Revive (2016)

I'll be honest, I never thought I would enjoy this drama as much as I did, it proved to me to be a real surprise, I immediately got into the story and yet I had so many prejudices before starting it and assumed it would be boring and like one of those short and stupid Chinese dramas however I was so wrong :p Yes it stars Ma Ke and it was my real first time seeing him as the male lead so that might explain why I never imagined it could be to my liking and to say the truth he did a pretty good job, at least I didn't have to complain, not in the least ;D
So in my humble opinion the most enjoyable parts of the drama are the story and the friendship between our three main characters : Yun Xiu, Feng Jing and Liu Yi :

1. I really found the story interesting and quite intriguing, firstly the revenge part where our lead is reborn as a new man with a new face, then his path to become a popular and acclaimed actor not for his look but only for his acting and at the same time getting his revenge, secondly the other important element is about the entertainment industry and how it works; what the actors have to go through before being accepted in an agency, how they are selected for their first project, it also deals with the internal battles between agents and last but not least the harsh competitiveness between actors, I found all of that fairly well done and realistic except for one or two things but nothing can be perfect.

2. The intense friendship between our main characters, I found it so real, pure and honest. It's true Yun Xiu isn't without faults but he knows how to value friendship, he is such a loving and caring man. He always gives support to Feng Jing and Liu Yi in most difficult times and the fact that it is reciprocal for them was very beautiful to see. It was mostly hard for Yun Xiu and Feng Jing to trust again after what happened to them in the past but when they met they knew they were meant to be good friends and that they could trust each other unconditionally and yes those who love bromance I can tell it's one of the deepest I've seen, it kinda startled me at first ^^. The strongest point of this drama definitely and what I loved the most about Revive. Surely for me they were the only attractive characters of the drama but they were just purely amazing and made this drama 100% worth watching for me.

My mind was only focused on Ma Ke, Xu Joe and Zhang Viann's characters the other actors weren't enough interesting to me and didn't add any savor to the drama that's why I won't say anything about them, but I need to say the twin brothers (whom I already saw in The Journey of Flower) had important roles here and I appreciated they weren't there just to block the two male leads' way even though I wanted to know more about them but they were not boring villains at least for me, just too stubborn at times.
Ma Ke delivered his part very well and was very credible in these different roles, I couldn't tell it was the same actor playing those various personalities, he was such a delight for the eyes, really well done. Both Xu Joe and Zhang Viann did really great too and surprised me in a good way, I loved how Xu Joe made his character so cold, meticulous and yet very heartwarming and vulnerable. A guy full of inner charms and principles ^^
Zhang Viann what a radiant actress and wow her black hair *.*, I really had eyes only for her, she's so beautiful and lovely as Liu Yi, a very understanding person, her best trait.

The music wasn't impressive unfortunately and didn't leave a great impression on me, only two or three BGMs caught my attention, the songs were just boring and not so much present in the drama.

There are other bad points and things I didn't like such as the dubbing which was very bad and disturbed me all throughout the series, I never complain about that as I'm used to it but when it's bad it's simply bad! Secondly I found the other characters so bland and very unappealing, for most of them I didn't like their acting and they were very frustrating (cf: Amanda, Qin Chu, Zhu Feng, Xie Yi ...) to be frank Lin Xuan was useless as well. There are other flaws but I'm a little bit lazy so I will stop there for now ;p

I would still recommend it for those who wanna watch something short and addicting, actually that's how this drama made me feel. Just if like me you start this drama with some apprehension you might end up liking it!
As for the ending, it was fine like that, I personally don't need a second season and I even think it would be a waste of time, so no complaint from me.

Read More

STORY: An actor gets in a car wreck due to foul play and wakes up to find that he was surgically altered using the face of the other driver who died. He now has to take on this other guy's identity in a quest for revenge. This is a very good story with a well-written script. There are few moments of levity and only some suggestive bromance. It ends with is a season-ending cliffhanger.

ACTING/CAST: Quite excellent. I think Ma Ke (Du Yun Xiu) did a great job and is much more capable and versatile of an actor than the part required, which was a shame; most of the series he was simply scripted to be broody.

MUSIC: The music was good. The main song was English subbed.

REWATCH VALUE: I probably won't, but I will recommend this to my friends.

OVERALL: A very intriguing show, kept me interested the whole way. The pace slows in later episodes. The English subtitles were adequate, but could have really used a fluent English editor.

Read More