damsel in a dress
This was the best Japanese romance production I have seen to date.
The acting was stunning. The fine skills exhibited by all the cast (also the support roles) was just brilliant.
Japanese productions tend to be either overly melodramatic or greatly exaggerated acting-wise. But this was neither.
It was just beautful from start till the end (and by that I mean the very end. The part after the credits...)
Story: Aki is the genius songwriter of CrudePlay, a band of highschool friends in which he formerly used to play. When he meets Riko, he wants her to like him as himself, not as the famous composer he is. So he lies. This is revealed when Riko is scouted by the same label. Will they overcome the obstacles of the industry and the rival from his own band?
Characters: I loved every single character in this drama. Aki, the tormented genious whos heart is slowly opening to the young and sweet Riko. Riko, the gentle singer who admires Aki as a composer and has a passion for singing. The chemistry between the leads was very real. I liked the way they interacted when the were on screen together.
Shou, the cool best friend. He's singer of CrudePlay and I think just as cool as Aki. His acting was very sophisticated, very detailed and perfectly portrayed the friendship between him and Aki. I think he is also my favourite character. And I am not (just) saying that out of 2nd lead bias. I just think he acting was so mesmerising.
And all the other loveable side characters.
Music: Well this is a music-themed film, so this only could be good, right? It's very light pop based. Not really catching, but definitely easy to listen to. I appreaciate that it is not one or 2 main songs that get repeated over and over like in many other dramas.
Rewatch Value: I don't rewatch much. But I may just rewatch this some time. You can probably pick up more details and emotions in this movie during a rewatch. You can look at the beautiful characters more closely and find new expressions that will make you like them even more.
Overall: I can highly recommend this drama to everyone who likes music-themed stories, a sublime romance, fantastic acting, loveable characters, and a magnificent story.
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I have to admit 39 episodes are somewhat of a challenge. But after ep1 the director made very efficient use of cliffhangers. Hence, you'll just watch on and on and the 39 episodes just fly by!
Story: A beautiful Chinese time traveller story. Qing Chuan gets zapped back to the Qing dynasty. And we follow her meet the great Emperor and his numerous sons. The story is full of love, hate, revenge, intrigue!
While the emperor's sons struggle for favour in court and for the position of crowned prince Qing Chuan is right in the middle of it all.
I loved how all the Princes were portrayed with different characteristics, worries, goals, dreams, faults. Over the course of 39 episodes there was room enough to develop every character. And while we start out hating some and liking others, the story convincingly takes us to other perspectives, different problems and we may just change our minds about some of them or at least find it harder to judge them in terms of black and white.
The actors were doing a great job. Every single one of them did a brilliant job. Yang Mi (Qing Chuan) was probably my favourite character. She was able to portray Qing Chuan so well with all her different facets.
Feng William and He Mickey were just unbelievable. Playing the two may male leads (8th and 4th prince) they excelled at playing intrigue, ambition, hate, cruelty, love, cold heartedness, softheartedness ... the whole range really.
But the Royal Consorts, Princes, Ministers, Eunuchs, Palace maids ... deserve merit as well. This drama was huge. Not just cast wise. But also as far as locations and sets were concerned and the costumes were so detailed and beautiful. The directors and producers put a lot of effort into this drama and the result truly reflects the passion they must have had making this series.
Sometimes the scipt was just a bit lengthy. And the intrigue was getting slightly out of control. In some episodes you can really feel the artificiality of the script. With the Qing Chuan Doppelgaenger, I really feel that was not a necessary episode.
Anyhow I thought all the tiny side stories of some characters were well interwoven with the plot and made the whole drama richer and more complete.
This was my first Chinese historical drama and I had to get used to the difference after being used to historical k dramas. All in all I think i like chinese traditional clothes better than the korean but that hair ornamentation... phew must have been really heavy. I also liked that the females here were all far away from being silly, naive and spoiled. They were all very believable characters.
A must watch for every one who enjoys historical dramas!!!
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I have read the Manga, seen the Anime and can therefore say: loved it. And even if you have not seen them, you will still enjoy the drama.
Storyline:
Although the storyline is a bit naive, but the characters are well developed. Dialogues ars honest and informed (especially where the acting tecniques are concerned, not that I am an expert though).
It deals in comedy and romance. A very good combination for an entertaining drama. It's not neccessarily a page-turner, but it doesn't get boring and never drags.
Actors:
Choi Si Won and Chin King are an awesome combination. Both are very skilled with creating mood with facial expressions. They were well choosen for their parts. Same goes for Lee Donghae looks like he is enjoying the part of Bu Po Shang, the arrogant jerk. Chen Ivy is nothing like what I would have imagined her like after knowing her Character from the manga and anime.
Music:
Let me just say: SOLO is still stuck in me head...
Do not miss out on this one. It's a pleasure to watch and will make you laugh!
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This review may contain spoilers
I've decided to watch this one after my friend told me about it.In the beginning I thought the story sounded superficial, but wanted to give it a go anyway.
And it turned out to be a story full of humor, fluff and honesty. It made me want to continue watching after every episode!
Though the acting seems a bit exaggerated (especially in certain scenes during the first episodes) it levels out as the story progresses. I was really surprised by some of the support-roles. Especially Ahmon's father who I originally thought to be laughing stock-figure, turned out to have a lot of potential.
What I really liked about this drama:
The actors were well chosen and did a nice job conveying emotions, problems and the individual characters. I was afraid "the devil" would end up making a 180° turn and end up suddenly being all lovey-dovey (like in several other dramas), but his character remained consistent only gained depth!
Same goes for the supporting cast. I always get really frustrated when you have a couple of really good actors and their only function in the whole drama is to push along the storyline of the main characters. In this drama, they had there own stories. You got the impression of them being real friends, with honest and realistic behaviour.
(I would have enjoyed to see more of the relationship between Jang Ping and Li Xiang, though!)
After episode 5 I thought...
1. this is brilliant. 10* and 100% rewatch value.
2. There are another 15 episodes, what are they going to do? oO
3. Please don't let this turn into one of those dramas that just drag on and on and on...
Well, it didn't drag on.
I thought the screenwriter(s) did a really good job at tackling the whole "sibling-love affair" issue, in a realistic and honest fashion. I have to admit, I really liked this topic and was amazed at how well it was dealt with.
What I didn't like:
This is probably getting old and maybe I am biased by my own cultural background but I really hate it, when people do not talk about their feelings. They don't have to go confessing in ep 2 but how they always do whatever they think is right, always wanting to do everything on their own. As if they were alone in the relationship. Many of the dramas I watched could have been completed in half the time had people sat down for a decent talk.
(Sorry... getting distracted here...)
It's not too prominent in this drama though, but it is still there. And it's just frustrating to see the only time they ever sweet-talk to each other is after they have finally resolved one of these issues.
(Okay enough of that now... I am ranting...)
I know I said the drama is not dragging on, but during the last couple of episodes one does get the impression of the main characters just kind of going from one problem to the next. Mind, all problems are in line with the story and make sense, but I still got a little put off by too many problems and too little fluff.
So I had to deduct some points, because it spoiled the rewatch value.
The ending ... oh I won't ... spoilers ;)
All in all this was still one of the better dramas I have seen so far. I'd definetely recommend it. It was great to watch and very enjoyable. This drama will make you want to watch on after every episode, because it is exciting throughout.
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