Derailment (2023)

First half is great, the second half falls short

The best part about this drama it that it constantly keeps you guessing. Just when you think that you have you figured out, it changed lanes and the transition was very smooth. Things went good till ep 18-19, after that the drama was just kinda of okay. The thrill was lost.

The chemistry between the ML and FL was quite good so in the later episodes i just skipped to their parts till the end. It could be because this was an ongoing drama and I watched some other drams in between, but the second half just wasn't interesting enough in my books.

*Major Spoiler*
The time travel and dimensions was much more interesting than memory loss angle we got. That's where things went wrong for this drama.

But i would definitely rewatch it at least once, maybe then it would be better. I just want to give it one more try to convince me that the second half was not a waste of time.

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full of suspense, gd+int plot

I'm usually a fan of time-travelling/parallel dimension plots. So far, this drama is quite good, the suspense builds up and keeps me entertained and looking forward to the next ep. I have not read the novel so I have no idea what's happening next. This drama seems to have a great cast, good acting esp from the lead actress considering her first time starring in a TV drama. From the perspective of someone that watched all 13 eps, I can guarantee that the next few would be the highlights of how JXY would be closer to her motive of going back to her origin world (2025). I have this feeling that if she meets Huo Boyu in the 2018 world (he time travelled), she might be able to go back to her origin world since huo boyu is on a mission to bring her back, suggesting that he KNOWS how to get back. (keep in mind this is my own theory so im not too sure if this would happen).

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Finally completed it!

I finally managed to complete this series entirely, with a few skips of scenes here and there. Overall, the series is not that bad or extremely good. It - for me personally - stands between a fine line of good and bad. I got slightly "conned" by the time traveling part mentioned in the synopsis. This is definitely not a time traveling series like Serendipity, but more science project gone wrong. That said, 30 episodes for this..... abit tad long for me.

Both the Male and Female Lead are good, they did a great job bringing the characters and the series to life along with the rest of the casts. Despite some criticism about the Male Lead - Lin Yi - I would like to point out that he actually did a good job of portraying the character. Expressionless is most likely something the directors and script needs him to be. So I would say he nailed it awesomely. There are many other series with men portrayed like him also. Even in real life there are some people who are like how he is portrayed in the series. Expressionless, aloof, cold etc. The Female lead is cool, with her bubbliness, positiveness and her never giving up attitude. The only thing I couldn't stand - and most of the parts i skipped - was the bossy princess know it all attitude at the beginning when she found out she is "poor". But that also proves she is good in portraying her character of both being the rich princess and the poor scrapping person. The rest of the casts also did a great job. Especially love the hair salon manager - his antics are just so adorable. The evil person behind all the fiasco also really did a great job of being evil and two faced. Great job!

Music was also awesome. Paired nicely with the series.

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10/10

i only found out about this drama while scrolling through douyin and thought it was a high school drama because of the short clip on douyin. decided to give it a watch only because the ml was linyi 😭

the plot was unpredictable and insane. don’t tell me you knew that there wasn’t a parallel universe since the start because i would not believe you.

the osts!! awesome. it’s so ear-catching and the lyrics have such a deeper meaning to it.

the acting. i feel like the FL did such a great job overall, especially the crying scenes. the ML also did a great job, but i just couldn’t feel the emotions on some of the crying scenes he was in. but when he’s angry, his eyes has expressions that could easily be told.

overall such a 10/10 with the characters and all. would definitely rewatch!!

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interesting?

I saw the drama trailer and I thought it was interesting.
The first episode looks good for the shooting, the effects in the drama and the cinematography, but I have to say FL's acting really bothered me

FL's gestures were awkward with an unconcealable expression in her expression. the plot in the first episode was also not strong enough for me, it seemed like something was missing in this episode with the plot when FL and her friend were on the bridge, I found that scene to be strange. especially then the next day FL changed into really nice, neat and fashionable clothes and went back to the bridge, isn't that strange?

During the ML scene it was also strange, I thought his friend had just entered the operating room (?) but he had already been taken to the rooftop? This is what I also find strange

in episode two I tried to survive, but couldn't. Maybe if I have the intention to continue, I'll try watching it again

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Allegory for the new age visualisations

We live in an era, where pop culture and mindfulness coaches urge us to achieve more than our limiting beliefs. I feel this drama is more related to the self-delusional dreams every average person makes, rather than offer a case for arguments over technology overriding our will. It's not technology that leads to mental illness. It's our high hopes and dreams and constant drive to overachieve. Statistically, most people fail in their road to overcome their socio-economic class. Competition is fierce. The only thing that matters is that some people care for us, no matter what we achieve in life. And this is portrayed excellently in Lin Yi's character, where he just cares for this lady, for years. He's not into her to gain something. And along her career, she gains friends and their support. That is the most valuable thing. A community where people care for each other. That's the final taste of this drama. I loved it! Congratulations to the crew!

One more note on visualisations: People over the internet spread information on how to visualise you are "abundant" in money and love. Make vision boards with your dream house and vacation...I feel this is all crap stories that poison one's mind and detach them from reality. People in denial of their socio-economic background or "failed" loved stories. People desiring to get into mass hypnosis and forget their regrets. We watch hot C-drama actors, like this hunk Lin Yi, who might be rich, good-looking and on their rise up to popularity, and we dream meeting a guy like him. But he might have mental issues we don't know about. His everyday life might have a ton of problems. These actors might gain 1 million one day, and the next a shrewd scammer might tempt them to an ambiguous investment and lose it all! Our derailed desires and self-defeating hallucinations are the biggest danger in 2024!

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Between Virtual Reality and Real World

This Sci-Fi Chinese drama is a rare one. Keep in mind this is not a drama for everyone.
However try watching it before reading the reviews (as I did).

I rarely review chinese drama but here we go.

First of all... the story. It may seems like a virtual reality world kind of drama but as the story grows, it gradually become a story about altered memory. The writer guided us from the start as if Jiang Xiao Yuan (JXY) traveled through time from 2025 back to 2018 where she met Qi Lian (QL). Whilst QL took her as his old love interest but JXY had no memory of it thinking she occupied his old lover's body. They went through a love-hate relationships throughout the story to find the truth and tried to find ways for JXY to go back to her original world. They clearly were attracted to each other but their pride got in the way. If you are looking for a romantic genre, this is not one. So don't get your hopes on high on this. There's some light romance story but that's it.

However, there was a plot twist towards the end (writer took us on a roller coaster ride) where both JXY and QL found that there was no time travel or other parallel world. It was actually an altered memory where JXY joined as trial experiment participant (Lighthouse system) to earn money for her grandma's medication. It turns out that QL was also one of the earliest participant of the Lighthouse system owned by the original creator (Noah aka Xu Jing Yang-XJY).
JXY altered memory experiment was done by Fan Xiao Xiao (FXX) who stole the whole experiment from Noah, as FXX did not have all the data (and apparently Noah installed a pre warning to QL if his experiment is being used), JXY altered memory showed some problems. Whilst QL was a success story, FXX was not (she experienced some setbacks after the experiment hence she stole the whole thing to make things right).

After the whole roller coaster ride story of both QL & JXY life, they eventually got together and be honest to each other.
Along the way come this new character, Jiang Bo (JB) as the adopted son of FXX and serve as bff for both JXY & QL. He was used and abused by his adopted mother FXX so severely that he kinda lost hope in life but JXY made a great impact in his life that he pull himself together and start living life the way he want it.
In the end FXX was defeated and captured and JXY, QL and JB did live a happy life in the end.

Okay, story wise it may seems boring at first and some parts of it (especially about the make up thingy, salon thingy) but overall the mystery surrounding Lighthouse System and whether XJY did exist as a person or not were intriguing enough for me to keep following the drama from start to end. It did give us a satisfactory ending and would love to see more romance but as the genre it is, I'm satisfied it is. (A follow up wedding of JXY & QL would be nice though).

Lin Yi as an actor always delivered his acting excellently. No doubt he is not just a handsome one but great in acting as well. All his facial expression clearly shown throughout his acting. Love seeing him taking different roles in acting (not just romance genre all the time). Will definitely looking forward for his next projects.

Liu Hao Cun is considered newbie in acting world but her acting amazed me. Then I found out that she was handpicked by the renowned directy Zhang Yi Mou, no wonder she was really good. Her height difference with Lin Yi was really cute and they made a great couple. Looking at some BTS in the drama, shes actually really cute and playful. I know there's a lot of negative comments about her acting but for me, I watched her first before I read so it didn't really bothered me as for me her acting was on point.

All of the other actors were really great too and funny at times. I really like the actor playing Jiang Bo as not only handsome but did great too. Also the one playing Cheng Fang Zhou, he was really funny and loyal throughout the series. I really despise the character of Fan Xiao Xiao (the actress did really good though) to the point that I hate seeing her when she came out in the series (haha). So in my opinion all of the actors did well.

Overall, it was a great drama and I rarely find a sci fi chinese drama really good like this that kept me on edge when watching it. Dramas that made you wait for 1-2 eps everyday and watching in patiently must be really good or interesting.
So don't hesitate and start watching it especially if you really like sci-fi drama like this. I will definitely re-watch it again sometimes later.
I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do. Enjoy ^^

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happy ending + must watch

for those who are wondering its happy ending

**spoilers**
firstly, i know male lead was being toxic in the middle i think 7th episode but he made up for it, he was with her til the end and was INLOVE with her.. in a way, his toxicity does make sense(?) since the whole drama was all about mentality basically so it does kind of make sense. secondly the female leads acting is a carry for the drama but the male lead doesn't lack in any way, he can portray the lethal boyfriend really well!! thirdly, the couples have AMAZING chemistry so its a definite watch

male lead characteristics: lethal, protective and caring
female lead characteristics: outgoing, stubbornly nice and lost girl

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