The Journey 2 (2017)

I'm flexing my drama review muscles again after a brief hiatus. First, I'd like to thank HappySqueak for her recommendation article which led me to this drama. Here goes my review!

Story: I have to be honest here and say reincarnation and time-traveling stories are a dime in a dozen in Chinese dramas to the point the Chinese authorities had to regulate it! Melding modern with ancient Chinese settings is also pretty common. Having deities, ghosts, vampires etc as characters has been done for the umpteenth time!  The strength of the story lies in the love triangle between the three main characters. Love triangle? Yeah - common amongst commons in Asian dramas! But the selling point here is......you can't really tell who's the male lead! In fact, I believe both men in the love triangle are the male leads. They are equally outstanding and equally worth your support as they both fought for the female lead's affections. So, you'll end up as either Team Ya Long or Team Si Yin. And true to Chinese drama, the romance is of tragic nature. That, however, shouldn't deter you from watching this drama because if you're like me in appreciating a good story and good characterization, you'll agree with the ending of this story. The good news is, it's not an open ending and it is one that will give you a sigh. I actually feel that after all the three people had been through, it's a fitting and compassionate ending.

Another nice addition to the drama is how first impressions may not be the right impression. Ya Long was characterized as the evil vampire - indiscriminately killing, possessive, arrogant, looking down on humans as food etc. First impression and even throughout the drama, he played the role of the vampire to a T. Then, he fell in love and didn't know what to do with it! At first, he dealt with it poorly but slowly, you start to see his point of view and before you know it, you are rooting for him! Then, at the end as his past-life story is revealed, you start to have split feelings about whom the female lead should end up with. His character was dealt at least a couple of twists! I also love Si Yin's character. First impression and throughout, he played the character of the nice guy who sacrificed all the time for the female lead. You couldn't help but feel sorry for him when it slowly became clear that his is most likely gonna end as an unrequited love. Then came the twist and you start to question if the female lead actually did feel something for him! She has many touching and loving moments with him. Just as you think you should switch your loyalties, his past-life story revealed a different character and you'll realize that Mr. Gentleman-Good Guy ain't Mr. Gentleman-Good Guy after all! There is a reason why he out of the three of them, got punished in the worst ways throughout all his reincarnations! And lastly, our female lead's character is pretty standard in most Asian dramas - bright, bubbly, innocent, bumbling, sometimes incorrectly street smart....she provided the bulk of the comedy in this drama. However, you'll find out at the end of the drama that where female leads are concerned, you'd prefer not to be in her shoes. Without giving too much away, I can summarize her character by saying she is the comedy and the tragedy of this drama.

There are also clear indications in this drama that the author of this story is influenced by both eastern and western beliefs and culture. Ya Long is very much a western vampire - with his sensitivity to sun, silver and the wooden stake. You will also be treated to some popular western myths re. creation such as the creation of a woman from a man's rib. I will not comment re. the author of this story (Vivibear - she's Chinese-Swedish which explains the western influence) and her fame as the Queen of Plagiarism. I'll just leave my review of the story at this: it's interesting enough to capture your attention and is worthy as a drama marathon material, BUT it is not outstanding! Hence, I rate the story at 8.5/10.

Acting/Cast: It is not often that we are treated to two male characters who are equally deserving as the male lead. Both Ma Ke and Fu Xin Bo shone through the drama. They embraced their characters to perfection! The female lead, Zhou Yu Tong, though not the prettiest and most outstanding female lead, adequately portrayed Ye Yin - a modern 18-year-old at the cusp of womanhood but still very much a little girl at heart. When you watch the drama and realize that the female lead is just 18-year-old, you'll understand why Yu Tong had to switch from being sometimes a girl and sometimes speaking and behaving like a mature woman. She's very much a modern teenager in ancient times! Special mention to Nie Zi Hao as Fei Niao (Ye Yin's senior). For a newcomer, he's doing really well. I hope to see him in a main role soon. The rest of the cast did an excellent job too! Hence, I gave the acting 9.0/10.

Music: The OSTs are worth downloading. My personal favorite is the ending OST by A2A. "....the happiness I once had, has come to the end of the road...your love is too blinding... what I wanted I cannot stop...in the end, there is only loneliness......love becomes a burden...." The lyrics aptly described the story.

Re-watch value: It took me 2 days to marathon this drama. I will not be re-watching it anytime soon but I think there will come a day when I become bored and unmotivated with the currently available dramas (aka Drama Slump) and this drama may serve as an adequate reprieve to that sort of boredom.

Overall: This is a drama worth watching but it is not a 9.0 and above sort of drama (if you get my meaning!). My only beef with this drama in terms of the production is the poor visual effects. I understand that it's not a big production like Eternal Love or Novoland, but the special effects can be better. However, if you can grit your teeth and turn a blind eye to the poor visual effects, the story will shine through. Overall, I rate this drama 8.5/10.

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This is a collective review of both seasons of 'The Journey', since I cannot for the life of me understand why it was split into two separate seasons like that.

I'm a huge time travel/fantasy/history buff what with shows like Doctor Who and Timeless providing endless entertainment, therefore I had always been interested to see how Asia dealt with this genre, and I continued to be disappointed one way or the other.

Then while scouring MDL for interesting titles to watch (which has become a favorite pastime of mine) I came across this drama and the synopsis seemed very inviting, hence began my 2 day marathon. This is the first Chinese drama I have completed and in such a short time too. Not because of the low episode count but because I was pulled in headfirst into this roller coaster ride of a story, the ending of which gave me whiplash.

Going back to the question, in light of this drama it should have been "SHOULD you do it?" in lieu of would. And the answer is a big fat NO! "The fruit of the future is a result of the past." was a little quote thrown at the audience left, right and center throughout the drama, but in the grand scheme of things had little to no value.

~THE CONTINUATION OF THIS REVIEW MAY BE A TEENY TINY BIT SPOILERISH~

STORY:
For someone who spends hours on MDL scouring through the database for gems, this story was as new as it could get albeit with a hefty sprinkling of cliches here and there. It was a dream come true for me to see a new era of Chinese History every few episodes, when the norm is to set the entire story into one particular period. Season One (or the first 12 episodes) get a 9.5 from me in terms of story and *sighs* Season 2 (or the final 12 episodes) get an 8 solely because of the existence of those final 3 episodes.

The drama was heavily influenced from the West, and as I learned from the review above mine, that may be due to the author's plagiarism. But the story still managed to be unique despite those final 3 episodes which I've lovingly dubbed 'The Unholy Trinity'. It acted outside of the usual conventions of good and evil which was refreshing to see. Fantastical elements and creatures galore, it was heaven. I did not mind the lackluster visual effects as much as most people.

CAST (THEIR CHARACTERS AND ACTING):
(Fair Warning: This is where my beef with the drama resides and it'll come across as extremely biased.)

Zhou Yu Tong (AKA not your oh so typical female lead... Or so you thought!): Her character as Ye Yin was fun to watch especially in the first 12 episodes because of her ability to find humor in the most atrocious and life-threatening situations (a trait that would have you dead in minutes IRL) and her astute (well for the most of it) brain. She's not afraid to speak her mind and yet her character completely blows off her steam in the second half, transforming into this frustrating, dumber than usual, cookie cutter character that makes you want to pull your hair out. I've lost count of how many times I yelled at my laptop screen, urging her to say her feelings which she never did.

Fu Xin Bo (AKA I'd rather not say much for fear I'll curse him to hell and back): Kudos to his acting for garnering sympathy while simultaneously making me hate him with a fiery passion. This guy can act! In moments he can shift from kind, to adorkable, to a jerk to a plain SPOILER.... incestuous creep.

Saving the best for last, my newfound love...
Ma Ke (AKA he'll make you cry a river, oh who am I kidding an entire sea!): I've seen a fair amount of vampire stories in asian dramas but none of them and even the Western ones, come even close to this God of a man, whose looks can put the most beautiful to shame, whose character made me cry almost every other episode with his devotion to the woman he loves, (there's a term in my language Urdu pronounced Wa-Lay-Ha-Na, which is the most accurate description of the eternal and beautifully intense love of his) and his path to redemption which was heartbreaking to watch. I'm forever biased towards his character, and I doubt I'll love any other character in a Chinese drama as much again.

MUSIC:
Since I was so engrossed in the drama and Ma Ke specifically, I wasn't paying as much attention to the soundtrack as was deserved. However, it was a nice accompaniment in each scene and never felt constricting or out of place.

REWATCH VALUE:
I had a headache after bawling my eyes out, so I won't be rewatching this anytime soon or probably ever, but I'll forever be on the lookout for clips and videos of my OTP. Watch this if you enjoy crying every once in a while.

OVERALL:
I have developed a love hate relationship with this drama where I loved it at its golden moments, yet hate the ending to no end. I used to dislike love triangles but will now be avoiding them like the plague (for the time being at least).

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