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labcat
This review may contain spoilers
Undefinable but rather entertaining comedy that could have taken itself more seriously
The ratings I'm giving are pretty much nonsensical. This series is pretty hard to review. It is a low-budget series that can be improved in quite a number of ways. The choreography of fight sequences, the editing and cinematography are not exactly impressive. On the other hand, there can be a lot of fun in story of a college for people with supernatural powers (which are determined by their star sighs).
The absurdist and often self-reflexive humor with frequent allusions to Chinese pop songs can be entertaining even though the extent to which it works in the middle of the more serious scenes is debatable. While it is often a good thing that the story is not presented as one to be taken seriously, it seems that the production team has gone a little too far with this at times. It feels almost as if they merely decided to have fun, thinking that they can't possibly make anything great with the limited budget and other constraints. Yet, if they had just moderated the absurdism somewhat, the series would have been much better. I loved how the series focuses on the more glamorous characters while making a statement about the underdogs who are ignored. The minor characters who refer to themselves as minor characters brings to mind how even people who are not in the limelight or center of attention are often neglected. There is also the a character with the power of invisibility to good effect--he appears only occasionally (enough for us to remember) and reminds invisible until Episode 28 when he is revealed to have been quietly protecting the main female character. In life, many people go unnoticed, whether it is because of their personality, their class status or other reasons, and this is shown in a suitably understated manner.
At its best, the series makes use good use of whatever resources it has. The product placements, for instance, are often used in a way that enhances the humor. Apart from the premise of a battle of people with supernatural powers, there is the romance between the main male and female characters and even hints of BL in a comedy that is rather hard to define. I think the story was a little too rushed in the last few episodes--the beginning contains too much unimportant stuff related to the competition in the college and could have been made more compact so that the story can end properly. Perhaps a Season 2 was being considered, but I doubt it will be done.
The absurdist and often self-reflexive humor with frequent allusions to Chinese pop songs can be entertaining even though the extent to which it works in the middle of the more serious scenes is debatable. While it is often a good thing that the story is not presented as one to be taken seriously, it seems that the production team has gone a little too far with this at times. It feels almost as if they merely decided to have fun, thinking that they can't possibly make anything great with the limited budget and other constraints. Yet, if they had just moderated the absurdism somewhat, the series would have been much better. I loved how the series focuses on the more glamorous characters while making a statement about the underdogs who are ignored. The minor characters who refer to themselves as minor characters brings to mind how even people who are not in the limelight or center of attention are often neglected. There is also the a character with the power of invisibility to good effect--he appears only occasionally (enough for us to remember) and reminds invisible until Episode 28 when he is revealed to have been quietly protecting the main female character. In life, many people go unnoticed, whether it is because of their personality, their class status or other reasons, and this is shown in a suitably understated manner.
At its best, the series makes use good use of whatever resources it has. The product placements, for instance, are often used in a way that enhances the humor. Apart from the premise of a battle of people with supernatural powers, there is the romance between the main male and female characters and even hints of BL in a comedy that is rather hard to define. I think the story was a little too rushed in the last few episodes--the beginning contains too much unimportant stuff related to the competition in the college and could have been made more compact so that the story can end properly. Perhaps a Season 2 was being considered, but I doubt it will be done.
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