Reviews

Endearing and Fun Bunch of Nonsense

TLDR; A pretty alright minidrama with a simple, rather nonsensical storyline and an endearing lead couple. It definitely doesn't try to be more than it is or can be.

Whump meter: ◭△△△△ (almost none).

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►CHARACTERS:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Characters were alright. None stood out as particularly good, but they worked nicely for the drama. I will say that the main lead's dynamic was rather refreshing. FL is actually allowed to be fully rowdy and tough while remaining feminine and endearing. They don't dumb her down or make her always need to be saved by the ML. She is a heroine, and they commit to the part, having her save the day, fight bad guys, and be the cool hero everyone looks up to. Meanwhile, ML is more like her sidekick husband, supportive of her and relying mostly on his smarts. He's very dramatic, posh, and proper when compared to FL, so they contradict and compliment each other nicely.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Side characters weren't particularly memorable, and they honesty didn't add much or do much. Neither SFL nor SML really had an arc of any kind; they were kinda just there for the most part, occasionally adding comic relief. ML's mother was quite endearing, though. Unfortunately underused but fun. The villains can't really be called villains, which honestly works pretty well for the format, length, and story.

►ACTING:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Performances were average to me. No one really stood out as particularly good or bad, so rather average. I had seen the lead actress in Ye Cheng first, and I gotta say she did a lot better in this drama.

►STORY:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The story is pretty nonsensical from start to finish. It's not the kind of drama you watch for the plot, but even so, it was particularly underwhelming. The main arc is forgotten halfway through and only brought back for the final wrap-up. Side arcs, more often than not, don't go anywhere and are left unfinished, and a lot of questions are left unanswered by the end.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ There were also a lot of very strange decisions scattered throughout the drama that I wasn't very fond of. Particularly in how the main couple treated each other from time to time and the SML did some very sketchy stuff nearing the end, which was quite uncomfortable to sit through and I don't feel was handled with the care such topics should have. Maybe I'm overthinking a silly minidrama, but I still think that certain topics shouldn't be sprinkled in for a quick laugh. Idk

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Nearing the end, there are some very WEIRD decisions that take away so much from the story and leave one with more questions than answers, as well as feeling some kinda strange and uncomfortable way...

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I must give credit where credit is due, though, and that is that the drama doesn't try to be more than it is, which is rare for these minidramas (that so often delve into bigger plots, palace drama, etc., which take up way too much of the runtime and feels very underwhelming). This drama focuses on the leads' relationship and the little plot that surrounds them.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The comedy was pretty hit or miss. Some moments were quite funny, but there was also an unfortunate amount of embarrassment and gross humour, so...

►PRODUCTION:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Production value was pretty legit. More in the style of those short-ish webdramas (The likes of The Romance of Tiger and Rose) than other minidramas. The world and everything within it didn't seem quite as small as in other dramas of similar length. As for the cinematography, it was rather nice. Overall, pretty good.

►MUSIC:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The music was fine, not particularly memorable, and the main theme did get a bit tiring after a while, but that's a minor detail.

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◇ Was it what I was expecting? Not really, in a good way
◆ Did it live up to its potential? Pretty much
◇ Would I watch it again? Unlikely
◆ Would I recommend it to others? Sure

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For you, I can sacrifice anything...

one of the best Chinese drama that i have watched..
the first 15 episodes are my favourite... it tells the love story of shanguu and bai ju... really loved the character of tianqi and yumni..

after the story becomes some what boring as the character of houchi was not as cheerful as shanguu..

Gu jun is the best student and the best father who can do anything for shanguu...

there are some moments where i am disappointed ☹️☹️ like
1. why yumni is not reincarnated.
2. there should be a new love story for our tianqi
3. why does bai ju not helped houchi when she was hurt, even after knowing that she is pregnant.
4. there should be some episodes at the end showing shanguu ruling as chief god


Ost -- amazing ??.. They are in my routine playlist.. this is the only Chinese drama whose all OSTs I like.

Re-watch value -- very high.. i have watched it many times and i know that in future also i am going to re-watch it again....
really love the storyline and the cast ... Hope to have a new drama with same cast or drama with similar storyline

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Wasn't Hyped Enough

i understand why people may dislike it somehow but i don't get at all why this series doesn't have any attention at all. the cast (and their acting as well) is amazing, the topic of the show - aliens, space etc - the sci-fi aspect in general is also something new and fresh, especially for thai series & gmmtv. i really like the ost, the colour palette, the editing, the entire visuals and aforecided cast! the plot was kind of messy, especially at the first part of the show. in the last episodes the writing somewhat improved, but still has its drawbacks. the whole thing could be better if it was about friendship and focused on the actual plot alongside with platonic relationships, not involving unnecessary love triangle and romance at all. the plot in general lacked a lot of details, it also shows that gmmtv didn't have enough budget to implement the idea, some characters didn't have "soul", at some points it was boring to watch because of how they just tried to fill the gaps with annoyingly long scenes that didn't even make any impact on how the following events unfolded. despite it all, i really really enjoyed this silly, sometimes illogical, but funny thing, and i think this show unfairly got much less attention that it should have been.

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The bystander dilemma

If you like psychological films, where the weight of the story resides in the character portrayals and their complex relationships, this is a very good film among the genre.
Although I have seen a lot of people argue about if it is a "BL":
It is not a BL in the sense there is no gay relationship portrayed. This is not a romance film, period. But it is a "BL" in the sense there is a very obvious love from one of the boys to the other; an unrequited love that is the "seed of all chaos", we could say. Warning: lot of spoilers in this review
Our ML, Yeong Jae, transfers school. Since the first moment he attracts the attention of Se Joon, who befriends him quite enthusiastic. YJ is in need of money to pay for his mother hospital bills, so asks SJ for help getting the job where SJ works, that is incredibly well payed...but it is a shady awful business (drugging women to let clients rap* them). Also, YJ begins to develop a crush on In Yong, who is head over heels for Se Joon.
Both of the main characters (YJ and SJ) are human trash, but their characters are really interesting and appealing. SJ actor is absolutely extraordinary in his character of SJ, a bully at school who dominates over other boys with his fighting skills and makes girls swoon over him with his good looks; who works a really immoral job to get plenty of money. Although there is an instance when we see him look stricken and guilty by what he has done to the girl at the end of the film, throughout the rest of the story we can see he has very little morals and does not care about any other human being, apart from our other ML, Yeong Jae. I really don't know what first made him so interested in YJ (his good looks, maybe??) but it is pretty obvious he really cares for him and loves him dearly. He is constantly looking out for him, protecting him and in fact that scene and the hotel room where YJ blames him for introducing him to the job made me feel indignant. SJ is really trash, but he only got YJ in that job because he begged him; and SJ tries to spare him the dirty side of the job (when he began working at the club, and SJ is there, YJ only has to sweet talking women, it is when the two guys begin to contact him without the knowledge of SJ when the criminal side of the job is revealed to him). SJ took the risk to go to that hotel room to clean the mess YJ left behind, but there was YJ saying "you and those 2 guys are monsters". And he was right, but he is so hypocritical; he is just as bad as him, a monster. He should have gone to the police since the first moment he realised what they really did to women there. But no, he chose to play victim and remain silent, even being an active collaborator of their crimes. And he can't even use the excuse of an ill mother, because he knew his father would give them all the monet they needed, but no, it is best to let women be harassed and evil run free than feel humilliated and less dignified asking your rich daddy money because you have issues with him.
What SJ did to In Yong is heartbreaking and has no forgiveness, and I am glad he ended up in prison paying for his crimes, but if there is someone in this story who has no right to condemn him is YJ. I am pretty sure YJ KNEW (or at least deeply suspected) SJ's feelings for him, that's why he hides him all the time his meetings with IY, and the fact he gave her a gift. So at the jail scene he seems sorrowful because deep down he knows SJ did that to IY because he was jealous and was in love with him (which he basically confess to over and over during their conversation at jail: "you really liked her, right?" "you gifted her that parfum", "please tell me the truth just for once"). and YJ more or less conciously took advantage of SJ's love for him, even to the point where after proclaiming he was going to turn himself in he NEVER did it, the f**cking coward. And SJ never snitched on him, which he should have imo lol.
The story depicts very sensitive harsh topics: rape, human trafficking, blackmailing minors... but I really liked the message (or at least that was the one I got from this movie), that BYSTANDERS (YJ) are just as bad as the ones commiting evil, that having some conscience and feeling bad doesn't make you any less guilty that people without any morals, if both of you harm others or let others be hurt and you just turned a blind eye.
We have 2 "evils" represented in the MC: SJ, the straightforward evil, who doesn't give a damn about others but he is honest to a fault and wears his heart in his sleeve, and YJ, who does not say a single truth, who goes all about rightneousness but allows and even commits bad deeds but plays the victim. The worst of them is YJ, who doesn't even pay for anything and has the chance to begin anew in a new setting. I guess he will spend all his life repeating to himself he was just another victim because he didn't want to hurt other people, but deep down is aware he is just a pathethic coward and a monster .

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Messy writing but beautiful couple

Leads are great together. They have good chemistry, love all of their skinship and cute scenes. I just think it felt a little rushed how they got together too fast. Maybe they could've take a little more time to reconcile and we could get more angst and the drama could focus on why they broke up before they make amends. But regardless of that, they were good. But still I think the actors deserved better than this drama for reasons I will explain below.

I'm an advocate for cdramas not having 30 eps or more. It's always a little slow on pace, and this drama was no different. After they get together it's like they went around in circles between his father being an a**hole, their flashbacks together in the past, and chinese police propaganda. Then she gets pregnant and it's all them and their long-distance relationship which felt a little repetitive. It felt like there was no story for real and nothing really happened. I'm usually a fan of these kinda shows where it's more focused on the characters rather than plot, but here it was neither one nor the other. They could've talked other things like why he got into the police (we know it's bc of his deceased stepfather but that is never really portrayed), or her parents' divorce which was done superficially. They could work on this and we would know more abt their characters. The dialogue is the worst. Things are poorly explained, if they happen to be at all. The timeline is a little confusing too. Flashbacks felt sudden and out of nowhere.

ML is annoying. He's too serious, never laughs or softens (sometimes not even with FL) and all characters like to praise him for smth. I mean, it's like he's perfect but not in a good way, more like a robot. And I simply can't forget the time he called FL too innocent and silly (I think those were the words) just cause she's always smiling and in a good mood. It was just patronising. The whole time he acted all macho like he had no weakness at all. FL tried to take some feeling from him but he doesn't loosen.

I also felt there were too many characters and none of them had screen time and space for their stories. It bothered me that:
- We didn't know if Mingyu and Duan Rou got married;
- ML had siblings who never showed up, why say they exist in the first place if they have no part in anything at all;
- That FL's friend who is a doctor had more screen time than he should, there was no need to know his story;
- Mingyu's son was left aside during the drama and it's like his father doesn't care abt him. He just goes from one person to another and must understand everything. He's a kid, he needs security and to be taken care of!!
- We didn't get to see the face of ML's cousin who introduced the leads until the last ep, she was like a ghost, we could only hear her voice, I don't know why;
- Why did ML's parents not divorce?! His father was an abusive father and husband. Even if his father was trying to be better in the end, she still should've divorced. FL's dad cheated on her mother and they got divorced but ML's dad beated on his children (especially ML's sister cuz she's a woman) but that can be forgiven. Ugh!!

Although side stories are usually not that important, they shoud at least be told right. It's like they opened some paths but never took time to finish it. That's just disrespect with the viewers.

All the chinese propaganda was one of the worst things of everything. Cause the couple is really good, I can handle some drama as long as it's abt them. But the show spend some time just showing how SWAT works and it was just boring yn. And sometimes it's played to show how awesome and badass ML is, but I don't really like him, he's too forced.

All in all, it wasn't bad. It was a little boring and the narrative is lost, but the leads form a beautiful couple. If you focus on that maybe it was better than I made it seem. But for me a drama is not just a couple, but also narrative and writing, which here could be way better. Overall rating goes for the couple.

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Worth Your While

Well, I actually didn't expect it to be that good. I was delighted to see Zhou Ye not being the quirky kind of girl she so often portrays. I really liked her as the FL and she easily pulled that of, too. Makes me looking forward to what she will work on in the future. Of course Scent of Time is not flawless, but overall I highly recommend it.

The strong point is the story telling, which is a weak point in far too many dramas. A really unusual, interesting premise and start (or at least one I haven't encountered before). Executed quite brilliantly. All leads are marvellous and a legion of well cast support characters makes it interesting and captivating. Especially as the characters are allowed to evolve which leads to some of the support characters exhibiting some unexpected, rather surprising, but believable behaviours which creates these little moments that make you really fall for a drama. Refreshingly (nearly) no unneccessary drama just for the sake of it. And I have to admit, I didn't see that twist coming. Not.At.All!

And never ever has the sight of a bowl of noodles make me cry that hard.

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Not happening

I watched a Korean drama that I really enjoyed, which raised my expectations for this one. However, despite the storyline changes, it didn't captivate me. The lead actor, whom I usually like, seemed to deliver poor acting here, and I couldn't connect with the female lead either. Everything felt fake."
Those who haven't seen the original story might find it worth watching."
The inconsistency in the portrayal of the mother's escape storyline, especially considering her condition of having Alzheimer's but still being aware enough to conceal herself, seemed implausible and difficult to believe within the narrative

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No Classic for me I'm afraid

Let me start with saying that I have seen many fabulous dramas and though I do appreciate perfection I don't need it to fall in love with a drama. But not only couldn't I find anything to click with, I got really annoyed about the level of dilettantism. This is a really harsh word so let me elaborate.

The overall rather colourful appearance (due to settings, make up and costumes) and the plastic plants wouldn't have bothered me much, hadn't it been for the sheer amount of carelessness. Shouldn't you at least know to check the make up of the face matches the skin tone of the neck and - and I have never seen anything like this before - the ears, if you strive to be a make up artist? Especially the make up of the FL is so wrong, that her ears appear to be staggeringly orange/peach coloured (as does her neck in some scenes). Kenny Kwang looks like he generously uses self tan lotion. Oh my.

Sorry to say, but style, CGI, costumes, settings, editing all nothing to write home about, if you know what I mean. Is it really so difficult to place candles (yes, it's in the background, but ...), that they won't stop dripping as soon as the are lit? Yeah, I know, but there are so many details like this. Call me nitpicker, alright, but if you take two similar vases with flowers to create a setting, shouldn't they have the same amount of flowers and not one of them having noticeably more than the other? And - and this sounds really mean, sorry - some of the costumes actually looked like rather bad cosplay. And have you ever seen a drama, where the lighting in some scenes is so disadvantageous that it emphasizes the bags under the eyes of a FL (in that case the second FL)? Well, here you are.

But all this could have been marginal, if the story and the acting would have swept me away into the drama. The combination of, well, not very good acting, not very good dialogue and a draggy, predictable storyline, seconded by the above mentioned points let me quit in episode seven. I was bored from the start, but a thought I should give it a real chance to change my mind. Nope. Didn't happen.

So, no, I don't recommend. There are so many dramas to watch, better choose something else.

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wanted be emotional sport movie, but lacks something

Invisible Fist (2019) - 8/10 cmovie

Lets start where to find it - I had to visit Chinese site to watch it luckily it got eng subtitles
http://www.videochina.org.cn/2022/0407/8344.shtml
unless you want wait for weirdly long video loadings every 15 min, install some downloaded[jdownloader etc] and download whole video from site.

Since its boxing type movie I am comparing it mostly to western production. And in such case 8 as average or [B rating] is about right.

Story of this movie is great and it had great potential. Sadly if I use allegory this story is as big tree with alot of branches which are all trimmed and cut short very early.

If they focused on few of these branches more rather than just showing little of everything. This movie would be great.

Shortly they try to affect emotionally watchers, but they show too little and too clumsily[maybe actors fault] to really pull watcher into story.

Mike Tyson cameo etc is nice bonus.

plot- Good boxer lost his pregnant wife and ended up with retarded son without hand[ML]. As single father he raises his son as best he can and teaches him little of his old art[boxing]. ML as adult he disregarded his father’s opposition to the boxing and becomes professional boxer even with his handicap.

genre - boxing, disability, life stories

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Uma adaptação gostosinha de assistir

Na época em que o dorama foi lançado, eu estava no meio da leitura do Webtoon. Estava super empolgada, principalmente porque o elenco é muito bom, mas acabei abandonando na metade. Agora que faz tempo desde que li o Webtoon e consegui ver o dorama sem me influenciar demais pelo que eu já sabia da história, foi uma experiência muito gostosinha.

A história tem suas inconsistências, o Seo-jun não tem chance alguma nessa adaptação e isso talvez faça até mais sentido por se tratar de um dorama e a possibilidade de se apaixonar por ambos os leads ser muito nula, algo que só pôde existir no Webtoon. Até hoje não entendo porque a possibilidade de ir a um dermatologista não é explorada na história, já que a questão toda da Jugyeong é a acne, mas gostei de ver como nos últimos episódios ela começa a tratar a maquiagem de maneira menos obsessiva, usando-a quando deseja. Achei infantil a maneira como os colegas de classe reagiram de início ao saber que ela era tão diferente sem maquiagem (o que é risível porque ela realmente não é tão diferente assim sem maquiagem), mas que bom que o dorama seguiu uma abordagem mais "tudo vai dar certo no fim" e acabamos por não odiar nem culpar nenhum personagem, pois todos demonstram uma certa evolução do começo até o fim da história.

Gostei muito da atuação do Eunwoo aqui, sei que muita gente não gosta tanto do seu trabalho como ator por achar ele inexpressivo, até eu mesma já pensei assim, mas sinto que pelo que o personagem Lee Suho exigia, ele foi excelente.

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Sense of Wonder

What a beautiful tender love story. The time travel element was a little confusing at times, but the overall story was well scripted. The 2 male leads had great chemistry and an affectionate respectful relationship. There were enough teasers to indicate a 2nd season.
Warrior Yai has a different perspective than scholar Yai so there's room for the storyline to be complex and compelling. It would be interesting to see a more intense relationship and possibly more physically passionate one with Warrior Yai. Hopefully, we won't have to wait long for their story.

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The only downfall of this show and a lot of slow burning romance (not this was generally one) but it just took them so long to get together and it's like bro lol y'all are feeling the vibe, just have at it, okay? But then I get it because then the show wouldn't have been what it was but I guess I was cool with it, overall, it was a good show, not necessarily complications or toxic minus the forced...stuff. But other than that, not a bad show. Clear, cut, straight forward, the chemistry is sizzling, the side characters weren't bad, I liked the relationships and families and yeah, the music was even fantastic as well. So definitely worth a watch before 2023 ends or even when 2024 begins tbh.

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The most toxic of romances . . .

This drama's addictive qualities, and thrilling action scenes, do not matter, because the main romance is unbelievably toxic and romanticizes the most dangerous of red flags. It's as if the script writers went down the list of 'high risk factors' for murder suicide relationships :

1) Suicide threats and knives: Xie Wie takes a knife puts it into Ning'er-'s hand and invites her to stab him. This you, or I , or both of us attitude where the abuser takes a knife and points it at the other person, then at themselves, then starts screaming 'fine just do it, kill me, kill us' is usually the last step before the end. The show portrays this as showing intense love instead of an intense nihilism.

2) Strangulation and grabbing by the throat: Xie Wie repeatedly grabs Ning'er by the throat in order to force her to do something she doesn't want to do - including grabbing her by the throat and then kissing her. Strangulation and choking threats are huge red flags, mainly because it is a very vulnerable area to attack and often leads to brain injury. Strangulation/choking/non consensual breath play to initiate or coerce sex is often a sign of the same intense nihilism.

3) Drug use: Xie Wie has been using a highly damaging performance enhancing drug to make up for health issues stemming from his trauma. His friends have been trying to get him to stop, but they and Xie Wie insist that only Ning'er's love can and will get him to stop. Usually drug addiction/misuse cannot be 'solved' through a romance, and this belief causes many people to stay in toxic relationships enabled by the drug users family and friends who want someone else to bear the responsibility.

4) Untreated mental health: Xie Wie has episodes of extreme violence and paranoia due to past trauma. Ning'er and other innocent people are exposed to this dangerous behaviour repeatedly. Yet, there is no explanation on how this could be miraculously cured.

5) Romeo and Juliet sense of 'no one understands us': Xie Wie repeatedly claims to Ning'er that only they can understand each other - no one else can. That they are both meant to be forged through trauma and hardship, willing to go to lengths that other people cannot understand. Xie Wie repeatedly snears at Ning'er s love for Zhang Zhe - claiming that he's too simplistic and good for one such as her.

6) Obsessed with revenge, excellent at power games, petty to a fault: If Xie Wie only had this capacity of revenge for political wrongs, this wouldn't be such a red flag, but Xie Wie also shows a pettiness and jealousy towards the other family and friends in Ning'er's life and an inappropriate level of condescension towards Ning'er 's father.

7) Power imbalance in the relationship: Xie Wie is Ning'er's teacher and mentor at various points, and Ning'er s father and others treat him as one generation senior to Ning'er. Xie Wie often orders Ning'er around whether or not she is 'officially' his teacher at various points. Ning'er for various reasons begs him or kneels to him about various things throughout the show, but Xie Wie never puts himself in the humble position. Even when he's backed into a corner, he dramatically and violently seizes the power back.

There's probably a lot more. This is all to say in this modern age, there's no reason to teach people that these red flags are evidence of intense love - they are not. If you ever encounter anyone like this in real life - beware. That intensity is often simply a stalker like obsession and a strong desire for power and control over you.

It's one thing to portray a toxic individual who is NOT toxic towards the main love interest and is inspired by her to change (as unrealistic and problematic as that storyline is), but it's a whole 'nother thing to be directly harmful and toxic towards the main love interest.

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Totally a Romcom to escape reality

If you are stressed enough with your work, your life, or whatever burden you have and you just want to watch a simple romcom, this is totally your series! After work, I don't have enough strength to overthinking about someone's drama. I just want to watch beautiful couple being lovey-dovey. I could assure you there is no love triangle drama, or someone who just want to break the main leads apart. From the very first episode, you already can see they are attracted to each other. Usually, main leads got together around half the whole series (around episodes 16, if they have total 33 episodes). Therefore, I kinda surprised about this series. I even start to questioning, whether there will be a lot of cliche drama since this series have 33 episodes. Thankfully, it is a simple and heart warming until the end of the shows. If you are the type who want to watch plot twist kinda drama, this is not for you though.

The only shortcoming from my point of view is, I don't really like the second leads. I feel like they don't have chemistry with each other.

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