OneLuffy
Soldier vs. RoboCop
Story:
The Good -
The military aspect of this drama was interesting especially in the way they showcased how the military advanced through the years. The technological advancement being the most intriguing while the training portion was appropriate as well. Generally, I think the hierarchy and the flaws they showcased about the military with their higher ups and how it could impact soldiers really gave great insight to how things were ran. That maybe it isn't as perfect as it seemed but as time progressed those issues were slowly getting resolved to maybe make it harder to accomplish but not completely absent.
My favorite part of the story had to be Gu Yiye’s story arc. I felt he was very consistent with the way they wrote him – he started off being this proud, arrogant, and smart soldier and they continued to sort of write him that way but slowly try to evolve him but kept his original characteristics. Gu Yiye embodied the ideal soldier where he thrives to work towards a goal but combat and grief alters his plans and provides him other opportunities to continue to sacrifice not just for his country but also for his fallen brothers who he trained alongside. His story really made u feel sympathetic towards his choices and wanted to root for his happiness along the way and just wanted him to succeed.
The Bad –
The romance portion of this drama really dragged the plot of this story down in my opinion. It felt as if they removed the avoidable love triangle, they could have saved the main character Gao Liang from being so annoying in the beginning. The main character, Gao Liang, being the other main issue that I had with this drama. He was written very inconsistent with 1 moment he is this typical soldier that is a strong fighter to just out of nowhere being super smart AND a strong solder. It seemed like they didn’t know how to make him great and just constantly kept on adding on to him to make him seem more perfect without ever trying to really evolve him. In a way, I feel the screenwriter was trying really hard to make him into a Goku character, from Dragon Ball Z, but failed miserably along the way. U know the typical comical, strong character that his friends love and constantly root for. But the screenwriter just sort of dragged it out where it just felt forced rather than organic with the way Goku was written. Overall, I just feel his character was very flawed, writing wise, and just inconsistent with who he was from his actions in the previous episodes to how he was towards the middle. Just felt like 2 completely different people that showed no signs of how one got to the other.
Acting:
This is probably the main reason why I continued to watch this drama. I felt the acting that Xiao Zhan, who played Gu Yiye, was just breathtaking. He really was able to portray his character in a perfect manner where it seemed like he was that character. While watching, I constantly kept feeling that he showed signs of being a method actor where he completely immersed himself into his character and brought out those emotions that Gu Yiye would be feeling at that exact moment. The way he showed signs of aging by simply changing parts of his face and not just relying on makeup to make him look older – just amazing. Just the overall performance by Xiao Zhan was brilliant. The other actors also did a remarkable job with their roles and being able to bring those characters to life even with the certain flaws the plot had. I think a lot of the supporting cast such as A Xiu, Niu Mancang, Zhang Fei, Chunyu, and of course Hu Yang did an absolutely amazing job with their characters and really made me invest myself into them and wanting to know what became of them.
Music:
The OSTs were absolutely amazing. Both the beginning and ending songs that were sung by Johnny Huang and Xiao Zhan, respectively, were just beautiful and were able to enhance the plot and give the appropriate emotion for the type of drama it is.
Rewatch Value:
Overall, yes, I would rewatch because I felt there are some scenes that were just done stunningly; especially episodes 18 – 21 when the war had occurred. I even enjoyed parts of the training portion in the beginning episodes. But some parts I would just fast forward since I was not a huge fan of the overexaggerated compliments a certain character was getting and just inconsistencies.
To sum it up, I think this drama is quite good for a military drama and allowed a lot of room for discussion which I feel is the main task for a lot of shows/movies. To allow people to discuss and see what they like or dislike about something just so it could be engaging amongst the audience.
The Good -
The military aspect of this drama was interesting especially in the way they showcased how the military advanced through the years. The technological advancement being the most intriguing while the training portion was appropriate as well. Generally, I think the hierarchy and the flaws they showcased about the military with their higher ups and how it could impact soldiers really gave great insight to how things were ran. That maybe it isn't as perfect as it seemed but as time progressed those issues were slowly getting resolved to maybe make it harder to accomplish but not completely absent.
My favorite part of the story had to be Gu Yiye’s story arc. I felt he was very consistent with the way they wrote him – he started off being this proud, arrogant, and smart soldier and they continued to sort of write him that way but slowly try to evolve him but kept his original characteristics. Gu Yiye embodied the ideal soldier where he thrives to work towards a goal but combat and grief alters his plans and provides him other opportunities to continue to sacrifice not just for his country but also for his fallen brothers who he trained alongside. His story really made u feel sympathetic towards his choices and wanted to root for his happiness along the way and just wanted him to succeed.
The Bad –
The romance portion of this drama really dragged the plot of this story down in my opinion. It felt as if they removed the avoidable love triangle, they could have saved the main character Gao Liang from being so annoying in the beginning. The main character, Gao Liang, being the other main issue that I had with this drama. He was written very inconsistent with 1 moment he is this typical soldier that is a strong fighter to just out of nowhere being super smart AND a strong solder. It seemed like they didn’t know how to make him great and just constantly kept on adding on to him to make him seem more perfect without ever trying to really evolve him. In a way, I feel the screenwriter was trying really hard to make him into a Goku character, from Dragon Ball Z, but failed miserably along the way. U know the typical comical, strong character that his friends love and constantly root for. But the screenwriter just sort of dragged it out where it just felt forced rather than organic with the way Goku was written. Overall, I just feel his character was very flawed, writing wise, and just inconsistent with who he was from his actions in the previous episodes to how he was towards the middle. Just felt like 2 completely different people that showed no signs of how one got to the other.
Acting:
This is probably the main reason why I continued to watch this drama. I felt the acting that Xiao Zhan, who played Gu Yiye, was just breathtaking. He really was able to portray his character in a perfect manner where it seemed like he was that character. While watching, I constantly kept feeling that he showed signs of being a method actor where he completely immersed himself into his character and brought out those emotions that Gu Yiye would be feeling at that exact moment. The way he showed signs of aging by simply changing parts of his face and not just relying on makeup to make him look older – just amazing. Just the overall performance by Xiao Zhan was brilliant. The other actors also did a remarkable job with their roles and being able to bring those characters to life even with the certain flaws the plot had. I think a lot of the supporting cast such as A Xiu, Niu Mancang, Zhang Fei, Chunyu, and of course Hu Yang did an absolutely amazing job with their characters and really made me invest myself into them and wanting to know what became of them.
Music:
The OSTs were absolutely amazing. Both the beginning and ending songs that were sung by Johnny Huang and Xiao Zhan, respectively, were just beautiful and were able to enhance the plot and give the appropriate emotion for the type of drama it is.
Rewatch Value:
Overall, yes, I would rewatch because I felt there are some scenes that were just done stunningly; especially episodes 18 – 21 when the war had occurred. I even enjoyed parts of the training portion in the beginning episodes. But some parts I would just fast forward since I was not a huge fan of the overexaggerated compliments a certain character was getting and just inconsistencies.
To sum it up, I think this drama is quite good for a military drama and allowed a lot of room for discussion which I feel is the main task for a lot of shows/movies. To allow people to discuss and see what they like or dislike about something just so it could be engaging amongst the audience.
Was this review helpful to you?
