Reset (2022)

Un thriller incroyable !

L'année 2022 se poursuit avec un drama chinois époustouflant dont il serait vraiment vraiment vraiment dommage de passer à côté!!!! Sous-titré en français sur Viki, vous n'aurez plus de raison et d'excuse valable si vous passez à côté de cette perle! Je vous conseille vivement de prévoir de le visionner en une seule fois , un peu comme un long métrage...

Afin d'éviter tout spoil malvenu, je n'écrirai que peu sur l'histoire. Ce dont vous avez juste besoin de savoir tient en une seule et unique phrase : Li Shi Qing et Xiao He Yun se retrouvent piégés à l'intérieure d'une boucle temporelle les obligeant à revivre l'explosion d'un bus. Comme écrit plus haut, j'éviterai d'en dire plus, chaque mot pouvant vous donner des indices sur le déroulé du scénario, ce qui serait vraiment dommage.

Dès les premières images, nous sommes propulsés directement au coeur de l'action. Un drama d'action avec peu de temps mort? 

Que nenni.
Un drama incroyablement géré d'une main de maître alternant une action haletante à des scènes émouvantes en passant par une narration subtile impliquant presque tous les personnages du drama. Il n'y a pas de temps mort. Pas de passage ennuyant. Pas de flottement hasardeux. 
Le talent de la scénariste est de nous avoir impliqué, et ce dès le début, dans cette angoisse, cette tension qui ne nous lâcheront pas jusqu'au dernier épisode. Un marathon époustouflant.

Il faut savoir que le drama est un roman de Qi Dao Jun (祈祷君) intitulé "Kai Duan" (开端). Qi Dao Jun a d'ailleurs contribué au script, aidée en cela par Lao Sun, Qiu Yujie et Huang Kaiwen. L'auteur a travaillé minutieusement, jour après jour sur le scénario, prêtant une attention absolue à tous les détails visant à mener un presque sans faute au scénario. Le tournage a été deux fois plus long que ce qu'on voit habituellement pour un drama, 62 jours pour 15 épisodes, ce qui est ici un gage de qualité. Le réalisateur, loin d'être un novice, n'est autre que celui en charge de la photographie de "Nirvana in Fire". L'équipe de production a notamment été au commande de hit comme "Nirvana in Fire" ou "Battle of Changsha". Le producteur, Hou Hong Liang, n'est autre que celui qui a produit "Nirvana in Fire" mais aussi "Love me if you dare" ou "Battle of Changsa". Autrement dit, avec une telle équipe, peu de chance de voir un truc pourri...
Peu d'épisode, un format inhabituel qui aura accumulé depuis sa diffusion 2,1 milliards de vue sur la plateforme Tencent, rien qu'en Asie, faisant de "Reset" le drama ayant eu le plus d'audience pour l'année 2022, du moins en ce début d'année. 
A titre de comparaison, "Squid Game's" sur Netflix a totalisé 1,6 milliards de vue dans 90 pays...
Oui, me direz-vous, le nombre de vue n'est pas une garantie de qualité n'est ce pas. "Reset" est quant à lui un drama affublé d'un scénario complexe et de personnages charismatiques et attachants, faisant de lui indiscutablement, à mes yeux, d'un "must to watch".

Contrairement au livre, les personnages ont une importance qui non seulement font avancer l'histoire mais donne cette raison aux protagonistes de vouloir retourner dans cette boucle afin de les sauver d'une mort certaine. Loin d'être juste une décoration à l'ensemble du scénario, les personnages secondaires nous touchent de par leur passé et de leur trait de caractères tels que la dame aux médicaments ou l'homme aux écouteurs. Peu présentés et silencieux, comme l'homme aux écouteurs, ils participent activement le moment venu, à la montée d'adrénaline qui nous parlent. L'émotion nous bouleverse lorsque s'en vient à l'écran l'homme aux pastèque, l'homme à la valise, le chauffeur du bus, le streameur, la dame au faitout ou bien encore l'homme aux chats.....des personnages d'une telle simplicité mais avec un passé qui trouve étrangement écho en nous. Le spectateur est impliqué violemment dans ce sauvetage et nous nous surprenons à plusieurs reprise à retenir notre souffle, priant de toute nos forces que le bus n'explose pas pour la énième fois.

La force de ce drama tient aussi dans la qualité de l'écriture des protagonistes.
Li Shi Qing et Xiao He Yun n'ont rien d'exceptionnels. Ni force martial, ni intelligence hors norme, ni statut, ni richesse. Des personnes comme vous ou moi. Une étudiante et un concepteur de jeux vidéos. Ainsi, si leur passé ne nous est pas détaillé, si leur famille semble inexistante, c'est pour nous souligner la simplicité, voire la banalité de leur vie. C'est donc face cette situation d'urgence et de danger que Shi Qing et He Yun vont démontrer à travers leur action et leur parole de leur extraordinaire sens de l'humanité. La sensibilité et la force de caractère de Shi Qing complète à la perfection au raisonnement logique de He Yun. Leur lien a le temps de se développer malgré tout, par petite touche subtile et naturelle. La conclusion de leur relation n'en était que plus satisfaisante.

Mais le protagoniste qui nous aura le plus bluffé est sans conteste l'inspecteur Zhang Cheng ! Interprété avec un talent fou par Liu Yi Jun, la dimension rationnelle et humaine est aussi apportée par ce personnage. Son intelligence aiguë et son sens incroyable de l'observation, tenant ici pourtant d'un niveau élevé, n'est rien comparé à son humanité époustouflante et à la sagesse de ses mots. Si tous les officiers de police pouvait n'avoir qu'un centième de son esprit, le monde irait tellement mieux.
Liu Yi Jun est un acteur chevronné qu'on a pu voir dans "Nirvana in Fire" ou "Legend of Fu Yao" par exemple.

Bai Jing Ting, que nous avons récemment vu dans "Ping Pong Life" ou "You are my Hero" est un acteur qui progresse sûrement depuis 2014 et son rôle ici confirme son jeu talentueux. J'ai apprécié la logique de He Yun et le cheminement de son analyse. De premier abord mitigé et pris entre sa conscience et sa volonté de survivre, le personnage évolue irrémédiablement et permet ainsi un contrepoids à la sensibilité exacerbé et naïveté de Shi Qin, nous délivrant de fait un magnifique duo d'amitié et de romance naturelle et solide.

Zhao Jin Mai, adorable dans "A little thing called first love", est loin d'être une débutante, ayant déjà à son actif de nombreux drama, et nous démontre aussi toute la subtilité de son personnage, ses réflexions humaines et au final sa volonté de vouloir sauver avant d'être sauvée.

L'équilibre entre le scénario de l'explosion ainsi que la narration des événements permettent de suivre sans temps mort le drama. Le suspense est distillé de façon intelligente et est maintenu jusqu'à la vérité. Je ne suis pas une experte dans ce domaine, mais j'ose écrire que l'enchaînement logique a été exploitée de manière ingénieuse, nous obligeant à passer d'épisode en épisode, non seulement afin de savoir qui est le coupable. Mais aussi et surtout, car nous étions impliqués émotionnellement.

Un des meilleurs "thriller émotionnel" que j'ai pu voir, que cela US ou coréen ou whatever! A NE PAS LOUPER ! sous aucun prétexte !!

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Pris au piège d'une boucle temporelle, peut-on changer le destin ?

Ce drama est une mécanique implacable, nous sommes captivés, capturés dans cette boucle temporelle. on ne perd pas de temps à se demander le pourquoi du comment, on y est, c’est tout. Ensuite on va suivre avec passion le travail d’enquête et de recherche des deux héros et voir petit à petit se déplier les petites histoires de chacun des passagers, leur inter action, puis la découverte de la raison de cette explosion. Le scénariste a su éviter le piège de la sensation de tourner en rond due au fait du recommencement sans fin de la boucle en variant la durée des périodes, en ménageant des échappées dans la vie des protagonistes, et même un flash back de 5 ans pour expliquer certains personnages. J’avoue avoir râlé à ce moment-là, tant je ne voulais pas lâcher les deux héros et leur travail de recherche, mais je dois reconnaître que ce flash-back était nécessaire et avait tout à fait sa place dans la logique de l’histoire ! Les explosions se succèdent, les héros s’approchent de la solution, comprennent les autres et en même temps se comprennent et se découvrent. Des personnages annexes se précisent, on apprend à les connaître au fur et à mesure de leur retour dans l’histoire à chaque boucle, comme le policier, il y en a qui meurent, mais qui sont à nouveau là à la boucle suivante et alors, comme on espère, comme on attend la réussite des deux jeunes qui veulent sauver tout le monde !
Les acteurs sont parfaits, leurs personnages très bien écrit, manifestant les doutes, la peur ou l’altruisme, le courage, la colère ou le remords qui en font des êtres humains attachants mais réels !
J’ai beaucoup aimé la fin, satisfaisante mais pas trop happy end, après tout à part les deux héros, personne ne se connaît dans ce bus, et si la vie de chacun va prendre une autre direction, ils ne sauront jamais ce qu’ils doivent à Shin Qing et He Yun !
En passant j’ai souri en lisant les traductions des slogans écrits (en rouge !) un peu partout dans le commissariat, un peu de propagande ne fait jamais de mal !!
Enorme succès en Chine, puis en Asie, je le recommande !!!

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Starting All Over

As dramaland resets itself with the beginning of another year, viewers get the opportunity to kickstart 2022 with an awesome C-drama right here. Reset doesn’t come with much fanfare where at the beginning of its run, the availability of (good) subs was somewhat hampered by a lack of involvement from major OTT streaming platforms for international markets. Fortunately as the weeks went by and more viewers started watching it, the fanbase for the drama gradually grew, affording it the recognition that it deserves.

Reset is a “time-loop” drama in the mould of Groundhog Day, Deja Vu, Happy Death Day and Source Code. The protagonists, a college girl and a young game designer, mysteriously find themselves reliving a bus explosion each day. Why this is happening to them and, more importantly, how they free themselves of this catastrophic cycle are central to the narrative.

This drama is produced by Dongyang Noon Sunshine Film and Television Co., or more popularly and affectionately known as Daylight Entertainment which is famed for producing top quality dramas such as Nirvana in Fire, Battle of Changsha, The Story of Minglan and The Bond, among many others. It is co-directed by Sun Mo Long (Candle in the Tomb and Mining Town), Liu Hongyuan, and Lao Suan. The screenplay is adapted from the novel "Kai Duan" (开端) by Qi Dao Jun (祈祷君) who was also involved in the screenwriting process, alongside Qiu Yujie, Lao Suan, and Huang Kaiwen.

Principal photography took place from June to August 2021 in Xiamen. Reset is considered a short format production running at only 15 episodes of 42 minutes each. To date, viewership on Tencent Video platform for mainland China has exceeded 400 million views (at the time of writing), making it the most watched domestic production for the beginning of 2022.

What I Loved

The innovative concept of time loop in a contemporary C-drama setting. I don’t think this has been done before in a Chinese production, which usually focuses on time travels or alternate world fantasies as far as speculative fiction is concerned. The way this premise is established and conveyed via a rather absorbing and engaging approach to the storytelling is a major boon as well because my initial fears of confusion arising from inconsistent or illogical plot holes proved to be unfounded, for the most part. The parameters of when and how the time loop occurs are clearly defined for the viewers’ understanding as the story unfolds.

Along with the suspense and mystery of the overarching plot, the entire story has much depth to it with a balance of youth themes, slice-of-life human drama and even hints of a budding romance imbued into the development of the characterization and side stories. All of these elements are carefully laid out over the course of an eventful 15 episodes, where the second half in particular is filled with many surprising twists and turns.

The two leads may be central to the plot but the drama also carefully takes its time to explore the various side characters, namely the other passengers onboard the ill-fated bus ride and the police detectives assigned to the investigation. Most of these characters are realistically depicted as being extremely layered and fully fleshed out as the mystery gradually unravels.

The characters truly do come alive thanks in no small part to the superb performances of the cast. Bai Jing Ting delivers as the fresh-faced game designer Xiao He Yun, as he utterly embodies the conflicting emotions of someone who wants nothing to do with this calamity yet cannot extricate himself completely from caring about a total stranger. Zhao Jin Mai plays college girl Li Shi Qing in a somewhat more subdued role compared to her co-lead but no less convincing as a naive youngster inadvertently caught up in an incomprehensible and extreme situation.

To be perfectly honest, at the beginning I wasn’t really expecting romance in this drama. However, seeing both Bai Jing Ting and Zhao Jin Mai living dangerously throughout in attempting to survive this distressing time loop has sufficiently shifted my mindset to unequivocally root for them as a romantic couple. In addition to both their characters being adorably sweet and innocent, as well as the unintended comic relief and minor frustration at times from witnessing their numerous futile attempts at unravelling the mystery, the emotional connection they share that is borne of hardship and tragedy genuinely does tug at the heartstrings.

Of the supporting cast, as usual Liu Yi Jun impresses with his immense experience and mastery of his craft. Despite the limited screen presence, his character of police detective Zhang Cheng displays the necessary nuances that befits the characterisation and brings a touch of class to the drama. Likewise Liu Tao’s surprising appearance here as police inspector Du Ju, who elevates the cast list with some star power albeit while wearing a rather unsightly wig. That said, I would have loved to see more complexity from her character aside from delivering her now iconic line, “Perform drug test!”.

Special mention goes to the strong performances in the portrayal of certain other side characters who I shall not name to avoid spoiling the story. It's worth mentioning that You Jing Rou makes a rather brief but quite impactful appearance in the supporting role of Liu Yao.

This drama features music composed and arranged by South Korean composer Kim Hyun Do for 2 of the 3 tracks listed in the soundtrack. My personal favourite is the emotional theme song, the English-language love ballad My Only, performed exclusively by Zhou Shen.

My Only by Zhou Shen
Wake Up by Wang Xiaokun
Rebound by Chen Hui

Final Thoughts

Reset turned out to be a pleasant surprise indeed. It may not have the bearings of a big budget epic or colossal production headlined by an extensive cast list of star names. But it does the basics very well with a great script and storytelling approach, convincing acting with relatable characters and a hugely satisfying closure. I think this drama exceeded many viewers' expectations in the end, including mine.

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An intense binge worthy drama!

I am so in love with this drama. I saw everyone praising it so I casually started it out of curiosity. I was just thinking about giving it a try for the hype. But now I am actually joining the crowd. I feel like praising everything about this drama.

Reset is an intense story that revolves around a few characters binded by a time loop. What I am happy about is that despite it being a time loop drama where certain things will keep on repeating it was executed in such a nice way that I couldn't even think of skipping anything. No matter how many times they repeat it, a right balance of new things came out that was interesting.

So the story starts with a university student named Li Shiqing (Zhao Jin Mai). She was on a bus and on her way to somewhere when the bus gets into an accident and she dies. But she wakes up the next second and just considers it as a bad dream but woah! this is the best part. Things seem to get repeated and she seems to die because of the same accident again and again. Once she realizes about this horrible time loop, her first instinct is to escape, she uses a boy sitting beside her who is Xiao Heyun (Bai Jing Ting), a game developer to get out of the bus but unexpectedly he enters into the same time loop with her. Oh my god! Just the first episode and I was hooked up. I couldn't wait to see how they would continue this story.

Afterwards there are just crazy things happening. They both try struggling in all ways possible to change this destinied accident. Not even a single second is irrelevant or like filler in the drama. Everything is there for a reason. Even the expressions of each actor and how should they react in a particular scene is so perfect.

Their bond. Like two people who are in a mess of time, fighting together and just like two teammates going through life and death together. You can observe how slowly and reasonably their bond develops. Romance is not the visible center of the drama but it's just present through those little moments between them. You can see the care in their eyes and just the will to accompany her/him in the trouble till the end.

I love how almost every character has their own story and stuff. It's short like 15 episodes of 45 minutes each but they do justice to every character present.

Favorite line — "Human is iron and rice is steel. You can only save the world when you are full"

So, in the end, I recommend this to everyone. To even those viewers who are like me and who hesitate to watch time loops… this was a great watch. A well organized plot, high quality production with actors who know their characters well. It's amazingly set with an interesting story which kept me on the edge of my seat and I was like always looking forward to watch more and more. Meanwhile I will be off to dig up some good behind the scenes videos to enjoy more of this :D

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Unexpected treat

I had my doubts about this show mainly cause of its premise/genre. It is very easy to butcher the plot and lose the audience. But I'm glad i watched it. The characters, plot and production is great. I was hooked from the first scene, having so many questions, nothing is simple. The characters have logic and smart in their own ways. Overall the execution has been great so far. It has been interesting and intriging with how everything is comes to play.

The acting is so good, the way they embodied their characters is unbelievable. The mains doing wonders, their chemistry is off the charts as well. It is pretty funny, which i didn't expect given the genre. Bai Jingting wonderful to watch on screen and I'm shocked by Zhao Jin Mai's acting. I knew she was good but damn every action and emotion regarding her character has been spot on. The supporting cast is great, everything done with precision. The story has some heart felt moments as well. The characters are realistic to an extent, with the way they view and react to the world. I like how almost every character story has been explored.

With every loop/reset something different happens that thickens the plot. Contantly left with so many questions after each episodes. Being more suspenseful than the previous episode. This utterly has me hooked and on the edge of my seat. The ending was nicely done but there were a few unanswered questions. Such as why they ended up in a loop. Other than that it was a really good watch. I like how they gave us a glimpse of their lives after this whole thing.

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best of cdramas

this was a great cdrama, and before the buts I'll talk about the good points:
1- the fl was the main hero, she woke up 1st and she "solved" most of the problems, though at points they did seem to always praise the ml (once the cop even praised him for remembering "something" but at that timeline the fl did all the work)
2- each passenger had their own lives, as the leads suspected them all, each one of them revealed their own struggles and hardships (I do think they glossed over them too fast, but in the end they were all "heroes" eventhough most time lines they didn't want to intervene)
3- the cat guy UWU
4- the different interpretations of how each action resulted in a different reaction (though they were a little too repetitive at times)
5- I'm glad the final showdown was done by the fl

now for the buts~
1- I think one pervert one time was not enough for her meltdown. if someone touches you, SCREAM right away. there were many people there, her story felt like a simple "backstory" on why 2 people wanted to blow up a bus..
2- going to prison for terrorism and mass murder attempt probably has a higher jail time than sexual harassment, which is sad cuz that dude deserved worse...
3- I thought this was like that ep of "Mystery to Iunakare" where the kidnappers took the bus with all the suspects of that event, though indeed it'd have been harder to track down the pervert which results in my "solution"
4- this should've been revenge. like they did find the pervert but he got out easy and they wanted more..
5- at one point the ml was too controlling, the fl was the hero that did most of the job while the ml always nagged her
6- this needed half the ep counts, they had too many repetitions
7- I'm not into cdrama osts

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Intriguing plot, fantastic acting and high quality production

I generally reserve my thoughts and write a review after watching all the episodes however I just couldn't wait this time to share my initial impression so that people who discover this drama and come here will be interested in watching it.

Dramas that play with the element of time (time travel or time loop) are tricky to get right. There are more chances of plot holes and incoherent storytelling than other dramas. Also, it's important to grab viewers attention in the first episode itself without perplexing the audience. Reset excels in this and the first episode sets up the drama nicely and kept me on the edge of my seat. I am hooked!

Moving onto actors, most of us know Bai Jing Ting after his stellar performance in You Are My Hero and he certainly lives up to good standard in this as well but the real show stealer for me is Zhao Jin Mai. The actress from 'A Little Thing Called First Love' fame delivers impressive performance as Li Shi Qing. I was mesmerized by her. She is pulling off difficult to show emotions such as anxiety, fright and delirium with ease.

Cinematography and edits are also crucial for such a drama and they have nailed those aspects of filmmaking along with good background score. You can feel the tension. The overall production quality is top notch as is the script and you can see that they have paid attention to the details. Additionally, no voice dubbing which is a rarity in C-drama world.

Ending felt a bit forced but it doesn't take away anything. This drama is sheer quality.

Start watching, it's well worth your time and only 15 episodes long. Enjoy!

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Time Loop: Curse or Blessing?

A time loop drama with lots of suspense and interesting turns of events.

As the synopsis already states, the drama is about FL whose life was about to end when the bus she was on had an accident. But instead she woke up again on this very bus, a few minutes prior to the accident. Soon she realizes she is caught in a time loop, doomed to relive this horrible experience over and over again. In her attempt to change her fate, she accidentally pulls ML into the loop with her. Together they need to find out how to stop the loop.

Since the Main Leads were caught in a time loop, the same event was repeated over and over again, through the entire drama. And yet they managed to never let the story become boring or repetitive. Every loop was different in a way. Be it the plan of the Main Leads to avoid the accident, or the outcome of it. There was always something new in each loop, making the drama interesting, exciting and less predictable. It was quite thrilling to sit and watch whether their next plan is gonna succeed or not. Some scenes really had me at the edge of my seat.

I was pleasantly surprised with the characters and acting. I loved both main leads a lot, and I also really loved their chemistry! It was interesting to see their differences and how they complemented each other. While our game creator MLs first thought was to save himself, our student FL wanted to also save all other people on the bus. It was very interesting how the incident slowly made them become closer to each other. Great performance by both of them!

I also enjoyed the stories of all the other characters on the bus. They provided lots of beautiful and emotional scenes. The acting of the whole cast was top-notch.

So? How to get out of the time loop? Is there a way to even stop the accident, and hope for everyone to survive? What's the reason behind the accident? How many loops are there gonna be until their destiny is final? Lots of questions to ask, and answers to discover. ;)

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It's the same but different at the same time

Wrap up the drama in one sentence: A university student and a video game maker were stuck in a loop to survive in a bus explosion tragedy.

THIS IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL C-DRAMA
There is no unnecessary love triangles, misunderstandings and golden fingers.

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH THIS DRAMA?
If you like mystery and thriller stories. Who is the culprit? At the first glance, everyone seems to be the culprit. However, when the drama unfolds, the background story of each character in the bus is unfolded. Suddenly, you understand the reason behind their seemingly out-of-place action.

The repetitive scenes. They're the same, yet they're not. Every time the same scene is played, it adds subtle changes, for instance, minor details, if you're a mystery geek, you can actually try to deduce the plot. The producers have made it possible throughout the drama.

Every character is this drama is the main character of their own story. They are living their own life, in real bone and flesh. The drama tells their story so articulately and beautifully that I can put myself in their shoes and feel their happiness and sorrow alongside with them.

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shut up, dont think about it and GO WATCH

it has been a hot minute since im done with the drama
THIS. THIS IS BETTER THAN AT LEAST 40% OF K DRAMAS AND THE BEST C DRAMA IVE EVER WATCHED
1. GET YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT
2. THERES ROMANCE
3. ITS JUST SO GOOD

the synopsis helps explain everything without much spoilers and i tell you, no synopsis will do true justice to the drama. its just 15 episodes, 45 minutes each, even if you dont think its good at the end which i dont know why you would think that way, at least not much of your time is 'wasted'

OST not my type
chemistry is RIGHT THERE
super heartwarming. every character in the bus has a story behind, except for the internet celeb and the macho guy who was honestly useless :/

i just wish wang meng meng was able to tell her parents a thing or two in a way or another. i wished that her truth would have come out earlier so all these ordeal wouldnt happen. but legit a 100/10 drama, i will surely rewatch it. this drama is the first drama to make me scream and shout out of thrill and suspense. real good. im buying the novel like RIGHT NOW

fyi i watched without eng subs because chinese is my mother tongue, i dont think english subs would do that much of justice to the show as well. BTW there are like SHIT SHIT ton of easter eggs in the show! leave a comment on this review and i will perhaps share more that i know.

one that everyone should know is that wang meng meng and the FL are almost identical
1. they are wearing blue tops/outfits
2. have almost identical if not the same bag with the same keychains and pins
3. they both go to the same school
4. wang meng meng's mother taught at FL's high school
there are more similarities i just cant remember!

please go watch the show, it made me cried out of suspense and relief, no show has ever done that!
<3

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Same same but different over and over again with a dash of sweetness...

The wheels on the bus go round and round, bomb on the bus goes boom, boom, booom... And the people on the bus they die, come back, die, come back....

This drama was mostly interesting and fun to watch keeping me on my toes from start to finish and making me completely fall in love with the leads.

This drama did a pretty decent job combining suspense with slice of life and the whole person behind the deed... The drama shows some of the troubles facing mostly women in today's society , fear, double standards as well as shows us that you never can tell how a person is just by looking at them. But what I liked most was the concept of trial and error... doing, failing, adjusting, doing again... over and over again without becoming boring.

this drama made my heart flutter, laugh and brought out some of my inner anger, it also got me annoyed at a few characters in a ohhh what an annoying kind of way and not that emotional anger I otherwise appreciate, thus bringing down the score. Other things that brought down the score where things like a magic pill that instantly fix a persons heart and some people's reactions that seem a bit off and out of proportion... Still the issues this drama seems to want to convey do make their way (some overly obvious) thru the scene.


But other than that the chemistry between the leads is great and both are highly lovable so I would like to see more of them, there are sweet pets and the PPL is not too overwhelming ether. There are also a bunch of pretty explosions...

In short a pretty decent watch!

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The Drama That Will ‘ Reset’ Your Expectations…

Time loops and time travel in drama screenplays can often be a tricky subject to execute and director Sun Mo Long and co-director and screenwriter Lao Suan’s ‘ Reset’ was no different. Nevertheless whilst the series did fall victim at times to its own loose pacing and some tediously dragged out plot points, ‘ Reset’ offered viewers with a fairly suspenseful and intuitive take upon the niche of time loops.

The series revolved around Li Shi Qing ( Zhao Jin Mai) and Xiao He Yun ( Bai Jing Ting); two young bus passengers who find themselves involved in a fatal accident. However rather than perishing to their seemingly predestined fates, Shi Qing and He Yun find themselves trapped in a “ Groundhog Day”-style time loop. As Shi Qing and He Yun attempt to go to great lengths in order to avoid being involved in the accident, the main leads discover that fate has an odd way of catching up with them even when they least expect it..

‘ Reset’ notably incorporated multiple genres into its storyline. Suspense and mystery greatly dominated the events of the narrative , whilst elements of potential romantic chemistry lingered on the sidelines. However surprisingly even during lighthearted moments of the storyline, screenwriter Lao Suan did offer certain opportunities to flesh-out and explore its side characters and antagonists with some surprising heartfelt and tour de force moments also.

As for the pacing ‘ Reset’ was admittedly a slight mixed-bag. Whilst the series could be very quick-paced as well as knowing when to offer respite, the beginning did suffer slightly under the weight of tedious scenes, dialogue exchanges and tension. Admittedly whilst certain elements were necessary for building up the events of the storyline , this did bring about a somewhat laissez-faire structure with pacing often feeling slightly tedious or loose. The finale of the series was admittedly filled with some unexpected turns, but did lack an element of regimented structure by instead feeling somewhat dragged-out.

The acting of the series was admittedly fairly good. Whilst there were some less impactful deliverances of dialogue and interactions onscreen, the main leads did arguably offer brilliant performances. Bai Jing Ting delivered a loveable charm to his onscreen persona as game designer He Yun, whilst Zhao Jin Mai notably had a sweet and charismatic air onscreen as Li Shi Qing.

The chemistry between the duo onscreen could often feel somewhat stunted in parts. Whilst there were some surprisingly heartfelt exchanges between their onscreen personas, the questionable kiss exchanges and affectionate moments between both main leads at tones could admittedly feel insipid at times.

As for their characters, ‘ Reset’ was a strange amalgamation of dynamic writing opportunities for its side characters and antagonists , whilst its main leads could often lack opportunities for being truly fleshed-out. In particular, this became noteworthy with main female lead Li Shi Wing; naive, seemingly fractious and somewhat altruistic but lacking any greater sense of depth or character development throughout. Arguably whilst viewers did see some greater writing opportunities with He Yun and his own personal drives, the main lead did suffer a somewhat similar fate with being underdeveloped.

The cinematography of the series arguably remained one of the drama’s most stunning attributes. Through the directing reigns of Sun Mo Long and co-director Lao Suan, ‘ Reset’ did offer viewers with a notably stunning array of slick and professionally cut editing and scenes. The OST was admittedly just as pleasing with scores and tracks that whilst slightly generic in parts, did help to reflect the mindset and set the tone for the events of the storyline.

Sun Mo Long and Lao Suan’s ‘ Reset’ offered viewers with an intuitive and surprisingly suspenseful take upon the old trope of time loops and time travel. In execution, the series is admittedly weaker with lacking character development for its main leads and somewhat inconsistent pacing, but the slick cinematography and opportunities to see unlike side and antagonistic characters grow did offer some great takeaways from the drama also. Overall whilst ‘ Reset’ was not a drama without some prominent flaws , the series was admittedly a fairly good watch and engaging with its audience.

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