obsessive one-sided love for a girl who takes him as a good friend. Though there are rampant government officials’ corruption and treasons, these are not the main features of the story. The fighting over the control of the spy agency can be a big thing but again, has not been the main plot here. Though unusual for palace politics, it does feel the bloody fighting is over nothing but just some trivial matters.
As always, people jump into conclusion too quickly without verifying matters properly and causing a lot of unnecessary misunderstandings. The supposedly intelligent Fu Rong falls under this and it really frustrates me watching how her logic plays out.
I also cannot accept that a person can think of one’s own safety when one’s ready to die – imagine wearing a Kevlar vest when the person also wants to be killed. I don’t appreciate the logic that Fu Rong wears her soft armor when she wants to die with Xu Jin, and how she revives later is even more head-scratching.
As the Emperor is quick to execute any persons, it is out of character that he pardons a hideous character here. When this hideous character is down, I breathe a sigh of relief but with him still surviving while others who are less evil perish, and with a dumb maid still trying to show her love for him, it’s just hard to stomach.
My Verdict
I have mixed feelings for this drama. On one hand, it’s rather enjoyable watching a young girl running around doing some mischiefs and falling in love with a super good looking and powerful prince. But on the other hand, there seems to be not much substance here; the plot is rather shallow. Nonetheless, it is still rather entertaining if you don’t mind the usual tropes (yes, falling off cliff, multiple times, is one) and don’t have anything else to watch. Just don’t expect too much.
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Sherlock Holmes (Doubles as Dr Octopus) & Dr Watson
After The Untamed, many viewers like myself wish there were additional episodes of the drama; we couldn’t get enough of it and we had missed it so much. When it was announced that there would be some spin-offs of the drama, we were ecstatic. The Living Dead is one of them.Perhaps we were over excited for the new movie and over expecting, when I finally watched it, I could not say I liked it a lot, like the way I love The Untamed.
This is a story about Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui, and their adventures. Viewers who do not know who Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui are, please watch The Untamed. This is a horror movie. The beginning scene was creepy and intense.
In this movie, Wen Ning is not that Wen Ning in The Untamed anymore. No more innocent and cute as he was previously. He is now serious and somber. Though he still has all the veins on his neck and is still wearing chains on his body, he is now a very powerful and intelligent person. His eyes are clear and bright. He can think and analyze a situation very fast and accurately. Together with Sizhui, they solve the greatest mystery/crime; he is like Sherlock Holmes. The chains that he wields become his weapons and when he waves the chains around, he looks very much like Dr Octopus in Spider-Man 2.
For Sizhui, he remains more or less like the Sizhui in The Untamed with better fighting skills with his guqin. There is a moment where the Yiling Patriarch appears in the movie encouraging Wen Ling when he (Wen Ling) is feeling lost. It is just a very brief moment, and I long for Wei Ying’s appearances (which I know not possible). At the end of the story, both Wen Ning and Sizhui return to the Gusu Cloud Recesses. The beautiful scene stirs up a lot of fond memories and I’m hoping to hear the sounds of the flute and guqin playing the Wuji tune again.
The Yin metal comes into play again. But in the movie, what the metal is has not been explained in detail, and I fear many viewers may be confused if they have not followed The Untamed story.
Overall, the acting and settings of the movie are pretty good, but it doesn’t have that celestial air that The Untamed has, and the people are not ethereal as Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. I guess, nothing else would ever replace the feelings that The Untamed has given me.
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Fun Drama But Rushed Ending
I started out with a very high rating, like 9.5, for this drama. The story line is simple, cute and endearing. You have a poor little girl rescued time and time again by a masked superhero. The chemistry between the female and male leads is fantastic. The actors, including the supporting ones, are good and beautiful, especially Vin Zhang, who is simply adorable. The whole drama is light-hearted with a lot of endearing and funny moments. It is in a way comedic but not in a stupid way. I really enjoy watching it as it makes me laugh out loud and relaxes me a lot. Throughout, the pace of the drama is good. The scenes, CGI, special effects, sounds, character development etc are pretty good, and the drama enjoyed a pretty good rating, like 8.5, from most viewers. That was before the final episode.Things changed. When it came to the final episode, all hell broke loose; the whole drama is seriously damaged by the final episode. The screen writer/director decided to have everyone dead, except the female lead, Hua BuQi. Not that I cannot accept dead people, but imagine jamming all the deaths into one episode and that’s it - THE END. It feels rushed, unplanned and chaotic. There are unanswered questions. Viewers are baffled. No wonder the rating dropped. This is really unfortunate.
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Strong Chemistry between Male and Female Leads
Viewers either love this drama or hate it. Those who love it is mainly because of the chemistry between the two main leads. Those who hate it because of the seemingly un-realistic plot in contract marriage and the beginning of the story. Most viewers drop the drama within the first few episodes, before it gets into the good stuff - loving relationship between the leads.For me, the beginning was also a bit hard to watch. However, after 10 episodes in, I began to enjoy the story and the plot. The chemistry between the male and female leads is enormous; they don't seem to have enough of each other. Ling Yi Zhou desires his wife constantly; he is passionate for her; there are umpteen kiss scenes - serious kisses, not just taps on the lips; bed scene is a constant play, sensual and sexual; it's really very sweet and beautiful, and sexy.
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