A Thrilling Adventure

With just 15 episodes, Reset (开端) is truly a fast-paced and thrilling C-drama!

Story:
- I really like the plot of this drama, it is my first time watching something with a time loop and was definitely very refreshing to see in the sea of idol romance dramas.
- Elements in this story reflect on problems in real life. Online bullying was a theme in this drama that I believe is relevant in this day and age. Reset explores the psychological effects of writing snide online remarks as it is one of the factors that propel the whole drama forward.
- I LOVED how we viewers were able to learn more about the other passengers on the bus and understand their lives and the hardships they go through. It was super wholesome, sometimes sad, to learn about their backgrounds. The ending scenes were super sweet! :D
- The cinematography was also really good. Explosions felt pretty realistic and Xiamen (filming location) looks so green and beautiful. (I must say though, when I first started Reset, I found the colours to be way too bright and colourful)
- Con: Because this is a time travel drama, there is repetitiveness and it can feel kind of boring at times. But the action, thrillers and urgent adventures make up for it!
- Con: Xiao He Yun's backstory seemed like it was suddenly just forgotten? I thought his backstory as a game developer would have played a larger role...
- Con: I enjoyed the ending, it was fair and reasonable. However, one more episode wouldn't hurt. It would have been nice to have an explanation for how everything happened and for some relationship progression (ex: relationship with other bus passengers)

Acting:
All the important characters were really good at their roles. Actress Liu Dan who played Tao Ying Hong deserves special praise! It really felt like she was SO SO in character and her emotions and reactions felt so raw and real. Amazing performance!

Music:
Background music was appropriate, and was not distracting. Loved the outro sang by Zhou Shen. He has a beautiful voice.

Rewatch Value:
I don't really like to rewatch entire dramas but I would definitely rewatch snippets on Reset! Since Reset only has 15 episodes around 45 minutes long, it definitely wouldn't be hard to rewatch again (could probably do it in one sitting).

Overall, the story, acting and cinematography/production were a success in my opinion. It is definitely a good watch, especially if you are into sci-fi thrillers that relate to video games (completing missions and resetting if you fail).

Citeste mai mult

Well Constructed Drama

The Imperial Coroner was just a show I randomly saw one day on Youtube. I didn't think much of it when I first clicked on it, but boy- was I in for a ride!

First of all, the story. I thought it was a pretty coherent, well-built story. It's engaging it and can educate the viewer on subjects such as anatomy, clue finding and also on ancient China. It's always nice to view a show where you can learn something or gain some insight! The story was complex, with all moments being important and building on to the major plotline. It was kind of hard to follow at times since it does heavily revolve court politics and schemes. One thing I disliked was the ending. I found it to be quite rushed (I like smooth and longer endings to give myself a better conclusion). It wasn't bad, as most people got what they deserved, but they could have slowed it down a little since the climax of the story was basically the last couple of episodes. Overall, it was good! I also liked how they started each ep with a quick recap in a character's POV. The show is also relatively fast-paced with no unnecessary filler eps, drama, etc.

There were some graphic scenes, especially one involving a doctor, which some may find triggering or disturbing. So beware of that. In general, since Chu Chu is a coroner, they don't show many revealing/disturbing scenes (most are up close or shots of her Chu Chu's face, etc.)

The acting was, for the most part, pretty good. Apart from the second ML (Jing Yi/ Yang Ting Dong), I did not know anyone from the show, so I did not know what to expect from them. It was pleasant knowing that most of them were great with their roles! Especially the Eunuch Qin Luan (Ma Huai Hu). I found him to be very funny and interesting in a way. Since he had his reproductive organ cut off, and this could not produce hormones like testosterone, he's got an obsession with beards LOL. Chu Chu (Su Xiao Tong) was good, but I really did not like her child-like voice dub, got used to it later tho (I guess). Xiao Jin Yu was portrayed as a really smart person. Like dang, there are few things he can't overcome. At least he isn't one of those "perfect" people in some dramas who excel at everything they do :)

The music was alright. I didn't find it notable or anything, but they were appropriate for the situations and such.

Give it a watch, especially if you like detective-type shows! You'll enjoy it!!

Citeste mai mult

An Amazing Drama!

This drama was so good, I would highly recommend this drama to anyone, esp if you like romcoms set in the business world!

Story: The story was pretty good, it contains quite a few cliche tropes, however, they integrated it nicely and I did not find it very cringy at all. The kind of plot in this drama is one that I love reading about on online reading websites but what I loved most (my favourite thing in the drama) is how the roles are more or less switched, rather than having a more dominant/assertive male role in the business industry, it is a female and I just love that. However, I found things a little confusing towards the end, things seemed to be really rushed, though the story was still entertaining. Some characters also seemed to make some rather spontaneous decisions that I found quite weird as I couldn't really have seen them deciding what they decided.

Cast: The cast and the acting in this was very pleasant and realistic! It was astounding! The main leads have very good chemistry, and their acting seemed very, very natural. I especially love the main female actress, Zhou Yutong, she did a superb job and I really like her voice. The only con I can think of is the second male lead's (Simon (Garvey Jin)) acting. He seemed very stiff and emotionless, no matter what occasion. Perhaps it is because of the character type he is playing. Anyways, the character expresses a lot more emotions towards the latter episodes.

Music: I enjoy all of the OSTs for Begin Again, they're all very splendidly composed.

Rewatch: I normally don't rewatch many shows, but I do think this one is worth it because it is actually SO GOOD.

In short, this is a very good drama and you should watch it.

P.S I watched as many behind the scenes videos as I could find and omg, watching it left me smiling foolishly, The mains have a good relationship both on set and off set, seriously, give this one a watch!

Thanks.

Citeste mai mult