It is very hard for me to decide which I like better of the two Kpop web dramas that came out this year: Exo Next Door, and Dream Knight. Those two dramas have very different humor aspects to them, and I enjoyed them both very much. I personally believe that all kpop groups now need to produce their own movie or short drama. I think that would be a nice introduction for a lot of new fans.
This drama became so well liked and watched they are even making a movie version of this drama to go to the Cannes Film Festival! Wow, that is one thing I was not expecting when I started to watch this drama. But, enough of all that, on to my review of the quailty of this drama.
This drama for me was very much wrapped up in the emotions of us, the EXO-Ls and parts made us reminsice or even cry. I found that although normal kpop fans will enjoy this, Exo-Ls may have had a difficult time with some parts of the episodes. But, even with that in mind, the plot was cute, and sweet and so was the romance, even if D.O. became the second lead. Sehun, who most of us thought would be a very side character, turned out to have a very awesome role and that was more interesting then the romance or even plot itself.
I do not wish to spoil a whole lot because it is very short and you should watch it. The music was very good, and Baekhyun even sang a song on the ost. The acting was very well done and considering that this was really everyone, but, D.O. and Suho's first role, they did an awesome job.
But, one thing I would like to mention is a line said by D.O. that I think was a mistake. D.O. as everyone knows is the second lead and loses the girl to Chanyeol. So, during the last episode, d.o. is mourning over the fact that he did not get the girl, and he says next time, he will not become friends with a girl he likes (because that lead to him being friendzoned), but, the next line he says, causes fan girls to hit their head on the table in front of them or scream at the drama (like I did). He says,''It would take a miracle for the girl I like to like me back.'' This is a really bad line for D.O. to say. It is like the writer forgot he was a worldwide kpop star and has hundreds of fans, not to mention he sing very beautifully, and in this drama he is the sweetest guy ever.
Also, if you want to watch this for any Exo M members, keep in mind that they only show up in a few episodes and they get very few lines.
Please watch this drama!
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This review may contain spoilers
Never Stop Beating Your Drum for Justice
"A brave girl sought justice for her friend. With the help of righteous men, she forged a revenge plan."This drama was well-written, and it resonated so poignantly as to what happens within our society today.
Faithful sets the stage of telling a story about a young woman by the name of Lin Ru Lan who enters the Yanyu Tower to learn the art/skills of embroidery and how her life takes a turn for the worse at the hands of Wu Lian who is the master there.
During the unfolding of this drama, we are told through flashbacks of each of the nine individuals who touched Lin Ru Lan's life prior to her committing suicide to prove her innocence at the hands of Wu Lian who sexually assaulted her. Seven years later, Meng Wan, who was a good friend of Lin Ru Lan's plotted and planned the most intricate revenge plan to clear the name of her friend by assembling those nine people to aid in her quest to seek justice on behalf of her.
We see what happens when you do try to get justice.
Disregarding Meng Wan's objections, Lin Ru Lan decided to risk her own reputation to sue Wu Lian. She went and beat the drum calling the court in session to hear her story. She tells the court how Wu Lian violated her. He basically makes it seem like she was in love with him, and he rejected her, and this was her way at getting back at him. She does have Liu San Niang, who is a courtesan as a witness. But you know she was disregarded because of her profession. All and all she lost the case.
But Lin Ru Lan was not to be deterred. Meng Wan had a cousin, Zhao Yucheng who she found would litigate the case for her. We see excitement from both of these women that they are finally getting somewhere. Not so fast, Wu Lian had found out there was a handkerchief that Ding Ru, who he also had assaulted and committed suicide had been found by her mother. Ding Ru's mother went to Lin Ru Lan and gave it to her for evidence. Thinking this would finally seal the deal with getting Wu Lian, she gives the evidence to Zhao Yucheng. Little did she know that Zhao Yucheng was bribed by Wu Lian to fake the evidence in return to giving him a high position and to let him meet Mrs. Ning who was influential within society. (Note: Wu Lian never helped him. He used Zhao Yucheng for his purpose.)
The downside of this, was Meng Wan was going to support her friend only to find out that her mother (who you will not like) knew of her pregnancy (which was by Wu Lian), gave her an abortion cocktail the same day as the trial to get rid of the baby. Being in so much pain, and bleeding profusely, she did make it finally to the court only to find out it was over. Meng Wan made her way to Lin Ru Lan only to meet Gao Cheng Cheng who she had convinced to testify, which she didn't do because Meng Wan did not show up. Gao Cheng Cheng did not allow Meng Wan to defend herself as to why she could not make the trial due to what her mother did. She stood silently as she was berated over and over again by her. Lin Ru Lan had enough and defended her friend once more even though she lost her case, and it would never be heard again.
To show support of Lin Ru Lan, Meng Wan tells her they will leave the city the next day and just travel together. As Meng Wan is getting ready to leave, her mother once again intercedes and stops this from happening. She has a coughing spell and tells Meng Wan that she needs her medicine. Meng Wan goes to get it while her mother goes to the city gates to meet Lin Ru Lan. She asks her where they will go and how will they survive on ruined reputations. She gets on her knees and begs Lin Ru Lan to let Meng Wan go. She wants her to get married and have a stable life. Lin Ru Lan decides to say that she never showed up and leaves. Meng Wan stays at the city gates all day and late into the evening.
Everyone is coming at Lin Ru Lan--her brother, her mother, her father, everyone until she tells them that she will marry Wu Lian. Her mother not trusting her locks her in her room. Meng Wan comes to see Lin Ru Lan. She asks her why they have locked her up. What happened? Did they find out she was leaving? Lin Ru Lan tells her no, that she never had decided to leave as she embroiders her wedding dress. Meng Wan is just flabbergasted as Lin Ru Lan says how can they survive on doing embroidery alone. She said marrying Wu Lian was her best choice. Meng Wan does not believe her but she tells Meng Wan that she can marry and live a peaceful life with him.
At last Lin Ru Lan's brother tries to help her and even Meng Wan breaks her fingers never to do embroidery again to pay the debt to Wu Lian to let Lin Ru Lan go. But in the end, it was for nothing. Lin Ru Lan had her own plan to let people hear her and give her justice. Before her wedding Meng Wan and Lin Ru Lan spent time together. She asks Meng Wan to give a letter to Shen Mu at 7 p.m. the day of her wedding.
As I said, Lin Ru Lan was exhausted by everything and had to figure her own way out. She decided the day of her wedding to take Wu Lian up to the top of Yanyu Tower because she always thought this would be a perfect view once they were married. Meanwhile, Meng Wan delivers the letter to Shen Mu that tells him that she is in danger at Yanyu Tower and to come quickly.
Going up to the top of Yanyu Tower, Lin Ru Lan has already set the stage for what was to happen. She had already relented to the decision she had made and settle it within herself that this was the only way to be heard. Wu Lian grabs her by the throat, and she ask him if he has the guts to kill her. He asks her does she think he doesn't. She then removes her hairpin from her hair and grabs his hand and puts the hairpin deep into her throat. Pulls it out and her blood goes everywhere on him. She places the hairpin in his hand as her body falls from the tower. Shen Mu and the other guard watch as her body falls to the ground. They look up and see Wu Lian staring down at her. This was the end and the drive that pushed Meng Wan to seek justice for Lin Ru Lan.
The assembly of these nine individuals took Meng Wan seven years but there were two deaths along the way before the retrial--Liu San Niang and Li Chun Feng. Here is what happened at the retrial:
- Wu Lian said Lin Ru Lan retracted her petition and admitted to false accusations.
- Lin Ru Lan's brother is the one who admits a letter to reopen the case to vindicate his sister.
- Meng Wan and Tian Xiao Ling testify.
- Liu Xin goes to the jail to get Wu An to testify against Wu Lian.
- Zhao Yucheng who represented Lin Ru Lan is called to admit that Wu Lian got him to fabricate the handkerchief with a different one and to lose the case. The maid to Zhao Yucheng testified to the change as well.
- Huang Jiao Jiao says that she saw Zhao Yucheng leaving Wu Lian's study the day before the trial.
- Wu An comes to testify but turns the tables on Meng Wan and tells them that she was holding the maidservant that he liked and threaten her.
But what will get you the most is the testimony of Tian Xiao Ling and what Wu Lian did to her. It is truly unbelievable:
"Seven years ago, the night I met him. I wanted to leave quickly. But he seemed to have had a drink and was in a good mood, so he started talking about embroidery with me. When I said a falling plum blossom seemed desolated, and a plum blossom on the tree showed more dignity, it provoked his anger. In his fury, he pinned me to the embroidery table. But that wasn't enough for him. At that time, I was out of my senses, filled with despair, like the living dead. He took a needle and embroidered this plum blossom on my shoulder stitch by stitch, trying to leave this plum blossom on me for a lifetime."
Can you imagine the pain she felt?
But when you see Episode 19 "The boy gave up his studies for embroidery" we are told the story of Wu Lian. We see how he is left to his own devices without the love of either his mother or father but by Lady Wu the concubine of his father. She is the only one that shows interest in him. He goes out of his way to be around her, even to learn to embroider.
Lady Wu tells him to hide this from his father that he is doing embroidery because this was not a profession that men did. He didn't care. He found out that Lady Wu like plum blossoms and he perfected them. Even being bullied by his friends he didn't care.
But his father did find out about him doing embroidery. He tells Lady Wu that she can no longer stay there, and he was sending her away. Wu Lian raced home because he wanted to see her before she left but he was to let, he found her--dead. She had hung herself. Was this what lead Wu Lian to go down the path he did? The plum blossoms that he felt so drawn to? Were they based on Lady Wu and what happened to her?
We really do not get a definitive reason why Wu Lian assaulted all of these women at Yanyu Tower or why he was the way he was. This was something that was lacking for me. I felt the writers should have given us more when they told his backstory.
There was finally vindication after all, and justice did prevail in prosecuting Wu Lian. Mr. Lou by order of the emperor handled the case as he saw fit and was told to bring closure. And with that, Wu Lian's sentence was: According to the law, he was sentenced to the punishment of flogging and exiled to the northwest for three thousand miles, never to be pardoned in his lifetime. Fitting do you think?
The final encounter of Meng Wan and Wu Lian was when he had already been flogged and was in jail. Meng Wan sees Wu Lian as he is lying face down and doing embroidery. He still doing plum blossoms with fingers that really can no longer hold a needle. Meng Wan asks him if he ever regretted in the slightest what he had done, he never said a word.
As he was lying there, he heard Lady Wu call him (he was hallucinating) and tells him not to do plum blossoms anymore and to put the needle down. He starts calling Lady Wu. Wu Lian swallowed the needle. Meng Wan hears the jailers yelling that Wu Lian had swallowed the needle but she just kept walking out of the prison. All the while smiling. So ended the life of Wu Lian.
In Episode 25 which is called "A Mere Dream" we are given the opportunity to see what life would have been like if none of this had happened. Want to see?
Wu Lian's life changed because his family was loving towards him. He had his mother and Lady Wu together as well as his father with him at dinners. He became a pastry chef. He headed to the capital to open up a shop. He meets Wu An along the way whom he helps.
Then we were given to see what if they didn’t have witnesses.
We are shown the different side of Meng Wan's mother. How her mother was a lot stronger and fended off her husband, not as she did before when he was in a drunken state. Their relationship was much better.
Meng Wan goes off with Xu who she married and was his only wife.
Liu Xin was married and had two children by the girl he first like at the booth selling buns.
Liu San Niang this time saves her master and pays his ransom so he could leave the troupe.
Shen Mu was a fugitive. He robbed from the rich and gave to the poor.
Feng Da was an owner of his own embroidery shop and he was an embroider.
Tian Xiao Ling and Li Chun Feng married.
As for Rulan she gets married, and she sees Meng Wan as she is in her wedding chariot and they both feel they somehow seemed familiar to each other.
Lin Ru Lan is in the market as are all of the nine individuals who played such an important role in her previous life. As the ending comes, everything is just like a dream. Hope it wouldn't come true even if we could never meet again.
I loved all of the lantern sayings:
Meng Wan – To accompany her to see the splendid views in the world.
Lin Ru Lan – An adult girl is fearless.
Liu San Niang – Wait in the boudoir for seven years, but nothing is forgotten.
Lin Xiu – Give a treasure hairpin to the hero. Ignite a candlelight.
Feng Da – The wilderness also has emotions.
Tian Xiao Ling – Troubled by worldly affairs, seeking tranquility in the mountains.
Huang Jiao Jiao – Pray to Silkworm Mother at the door. Worship the God of Wealth inside.
Shen Mu – The young man goes with the wind and returns in time.
When I watched this drama, I was filled with such anger. Why? Because it is still the same today in some ways. We beat our drum and call the injustice that we see to ourselves as women every day, but it can fall on deaf ears. We saw in this drama, the physical and mental abuse, the bullying, the assault of these women over and over again, family and friends turning a blind eye, stereotyping of how women should act and behave, reputations put on the forefront, citizens who tried these women every day. Can you imagine how exhausting it is? And yes, you do give up. You want to keep beating that drum, but how long can you beat it to be heard. I hope, we as women never lose the drive and desire to beat our own drum when we see injustice not only for ourselves but for others that may be so scared to do so. We are in this fight together. It took nine of them. How many will it take for you?
If one only thinks for one person, it's not kindness. A single lantern creates limited light, but so what? As long as this lantern remains luminous, it can light more lanterns, leading to a million lights. As bright as the rising sun, it can illuminate the long night.
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Cast & Characters: I loved them all, of course the central couple was my favorite and they were the most enduring of all the characters. The couples each dealt with issues and problems in their own ways & from their own perspectives. I loved that I got to see the different way opposite sexes view things - none of us think a-like, we all come from different backgrounds, have our own pasts that shape us, circumstances or situations that give us different fears & hopes. During this drama we see immaturity grow into maturity, we see "playing around" turn into love. Broken hearts mended. (this is not boring at all - it's very entertaining, I swear I was sitting here watching it the whole time with a smirk on my face) ;D Like someone else said "It's about growing up." The entire cast was great with their facial expressions & acting - nothing felt forced.
Music: The OST was perfect! I love how "older" dramas have their own "charm" with the music ^-^ My favorite songs were: "Sa Na Ee (I am a Man)" by Moonlight Fairy (?), "I Love You" by Han So Ah, "Do you Know" by LyN, "My Story" by Plan B, "Sarang Haet Neun De" by Choi Soo Hyuk, "Gwi Yuh Wuh" by Kong & "My Destiny" by Bada.
I would definitely re-watch this drama again - It's very easy to watch (I marathoned it in 2 days!!!) and I'd recommend it to others ^-^
I loved the way the drama was filmed, the directing & everyone who put the drama together (lighting, effects..ectra) did an excellent job!
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Honestly, I was never a fan of Zai Zai in terms of his acting. I always found his acting to be stiff but this drama totally changed my perspective of him.
Both leading actors did a great job flushing out their characters. Not only were their acting superb but their individual storyline makes sense making their individual choices in the drama realistic and believable. There were a lot of good bromance between Zai Zai's character and Mark's character which made the drama even more enjoyable for me.
The leading two ladies of this drama were also quite close to my heart. These ladies are not your average, weak, princesses in distress. No, these ladies know how to handle their own which I couldn't have asked more. Overall, I don't think I have ever enjoyed the chemistry amongst this leading cast than any other dramas I've watched so far.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. This will probably my favorite Taiwanese drama so far. Would recommend this to everyone who enjoy a complex storyline, good acting, well written, believable characters, and a pretty cast.
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There's no violence, bad language or sex - the lure is in the storytelling, and you won't be disappointed. Give this one a try!
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Drama Special Series Season 1: White Christmas
10 people found this review helpful
The excitement that the show has produced for me has taken me to the next level of psychological dramas. I definitely would re-watch several times just to intake the amazingness of the drama. The cast, the soundtrack, and the fast-paced story all melts well together. If you're seeking for a thriller that allows to think consistently and make you guess what will happen next, this show must be for you. The emotions that were played out moved me to the point where I believed that these events actually happened in real life and was loosely based of a true story.
I cannot compare this drama to anything that I've seen before. On the whole, the best part were figuring the reasons for the student actions based on the student childhood and background. This thought-provoking psychological thriller is a-must see and should not be overlooked.
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This review may contain spoilers
The most loving drama
As per synapsis as I expected something in my mind and heart. This drama is beyond my satisfaction.Su Zai Zai uses the camera as her diary and captures her memories are too good. Zhang Lu Rang is a silent and closed person but when Su Zai Zai become friend with him, he started changing and coming out of his shell.
He starts smiling and enjoying his life and he starts having feeling for SZZ.
When his younger brother enters the story and opens up her thoughts to SZZ and she supports him and it makes Rang and his younger brother's relationship better. After opening up to their parents they all changed. His younger brother wrote a letter to SZZ it's too cute like a brother-in-law writing a thankful letter to a sister-in-law. how lovely.
Suddenly he got transferred but no change in friendship which is great. A little forward they complete the school. On vacation, they become an official couple. they went to the same university. Their friends also pursue their own dreams. After their relationship is too strong and university life is over.
They start living together and work on their dream job. Parents approve without any objection. A mindblowing prosal and grand wedding it's a masterpiece of story. But the story ends with SZZ getting pregnent if they show a little further it must be too lovely
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The drama had some nice elements in the first episodes. There was some potential about the whole freezing the main couple plot. However, the rest of the drama was boring. The story was messy, the romance forced and most of the scenes cheesy and predictable. The addition of the mystery-political trope was just not well developed and often forgotten in some episodes. Some characters, too, were annoying.
So, overall, three out of ten.
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Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadochism and Masochism
Love and Leashes are definitely entertaining! It's fun to watch. Crazy good chemistry between Seohyun and Lee Jun-Young. The concept of BDSM and love was detailed. Even though BDSM was well explained and how it feels like to have a fetish and be accepted was well detailed, there was something lacking! There could have been more depth to it. Moreover, there are many erotic scenes, that were beautifully layered, especially the editing of this movie is really good. Another thing is that Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadochism and Masochism, all these concepts of BDSM were so interesting. The way it was shown, not just scenes but the meaning behind it and stuff.Was this review helpful to you?
Full of cliches and ridiculous plot lines, I can see why some people would be turned off by it. But if you have ever found yourself wishing at the end of the drama that they would have spent a little more episode time at the end showing the happy couple doing happy lovey dovey things, then this drama is for you! That's not to say this drama is also roses and being happy, but they definitely do have a lot of couple stuff that most dramas miss out on because of all of the angst.
Though, there was plenty of angst for those who like an ample dash of it in their dramas. I personally hated the entire Yoon Joo storyline, and seriously, why even make Sang Hee a character if you are just going to forget he exists after episode 8? And yes, it's true the last episode did seem a little pointless since by that point you knew how it was going to end. But when it's all said and done, this drama was a lot of fun to watch them try and work their way through the lies, and then try and figure out how to make it work once it wasn't a lie.
And, seriously. That coke kiss scene is so incredibly hot in context. I've seen the clip before and I have to say, it's not nearly as hot unless you have the episode before that with the karaoke kiss to compare it to that it becomes ridiculously hot :p Ki Joon was such a great leading male, I loved watching him. I can't believe how much I went from disliking his hair in the first episode (that man does not look good with bangs!) and hating his voice to loving him as much as I do now at the end. He was one romantic dude!
Anyway, before I make this even more unbearably long, I just want to say to give this drama a shot! You might just find out that it was worth the few days it takes to watch it :)
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Story: Full pageantry, scenery & costumes fit for gods - simply breathtaking. Ok, the story is a complicated love of two gods who are toss about time by any and all other gods-deities' (big-small). Lots of action, dialog, backstabbing, front-stabbing lust and greed. No wonder us mortals are kinda screwy when it comes to love, the gods are in the same boat. Wuxia galore - magically performed.
Acting/Cast: Hands down Mark Chao is mesmerizingly handsome in ALL his roles. He alone is worthy of the watch. The female lead Mi Yang had excellent chemistry with male lead and was cast perfectly as the white-9tail fox, silly, mischievous, cunning and smart. The other host of characters were cast ideally with some more memorable than others.
Music: Well done, nothing exceptional NOR bothersome. Well matched for Wuxia.
Re-watch? Not for awhile and selective eps only. Too long to RW in entirety.
Overall: Solid fantasy, romance, wuxia done well. Mark C is just lovely to watch onscreen. I believe he channeled that role as crown prince, God of War to perfection.
If you enjoyed Nirvana, give this one a try!
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1. story 10/10; the story is well written and the pacing is goo; it keeps u always on suspense. The side characters (e,g, seol) are very good and with depth. The love of Princess Minhwa and Heo Yeom was amazing it took my attention more than the main leads. Not to mention; the idea of 2 suns and 2 moons also was very good and its shows how ppl are torn away due other politics and greed.
However; the ending is bad (not very sad) but doesnt make sense in lot of things.
2.Acting 8/10 if could given the children easily 10/10 their acting was superb and made me even cry but the adult yeon Woo didnt click with me.
i felt that she had same expression each time; she practically look sad and cry only and that not acting. In otherhand Prince Yang Myung acting was actually what i loved most in this drama; he know when to cry, when to be sad, when to funny and when to act series. Moreover; he made me cry almost each time he look at yeon woo; the sorrow and sadness of him seeing the person he loved taken by his brother was almost devastating to me and made me shed lot of tears.
3.music 7/10 (OST) its good but not excellent like some other dramas e.g. 49 days and winter blows. But i wasnt interested in ost here but had some good music in some scenes
rewatch value 7/10 i usually dont rewatch dramas again but this maybe in after couple years where i will have forget lot of scenes
Overall 8/10: this is considered high in my list i usually give only 7 in score in only have 3 dramas above this.
i recomend this dramas to anyone ppl that love comedy romance morals historical melodrama and action this drama has it all.
it will be considered a lost if u skip this drama
PLS LEAVE COMMENTS ON MY REVIEW TO SO I CAN IMPROVE IN FUTURE
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This review may contain spoilers
Although there were some holes in the story, I liked the approach this writer had to time travel and alternate universes. One of my favorite topics is the theory of multi-universes or parallel universes. I could see where this writer was trying to go, but some of the story wasn't laid out properly or totally thought out. OMG...I wish I could post spoilers, because there are a few things that totally bother me. If you want to know what they are then message me and I will tell you. The biggest theme regarding time travel that I have seen is related to what will happen to your future if you change the past. Not all physicists really believe that parallel universes exist. Even fewer physicists believe that it would ever be possible to contact these parallel universes. But what if they did and what if you could??? Where would you go and what would you do??? What if what you changed didn't matter at all and we will all meet the same fate no matter what choice is made??? The holes in the story are all due to the fact that the writer doesn't know the answers either. I seriously probably ranked this drama too high because I love the subject and it was thought provoking to me.Um...I thought that Gackt was a better actor? That is all I'm going to say.
The music was fine.
I will never rewatch this.
I only really recommend this as a thought provoking tool.
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