S.C.I (2018)

All the building up to idontknowwhat

The abilities and resourcefulness of the main villain (or is he--we are kept guessing throughout) are very much fantastical despite being framed as some sort of scientifically explainable phenomena. If one gets past this, one could appreciate the story a little better. Then again, case after case of serial killings seem to be a build-up for something bigger as the cases are always half-solved, and it seems that the main "villain" is planning something big--perhaps something that would even call into question his supposed villainy. Then the series ends. It seems that there is supposed to be a Season 2, but I cannot help feeling that there should be more to Season 1.

The censoring of the BL content isn't helping much. In a way, the BL has been sublimated into bromance, but that is rather thin too. The two main characters clearly care a lot for each other--Bai Yutong's concern for Zhan Yao, in particular, is obvious. But their quibbling seems a little random. The story starts with them being rather hostile to each other, but suddenly they also seem to have good rapport. Then, randomly, they start being hostile to one another. With better exposition at the start regarding the sort of relationship they have, the vacillation between rapport and hostility would have made more sense. The side "couple", Bai Chi and the magician, actually work better, with more overt hints of romance though it cannot be too obvious thanks to censorship.

It seems that there will be a Season 2, and I'm piqued enough to watch it if it ever comes out. But I don't know if I will lose my patience if it turns out to be more building up without amounting to anything.

Leia Mais

Amuse-bouche...

The series feels like an appetizer. After watching 24 episodes, I feel like I need to immediately read the book so that I can get the full story.
My favourite character was Zhao Jue by a long shot and I really want to know his story and especially his relationship with Zhan Yao-I suspect they are father and son. I desperately want to know what happened in the past since the old guys are trying very hard to keep everything buried. Another character that I really liked was Zhao Zhen irrespective of the fact that he always seemed to appear in all the right places for no reason whatsoever. The casting of Zhao Jue, Zhao Zhen, Zhan Yao, and Bai Yutong was really on point.
My least favourite thing about the show was the relationship between Gongsun Ce and Bai Qingtian. It was all over the place and impossible to understand. I honestly couldn't like them. Another thing that I disliked was the villains in the first few episodes. There were too stereotypical and lacking in imagination.
I Iiked the bromance between the main leads but I would have liked a little more of it. I would have wanted to see some lingering looks filled with implications and other subtle things to indicate that this is an adaptation of a bl novel. The untamed, love is more than a word, and advance bravely have really mastered the art of subtly showing BL without being explicit about it. It's too bad that SCI couldn't achieve that.
Overall, the show feels like a prologue but I still liked it.

Leia Mais

I wanted to review because this show gets so much hate. Personally I found it full of tropey bromance goodness XD its entertaining, doesn't take itself too seriously, and if i started hating dramas for tropes and OTP action I wouldn't watch most Asian drama lol because lets face it sometimes you need dramas that bring nothing but eye candy and tropey sugary overdoses XD and again tge bromance - the whole secretly loves you but fights with you on the surface - was done rather welll. I mean that first scene at the beach its a damn kiss okay lol last time that happened in China was with the ADDICTED couple. So , theres so much hotness lol

Leia Mais

This drama was beautiful despite having a lot of flaws. Personally, the storyline of this drama is what made me sit through everything. I enjoyed the arcs throughout this drama although I do think they overdid the number of deaths. The bromance was also nicely done. As for someone who has read the novel, I think they chose the right characters to gender swap, especially Bai sister, because it was so hard for me to like the original couple in the novel. The flaw about this drama is entirely based on the fact they had no budget. The CGI, makeup, music, cinematography, voice dubbing and sets were a huge problem. The CGI in this drama made me cringe so much. All the fake CGI explosions looked so stupid, especially episode 6 like I'm still questioning about how that could happen if it looks like nothing happened at all? And the bloody hands made me laugh so much. For the music, I don't think I heard that much OSTs in the drama, the opening wasn't that good either. The voice dubbing was always a problem for me in most Chinese dramas so. I also think they overused the sets, I don't know but the sets all looked very similar. Overall, this drama was still interesting and it still got me deep into the characters and story. Keen for season 2!

Leia Mais

The choice of actors and the uniqueness expressed in each character was really good.
The actors did a great job, especially the two main ones, in pertaining their characters.

HOWEVER, much of the story was sub-par, and just didn't flow.
In my opinion, the first 8 episodes were amazing, but then is started to fall short.
The villainous characters started to seem rushed and there was little to hold on to before something new (not necessarily needed or surprising) was thrown at you.
No only that, but the two main characters themselves started to have less and less one on one debate/conversations about their differentiating opinions on how to proceed or what was going on.
Instead of it being two character that both clash and work well together because of it, it became a pair were one always talks and the other listens (except short anecdotes) and follows like a dog.

Leia Mais

Feels more than bromance

I have not read the book, but I’m guessing this was originally written as a gay or BL story. There is so much homoeroticism and I felt like they were more than friends. I know they probably had to censor that out of the story which is too bad. I like it but it feels pretty obvious they probably had more than just a bromance. The acting is good and the budget looks good. My only real complaintS are the music, which didn’t work with the show, and the fact that it feels censored. I’m just going to keep typing because it says I need 500 characters in the review, which is stupid.

Leia Mais