#Xu Kai Cheng

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: A Female Student Arrives at the Imperial College (2021)

Sangqi&yunzhi, beautiful wedding, never tired of watching #zhaolusi #xukaicheng #国子监来了个女弟子

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZQJ8pFMj29Q

[staydandy]

Ordinary Greatness (2022) - 警察荣誉 - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : Four fledgling police officers who have just joined the force initially had their own expectations about what their profession would be like. Li Da Wei, a "thorn head" who was sent to the police school by his parents because he was too rebellious; Yang Shu, a rigid and upright lawyer; Xia Jie, a girl who's following her father's footsteps; and Zhao Ji Wei, who comes from the countryside and just heads straight on. When they come under pressure, when they face the contradictions in society and the new challenges brought by self-media towards their work, they become frustrated to the point that they consider giving up. However, the influence of their veteran mentors before them help the young cops withstand the test, thereby allowing them to understand their true mission to become proper police officers. (MDL)

Whumpee : Li Da Wei played by Zhang Ruo Yun (center male) • Zhao Ji Wei played by Cao Lu (far left) • Yang Shu played by Xu Kai Cheng (right, reading at desk)

Country : 🇨🇳 China Genres : Action, Mystery, Youth, Drama, Friendship, Crime

Notes : This is a Full Whump List • Idk why I expect so much out of 'cop shows' .. but this didn't have as much whump as I expected .. more of a 'coming of age' type. • TW : Suicide

Episodes on List : 5 Total Episodes : 38

*Spoilers below*

04 : Li Da Wei's hand is cut

12 : Nightmare

14 : Zhao Ji Wei's arm is scratched

19 : Da Wei, Yang Shu, & Ji Wei are scratched & bruised from a fight

21 : Yang Shu puking (very funny episode, Yang Shu & Da Wei go undercover as hosts 😂)

[bemybaebaebae]

Xu Kaicheng

[dreamingsushi]

Dance of the Phœnix - Overall review

Now that I finally completed the series Dance of the phœnix, here’s my general review. For those who don’t know about this drama, it is the story of Feng Wu, a prodigious cultivator that lost all of her memories when someone stole her phœnix blood, which made her special. As she tries to regain her spiritual powers to awaken her sleeping master so she can return where she comes from, she makes friends, allies, but also many ennemies.

Plot

I would say the story is overall promising at the beginning, but as we progress through the series, things start to go astray. Character development isn’t a strength, they are all mostly the same at the beginning of the drama and at the end, except for Yu Mingye and Zuo Qingluan, who are in my opinion the two solid strengths of this story. Without them, it would have rather boring. 

My biggest issue with Dance of the phœnix is the many plot holes. Some characters disappear sometimes without any explanation and then they come back without any details as to why they left in the first place. Maybe it has something to do with the actors being unavailable? But the writers could have done a better job than that to hide it. Also, when we read the official summaries everywhere, it says that Feng Wu’s name is Meng Yuan and that she’s a medical student. BUT NEVER EVER IN THE DRAMA IS THAT MENTIONNED! There are clues here and there about the fact that she would be from our world (blowing candles for a birthday, eating ramen but has the quick ones in a box, references to Liu Bei, etc). Mu Jiuzhou, her master, mentions that she’s from another world, but we never get to learn how she came and where is she from. It really bothered me. Also there were a few stories that were a little useless. Especially the one about the wolf lady. It was cute. Then it became extremely sad and I’m still very very mad about what happened. The whole motives behind the bad guys was very weak in my opinion. Overall, it had potential, but it was wasted.

Overall, plot wise this does not deserve more than a 6/10.

Acting

There was good acting and bad acting. It wasn’t so consistent for Yang Chaoyue. I’ve seen comments saying that she seemed emotionless, but that is not what bothered me so much. I feel sometimes she was going way over the top in her acting and it wasn’t matching the character. But at some point, her character wasn’t consistent in the script to begin with, so it must have been hard to keep up. Jun Linyuan did an okay job, like it didn’t strike me as exceptional, but it wasn’t bad. It’s hard to judge when they play an emotionless character. But there were definitely some nice scenes from him, especially after he got a little more comfortable around Feng Wu as Jun Linyuan and he started teasing her.

The two actors that really impressed me were Jinna Fu and Wang Haoxuan. Jinna Fu had to portray the so ever complicated Zuo Qingluan and she did very well. I could believe in every mood swings she had. She made me hate her character, to the point I couldn’t see any redemption for her. And at the same time, I loved Zuo Qingluan just for that. She was alive, albeit motivated by the wrong reasons. I can’t say I’ve ever seen her out of character, even when it seemed a little inconsistent to me (I blame more of the writing than anything else). And finally, Wang Haoxuan. Can we talk about how Yu Mingye was perfect at all times? It was such a complex character, thorn between the expectations of his father, but his gentle nature. He could be cheeky and arrogant without me falling out of it. He made me laugh and cry. I think it was the most relatable character and Wang Haoxuan did an excellent job at showing all the different sides of this tormented child.

For me, the acting in general deserves a 8/10, but that’s because Jinna Fu and Wang Haoxuan did a wonderful job, the average was around maybe 7/10 for me.

Visuals

Here, this is what drew me first to this drama. I really liked the soft look of scenes. The costumes were simple, yet elegant. I enjoyed the colours being consistent for each sect of cultivation. The hairstyles were really a joy to look at, especially for the disciples of the Biluo Palace. I was very impressed. For sure, I’ve seen much more intricate costumes watching historical/xianxia drama, but here it was just enough. The colouring of the scenes were always appeasing. The one thing I didn’t really like is that they made the empress go darker and darker to show that she was the villainess while I think it would have made more sense if she became brighter and brighter. But that’s just my opinion.

The CGI really wasn’t so bad to be honest. Some creatures weren’t that great, but the little bird was great. I just wish they didn’t give it a robotic voice, but oh well. Also they didn’t go overboard with the spells, it wasn’t all over the place and they kept it minimal in special effects, which I like better. Cool special effects are nice, but once it starts becoming overwhelming, I lose all interest.

This drama gets a 9/10, because nothing’s perfect, but they did very well in that aspect.

Soundtrack

I think the soundtrack was one of the strengths of this drama. I really liked both the opening and the ending songs, though I didn’t listen to them every time I watched an episode. I also feel that in general, the music was appropriate to what was happening and really set up the mood of the story.

Here again, it’s 9/10, even though I don’t have as much to say.

Should you watch this drama? I would say no. It has lots of good things and I was pretty excited since it was from the same director as the Untamed, but however it didn’t live up to my expectations. It’s a sweet love story, but unfortunately, I don’t think it’s worth the 30 episodes. Everything was resolved in a very unsatisfying way, a lot of questions were left unanswered and to me the writers didn’t do a very good job to make everything coherent. This drama gets a 7/10, and I’m generous because when I first started watching, I really liked it.

List of full recaps

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30

[mostlyfate]

Best Choice Ever 承欢记 · 2024

[wolha]

FALLING INTO YOUR SMILE 你微笑时很美 (2021) dir. Qiu Zhong Wei

[dailyasiandramas]

dailyasiandramas’ sunday throwback ★ [WEEK 11]

FALLING INTO YOUR SMILE 你微笑时很美 [2021] Dir. Qiu Zhong Wei

[nat-de-lioncourt]

Lu Sicheng & Tong Yao

Kisses

FALLING INTO YOUR SMILE 你微笑时很美 (2021)

[haveyouseenthisseries-poll]

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Love Is An Accident (2023)

Gifs of Intro of cdrama “Love Is An Accident”

【FULL】 Love Is An Accident EP01：Li Chuyue crosses to Shangyu Kingdom | 花溪记 | iQIYI

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQjqDRFZioE

[roselestial]

[night-rider-lily]

Falling into your smile is the best comfort drama to watch!

Xu Kai is just so charming! Also it is so nice to see a real esports team Fnatic (FNC) collabing a little bit in this drama!

[dreamingsushi]

Dance of the Phœnix - Episode 17

It has been a while since I started this drama, back when I was still subbing dramas and somehow I stopped watching even though I really enjoyed this show back then. I was still curious about this series and the ending, and doing some cleaning of this blog made me think about it again. I totally forgot everything about the story or almost, so I just finished binge watching the first 16 episodes. Now, I see a lot of inconsistencies in the story, it is definitely not as great as remember, however I am still very much in love with the soundtrack and the costumes. One might argue that they aren't very accurate, but I love the simplicity and the details: scarce but pretty enough to stand out discreetly. Totally my style.

Anyways, as a quick reminder, Feng Wu was a very talented cultivator until her phœnix blood was stolen by another fellow swordswoman, Zuo Qingluan. Since then she lost her past memories and attempts to gain back her energy to start cultivating again. As such, she meets her childhood sweetheart Jun Linyuan, with whom she falls in love really quickly, and his opponent of always Yu Mingye. As she recovers her spiritual energy, she embarks on a quest to revive her sleeping master, the notorious Mu Jiuzhou. This tasks brings her to become a student at the Junwu Academy. That's the storyline so far. I don't remember all the terms for translation, so it might differ than in previous posts, so for that, I apologize. I also noted, reading back, that some of my recaps are inaccurate at moment, hence the following disclaimer: I write my recaps as I watch the shows, so sometimes I miss part of the action or might have misinterpreted some events because I was focused on a previous part. I hope they are helpful to anyone watching, but please refer to your own understanding as required. Thank you and let's now embark on this journey, because I have lots of questions and I need answers.

Jun Linyuan, Feng Wu, Zhao Ge, Xuan Yi and Feng Xun all get into the Junwu Academy together and this is day one as a student. There is a commotion right at the entrance, which is Feng Wu asking Mu Yao to call her Daddy since she passed the examination for the Academy. See that's one of the things that doesn't really make sense. Feng Wu knows a lot of stuff about modern day that she shouldn't know in the context of this drama and so far there are NO explanations. It has been said that she is not the real Feng Wu, but that doesn't say a lot. Zuo Qingluan tries to talk Mu Yao out of this, but Feng Wu won't stand back. Jun Linyuan and Yu Mingye both take Feng Wu's side, so Mu Yao doesn't have a choice to. Nobody understands what Daddy means. It sounds weird in English, but makes sense in Chinese. It's like... Daddy never existed, but only Father.

First class, Feng Wu sleeps through it. She thinks Jun Linyuan takes her away to review everything she slept through. However he wanted to give her the Jade vase as he promised her. She runs away to bring it to the Colorful bird. It breaks it and they obtain the first broken piece to awaken Mu Jiuzhou.

Feng Xun and Xuan Yi are having lunch together. Zhao Ge brings some baozi she made herself for Xuan Yi. Pressed a little by Feng Xun, he takes one, but before he can take one bite, Feng Xun grabs the second one and eats it thinking Feng Wu cooked it. However, after one bite, he spits it out right away, because it is too salty. Zhao Ge says she made it herself and that she will take it away if it's bad. She runs before Xuan Yi can grab a bite and he scolds Feng Xun. Feng Wu finds Zhao Ge feeeling down and she grabs the baozi. She says that it was for Xuan Yi and Feng Wu says he's bad for not wanting it. Zhao Ge compares him with Jun Linyuan who also isn't really good at showing his feelings. Talking about him, he just comes to bring her lunch and Zhao Ge leaves the two of them alone. Feng Wu promises to study seriously so she can fight alongside with Jun Linyuan.

Mu Yao is still very upset about what happened. She still roots for Zuo Qingluan as Jun Linyuan's partner.

The Master of the dark court realized that someone is trying to revive Mu Jiuzhou. This is going against his plans. Yu Mingye is tasked with enquiring about it. For now the only one they can think of might be Wu Youdao, since his style is quite similar to Mu Jiuzhou.

Feng Wu gets scolded in class for sleeping and someone framed her for taking the teacher's ruler, I'm too lazy to check my dictionary, but whatever kind of stick that was. It seems it was the ladies from Biluo Palace. She breaks Mu Yao's desk and is kicked out of class. She is not allowed to come back again until she melts a block of ice and makes tea out of it.

Meanwhile, Yu Mingye is going about with his mission, spying on Wu Youdao. As a special entry student from the Dark Night court, he can attend classes as he wishes. However he is quickly noticed by the old man. He advises him, without uncovering him, not to meddle in his business. Then he bumps into Zuo Qingluan. He tells her to mind her own business. She warns him that if she can't stop him, Jun Linyuan will. And she tells him that if he does anything to harm any of her disciple sisters, she won't leave him alone. Yu Mingye upsets her. She then threatens him saying that Feng Wu is his weakness and he leaves asking if she doesn't have any.

Zhao Ge made some cakes with Feng Wu for Xuan Yi. Feng Xun this time won't eat. It isn't really tasty, but he manages not to let know Zhao Ge and hurries back to class so he won't have to eat anymore. This time around, Feng Xun helped a bit, instead of hurting the lady's feeling.

Jun Linyuan is called back home. The empress/queen asks about his betrothal and he says he already has his plans for that. She pretends to be sad that he thinks her not competent enough to make a selection for him. His dad says she should take care of it since everything she did up till now was done properly. Jun Linyuan begs on his knees not to which angers the emperor/king. His son should do as his parents tell him too. The empress pretends to side with Jun Linyuan. He is punished for being rebellious. He is sent to a place filled with lightning to kneel for a long time.

As I end watching this episode, I realize I might have already watched it and wrote the recap in my notebook back then. At first I thought everything was so familiar because I was subbing this project, but Youtube tells me I already watched both episode 18 and 19. Crazy thing. Anyways, I probably now have a better insight of the story, even though I should probably watch with English subtitles since I haven't been practicing my Chinese much the past few years. I am a little proud though to rely on translations. None of my questions were answered, but that has to be it for today, because I'm tired and I still have so much to do left before tonight. See you next time!

[mostlyfate]

Best Choice Ever 承欢记 · 2024 — I’ve tasted the effort put into it. I spent 128 yuan. That’s a lot of money. You must eat it up. Didn’t you just get a performance bonus? It’s not much. I got demoted, and my salary was cut.

[wolha]

FALLING INTO YOUR SMILE 你微笑时很美 (2021) dir. Qiu Zhong Wei

[stephreviews]

Falling into Your Smile (2021)

Tong Yao (Cheng Xiao of WJSN) is a gamer girl that gets recruited to the pro gamer team ZGDX as a mid-laner and is the first woman pro gamer in the Chinese league. Lu Sicheng (Xu Kai) is the ruthless captain of ZGDX. Tong Yao must deal with the struggles of facing up against her ex, Jian Yang (Zhai Xiao Wen), also a pro gamer for team YQCB, being the first woman in the industry, adjusting to her new job, AND the chemistry she feels with Lu Sicheng! Will she every catch a break?

Both subtle and blatant calls against sexism in gaming: 10/10 we love to see a show about pro gaming address something women in male-dominated fields deal with all the time

Badass battle sequences during matches: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ngl, when I watched "Go Go, Squid", I skipped a lot of the competitions, but this show makes the competitions so much fun!

ML that is an absolute simp: 10/10

FL acting: 7/10 her line delivery is good, but her face is almost always the same? Idk. I think this was Cheng Xiao's first drama, and the two of them still had bomb chemistry, so I gave her some grace

This drama is a lot of fun. Anyone who likes sports dramas or gamer dramas would enjoy this drama. Despite some of Cheng Xiao's lines falling flat, it's still a good rom-com overall.