Reviews

One of the Best Chinese Dramas 2023

I really like the drama. Really deserves to be one of my favorite dramas this year!

It's slow going at first, but I advise you to be patient and pay close attention to the storyline. The more you watch, the more addictive you will become.

Even though there are flaws in the editing, I like the action scenes in this drama. The prison scenes at episode 20 and at the Shangqing Temple just amazing.

The chemistry between Bai Lu and Zhang Linghe is also great. Their acting is perfect and makes this drama even more worth watching.

I also love all the OST. Just amazing
Solid 10/10

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Where are my anti-colonial babes at??

Given there are already 100+ reviews of Empress Ki, I'll focus on the colonial power politics of the show, as that's what drew me in. But like, did no one else watch this show because of it's anti-colonial themes??

This Kdrama is the first historical one I've watched in a long time. Usually, I watch Chinese palace dramas, but dealing with Chinese censorship rules limits the exploration of history and I don't enjoy analysing propaganda that much. In contrast, Empress Ki is unfettered.

toxicbybritneyspears's review mentioned "national identity" as a key theme of Empress Ki. I agree but would extend that further by arguing that the drama examines the complexities of national identity as it intersects with colonial politics. While watching Empress Ki, I automatically started comparing it to Mr. Sunshine (South Korea, 2018), which features anti-colonial resistance during Japan's colonisation of Korea. Mr. Sunshine attempts to grapple with classism clashing with resistance efforts led by nobility and aristocracy, but ultimately fails. Empress Ki, despite also falling short in a similar grappling, does provide a wider range of characters portraying the difficulties of unified anti-colonial resistance.

For context, the drama is set during the 1300s when Korea (then known as Goryeo) is under Yuan dynasty rule (Mongol empire). From the drama's start, Goryean characters have starkly different experiences of colonization. There's a king (Wang Yoo) dealing with powerlessness. A surviving daughter (Seung Nyang) navigating the death of her mother at Yuan hands. An ambitious man of poor background (Byung Soo) betraying Goryeo for survival. Other Goryeo citizens live in Yuan, either in the Goryeo ghetto or in the Yuan Imperial Palace as staff. These experiences result in a wide range of actions, from outright defiance of Yuan rule to willing collusion with the Yuan regime.

Circumstances suggest there's no hope for Goryeo to achieve complete autonomy from the Yuan empire (or so the drama implies). Wang Yoo's ambition is to reclaim his throne, implying that under his control, collusion with the Yuan dynasty can end, and he will strengthen the country for the sake of his people. Seung Nyang takes a different approach: high-level infiltration. Climbing the ranks, she eventually becomes Yuan Empress with considerable political influence, claiming to use it for the benefit of the Yuan people and those from Goryeo living in Yuan. They both execute these strategies better than expected given the stakes.

However, my main frustration is that while these characters make grandiose statements about improving the lives of ordinary citizens, these everyday folks are given meagre screen time. We don't see much of everyday Goryeo people beyond Seung Nyang's early gang days. The people in the Goryeo ghetto seem to lack agency, relying on the whims of Seung Nyang or Wang Yoo. The drama even depicts the villagers as ungrateful when Wang Yoo visits the town (for his own political aims). Palace staff who won't support Seung Nyang's schemes receive similar dismissive treatment.

And that brings me to Byung Soo. Early on, he explains his betrayal of Goryeo, stating Goryeo did nothing to protect him as his family struggled to survive in a poverty-stricken country. Someone, perhaps one of Wang Yoo's men (or Wang Yoo himself, I can't remember), remarks that the Yuan dynasty is to blame. True, but not the whole story. Byung Soo articulates the struggle of the working class and poor who can't afford to think beyond day-to-day survival. What's the point in fighting for a kingdom that forces its people to serve another nation and rejects those who manage to return to Goryeo soil?

For me, that should have been the crux of the drama. Yet, it's not until the final few episodes that Empress Ki turns its attention in that direction. Seung Nyang and Eunuch Dok Man express their internal conflict of national identity, suspended between Yuan and Goryeo. Seung Nyang, focused on personal revenge, hasn't grappled with this conflict until then. Dok Man must choose who to back, his choice bound up in which nation he wants to support. Yet, his character isn't fleshed out to bring that discussion to the fore, and he is seemingly rewarded for choosing to back Seung Nyang, while Byung Soo is killed for betraying her.

I wonder whether Byung Soo's character represents some laziness from the writers, perhaps due to the drama biting off more than it can chew. When Seung Nyang looks down on Byung Soo's corpse and expresses remorse for how Goryeo's abandonment of him led to his actions, one wonders why he was condemned for actions seemingly deterministic.

And on a similar note, why aren't the villagers given their own chance to contribute to resistance? Surely, they have the ability to organise collectively and take some power, even if small, into their own hands?

In the end, I think Empress Ki was onto something by drawing out ambiguities. Initially, I worried it might end up oversimplified like Mr. Sunshine or with a Stockholm syndrome-y assimilationist tale, as in The King's Woman (Chinese, 2017). However, given the extensive screen-time, there was a missed opportunity to delve into the trickier elements of colonial power politics.

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Product of horrific writing ✍️

Plot spun in circles for episodes on end. Villains were non-factors. Characters were never in danger which kills the drama for me. Comedy was hit and miss. Rules change at the drop of the hat to fit the story the main character Mun was too naive to be the leader and he had a horrific case of white knight syndrome. It was a shallow story that started out interesting enough with evil spirits eating and obtaining powers of counters however they quickly became a non-issue by episode 4ish when he bodied the main bad guy with little to no difficulty. The use of telekinesis was extreme but the lack of use to prevent someone from getting away bothered me a lot which pulled my enjoyment out of the show by episode 9 I was watch purely to finish the show so I could give it a proper review.

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Good wuxia drama

I'm not sure why this drama rates so highly. I like that it's a wuxia rather than xianxia as I prefer the former genre. The story was very fast moving and interesting initially. There was mystery and a whodunnit (or rather who's the real assassin) in the first 10 episodes However, it became really slow moving and draggy in the middle when they were expounding the love stories and back stories of each character.

Since I was already halfway through, I gritted my teeth to finish it. The fact that the show only has 24 episodes in total is the reason that I gave it a better rating - at least I didn't feel that I was (overly) wasting my life watching this! All the main characters were also eye candy - that certainly helped.

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WTF Did I Just Watch?

Wow! I have been watching K-dramas since 2010 and NEVER have I seen one like this. I went into this drama completely blind and what a find! I love dramas that flow from episode to episode (as they should) and this one was seamless. There are only eight episodes which was the perfect number to tell the well-written, cohesive story with great characters while maintaining INTENSITY throughout. I gave it 9.5/10 only because of the violence. This is the most violent K-drama that I have ever seen bar none and those scenes are quite graphic so be forewarned. Squid Game has NOTHING on this. I had to look away several times. It's not a criticism per se, but I had never seen a K-drama get down like that, so it was shocking. Excellent acting all around. Loved it!

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Heartwarming and Funny

Watched this show with little background and no expectations, only that one of my favourite C-actor BJT had a special guest role.

Glad that I did, love our 2 ladies Xiao Jiang and Wu Ayi, they had a heartwarming relationship, the progress and dynamics made sense and were precious to see and experience with them. The acting for all characters seemed natural and grounded. I really loved Xiao Jiang's dad.

Of course the story could have been better i.e. more tightly written with some plot lines reduced/removed and others expanded and shown more closure.

Nonetheless, I had a great time watching this and it will definitely be my comfort rewatch.

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Watch this for Rowoon

Subjective Gut Rating - 7.75 rounding up to 8.0 for Rowoon

This is a show about Rowoon. I started watching “Destined with You” for him and I stayed for him. His visuals are without a doubt great. But his acting has also improved. It’s nice seeing him play a more mature and serious lawyer, instead of a young rom-com fluffy cute loverboy. Granted, he is very smitten with FL and is a loverboy for some episodes and some scenes, but for the most part, he plays a sensible and not over-the-top lawyer. He was absolutely hilarious when he’s under the spell.

The same cannot be said for the female lead, Lee Hong Jo, played by Jo Bo Ah. I liked her ok in the beginning though I did not like her being a doormat at work. But I can sympathize with the work culture and it’s not easy. However, I dislike her the most and the main critique of “Destine with You” is her constantly making dumb decisions, disregarding her safety, thus putting others and herself in danger. Once or twice, I can understand. But after you were being stalked, harassed multiple times and assaulted, you gotta act smarter. Just because your boyfriend bought you pepper spray, doesn’t mean you are invincible. How about using your brain and not opening the door to strangers after being stalked/harassed? Or call the cops for help and backup, before walking into danger thinking you are smarter than everyone? Additionally, why would you tell your boyfriend’s secret illness to others without his permission? He didn’t even tell his mom!! Lee Hong Jo also keeps on believing 2FL’s lies even when she knew what an evil mean girl 2FL was in high school.

I actually quite like the setup with destiny and spells and all the flashbacks. But I don’t think the storytelling was smooth enough to keep me engaged. It would be nice to tie the stalker plot with what happened 300 years ago. It’s not convincing enough that all the stalker did was because of possible mental illness, when he was trying to place a curse on someone.

The romance is pretty good but frustrating at times. Jang Shin Yu (ML) is definitely two-timing for a while and the lack of communication frustrates me. Rowwon and Jo Bo Ah have decent chemistry in some of the cute scenes. The kisses are good but I would have liked to see a few more passionate ones. But because I disliked how the dumb the female lead is, it affects my liking of the romance as well.

Moreover, I find all the coworkers annoying. Those men-obsessed girls are especially worse and super loud. The older couple is a little cringe. Second male lead is fine. He’s now showing a lot of personality and when standing next to a fine specimen like Rowoon, Ha Joon pales in comparison.

Overall, I would recommend this drama if you are a fan of Rowoon or the fantasy element. The female characters in this show annoy me. But the male characters aren’t bad (except for the FL’s boss). I am giving this a round-up 8.0 all because of Rowoon and his very kissable, puckered up lips.



Completed: 11/24/2023 - Review #380

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Disappointing Cringefest with Zero Sensitivity and Respect for Sentient Beings

Waited for this to finish uploading before tucking into it. Like Doctor Cha, it was uberly disappointing. Unlike Doctor Cha, it wasn't even good enough for me to consider adding to my "treadmill list", which are a list of shows ok enough to watch only while I'm on the treadmill but not really to capture my utmost attention and emotional investment.

Main reasons were:-
1) For Asian shows that deal with animals, the first thing I'd prefer is "No Animals were Harmed" precautions. If the 'Secret Royal Inspector and Joy' series were able to achieve this—and their story did not revolve around animals— why couldn't 'Behind Your Touch'? Especially since animals are such a pivotal theme to BYT.
2) The plot was so cringey and paper thin nonsense. Woman keeps going around holding onto a moving being's butt to "read" them is not quality writing. I've read better stories from 9 year olds.
3) The male and female behaviours were WTF. Having a man Judo-flip a woman onto a bitumen road floor isn't cool. The same kind of uncool with getting flipped off a treadmill in 'King the Land'. Neither was remotely quality slapstick comedy. Plus the "romance" between the policeman and her aunt was cringefest to the max.
4) The characterisation of the protagonist was unrealistic. Vet Sci is a hardcore course in any country to get into yet the FL is an emotionally underdeveloped idiot who doesn't have seem to have any instincts or confidence around handling animals.

But, ultimately, the main reason I decided to drop this disaster was the treatment of gender violence. Having the FL find out that her ex coursemate might have abducted a woman whom he is abusing is one thing. To have it glossed over and ignored by fluffing the rest of the minutes up with comedic routines was incredibly tone deaf. If writers are going to show gender violence have some backbone to treat it with the care and sensitivity it deserves. The portrayal of it as just a plot device to fill in the time, without any context or follow-up, seemed an extremely lazy and cheap writing serving only to titillate for views. Pathetic. Are we supposed to laugh at the carrying-ons of the ML and co at the farmyard and completely ignore the horrid images of the poor abused woman whom have been seared into our memories? Go f#ck yourselves, male Sth Korean studio execs.

Have some respect for crime victims. Have some respect for animals. And, especially, have some respect for discerning viewers.

Don't waste your time on this BS. Unrealistic portrayal of a vet. Stupid approach to animal whispering and brain dead characters all around. Only stars were the animals but since there's no way to know if they'd been treated well at all during the filming of these series it's especially not worth supporting a show that could have been unnecessarily harmful to animals.

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Even as a standalone, without the original, it wouldn't be impressive.

Well. Not the best drama out there I'd say. At first it was quite fresh. Different. I liked the female character.
But then the show lost its essence. I don't know if it's the actor or the character of the plot itself, the delivery of dialogues become progressively more "annoying".
"Annoying" is a word I only use for Chinese female leads. So when I say that here, it's...a little disappointing. On Korean standards.

Characters: (contains minor spoilers)
The Male lead honestly did not have a personality. I mean I get the show isn't exactly male lead centred but c'mon. I believe Ong Seong Wu has great acting potential. He was able to play the puppy boy role here. Given his skills in "More Than Friends", I belive he can pull off both Cold and Warm personalities. But that oppertunity wasn't given to him.

Lee You Mi's acting is supposed to be good too. She is the same girl who played her roles in All of us are dead and Squid Game. And she did well. Ofcourse. I wouldn't know how well she is suited for romance ones because i haven't seen her do it properly before. Excluding this show. This show doens't really draw up the full potential of the actors.

Kim Jeung Un was awesome. She played Gang Namsoon's mother. She is super hot and powerful (obviously). But then there is also this cuteness about her. The way she melts when it's her daughter. It's cute. I loved her character.

Byeong Woo Speak who plays the bad guy, Si-on, is the freakin MAN. He is the hottest character on even YouTube and is currently being shipped with the Female lead and I am NOT complaining. He is good at acting. And he is hot. Yeah. He has acted in 20th century girl. The film. Check it out.

The secondary characters were pretty good too.

Plot:
The plot itself makes sense. It's not bad. It's just how the male and female characters were written. The female character lacks depth. And the only excuse for that is the fact that she is from Mongolia. If I hear that one more time I'll-

Overall : i haven't watched the last two episodes yet. They are supposed to release today and tomorrow. Based on the 14 episodes I have seen, it hasn't been able to even catch up to the original. And even as a standalone, it wouldn't have done great.

I'll come back and fill everyone in on the last two episodes.

Edit:
I finished the drama. I'll say mid. It's not great. They are eyeing a third season. I hope they add some spice to the series. We will also have a mystery main character coming in next season. I hope it goes well. Seriously.

There is room for improvement, a lot of it and I really hope they work on that. I wasn't very happy with this series and kinda disappointed ? Do bong soon was great but this one was just BAD.

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So Bad It's Funny

**Brief Synopsis**
B (Butler)
T (Owner's Son)

B was just a normal vegetable seller until his friends asks him to become a butler as a favour. There he meets T, the owner's son, and although they don't exactly start off on the right foot, they eventually fall in love.

**My Opinion**

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT
- The premise of the story was interested even though it was badly executed.
- The actors were very good looking and looked great together.

WHAT I DIDNT LIKE ABOUT IT
- The writing is sometimes horrible and the acting unbeareable as people would act in weird and exaggerated ways. The main characters are better comparatively but aren't winning any awards.
- I have love hate relationship with the voice over. They voice over what the characters are thinking. This is done in a voice not belonging to the characters so it might get confusing. Sometimes the voiceover is very funny, other times it just gets cringey.
- They keep saying hmm a lot.
- Editing and weird sound effects adds to the cringe.
- Nothing seems to happen and whatever happens is just not convincing. There was kidnapping scene but it just looks like a joke.

**Conclusion**
This is so bad it can get a little funny. I laughed a little so I'm not all that dissapointed.

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Even though it is a Korean project, the creators also used two Thais - the stars of the SaifahZon series, and I acknowledge this international cooperation. Yoon and Peach have feelings for each other, but in my opinion it wasn't really the main and supporting plot axis of the whole story, because there is an effort to find out how what happened to Yoon actually happened. Therefore, the relationship between the two main actors may not sound so strong, because above all the character played by Jimmy is written as it is. I also admire how the actors managed the language barrier and I would also like to highlight the well-played character of the "mother".


I když se jedná o korejský projekt, tvůrci využili i dva Thajce - hvězdy seriálu SaifahZon a tuto mezinárodní spolupráci kvituji. Yoon a Peach k sobě něco cítí, ale dle mě to nebylo úplně hlavní a nosnou dějovou osou celého příběhu, protože je zde snaha dopátrat se, jak k tomu, co se stalo s Yoonem, vlastně došlo. Proto možná nevyzní tak silně vztah dvou hlavních aktérů, protože především postava, kterou hraje Jimmy, je napsána tak jak je. Obdivuji též, jak zvládli herci jazykovou bariéru a chtěl bych vyzdvihnout i dobře zahranou postavu "matky".

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This micro-series, in some moments and with a touch of light comedy (especially in the beginning), was certainly not made to conquer the world of film and series, but for the pleasure of the spirit and the eye of some viewers, and I appreciate that. Sure, even this Pinoy product has some flaws, but they are not important to me to overpower the story and what the poet wanted to say. Overall, the plot actually had potential that was not developed further and the cliffhanger ending was very surprising(!). The acting was pretty solid, especially Jill (Mateo Velasco) I quite believed, nice main song, processing with some minor details, cute shots of washing the car or in the shower. Stuff I skip that doesn't affect my rating: vegan brownies but with eggs (?), episode five is all about how Jill feels (?), some editing could be improved. Overall impression, if you are a positive soul and not a negativist: a pleasant and refreshing peek with a slightly "shocking" ending.


Tento mikroseriál v některých momentech i s nádechem lehké komedie (především na začátku) jistě nebyl vyroben pro to, aby dobyl svět filmu a seriálů, ale pro potěchu ducha i oka některých diváků, a toho si cením. Jistě, i tento pinoy produkt má některé nedostatky, ale ty nejsou pro mě podstatné tak, aby přebily příběh a co tím chtěl básník říci. Celkově měl námět dle skutečnosti potenciál, který nebyl více rozvinut a cliffhanger závěr byl velmi překvapivý(!). Herectví bylo docela solidní, především Jill-ovi (Mateo Velasco) jsem docela věřil, fajn hlavní píseň, zpracování s některými drobnostmi na úrovni, roztomilé záběry mytí auta nebo ve sprše. Blbůstky, které přecházím a nemají vliv na mé hodnocení: veganské brownies ale s vejci (?), pátá epizoda celá jen jak se Jill cítí (?), některé střihy by se daly vylepšit. Celkový dojem, pokud jste duše pozitivní a ne negativistická: příjemné a osvěžující pokoukání s mírně "šokujícím" koncem.

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I watched this pinoy project after Love Is. It was like heaven and bagpipes and definitely does not deserve to have one here, and a below average score. Above all, in terms of acting, Stuck On You was a level higher. A small intimate drama, where both the main actors Yves and Iyo gave very solid performances, it is safe to say that they are actors. It is not easy to tighten the entire series in two. Processing also at a level including sound, music. Some small passages in the course of the story seemed to me a little long-winded or even for a moment blabbering about nothing. I don't see any illogicality there. Confusion about wearing masks is also present in our country, and many people, in fear, behave in one way at first and then in a different way.
One of the best Filipino series this year, I recommend it.


Díval jsem se na tento pinoy projekt po seriálu Love Is. Bylo to jako nebe a dudy a rozhodně si nezaslouží mít tady jedno, a to navíc podprůměrné bodové ohodnocení. Především po herecké stránce byl Stuck On You o levely výš. Malé intimní drama, kdy oba hlavní představitelé Yves a Iyo předvedli velice solidní výkony, o nich se dá s jistotou povědět, že jsou to herci. Není totiž jednoduché utáhnout celý seriál ve dvou. Zpracování rovněž na úrovni včetně zvuku, hudby. Některé malé pasáže v průběhu příběhu se mi zdály malinko zdouhavé nebo i chvilku i plácání o ničem. Nelogičnosti tam nevidím. Zmatení v nošení roušek je i u nás a mnoho lidí se ve vystrašenosti chová zpočátku tak a pak zase jinak.
Jeden z nejlepších filipínských seriálů letošní ho roku, doporučuji.

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A project that didn't appeal to me didn't captivate me. Maybe a good or at least average series for Filipinos, but this time it didn't mean anything to me. Kaleb Ong, whom I know from Meet My Angel, didn't help either. The story, the script, it was pall mall, a bag full of fleas, stew, the acting was crampy, amateurish, talking heads (I don't blame the actors only, that's the director's thing), the only music was close to solid average, the processing also not much. I didn't really believe the actors, there were too many male "madams" and besides, the Filipino, Tagalog, unlike the cooing or squealing of the neighboring countries, seems so childish with the melody of the voice and the pronunciation, influenced by Spanish and later English. No, not this project anymore, and I think I'm still lenient in my assessment.


Projekt, který mě neoslovil, neuchvátil. Možná pro Filipínce seriál dobrý nebo alespoň průměrný, ale mě tentokráte nicneříkající. Nepomohl tomu ani Kaleb Ong, kterého znám ze seriálu Meet My Angel. Příběh, scénář, to byl pall mall, pytel plný blech, guláš, herecké podání bylo křečovité, amatérské, mluvící hlavy (nekladu vinu jen hercům, to je věc režiséra), jediná hudba se blížila solidnímu průměru, zpracování také nic moc. Hercům jsem moc nevěřil, bylo tam až moc mužských "madam" a k tomu ta filipínština, tagalogština, na rozdíl od kuňkajících či šišlajících sousedních zemí, působí melodikou hlasu a výslovností tak dětsky, ovlivněná španělštinou a později angličtinou. Ne, tento projekt už ne a myslím, že v hodnocení jsem ještě shovívavý.

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