1ctechperson
Fantasy Westward Journey
19 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
For younger audiences
Simple story -- good vs evil. Great graphics. Good looking actors, all around. Basic plot involves a group of friends who can't quite decide whether they're battling as a group, or depending on themselves.Flat characters with very scripted (stereotypical) words and behavior. The hair-flouncing or finger-pointing anger. Temper tantrums (literally) when things didn't go perfectly. The loyal boyfriend. the Dad (aka Buddhist monk), the PhD psychiatrist, the shy smart kid, the schizophrenic girl, the best-friend-turned-evil... all there. Three couples with very flat predictable relationships. All the girls get pulled in by evil-guy, and the good-guys have to save them. The orphan meme that Disney loves to make sure viewers have enough sympathy.
Acting of the schizophrenic girl is pretty good -- the actress plays three characters, and does each quite well.
Rating scores are clearly a function of age: under 18 rates near 10.0, while ages 50+ rate closer to 2.0. The stereotypes become too simplistic to maintain interest.
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You Are My Eternal Star
16 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
A 12-year old's fever dream
This drama series is exactly what a 12-year old expects in a romantic relationship. The main positive is that the actors are all good looking.The story itself is the usual cheesy cold-male and bubbly-female, who were friends as small children, but it quickly goes downhill from there. The 2ML is rejected many times, continues chasing, and doing things that are manipulative and completely inappropriate. The sexist stereotypes are infuriating, from the usual ditzy women, to the way contemptible way that ML treats FL, to a particular scene involving the third couple right after she visits his grandmother. Of the three older men in the drama (dad, and two businessmen), only one who behaves in a way I would consider a mature adult.
The reason I say it's a 12-year fever dream, rather than simply classic Chinese stereotype is due to some of the behaviours of the individuals. For example, when the girls get excited, they jump up and down squealing. The FL's voice is that cutesy soft sweet deeply annoying one that no real human being has. It's almost as if the characters magically went from age 12 to adult without ever actually maturing.
There are no kisses. Only a couple hand-holds and hugs.
I agree with the reviewers who dropped after a handful of episodes. If you want to enjoy something, this show isn't it. I watched all the way through the end because I kept wondering how much worse it would get. And they successfully kept surprising me by having each episode be worse than the previous.
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Fun, casual show... until the last episode
I enjoyed this light show. The FL has no timeline, and the four MLs are "Mr. Time" who have no memory, and some kind of connection to her. The show goes through the steps of figuring out how she's connected to each of them.The FL actress was OK but not amazing... her role was quite tough and she didn't quite master it, but it was enjoyable. The four MLs were all quite good. As a cast, I was impressed about how they managed the various types of chemistry between FL and each of the four MLs -- each relationship is definitely different, and you can palpably feel it.
The level of mystery to untangle the connections was light (i.e. fairly predictable), but worked well enough.
I would have given this a higher mark for story except that the last episode totally destroyed it. The solved the Big Problem through a literary hack that is annoying pretty much anywhere you see it (not quite deus ex machina), and then didn't even take the 30 seconds that would have been needed to wrap it around and undo the annoyingness. This last episode isn't BAD in the sense of "don't watch this show coz you'll get angry," more SIGH... not that again...
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Music repetitive and sometimes is overly loud so you can't heard the words .
The last two episodes are sort of an easter-egg, going back in time and explaining more about what happened before the empress married the emperor -- we meet his first wife (the empress's older sister).
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Reasonable first half, then draggy
Enjoyed the first half, until they two couples get together. The scenes vary, the activities change, there's some mystery about who-is-who.But the second half dragged horribly. I think there were about three sets, and scenes were mostly talking heads. "Conflicts" between couples were contrived. There were way too many scenes of the individuals staring into space looking vaguely forlorn as their love-partner walked off in a huff.
Acting was reasonably good, particularly Zheng He Hui Zi who plays the identical twins. She plays about a lot of very different roles... the little sister, the big sister, the little sister pretending to be the big sister, the big sister pretending to be the little sister, the little sister pretending to be the big sister acting as a character in a movie, and probably several others.
Both guys were stiff, but I think that was mostly the directing.
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Not a happy ending
Reasonably good acting by ML+FL with good chemistry. If you watch, stop around episode 17 when she gets introduced to the company as his wife. Everything goes very downhill after that.Strange director's cuts mean that you have to infer what happened in between scenes. It's also hard to figure out the passage of time.
Two evil female love rivals, neither of which is really believable.
Short episodes (about 25 minutes long with credits). I couldn't find a version with English subtitles.
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Sexist, unbelievable, and cringeworthy
I was excited when I saw the poster because I like both Jasper Liu and Zhou Yu Tong... so I went and read the online novel. My expectations plummeted -- the story is gaslighting at its worst, in that the only people who are ever "right" are the ML and the professor. Every female character is below anyone's esteem.But I thought (fool that I was): Some dramas improve when they act. So I'll try it.
It was even worse than I expected. They managed to throw out all of the (mildly) positive things in the original story, and replace them with even more stupid sexist behavior. They make the FL even more dumb and passive, remove anything that might have ever been self-respect, and then even add temper tantrums. UGH.
I really should have dropped this one. But in my optimistic moments, I kept hoping...
It reminded me a bit of "You've got mail" -- a deeply problematic relationship where he stalks and manipulates her, but she forgives him in the end.
I'd love to know why Jasper and YuTong selected this script. What in the world were they thinking???
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Great acting, strong plot
One of the better dramas this year. Main couple are excellent independently and together, and side characters are supportive and believable. The couple are very strongly for each other and no-one else (there is a point at which she says that a relationship must have trust & truth, and it takes him an episode or so to figure out how to tell her everything).One of the best parts of this drama is the backstory. It explains how and why the main couple is so strong, and the evil that they face together. The second couple has an interesting set of knots to untie before they get together, and it's really well done. The male- and female- love rivals are far more believable than in most dramas.
Directing does a good job making people younger for the backstory. Actors do a good job of being together (chemistry). ML is particularly good with the jealous looks.
Not a lot of comedy in this drama -- this has a more serious foundation -- but the comedic elements were well done.
This is one of the first dramas in a while that I didn't fast-forward through parts. It is also the first I've considered finding the music for. Both mood and lyrics were excellent.
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Manipulative jerk who doesn't respect boundaries
Younger guy who stalks his former teacher who is now a work colleague. He does things that are extremely manipulative and inappropriate in any setting. When she finally accepts him, he starts doing things at work that could get them both fired, despite knowing her concerns, and the boundaries she has set. Very sad that she ends up apologizing for setting boundaries. Not recommended.5-minute episodes.
Sound production was awful... e.g. music so loud that you couldn't hear the speech, different sound levels for different speakers in the same scene, audio mismatched from video.
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Reasonably entertaining
She's a CEO from a dating app, and pretty anti-relationship because of her history. He runs a small gaming company, and all the guys are single. Show starts with the guys doing something really stupid, so they all end up signing up for the dating app. He turns out to be much warmer than he looks.His acting was great, hers was fine. The secondary characters were very secondary -- barely in the show -- and we didn't really get to see their acting ability. No shockers in the story. Enjoyed it without having any interest in seeing it again.
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Screenwriters totally messed this one up.
This is not a classic cold-CEO and bubbly-reporter story. It's a revenge-plot gone wrong. And the people who messed this up were the screenwriters.Some reviews say that the actors (Dylan Wang or Bai Lu) get the chemistry wrong. That's because they assume it's a cold-CEO and bubbly-reporter. If instead you realize that she's trying to get revenge on the ex-boyfriend, suddenly the chemistry is about right (especially from Bai Lu).
We do get an early notification of the revenge-plot in episode 1... about 10 seconds long at most. Then about 20 episodes before it finally gets to exploding in her face. ML a nice guy, who acts cold to the FL because he knows she has ulterior motives. He fell for her a long time ago, and is trying to figure out why she's approaching him. So he's nice-guy-acting-cold, and she's not-interested-acting-interested.
It's the screenwriters who made a mess here. The audience literally has NO IDEA that he's deliberately faking being cold and uninterested, and is (a) trying to figure out why she's approaching him (he assumes it's money, but that doesn't make sense to him), and (b) trying to hide that he's interested.
Other points:
* The amount of self-conversation / thinking aloud is ridiculous. It's boring for the audience, and *worse* we don't even hear what matters -- i.e. him trying to figure it all out, and her plotting the scheme. There's a remarkable amount of dead-space that drives the audience to some serious boredom.
* The costume designers went way overboard on the currently-popular oversize clothing. Dylan Wang in an oversize suit looks like he's wearing his older brother's hand-me-down outfit. We simply can not take him seriously. He looks young to start with, but in that oversize suit, looks like he's 12. In Rationale Life, he looks like an Adult when he wears a suit.
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Great start turned into girlfriend-from-hell
I was looking for something that really showcased Yang Zi (FL) 's acting. She gets great reviews, but mostly I've just seen her do the character who is cute and fun and hardworking and smarter-than-she-looks.The first episode had me hooked. She was an amazing, articulate, self-assured business woman. Set goals, expressed herself, resolved disputes. And had fun doing it. I was really pleased to find this show. The chemistry with ML was great -- wow did they hate each other :). The end of episode two continues with an amazing depiction of the scariest drunk you've ever seen. I can't say how much I'm impressed with her acting. (And chemistry with ML continues.) Yang Zi wasn't acting as this woman, Yang Zi *was* this woman.
It turns out that her acting was so good that I began quickly to hate the story. I couldn't *stand* that woman. I wouldn't wish her on my worst enemy. There was a red flag in the first episode, in the interaction with her boyfriend... she doesn't give him a chance to say even half a word. And she tells her parents that he'll do whatever she says. In the relationship: screaming, tantrums, never listening... you name it. At work: mature and sensible.
I watched two more full episodes before realizing that there was *no way* I would be able to watch all 44 episodes. I just couldn't imagine spending any of my free time with someone like that.
Because there have only been two other reviews for this 2016 show (now early 2022), I decided I had to watch enough to justify a review. I skipped ahead to episode 10, then 20, then 30, then 40, and finally 44. I was curious to see whether the new relationship improves. In other words, I was looking for a character redemption arc, which might have been interesting enough to go back and fill in the gaps. While the amount of screaming does fade a bit, she never really becomes someone I could respect. So I haven't gone back and filled in the bits.
The production was odd -- audio was always off the video. You see hands clapping or doors slamming, and then 2 seconds later the sound appears. Voice, background noises, and music are misbalanced. In terms of subbing, myasiantv had an engsub version, but some episodes didn't have sub titles, some had subs that misaligned (like 5 minutes off what you're watching). The subs, when aligned with the scene, were accurate to the story.
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Thoughtful crime drama with a splash of romance
I looked this one up because I like three of the main actors (FL, ML, ML's sidekick ZiCheng). I was not disappointed.The first episode scared me a bit with the "Chinese physics" problems (accidental kisses), but then it settled and became a good crime drama. There's an underlying mystery surrounding her memory -- we get a few clues now & then until about episode 30, then the remaining episodes really focus in on solving that problem. The first 30 episodes they work on solving other crimes... there was a bit of a sense of Scheherazade, in that you'd be half way through solving one crime, and get some interesting leads towards a second crime.
The best part of the crime solving was that they walked you through the logic: if A is true, and B is possible, then we should think about C. It always walked you through their thinking. This could be considered a "cerebral" crime drama, in that it's much more on the discussion of the logic than on running around with shooting, car chases, and explosions.
It's worth a rewatch because there are clues you get in one episode that you don't notice until a few episodes later when it gets raised. Lots of "oh... yeah..." moments.
The main romance was very slow after episode 1. It was a believable progression, but it's a very thin layer on top of the police work. The secondary romance felt kind of forced.
GuJing's chemistry with the two guys (YiXiu and ZiCheng) was good, but not at the amazing level of to Dr. Qin.
Dislikes
* Tang Yi Xiu's interrogations got annoying. He gets upset quickly.
* A few too many of the same flashbacks -- sure, FL's recovering her memory, but we don't need to see the entirety of every flashback every time
* Ah Zi started off interesting -- stereotypical Chinese giggly girl, but with a very cool interesting layer of capability underneath... but then shifted to a bit too dumb for her own good
As of Feb 2021, I found English subs through episode 26, then shifted to French subs for the rest. (My Chinese is good, but not for crime terms.) French subs did the song lyrics too.
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Great chemistry, simple story
Loved the chemistry of the two main leads, the support of their friends and family, and relatively believable portrayal of the environment. Storyline was simple, and had a natural progression. ML+FL support each other, recognizing that they each have their own lives/careers and can overcome obstacles together. One plausible misunderstanding that is resolved very reasonably and quickly. I particularly liked the phase between him knowing who she is and her admitting she knows (this is the only part I'm likely to rewatch).They avoided most of the really annoying features of cDrama. For example, no accidental kisses or scary MIL. No weird evil characters undermining anyone. No stupid breakups. Playing the musical instruments mostly lined up with the soundtrack.
I liked PYOMS for similar reasons, and enjoyed the growth of Lin Yi (ML actor).
Dislikes
* Creepy SML -- actor is 23 years older than FL actress, and he looks even older than that.
* Boring second couple -- ShanShan's backstory took way too long to explore. Both characters very one-dimensional to the point it became annoying and I skipped most of their scenes. No chemistry either.
* Episode 28's hotel scene was completely out-of-line with characters and the main relationship story arc. ML+FL had been very comfortable to this point expressing feelings outloud. In this episode, they both drink to overcome nerves. She never drinks, and he'd never hide, so it was awful to watch.
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We Look for What We Miss
4 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
Simple story, relatively well-executed
Basic concept is two young people with unrequited high-school crush, and their parents (his dad, her mom) want to marry. Awkward all around.Fairly fluffy story with no major angst. Acting was pretty good, esp FL. The three couples were all plausible, and there were no love triangles. Chemistry for main couple was iffy -- sometimes great, sometimes contrived. Simple sets (new city apartment, work location, and village home), but each felt pretty real.
Even with only 22 episodes 15-minutes-long, the story was well-developed. While you may not agree with all the decisions, each character was behaving *in* character (i.e. script writers didn't make them do things that didn't fit).
Overall, worth a watch when you don't have time to invest in long episodes.
Worst part was the subbing -- in the subbed version I saw, sound was off by at least 2 seconds, and English/Chinese subs were disconnected. Subs were OK; only a few that made you roll your eyes. Watch it in Chinese-only if you can; sound was aligned with speech.
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