Reviews

mildly disappointed, but did enjoy

I went into this movie knowing absolutely nothing about it and to be honest, it was very lovely and simple- if only the writing had been as good as the overall set up was.

The first half of the movie was brilliant- childhood friends, a dubious friendship-toeing the line of romance and a less conventional ending when the female lead marries someone else- all established to the audience within the first fifty minutes or so. The humour slapped, I loved the characters and their dynamic, but after the first hour everything goes very quickly downhill.

I feel that although that at the end of the movie the overall message was "we experienced good times and that all that matters" it wasn't really developed upon and carried through the movie. I felt a huge disconnect with the characters on screen, especially Xu Yi and Gao Xiaonan, the movie very rarely disclosed any of their thoughts and I honestly felt that there was very little growth in the characters. Xu Yi mainly just narrated what had happened during the years as opposed to really reflecting on what he felt or understood from those moments. Like him settling for Xiao Yuan, or his move from entertainment news to documentary- which clearly had a huge impact on his identity and his self worth.

This problem of lacking a main central message also carried through to the way Xu Yi and Xiaonan's relationship developed. I feel like the movie could have been better if you could see a clear progression their friendship develop and grow until it tipped onto the edge of romance followed by a big blow up where everything ends. Instead, a romantic relationship between the male and female lead was consistently implied from the outset to the end, which to me, further muddied the arc.

However my biggest ick of the movie was the scene where Xu Yi and Xiaonan have their second big disagreement when Xu Yi walks in on Xiaonan and her ex boyfriend. The scene to me felt like should have been the climax of the movie, but because this cycle of almost being together as friends or more or anything and then splitting apart and being too scared to say anything about their emotions had happened literally so many times it just didn't feel significant at all. It just felt like another tangle in the knot of plot-points. Furthermore, the fact that this blow-up (like many of the other unfortunate events in this movie) was caused by a misunderstanding is just utterly bewildering to me. Xu Yi's behaviour here was also so out of character, up until now he seemed to be very open with his emotions and his avoidant behaviour made no sense to me- it honestly just felt like a piece of lazy writing- the only reason why this argument even occurred was simply because the people writing it decided it would.

In short, the movie was a lovely and fun watch but ultimately I was left wanting more substance. The ending to me was very abrupt and underdeveloped- Xu Yi's acceptance of Xiaonan marrying someone else was hardly explored. I also wish the overall plot was a little more streamlined and we were given in depth insight into the development of the character's thoughts and feelings- such as more reflective voice-overs from Xu Yi, who despite being presented as the main character from the start felt as alien as the more major side characters. Maybe more time spent on exploring the characters and less on repetitive plot points would have done the movie some good.

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Love, Mystery, and Redemption: Derailment's Intriguing Plot and Character Growth Shine

Derailment is such a interesting drama that kept me hooked with every episode, and now I feel so sad after finishing it. The ML and SL were absolute eye-candy to start off with, like QL was a red flag to start off with but then progressed into a green flag idk. Watching the character development of JXY from an arrogant person with a sense of superiority to a genuine person who works hard was very worthwhile. I also enjoyed the aspect of how romance was rather a side focus, with mystery/thriller which made it very exciting. By unravelling all the mysteries as to what exactly happened to the FL, and who is behind it all with limited clues, while meeting many people to form her the support system JXY never had, easily gives this drama a 9/10. I didn't feel like this drama dragged or that any of the arcs were unnecessary, and I feel like this was quite well put together. The only minor issue I had was with the expression of emotion and relatability in the actors, I feel like some scenes came short of what they were supposed to make the audience feel. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Derailment and rate it a 9/10!

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DONT WASTE TIME

I couldn’t finish it there 50 episodes of crap it didn’t get to the point and felt like a different story every episode and was soooooiooooo slow I didn’t know what to do I’ve never gotten so bored I dropped a drama so that’s a big deal so please don’t waste your time I think I wasted like 32 hours of my time and decided no stop i don’t like it it’s so boring why am I wasting my time I kinda liked the plot and I think it could have been good. If it wasn’t so slow I don’t know what else to say cos I need 500 words but yeah I don’t know who reads to the end of a 500 word review but if you did and felt like you wasted a bit of time you should and this drama will waste even more so don’t bother

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WATCH THIS RIGHT NOW DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT

this was probably one of the best things I’ve ever watched after writing this I’m going to go rewatch it I love it so much the chemistry and everything built this drama and I can’t even begin to describe how amazing I was excited every day to watch this and it just made me so happy please please please I’m begging you go watch it you would really be missing our if you skipped this so im telling you go right now I can’t say anything was bad about this drama it was really incredible also if you enjoy it the next thing to watch is unforgettable love that’s rlly good as well but not as good as this I’m yet to find better cdramas than this and I’ve watched a bunch but I would say hidden love is amazing but this is different it’s adults and they have SO MUCH CHRMISTRY and adults hit different to kids to the point where it made me kick me feet

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Nope. Don't waste your time

I mistakenly believed that the drama was an Academy Martial Arts drama, but it turned out to be far from it. The plot is needlessly ridiculous, the cast is below average, and the conclusion is utterly disappointing.

The storyline about a girl searching for her origins is overshadowed by a ridiculous love triangle between two guys and herself, where none of them seem to be genuinely in love with each other. The way I interpreted it was one guy had a crush on both male and female but because of the Chinese censor it is just blurred. However, many jealous scenes suggest he wanted the other guy's attention. The girl went back and forth but kept them both in the friend zone. No happy ending, no love story. A possible threesome or just friendship.

But that's not the worst part. The master is a joke, and the villains are laughable. And don't even get me started on the annoying sound effects that include stomach growling, footsteps, and eating noises. I mean, seriously, who wants to listen to that?

Trust me, don't waste your time watching this mess. It's a bad idea, and you'll regret it.

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I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT WORTH WATCHING

ima say this drama hit the spot incredible love story the constant battle between two lover and the overall plot personally I love the dramas with kids and they did this so good everything was enjoyable and it got me excited to watch every episode and I know the length of this drama may put you off and it did for me but once I started watching it I couldn’t stop the kid is adorable and the chemistry is out of this world if you like the love you give me this is the drama to watch I absolutely loved both although it’s not as I good I’d say it had similarities and I very much enjoyed it I hope this helps and encourage you to watch this as you should

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This series is a warm blanket around you, keeping you warm in a cold winter.

How difficult love can be sometimes! How many misunderstandings can we tolerate in one single life? It's insane how many were in this series. This series may have a slow pace during some episodes, but we can not expect something to happen in every second of it.

I was overwhelmed by this, because I saw myself in them. Sometimes we expect a lot from some people, and we realize that we never told them what we wanted in the first place.

I can resume this series as follows: misunderstandings (a lot), lack of communication (both), falling in love, second chances, and resilience.

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Stranger Things, but darker, grittier, and bloodier.

Ko Ja Yoon is a fascinating main character, and she makes the film intriguing despite the world-building being sort of thin and the plot being generally predictable. I think the most impressive thing is that nobody in this film is stupid. When strangers are creepy and weird, characters — both side and main ones — recognize it and act accordingly. It was refreshing.

In fact, I'm pretty impressed with the more down-to-earth elements of this film actually; the dynamic between KJY and her family and friends were really interesting, and I want to give a special shout-out to Go Minsi, who really sold her role as the spunky best friend.

On the other hand, while Kim Dami and Choi Wooshik have fantastic chemistry together — the fight scene between them is one of the best moments in the film — I feel like I didn't feel fully convinced by the main scientist or the other "powered" people. Going back to the thin world-building, I think the environment of the government facility, the motivations of the people in charge, and the backstory of other experimented people were just not altogether there.

Overall, it's still a quick, engaging watch and I can see why it got so popular.

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=> A beautiful, intense and tragic series brought to life by great actors.

Excellent Xianxia, ​​full of fights, friendship & brotherhood, with a bittersweet romance between a wonderful Liu Yu Ning and a beautyful Liu Shi Shi (Cécilia Liu).

PLOT: Two top assassins from rival agencies and their six-member team who have diverse backgrounds, and unique skills, embark on a journey filled with challenges and crises.
The FL, a great assassin believed to be dead, meets the ML, leader of the Wu State's Six Realms Hall. They will (for different reasons) go on an expedition together to rescue King WU, taken hostage for ransom in the neighboring kingdom. They are accompanied by 4 companions of the ML, elite soldiers, Princess Wu and her butler. The journey is risky because opponents/enemies are everywhere.

PROS:
+ Addictive series, because the production is quick, the interactions are intense, and a little touch of humor adds spice.
+ The 2 leads give a magnificent performance, both in action scenes and in sweet moments.
+ The secondary characters are well developed and endearing. Their psychological evolution is credible.

CONS:
- The lively music in the war scenes, supposed to demonstrate passion and courage, is not in tune and disrupts the emotion.
- The action scenes (high flying with cables) are exaggerated. This gives beautiful choreography, but these scenes lack realism.
- Li Tong Guang's character is excessive. His obsessive love for FL, lack of respect for a master (anfd for a woman who reject him each times).
- Why did you kill all the heroes? And in such a cruel way.... Ok, it's war, but praising sacrifice to this extent is too much!
- The ending is ambiguous. We can assume that the 2 heroes survived, but it's not clear enough for my taste.

**************************************************************************************************
Excellent Xianxia, full of fights, friendship & brotherhood, with a bittersweet romance between a wonderful Liu Yu Ning and a beautyful Liu Shi Shi (Cécilia Liu).

PLOT: Two top assassins from rival agencies and their six-member team who have diverse backgrounds, and unique skills, embark on a journey filled with challenges and crises.
La FL, une great assassin supposée morte, rencontre le ML, chef du Wu State's Six Realms Hall. Ils vont (pour des raisons différentes), partir ensemble en expédition, délivrer le roi WU, pris en otage contre rançon dans le royaume voisin. Ils sont accompagnés de 4 compagnons du ML, soldats d'élite, de la princesse Wu et de son majordome. Le voyage est risqué car les opposants / ennemis sont partout.

PROS:
+ Série addictive, car la réalisation est rapide, les interactions sont intenses, et une petite touche d'humour ajoute du piquant.
+ Les 2 leads réalisent une magnifique performance, tant dans les scènes d'action que dans les moments tendres.
+ Les personnages secondaires sont bien développés, attachants. Leur évolution psychologique est crédible.

CONS:
- La musique entrainante sur les scènes de guerre, supposée démontrer la fougue et le courage, n'est pas dans le ton et perturbe l'émotion.
- Les scènes d'action (haut vol avec câbles) sont exagérées. Cela donne de belles chorégraphies, mais ces scènes manquent de réalisme.
- Le personnage de Li Tong Guang est excessif. Son amour obsessionnel pour la FL, manque de respect vis à vis d'un maître.
- Pourquoi avoir fait mourir tous les héros ? Et de façon aussi cruelle.... Ok, c'est la guerre, mais faire l'éloge du sacrifice à ce point, c'est trop !
- La fin est ambigüe. On peut supposer que les 2 héros ont survécu, mais ce n'est pas assez clair à mon goût.

=> Une belle série intense et tragique mise en vie par de super acteurs.

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Memory

This show is about memory, and the repetitions the show allows, with the flashbacks being not for us but for them, they are remembering, and even then in the end we get deeper memories pulled out. It's a beautiful show, well acted, beautifully filmed. Short, but just on top of its story, beginning breakup to end 2nd chance.

It starts with Fumiya breaking up with Ritsu, who runs out has an accident and loses memory. Fumiya then decides to let them fall back in love again, rather than explain the relationship and breakup. Ritsu is suspicious of the attention, but Fumiya clearly is falling back in love, and having trouble with the setup he set up. He's seeing original Ritsu when they first got together again and is having trouble not being with him. First Fumiya's flashbacks give him a chance not just to remember the good times, but to regret what has been lost, to feel like the new situation isn't quite right at all.

And we end with Ristu getting his memories back, including the earliest one of Fumiya, before their official first meeting.

Great use of flashbacks to really show how memory is part of love.

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Start At Ep 7 For A Better Continuation From Season 1!

Ep 1 had so much emotional abuse by a ridiculously devolved Minato to Shin that I couldn't enjoy it. I skipped to Ep 7 per another reviewer's suggestion and was so glad I did! The emotional abuse starts to fade out then and it felt like a better, much more sensical continuation of Shin and Minato's relationship from Season 1. I highly suggest starting at Ep 7 if you want to be able to like Minato and be happy with the ending.

Minato continues his extremely slow character development, but it does happen. The acting is, again, supurb by all (especially Sho as Shin), and the secondary couple's progression is sweet and fun to watch too.

I rated Season 1 an 8/10 and I would rate Season 2 *Ep 7-12* at an 8/10 as a satisfying conclusion to the character and relationship arcs. I'm removing 1 star for Ep 1-6 because of the regressively poor characterizations and the unwatchable toxicity that was unnecessary and detrimental to the story's development.

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I enjoyed it.

I liked this show. I watched it in one night, but that was also because the episodes were quite short.
I wish they would've been longer, and we could've seen more. I really liked the leading couple, so I hoped for more scenes with them, but I understand that there were none since the main genre isn’t romance.
This show was sometimes stressful and illogical, but it didn’t bother me much. I enjoyed the show, though it was quite chaotic with people switching sides.
The female lead's acting wasn’t the best, but it was bearable. The acting of the antagonist was bad, but didn’t ruin the show for me that much.
Overall, a good show to watch in one night, especially since the episodes are only 20 minutes long. However, don't mainly watch it for romance… romance is just a side plot, and we get like 40 minutes or less of screen time for it. The show portrayed a great message also!

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