I liked Song Yi Ren's other college campus romance series this year more

I'm kind of in the minority here, but I didn't much care for this series and thought that Aaron Deng was stiff as a board with his acting. I also had a bit of issue with how brusque and rough Qin Shen acted towards Yuan Qian all the time. And that whole jealous boyfriend act was probably intended to be cute and comedic, but it actually made me annoyed and uncomfortable. Instead of seeming like a protective boyfriend, Qin Shen came off a bit controlling--it bothered me that Yuan Qian and her roommate friends seemed okay with it just because Qin Shen is good looking, and because Yuan Qian likes him. I feel like it gives out a bad message that it's okay to let your boyfriend push and pull you around, and be forceful with you, as well as dictate who you're allowed to be friends with, when in reality, it's a big red flag.

On the flip side, I also got annoyed with Yuan Qian's overreaction to wanting to keep her relationship with Qin Shen a secret when they first started dating. It was highly unnecessary, and unfair to Qin Shen.

I DO give props to the guy who portrayed Song Si Yi--he was really natural and likable. There were moments when the character got annoying, but it was hard to completely hate him. I'm also extremely happy that he pretty much backed off of Yuan Qian peacefully when he finds out that she and Qin Shen are a couple.

Overall, this romance was awkward and all sorts of uncomfortable for me. I kind of liked them more in their pre-dating phase when they were first realizing they liked each other. Those moments were super cute.

I watched this series because of Song Yi Ren, whom I started loving ever since I saw her performance in 'Ever Night.' And if I want to be honest, while her character was overly childish in 'The Best of You in My Mind,' I felt like that series had an overall better tone, better acting, and better love story. Gala Zhang is definitely a much better actor than Aaron Deng.

This was a rather predictable, feel good, college campus love story that had it's cute and sweet moments. For starters, I absolutely loved both Yuan Qian and Qin Shen's roommates. They made this series a lot more fun. And while I didn't care for the main romance nor the main couple, I still felt like Song Yi Ren held her own pretty well.

On a final note, I DO wish we could have delved a bit deeper into Qin Shen's past with Ling Wei and Jia Si Chen so we could understand why Qin Shen was always so cold to Ling Wei. There were hints that she had done some unforgivable stuff, but aside from being persistent in her crush and pursuit of him, I didn't quite understand the backstory. There was a short bit where it sounded like Ling Wei used Qin Shen's friends to obtain what she wanted? I'm not sure. I would have also liked to see more about the story behind the parents and maybe some resolution about their objections to Yuan Qian and Qin Shen's chosen college paths.

Leia Mais

I came here for Xiao Zhan

I'm not going to sugar coat this. I'm one of those fans who just came off of the high of finishing watching 'The Untamed' and decided to search out another Xiao Zhan series, so this review is obviously going to be of little value to a lot of people. I apologize, because I know that the rest of the cast is doing their best, but they are not Xiao Zhan or Zhao Lusi, and I CAN be that shallow.

Upfront, I'm going to admit that I finally decided to watch this series because of Zhao Lusi and Xiao Zhan (and I need these two in a series together as the main CP, preferably another historical or similar). Previously, I'd seen some video clips of this series and was slightly interested because of Zhao Lusi--I became of fan of hers before I became a fan of Xiao Zhan, by the way. But a lot of those video clips seemed kind of strangely cringe-worthy, and the story line felt a bit unappealing.

Then I watched 'The Untamed' and fell for Xiao Zhan... and that made my decision.

Back to this series, I only have a few minor things to say:

1) After finishing this first season of 'Oh! My Emperor', I now realized again why I'd decided not to pick it up in the first place. A lot of the acting was stiff, editing was bad towards the end of this season, and some of the sound effects were a bit slapdash.

2) So really, it's all because of Xiao Zhan that I even bothered--yes, I can be that biased.

3) Again, the acting was rather stiff and the only person I liked in the entire series so far is Zhao Lusi's Luo Feifei--she was fun, spunky, and all sorts of cute and cool.

4) I don't think I understood at all why Luo Feifei fell for the emperor instead of the royal uncle. Beitang Yi was a jackass throughout the entire series. Beitang Moran was the typical good man who treated our female lead really well and any sane woman would fall for. Even the little brother, Beitang Tang would have been a better pick. I really feel like this trend of the female lead falling for the jackass main male lead needs revisiting--just stop doing this, please.

5) So even though everyone's acting except for Zhao Lusi seemed rather stiff, I still wished that Feifei would have fallen for the royal uncle instead. Yes, even Xiao Zhan's acting was pretty stiff, but you can see that he's got potential.

6) I will give props to positive female relationships--Feifei and Yanran were great together as friends and broke all the tropes in typical idol romances. I loved that even though the two of them were set up to be love rivals, they still remained friends. Yanran's talk about how Feifei is her friend and would never betray her trust was wonderful.

7) The story actually started off pretty interesting and I was intrigued most of the way, so I can't say that I disliked the series completely. I was hooked and was interested in the big mystery behind the Ophiuchus people. The editing and some of the execution of scenes was just kind of choppy and stiff.

8) I will definitely finish watching the rest of this in season 2... even though we all know that Xiao Zhan doesn't end up getting the girl, which is a bit of a bummer for me, but oh well. Maybe in another life he'll get to partner with Zhao Lusi again.

Leia Mais

Dragged out

I stand by my opinion after finishing the first season of this series: If this show did not have Zhao Lusi or Xiao Zhan, I probably would have dropped it a long time ago. The first season I might have made it through with the story that actually got intriguing, but the second season was just a mess. Truth is, they could have just extended the first season a few more episodes and told the rest of the story in less time rather than dragging the series out for another 21 episodes.

Fortunately, the episodes are short. I liked Fei Fei's character less in this last half of the series. Bei Tang Moran wasn't really present. Bei Tang Yi was still as boring as ever. The rest of the cast seemed like extras. The ending was rushed, and the music and audio and editing at times still felt slap dash.

Still, this was a nice series to pass the time, and one of the biggest ups about it is the positive female relationship between Fei Fei and Yanran--I loved these two together so much!

Overall, not a terrible series, but not a great one either. This series doesn't set out to be serious or meaningful, just entertaining and nonsensical, which is great for some laughs. I'd say enjoy the first season of 'Oh! My Emperor', but don't expect much from the second season.

And now my biased self will sit back and hope that the C-ent gods will grant my wish and put Lusi and Xiao Zhan in another series together as the main couple. I will forever be grateful.

Leia Mais

I'm a big fan of detective, mystery, crime thrillers -- with a big emphasis on the "whodunnit" mystery element. Which is why overall, story-wise, the series doesn't score as high as many would thing. I liked the cases and thought they were well-thought out and flowed pretty well. But they were also predictable (either that or I'm just really good at picking the murder mystery antagonist out from the crowd). This wasn't to say that I didn't enjoy it though.

The acting and cast were excellent, with the likes of Song Il Gook (whom I've never seen before despite him being a big name), and Song Ji Hyo (who was one of the reasons I noticed this series in the first place). Although I would have liked for her role to have been a bit meatier, I fairly enjoyed the relationship dynamics and Song Ji Hyo's portrayal of the eccentric news journalist.

I base my love of a series on rewatch value a lot of times, but for a murder mystery series, the rewatch value is a bit separate from the overall love for the series, mostly because it's a mystery. Once you know the "whodunnits" (even if you could hand pick them the first time around) the overall effect is lost. The only enjoyment you would get from rewatching would be the character dynamics and any side-plots, or seeing if you could spot anything in the mystery that you hadn't spotted before.

Therefore, rewatch value: lower than is fair based on story and casting; but overall value: high enough to appease.

I don't have high hopes for a sequel to this series (it just doesn't feel like it would garner enough attention or fascination for a sequel). However, if in the least likely scenario there will be a sequel, I would welcome it and hope to see a more deeper involvement with the characters, and maybe more compelling mysteries that I can't immediately predict the ending to.

Leia Mais

Super Cute and Enjoyable, Light and Fluffy

I liked all of it except for the ending. The addition of the political scheming in the end felt a little out of place, even if I didn't find it surprising that it was included. Obviously this series is set up for a second season considering how the last episode concludes in an open-ended way. And there's no closure on the female lead's time travel, body swap story arc-- Does she remain Yuan Wan'er, or does she eventually return to her own time? And how did the strange time travel, body swap thing happen in the first place?

All of this, I'm sure will likely be addressed if a second season is being planned.

Finally, I'm glad I decided to wait for all of this series to be completed before watching it. Most of the episodes are highly forgettable, and the series probably would not have held my attention for long if I had to wait a week for the next few 8 to 10 minute episodes to air. It lets you run through all of it at once without having to really think about it.

Overall, this was a highly cute series to pass the time with, if you're looking for something fun and light. Definitely don't look too deep into any of the plot, as most of the series was obviously just for laughs and fun.

Leia Mais