Laura SK
Europa
Cons (for me): One of the most boring and cheesiest dramas I have ever watched.
Genres: Action? So little that I find it ridiculous that it is listed...
Suspense, Mystery? A little bit.. but not the thrilling, addicting or exciting kind (for me).
Horror? Yes but not really creepy (kdrama "horror" average). Not really a con for me though.
Romance? Yes but "a bit" boring (for me) - mostly there for comedy and the emotional weight of the drama.
The best things about it were IU`s character and the visual aspect. But they relied way to heavy on it. They overdid it sometimes with the colored lights, the fogg and the emotional "moments" (when the characters paused because they just thought of something (emotional) and on cue 3 seconds later a new soundtrack would begin (this felt like 80% of the drama).
Yes IU`s play of emotions on her face was good and because of that and because she is so beautiful it ALMOST didn't get boring. Even though the drama touched on the heaviest subjekts it stayed relatively shallow on them (which made it - yes BORING) while still trying to emotionally wring us out like a wet towel as often as possible. I guess my emotional well dried up too fast because I was often over it and started to get... Also not a big fan of long & frequent "staring at each other, frozen in the moment" moments...
I only watched this drama because of IU and because for ONCE I was actually okay with watching something slightly boring. Though I didn`t think it would be so unexciting. The plot has a nice sentiment but is really not impressive.
I also found ALL the characters except IU`s boring.
I am mainly just disappointed that they didn't have an exciting plot and intriguing characters to go along with the nice scenery. Because of the budget, IU in the cast and the genres I had hoped for something epic.
When will we ever get something like "You Who Came from the Stars" again (with a age gap in the romance under 20 years (at least of the actors) please!)?!
For further reference about my taste:
https://mydramalist.com/profile/LauraK98/lists
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Most satisfying drama or series I have ever watched. First drama I ever gave an 10/10.
Just finished with Part 2.I normally watch only Wuxia/Material Arts/Action focused shows. I also don´t like comedy and almost wouldn´t have watched it because of the silly trailer!
But OMG am I glad I did! Best character writing, directing and acting I have seen... maybe ever!
I really have never seen a Chinese drama with so much depth. The characters felt so real.
And the overall writing was also really good. After the two first episodes only a few more where a bit hard to get through (By comparison = most other Chinese dramas of this length would have been better with 10 or 20 episodes less - not so with this one!).
The humor at the beginning (first 3 or 4 episodes) was sometimes more annoying/exhausting than funny, but it develops a lot and in retrospect I wouldn´t change anything about it.
It really can´t be compared to any other dramas (Disclaimer: haven't watched The Story of Ming Lan) but if I had too: Nirvan In Fires story and character writing was similarly sophisticated. But while Nirvana in Fire (1) gave me chills with it´s political plot, Love LIke the Galaxy`s specialty are the beautiful sentimental moments, the character growth, the beautiful romantic scenes, the joyful momentsand yea the heartbreaking moments too. It´s one of the most realistic feeling historical shows, but unlike with The Red Sleeve it won`t leave you depressed!
Only slight con: The soundtracks for 2 or 3 scenes where weird and didn´t fit at all. + The translation on YouTube isn´t that great in the beginning and they muted and switched out a few soundtracks there, for copyright reasons. We only watched the first and last couple of episodes on YouTube but for the most part we watched on DramaNice.
P/s: First Asian drama I watched with my Mom and I couldn´t have picked a better one.
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If this does NOT get a second season the story is an 6 for me. If it DOES get one it could be and 10 (at least an 8,5)
First up the Music:
My only problem was that they used the (beautiful) intro song too much. When it came on (IN the episodes) I knew it so well I couldn't help anticipating the next tunes. What became annoying since it distracted me. Even though I skipped over the intro mostly. But someone that doesn't race through this as I did, maybe wound`t notice.
Acting:
I liked all of the acting accept the evil laughter. I swear I never in my live saw/heard an actor pull that off convincingly.
Story:
I liked the pace. No comedy thank goodness! Yes I agree it has a realism to it although some of the characters (like the king) where "too much" it reminded me of japanese movie characters.
This story makes a great first part (great building up (no chaos)) but if there is no second season it's really disappointing.
The quality of the show reminded me of an good (low key epic) american movie. It certainly doesn't look all the other chinese (historical) dramas I watched so far (no cheesy coloring and bad animations).
But the ending just isn't an ending. Not a good (written) one of any kind. Though I was glad that some characters ended so we could move on in S2.
So hopefully we GET a season 2! And SOON!
Rewatch Value:
It`s only 36 episodes if there is an S2 I am going to watch it again of cause!
Do I recommend watching this (without a season 2)?:
Yes!! Because I refuse to BELIEVE this ending! This is not the ending in my head. As a writer myself I know that how I think it would (and that it does at all) continue makes more sense. The intent and potential of the story is obvious. Except if that was an accident and the author is stupid. So if someone KNOWS that this is not the ending of the novel(s) PLEASE tell me!
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Wish it there were as many good dialogue as (hyper) stylish outfits.
Pros: The main female actress, two or three of the soundtracks, some really nice scenery.Cons: Everything else!
Some of the soundtracks were annoying or even off putting during some scenes (at least for me).
The main couple was only interesting when there was antagony between them. The other times the acting was way too sweet/cheesy/childish without any real feeling chemistry (probably the biggest "con" for me).
I honestly don't know why I wouldn't drop it.
The plot seemed to be an interesting set up... but it fizzled out and was kind of underwhelming - like so often.
I found many of the dialoges so pointles and emty - I wish I would have started to press fast forward sooner.
I didn`t particularly like ANY of the characters and the relationships/interactions. And a lot of the performances (with a few exceptions) didn't feel natural/genuine. But then I don`t think the characters where well written and the different sides of them didn't really fit together well... I assume some of the actors just tried to give the director that she wanted.
A lot of scenes where so unconvincing - it was like the writers/producers were allergic to logic or paying attention to detail. I don`t expect Wuxia dramas to stick to rules of physics or human biology... but they really aren't hiding their disregard for the latter. Thought I could hear my brain cells dying ...a bandage OVER armor... OUCH!
And I know they wanted the make the mail leads look "manly" but Darren Wang looked like he had to much tanner and Sean Xiao`s few facial hairs looked weird.
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It is a light show but also very shallow. In therms of characters and story. Especially the former lacked nuances for me (which is probably why I didn`t feel Song Seung Heon`s performance/character that much).
In terms of action/plot: It got really boring since they used almost the exact same routine for every event. It was/become very predictable and I wasn't a single time surprised by plot "twists".
The villain were also these comical cartoons cliche villains that were only there to enjoy when they finally got kicked in the nuts.
And not much fight "choreo" to see either they went just style confusion camera wise and so you could mostly only see some disjointed stunts. But it was okay.
I really don`t agree with the sentiment "This drama is considered a must-watch in many ways". Can`t think of a single wey/thing. To be precise I think it's very overrated (at the moment 8.4) compared to others in the genre. But the same is true for me about "Come and Hug Me" and "Mad Dog" so... (Though this one is in the middle there).
My expectations are probably to high when I compare them to my favorites.
Though considering thriller is one of my favorite genres - frustrating.
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Overall I never watched a season (of anything) in which so little happend (but I still enjoyed myself). I still liked the drama and want to see season 2 but there where a lot of episodes where I thought "come on, get a move on!!" It was sometimes so slow that till the very end it felt like a build up... And I kept on waiting (and was excited) for things to really get going/play out.
In season 2 I hope for faster more focused pacing (now that the world, characters, relationships and so on are established). I liked no LOVED the action (the choreos) is this drama I just want MORE of it! And more development/twists.
For once I liked most characters and - even though it didn't seem like it in the beginning - there aren't as many annoying characters. And I generally noticed that dramas in which the main character is a guy - there are almost never any of those annoying, delusional, jealous female characters. Because they always appear to be a (annoying) challenge to female main characters.
The acting ranged from bad (but mostly only a few guest appearances) to very good. The main actors acting was good for his first drama (he relied a bit heavily on his eyebrows - though it was very entertaining :-)) I will miss him.
The music stood out mostly through unusually beautiful background tracks but sadly also through overdoing it with one or two songs on two or three episodes. Because the was one song wich was a bit stupid and overplayed - could have been used a bit more modestly BUT that was only a few episodes. So I really liked the background tracks (wish I could find them on Youtube) from the songs I liked a few and didn't like a few - which is normal for me.
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