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Completed
Bu Liang Ren Season 2
1 people found this review helpful
Sep 21, 2024
14 of 14 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 6.0

Love-addled trance in the 1st half, exorcism and return to form in the 2nd half

‒Short Review‒
S2 returns the same cast and presumably the same production team as S1. But based on the initial episodes in the first half of the show, you'd be convinced that the crew were collectively replaced with 恋爱脑 (love-addled brain). It's not that I'm against romance and S1 did half romance between the leads, albeit in a more male-centric style. The problem is our leads fell into the most derivative romantic situations complete with misunderstandings, infantile romance that destroys characterization, and noble idiocy galore. It took a lot of anger suppression and fast-forwarding before I survived to the 2nd half (around ep8) where the show mostly returned to form.

This season will start with what happened to the fate of Ji Ruxue, who was punched off a cliff ... hint hint, flailing off a cliff might as well be the most foolproof survival tactic in CDrama. The more complicated background of Li Xinyun, Ji Ruxue, and Zhang Zifan is revealed. And the 2nd half revolves around the different factions searching and fighting for the Long Quan Treasures, and the Hellhound Chief's conspiracy. Pacing was much better in the 2nd half as there was a lot more fighting and a lot less idioting. Not everyone will like the ending as someone dies, though the Hellhound Chief had given plenty of hints and warnings, so it was a mistake to cross him. The good news is that even dead people can be revived, especially in Wuxia animes. The bad news is that there will be no continuation any time soon. Fans can try the anime, it's 3D style typical of Chinese anime, and apparently its one of the most popular Donghuas, lauded for its rich world building, attention to historical and cultural elements, and plot.

Note: There is a 2022 knock-off remake on Youtube. Unless you are desperate, I wouldn't recommend it as it's worse actors, worse looking actors, and cheap short-drama style. But if you did like it, just know you'll enjoy this version a lot more.

Bu Liang Ren S1 Review
https://mydramalist.com/profile/MyLangyaList/reviews/391521

--Component Ratings--

- Overall - charitable 7 (1st half 5.0, 2nd half 7.0)
- Plot - 7
- Theme / Message / Impact - 7.5
- Acting - 7.5
- Visuals - 7
- Audio - 7.5
- Rewatch - 6
- Accessibility - 7.5 (if you find decent subs)
- Subtitle quality - ??

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Completed
Weak Hero Class 1
1 people found this review helpful
Aug 24, 2023
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 8.0

A concussive flurry that leaves you in anticipation of what's next

--Summary--
A provocative, in-your-face kidnapping into the disturbing world of Korean school violence. High quality production with excellent action scenes, visuals, and sound. Gripping and fast-paced story with convincing setup. Reasonable plot progression without major holes, but also some plot convenience and noble idiocy that I was able to overlook. Captivating acting from the impressive young leads and veteran supporting actors added to the realism. Though more a prequel than complete narrative, it's a thrilling prelude hopefully to a well-fleshed out story.

I give it 8 (+0.5), which is very good score reserved for one of the best shows of the year. But it's difficult to rate higher because we've only been given a partial story and the compact S1 doesn't leave room for greater thematic depth or connection to characters. I may bump the rating if future seasons are able to develop this into a high quality, fleshed out story.

--Detailed Rating--
✅ Plot (8.5) - The core of the plot is logical and moves the story along at the brisk pace. In the second half of the show, previously calculated and pragmatic characters like Ahn Soo and Yeon Shi both indulge in some noble idiocy and create a bigger mess for the very people they were trying to protect. In addition, Oh Beom Seok's descent into malevolence appeared too abrupt and unfounded as he betrayed Ahn Soo over minor slights while allying himself with bullies that have tormented him far more brutally. While these plot issues are not dealbreakers, they do stretch the plausibility and detract from the story.
✅ Theme / Message (7.5) -

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Dropped 27/44
Growling Tiger, Roaring Dragon
1 people found this review helpful
24 days ago
27 of 44 episodes seen
Dropped 3
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 7.0

Focus on the prize ... Sima Yi understands, the director clearly doesn't.

‒Overview‒

For review of part 1 of the series, see review for Advisors Alliance (https://mydramalist.com/profile/MyLangyaList/review/406400). Growling Tiger, Roaring Dragon picks up where Advisors Alliance left off with a dying Cao Pi who passes the throne to a tormented, vengeful, but also calculated Cao Rui. RTGD focuses on the battle of wits and will between Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang, then Sima Yi's and his family's rise to power. The show inherits both the positives and negatives of AA. The iconic plotline, pivotal events, and more action-oriented battles between Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang makes for a more exciting watch. At the same time, the incongruency in characterization and tone are at times more pronounced in RTGD. For those not troubled by its issues, this could be an epic watch. But for those who are (like yours truly), it's a viewing experience best cut short lest one wants to submit to an increasingly lackluster experience.

‒The Good‒

- Expensive production with gorgeous indoor and outdoor sets and costumes to match.
- Expansive and gripping battle scenes, and a lot more of them
- Solid depiction of Zhuge Liang, and his similarity and rivalry with Sima Yi
- Solid lineup of actors with great performances in various scenes
- Political ploys, intrigues, and dialogues that much cleverer than the average show

‒The Questionable/Bad‒

- The drama tries to straddle the line between a prestige historical and a lighter costume drama. But the injection of a lighthearted moments detracted from the gravity of show and interfered with character building of these serious historical figures. At times this was a mere nuisance. But in other moments, the ridiculous levity in tone completely annihilated the character, worldbuilding, and gravity of the show. You get a bunch of weird cutaway transitions with a slick sound effect in episode 26, to wrangle a few drops of comedy out of the episode. Then in Episode 27, the ridiculousness culminated in a dying Cao Rui summons Sima Yi to either be anointed as a guardian for the new Emperor or be killed. It should be such a tense and precarious moment, yet the director completely bastardized the moment by sending soldiers stumbling into the hall to kill Sima Yi, because they misread the Emperor's signals. And they did this 3 times!!! Even before Cao Rui was dead, all the tension, intrigue, and calculations of a pivotal moment was completely buried.

At times, you can feel the director channeling his inner Ah Dou, trying his best to squander away the massive budget, talented cast, and marvelous source material for some cheap laughs. If this was made today, he'd be randomly dropping Tiktok effects in the episodes. If he was escorting at a brothel, he'd be whoring away for Twizzlers. If he was a chef, he'd first shit on his hands show you all sorts of weird and vomit-inducing acts, before showering and sanitizing himself and make a meal for you with his bare hands. Sure, in theory his hands are just as clean, but who would want to eat out of that? That's what he does to the story and characters constantly, dunking them into off-putting cesspools before trying to sell the audience on stirring and momentous scenes.

Anyways, despite my rant, there were still enough highlight moments in the show to make it a worthwhile, though forgettable watch. But as Three Kingdoms have taught me, know when to quit, 走为上计, I dropped at Ep 27 to avoid the increasingly disappointing episodes that awaited.

‒Category Ratings‒

- Overall - 7.5
- Plot - 7.5
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 7
- Acting - 8
- Visuals - 8.5
- Audio / Music - 7.5
- Rewatch - 7
- Cultural/Topical Accessibility - 7.5
- Subtitle quality - 8

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Dropped 19/42
The Advisors Alliance
2 people found this review helpful
29 days ago
19 of 42 episodes seen
Dropped 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.0

Grand ambitions, disjointed execution.

‒Overview‒

Advisors Alliance is Three Kingdoms historical drama that does many things well and may be a terrific viewing experience for many. However, its storytelling and treatment of characters may result in significant disconnect for viewers who are already familiar with the story.

‒The Good‒

- Expensive production with gorgeous indoor and outdoor sets and costumes to match.
- Expansive and gripping battle scenes
- Solid lineup of actors with great performances in various scenes
- Political ploys, intrigues, and dialogues that much cleverer than the average show
- Could be confusing, but also really novel and interesting to those who are not familiar with the story of Three Kingdoms

‒The Questionable/Bad‒

- Not true historical - the drama tries to straddle the line between a prestige historical and a lighter costume drama. But the injection of a lighthearted moments detracted from the gravity of show and interfered with character building of these serious historical figures
- The storytelling often felt inconsistent and fragmented. While the show did a decent job in depicting key moments in history, it was less adept at tying them into a powerful cohesive narrative. The setup and transitions between different events felt unpolished‒even if the scenes are well-crafted, you can't just duct-tape them together if you want to make a top-tier historical.
- The same goes for the characters and acting. When broken down by scenes, the characters and acting are decent, even spectacular. But since the overall character building feels inconsistent, the end result is actually disconnect and disbelief, especially for ones like Cao Cao, Sima Yi, and others where there already exists a prevailing conception. Sima Yi was flattened to be someone who's too loyal and innocent, which doesn't fit his historical or presumptive reputation in the show. Moreover, the time jumps are narrated rather than depicted and fails to depict the important changes to characters, further exacerbating the perception of incongruency. Yu Hewei's Cao Cao was meticulously acted. Yet the show fails to first establish the commendable aspects of this complicated figure, making the power and respect he commanded seem unconvincing. I loved Liu Tao in Nirvana in Fire. But she was unfortunately stuck with a female character that mostly just served as a comedic prop and someone to henpeck Sima Yi.

I dropped at ep 19 even though it's a decent show because I already have a good idea of the story and my appreciation will only go down from that point. Unlike the second volume, 'Growling Tiger, Roaring Dragon', this covers a lesser known and less iconic portion of the Three Kingdom story.

The end result was something that was at times brilliant in tactics, but messy in strategy to use a Three Kingdoms analogy. Overall it was a 7.0 at ep 19. In comparison, Secret of Three Kingdoms, despite some similar problems and some plot issues in later episodes, actually did a better job in crafting more compelling characters and story for the earlier episodes. Of course, the most iconic Three Kingdoms dramas are the 1994 and 2010 versions, which I highly recommend checking out. 2010 version is best for international and younger viewers even though the 94 version is considered the undisputed king in China.

For review of Part 2, Growing Tiger Roaring Dragon: https://mydramalist.com/profile/MyLangyaList/reviews/407886

‒Category Ratings‒

- Overall - 7.0
- Plot - 7.5
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 7.0
- Acting - 8
- Visuals - 8.5
- Audio / Music - 8
- Rewatch - 6
- Cultural/Topical Accessibility - 7
- Subtitle quality - 8

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Dropped 8/40
As Beautiful as You
10 people found this review helpful
Oct 1, 2024
8 of 40 episodes seen
Dropped 3
Overall 5.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

As boring as ...

--Positive Disclaimer--

If you are usually not impressed by idol and romance dramas, this one certainly isn't the canary in the coalmine that's going to surprise you‒you are better off checking out Fake It Till You Make It. But if you are the preferred audience, you may find this show to be above average in casting a FL that has a checklist of things such as career, independence, nonbitchiness, professional competence, smarts, a supportive boyfriend, non-toxic breakup, rich dude that's not annoying, blah blah blah. It's similar various other Tan Songyun professional dramas such as A Flight to You, Master of My Own, etc. So if you liked her in those, you'll probably like her here. The MDL viewership numbers and even its decent China viewership numbers clearly indicate that this was interesting for some people. Oh one more thing, the screenwriter managed to continue her creative ascent by topping her previous masterpiece 'Only For Love' ... who would have thought. That's all the good things I can possibly say, if want more positivity, stop reading and head elsewhere.

‒Short Review that ran long‒

As Beautiful As You was a drive-through lobotomy session that materialized when I got the crazy idea to watch airing dramas, even though the only thing airing were the putrid cadaver decompositions in the CDrama wasteland. I also held out the slim hope that Tang Sonyun isn't just going to waste her career making yet another cookie-cutter professional drama, and that this would at least be 'idol-drama good' (aka substandard in all sorts of ways, but with some creativity and redeeming features). Instead I came away as frustrated about her make-believe professional depiction on-screen as her actual career off-screen.

Immediately in the first episode, we are slammed with all sorts of predictable cliches that had my shit-show Geiger Counter going Chernobyl. With every scene, we are given all the telltale elements to predict the next scene, the next plot twist, and pretty much what the ending's going to look like. The plotline is so scandalously see-through that all the viewers should get the 'Angela Baby at a burlesque show' treatment and be permanently deplatformed.

But if you prefer to be selective with your defenestration location, you can take the elevator up to the C-suite penthouse where where a whole boardroom of lazy tropes are stuffed into a Xu Kai you-are-too-skinny-for-that power suit. We have the 8-pack I-can't-believe-he's-virginal uber-rich genius charismatic CEO cum gourmet chef who's socially adept with high EQ, but is completely helpless in expressing his love for his pixie dream girl supersmart competent classmate innocent firstlove interest that slowly realizes they are meant for each other. It's the Chinese-American restaurant menu approach of character writing with the chicken-pork-beef-shrimp-veggie Lo Mein permutations of originality by addition. The only interesting thought that the plot inspired was wondering what glory would follow if the screenwriter instead opened up a school to teach career development and sex ed.

And unlike the value offering from hardworking immigrant restauranteurs, the show delivers little value for its budget or your time investment. The cinematography has all the richness of an Alibaba wholesaler product video. The derivative soundtrack creates the aural experience of being subjected to a discount elevator music playlist while you are trapped and the doors won't open. Even the titles, both English and Chinese, reads like the diary heading of some 12-year-old.

The main leads, being Tan Songyun and Xu Kai are at least serviceable in portraying the ridiculous characters they are given. But this is their comfort zone, where they've done so many similar characters and dramas that they can do it with their eyes closed, or in Xu Kai's case, wearing the same suit from his other CEO drama. We are spared the Wang Hedi CEO stylistic assault, but watching them has all the novelty of watching McDonald's open up another franchise.

And that's the only part that engenders some emotion in me that's not boredom or frustration. I haven't seen Xu Kai enough to care or be disappointed. But I sincerely hope that Tan Songyun showed enough acting chops, unique personality, and potential early on that she can be a stalwart in more interesting CDramas. She garnered pretty positive review from astute observers for her various school and other dramas. In an era where actresses have more surgeries than full-sized meals, she has kept her distinctive look, and not be swayed by the CDrama peanut gallery, whose unmatched ability to call someone ugly has never looked itself in the mirror. And off-screen, from as much one can really guess about a performer's true character, she seems to belong to that precious minority that are still able to prioritize integrity, professionalism, and decency over the trappings of acting fame.

Granted, that hope is born of a selfish desire to see less of Yu Shuxins of the world. But for as much as I mock the parasocial nature of drama fandoms, I can't help but hope for some real kernels of decency, inspiration, and feel-good story for the human beings off-screen. Perhaps she's a one-character wonder. And perhaps she's happy to stay that way. And perhaps success in the entertainment business is even more precarious than in startups where you only strike gold when all the stars align. Whatever the case, I will continue to wish Seven Tan and other similar actors success. If for nothing else than to chirp from the peanut gallery: "see, I always believed she had much greater potential."

--Category Ratings--

- Overall [5] - I give it a 5 for this being a very average show. I typically give popular or slightly different idol dramas that nevertheless inspire seppuku a 5.5. So the 5 rating is more of an indication of how much worse other shows are in dramaland than anything else. Based on subjective reaction or brain cells lost, I'd rate idol dramas even lower.

- Plot - 5
- Theme / Message / Impact - 6
- Acting - 7
- Visuals - 6.5
- Audio - 5
- Rewatch - 5
- Accessibility - 8
- Subtitle quality - 8

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Dropped 14/36
My Heroic Husband
2 people found this review helpful
Sep 23, 2024
14 of 36 episodes seen
Dropped 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 6.0

Time Travel: where cliche business ideas make a fortune, and cliche drama plot makes a hit show.

I decided to sample this show since it drew one of highest Chinese viewership in recent years, is a comedy, and has actors I'm generally positive about. While I didn't have high hopes given the 6.3 Douban rating, I figured there would be enough comedy to make it a spare-attention multitasking watch. And the show generally met that expectation mostly by avoiding the fatal pitfalls of CDramas. It didn't torture me with a sadistic reportoire of romantic tropes, the pace moved along, even if most of the plot was flat and predictable, and the actors didn't make me think I was watching a cheap commercial. My rating and review concerns the first 14 episodes that I did watch, after which the quality supposedly suffers.

The goal of the show seems to be 下饭爽剧 (easy, gratuitous watch where the Chinese viewer is often doing something else) and this was a mass-market focused premium fast food serving that did just enough to draw in a large audience. It's a thoroughly unambitious drama about an ambitious business couple in a historical setting. And peeling away that surface premise, it's basically just grafting the conventional bumper sticker version of business strategy, success, gender equality, and other issues into a historical cosplay. To complement, the show is shot in the telltale style where the emotions/expressions are obvious, the personalities are blatant, and the intrigue is repeatedly hinted and later exhaustively explained by some side character. Doing so ensures an easy watch for the widest possible audience, with the tradeoff of diluting the tension and refinement that are found in top tier shows. In a modern setting, such derivative effort would be widely panned. But when transported back in time, it has a different enough veneer to get by.

And lucky for the international viewer, this show will probably be even more interesting as the different cultural items, strategy, and issues may be more novel. Most of you will probably enjoy it quite a bit, especially the first half. But personally I have difficulty rating it higher as it's far from greatness. Moreover, I typically rate similar and better shows in the 7-8 range.
'To Get Her' is a low budget show with a similar time travel concept but delivers a lot more zany comedy. 'Legend of Undercover Chef' is an absolute riot while serving up plenty of incisive social commentary beneath the jokes. And even 'Egg and Stone' delivers the laughs and perhaps accidentally constructs a more nuanced commentary on gender equality. If this show replicated the 'Joy of LIfe' level of crisp humor, I would have thoroughly enjoyed it. But sadly, even Joy of Life lost its comedic mojo in the second season. As for the actors, Guo Qiling and Song Yi did a solid job in their roles. But these typical idol drama roles are not exactly challenging. And after a few dramas, you start to see their characters in different shows overlapping with each other. Hopefully they can continue to improve on their range, subtlety, and realism of performance.

‒Category Ratings‒
- Overall - 7 (to ep14)
- Plot - 7
- Theme / Message / Impact - 6
- Acting - 7.5
- Visuals - 7.5
- Audio - 7
- Accessibility - 7.5
- Subtitle quality - 8

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Completed
Lost in the Shadows
0 people found this review helpful
Oct 25, 2024
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

Too Buggy to Swallow

‒Overview‒

Lost in the Shadows is a crime/suspense drama featuring quality production and acting that one has come to love about the iQiyi's 'Light On' series and similar lineups of crime thrillers from Youku and Tencent. However, despite featuring one of the best actors in Zhang Songwen and an interesting setup about missing children, the buggy script became increasingly untenable, just like the lies told by criminals.

On the positive side, the aforementioned production, acting, and pacing from short episode count is a major upgrade from idol dramas. The show also features a reunion of The Bad Kids stars in Zhang Songwen and Rong Zishan. There's also enough twists and turns to create interest, so long as it's not examined closely. And unfortunately for Zhang Songwen, this is probably his best drama since his career-defining performance in The Knockout, besting other mediocrities like 'A Lonely Hero's Journey' and 'The Hunter'. Let's stop wasting this man's career.

‒Critical Review (spoilers)‒

LITS became increasingly frustrating because of the increasing amount of bugs and lack of nourishment to sustain interest. Bugs is a popular and catchy Chinglish term commonly used in China to refer to plot holes. The expression was likely born out of wordplay related to software programmers, as they often have to wrangle with buggy scripts. LITS suffered from bugs ranging from small to huge, and most critically, it didn't deliver enough sustenance to make the bugs more palatable. It's like walking into a restaurant where each dish contains increasingly bigger bugs, then some artificial tasting dish that you suspect is just to cover up the bug flavor, but never the delicious course that will mollify your insect encounters (yes if the food is delicious enough, Chinese people will delulu themselves over the questionable sanitation, and even not fret too much about a bug or two).

For appetizers, let's start with the small bugs, which are more prevalent than usual. These consist of convenient occurrences and puzzling oversight that nonetheless are not the core of the story. Most shows have some of those, and I can easily overlook them if the story is engaging and the major plot lines does not revolve around it. Some examples include: people bumping into people or overhearing conversation at the most opportune time, people out and about doing things undetected especially if they are under surveillance, people divulging way too much info at convenient times, and the good guys showing up just in time to save people. There are too many to list the specific examples. *No problem, all restaurants have some bugs, some just hide it better than others.

Now for the main course‒big glaring bugs that really arouses your gag reflex, the types of bugs that significantly degrade the viewing experience. First are the big bugs of characterization. Bian Jie (Xiao Qi) is the most important character in the story, yet often times he's as hollow as a plot tool (工具人). Other than a few flashbacks, XQ's first 18 years is essentially empty. And it's difficult to construct a coherent character for XQ that satisfies his life experiences and his actions and emotions as the fake son of the Bian family. If he's so sweet and innocent as portrayed, how does he survive all those years under human trafficker Uncle Qing. Moreover, he should have exhibited much greater and different emotional reaction once taken in. Other characters, including other members of the Bian family, exhibit similar incongruencies.

The second major bug is the bug of nonsensical decision making on key plot points. It makes no sense for XQ to stay to protect his fake Mom from JMF, when he already thinks JMF might try to kill him, when he should go to the police. Neither is making it a priority to take down Uncle Qing, when he just escaped as a fugitive, and only for it to go nowhere. Or the numerous other similar plot sins committed by him and other characters. The police not directly tracking down Uncle Qing's gang to prove XQ's innocence, but having it occur incidentally. Yanzi thinking her younger bro could be alive even though he 'ran away' from Dad despite collapsing in a pool of blood of a hole to the back of his head, and returning without remembering any details. The boys going murderous over shower pics. The ridiculous ways Jin Manfu went about the murder, coverups, kidnapping, blackmail, and trying to rescue Yanzi. The story was already a hazmat level roach infestation even before the bug-out finale that was a fetid corpse of cop-out, fake-out, and proper-ganda. *Seems like you vomited quite a bit, did you at least have something nutritious to puke out?

Unfortunately no. While the acting, production, and faint hint of something promising kept me engaged for half of the show, the later episodes became an increasingly frustrating 3X watch as it became apparent the script was beyond saving. But even before the show turned rancid, I was experiencing a glaring disconnect with the characters. The problem was the show didn't give you anyone fully fleshed out, didn't show you why their relationships were so important, and didn't give you anyone to fully care about. All the main characters were hollow shells barely held together by scarce flashbacks, and summarizing instead of showing. At the same time, you are fed plenty of clues to potentially doubt the story and sincerity of all the characters, ensuring full-on social distancing. When some more flashbacks are shown in the later parts of the story, it was way too little, and way too late. The way you are supposed to do it is to build up the characters first, make the protagonists/villains sympathetic, and then create compelling twists by subverting or overturning expectations. 'Interlaced Scenes' and 'The First Shot' are dramas where it's much better executed Since LITS never established the characters before playing around with them, all their motivations felt hollow and perfunctory, making all the aforementioned bugs even more intolerable.

So the good parts amounted to a cryptic restaurant advertisement for alternative organic delicacies, that turned out to be plates of bugs. At least it was a quick meal 🙂. Overall I rate it a 6, because at least it has good acting and production unlike idol drama triple threats. It started out an 8 before I figured out the mystery dish had bugs, then held at 7 for about half the show. Then the later episodes were a 6. That's not taking into account the ending, as I was already fully passed out from all the puking.

--Category Ratings--

- Overall - 6
- Plot - 5.5
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 7.5
- Acting - 8.5
- Visuals - 8
- Audio / Music - 7.5 (mostly live recording)
- Rewatch - 5
- Accessibility - 7.5
- Subtitle quality - 8.5

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Dropped 6/40
Never Give Up
1 people found this review helpful
Sep 11, 2023
6 of 40 episodes seen
Dropped 0
Overall 5.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

Never Give Laugh

‒Exec Summary‒
Couldn't muster more than 3 seconds of cumulative laughter for the 6 episodes I tried. But the episodes are short, and you don't need to pay attention to plot for sitcom, so if you find the humor, more power to you.

--Short Review--
This is an office sitcom modeled after the hit kdrama Gauss Electronics. The story revolves around the various employees at a Chinese conglomerate Gaofa and reflects some of common complaints and peculiarities of the urban Chinese office. I haven't watched the kdrama so I couldn't make a comparison between the two. Unfortunately, by failing to deliver even a charitable chuckle, I suspect that this drama failed the only comparison that matters.

Other than the comedy part of the sitcom, the drama provided your standard idol web drama quality in cinematography and production value. The acting was adequate, with Dylan Wang and Yukee Chen as the main leads. Perhaps I'm being too harsh or too divorced from the Chinese workplace culture since the drama did receive an perplexingly high 8.1 score on Douban. But it's not like the show was layering the dialog with frequent word plays or internet memes. Rather, it was just an endless assembly line of haphazard setups, milquetoast punchlines, and tepid characters. While the show misfires with its jokes about workplace drudgery, it nevertheless achieves mastery for atmospheric immersion‒by creating a viewing experience that feels like a marathon day of pointless meetings. Perhaps the experience is especially underwhelming for me as sitcoms are what American TV excels at and for whatever reasons, China produces very few. But my goodness, this show feels like a hatchet script from the dysfunctional Planning Department of Gaofa.

‒Why Watch‒
1) You want to cure your unhealthy obsession with Dylan Wang and Yukee Chen (assuming she has fans)‒this show might just do the trick.
2) You want something quick and easy. Only 25m episodes of concentrated boredom in sitcom format.
3) You need some guinea pigs to hone your review writing, so you end up writing a mediocre review for a mediocre show.

--Rating Subscores--
- Overall - 5
- Plot - 5
- Theme / Message / Impact - 5
- Acting - 6
- Visual & Production - 6.5
- Audio - 6
- Rewatch - 5
- Accessibility - 8 (yay at least crappy shows generally are more accessible)
- Subtitle quality - 7

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