Acting/Cast: Everyone acted well.
Music: Suitable.
Rewatch value: Not a candidate for re-watch though there are some scenes between the female lead and male lead that may be nice to go back to.
Overall: Watchable entertainment but with some lengthy scenes that could have been cut short. If they are aiming for a Season 3, I hope they will stop trying to drag the story out...but this is the Chinese we are talking about. They'll probably milk this cow and bleed it dry until it can no longer walk and the audience drop like flies as time passes! Compared to Whirlwind Girl 1, this drama is comparable but slightly on the lesser side.
Was this review helpful to you?
Again, if you're looking for a romance series, don't watch this. Although it has so many dreamy, romantic scenes, it is still a martial arts themed drama. and no ship will sail lol.
After watching season 2, I was curious what others thought and I was surprised that so many people didn't like it even after watching the whole season. It was understandable that many will not like it at first because they changed the actress who played the lead role AND Yang Yang is not in this season. I must admit I was hesitant to start it because there is no Yang Yang BUT I think the new Qi Bai Cao suited the role much better than the first one. And the MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR is Ji Chang Wook was introduced as the new lead actor. And there are so many things to like in this new season.
1. Storywise, I like Season 2 better. The characters had matured and the story became deeper and more complicated. Even tho this is not a romance story, there were so many romantic scenes that any normal girl will have her heart melting from those scenes.
2. Cooler action scenes. Also, Bai Cao and Chang An's training scenes were beautiful. It's like they're dancing and they're so good to look at.
3. Fang Ting Hao. I liked him in Season 1. I love him in Season 2. His character is just so deep and I really feel sorry for him. He suffered a lot because of his love for Bai Cao.
4. The music. Chen Xiang's (played Fang Ting Hao) voice is so dreamy. I just love his songs in the series (both in seasons 1 and 2).
5. A lot of people hated the last 2 episodes because they were mostly flashbacks. I don't mind. Most of them were my favorite scenes anyway. They were nice flashbacks.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
I decided to watch it because I really wanted to know that happened to Ruo Bai and the end results of the competition between Bai Cao and Ting Yi. (And also for Ji Chang Wook XD!) Considering the fact that Yang Yang couldn't return to film this, I didn't mind they way that they approached the Ruo Bai matter.
Even though I usually like romances in the dramas I watch, I enjoyed the fact that this drama was mainly focused on the competitions, action, etc. In my opinion, the story line would probably still have worked without a love line between the two main leads. I think I even enjoyed the first 18~20ish episodes more because there was so little/no romantic plot-line in the first half of the drama.
The drama could have done with less flashbacks. Many of the flashbacks would be one after another without the extra flashbacks adding anything important.(I.e. They could have just flashed-back to just one moment instead of many.) From the last two episodes, only the first 20~25 minutes were actually important. Also considering the amount of overlapping between each episode (i.e. last bit of the episode and the beginning of the next episode), the whole drama felt a little draggy. It was almost as if they were trying to make the drama last a bit longer. The drama could have probably been done in 34 episodes, maybe even 32.
I didn't mind the change of the main characters that much, they're pretty good actors/actresses, but it did take an episode or 2 to adjust to the change in actress playing Bai Cao.
The ending is very open-ended for the Ruo Bai matter and also the Ting Hao and Feng Yun situation, making me hope that there will be at least some sort of sequel for this sequel! (But at least the ending wasn't abrupt like the 1st season!)
The music is not memorable, but suitable.
I would probably re-watch it if a sequel came out.
Overall, (maybe an unpopular opinion,) I think I enjoyed this season a bit more than the first.
Was this review helpful to you?
The story is anchored on its first season's plots with the lead girls character BaiCao but a different actress playing the role. Other supporting characters are also present from season 1. And then there's the new character of the new Master of Yuan Da Yaw by the name of Chang An. Chang An is the new Coach/master who is cold and tough at the beginning but he turned out to be a kind-hearted, soft spoken, affectionate, loyal and loving person. The story is actually just a continuation of the season1 plot and that is of the hardship of a young woman's dream to become a martial arts champion. It is a story of friendship, forgiveness, loyalty and affectionate love! Here is also about how to overcome the fears that crippled one to do what he/she is ought to do. I like the many interactions and sweet moments of the leads which are enough to stir up the heart and make this drama an enjoyable to watch in the love arena.
The acting of the two main leads in my opinion is better than their predecessors! The two leads look good together. Ji Chang Wook is the perfect Master Chang An. His beautiful and lovely face gives more vibrant and color to the whole drama. Ji Chang Wook is just the perfect ideal boyfriend and the husband material in this story! He just nailed the character so believably. I love as well all his wardrobes, Ji Chang Wook has a real high fashion sense, thanks to his stylist, they know what they are doing! Those outfits add more life to the generally happy ambiance of the drama. An Xie portrays BaiCao well, i think she is prepared especially on the martial arts side! Although she cries a lot here and she is sooo naive and so lame, she often fall down so that Ji Chang wook has to always carry her! I find it ironic since she is a martial arts person and supposed to be a strong physically! Anyway, together with Ji Chang Wook, they made the drama swoon worthy to watch! I love their chemistry! I love especially how they are on a training that looks like they are dancing! The choreography is executed very well! It gives a heart melting experienced.
The music is definitely one to be looking forward to. I love all the OSTs, melodies are heart warming, lyrics are fitting. I especially love the background everytime CA and BC is practising and or dancing the martial arts.
I will definitely watch this again just to see JCW and his warm, positive and his relenttless affections to An Xie!
All in all, this is a drama worth watching if you happen to like a light, warm, happy kind of stuff in your drama binge.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
WARNING! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1From the start I hated the second season. But after half of the season (don't know how I could continue watching, suppose i was to curious) I started to like the drama and at the end I had surrendered. I can’t remember how many times I have rewatch this drama or how many times I have cried over it.
STORY- It is so sad and heartbreaking in the beginning that I almost dropped the drama right away but my curiosity for what actually happened to some of the characters made me continue watching and then I also couldn’t stop watching when my favorite actor was acting. Jin Chang Wook as the new instructor and trainer Chang An with a very special view of training and pushes the team and Qi Bai Cao to their edge. I also feel so sorry for Fang Ting Hao played by Chen Sean, it’s amazing and so heartbreaking how deep his love is for Qi Bai Cao. I feel that in this story there is so much about changing and development for almost all the characters. Not in just fighting but how they are as persons and humans and how they see each other either as friends or enemies.
ACTING/CAST- I’m so sad that Yanga Yang couldn’t film in this season I missed him so much, especially with season 1 ending. Jin Chang Wook was the one that healed my wounds. His acting is flawless as always. But this time I think that Chen Sean is in the same lead now. Fang Ting Hao’s broken heart was very good played out by Chen Sean, he did a good job with the feelings, even better in the second season than the first. I also should mention Qi Bai’s best friend Fan Xiao Ying played by Tan Song Yun, I liked her acting skill, she was the funniest one to watch. I can even say that I like her character more than Qi Bai Cao, because she has this innocent playful mind and makes them end up in some troubles but with an innocent mind and does everything for her friends, even giving her biggest love away to her best friend and even be happy about it.
Not to mention Qi Bai’s proudest opponent from the start, Kim Min Joo played by Jiang Yi Yi. I like her fierce determination to defeat Qi Bai and how much she changed from feeling pushed down and humiliated by the matches that she lost against Qi Bai in the beginning and actually taking that as a challenge to get better and that some day defeat Qi Bai fair and square, without any bad feelings.
I really liked the new Qi Bai Cao, she is so much better with the facial expressions than the first one. I think that she expresses less anxiety than the first actor, Hu Bing Qing. The new Qi Bai Cao even showed more strength psychological. She could take more in a better way even after what happened in the first season.
MUSIC- The music was the best. It took out the deepest feelings. It really did a big thing in the drama.
REWATCH VALUE- Absolutely! As many times you can! Just because the second season is even more cluttered in the begining than the first season so you need to watch it again to get all the details. If you miss some details you will not enjoy the funny scenes nor the good scenes and you will note understand why good people do bad things. (just hinting to things in the drama)
OVERALL- the 2 season is so much better than the 1. At first you may not like it but trust me, it gets better, just watch it until the end. But I say the same as in the first review of season 1. There are too many episodes, the story is too long, I would have drop this one if it wasn’t for my curiosity. But this time I really think that every episode was worth it compared to season 1 where I think that they could have cut down story a bit. But in the second season they really needed every episode, but maybe they could have made 4 seasons instead of 3 so that the first and the second didn’t get so long.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Frustrating Yet Excitement
The characters' acting were pretty good, in terms of how they portray the martial arts and the moves. I felt so many different emotions, crying at a lot of the scenes.First off, I ship more Qi Bai Cao with Ruo Bai (Yang Yang) than Chang An (Ji Chang Wook). However, it's a good thing that the actors and actresses are different, making the shipping bearable than if the actors and actresses were the same. The action is SO GOOD, especially when Qi Bai Cao is the one fighting during the tournament.
Towards the last two episodes, I felt the continuous flashbacks was really unnecessary; basically, it's like a summary between Qi Bai Cao and Chang An. I wished there was a real ending; there were some parts where I felt should have had an ending.
I wished there was more relationship development between Hu Yi Feng (Leo Wu) and Fan Xiao Ying (Seven Tan). Throughout the drama, I was super excited about these two developing their relationship in the second season, as the first one showed a little bit. Wished they would be the leading characters again in a drama sometime in the future.
I really like Qi Bai Cao's character, as throughout the whole 2 seasons, she has her own morals and her forgiving personality really touched me.
Overall, this drama was still worth watching because of the action but not really for the romance.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Conflicted about this
I was surprised that I enjoyed season 1 as much as I did, so I was lookin g forward to season 2, only to find that I had a difficult time getting into the story. Part of it was how sad it was for about 12 episodes until Tokyo when she was finally able to start letting go. But crying for 12 episodes straight was not fun. I put the show on hold a couple of times before deciding to continue.After Tokyo, the story picked up and it was more enjoyable. As much as I like Sean Chen as Fang Ting Hao, I was pretty unhappy when he manipulated his 3-month promise from Qi Bai Cao. His obsession with her and wanting to control her was out of hand, even though he did many things to help her.
I felt that the second ML and FL had more chemistry in season 1 than 2. I know Yi Feng was away a lot in season 2 but I no longer felt their connection and rapport this season. It was so evident and cute in the first season. On the other hand, Chang An went through tremendous growth and was really fun to watch. I especially enjoyed his interactions with Fang Ting Hao.
The ending felt abrupt, even with 35 episodes. We did get clues about where everyone was headed, but it still felt very abrupt.
Was this review helpful to you?
