rocat

I am up to Ep 11 and have been rather entertained thus far. There are 8 lead characters (4 pairings I think, 2 from go go squid!) so there is no downtime where storylines are concerned. However, the drama isn’t terribly exciting cos the plot meanders though their dialogue can be quite witty and there are some LOL moments. I am still watching cos of: - Yang Zi, her dressing here is wayyyyy better than in GGS - the bespectacled lawyer guy, a Taiwanese actor according to an initial sleuthing attempt love his character name, so elegant - 子曰 - such a tiny missing stroke makes all the difference. - Ray Ma, the semi-wild boy is played more socially awkward like he has not had friends than barbaric like Tarzan - which is pretty on point. I like his little wolf friend. I’ll see how the next few eps go to see if it is worth continuing ...

Thanks! It’s interesting that the channel supplements the tragically short drama. I now know about Xabara and the origins of Tagon.

Tanya may have dominated the first 10mins of ep13 but Xabara took the last bit and she was all I could think about after. Xabara. Is. So. Cool. Am a fan already. I thought the momo tribe sounded as if they were speaking some form of ancient Japanese, even the henchmen looked like a cross between the samurai and yakuza who knows...the leader IS one in real life. Exciting. This starts the gathering of the different tribes that would one day rally behind ES, making him king. It is so easy to see why ES, who naturally exudes the aura of a leader, would exceed his twin. Bravery, honesty, strength, kindness, wit and most recently, chilvary but Saya is intelligent and has a different kind of street smarts...that from a hardened heart, so petty and cruel. ES and Saya are clearly distinct characters ; SJK played the roles very well.

I loved the epic end. It’s a happy one right? QY’s sacrifice for love despite his desire to rule the pugilistic world (which was well within his reach after all the shenanigans) is highly commendable in my books. He is crafty and sly in achieving his goals but he did do his utmost to build a safety net around his love, and accomplished what he promised her. It was moving to watch him struggle with his emotions when CH was drawing on her last few breaths - I could see him making up his mind about trading his lifeforce in return for her life while tears flowed from those pretty peepers. Gave up so much for her...only towards the end was the depth of what he felt for her become very visible, without a doubt. I wished the did a bit more about the leads after..lives with kids and all. Heh. But I am satisfied. Kudos to Li Hong Yi for acting that out so well - he did awesome.

Omg...CH, QY frolicking in the cave it’s like they were on their honeymoon. CH has become more sensible but QY is so unlike the ruthless QY we know...he’s such a insecure, lovey-dovey BF. So strange to watch, but oh so fluffy my toes are curling due to the excess.

Yes, Hu Yitian. Thanks! I loved Yang Yang in Love 020! His character was perfection and suited him to a T - best BF ever. He seemed stiff cos his posture was always ramrod straight and shirts always seemed starched military style, not a hair out of place - plays to his character. But when it came to romantic scenes, I had more to say about the female lead. Though none of his other shows I liked as much... i took a liking to LX immediately too. Haha. Good looks aside, I like his goofiness and the comic in him. His eyebrows do a lot of the speaking for him I find. Perhaps. He stoops a little too. she could stand on a stool, like how other dramas do it. Haha.

So it ended. Yeah, it had too little of some things and too much others. But it was, in general, a pretty successful drama - Raised the profile of the male lead by a tonne, successfully rewrote an NC16 (or R21?) into a PG13, got away with wardrobe choices, didn’t get flack for the 19-29 romance, very pleasing patriotism, excellent camaraderie, and they even managed to satisfy the audience without showing competitions that mattered. Barely scraped through the last one but they did. I enjoyed it, and had fun discussing it in this forum with everyone. With such good leads, I wished they had scenes that made them look less inexperienced. I know, first time and young but why not grow TN by 2 years so she’s legal. Still a smart cookie doing her PhD at 21. The awkwardness is cute but stiffness disappoints my mushy-mushy heart. And LX does tilt his head too much! Especially when he kisses. It’s odd...won’t he go perpendicular to his destination? Is he the same in other dramas? The actor who played DT is quite a big actor, isn’t he? I forget his name. Perhaps more well known than LX when this first began? His character wasn’t developed much, if at all, I think he just grew taller. Haha. The ones I felt who had significant char development were those from the Solo team, including SuCheng and the daughter as well as TN’s parents. No other major char comes close methinks. Maybe Zhenghui too cos he changed to become a little crazed. But it’s a sweet ending without fanfare, and I love HEAs no matter how plain.

@raziela wise choice the other one had characters that annoyed me without end...everything is pretty in this one, men included

This light drama is my filler for the spaces I have between others. Enjoying the fun. XB is the righteous gentleman who is a little too straight, a bit awkward and too polite. Shoots his mouth off and wears his heart on his sleeves. I don’t know why but he annoys me a little. I hv never seen the actor... CH is the muse in all of the crazy machinations and power struggles. She’s a bit of a clown but I am so amused. Zhao Lusi is super in these roles but a little typecast since her characters across her dramas are fairly similar. She always makes me laugh - I like her so much! QY seems like the ambitious, cunning villain with a dangerous glint in his eye. He projects an image of a loner who wants to climb to the top of the pugilistic world and has no need for emotional companionship. But he seems to have a soft center and uses all kinds of tactics to keep CH with him - actions do speak louder than words. A little bit of a mysterious, long-suffering anti-hero. I wish they would do away with his antenna hairstyle i am up up to ep9 at the moment when they revealed who CH actually is and her true relationship with QY. Kept me guessing and interested. it also explained the cringey brother-sister kiss and affections in the earlier episodes.

@Mapleoaks5 @40somethingahjumma Gong Yoo IS a bit older, bah humbug, but fan loyalty makes me biased. Heh. He in his Coffee Prince days was gold. Fan for life. Agree with your choices though. Yoo Seung-ho is a good choice too methinks. Other than clothing choices, how she kisses with her eyes open mostly and how she always wakes up with her full mascara n red lipstick on, I thought Yang Zi fitted the role - didn’t look too old for it. Her cutesy actions did wrangle a few good laughs from me. I thought she looked quite natural. For that matter, LX also never has messy hair when he wakes up...

I understand what you mean - I love a show with good leads. I also love a show with good storytelling - one telling is all I need, no other adaptations needed. This one passes the former with flying colors. I think adaptations inject new flavour into a show, emphasizing different things that are dependent on traditions, culture and practices. I learnt about the Korean way (eating bibimbap with many out of one bowl is pretty different for me) watching dramas, in addition to reading about and seeing the place. The way things are done in China is also different for me although I am Chinese. Its the the little things I find interesting. For selfish reasons, I would love to see Gong Yoo appear on my screen in this role ... hehe .. so I would definitely love a K-adaption. He is my definition of a good lead with the ability to do what Li Xian did...with ALL types of scenes The kiss scenes would perhaps be more satisfying...

Hell yes!!! better muaks scenes perhaps ... (Oh, that scene! Got it wrong..hiaks. My bad)

Heh...look at him go at it Kitty’s being a voyeur it seems ... but it has suchhhhhh a good view thanks @JMarei !

If I am not mistaken, that was when Xiao Mi went to HSY for the job opening left by Su Cheng. One heard and thought they were getting a new gamer coming into K&K. Grunt wasn’t too happy about that.