2ndLeadsBest
infront of a computer screen
Took me a while to finish
There is a lot to love about this series but it took me a while to finish mainly because the ML rookie Yeom Sang Soo's character was ridiculously judgmental. I didn't like his character or sympathize w/ his situation at all. I don't know how he can pass the academy in the first place. FL's acting was a bit stiff but overall ok.Aspects that I did love:
A dose of reality, society issues that you don't see in rom coms.
Inequalities of job search completely biased which I hope it raises awareness to the gender wage gap.
Fantastic supporting cast. Lots of veterans in this drama with more interesting personalities than the ML.
Story, the crimes in this story are actually interesting, definitely brutal.
Cops are human too.
Watch it for the supporting cast & story.
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Hooked till midway then series fell flat
The series started off strong. Character relationship development was interesting and all 3 couples were likeable. Supporting cast was good as well. Unfortunately like many other dramas mid way through the story got kind of sloppy. FL went from smarter than everyone to can't figure out anything. Some misunderstandings felt forced, some episodes felt draggy with too many flashbacks.What I enjoyed:
1. Wen Si Yuan's character. By far my favorite character. The way he talks is distinct and his acting just grows on you. Same feeling as when he played Mu Ci in Ashes of Love.
2. Zhu Yan - before he became his other self. Very lovable
3. Overall story
4. Initial parts had really good classic wu xia fight scenes peaked at the tournament and then..... feels like the fight choreographer quit or something.
5. Chemistry between all 3 couples.
6. Bromance between Zhu Yan & Yin Chang Ge
Downfalls:
1. 2nd 1/2 of the drama
2. Non stop crying and flashbacks
3. Anti climatic out comes
4. Ending that really logically didn't make sense on how the story was progressing. I even tried googling how and why and no answer..... ???
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0 newness to this HS cliche overload drama
Then and now kind of story with first loves but ML FL clothes change in adulthood but acting gestures don't change . It's literally the same story line which would've been ok if the dialogue was a bit more interesting. Typically for these to be successful you need strong funny side supporting characters which there aren't any. Some smart back and forth between the leads which there's like one moment.Story include:
1. FL weak doormat crybaby always needing to be rescued
2. ML cold on the outside and seems to bully the girl but is really helping her
3. Bad parenting and a terrible school official
4. Jealous side girl
5. School bully boys which only ML can defeat
6. Misunderstanding till the end
7. Countless years where no one moves on
8. Story finally resolves in the end years years years later
The End
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It will make you sm:)e
The cast was memorable. Short 24 ep didn't drag on but it could've used a few more. Ending could've been better. The development of the real 2nd lead could've used some more time to simmer the attraction. It felt rather sudden when he confessed & it was like "for real when that happened?".Memorable moments:
Shu Zhan's solo performance on stage showcased his potential. Although overall I felt he did a decent job but that scene was the best of his acting in the whole drama.
Bella Du: Her dance solo & and her screen solo audition was very moving. I love her acting through out the entire drama.
Live streaming of the 3 girls : 1st one was the best but the whole concept was fun and unique.
What makes the drama good:
1st ep will hook you with her playing dead. "professional no script" actor.
Twist of the true 2nd lead. 2nd lead who you thought was the 2nd lead really wasn't.
I also liked that no character was written one sided good or bad. This is very hard to do as typical drama has the one sided antagonist.
It was a good mix of fun but will touch you emotionally.
Could've been better:
Development of other characters.
Story could've used more development. It felt like it abruptly ended without a real ending.
Later ep got a bit more melodramatic than fun. They could've kept some more fun scenes going
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Not as good as S1 but still worth watching!
Epic continues 4.5 years later.... Everyone's been waiting and I am so happy most of the main and supportive cast returned. Must be a tremendous effort to coordinate all the schedules. However, having rewatched S1 to prepare for S2, the absence of Xiao Zhan was felt immediately. I get it, he's a big star now but sometimes a small part in an epic drama beats ML in a mediocre drama. Actor Wu Xing Jian did not deliver the intense stare Xiao Zhan had for Yan Bing Yun's character. Not that I expected him to, but I was hoping for more? The entire character felt flat.Story started a bit slow with some OTP crying but by ep 4, the humor really kicked in when the faceoff between the Crown Prince, 2nd prince & Fan Xian happened. You know how great the acting is when they can deliver that micro expression.
Sure, there are lots of things I am not liking:
-Dubbing for Liu Ru Yu (Madam Fan) is different and not in a good way.
-The yodeler music for silly funny scenes is a bit overdone.
-Yan Bing Yun's character changing from sexy mysterious feel to blahhhhh
-YeLingER's character went from spunky hot head to serious bitter? No issues replacing the actress but common don't replace the personality.....
-Over heavy on political scheming. Ep 15 was hard to watch as it was way over done on the interrogation scene
-Zhang Ruo Yun (ML)'s weight loss? Questionable healthy
-Lack of Fan Si Zhe, Uncle Wu. These are awesome characters from S1 that worked, and they should've continued with more scenes not less
But there are also improvements:
-Lighting (S1 was olive... browns... yeah not flattering)
S2 lighting is better but still not great. No over skin smoothing, no heavy makeup, you can see people's skin textures
-Continued character development like the crown prince, 2nd prince
- Introduction of new interesting characters like the 1st prince & princess pairing (very cute), the little Eunuch that seems to know what to say at all times
A must watch for anyone who loves beyond idol dramas.
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One giant Hot Mess
Veteran cast with great 1st episode and the script lost its way to nowhere land. I thought it focused on "Trolley Dilemma" instead it felt more like a woman's bad luck in choosing a husband.The only reason I continued is because I loved Kim Hyun Joo ever since she was in the 1999 drama "Into the Sunlight"
Park Hee Soon (ML) was powerful in My Name
Kim Mu Yeol so memorable in Bad Guys: City of Evil
All such great actors and I just kept hoping that this drama will take it somewhere eventually. But that didn't happen and partly with the twists felt out of place. Other part was the good to bad characters ratio is way off making this drama hard to watch.
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Easy watch, not a serious drama
Lately there's been a lot of this kind of stories: Free spirit strong FL. The story genre is not new but if you enjoy easy watch costume dramas with happy endings (assuming) then this is enjoyable.It's not as good as Romance of Tiger & Rose which I would say it's been the best so far but its got decent amount of humor.
Positives:
1. Supportive family for FL. The family scenes are quite enjoyable. Dad/Brother are especially funny
2. FL's character's got some sharp come backs. Quite witty
3. If there was a Chinese Ken doll the ML would be it for those who likes idol looks
4. Fun names "ran mian mian" "ying bang bang"
5. Creativity in costume design. I love the use of bright colors: orange, dark teal with some creative head pieces
Negatives:
2nd lead is not strong
The 2nd prince looks older than the king LOL
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Classic drama factory idol drama
1st episode already sets the viewers to low expectations...FL & ML are on a boat, flips over the boat. The top of the boat randomly disappears....? So she can somehow jump out of the water INSTA DRY w/ perfect hair.....
Everyone refers to themselves in 3rd person.....cringe.
The only reason to watch this is for the fans of the actors. For me it's Liu Yu Ning. He was so memorable in the Long Ballad that I've been looking forward for his other supporting roles.
Notable enjoyable aspects:
Anything with Liu Yu Ning (completely bias here)
Tim Pei as Leng Bei (He's better playing these emotionless military roles)
Mu Qing's character - classic selfless silent and suffering type
Anle Princess - badass female character
Ep 3: the solo dance was very beautiful, the only memorable dance scene.
Else this drama is very standard
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For the budget this was a success
I really like Xiao Zhan's as his eyes are so intense but this isn't his best work. I am anti voice dubbing (unless the actors have heavy accents) so happy he did his own voice dubbing. It just took awhile to get used to as it's a lot deeper. However the sound quality in general was a distraction. This is where budget shows, over drowning background music with some questionable music choices. CGI was not too bad since I didn't expect a lot.What's good
1. Xiao Zhan & FL had great chemistry right from the start
2. FL pulled off the ideal cute without being cringey
3. Storyline , from a person not familiar with the novel I really enjoyed the story. Feels like an adventure with some mysteries along the way.
4. Good friendships are formed along the way
5. Funny side characters
What's not so great:
1. Audio in general
2. Bad hair days and lots of them
3. Over acting in quite a few scenes
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Memorable fight scenes but unengaging story
As a fan of Detective Dee movies, Zhou Yi Wei did not work for me. Thinking back to some of the Detective Dee actors:Andy Lau
Yiheng Du (Who worked as Andy Lau's body double prior so Andy 2nd)
Mark Chao
The ideal image of Detective Dee is far from Zhou Yi Wei's. Not that he isn't a great actor, after all he was so good in Rebel Princess & Longest Day in Chang An.
It started out as a promising series with quality production and many familiar actors. Set, costume, lighting, makeup, all so good & the fight scenes were the best! Less (special effects) is more when you can see continuous sequence (if you like classic kung fu). Ep 24 where he fought 1:1 against the female was one of my favorite scenes.
The promising series quickly got killed by the storyline after 4 episodes. It was hard to stay engaged after the Empress was no longer part of the subsequent cases. I've watched it through for the fight scenes, but the cases were blah.....
Also, Zhang Ruo Yun listed as "Main" was not even a main actor. He was only a part of one case, and I don't even understand why the character was written that way. Totally didn't make sense to me, completely anticlimactic.
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Way to kill a show w/ new character introduction midway
Introduction of Su Yue pretty much killed the ENTIRE show.The story started out interesting. Karry Wang wasn't extraordinary but pulled off the young character well enough. The policeman played by Zhang Yi on the other hand was definitely a veteran actor.
The mystery surrounding the father's death is the most interesting part and it continued to be good until Su Yue, female lead cop enters the scene. She pretty much killed the drama's vibe in 2 episodes. I literally can't stand any lines that came out of her mouth. They did tune down her character down but obviously the damage has been done.
Ep 23 on it finally regained its luster so still worth watching overall.
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Absolutely nothing special
Typical plot with predicable dialogue.Start of the drama I already can see that there will be too many disgusting characters
Office male butt
Overbearing mom you can skip all her lines right away
I am not sure how realistic this is but the office male dominating environment with frequent sexist comments as the norm seems excessive?
Overbearing mom w/ too many lines
The ex insulting her age and income status yet comes back to assume his act can be forgiven?
She gets wrongfully terminated and she doesn't fight back
This is all within the first 3 ep and with zero comedic side kicks aka supporting characters.
What's good about this drama?
Actress - she's 40+ looks 30!! She played her character well just that the script was terrible
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Almost worked
The cast was amazing and I've always loved Park Shin Hye. She's so talented with her singing, acting and she can pull off badass stunts convincingly!! That being said it took me a while to finish the series even with quite a few characters I loved:1. FL lead's dad
2. Asia Mart Boss
3. Agent with an obsession to kill FL
4. ML's bodyguard
What worked?
1. Cast / Acting solid from supporting characters to even the young girls that played earlier version of the FL
2. Action packed - stunts were solid (minus some CGI background)
3. interesting characters - could've been more though
4. Set - Beautiful set from the home view of the city to the bunker. High budget
What didn't work for me:
1. Story telling - somehow didn't captivate me. The never ending circles didn't really work
2. Romance - between the leads, am I the only one that felt like they didn't have much romance chemistry? Don't get me wrong ML is a great actor and I loved him in "Stranger" but I didn't feel them 2 worked.
Happy I finished it finally.
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Almost worked
This drama had potential to be so much better especial with the ML. Li Hong Yi is a talented actor, too pretty in some angles, handsome in others but his portray of this character is superb.What worked:
1. ML character and acting. Great match to the story
2. Romantic comedy theme. Subtle flirting, love/hate relationship, no cliche overload
3. 2nd lead Girl -- She's cute, not the typical backstabbing character
What didn't work:
1. FL - I didn't think the casting was right for the role. She's 33 but looked way older (by Asian standards)
2. FL character - complete mismatch. If one goes through that much "tragic" events no way would she act like the younger self
3. 2nd Lead ex bf - liked the 10 year later version over 1 comment? Not believable
4. Lack of interesting supporting side characters
Honestly the only reason to watch this is for the ML.
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When perfect casting meets a great script!
2024 start off with a dump of bad C dramas then came Pegasus and made me have faith in C Dramas once again. This is going to be one of the best this year. Kudos to the writers/directors/actors!Loves: (literally everything!)
1. Hu Xian Xu (LinZhen Dong) - Been a fan of his ever since Hikaru no Go. Seeing him reunite with Zhao Hao Hong as his side kick again was icing on top. HXX is amazing! You can see his micro expressions switching from 2 personalities in one shot. Definitely he studied Wang Yan Lin's expressions & gestures.
2. Wang Yan Lin (Zhang Chi) - I've seen him in some crazy supporting roles over the years but nothing where he can truly showcase his acting abilities. Now I can't imagine another actor playing Zhang Chi.
3. Supporting cast - Many familiar faces. Solid acting, great casting all around.
4. Actual script - Interesting fun story & good pacing overall. Great characters. I love how there aren't any single minded bad characters.
5. Production Quality/Lighting/Makeup/Music. Real voices, normal talking, no crazy make up, definitely refreshing! The music hits with scenes.
Imperfection?
I really didn't need Sun Yu Qiang's side story to be so long. Could've used that time to focus more on the main story.
Wished for more episodes focused on the fun supporting characters like Li Ao Duo & Ai Fei the rival race car drivers.
Minor unplausible insta show up at the right moment scenes.
Muted showdown Dad vs Son.
Rushed ending. I wasn't disappointed at the maybe happy maybe sad parallel world ending but it was just too rushed.
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