Reviews

I spotted this drama on Viki, where it had excellent ratings and reviews, and I was excited to watch an Asian drama with queer themes as there aren't that many of them. I marathoned the whole thing, because the episodes are short and I have too much free time, and honestly I was disappointed. And more than disappointed, I was upset.

The plot has potential, and the actors are good (especially considering they're pretty much beginners), but I honestly have very little tolerance for queer storylines where every intimate interaction is more or less forced. Not forced as in 'the actors are clearly awkward about it', but forced as in 'if this scene happened in real life, it would be sexual harassment'.

I don't want to spoil anything but I think people should know this before they watch the drama, as it is content that may very well be triggering for some people. Some people will undoubtedly think I'm making this too big of a deal, but I have been sexually harassed and I don't take these things lightly. Personally, I was very uncomfortable watching the 'love' scenes of this drama, and also troubled by the fact that so many people find these forced kisses etc cute and romantic. I don't know if the creators thought kissing someone who's barely conscious or restraiting someone so you can kiss them was okay because the characters are both boys, or if it's just their opinion in general. Sadly, I've seen a similar problem with other queer storylines in Asian tv/cinema as well. I find it very concerning. There's nothing cute in forcing yourself on someone. And it's incredibly harmful to portray this kind of 'no means try harder' behaviour as normal and romantic.

If you cut out these disturbing scenes, the drama would be quite nice. The acting is good, and there are some funny moments. As the main couple was disappointing for me (not the actors; the behaviour of the characters), I found myself more invested in Bai Luo Yin's relationship with his father. Song Tao, who played the role of the absent-minded yet incredibly kind father, did a really good job. The dad was my favourite character. I also liked the classmates, Yang Meng and You Qi, though the drama definitely ended on a very confusing note re: those two.

TL;DR: this could've been a great drama, if not for the 'romantic' scenes being mainly sexual harassment.

Leia Mais

Slice of life that was just too slow for me.

First I'll say what I liked...
Great acting, diverse characters, intelligent lines (dialogue), which were brought together really well and perfectly executed.
Understated acting in a drama that contains little action or romance to fill in gaps and quite a few scenes that involved little or no dialogue, really tests an actor's abilities.
Viewers will have their own take on what this drama represented. For me, it was about regrets, being stuck in a dead-end life and reaching a point where that hits you and questions then raise their heads about what the point is and if that's it. One's own worth is even questioned.
The pace, however, killed it for me.
There are slow, gently unfolding dramas, that I have loved. I don't need murders, horror, steamy romance or laughs-a-minute. I do need SOMEthing to pull me in though.
If I had watched this drama after it aired, I would have dropped it.
Watching it air, however, I stuck with it, as 2 eps a week I could watch.
I do feel it picked up, but only in the very late episodes. The rest were like watching paint dry.
It was claustrophobic, often miserable and with some horrible characters. I couldn't stand Ki-jung, the older sister; even outside the house, where she seemed to be supposedly 'quirky'. I felt sorry for her once and that was short lived.
Tae-hoon's sister, Kyung-sun, was also repulsive ~ totally selfish and a complete martyr, who made a decision in her life and then used it to whine and bitch.
Chun Ho-jin as the father, was excellent, although I don't think he'd have had a problem learning his lines.
Lee Min-ki's character of brother, Chang-hee, was my favourite. Terribly immature in his behaviour at times, but very self-aware. I think all the father's dialogue was allocated to that character too!
The ending felt abrupt, not so much because of unanswered questions, but because I found 2 storylines really odd in how they were left. It was almost like the script writer couldn't be bothered. Perhaps they didn't know where to go with those aspects, or were trying to be life-like... which doesn't always make sense. I don't want that side of reality in a drama though, thanks, as it's just frustrating!
I don't think I chuckled, never mind laughed, once.
The title that represents what the drama portrays, is tenuous, to say the least.
I found the story and script very disappointing and it is definitely not one I would ever watch again.

Leia Mais

A Warm, Simple Family Everyone Asked For!

This is the very first drama I'd write a review even before the drama has pass it half.
This is also the very first drama I gave 10 ratings for it's flawless and perfect storyline, cast, ost, editing, all!

Everyone in this drama really makes me want to hug each of them.

I do find it's quite interesting because the lead ages are reverse from their actual age.
But they nailed so perfectly. The child actors also do their roles perfectly.

Usually, I find the childhood times are boring so mostly I skipped the timeline, but, I never skip a single part of it!
The young Jian Jian is such a cutie. She is like a sunshine around Ling Xiao and Zi Qiu- who has difficult childhood.
I love how the young version grows to be a teenager, who is there for each other.

The three of them really have different charm and personality, but the sync between the three is really beautiful.

< Characters >

+ Ling Xiao; a boy yet a man.
Even tho his character is like usual main lead in other dramas, experienced awful incident that makes him have nightmares like everynight, but he always make a reasonable decisions. He grow faster than child at his age, but doesn't make him act like old man in such young age. He can be mischevious, naughty, yet an elder brother you can depend on.

As the youngest of three, Song Wei Long potrays the oldest; handsome, gentle, and lacks nothing.
But as the story goes on, you can see how weak, hurt and broken Ling Xiao is.
Song Wei Long do awesome job to potray this one.
Like, you always seeing him shining; suddenly you are afraid you'd broke him just by touching him.
I would said that, Ling Xiao were made to him..
and it's his best character yet so far.

+ He Zi Qiu; forever a baby.
He long for loves from his family since young age. He also devoted child especially to his foster dad. He is Jian Jian's shield yet her partner in crime. He has the most difficult childhood between the three. He is sensible, yet insensible to other feelings. So sometime his acts or words can hurt others; but no one can hurt his family. He is definitely a brother you are wished for.

Xin Cheng is given to act as Zi Qiu with most funny yet most sad scenes.
You feel like want to protect him and make him smile most of time, since his smile is so precious.
He may be hot-headed and act harsh sometimes, but you can't stop him.
But despite all his misfortune, he always give us good laugh with his innocent and pure soul.
Xin Cheng really touch our heart with his acting. Bravo.

+ Lin Jian Jian; rays of sunshine.
She is the purest soul I've ever meet. She looks like a troublemaker, but she is actually the one that care her family the most. She always be true herself, show what her likes or dislikes and never hidden her own feelings.
I love how Jian Jian's character is growing, especially when she was apart with her brothers.

Honestly, I love how Jian Jian can be a child yet mature to her given situation.
Song Yun really gives us the positive vibe from Jian Jian and make everyone love her (even in bts, she is as cheerful as JJ).
I like how the fact Song Yun can play the 16 and 25 yo JJ with perfection.

Not to mention the Fathers role are so important to the three, especially Papa Lin. I was really touched by how he is brought up the three and always regards Ling Xiao and Zi Qiu as his own child. Even tho Papa Ling doesn't have much roles to the kids, but he is kind and good listener to Papa Lin. They have such great synergy and become each other back. They just like actual husband and wife would be.

The bound between family is so strong that no one can break them apart.

< Storyline >
Neat, cut perfectly, the pace is right.
I really don't like most family drama has draggy pace especially when they are argue, separate, or in an angsty situation. But I don't see any draggy moments in this drama. You can laugh and sad at the same episode.
The portion of each pace is 100! The time jump is also in a right placement!
1999 to 2009 to 2019. the dynamic is good.

Even the characters changed in thru years also relateable. And Jian Jian's narration also make more senses.

In Cdramas, usually we can see how the storyline goes based on opening or ending song, but I got clowned each episodes. This drama really have an unpredicted story with heartwarming story each episode.

< OST >
The OSTs are beautiful and rightly placed. There is no misplaced BGM or sound effect, I would give standing ovation to the music director. Never did I got annoyed by BGM or sound effect.
I also heard the OST like everyday as daily routine.

I also hope everyone who is watching (and reading my review), would have their own happiness and feel warm at heart as our three musketeers strive and chase their own happiness~♡

Leia Mais

JUST GO WATCH THIS

After a year delay, Resident Playbook is here! I was thrilled to find out that this will air in April. I didn't know the delay took a toll on the whole team but it was for the better. If they pushed it through it wouldn't get the recognition that it deserved. This is entirely different from the usual Shin PD formula but it was refreshing. I honestly did not care for all of that. I'm just happy that Yuljeverse is back and with a lot of cameos from Hospital Playlist casts.

Honestly, just go watch it! The main casts are cute and likeable! Rewatch value is high! I think I've memorized all the lines from all the rewatch lol

Leia Mais

intriguing start - confusing middle - unispired ending

Storyline:

this one started promising with the lead actress being a special kind of introvert autist forced extrovert if needed, being beautiful and highly intelligent in the field of programming. The idea of the new chatbot she invents fits the current times and often hopelessly automatized behaviours of modern humans.
She herself uses her chatbot and one evening decides to meet the creepy chat match instead of the normal nice guy she is talking to at the same time.
Meeting that obviously creepy guy is weird and intense for her, the cinematography and music in the first episodes is really good, artsy and fitting the entire mood it wants to transport.
So while we find out the very first episode that the creepy looking guy is indeed a creep and crazy serial killer for that, we undertand that somehow he likes our female lead too and does not intend to kill her (or at least most of the time I guess).

So the pictures, the tension and the music are really well done in the first few episodes. The side characters are - ok.
The shaman friend seems interesting but her story isn't well explored, sadly she remains pale because that lack of background.
The other friend of our progammer lady is a female detective who, after an accident, is wheelchair bound.

Our serial killer seeks the cop lady out specifically on the chat bot luring her in with pretending he is in a wheel chair too. (how he is able to do that we don't know) For some unknown reason he does not kill her though, but leaves her out in the wild without her wheelchair. I did wonder though why did he not kill her as she could have easiyl intentified him? Also, why did she not check the police records for his face she being a police woman?

By the middle of the show it gets all rather slow and several things that happen seemed forced and incoherent to me and I started feeling a little annoyed.

It seemed like the creators wanted to put certain things into the story no matter what and how.
So the shaman woman is into women and it seems kind of forced that they almost artificially create a situation for her to meet a woman and get it going with her. No problem with that if it fits the story and you feel a connection to the character. That chance was missed in my opinion and so it just seems like they wanted this to somehow happen in that show.

Same thing goes for the handicapped cop lady. So she is a cop but although being in a wheelchair and thus comparably helpless she goes to a blind date with an unknown guy she just talked to per chat for a bit, and she doesn't meet him in public but is gullibly being lured into the wild to a forsaken swimmingpool sowewhere in the great nowhere? Would a cop, let alone a handicapped cop do such dumb thing really?

So then you have to just accept that quite accidentally, in a multi million city like Seoul, the serial killer gets involved with programmer girl and at the same time with her disabled cop friend. Not enough accidental things, he is even able to orchestrate a kind of rape game in a vacant industry hall at night, where programmer girl unknowingly meets a group of men who where made to believe she is meeting them for that rape role play. She doesn't know of course and despite being a very petite, untrained small woman she is not only able to escape all of them (unlikely) but even kills one of the with just one strike of a razor blade (very unlikely).
Meanwhile Mr. serial killer goes on killing while the police... hm, well it seems he can just go around killing in Seoul, the CCTV extreme city, and not only not being caught, but not even being sought after. (very, very unlikely).

it starts on dragging then, feeling like the creators couldn't decided what to do with the characters.
All of a sudden our autistic programmer girl is obsessively in love with the serial killer, but we don't really get to know why that happens all of a sudden.
The handicapped cop lad is out for revenge and instead of this time being wiser and getting backup when she wants to confront the serial killer, she - again - is dumb enough to be lured to a remote place, this time a whole vacant housing estate that is about to be demolished when she is there. And she really goes there alone again, with her wheelchair, into uneven demolishing ground, where this time she almost dies and is just being rescued the very last second. That was when I was annoyed because I thought how could someone with the police be that idiotic two times in a row? How did she even get to the police with that lack of intelligence in the first place?

Anyways, it then gets more artsy and abysmal, serial killer killing, programmer girl acting like a 12-year old obsessively in love with him ignoring all sensibility, and in the end deciding to kill the killer. That, sadly, wasn't done in any realistic way.
She still just has that small razor blade, and with it is able to make a slash through one eyeball, the nose including bone and the other eyeball. For this she would have neede something else, a mere small razor blade is not able to do that. But again, the creators wanted that effect of cut eyeballs, physics out the window. And again, no police while in a few weeks there are brutally murdered people everwhere and programmer girl happily celebrated with her friends.

Conclusion:

I did not know this was an adaption of a book and I do not know that book so I can't say if the adaption went well or not.
As mentioned in the beginning, this was promising and it could have been rather good, but somewhere in the middle the creators somehow lost their own plot. it got more and more confusing and the characters acting unlogical or plain dumb.

Creating a good storyline with this content is probably comparably difficult, but the downward tendency was just too steep for me from the middle of the show.

Leia Mais

The story has great potentail and was realy well built until all the mystery started to reslove honestly I was kind of disappointed and the writer focused so much on the love line and kept dragging the love triangle until the last minute it realy affects alots of the chrachter development

The acting and the cast was amzing everyone is a perfect match to the role the actress who played sooyoung was realy amazing it's hard not to hate her Kim Sohyun surprised me she is that good and she's only fifteen it take only one gaze to differentiate between the twin Sungjae did well he made taekwang too lovable joohyuk was decent too.

the ost are realy good it's one of the best especaily reset and return

rewatch value I don't realy rewatch drama unless it was super good it only happened 2 or 3 times before so I shouldn't judge this category

overall it was fun to watch this drama

Leia Mais

Where are all of these 5-star and 10+ reviews coming from???

This show was the most drawn out, repetitive and absurd thing I've watched in a while.

I genuinely wanted to give this show a chance, but by ep 25, the ML STILL doesn't know the woman he's given up his career for and has fallen in love with multiple times, is an alien. Not even an inkling. There is SO LITTLE transparency with this couple. No communication ever.

The female lead has also yet to even say the words "I love you" to him. Not once! This couple has more chemistry when they're not together than when they are lMAO. the kiss scenes are awkward at best, and it's ironic that the ML, who is married irl, was putting more effort into their scenes than the FL in all her scenes combined. I can understand why it would be awkward, but their kisses are hard to watch, and I would have much preferred 1 or 2 excellent ones, to numerous bad ones where her eyes are wide open and their lips are pressed together while the camera spins around for 5 minutes. But anyways, I always forget to start with the positives so here we go.

I LIKED:
- chemistry. Their on-screen chemistry was good, mostly due to the ML. he was very convincing. I can appreciate the effort he put into seeming like he was genuinely enamoured by the FL.

- The story-line, I guess? While not unique, it was very promising. It's a shame it was pulled down by unnecessary tropes like greedy-in-laws, sinister exes/second female lead, mad evil scientist, and many other minor things. You can't ask me what any of them have said, or even what their motives and personalities are like. I've skipped about 70% of each episode since reaching the 10 ep mark, and the time spent focusing on these boring, melodrama tropes, could have been spent fleshing out the FL's feelings, motivations, and logic. She doesn't want to be discovered as an alien, yet in at least every ep, she's using her powers. ;-; Something's not adding up.

I DISLIKED:

- The supporting cast. Every single supporting cast member was a stumbling block, with the exception of 3. Mr Han, Dr. Zheng, and FL's Jie. Oh right, the FL's Jie, and basically a sister/mother figure at this point, DOESN'T KNOW SHE'S AN ALIEN EITHER? This show could have been a deep, profound exploration into the differences between human and aliens. She could have developed even deeper relationships with those around her. It could have covered Xiaoqi coming to terms with the fact that she might have to stay on Earth forever, and making life-long companionships, confiding in humans, and growing to love them. If not the ML, her jie, making deep, life-long bonds. But nO.

- The FL. This is no fault of the actress who played XQ. Xiaoqi was just all over the place, and at the end of the day, she feels, empty? Not full? Like something's missing. Anticlimactic. She hasn't grown, she hasn't changed fundamentally since ep 1, and frankly, I'm disappointed in this character.

- EXECUTION ON A WHOLE.
THIS SHOW HAS MADE ME WANT TO WRITE MY OWN SPIN-OFF OF THIS DRAMA, AND RIGHT EVERY WRONG THAT WAS COMMITTED. That's how aggravated and disappointed I am with it.

Long story short, My Girlfriend Is An Alien, was a show with a simple premise, that could have been so much more. So much more profound, and heartwarming, but instead became a shallow romance, with an ambiguous female lead, and too many plot points, to know what it really wanted to do.

DNF @ep 25. Maybe I'll return some day. Maybe not.

Leia Mais

Sometimes even Domundi BLs can surprise us in a good way...

Disclaimer: This review is only valid for the UNCUT version of this show. Avoid the cut version like the plague, because as always, the cut off a lot of story. This is especially true for episode 8 which has a runtime of 1:56:51. I would not have minded to cut a lot off the finale because the end was draggy. So consider the uncut version as a 13 episodes series with some bonus content.

P'Aof said in the making of TNP he could not do any better, but he clearly lied, because we saw, he could do better. When you do not make a show just to cater to the fangirls and the actors, to no surprise to anyone, you are successful. This was filmed before TNP and it seems, this is the series where all the energy got into the script.

While the story is elaborate it's still straightforward and easy to understand. There is a lot of darkness in it, a lot of pain, but also a lot of growing and commitment for each other. For me it was perfect for episodes 1 to 10, ep 11 and 12 did not keep up the high standards established before. Especially the "bonus" bits felt a bit draggy and also the production quality was subpar because the cuts where a bit eratic, they could not keep a rocket in focus (who wants to watch just the smoke?) and the happy family time felt unnecessary for me because it did not fit the vibe of the show. Most of the finale would have been better served as an special episode detatched from the main story.

I guess the star of this show is the soundtrack which was really exceptionell and of course the "intro" which did not spoil any story elements at all. Kudos for that! Acting was very good especially considering the filming must be especially hard without any climatized rooms for most of the time. Of course this plays out in a rural area, so we got also a lot of nature and traditional housing. Cinematography with the 2:1 aspect ratio was most of the time stunning, the special effects were better than in any other thai BL and of course they had lot's of work with makeup and costumes.

Overall, this is the first series, where a big budget meets or exceeds it's expectations and after the fiasco (in my view) of TNP Domundi/Mandee redeemed itself as being able to tell a story first and have romances second. They even went the extra mile to put their ads as subtle as possible.

This was most defenitively not a waste of my time and it will not be a waste of your time either.

Update: Thanks for all the upvotes but thanks also for nearly the same amount of downvotes. If I sometimes agree with the masses they downvote and when I write harsh reviews disagreeing with them, I get the same. It's really amusing how much hate people have in them.

Leia Mais

Unexplainable thriller, and definitely not a social commentary

I'm going to be honest, I started this movie only because of Siwan, and since the plot seemed interesting, I thought it would be worth watching it beyond the fact that I love to watch Siwan's shows and movies. However, I must say that his performance (and Chun Woohee's) in this movie was the only thing that kept me watching it.

If you want to watch 'Unlocked' looking for a movie that criticizes our society's dependence on smartphones and technology, don't. This is not a social commentary and it doesn't approach the topic like that. This is a movie about a psychopath with no background story or reason to kill, and once again, shallow female relationships that make you wonder if these writers have ever seen women in real life.

I'm going to start with the fact that it bothers me personally that psychological thrillers these days - and by these days I mean in the past several years - are all about male psychopaths with a nonsensical obsession to kill young women. No, I'm not saying that we should give these psychopaths a troubled childhood in order to justify their actions as adults. I'm saying that a story should have a reason to be, whatever it might be. But lately, kdrama writers, and those at Netflix in particular, seem to be making these stories about killing women just for shock value and nothing else. The fact that the reason 'Oh Junyoung' killed these women was just because they dropped their phones is the weakest and most boring reason I've seen in this type of dramas, and that's a lot to say considering that I keep thinking about the drama 'Somebody', which I feel the same way and worse about (if you watched it, you would know what I'm talking about).

Now, another bothersome plot point about this movie is the fact that the killer is always smarter than everyone and can anticipate every move, action, and thought from his victims, making it impossible for them to ever escape their fate. But then again, this wouldn't be so irksome if the writers provided the psychopath with at least a reason to kill or an explanation as to why he's doing what he's doing and why he's so good at it. In this drama, however, we don't even have a name for our killer, which wouldn't be that much of a problem if we at least had any type of information about his background or what he did before the movie started rolling. The only thing that we know is that he impersonated the detective's son and wanted to frame him for his murders. But why? Why did he start impersonating this man? How did they meet? Why was the detective so mad at his son? Why do the writers give us information about the detective's wife and their family situation in general, when it won't even be resolved or explained, or even shown what the link between all this is? The killer wasn't even actually the detective's son, so why do we even need to know this, when we won't know who our killer is or what his reasons are at all? Who did the killer have a grudge against to be going around doing all this, to begin with? There's absolutely no explanation for anything ever and the more I think about this movie, the more questions pop up in my head that will never be answered.

Moving onto the female characters, this is probably what makes me the most upset. The female lead had her phone hacked and discovered it, but the first thing she does is blame her best friend after consulting a man that she met two days ago, and against whom her father warned her. It's kind of annoying how she dismissed the very reasonable concerns of her dad, but I won't even get into that. What I will question, though, is, why do you live in a house without a code? Why does your best friend scare you about having someone breaking into your house? Why do you believe a man you met two days ago over your best friend since middle school? Why does your best friend get immediately upset with you and decide to cut contact with you for a misunderstanding you had in a moment of extreme distress after your life was literally ruined by some psychopath? I don't understand why they made their friendship so shallow and ridiculous that you would decide to cut contact with your friend. Yes, I would also be absolutely hurt if my best friend suspected me of pulling such a horrible thing on her, but to go beyond that and warn her to never contact me again, and leave her all on her own to deal with such a dangerous situation... It pisses me off to think that these writers think women would do that.

Also, after the female lead finds out that her phone was hacked, she simply decides to keep using it as if nothing was happening. Girl, the first thing you needed to do was throw it away. At least she came up with a reverse strategy eventually, but I just kept thinking about why she simply decided to keep using her phone after everything that was happening to her.

These dramas and movies written by men about psychopathic serial killers that outsmart their victims all the time, and in which said victims are the dumbest people you'll ever see really gives me an unsettling feeling considering the incredibly high rates of this type of murder in South Korea.

Overall, this isn't the worst movie you'll ever watch, but it's only a movie to watch if you don't have anything else to do and if you don't feel like watching a complicated story. Don't let the thriller tag deceive you into thinking you're down for an actually good psychological thriller because you are really not.

At least Siwan did amazingly as expected, and Chun Woohee was a very good actress. In general, the cast is pretty good and there are many familiar faces if you watch a lot of kdramas, but other than that, this movie is very weak and not really worth your time.

Leia Mais

full of romantic situations ✨

this is one of the most romantic dramas with huge romantic tension and many romantic/sexy scenes!

it seems perfectly cast, and strong fast paced start getting the leads together to create the dynamic we are all looking forward to see developing!

these actors arent among the best at their craft but when perfectly cast that becomes undetectable and i think this is such a case. the female lead ive not seen in a lead performance before so im pleased she’s balancing the aspects of her character so well. shes a good actress overall having seen her before in Blossom In Adversity.

Now thats its over i can say its a great series, but with some minor flaws. its still fave of 2025!

Leia Mais

A review. My fingers were tingling.

Different doesn't always have to be good, but in this case it's exceeded that level.

I may speak on behalf of a lot of people when I say "Of all those years of watching kdramas It's the first time I'm coming across a show such as this."

We may have seen similar story lines, but what makes Heartless City a "masterpiece" is they created their own element and flow throughout every episode. Their own personal amazing touch to it.

This doesn't even have to be your genre of liking and you'll still be pulled in. It alone is praiseworthy that it's different from the usual kdrama.

I can't even focus one main point that makes this show so good because there's a ton of things that contribute to making Heartless City what it is. There's never a dull moment. This is the first drama that has kept it's momentum. It never breaks the seriousness. It doesn't drag. As you progress one episode after another your addiction sky rockets.

The dark noir feeling. Boy, do they deliver or what and sometimes you just want it to even go darker and grittier. There will be scenes that will give you the chills then they'll be scenes that mess with your mind.

There's not much light scenes to this show which I love because it's consist and stays true to the noir theme.

The action is top notch. I love it. The action alone gives you so many vibes. I fangirl when the action starts! They make it look so effortless and classy.

The music. The music flows in perfectly with this show. It was designed for this show. The music represents the depth and emotions of the scenes going on. It's addicting.

The acting. The cast is genius. The relationships. The complications. The character development. You're invested in every character whether it be a supporting role or a character that is barely there.

I can't get over how amazing the cast is. Every character is thought out and brilliant. This show has introduced me to an amazing actor Jung Kyung Ho. That's a name I won't be forgetting. I somewhat have a girl crush on Nam Gyu Ri at this point.

This drama shows you a lot of time and effort went into making it. Doc Son is a brilliant invention. I don't know how they came up with such a character, but this is a character that pulls you in so hard and how hard you try to understand him you won't be able to.

Heartless City 2013 is yours.

Leia Mais

Intriguing plot, fantastic acting and high quality production

I generally reserve my thoughts and write a review after watching all the episodes however I just couldn't wait this time to share my initial impression so that people who discover this drama and come here will be interested in watching it.

Dramas that play with the element of time (time travel or time loop) are tricky to get right. There are more chances of plot holes and incoherent storytelling than other dramas. Also, it's important to grab viewers attention in the first episode itself without perplexing the audience. Reset excels in this and the first episode sets up the drama nicely and kept me on the edge of my seat. I am hooked!

Moving onto actors, most of us know Bai Jing Ting after his stellar performance in You Are My Hero and he certainly lives up to good standard in this as well but the real show stealer for me is Zhao Jin Mai. The actress from 'A Little Thing Called First Love' fame delivers impressive performance as Li Shi Qing. I was mesmerized by her. She is pulling off difficult to show emotions such as anxiety, fright and delirium with ease.

Cinematography and edits are also crucial for such a drama and they have nailed those aspects of filmmaking along with good background score. You can feel the tension. The overall production quality is top notch as is the script and you can see that they have paid attention to the details. Additionally, no voice dubbing which is a rarity in C-drama world.

Ending felt a bit forced but it doesn't take away anything. This drama is sheer quality.

Start watching, it's well worth your time and only 15 episodes long. Enjoy!

Leia Mais

The most fun fated lovers have finding missing dragon parts - Xianxia evolution!

Indulge in the rom-com aspects of Back from the Brink, from the interactions of the lead couple (both inhabit their respective characters with charm, wit, and delicacy!), the side characters, not to mention the cute and fluffy CGI creatures, and then there are the kiddies! Naive yet tongue-in-cheek feel at the beginning, and at the same time all deadly serious if our eye-candy Heroes (Yan Hui and Tan Yiao) are to succeed on their Quest (rescuing not only themselves, but their supporting cast). A light-hearted identity misunderstanding begins their journey (through different lands), but our romancing couple soon sort out who is who (and who's boss!) and work to help each other (with a bit of assistance from a relationship-testing character obliged to help while hindering!) in life-threatening situations. They have some well-intentioned friends to support them, some arch villains to thwart them, and some unexpected obstacles to try their resolve and commitment to each other (which they have in buckets!). All of which are intertwined as they progress from xian to human to demon realms and back (with some enchanted side trips for good measure).

Early costuming is entirely appropriate to their wandering-in-search-of situation, together with a penchant for steamed buns and gambling away the money that's made (although no shortage of means to make more - they are resourceful, after all!). Their costumes become more gorgeous as their circumstances improve, black has a special meaning, as does bathing in moonlight and cold water! Music is very much in sync with the slightly gamed feel to many scenes in drama; elements of RPG run rampant in very charming ways, but as the angst ups, more orchestral melodies can be heard and the game aspect tones down. The OST is one of the most refreshing and appropriate to be paired with a drama recently.

It's Xianxia, there is heart-wrenching angst, there are knife-edge decisions being made, there are multiple sacrifices (this couple ooze a deep heart connection) and much misdirection...if all goes according to their entangled fate, despite overwhelming odds Tian Yao and Yan Hui will win through to their happy ever after.

Spoiler ALERT!!! - Keep reading only if you are willing to be spoiled!

The drama is NOT the same as the novel . . . scriptwriters have added in very different subplots and motivations and depowered Yan Hui at the commencement of the drama. Still recognisable from a personality perspective but from a power perspective - entirely dependent on the other males to help "activate" or "rescue" or whatever verb you want to use when a female has her agency removed, as the means to kick-start the action. A pity because the novel really has a tightly knit structure with internal consistency in both motive and plot devices - neither overpower the other, and all characters don't require particularly much suspension of disbelief to agree with their actions. The drama on the other hand starts out with some shaky premises and then veers into some very la la land motives, reactions, consequences. If you come to this after having read the novel, it's fun, the leads are ever so easy on the eyes, and Yan Hui eventually becomes a powerful force of nature (although you may gnash your teeth until she does), but the novel has been dismembered more or less like TY and his body bitz, without the redeeming arc and journey. The other characters are less characters and more caricatures of the novel originals, to their detriment.

JLFX (novel author) was ostensibly involved with the script for the drama. It's not unusual for an author to want a second bite at the cherry and her presence legitimises changes. The variations of the drama from the original novel rely heavily on some worn out tropes, but when this drama stays true to the novel it shines (in no small part to the two leads sensitively inhabiting their characters, despite the dialogue and out-field plot development). But the online reactions that have occurred to various episodes suggest that Youku/producers/pursestrings in the background were always aiming at maximum notoriety - and by the time the drama was one third through they achieved that aim spectacularly: heat indexes, weibo, tik tok, twitter charts/comments/whatevs stratospheric with activity. It's entertainment, so engagement with viewers is a sign of success, but the sense of cynical manipulation suggests the plot twists and turns, the deviation from the novel, the speedy reaction to online uproar, were all a calculated effort to keep this drama in the glare of the spotlight, not because of storytelling excellence and the integrity of the original material, but as a vehicle of sheer obeisance at the temple of advertising revenue. For this novel reader, Back from the Brink wasn't so much an adaptation as a compromised adoption of misinterpreted aspects of Hu Xin. Oh for what might have been.....

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A hero's journey of letting go of his obsession

I've been looking for ways to summarise the drama in one short succinct sentence, but after watching the main lead's (Luo Yunxi) interview, I don't think anyone can sum it up better than him: Tang Lici's life can be summed up in three stages - Id, ego and superego.

1) Id
Tang Lici's initial desire is self-preservation while also trying to find ways to Liu Yan, take back the Rebirth Sutra and resurrect Fang Zhou. Due to his cunning nature, Fox Tang initially treats those around him as tools that can help him achieve his goals, and Tang Lici's Id fuels his initial tendency to act outside conventional morality to serve his personal goal.

2) Ego
As he enters jianghu, he uses his intellect to garner more comrades in his fight against Fengliu dian and clear his name. However, the more friends he makes, the more he is able to realise that there is more to the world than Zhoudi Tower. He says Fang Zhou is everything, but he cannot truly be emotionally detached from his new friends.

3) Superego
After interacting with Chi Yun, Shen Langhun, Ah-shei, Master Shao and everyone around him, he is able to look at Fang Zhou's teachings in a new light. He should not live for just the resurrection of Fang Zhou, but think about his place in the world. This pushes him to fighting for the wuxia code of honour and the greater good, culminating in his eventual selflessness in saving the world.

As a character arc, I think it's cathartic for Tang Lici, but as a viewer, I do feel that the ending sometimes doesn't do the hero justice (similar to Till The End Of The Moon, where Tantai Jin sacrificed himself for the world). However, I do like how the screenwriter has tied up a lot of the open ends with regards to Tang Lici's journey of self-discovery, and how each arc directly contributed to his maturity as character.

One of my favourite characters, Shen Langhun, also follows a less obvious but similar arc in letting go of his revenge for Huiniang, and giving up retrieving her corpse and the seven-jewel hairpin for friendship and the greater good.

To end with a quote from the wise Master Shao: "Being a good person is hard. Being a good person has consequences, but still, you must be a good person."


Two biggest negatives of the show, but not enough to ruin it:
1. Liu Yan was too dumb and his arc dragged on for too long.
2. Xifang Tao and her goal for freedom doesn't stack up. She murdered everyone that stood in her and Gui Mudan's way, mutilated Master Shao's body after death (his arm!), and didn't show an ounce of regret when she was doing all the bad deeds. She is not a villain that made me go 'Wow - the hero has a match' - instead, I was absolutely disgusted by her actions. Yes she committed suicide in the end, but it didn't do anything for anyone - nothing redeeming about that. Puzhu's weakness and irresponsibility just adds to my disgust.

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