Reviews

Drama que envolve disputas políticas entre estados, com a presença de um romance bem construído.

Who Rules the World é um drama surpreendente. Já aviso que se busca uma história que envolve disputas políticas entre estados, este drama é para você.
O drama possui vários aspectos positivos que gostaria de enfatizar:

(1) a beleza e a riqueza dos detalhes dos figurinos, cenários e da fotografia do drama são realmente encantadores e imersivos;
(2) A história de amor e a química entre os protagonistas (Yang Yang e Zhao Lusi) foi tão bem construída. Foi lindo acompanhar a evolução dos seus sentimentos a cada episódio e como eles mantiveram um relacionamento forte e saudável mesmo diante das dificuldades. Não houveram maus entendidos e nem triângulo amoroso como estamos acostumados a ver em outros dramas;
(3) O roteiro, apesar de possuir algumas ressalvas em relação a ele, posso dizer que, de modo geral, foi bem construído, pois como é um drama que envolve a presença de muitos personagens que interagem entre si, sinto que não ficou confuso ou cansativo para mim. Além disso, a atuação dos atores foram bastante convincentes e comoventes.

O que eu mudaria na história seria principalmente os acontecimentos nos últimos episódios, pois como havia dois nichos principais no roteiro, que eram (1) o conflito familiar e político da família do príncipe Feng Lan Xi; e (2) o domínio do mundo entre os três nobres, sinto que o primeiro nicho foi mais elaborado e até mais interessante que o segundo nicho. Além disso, a luta final com o vilão principal da história foi bastante rápida e excessiva nos efeitos especiais. Houveram lutas nos episódios anteriores que foram melhores e com CGI mais bem feito do que a luta final.

Outra questão que gostaria de comentar foi que não gostei do príncipe Feng Lan Xi desistir de ser imperador, que era algo ele que sempre ansiou. Eu entendo o contexto da história e até a mudança de suas prioridades, mas acho que o final poderia ser diferente. Não faria de jeito nenhum a cena de Bai FengXi se sacrificando e o príncipe LanXi doando parte de sua vida para ela (restando apenas 10 anos) e recusando o ofício de imperador do seu estado e governador do mundo. Achei desnecessário.
Ao invés disso faria que LanXi se tornasse governador do mundo e adminstrasse as questões do reino, juntamente com Bai FengXi, sendo felizes juntos, ajudando as pessoas e mantendo a paz das civilizações, que era algo que ambos tinham em comum. Essa parte deles vivendo em um lugar isolado, aproveitando os últimos 10 anos de vida dele... Sabe, a ideia é bonita, mas não gostei disso, parece que ele abriu mão daquilo que ele acreditava e tanto lutou para conseguir, depois de enfrentar calúnias, difamações e até tentativas de assassinato. Eu sei que Bai FengXi era o único fio que ele não conseguia romper, mas adoraria que o final fosse eles governando juntos e tendo frutos do seu trabalho e constituindo uma família.

Mas enfim, apesar dessas ressalvas, amei demais esse drama. Valeu super a pena assistir e acho super recomendável.

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it's a commentary on everything really

This drama is a heavyyyyyy on commentary. I'm gonna list what stuck with me the most:

1) on social circles and friendship
2) on the status quo and consciously avoiding it
3) on trauma bonds and their lifetimes
4) on DL men.
5) on living with an illness that defines your life, controls your life and sometimes makes decisions about your life for you
6) on manipulation and toxic relationships
7) on guilt, regret and mental health
8) on what it means to have a home
9) on what queer community looks like and how important it is for survival
10) on the plight of the troubled writer

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Enemies to Lovers DONE RIGHT

This show was incredible. A true enemies to lovers, complete with a beautiful slowburn and tension all the way through. Yin and War did an INCREDIBLE job as the leads, and knowing that this was made by the company they started themselves only makes it better. I almost started rewatching this show before it even finished it was so good. Even with the longer episodes, it was able to hold my attention for every single minute, and had me excited to watch every week.

After a brief encounter, it seems that Jack (Yin) and Joke (War) hit it off. When Jack goes to the bank for a much needed loan to pay off some debt collectors, he's surprised to see that Joke is the branch manager. What he doesn't know is that Joke is lying - and actively trying to expose the bank for its corruption. Joke gives him money he stole out of the safe, but the cops are quick to catch on. Joke, feeling bad, confesses to being Joker, an infamous thief that exposes corrupt businesses, and goes to prison. However, this leaves Jack with no way to pay off the debt collectors. Flash forward 5 years and Jack has been forced to become a debt collector himself, and has sworn to get revenge on Joke if he ever sees him again. Joke spent his last 5 years in prison coming up with every way he could make Jack forgive him. Upon his release, Joke immediately searches for Jack to apologize, only to be confronted not with the sweet young Jack he once knew, but a Jack dubbed the "Grim Reaper" by the locals. Regardless, Joke attempts to get close with Jack and help him out of the debt collector hell he's been forced into, while Jack swears that if he tries to get close to him again, he'll kill him.

Jack and Joke were absolutely wonderful to watch. I love a good slowburn and this one delivered in every aspect. Starting off with a full episode on the backstory of them was brilliant, and watching them go from beating each other up to slowly realizing they shouldn't be enemies, to a clear romantic tension between them was FANTASTIC. The action scenes were some of the best I've seen in a Thai show, and you could tell how hard they worked to make the fights good. That, combined with the tension of the heists Joker pulls off makes for one of the most entertaining watches ever. It'll have you on the edge of your seat the whole time and hit you with unexpected twists at the best times. The relationship development is perfect too, with issues that aren't too drawn out and a beautiful ending for the characters. ABSOLUTELY worth watching!!!

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Entertaining & intelligent story

The opening scenes don't do this show justice. The cast of 20-something idols clearly struggle with playing 40 year old characters, & the mismatch was so jarring I was actually ready to drop the show before even finishing the 1st episode. Honestly, why couldn't the producers cast age appropriate actors to play the 40 y/o main characters? If an audience is sharp enough to keep up with the story, surely they can differentiate between actors. But luckily those scenes didn't last long & I stuck it out.

What follows is a complex & weaving tale of 2 people given 20 years of their lives back to start over from an horrifically destructive end. They retain their memories & manage to redefine their relationship with each other & reshape their destinies. While this is a simplistic overview, the journey the story takes is exciting & fascinating with enough plot twists to keep your attention. Even though you expect a triumphant outcome at least for the leads, you don't quite know what to expect for all characters involved until the very end, and a satisfying ending it is.

This is only the 2nd time I have seen Zhao Jin Mai, who has already been quite active in the business. My first time seeing her was in the very disappointing Admist a Snowstorm of Love in which she was cast in a very limited & poorly defined role that was a complete waste of her talent. In Princess Royal she takes the role of Li Rong with commanding ease. I noticed a few alumni cast from Joy of Life, all accomplished & skilled actors who enhanced this production.

All in all, Princess Royal was a very entertaining & intelligent story.

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Cute and light romance with a real manly

I watched this drama in two days basically, to take a break from the more complex plot dramas that I'm watching, the story is good, that typical cliché of rich man and poor girl with the relative against because of social status, but one thing that Dating in the Kitchen did very well and differently from others that have this same story is that the rich protagonist did not give in to his mother's wishes and separated from the female lead just because his parents were against it, He did justice to the role of an older man, because if there's one thing that makes me anxious, it's when I see parents controlling their 30-year-old son/daughter in the dramas.

The secondary couple didn't really captivate me this time to be honest, but the main couple, WHAT A COUPLE, they delivered cuteness, chemistry, I fell in love with this actor, a true manly man, attractive and acts very well, Zhao, as always, rocks in the roles she plays. I was just bothered by this male lead's brother appearing out of nowhere and being a complete asshole for the main couple, But with the exception of that, it's a light and enjoyable drama to watch when you want to see something less complicated, quick, a break from the crazy plots and stories full of twists, angst and drama of historical Cdramas haha.

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I crave for more..

A refreshing premise that goes beyond the usual bl recipe and dares to experiment with other genres, by blending comedy with action and drama. Each episode --while lengthy-- is so enjoyable that you don't find yourself getting bored or tired.

However, it suffered on the writing department. After a point the plot expanded so much it took so many directions that the focus got disturbed with some aspects of the series getting neglected; like the romance, the development of the side characters, even the main leads I feel didn't get the attention they deserved. Either the show should have had more episodes, so that all the plotlines could have gotten properly developed or the focus should have remained in a smaller scale of things and leave room for the characters to gradually grow both emotionally and mentally, because now it left me with the sense that I didn't get my closure. The show itself had set the bar so high in the first episodes, that I expected to see some things happen that I didn't get to after all..

Acting wise it was beautiful. It was my first time watching these actors and I loved their performances. Yin and War as a tv couple have that unique chemistry that gave me butterflies even when they only exchanged looks and that's something you rarely see.

Overall, the series is good and I really loved it! Definitely a fun journey for the viewer and I recommend it to anyone who isn't looking for a standard romance.

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A Gem

Passed by this series on a number of occasions because yes, I did judge it based on its cover page/summary and assumed it was another palace drama with the typical romance story between a poor woman and the prince/king. However based on another reviewer's comment on the uniqueness to their story, I took a chance and wasn't disappointed.

Although the plot does seem to follow the usual servant girl turned concubine, the evolution of their romance is not as glorified as with some other historical dramas. It progresses more realistically in terms of how helpless women were at those times, without the option of having a choice when men decided to turn their attention towards you. While some women fantasize about social climbing and reaching a certain status, many don't realize what they are sacrificing in return.

I absolutely loved the FL and ML actors here as they did a fantastic job with both their subtleties and command of the screen. There are multiple complex webs of relationships with equally complex characters which really makes the series feel full. The pacing of the story was done really well with very little plot lag. Also while fictional, it does nod towards historical facts with respect to Royal Noble Consort Ui and Jeongjo of Joseon for that extra something special.

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Great start but...

So first of all I'm the biggest fan of Yinwar and I was hyped since the concert trailer for their concert (that had a similar concept as Jack & Joker). The first couple of episodes were amazing: great cast, great acting and a new and fresh storyline. War's acting was top-notch as expected as well as Yin's. And their visual...breathtaking every single episode!
I also really like the plot of the gang with Arun, Hoy and Tattoo. On the other hand I found the couple Hope and Save kinda too much, just because they had a lot of screentime compared to other more important storystrings. I loved the scenes were the heists were happening, and I hoped that there were more! I mean 3 were a lot but still...
The turning point was the 4 horsemen, because what exactly was the plan there? Since they appeared the story got more and more confusing. I also thought it was unrealistic that everything turned worse just because Boss took one ring ?!
I see a plothole there.
The last episode was disappointing and also reaaallyyy long. The kept dragging on, to random storyplots (Boss had way too much screentime). The ending was fine I guess because it was a happy ending but it felt too rushed. And yeah of course I know it's just fiction but is it really realistic that even Boss got forgiven by Arun?
For me the actress of Toi Ting and the grandma were so amazing, I hope I see them again in another series.
The sweet moments between Jack & Joker were not enough in my opinion. I really hope tho that we will see them in another series again.

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