My Sassy Princess (2022) - Final Review

Final review/rating: My Sassy Princess (2022) - A rapturously romantic feel-good romcom with sass and swoon-worthy chemistry

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

Overall rating:         8 Stars Plot:                       7 Stars Acting/cast:            8 Stars Couple chemistry:   9 stars Music:                    9 Stars Re-watch value:      8 Stars Enjoyment factor:   9 Stars

My Sassy Princess (2022) is romance with a capital R, with gorgeous and talented leads in Yuan Bing Yan and Zheng Ye Cheng, whose chemistry light up the screen. 

This is an eye-candy filled romcom that will tug at your heartstrings while making you laugh out loud as you watch a sassy flirt chase down her man. Sometimes you will be cringing with second-hand embarrassment, but that's all part of the fun.  There is also sufficient angst to make you root for the couple and their happy ending. 

At only 22 episodes long, this is short, satisfying, and very very sweet 💕

 SPOILERS AHEADS

  

My Sassy Princess (2022) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  My Sassy Princess 

Chinese title: 祝卿好 (Eng translation: "Wishing you well")

Episodes:  22 episodes

Genre: Romance, comedy, historical

Original network: iQiyi

Release date:      16 April 2022 

Airing schedule:  16 April 2022 - 23 April 2022

Synopsis:

Liu Ling, the beautiful Princess Chang Le, is infamous for her domineering ways and her reputation as the most evil lady in Jiang province precedes her. Not that this sassy princess cares.  

When Liu Ling meets Imperial Guard Shen Yan, she falls in love with him at first sight.  She begins a determined pursuit of Shen Yan, using every flirtatious trick in her arsenal, but can "Lady Evil" melt the heart of her "Cold-faced Hades"? Liu Ling wrangles her way into joining Shen Yan's investigative team to find out.  

At first it seems that Shen Yan will be entirely impervious to her wiles.  But as Liu Ling and Shen Yan face danger together and come to a better understanding of each other on their journey, they find that they may have met the one person in the world that they cannot live without...

  

The Starry Love (2023) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  The Starry Love 

Chinese title:  星落凝成糖 (Eng translation: "Falling Stars form sweetness") 

Episodes: 40

Genre: Xianxia, romance, fantasy, comedy

Original network: Youku

Release date:      16 Feb 2023

Airing schedule:  16 Feb -  11 March 2023    

Synopsis:

Twin girls are born to the mortal realm's Emperor.  

The elder sister, Princess Qing Kui, is beloved by the Emperor and betrothed to the heavenly prince. She is gentle and kind. The younger sister, Princess Ye Tan, is loathed by the Emperor for being inauspicious and betrothed to the demon prince.  Although she is also kind-hearted, Ye Tan has survived the last 18 years on her wit and cunning, and her prickly exterior hides a vulnerable heart. 

Despite their upbringing, the sisters share a close sisterly bond.  

On the day they are due to be married off to their respective grooms, a mix-up occurs and Qing Kui ends up in the demonic void realm, whilst Ye Tan ends up in the heavenly realm.  But perhaps some mistakes are meant to be as Qing Kui finds herself falling for the devilish 3rd Prince Chao Feng, while Ye Tan finds that sparks fly between her and straitlaced heavenly prince Shao Dian You Qin.

  

Wulin Heroes (2023) - Final Review

Final review/rating:  Wulin Heroes (2023) - What's an amnesiac ginseng fairy to do when she meets all the boys she's loved before?*

* Or the boys she thought she loved and who claim to love her but betrayed her and/or will betray her; or the boys who truly loved her and lost her; or most importantly, the boy who is her one true love?  

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

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

Despite its title, Wulin Heroes (2023) has precious little to do with wulin and the martial arts world.  It is probably generous to class this as wuxia. Think of it instead as a romcom with a large side of amnesia: What's an amnesiac ginseng fairy to do when she meets all the boys she's loved before?*

The trick to enjoying this drama is not to go in with unrealistic expectations. If you are expecting true blue wuxia like Li Hong Yi's recent The Blood of Youth (2022) you will be disappointed.  On the other hand, if you are wanting a somewhat chaotic, cheap and cheerful (and in my view rather charming) romcom with eye candy galore, this one is for you. 

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Under the Microscope (2023) - Final Review

Final review/rating: Under the Microscope (2023) - A quixotic quest to right a mathematical injustice in an unjust world

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

Overall rating:        9 Stars Plot:                      9 Stars Acting/cast:           10 Stars Chemistry:             10 Stars Music:                    8 Stars Re-watch value:      9 Stars Enjoyment factor:   9 Stars

Under the Microscope (2023) gives us Zhang Ruo Yun in a refreshingly different historical drama.  

On offer are maths, tax fraud on an epic scale, and an unlikely hero from the common people in mathematical savant Shuai Jia Mo, whose determination to correct the numbers stirs up a hornet's nest.  

Who would have thought that a drama on math and tax evasion of all things could be so damn riveting? Yet this surprisingly accessible gem of a drama packs an intellectual and emotional punch. At only 14 episodes long, Under the Microscope (2023) makes every episode count.       

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

A League of Nobleman (2023) - Final Review

Final review/rating: A League of Nobleman (2023) - An all-male cast shine in this atmospheric tale of vindication and vengeance 

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

Overall rating:        8.5 Stars Plot:                      8.5 Stars Acting/cast:            9 Stars Chemistry:             9 Stars Music:                    7 Stars Re-watch value:      9 Stars Enjoyment factor:   8.5 Stars

 Zhang Ping and Lan Jue investigate

After languishing in pre-production and editing purgatory for what seems like an eternity, A League of Nobleman (2023) was released with little fanfare and in large tranches that can only be described as a binge-watcher's dream. 

It is an unabashedly male-centric drama and lordy, Jing Bo Ran is mighty fine in this as Lan Jue. And if you are wondering what's better than one intelligent man, the answer is definitely a whole league of them 😍 

This drama has intelligent detective work, drop dead gorgeous cinematography and cast, and more twists and turns then your average whodunnit.  

It is a pity that the drama has been heavily edited, but the drama still retains its coherency and an oh-so-subtle sensuous undertone.  

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Under the Microscope (2023) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  Under the Microscope 

Chinese title:  显微镜下的大明 / 顯微鏡下的大明 (Eng translation: "The Ming dynasty under the Microscope") 

Episodes: 14

Genre: Historical, mystery, thriller 

Original network: iQiyi

Release date:      9 Feb 2023

Airing schedule:  9 Feb -  19 Feb 2023    

Synopsis:

When mathematical savant Shuai Jia Mo stumbles across a county-wide discrepancy in Ren Hua county's land titles, he decides to investigate. 

He duly discovers that some devious shenanigans are afoot: For the past 100 years, Ren Hua county has been overpaying a mysterious "silk poll tax"(人丁丝绢) of 3,350 taels per year because it has been footing the bill for the surrounding 7 counties as well.  The number 3,350 is also a significant numerical signpost in Shuai Jia Mo's murky memories of the past...

While trying to prove the silk poll tax discrepancy, Shuai Jia Mo encounters many obstacles as those who want to keep the status quo try to prevent him from succeeding by any means necessary.  

  

A League of Nobleman (2023) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  A League of Nobleman

Chinese title:  君子盟 (Eng translation: "Gentlemen's Alliance") 

Episodes: 29

Genre: Historical, mystery, detective, thriller 

Original network: Tencent

Release date:      30 Jan 2023

Airing schedule:  30 Jan -  13 Feb 2023    

Synopsis:

Lan Jue (courtesy name Pei Zhi) is a talented young assistant minister in the Ministry of Rites, whose star is outwardly on the ascent.  However, Lan Jue's little-known past casts a shadow on his present, and he has lived with a secret purpose for the last 20 years, the advancement of which could threaten not only his standing but his life.  

In the course of a secret operation, Lan Jue crosses paths with Zhang Ping, an impoverished young scholar who ekes out a living by selling noodles whilst waiting to sit the civil service examinations.  Because of Zhang Ping's inquisitive nature, talented deductive powers, and persistence, he solves the case.  However, this also inadvertently wrecks Lan Jue's carefully laid plans, especially when Zhang Ping later becomes aware of Lan Jue's secret. 

  

Wulin Heroes (2023) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  Wulin Heroes

Chinese title: 武林有侠气 (Eng translation: "Wulin has heroism") 

Episodes: 22

Genre: Romance, comedy, wuxia, historical

Original network: Youku

Release date:        29 Jan 2023

Airing schedule:    29 Jan - 15 Feb 2023

Synopsis:

When ginseng fairy Ye Xi uses part of her essence to save the divine physician and swordsman Bai Yue, she unintentionally binds their fates together.

As the idealistic Ye Xi travels through jianghu hoping to do good, she finds herself embroiled in various fiascos as she meets, in various lifetimes, men who seek to exploit her martial arts prowess and/or her feelings for their own ends as well as those who truly love her.  Ye Xi's reputation is tarnished as she becomes known as a demoness siren. Time and time again, she is betrayed and 'dies', yet each time, it is Bai Yue who helps her pick up the pieces, 'burying' her in soil so that her ginseng spirit can regenerate.