Try it, it's fun if you turn your brain off!

This is another one of my favorite types of shows, the best/worst short dramas to watch! And I can't believe it looks like I'm the only person watching this in the world? Spoilers ahead (though it won't matter to the story at all, trust me).

The Pros
The cast is very good looking. The hair, costumes, and accessories, for the most part, are excellent. The sets and scenes are beautiful, and if you watch a lot of cdramas you will see some familiar places. The wirework that the ML and FL performed was excellent, you can tell they must have done a lot of practicing to make the flights look so effortless. The music was really fun in some places, like the series couldn't decide if it was a light romcom or an exciting costume drama and the music showed that. The ML and FL are both really good actors and they could almost pull off this trainwreck of a show, but not quite!

The Cons
What the heck is up with the editing. The scenes go like this: they are in the middle of town in the daytime, no they are in the forest at night, wait, they are now in a dungeon? wait no they are in a bamboo forest in the daytime, no night time, where the heck are they now? No transition just flittering back and forth between times and locations. You could make a fun drinking game out of this. Every time there is a sudden confusing switch take a shot!

I never did really figure out what the story was. They were all looking for a chart and then somehow said fck it all we'll forget about that aspect of the story and it wasn't mentioned again. And the ML and FL were married (contract/temporary?) but how/why we'll never know. The FL and ML were both in disguise, one was an assassin and the other a marquis? Maybe? The fight scenes were so bad they were like a high school production. Keep that FL away from a sword please!

The villain was over the top cheesy and not in a good way. Even his wig was bad!

All in all I had fun watching this one. Try it, you might like it too. I have found that I really enjoy these short series, where you never know what you are going to get. The episodes are only 10 minutes long, less then that if you don't count the pre and post credits.

Lire davantage

So funny up to episode 10

Another biased review from me to you.

This is chock full of spoilers so read at your own risk.

Episodes 1-10:
This little bit of light fluff is so damn funny! I watched each ~5 minute episode (skipping the intro/credits) with a goofy grin on my face. The premise is good, the execution is excellent! Guan Yue is delicious as the serious CEO and the sexy hallucination. I really love how he portrays both versions! Lin Xiaozhai is so funny as the girl with the very overactive and sexy imagination.

Lots of tropes here to cross off the list but they don't distract. Does anyone have a trope bingo card?

This one is for inhaling like a bit of cotton candy. Very satisfying even if not very filling.

Episode 11, omg the silk pajamas a fluffy coat! I thought it was another hallucination! And running hand-in-hand in a tux/wedding dress....whose hallucination was that? I think it was his!

Episode 12, well he moves fast, doesn't he?

Some of these machine-generated subs are unintentionally very funny!

I really wish the YoYo English channel would translate text messages too

Episode 13, well damn, it started out so good, why did they have to add the dark history/drunk dad to the mix. Couldn't they have left it light and fluffy? I may be taking some stars off of this, we'll wait and see.

And episode 14 we're back to light and fluffy. I don't quite understand this show but I am enjoying it ?

Episode 15, why are they hiking in the mountains? What did I miss? Since she stopped having the hallucinations this isn't as much fun ?

Episode 16, well that's one way to avoid the parents! LOL! She is serious about not wanting to get married isn't she.

Episode 17, oh here comes the evil dude. You know he's evil because of the really bad hair ?

Episode 18, it's cute how ML is the one who wants to hold out until marriage but the FL wants to go for it. hmm, upcoming angst ahead

Episode 19, not really feeling the SFL and SML. Seems like a really weird match

Episode 20 is just sad. All the fun and joy has gone out of this completely. I'm going to have to struggle to finish the last few episodes. I want to go back to the hilarious hallucinations!

Episode 21 SML is pretty darn funny in a little boy psychotic way. ML and FL are just boring now. At least this episode is even shorter at around 8 minutes.

Episode 22, now it's all about the SML and SFL, and they are the most noncompatible boring couple that just got thrown together for what, they ran out of ideas? Trying to slog through these last 2 episodes, just cause I hate leaving something undone. Holy fuck, what a really awful 'joke' to pull on your son. 'you can't date, she's your sister'. And I don't get the story line, the parents are her pen pals? wtf did I miss there? Wait, and now he's leaving for 2 years for some reason, no idea why, and she is looking for another job? How are they going to wrap this up in one episode? Do I really care?

Episode 23, final episode. What can I say? This started out so fun and then just got depressing. I was loving it so much I started a episode by episode review so I wouldn't forget all the LOL moments. Damn shame. Did he leave for 2 years? Did she get that other job? No idea. And my cliche bingo card was full with the ML growing up in an orphanage and then the FL getting kidnapped. Too bad they couldn't throw in an accident with some amnesia too. I suppose it had a happy ending, so there is that. And I did smile at the very end with the whole kidnapping/shotgun wedding bit.

Lire davantage

I need to learn how to use a fan

Another completely biased review from me to you!

This series is sheer perfection! I won't go into tons of details as to why I love it, it's all been said before. Between the music, the sets (mostly) and locations, and the actors (oh my lord the actors❤️‍?) this series to me is perfect. I will forever rate any love story on the 'Wen Kexing flirting with a fan' scale, with 10 being Wen Kexing himself and 1 being most other cdramas ?

I always play the opening and credits when I watch. The music and clips are magical. And yes, I do have the soundtrack and play it often.

The fight choreography is incredible! And I don't mean the closeup of the actors themselves 'fighting' I mean the distance shots where it looks like they are doing aerial ballet. Stunning! My favorite episodes are:
Episode 2, when Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing are fighting among the flowering trees at Mirror Lake Mountain Villa - some great fight scenes there!
Episode 4 Where Zhou Zishu fights the beggar clan. Gorgeous!
Episode 6 where they go from spying to fighting drug men to sucking poison out of wounds to fighting to the big reveal of Zhou Zishu's actual beautiful face. All while flirting outrageously!

Wait, this was supposed to be a short review. Enough of my favorite episodes, just watch and enjoy.

Please, whatever you do, if you watch this on Netflix hurry up and find a way to watch the REAL finale episode, which is 37 Epilogue on Viki. If you only watch till the end on Netflix your heart will break.

Lire davantage

We all need more Kuno Totono in our lives

Another completely biased review from me to you

I love this character, and the way Suda Masaki plays him. I have a thing for quirky characters and Totono is one of my favorites.

First of all, not enough Garo. It was nice to see a little bit of Garo in the beginning but that just leaves me wanting more!

There's not enough Totono spouting theories in this. That's one of the things I love about this character is the way he talks and talks and talks until he drives the villains/bad guys/antagonists crazy! (I knew I loved the character from the first bit of the series when he is being questioned by the police and just tears apart their reason for suspecting him. I laughed so hard when I saw that the first time, and still laugh when I rewatch! 'Maybe it was a twin who was separated from me at birth...Do you have a twin that was separated from you at birth?...I don't' The delivery from all in the scene was perfection!)

And there's not enough of the majestic King Gnu that played all the time in the series, except finally in the last couple of minutes. Damn I miss that! Yep, too much silence in some scenes, they need the music more.

Nanoka Hara was adorable and I love how the resolution of the story went.

I loved seeing Furomitsu Seiko, Ikemoto Yuto, and Aoto Nariaki, even if it was just in the last 3 minutes of the movie! And my heart is full, got to end the movie with Garo. What a smile. Where the hell is Season 2???

Lire davantage

A Nice Bit of Silly Fluff

Another completely biased review from me to you.

Initial impressions: if Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella started smoking crack together late at night they might come up with this storyline. I don't know wtaf is going on but l am laughing my ass off. Really super attractive cast with great wardrobe and hair. (Including 'those ladies' lol.) The location (hotel?) is wonderful too. BTW, this has nothing to do with What's Wrong With Secretary Kim so far. Completely different story line. And since each episode is ~10 minutes long, including the intro/exit credits at around 1-2 minutes, leaving about 7 minutes or so of story, you can easily watch this in a couple of hours. I do wish the subtitles were a bit better, but having them be so bad actually adds to the weirdness.

All the spoilery bits are below. Read at your own risk!

Episode 1, I think she got sucked into a book world/game? ?
Episode 2, I shouldn't be laughing this much for such a silly show but I am.
Episode 3, the 'falling into a kiss' trope is done so badly and yet so well. Definitely LOL! Also same actor is playing 2 roles (so far) 'since all bossy bosses look alike, and the budget for the cover of web fiction is limited'?
Episode 4 with him boxing ?I just can't.....
Episode 5, I can't believe how adorable the ML is, allergic to alcohol and the FL was able to save him with mouth to mouth!
Episode 6, the ML is playing yet another character? Too funny. And the chef is great!
Episode 7, oh no, ML doesn't remember her. Boohoo!
Episode 8, hmmm aphrodisiac drug trope?
Episdode 9, well that's one hell of a twist on the drug trope! lol
Episode 10, ok, the pigeons in the courtyard scene was pretty cool
Episode 11, cheesiest lines with the new "SML"! But I love her. Best "SML" ever! And this is a story line that I'm having a hard time believing got through the censors
Episode 12, another twist! I like the 'real' ML's character too! And whoa, the "SML" really looks beautifully androgenous in that suit dress.
Episode 13, the playing scene is a bit silly
Episode 14, psych!
Episode 15, another interesting twist! My head is starting to spin with all the twisting. but why did it have to get all angsty? I wish it would have stayed light-hearted and weird
Episode 16, hanging off the merman's ass lol
Episode 17, the edge of the world is pretty cool. why do FLs always talk out loud to themselves in such embarrassing ways? Just curious. Why is his tux so awful, the rest of his clothes are wonderful!
Episode 18, I don't understand the changing the card bit. Or the wedding
Episode 19, and evil NPC? 'the bus takes 30 minutes' lol
Episode 20, wedding kiss, what an awesome scene! But damn, that ending after all that silly fun! "you are the determination in my chaotic life" and the huge smile on her face, at first. And then....

Lire davantage

Great Show Except....

Here's another completely biased review from me to you.

I absolutely loved the first 15 episodes of this series. This is a typical murder of the week show. What makes it so special is the cast. This is how you do bromance! Including the FL! She was there as one of the guys only, not as a romantic interest or damsel in distress. Well, except for the last episode but we'll get to that later.

When cdramas need to add a female to the mix to make a series not so gay?, this is the way to do it. The character is all those cliches that are used to describe female leads in these types of shows: spunky, fiesty, smart, cute, whatever. She is adorable. Plus, she was awesome. One of the team, pulling her own weight and then some. I really wish this type of character was used more often in cdramas instead of the toddler breathy baby-talking helpless females who need to be rescued all the time. And damn, this was a 2016 series so ahead of it's time.

So like I said, the first 15 episodes were great fun. The chemistry between all 3 characters was just perfect with their bantering. Loved it! And then did they get another writer or something? Cause all of a sudden it went from the fun murder of the week trope to the typical 'ML has a dark past with his father being unjustly murdered and him trying to find out what happened with a psycho stalker who is killing people to f*ck around with the ML and all of a sudden the ML is framed for murder and everyone thinks he did it except for his 2 partners'. And that's when they turned the FL into the damsel in distress that needed saving. Luckily this parted ended quickly but still irritating to me! This type of story has been done umpteen times and it's boring. Rather than do that to screw up a great series just keep doing what was working, murder of the week. ?

I would watch the first 15 episodes again, then just stop watching after that. The stories are fun. Not a whole lot to the solving of murder parts, since they seem to solve them way to easily, but it's fun. The only warning is this series is hella graphic in it's portrayal of the autopsies so you want to watch this on an empty stomach and maybe turn away from the screen and turn the volume down some times. Just a thought.

Lire davantage

My face hurts from smiling so much

Another completely biased review from me to you!

What can I say, I absolutely love this series/movie! It's on my permanent playlist. If I'm feeling down I will watch it. If I'm in a good mood and want to stay that way I watch it. It's a sweet easy show to watch with adorable boys, a great soundtrack and background music, and an interesting story. This is another show to please disconnect the logic portion of your brain and just go with it. If you start thinking logically you'll get bogged down into the why's and lose enjoyment. Just go with the flow. Also, I recommend the movie version instead of the series. There is an extra scene there that doesn't change a lot but gives me bigger smiles.

The music is spot on. I know I've read other people complaining about the background music but I beg to differ, it's great. And as soon as I hear the song Star by Runy I start smiling, it's so infectious and fun. I'm listening to it now on repeat. And the title song Florida is sung by the cast members, which makes it extra special. The MLs are incredibly cute together, just watch them smile at each other. Can you say dimples? And also can I say, what a waste of the best abs ever, not seeing more of a shirtless Yoo Hwan! Really, the entire cast are just adorable. Fun fact - zeze and joon together make up seoulitestudio https://www.youtube.com/@SEOULITESTUDIO . I watch all their videos, even though most of them don't have English subs. They are so fun together.

Highlights for me that makes this so special SPOILERS AHEAD:
The opening scene, chasing the suitcase down the hill and into each others arms. Much better than the usual trip into each others arms trope ?
The zoom in with hands to see a close-up. Yes, it's cheesy and it's been done before, but it's executed so well and Hae Won's smile is just so....
Absolutely love the "Place your left foot back...that's your right foot" then the little hop/skip to switch legs. Cute!
How adorable Hae Won looks when putting on his uniform first time!
Sexiest way of putting an apron on someone ever... 'a little harder' and then the tucking the hair behind the ear is a sweet little swoon-worthy scene
The additional scene mentioned above isn't much, just showing the MLs in bed together, 2 pairs of bare feet tangled together, 2 naked (well, shirtless anyhow) bodies cuddled up together sleeping.
The tight, tearful hug at the end ?

I really wish there was an additional episode where we can find what happened with Yoo Hwan's father!
What was up with that throw away line in the beginning "the guest house's owner came". Does that mean Hae Won own's the guest house? Inquiring minds want to know ?

So anyhow, watch it, enjoy, smile more ?

Lire davantage

Incredible Music and Eye Candy

This is another extremely biased review of a movie that I absolutely adore!

The first thing I fell in love with is the music. The soundtrack is fantastic. The movie (and series) starts out with wonderful cello and violins playing a variation of the title song Wish You. Now, I'm not a strings person at all but something about this song and the sound the cello makes is completely magical!

Then one of the male leads hears the other singing on the street, stops dead in his tracks, starts watching and listening, and falls instantly in love. You can see it and feel it at the same time. Seriously, pure magic. That's what makes this a complete 10 for me, just the feel of the story. I mean, just listen and watch! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4opvypXJQ30

When you watch this be prepared to fall in love with a couple of really really adorable guys who are lucky enough to have found their soulmates and who want to make beautiful music together. Yes, the story isn't deep or complex, there are a lot of leaps and assumptions, but I don't care. The music and these 2 guys make it all perfect in my eyes.

The only disappointment is that not all of the songs are part of the soundtrack album and there are some songs that till this day I can't find anything about. Neither Shazam nor googling finds anything about these songs. One in particular has moved into my brain rent-free and has been living there for 4 years now. If anyone reading this knows please share! The song starts with "If it all comes crashing down we'll be just fine." Damn I love that song!

Lire davantage

Heaven's Door! Another Fantastical Kishibe Rohan with Issei Takahashi

Another completely biased review from me to you.

Issei Takahashi is back and more beautiful then ever in this new 1-hour story. Everything about the series and movies are just so sublime. I can't imagine another actor would ever be able to step into Issei's shoes to play Kishibe Rohan. He's perfect in this role.

The story was interesting, and I really wasn't expecting the path it took, nor the ending. But I am happy with it.

The wardrobe department did an excellent job with this episode. Rohan's wetsuit was scrumptious with the unbuttoned white shirt. Then the black outfit was just gorgeous. Chef Tonio's outfit was interesting, to say the least. The hat was extra! And his diving suit with those red boots, the TT on the chest, and still wearing the hat was, dare I say, the chef's kiss?

I'll stand by my previous reviews/comments to say that Kyoka is the most irritating character and I really wish they would use one of these episodes to kill her off or have her immigrate to Australia or something, and replaced with someone who isn't so over-the-top. IMHO

Lire davantage

Beautiful Tan Jianci and Art, what more do you need?

Another completely biased review from me to you.

This is the show that introduced me to Tan Jianci, and I must say I am hooked!? What an incredibly talented entertainer he is! I have watched this show a few times. I'm keeping this on my permanent list of shows to watch over and over again.

The opening credit visuals are really striking and set the mood for the entire series nicely. The series can be rather dark at times but it does keep your interest and your heart rate going. The music and lighting all add to the atmosphere. Probably a not-very-realistic depiction of forensic artists but damn they do such a beautiful job showing the process of creating these portraits. I really wish I knew who was doing the drawing when they show close-ups of the hands. Beautiful! And who did the paintings that are part of the series. Whoever they are, fantastic job! Do they show in the credits? Sorry, I can't read Mandarin.

The friendship that develops between the 2 MLs is good, after a rocky start. A spoilery bit: it's sad to know that the age-progression drawing basically ruined/changed both of their lives forever. I find it hard to believe that Shen Yi forgives the cop for the way he blamed him and treated him and ruined his life. A promising young artist has his creative life forever cut short ?

The different cases are interesting, strange, and somewhat twisted. The methods used to solve the cases may require you to drop your logical thinking for a bit but I really love how they show the process. Being able to draw someone's portrait from a blurry partial side view of a masked person? Hmm, nice skills?

The ending credit song is just so gorgeous and dark and emotional. It perfectly fits the series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXOsDojKP0k

I cannot wait for Season 2!

Lire davantage

Fan Service Done Right

Now this is how you do fan service! Absolutely sweet and adorable added episode that I wish all series, BL or not, would tag onto the end for a nice fan service. (Oh, only series with happy endings! Unless they were sad endings and the xtra episode would make it happy!? )

BTW, I love the new look for our MLs. Their hair styles are awesome. And the tuxes were gorgeous.

Yes, the series itself maybe was a little problematic, the one ML was a huge walking talking red flag, but damn if I didn't love it anyhow. Lots of cringe but also lots of heat makes this a fun little gem to watch. And it's short so won't take up your entire weekend.

Give it a try. I'm going to go rewatch the rest of the series now ?

Lire davantage

One of My Favorite Adaptations of a Priest Novel

Where to start to unpack this series? First of all, the main leads Bai Yu and Zhu Yi Long are magical together! Even though this is a censored adaptation (thanks china) you can see and feel the characters love for each other. Somehow this series got away with a lot more physical contact then others I have seen ?lots of touching of hands and shoulders and even my favorite scene in the car with Zhao Yunlan sleeping on Shen Wei's shoulder! Yep, magic. Oh my, the necklace! ? That one got me.

The rest of the cast is pretty much a hit or miss. The purple-haired villain was so bad I was waiting for him to say "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!" I would have loved to have had more Cat (Da Qing) story, who wouldn't like to know more about the Cats? Would love to know more about Chu Shuzhi too! What a cool ability with the puppets! The delusional snake lady's story really didn't add much to the series and they could have taken it out completely. And I really wish that the Guo character would have died a horrible death, sorry. ?He just irritated the hell out of me and by all rights should have died early in the series. The rest of the team pretty much sank into the background for me so not much to say.

The actual story itself was kind of all over the place, probably because of all the changes that had to be made to satisfy the censors. Read the novels! I'll admit I got lost a few times and had to rewatch some episodes to try and figure out what the hell the story line was. The FX was either really good or really bad, like they ran out of money and had to half-ass most of the special affects! And the sets were either really good or really bad too, money again?

So even though this series had some issues with cast and story and FX and production, it's still one of my favorites and I will still give it a 10 because of the leads and will rewatch it over and over.

And the ending, oh boy, be prepared to cry. However, I believe they ended up finding each other again, someday.

Lire davantage

What a fun ride!

I've watched this around 4 or 5 times so far. This is one of my absolute favorites to watch when I need to take a break. I have no experience with the original manga so I came into this with no expectations. The movie has everything I love about this genre of Japanese movies/series. Awesome eye candy, incredible music, unbelievably good sfx. Sota Fukushi is so good as Ichigo in this. He completely lives his character. Hana Sugisaki is fantastic as Rukia. The montage of her teaching him how to fight is just so fun. I only wish there were more movies and/or a series with the same characters, especially since they mention the Soul Society Arc. Give it a try and hopefully you'll find it as fun as I did. ?

NOTE: I'm definitely not an impartial reviewer. I tend to leave reviews and ratings for only things I love which means almost everything is a 10 for me ?

Lire davantage

Different and fun romcom

I was looking for something to watch that wouldn't require a large investment in time and wasn't too serious. This series definitely did it for me.

The hair, makeup, costumes, and sets were all great and quite different for the usual cdramas I've been watching. The OST and the background music were just perfect for the show. And I loved the little bit of animation added. Just enough to be cute but not over the top.

Honorable mention to some things that just cracked me up:
Shave and a haircut at the end of the opening song.
The FL's steampunk-looking hair and costumes.
The brother's curly locks that are so bad they look like the cowardly lion's after they get spruced up in Oz.
The dance off.
Sausage lips.
I know it's not a BL but the doctor and the brother story, especially with the sexy saxophone playing every time they shared the screen together, makes me giggle. If you want to see what I'm talking about please play the first few minutes of episode 20! OMG.
The brother and doctor in disguise as puppets with their arms locked together skipping through the enemy!
Episode 19 around the 16:40 mark - ML's tighty whities showing through his robes just cracks me up. They had to have noticed that at the time of filming, and definitely in post-production, but they kept it in for our viewing pleasure.

All in all, a fun watch that I definitely recommend. It's worth your time.

Lire davantage

A wonderfully silly short length series

Another completely biased review from me to you. Lots of spoilery stuff below.
First of all, this is a silly series and should not be taken seriously. If you want to watch something for any other purpose but total empty-brained entertainment then this isn't for you. This series does not take itself seriously at all, pokes fun at different tropes, breaks the fourth wall, is cheesy as hell, and so much fun!
Wang Hao Xuan as the ML was fantastic! He really played the part beautifully and proved that short length series can have wonderful acting too. The perfect innocent, slightly dumb ML.
I don't know Tu Zhi Ying at all but she was hysterically funny as the FL! She does physical comedy so well and just throws herself into the character. I love the way she always breaks the fourth wall! And the fact that she is obviously female but because she wears a males outfit that all think she's a guy? The gives us some fun scenes with the ML being so worried because he's carrying her around and of course his brain starts short circuiting lol
Yan Zi Xian is one of my personal favorites. I've seen him in a lot of short length series. He has played a wide variety of roles but never I haven't seen something like this before. The audio and visual gags for him were off the chart funny! The creaking rope sound whenever he was 'gliding' around people! When he walks around with his umbrella open and flower petals fall. When he constantly gets way too close and invades the senior apprentices personal space. Constantly! This guy needs a vacation, cause it looks like he has had 7 series released this year so far. Wow! And of course he is in my favorite The Spirealm
Just some thoughts while watching:
The senior apprentice was trying to find who saved him by carrying around a frog hairband and it was just such a perfect way to start this series.
Flying through the sky on a giant paper bird (?) and sword are so badly done it's laughable. But in a good way!
The whale flying through the sky or whatever it is at Yoon Clan was just a cheeky bit of fun that you might not notice but lol
The big bad demon female's name is Maggie? Really? LOL
And it ends with a game show? WTF, this is awesome!
OMG, dance off between demon Maggie and the other chick? And a really bad dance off too. Like really really bad!
Rock paper scissors? I especially liked the blood spitting when he lost.
The demon gang's music video performance!
The good guys team music performance was actually not bad.
That ending?!?
It looks like the cast must have had fun doing this. I wish I could find some behind the scenes!
There is so much to love about this series. I wish there was a season 2.

Lire davantage