Reviews

This is my first review so I'm kinda new at this.

If you're not a fan of historical martial arts films, then don't watch this. The story reminded me of "Hero" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", two great Chinese movies starring Zhang Ziyi as well. Can't really tell much about it though, 'cause we don't want any spoilers, do we ... Just read the synopsis! + You'll get an idea of what else to expect by reading further :) (Story - 9)

I really liked the accuracy in lots of elements such as costumery, weapons (super awesome btw!), settings and that everybody speaks in their native language (Chinese and Korean). The Yuan-dynasty's soldiers are played by Mongolian actors, which makes it more believable. Zhang Ziyi's acting is great as always, although that might be my opinion 'cause I have a slight crush on her :3. Ahum, moving on, I really like how all these different cultures cross paths in this movie. It helps you visualize how these cultures looked like in the past. What really made this movie great for me were the hardcore battles in it (hint: man with spear)! (Acting/Cast - 9)

Not really much to tell about the music. It worked out well with the scenes, like the battles for example, and gave me a matching feeling. The music did what it had to do, and did good doing so. (Music - 8)

Just like the two great Chinese movies I mentioned above, this one's worth a rewatch. Though you might like to wait a while before doing so, 'cause it'll most likely stay fresh in your head for quite some time. Yet, totally worth it! (Rewatch - 8)

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A Hopefully Eye-Opening Review of the Movie

As the title entails, this was absolutely OOZING with sweetness. I am currently in my japanese romance youth phase again and I came upon this movie. This was SO MUCH fluff that it had me kicking my feet and smiling like an idiot in the middle of the night. It's a good romance movie if you just want your heart to flutter or if you're a sucker for fluff romance, you'll absolutely love this. HOWEVER...if I was about 13 years old right now, I would've said this was the best romance movie I've seen but I have half outgrown that and I wanted to review some things.

First off, the story. Again, cute moments but I just wanted to commend the producers, the writers for having to expound the concept of unrequited love. In my 21 years, it's the first time I got to hear someone say, even if it is from a fictional movie, that unrequited love is "fun". At first I was thinking how utterly ridiculous that was, but then I realized the actual feeling of having a crush. It is fun. To love someone, to like someone, to have a crush on someone. The rush of feeling these emotions are quite thrilling. And also, these days, there's a thing called happy crush. Where you just find someone that makes your day, that inspires you, and for you to look forward to stuff because you get to see them everyday. It's so similar to that. This movie made me realize, it's not uncommon.

Next, the "unrequited love game". This isn't my first japanese drama/movie, I am a veteran to japanese dramas and movies already, and I am still baffled by the concepts that they often think about. Rental boyfriends/girlfriends, being someone's pet, or even "buying" a real human on the net (don't ask about that jdrama lol) This is just one of them, except this is kind of a little more tame? BUT Realistically, the "unrequited love game" WOULD NOT be ideal, you can already guess why *points the word "stalking" in bold letters* I was honestly so confused when they said that because, huh, what's the point? You want the girl to come after you, and look like a total loser and creepy stalker? And also, woah, is this what unrequited love girlies and guys do? However, I tried to be more open about it. As much as I found it weird, some of it is kinda true. When we like someone, when we have a crush on someone, we often do the stalking...that is, usually on the internet lol. Or we would come out of our way just to see them because they make our day, we love watching them from afar and knowing what they like and want to like what they like. It just shows how crazy love is because we end up doing crazy stuff.

And with that, I also want to say how interesting it is that they kind of broke the "pretend relationship" genre. Usually it's like this, girl has broken heart, meets the popular cold guy in school, and pretends dating guy who might want his fans to back off and girl wants to forget about her past love and then in the end they for real fall for each other. BUT THIS, this was a different approach, and I LIKED that. And it all made sense when the ending came, where it was revealed that Chigira had feelings for Maya from the start. It made me think how Chigira wanted to let Maya move on, but also he courted her without her even realizing it. He wanted Maya to come to him, he wanted Maya to like him, letting her realize that HE'S THERE. And the more I think about it, it's just so sweet T T

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The acting. I wouldn't change the cast if it were me, they were perfect. But Takahashi Kyohei's acting kind of does need work. I REALLY LIKE THE PARTS WHERE HE SMILES but the expressions in some scenes irked me--I am very meticulous when it comes to, ESPECIALLY when it comes to expressions and emotions in the eyes. There were some scenes where I was looking for worry, pondering, sad expressions on his face but usually his expressions were just blank. That one scene where he was thinking if he should text Maya or not, I did not see any expression on his face.

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All in all, I would personally watch it again if I want a good heart flutter or if I just want something light and fluffy. I would recommend it for those who are still hesitant to watch it because the story's good and kinda unique, also considering how I analyzed it. But would've loved to see this as a drama series though since it felt kind of rushed. But again, go ahead and watch it!

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For those with patience and a little knowledge of the era it's set in, this drama is a gem that is sorely underrated. It's episode format is a little different from most dramas; they aired 30 min episodes 5 days a week for about 6 months. This format let the characters slowly age and grow in a more organic way. This compelling slice-of-life storyline isn't for everyone, especially those that need a shocking revelation every episode to keep their attention. That's not to say that there isn't excitement though, Heo Jun's life was packed full of danger, compassion, intrigue, war, and dedication. The fact that these are actual events just makes it all the more compelling. I found myself eagerly checking for new episodes almost every day.

I am notoriously hard to please when it comes to rating dramas, especially historical dramas, but this one is one of my favorites. I gave it a 9, which is high praise that only a few other dramas have gotten from me.

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At Its Core, It's a Video Game Movie

I'm prefacing this by saying that I'm as massive fan of the Dynasty Warriors franchise, so when this movie got announced I was both terrified and excited simultaneously to see it happen. I wasn't disappointed, but neither was I wholly impressed, but I did find myself actually enjoying the movie.

The biggest thing you need to understand going into this is that this movie is, at the end of the day, a video game movie. If you're going in looking for a Three Kingdoms (2010)-Dynasty Warriors combo, this isn't it. The story is pretty straight-forward, the action is kinda insane, and so long as you take it for what it is - an adaptation of a franchise known for being a little whack - then you will enjoy this movie if for no other reason than it's nuts.

The characters are about what you'd expect from a Dynasty Warriors setting: Liu Bei and his brothers fight for righteousness and to restore the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao is coming in with ulterior motives and seeking to get rid of the crumbling Han Dynasty, and you have Dong Zhuo being the evil supervillain he is with Lu Bu on a leash. None of them are particularly deep, but considering that the video game franchise only just now made them more than archetypes (i.e. Cao Cao isn't a mustache twirling villain anymore and Liu Bei's personality is now more than "BENEVOLENCE!"), it was about what I expected going in. Wang Kai was amazing as Cao Cao and gave him an interesting bit of depth I wasn't expecting, and he was probably one of the best things about the movie. Tony Yang as Liu Bei was pretty bland overall, but that seemed more from the script and less from him. Louis Koo is about the only person I figured could have pulled off Lu Bu and he did great. I wasn't too hip on most of the cast when I saw the initial casting, but in terms of capturing what the characters were about in the source material, they did a decent job. Not good, not bad, just decent.

The story was... lackluster. Honestly, this is one of those movies where you really shouldn't be going into this for the story. There was one, and if you know anything about Romance of the Three Kingdoms, then this is hardly a spoiler: Dong Zhuo usurps the throne and our intrepid heroes form a coalition to stop him no matter the cost, but it was clearly an afterthought when placed beside the absolutely insane fight scenes that I expected out of this movie. It was pretty obvious that the movie was made around the battles between Lu Bu and... everyone. They attempted to explain how these people got their weird, whack powers and it felt dumb. If they had just owned it and had everyone's weapons shooting fire and lightning, it would have worked better than trying to explain it, honestly. It felt really cliched to have these weapons be "magical" and "given to people with great destinies" when literally everyone and their mother is slinging elemental powers around in the source material. Letting the viewer just use the suspension of disbelief would have been much more effective. The movie also ended in a weird place, which left me sitting back and going "Wait, we're ending here?" Nothing really gets resolved and that's really disappointing considering how they were building up the big battle with Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Liu Bei and his bros against Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu. They get to Luoyang, there's a time skip, and suddenly the credits are rolling. It's a weird stopping point, especially if we never see a sequel.

The effects were okay, not horrible and the stylized way they were done weirdly fit the movie, and the fight scenes were exactly what you'd expect in a movie that was blending the crazy elements of a video game with wuxia martial arts. The crazy part is that it works. The stuff in between the fights did leave me hoping that someone would start a fight again just to get it moving because they were hands-down the best part of the movie. They were insane. They were crazy. They were chaotic.

And I loved them.

When the movie embraces the "one dude killing thousands of people on his own" motif, it is so much fun that it's insane. When it grabs ahold of what made Dynasty Warriors cool, the movie is incredible. It's so much fun and I found myself going "This is insane, and I love it!" more than once during the fight scenes. When it tries to be a melodrama with a wuxia backdrop, it fails. Horribly.

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A crossover I didn’t know I needed

When I learned we will get a BB x ATOS crossover, I wasn’t thrilled. I honestly didn’t see how they would pull it all together as it felt like the two stories have nothing in common. But I really like what they did with it. They made it make sense. While still giving us flashbacks to both original series. There are the iconic lines and scenes we get to see again, even if they are said / done by someone else. Pran deciding to make ATOS into a play was a nice way to connect the two series. And GMMTV gave us a little sneaky hint for it in the MSP episodes. Well played.

I didn’t expect that I would be enjoying Pran & Tian and Phupa & Pat dynamics as much as I am. I really though that Pran and Phupa will have more in common, while Pat and Tian would be the wild ones. But I was wrong. And I am not even mad about it! I do think I should be concerned about the fact that both Pran & Tian and Phupa & Pat have great chemistry though. And I am really enjoying that.

There were times when I really had to tell myself that Phupa and Pat are not a couple. I feel like the two flirted more with each other than they did with their actual boyfriends. I know they both know how to be flirty, we’ve seen that before, I just didn’t imagine how chaotic it would get when they are put together.

Pran is a total mood. Pouting and dragging his feet after Tian and Kampung. And Tian being his usual hot mess. I didn’t think Pran and his OCD would work that well with Tian and his impulsiveness. But they make it work. They are giving me either siblings or best friend energy, arguing all the time but also caring about each other. And blaming each other whenever they get the chance, of course.

And then we get to see Phupa & Pran and Pat & Tian together too! Phupa and Pran are quite level-headed and get along well, as one would expect from them. Pat and Tian are a stubborn and chaotic duo looking for trouble. There’s less chemistry when they are divided like this, but I really enjoyed their scenes as well.

I'm sure I could find things that bothered me (like the repetative getting lost in the woods), but honestly, it wasn't really that annoying. I truly enjoyed the two parts, they were really fun. I might be biased, but these are probably my favourite Our Skyy 2 episodes.

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Short episodes about bromance

These episodes are two to three minutes long each. There are two male leads: lead A is a doctor at a hospital who hasn't seen or met lead B for eight years. A and B used to be great "friends" (the rainbows are everywhere) until B suddenly disappeared without a trace. When they meet again, A isn't very interested in B's why behind the disappearance because he's so upset. But of course they gradually figure it out, and with them, you figure out what happened as well.
The actors were great, although I'd not seen them in anything else before. The music was mostly not there, but i think everyone will recognize the karaoke song. The storyline had some holes i wish they'd filled. I wish this was a 6 hour long series, and preferably without the censorship.
I don't consider this a spoiler, but a necessity: it has a happy ending.

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The Midnight Series way to Chaos

I already knew from the trailer that this series would have been chaotic, and I was all here for it.

Dirty Laundry is about Neon, who supervises a laundromat at night, and Night, a writer of crime stories, who is one of its many customers. They find themselves involved in a dangerous situation when a suitcase filled with money gets stolen: they will have to look for it investigating all the other people who use the laundromat, even by going undercover. And of course, ridiculous scenarios ensue. Poor Night gets into way too many situations from which he'd like to run away, but the circumstances are so unrealistic and the framing is so over the top, that it doesn't feel too bad to laugh about them.

Film and Nanon are both perfect for their characters. They give it their all for this series, whose characters have very high energy all of the time. The side characters are very fun as well, giving great extravagant performances (my favourite being Momay trying to give someone else CPR), even though - with some exception - they aren't very well rounded. (But that's not important to the story at all, so we'll let it slide)

The music is just fun, and it accompanies the series very well. I love the rhythmic theme song, with its nods to the laundromat at the beginning. I also love the chaos of all the characters trying to sing but failing, and Nanon's sweet voice when he sings a cappella at the end of episode 4.

Overall, this series is light, fun, very easy to watch and to pass the time with. It was very entertaining in terms of the investigation the two main characters were trying to lead, and interesting to see how it all pans out in the last two episodes.

The director himself, in the Midnight Series Special, warned not to take this series too seriously, and I'm very happy about that, because it's surely one of the most fun ways to follow.

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Amazing Chinese crime drama

Much like "The Bad Kids", this is one of the best modern Chinese dramas I've watched. it started off a little bit slow and complicated but once the plot hit its stride from episode 2 onwards, it was such an addicting and enjoyable watch. The story is interesting, extremely well written and you never know what happens next, with little to no plot holes. The characters were brilliantly realized and acted - as a previous commenter noted, the chemistry between Gina Jin and Zhu Ya Wen was amazing; in all honesty, all the actors did their roles well. I would 100% recommend this drama if you're into crime, thriller, detective and whodunnit genres. There's a fair bit of romance too if you're interested in that sort of thing.

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Trailer does not do this film justice! Must watch!

The trailer already gave me a great vibe and interested me from the start, but boy, it didn't do it justice! Now that I've finally gotten to watch the entire film, I am in love with how it was written. You watch the trailer thinking you know how it's going to go, but it's going to surprise you.

The 8 jurors were all familiar faces played by actors who I've seen from other dramas and they really brought their characters to life, especially the actor who was the defendant. His emotional acting brought me to tears and it was overall, a very good watch! The film was well produced with good pacing, good camera work, and good music to draw you into the scene.

"When in doubt, think of the defendant's interests."
There was also this meaningful message about what the law is for, who it's for. It's not to punish but to set a standard for those who may be wrongly accused. The writer carefully intertwined that message from the start until the case was over at the end, never losing track of what the goal was. I don't usually rewatch dramas/movies, but this one is one of the rare ones worth it.

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I watched this drama for the cast involved and I realised after the first scene that this is gonna be a bit different, but of course the term Bel Ami in the title did suggest what kind of lead man to expect.

I enjoyed the acting, but what really made this drama special is that if I ever imagined a good harem story made into live action, where all the girls would get their moments to shine, and all their stories had a moral lesson - Bel Ami is just that. Saying so, I have to defend the main character by stating that he is NOT a pervert (like most guys in a harem-like story). In fact, he turns out to be a deep person and he evolves a lot as the story progresses like most characters do so in this drama.

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A not-so-beautiful story about a family

This movie starts with happy memories from the point of view of the middle child, Kaoru. He reminisces about the memories he had with his family, which includes his father, mother, older brother Hajime, little sister Miki, and family dog Sakura. But don’t be fooled, because there is not a perfect family. I think their family shows common problems that are faced by most families.

The main problem is how Miki, being the only daughter, was spoiled by everyone in the family. I even noticed how no one reprimands her every time she does something wrong. That’s why she’s self-centered and almost disturbed. I love Komatsu Nana but I hated her so much here. Some of her acting roles are weird, I have a trauma lol.

Another problem is expectations and roles. Usually, parents expect their firstborn to be a role model to his/her siblings, in-charge when they are not around, and the ones to blame when something bad happens to his/her sibling/s. Too much expectation could be harmful for the child. In the movie, it’s problematic how they think that Hajime is invincible, that’s why when he wasn’t given enough support when he needed.

Of course, there are many things I love about this movie. I’m impressed that the mother is very open when it comes to sensitive topics that most parents would avoid to explain, which made them closer to each other. They are a strong and loving family that has the capability to move on and forgive one another.

It reminds me of how my pets would wag my tail and give me happiness after a long day. This is a heartwarming movie that highlights Sakura’s ability to stay joyful no matter what problems their family might face. Thus it gives us the positive attitude that Sakura has and inspires us to carry on no matter what happens. Life is full of surprises, so never lose your smile !

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Second Lead Couple carrying the show

Tbh this is my first time review about drama even this is my 1st time to watch CDrama, bcs i just kpopers and not drama lover
haha i just want to write about my oppinion from ordinary people about this drama
- MAIN LEADS REVIEWS -
actually i watch MTD is by accident, i think in early nov i just jobless and scrolled youtube and youtube reccomended me clip of "miss the dragon for liu ying and dragon king MV", not gonna lie the white snack (i thought that snack when the 1st time i saw it hahah) is attracted me so i clicked the mv and then i continued to watch MTD on youtube
i have never ever been watch XianXia Drama so i kinda amazed about the set and the CGI also the outfit all look so pretty, about story i watched ep 1 till ep 10 my review "i was like..um oke" but after ep 10 the story kinda bored and refeat in every episode about dragon king sacrified himself for liuying "for 3 lifes", kinda predictible the reasons why i said this bored bcs we will can guess it how the story will be end, i didnt see good story love from main couple
from liuying,ayu,general feng, and qingyan i chose general feng she play that role good, but for the rest character umm not really special i didnt find any different except for her outfits
for Dragon King i dont know i didnt felt his expressions sad, happy, worries, angry seems similiar to me i didnt into it in his character (its only me or not, but this is what i feel) and i questioning about where is dragon king charisma he just spent his time to protect his love but not really meaningful for me, even he always broke the rules and causes the mess in immortal world and still live well hehe, except his visual, i agree he is handsome maybe audiences will not feel boried to see him for along time on the screen

- SECOND LEAD REVIEWS -
as what i said i watched this by accident and didnt put any expectation for the actors or actress but after ep 10, 2nd lead couple more interesting than the ML not try to shaddy this is honest review
their development is going to climax, from unknown to be lover this is what audiences need i think
Lord Pavillion characters is strong, bold and charisma maybe in the early ep he just have flat face but after that his expressions is amazing i felt what he felt, angry, sad, worries especially his eyes contact with qing qing wow this makes me goosebumbs
his micro expressions is delevered well to me, his acted rational and not blinded by love
the peak of love when he sacrified himselt to put out the strings makes me aww he so romantic and so gentle i want him (hahaha) i didnt know that MTD is his 1st drama and he is rookie actor, maybe if someone didnt told me i would thing he is veteran actor bcs for me in this drama his acting more good than dragon king
for Qing qing (im a girl so sometimes i dont like girl who act like child or annoyin/chrippy girl) but for me Pan Mei ye acted Qingf qing well (not really childist but balance) usually i will feel cringe if i watch actress act drunk or sulking but im oke while watched Qing qing sulked to lord pavilioun
and the way she realized that she love lord pavilioun is rational i mean she didnt "fall in love" in their first meet but after long time she with him, that can acceptable when Main lead love story just in love in short time (even tho they have past memories) i XunQing Couple also have past memories but they didnt fall in love so fast
my fav scenes from MTD is when Qing qing pulled out her feather while thingking about Lord pavilioun who did same way for her, i likee it
both of them have good chemistry and play so well, Lord pavilion need to wait till 300 years to kissed her lol (what a patient man) and qing qing also not easy bird haha, she is right about that, she has dignity and no easy to fall in love with someone her thoughts is on point
Second lead story and depelovment better than main lead, because Qing Qing and lord pavillion i paid WeTV to watched it lol
im looking forward for deng wei and pan mei ye new drama hope they will reunite and play in same drama again
they deserve become main lead

maybe this my review, im not good at writing and my english also kinda worst so sorry

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Best KDrama!

This is my number one all time favorite romance drama! This drama kept my interest from beginning to end even on the second watch! It is a really well written and well executed story!

Storyline- was well written! Loved it all! Usually I see errors or a part of the show that was incomplete or left you hanging... not this one! It flowed so smoothly! The storyline I really loved! I laughed and cried. It was heartwarming. And thank goodness the ending was perfect! They worked out each issue like grown adults and no meddling parents or grandparents. The “love triangle” was short and worked out perfectly. Just really well done!

Acting/Cast- love love LOVE Park Min Young! I watched her in a few others and I really think she is a good actress. This was my favorite show of hers hands down! The main male lead... sigh... so cute haha but he did an excellent job also! The rest of the cast did great!

Music- I own the soundtrack and my 7 yr old daughter and I go to sleep every night listening to it and all my 500+ Asian drama songs. 🤣 It is one of my favorites to fall asleep to.

Rewatch- yes definitely will. Watched twice now.

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Let’s be honest, Cher has always been the boss

With all the body and role swaps that we got in Our Skyy 2, this one seems to make the most sense to me. Both with the plot and the way it is done. The two are not actually swapping bodies, which I am grateful for, nor are they switching personalities. Cher is simply trying to show Gun how his behavior affects those around him. And he went with the most Cher way to do so, of course.

I love the relationship between Gun and Cher. I never knew Cher had such a wild imagination, but I am living for it. And his friends trying his best to be supportive, but only ending adding fuel to the fire seems fitting. I do like the fact that Jack never complained to Cher about how Gun is at work, he is keeping work and private lives separate. And while it might affect him a lot mentally, he is still doing the right thing.

Seeing Cher boss Gun around is not really that surprising. I think that Cher was always the boss in their relationship, he has Gun wrapped around his finger. Not that Gun is complaining about it. He quite likes it. I really liked how different Cher and Gun were in their roles – Cher trying to be a strict boss but only coming across as adorable, and Gun trying to be a good intern but ending being a grumpy one. They stayed true to who they are, personality wise, so it really was an enjoyable watch.

Three and Zo are still adorable. Yuck! As Cher would say. Zo talking to Three with a big smile on his face while threatening him was so cute! And the fake argument that ended up with Zo really being upset, and Three chasing after them… Can we please get a full series with them? Look, it doesn’t even have to be anything heavy. I just want to see them all lovey-dovey together. That’s it.

If we really need to say goodbye to Gun and Cher, and I think this was the perfect way to do it. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face while watching the two episodes. There was a lot of really fun scenes - the not-intern Boom mumbling, Cher trying to disguise himself and accusing Gun of doing naughty things in the meeting room, the photocopy machine driving Gun crazy...

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