This is by far the funniest Japanese drama I've seen this year and the reason for that is language they use is too graphic. There are moments where I can't believe the dialogue that coming from these characters, I cringe but then laugh out loud after. The setting is also another plus points for me given that I love anime, they work in CG Production Company for games and anime. You see them working hard but there are times where they are just slacking off and fooling around, and I don't blame them as working conditions in this industry is one of the worst. Like for example they rushed one project so that one of their colleagues won't miss his date, but not really it's just a usual appointment with a girl in a sex shop where he is a regular customer. LOL
It's more of a character driven than story driven plot, characters are not railroaded to certain goals or events, it's just these characters, their funny interactions, their development, those are what made this such fun drama. The cast are composed of quirky individuals, the female lead who is addicted to sex, the virgin friend boys love fanatic, the ex girlfriend obsessed muscle man, sex shop naive patron and this office fling playboy. Each episodes consists of segments where each explores the lives of these characters. We follow them in a slice of life way in which most of the time are just wild and WTF moments.
The acting is good for the most part, you don't need award winning acting for this type of drama anyway and all of them are good in comedy, their comedic timing is almost perfect. The chemistry between these actors is excellent, in which their characters compliments each other really well. The opening song at the beginning is as wild as this drama goes.
Conclusion In today's world where people are easily get offended by everything they see and hear, it seems this type plot wouldn't feel right, but just give this one a chance and you will see characters who respect and support each other for who they are. How I wish I have colleagues such as them.
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Operation: Blue Lightning
Operation: Special Warfare is a co-production between CCTV, Penguin Films, Bona Films, Xiaoyao Films and Ram Films. This big budget production that involves extensive use of modern Chinese military hardware and facilities was filmed in Northwest China, including a segment at Taklamakan desert in Xinjiang.Directed by Liu Ting and based on the original screenplay written by Duan Lian Min, himself a former member of the Chinese military, having served as a platoon commander. He has written many military-themed novels and screenplays as well as directed dramas and films of similar genre for which he has won numerous accolades. He is currently attached to the Political Department of the Chinese Navy serving as a director and screenwriter for military productions.
The drama follows the journey of young recruits of the newly-formed anti-terrorism special forces of the People’s Liberation Army, called the Blue Lightning. Central to the narrative is the growth of both the individuals and the collective as the new recruits come of age during their experiences of military training and real life combat situations.
As with any military-themed C-dramas, expect a fair amount of jingoistic propaganda and patriotic flag-waving which is par for the course when the production requires extensive support from the military and CCP during the filming process and to get the greenlight for distribution release. In addition to action and adventure, the drama features youth themes, slice-of-life elements and subtle hints of romance. There is some violence and gore but nothing too terrifying for viewers.
What I Enjoyed
Usually modern C-dramas tend to be lengthy with too much fillers. The military-themed ones are a hit or miss, case in point My Dear Guardian which turned out to be a little bit too fluffy for my liking. This one, however, manages to avoid all those pitfalls. It’s only 35 episodes in length instead of the usual 40+ episodes, doesn’t contain nearly as much fillers as most others though they are still present, and on the whole is more intensely dramatic rather than fluffy or comedic in its storytelling approach. Throughout the course of the drama, I did not really feel bored at any point in time because the drama surprisingly incorporates quite a number of interesting sub-plots and side stories to the main narrative at a very engaging pace, with a nice balance of action, drama, introspective and emotive moments.
This production showcases a number of modern military hardware in greater detail than I have ever encountered. How accurate or up to date they are, I have no idea, but I feel pretty convinced. For the most part, based on my little research, the depiction is consistent with the standard equipment used, such as the QBZ-95 (or Type 95) automatic assault rifles favoured by the PLA as well as their commando sub-units. Additionally viewers will get to observe countless UAVs and armoured ground vehicles on display in the drama, which I find quite fascinating.
In terms of the technical aspects, the action planning and choreography, as well as the special effects are worthy of mention. This drama showcases many action sequences involving firefights, explosions, as well as both armed and unarmed combat. These scenes are not confined to a single location but take place across multiple venues. One memorable segment features a suspenseful game of cat and mouse across the Taklamakan desert in the dead of night between the Blue Lightning unit and armed terrorists. I’ve also enjoyed the somewhat refreshing depiction of the military training comprising the so-called Devil’s Week competition, sniper competition and squad leader selection tests. That said, certain aspects of the training concerning “physical torture” do appear incredulous. I’m unaware of the authenticity but in a land that invented Shaolin martial arts, I guess anything is possible.
One of the major reasons for watching this drama is of course the cast, which is headlined by Vengo Gao who plays the Captain of the Blue Lightning, Qin Guan. If the drama is about the military, whether in a contemporary or historical context, you can count on this man to deliver an utterly convincing portrayal of the characterization. He not only looks and sounds the part, but his entire being exudes military commander vibes as well. There is absolutely no question whatsoever that without him, this drama would be lacking in so many ways. From the cold, stoic persona to the physical prowess in executing his stunts, Vengo totally slays his role.
Hu Bing Qing plays the FL Ning Meng, one of the young recruits of the new anti-terrorism team. My first time seeing her in entirety instead of previous guest appearances, I think she’s very talented and showcases strong performances particularly during her emotional scenes. I also quite like her nuanced take that helps inject a sense of vulnerability to humanise the role of a female soldier.
The drama’s soundtrack features 5 songs, with the patriotic opening theme being the most upbeat and energetic of them all. My personal favourite is the ending theme performed by Hu Bing Qing herself, the love ballad You and Me. Full listing as follows:
Flaming Lady 烈焰巾帼 - 金志文 Jin Zhiwen
Xiang Yang 向阳 - 黄霄雲 Huang Xiaoyun
You and Me 你和我 - 胡冰卿 Hu Bingqing
My Comrade 我的战友 - 钟强 Zhong Qiang
Fearless 无畏 - 王晰 Wang Xi
What Fell Short
I think the most glaring aspect would be the villains. We are never going to get a C-drama that depicts profoundly layered or morally grey terrorists, because the Chinese military and censors would never sanction it. As far as the powers that be are concerned, stories of this nature are straightforward - good guys versus bad guys are simply portrayed as black or white. Hence in this drama, in relation to the overarching plot concerning the terrorist organisation, S Group, the antagonists are merely written to be the stereotypical one-dimensional cardboard caricatures - bad-tempered, cold-blooded, power hungry and striving for world domination. The terrorist leader is even shown at one point chomping on cigars by the poolside surrounded by bikini-clad femme fatales where the only thing missing is a huge furry cat.
Final Thoughts
I would categorise Operation: Special Warfare as one of the more fascinating and well-produced mature military-themed dramas that I have seen recently. It’s the kind of show where viewers can enjoy with a relaxed mind and without the need to exercise too much brain cells. A final note though - do be forewarned, the subtitles available on WeTV are auto-translated (at the time of writing) and may not be of the usual high quality.
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While the director deserves acknowledgment of his dedication to this story and in bringing it to the spotlight, there are areas of the film where there was need for a more skilled, tighter hand. Nonlinear storytelling and an unreliable protagonists causes some confusion for viewers, especially those who might not be a native Korean speaker. Yet the overall moody and haunting atmosphere highlighted by a skilled use of light and music accentuates the ultimate tragedy of the film.
This is not a film that most people would rewatch; pre-knowledge of Gong Ju's story leaves the audience emotionally wracked and exhausted even before the first few minutes of the film. However, it is an important film all the same.
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This review may contain spoilers
Excellent, but too short
This is a very good 44 minute long LGBT short movie. It is well made and well written. The story is intense, concerning a young man who, after suffering sexual abuse at the hands of his stepfather, turns to selling himself to other abusive men. But the arc of the plot turns happier (and sexier) when he meets an undercover cop who falls for him.Strong points:
-- The plot is interesting, engaging and well-conceived. It concerns some heavy topics but is not overwhelmingly depressing. (That said, it does feature a couple of incidents of rape, and people who are sensitive to sexual violence should be warned.)
-- The acting is truly excellent. Jed Chung does a good job of communicating how clueless and lost Light is. Even more, I thought Max Liu was tantastic -- thoroughly believable as Light's savior, Shuo. Liu is intense, masculine and yet soft -- the way he treated Light was perfect. (In some ways he takes the place of the father-figure Light never had). And he has a wonderful deep voice and a gorgeous body, so what's not to love? (P.S. the MDL pic of Max, above, does NOT do him justice.)
-- The cinematography is first rate, with great camera work. (I loved the opening scene, where the cam is following Light through the market as he goes to meet one of his "johns".)
-- There is not a lot of music actually in the movie, that I remember......however the film concludes with a music video (I think the name of the song is "Light") and that one is truly excellent.
Weak point:
-- The decision to make this a short movie limited the creators too much. A longer treatment could have given the audience a better understanding of the development of Shuo's affection for Light. It seems to appear out of nowhere. The lovely scene where Shuo abandons his reserve and makes love to Light would have been just wonderful if the audience had a better feeling for the tensions/mixed feelings that were afflicting Shuo.
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I thought the actors did a good job. Especially Ou Hao, who played Zhang Yang. I am going to look up more of his roles. He was good at showing the character development.
Its a bittersweet story and you should give it a try.
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BEAUTIFUL !!! WOW WOW WOW WOW !! TOP HONORS!!! This drama deserves Grand Awards!!
Such a beautiful, heart touching pure and true love story between Go Min Si and Lee Do Hyun!!! This drama deserves to be part of the history of great korean dramas!!! 1000% FABULOUS!!LEE DO HYUN - WOW WOW WOW WOW, He is such a Natural onscreen, born to act, brilliant performance by him!! He pulled us in with his screen presence and character portrayal deeply and his grip on you is solid!!
You are always smiling looking at him, and you cry and laugh and deeply sigh in all his scenes as he mesmerises you with just himself!
AWESOME pairing between Lee do hyun and Go Min si - such great chemistry and naturalness between them, as if they are truly made for each other!!
This drama is a beautiful depiction of pure love caught amidst extremely harsh trying times during the gwanju uprising and KUDOS & STANDING OVATION to the entire Team of Youth Of May, for great casting of especially the leads, great script writing, great direction and just for everyone in the cast especially LEE DO HYUN!!
SHOW USP - LEE DO HYUN!! He is magnificent!!
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What the helll
Man, this show is a wild ride. The translation I watched was absolute trash, but hey, it’s got La Pasion, so who cares? The Emperor?? Doesn’t even feel like an emperor. And that concubine, Jiang Ziyan is so dumb—how did he even manage to fool her in the first life? But listen, the ML’s La Pasion moments?? That’s the real reason to watch this fever dream of a reverse harem. Him acting all frail and desperate for her attention had me kicking my legs like a schoolgirl.Was this review helpful to you?
In Between (Sa Pagitan ng Kamusta at Paalam)
28 people found this review helpful
GREAT ACTING IN A PAINFULLY SLOW SERIES
If they made this a short series with 6 to 8 episodes i would totally eat this show. The painfully slow and repetitive execution has wasted talented new actors.The very good: the characters and the acting. I just love everyone, I think there was a treasure of character here that could have made the story so much richer. Add to thr fact that eventhough these are relative newbie actors, they all acted so naturally.
The so-so: the story. Started with a good overall plot, and then it became boring. And then they gifted us with Pangs couple, and then they bored us with it too. And then that final act - stretched in 4 to 5 episodes.
The really bad: the execution. For the love of the forces above, who gave them the idea that its fun to watch a series of about 14 20-minute episodes where there was almost nothing new happening every week. Waiting for episodes weekly is painful but for it to be uneventful was like torture. Adding salt to the injury is the unending reuse of footages disguised as mystery revelations but is just there to explain what actually happened as if viewers are kindergartens. Long intro, then a recap, then the repetitious episodes as if the recap isnt enough and then the long outro - you can just imagine how much time is left for the new content. If they transformed it into a mini series with about 6 to 8 episodes they could have given us a very solid series.
Will i rewatch- of course not, why would i subject myself to the pain again.
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And then around episode 60, this thing starts gaining serious momentum. Revelations fly right and left, the revenge plot finally starts up, and the bad guys start to tumble one after another. If you can get through the first half, the second half is amazing. The flawed characters really start to show their conflicts. The good characters want revenge but are hurting others, the bad characters are pitiable but brought everything on themselves.
If they could cut this down to 20 episodes, it would have been the most amazing show ever. But, as it is, it's still a great drama.
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Works against its time limitations
"Blue of Winter" has plenty of potential and indie charm, but what it didn't have was enough time. Unfortunately, its screenwriting makes this as obvious as possible. Instead of using a smaller fraction of the source material and fleshing it out, it seems the screenwriter attempted to squeeze in too many events for its short duration. This makes the progression of the story rushed and difficult to follow.While it doesn't completely make up for the underdeveloped story, I did enjoy the atmosphere of the drama. Its camera framing, editing, and moody instrumentals give it a pleasantly nostalgic feel. And I must say the actors did well for their debut. Actor, In Gi stands out among the cast as the role of "Ji Seok" required more versatility. He was able to deliver both the confident charisma and sincerity of the character.
It's not the most memorable thing you'll watch but if you're a BL/LGBTQ drama enthusiast, go for it. As a warning, it does end on a cliffhanger and a continuation is not guaranteed at the time that I’m writing this.
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This review may contain spoilers
Beautiful Forbidden Love
Love Between Fairy and Devil is a xianxia drama, which narrates the story of forbidden love between a devil and a fairy. The drama has everything a xianxia drama has: forbidden love, reincarnation, a cold male lead falling in love with the warm and bubbly female lead making it his only weakness, female lead with hidden identity and more. But what makes this drama stands out from other xianxia drama is that it has a VERY BEAUTIFUL visual sequence, graphics, and cinematography. Love Between Fairy and Devil successfully brought the 仙（fairy） element into their drama, and I think the drama has raised the standard high for the next xianxia drama.The narrative of Love Between Fairy and Devil is straightforward, about a fairy unaccidentally saving the demon lord and they gradually fell in love. The screenwriter managed to write a very cohesive and compelling story, also with a coherent storyline making it easy for the audience to understand. The drama also manages to seamlessly combine comedy, romance, also angst in the latter part. Every character in the drama also has their own background story with their own personal motive, each character is there not only for the sake of getting the male and female lead together nor just to make the drama plot more lively, but each character is there making their own decision which gradually leads and builds up to the whole drama plot.
What makes Love Between Fairy and Devil distinctive from other xianxia is definitely its art department and how well they articulate it. The drama manages to articulate the vision of the fantasy world and everything that comes with it. It is beautifully and enchantingly portrayed that you would actually believe the presence of such world, where there are pink skies with whales, a pavilion full of flowers, a castle on top of a hill, and more. It has been a while since there is such beautiful and mesmerizing graphics in a drama. You can see that the drama spends most of its budget on its art department, starting from costumes, CGI, graphics, more (IQIYI also offers the drama in 4k quality!).
Firstly, the drama costumes are very beautiful, the costume department puts a lot of thought and effort into their costume. Everyone's outfit is fitting to their character and demeanour. DongFang QingCang’s outfit is mostly black but also with a hint of gold, showing his sovereignty as the moon supreme. Xiao Lan Hua’s outfit is in bright pastel colours fitting with her character and personality as a fairy with a bright and bubbly personality. Other than the main characters, the side characters also have very pretty costumes, such as Chang Heng’s war costume. Moreover, the drama also has very beautiful headpieces, especially for the male characters, which are rarely seen in other historical dramas.
Secondly, the graphics and CGI of each realm, location, and power special effects are rendered so smooth that it resulted in an ethereal and mind-blowing result. Such as DongFang QingCang’s hell flame, when he summoned the dragon, the arbiter hall, and more. The drama is meticulous in every aspect from its colour palette, visual art, CGI, and lighting, everything is well thought. I especially love the scene where Rong Hao and Chang Heng entered the painting, they really ook like they're in a painting, they look 2d, which beautifully reflects the beauty of China's culture.
Thirdly, I also love how the drama sets a certain persona and design for each tribe and realm meticulously. For instance, in the fairy realm, the gods use bright and light outfits and headpieces with overexposure to the lighting. The fairy realm has a very heavy element of the Chinese culture, meanwhile, the demon/ moon realm has a hint of medieval elements in its location, outfits and more. The drama team also paid attention to those small actors/extras like the guards, their outfit is not sloppy, it is fitting to the overall persona they set. Such as the moon palace guards has dark and big outfit which looks intricate!
Yu Shuxin plays Xiao Lan Hua (the orchid fairy), but she’s also Xi Yun, the goddess. I think she did a really good job in acting as Xiao Lan Hua, a character like Xiao Lan Hua can be easy to hate since she might come out as being too fake or too flamboyant, but Esther Yu manages to pull off the character effortlessly. She is able to radiate different energy in different situations but still remembers the essence of her character, a warm and bubbly fairy. Some may dislike her character because she is a damsel in distress, often waiting for others to save her, but it’s understandable since she is only a “lowly fairy” with limited power. Other than acting as Xiao Lan Hua, Yu Shuxin also acted as DongFang QingCang and the goddess, and she's able to pull off the three characters flawlessly. She is versatile, she is able to change her demeanour and articulation according to each character. Yu Shuxin also used her own voice here, I personally love her voice, I find her voice very fitting to the character. I am definitely looking forward to her future work!
Wang Hedi showed tremendous improvement since Miss The Dragon. His acting is much more natural here, he is able to show real expressions and blend into the character. Despite being the moon supreme with no emotions, he’s still able to show slight emotions and show how his icy heart sea slowly melts. I think he did a great job portraying the emotionless moon supreme, DongFang QingCang, through his body and eye language, he is especially good when he is being majestic and when he is attacking others. As he is also slowly transitioning into someone with emotions, he gradually makes more micro-expressions and gestures to show how he’s gradually starting to fall in love, have empathy and more. His crying scenes are also very infectious, you would empathize with him and feel what he's feeling as well because that is how good his crying scenes are.
Moreover, Love Between Fairy and Devil also has a very beautiful soundtrack and background music. The soundtracks are very ethereal and fitting to the drama, it is stunningly beautiful that it will make you think of all the magic, beautiful places and situations in drama. The drama also has notable music scoring, the music scoring used in the drama intensifies each and every scene.
Another special mention to the whole production team of Love Between Fairy and Devil. The actors, production team, and marketing team, all have done a very outstanding job, they are passionate, putting in all their heart into it, thus producing such a best drama! The production team doesn't hesitate to spend money to where it should be spent, such as the special effect, outfits, music scoring and more. The production team also spend a lot of effort and thought on the drama's posters and artwork. The drama soundtrack artwork is STUNNING, unlike other dramas where they just used background or a picture of the couple with some borders and stick the title on it, Love Between Fairy and Devil has some really meticulous and well-thought album artwork. The soundtrack's artwork is paintings of their character with very beautiful scenery, if you haven’t seen it, I am highly suggesting you take a look at it because it will definitely render you breathless.
One thing that I find a pity is that the ending is too rushed, I would love to see more of DongFang QingCang and Xiao Lanhua's happy life :"))
Overall, do give this drama a try! Love Between Fairy and Devil is definitely a top-tier xianxia drama, there isn't any dull moment in it, and the drama will definitely make you hooked and render you breathless.
P.s. do check out their behind the scenes video!
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Plot wise, like I said earlier it's pretty cliche. Nevertheless, the execution was still decent enough and entertaining. It has all the things a drama should, a funny comedic relief actor, some good friends, an annoying antagonist, and family. I have to say, the ending isn't that great but I guess it's happy *enough*, but still left me a bit hanging. Aside from that, the romantic development was pretty fast, since it's only 9 episodes, so there's little to no dragging (which is great!). The plot really is similar to Twilight, but much better chemistry between the leads, and no sparkling vampires. The antagonist is to be expected, and that plot line wasn't that irritating. It's also set on a university campus, so I really liked how it was a campus romance.
Even though I easily fall in love with drama OST's, this drama's music was very 'ehh'. It seriously was not special, probably because I expected more, much more. Even now, I don't remember any of the songs which is rare ( if you look at my other reviews you'll see why).
Re-watch value is not that high, mostly because the only version available I could find was pretty low quality, which isn't easy on the eyes. Disregarding that though, re-watch value based on purely the drama could be high, after all it's only 9 episodes and if you like a cute but cliche vampire love story. I recommend this drama a lot; it's so unfortunate how not many people know about this drama. (8.5/8.5)
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama is a rather different republican drama, it's not about espionage, not about the civil war or fighting against the Japanese, it's not even about glamourous Shanghai. It's set between 1915 till 1921, but majority of the story happen between 1917 till 1919 and revolves around the New Culture Movement (or May Fourth Movement) and mostly set in Peking University. It's about young people trying to find a way to save their country, it's about introducing new ideas and changing customs that had been there for thousand of years.A little background first, Qing Dynasty was overthrown in 1911 and Republic of China was established, but life didn't change much. Most ports and a lot of important railways were under colonial control because China had lost multiple wars in the past century and Qing's government had been on a decline. Even with the new government, it was still rather chaotic times, there were warlords abound (and they continue to be influential and powerful in their various regions until Second Sino-Japanese war), the government was far more interested in infighting and power grabbing (as depicted in multiple cabinet changes throughout the drama), and there were many that wished Qing would come back.
I had imagine the drama would be relatively hard to get into, but it's actually not! The beginning loosely revolved around the creation and publishing of Xinqingnian/New Youth/La Jeunesse, which was a magazine created by our protagonist Chen Duxiu, and promotes science and democracy. It slamed Confucianism and classical Chinese while promoting using vernacular Chinese. It's during these times, the famed Lu Xun wrote his first vernacular Chinese novel, a short story called Diary of a Madman, where the narrator sees the traditional customs as "man-eating". Vernacular Chinese would end up making education much much more accessible to the common people. The drama even had someone that wanted everyone to abandon characters altogether and adopt latin alphabet. While this didn't end up happening, it set the grounds for the modern pinyin system that students use to learn characters \nowadays.
With some of these rather outrageous suggestions, there's of course some opposition, there's some that support the return of the emperor, there's understandably some that doesn't want to abandon thousand year old traditions and customs, there's those that sing praise to beauty and simplification of classical Chinese. These technical "antagonists" were portrayed respectfully and even somewhat adorably. They weren't backwards dimwits, multiple of them were well respected professors who had sound ideas and were remarkable in their respective fields. e,g, Gu Hongming was a notable polyglot and translator who studied for decade and half in UK and knew western culture as well as he knew Chinese culture, but he was a staunch conservative because he deeply believed in preserving the roots, he gave my favourite speech in the entire drama!
Like the movement itself, the drama mentioned and showed various political philosophy. The drama started with students arguing if constitutional monarchy or democracy was better, Hu Shi who idolises experimentalism was prominent part of the drama, anarchism and mutual aid was explore quite a bit through the Chen brothers (Chen Duxiu's sons), and of course Marxism comes into play late in the drama too. Despite my description, the drama wasn't like a dry political lesson, it was times of multiple parties debate and tried to see what fits China, I don't know how to describe the joy of seeing some of these debates. It helped that it featured so many well known people that pioneered or made great contribution to various fields in modern China. Seriously, some one off cameo might be a well known revolutionist :P
The culmination of the New Culture Movement is May Fourth Movement. After end of WWI, Treaty of Versailles was signed, but the German concession in Shandong province was transferred to Japan (due to Twenty One demands that's mentioned in ep 1), instead of given back to China, despite the fact China had sent tens of thousands of workers to the frontlines and contributed greatly to the war. It was the first time in a century that China was part of the victor's side, and everyone had hoped that might be the start of fighting back against colonial control. Unfortunately, the government had failed them, they simply didn't have enough power to demand it back, nor did the other countries care to get involve when it didn't concern them. This caused mass demonstrations all around China, starting with students and not long after workers as well, eventually this led to the government refusing to sign the peace treaty, the first time in recent history where China tried to fight back in diplomacy. May Fourth movement further promoted new ethics system, mobilised students and workers to express their dissatisfaction and protect their interest, led to reorgnisation of KMT, and contributed to the start of Chinese Communist Party.
Normally I wouldn't spend so much time essentially spoilering the show, but this is all history, and rather complicated history that I personally didn't know much about (besides May Fourth), so I thought I'd go over the gist while gushing. It was a lot of fun wiki‘ing while watching the drama, and I'm glad it ended at 1921, since that way the drama was mostly uplifting. I'd say avoid wiki'ing if you don't want to know who meets their early demise (many do), but the drama will tell you when they appear for the last time anyways. The drama was surprisingly light despite the chaotic background and heavy historical basis, the humour was fairly natural and the characters were mostly very smart even though they argued a lot, the young people were super relatable and a fair few end up being world changing. These were 90s and 00s kids of the previous century and I can't begin to imagine doing some of the amazing things they do despite being the same age or even younger.
I actually love so many of the characters that I don't know where to begin, the Chen brothers were probably my favourite though, since they were rarely portrayed in dramas before this. They were resilient and idealistic, had a rather complicated relationship with their father that was portrayed pretty thoroughly throughout the drama. It's one of the biggest deviation from actual history, historically they would have been estranged for most part of their lives, and they likely wouldn't have been around for most the drama if it stuck closer to history. Zhang Wanyi and Ma Qiyue did amazing in this drama, I look forward to Zhang Wanyi's role in Daylight Ent's drama with Bai Yu + Mao Xiaotong + Song Zu'er, Ma Qiyue was only 14 when he played Qiaonian (who's 13~18 in the drama) so he has a bright future ahead of him! The acting was all around splendid, especially Yu Hewei who played Chen Duxiu amazingly (and won Magnolia award for it woohoo!) and Ma Shaohua who played the adorable University principal Cai Yuanpei that facilitate the awesome environment where various ideals could flourish.
Unfortunately, one of the few female characters with significant role started off rather terribly, playing a spoilt and unreasonable girl, she comes around rather quickly but it was jarring. I think her acting/her character was one of the few flaws of the drama, but she still have some shining scenes here and there, most notably a play that acts out the debates they've been having and notes the oppression that women have been facing. The other minor flaw was female characters don't get much screen time, a lot of well known female revolutionists weren't in Beijing at the time (they were in France or Hunan province, there are other dramas that do feature them), and they mostly weren't relevant to New Culture Movement. The few older women around were wives regulated to homemaking roles (despite one being educated and could be portrayed less stereotypically), younger women tend to play more active roles (all fictionalised) since students were first supporters of the movement.
Lastly, I must applaud the drama for the absolutely spectacular directing! Hot damn, I was big fan of the director after Advisor Alliance (do rec! Fun retelling of Three kingdoms!), but now I'm a super fan and will gobble everything Zhang Yongxin puts out (also got a Magnolia!). He has amazing eye for framing shots, he filled the drama with symbolism that I don't know how to interpret sometimes. I loved the astounding sequence that introduced Lu Xun and clearly referenced his story "Medicine", the goose bump inducing scene of Li Dazhao encountering a crying bride without a groom (likely a ghost marriage), the incredible usage of wide angle shots + heavy clouds to create heart aching scene that broke Chen Duxiu near the end of the drama, and of course the montage of Chen brothers as they leave for France stayed with me months after I finished the drama. The soundtrack was super memorable, the distinctive art used to denotes some important events was gorgeous, and I just love the aesthetics of the drama in general.
I've been sitting on this review for whooping 3 months because I don't know how to begin, I feel like all my words pale in comparison, sometimes explaining a scene without seeing it seems to make it lose all of its magic. This is the first time I found the entire drama just screams art to me, and I love it so so much that I want to recommend it to everyone. Please give it a try! I'm dump some interesting tidbits in the comment below, may or may not be spoilery.
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THE CON ARTISTS: a refreshing entertainer
Both the leads are quirky con artists with their own missions to begin with who clash at first few episodes leading to a sweet flirty romance with the overused tropes of childhood connection, male lead having trauma and even a contract marriage.What's new? Nothing.
What's good?
• the chemistry of all three couples
• those flirty banters
• pacing (not slow, not fast)
• no weird misunderstandings
• both leads relied on each other a lot so they had comforting bonding
• great friendships plus teamwork (I want to join Justice Committee too xD)
• satisfying ending
• a love triangle (but it brings comedy)(trust me you'll like Sheng Silin yet you won't like him enough to have SLS)
• sizzling OSTs
Now since FL's eyes have sort of a magic where just seconds of eye contact and whoosh~ any rich guy falls head over heels for her... such supernatural concepts can't pass over censorship so the story starts with FL writing a novel and all the rest happening inside her novel and ofc in end they make her meet ML in real life in some other way... personally I saw this start and end but ignored it since its all for censorship sake.
Half of the main plot is them trying to solve a past suspense that they tried to build which is flawed and predictable... but I love how GWIA is quite self aware of what they're serving us, like towards the end, the introduction of those comments saying —
« story felt cringe and mix match of every possible genre »
BUT
« they loved the yao-chuan couple »
Acceptance of all the cliches they're feeding you and this self mockery by the screenwriter impressed me.
OSTs
1. 读心人 (mind reader) — by Momo Wu [what a seductive voice!]
2. 猜星游戏 (game of guessing stars) — Meng Huiyan
3. 爱的回答 (love's answer) — Wang Jiachang
4. 别爱我 (don't love me) — Wang Jiachang
5. 谁的谁 (who is who) — Wang Kaiqi
6. Bad guy — Liu Sihan
7. Kiss me now — Dai Yanni (we know when this song was played xD)
The bgm was quite befitting and all those interesting steamy vibey songs. At least our ears were busy lol.
Wang Ziqi and Zhang Yuxi make a nice eye candy couple (those kisses though!)... for the most part, it seemed like they were just having fun, even breaking in and out of their characters a few times, idk how Zhang Yuxi controlled her laugh being every rich dude's so called dream girl. all those wigs, costumes... that cheap version of Marilyn Monroe still haunts me xD
Overall it was worth the time, I had a good laugh and chose to go with 2x option whenever I was cringed. Now that it has finished airing, its good for a binge watch I guess if you're in the mood of a silly cliched romcom done in somewhat better way.
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This review may contain spoilers
Based more on the original poem/story of Mulan than Disney version. She does join the army in place of her father, but we see how it affects her. She deals with death and grief and fear and killing. We get the real Mulan that went to war for over a decade.This a realistic movie, slightly dark tone because there is a lot of death, but it's the kind of movie that hurts so good. You will cry and then continue crying but you won't end up feeling depressed or sad. The story is fulfilling as we get to see Mulan grow and accept life as a soldier and the many different ways there are to be a hero. Vicki Zhou is wonderful as Mulan, and we don't spend a lot of time with the other characters, but we don't really need it. This is Mulan's story and it reflects that in the screen time given to our other characters. The music really helps finish the atmosphere.
There are parts that really got to me where I was sobbing but the situations were caused by war and so our characters have to deal with it. They act nobly and I was completely satisfied until the very end. As long as you don't question how they never notice she is a girl, you'll enjoy it.
I know I will end up watching it again. For when you feel like crying this is a great option. Hua Mulan truly transforms and even if you know how it ends you can still appreciate the sacrifices of our characters. I know the same scenes will still effect me in the same way.
A bit spoilery but not if you know the story of Mulan. The original version has her just returning home. This plot has a romance but they forced it into a bad ending. They continued on the noble character arc for Mulan where she just wants to take care of her father. Again this is the writers fault for wanting the dramatic hero, but it fits with the characters even though the other option would have been possible. So, I was a bit irritated, but for the sake of a better story it fits to have the drama, but I was annoyed because they built it up and left me hanging.
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