The Story is Good

The story and characters of this web drama inspired me to read the Manhwa, which is something I've never done before.

I liked the actual story, and the characters enough to keep watching this, but this is a no-budget production and it shows.

Don't watch this if you are looking for good production quality. Everything including the actual script is sub-par at best. Acting is a solid OK, though the actresses playing young Ye Mu as well as older Ye Mu are both gorgeous, in a natural and unostentatious way, and they suited their character perfectly. The actors playing the ML and SML fit their roles as well, but they weren't given much to work with appart from the typical handsome stoic male role.

Anyway, I read my first Manhwa because of this web drama, which is something I thought I would never do (I haven't read a comic book since childhood).

Oh! By the way, why not just read the Manhwa if you want to know what happens next? The c drama follows the manhwa well. Here's a link to the Manhwa:

https://mangagg.com/comic/raising-the-enemy-only-brings-trouble-series/

And the episode that picks up the story after the final c drama cliff hanger is: Chapter 25. There you go, you have all the info you need now.

Because of the interesting story, I'm giving it a generous 7.5 severed tongues out of ten.

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Handsome Obsession

This is quite a dark and twisted storyline, so if you don't like dark, twisted, gritty dramas, then don't go for this one.

The first episode has a scene of potential rape too, which we come to know later on didn't happen, but the way it is shown is really scary and dark. I would skip the first episode entirely for this reason.

They do the whole Face/Off trope here. The one where we are supposed to believe that one human's face can be directly transfered onto another human's completely different bone structure so perfectly, that he comes out of it looking exactly like Peng Guan Ying. We all know that you can't plastic surgery your way to looking exactly like Peng Guan Ying, no matter how much you might want to, which is why I called this drama "gritty", not "realistic".

The fact that the antagonist looks like Peng Guan Ying, who is a very good actor, made it difficult not to cheer for him, even as (or maybe especially because of) he falls into a dark toxic love obsession for the FL.

I'm not going to give the guy brownie points for not sexually assaulting the FL when he easily could have. The guy sexually harrasses the absolutely stunning FL and even physically assaults her near the beginning. I'll just say that from the comfort of my computer, it's hard to look away and not empathize with such a gorgeous looking man. It's a deep failing on my part, but I'm admitting to it now. This antagonist is ridiculously good looking, and it's hard to look at the very, very average looking male protagonists after having your eyes feast on the beauty of Peng Guan Ying.

Equally gorgeous is our FL, who is also an excellent actress. She works to take down the antagonist's crime organization from the inside as his hostage. She plays on his obsession for her like a violin, and it is very satisfying to watch. A farfetched storyline drama? To be sure! But with good acting from the leads.

I'm giving this 7.5 pinky fingers out of 10.

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Sour Face and Silent Lady

The actor who plays the ML has a permanent sour look on his face. Why does he permanently look like he just secretly ate a pack of Sour Patch Kids? He doesn't have another facial expression other than this one, and I just can't understand why. I could make allowances for some wooden stoic archetypes but to have your one and only facial expression be so sour? Hmmm.... no, I can't make logical sense of this.

Plenty of wooden actors in Chinese dramas, but none of them have this sour expression permanently pasted on their face. This trait belongs to this actor alone.

As for Bai Lu. Well, I can't fault her. She is so beautiful and likeable. I think it's impossible not to like this actress. She is one of the best Chinese actresses working today.

The plot feels quite empty. Young, mute noblewoman sent to a prince's estate to learn from him about life. Finds herself falling in love with him, and he with her. She stops being mute at some point in the story.... oh, and there are a bunch of wars going on and political intrigue. The only interesting character is the antagonist, of course, because he isn't just handed what he wants, which is to marry the woman betrothed to him in childhood, and to be the crown prince, which he is clearly the best candidate for to begin with, but.... mustn't make things easy for him or he wouldn't end up the bitter antagonist.

I was quite content with the characters that died, since I didn't like them anyway. I was rooting for the antagonist the whole time and hoping he would get everything he desired in life, after suffering so many disappointments. I don't think he was a terrible person, if I remember correctly. Anyway, all I felt watching this drama was excruciating boredom, so I skipped a lot of it, as it was incredibly slow in any case. Yeah, yeah, the FL saw the ML's "inner beauty", but for me, the story didn't reveal anything endearing, never mind beautiful behind that sour face.

4.5 silent sour faces out of 10.

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Two Mama's Boys Fighting Over a Doll

I watched this because of the favourable reviews and I was interested in Chinese mythology and culture.

The actual story is fairly interesting to me, as it really draws you into the world of the heavenly realms, where nothing is as it seems, and anything is possible.

To be an immortal with all the power, magic, and time everlasting, yet when it comes to affairs of the heart, they must be conducted clandestinely, and never end well.

The gods are one part homicidal, one part suicidal, and all parts bored out of their little minds. That is what watching Xanxia dramas has taught me.

The CGI in the final battle of good vs evil is absolutely stunning, and it's worth skipping to the end of this melodrama to watch that one scene.

The FL, instead of being wooden, makes cheesy faces throughout the drama in a bid to have us relate to her through her quirkiness. Maybe that's your cup of tea, but it isn't mine. I think there is a difference between innocence and stupidity, after all, a child is innocent, but they aren't stupid. I understand that FL characters in C dramas are meant to be naive and innocent, but, in my opinion, they just come off as stupid, and I can't imagine anyone who thinks this FL was anything but a brain-less "quirky" child inside a grown woman's body. That makes the love triangle all the more cringe-worthy. Imagine two somewhat intelligent (well, ML wasn't very intelligent), grown male gods attracted to a cognitively challenged child inside a grown woman's body. Doesn't sound good, does it? Well, that's exactly what ends up happening in every Xanxia I can think of, and it bothers me to think that someone came up with this trope for it to be repeated.

This drama could have been half as long, if the ML and FL characters had just communicated with each other in the first place. There wouldn't have been any misunderstandings turned into feuds. Near the end of the drama, the FL figures out what the ML really is, and it was refreshing to hear her tell him how and why he is a manipulative douch-bag.

The drama is really all about two half-brother mama's boys, fighting over their quirky fairy doll. The ML tortured the FL physically, and the SML tortured her emotionally. The ML's inability to prosecute his mother properly, even after he knew of her crimes, is the most selfish act of all, in my opinion. I don't even see the SML's manipulation of the FL as being nearly as detestable as the ML believing hear-say about the FL, as the ML being cruel to the FL, and as the ML denying justice to the FL and SML. Subsequently, I was rooting for the SML the whole time. He was more fit to be a heavenly ruler than any of the other characters.

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Altruistic Female Warrior of Wholesomeness

Have you ever wished you could watch a Chinese historical drama without tearing out your hair, or wishing the saccharine sweet heroine would just die already?

Well, if you have, here's a Chinese historical drama for you!!

Imagine a young noblewoman heroine that runs away from her arranged marriage because she wants to do some good in the world, besides get married and have kids. And yet, she isn't a martial arts genius, or another wooden pretty face with no acting ability.

She is wholesome, relatable, and has a good heart, without being a naive idiot. Sure, she certainly needs help to fight the bad guys, but that made her more realistic and relatable.

This was an amazing surprise, and I actually really like when a heroine genuinely likes both the FML and SML, and slowly figures out which one is a better fit for her. It's a great change from the SML who does everything for the FL and the FL has no feelings for him, as she falls for the FML which treats her like crap.

I want the FL to have feelings for both the MLs, because that is real character developement and way more relatable. Anyway, absolutely enjoy this up-beat historical drama that got the characters just right.

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Underrated Cult Classic Costume Drama

"Men In Black In Tang Dynasty"

This dramedy has all the makings of a cult classic. The story is so over-the-top and ridiculous that I would never have thought it would work, but somehow, it really does!

Firstly, I could feel the love that went into this production right away, and that's not something I can say about most small budget Chinese costume dramas. The cinematography is Avant-garde and very 60's documentary close-ups together. It's some of the best, most well thought out and executed art house cinematography I've seen in Chinese drama.

Then there is the cast, which is lead by An Yue Xi, who is one of the most underrated leading actresses in China, I can only guess this is due to her being a real actress, not a pop star actress. On top of being an actress, An Yue Xi is an athlete and former professional dancer, and uses her skills in physicality to great effect here (she is a natural FL in every way, so it is crazy that she is overlooked in favour of pop idols that can't act, and ruin whatever drama they are cast in).

This is a true dramedy, involving both very serious elements with absurdist comedy, and on paper, I never would have thought to watch this drama, as it is about an alien that lands in ancient China, and takes over the body of a young woman who has been murdered because she was going to elope with the crown prince (palace intrigue).

The comedy here is adolescent absurdist humour, and it's not really funny, just kind of upbeat. Mostly slapstick humour. Also, an unattractive dude in a dress isn't very funny (sorry, it just isn't). HOWEVER, the cinematography sort of made up for those moments that were supposed to be funny, but weren't. An Yue Xi's alien character Ah Bu, through her ignorance of human life and human emotions, just brightened up the screen with her infectious enthusiasm. How rare and beautiful to have a FL character that is a bit naive and innocent for a real reason (because she is an alien!). Still, even with being an alien, she is much smarter and more savvy than most Chinese costume drama FLs.

The weakest aspect of the drama is the plot, which is super complex in detail and side plots, and as a result, is all over the place. The director cinematographer, Yan Wang, is crazy talented (and I do mean crazy). He is a one-in-a-million all-in-one cinematic team! I also love how the director used the OST as a dramatic tool to great effect! I don't expect a super low budget drama with 25 episodes to have non-repetitive music. That would be unrealistic and asking the impossible for a production. But the edited music he did use was perfect, and I never found myself annoyed or distracted by it.

The CGI cat-alien version of Dou Miao Miao, the FL's cat-alien hybrid sidekick, is worthy of cult status as being one of the weirdest looking CGI designed characters of all time.

There were a lot of episodes in this drama, and I think we could have done without two whole misunderstandings that lead to break-ups between the ML and the FL. I hate plot repeats like that. The best scene is when the FL publicly announces her love for the ML, and because they are brother and sister, and the gathered crowd doesn't know that they are not biologically related, they make a public spectacle of themselves. The audible repulsion at the apparent public display of incest is juxtaposed to the FL and ML realizing their feelings for each other. It's the most romantic anti-romantic scene, and it's just perfectly done.

There is a Facebook group that subbed this drama. Here is one link:

https://www.avirtualvoyage.net/2017/11/cdrama-lets-shake-it-et-episodes-english-subbed.html

Or you can join the Facebook group that was created for this drama with English subs.

Either way, this is a Chinese costume drama worth checking out. You don't have to complete it, and if you don't like absurdist comedy, don't even bother with it. You know how cult classics are called cult classics because they don't appeal to everyone? Because they are so odd and unique that it takes a certain person to really appreciate them? That's why this is a cult classic of a drama. It won't appeal to everyone. Maybe it won't appeal to most, and it definitely is a bit too long, but overall, it's a treasure of a drama not to be missed, if you are open to an absurdist passion project with beautiful cinematography and a fabulous cast of characters.

Edit: I just watched this for the second time, and it's even better the second time! The characters, the consistant absurdity, the costumes, the cinematography, the humour, and the acting is not like anything else I've ever seen. This is a masterpiece of absurdity!

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Improves With Rewatch

My first watch through I liked this drama a lot, but I didn't "appreciate" its qualities like I should have. On the second viewing this drama really improved on me. Things that bothered me about the plot, didn't bother me the second time around (except for three different events that still don't make sense).

Firstly, this drama does have some melodrama aspects to it, which might bother you if you need everything to be realistic. It's quite a huge coincidence that the FL ended up growing up and living in the same house where something happened involving her biological parents. Her adoptive parents just happened to get the same house as that event took place? Anyway, this was one of the plot quirks that bothered me.

The acting was amazing on all fronts here. I don't care that people criticize the ML for his lovesick attitude, because I also found it off-putting during the first viewing, but then, on the second viewing, it all made sense. He's a young man, immature, and deeply in love, but he is nobody's fool. He's still damn smart, just rather innocent, but in no way is he foolish. He shows good taste in pursuing the FL, who yes, life has formed her to be a very icy, closed person, but she still has a strong sense of justice and right and wrong, and it does the ML credit that he sees her goodness and is drawn to it. He could have easily been led astray by any of the beautiful women pursuing him, but he chose the most educated, cultured, and demure of all the female characters. He didn't choose the most bubbly, naive, and stupid woman he could find, like in most C dramas.

This ML acted like his age (20), instead of being a cold, aloof icicle, like most MLs. He pursued the FL by doing everything he could to help her. Others have said that he didn't have enough facial expressions, but that is nonsense, as every glance was emoted through his eyes. He was far from emotionless, or without range. He WAS the character he was acting, and I can't imagine anyone else who could have done a better job. This has to be one of the best MLs I've ever seen. I didn't think so on first viewing, but that's my failing, as his acting was very subtle. The FL was perfect in her role, even though her character was meant to be cold and aloof at all times, you couldn't help but like her intelligence and goodness. The chemistry between the ML and FL was fantastic (the actress playing the FL always has good chemistry with her acting partner in every drama I have seen her in so far).

Well, on first viewing, my favourite character was the SML, because he had more depth of character, and his character remained a mystery throughout the drama. The actor playing the SML is a personal favourite of mine because he is an amazing actor that never disappoints. I was pissed off at the coup that took place at episode 26-27, as it was such a clumsy event, and made the SML seem like he had lost his mind, and then we are meant to forget all about this coup only a couple episodes later, as if it never happened, which is just bizarre! There is no way that this genius of a SML would have arranged such a clumsy, useless event, after years of planning! And what the heck was the point of making him out to have gone mentally ill for two episodes??!! After which, he went back to being the character we knew and loved again (or thought we knew). This was an asinine scripting decision! And there was sexual assault written into the plot at this point for NO REASON!! This makes me so mad, that they changed the character for two episode, and included a devastating plot point, for apparently no reason other than raising the drama. Pitiful scriptwriting!

There are two characters that look exactly the same. One is the ML's fiancé, Lang Xi, the other works as a nightclub entertainer/ actress and is an associate of the SML. Even their actor headshots look almost the same. Maybe they are related in real life, as the resemblance is downright uncanny. Just something I found interesting. This is a drama with a few big plot holes (the two I mentioned above are the largest), but overall, the acting was perfect, the sets, costumes, cinematography were of high quality, and the story was intriguing and captivating throughout. There were some rather odd music choices, when there was a high action scene, they played some sort of modern heavy rock music that was so distracting and unnecessary. Just a very bad choice for OST.

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Smart is as Smart Does

For a "female Holmes", this FL sure tripped over her own feet an awful lot. I don't remember Watson having to catch Holmes in his arms on a minute-by-minute basis. We get that the FL has to enchant the ML with falling into his arms repeatedly, but this was ridiculous.

Also, the FL can't act. Sorry, Sebrina Chen, but you have only one facial expression, and it's a blank look. I've never caught this actress actually acting, so I really wish she had chosen another profession. Maybe she is a good, kind person, but acting just isn't her forte. Her icy stare may work for MLs, if they don't have to do anything but be good looking, but when the drama is built around the FL, then the onus is on the FL to deliver in the acting department.

As it stands, this ML is excellent. I have seen him in many dramas where, even as a secondary character, he still manages to stand out because of his acting skills.

EDIT: I was sure this was Leon Lai Yi!!! My apologies, I have never seen this actor before, but I still think he was excellent, as is Mr. Leon Lai Yi. I don't know how I got them mixed up, but I guess they really resembled each other in this drama, in my mind.


Both the ML and the FL were meant to be rather cold, calculating individuals, but if the Holmes character isn't interesting in any way, then there is no incentive for the audience to keep watching. I finished this drama for the ML alone. I remember thinking that the ML never needed the FL's help in any case, since he already solved the cases himself using his equally good deduction skills, so she wasn't even needed as a sidekick in the first place. Actually, she continuously needed to be saved by the ML, so her character was rather pointless and unnecessary, except to add romance.

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What Was That?

What the heck was this? It started off strong, and I was waiting for each episode, but it slowly devolved into absolute nothingness, along with all the characters.

I can't tell you exactly when things came undone, but slowly, a prince murders everyone who knows about his medical condition, but we are supposed to forget about that and pretend that never happened, even though he almost killed the FL. The ML literally melts someone's mind so they won't give him away (seriously, just puts his fingers on either side of the guy's head, at his temples, and melts his brain!!!). A character we come to know is an antagonist, is hinted at having real human feelings for the FL, but later, it turns out he is just a robot of a character (not literally) with no discernable human feelings, thereby making him a completely static and largely irrelevant character to the story. The... I guess... SML, is introduced to us as a rounded character, only to have everything that made him a rounded character taken away from him. Why?? Why take rounded characters and take away their human nature to turn them into robots? They pretty much introduced us to the most interesting characters near the beginning, then forgot about them till the end, whilst focusing on introducing more and more less interesting side characters, like the ML's evil queen step-mother, the insufferably gullible teenage daughter of the FL's shifu, the FL's shifu, and that random old shifu guy that lives inside a mountain, which they only introduced us to in order to force the FL and ML to do a ridiculous dance together (seriously). They needed to stop introducing more and more characters, and to focus on the ones they gave us in the first few episodes. The FL and ML "dating" and "bonding" scenes were so dull and drawn out, it was ridiculous.

What I really mean is that when we first met the FL, the ML, and the SML, they all had an intriguing introduction that made me excited to get to know them better, but as the story went on, they all proved to be quite empty characters with little to offer.

The FL wasn't the heroine I thought she would turn out to be, the ML just smirked the whole time, so I thought for sure he was going to be an interesting character once I got to know more about him... but no! He just got less and less interesting! Same with the SML, though at least the SML held on to a bit of mystery about him, which made him slightly more interesting than the rest of the characters.

I couldn't care less if all the characters died after the first 8 episodes, they were so bland, so utterly boring, stiff, vacuous.

Zhao Lu Si can't do anything but comedy. As a person, she isn't a serious person, and it translates to her roles, though I'm glad she toned down the cuteness for this one, because her usual level of cutesy is downright saccharine. She isn't even pretty, for an actress, not that I want one of those wooden Chinese Barbies to get cast instead *cough* Gulnazar *cough*. She is an average looking actress with average acting skills (except for comedy). I hope that the industry will stop casting her in roles that don't suit her at all as they have been doing.

An Yue Xi is a wonderful actress, who lights up the screen no matter which role she gets cast in. Even her character in this drama was quite boring, but like the SML, she did the best with what she was given. It drives me a bit crazy that An Yue Xi isn't given the roles Zhao Lu Si is, yet An is not just a much better actress, but also a very, very beautiful woman. Actually, if you took Zhao Lu Si out of all the main roles she has been given, and replaced her with An Yue Xi instead, all those dramas would have ended up way better than they did. An can do both comedy and drama exceptionally well! Do better, China, start hiring actresses by ability, not by popularity, then less costume dramas would crash and burn.

4.5 melted brains out of 10.

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Coming of Age Time Travel Romance

One of the best Chinese dramas ever made, also has one of the flimsiest openings of all time. If you can bear through the first part of the very first episode, you will be rewarded handsomely with one of the best viewing experiences in Chinese cinema history.

This drama isn't for everyone. It's only for those with a heart, and with high tolerance for romance. We first meet our FL as a 20 something year old woman, but as soon as she goes back in time, her consciousness is transmitted into the body of a sixteen year old. Well, imagine your consciousness time-travel to the Qing dynasty, and was transplanted into the body of a wealthy 16 year old twin living in that era. I think you'd be out of your mind with happiness, at first.

The FL acts like what a modern day teenaged girl would act like, not what a 20 year old would act like, but I felt like this made sense because of the amalgamation of consciousness between our time-traveling FL and our Qing dynasty 16 year old. That's just my personal take on that characterization choice though. If she didn't act so flighty and bubbly and freely express herself, then it would be impossible for the romance to happen, as that was her hook. The Qing dynasty princes had never encountered a 21st century woman, so they were fascinated and charmed by her, which makes sense.

Probably what makes this drama work, besides the excellent original story, is that serious actors were cast as the main leads. It's almost impossible to make anyone look good in the Qing mullet in any case, and mature actors were cast to play younger characters, which I have no problems with. The handsomest charcter and actor by far in this drama doesn't fall in love with the FL, despite being the character most resembling her own, which I found interesting. The ML, is probably one of the least attractive actors in Chinese dramaland, and subsequently wouldn't be cast in leading roles under the current casting trend, but this is a 2011 drama, and acting skills are still rated higher than marketability and popularity (and looks by default, IF you are a male actor). The FL, by contrast, is more beautiful than seen in most contemporary dramas, and can actually act! An interesting duality when it comes to casting trends. I don't believe any of these actors are Chinese pop singers either, which makes the casting ideal.

Anyway, the story is, for the most part, historically accurate, no crappy CGI, no over-the-top melodrama. A really well written script that takes you back in time with the FL, as if you are following in her footsteps. Yes, it's not a perfect drama. I remember there are some really crappy, fake screen backgrounds with actors riding fake horses in the foreground, but you know what? An excellent effort all in all. I was so vested in the characters, that when the ML started to show the signs of carrying the world on his shoulders, I did skip a bunch of episodes, as I felt a mixture of dread and boredom, and the darkness was overpowering after the positivity of the "first half" of the drama, but I understood the necessity of the character development with the plot, and the happiness turning to tragedy by the end, just like it did in history.

Overall, what a journey! What a treasure of a Chinese costume drama! If you haven't seen it, please do give it a go, as long as you have an interest in historical fiction and romance together.

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Princess Seeks Justice Through Messy Plot

This is a nonsense melodrama that is meant to make no sense and doesn't have a single interesting character except for the lovesick antagonist. The ML is boring, the FL is missing a personality, there is a charming scholar guy in there, but he gets rejected. I don't like the actor that plays the main lead. I have seen him in several other dramas, and he always plays the same boring, wealthy nobleman character, and I don't even find him good looking at all! Anyway, the plot is all over the place, the characters are largely boring, except the two I mentioned, which were secondary characters in any case. If melodramas are your thing, you might like this one. Otherwise, skip it.

3 knocked over candle stands out of 10

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Pointless Revenge Drama

Could there possibly be a more repetitive or boring drama? It doesn't seem likely. I feel like it wasn't the FL trying to take revenge on the aristocracy so much as it was the writers of this drama, taking out all their malcontent about the industry on us, the viewing public.

Could they possibly have dragged the simple revenge premise of this drama out any further than its 49 episodes of non-stop clichès on repeat? I highly doubt it, but I don't want to find out.

If this story formula sounds interesting to you: protagonist attempts to find some information, gets sick, almost dies, gets healthy, repeat ad nauseum, then you'll probably enjoy this non-existent plot drama. Now that I think about it, it only takes place in a handful of rooms inside a palace, so even the setting, and the incredibly dull costumes are like a claustrophobic cry for help.

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I Loved When You Were My Vegetable

If you want to watch yet another kitchen sink clichè Chinese costume drama that goes on forever, then you'll like this one.

If you have actual standards for the dramas you will watch, then do yourself a favour and skip this one.

I thought Lovely Swords Girl was sick in the head (no pun intended), here we have the same "I Love My Human Vegetable" trope, where the guy hits his head, turns into a vegetable, and the FL has this deplorable mothering instincts towards him that turns into love. This has to be my least favourite trope of all time. It's beyond ridiculous into the obscene.

The FL is unbearable here. An annoying perpetual victim that we are all supposed to like because we feel bad for her. She pouts EVERY 5 minutes!!! Just to look cute, I guess, but it just makes her look like a petulant child. It's absolutely ridiculous! My god, she is even pouting on the ad poster!

Seriously, don't waste your time on this one. Complete crap. Even the colouration of the footage is doctored to show everything in white pastels, and it's annoying as hell. Who wants to see an entire series in pastels??! Terrible drama.

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