Reviews

Chapeau

This drama is so heart-touching and deeply moving. I loved the way they tackled the issue of bullying. I really appreciated how they portrayed the exact reactions we always wish would happen in every real-life bullying situation—even though we know some of those responses aren't entirely realistic, deep down we can't help but cheer for them!
Like the scene where she kept calling and spamming the mother; it was like putting the bullies in a reverse situation to make them see the full picture, forcing them to realize how small they actually are, and that only the weak and insecure rely on violence to communicate.
I also loved that despite the tear-jerking storylines, the overall atmosphere wasn't gloomy at all. The way they injected comedy into the narrative completely changed the whole vibe... Chapeau to the entire production team!

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相信就會產生奇蹟

改編自同名漫畫，以影視音樂劇的方式改編。講述一個家庭負債的可憐少女，遇到一個能變出種種幻境與魔法的魔術師，魔術師聲稱自己是真的「魔術師」，少女也隨著相處過程逐漸打開心房，卻突然發現有些殺人線索似乎也與他有關，少女還是決定相信他。

該劇的雖有許多魔術，但有許多已經是魔法（非人為技術可達）的地步，因此不能從中挖掘出魔術師這個社會形象本身的深度，也幾乎不能討論魔術本身（但可以拉出關於幻覺與希望能夠帶給人什麼意義）。相對而言，魔術師李乙有些像洪吉童加彼得潘糅合的角色，象徵的是純真與幼稚式的正義。

以音樂劇而言，我發現主要角色李乙（池昌旭飾）與尹雅伊（崔成恩飾）佔了八到九成的份量，相當吃重，相較而言另一條副線羅一等（黃寅燁飾）只唱了兩到三首歌，比重而言相當地弱，即使劇情線耗費將近三分之一的篇幅在敘述他的成長歷程。蠻怪的。

劇情和發展大致還算中規中矩，不是到太突出，不過我倒是真的蠻喜歡討論關於信念、信任，或者「相信就會產生奇蹟」的作品。

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關於緬甸的exotic與架空

該劇改編自同名隨筆，作者沈星星以第一人稱敘述2009年從中國入境金三角及緬北賺錢討生活的見聞，蒐羅奇情異事作為主題記錄下來，比方毒犯割據勢力、野生動物買賣、伐木工、人口買賣、民族武裝等，揭示當地複雜且暴力的生態系統。

劇集向著犯罪懸疑架空的方向發展，也是將原作異域的獵奇感（exotic）發揮地更加極致，同時可以避免觸碰到真實性的限制（比如《孤注一擲》引發柬埔寨、緬甸兩國與中國的外交爭議）。導演老算（牟芯岑）將源於2009年金三角搬到架空的地理「三邊坡」，緬甸成為了勃磨聯邦（Burma音轉？）撣邦成了勃邦，緬甸語成了勃磨語，並被語言學家岩温坎以泰語、傣語為基礎重新創造。國境中多元的民族語言，則透過中國官話、不同方言及虛構的勃磨語來呈現，如粵語、四川話、雲南話（昆明腔、版納腔等，然而加上演員本身的口音操起南腔北調的雲南話被雲南觀眾吐槽）。

原作及該劇皆將緬北、金三角塑造成惡人窩藏之處（不論民族來歷國籍），來這裡的人幾乎沒有好結局，必被同化，否則死去。如app小宇宙的podcast節目「酒神少女」所命名：〈《邊水往事》白沙在涅，與之俱黑〉。並非我要質疑其中生活地方人之態度，然而我確實挺好奇當時在那邊生活的人確實是這麼生活嗎？另外，即使金三角與緬北確實不是宜居之地，然而有必要全然貶斥這片地方嗎？在該集節目主持有兩個女的，一個是廣東人，一個是雲南昆明的。昆明人談到自身上一代教育，學校要教普通話還得找播音員學，但漢化的快，現在他和同鄉的朋友甚至是用普通話聊天，講著講著就說到瑞麗口岸翻山過去就是緬甸，跨越邊境兩個村落彼此通婚，家人不同國籍，經常跨越邊界回去。廣東人打岔說那瑞麗緬甸人不就很多嗎？好恐怖。不是吧，這位大姐，你看劇集和原作，應該知道這裡面的「犯罪份子」中國大陸人居多吧？

原作的主角是個適應能力很快的人，同情心漸漸麻木，道德感不能說沒有，只是很薄弱。放到劇集裡就變成說教式的社會主義好憨狗了，相當地憨。我看著看著就沒來由的氣，更不用說這部劇的收尾實在倉促，且硬是要給個交代（不像原作直接拋在腦後說走就走），反而顯得前面義氣相交，後面像背刺仔。

要說表演，除了吳鎮宇（飾演猜叔），我最喜歡齊溪（飾演劉金翠）、蔣奇明（飾演王安全）。吳將人物做地難以揣度，不知下一步棋，符合此劇基調；齊把方言表演做得生動自然，真的很像身邊會出現的人；蔣刻意製造的粵普口音充分融入其狡詐可憐的性格。

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自我指涉台灣演員圈的生態

劇本用台式溫情的方式，融合很多或幕前幕後的真實故事及影視作品情節，自我指涉台灣演員圈的生態，裡面數個經典的主題，比如女大男小的戀情（前有莒哈絲，後有蕭亞軒）、對年輕後輩的傾羨與嫉妒（想到美恐女巫大集會，甚至想要毀了她）、職場性騷擾、脫星轉型、演藝家庭的齟齬....

其中我覺得最有趣的是第二點，史艾瑪這個角色。他很矛盾，聲音純稚內心不服輸，敢去爭取。起初我以為他是代表「影后」的初心，這些演員如何從素人一步步爬上來，經歷多少的挫折與選擇。後來發現並不是，這其實是編導及諸女星角色害怕的典型，年輕有活力有魅力慾望強且競爭力高的對手，凡是畏懼年紀的，都會畏懼她。因此她背叛朋友、背叛經紀人、背叛男友、背叛新的經紀人、背叛為她背著家庭的男人，她用新世代社群媒體向大牌女星復仇、她僭用自己偶像的化妝品和身份、她攀比每個能使她站更高的人。她自私，她沒有想保護和珍視的他人，她也因此無情亦無義。她是該死的少女。

我並不懷疑真的有這樣的人存在，然而擔當唯一的年輕要角，她其實代表著圈子對年輕女生的惡意揣測，也成為腐爛事物的鏡像，照出他強我弱的社會階級、早就撐不下去的婚姻、隨時都可能風水輪流轉的環境...這個角色，讓我覺得可惡，卻也覺得可憐。

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One of the better non-romance dramas I've watched!!!

I ABSOLUTELY adore the dynamic between the employees of Tengda, it was so fun to watch them interact and go through life together! Despite being colleagues, they felt more like family instead which I loved so much. The premise was so interesting that I immediately downloaded all episodes and watched it, and I would say it lived up to my expectations for the most part. I started this drama because of its premise, stayed for the characters, but almost dropped it due to side plots that I thought took away from the main story.

I LOVED the first half of the drama, but it got too convoluted with all the unnecessary side plots, such as PQ going to work at Sky Fire (what??), and the Sima brothers arc. It became a bit of a drag watching those parts because certain characters were so annoying to watch. Also, the supposed twist at the end felt weak, but I was pretty satisfied with the ending. I do think it was weird that the drama started off in the future talking about the success of Tengda while showing PQ looking weary and sick of everything, but the ending did not touch on that or even relate back to that scene which made me very confused because the ending made it seem like PQ was finally contented with what he had, but the first scene of the drama contradicts that ending? Hm...

Although they hinted at romance between certain characters, they did not develop that storyline much. Surprisingly, I did not mind that because I thought it was better without romance. I felt that romance would have taken away from the story, and that the drama absolutely did not needed that, but I felt that they should not have hinted at it if they were not planning to develop that part of the storyline any further. Felt like an unfinished piece of work.

Either way, it was at the end of the day, still a lighthearted and fun drama that I really enjoyed, so definitely give this drama a watch!

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Watch this for my Alphabet challenge. Let’s discuss drama…

The story is about Kazuki’s family. The story begins following the divorce of Kazuki and his wife, which leaves 15-year-old Kouki living with his father during a crucial transition period in his life.

Struggling with emotional strain and self-doubt after failing his high school entrance exams on his first attempt, Kouki feels adrift. When he finally gets accepted into a high school a year later, Kazuki wants to support his son and make up for lost time.

Together, they make a pact: Kouki promises to attend school every single day without skipping, and Kazuki promises to make him a homemade bento box for lunch every day throughout his three years of high school—totaling 461 school days.

Despite his demanding musician lifestyle, late-night gigs, and lack of initial culinary expertise, Kazuki stays dedicated to his promise. Every morning, he wakes up early to design, cook, and pack creative, balanced meals. As Kouki takes these bentos to school, the colorful lunches attract the curiosity of his classmates, breaking the ice and helping the introverted teenager make lasting friends. Through quiet meals, the daily bento box transforms into an unspoken language of love, reassurance, and steady presence between a father and son navigating growth, independence, and family rebuilding.

That's pretty much the story without giving spoilers.

This heartwarming story about a father who keeps his promise to his son, no matter what his situation is… That promise, the support from father, is sometimes the simplest thing a child needs from their parents…

Although this can be a little bit boring to watch, but this movie is really worth your time to watch it…

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Bestinha

sinceramente, eu esperava mais desse dorama! achei ele muito rápido e muito curto! a atuação estava perfeita e as osts também mas ao decorrer do episódio ele fica bem besta e chato! dropei ele no primeiro ep, não me julguem mas esse não me prendeu! 6.0!￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴

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Too many tropes and plotholes

Pros:
-The main leads delivered solid performances despite having to work with a weak, messy plot.

Cons:
- The flashbacks add almost nothing to the story and only slow the pacing.
- The show's message about nepotism is bizarre. The company is filled with unqualified family hires, everyone accepts it as normal, and success depends entirely on who you're connected to. It's no surprise the company is struggling. Then the biggest nepotism hire of them all—someone with zero business experience—shows up and saves the day, reinforcing the very problem the story should be criticizing.
- The idea that the entire country has only one person (the male lead) qualified to become Donghe's CTO, and that the company will collapse without him, is completely unbelievable.
The romance relies almost entirely on misunderstandings. One character overhears or sees something out of context, jumps to conclusions, they argue, they make up with a kiss, and then the cycle repeats. It gets repetitive fast and doesn't make for a compelling relationship.
- The secondary couple was easily the weakest part of the drama. The second female lead uses the second male lead until she thinks she has found someone better, dumps him, and chases a wealthy client instead. We then spend multiple episodes watching the poor guy desperately try to win her back. After discovering she's sidepiece number 20, she suddenly decides to return to the second male lead and asks, "How come you never begged me to forgive you?" - - Then, they're back together as if nothing happened.
- Overall, I couldn't find much to redeem this drama. I'd recommend skipping it altogether or only watching it on fast-forward if you're curious.

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Inception in the BL genre!!

I decided to watch this series on a Sunday afternoon coz I was bored. Obviously started it casually and without much expectations. The first 2 episodes were good, nothing exceptional tho, but it was intriguing enough that I kept watching. Starting from episode 3 I started to feel the shift, and by ep 4 I was hooked. Ep 5 is what made me obsessed. The rest is history.

This is not what you think it is. Everyone watching it thought they knew what they were getting into but its nothing like that. Ngl mid series I even searched up the novel and asked every person who said they had read it about spoilers in detail, coz I was too invested in the characters and anxious about what was going to happen to them. I NEEDED this to have a happy ending on both ends. But the novel exceeded my expectations too..and not in a good way. It has a great start, but in the middle everything goes downhill for one of the characters, arguably my most favorite one, and by the end there's one crazy ending for all. The journey to an end is equally as important to me as the end itself and in this one its really rough and extremely traumatizing. This almost made me fear for this character and what they were gonna face in the series, and I was literally praying that it doesn't follow the novel in that regard. Thankfully they didn't and I'd say everything wrapped up fairly well. They also didn't follow the novel ending(with the extras included), and its the only thing that I wish they had done..in my opinion that would've made this one of THE best BL series, period.

This is definitely NOT for everyone, it doesn't tell you everything you need to know about the characters, and the story has this incomplete feeling that you sometimes need to feel in the blanks for, and idk if that's on purpose or not. Overall I'd say its a solid 9. But I have personally rated it a 10 mainly coz of the actors and how obsessed I am with them. They're both near to me in age, rookie actors, and sometimes that did show, but there are also moments where they surpassed my expectations and left me shocked and surprised! They also have insane chemistry together, I've watched all their livestreams, vlogs and BTS of this series..so I think that says a lot about how 'deep in' I've been with them and this series. Oh and the OST, with 15 songs almost all in English, is one of THE best I've ever heard. That also helps.

All I can say is they have achieved their purpose and convinced me about why this series is called what its called!

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Who would have thought that a successful live-action adaptation of an anime/manga would come from a Chinese drama?

The original story and characters are already rich, so the drama's main challenge is adapting them to a Chinese setting. It's a blessing that Go is also deeply rooted in Chinese culture, and the screenwriting did an excellent job with that transition. The only minor drawback is Chu Ying's outfit, which feels a bit out of place. But it's understandable, as they needed to preserve Sai's iconic look from the original.

As a coming-of-age youth sports drama (with the main characters in middle to high school), the directing, music, and acting are all solid. The bromance, friendship, and teamwork that fans love in sports anime like Hikaru no Go, Slam Dunk, or Chihayafuru are all present here. This is very much an ensemble drama, though Shi Guang is the central figure and Hu Xianxu delivers the strongest performance. Every character experiences a growth arc, as expected from a coming-of-age story. You can feel the passion for Go in characters from all backgrounds, ages, and genders. The professional Go player path is niche and bittersweet; only a rare few geniuses like Shi Guang and Yu Liang achieve successful careers, but the love for Go transcends professional status. The bromance is strong across generations, from teenagers to young adults to the elderly.

The director even makes a cameo, and his character is quite interesting too.

That said, the drama does have a few flaws. There is a hint of overly patriotic sentiment toward the ending, which, while understandable, feels a bit typical. Additionally, the portrayal of the young Korean Go prodigy leans into racist stereotypes. He is loud and arrogant, and the actor can't even speak natural Korean, which feels off, especially when many real-life famous Korean Go pro-players are known for their calm and introverted demeanors

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The Lovesick Boys and the Throne Everyone Wants

I genuinely don’t know what they put into this drama, but it is ridiculously addictive. On paper, it’s another court intrigue drama about power struggles, revenge, succession, and the imperial harem. In reality, I could not stop watching. Every episode gave me something new, whether it was another political scheme, a plot twist, a new character, or another reason to stay up for “just one more episode.” It was one of the easiest dramas I’ve binge-watched this year.

I actually went into this drama expecting not to like it because I’m not the biggest Meng Ziyi fan. The only reason I started it was because of He Yu, and honestly… I was not expecting to love it this much.

Let’s start with the biggest star of the show: the male lead.

He Yu absolutely stole this drama. His character was shameless, manipulative, calculating, intelligent, hilarious, ridiculously handsome, completely lovesick, and somehow still incredibly endearing. He became one of my favourite male leads of the year.

I love a shameless male lead, and this man delivered everything I could ask for. One minute he’s pretending to be weak, fragile, and in desperate need of help, and the next he’s reminding everyone why he’s actually one of the smartest and strongest people in the room. His confidence, wit, fighting scenes, principles, and absolute devotion to the female lead made him impossible not to love.

Can we also talk about the face card? Please keep casting He Yu as the lead in historical dramas forever. The styling, the costumes, the hair, the acting… everything worked. That man served face every single episode.

I had mostly seen He Yu in lighter, playful roles before this, so seeing him completely own such a cunning, layered character genuinely surprised me. He carried the role effortlessly.

Meng Ziyi also surprised me.

This is easily my favourite performance from her. I’m usually not the biggest fan of her acting, but she completely won me over here. At first I honestly disliked her character because she felt cold, distant, and almost heartless. But the more the story developed, the more I understood her. She was driven by revenge and power rather than romance, so her emotional growth felt earned.

Her crying scene after his death was probably the best acting I’ve ever seen from her. That scene completely broke me.

The only thing I’d like to change is her styling. I really hope future historical dramas give her different hairstyles and costumes because I feel like she’s always styled exactly the same.

The chemistry completely shocked me.

Off-screen they gave me sibling or best friend energy during promotions, so I wasn’t expecting much. On-screen? Completely different story.

These two characters were genuinely written for each other.

They’re both intelligent, manipulative, calculating, ambitious, and willing to play the long game. Their personalities complement each other perfectly.

He falls first, falls hard, and isn’t shy about it at all. Meanwhile, she isn’t someone who believes in love because revenge has always been her priority. I never minded how slowly she accepted his feelings because it made perfect sense for her character.

And once she finally falls…

They become one of my favourite couples of the year.

That said, I do feel like we were robbed of several romantic moments. There were multiple scenes where it genuinely looked like kissing scenes had been awkwardly cut, making the editing feel abrupt. It was disappointing because their chemistry deserved more.

Another standout was Prince Lei, played by Lai Weiming.

I had only seen him in variety shows and Shine On Me, so I wasn’t expecting much, but he completely blew me away.

He was absolutely gorgeous, but more importantly, he had one of my favourite character arcs in the drama.

He loved her deeply, yet he still chose to let her go because he understood it was what she wanted. His feelings never disappeared, but he respected her choices anyway. That made him feel incredibly human.

Please cast Lai Weiming as the male lead in a historical drama. He absolutely deserves it.

I also wish we had seen more of him toward the end. The drama built him up as an important character, only to almost forget about him during the finale. I wanted to know what happened to him years later because he deserved a proper ending.

Prince Yu was another disappointment—but not because of the character himself.

I genuinely thought Shan He Yi would have a much bigger role because he was literally on the poster. Instead, he had maybe four scenes.

I kept waiting for him to return, thinking surely there was more planned for him, but nothing ever happened. It honestly felt like both the actor and the character were wasted.

One thing I loved was seeing so many actors who usually play villains all acting as brothers. It honestly felt like an assembly of famous C-drama villains, and I found that really fun.

Speaking of the princes…

I loved all of them.

Honestly, everyone had chemistry with everyone. The leads, the villains, the brothers… every interaction worked. I actually wish we’d gotten more genuine brotherhood between the princes because their dynamics had so much potential.

The second couple, Bu Shuyao and Cui Jinbai, deserves a special mention.

They were absolutely hilarious.

The entire misunderstanding where he believed he was gay because he had fallen in love with someone he thought was a man, then she thought he was gay after learning the truth, and eventually everyone else also believed they were gay… it was one of the funniest running jokes in the drama.

They also had fantastic chemistry.

Unfortunately, just like several other side characters, they were pushed aside after Episode 26 even though they still had plenty of story left to tell.

That became one of my biggest issues with the drama.

It introduced so many interesting characters with huge potential but kept abandoning them instead of fully developing them. Rather than exploring the existing cast, it kept introducing new characters.

Story-wise, though, the drama was fantastic.

The mystery surrounding the poisoning kept me guessing the entire time. Every episode made me suspect someone else. Eventually, after the letter appeared, I realised it had to be the Empress, but I still didn’t fully understand her motivation.

The biggest twist—that the Crown Prince wasn’t actually the Emperor’s son but Prince Qing’s—made me genuinely gasp.

The drama handled its twists extremely well.

Prince Ning was the only character I had mixed feelings about.

Sometimes I loved his ruthlessness, ambition, and power. I even appreciated his redemption when it was revealed that everything he did was ultimately to help her become Empress.

But his obsession took up far too much time during the ending.

If that storyline had happened in the middle of the drama, I wouldn’t have minded.

But shifting so much attention to him during the final episodes completely ruined the pacing for me. Those episodes should have focused on the main couple and delivered a satisfying conclusion instead.

Which brings me to my biggest complaint…

The ending.

Until the final episode, this was honestly a 10/10.

I was completely okay with the Crown Prince dying. His death was meaningful. It pushed her toward becoming Empress and ruling in her own right. It hurt, but it worked.

Then the drama brought him back… without explaining anything.

That completely took me out of the ending.

I shouldn’t have to read the novel to understand what happened.

Even with the extra episode, we never receive a proper explanation. We never find out whether he learned who poisoned him, despite that being one of his biggest motivations throughout the entire story. We don’t really get to see him reunite properly with his son. She hugs him, and that’s basically it.

After six episodes without the male lead, his return deserved so much more.

If they wanted him alive, explain it.

If they wanted him dead, let his sacrifice remain meaningful.

Instead, they chose an ending that somehow felt both rushed and incomplete.

That was incredibly frustrating because this drama deserved a much stronger finale.

Despite all that, I still think Blossoms of Power is one of the best dramas I’ve watched this year.

It has incredible pacing, beautiful cinematography, gorgeous costumes, amazing face cards, good OSTs, strong writing, memorable plot twists, excellent court intrigue, and one of the most entertaining shameless male leads I’ve watched in a long time.

If you enjoy political intrigue, revenge stories, arranged marriage tropes, slow-burn romance, brilliant scheming, yearning men, and characters who constantly outsmart each other, I highly recommend this drama.

The ending may have left a dark cloud over an otherwise incredible journey, but it wasn’t enough to erase everything the drama did right.

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