Reviews

A new standard for Xianxia Dramas. Experience how it feels to stumble upon a greatly priced fortune.

In summary, this is one crazy feel good party! This story breaks through the typical standards when it comes to Xianxia dramas. It won't even be a stretch if I claim that they birth-ed this whole new trend and I hope that more producer will realize that a story doesn't necessarily need overly complex plot to make the entire narrative fun and exciting. Just a hand full of evilness from some characters + hilarious and vigorous number of cast would be enough to make any story enjoyable and satisfactory.

Even after I finished this drama, It still feels oddly satisfying to watch a Xianxia with such a comical and funny setup. This production embodied the words 'derp and meme' so much that as time passes by I find myself longing to see those scenes again. I got used to it and even longed for it in the long run. This story was made perfect by each and every element they poured to mold it the way it is. A rare masterpiece! ?

Looking back... This production showed us plenty of focal points, however, one thing that stood out for me is its values—From the unconditional love Qingkui and Yetan shared despite their contrasting upbringings, the initially cruel turned playful setup of the Void Team, Human Emperor's love language and fatherly affection for his daughters, Indestructible bond between friends, Naturally playful nature of each character, Overwhelming fleeting emotions that can rule over hate, sorrow and revenge and last but not the least, Repentance for all the wrong decisions we've all made. It presents us the good-postive and bad-negative context of life. That life may be cruel, for sure! but it still depends on how we choose the path we're going to take. That life is not always about making the right decisions, moreso, a stand of choosing what can make us feel better and at peace. So, lead and live your life to the fullest by making considerably good decisions!

CGI, Color scheme and Overall design were great. I never felt off watching any of them. They're perfectly balanced and I just love their choice of colors. It is all in accordance to what we're used to all these years, however, the mood/vibe of the drama just made them extremely pleasing to the eye. Comfortable and cozy per se.

One last thing I can never miss to talk about is the crazy-crazy good dynamics of all the characters! They blended so well that it feels like a whole dang celebration whenever they're together. Specially those moments from Immortal and Void Squad. I will surely miss their funny antics and the non-stop chaos they served to make the story effortlessly entertaining. They're the bread and butter and/or peanut butter and Jam of this entire production. It won't be successful without them!

P.S. I wish there are more episodes to this drama. I need to see both Yetan and Qingkui living their daily lives with their loving husbands Xuanshang and Chao feng. + These couples were just fantastic duos. I swear they can add 40 more episodes of them being messy and chaotic and I won't get bored at all.

Story - 10, An unexpected and fulfilling story. It's a dark horse covered in sparkly glitters that may look absurd to everyone on the outside but is a precious fortune on the inside. It is a whole new class/category anyone has yet to see and experience before.

Acting/Cast - 9.5, The set of actors/actresses on this production are well selected and even when some of them do feel awkward at times they all improved and got better afterwards. I can't imagine anyone else doing their roles at this point. They've all made their impact and created their own standing grounds when it comes to the characters they individually portrayed.

Music - 10, Honeslty, I find the melody of this drama to be very relaxing and peaceful. It's harmonious and easy to listen to. Which is very nice compared to the heavily composed music out there that often distracts me from focusing on the show.

Rewatch Value - 10, I can even watch it again right now. No boring scenes and more importantly every single episode is well produced and created. I highly recommend this drama.

Overall - 10, I feel rejuvenated after finishing this show. Specially since the previous drama I watched was kinda disappointing. Lol. Anyways, I just want to encourage everyone to watch this. You will never feel bored, disappointed and irritated even the tiniest watching this drama. It is that GOOD.

IF you find my review helpful please let me know

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Another Mystery of Song Ci

NOTE: After much confusion I discovered the title in iQIYI and the title here in MDL is different. This movie has a different title in iQIYI - Work Vain Song Ci. My feedback and rating is for (titled here in MDL )as Forensic Scientist Song Ci
: The Fraud


I enjoy Dee Renji and Song Ci movies and surprised that there's no review for this movie yet.

Plot is around Song Ci - SC assisting the emperor get back his throne after being plotted against by his trusted Shaman.

The production is not a huge budgeted film. It is simple yet perfectly done for each scenes. The location shoot was minimized but it didn't affect the way the story was relayed on the screen. Wardrobe was perfect for each scenes and each character that you won't feel slighted as a viewer. Even though it wasn't elaborate, the focus was majnly on the story.
I like that the simplicity of this movie still provided a satisfying watch.
The artists who played each character were professionals. They portrayed their character well enough even tho there are couple who probably could have rendered their lines and facial expressions better. This didn't impact the overall outcome of the movie anyways for me.

I am recommending this movie for anyone interested in period, costume and mystery movie.

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Lazy writing with great actors and wasted potential

I don't hate this season, but I have to admit that it lacks that COOL vibe and seems unnecessarily heavy compared to the previous one.
We've been circling around the same villain since the beginning, and I kind of miss those exciting fights with small evil spirits. Most of the time is spent on fighting, Even though I love that part, the overall story is lacking which is needed to hold us to our seats. Even though the family of counters were established in S1, there's still room to explore and add new areas and directions for each character, after all, that's what any good writer is expected to do. Plus, the new counter is neither exciting nor useful at all and his background or powers don't add much to the story. Also, none of the counters matured much throughout the season. The villains introduced in this season were just plain evil & annoying, they don’t have any reason to be like that which is irritating, in S1 Even the villain had a back story which helped us connect to the drama. Leads aimlessly fighting the SAME evil spirits throughout the drama is boring and is an example of lazy writing.

This season they made "So Moon" as the lead and the rest were supposed to protect him and back him up most of the time??....Season 2 was supposed to proceed on the base laid in Season 1 where every counter was equally important and had their own essential part to play with their unique strengths.....Despite being an avid fan of "So Moon" I love the counters as a whole but unfortunately they were neglected from my pov.

Still, I would recommend watching it as you will enjoy it if you love action dramas but go without the expectations of season 1

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Disaster

The first season was good. They showed the life stories of all the counters! How they harnessed and used thier power. ?
They (writers)didn't keep anything for the 2nd season! But I thought since nothing kept,there will be innovation.
Alas! ?
I don't know why the 2nd season is like this? Did they forget it's season 2? Written like the 1st season. Learn everything anew!

They(the counters) have been working for so many years, but they have no experience! Yang people supposed to know everything about the evil sprits.
What are the stages of evil spirits? How to handle them? How strong will it be? How much they have to make themselves for that! Etc. Etc. ??

About moon? ? We all know how special the moon is! We Gen woman knows everything, but she won't tell first!
Why? Because, Moon is special, he can handle it all. Amazing!!! ?‍♀ Why don't you(We Gen) say it before? When the evil spirit already knows!
Evil spirits have none, except their will power. But the counter have yang people and they will know all about the evil spirit.,when after the incident. ??
And Moon's obsession over Mr ma!
Uffff!!!! ??

But those who come through the evil spirit, they are not born evil! But why is Mr. Ma different? Well, okay, he's done good before, but circumstances made him that way. ?
? However, I think the counters gave him enough time to change himself.
Now he is under Mr. Hwang.Mr. Hwang Killed so many people, then those sprites will go to heaven?
How could you (moon) save those people who already died? If it made him special, so what?? ? Because, it is personal. ? The writer wrote like this. Mr. Ma By showing the life story, to forget us,that's why he should be saved! ? Nice!!! ?
If he can attract the evil spirit, then he can also destroy the evil spirit.

Overall i didn't like their one track mind story.
They could have given us more. Like Ha na's love story, it was not necessary. ?? They could have shown other evil spirit stories a little bit. ?


So,no need for a 3rd season. ?
Maybe, all the evil spirits will break through the gates of hell and attack the Yang People.
??
No!! no!!!!.......i don't want to see it at all. ??

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This drama was... Odd and felt a little arbitrary

Short dramas always have good stories, so did this one. I liked the overall storyline and the plot seemed interesting but there was any good development in the plot. Like it felt like it ended too soon. It was a little sudden and unexpected. I think they could have extended and developed the climax a bit more. But overall a pretty fun and entertaining story. Really enjoyed their acting tho, very funny to watch. Liked the OST too, felt just as fun and exciting as the leads. Probably wouldn't re watch it tho. Overall great story that ends in an odd way but is fun and entertaining to watch once. ???‍♀️? ❤️‍??

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Good or Bad???-

I waited since season 1 ended for this still I'm not entirely sure if it was warth it or not...
It was good like the 1st session?? Definitely not but it wasn't horrible!

Things I liked:
- The all the cast did a great job with their characters, but honestly Kang Ki Young was breathtaking. I already knew that he was a very good actor (I've seen pretty much all of his dramas) but with this role, that is so different from what he usually plays, he showed us how much of an amazing and versatile actor he is. His acting is 100/10. He was a pleasure to watch!!
- also almost all the new characters were very good.
- I really loved how SoMun trusted MaJuSok till the end and never gave up on him. Even at the end he knew that it wasthe evil spirit and the PG and not MJS the one that was doing all the horrible things and the he could still be saved.
- the love and faith they have for each other as a team. And how they all are still there for another team member when he/she is having a hard time, but they are also there to make fun of someones situation (in a good way) and tease them...although they aren't all close in age, they have such a deep and genuine friendship that the age gap disappears.
- they added some good and powerful evil characters that the show needed.
- I also liked that we got to see more of Mr.Choi I really enjoyed his character.
- thay are still a bit rebellious and they don't always follow the rules / instructions given to them.
- MaJuSok's addition in the drama, I liked his character a lot.
- The last battle between the counters and PilGwang (in MaJuSok's body)was good, I really liked how SoMun killed/summoned PilGwank and saved MaJuSok.
- it had good effects/CGI
- it had some funny scenes...


What I didn't like:
- In some parts the plot seemed boring, not to much excitement in the drama.
- as I said before I really liked all the cast additions but in YooInSoo' case, although I love the actor, I didn't like not even one bit his character.I mean what the f- was even that??I found him very annoying and immature plus he didn't bring anything in to the plot. Because I really like his addition as an actor in the series I think that the writers needed to make a much better role for him. He couldn't even show his real skills as an actor with this role.
- we didn't see much of the counter spirits (Yung) especially WiGen. I really like her character, I find her very interesting.
- yes we saw that SoMun is stronger since s1 but still I wanted something more, I didn't see something that wowed me.
- I also said before that the addition of a powerful villain was needed and good but some times (meaning: in the most parts of the drma) the villain was a bit too powerful and the counters looked like a joke, and we felt awkward & hopeless...it was very frustrating...
- all the new characters were good and I liked their part in the plot coz they made it more interesting like the first person ChuMaeOk saved and HaNa's crush. In the beginning it was good but then it's like they hit dead end and (writers) we don't see them or hear of them until the end.The writers could have done much more with their characters. I really liked JaeYoul's character, I wanted to see more of him.
- also I would've liked to see some familiar faces, except the leads and the grandparents, they could have brought 1 or 2 more characters from s1.
- and the grandparents they were here and there but they warent really involved in the plot, they were just appearing out of the blue.
-we also saw that GaMoTak became a cop again, they didn't show us the how and they didn't even do much with it.
Pretty much, the actors did a great job and the writers/directors blew this drama up...?

Overall it wasn't all that bad but it could have been better...
Out of all the episodes I think the last one was the best!!

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Hot Lawyer in BL, sign me up!!

I'm SO happy to see a hot lawyer in BL drama, gosh. That alone is so refreshing!

This is really high quality BL, not those where you feel its done by low budget or rookie vibe (althou they are great too)

It deserves to be mainstream really! Initially, I was worried that 8 episodes might mean sloppy drama, but its totally not true. Its actually SO well done.

Its compact with solid storyline, amazing plot twist, no filler, hence its not draggy. Every moment got you hooked!

Film's acting is SO good, one of the best BL actor I've seen. I can see the difference in his smile when he is being sly, sincere, playful or not.

I found a new couple to ship, Film Jam!! Gosh, they are my new favorite couple

The chemistry, sparks, and the flirting, gosh.

I love the super happy ending for everyone. I also love the other couple too.

Overall, we need more good shows like this one!!!

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I’ve often felt that one of the charms and appeals of kdramas is that there is only one season. There are emotions, there is plenty of quiet character moments, angst, and a beginning, a middle and an end all in one season that American show would stretch out over 5 seasons. It’s not really in the kdrama formula to have a season two. It just doesn’t seem to work all that well (although series like Kingdom or Age of Youth have managed it or series that are independent continuations of each other like the Reply series). And I think this second season of The Uncanny Counters sort of proves that. The story was over. It had a beginning, middle and end. It doesn’t need more.

The plot here is predictable and there is nothing there that adds to the narrative of the first one. There is a lot of room for character development, but the drama doesn’t use its time well at all instead giving us rather silly, fluffy moments between the characters and overall, it just feels rather poorly done. As if the people behind this didn’t really care or didn’t feel like it needed to bother with the plot all that much.

Instead of giving us more time to delve deeper into the characters they give us a cardboard cutout of them and a few romantic moments between some of the characters that are totally cute or sweet but add nothing to the story itself. Nothing that happens really matters. There are no puzzles to solve or mysteries to uncover, backstories to explore (like why the bad guys are bad) which pretty much takes away a lot of tension from the narrative. Everything is easy. There is no real desperation or intensity in the story. The struggles they had that made them interesting in the first season are no longer there. There is no battle going on here.

Many of the characters don’t work the same as before and neither do their superpowers. The character who struggled in the first season doesn’t struggle now. So Moon seems almost invincible and way too rugged and cold when he was the soft heart of the story last season. He doesn’t even feel like the main character here or the sensitive as the heart of the series and we are not following him learning more about his powers. But there was still no decent successor to him to fill that main character, fish-out-of-water role so the story has no anchor or focus.

Our characters have nothing much to do but try to fight some very dull and colorless bad guys. They are not being given time to grow organically so they will change with the narrative. They have changed, without us getting to see it as it all happened off screen between the two seasons, to serve the oh-so-generic, bare-bone plot that this new series has to offer.

While the plot of the first series felt like a story that has been retread a little too often, it also managed to find some fresh and exciting angles on the very common underdog superhero story with some good tension and humor along with a great lovable cast and characters. And although the actors and characters are still lovely, the story here doesn’t really nothing to say here. Not about human greed or corruption or humanity. At least not in an exciting new way. Everything is a little too simple or convenient to hit it’s mark properly.

On the surface, the series is cool, flashy, with funny moments and some really cool special effects and fight scenes, but that was never really what made The Uncanny Counters, or any sci-fi for the matter show fun to watch. People may start watching genre shows for the setting; dragons, swords, superpowers and all that but people keep watching for the plot and the characters. The character struggles, seeing those less fortunate stand up for something bigger than them, people coming together and working together using their powers makes for an exciting narrative and hopefully a good story. It’s so much more than just some superpowers. The previous series seemed to understand that, but this feels very much surface level to its approach to a story.

This series seems rather dull. The story is missing something and both the old characters and the new ones we are meeting do not have the same charm and depth as in the previous season. There isn’t really any story going on, very little momentum or character moments that move the story forward. It just sort of tugs along. Everything is too easy, too predictable and there is very little real conflict going on, apart from cool fight scenes, or characters growth which makes it really boring to watch because nothing really happens. Or matter. There is nothing about season two that stays with you after watching it. If you have nothing to add to a story, don’t make season two.

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Disappointing! Feels drastically different from S1

I am really disappointed. I watched Season 1 shortly before Season 2 came out and was super excited. The Teasers looked promising and the cast looked fantastic in their new styles. Especially So Mun with the longer curly/wavy hair. Cho Byeong Kyu can shape-shift with his different hairstyles. But styling and looks is not enough to create a great follow-up season.

Where this season went wrong:
- The comedy is over the top and not my taste. Especially because it wasn't like this in S1
- The dynamic between the characters feels different as well. Less serious.
- The tone of this season is generally different from season1 and not in a good way. S1 was more personal and serious
- The Plot was running in circles. So much that it was getting draggy and boring.
- They wasted Yoo In Soo. His character was really annoying. I thought it would get better after ep 3&4 but it did not
- I don't know why, but it just felt hollow

If you do a second season with a different tone etc. ... do it at least good. Not like this.

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this show will steal your heart

At least, it stole mine. Where should I begin? Before starting it, I was a little bit sceptical. I was not sure what would await me. But since I like both main actors, I gave it a try anyway. And what should I say? This show is totally my taste. The first two episodes were okay but it was hard to tell where the show was headed. But I remember being in love with the cinematography. It's so beautiful. Episodes 3 and 4 were the ones that totally captured me. From showing the naivety and happiness of people living in peace to showing the horrors of war and the fates of those being confronted with it. This is for everyone that wants a deep story with a slowburn romance. The characters are flawed and that's what I like about them. You can see them grow and make mistakes and there is still so much room for development in part 2. What I love about this show is that the characters exist outside the romance storyline. I wasn't bored of the seperate storylines at all. They gave me inside of who the characters are and made me like them even more. I love both mainleads. They might be clumsy fools when it comes to love. But that's what makes them endearing. Gil Chae is strong in the way she cares for her family and friends and protects them. She is smart as hell. Jang Hyun is smart as well. I love how he questions the authority of the king and is good at scheming. He also protects the people he loves at all costs. The way he presents himself is really manly. Both characters are flawed, but I can understand their worries and why they act the way they do.
Absolutely love this show.

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Slow burn but too slow that I had to skip episodes

I am pretty much new into C drama as compared to k drama. I haven't watched any work the Leads before so I am not biased anyway.

The story is good, could have been better!!
Song Yan (ml) and Xu Qin (fl) were a couple and loved each other like crazy but fl's mom is a snob and tore them apart. After years they met and the story starts...

The good parts -
Omg the rescue scenes, these are really worth watching the show. So realistic and well executed screenplay.
The emergency ward is also pretty good and also worth watching.
The charecter development of the FL is good thing to watch, she eventually moved on from her toxic family and realised that the toxicity of her mom is something she must deal with in order to keep her own peace.
The loyalty of the ML is just unrealistic yet it's something a girl can cherish for. His charecter development is also good.
The tension between the two is something to be enjoyed in this show. Whenever they are facing each other the emotions just come out and quite visible from their expressions yet they try to hide and it's really add perks in their chemistry.

However the parts I really didn't like-
Many episodes feel like repeating the previous one. I mean it was predictable that in next episode there will be a rescue scene and Qin will approach Song Yan when she is absolutely clueless what to do if Song Yan comes back, because she has no guts to leave her toxic family.. later on she matured and moved on but that could have been done without repeating episodes.

It's a good watch, I enjoyed a lot and I would say it's a must watch for once!
But ngl I won't rewatch it as it's too slow.

P. S - Yang Yang is too hot to handle ;-)

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goeun ?

I feel like people misunderstand this drama as a lousy revenge drama but omg it’s so much more, the sad backstory’s, even the topics cover so much throughout s1 and s2, the topic of cults, suicide, bullying, s3xual assault and it even covers the burning sun scandal in season 2, there was a lot of irritating characters like, Choi min who tbh was so annoying, he was such a weirdo and didn’t even apologise to goeun for making his sister commit suicide, and mr.park and mr.choi’s backstory really needs to be talked about more, it was devastating and I really wished that it was mentioned more. goeun was definitely my favourite character and she really stood out to me for several reasons, she was such a underrated character and I liked her way more than the prosicouter lady from s1, her and her sister really needed more screen time and needed more moments together, this is a must watch and it’s also quite funny, if your thinking of watching it please do, it’s amazing and by far my favourite kdrama

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Overall a waste of time ...

Started intriguing enough but went downhill fast and continued hardly over telenovella niveau. Acting was accordingly - not too good. All the same old same old cunning and one dimensional bad guys (like BIL, SIL, MIL) got on my nerves - badly. Nobody acted reasonably or comprehensible in any way but in ways bad writers want them to for (allegedly) dramatic effect. Some people might find that entertaining, I don't.

Didn't like any of the characters (well, maybe the brother Byun Ji Hyuk). Sloppy execution as in no love for details or consistency (like walking off in the obviously wrong direction). Skipped half of it.

What I learned is that rich people sleep in the clothes they wear all day. And they all drive ruthlessly like the mad people they are (that car chase in episode 4 or 5 is absolutety ridiculous). Definitely no rewatch for me.

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