Mu Ai Guo Hou (2024)

Astonishing -maybe in another space and time !!!

I think a recreation of this drama in another space and time would be amazing and that c-censor board is the reason for most of things that went downhill !
That being said ...it was surely an interesting watch a lot of cliche's served but also carefully garnished by time and space twists this wasn't a drama I was anticipating to be this enjoyable !

I love space and time interventions and time travel stories and I have had a fair share of them this year -- this drama is nothing fresh out of the oven pie -- but it's surely delicious !

→ STORY -- The lead ziqi crosses path with a girl at his lowest point and every day is a story of keeping her safe and revealing the secrets wrapped around his father's death with carefully entangled past and present the narrative is a space and time mystery of survival among the forces who's greed knows no bounds!

The leads have amazing chemistry and screen presence and tho initially unlikable they have a way to grab you in ...the second couple do not bother you with their not required screen time and the cliche's keep you giggling!

Every episode ends on a high note to make sure you stick around for the next one at the edge of your seats -- and best of it all ..people here know about "communication" !!! they actually tell each other things.

Tho a lot of things come across as brainless --in the spoilers-- but they are needed for the story to progress and your blood pressure to fluctuate -- i mean that's the thing you need to be pissed at times with the characters too lol !

the villains tho disappointingly handled but don't get to a point you start questioning why you even bothered to watch it and least have valid motives for doing things !

For a short drama in the world of cdramas with 20+ hrs of run time ...this 8hr storytelling is pretty much what I needed and absolutely loved.
→The actors did such a great job and the FL wasn't some pathetic loser and did figure out a lot of things on her own with a pinch of damsel in distress but don't we all need her to faint in ml's arms atleast 1000 times lol !

→I hope more people watch it ...and i really look forward to any adaptations of it bec -- c-sensor board I AM ACTUALLY QUITE PISSED with the last ep !!!

---- spoilers ahead---

So anyone who want's to know if it was a dream -- yes bec c-sensor board wouldn't have approved otherwise !
I myself am confused about the end but what i think it was he handled everything by himself (i hate it tho and imma pretend I never saw the last ep) and then they get together and all of the side characters have their memories erased ...whereas FL vaguely remembers ML and then falls for him again --THE WORST WAY TO END !

but we know for the plot to progress we need people dying and more specifically FL dying
what i don't get is why the ML even after knowing he's in danger doesn't keep precautions like man if you are going to some xyz building that has people full of villain's gang then get a grip and take few men with you ...or buy his men ...i don't think you are short on cash

or if in the wedding you are to be stabbed most probably ...then wear something to prevent the damage ...get one for your girl as well ...all of that to collect evidence right so you do not have to necessarily shed blood for it ...call the cops or something !!
---------

My fav lines --

"If I am no longer around please find the courage to move on , don't live in the past for me !
The past was wonderful but we should leave it as that -- i always believe what you remember will surely return - we might meet again in another space and time "

Leia Mais

It's not great.

The Good:
⌲ The cute second couple
⌲ The lack of love triangles
⌲ There are very few annoying things. (unfortunately the same is also true for excitement)
⌲ The beautiful people, everywhere
⌲ It's not very long & as such the pace is rather good until e12.

The Average:
⌲ The mediocre acting
⌲ The mediocre chemistry
⌲ The super shallow romance
⌲ The villains were meh.

The Bad:
⌲ The time travel plot is far below average, it's just really on the boring side & there is even less logic than usual in this genre.
⌲ The lack of comedy is a big problem, since there is no other hook for the romance to remain interesting.
⌲ Even for a low intensity cdrama this one is just lifeless
⌲ The ending follows a basic time travel drama cliche & I don't like this type of happy ending at all.
⌲ There is very little thrilling for a supposed thriller.

Leia Mais

A beautiful drama

I don’t know why nowadays are not listed in google for reviews like other shows.As a audience be it any drama or content across the globe ,I just loving giving ratings and reviews but alas!.To start with the drama it’s not like some other Cdrama as the length of the episode is usually of 30 minutes and the last episode spanning 40 minutes. Drama is short,it only contains 16 episodes.Still it has great plot but yeah the execution is not so done properly.Some things that are in show still not cleared until the end,though the director or scriptwriter tried to clarify the loopholes but they failed as when it is needed something to clarify it make you more confused.The things that are good in this drama are the performances of each and every actors specifically the leads and 2nd leads,I remembered seeing the actor like couple of years ago on a drama ‘My girl’ and there too he did a great job as 2nd lead.It is my first time see him in a male lead and again he had done his performance greatly.From the other project of our FL ,I can say she has done many supporting cast job and I am really surprised to see this ,I mean she is really a good actress.Background musics ,OST’s are so great to listen and any music it has used provide a aspect to how the drama is tried to executed .I really appreciate it after seeing it.I really hope that I can see this couple and other leads in another drama together like ‘About is love’ as far I know it was the only drama that repeated it’s cast in other shows .So I’m hoping this production or director cast them in another drama?

Leia Mais

A mediocre attempt at time travel

This drama took me by surprise when I initially watched the first five episodes. For the first time in a long while, I felt we had a refreshing story with minimal tropes and interesting characters. However, as the drama progresses, it loses its grip on the time travel plot, and what we get in the end is a mixed bag.

The Good

- The acting is solid across the board. While not the best I've seen, the actors did a commendable job given the depth of their characters.
- The chemistry between the leads is excellent, which is one of the main reasons I stuck with the drama. Both characters are mature, responsible, and well-spoken, traits that are rare in other dramas.
- This drama avoids many clichés and misunderstandings. It might seem otherwise at the beginning, but have patience and keep watching.

The Bad

- The plot is poorly written, with numerous flaws, plot holes, and unanswered questions.
- The drama needed more time or episodes, as the ending felt very rushed. While I liked the second leads, their screen time could have been reduced as it didn't significantly add value to the story and felt completely unnecessary in the end.

Personally, a time travel drama should be cleverly written with clear explanations, but this drama made an average attempt at best. The ending was influenced by China's censorship, but they cleverly hid the real ending behind that, so kudos for that.

The drama is not the best, but it's quite enjoyable and short enough to be easily binge-watched. I hope to see more attempts like this in the future, offering a variety of different dramas from what we usually know in C-dramas.

Leia Mais

Flawed, angsty time travel romance for Fan Zhixin fans (and the ending is not what you think)

First, I will fully admit that my rating is slightly inflated because of Fan Zhixin. This is otherwise probably closer to an 8 for me, but I also think the current rating of 7.8 is fair too.

Present, is Present is an angsty, yet fun time travel series that starts off with a bang. The future prologue in each episode and the flashbacks to the past work well in framing the "present" that makes up the bulk of each episode. I had pretty modest expectations for this drama, given the lesser known cast, shorter episode lengths, and overall low-budget feel. In that context, I thought the show did a pretty decent job with pacing and keeping viewers entertained, despite some significant story/logic/execution flaws.

The premise itself was interesting, but the driving force behind the story (i.e. the villains) felt a bit two-dimensional and flat. While I genuinely like Tu Bing, I felt she was a bit miscast here as the FL, given her character is supposed to be several years younger than the ML. She is a lovely actress, but definitely felt older and more mature than Fan Zhixin (even though he generally looks older and more mature than his real-life age too). I love my "姐弟恋" (jie-di lian) stories, but this was not supposed to be one, so the chemistry felt a bit off somehow. Even so, you do feel the love the characters have for each other, especially the ML.

If you are a Fan Zhixin fan, he does not disappoint here either. He convincingly pulls off playing a broken husband in mourning as well as the rich obnoxious playboy that's still somehow charming. I only wished he had not been dubbed. Some actors sound so much better when replaced with a voice actor, particularly for certain characters (I am thinking Dylan Wang in LBFD), but Fan Zhixin has a great, expressive voice that did not need replacing. I actually thought it took away from his acting. But I get it, it's just easier and cheaper sometimes for productions to just dub everyone.

(ENDING SPOILERS HERE)

Finally a word on that ending.

It was NOT a dream, guys! I actually found it surprisingly more satisfying than I expected given this is a shorter, half-hour series, and given how hard it can be for Asian dramas to "stick the landing" so to speak. Some viewers seem to think it was "all a dream" to pass censors, but I disagree. I actually thought it was vague enough that it was an effective way to circumvent the *possibility* of censors having a problem with the time travel element without taking anything away. It was also clear enough to me that it was DEFINITELY NOT a dream. Why else would he sleep with his marriage certificate under his pillow every night? The way he panicked looking for it upon waking was not the product of a one-off nightmare. He simply still has PTSD (who wouldn't!) given he carries with him all the memories of every previous attempt he made to save her, including the one where he saw all his physical memories of her disappear in front of his eyes. He finally got his happy ending, but it was not without lingering trauma. (I would also not be surprised if this drama was originally small enough for censors to not care too much anyway -- a lot of the shorter and lower budget dramas get away with time travel, transmigration, steamier scenes, etc. that would never fly with bigger budget, higher profile dramas with bigger names.)

Leia Mais

Finally Fan Zhi Xin has a new drama

I have been a fan of his since his explosive performance in My Lethal Man.

This looks good just watching the first 4 episodes… I just hope this will NOT have a bad ending. I am a sucker for happy endings , what I hate more than sad endings are those that is without endings and leaving us with a Cliffhanger.

Thus far: ML seemed to be trying to keep ahead and keep FL alive… there are suggestions of parallel universe and somehow ML is aware of possible tragedy in another universe involving him and FL. Zhi Xin has good chemistry with the FL even if currently it mostly angsty with FL…His acing is very good especially if you watch his micro expressions.

This and My Lethal Man absolutely convinced me that Zhi Xin is an excellent actor. The script is not as tight and exciting as My Lethal man and can be a bit confusing shifting between “past” and “present “ as the interactions causes changes and where I am at Ep 12, seemed like ML died instead of FL. Though it has also scenes where FL is in a coma…

As I did expect ; it would be difficult to top My Lethal Man for a short drama ( 30 mins ) and 16 eps only. The director and script writer for that drama is excellent and so are the acting team.

What gutted me was his love confession towards the end of ep12 in French ….love it.

For a short drama, this has been a gripping story of what would you do to save your beloved. I am glad it has a happy ending…the past converges with the future and he figured how to keep his beloved from being killed. I will rewatch this. I like the reminder to live for the moment . Carpe Diem. Go ahead and watch this. I am sure most will definitely enjoy this.

Leia Mais