5
37
Heracin
Dramatic & angsty romance with fantastical twist that got me hooked despite filmmaking limitation
This drama features an intricate romance intertwined with a well conceived time slip concept. I was properly captivated by the story of Huang Yu Xuan and Li Zi Wei : it was pretty dramatic, with a lot of angst and high stakes which made it an intoxicating and enchanting cocktail. The nostalgia factor was also a key aspect that got me hooked.
The series is not without flaws. First, I think that even if I found the ending in overall satisfying, I wish the landing would have been smoother and better paced. I also would have appreciated a longer epilogue so that the writers get to the bottom of the time slip gap between their main characters. Second, I truly wished that the budget limitation will have felt less strong. There were quite a few time when I could not help myself to think that a better budget and filmmaking would have elevated some of the scenes to give them an even more fairytale and nostalgic vibe.
Regarding the main cast, I found them pretty good overall. I was completely under the charm of Greg Hsu (not sure if it is character or actor related but for sure he had me swooning during the whole duration of the series). The main actress had what I felt was the most complex part and she did a good job handling the various layers of the role. I honestly wish sometimes that she would have upped her acting game even more for some of the most emotional scenes but it was certainly not a deterrent to the story. I also felt that having the female lead and male lead playing high schoolers was unrealistic but at the same time, I understand that this choice was necessary for the sake of clarity in very entangled storylines.
I would recommend this to people looking for a captivating and quite dramatic romance with a fantastical twist. There is some minor writing points that I would love to be improved and I also wish they had a bigger budget for some of the sequences. But despite these few nitpicking points, it is really worth your time and will take you on an emotional and mysterious journey. I will be curious to give a shot to the other remakes of the story at some point.
The series is not without flaws. First, I think that even if I found the ending in overall satisfying, I wish the landing would have been smoother and better paced. I also would have appreciated a longer epilogue so that the writers get to the bottom of the time slip gap between their main characters. Second, I truly wished that the budget limitation will have felt less strong. There were quite a few time when I could not help myself to think that a better budget and filmmaking would have elevated some of the scenes to give them an even more fairytale and nostalgic vibe.
Regarding the main cast, I found them pretty good overall. I was completely under the charm of Greg Hsu (not sure if it is character or actor related but for sure he had me swooning during the whole duration of the series). The main actress had what I felt was the most complex part and she did a good job handling the various layers of the role. I honestly wish sometimes that she would have upped her acting game even more for some of the most emotional scenes but it was certainly not a deterrent to the story. I also felt that having the female lead and male lead playing high schoolers was unrealistic but at the same time, I understand that this choice was necessary for the sake of clarity in very entangled storylines.
I would recommend this to people looking for a captivating and quite dramatic romance with a fantastical twist. There is some minor writing points that I would love to be improved and I also wish they had a bigger budget for some of the sequences. But despite these few nitpicking points, it is really worth your time and will take you on an emotional and mysterious journey. I will be curious to give a shot to the other remakes of the story at some point.
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