Kotori
Singapore
I really like it!
There are quite a few negative critiques for the Dance of the Sky Empire (DoSE). Before you read my review, I have to say: I AM BIASED. People who read my reviews know that I love Xu Kai more than any actors in the C-Drama land. In this review, I am trying to be the most objective as I can: I really like this drama.
Be warned that there are some minor spoilers. So here we go.
1 "Emotional Rollercoaster": 5/5 ★★★★★
I agree with many of you that if you would look this drama from a serious perspective, it lacks in many perspectives: the naiveness and weakness of the "spy", the missing plot to develop the background story of the ML Li Xuan, the unnecessary second love couple. After a few episodes, it is clear that this is not a deep, mind-wrecking, spy-drama, in fact, it is a funny, romance, school drama, set in an ancient/fantasy world. The whole birth and spy thing are just how other school-romance shows create misunderstandings and put roadblocks for the leads but in a unique way. As long as they make the audience tear and cringe, they have achieved what a great school-romance drama supposed to do. That's why I really like this drama.
So what are the components of an excellent school-romance drama: comedy, romance, and heart-wrenching sorrow. And the mix of DoSE is perfect. I went from laughing out loud during the school scenes, to "oh my gosh, this is so sweet" during their time inside the realm, to crying from pain in the middle and around the end of the drama. The end of the realm arc has one of the most abusive scenes I have seen in drama land. Once again, I need to emphasize that Xu Kai performs the most beautiful crying scenes I have ever seen in a male actor. I actually think he has some sort of button he clicks to control the flow of his tears in terms of position and speed. This is just insane!
Wu Jia Yi did a better job in Arsenal than here, but I blame it on her character design rather than her acting skills.
2. "Sleepless Nights.": 5/5 ★★★★★
I was binge-watching the entire drama and could not wait for the new episodes.
3. "Natural and intelligent Storytelling.": 5/5 ★★★★★
Despite the light-hearted school elements of the drama, it cleverly integrated a serious topic: discrimination and how useless war and revenge between races are. Netizens have pointed out that the FL Su You Lian's is too soft-hearted and her behavior is not suitable/realistic for being a spy. Don't forget that not everyone can be cold and heartless once trained. YL soon realized how kind humans are in reality and was conflicted between her obligation as the holy lady and her foundness towards her school mates.
I would find it more unrealistic if LX would fall in love with a fierce and heartless spy who was determined to deceive everyone. I could also perfectly emphasize with LX or YL why they would behave the way at each point of the story.
There are some minor plot holes and illogicality (e.g. superpowers which are there when they need to be but disappear when they are not needed), but I was able to ignore them.
4. "Loveable supporting Roles.": 4/5 ★★★★☆
The show employs a few very beautiful and young actors, who did a pretty good job. There is a personality for everyone.
Big applause for the performance of Zhou Jun Chao, who played Xiao Feng Ming. I saw him in "Handsome Siblings" as the villain Jiang Yu Lang and do believe he has a bright future as an actor. I also really like the best friends Chang Qing and Ling Cheng, two very different characters but with a strong bonds that warm your heart. Another honorable mention is the crown prince played by Zhang Song. Despite playing this dorky, stupid prince, who no one seems to take seriously, his acting was extremely to the point, and his talent cannot be ignored!
Last but not least, Yu Xing Tong's performance as Long Wei Er. She has a, if not the most interesting roles in this drama that provides more depth than other dramas; her character development is convincing and heart-wrenching towards the end. I can understand why some netizen end up rooting for her rather than for the FL.
The one minus point is deducted for the siblings from the country of Sha Guo. There are both very pretty people, but their performance of playing the important ML2 Yu Feng Mu and FL3 Yun Shan is disappointing. I also saw myself fast-forwarding some of the scenes between Yun Shan and Xiao Feng Ming as I found the romance scenes forced and the chemistry missing.
5. "Proper Pacing": 4/5 ★★★★☆
With only 28 episodes, I saw myself wanting for more. The last 1-2 episodes feel slightly rushed and though I was hoping some of the emotional climaxes could have been depicted better, I find the episode number to be suitable for such a light-hearted school-romance drama. There is a nice climax in the middle following by a second arc. There are no unnecessary watering down, though sometimes there could have been fewer flashbacks.
6. "Technicalities": 4/5 ★★★★☆
Despite being a low-budget drama, the technicalities are nicely done. Especially, I was impressed with the CGI-enriched fighting scenes. This goes really badly with a lot of Chinese drama but DoSE did a decent job there. I also really like the rooms' internal designs - make me want to stay in one of those student dorms. And finally the songs are just beautiful - they are part of my frequent play list now.
7. "Solid Final": 4/5: ★★★★☆
For me, the final is not only the last episode but also how it is building towards the climax. In that sense, I like the ending. I am not going to spoil it for everyone but I understand why the writers have chosen such an ending. It would have been less convincing otherwise.
I love the fact that there was so much heart-warming act of forgiveness and letting go of hate. Many historical Wu Xia is so much about revenge from head to toe and it is great to see that the pointlessness of that (e.g. the last scene Long Wei Er was so beautifully taken).
Overall, I would give this drama a 9.0 out of 10. I would recommend it anyone who likes romance, friendship, school but with slightly more depth and twists. And of course to anyone who loves Xu Kai as much as I do!
----------------------------------
Kotori's drama review seven criteria definition:
After having watched many dramas and also written several reviews. I have detected that I rate dramas based on specific patterns. I formulated those into seven criteria.
1. "Emotional Rollercoaster": the degree of how much my heart was moving from the acting, scenes, and story development (e.g., in pain, pounding, fluster etc.). The degree on how much I care about the fate of the main leads.
2. "Sleepless Nights.": how much I have the urge to binge-watch this drama.
3. "Natural and intelligent Storytelling.": how logically the story was able to proceed and the roles are acting within their characters. I don't have a thousand question marks when watching the drama. The feeling that the makers take us viewers seriously and that we do not always think that this looks fake.
4. "Loveable supporting Roles.": how much I love and care about supporting characters. They are not merely tools to help the main characters but are 3-dimensional and have the proper motivation behind their actions.
5. "Proper Pacing.": how well the drama is pacing and not watered down to fill the number of episodes.
6. "Technicalities": professional camera works and shots, fight scenes, color grading, lighting, editing, music, sets, costumes, use of CGI etc. I try to grade this in relation to the drama budget, so a low-budget drama can equally get a high score when used at the right place
7. "Solid Finale": how properly the drama builds dramatic and finishes with a satisfactory ending. I have just watched too many dramas that start to lose their grip around half or 2/3rd of its way.
Be warned that there are some minor spoilers. So here we go.
1 "Emotional Rollercoaster": 5/5 ★★★★★
I agree with many of you that if you would look this drama from a serious perspective, it lacks in many perspectives: the naiveness and weakness of the "spy", the missing plot to develop the background story of the ML Li Xuan, the unnecessary second love couple. After a few episodes, it is clear that this is not a deep, mind-wrecking, spy-drama, in fact, it is a funny, romance, school drama, set in an ancient/fantasy world. The whole birth and spy thing are just how other school-romance shows create misunderstandings and put roadblocks for the leads but in a unique way. As long as they make the audience tear and cringe, they have achieved what a great school-romance drama supposed to do. That's why I really like this drama.
So what are the components of an excellent school-romance drama: comedy, romance, and heart-wrenching sorrow. And the mix of DoSE is perfect. I went from laughing out loud during the school scenes, to "oh my gosh, this is so sweet" during their time inside the realm, to crying from pain in the middle and around the end of the drama. The end of the realm arc has one of the most abusive scenes I have seen in drama land. Once again, I need to emphasize that Xu Kai performs the most beautiful crying scenes I have ever seen in a male actor. I actually think he has some sort of button he clicks to control the flow of his tears in terms of position and speed. This is just insane!
Wu Jia Yi did a better job in Arsenal than here, but I blame it on her character design rather than her acting skills.
2. "Sleepless Nights.": 5/5 ★★★★★
I was binge-watching the entire drama and could not wait for the new episodes.
3. "Natural and intelligent Storytelling.": 5/5 ★★★★★
Despite the light-hearted school elements of the drama, it cleverly integrated a serious topic: discrimination and how useless war and revenge between races are. Netizens have pointed out that the FL Su You Lian's is too soft-hearted and her behavior is not suitable/realistic for being a spy. Don't forget that not everyone can be cold and heartless once trained. YL soon realized how kind humans are in reality and was conflicted between her obligation as the holy lady and her foundness towards her school mates.
I would find it more unrealistic if LX would fall in love with a fierce and heartless spy who was determined to deceive everyone. I could also perfectly emphasize with LX or YL why they would behave the way at each point of the story.
There are some minor plot holes and illogicality (e.g. superpowers which are there when they need to be but disappear when they are not needed), but I was able to ignore them.
4. "Loveable supporting Roles.": 4/5 ★★★★☆
The show employs a few very beautiful and young actors, who did a pretty good job. There is a personality for everyone.
Big applause for the performance of Zhou Jun Chao, who played Xiao Feng Ming. I saw him in "Handsome Siblings" as the villain Jiang Yu Lang and do believe he has a bright future as an actor. I also really like the best friends Chang Qing and Ling Cheng, two very different characters but with a strong bonds that warm your heart. Another honorable mention is the crown prince played by Zhang Song. Despite playing this dorky, stupid prince, who no one seems to take seriously, his acting was extremely to the point, and his talent cannot be ignored!
Last but not least, Yu Xing Tong's performance as Long Wei Er. She has a, if not the most interesting roles in this drama that provides more depth than other dramas; her character development is convincing and heart-wrenching towards the end. I can understand why some netizen end up rooting for her rather than for the FL.
The one minus point is deducted for the siblings from the country of Sha Guo. There are both very pretty people, but their performance of playing the important ML2 Yu Feng Mu and FL3 Yun Shan is disappointing. I also saw myself fast-forwarding some of the scenes between Yun Shan and Xiao Feng Ming as I found the romance scenes forced and the chemistry missing.
5. "Proper Pacing": 4/5 ★★★★☆
With only 28 episodes, I saw myself wanting for more. The last 1-2 episodes feel slightly rushed and though I was hoping some of the emotional climaxes could have been depicted better, I find the episode number to be suitable for such a light-hearted school-romance drama. There is a nice climax in the middle following by a second arc. There are no unnecessary watering down, though sometimes there could have been fewer flashbacks.
6. "Technicalities": 4/5 ★★★★☆
Despite being a low-budget drama, the technicalities are nicely done. Especially, I was impressed with the CGI-enriched fighting scenes. This goes really badly with a lot of Chinese drama but DoSE did a decent job there. I also really like the rooms' internal designs - make me want to stay in one of those student dorms. And finally the songs are just beautiful - they are part of my frequent play list now.
7. "Solid Final": 4/5: ★★★★☆
For me, the final is not only the last episode but also how it is building towards the climax. In that sense, I like the ending. I am not going to spoil it for everyone but I understand why the writers have chosen such an ending. It would have been less convincing otherwise.
I love the fact that there was so much heart-warming act of forgiveness and letting go of hate. Many historical Wu Xia is so much about revenge from head to toe and it is great to see that the pointlessness of that (e.g. the last scene Long Wei Er was so beautifully taken).
Overall, I would give this drama a 9.0 out of 10. I would recommend it anyone who likes romance, friendship, school but with slightly more depth and twists. And of course to anyone who loves Xu Kai as much as I do!
----------------------------------
Kotori's drama review seven criteria definition:
After having watched many dramas and also written several reviews. I have detected that I rate dramas based on specific patterns. I formulated those into seven criteria.
1. "Emotional Rollercoaster": the degree of how much my heart was moving from the acting, scenes, and story development (e.g., in pain, pounding, fluster etc.). The degree on how much I care about the fate of the main leads.
2. "Sleepless Nights.": how much I have the urge to binge-watch this drama.
3. "Natural and intelligent Storytelling.": how logically the story was able to proceed and the roles are acting within their characters. I don't have a thousand question marks when watching the drama. The feeling that the makers take us viewers seriously and that we do not always think that this looks fake.
4. "Loveable supporting Roles.": how much I love and care about supporting characters. They are not merely tools to help the main characters but are 3-dimensional and have the proper motivation behind their actions.
5. "Proper Pacing.": how well the drama is pacing and not watered down to fill the number of episodes.
6. "Technicalities": professional camera works and shots, fight scenes, color grading, lighting, editing, music, sets, costumes, use of CGI etc. I try to grade this in relation to the drama budget, so a low-budget drama can equally get a high score when used at the right place
7. "Solid Finale": how properly the drama builds dramatic and finishes with a satisfactory ending. I have just watched too many dramas that start to lose their grip around half or 2/3rd of its way.
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