Review: Love In The Clouds [China]

THE SHORT VERDICT:

I’d say that this is a xianxia with broad enough appeal that it should be easily enjoyed by non-xianxia-loving drama fans.

Not only is the magic and mythology pretty accessible in this show, it’s written in a manner that puts the primary focus on our characters and relationships.

Hou Ming Hao and Lu Yu Xiao are both excellent as our leads, and share a warm, sparky sort of chemistry that I found very enjoyable.

Show does a solid job of teasing out the burgeoning connection between our OTP, and that really is the centerpiece of this story.

Surprisingly stirring, for a show that I’d imagined would be a fun little bonbon.

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Review: Love Like The Galaxy [China]

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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Flash Review: Go Go Squid! [China]

So, I have good news and bad news, my friends.

The bad news is, this is one of those highly raved C-dramas that I ended up checking out based on the buzz alone, and once again, I didn’t end up loving it as much as everyone else seems to.

The good news is, unlike shows like Well Intended Love and Where The Lost Ones Go, where I not only failed to understand the shows’ appeal, but ended up strongly disliking both shows, I feel like I can understand why people like Go Go Squid. And, I even ended up enjoying it, albeit in a more muted fashion than most.

That’s progress, right?

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