Babyface369
A must watch drama for 17+
Why? Read till the end…I didnt expect a court drama will be so interesting like this, the cases are from real events and very well choosen. Lots of famous real cases from this drama encourage us to think and understand the dilemma of both sides (defendant and plaintiff), how judges have to balance between law and morality.
The cases often spark debates, force us to rethink and open our mind in unexpected ways.
Acted by Jin Dong, Cheng Yi and lots of other veteran and excellent actors, undoubtedly they make this drama enjoyable to watch.
There are countless life lessons we cant ever get from ordinary dramas and we will regret if we miss them out.
So, for new watchers, just try to watch 2-3 series to see if you get hooked with the stories or not.
*The english subs is not the best, but still understandable. Its available on mangotv youtube channel too, where the translation seems better there.
**updated after finishing 40 episodes without skipping any scenes (which is rare nowadays)
Till the end, the plot flows smoothly, no dragging, fillers, etc.
Draw the Line is a rare gem and a must watch drama for 17+ people, not because of xxx of course, hahaha, because it needs deep comprehension and matured thinking to be able appreciating this kind of drama :D
It also teaches us to be aware on how to “draw the line” in our own life, since we are facing bad/good/grey area and have to make decisions everyday.
So if you are 17+, you must enjoy DTL, if you dont enjoy it, then you should call your parents to watch it, hahaha
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Almost Dropped It at First Episodes, but...
yes, i almost dropped IS after watching episode 1-2, but thanks God i choosed to skip a bunch of episodes and went directly to watch ep 15, the river of forgetfulness scenes, and i got hooked ever since, and now it turns out to be THE BEST XianXia Drama i'have ever seen.*ofcourse then i back to early episodes that i skipped at first, to get some foundation of the stories, haha.
well, we should admit it didnt start right.
first episodes were not appealing, especially episode-1 which was bad and slapped our high expectation for this drama. the plot was nothing new, flat, I didnt like to see Yan Dan because she seemed to me just the same as JinMi from Ashes of love, and the worst is the CGI, weird and cheap.
I was not a fan of Yangzi or Chengyi, so i couldnt stand it and almost dropped it. because i am in waiting of LLTG new episodes and nothing to watch in between, then i tried to skipped and went right away to ep 15, and unexpectedly got surprised by the beautiful scenes, interesting plot and especially the main lead's feeling portrayed by the actors was so real that i can only say WOW.
and then the rest is the history, because the plot become more interesting, and i am fascinating with ChengYi's skill of acting (eventhough i watched Love and Redemption before, and it was good), but i never thought that i would felt so moved by an actor's acting like now.
He indeed not just has a great acting skill, but an acting that ensoul the character to become truly alive, and we watchers could realy feel the pain etc.
And for the plot, what i could say is if we analyze it honestly, its better than classic popular xianxia TMOPB and AOL. If people watch IS first, they will agree with this. Lots of people may say IS has the common xianxia plot, yes because it launched after all the classic popular ones.
But actually after watching more episodes, most of the plot is different from previous xianxia's drama.
Here in IS, the character development happens slowly and clear, that in some way may make some people complaint about it as slow paced. i dont think so, since its better to know the process of falling in love and how the deep love rooted than just a short meeting and little foundation of love just like in most other dramas.
The ML falling in love with the FL not because of her appearance nor just lust, there were no scenes where the ML amazed with her look. They fall in love each other because spending time and knowing more each other's character, which make the cause of deep feeling they are having and the sacrifice acts more valid, comparing to sudden fall in love, out of nowhere.
Acted by ChengYi, this deep feeling of love, expressed ten fold. The way he kissed Yan Dan in ep 10 was so beautiful, i have never seen deep longing emotion kiss like that before in any dramas.
Kudos to the hairstyler, this is the first time i watch ML in white/grey hair become much more handsome than in black hair version, haha. You have raised the standard and i dont think it would be easy for future dramas to surpass this look of Ying Yuan and Xuan Ye. YY and XY is the most handsome and charismatic look ever in xianxia dramas.
About ChengYi, after watching IS, i browsed and watched all his live interviews, variety shows etc on youtube, i truly appreciate such sincere, humble, and very polite actor like him. He is a hardworker. Its a rare for introvert person like him to standout in film industry, everyone let him down and scloded him before, and it took 9 years for him to be widely recognized as he is now. His personal character and struggle, has inspired a lot of people including me, and he indeed deserve to be supported by all of us more than any other high profile actors.
He knows what he loves to do (acting) and go all out for it as we can watch his dedication on his marvellous acting. In IS he plays 3 different characters, YY, TZ, and Xuan Ye. Cheng Yi’s acting as Xuan Ye really surprised all of us, because usually he plays suffering protagonist roles. Xuan Ye is a scumbag and devilish asura king, and Cheng Yi make this character literaly become the hottest devil king ever alive in any dramas, hahaha..
I sincerely would like to give thanks to the scriptwriter, director and the whole casts and crews, you all have brought a little joy in our chaotic life.
So, if you love to watch a xianxia genre, if you only have to pick one xianxia drama in your life time, this is the one. period.
*if you feel the plot on first episodes are flat, boring, the cgi is bad, etc... just hang on, or just skip them to ep 9, it started to get more and more interesting from this episode and so on.
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MLC will make you smile a lot :)
When i saw the trailers, i thought wow, heavy detective theme and spooky ?But right after watching some episodes, it turns out to be light comedy, refreshing and funny ???
What amazed me is they were managed to add natural funny elements just within serious cases. Never watch a detective drama like this before, i smile and laugh alot ?
Stories are very interesting and interconnected each other and to the main plot. It teaches us a lot about letting go.
How LXY as number one martial art hero in the world, letting go everything and become LLH a simple man with carefree life. It very relate with our own life, where actually lots of things need to be let go.
Cases are like agatha christy novel style where there are so many suspects and twists in the end.
Martial art scenes are very aesthetic and artistic. Li Xiang Yi (Cheng Yi) is like dancing with his sword.
Acting is top notch. Cheng Yi never disappoint us. 99.9% people agree that he has unique face, eyes and acting skill that can express from funny, sad to villain.
Joseph and Aero + other casts are all also very good in acting and suitable to their roles = perfect cast.
99% people who were at first hesitant to start watching because of no romance, turn out to love MLC even more than their favorite romance dramas ?
All the reviews everywhere are very positive, even MLC page in MDL is the most peaceful page in MDL ? why? Because no debate at all, everyone just surprised how refreshing MLC is.
Overall i would say, this is a worth watching, unique and funny detective drama that we will never find anywhere else and may only happen once in many years.
So, happy watching new watchers, i can guarantee that you will smile alot with our trio main leads ??
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This review may contain spoilers
It started amazing before the screenwriter got dizzy in the middle ?
The concept and initial plot are excellent, and as a spy drama genre it has suspense that makes us hooked to watch the next episode. +Wuxia genre makes the cinematography excellent. Thats all the PROS.It was amazing 10/10 until about ep 16 when ziyu found out who yws is. After that revelation, the plot goes downward, unclear and like a forced light comedy ? for examples:
SPOILER alert !
1. The yws revelation was not done right, ziyu not seen/no time to get shocked, sad, etc. rather he just instantly accepted and defending yws all the time.
2. The three trials and how xiyu become instantly the best fighter were ridiculous and like jokes. Literally jokes since the younger generations all helping him to get through the trials with some unserious talks or expressions.
3. The ultimate villain and motive was very weak and not believable. How come he wanted to get the thousand flame that will kill lots lots of innocent people and make the world chaos just to get revenge for his parents? At least they should link him with the wufeng. At first i thought he is at least one of the four demons or two wufeng's devil haha..
The ultimate villain also not a story twist or shocking enough, since the they already give the clue too early.
4. The whole plot revelation was told by the ultimate villain in a very relaxed way ?
5. Sqx who was also main spy just disappear alot from middle to end episodes that i almost forget she is still in the drama ? the contrast with early episodes so big that makes it weird. Even yws role also become weaker.
6. Wufeng concept which start strong also become unclear and weak in the end. This makes the last and ultimate battle also too fast and weak.
Talking about fast, the fights in the whole series are also done so fast that we audience almost cant see anything ?
7. And many of other plot holes/unclear ones, for example about the mutan, about the writing on xiyu back etc. and again they are mostly happen after yws revelation. Its like two different scriptwriters.
8. The ending purpose also unclear and could have been better. Its not open ending, but premature ending. As alternative, for example since they introduce yws's twin suddenly in the end, they could have exchanged them (the new twin is the one who go back to gong's family) etc which can be more surprising and exciting.
Its sad how they ruin the plot from the middle to the end, and turn it from dark amazing suspenseful drama into ackward light comedy ?
So sad that makes me cant help expressing the dissapoinment
Anyway the pace of the suspense still good and enough to make us hooked and enjoy it till the end since ep16 (where the plot become a mess) already 2/3 of the whole drama.
In summary, its still a decent and beautiful suspense spy drama and worth watching. I still recommend it ?
One of the memorable quote is :
"no matter how long the night is, there will definitely be a sunrise" ?
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Sweet Love in spite of Tragedies
Well... First of all this drama was made 3 years ago and an A class budget drama. So considering these, its already outstanding, specifically in melodrama genre.Indeed the plot full of angst and villains who cause the angst. But, again, isnt it a what a melodrama should be?
So if our expectation is a romcom, this one indeed not the one. Its a melodrama in classic and maximum version ?
The plot was cliche, conflict and power struggle around rich families which we are all may have watched a lot before.
But still there are some points where SWK excelled :
- whenever MLFL get together, its very sweet and adorable. They are cute like teenagers who fall in love for the first time ?
- a series of unfortunate events indeed happen in reality too, thats why we still able to get lots of life lessons from enduring Yun Shen and Xu Jiu.
Even from villains, because SWK very clear with what their background and motives in doing evil deeds.
- the OST are very very beautiful, kdrama vibe
Actually all the snows, ost, and environment all feel like in kdrama, even the plot also like in kdrama (a few years ago trend).
- acting quality is no joke, CY really portray despair and sad feeling like no one else. Ppl said there is brokeness feeling in his acting that we rarely found anywhere else. XYZ also act very well here, their chemistry feel natural and sweet.
Conclusion :
So if you are melodrama lovers and appreciate + enjoy acting skill (love to immerse on feeling of the leads) more than plot, i would say SWK is perfect for you.
But if you expect romcom and also demand unique plot, then just watch the sweet moments between MLFL, surely you will still able to smile alot looking at them, its very rare adult romance can be as cute and adorable as their romance and certainly you will not want to miss it ?
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It has great storyline, the story starts almost the same as in Ruler of the Mask, but the second half is much more better. I dont know why it has much lower rating, but this is definitely underrated film.
It is a romeo and juliet kind of story with political plot.
Most of the character positions are the same as in the history (real story), so maybe its just potrayed almost the same dilemma as its real story.
There is no antagonist, since every character has their own reasons on doing their bad actions, and i love it, because i believe every human has their own problems and backgrounds that makes them bad people.
The acting was mostly good, but a little overacting from the king that in someway i feel annnoyed.
The last episode made my cry, its very touching and has lots of life lessons :
Most of what we did and are doing are vain, so dont take this life/anything in it too seriously.
Life not always goes as we like to be, but indeed it is still beautiful depend on how we accept it.
A worth it and must watch for everyone.
Note : i hardly ever cry when watching dramas, so this one must be very touching :)
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First time watching drama where almost everyone are strategists, smart and scheming
Started slow, but then wow it's progressing and now the best political theme drama I've ever watched.It reminds me of NIF (Nirvana in Fire) and MLC (Mysterious Lotus Casebook), its like Mei Chang su (strategist) and Li Lian Hua (smart, relaxed) combined into one, but not only in just one role here, but almost every roles are that smart and scheming.
Yes literally almost everyone and it got me speechless. The dialogues also direct and smart.
Conclusion : its one of the few cdramas we should watch in our life ?
Kudos to the novel and script writer, its the best political plot I've ever watched, unpredictable.
Looking forward for s2 soon ?
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Alchemy of Souls Season 2: Light and Shadow
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This review may contain spoilers
Started great, ended like a joke
Yeah it's plot went smoothly on season 1 and half of season 2. Until a little turtle suddenly become a big hero, hahaNot clearly where is it from, and suddenly its a hero that solve big things. Then why kim dong ju can't go out from jinyowon cave? Why every great magicians suddenly become villains and don't matter to ruin the world?
Why su yon where jinmu switch the body just startled and not even try to move or run?
The fight with dwajo (fire bird) also done poorly.
Etc.
The 2-3 last episodes like a mess and joke + ruined everything. No logic at all. It could have been better easily with just a few tweaks and explanations.
Anyway since half of it still good and we have to have s2 for their happy ending, I still give 7/10 for this.
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When faith plays with us
Well, in short i would say group watch (watching together with other ppl) is better than watching alone for this drama, so we can support each other and able to have a better positive point of views for POC.POC has decent political and harem plot. All cast have good acting skill, especially Cheng Yi, we can feel his brokenness through his remarkable acting skill.
Yes fate played with him, but he was managed to accept it, get up and start over for every falls he experienced.
So in my opinion, if ppl said POC makes ppl depressed, on the contrary i feel POC and chengxu role is a great inspiration for ppl in depression, to always have hope, whatever happens, until the end of life.
Life may not goes like we want to, but thats what make this life mysterious and worth adventuring. Always living a smooth life will not teach us any life lessons.
So dont be afraid to watch, give it a try, it maybe a bit draggy in the middle, but after the climax, which is ep 45-50, all are payoff...
And we are all will feel its a worth it emotional journey ?
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This review may contain spoilers
When reality doesnt meet expectation
well, i rarely write a review, i write this one because its beautiful drama yet annoying, hahaha...from episode 1-31, everything was well executed, amazing story, eyecandy ML and FL, beautiful scenes, etc.
after that, it started to be weird, confusing and rushed, like its entirely different drama and the director was changed.
the scene Lanxi know Fengxi identity just a few seconds without surprise expression at all from anyone, its not even a scene since it just shows Lanxi's hand, hahaha.
Its annoying because it made us think widly, did Lanxy knew her identity from the beginning since he has fountain abode network to do so? If he did, then did he has other intention/motive beside pure love?
because several other scenes after FL identity revealed were also weird, how Lanxi reacted when his dad said to him to find a spouse that bring benefit to yongzhou, how Lanxi said to Fengxi that since yongzhou's problem is now settled, then its time for the next move (the alliance wedding), which seems all moves were planned by him from the beginning.
All these scenes have ruined the beautiful love story they already built from the first episode, its still annoying eventhough its paid by last sacrifying life scene by Lanxi (which only a few seconds too and could be more dramatic).
and the last two episodes were even more horrible. Lanxi's white hair and outfit could be better and the drawing each other eyebrow is a funny yet silly ending scene for such a great drama.
its a pity since this could be a great and hit drama of the year. It should be divided into 2 seasons, season one should have been ended when lanxi confessed his love, wu yuan and huang chao's crush on fengxi also not well developed, adding more stories about how the three noble men fight over fengxi will be interesting, because lanxi's expression when he was jealous was realy really cute, hehe.
well, despite all the drawbacks, its still enjoyable, the story and acting were great, the characters are also great. they are strong and smart, know what they wants and dont bother to face and accept life changes and let go their big dreams for more simple purpose of life, which is love.
they teach us to accept drawbacks in our life, since most of the time reality are not as what we expected,
starts from and by accepting imperfection of this drama, hahaha.
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Strategy Game Done Nicely
I had low expectation before, since its a B level (low budget) drama, made 5 years ago, non romance genre.But after watching 8 eps, the story is surprisingly so good.... its fast paced, thrilling, everyone is smart, lots of strategies and i have to use 0.75x speed watching it to understand, with lots of rewind, haha..
All the cast are experienced actors and actresses, so everyone acting is online and realistic...
So if you like smart plot, smart ML FL, smart antagonists, chess and strategy game, spy and espionage theme, give it a try.
Its a breath of fresh air after so many fantasy and romance dramas, we all need brain gym a little, dont u think so? Hehe
Dont bother with the era, kmt, or whatever the parties, just enjoy the brain burning plot and actions ;)
Deep Lurk is also surprisingly top 1 on tv drama chart in China now, even with 0 promotion and marketing, isnt it a real prove that its worth watching? :)
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A bunch of lunatic people living in mental illness hospital called Penthouse
I am serious, how could this got 8.7 rating? I love psycological dramas and watched "the glory" and "its ok to not be ok", their story still a bit realistic and there are some value/lessons we got.But Penthouse just full of lunatic people screaming and yelling to each other, eyes wide opened, tantrum with chaos illogical unrealistic plot.
Its like watching people fighting in the boxing ring but without rules. So i should say Penthouse is a mental illness hospital.
Not worth more than 1ep. I mean it and this is the first and only drama i give 1 rating in my life, just to warn people to be ready getting mental illness after watching this.
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