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| Rookie Agent Rouge Image: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/rookie-agent-rouge |
When I want entertainment, I look for lighthearted, escapist entertainment. I don’t need drama in my life. Adventure, mystery, intrigue, humor, and romance, when handled deftly, are always welcome, at least in books and shows. I value, clever, witty writing, plotting, and good acting. I dislike gaping plot holes, trite, and predictable stories.
I like spending my
time in the company of likable characters. Life is too short to put
up with jerks, even in books and TV shows. Some unpleasant characters
might be unavoidable as antagonists, but as long as I have pleasant
characters to carry the story along, I’ll put up with a few rotten
eggs. Some of the rotten eggs might even be redeemable.
I like stories that
take their time in the telling. Stories that give me a chance to know
the characters. I often find that good characters are usually more
interesting that the story.
Plus I appreciate
high production values – in sets, scenery, costumes, and
cinematography.
These are the
characteristics that I judge a show, or a book by. Right. On with the
reviews.
The first two shows
listed below served as my introduction to Chinese TV. They exhibit
many of the chief characteristics of Chinese TV shows that I’ve
observed over time.
These
characteristics include intricate, 20 to 50 hour long, stories. They
fall into the soap opera formula, featuring a number of plot threads
woven into one long story. They’re in no rush, and will half a
minute with nothing more than a character silently pondering his or
her situation. Romance is a slow, slow burn. Plus, they are not
afraid to make a mix of genres, with drama, action, romance and
comedy alternating throughout the story. Another characteristic is
that the male lead is of the strong, silent variety. He says very
little. Heck, if he ever said what he was thinking, they could cut
the number of episodes in half. On the downside, the stories may run
a tad too long, and the endings are a bit over the top, at least to
my tastes. And well, they have lame titles in translation.
Rather than
summarizing the shows myself, I’ve included links that will take
you to the wikapedia entry for all the TV shows I mention.
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| The Disguiser Image: http://dr-myri-blog.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-disguiser-episode-11-recap.html |
Rookie Agent Rouge
(Netflix – not currently available) 45 episodes.
The Disguiser
(Netflix – not currently available) 41 episodes.
Both of these shows
stories of the Chinese resistance to the Japanese occupation of
Shanghai and northern China in the late 1930’s to early 1940’s.
Rookie Agent Rouge has a rather pulp story feel to it, while
the Disguiser, based on a novel, portrays more of the
political aspects of the situation. Both shows show the harsh, and
often cruel, nature of this occupation, with torture being the fate
of any enemy of Japan.
I enjoyed both of
these shows, and I’d rate them 4 stars out of 5
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| The Rise of Phoenixes Image: https://meaww.com/the-rise-of-phoenixes-fans-reveal-makes-this-netflix-c-drama-beloved-all-over-the-world |
The next two shows I
watched were also historical dramas, but this time set in ancient
China. A China that is probably more fantasy than historic. They are:
The Rise of
Phoenixes (Netflix 70 episodes)
The Princess
Weiyoung (Netflix 54 episodes)
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| The Princess Weiyoung Image: https://zuriest.wordpress.com/2019/07/30/chinese-drama-the-princess-weiyoung/ |
These shows set in
the imperial court or surrounding palaces, and mostly involve court
intrigues. Since Chinese emperors had not only a wife but many
concubines, they had numerous of sons – all of whom, it seems,
wanted to be the next emperor. And who don’t mind bumping off their
step brothers to clear their path to the dragon throne. Since they had to conceal their actions from their father, their deadly schemes
needed be elaborate, making for much of the drama and intrigue in
these shows.
As I mentioned in an
earlier post, I enjoyed science fiction for its exotic locales, and
these versions of ancient China, with their exotic costumes, customs,
along with the occasional kung-fu movie style of action, they manage
to create a very exotic setting for their stories. Heck, I enjoy
seeing all the exotic costumes and interior designs of these shows
offer the viewer.
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| The romantic leads in The Rise of Phoenixes, one is just dressed up like a man... Can you tell who? Image; https://ninja-reflection.com/2018/10/01/rise-phoenixes-novel-ending-ii/ |
I like my stories to
be semi-realistic, without gaping plot holes. However, if I like a
show, I’ll cut it some slack, as for example in The Rise of
Phoenixes where the female lead does her hair differently,
and dresses like a man (though there isn’t all that much
difference) to pass herself off as a man. Realistically, this would
only work in a kingdom of the blind. But it’s all in good fun.
I’d rate both these shows 4 stars out of 5 as well.
There are many more
shows along these lines on Netflix, many of them pure Chinese
fantasy, complete with supernatural beings, demons,gods, and all
kinds of beings in between. I’ve sampled several, but most are too
strange for me. I can, however recommend trying the one listed below.
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| The Legend of White Snake Image: https://www.viki.com/tv/36277c-the-legend-of-white-snake |
The Legend of White
Snake (Netflix 36 episodes)
It had some strange,
supernatural elements, but it also had interesting and likable
characters as well. Another 4 out of 5 show.
Leaving the past
behind, we come to stories set in modern China, which, as I mentioned
in previous post, is a very futuristic place, since many of its major
cities have been largely built within the 21st century.
With these contemporary shows I find it interesting to note the
cultural differences and similarities between China and the West.
Many of these
stories are set within the upper 1% of the Chinese society. You see a
lot of wealth on display in these shows – mansions and luxury
flats, expensive foreign cars, and high class restaurants. I may
have missed some of the gritter shows, but still, for a communist
country, they seem to like celebrating their wealth in their TV
shows.
I also found the
glimpse of college life and life in the dorms rather interesting as
well. It is these little glimpses of real life that I find
fascinating. From the shows Netflix serves up to me, there are a
whole lot of Chinese YA and college age shows. I’ve sampled a few,
but that’s not really my thing.
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| When a Snail Falls in Love Image: https://blog.onehallyu.com/drama-review-snail-falls-love/ |
When a Snail Falls
in Love (Netflix 16 episodes)
This show is part
mystery, part police procedural, part adventure, and part romance. I
enjoyed all the parts.
Again, 4 out of 5
stars.
Next, are the two
soap opera style, romantic comedies that I and my wife have watched
to their conclusions.
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| Well Intended Love Image: https://pikdo.info/p/coupletaichi_/2131893516545024143_14013427399 |
Well Intended Love
(Netflix 20 episodes)
UPDATE: Well Intended Love has, of 15 April 2020 a "second season." Unlike most second seasons, this show has the same actors playing the same roles as in the first season, but is set two years later -- as if the first season doesn't exist. It essentially starts all over again with more or less the same premise; an aspiring actress agrees to marry, in the first season, and be the fiancee, of a very rich man in the second season. I've only watched two episodes, and I don't think it has the spark of the first season. I might well give it a miss this time around.
Put Your Head On My
Shoulder (Netflix 24 episodes)
As I mentioned
before, the male romantic lead is the strong, silent type which drags
out the romance. My feeling is that these stories run a little too
long. Well Intended Love had kind of a creepy premise,
and a very over the top ending that seemed entirely out of place. I
liked the characters, which is my first priority in a show. Put
Your Head On My Shoulder is an example of a college romance
story.
I’d give them,
almost, 4 out of 5 stars, their run times and endings drag them down
a bit.
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| Put Your Head on My Shoulder Image; https://www.justwatch.com/ee/tv-show/put-your-head-on-my-shoulder |
But as I said, there
are many more similar romance/comedy shows from China involving young
people to choose from on Netflix.
One last show, that
I’ve watched, but not to its end, is The King’s Avatar. If
you are into computer games, you might be interested in this show as
it concerns professional esports players and teams in China. It has
“in game” play in the show, and lots of intrigues within and
between the teams and such. I’m not into video games, but it does
have the key ingredient that I like in a story – likable
characters. If I run out of shows, I might continue on with it.
The King’s Avatar
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| The King's Avatar Image: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10732794/ |
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