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Reviews
Qian gu jue chen (2021)
Surprised by the high rating
It is a very entertaining series. The epic scope of the story, the layers of realms, and numerous identities characters sometimes had, it is all quite amazing... but it dragged for me. I felt the amount of screen time they gave the main antagonist was way too much, she was a very one dimensional character. I did not care about her story. And by the end, the main character suffered so much I didn't want her to be with her main love interest 😂
I felt it could have been great if they had trimmed the story back a bit, but that could be said for a lot of these longer series. 40 rather than 49 episodes might have been just right.
Bap Jal Sajuneun Yeppeun Nuna (2018)
Almost Great
One of the sweetest falling-in-love-periods I've ever seen. So romantic and so sweet seeing the chemistry between the two leads and how they fell for each other.
An excellent look into work society and conservative expectations within Korean families. I saw a few angles of Korea I had not seen before.
Mostly great, however I almost entirely lost my desire for them to end up together. The main characters choices were so frustrating. I really felt the male lead deserved much better. She was a terrible girlfriend! She always lied to him, talked down to him, and somehow in the end he's the one who apologizes!
It was almost great, but the writing went off track. Acting was great.
Ms. Marvel (2022)
Solid Start...
It makes me really sad to see people hating on this show. The low rating is due only to ignorance and prejudice. Some people can't help but squirm when exposed to cultures outside their own. Their reflexive reaction is to blame others for their own discomfort.
There isn't anything revolutionary about the start of this series, but all the same, it is a fun, solid setup for a new, up and coming hero. The extra animations give it a little bit of the feel of Into The Spider-Verse. It's fun and fluid, colorful and well acted. I look forward to seeing more.
Bimil (2013)
Not Aging Well...
This Drama is well written, with a compelling plot, powerful performances, and a heart-wrenching storyline. But the highly disturbing mis-treatment and abuse of women, the main character in particular, makes this drama almost unwatchable at times. Not even ten years old, this drama is not going to age well. It's a feminist nightmare. Even as a man writing this, I found it appalling how the physical and emotional abuse toward women was conveyed in a matter-of-fact way. I'm a big fan of K-Dramas, but was very disappointed in this drama.
Dalui Yeonin - Bobogyungsim Ryeo (2016)
Mr. Queen Broke the Genre
I absolutely love K-Dramas but I came late to the party. I think I would have enjoyed this if I had watched it before Mr. Queen, but having watched it shortly after watching Mr. Queen, Oy! I found it almost unwatchable at times.
I can see why people fell in love with it. Compared with other historical dramas, it probably stands up well against them. But Mr. Queen makes this look like it's well over a decade old... It happens in music, something new comes out that exposes the lack of sincerity in what came before, i.e. Disco music, 80's Heavy Metal music, they had no life outside the decades they were born in.
Moon Lovers is well acted, the costumes, the settings, the scenery, they're beautiful, but there are lots of plot holes. I think the writing is a bit bloated. As a viewer, I can't help but feel manipulated by forced twists and turns. Twist and turns are great, but not when they don't move organically with the rest of the story.
I think the hardest part to deal with is the flippant, disorienting approach to life the main character, Hae Soo takes. As a character in that situation-especially when compared to Mr. Queen-her actions often don't make sense. She's brilliant one moment and the next she's ignorant and reckless. While somehow she blends in almost seamlessly with everyone even though she's from 1,000 years in the future...
I think IU did well with what she had but the character was poorly written.
Moon Lovers is a great, absurd, very sad, fantasy, but it pretends not to be absurd... and strangely, it feels like it tries not to be a fantasy. It takes itself a bit too seriously. I had trouble enjoying it.
I think the rating on this title would be much lower if it was just coming out today. (2022)
\^o^/
The Legend of Korra (2012)
Almost great, almost
Almost great. Excellent animation, very intelligent premise, inspired world, but weak fundamental storytelling.
This show deserves more praise than criticism for its originality and groundbreaking storytelling, but should also be called out for its blatant shortcomings. The show is exciting, the animation and graphics are brilliant, it's well paced-overall, above and beyond other American animation storytelling of its time.
Where it fails is painfully obvious for many fans of the original Avatar series. Korra is an amazing character but is in constant conflict with everyone. The conflicts feel, like the love-stories, forced and awkward. There are more arguments than affection between the main characters.
The relationships between Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph were what made ATLA so fun, endearing, and hilarious. This is exactly what's missing in the new series. Real joy and affection between the members of "Team Avatar" is fleeting and the humor is more often than not a little off-beat. The love-stories were most likely abandoned in the later seasons because they were poorly written from the beginning. There was so much warmth between the characters in the 1st series, The Legend of Korra is quite cold by comparison. (I think this is where Aaron Ehasz's, ATLA head-writer, absence is felt most.)
There were also a lot of weird holes. For instance, they put a lot of time and energy into introducing Kai in the 3rd season but then he hardly speaks a word in the 4th. Bumi hardly had a line in the last season and I'm not sure I saw Kya at all. And Tenzin and Pema had a fourth child in the first 3 seasons but only 3 in the final season. ??? The last season was called "Balance", but the whole series was off-balance-especially compared to the original.
It's also hard not to mention that the beautifully multi-ethnic cast of characters is voiced almost exclusively by one ethnicity. Excellent voice talents but not at all a reflection of what the characters look like on screen.
The show can be quite fun and charming at times. There's plenty of great action and excitement and the storyline is a bit darker and more mature-in a good way, I think-than the original. It felt like a natural progression. If you are a fan of great animation and intelligent fantasy world-building, this show is great. But if you're also hoping for warmth, humor, good chemistry, and natural affection between the main characters you're going to be disappointed.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Puppetmaster (2007)
Excellent Stand-Alone Episode
Excellent storytelling and introduction of a particularly impactful water-bending technique. The episode has its own feel entirely different from the rest of the series, yet still woven well within the same world. It felt original with its own spooky ambience throughout the episode.
At its center was an age-old story motif-how a lack of love and forgiveness embitters the heart and how everyone at some point is faced with the choice: to use the power and self-righteousness our pain lends us to control and manipulate others-or-do we let it go and take an unknown path toward healing and peace... This episode told, remarkably well, the story of one who chose power in the past and one who's turn it was to choose...
Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Painted Lady (2007)
Great Stand-Alone Episode
The Painted Lady is an excellent stand-alone episode. (Possibly less liked because it didn't move the main story forward at all.) However the smaller story the episode told was rich with mythic layers throughout... power, action, belief, superstition, disharmony, pollution, sickness, poverty, spiritual intervention, inspiration, autonomy, liberation...
Truly, Avatar: TLA, for a contemporary children's show, is above and beyond the average fare. This episode is a stand-alone example of that statement.
I loved the brief final scene.
Yitian tulongji (2019)
An epic story with power and depth
Just finished my second watching of this series. I liked it even more the second time. The first half of the series is a masterpiece. The second half was great but felt a little muddled in certain parts. There are subplots that feel a bit stretched out and tedious, but the show more than makes up for it with the fact that every character is interesting and a lot more than just the main characters have amazing story arcs.
This is one of Jin Yong's (the author of the books) great strengths, inventing a fascinating array of different characters that each take their own journey throughout the story. Rather than feeling like chess pieces used to tell a story, the characters go through changes, they evolve and they fail to evolve. There's a lot of amazing changes the large cast of characters go through. This was captured well in the series.
I gave it a 10, because I thought it was underrated on here. It's really a 9 because the second half wasn't executed as well as it could have been. But it is totally worth it to watch it all the way through and to be able to really appreciate it as a whole. Amazing story and amazing storytelling.
Ru yi fang fei (2020)
Mostly Great...
Really wonderful lead characters. Good chemistry. Beautiful sets and costumes. But I'm not sure what happened toward the end. There were strange/ awkward cuts and edits during important scenes toward the end of the series. (Maybe they ran out of money? I'm not sure.)
The production crew actually acknowledges, in an apology to the audience at the end of the series, that the show had certain shortcomings. I appreciated this acknowledgment.
All that being said, it is worth watching. It's a beautiful love story. I would have easily given this a 9 if the show kept the same level of production from start to finish. Instead I ended up giving it a generous 8 - though 7.5 would be closer to the mark.