China

Review: New Life Begins [China]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Easy-going, laidback and quite breezy in a Disney-esque sort of way, Show could be a great drama to unwind to, after a long day of real life.

Sometimes Show leans into the silly, and sometimes, it leans into its more dramatic side, but either way, everything vibes simple and also, somewhat simplistic.

Show is basically a treacly-wholesome Disney-esque take on the daily life in the royal courts of Xinchuan, our fictional feudal society in which our story takes place.

Fair warning that there are people who do bad things too, in this drama world, and so, very occasionally there is some indication of (real, rather than comedic) violence, which might be disturbing for some folks.

On the upside, these characters always, always get their comeuppance, so that’s the silver lining.

Your mileage is likely to vary with this one, since some folks find it kind of meh, while others think it’s the most wonderful thing ever. But I’ll do my best to help you figure out where you’ll land with this one, even before you take off. 😁

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Early Access: Meet Yourself [China] Episodes 1-2 & 3-4

| kfangurl

Hi everyone!

Thanks for enjoying my episode 1-2 notes on Crash Course in Romance! Today, I thought I’d share my episode 1-2 & 3-4 notes on Meet Yourself [China], because I’m liking it quite a lot too, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me? 🤗

These are my episode 1-2 & 3-4 notes, exactly as they appear on Patreon, ie, without screenshots (I’m saving those for the actual review).

I hope you all enjoy, and I hope you’ll consider joining us over on Patreon, for the rest of the discussions! ❤️

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Dropped: Unchained Love [China]

| kfangurl

You know how I always talk about managing expectations and adjusting your viewing lens, in order to best enjoy your watch of any show?

Well, I tried with this one, you guys. I really did.

But, as you can tell from the title of this post, that didn’t work out at all the way I’d hoped. 😅

And so it is, that I’m tapping out of Unchained Love after just 10 episodes.

I’ll still tell you ALLL about it, though, so that you can decide whether you’d still like to give this one a try, even though it didn’t work for me.

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Review: Mr. Bad [China]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show isn’t going to win any awards for Best Drama, or Best OTP, but if you’re looking for a spot of silly, fluffy drama, this might just do the trick.

It took a while for me to warm to our male lead, but I found Shen Yue’s turn as our female lead delightfully charming, and that more than balanced things out for me.

On top of that, Show’s absurd premise and snappy pace kept things moving along in a pretty pleasing way, so that I didn’t even mind so much, when I didn’t find some of Show’s comic moments all that funny.

Add on a secondary loveline that I was genuinely interested in from early on in our story, and this worked out to be a pretty pleasant diversion, for a little while.

And sometimes, that’s just what you need in a drama, yes?

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Early Access: New Life Begins [China] Episodes 1-2 & 3-4

| kfangurl

Hi everyone!

Today, I thought I’d share my episode 1-2 & 3-4 notes on New Life Begins [China], because I’m liking it quite a lot more than I’d originally expected to, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me? 🤗

These are my episode 1-2 & 3-4 notes, exactly as they appear on Patreon, ie, without screenshots (I’m saving those for the actual review).

I hope you all enjoy, and I hope you’ll consider joining us over on Patreon, for the rest of the discussions! ❤️

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Review: Love Between Fairy And Devil [China]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show is not without its rough edges, but it works out to be more than enough slurpy fun, and more than enough of an epic love story, that I was more than happy to just roll with the stuff that didn’t grab me as much, in our story, to get to – yes – our happy ending.

Esther Yu is as cute as a button in this, which is fantastic, but it’s Dylan Wang who really shines for me, as our titular devil. He shows way more range than I’d thought he had, AND he looks amazing, in an almost surreal sort of way, through the entire journey.

My eyes; they were quite pleased. 🤩😁

Best of all, this OTP shares pretty excellent chemistry, from the bickery silly stuff, to the swoony, skinship end of the scale, and their loveline makes for a pretty great backbone to our story.

Very solidly worthwhile, in my opinion.

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Review: Love Like The Galaxy [China]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

A gorgeously shot, epic love story that works out to be wonderfully addictive and immersive.

The entire cast is pretty great, but it’s really our leads Wu Lei and Zhao Lu Si who ground this one for me, with their nuanced portrayals of their characters, and their fantastic shared chemistry.

Show isn’t perfect, and there are some rough edges in the presented narrative, but it’s nothing some lens adjustments can’t fix (I talk more about that in a bit).

Importantly, Show knows how to serve up the romance, and make me swoon into a flailing puddle on a regular basis, and I consider that to be Show’s biggest strength. 😁

Absolutely recommend, especially if you enjoy a dose of swoony romance. ❤️

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Early Access: Love Between Fairy And Devil [China] Episodes 1-2, 3-4

| kfangurl

Hi everyone!

Thanks for enjoying my episode 1 & 2 notes on Little Women. Today, I thought I’d share my episode notes for episodes 1-4 of Love Between Fairy and Devil, because I’m enjoying it way more than I’d expected to, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me? 🤗

These are my episode 1-2 and 3-4 notes, exactly as they appear on Patreon, ie, without screenshots (I’m saving those for the actual review).

I hope you all enjoy, and I hope you’ll consider joining us over on Patreon, for the rest of the discussions! ❤️

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Review: A Dream Of Splendor [China]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

On the upside, Show is gorgeous to look at, and features two beautiful leads in Crystal Liu and Chen Xiao.

Best of all, our leads are both strong characters in their own rights, and who also share a lot of crackly chemistry; y’know, the kind that threatens to leap off your screen and slap you in the face. 🔥

On top of that, Show is a proponent of female independence AND female friendships. How rare! 🤩

On the downside, Show loses some of that excellent dramatic tension in its second half, which can be a damper. I also didn’t jive so well with Show’s sense of humor, a lot of the time.

Still a very solid watch overall, though. Watch it for the leads, if nothing else. 😁

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Review: Shining For One Thing [China]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show might look like a typical high school story on the surface, but in reality, this works out to be a love story, and a pretty epic one, at that.

Less about time travel than its premise might suggest, Show is more about growing up, and learning to love both yourself and others.

And the epicness of the love story creeps up on you in the best way, so that one day, you’re just gobsmacked by how stirring that love story is, even though you didn’t see it coming.

Our leads Karlina Zhang and Qu Chu Xiao both do very well in their roles, but I have to confess that it was Qu Chu Xiao’s turn as shy steadfast boy Zhang Wansen, that really stole my heart in a big way.

More worthwhile than it might first appear.

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