Wonderland of Love (2023) - Final Review

Final review/rating: Wonderland of Love (2023) - A perfectly paired power couple match wits and take on the world 

This is 8/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         8 Stars Plot:                       8 Stars Acting/cast:            8.5 Stars Couple chemistry:   9 stars Music:                    8 Stars Re-watch value:      8 Stars Enjoyment factor:   8 Stars

Wonderland of Love (2023) is a delightful romance. It gives us an engaging power couple in Xu Kai's Li Ni (aka Shi Qi Lang) and Jing Tian's Cui Lin (aka A'Ying), who are perfectly matched in intellect, skill, and everything else. Honestly their sizzling chemistry light up the screen and there was so much flirtatious sweetness going on that I wondered if it was possible to get diabetes from watching a drama😅 

That said, it is not without flaws.  There are some problems with plot and characterisation, and more 'green tea' characters and machinations than I care for. In consequence, the first half is much better than the second.  However, I still enjoyed Wonderland of Love. It showcases Xu Kai's range as an actor when given the right part, and his fight scenes are outstanding!  

I think the drama probably got less love and attention from viewers because it came out at the same time as Story of Kunning Palace (2023). 

It also doesn't help that the English title of the drama Wonderland of Love sounds like a cheesy knockoff of Disneyland or a risqué establishment.  This is unfortunate as the Chinese title 《樂遊原》Le You Plains is both poetic and apt, derived from a poem of the same name regarding a place of that name. A deeper dive into the background of the place, and a commentary and my attempt at translation of the poem 👉here.  

But suffice to say that if you have been put off by the English title to date, you need not be, and that if power couples are your jam, this may be your kind of drama😊

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Le You Plains: Some commentary on the Place and translation of the Poem of the same name by Li Shang Yin for which the Chinese title of Wonderland of Love (2023) is named

Le You Plains《樂遊原》 /《乐游原》: Some commentary on the Place and translation of the Poem of the same name by Li Shang Yin李商隱, for which the Chinese title of Wonderland of Love (2023) is named  

Sometimes I find myself baffled by the strange choice of English drama titles for Chinese dramas that have poetically evocative titles - Wonderland of Love (2023) is a case in point.  

The English title sounds discount Disney tacky, which is unfortunate, because the Chinese title, Le You Yuan, is both apt and poetic. It is the name of a place, 樂遊原/Le You Plains, as well as the title of a famous poem regarding that place by Tang dynasty poet Li Shang Yin 李商隱 (813AD - 858 AD). 

In the drama Wonderland of Love (2023), Le You Yuan is also the name of the idyllic plains where the heroine and hero can ride and romance each other free from their cares. 

Below is some background information about the place, some commentary about the poem and its author, as well as my attempt at translation of the poem Le You Yuan《樂遊原》/《乐游原》.  

  

Wonderland of Love (2023) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  Wonderland of Love

Chinese title:  樂遊原 / 乐游原  (Eng translation: "You Le plains") 

Episodes: 40 

Genre: Romance, historical, political  

Original network:  Tencent 

Release date:        6 Nov 2023

Airing schedule:    6 Nov 2023 - 24 Nov 2023

Synopsis:

The Emperor's grandson, Li Ni (aka Shi Qi Lang) is a talented general who guards the border along with his loyal Zhen Xi army, eschewing the political intrigues of the court. Hiding his royal identity, he and his men spend share carefree days of comradeship at Lao Lan pass instead.  

When a military coup results in the death of the Emperor and Crown Prince, Shi Qi Lang takes on the burden of quelling the rebellion.  Along the way, Shi Qi Lang meets 'Lieutenant He' (aka A'Ying), a wily and beautiful member of the mighty Cui family army.  As the two go toe-to-toe matching wits on the battlefield and off, sparks fly, and love blossoms.  

  

The Double (2024) - Final Review

Final review/rating: The Double (2024) - Revenge is a dish best served doubled and with theatricality 

This is 8.5/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         8.5 Stars Plot:                       8 Stars Acting/cast:            8.5 Stars Couple chemistry:   8.5 stars Music:                    8 Stars Re-watch value:      8 Stars Enjoyment factor:   8.5 Stars

The Double (2024) is a melodramatic rollercoaster of a revenge story, told with lush visuals and an OTT theatricality that may cause the occasional eye roll but somehow works to keep the viewer seated. The narrative is darkly compelling with one high stakes gambit after another, there is the 爽/satisfaction of seeing just deserts being meted out, the villains are interesting, and there is a sensuous slow-burn chemistry between the 'fei chang xiao zhang' '菲常蕭張' CP which made me wish I could borrow Xiao Heng's fan. In concert, this makes for some addictively good viewing.   

There is more than a passing nod to Chinese opera and the gong an公案 'crime case' literary tradition as well. Xue Feng Fei's devious ex-husband scholar Shen Yu Rong has obvious parallels with the infamous scholar Chen Shi Mei 陳世美 from the《鍘美案》/'execute Mei case' who bigamously became Prince Consort and then tried to murder his first wife and two children, and Xue Feng Fei's pet name A'Li 阿狸 and her ultimate switecheroo of identities with the real Jiang Li evokes the《狸猫换太子》/ 'civet cat exchanged for Crown Prince' case. Both are staples of the Justice Bao repertoire. 

However, in The Double (2024) there is no Justice Bao to ensure that justice is served. Instead, there is only Wu Jin Yan's audacious Xue Fang Fei, who must ensure that she and her dead double are avenged. Luckily for the audience, Xue Fang Fei knows how to put on a damn good show as she plays everyone around her like a virtuoso. As for Wang Xing Yue's sexily smoldering Xiao Heng, he is first spectator and than participant in their joint revenge drama, which also doubles as a political chessboard with ramifications beyond the settling of personal wrongs.    

The Double (2024) is far from perfect. There are logic flaws, issues with pacing, places where less would definitely have been more, and some questionable directorial/writing choices, especially in the final arc which left me shaking my head. And while I agree that revenge was taken, I am not certain that justice was truly served in the end. But in the face of these imperfections I found myself imagining Xue Fang Fei cheekily breaking the 4th wall and asking me "are you not entertained?" My answer? Definitely.

SPOILERS AHEAD

  

The Double (2024) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:                      The Double

Chinese title:         墨雨雲間 / 墨雨云间 (Eng translation: "Inky rain amidst clouds")

Episodes:               40

Genre:                    Revenge, mystery, romance

Original network:  Youku

Release date:        2 June 2024

Airing schedule:    2 June 2024 - 22 June 2024

Synopsis:

Xue Fang Fei is the talented and much loved daughter of a country magistrate, and wife to scholar Shen Yu Rong.  But one memorable evening, Xue Fang Fei wakes to find herself framed, betrayed, and buried alive...

  

Yong An Dream (2024) - Final Review

Final review/rating: Yong An Dream (2024) - A sweet adaptation that eschews the darkness of the source novel in favour of light fluffiness 

This is 7/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         7 Stars Plot:                       7 Stars Acting/cast:            7 Stars Couple chemistry:   6 stars Music:                    6 Stars Re-watch value:      6 Stars Enjoyment factor:   7 Stars

Jeremy Tsui/Xu Zheng Xi as Lu Shi Yan

So I watched Yong An Dream (2024) after Jeremy Tsui/Xu Zheng Xi's recent 15 March 2024 announcement on Weibo that he was retiring from acting. 

I've always wanted a magnum opus from Xu Zheng Xi - a drama that showcases the full extent of his considerable abilities. The man has a gravelly low voice (criminally under used alas!), the ability to swing from high comedy to tormented angst, and the acting chops to carry off nuanced morally grey anti-heroes. Sadly, he has not had much luck with the scripts that have come his way and more often than not, he has been paired with much younger actresses who are not in his league acting wise, and/or he is casted in some generic idol romcom. 

Yong An Dream (2024) is more of the same, rather than magnum opus material. Notably, the source novel《長安第一美人》Chang'an's First Beauty goes down some very dark Stockholm-syndrome-on-steroids pathways and was a did-not-finish for me, but the drama adaptation sanitises this in favour of light fluffiness. 

SPOILERS AHEAD

  

Yong An Dream (2024) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:                      Young An Dream

Chinese title:         永安夢/ 永安梦 

Episodes:               24

Genre:                    Romance, mystery

Original network:  Tencent

Release date:        28 Feb 2024

Airing schedule:    28 Feb 2024 - 7 Mar 2024

Synopsis:

When the West Canal of Yong An City collapses causing death and destruction, Shen Wen Qi, the Minister of Works is thrown into prison.  His two daughters, Shen Ran and Shen Zhen, find themselves in desperate straits as they try to vindicate their father.   

  

Joy of Life 1 (2019) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:                      Joy of Life (Season 1)

Chinese title:         慶餘年 (第一季) /庆余年 (第一季)

                              (Eng translation: "Celebrating the remaining years")          Episodes:               46

Genre:                    Fantasy, Sci-fi, Mystery, Political, Wuxia, Romance  

Screenwriter:        Wang Juan 王倦 

Director:                Sun Hao 孫皓

Original network:  IQiyi, Tencent 

Release date:        26 Nov 2019

Airing schedule:    26 Nov 2019 - 1 Jan 2020

Synopsis:

Fan Xian is born in the empire of Southern Qing, but inexplicably has memories from the 21st century. He is raised in the small coastal town of Dan Zhou by his Grandmother, where he is taught the art of poison and medicine by his mentor Fei Jie and martial arts by his late mother's blind bodyguard, Wu Zhu. Fan Xian's mother, Ye Qing Mei, was once a celebrated inventor and the founder of the Overwatch Council (Southern Qing's spy network) and the Treasury Department, but was killed shortly after Fan Xian's birth.  

After Fan Xian survives an assassination attempt, he ventures to the Capital to investigate who wants his life and to learn about his late mother and his mysterious past.

  

Blossoms in Adversity (2024) - Final Review

Final review/rating: Blossoms in Adversity (2024) - A heartwarming comeback tale with family at its centre and a strong heroine at the helm

This is 8.5/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         8.5 Stars Plot:                       8 Stars Acting/cast:            8.5 Stars Couple chemistry:   8 stars Music:                    8 Stars Re-watch value:      8.5 Stars Enjoyment factor:   8.5 Stars

Blossoms in Adversity (2024) is one of the dark horses in the 2024 drama line to date. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the Hua family's heartwarming comeback tale, how much I rooted for their success, how moved I was by their losses, and how invested I was in their outcome.  

For those who despair at the preponderance of flakey c-drama heroines, the titular Hua Zhi as played by Zhang Jing Yi is a breath of fresh air, with her incisive intelligence, her courage in the face of adversity, and her visionary outlook.  If anything, Hua Zhi is a little too perfect, a few minor flaws notwithstanding. But who better to take the helm? It certainly makes for some very compelling feel-good watching.  

Undoubtedly, suspension of disbelief is needed to enjoy this drama because plot armour abounds. That said, the story is engaging and full of twists and turns, and the empowerment of women by women is an uplifting leitmotif throughout, as is the importance of family.   

While the drama is not romance focused, the main pairing of Zhang Jing Yi's Hua Zhi and Hu Yi Tian's Gu Yan Xi is also a #relationship goals portrayal of a very healthy romance.

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Blossom in Adversity (2024) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:                      Blossoms in Adversity

Chinese title:         惜花芷 (Eng translation: "Cherishing Hua Zhi")

Episodes:               40

Genre:                    Historical, Romance, Palace 

Original network:  Youku

Release date:        2 April 2024

Airing schedule:    2 April 2024 - 25 April 2024

Synopsis:

When Imperial Minister Hua Yi Zheng speaks truth to power, the Emperor is enraged. In one foul swoop, the Emperor demotes Hua Yi Zheng and his sons, forfeits all the Hua family's assets, and exiles all the Hua menfolk to the barren lands of the North.  

The ladies of the Hua family and their young are left destitute and rudderless.  In the face of adversity, Hua Zhi, the eldest young lady of the Hua family, steps up as the head of the household. Using all of her considerable acumen to ensure that her family survive and thrive, Hua Zhi gives them hope for an eventual family reunion.  

  

Fighting for Love (2024) - Final Review

Final review/rating: Fighting for Love (2024) - Hodgepodge of cringe comedy, decent action, and poorly written palace intrigue that falls well short of epic

This is 7/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         7 Stars Plot:                       6.5 Stars Acting/cast:            7 Stars Couple chemistry:   4 stars Music:                    7 Stars Re-watch value:      4 Stars Enjoyment factor:   7 Stars

I really wanted to love Fighting for Love (2024) - what's not to love about a drama with a kickass female general beating unbeatable odds in a man's world? 

The drama had such promise - a fantastic cast with Zhang Tian Ai, whom I remember fondly as the lethal foxy swordstress from Sword Snow Stride (2021), and Zhang Hao Wei, who has had a number of intriguing secondary character roles under his belt and who recently did a stellar job as the comical lead in The Trust (2023). Not to mention Wang Rui Chang whom I have not seen in a substantial role since In a Class of Her Own (2020) and whom you can always rely on for very watchable snark, as well as some veteran actors, such as Wang Yong Quan (whom viewers may remember as the iconic Xia Jiang from Nirvana in Fire (2015)).   

The source material for the drama is also great.  The drama is based on the popular novel A'Mai Cong Jun《阿麥從軍》/ (A'Mai joins the Army) which as at the time of writing this review has a rating of 8.5 on Douban, which is a high score on a platform not given to generous ratings. 

And yet, despite a promising beginning, this drama failed to deliver compelling viewing. I'm not of the view that a drama has to follow its source novel religiously, but watching this had me wondering how it was possible to butcher a great story this badly. It's as if the scriptwriter decided to demonstrate that with enough incompetence it is indeed possible to make a sow's ear out of a silk purse.  

It's not all bad - there are some decent fight scenes, some great acting from the older veteran actors, and Zhang Tian Ai holds her own with a committed performance as the lead.  I also thought that the ending was a fitting one.  But unless you are a huge fan of the leads, this is definitely not a must watch and an overall rating of 7 is probably on the generous side... 

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Fighting for Love (2024) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:                      Fighting for Love

Chinese title:         阿麥從軍/ 阿麦从军 (Eng translation: "A'Mai joins the Army") 

Episodes:               36

Genre:                    Action, historical, palace   

Original network:  iQiyi

Release date:        31 Jan 2024

Airing schedule:    31 Jan 2024 - 21 Feb 2024

Synopsis:

A'Mai is a young woman disguised as a man, in a man's world. She lives for one purpose - to hunt down Chen Qi, the childhood friend whom she thought of as an elder brother and who killed her entire family when she was a child.  

In the course of her investigations, A'Mai meets Shang Yi Zhi, the happy-go-lucky son of the Grand Princess (the Emperor's sister). The Emperor repeatedly tries to assassinate his "nephew" Shang Yi Zhi, but A'Mai rescues him on more than one occasion, and the two form a close bond.

  

Egg and Stone (2023) - Final Review

Final review/rating: Egg and Stone (2023) - A wuxia parody romp with zombies 

This is 7.5/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         7.5 Stars Plot:                       7 Stars Acting/cast:            7 Stars Couple chemistry:   7.5 stars Music:                    7 Stars Re-watch value:      7 Stars Enjoyment factor:   7.5 Stars

Egg and Stone (2023) is a tongue-in-cheek parody of the wuxia genre, complete with zombies. Some of the goofy humour is a bit hit and miss, but it is all done in such good fun and with such self-aware cheekiness, that I couldn't help enjoying myself. 

It does help if you can understand Mandarin, as there is some deliberate mangling of the language and some funny homophones and cultural references which probably get lost in translation.  But even if you don't, there is still plenty to laugh at.  Also, an English drama title that is apt, perhaps even more so than the Chinese one - this must be a first in c-drama land surely. Will wonders never cease?😅

The drama gets a bit draggy midway through and becomes noticeably less funny, but I think this is still a good pick for when you just want a stress free watching experience. There is also some fluffy romance in the mix.  

This drama must have been fun to shoot and it shows in the way Wu Xi Ze and Xu Lu fully commit to the silly - who knew that they had such decent comic timing?😆 

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Egg and Stone (2023) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:               Egg and Stone

Chinese title:  少女闖江湖 / 少女闯江湖 

                       (Eng translation: "A Young Girl embarks on Jianghu travels") 

Episodes:        24

Genre:             Parody, wuxia, romcom 

Original network:  iQiyi

Release date:        31 Aug 2023

Airing schedule:    31 Aug 2023 - 2 Sept 2023

Synopsis:

Huo Xing Chen is the daughter of Huo Qing Liu, Wulin's leader and leader of the renown Wu Yue Sect.  She decides to embark on some Jianghu adventures to escape the matrilocal marriage that her overprotective father has arranged for her.  

Although Huo Xing Chen is her father's handpicked heir for the Wu Yue Sect, she actually knows no martial arts but is completely oblivious to this. Armed with little more than courage and tenacity, Huo Xing Chen sets out to become a hero.  

She encounters sickly Jiang Bu Ting, who is investigating the mysterious disappearances of renown martial artists, and the two join forces and along with their friends, uncover the conspiracies that are afoot. Ones that involve zombies...

  

A Journey to Love (2023) - Final Review

Final review/rating: A Journey to Love (2023) - Wuxia meets politics as a princess, an assassin, and a squad of spies embark on mission impossible

This is 9/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         9 Stars Plot:                       8 Stars Acting/cast:            9 Stars Couple chemistry:   8 stars Music:                    9 Stars Re-watch value:      9 Stars Enjoyment factor:   9 Stars

Based on an original screenplay, A Journey to Love (2023) is an engaging blend of wuxia and politics.  The narrative centres around the journey of a delegation that embark on mission impossible: the rescue of their undeserving Emperor from the hands of a hostile State. Although they (and we) know it is essentially a suicide mission, there is so much thrilling heroics, hilarity, and hijinks along the way that it is impossible not to fall in love with the squad and to be invested in their story.  I found myself fervently hoping that their plot armour would hold forever and that they would all make it home.   

The English title of the drama is serviceable, but I much prefer the Chinese title, 《一念關山》/《一念关山》 "A Thought of Fortresses and Mountains". It is derived from "一念起關山", the penultimate line of Shen Yue 沈约's frontier poem 《卻東西門行》/《却东西门行》 But the East West Gate (which I have attempted a more detailed commentary + translation of 👉here).   

In brief, the line "一念起關山" expresses the poet's yearning for the fortresses and mountains that delineate and protect his country. Given the drama's themes, the choice of title is incredibly apt, poetically evoking the delegation's love of country and their desire to protect its frontiers, as well as their yearning to return home.  

Notably, A Journey to Love (2023) heralds the comeback of veteran actress Liu Shi Shi, as well as the first main male lead role for Liu Yu Ning in a costume drama. Their kickass power couple of deadly assassin Ren Ru Yi and Chief Ning Yuan Zhou blew me away with their awesomeness.  Liu Shi Shi is a delight to watch, especially in her mesmerisingly good fighting scenes, and although Liu Yu Ning's acting is a work in progress, I think he holds his own.  I fell for them, as well as for every member of the squad (especially Fang Yi Lun's Yu Shi Shan) like the proverbial ton of bricks.

Although I enjoyed this drama, it isn't without its flaws. A tendency to focus on characterisation at the expense of plot meant that midway through there was a marked decrease in momentum, and the rush to the ending could have been better conceived and executed. But overall, it is still a drama that scores a solid 9 from me, because there was just so much to love.

   

SPOILERS AHEADS