Reviews

Who Am I?

Sakra is an overly ambitious attempt to adapt Qiao Feng's arc from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天龙八部), my favorite Jin Yong novel. This is a tall task and inevitably has resulted in an overly condensed adaptation that misses the spirit of the original works. It is carried by the fact that it is such a beloved story that most viewers can fill in the gaps.

Qiao Feng, the magnetic chief of the Beggar Sect is accused of dastardly crimes and outed as being of Khitan descent at a time of conflict between Song and Liao (Khitan). He is evicted from his sect and the entire wulin (martial world) turns against him. As he seeks to clear his name, he encounters Ahzu, a minion in the powerful Murong household. He risks his life to save hers and discovers that like himself, she is also on a Who Am I? quest to figure out her origins. The narrative takes on too much between the rushed and unconvincing romance, solving murders and disentangling both their back stories. The ending is confusing with hurried character introductions to pave the way for a sequel that deals with the mastermind reveal and final arcs of Qiao Feng's story. This hurried rendition makes Qiao Feng little more than a one dimensional, lean mean fighting machine. It is a pity because Qiao Feng is Jin Yong's most powerful, complex and misunderstood male character.

Qiao Feng is the ultimate master of Jin Yong's epic 18 Dragons Subduing Palm martial arts technique, which employs inner energy and is used in most of Qiao Feng's fight scenes. The action scenes are almost ridiculously bombastic - Qiao Feng pulverising an entire horde of martial arts with his amazing energy blasts; gravity defying roof leaping and up close and lethal hand-to-hand combat or swordplay. Qiao Feng's showdown with the entire wulin is the most thrilling action sequence but it comes a bit too early in the movie. It is both incredulous and stupendous to see one man take on so many. I truly feared for Qiao Feng's life but what was more terrifying was the hypocrisy and cowardice of wulin. They basically cancelled a brother-in-arms who stared down death alongside them multiple times and ganged-up on him to try to kill him! I didn't enjoy the final fight scene as much - while splendidly choreographed and thrilling, it veered too far into the territory of wildly exaggerated almost superpower like flying leaps and from a distance qi energy strikes.

I watched the Cantonese dubbed version because to me, Qiao Feng will always be Kiu Fung and Jin Yong's famous lines always sound so diminished and lacking in vehemence and intensity in Mandarin. I think this is a great watch for the action scenes alone. I rate it 7/10.

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Will these words even be enough?

What collection of carefully-picked written words do I need to use to justify the profound soul-wrenching beauty of this film? Will words even be enough?

A Sun is one of those films where a mere retell of its plot would simply not be enough to capture its profound and soul-wrenching story. It’s one of those films that you have to witness and experience to fully appreciate and understand the story it is trying to tell its audience.

There are only a few films that rendered me at a loss for words after watching them and this is certainly one of those films. Honestly, I’m afraid of writing a review for this film because I do know that this time my written words would not be able to give the justice this film certainly deserves.

In simple words, this film is an intimate story about a family in the aftermath of a tragedy after a previous misfortune. If you read that simple summary, you will probably think this is one of those ordinary tales about families and tragedies. In a way, you’re right-- it is indeed ordinary, but also in a number of other ways, you’re greatly mistaken to assume that this is just another ordinary tale of a family.

What is so remarkable about this film is its ability to tell a multitude of things in too little of everything. The relationship between the two brothers was shown in just two separate brief scenes, one of which is just a narrated story of the elder brother’s visit to the youngest. Yet despite their little interactions in this film, both scenes already provided enough to paint a picture in your head of what could have been the dynamics between the two brothers.

On the other hand, the relationship between the husband and wife was marked with only dialogues about their sons and very little of what could have hinted their relationship was like outside of being parents to their children. The gap between them created by the lack of any details about their personal relationship was remedied by the actors' stellar portrayal of their characters. It was their silent moments, the quiet comfort between them, and their distant yet intimate connection with each other that bridge this gap.

Overall, A Sun is a painful, yet beautiful and still hopeful story of an ordinary family with very complex characters that you would end up caring for as you go along with the film. All the actors nailed their respective roles. They were simply perfect. The original score is perfect too. It was deeply moving and impactful without being too overpowering. It was simply a great mix of everything.

Watch it, it’s totally worth your time. Your 2 and a half hours will surely not be put to waste.

[SPOILER AHEAD! Do not read after this if you don’t want to be spoiled. Take my word, if ever you plan to watch this movie, stop reading at this point because you will appreciate the story more without knowing what is written below.]

I have read a number of people asking why the elder brother did what he did and how they could not simply understand his reasons. This questioning alone is a good example of how often signs and causes of depression are often missed by even the closest person to the one depressed. It tells how a person’s facade is not everything and how one carry oneself in front of the others can be very deceiving and is not in any way a good indicator of what lies beneath one’s exterior.

I was also very shocked with what happened to A-Hao. It was only after what he did that I was able to fully understand his story of the kids playing hide-and-seek.

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Trotting Me into Boredom (Major spoilers ahead!)

I. The Ugly
This drama is all about Lin Ze Hui's sexy clavicles and nothing else. It successfully took a bunch of good-looking people, a plot with some potential, and an expensive set, and set the whole lot on fire and watched as it razed all my expectations to the ground. I was so bored, and my boredom was not alleviated despite the ridiculously good-looking men: Lin Ze Hui as the ML seventh prince, Zhu Min Xin as the villain crown prince, and Zhang Zhexu as the FL's younger brother. Despite being linguistically challenged, I could use my limited Chinese skills to fill in the comprehension gaps and follow 95% of the drama. That tells you how cliched the script was.

In episode 1, we find out that the FL was originally meant to marry the villain crown prince, but he kills her father and brother on their wedding, supposedly because they were treasonous. Episode 1 opens with the FL unsuccessful in assassinating the villain. She then holds the ML seventh prince hostage before her vampiric disease is triggered by the scent of musk incense and she latches onto his clavicle like a baby calf to a cow's teats. The FL then poisons the ML to threaten him into helping her to investigate the allegations against her father. Their investigation leads them into many cringeworthy situations between episodes 2 and 5 which somehow ignites the sparks of attraction between them, and by the end of episode 6, the FL gives the antidote to the ML as she realises the poison is no longer necessary to secure his assistance and the ML confesses he is in love with the FL. At the end of episode 9, the FL meets her (supposedly dead) brother's doppelgänger but he tries to assassinate the FL and ML at the end of episode 10, and the duo only survive because the FL activates her violent martial artist vampire side with a sniff of her portable musk incense (they've basically written her as a crack whore). In episode 11, they find out that the villain crown prince had colluded with ministers to counterfeit currency, and he had likely murdered the FL's father and brother because they had discovered his crimes. By episode 14, the villain is determined to murder his own brother, the ML.

Here comes the absolute clanker: The assassination attempt in episode 14 fails, but the ML has been poisoned. So in episode 15, the FL confronts the villain. After she feeds the antidote to the ML, the FL is knocked out by the villain's subordinate and fed a memory-altering substance. The FL forgets her own identity and her family's deaths, but remembers that she is to marry the crown prince in a few days. The ML desperately tries to shock her memory back in episode 16, by bringing her to her abandoned childhood home (the scene of her father's and brother's murders). This fails but lo' and behold, in episode 17, the FL's brother returns healthy and whole, only this time he has his memory but she does not have hers. She regains her memory by episode 18, but continues to feign memory loss. The end of episode 18 and beginning of episode 19 spotted random comedy, and we get to see two beautiful men and one beautiful woman all squeeze into one bed. As it turns out, the villain is aware that the FL has regained her memory and they were plotting to find evidence against him in his palace. They are finally able to present evidence of the villain's misdeeds to the emperor in episode 21, with the (random) assistance of the villain's subordinate. The villain makes a last ditch effort to escape, fatally injuring the FL in the process. Hua Chanjuan's sister, Hua Mengchu (both portrayed by Zhu Xinyuan) is able to save the FL, on the condition that the ML marries her, to which the ML agrees. The FL is saved and Hua Mengchu insists that the ML marries her, but in episode 23, while the ML is ranting about how much he loves the FL, he discovers that his bride is the FL. Finally, in episode 24, they are able to confront the villain who goes on a lunatic's spiel and the FL gives him a less than tight slap. They ultimately discover that the ML was in the running for the crown prince position and was originally meant to be the one the FL marries, and they live happily ever after.

I have just summarised all 240 minutes in these two paragraphs. You no longer need to watch the drama.

II. The Bad
This is not Xu Zhenzhen's first collaboration with Lin Ze Hui, and yet there was absolutely zero chemistry. It felt more like a jiějiě 姐姐 appeasing her dìdì 弟弟. XZZ's acting also left a lot to be desired here. It was like she was playing a watered-down version of her role in Palace Shadows: Between Two Princes.

There were multiple inconsistencies and unexplained plot points. For example, in some scenes, the ML is quite skilled in fighting, but in other scenes, he requires the FL to rescue him. Another example, why would the villain want to force the FL to forget his misdeeds and try to marry her again, when the marriage would not benefit him anymore (her father being dead and all) and he was not in love with her? Also, why does the villain's subordinate have a sudden change of heart?

III. The Good
LZH is a beautiful man who also makes a beautiful woman in episode 7. The only reason I continued watching the drama was because he is truly good-looking and not a bad actor. You get to appreciate some sexy clavicles throughout this drama, sexy abs in episode 7, and some man-on-man action in episode 19.

IV. Verdict
Painfully boring. Skip unless you have nothing else to watch.

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Thank you, this is the worst series I've ever watched

I will be extremely honest (And I will try my best not to give spoilers, I promise):

To begin with, this series presents us with 2 different stories. This series is actually a story that is being told by a man in the square. From episode 1 to 16 it is a story about a spy who is the princess's look-alike and switches places with her to spy on the palace.
For some reason in episode 17, the people who are listening to the story get angry, and say that the story "didn't end well!", so the man who is telling the story decides to start all over again, and tell a new story TOTALLY changing the story. origin and personality of the characters. It's no joke, LITERALLY THIS happens.
They completely ignore the story of episodes 1 to 16. There were people who died, there were moments when we felt distressed, but they simply said "That didn't happen, forget it, let's start over" and excluded these characters. In the new story they only kept about 4 characters (along with the protagonists), and the rest they threw away and changed the cast.

Now let’s get to the specific points:
* The main couple is only a couple out of pure convenience, as there is practically no romantic development for them.

*All the other couples in the series are better than the protagonists! It's no joke, any other romantic story within the series is better. Actress Bai Lu plays 2 characters with 2 romantic stories, and the 2 romances are better than the main romance. Actress Zhao Lu Si's romance story is also better, and the emperor's lover's romance story is also better... Anyway, even the TRAGIC romantic stories that happen in the series are more beautiful than the main couple's romance.

*The female protagonist is only intelligent when it suits her, she is completely stupid for most of the series, acting like a child, then when something goes wrong she becomes the reincarnation of Sherlock Holmes.

*Everyone in the series hates her and wants her to die or go back to her palace, even the protagonist acts as if "it doesn't matter" to him.

* The secondary plots are attractive, but the main plot is this nonsense from the protagonists and it's very boring. If the story were about General Feifang's story, I believe it would be incredible, but it's not. I only felt relieved when these other characters appeared on the scene. I might have been angry with them (since some of them were bad), but at least I felt something.

*GOOD SIDE OF WATCHING Untouchable Lovers:

- I managed to watch Zhao Lu Si playing the villain;
- Now I have a series to put on the podium as "Worst series I've ever watched". So, whenever I watch something bad, I can say: "This show may be bad, but nothing beats the HORROR that was Untouchable Lovers."

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My stages of watching Gameboys 2020

*grin like an idiot*
*ugly cry*
*shake my head because I still can't believe how realistic this BL is*
*smile till it hurts my cheeks*
*squeal like a 16 years old girl*
*cry and somehow laugh at the same time*
*nod vigorously because I relate so much*
*hold my chest because heart is shattering*
*cry all the tears of my body*
*blush from all the cuteness*
*pinch myself to make sure this drama really does exist*
*grin like an idiot*
... and repeat for thirteen episodes straight.

Here is my review for Gameboys 2020. Thank you for reading.

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Good watch but pace slows down and doesn't pick up

Story: great beginning with a funny scenes thrown in. The struggles of being a detective, and a police officer at that are well portrayed. There's a good fast pace as they rush to save the death row convict's life. Then things trickle down when they fail too. I think they reveal all the cards too early in the drama and where they aren't, it is too easy to guess 'who-done-it' which kills the suspense. Feel like Ji-Hyeok's childhood trauma wasn't brought out as well as it could have been which made it hard to really empathise with him.

Acting: commendable acting all round, can't really fault it. Do-Chang and Ji-Hyeok make a great time . Seo-Kyung did a great job with her role, didn't feel cringey as is common with many FLs in K-dramas. Jong-Tae is not the cliché psycho killer common in many drams which is refreshing . The Violent Crimes team two is also good fun to watch, especially Dong-Wook's baseball scene.

Summary: enjoy the first nine episodes or so to follow the story. It makes for good lazy Sunday afternoon watch after that.

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There are a few times when I rated a drama with 9. But this one really desrves it. The couple was adorable, and they had great chemistry which helped a lot with the progress of the story. Actually, the love story was really good, sweet and cute. I espicially loved the leading lady, who was fangirl goals. The addition of that in the plot mix was very clever. The plot, in addition, was well constructed and the story didn't get boring or frustrating. The events followed one another, even though the plot twist in the end was too cliche, as it has happen to too many dramas, but I will forgive them since the rest of the show was good. I also enjoyed the OST.
So, 9 out of 10.

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A sensitive, fond portrayal of dealing with being stuck in time

I found this drama completely on accident at Viki and watched it all in one sitting!

With short 8 episodes, this drama will grab your attention at the first and make you cry at least once. It has that magical jdrama ability of hitting you right in the feels without needing any showy imaginaries. The plot is tight and to the point: a cherry tree miracle happened -- a high school young man is revived 7 years later the date of his death to make his best friend/love interest wish of being confessed under a cherry tree come true, only his previous tight group of friends are distant now they are all adults, and the tree is going to be cut down soon. The main theme, for me, is getting back on track after something really impactful happened to you.

The cast is amazing, full of young actor who are really great. The main lead, especially, is so good. He is portraying a character forever 17 years old, in the middle of friends who grew to be 24 when he couldn't, and it's amazing how he looks the part. You can feel on his behavior, the way he moves, the way he talks, the way he sleeps (!!!) that he's only 17, not an adult yet, and it's heartbreaking. Not only the characters but also the viewers start to wonder what life would be like if the accident had never happened.

The pace, the editing, the sensibility of the director, the subtle ost that binds everything together, all of that leaves a harmonious impression. It's a human story, full of life, sweet story that explores human emotions in a way that Japanese dramas excel at. And it doesn't get sloppy.

You definitely should give it a chance!

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My heart aches

Ahh I must say the movie is very well made , the actors are v good I usually don’t really watch movies/series without skipping at least one scene but I didn’t skip any scenes sooo must be a good movie!! I was soooo invested in the story but the ending !! I cannot be any more heartbroken , I thought they were going to end up together low key thought he died at one point lmao but vvvv good movie , realistic ending I guess? I feel like they should’ve made it a drama cause I feel there could be so much more to the story like his relationship with his father?
Also I want to want to go to an electronic festival now lol looks so much fun!!

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Not a fairytale with happy ending but not something you should miss...

It's a quite complicated to understand but it's still worth to watch, first thing it does not ending which usually is like they lived happily ever after so if you are looking something like that then it's not the place to find. It's a beautiful love story which makes you smile but also have a big twist that left you shocked.

It was well executed, acting was good it is far better than other movies about time travel but it also left with many unanswered questions so it does have many plot holes. It's definitely a tearjerker that will let you cry until the end and you'll get a unsatisfied ending also, but it still worth to watch because it's like true life we don't get everything as we want.

I'll definitely recommend you if you are not softhearted person, it's a heartwarming and tragic story but it will also give you some pleasant moments!!

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YAY OR NAY?!

This is my first time writing a review here in MDL so bear with me please...
I've recently finish watching Love At Night 2 days ago and here's my final thought regarding this drama stating what I like and what I dislike.

WHAT I LIKE :

1. Trailer — the trailer is very promising that 2 weeks before the airing date made me anticipate into watching.

2. Love At Night — the title itself is captivating that my mind goes into wildest (XD not something what you have thought)

3. Zhang Yu Xi and Liu Xue Yi — The reason I watched this was because of Zhang Yu Xi as I am a fan of her previous dramas. Although I am not familiar with Liu Xue Yi but as I dug deeper about him made me wants to familiarize him.
4. The chemistry — The Main lead has this oozing chemistry, although I haven't watched their previous drama LOVE AND REDEMPTION but I can sense already that they have a good pairing..

5. Their Acting — Zhang Yu Xi is great at portraying Xu Qing You and Liu Xue Yi as Mo Ling Ze and it is praiseworthy..

6. The 10 episodes — I guess thats my favourite episodes so far in the drama as I scored it high 9 for me...


WHAT I DISLIKE:

1.After ep 10— the plot has gone draggy and more on water fillers inserted. It would be nice if they keep it shorter. As the drama lost it's main pace.

2. Side Characters — I like the main characters but when they inserted the side couples ( Xu Qing Yu's bestie and little brother) I started to skip more and more as they have more screen time than the Main CP. Also other characters (the both exes ) are very annoying that it made the story worth not watching. Lastly, the childish obsessive fan of Mo Ling Ze , although she has her love line near the end with Mo Ling Ze's assistant but her actions are not very irritating to watch.

3. The ending — I don't know if it is happy or not . As they resolved some issues near end which made me keep wondering ???? ... It seems like its a rush ending with crappy theme..


If I were to rate it I would give it 7.5 over all...

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The second season of ATEEN didn't focus on the friendship between the girls, which was unfortunate. The whole drama was trying to make a great romantic story out of nothing sprinkled with some school drama and growing pains.

The love stories were cute, but not as good as they were in the first season. The love triangle was weak too. So, there were few twists when it came to the romance part. Plus, the main Hana of the first season was pushed aside and her love story was just a mess.

At least the conclusion was bitter sweet and it feated a drama about teens and their lives.

So, five out of ten.

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I gave the story-line a 7,5 because to me it is not completely badly written. There were good episodes which were really funny especially in the beginning (the 1st episode was really great a 9 in my book).
Later on the story-line deteriorated a bit, portraying HaiTang from a smart girl in episode 1 to a stupid superstitious girl afraid of ghosts.
But... when she divorced Yueming after fixing his face, the story-line started to be better again, until the 1st disaster (stealing of the formula).
When that was resolved I started to feel anxious... YueMing who had accused his brother YueXuan without any good proof, sitting at the feast-meal with a bitter expression on his face.
After that it was one disaster after another. All secretly instigated by YueMing, his sister in law (widow of the dead son) and a little bit by Mohua.
No one was good only the family of HaiTang, HaiTang, YueXian, the little sister of YueXian and the father.
The fun was gone, the frustration started. However I couldn't stop watching even with the knot in my stomach!
With each episode I swore too myself I would stop watching, but the acting was so good I kept watching.

But in the end I felt dissatisfied with the fact that characters who behaved badly, for example brother YueMing never got punished and never even apologized to his brother YueXuan for the things he had done.
It felt unsatisfactory, especially since he got a "reward" in the end when he left to "study abroad", while his brother stayed and worked in the business. I guess YueXian will pay for the studies of his brother YueMing who did all those bad things to him and his girlfriend and while doing so also helped the business to get into trouble (losing money to such an extent that the company had to close because there was no money for the workers).
I even started to fantasize my own ending for this brother... him drowning or being killed while he was abroad.

The mother who as a person was a despicable human being and only had eyes for her biological son Yueming (maybe that was the reason he was completely unaware of the fact that he should take responsibility for his actions).
Treating the daughter in law like a piece of garbage and treating HaiTang badly when she was not the wife of her biological son. Also never apologizing properly to them for her bad behaviour.
Always influencing her husband to give Yueming extra chances and always coming up for excuses for his bad behaviour.

I thought YueXuan and HaiTang were too forgiving towards YueMing.
However I liked in general their storylines together even though there were moments where I thought that HaiTang showed a form of stupidity which I couldn't understand. She made errors in judgment, trusting the wrong persons and not believing the right persons.
For example: When she accused YueXuan of killing her mother (even her own brother found it illogical). If I loved someone I would trust them and would not accuse them of murder without any proof. For me it would have been the end of my relationship (trust is important).

The father was too weak, he didn't stand up to his wife, and made big mistakes but he apologized in the end and owned up to his mistakes. He was one of the supporting characters I liked the most.
The General was funny in his greed. Mohua was flawed but also owned up to her mistakes and in my book that was good enough.

Illogical actions like a miscarriage because of using too much musk never heard of it and Google didn't either, Haitang standing up and walking after her "comatose" stay a little bit unbelievable. But I never saw a Chinese drama that didn't had questionable events/facts written in their story-line.

However I still enjoyed the show, but I need to see something completely uplifting before I rewatch this show again.
But I am sure I will.
The music is great, the visual aspects are beautiful. I even admired their clothes, the embroidery... ok, enough. I think it is worth to watch this show if you leave the logic behind.

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