Reviews

show that fully earned its (now confirmed) third season

this review is definitely going to be biased because the main cast and the theme are completely my kind of thing. honestly, just getting a show like this already felt like a treat, but the fact that it was executed so well made it even better.

as a kochi fan, i can't think of a better show to fully showcase his strengths and everything he's good at. even before watching, i knew i was going to love it based on the premise alone, and it absolutely lived up to my expectations.

what i didn't expect, though, was how much i'd end up loving the junior cast. i didn't really pay much attention to them during season 1, but by the end of it, i had started to appreciate them a little. season 2, however, took it to a completely different level.

the development of kochi's relationship with the juniors ended up being the highlight of the season for me. i could barely remember most of their names after season 1 (except maybe rinne and takemura), but now i'm actually invested in all of them. watching kochi go from saying at the beginning of the season that he didn't really know how to approach or interact with the juniors to becoming the kind of senior they feel comfortable opening up to, sharing their worries with, and asking for advice was genuinely heartwarming. no wonder totsugi said in the interview that the conversations before bed were his favorite part of the season. i'm really glad they kept the same junior cast from season 1, and i'm looking forward to seeing how their relationship continue to develop in the upcoming season.

another thing i really liked was how they improved the overall format. they clearly adjusted the structure and made everything flow much better. the new rules made the challenge a lot harder, but they also made the show much more interesting to watch. there's still plenty of room for improvement, but overall, i think they did a great job.

totally unrelated, but a few months ago i came across some youtube videos of people visiting the locations featured in the show. they made me realize i had seriously underestimated just how rural and remote those places actually are. i remember thinking the cast was probably exaggerating how difficult the journey was, but if anything, the show actually made it look much easier than it really was. it gave me a whole new appreciation for how hard everyone must have worked behind the scenes.

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L’idea (forse) giusta nel drama (sicuramente) sbagliato

Drama cinese BL con un obiettivo ambizioso: tradurre in immagini una storia che esplora il confine labile tra realtà e finzione, seguendo due attori, Zhang Zhun e Zhen Xin, che mentre girano un drama BL iniziano a confondere i sentimenti dei loro personaggi con i propri.
L'idea di base è anche interessante e, per certi versi, originale: un "drama nel drama" che si interroga su cosa significhi davvero "entrare in un ruolo" e su quanto un personaggio possa contaminare chi lo interpreta. Sulla carta è un’idea vincente, nel concreto lascia molto a desiderare, purtroppo.

La chimica tra i due protagonisti è buona? Dipende da cosa intendiamo per chimica. Sicuramente la serie pullula di scene intime esplicite – non a caso è classificato NC17 – ma la sintonia tra due attori, per me, va ben oltre e comprende un’affinità a più ampio spettro che qui proprio non ho riscontrato. Questo perché abbiamo a che fare con una sceneggiatura davvero basic, satura di scelte surreali tutte volte a suscitare un fremito nello spettatore. E’ una carrellata di “momenti clou” estremamente banali, che tolgono alla storia qualsiasi possibilità di seguire un arco narrativo sensato e credibile. C’è un dramma in ogni sciocchezza e da ogni sciocchezza scaturisce un dramma (si arriva persino a ricamare sopra dei banalissimi orecchini, tanto per dire).
L’introspezione dei personaggi è pari a zero: a conti fatti, tolte le riprese sul set e le dinamiche tra di loro in albergo, cos’altro rimane? Quanto si conoscono veramente, quanto sanno l’uno dell’altro? Poco o niente, al pari dello spettatore. Dovessimo fare un elenco di dieci domande classiche sul loro passato, le loro passioni, i loro interessi… Probabilmente non caveremmo fuori un ragno da un buco.

C’è poi la questione del doppio ruolo. L’idea, dicevo, è anche curiosa, ma lo sviluppo proprio non funziona. I personaggi del drama che stanno filmando – Fang Chi e Gao Zhun – non riescono a diventare un secondo pairing, ma fanno da fastidioso riempitivo. Le loro scene arrivano a occupare la maggior parte di alcuni episodi, aspetto che ho trovato personalmente noioso, già che da parte mia c’era già un grande investimento nel cercare di apprezzare il pairing originale, se così possiamo chiamarlo. Sia nella “finzione” che nella “realtà” relativa, c’è una carenza evidente di sostanza. Tante scene ad effetto che poggiano su poco o niente.

A una trama povera e confusa e a una caratterizzazione inconsistente dei personaggi, si aggiunge anche un livello di recitazione che definire acerbo è un complimento: due attori giovanissimi, al loro drama d’esordio, con alle spalle più partecipazioni a programmi TV che studi di recitazione. Uno è un cantante rapper, l’altro un modello e social media creator. Non ci si inventa attori da un giorno con l’altro, insomma. E nemmeno registi, già che anche qui contiamo un altro esordio di un altro giovanissimo. Che il risultato limitato sia un caso? Direi proprio di no.
Già che però l’idea di base mi incuriosiva, ho fatto uno sforzo e l’ho portato a termine – dodici episodi da quaranta minuti l’uno, perché di più non avrei retto – arrivando alla fine dell’ultimo episodio pentendomi amaramente della scelta: raramente mi capita di essere così lapidaria, ma l’ho trovato davvero un epilogo di rara bruttezza, dove tutto - ma proprio tutto – sembrava veramente fuori luogo.

Dato il livello qualitativo, parlare degli aspetti tecnici non ha molto senso: basta far caso ad esempio al doppiaggio, che è spesso fuori sincrono. Sorvolo poi sulla gestione della logica del set cinematografico, che è qualcosa al di là del fantasioso (ma del resto, regista e attori devono averne bazzicati pochi nella realtà).
L'OST si salva paradossalmente grazie al brano "Tiger in my love" di Ollie, uno dei due protagonisti: decisamente più apprezzabile come cantante che come attore.

Tirando le somme, arriviamo a una valutazione per la quale bastano – e avanzano - le dita di una mano. Ho apprezzato giusto l’idea di base, ma anche con una copertina interessante un brutto libro rimane una lettura spiacevole. Evitabilissimo.

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Nice, but not at the 1 season level

Season 2 was a bit disappointing, less brotherhood, lee sang yi nerfed, not a single comment about Kim Sae Ron. I'm sorry, it was visually interesting and gave you everything cool and action you wanted to see, with some new fun characters, but the intimacy of the 2 protagonists completely disappeared by making one baby the other. Nerfing Hong u Jin i think was a mistake. The start and the ending were really nice but the middle lacked a bit of comedy usual from the 2 guy. Overall it was a nice season, but the first ona was a different level. I still hope to see more, there's room for it and i really love the director's work, so fighting!!

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DO NOT MISS OUT ON THIS!!

This is truly GOATED. One of the most amazing and top-tier Chinese BLs. Man!! Chinese dont come to play, they come to conquer.

The post credit scene ending of episode 12 made this so META that I can't wrap my head around anything.
It's a gorgeous show, EXTREMELY WELL PACED AND WELL SHOT, the lighting, the acting ... Especially by the Feng Chi (the character) and Wu... Won me over.

Everything was so picture perfect production wise! And so much drama, chemistry, comment on reality and toxicity, dealing with sensitive issues like rape..

It was just so well woven together and so well put, HATS OFF TO THE TEAM, TO THE CREW, TO Everyone WHO WAS A PART OF THIS!!

Especially to the writers who wrote this plot, this script, everything!

WOW!

THank you to everyone for bringing this to life! You did make our lives better! Thank you!

WOW!

(ALSO, here's to hoping that China brings BLs back and make LGBTQ legal. China, u r way off in modern culture, man, grow tf up. Restricting art and artists and chinese culture dictating whom to love .. Really should be gunned down)

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This is truly a masterpiece

I don't even know where to start. This is so brilliantly done! I guess I'll begin with a slow hand clap for Chinese BL. 👏👏👏 You're killing it right now.

The story is soooo good. Deep In describes the story, the storytelling, and, for me as a viewer, the way I experienced this drama. I can't remember the last time I was so absorbed in a show!

The acting and the actors contributed to that. I loved watching the mains. Their characters were complex and the chemistry was fire. The visuals were amazing as well, by which I mean they are both beautiful and the way they were captured on film was soft and inviting.

OST was perfect, especially the opening and closing themes. I often just pick a number for the music rating but this soundtrack was truly 10 of 10!

The writing was good. It was the perfect balance of easy to follow but also what the heck just happened moments. I was clinging to every word.

The production was fantastic. Camera work. Direction. Lighting. Set design. Wardrobe. Editing. So so good. I never felt like something was off or distracting.

Top notch job by everyone involved! And now I kinda want to read the novel!

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Healthy Partnership vs. Conditional Love

Many People miss the point of this drama. The drama isnt about judging the MC and her weight, its about a Healthy Partnership vs. Conditional Love.

In high school, MC was a beautiful slim girl and known for ehr beauty. But 15 years later, she has gained a lot of weight and become "overweight".

How she gained weight is totally relatable, as ive been in her exact situation too. The stress of everyday life: work, relationships and much more leading to stress eating. Ive struggled with it too and still do. And with MC, she would eat her stress away, which after years and years led to her gaining weight.

NOW, THIS IS WHAT THE DRAMA IS ACTUALLY ABOUT:

Her boyfriend has been together with her since high school and fell for the pretty her. As she gained weight, he grew resentment towards her and the way she looked. And this is where the drama conveys the differences of Healthy Partnership vs. Conditional Love:

Her boyfriend loves MC conditionally. He was always sweet to her and stayed with her, but he would treat her bad because quietly he had started resenting her for the way she looks. He only loved her when she would look good and fulfill his expectations of her.

Enter the ML, which is supposed to be the opposite of the boyfriend, who shows unconditional love towards her. Instead of being mean and passive aggressive to her, he treats her like a normal person and loves her for her personality and who she is as a person. He points out her overweight issues, but not because her aesthetic bothers him, but because he is genuinely worried about her health, as her diet was like 90% sweets and she wasnt active. Instead of telling her off though, he tells her she should change her lifestyle for the sake of her health BUT together. He will go in the trenches with her: Same diets, cook together, work out together, live healthy together. Its a GENUINE PARTNERSHIP. And even if she is overweight, he likes her because she is who she is.

Realising the show is about this contrast of how a healthy and unhealthy relationship handle change (and its not necessarily about weight, you can insert/think of any change that can happen in a relationship here. The show just used weight as its subject to deliver the message, but its universal.) made me appreciate the show a lot and im sure it will help a lot of people navigate their own relationships and their problems better.

Love this show!

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I love this drama so much

because of yun weishan. I've grown to like Esther and I finally understand what it means when they say that prejudice in one's heart is like a mountain. Many people judge Esther is too one's side and I used to be one of them. I didnt watch her show before but I dare to say she can't act by looking at many comments without bothering watch the drama. while watching this drama. I realize I only cried two time and each time all relate to yun weishan. one she eats the porridge while crying and other one is when she cried for her sister. what's an amazing performance.
I have so many characters that mean the world to me but yun weishan is number one white moonlight in my heart. She's not the most beautiful and not the perfect character but I just love ah yun the most.
Many audiences failed to understand her and only see her as a love struck villain that betray her own organization. They failed to see the pain and conflict beneath her calm exterior. Just read some comments here. Most of them don't understand yun weishan even a bit. They almost don't understand the plot of the drama yet dare to shade the characters .

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Great CGI, Weak Emotional Impact

The East Palace is a good drama with amazing visuals. The CGI, action scenes, cinematography, and acting of everyone (except fl) are all very well done. The suspense is also built nicely, which kept me interested till the end.

The best part of the drama for me was the baby Geomeoksalli. It was ugly but somehow so cute. 😭 Every time it appeared, I kept hoping it wouldn't die. Its little whimpering sounds and eyes made me feel more emotional than any other character.

The drama is labelled as horror, but I don't think it's scary at all. I enjoyed watching it, but it never made me feel strongly about anything.
I also felt the female lead lacked the main character aura.
It felt like the creators focused more on the visual fx than the story.

The ending wasn't satisfying either. There were too many unanswered questions. How did Gu cheon come back? How did he survive the mother Gwi-mae? His past? Since there's no Season 2, those questions will probably stay unanswered. (and tbh, I am not even curious to know)

the visual fx are really good like 9/10,
if I rate the story it's more of 6/10. they were just trying to save the despicable, ungrateful king.
the story and emotional impact weren't as strong. I don't like saying this because the production quality is excellent, but I do think the drama is a little overhyped.

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Great drama

Overdo is honestly getting better and better! 👏 The pacing is so good—fast, engaging, and not dragged out at all. The visuals are beautiful, and the cast really brings the story to life. Every episode makes me want to keep watching. Definitely one of those dramas that gets more addictive as it goes! 🔥❤️

The story has so many twists and emotional moments that it keeps me invested. Zhang Linghe and Wang Churan look absolutely stunning together, and their chemistry is 🔥. The Republican-era setting, costumes, music, and overall atmosphere give the drama such a distinct feel. I’m already emotionally attached to these characters and just want to keep watching!

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