ltspada
This review may contain spoilers
Interesting premise, funny in parts, one of the better modern c-dramas
8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2016 Chinese romantic comedy romance series with 28, 45 minute episodes.
First I provide a synopsis then a review.
Synopsis
Xue Ling Qiao (Kim Tae Hwan), was transformed by a snow leopard bite into a being that heals quickly, has super human powers, and doesn't age. He was put into a perpetual slumber when his blood was drained and 100s of years pass until he is discovered. The scientists are transporting him to a research facility when a traffic accident results in him being revived. Tian Jing Zhi (Janice Wu) is a B grade actress who would have died in the traffic accident had Ling Qiao not chosen to share his blood and revive her. With everyone who knew long gone, Lin Qiao circles back to Jing Zhi and convinces her to let him stay at her place while he finds who put him in perpetual coma. Jing Zhi's high maintenance attitude has caused many boyfriends to run for the hills but she may have met a match in Lin Qiao who is calm in the face of every storm she creates. The two grow to like and depend on each other while working together to solve the mystery of Ling Qiao's past. Will the two figure out the mysterious circumstances and can they stay together?
Review
I typically read a lot of opinions and reviews before I watch anything. This one showed up on lists of recommendations so many times I finally decided to give it a try. I am not a huge fan of Chinese dramas. It has been compared to "He Who Came From the Stars" but I think of it as more in that same genre than a Chinese equivalent to that. The lead male character in both are sort of cold and unemotional and have super powers but I think that is the strongest ties between the two as they are completely different stories. While there have been some good Chinese dramas such as "Arsenal Military Academy" and "Falling Into Your Smile" and "You are My Glory", for me there are two many elements in C-Dramas that I find annoying. So, I read a lot of opinions on this and it seemed most people that liked other things I have enjoyed also liked this. Overall I have to agree. But the things that lessened it for me was the humor and it is really just a difference in what different cultures find humorous. The humor in this is mostly slap stick and they make silly noises and even have silly drawings to emphasize it. in the first episodes the female lead acts extremely slap stick silly and it was almost so much that I quit watching it. But I was determined to get through it to see what others had enjoyed. I am glad I stuck with it because it got a lot better. There was a lot less slap stick humor as the story progressed and she became a more mature and solid character. There were times she was way more clingy than I am comfortable with, I think if someone isn't putting any effort in then it's time to go "He's Not That Into You" and quit trying to so hard. It really felt like, if she backed off, he might value her more. I also did not find the male lead incredibly attractive so I had to accept that he was supposed to be or it made certain aspects of the story a challenge. His hair style contributed a lot to making him look not very attractive in my opinion. It was all brushed forward in sort of a modified bowl cut. I called it "coconut hair" and it was a very unflattering style. The actor has a very angular face which was "softened" and allowed his dimples to show when his hair was styled back. I felt like everyone was very harsh and cruel to Jing Zhi almost making comments that she was unlucky and a poor actress. Because of that her friends and family really angered me in the beginning. I know the luck aspect is very culturally important in Chinese culture and some of my impatience with that is because I come from a different cultural perspective. The voice over dubbing was really awful and it made things seem very unnatural. The voice over dubbed Chinese to Chinese I guess to give it a studio sound quality? It just makes their voices seem "off" very frequently and was unnecessary. I wanted to hear their voices as they were speaking not some later over dubbed voice.
Spoilers*
Her ex-boyfriend/nearly fiance having lung cancer and her having to choose between getting him to use his blood and losing him, was a good plot angel. I thought it revealed his character a lot that he had her make that decision. I understood what he was saying about nature and human greed and they made it even clearer with the glimpses into his past. To me though it is radically different making a choice whether or not to save someone nearing the end of their life or someone who would naturally die early. Especially since he was a police officer, a good one at that, and would have died as a result of exposure while on the job. I felt he should have understood why she couldn't ignore the obvious option of curing him. Although he did not admit to jealousy in that situation, I think it did motivate him. And it did reveal a more human side to him. Having been burned in the past by curing someone - he should have known that situation was very different and the individual that got greedy and held not saving someone against him was clearly mentally ill. I was not completely surprised at who the villain turned out to be although they did a good job of throwing the viewer off the trail on several occasion. I suspected the cousin multiple times. I will rarely watch a series without reading reviews enough to be sure it will not be sad ending. This was not a sad ending, they both were alive and well. But it was disappointing in that they were not together. She is holding out hopes he will come back as he left his ancestral jade with her and his house. And she is "dating" her cousins and stole his turtle to lure him back. I would have been way more disappointed if I did not know there was a 2nd season and they were very clearly leaving it open.
First I provide a synopsis then a review.
Synopsis
Xue Ling Qiao (Kim Tae Hwan), was transformed by a snow leopard bite into a being that heals quickly, has super human powers, and doesn't age. He was put into a perpetual slumber when his blood was drained and 100s of years pass until he is discovered. The scientists are transporting him to a research facility when a traffic accident results in him being revived. Tian Jing Zhi (Janice Wu) is a B grade actress who would have died in the traffic accident had Ling Qiao not chosen to share his blood and revive her. With everyone who knew long gone, Lin Qiao circles back to Jing Zhi and convinces her to let him stay at her place while he finds who put him in perpetual coma. Jing Zhi's high maintenance attitude has caused many boyfriends to run for the hills but she may have met a match in Lin Qiao who is calm in the face of every storm she creates. The two grow to like and depend on each other while working together to solve the mystery of Ling Qiao's past. Will the two figure out the mysterious circumstances and can they stay together?
Review
I typically read a lot of opinions and reviews before I watch anything. This one showed up on lists of recommendations so many times I finally decided to give it a try. I am not a huge fan of Chinese dramas. It has been compared to "He Who Came From the Stars" but I think of it as more in that same genre than a Chinese equivalent to that. The lead male character in both are sort of cold and unemotional and have super powers but I think that is the strongest ties between the two as they are completely different stories. While there have been some good Chinese dramas such as "Arsenal Military Academy" and "Falling Into Your Smile" and "You are My Glory", for me there are two many elements in C-Dramas that I find annoying. So, I read a lot of opinions on this and it seemed most people that liked other things I have enjoyed also liked this. Overall I have to agree. But the things that lessened it for me was the humor and it is really just a difference in what different cultures find humorous. The humor in this is mostly slap stick and they make silly noises and even have silly drawings to emphasize it. in the first episodes the female lead acts extremely slap stick silly and it was almost so much that I quit watching it. But I was determined to get through it to see what others had enjoyed. I am glad I stuck with it because it got a lot better. There was a lot less slap stick humor as the story progressed and she became a more mature and solid character. There were times she was way more clingy than I am comfortable with, I think if someone isn't putting any effort in then it's time to go "He's Not That Into You" and quit trying to so hard. It really felt like, if she backed off, he might value her more. I also did not find the male lead incredibly attractive so I had to accept that he was supposed to be or it made certain aspects of the story a challenge. His hair style contributed a lot to making him look not very attractive in my opinion. It was all brushed forward in sort of a modified bowl cut. I called it "coconut hair" and it was a very unflattering style. The actor has a very angular face which was "softened" and allowed his dimples to show when his hair was styled back. I felt like everyone was very harsh and cruel to Jing Zhi almost making comments that she was unlucky and a poor actress. Because of that her friends and family really angered me in the beginning. I know the luck aspect is very culturally important in Chinese culture and some of my impatience with that is because I come from a different cultural perspective. The voice over dubbing was really awful and it made things seem very unnatural. The voice over dubbed Chinese to Chinese I guess to give it a studio sound quality? It just makes their voices seem "off" very frequently and was unnecessary. I wanted to hear their voices as they were speaking not some later over dubbed voice.
Spoilers*
Her ex-boyfriend/nearly fiance having lung cancer and her having to choose between getting him to use his blood and losing him, was a good plot angel. I thought it revealed his character a lot that he had her make that decision. I understood what he was saying about nature and human greed and they made it even clearer with the glimpses into his past. To me though it is radically different making a choice whether or not to save someone nearing the end of their life or someone who would naturally die early. Especially since he was a police officer, a good one at that, and would have died as a result of exposure while on the job. I felt he should have understood why she couldn't ignore the obvious option of curing him. Although he did not admit to jealousy in that situation, I think it did motivate him. And it did reveal a more human side to him. Having been burned in the past by curing someone - he should have known that situation was very different and the individual that got greedy and held not saving someone against him was clearly mentally ill. I was not completely surprised at who the villain turned out to be although they did a good job of throwing the viewer off the trail on several occasion. I suspected the cousin multiple times. I will rarely watch a series without reading reviews enough to be sure it will not be sad ending. This was not a sad ending, they both were alive and well. But it was disappointing in that they were not together. She is holding out hopes he will come back as he left his ancestral jade with her and his house. And she is "dating" her cousins and stole his turtle to lure him back. I would have been way more disappointed if I did not know there was a 2nd season and they were very clearly leaving it open.
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