Choices Make the Person

Story:
A slice of life that did a remarkable job portraying how specific life choices molded people into who they become. They all didn’t start off as great or evil characters but because of the people they chose or the choices they made. I think the best part about this story was that it felt true to real world circumstances. The writers truly made you analyze every individual character and the choices they made. It wasn’t easy to just stamp good or bad on them because they didn’t make the choices because of ill intentions but because of human characteristics such as jealousy, sadness, etc. The storyline was cohesive and fluid and allowed us to understand where it went wrong or right for every character. Really a well written script!

Acting:
The actors in this drama did an exceptional job including the supporting cast members. There are 3 actors that were great and really showed their acting prowess - Xiao Zhan, Li Qin & Liu Ruilin. Xiao Zhan really impressed me with how much he improved and how well he was able to portray his character. The scenes where he was supposed to portray grief really hit hard. It wasn’t over the top but felt that he understood how his character would portray that specific emotion.

Would I Recommend:
Yes! I understand the time span of this drama might not be the most appealing and it even swayed me a little. I thought it would be a drama that I would come in for the male lead but not enjoy the story as much except for maybe certain parts. However, I was truly impressed by how much I enjoyed it and even rewatched episodes while waiting for new ones. So, if you could get past the 70s era than I think people can truly enjoy it because it really is a great slice of life drama with an incredibly written script.

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Soldier vs. RoboCop

Story:
The Good -
The military aspect of this drama was interesting especially in the way they showcased how the military advanced through the years. The technological advancement being the most intriguing while the training portion was appropriate as well. Generally, I think the hierarchy and the flaws they showcased about the military with their higher ups and how it could impact soldiers really gave great insight to how things were ran. That maybe it isn't as perfect as it seemed but as time progressed those issues were slowly getting resolved to maybe make it harder to accomplish but not completely absent.

My favorite part of the story had to be Gu Yiye’s story arc. I felt he was very consistent with the way they wrote him – he started off being this proud, arrogant, and smart soldier and they continued to sort of write him that way but slowly try to evolve him but kept his original characteristics. Gu Yiye embodied the ideal soldier where he thrives to work towards a goal but combat and grief alters his plans and provides him other opportunities to continue to sacrifice not just for his country but also for his fallen brothers who he trained alongside. His story really made u feel sympathetic towards his choices and wanted to root for his happiness along the way and just wanted him to succeed.

The Bad –
The romance portion of this drama really dragged the plot of this story down in my opinion. It felt as if they removed the avoidable love triangle, they could have saved the main character Gao Liang from being so annoying in the beginning. The main character, Gao Liang, being the other main issue that I had with this drama. He was written very inconsistent with 1 moment he is this typical soldier that is a strong fighter to just out of nowhere being super smart AND a strong solder. It seemed like they didn’t know how to make him great and just constantly kept on adding on to him to make him seem more perfect without ever trying to really evolve him. In a way, I feel the screenwriter was trying really hard to make him into a Goku character, from Dragon Ball Z, but failed miserably along the way. U know the typical comical, strong character that his friends love and constantly root for. But the screenwriter just sort of dragged it out where it just felt forced rather than organic with the way Goku was written. Overall, I just feel his character was very flawed, writing wise, and just inconsistent with who he was from his actions in the previous episodes to how he was towards the middle. Just felt like 2 completely different people that showed no signs of how one got to the other.

Acting:
This is probably the main reason why I continued to watch this drama. I felt the acting that Xiao Zhan, who played Gu Yiye, was just breathtaking. He really was able to portray his character in a perfect manner where it seemed like he was that character. While watching, I constantly kept feeling that he showed signs of being a method actor where he completely immersed himself into his character and brought out those emotions that Gu Yiye would be feeling at that exact moment. The way he showed signs of aging by simply changing parts of his face and not just relying on makeup to make him look older – just amazing. Just the overall performance by Xiao Zhan was brilliant. The other actors also did a remarkable job with their roles and being able to bring those characters to life even with the certain flaws the plot had. I think a lot of the supporting cast such as A Xiu, Niu Mancang, Zhang Fei, Chunyu, and of course Hu Yang did an absolutely amazing job with their characters and really made me invest myself into them and wanting to know what became of them.

Music:
The OSTs were absolutely amazing. Both the beginning and ending songs that were sung by Johnny Huang and Xiao Zhan, respectively, were just beautiful and were able to enhance the plot and give the appropriate emotion for the type of drama it is.

Rewatch Value:
Overall, yes, I would rewatch because I felt there are some scenes that were just done stunningly; especially episodes 18 – 21 when the war had occurred. I even enjoyed parts of the training portion in the beginning episodes. But some parts I would just fast forward since I was not a huge fan of the overexaggerated compliments a certain character was getting and just inconsistencies.

To sum it up, I think this drama is quite good for a military drama and allowed a lot of room for discussion which I feel is the main task for a lot of shows/movies. To allow people to discuss and see what they like or dislike about something just so it could be engaging amongst the audience.

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Let The Last Thing I Forget Be You

Story:
The pacing for the story was perfect. It did a great job developing the leads relationship and had them gradually get to know one another. It wasn't a "love at first sight" moment or a childhood crush but just 2 normal individuals, with completely opposite personalities, that just slowly got to know one another. The chemistry between Gu Wei & LZX was so natural it made you question if it was a literal drama or us stealing a glance into someone's relationship. They made you laugh, cry, and get fully invested into them making you want to take sides when an argument ensued and caused you to question who you believed was right or wrong. But, in the end, it felt balanced with the right amount of humor, romance, and a bit of slice of life. My only issue really was with the side characters who I felt didn’t have much to do with anything and caused more issues than not. The main issue being SanSan and probably the only one. Even though there were other characters that liked the leads I felt they had character development and were able to change after realizing it wasn’t meant to be. The only one that just couldn’t get things to click was SanSan - the friend that you wished never got involved in your troubles. Overall, I felt the storyline was beautiful and had a great ending that felt it wasn’t rushed but gave all the answers to the questions you may have had. There was even an incredible wedding which invited all the characters and just felt like one big joyous moment. The entire last 2 episodes were just extraordinarily done and really tugged at the heart strings.

Acting:
The acting overall was incredible. The main leads Xiao Zhan & Yang Zi did an amazing job portraying their characters and had great chemistry. The way Xiao Zhan would just glance at LZX and added elements of the nose rub and his line delivery were just perfect and cute. When he was going through his traumatic experience, he did a great job portraying each one of those details. Yang Zi and her relationship with her in-drama father was perfection and made me feel the sorrow that a family member would have in those moments. But I do want to mention the actor that played LZX’s father – in the last 2 episodes – did a remarkable job and really added a lot to the story and just made the entire last 2 episodes just completely beautiful.

Music:
The OST’s for this drama were fantastic. Xiao Zhan & Yang Zi did a great job and the moments they added the musical pieces really added more to the story. Even the instrumentals they had for the violin & cello were just beautiful – I still hope I can find the song when they played at the restaurant.

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The Good . . .. The Bad . . . . . . & . . . . . .The Ugly

In the first half of this drama, I can honestly say, it was as good as it could. It had an impressive pace, story, & acting. And of course, the best part (in my opinion) was the side story - stories that could be seen as an average CSI case but from a psychological standpoint. They had different patients with everyday normal issues with He Dun, the “profiler”, being able to assess them in a manner that could help them overcome or at least live with those issues. Of course, it was interesting to see and enjoyable. The characters that were included were also terrific, but my favorite was undeniably Qian Kaiyi. He added laughter and amusement into the show that was needed due to some stories being darker than others. I felt he was a great balancing element for the show where people didn’t just see the heartbreak, sorrow, and hatred from those individual cases. And I also got really used to those ugly Hawaiian shirts he tends to wear (lol). All the actors in this drama delivered a great performance and I can’t genuinely say any one person did a bad job in portraying their role. Yang Zi & Jing Boran both did great jobs as the leads.

Enter THE BAD. This started around episode 25ish. To be honest, I knew the great storyline and pacing I had been permitted to in the first half was not going to continue and there would be some decline, which is on par with most tv shows. But I wasn’t expecting THIS. The script writers touched more on the main story and sort of pushed the side stories to the literal side. If I said the main story was underwhelming it would be placing it mildly. I thought there would be more excitement and more shock factor going into it, but it fell short - now I can admit that due to the story being so great at the beginning that my expectations were a lot higher hence I expected more. But what they wrote just wasn’t IT. The ruse that the 2nd main antagonist used to defeat the Professor was just not what I imagined. It felt like the entire scandal used to take him down could have easily been resolved if the police just did a thorough investigation. It took Lilli (He Dun’s best friend) a day to find out that the accuser was in debt - hence a motive that could be the reason for her accusation. Any logical person could have used that to blow the case wide open but it never came up once - now I can take it has a huge plot hole and let it go but the entire thing was just a lot of he said she said allegations that felt ridiculous and not something a brilliant mastermind would take years to plan. Frankly, it felt more like they made it up on the go and just hoped that it would work out in the end. I expected more from the villain due to him being built him up to be this smart instigator that was behind the scenes, but his plans can be deemed obvious to say it bluntly.

The Ugly. The last 9 episodes were probably the most aggravating. As each episode was released it clearly started to seem like they had no intention of answering any of the questions that the audience had since the beginning of the series. They shoved in other new elements to cover up drama time so it wouldn’t be too obvious that they were unwilling to give answers. They added new characters, a new romance, and to top it off a new side story mixed in with the main in the last 3 episodes. The pacing started looking off and they added more questions about the antagonist’s behavior and what his actual plans were. The entire thing just started looking messy and really didn’t seem to make any sense pacing wise. It does seem that there might be a 2nd season but even if that is the case, I felt there should have been some answers to ALL those questions they had accumulated throughout the drama. Some of the questions being He Dun’s family dynamics, the radio station, Lilli’s new romance, He Dun’s & Kaiyi’s relationship, Jiahui’s whole mess of a family dynamic and his mom (I feel the mom is a category in it of herself with how many questions we have on her), the 2 new female psychologists and what is their role in this whole thing, etc. To be honest, I feel they could have answered all the questions up to the 2 new female psychologists that they added in, and it would have been a smoother transition to a 2nd season – because we don’t need a million questions for us to be hanging on a cliff. A simple “who is she?” would have sufficed. But those are just my opinions garnered by the expectations I had from a great start.

Overall, I would recommend this drama just for the first half because it was terrific and the acting was on point as for the latter half, I would just say not to have such high hopes - like I did. The drama had great potential because the story was something different from what I tend to see in c-dramas but it just wasn’t executed properly enough through to the end.

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A Better Hand

How is this drama so good? The tension buildup from this drama was remarkable and how one storyline was able to last 16 episodes without losing a step. Usually with these kind of thriller/crime dramas they would have multiple cases with 1 last case to tie it altogether. But this drama was able to tie up everything back to 1 major case that it began with. Every new addition that was revealed was a perfect puzzle piece to the beginning.

The main character was also the main reason why I loved this drama. His capability to be able to plan several steps ahead of others was remarkable. In most dramas they claim the main character is some genius but they always tend to make a silly mistake or get caught over something small that you think to yourself "how smart are they really?". However, that isn't the case with him at all. He was several steps ahead of everyone at every decision he made. No one was able to get the best of him regardless of how much weaker he was in terms of the power dynamic.

This drama isn't a "who did it" type of drama because we already have the basis of who are the criminals and the tier at which they are on the totem pole - minion, corrupt politicians, etc. It is almost like playing poker in real life. The ML has to in a way bluff or get the best hand compared to the others that are at the same table as him. And they make that comparison in the drama - which fit it perfectly because that is exactly how the ML was playing everyone. He didn't have money or power compared to his opponents but he used tactics and wit to be able to overpower them and get them to "fold".

Overall, it was a great drama and definitely worth a rewatch. And the ending was really satisfying. It tends to be that they rush the ending and u don't really see the bad guys get their just desserts but in this case we are able to witness their fall back to earth and get what they deserved.

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Best Ending Ever

Story:
Part 2 of Alice in Borderland had a very straight plotline where they just picked up from the last season - still playing games in order to survive and collect the cards. Through each stage of the King, Queen, & Jack games they played some intense mind/physical games where any character could die. The hardest part, probably, was that even some of the characters that the main leads went up against had a strong personality where you wanted them to survive after knowing what their background was.

Skipping to the ending which was absolutely AMAZING! When the big reveal happened of why they were playing the games - everything made sense. The games were a metaphor, in a way, to their will to live. All the people that were in this game were in a coma and those that survived were actually survivors of the accident that happened in the real world. The people who failed at the games had also died in real life indicating that their will to live wasn't strong enough to claim victory. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. I was worried that the ending was going to be some virtual reality thing or even a time skip where they are in this new kind of world. This ending was different and not really something I was expecting and it just fit perfectly with the entire plot.

Acting:
All the actors did an incredible job. Even the supporting cast did a great job. My 3 favorite cast members has to be Yamazaki Kento, Sakurada Dori & Murakami Nijiro. These 3 were amazing in the roles they played.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this drama. The journey is great and the ending ties up everything perfectly.

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Romeo & Juliet - if they had no family.

Story:
I was reluctant to start this drama because it seemed like it would be tragic - the tragic part was correct but the drama itself was still beautifully done. The FL & ML had impeccable chemistry to the point I just wanted them to be together and didn't care much for the plot at a certain point (lol). The way they looked at each other - it felt like they were truly immersed within one another.

The story begins with a thriller/mystery where we ask what kind of person the ML is and if he is the culprit to the crime. As the mystery unveils itself we understand the ML more and his relationship with the FL starting to change him slowly. The last 6 episodes where the mystery is finished and the relationship between the ML & FL progresses was honestly a great romance portion. They both loved each other and knew they couldn't really move past one another no matter what kind of history the other had. The ending was purely tragic but also not the worse ending possible for the 2.

Acting:
The acting by the 2 main leads was AMAZING. The way they portrayed their emotion of longing and love for one another really made me hooked and invested in their relationship. The way the ML, with a single smirk, made you question what he was thinking and if he was good or bad. The FL was perfect as well when she would glance at the ML and showed the appropriate emotions through her eyes. I can't even explain how great they did with their chemistry - it was just off the charts for me.

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Wonderfully Illustrated Crime

Overall:
What an incredible crime drama. It started off high & consistently made you question your decision of who the suspect was. At one point you would believe it was "suspect 1" but then a few episodes later you would change it to "suspect 2". Usually in most crime dramas you could figure out who the suspect is pretty quickly. However, in this case they made you work for the answer which made me personally want to continue watching.

This drama also makes great use of the 16 hours that it is televised for. There is not a single minute wasted - if you happen to not pay attention for a few minutes you might be lost at what is taking place. Hence, do not use the fast forward button while watching this drama.

The writer did an absolute wonderful job intertwining the crimes together - things you believed did not make sense at the beginning, started to towards the end.

Acting:
I never actually watched any of Yoo Seung Hoo's dramas before but he was absolutely amazing in this drama. He made you believe in the persona he was giving off with such ease. The other actors/actresses were also quite amazing but to me Yoo Seung Hoo definitely stole the show whenever he was on the screen. The way he showed anger & pain during the cases made you believe that he could actually see the memories of those that he touched (he is able to read people's memories).

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