The Mutations (2023)

An Oriental Odyssey.

Chu Sijing, a captain of theJinyiwei/锦衣卫 or Embroidered Guard is on a mission to investigate a strange epidemic that broke out on the remote Wumu Island in Liaodong province. The outbreak threatens the adjacent NInghai Fortress, a critical stronghold against the invading Jurchens. The powers that be have their own agendas and appear more interested in covering up the outbreak than anything else. Thus Sijing steals onto the island aided only by a Mongol Tartar official Bo Yan and a Fulangji/佛郎机 businesswoman Angelica. There he encounters mysterious, disease afflicted villagers who worship ancient Gods and is forced to deal with some monstrous truths. Can he weed out the root of the epidemic before it overwhelms them all?

This story is set in the 3rd year of Tianqi, when the Ming Dynasty was in rapid decline. It was a time of many natural disasters from meteorites to a mini ice age, drought and famine. Superstition reigned high as the peasants were starving and the emperor was widely said to have lost the Mandate of Heaven. The drama invests heavily in world building and weaves in many themes from the period and fantastical creatures from Chinese mythology 山海经/Classics of Mountains and Seas and 神异经 / Classics of Gods and Spirits. Even though the CGI is not the best, I appreciate the effort that went into how they blended history, fantasy and ancient lore together to make this an Oriental odyssey.

Unfortunately all the research and creativity that went into world building is wasted on the story's plot which hints heavily at a complexity that never materialises. For such a short drama, there are too many subplots touching on many themes that go nowhere. Even ignoring Sandrine Pinna's appalling Disney cartoon character acting, the entire Angelica/Pirates of the Caribbean arc adds nothing to the story. The time would be better spent fleshing out the motives of the Henggong cult and tying up the many loose ends to the story. I usually like Huang Xuan's acting and enjoyed his chemistry with Bo Yan but this is not his best role. Maybe it is the overuse of green screens but I caught him frequently out of the moment and staring blankly into space. Shen Rang is the only character that really moved me and I enjoyed this character design and portrayal the most.

The best things about this drama are that it does try to be different, it is short, some of the action scenes are pretty good and it is oddly enjoyable despite its lack of logical consistency. The ending is anti-climatic, doesn't hang together well, leaves loose ends and is disappointing overall. I am being generous in rating this as a 7.0/10.0.

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Simple but interesting ​

It was a different series. It was more interesting than its counterparts. The mutation was not depicted as disgusting to humans, animals or creatures. It is made simpler and plainer without increasing the level of fear. A different fiction was tried, I liked the series as it was. Of course, I don't know if the development of events has anything to do with reality. However, some of the events such as changing shape, going to another dimension, or poisoning may occur due to radiation or another substance emitted by a meteorite. Some of it may be imaginary. That's how I evaluated it. I found it different and interesting. I liked it too.
The actors were good too. I especially liked the performances of Huang Xiuan and Wu Yue. They suit the series and the characters attributed to them. I liked the child actors. A big Well done to them from me. Sandrina Pinna, on the other hand, was really a stranger to the series. A foreign actor was also a foreigner in the series. She was also a stranger to the series. I also liked the other character actors. It is recommended for those who want to watch a simple and different mutation series without expecting too much.

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Excellent Production Quality

Being directed by Lu Yang, I couldn't resist anticipating the release of this series. Director Lu Yang excels in costume and period dramas.
Though this has a plot of tackling an epidemic during the end of Ming Dynasty, this is more of a mix between science fiction and mystery.

I like the way the story unfolded here allowing viewers to use their imagination in deducting clues sporadically given throughout the series. Viewers are captivated by the unraveling mystery, and top quality production.

This show didn't fail my expectation for a mystery series.

I have to also say, Huang Xuan simply did what he had done in Mining Town and Luo Yang - excellent role portrayal. I believe period costume series is really his Forte.
Wu Yea have proven time and time again that his versatility in acting and perfectly handling different roles have made him a top notch actor. Being paired with Huang Xuan, they highlighted each other and made the series



The entire production was marvelous producing top quality set and scenes. Lighting fitted the scenes, wardrobe complimented the timeliness, camera works provided a better understanding of the scenes.

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Bad Fish, Monsters, & Sauron's Eyeball, Oh My! (Last drama of 2023)

So Chinese sci-fi huh? Only have ever seen the ML so know he can carry his own weight. The story started strong and the monsters were convincing; didn't end strong though. I'm glad it was only 12 episodes long and that it had some semblance of a finish though suspension of disbelief was necessary. This really was about bad fish, monsters, and Sauron's eyeball, oh my! Honestly gave it the rating I did purely for entertainment value.

Pros: The storyline had a very promising start. The ML, Shen Rong, and Bo Yan were the strongest characters in the entire series. I do wish they explored more into SR's background and history as well as those of the real origins of the Heng Masters and how the "Lord" aka misty alien thing that was really Sauron's eyeball created them in the first place. It wasn't just the semi-mortal fish; needed to be fleshed out more. The CGI was decent especially when it came to the monsters. I like how there was a mystery that was solved little by little by our characters. Music was good and OST's fit. The historical/post apocalyptic feel was there. The beasties were pretty cool looking though.

Neutral: First time I'm using this section in a review but I feel like the character of Angelica was neither here nor there. The actress is stunning but whether or not she was actually needed; I'm completely neutral about it. Maybe to show a tough woman among a horde of men. Her presence doesn't affect my score at all.

Cons: It's Spanish not Portuguese! Dear lord, even those of us who don't speak either language but have been around either can differentiate between the two. That was a pain in the ass and while Angelica was where she was, the rest of her men and the ship and that storyline was also unnecessary.

There were many unanswered questions like:
1) The meteor arrived 20 years prior but didn’t create a tsunami? Ok suspension of disbelief ✅. 
2) How did Shen Rong get infected? From that water wife gave him to drink? 
3) How much time was SR away from home that the islanders started getting infected? Because clearly not the case for when SC was still a baby. We get a timeline of 20 years since meteor touchdown and then 2 years since SR’s return and villagers already infected and mutating.
4) When did mainlanders start getting infected? 
5) How did CSY get infected; never told us. 
6) When and how was the cult formed? Why was SR's wife chosen to lead them?
7) Again what happened to that HLH kid? He fell into the water and disappeared. Did he drown? Did the Sauron eyeball thing integrate with him too?
I'm sure I'm missing other questions that I can't remember now but who knew Mordor and Sauron were alive and well, off the coast of an island during the Ming Dynasty; that was pretty ridiculous honestly.

Also, I feel that ML was pretty gullible thinking his brother was still alive while being with the "Lord"; yes twins have ESP but it never occurred to him until the last 15 minutes of the final episode that this was all a set up? He's supposedly so smart and that felt off even for him. Whether he really survived at the end as SC claimed, we'll never know but he's now hanging out with Sauron's eyeball whatever that means.

Too many green screens as characters would often stare off at something not there or react in a way that didn't really make sense or there's a delayed reaction to what the audience saw.

Would I recommend it? Only if you like sci-fi and have nothing else to watch. It was entertaining, I'll give it that.

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The Abyss based on Chinese interpretation

As the synopsis mentioned. This is a story/journey that follows Chu SiJing to find his brother Chu SiYu who was lost to a weird happening in an island.

It’s a Chinese Sci-Fi story set in the Ming dynasty, and the war was just a forgettable backdrop with no further mentioning.
I started watching because the premise was interesting, the plot of the first few episodes have a good pace and kept me curious. So the story follows Chu SiJing to investigate the mysterious secret of the island link to his missing brothers. Many elements brought up were interestingly and can have good potential for further development if given more thoughts. E.g. monsters among human, cult group, magical powers, traditional ancient Chinese mystical creature, underlying political agenda to uncover or hide the secret, etc. Initially it gave me vibes of Kdrama, Kingdom, or the Game of throne, then came Alien under the sea.
However the final reveal was IMO anti-climatic and with an ending of a heroic sacrifice.
The ML throughout the story was in high tension state, was wondering when his blood pressure will pop. There were some interesting side characters that I felt if given more time, can have great potential to develop deeper, such as the Eunuch Yang’s agenda, the soldier Bo Yan, the sea girl Angelica, Shen Rang, Captain Xu, even the Head of JingYi Wei / special forces.
But I guess for a short drama series, it is a good attempt and straight to the point story telling, there are some good fight scenes, and genuine friendships/ kinships theme.

If you like a quick Sci-Fi drama, this is a good watch., will not recommend a re-watch.

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