yannie_alienates
The Land of Smiles
This review may contain spoilers
Happy birthday Yan Zhen! You know what I mean.
USAFarmgirl wrote this on a Soompi forum, and I think she sums up my feelings about this drama well:
“Can't get this song [Enter a Dream] off my mind or this story...It's not just the amazing OTP or their chemistry which I love. There is something even greater here.
Proving it's not about rich or poor what you have or don't have.
It's about the person you are inside.
That each person has their own story and a gift within them. Strengths and weaknesses, courage and fears. That no matter the differences when brought together for a greater cause all those differences disappear.
It's a love and bond not of the romantic kind but it's beauty warms the heart through laughter and tears and for those who have experienced it.
It's no wonder those memories last for years…”
I truly loved this drama.
When I was finished with Arsenal Military Academy, I was left with a feeling of melancholy, as though I had to walk off into my own sunset, hoping to cross paths with Xiang/Liang Chen and Yan Zhen. But as expected, my journey with them had to come to an end.
I read countless reviews and comments all over the web in regard to AMA. Therefore, when starting the drama, I was a bit scared. I was anticipating my self to get frustrated and disappointed. But I wasn’t. I finished this drama in less than 5 days.
Most people complain about the love triangles and lack of screen time and skinship between the main pair…but, I was never truly dissatisfied. The main pair was who I rooted for from beginning to end. The first 20 episodes (basic training episodes) have a good amount of screen time between the pair. They aren’t kissing or proclaiming their love for each other…but they don’t and didn’t need to. How Xiang/Liang Chen and Yan Zhen looked at each other was enough for me. When Xiang/Liang Chen interacted with Yan Zhen I felt as though the outer world ceased to exist for her. From the beginning of the show Yan Zhen was drawn to Xiang/Liang Chen (the camisole scene in episode 1 is a scene I go back to a lot).
As for Jun Shan and Xiang/Liang Chen, when they were stuck in the hole together, he comforted Xiang/Liang Chen like an older brother. I feel as though this scene would’ve looked a lot different with Yan Zhen. I feel as though there would’ve been a lot more tension, plus it would have been more sweet and endearing. But ML and FL weren’t meant for this scene. The scene Xiang/Liang Chen and Yan Zhen were meant for happened previous episodes (e.g. When Yan Zhen surprises Xiang/Liang Chen by visiting her family home on break and meets the ‘Rents. Or when they end up in the jail cell with those students).
Some argue that Jun Shan was a better match because he loved “Liang Chen” before he loved Xiang, which painted a more of unconditional love. Yet, that isn’t a fair argument. Who knows if Yan Zhen would have fallen for “Liang Chen” if he had never known Liang Chen was a girl until a lot later. What matters is that Yan Zhen fell for Xiang/Liang Chen first.
Another staple scene I must note is around the first couple episodes. When Jun Shan prevents Xiang/Liang Chen from falling into the hole during their first test assignment and he carries her to safety—that scene is juxtaposed with a scene involving Xiang/Liang Chen and her late brother. What that simply shows to me is that Xiang/Liang Chen did in fact see Jun Shan as a brother from the get go. Disregard later episodes between Jun Shan and Xiang/Liang Chen because Xiang/Liang Chen was always running away from him or thinking of Yan Zhen who continued to have her back. I didn’t like it when Jun Shan realized his feelings and that Liang Chen was Xiang, and as a result started to become a lot more domineering towards Xiang/Liang Chen in later episodes (especially when he told her, seemingly out of nowhere, to button up her shirt). Sometimes Xiang/Liang Chen seemed a little annoyed by his behavior.
As someone else noted, after episode 38, when Xiang/Liang Chen realizes her feelings for Yan Zhen, she started to treat him more like a boyfriend. I wonder if Yan Zhen started to realize that…regardless, they started holding hands a lot more with subtle touches and throwing their arms around each other.
But outside of the romance, I loved all the characters. Especially those in the squad (Xiang/Liang Chen, Yan Zhen, Jun Shan, Song, Jin, and Yanlin). When it came to completing missions, the squad reminded me of episodes and dynamics you’d see in/from USA shows like Burn Notice and Leverage. I wish they’d have more “spy mission” episodes. Even when Wen Zhong was part of the squad everyone had an important role; nothing ever seemed amiss.
But my favorite episode arc is starting from episode 31 and ending around episode 38 when both Sergeants are MIA. Which meant all the students had a bit more freedom, and Jun Shan was out of the picture temporarily due to injuries obtained from a previous episode. But what this arc also consisted of was Yan Zhen unashamedly proclaiming his love for Xiang two times (“Happy birthday Xie Liang Chen! You know what I mean!”) as his classmates silently accept the bizarreness of it all. And a lot more funny and baddie episodes. The squad (minus Jun Shan) continued to dominate as well.
Yet, what I wished for was that Song could have had a love interest (I was low key shipping him and Xiao Jun), or that he could have found out that Liang Chen was the girl he’d in fact fallen for. I also wished that those deleted scenes could have been put back in the show along with those alleged 90 minutes of omitted footage too. But I’m okay with what I’ve got. Wait, one more wish is that Jun Shan could have found someone in the end, and that we could have gotten more of Xiang and Yan Zhen after they walked into the sunset. Yet, what would’ve made another interesting story arc would have been maybe that Jun Shan had truly fallen for Ms. Oda.
Yet, I’ll miss:
- Yanlin’s need to always act first when in the face of injustice. He really brought it home in the last episode.
- Ji Jin’s funny face expressions and subtleties.
- Song’s goofiness and innocence. Also his “bromance” with Yan Zhen and Xiang.
- Jin’s loyalty to Jun Shan.
- Sergeant Guo’s drinking and coolness. He was the cool and laidback Sergeant when compared to Lu. And I found it funny when Wen Zhong told him Liang Chen was actually a girl and Guo didn’t bat an eye.
- Song’s love for eggs.
- The fight scenes. I loved the revenge episode (ep 44), and the fight scene between Xiang and Ms. Oda. Sword vs. Bamboo stick.
- Tingbao’s love for Manting (and Manting’s subtle loyalty to Tingbai).
- Wen Zhong’s bullying ways…Only because that’s when Yan Zhen was able to showcase that he had Xiang’s back a lot more (staple episode: When Wen Zhong wants to be petty and have Xiang/Liang Chen fail the “tag test”, but Yan Zhen prevents that).
- An Wen’s beautiful face and notebook of names and pictures.
- Xiao Yu’s and Sergeant Guo’s love story.
- Xiao Yu’s “sons” who she took off the street and loved dearly.
- Yan Zhen’s hairdo, comic relief, outfits, and “smizing”.
- Manting’s rebellious but dignified ways. She was really cool when it came to snark and one-uppery
- Xiang/Liang Chen’s pretty face.
- Mrs. Xie being Team Yan Zhen, and telling Xiang (“I like to call him Yan Zhen. It sounds friendlier”).
- Tingbai’s ghost of a smile and mischievousness.
And the funny thing is, I started comparing AMA (Yan Zhen and Xiang/Liang Chen) to my favorite OTPs. Heck, I might even get around to writing some AMA FanFiction.
All in all, AMA is a great coming of age story. If only to cross paths with Yan Zhen and Xiang again…I’ll definitely rewatch in the future.
Happy birthday Arsenal Military Academy! I’ll celebrate it again.
“Can't get this song [Enter a Dream] off my mind or this story...It's not just the amazing OTP or their chemistry which I love. There is something even greater here.
Proving it's not about rich or poor what you have or don't have.
It's about the person you are inside.
That each person has their own story and a gift within them. Strengths and weaknesses, courage and fears. That no matter the differences when brought together for a greater cause all those differences disappear.
It's a love and bond not of the romantic kind but it's beauty warms the heart through laughter and tears and for those who have experienced it.
It's no wonder those memories last for years…”
I truly loved this drama.
When I was finished with Arsenal Military Academy, I was left with a feeling of melancholy, as though I had to walk off into my own sunset, hoping to cross paths with Xiang/Liang Chen and Yan Zhen. But as expected, my journey with them had to come to an end.
I read countless reviews and comments all over the web in regard to AMA. Therefore, when starting the drama, I was a bit scared. I was anticipating my self to get frustrated and disappointed. But I wasn’t. I finished this drama in less than 5 days.
Most people complain about the love triangles and lack of screen time and skinship between the main pair…but, I was never truly dissatisfied. The main pair was who I rooted for from beginning to end. The first 20 episodes (basic training episodes) have a good amount of screen time between the pair. They aren’t kissing or proclaiming their love for each other…but they don’t and didn’t need to. How Xiang/Liang Chen and Yan Zhen looked at each other was enough for me. When Xiang/Liang Chen interacted with Yan Zhen I felt as though the outer world ceased to exist for her. From the beginning of the show Yan Zhen was drawn to Xiang/Liang Chen (the camisole scene in episode 1 is a scene I go back to a lot).
As for Jun Shan and Xiang/Liang Chen, when they were stuck in the hole together, he comforted Xiang/Liang Chen like an older brother. I feel as though this scene would’ve looked a lot different with Yan Zhen. I feel as though there would’ve been a lot more tension, plus it would have been more sweet and endearing. But ML and FL weren’t meant for this scene. The scene Xiang/Liang Chen and Yan Zhen were meant for happened previous episodes (e.g. When Yan Zhen surprises Xiang/Liang Chen by visiting her family home on break and meets the ‘Rents. Or when they end up in the jail cell with those students).
Some argue that Jun Shan was a better match because he loved “Liang Chen” before he loved Xiang, which painted a more of unconditional love. Yet, that isn’t a fair argument. Who knows if Yan Zhen would have fallen for “Liang Chen” if he had never known Liang Chen was a girl until a lot later. What matters is that Yan Zhen fell for Xiang/Liang Chen first.
Another staple scene I must note is around the first couple episodes. When Jun Shan prevents Xiang/Liang Chen from falling into the hole during their first test assignment and he carries her to safety—that scene is juxtaposed with a scene involving Xiang/Liang Chen and her late brother. What that simply shows to me is that Xiang/Liang Chen did in fact see Jun Shan as a brother from the get go. Disregard later episodes between Jun Shan and Xiang/Liang Chen because Xiang/Liang Chen was always running away from him or thinking of Yan Zhen who continued to have her back. I didn’t like it when Jun Shan realized his feelings and that Liang Chen was Xiang, and as a result started to become a lot more domineering towards Xiang/Liang Chen in later episodes (especially when he told her, seemingly out of nowhere, to button up her shirt). Sometimes Xiang/Liang Chen seemed a little annoyed by his behavior.
As someone else noted, after episode 38, when Xiang/Liang Chen realizes her feelings for Yan Zhen, she started to treat him more like a boyfriend. I wonder if Yan Zhen started to realize that…regardless, they started holding hands a lot more with subtle touches and throwing their arms around each other.
But outside of the romance, I loved all the characters. Especially those in the squad (Xiang/Liang Chen, Yan Zhen, Jun Shan, Song, Jin, and Yanlin). When it came to completing missions, the squad reminded me of episodes and dynamics you’d see in/from USA shows like Burn Notice and Leverage. I wish they’d have more “spy mission” episodes. Even when Wen Zhong was part of the squad everyone had an important role; nothing ever seemed amiss.
But my favorite episode arc is starting from episode 31 and ending around episode 38 when both Sergeants are MIA. Which meant all the students had a bit more freedom, and Jun Shan was out of the picture temporarily due to injuries obtained from a previous episode. But what this arc also consisted of was Yan Zhen unashamedly proclaiming his love for Xiang two times (“Happy birthday Xie Liang Chen! You know what I mean!”) as his classmates silently accept the bizarreness of it all. And a lot more funny and baddie episodes. The squad (minus Jun Shan) continued to dominate as well.
Yet, what I wished for was that Song could have had a love interest (I was low key shipping him and Xiao Jun), or that he could have found out that Liang Chen was the girl he’d in fact fallen for. I also wished that those deleted scenes could have been put back in the show along with those alleged 90 minutes of omitted footage too. But I’m okay with what I’ve got. Wait, one more wish is that Jun Shan could have found someone in the end, and that we could have gotten more of Xiang and Yan Zhen after they walked into the sunset. Yet, what would’ve made another interesting story arc would have been maybe that Jun Shan had truly fallen for Ms. Oda.
Yet, I’ll miss:
- Yanlin’s need to always act first when in the face of injustice. He really brought it home in the last episode.
- Ji Jin’s funny face expressions and subtleties.
- Song’s goofiness and innocence. Also his “bromance” with Yan Zhen and Xiang.
- Jin’s loyalty to Jun Shan.
- Sergeant Guo’s drinking and coolness. He was the cool and laidback Sergeant when compared to Lu. And I found it funny when Wen Zhong told him Liang Chen was actually a girl and Guo didn’t bat an eye.
- Song’s love for eggs.
- The fight scenes. I loved the revenge episode (ep 44), and the fight scene between Xiang and Ms. Oda. Sword vs. Bamboo stick.
- Tingbao’s love for Manting (and Manting’s subtle loyalty to Tingbai).
- Wen Zhong’s bullying ways…Only because that’s when Yan Zhen was able to showcase that he had Xiang’s back a lot more (staple episode: When Wen Zhong wants to be petty and have Xiang/Liang Chen fail the “tag test”, but Yan Zhen prevents that).
- An Wen’s beautiful face and notebook of names and pictures.
- Xiao Yu’s and Sergeant Guo’s love story.
- Xiao Yu’s “sons” who she took off the street and loved dearly.
- Yan Zhen’s hairdo, comic relief, outfits, and “smizing”.
- Manting’s rebellious but dignified ways. She was really cool when it came to snark and one-uppery
- Xiang/Liang Chen’s pretty face.
- Mrs. Xie being Team Yan Zhen, and telling Xiang (“I like to call him Yan Zhen. It sounds friendlier”).
- Tingbai’s ghost of a smile and mischievousness.
And the funny thing is, I started comparing AMA (Yan Zhen and Xiang/Liang Chen) to my favorite OTPs. Heck, I might even get around to writing some AMA FanFiction.
All in all, AMA is a great coming of age story. If only to cross paths with Yan Zhen and Xiang again…I’ll definitely rewatch in the future.
Happy birthday Arsenal Military Academy! I’ll celebrate it again.
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