Tanlixia
Deserves More Love - A Real Surprise
I'm so glad I saw Egg and Stone through to the end. The first few episodes have some over-the-top and slapstick humor so I did not expect the show to include such well written and serious scenes for the romance and main plot as the show progressed. The over-the-top bits of humor definitely subside as the episodes go on, but still come through in welcome doses. I love how this show was able to blend elements of silliness into a solid story of a woman and her new found friends journeying through the martial arts world. I laughed out loud while watching, appreciated the WTF moments, and experienced a variety of emotions as I watched the characters evolve. I didn't expect to be so touched.I'm sad to see the ratings for this drama be rather low by MDL standards because I really enjoyed this show. I heard comedy and decided to give it a chance even though the title didn't sound too appealing to me. I had no investment in any of the leads, so I watched purely out of curiosity and for entertainment.
I think Xu Lu and Caesar Wu did an amazing job together. They were committed to their roles and the relationship between their characters was beautiful.
I originally was going to give this show a 9 or 9.5, but when I filled out the stars category and gave everything a 10... well... I'm going to give it a 10 because it deserves better, MDL!!! If you are on the fence about watching, please give it a fair chance.
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Okay to watch if you have free time; not a lot happens, but hey...something to watch!
I watched "The Glory" for Song Hye Kyo and Lee Dong Hyun. After reading other reviews, I agree that LDH's character seems a bit misplaced in this drama, though I enjoy seeing him and think he did the best he could with his role.With the whole revenge for bullying premise, there are unsurprisingly a lot of triggering violent scenes. This is not something I particularly enjoy seeing, and we are gifted with a cycle of violent memories throughout the eight episodes. The story itself is pretty sad as the victim (who continues to suffer in the present day) devotes her whole life and being to getting revenge.
While it was interesting to see the relationships between all the characters develop in the present day, not a whole lot happens and nothing is resolved. Of course, there's a second season, but even in the first season there should be some sort of catalyzing action. I watched and thought to myself, "Oh man, is it just going to end here after nothing really happened?" The "cliffhanger" was weak and I'm not sure if I can even call it that.
I do want to give an honorable mention to Lee Moo Saeng. That man knows how to act. I gave Thirty-Nine a poor rating, but I feel he had a standout performance there. And even here in his few minutes of screen time, he impresses in a totally different way.
I most likely will watch the second season but this drama is far from a masterpiece.
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THIS IS AMAZING
UM YES this is an AMAZING series. This was extremely well done.I do have to admit that somehow in 24 years I have never seen any of the One Piece anime, so I came into this show only knowing that Luffy had a straw hat. So of course, my viewing experience will differ from anyone who is coming in with expectations. But my nephew who has seen 600+ episodes of One Piece said it was one of the best live action adaptations that he has seen. And I completely believe it.
I LOVED THIS SERIES. It's a quick watch that gives backstory to all of Luffy's crew. All of the casting was so well done (though I felt a few of the child performers were a little on the less natural side) but overall the main cast's acting was great. Highly recommended to anyone who is thinking about watching this. 10/10
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I just don't see the glory
I wasn't too impressed with the first half of The Glory, which I gave a 5.5. After finishing the second half, I'd say this second part was only marginally better because things actually happened.At *no point* when watching this show I ever thought, "WOW THIS IS AMAZING OMG. BEST DRAMA EVER" Of course, everyone has a different experience and reaction so this may not be your experience. I still spent my time watching the show so it has entertainment value in some form.
The ending scene made me LAUGH because of the delivery. Legitimately, I laughed out loud and I know the producers and writers had zero intention of making that scene funny (or did they? Who knows!). I really don't think this show needed romance - the only positive thing that came from this was a role for Lee Do Hyun. The romantic beats fell flat. I also started finding it funny whenever Song Hye Kyo just showed up on the screen dressed in all black staring at one of the baddies who then gasp when they find her staring at them.
Don't get me wrong, I like all the actors in this show and thought they all did a fantastic job for the most part. Im Ji Yeon really gave her all as Yeon Jin and Kim Hi Eo Ra as Sa Ra.
I really feel that the domestic and sexual abuse depicted on screen can be triggering. In addition, unfortunately, few shows seem to be free from having a mom you absolutely loathe. We get her here. Joy!
You will see the pains that the leads have to deal with. The positive is that you do get to see the FL's revenge in action. I do have to give props to the writers who had no problem going all the way with punishing our favorite bffs.
But yes, I still view this show as nothing more than something you'll view for some shock value and entertainment for a day. Enjoy!
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Alchemy of Souls: Part 2
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I *LOVE* Alchemy of Souls but Part 2 is not quite up to the hype
I eagerly awaited each week to watch Part 2 of Alchemy of Souls - seriously looked forward to it all the way back in August. But just because I like the concept of the story and world does not mean the show is free from flaws and holes. I view its current rating as being artificially high.The Not-So-Good:
The pacing was much too slow for my liking. We spent 90% of the series with the amnesia plot and reveal dragging along. We only had 10 episodes - too few to drag for the majority. The actual reveal was underwhelming - too understated for the weeks of frustration we were subjected to. "Is she the same person?" No shit, man.
Our main villain, Jin Mu, basically became a cartoon character. You'll wonder in the back of your mind why has he been allowed to survive this whole time. Shifty eyes and interesting choice for facial hair - the whole gamut. The Queen - you'll wonder why she's just as bad as the imposter Queen from season 1 and why they had to save her. I thought the whole dried chicken relics plot was laughable.
Seo Yul's uncle looked shady when we first saw him, but his character development was non-existent and weak. Finally, he is totally eclipsed.
I know some were disappointed that we never got bad ass Naksu back. While I understand that they are trying to re-build and re-paint her in a non-assassin way, you'll realize there are no other bad ass female mages out there AT ALL besides Jin Hogyeong who takes a hit this season. So yeah, we missed gothic dark eyed makeup Naksu back in action.
Continuity and explanation of Jin Buyeon and Naksu's soul status seemed to shift as what Master Lee said in one episode wouldn't match what he says later in the series, with no clear explanation for what changed or why he explained it differently previously. So we the viewers were deliberately misled.
Soi - I didn't like her and she got too much screen time.
They also turned Lady Heo into a jealous, catty woman when she wasn't that way in the first part. However, her pettiness actually proves to be a big plot point in moving the dragging story forward.
The Neutral:
The turtle. I liked the turtle, but it got a lot of screen time in a limited 10 episode run and I'm not sure it needed that much. That being said, if they were going to go all the way, they should've given it a place in the ending LOL.
The Good:
I am glad they at least were able to use Jung So Min in the flashbacks and was happy to see her every time. I think Go Yoon Joung did a good job of portraying her character.
The tree finally gets climbed.
The tragedy that I thought would happen didn't end up sticking.
All in all, while I enjoyed the ride, I definitely felt frustrated with Naksu and Jang Uk's ignorance and questioned parts of the story. For something that I really looked forward to, the product for my waiting didn't quite match my level of excitement when watching. I think this season, with the material that was actually played out, could've been 6 episodes instead of being stretched to the already small 10.
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Actually terrible
I know this show is not meant to be deep, intellectual, or groundbreaking. However, even as just romantic fluff it does a really poor job.What's wrong:
1. Female characters with few redeeming qualities. I really hate how the writing was slanted to give mostly the women the negative traits. FL falls into a web of lies and stupid misunderstandings all while being a terrible girlfriend who has a low EQ. SFL basically only has obsession and stalking going for her for more than half the drama. 3FL...the worst probably. Her strength was the stink eye and non-communication and giving bad advice to her friend. Annoying co-worker who sabotages and steals FL's work - it is astonishing that they kept her around that long.
2. Boring company drama. The least compelling part of this show was the business aspect. Bunch of dudes in suits yammering about investments. People you don't care about - why should I care about this emo Le An guy?? Couple of old dudes complaining about ML's leadership.
I'm one of those people that usually finishes what I start, so I stuck it through to watch all 36 episodes and to watch Dylan eat Bai Lu's face. I actually enjoyed maybe the first third, but somewhere after the halfway mark I started to view this show as literal trash. This is the kind of the show that you literally throw your hands up in the air and ask, "WHY?"
There was just so much stupidity and mundaneness sprinkled throughout this show. Let's give the FL bad cramps from her period during some big shot conference JUST BECAUSE. ??? Really now. Let's have the FL show up to another company as a respected professional WHILE LOOKING LIKE SHE HAS NO PANTS ON. Let's have FL fail to convince her mother she has a boyfriend when she actually does and still go out on an arranged date with a mutual friend and then lie to her boyfriend about it. Let's have the 3FL just storm off and give some stank attitude when 3ML tries to open up, and also have 3ML think she's about to marry her cousin. Let's introduce a dark horse second love interest out of nowhere around 2/3 of the way through the show and then have him climb up a tree.
This show is definitely in the bottom tier of dramas I have watched. I think if they cut this show in half and all the unnecessary crap, it would've been much better. There were some fun moments, but I don't think it's worth it on the whole. I would not recommend watching unless you have nothing better to do or if you really really need to see Bai Lu and Dylan together.
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Love When the Stars Fall
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LOVED Starry Love <3
Starry Love was a very fun watch for me. It had a lot of great comedy which isn't really characteristic of most xianxias I've seen, but I really enjoyed this show and couldn't wait to see the next episodes. It hooked my interest from the very first episode and featured a strong non-cutesy FL which was a welcome difference from Ashes of Love's Jinmi or Love Between Fairy and Devil's Xiao Lanhua (both shows I loved, by the way, and gave 10s with my xianxia loving heart).I loved our main couple, Yetan and Youqin, and the show gives them plenty of chances to fall in love. I initially wasn't a big fan of our second couple and the second ML, but they grew on me. Qingkui, being the "good sister" also demonstrates her strengths and is not a damsel in distress. So both FLs were strong, in my opinion. The supporting cast of characters was also great - especially Wudai.
The CGI was well done - very beautifully drawn skies. I am loving the OST - Liu Yining, Sa Ding Ding, and Mao Buyi.
The only reason why I'm giving this show a 9.5/10 instead of a 10 is because I feel there were some loose ends in the latter half. I feel like if the show were actually longer than 40 episodes, it would've helped to give more time to round out the ending arc of the story.
I am hoping the netizens will get us a special episode follow-up because I needed more. :<
I really loved Starry Love - it got me to laugh, smile, and also cry. I highly recommend this if you like xianxia.
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I confirm the hype!
I saw this drama on a lot of top recommended lists and was a bit weary of the idea of a censored gay love story. The first time I tried watching this series a year or two ago, I couldn’t get into it. I watched the first episode and was like, “huh?”But hey, 2022 came and I saw this was still high on the rankings so I gave it another try and MAN. The love for this drama is so well deserved.
I lost sleep on weeknights when I had to work the next morning because I wanted to power through these 50 episodes. I have never been a true fanatic of anything - re-watching dramas is not something I do normally.
But after finishing the series in a matter of days, I went back to rewatch the first episodes and the most emotional and touching moments of this drama. Going back, the first episodes were so easy to watch. I found myself watching fan videos on YouTube, reading the comments of people saying they kept coming back to this drama. I found myself checking the Twitter tag for witty tweets about the characters. I even stayed up until 6 am one day because I wanted to read parts of the novel. I am still needing to recover from sleep deprivation.
This drama was BEAUTIFUL. The music is stunning - I’ve found myself humming it while I stroll through the park. I definitely teared up a few times. The characters had multiple layers so I even could empathize with the some of the villains. It was a ride of emotions for me - from feeling giddy over a glance, shocked from the deaths, vindicated with the revenge, angered by the injustice. I loved it. The chemistry between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji was 100% there. I am not someone who specifically seeks out BL stories and I don’t ever recall strongly shipping a BL couple but Wangxian is amazing.
This was a welcome escape from reality. 10/10, probably one of my favorites of all time.
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A Sad and Disappointing Story about Friends
This drama had so much potential but ended up being average at best.We have three long-time friends who are not at all equals in this series. Mijo proves to be the main lead and hogs up most of the screen time with her lukewarm love story and grief. Chanyoung is gifted with a terminal cancer diagnosis and ultimately an ill-fated relationship. Joohee is the forgotten and left out friend who gets the least screen time even though I would've loved to see noona get that action because she finally gets it offscreen.
As someone who had someone very close to me pass from cancer at a similar age to Chanyoung, the story itself would speak to me and would be relatable in that regard. I can appreciate a story about a younger person suffering from cancer because unfortunately it happens. However, for some bizarre reason, Chanyoung's initial cancer diagnosis was shared with *Mijo* first and not her - thus giving Mijo the spotlight over Chanyoung over her own cancer. We end up seeing a lot of Mijo's grief throughout the series, so much that I would've rather seen her less. Her love story with Seonu was unremarkable and nothing to be excited about but he got a good chunk of screen time. We also end up being subjected to Seonu's unpleasant stereotypical awful dad and struggling adopted sister which I don't think really add to the story.
The series was all around well acted (Jinseok by far impressed me) and definitely brought me to tears at points. But I wish it were more balanced between the three friends. I would have loved for Joohee to have been a main player and to see her relationship actually develop. The finale was well done, so I will give them that. But I don't really recommend sitting through the whole series just to get to that point where you taste the bittersweetness and sadness of a trio of friends down to two.
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A show I could turn off in the middle of an episode
Hospital Playlist is highly overrated in my book. It took me well over a year to finally finish these 12 episodes because I simply didn’t care about any plot line or character enough to watch. I picked it back up because I wanted to finish the top rated dramas on MyDramalist.This is a slow-paced, slice of life drama - which does have its charm and appeal to some. It’s not often that I watch a show and feel comfortable turning it off 20 minutes into an episode and going to sleep instead. I definitely prefer shows that make me want to keep watching well into the night. The hook just wasn’t there most of the time.
I was not a fan of any of the romances. They all fell flat for me. I didn’t see the chemistry and was actively hoping the couples wouldn’t get together or would break up. I haven’t finished season 2 yet at the time of this writing, but this review is for part 1 and I’m still not rooting for any couple in the second half.
The show does have a few touching moments sprinkled throughout and I did cry at one point. There were some moments I laughed out loud. However, those few moments of brilliance aren’t enough for me to rate the drama highly.
Overall, this show is watchable but not amazing. If you enjoyed Reply 1988, I assume you’ll enjoy this too. I compared its pacing to Reply 1988 without knowing it was indeed from the same writer. It’s wholesome, campy, relationship-heavy, and something I’d watch while grinding an online gatcha game because it just wasn’t that interesting.
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Interesting Start and Finish, but Slump in Between
This show started off pretty interesting - with two characters in the martial arts world. It became less about martial arts and more about political power struggle. Somewhere in the middle it dragged with the evil stepmother scheming in Yongzhou. I would’ve rated it lower if it kept going the way it was. I kept watching just because it was something to do and sometimes you just stick through it, but certain episodes just ended at moments where I didn’t really feel compelled to binge forward.That being said, I think by the time I got to episode 34 it was worth the payoff. I laughed out loud at the bitch slapping.
One other point of hilarity is that the main antagonist gets to roam around freely and no one suspects a damn thing for the longest time. Every time he showed up on screen I laughed at his shifty eyes and how NO ONE got it until the last quarter of the series. In fact the female lead almost dies because her dumb sworn sister blames her for something our grand master antagonist in plain view does.
The female lead was a strong bad ass, so that was a plus. The side characters don’t really get much of an ending - it’s all about Hei-Bai Fengxi. That being said, I really liked Feng Chang and wished he had some sort of concluding send off scene.
All in all, the show was entertaining despite the dragging middle.
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The drama itself tells you how it will end, but we chose not to believe it.
I watched 25 21 knowing that I was in for a bumpy ride because from the very beginning you are given information that shows you that the main characters do not end up together. I don't even know if that is really a spoiler because the show tells you from the beginning that the main character got knocked up by someone else and her kid has no idea who her old boyfriend is. But I and probably a lot of people out there held out hope that we would be proven wrong - that there would be some light at the end of the tunnel.But there was no light. Instead, we just got an older Heedo alone, saying goodbye to a memory that she had nearly forgotten.
The journey to the heartbreaking end was great. And perhaps because it was so great, the end hit harder. This is one of the shows that gives you a "realistic" ending - no fairy tale, even though everything seemed to work out for everyone but the main couple.
I thought I was fine and that I had accepted the ending for what it was, because I knew a break up was coming from the beginning. It seemed the point of this show was just to remind you how nothing in life lasts and to cherish the moments. However, I woke up in the middle of the night at 4 AM thinking about how this show ended and I actually could feel this deep sadness.
So to someone who hasn't seen this before, I only recommend watching this if you want to feel sad. You will get a high only to have it go crashing down and it doesn't come back.
That being said, I really love the OST.
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Hei Yue Guang Wen Na BE Ju Ben
6 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
An epic story that suffered from being cut and edited
Till the End of the Moon had the potential to be amazing, but unfortunately it didn't stick the landing. The first 1/3 of the show had me hooked. I know the show had to be cut down to fit 40 episodes, but as a result, the quality really dropped in my opinion.A 7.5 rating is me being generous in this case. It felt like the pieces of the story were out of order and being thrown together in a non-cohesive fashion. Which character is randomly popping up next? Let us tell you what happened to lead to this event after we show you the result. Why introduce unnecessary "???" moments? In some instances in other suspense and mystery dramas it works out, but here I just felt like it wasn't necessary to delay the explanations (like why Tantai Jin appeared at XXX location). I noticed the awkward cuts and fades in between scenes and I really can't think of another drama where I consciously thought to myself, "wow, this editing is bad."
I don't have a huge problem with the way the show ended in general - but I am in the camp of feeling like we could've benefited from more closure, more revelation, just more. It's sad.
I went into this show without any expectations and, after seeing it be really good, I developed hopes that it would continue to shine. The music is great and the imagery was as well. All in all, it isn't a bad drama and I enjoyed watching it - but I can't overlook the unrefined and messy storytelling and presentation of the latter half.
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The Uncanny Counter Season 2: Counter Punch
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The Unnecessary Counter
This is not a must watch show - this is a "watch this show if you want to see a continuation of the characters from The Uncanny Counter with very few tie-ins to what happened in the first season."I watched this show because I had the time and I enjoyed the first season. I don't regret watching the sequel nor am I going to flame it, but simply put it's not something you *must* see. I watched simply so I know what happened. Curious? Okay, go watch. It's watchable. It has its moments...sometimes. You get to see Kang Kiyoung be a bad guy for once. And also unfortunately hear a lot of hissing from Kim Hieora.
But MOST UNFORTUNATELY, you also get to see Yoo Insoo being COMPLETELY WASTED AND A BLIGHT ON THE SHOW. My God. I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to introduce an *utterly useless* and annoying new counter who is extremely weak while the new baddies are extremely overpowered. You think he'd get better as the season went on, but somehow he got even worse. (You'll see what I mean if you make it that far...) Towards the end, I was like, "Seriously??? Why??" Which writer or producer thought this would be funny or add value to the show??
All right, sorry, I didn't realize I had an actual torch out for part of this show since I said I wasn't going to flame it. He legitimately is the Unnecessary Counter who didn't make anything better!!!
Also further explaining one of my points - the show did feel a bit emotionally hollow as there weren't many tie-ins to what happened last season. You would not have known Motak had undergone some serious trauma last season from watching this season at all! So on that front, there is a bit of disconnect with their histories.
All in all, The Uncanny Counter 2 still has its moments and is for the most part entertaining, but definitely not without its flaws.
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Yang Zi and Cheng Yi are good together
I stayed up until 5 AM two nights in a row because I was binging this show and finished it within ~3 days. This is the 6th xianxia I have watched in entirety, for your reference (not a whole lot compared to some seasoned viewers but maybe more than a new drama watcher). Having seen other xianxias, it's natural in my mind to compare this to my previous xianxia viewing experiences.The main couple Yan Dan (Yang Zi) and Ying Yuan (Cheng Yi) is superior to their popular xianxia couplings in the past - Jinmi and Xufeng from Ashes of Love and Sifeng and Xuanji from Love and Redemption. They have great natural chemistry and we get to see the couple spend a lot of time together. I literally felt myself grinning during some of their fluffy scenes. As for the angsty couple scenes, they did them well. I think they may have become my favorite xianxia pairing.
I have an affinity for Cheng Yi after watching Love and Redemption and I really enjoyed watching him here. It is much less painful to see him as Ying Yuan and Tang Zhou compared to watching Sifeng. He got a promotion basically. I think he's hilarious. So even if a scene wasn't necessarily supposed to be funny (like when he's creeping and looking at the FL from a distance), he gives me life.
Yang Zi is a great actress. Of course like a few other xianxia, there are moments when you wonder why the FL is thinking something dumb, but overall Yan Dan is a strong character and much more likable than Jinmi.
The show isn't without its flaws but I know I stayed up to watch because it did some of the drama really well (wow, peak tragedy!) and I was eager to see what would happen. Somewhere in the middle I see where it may seem like it drags and is almost filler-like, but at the same time I appreciate how much time we are given to enjoy this universe. So to me, 59 episodes isn't too long.
Is Immortal Samsara better than Ashes of Love and Love and Redemption? I mean, in some ways, yes and in some ways, no. Yes on the main couple front for sure. I think Immortal Samsara is worth watching if you like xianxia.
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