Heroes [2006 - 2010]

I remember watching the first season when it was first airing on TV. I don't know how old I was but I'm sure I was still in grade school. And then I remember giving up on it when Isaac Mendez died. He was my favorite character. Still is. Though now I also really like Sylar (Gabriel). And the funniest one is Hiro Nakamura. He's good too. 

Now, here's the official blurb. I'm done coming up with summaries for stuff that already has them. 

People all over the U.S start to realize they have special abilities, like telekinesis, healing abilities, flying powers, time travel, invisibility, and the ability to absorb others' abilities. One man, known as Sylar, wants to gain all the power of these "heroes" so he can be the most powerful and evolved human of all, and stops at nothing to gruesomely kill these people. In order to protect themselves from him, these people must help one another before Sylar can destroy them all, while they each deal with problems of their own.

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Word of Honor [2021]

 The Untamed was first, Word of Honor second. Loved it. The basic idea is completely different and yet, I could draw you several parallels. One thing is for certain. While I could name practically all of the characters in The Untamed, I can only name some from the Word of Honor. 

Anyway, Word of Honor. There are two main characters. Zhou Zishu and Wen KeXing (Zhen Yan). And yes, he was born with the name in the brackets but isn't really using it. And well, the plot is a little convoluted, but the main point is this mysterious armory. And almost everyone is trying to get the parts necessary to open it. Only, they also need a key and the key was given by KeXing to Zishu so yeah, nobody knows that. 

Also, KeXing is formerly Zishu's shidi but hey, that's not even... 

Oh, who am I kidding, just go watch it! There are just too many subplots for me to give you a proper concise summary. But, you've probably guessed by now that yes, this is BL. Or whatever passes as BL in China. 

Also, if you get mad after finishing episode 36, don't despair, there's a bonus episode, episode 37. It only has some 11 mins or something like that, but it's important, trust me. You need to watch it as well. 

Though, if you haven't watched a Chinese Wuxia drama yet, I would suggest you start with something that doesn't have as many subplots as this. Or as many names and characters you need to keep track of. Still, it's good and it was over way too soon. Thank god for fanfiction! I honestly don't know what I would do without fanfiction. Especially for this and The Untamed. I need it. I need my daily fanfic fix. :D Yeah, I'm a fanfic addict.

Anywho, go try it and then come back and share your thoughts in the comments, okay? I'll be waiting!

~AnnElfwind

Written on the 11th of August, 2021

Color Rush [2021]

 Yup, looks like I took a break from Chinese dramas and swapped them for Korean. And Color Rush was a pleasant surprise for me. Before it, I gave a try to You make me dance and well, the story itself was good, but it was also kinda cringe-worthy so I went into Color Rush hoping to find it less so. And I have to say that it definitely didn't disappoint. There were almost no cringe-worthy scenes in this. Like, maybe one or two, which is tolerable. 

The premise is that some people are Mono, meaning they can only see things in gray-scale. The MC of this movie is so. And people who are Mono can only see color when they meet and are with their Probe. A person that basically enables them to see outside the monochrome scale. Only, lots of Monos are kidnapping their Probes and, well, our MC is afraid of doing the same to his Probe. And the whole thing is basically them dealing with that and also falling in love with each other. And yeah, they are both boys. And this is BL. And Korea really did a good job on this one. And they even kiss. Not like the censored stuff China makes. I mean, I love wuxia, but damn, I need some real fluff! Not glorified bromance. And Color Rush delivered. There were lots and lots of fluffy moments and I loved them. 

If you're into BL and haven't seen this one yet, I would suggest you get to it. It's really great, but make sure you have enough time, the whole thing is about two hours long. Which is why I only watched it today instead of yesterday. I wanted to, but I needed to go to bed as I was getting up early for work. And now I need to find some more stuff to watch.

If you saw the movie, tell me what you think, if you haven't, will you consider it? Do you like BL? Would you want China to make proper BL? Instead of the censored stuff like the Untamed (Though I loved it anyway)? 

Share your thoughts in the comments! 

~AnnElfwind

Written on the 11th of August, 2021

Handsome Siblings [2020]

 I have recently finished another Chinese Drama. This time it's titled Handsome Siblings. It tells the story of two brothers (Jiang XianYu and Hua WuQue) that were separated at birth and told that they are each other's enemies. Only, they meet each other and realize that they have way too much in common and that they enjoy each other's company. And obviously, when one of them realizes that the other is the one he was told he has to kill, he only does it because it was an order from his aunts. He doesn't really want to do it, but still, he tries. And fails again and again. Until they finally agree to have the fated duel in three months flat. And enjoy the time they have together until then. 

Imawa no Kuni no Alice [2020]

 

Arisu is a carefree NEET. He has two friends and one day, they end up in some kind of a weird world. It's still Tokyo, but it's empty. Barely anyone there and at first, it seems like they are the only ones there. Until they find the Games. 

Alice in Borderland (the English title) is based on a manga series. It was adapted before, as an anime, but it was short and cut off pretty abruptly, this seems to be a more cohesive adaptation and it also seems like season 2 is a possibility, considering how season 1 ended. I'll try not to spoil too much, but let's just say, that this is not a completely spoiler-free review. 

So Arisu and his friends find themselves in the so-called Borderlands. In Borderlands, you either play games to extend your visa, or you die by laser when your visa expires. You can also die playing those games, but Arisu is really smart. Unfortunately, he and his friends end up in a game that can only have one survivor. At first, they try to come up with a different solution, but in the end, his friends realize that they want Arisu to live so when he fulfills the surviving conditions, they hide and wait for the timer to end. 

Ancient Detective [2020]

 

Okay. Let me first say one thing. 

I CALLED IT. I FUCKING CALLED IT!

Thanks. Now, that statement won't tell you anything. At least not if you didn't see the drama. And even then, it might not tell you anything. But I just had to say it. 

As for the drama. I'm hoping for season 2. No idea if we'll get one or not, but I'm hoping. The drama itself, it's pretty good. The main character is called Jian Bu Zhi. He can't remember a certain part of his life and is trying to figure out what happened in Shenij Valley. Mainly because he's trying to uncover his father's killer. 

There was a fight in Shenji Valley and it has four survivors. Jian is trying to learn what they know. But they seem to keep dying before he can interrogate them. And along the way, he solves mysteries. Because he's a detective damn it! 

And he also meets some friends and a love interest that I could have done without. Frankly, the pairings are the one big issue I have with this show. 

So, his best friend and brother - Zhao Wo Huan, love interest Zhan Shi Qi and the love interest of Zhao - Ming Yue. Then we get Ye Xiao Xiao who is a doctor. And that is another big part of the drama. A race for Jian to find out what happened in Shenji Valley with enough time to get treated so that he doesn't die. Because, he was poisoned in the first episode or so, and then a technique called the cold palm or something similar was used to stop the poison from spreading. But it's all slowly killing him. And the only person who knows how to reverse it lives in Heiwu Ridge. But Jian is stubborn and wants to first find out what happened to his father, how he died.