Reviews

Beautiful fantasy drama

Ten Miles Peach Blossoms is a rare drama phenomenon of the early 21st century.  Modestly produced, this fantasy romance costume drama became a sleeper hit.  It is ultimately the love story between a TV drama and the Chinese viewers and international viewers across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Story:
The love stories and the characters, and the outstanding cast touch the heart.  The emotional pull of the story and creative plot transcended culture and language. When subtitles can draw tears of sorrow and joy, the actors, directors and the scriptwriter have done a very effective job.

Acting Cast:
Mark Chao was destined to play twin gods, Ye Hua and Mo Yuan.  He demonstrated his range of acting skills, and gained a very large fanbase across the oceans. Yang MI revealed her acting range with the three distinctive entities, Si Yin, Bai Qian and Su Su. Maggie Huang and Zhu Xudan were convincing as the psychotic, obsessive, delusioned antagonists, Su Jin and Xuan Nu, respectively.  The young actors, Hummer Zhang (A-Li), Huang Tianqi (Fire Qilin), Zhang Youhao (Mi Gu), and Little Zhao Ge character, ultimately stole the show.

Music:
The OST is very good. The main love ballad, Liang, Liang, was overplayed in every episode, and in totality, it may have been heard  90 billion times (30+billion views * 3 times per episode). The songs and the BGM were well composed, and haunting melodies.

Rewatch Value:
On a rainy day,  I might attempt to rewatch this drama,  but the second time time around, I would focus on my favorite characters, Ye Hua, Mo Yuan, Bai Qian/Si Yin/Su Su and Si Ming.

Overall Score:
The calibre of acting, writing, directing, editing, music composition, set design, and costume and hair design, is reflected in this cinematic masterpiece.  There were several draggy sections involving Li Jing,  Feng Jiu or Dong Hua. The plot could have been tighter, and very effective with 48 episodes instead of 58 episodes.

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I have been watching lakorns since last year and even longer have watched various of other Asian dramas for seven years now that I easily lose interest because either the plot, characters, or the overall storyline makes no sense or changes within the middle. The same cannot be said of this drama, from beginning to end the storyline, characters, and plot has always been consistent. I didn't know much of Yaya or Prin before heading into this drama, but afterwards they have made a huge impact when it comes to further lakorns in the future.

The story is like Secret (kdrama), if anyone ever watched it, and although Secret has been one of my favorite dramas when it comes to revenge/hate turning into love and obsession, this lakorn has beaten it out of the water due to the main characters but more so to Yaya's potrayal of Jeerawat or Jee.

Story:
Very Simple, Jee is a major nangek/celebrity who despite all the fame and status lives her life constantly in the rumor mill potrayed as a whore and slut who snatches up people husbands. In reality, she is anything but and instead is just a woman or rather a girl who just wants love, mainly from her mother that she continuously protects at the cost of her own self-respect. While Satit is a young lawyer who is deeply in love with his fiance Tiw, all for justice and the fight for the underdog and the little man. Unlike in the synopsis, Jee is NOT an alcoholic and instead is lusted after by her stepfather and is heavily drugged (IM style in the arm) and in her pursuit to run away from her eventual rape innocently hit and run over Satit's fiance Tiw. Instead of actually running, Jee tries to express her apologies and own up to her mistake, however, the people around her refuses for her to do so and instead her assistant takes the fall while she lives her life in a constant cycle of regret, guilt, remorse, and horror for the fact she cannot pay for the crime that she caused.

Satit, however, doesn't believe what is released to the public and is in hot pursuit to punish Jee for his fiance's death which leads to his obsession. Eventually constant interactions, fighting/arguments, and slowly seeing the inner truth of who Jee really is makes him falls in love with her. But at the same time, he struggles with the reality that he might be falling for the very woman who killed the love of his life and is constantly struggling to battle his own feelings.

Of course there are two other couples but in reality it became such a nuisance (really in Piak and Chaiyan's case) but they only at times help the main draw closer and own up to their feelings.


Acting/Cast:
If I didn't state it earlier, this show was amazing not from the story itself alone, but from the flawless potrayal from the main characters and the amazing chemistry between Jee and Satit. Although Prin was amazing showing Satit as someone obsessed, I have to give the full recognition to Yaya for such an amazing job as Jee.

Yaya: have never seen her before, never knew her before, or etc...but my GODDDD!!!!! She was simply amazing as Jeerawat. She potrayed the hard as nails, aloof, bitch that everyone saw her but at the same time show the vulnerabilities of a young woman (more so girl in my opinion) that just wanted love. Love from her mother and those around her that were actually genuine. At times female leads that just cry nonstop would be annoying and ridiculous but you knew Jee was crying was because she built such a icy facade for the world that when it came to herself, her manager Suki, and her best friend Dao, that was the only time she could really be herself and let it out. Each time, each time, Yaya did such an amazing job showing the emotions of someone lost, tired, hopeful, yearning, and just wanting someone to just love her for herself. Although as the audience battled with the decisions she made at times Yaya did such a seamless job in showing someone fighting with herself and inner desires, wants, and needs. She was not a Candy female lead or someone so darn evil you wonder if she was REALLY a lead female. Rather she was human. She was realistic. She came from a broken home, her mother and her struggled and suffered for everything they got, and even then she wouldn't show others her true self. she was tough as nails and at the same time vulnerable. She was as real as you are gonna get if you want a realistic female lead that is not sugarcoated but is not always wearing a smile despite all the crap life hands to her.

Piak: a insecure housewife now producer/director who constantly suspects her husband Chaiyan is sleeping with his female actresses (nangek) and more specifically, thinks he is sleeping with Jee. Her (adopted) brother is Satit.

Chaiyan: is best friends with Jee, rather shares a brother/sister relationship to Jee that is constantly misconstrued to his wife and the media as an affair.

Dao: Jee's best friend with Jee and is in love with Jate

Jate: confused and playing both fields. In love with Jee but attracted to Dao.


Rewatch Value, Overall:

I would watch this show again at least a few months from now to completely forget the story-line (which i doubt) as this show is just so darn intriguing, and not so predictable compared to most dramas. As i stated before this show has two other couples and to me were either annoying at times or just so unbelievable, but they don't ruin the story. This lakorn is sooooooo enjoyable, intriguing, and unpredictable. Highly recommend to watch, and watch, watch, and then watch some more.

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when i first looked at this page, i was surprised (hah get it?) to find that there was no review and was tempted to watch it for that reason.

this movie is very obscure considering it's plot i would've thought there were some love as the recommendations for three dads one mom and one night stud have.

i had yet to have seen a chinese movie but i was pleasantly overwhelmed at the slapstick comedy and humor this movie had to offer.

for the plot i gave it a 7.5 rating because it was a somewhat new idea but played very cliche-ingly. a woman gets drunk and gets pregnant from a one-night stand? big deal! the father is someone among her coworkers? hmm i see... i don't want to lie and say that i didn't skip a few boring parts in the movie.
interestingly enough, the plot manages to tie itself together and make for a somewhat enjoyable comedy with a few moments that got me teary (ugh).

acting and cast was.......decent enough. definitely enjoyed the eye candy.

music??????? there was music??????when?? lol (i mean that it was forgettable and didn't really make a big impact on this movie so low rating for music)

lastly, for rewatch value, as boring this movie was i did enjoy it and laughed here and there so i can definitely say theres a small chance ill revisit this movie again. it was a nice break from all the goblin angst im going through atm.

hope my review was of some value!

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I have things to do but somehow I ended up watching this movie.
The summary kind of let me thought that it was going to be like a light comedy but it wasn't like that at all. If you're gonna watch it you should be prepared, because it is gonna turn quite drammatic. But, it was worth it, definitely.
At first I didn't like the setting (the uni) and it bothered me the fact that we didn't have a time collocation (that place seemed like a place from decades ago!). At the end, it turns out that it should be in the 21th century, so I am a little bit shocked. If we could grade that too, it would be surely low.
After that, the other thing that bothered me was the protagonist's early character. I hated her, really. As a girl I feel like she really was shameful... but nevertheless, this is a movie, she started to be enjoyable, later on, I appreciated.
The story was thought up and written really well, because it wasn't the usual clichè and it was able to trasmit strong feelings to the audience, according to me. There are twists that I never predicted but I was also able to identify with some of the characters, thus I felt really involved in it.
I don't really know how to judge the cast, but I felt like it was right. As for the music, I didn't really minded it, but never found it out of context.
Last but not least, I will not rewatch it. Absolutely. Never. Again. Probably.
Enjoy!

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Descendants of the Sun. I just finished re-watching this drama. There is a reason why this drama was such a huge hit when it was airing. The majority of kdramas are filmed as they air, but this drama bucked the trend by being entirely pre-filmed and produced before airing. Song Joong Ki plays Yoo Shi Jin, a military man and member of the special forces in the Korean army, and Song Hye Kyo plays Kang Mo Yeon, a high profile doctor. The chemistry between them is so wonderful they were dubbed the Song-Song Couple and they are the primary couple in this drama (which refreshingly lacks any real love triangles). Jin Goo is Seo Dae Yeong, a Sergeant under Yoo Shi Jin in the special forces unit, and his romantic partner is Kim Ji Won playing Yoon Myung Ju, a doctor in the Korean army. Both romantic couples have story lines that are touching, funny, heart warming, and heart wrenching. They both have their obstacles to overcome. This drama has an amazing mixture of humor (especially in the bromance between Yoo Shi Jin and Seo Dae Young) and drama. Fair warning, Episode 15 is the One With All The Crying. The supporting cast and sub-stories in this drama are as engaging as the main actors and stories and the writing is witty and fast paced. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes a good romance mixed with a little action and flavored with a touch of melodrama. It scratches a lot of itches. The story can veer off into the territory of 'Seriously?' on occasion, but it's completely forgivable.

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This drama started off really rough. I kept hoping that it was going to get better, so I stuck with it. And about halfway through episode 4, I finally started to see the light. This was also about the time that news came out that the writers intended to postpone the show for a week for major re-writing. When episode 5 came out, it was vastly different. From there forward, the main leads were both toned down a bit in intensity. Ro Woon was not as aggressive and annoying, and Hwan Gi was not so reclusive and in his head that it was frustrating to watch. They evened out the characters and made them much more enjoyable to watch. However, I think that the storyline may have suffered. I feel like they set out to tell a more intense story, and what we got instead was a little lackluster and messy. The motivations for everyone's actions were either very weak or not explained well.

The two main leads did a nice job with their acting. And the kissing scenes were really nice. The rest of the cast did a fair job, but their characters weren't very well developed for the most part.

Music was nice, serviceable.

I won't be rewatching this show as it didn't impress me in any way. In short, the re-write only made the characters more palatable, but screwed up the story. Either way, this one didn't live up to its potential.

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So first of all... Yes, this is more likely a commercial than a drama, BUT i really enjoyed it. And i gave 10 points eventhough everything else has way less points, because i never forgot that this is for commercial use and not serious.

The storyline isn't deep, but cute and easy to follow. Sometimes it's weird, but it's because it's a commercial and they needed to show the beauty products. This is really good for korean beauty lovers who want to know some things about good products and also for fans who like the kshow "Lipstick Prince", because there are handsome guys doing make up for pretty girls~

I also really enjoyed watching the different supporting characters like the family of the main girl and her classmates. They have there own personality and history (sometimes a bit weird again because it's a beauty commercial...).

There are many moments where you think "This is too much... it's weird and REALLY cringy." BUT if you just want to spend some time watching some funny cute show, this is perfect for you!
Romance, Comedy, sometimes a bit*ch fight, good looking people (like in every kdrama) and last but not least second male-lead-syndrom T.T~

But attention, you will have the urge to buy all the beauty products -_- *ihavenomoney*

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Really excellent, both as a mystery thriller of high school boys becoming involved in the lurid criminal underworld and in the unfolding of the characters of the protagonists. It's also a classic tale of how an innocent acting for good motives (helping his mother) gets caught up in crime. I also feel the BL theme is absolutely central to this movie. All the events that happened would simply not have developed the way they did but for the initial attraction between Se Joon and Yoon Jae. It's brought out when the pair meet at the end when the truth seems clear even if still unspoken. There's also the irony that the "strong" character Se Joon is revealed as vulnerable exactly where his deepest feelings lie - if he'd been strong enough to express his feelings to Yoon Jae I'm sure the triangle between him, Yoon Jae and Eun Yeong would have been shown as unreal and events would not have ended up as they did. I get the feeling Se Joon realised his attraction but could not express it, whereas Yoon Jae was too innocent and suppressed his feelings but may have finally realised the truth too late. Depends how you interpret the ending. I felt sorry for poor Eun Yeong - well played by the lovely Moon Ga Young - who was really caught in the middle between two boys unable to fully express their love for each other. The treatment of her character's part was for me the most objectionable aspect of the movie - if maybe justified by the plot. The ending was also very well thought out and acted, even if - for those of us with a romantic outlook - a real bummer. Re-watch value high because even when you know the story, it's a pleasure to appreciate the finer details of how the characters develop and the plot is acted out.

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Story: After reading the summary, you might think that this is just another cliche love story; and it is. There are many movies and TV shows that deal with romance with a supernatural element. It's been done before, many times, but this drama is much different from what you'd expect. I didn't expect much depth within the plot, but there was. There was so much emotion that as a person who never cries, I got a bit teary eyed at the ending. The first few episodes were great, I found it quite interesting to see Tak run around like that and trying to deal with what was happening. It gets a bit boring for an episode or 2 there, but then it picks right back up again and really starts to get serious as it's then starts to focus on the relationship between the two leads. This mini series shows not a light hearted romance, but a great love story with a good lesson learned, which I enjoyed to see. A bad ending usually ruins good shows for me, but there was none of that. I was completely satisfied with the ending, which can be hard to come by. It ended happily and there were no loose ends. To clear one thing up though, one other review said that the plot was confusing, but in my opinion, it was quite easy to follow along if you really pay attention. The show is more complex than it seems.

Acting/Cast: The acting done by the cast was better than I've seen in most dramas. To say it was good is an understatement, there was such genuine emotion in each scene and it all felt very real. L and Yoon So Hee did such a great job with their characters and their relationship. The only thing that actually bugged me was about Taks character. At first, I really wasn't into Tak. I wasn't sure how he could turn into a complete jerk, even through such stress. It did frustrate me, but it was nice to see an imperfect character get knocked back to his senses.

Music: I'm really not trying to overdo this review with more compliments than it deserves, but the OST in this mini series was so note worthy. The soundtrack was so great to listen to, and it fit the band and the vibe of the show very well. I especially liked the last song, One More Time, I felt that song was absolutely perfect to finish the drama off.

Re-watch Value: I don't re-watch dramas a lot, especially ones with complex stories. I'd rather re-watch shows where all you have to do is laugh and smile. As good as this was, I might just save it as a memory, I don't think I'll re-watch it all by myself. With a friend however, I can totally do that.

Overall: I wanted to give this drama a 9.5 for how I felt about it after just watching it, but after some thinking, I gave it a 9 for everything I said above. With the ratings and the other review, you might think on skipping this one, but I'm here to say that this is a mini series worth watching. It's a 4 hour long ride, so if you feel like it's not you're thing early on, give it a chance to prove itself.

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This is my least favorite k-drama ever. Sorry not sorry.

The plot is so bad and it's just so cliché. The acting is so cringeworthy (at least to me.)

I don't even know what else to say. The only good thing about this is the music, and that's because I'm a sucker for overly cheesy music. I can't ever recommend someone to watch this drama, it's just a hot mess of clichés and it being 25 episodes made it really just drag the pain. It has a lot of embarrassing moments and to me, not funny embarrassing, just straight up bad. The only reason I watched it was so I could understand references made about it. I think this was my 2nd or 3rd drama ever watching and it has effectively ruined the actors and actresses for me. I'll be honest and say that beside my ill feelings towards this drama, I still don't think the main actors are that great. I do want to point out that despite this harsh review and me probably seeming very hateful, I don't hate the actors. I mean it, I still watch things they are in, hoping to be impressed. My reason for being so harsh is to make it clear to people who dislike these clichés to not bother watching it, to not waste their time in that case.

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I'm not sure why this has an 8.5, but I found this drama thoroughly entertaining! If you want to see my "GIF Review" of this drama, which is basically just a fun overview, it's at my blog www.devonandcornwall.wordpress.com

So, for story I gave this a 9.5. I loved the pace, I loved the progression, and I really enjoyed the growth of the characters. Our OTP were super cute, although I will say that their chemistry wasn't exactly sizzling. Maybe that's why people didn't give it higher ratings? No, they weren't ready to claw each other's clothes off with their steamy gazes, but their love was just as satisfying and intense--just in a different way. Because they are different characters than the usual drama, and so of course their love would be unique.

The cast was my favorite part about this drama, so I gave that a 10. Every character is fun to watch. Even the "bad guys" were hilarious in their comedy of errors storyline, and the way that they sort of accepted their karma when it came calling. Almost like they rather expected it all to crash down on their heads. The OTP had so many moments worth remembering and re-watching, and I think my cheeks started to hurt from smiling. Our side characters were hysterical, and even though a lot of time was spent on them towards the end, I didn't mind. Actually, I loved it. They were a joy to watch. And I usually hate side character stories!

As far as "fun to watch" dramas go, this one was dang near perfect. There were sad and emotional parts sprinkled in there, but for the most part, it is a positive drama with a GREAT ending. Incredibly satisfying, with all loose ends tied up, and questions answered.

I watched this during a handful of "sick days" and "snow days," and it cheered me right up!

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Kamen Rider Amazon is surprisingly one of the least talked about Rider seasons despite being one of the more experimental and short lived tokusatsu shows from the early Showa era. It currently exists as the shortest Kamen Rider show due to its early cancellation due to an over-amount of gore/violence for the time it was aired. With the Kamen Rider Amazons (2016) reboot bringing back attention the the once forgotten rider, lets take a look at his show and how its quality stands so many years later.

The story revolves around Amazon (Yes this is his actual name) surviving a plane crash as a young child and being adopted by an Incan tribe. After living his early years as a wild child in the woods, his tribe is massacred by the newly resurrected Gorgos, the "Ten Faced Demon". Amazon becomes in possesion of the "Gigi Armlet" which is one of two powerful artifacts wielding a secret power, the other being owned by Gorgos. He flees to Japan to escape Gorgos but is followed and begins to get attacked by various minions of the Ten Faced Demon. He meets Tachibana (The mentor of all Showa Era Kamen Riders) as well as a Brother and Sister who he becomes close friends with. The cast are all pretty lovable and Amazon's friendship with the Brother becomes important later on as its this friendship that allows Amazon to start learning Japanese. Every episode follows the standard Showa era formula for tokusatsu: Enemy appears to steal/mess with children, Amazon shows up and saves the day after facing a small hardship. The amount of gore present surprised even me in the current day, wondering how this was allowed on a kids show from the early 70's. As for the soundtrack, its nothing amazing or memorable. At the same time it does its job well and doesn't have any noticeably bad tracks. Though the shows episode count was cut from 48 to 24 during production, the story's quality doesn't take too much of a hit from it. The only noticeable setback this caused was the final episode had noticeable pacing issues and the ending left a lot of things feeling rushed. Overall it was a pretty entertaining watch despise the obvious tropes, cliches, and low budget feel of the era this show was from. I would heartily recommend this show to anyone looking for some early 70's cheesy action with Karate Bugmen.

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