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...

  

Song of the Moon (2022) - Final Review

Final review/rating:  Song of the Moon (2022) - Decent acting from eye candy cast marred by a lackluster script 

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

Overall rating:         7 Stars Plot:                       6 Stars Acting/cast:            7 Stars Couple chemistry:   7 stars Music:                    8 Stars Re-watch value:      5 Stars Enjoyment factor:   6.5 Stars

Song of the Moon (2023) features a gorgeous main cast (Zhang Bin Bin, Wang You Shou, Wang Yi Lun, Xu Lu) in gorgeous xianxia settings, but the drama is mediocre at best.  

There are occasional moments that lift it above mediocrity in terms of xianxia angst and romance, but unfortunately, much of the 40 episode drama is spent on endless variations on the same theme.  

Even the heartfelt performances from the two deliciously gorgeous male leads failed to save this one from being something of a slog to get through. 

To be honest, my sole reason for persevering to the end and rating this a 7/10 rather than a 6.5/10 was because Zhang Bin Bin and Wang You Shou are just so damn fine...  

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Song of the Moon (2022) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  Song of the Moon

Chinese title:  月歌行 (Eng translation: "Moon Song journey") 

Episodes: 40

Genre: Xianxia, fantasy, romance

Original network:  iQiyi

Release date:        15 Dec 2022

Airing schedule:    15 Dec 2022 - 10 Jan 2023

Synopsis:

When Liu Shao was 8 years old she met a mysterious immortal who granted her three days of perfect happiness in exchange for permission to change her fate in 10 years time. She grows up as a happy, carefree heiress, with a yearning to meet the immortal again.  

At 18, Liu Shao's life is endangered when the demoness Ao Hen tries to steal her spiritual essence.  She is rescued by Lu Li, a handsome young cultivator with high spiritual powers, who looks exactly like the immortal from Lui Shao's past and who only has half a heart.