Admittedly you don't see a lot of Aaron Yan at first, which may disappoint you, but that doesn't mean you won't fall in love with the other characters, each individually trying to overcome their own troubles. Aaron's appearances are short but sweet and later when he gets more air time, I fell in love with his sweet, loving character even more. His relationship with the Death Girl, Du may leave something to be desired but is in no way shallow. I felt every emotion in this drama. A must watch!
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Firstly the story is amazing, I give a 9 though instead of a 10 because the stories at the beginning are quite slow but improve as the drama progresses, but I warn anyone watching that there are a lot of heavy topics covered... but these stories really open up your eyes to the struggles that teenagers go through (not all are universal) and the music is great ! One of my favorite OST and it adds an eery tone to the drama.
Also, the cast is outstanding ! In particular Serena Fang who plays Du/Death Girl stands out, I can't believe I haven't seen her in anything else before this drama... she is the perfect death girl giving off a melancholy, mysterious exterior. Aaron Yan is is great to, but I wouldn't say his performance is that strong, Jiro Wang could have done it better and his character isn't as memorable as Xiao Lin and Da Dong where both of these actors give a lot of emotion. Also I couldn't take Wang Zi seriously as the 'bad boy' in the beginning, but other than that, an amazing cast !
Definitely watch this drama ! You'd be crazy to miss it :P
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Since this was my first T-drama, I didn't know any of the actors from beforehand. To me, this drama was depended more on its story than on the acting. At times, I felt that Aaron Yan's acting was slightly emotionless. Despite this, I think that all of the actors involved did an decent job portraying their characters. I felt that with the actors, there was an authenticity in conveying emotion which I think sometimes is hard to do.
It is not one of those dramas where you have to watch the episodes in order to understand the story. That is because each episode deals with a character as a central focus. Keep in mind, there are a couple of episodes bind together due to the characters that are involved. To understand Du's (Death Girl) motive for everything, you have to watch in order.
I can see myself watching this drama in the future.
Even though i can't identity the music, it made the drama that much better. The music parallels to the emotion of the characters. Sometimes there are turns within the music that lead me on but did the opposite of my expectations. I loved how the natural sounds within the filming locale are used to the drama's advantage.
This drama puts a focus on real life issues. After watching each episode, I wanted to watch the next. It focuses on the "Why" the characters resort to drastic measures. The drama also points out how the characters' choices are up to them not fate, and how their choices have a domino effect on the other characters.
I really liked that near the end, they gave us the backstory to Du. However, in the story featuring Du Ji, I felt that there was something missing. I think it's because his story was left with a couple loose ends. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending of the drama. This is not because of what happens but more of how everything comes full circle.
All in all, I thought that this was a very good drama. All of the expectations that I had when I started this went out the window after the first episode. And this drama left me wanting more.
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Story: The story follows a short period of the lives of some students from a school. It touches on a lot of harsh subjects such as being a homosexuality, domestic abuse and other subjects not often shown in dramas. Although the story is jam packed full of controversy it also has a bit of a boring side to be honest. Some parts of the story drag on for way to long then what should have been necessary. The only story i purely enjoyed was Nicole's story for some reason. I found the story about Du and Shen Qi to be not needed as it seemed so out of place and i think it could have been done a lot better.
Cast/Acting: There are a large range of actors in this drama but only very few appealed to me. Lin Chen Xi who played Nico/Nicole was my favourite actress in this drama as she made the character that she was playing really believable.
Music: Was really well chosen for this drama i personally loved the Song Gloomy Sunday from the story from Nicole's story and after i looked it up i found out why it was so well chosen for this drama. I admit i loved the song so i downloaded it as depressing as the song is.
Rewatch Value: I personally would only watch 2-3 stories again as some really made me sleepy watching them as they were so much more mild then others but everyones tastes differ.
Overall: This drama was really something worth watching cause even if you did not like some of the stories there will be at least one or two you will enjoy and will really make you think. I recommend giving this drama a try but its not one for people who cant take sad and depressing stories.
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If you don't like dramas about certain sensative issues like suicide and sex, then don't watch this.
If you do, then I would defiantely watch it!
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There are many threads, so at the beginning I could't understant all things. In every episode, there appears so many characters with worse and worse problems. Of course, I expected the most, when Shen Qi starts to act. Ya Lun got the special role again.
As to Death... I dislike her image, because she looks like the witch from Snow White. Really! I expected the scene with poisoned apple. Du should be more... immaterial? Yeah. Maybe I like her more in this case.
Anyway, this legend is amazing!
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It is a shame that Si Shen Shao Nu has slid so far under the radar. But until this story acquires the popularity it deserves, you may feel privileged to have uncovered a hidden gem.
Aaron Yan and Selena Fang's characters have a powerful connection, but don't be fooled by the cover, there are many more extraordinary people awaiting the attention of your eyes... or should I call them... teachers...?
The masterfully intertwined tales explore the depths of humanity. By the end, you will not only have a sense of fulfillment from the drama's satisfying completion, but you will also have attained wisdom of yourself, others, and the surrounding world.
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To BL Fans out there - must watch this for ep13 & 14.
To ANY BL FANS OUT THERE watch episode 13 & 14. BL story between toxic bully Da Dong & his pushover ukke Xiao Lin. it's real, toxic, sweet & well made. Don't fall for the terrible title or supernatural tone - they are incidental to the story.I'm into the Bully-to-lover trope in BL but most of them have the bullies turn soft at the drop of a hat and just transform unrealistically the moment they set their eyes on their ukkes. This one however treats it the right way, we see a realistic growth with time - always trust good writing to come from a Taiwanese production.
Gloomy Days (Ep 13 & 14) also does a good job of giving layers to the bully. The actor plays this multidimensional bad boy character well, realistically shows his inability to healthily deal with his attraction to the girliest ukke on campus, which does cross a line big time & then even more...so you might get triggered but then again it's pretty measured and isn't gratuitous.
There's so much more to it. i just like how the writing gives a peak into how complicated it is for the ukke, it shows how toxic-ly he's also kinda into him. The show isn't problematic, it's just dealing with complicated subject matter, which is kinda real.
Simply put this is a well made, short but good story line - yes it's toxic but it's also tender and it's got small moments of humour- which is a sign of good writing I've heard. over all it's written well. Worth a rewatch for sure!!
Xiao lin & Da Dong could work great as BL series leads, this story can easily be unpacked into a good season of 8-9 episodes - just take out the supernatural element, which is quite incidental to the narrative and voila you got a classic BL waiting for you. Hope some thai or taiwanese production house thinks of doing this. We need a complicated, messy & sweet BL by now!
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