Peony
Loved the amazing capable cops in Reset? Well then, you'd want to check this out.
In ep 1 my reaction was: Wow ok, that's some tightly written and paced plot and character design. And it never loses the intrigue and keep you on your toes ALL the time. That's rare gem right here, for now I'll give it 8/10.In ep 2: It's really really good but it doesn’t pull me in/doesn’t hold me tethered to anything so I'd keep watching like Reset did, so I might drop it? Since it seems to be a case-by-case drama, I'll drop it after this first case is done.
In ep 4: I'm in love with this cop. He's so nice and amazing and look at all those fond small smiles like a proud dad awww. Forget all I said above, this is a 9.5/10 now and GIMME MORE!
By ep 10: Yes, the same quality is maintained. Show is witty, and manages to fit in tiny moments of mundane humor and heart into any given opportunity as well.
Plus, a good crime thriller would have reasonably matched Criminal/Police sides, and here sometimes the thieves are SO good I almost wanted them to win.? That was quite the polarising but entertaining viewing experience for me.
So everyone, give this a try. Especially if you appreciated the police aspect of Reset. (If you don't know what Reset is, well now you know to check it out. Two birds one stone.)
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What an underrated, unexpected gem.I highly recommend, give it a chance! You won't regret it.
I give it 10/10! If I could I would give it 20/10! It wasn't the most perfect drama to ever exist by any means, it had multiple issues but! It made me VERY VERY happy! Constantly and consistently from beginning to the end, on multiple fronts.Amazing casting and acting. All the characters are very human and down to earth. None of them were perfect and all of their flaws and plus sides were shown equally in every ep. Sometimes they are progressive, sometimes not, but the show never judges them too harsh and instead sheds a sympathetic and understanding light on them which added SO much gravitas and strength to their characters.
It showed that period dramas can have women that are more than the "weak, pitiful, purpose is to marry well and make babies" stereotype and the "21st Century feminist who doesn't give a damn" stereotype.
Marvelous Women ladies were none of those, and both of those and also more at the same time. Even the most minor character got their own storyline and it was integrated well to main plot, so it wasn't forced or distracting.
From the premise I mainly just expected a typical pretentious Yu Zheng drama about Suzhou weaving and a dash of GL, but it ended up being quite the thoughtful discussion about period typical sexism, patriarchy, misogyny, polygamy, sex work, what does it mean to be "virtuous" and where does the woman's choice lie among all that, and much more to various but quite satisfying degrees.
I think it just shows how rare this kind of storytelling and how much I've been craving for it, when I think back about my initial impression of this drama, how unsure I was about what to make of it. I couldn't even pinpoint that this was exactly what I wanted at the beginning! Because I haven't seen such a work in so long, I was unused to it.
And now I think it spoiled me for period dramas. I'll be subconsciously judging and dropping 2x more dramas than I used to in future.?
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Never did I expect to absolutely LOVE a high school entrance exam-centered story.
Though not Chinese, as a fellow Asian who has went through the very similar, absolutely gruelling exam system, watching Asian high school dramas are next to impossible for me, it's almost like ptsd hahaIf not for the cast members whom I absolutely love, and the premise of "how China held the exam in the midst of the pandemic" that intrigued me, I wouldn’t have pressed play. And I'm so glad I did.
IT'S SO RELATABLE IN THE BESTEST WAY POSSIBLE!!!!!
I laughed and cried with all the characters. I loved all of them. Even the flawed ones. The acting and character writing is so nuanced and realistic, the adults love for the children was almost palpable through the screen, though some of them might not have chosen the best way to show it, it was so obvious how much they were trying, and how much they cared. Which made me as a viewer care for them too and cheer wholeheartedly for their growth.
Gosh, the drama drew humor from the most mundane, everyday things, was highly empathetic and non judgemental, and was inspiring. It made me nostalgic about that era of my life, it made revisit and reassess my family values.
"This is how much my parents love me", I thought as I watched it. "My teachers were dedicated to us just like this".
It is a drama that actively made me proud to be an Asian.
So watch it, everyone! I know the subs are bad, but they are not impossible to get through with some context based guesswork. It's worth it, if you are interested in any of the things I mentioned above! ❤
P.s.-
**Mild spoiler for the last "challenge" in the story which happened in the final 4 eps**
This drama took the relatability to a new level when they did that last arc (flood), since that happened in my country as well, and under exact same context. I was bamboozled lol
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Quite enjoyable and never gets boring.
It only took few glimpses of this drama for me see how confident it is in its dialogue, plot, acting, execution.... everything. It doesn't waste time to make it apparent that you need a shift of viewing lens to watch it- as the characters are not gonna behave/plots are not going to unfold in the way you'd expect it to, therefore you need to brave yourself for a ride and let the story sweep you away in its witty, crackastic, dangerous glory. And the essence of Sword Snow Stride is perfectly represented via Xu Fengnian, and honestly there's no better man for this job like Zhang Ruoyun.At first you might think it's like Joy of Life. But as you go, it feels like a strange mix of all sorts of genres, but somehow it works. To me it felt like a mix of slice-of-life, deadpan humor, politics, prime wuxia and also some Greek Hero-friends-on-quest-across-the-world vibe.
And I think Sword Snow Stride is really good at creating atmosphere, and in fact one of the best I've seen recently.
Sure, the drama suffers from color palette issues, poor martial arts choreo issues and all, but in the scenes where it really mattered, they went all out creating the gravitas of the scene and I was blown with the impact. Also throughout the drama it had a particular affliction with using rain and wind to heighten the scenes, and not in a cringey way but in a way that you'd feel it in your bones through the screen. The following scenes are best examples imo.
1. The Capping Ceremony
2. The Naval battle (Reminded me of Argonautica haha)
3. Battle of the Reed field (goosebumps just from thinking about it)
4. The Thunderstorm battle
5. Sword cloud
And it has some really good wuxia logics/theories, you'd think the stuff they do would really be probable in real world, only if we had the extra oomph of Qi cultivation. It's definitely no casual scriptwriting. And overall Sword Snow Stride has quite solid planning, and lot of plot-within-plots.
(Though I won't deny it did have its lazy writing/deux ex machina moments, and the "Daddy Xu Xiao is the almighty Chess master/God" thing started to get old after a while)
But overall one of the best wuxia dramas I've seen recently, despite some flaws here and there. Though I have to say it's the kind of a drama that appeals to a specific palette. If it works for you it works, if it doesn't then it doesn't.
So I think SSS is definitely worth checking out, if you are a fan of *handwaving motions* any of the stuff I mentioned above.
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It's a whopping 200/100 for me.
I haven't been this satisfied with a drama in a long long time.I was initially held back after seeing trailers of the dramas, for months. Because I really hate dust and even hate watching dust because it makes me feel second hand dusty. But I'm glad I made the exception.
I rarely go around heavy-reccing dramas like this, but if you've got time and mood, even if it's years after, do check out Minning Town. It's a rare excellent piece of work. Well researched, detailed, grounded, relatable and extremely REALISTIC. A well paced plot, great acting, characters and interpersonal relationships, and also quite inspiring and humbling.
I see some people thinking China making a drama about their hardworking people=propaganda which makes me sigh because if someone thinks this is Propagandaic, it's highly likely they haven't lived even close to or even seen what the most lower level of commoners like farmers live like.
Unless you REALLY look into it with a microscope, there's no propaganda.
If anything, Minning Town is about how common people worked hard to have a better life for themselves and also because the government ordered them to do stuff while sitting inside their glass houses so the poor farmers were beaten from all sides while the politicians had little clue about what the real situation is.
If anything, it's probably anti-propagandaic.
I've heard and seen some things that those people experience in the drama happen and it's ? perfection.
Sometimes I felt like Minning Town is like a Chinese Little House in The Prairie (which I also really loved).
The difficulties in mass relocation and very mundane and humane people, very realistic and moving acting, incredibly strong FL.....it might not be necessarily cute and fluffy but it's still very much heartwarming, and the joy lies in all those little daily mundane moments, you can't help but smile, laugh and cry with the characters. What more can you ask for?
PS: Oh and make sure to watch the dialect version! There are two versions on Youtube and the dialect version is super interesting to hear, it's a whole another viewing experience!
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Only worth your time if you want to see Ji Li doing a fantastic job of crossdressing.
Never have I ever seen a movie I wanted to give 10 stars for the actor for willing to do all that, and minus stars (if it was possible) for everything else. As a movie it was absolute crap, terribly made, horrible characters, crude storytelling..... it maybe had a little bit of heart, which made it possible for me to sit throughout it all, in addition to Ji Li. That's about it.It opened up the discussion about at least 5 social issues but never really followed through with any or provided satisfying conclusions. Heck, it didn’t even have a proper ending.
It was simply a cheap movie made with intention of getting some views via some bad gender jokes and other nonsense, so do not go into it expecting anything further.
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Very genuine, heartwarming story that will leave a lasting impression in your mind.
Very simple story with simple characters and simple dynamics but holds so much weight. Sometimes, it's when things aren't overly complex do the rawest, most honest emotions come out.This movie is like an ode to film screening. It showcased how important was getting to watch a movie for people back then, a simple activity we take for granted today. All the characters had different reasons and different ways how movies impacted their lives, and their dynamics are told in a very natural (and sometimes even funny in its irony) way.
It speaks right to your heart.
I would've personally liked if the pacing was bit faster, other than that no complaints. Amazing acting. I hot to learn about how old film reels work too. 100% recommend.
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Very underwhelming and boring viewing experience.
Lazy writing, meh CGI, plot and tropes you've seen hundred times over, flat characters.... I could've forgiven them all and given this movie a neutral rating if not for one thing that drew me mad.Exoticism.
Now, if you have seen lots of Chinese costume dramas and movies you'll know 99% time the styling is not even 70% accurate to actual history which is fine, as long as you use your artistic license in a sensible and consistent manner and doesn't pretend to be what you are not.
But here, all the side characters were dressed in a way that resembles the Mongol Khan era fashion but only the female lead was dressed in a dresses that resembled Western model of "princess style" that had little to no similarity with Chinese styling. To appeal to whose palette?
To me it seemed like movie makers thought if they dressed the princess in a way that is more authentic the viewers wouldn't find it compatible with their idea of "pretty", especially viewers who are unfamiliar with C-content/only came to watch because of Dylan Sprouse.
So yeah, I was thoroughly unimpressed. Do not recommend.
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Rip, she passed away last year ?
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An underrated show that deserves so much more attention.
The ML is definitely not your swoony Prince. He is flawed, stubborn and annoying at times but very real, grounded and genuinely cares for people around him. He might sound overbearing and crossing the line at times, but within minutes he turns around and reflects, and ultimately supports the FL. I found that incredibly melty than any other idealized hero. Smth I really love is that the ML does not treat the FL at all like an incapacitated person. The strangers will fret over her and give her hand all the time and all, the ML just stays away and lets her walk etc by herself. He's not just indulging her desire to be independent and pretending that he lets her be, but rather he simply does not even think she's disabled, but differently able. It never even registers to him otherwise. He accepts her condition and embraces it, and that helps the FL more than any gentlemanly behaviour.When she truly needs his help however, he's always, always there.
I loved the themes discussed in this drama. For example:- The couple post their journey on Weibo and are now sort if Internet Celebs.
After a while Netizens accuse FL of being pretentious and weak so she can get cared for by her boyfriend. I loved her answer. "You mistake the willingness to be vulnerable with playing weak. I'm not a helpless maiden. Precisely because I have him is why I can lower my guards and allow myself to relax and play around. You are lucky if you have someone to be vulnerable with."
The netizens say they don't believe such a pure love story like theirs could exist, and they are more interested in hearing the "dirt" so they can be proven as frauds who spinned a fairytale. It's depressing that people have fallen to this level where you assume everyone else's lives are full of mistrust and hate just because theirs does, and drawing satisfaction from that. It's not your job to judge whether a stranger you see on screen is a Saint or not unless they are revealed to be despicable by law! Why do that to yourself? Why sour everything up for not only yourself but everyone who see your hypothetical theories? Do not tolerate wrong, but still believe that goodness exists somewhere in the world. To assume some stranger is heaven sent or hell sent just based on what aspects of their life that they have chosen to share with you....they are not obliged to show you anything that they don't feel like, it's their right. Let them live their life. You live yours!
That episode really spoke to me.
It did not feel like they were making a melo out of s sickness, but rather they made it an adventure. It does not make you feel down and depressed. It felt so refreshing, for the "Sickness drama" genre.
There are some less perfect eps, in ep 1 they were still figuring out their dynamic, ep 2 bit slow and ep 9 bit hurried. But overall, it's an absolutely amazing gem of a 12 ep drama. I have not seen a show that had so much obvious hard work behind it and looks so genuine, after the Cmovies of the pre-2000 era. The actors look so damn haggard as they continue further on their journey, they don't hesitate to roll around in clouds of dusty floor and hide in dirty sheep pens.
If nothing else, you have to see this drama in just for the gorgeous scenery of China. There was this mountain range that looked like it's straight out if a traditional painting, and they mentioned the painting style is given the name of those mountains for that reason.
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You don't come by something like this everyday❤
Binged it within 2days, and now I'm a whole mood.? The drama got me exactly where it wanted me to be, from the opening sequence to the ending, it has been such a visceral, bittersweet experience and a celebration about the soft underbelly of humans, about basic desire, about life. It was naive and simple most of the time, and was deep for the exact same reason. I really applaud the entire cast and crew for doing this project.It didn't always make sense, but it didn't have to, either. Such is life. Sometimes you realise when you are overly critical of stories and character dynamics it is actually your own prejudice speaking, that you think only your moral standards are valid and noone else's. It is not easy to unlearn that, and to just lie back and listen to the story that the other side has so generously decided to share with you, faults, fragmented and all. It is very freeing and that's what this drama was to me~ it broadened my scope in lots of ways than not.
It was 99% vibes, 1% plot story with tenderhornysad feelings and with amazing kaleidoscopic camera language, don’t miss it!
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An unexpected, pleasant surprise. Progressive, even.
This was my first ever Justice Bao drama. When I saw in the first episode that Bao Zheng was shunned when he was born due to unusually dark skin (probably due to some genetic reason) and people were calling him a "monster", I was worried about colorism.Especially as a South Asian with a brown skin this made me unsettled. But only minutes after my worries went away when I saw how well-treated, loved and cared for he was by his guardians. Who did it for no obligation but simply because they were good, non-discriminative people.
And the story continues on like that. There are people who are initially shocked by/make comments on his skin color, but this doesn't upset me much because in the past it's no wonder, as people didn't know better/that varieties of skin colors existed. In my country too, it was the White people who were always gawked upon back then?. Now, it WOULD have been a bad thing if the drama made it into a running joke/made demeaning fun out of it but it never did! Those who bullied Bao Zheng due to his color were the bad people, and the good ones didn't even blink or if they used to before, they would soon realise they are wrong and turn around.
The original legend, stories and dramas based on it are actually a CELEBRATION of this "different" person and his intellect, how everyone loved and respected and admired him for his integrity and sense of justice.
It's actually ANTI-Colorism. And I cannot be happier about it.
If I am to talk about the rest of the characters- well, they are quite 3D. Some might not be likeable and frankly messed up, but NEVER because the "scriptwriter said so" but because it made sense for their circumstances. All in all, a really good drama. I wish there were more like this these days too.
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Enjoyable if you are into any of the actors, Suzhou aesthetics and dynamic characters
I'll get the negatives out first1. Show has choppy editing and transitions sometimes, some parts feel hasty and rushed for no reason
2. Plot is sloppy and the spy parts sometimes feels only a little bit better than child's play
3. Xiao Ruotong's character feels way too weepy and all over the place for someone with her responsibilities, sometimes.
Good things
1. Really enjoyable acting from everyone of the veteran cast, and Zeng Shunxi and Chen Duling also gave compelling performances.
2. Chen Duling's character felt like a very good example of how a woman can be physically weak, not skilled/knowledgeable/involved in the ML's line of work, but can still be strong-willed and an active participant of the storyline.
3. A beautiful visual feast of Suzhou architecture, Ming-Qing style furniture and elegant qipaos and suits.
4. As expected of a WW2 freedom struggle drama, it was very dark and brutal at times, but somehow not oppressively so like I found some other big shows about this era were: for example The Disguiser, which was like 5x ahead of A Lonely Hero's Journey in lots of aspects but I found it VERY difficult to root for the characters there and enter their headspace/relate to their povs. That didn't happen here. Most of the characters were pretty likeable to me in their own ways, even though they all stood on different spots of the morality spectrum. Which leads to my next point:
5. Huge kudos for making 90% characters so 3D regardless of their alliances. This show had baddies, traitors, opportunists who were treated empathetically nonetheless, and also the people on the "good" side who were not all that likeable all the time. If you see people spouting that Cdramas always have clear cut black and white censored portrayals of stories that take place in sensitive historical time periods, that they bend over their back to ensure the audience wouldn't root for the characters in the wrong side, just slap a show like this in their face. And this show isn't even the best China has to offer in this genre but it still has this basic quality.
Bonus:
This really beautiful old gramophone song
"Teach Me How Not to Think of Her (教我如何不想她) by 赵元任 (Zhao Yuanren)" was used in the bgm, and it made for a haunting, immersive experience of that time period's atmosphere. Even if you don't watch the show I HIGHLY rec you at least look that song up on youtube. The drama used two versions of the song, the og and a softer, modern cover by Zeng Shunxi.
And lastly, if you are a DMBJ fan, you'd especially enjoy seeing ZSX, who played the DMBJ hero Wu Xie before, flaunting architecture knowledge and going through a "curious and energetic youth to broken down and steel-willed" arc ? It was quite like seeing an alternate universe Wu Xie lol
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Despite all its faults, loved this with all my heart till ep 26
*Contains major spoilers, don't read unless you've finished seeing this*What I loved about Please Be My Family compared to other popular idol dramas with little kids (such as The Love You Give Me) was that despite having all sorts of tropey sweet moments and over the top dramatics and hidden agendas, such as the kid having terminal illness, mysterious backstories about the characters' identity, the Exes returning, etc etc, keeping crucial secrets from each other ;
1. The couple were almost never unnecessarily cruel towars each other, even when they both had misconceptions about the other's feelings and believed they were pretending for the sake of their contract etc, they still treated each other with basic courtesy, didn’t force themselves on the other, had mutual respect and support for each other.
2. They both always loved the two kids from get go like their own, even before they themselves became a proper couple, they already considered themselves to be the parents of both children. And they never incorporated the kids into their personal antics and used them for psychological manipulation of the other. That they always put the kids first was honestly one of my favourite things about this show.
And these two factors kept me going despite all the ridiculous hurdles that kept coming on this family's way, and the less than ideal ways the story handled them. But they crossed my bottom line in ep 26, by having the FL discover the ML's original purpose for marrying her, and instantly decide she'd divorce, and leave with her daughter.
Like, her severe disappointment with the ML and desire to divorce? Fair. Totally valid.
But I HATED how she unanimously picked her original child and ran away, RIGHT in front of her baby step-son who ALREADY was suffering from serious mom-loss issues, traumatising both kids. I was like oh wow so suddenly you don't love him enough to be your own child. No matter how serious your family problems are, once you have kids, and especially impressionable little children, you should’ve acted in a more mature, discreet and responsible way. That scene added absolutely nothing to the story but reinforce the social bias that "a stepmom will never love you as much as her own child" which was fucking awful. And it was especially jarring considering how it wasn’t really consistent with the FL's character that she'd do something so rash just like that, especially when it came to kids.
Four eps left to the end, I hated that the showmakers employed this cheap tactic to get more audience sympathy at the wailing babies. I was furious and disgusted, however.
A story doesn’t need to have morally upright and perfect main leads all the time. They can make mistakes but the show needs to frame them as such, not downplay seriousness of scenes like this just for the heartstrings and cuteness or whatever.
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Under the Queen’s Umbrella
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Applaud the show for what it did right, and this won't be a dissapointing watch.
In my personal opinion, the latter half of the show fell victim to haphazard pacing and overuse of deux ex machinas. There were too much "gotcha!" moments to the point the tension lost its purpose because the viewer was reaffirmed that things will turn out well no matter what. In a fluffy romcom this kind of reassurance is exactly what you need, but I felt like it didn't fit right with the initial vibe of *this* show.Also it had little bit too many characters (at least 2 concubine characters could've easily been cut off) and as much as I love our Queen, I felt like her demeanour was over-dramatized so the credibility of her character leaned a lil bit much to the wrong side. And the villains were quite one-dimensional.
BUT
From beginning to the end, Under the Queen's Umbrella had its heart at the right place.
It did a number of things a lot of sageuks failed at doing for literally ages after the end of the proper long sageuk era about 10 years ago. Such as;
1. Not portraying the palace women as helpless flowers waiting for the king in their rooms all day long. They had STUFF to do. They were capable and intelligent individuals of their own right. They were constricted in lots of ways than not, yes. But it did not mean they always kept their heads down and laid low.
2. Making the harem ladies care about things other than being jealous with each other all the time. Women aren't so narrow minded, yknow? In a society where polygamy was the norm, I'd believe a majority of them had other priorities than hating on another woman who is no less of a victim of circumstances than they are.
3. Not pretending like the King was monogamous with one true love even though the guy literally had a harem, AND not pretending like he'd be an evil person otherwise.
The King of Under the Queen's Umbrella was refreshing in the sense he had a harem, yes. But also he was a nice and fair guy. He and the Queen had deep mutual understanding and respect towards each other. I do wish that the drama showed more scenes of him with other concubines as well tho.
4. Not repeating the trope of overbearing mistrustful Royal Father and the Crown Prince who is always under too much pressure + other Princes feeling neglected. This King (and also the Queen) cared for their children first and foremost, and would listen and give them benefit of the doubt before blindly believing what outsiders have to say. This drama had some of the most wholesome parent-child scenes in Sageuk history in my opinion. Regardless the child was a legitimate Prince or not, their treatment was all the same.
So yeah, if you think you'd love seeing the above 4 points in a Sageuk, Under the Queen's Umbrella is a must watch in many ways than not. Do give it a chance!
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