Ninja’s Drama Roundup #70

Jiu Liu Overlord (Chinese Drama, Viki)

The unlikely romance between our hero- an elite silk merchant who deals with the finest clothing for the nobles and our heroine, the gang leader who is constantly having territory fights with another rival gang to control various business interests concerning the commoners. Despite the fact that their worlds are as different as night and day, the theft of a precious gold thread soon forced our two leads to work together.

Judging by the show’s synopsis, our hero will eventually be forced by some circumstances to reclaim his place as a prince. Our heroine will also end up in the Capital to fight for the rights of the common people. Joining their forces again, our two leads will work to become a bridge of understanding between the nobles and the commoners. 

I am liking this one quite a bit. The chemistry between the two leads is playful and cute.  I am especially impressed with the show’s ability to showcase the two leads’ very different worlds in a fun non-preachy manner so I don’t feel like I am watching an infomercial on how to achieve world peace.  

Kairos (Korean Drama, Viki)

In the blink of an eye, the kidnapping of our hero’s young daughter turned our hero’s once enviable life into a nightmare that seems to have no end. Accidentally discovering what he had assumed was a prank call was actually a communication link to our heroine who lives a month in the past of his own timeline, our hero finally sees a way to possibly end his nightmare. Desperate to save her own mother who has also disappeared, our heroine teams up with our hero to change their past/future. 

Wow, this one is really intense and the production quality is awesome. I generally prefer to watch something on the lighter end nowadays but Kaiors sure had me sitting at the edge of my seat. 

Begin Again (Chinese Drama, Youtube Eng sub)

A typical romance drama of a contract marriage that was necessitated by an arrogant CEO who has to bow to family pressure. BUT, there is one fun twist. The arrogant CEO is actually our heroine who has set her sight on our hero, a kind hearted and of course very handsome doctor. The story is obviously fairly predictable but I am really liking the role switcheroo. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the mood for a light romance. 

Something Just Like This (Chinese Drama, iQIY app or Youtube)

Her father nowhere to be found after her mother’s death, our heroine was fortunate enough to be taken in by a very rich neighbor. Despite complaining all these years about being “forgotten” once his parents took in our heroine, our hero is a wonderful big brother who likes to spoil our heroine as much as he loves to bicker with her. Keeping a firm grasp on her root as a girl from a common and poor background, our heroine lives a very modest life while working hard as an online live streamer. Through a series of unforeseen circumstances, our hero who is still trying to figure out what to do with his life suddenly finds himself taking over our heroine’s company. Determined to blaze a path of their own choosing no matter how others would laugh at their inexperience, our two leads team up to take on the exciting yet challenging world of e-commerce. 

I was quite intrigued by the pairing of Johnny Huang (Love Designer) and Wu Jin Yan (Yanxi Palace). Not that I didn’t think they would go well together but I just couldn’t quite imagine it in my head. I am happy to report now that I have seen them together onscreen, I am really liking their chemistry. I was initially a bit disappointed with the story since it had a similar vibe to Love Designer but as the story gets going, I was eventually able to separate the two. 

The Chinese name of the show is “Record of Youth Creating World” which gives you a clue that the story is more focused on our two leads’ success and hardship in their career instead of their love life. If you watch the show with that in mind, then you won’t be too disappointed in the first three episodes when it really looks like our two leads are just very chummy siblings. Now, if you are the type like me who really prefers to have some romance, then don’t despair yet because the romance IS there and I have a feeling it will be awesome as our two leads are forced to admit that their feelings for each other go much deeper than “sibling” love. The e-commerce part of the story (give it three episodes to build up the excitement) is actually surprisingly interesting so all in all, I am feeling good about this one.

You Are So Sweet (Chinese Drama, Youtube Eng Sub)

Passionate about becoming a voice actress, our heroine is ready to do anything to achieve her dream including working as a secretary for her very picky boss. Unbeknownst to our heroine, her boss has another secret identity– that of her idol, the best voice dubbing master in the industry. Speechless as his little secretary waxes poetic about how awesome her idol is, our hero wonders why he seems to be annoyed by the interest his business partner is showering on his secretary. 

Fairly standard fare as far as C-light romance goes but hey, that’s why we like these.

The Devil Punisher (Taiwanese Drama, Netflix)

Losing memory of her past as a deity who works in hell, our heroine assumes she is just an ordinary girl that happens to somehow lost her memory and somehow has the ability to see ghosts. Meeting a mysterious stranger who seems to hold some clues to her past, our heroine doesn’t realize our hero is none other than the Ghost King. 

Can I just say it is totally unfair that there are male actors who just get better looking as they age?! It’s been a couple of years since I have seen Taiwanese actor Mike He in a drama so I was completely unprepared for how awesome he looked. Anyhow, gushing over Mike He aside, once you get over the very cheesy first 15 minutes of the first episode, The Devil Punisher was a very good watch. I did cry my eyes out in the second episode and I have a sinking feeling I might be doing that a lot as our two leads help more ghosts. 

This show is based on the Chinese religious legend Zhong Kui so the story would make a lot more sense if you go in with at least some background. According to the legend, Zhong Kui’s appearance was so ugly that despite passing the imperial exam with the best score, the emperor rejected him. Unable to live with the injustice, Zhong Kui kills himself right in front of the palace gate. Seeing Zhong Kui’s potential, the King of Hell makes Zhong Kui the king of ghosts and gives him the responsibility to keep all the evil spirits in check. (The show obviously decides to ignore the ugly part of the legend.) 

As for our heroine. Her character Meng Po is actually quite famous in Chinese religious legend as well. According to Chinese legend, when a person dies, their spirit would have to line up to cross the Bridge of Forgetfulness (or Nai He Bridge). Meng Po is the goddess who serves up a cup of soup to all who comes to her so the dead spirits would be able to enter into their next life without the memory/burden of their previous life. (The show seems to have changed Meng Po from a particular goddess to more of a job title.)

The Centimeter of Love (Chinese Drama, Youtube Eng Sub)

Despite being at the top of their respective careers (our heroine is an airline pilot, our hero is a heart surgeon), our two leads are hopeless when it comes to dealing with their own families. At first assuming their two worlds are as different as night and day, our two leads, through multiple unexpected encounters, slowly realizes the solace they are desperately searching for might just be in each other. 

I went into this one with a low expectation but was pleasantly surprised to find it an easy watch. The two leads’ parents (especially the heroine’s younger brother and father) are extremely infuriating to watch but that’s nothing a fast forward button can’t fix. After watching so many college romances, it was nice to watch a more mature pairing for a change. The romance progress at a pretty slow pace, mostly because our hero truly had no intention of ever getting married thanks to his rather controlling mother but I find myself enjoying the slow and sure relationship development between the two leads so I am fine with the pacing.

To Love (Chinese Drama, Viki)

This one is a criminal suspense drama that is shot backward as two detectives interview our handcuffed hero and our still somewhat confused coffee shop owner heroine. I actually don’t usually like this style of storytelling but this one was an exception and drew me in right away. The production quality of To Love is superb and makes one feel like you are watching a movie.

Actor Kenny Lin first caught my attention in Princess Agent (2017) and while I thought he was a great fit for the role I actually didn’t realize how good looking he is until I saw him in modern clothes here (not to say he didn’t look good in Princess Agent…I guess I just like his modern look better.). In this drama, actor Kenny Lin plays a successful businessman who used to be an anti-narcotics detective and ends up deciding to infiltrate an organization as an undercover agent. Our heroine is a kind-hearted coffee shop owner whose life ends up being turned upside down when she decides to help a struggling young man whose mysterious involvement with the dark side brings our hero right to her door. 

The show does a great job balancing the crime suspense along with the delicious romance between our two leads. I am hesitating a bit about putting this one on my watch list because I am worried about the ending. The novel the show is based on didn’t end the way I would’ve liked but there are rumors that the TV show will change the ending so I will most likely come back and watch it after it wraps up. Do check this one out though if you are not as ocd as me about endings.

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com