Arsenal Military Academy (2019)

Chinese Steampunk

Watching Arsenal Military Academy is a feast for your eyes. The cinematography, action scenes, film sets and costumes are on point. I wasn't eager to watch this drama, because I thought it would be too nationalistic, but fortunately, that wasn't the case.

Story

True to its title this series tells the adventures of young cadets who are training, bonding, finding their life purpose. Some interesting characters are introduced in several subplots. There's this girl (Bai Lu) who's grieving about her deceased brother. She decides to impersonate him at the academy. There are two young celebs, a rich heir (Xu Kai) and an actress (Wu Jia Yi) who both take too many risks just to escape their pampered life. The rich boy enlists himself for the academy. Among their high society friends are two brothers, who are leading a business imperium together, but also get more involved in the resistance against Japanese aggression. The younger brother (Toby Lee) goes to the Academy to sharpen his war skills. There he gets a surprise visit from a Sino-Japanese girl he knew from high school. She went to live abroad, but somehow she has returned for mysterious reasons.

Their story is set at the time of the Sino-Japanese aggression, but it all seems more like a fantasy tale, full of glamour, action and music. Characters get away with cross dressing, stunt riding on motor cycles, single handed shoot outs with complete combat armies, escapes from Japanese police cells in just a few minutes. It's all very entertaining.

Cast

This time, the second leads steal the show in stead of the leading couple that made me watch this drama in the first place. Bai Lu and Xu Kai are legendary together in The Legends (2019) but don't expect a rerun of their chemistry here. However, as stand-alone character they are both attractive. Xu Kai is tall, sexy and cute as ever. Bai Lu is even better as a male cadet than as a girl. The best romance scene goes to Hong Yao as the eldest Shen brother who deeply loves Qu Man Ting ( Wu Jia Yi) He's able to recognize this seemingly superficial actress as a strong and capable partner in life, long before she knows it herself. Toby Lee has the role of the younger Shen brother, a lone wolf full of dark brooding energy. It fits him like a glove.

Production

The fight scenes and special effects are well done. The soundtrack is nice and pays tribute to the story except for the modern intro-theme. Also there are a lot of details that can't be seen in one glance, so I will rewatch this series.

Overall

This drama has tags for friendship, teamwork, and romance but these aren't the main themes. Arsenal Military Academy is Chinese steampunk at its best, with action, intelligent characters, and glamour, all-in-one.

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An absolute favourite

If you are doubting whether to watch this or not don't WATCH IT NOW!!! I wasn't much impressed with the first episode because the male lead seemed like a man child and a jerk at first. Give it another 2 or 3 episodes. He is going to grow on you. Never have I ever seen such character development in any character. From doubting his integrity to becoming my most favourite male lead. Xu kai has done a phenomenal job in portraying Gu yan zhen. He was so expressive and genuine in his portrayal that I was rooting for him to have a happy ending. And the chemistry between Xu Kai and BaiLu is so strong that even with the lack of romantic scenes I could feel their bond and care for each other. I would love to watch these two pair up again. This drama had a strong supporting cast and none of them were annoying. I enjoyed the deep friendship and comradry between the characters and they had amazing chemistry as well. The casting of the drama is on point and well done. I love it so much. I can watch it anytime. This became one of my all time favourite. So good. I hope you do too. Won't regret binging again.

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I still miss them

When I started this drama, I was on a Bai Lu drama marathon. I had just finished watching The Legends with Bai Lu and XuKai as well. I started it and I was so hooked. I welcomed the new year alone while watching this one, no regrets.

Plot:
The whole story was very very unique and interesting. It is a period drama, taking place in the 1920s as Western culture was crossing over into the traditional Chinese culture. FL joins the Arsenal Military Academy disguised as a man, under the name of her brother who had once gone there as well but had already passed away. At the academy, she meets a group of guys who sort of became her cohorts. This includes the two MLs, and their friends, as well as a very bright guy who everyone loves. It follows their story and they go through things and eventually become a tight-knit group of friends and brothers. The characters ger very involved with the Japanese mafia and government, especially in this time period. FL keeps her identity hidden the majority of the show, only her best friend and the ML knows. There is a war going on so its a lot of government and military talk. It's not a pure romance drama. There is no kiss. It's very funny at the beginning and light-hearted but as you go on, it gets more and more intense. I cried a lot. If you've been watching dramas for a while and understand the way the writers think, you can kind of guess the outcomes of some of the characters. I guessed it and it still hurt when it happened.

Cast:
I loved the cast. Everyone was so perfect for their roles and did their part so well. BaiLu and XuKai have incredible chemistry. The second male lead was also really good. For the majority of the drama, I couldn't choose who I liked more and who I shipped. One of my favorite characters is the Qu ManTing. She seems like a spoiled actress and rich girl but she stands up for herself and will fight you if you do something to her or her friends. The main villain is played so so well. She makes you hate her so much.

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I know I'm late to the game, but I just finished watching it. Bai Lu, Xu Kai, and Toby Lee are always fantastic. This has my absolute favorite opening credit track of any CDrama I've seen so far. The story is engaging, the music is entertaining, and cast is fantastic. I love the fighting and that they acknowledge the fact that a female soldier would be physically weaker than a male soldier instead of going all GI Jane with the role. However, what I really want to talk about is Liu SiBo in this drama. I could not take my eyes off of him every time he was on the screen. Does he box in real life? If so I need to know how to watch that. ?

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Lovely Cast

Such a beautiful series. Every episode is worth watching as there are no fillers. Such an interesting plot as well. The actors and actresses gave their 100% performance. Of course, Xu Kai portrayed Gu Yan Zhen in a loveable way. His acting skills are truly at its excellence! I love Xu Kai! :)

Interestingly, all the characters are well developed as the story progresses. I love the camaraderies between the characters and how they love and willing to sacrifice themselves for their country.

The setting in the Republican era was well shown as the characters well well dressed, the props, and set were well prepared.

The overall story is a mixture of emotions from funny, drama, romance, and of course action.

Oh, not to mention the OST and the songs used in the series. I love the choice of songs.

Such a beautifully made series. You must take time to watch this interesting series.

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One of the Best Chinese Drama -- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

It's set in WW2 during pre Japanese war in China. A group of brats enrolled in Arsenal Military Academy and there was an exception student, Xie Liangchen. She enrolled in the military academy to replace her late brother and disguised as a man and later she became one of the most prominent students and form strong friendship with her comrades.

During the process in the academy she tried so hard to hide her identity and Gu Yanzheng who found out her identify gradually fell in love with her. Xu Kai and Bai Lu had good chemistry.

The drama also featuring good supporting roles and has good songs, good directing. It went by fast, not draggy at all. For Chinese drama rookies, this drama is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

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I have been on a HCD (historical chinese dramas) marathon lately, in view of the covid 19 situation and I dropped many titles midway through. I was either not contented with the romance or the episodes were filled with dreary political scenes, to simply put it, most were draggy. Perhaps I was so drawn to this drama was maybe because this is my first military chinese drama I haved ever watched. I must say that after watching a myriad of ancient dramas, watching a, more recent era, drama felt refreshing. The actors acted well in my opinion and I adored the relationship between Xie Xiang and Yan Zhen. However, warning, I did have second lead syndrome even after finishing the whole series. I also wished that the show could have showcased more of Shen Ting Bai and Qu Man Ting together. Needless to say, this was worth all those sleepless nights that I went through!

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Fast Paced, great romance and exciting

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2019 Chinese military, action, historical and romantic drama with 48, 45 minute episodes.

Xie Xiang (Bai Lu) always looked up to her older brother who aspired to join the miltary to defend the nation. When tragedy strikes and her brother is lost Xie Xiang decides to disguise herslef as a young man and join an elite military school in his stead. She feels she is honoring him by fulfilling his dream. Her new roomate Gu Yan Zhen (Xu Kai), is the son of a wealthy family and he immediately takes joy in teasing the slight young man who shares his room. Shen Jun Shan (Toby Lee) is a member of one of the wealthiest and most influential families and also decides to defend the small young man. As their training progresses the three form very strong bonds and both boys find themselves attracted to the Xie Xiang even as they are confused as they think she is a man. To further complicate this love triangle, Qu Manting (Wu Jiayi) takes a likeing to Gu Yanzhen and is not used to taking no for an answer. Through it all they, and their fellow army classmates, become friends and fight their way through many adventures as they seek to solve a deep root of corruption and espionage.

Spoiler Altert* I loved this one and the episodes really felt like they flew by because there was so much action around the main story it kept it interesting. It was very comical and even cringy at times as she tries to avoid being discovered and as the young men become confused and embarrassed about their sexuality. I would have rated it higher but there was one story line of some side characters that would have been very cute but it ended unnecessarily. There were also several pointless deaths. But the story was still very good, the romance very cute and well developed, and I would watch it again. I also recommend it to others who like the girl disguised as a boy storyline. It was cool to see her be such a strong soldier and not a whiny girl who needed saving. I really like my heroines to be capable of saving themselves. This did not disappoint. Great acting, great action - just great fun.

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Happy birthday Yan Zhen! You know what I mean.

USAFarmgirl wrote this on a Soompi forum, and I think she sums up my feelings about this drama well:

“Can't get this song [Enter a Dream] off my mind or this story...It's not just the amazing OTP or their chemistry which I love. There is something even greater here. 

Proving it's not about rich or poor what you have or don't have. 

It's about the person you are inside. 

That each person has their own story and a gift within them. Strengths and weaknesses, courage and fears. That no matter the differences when brought together for a greater cause all those differences disappear. 

It's a love and bond not of the romantic kind but it's beauty warms the heart through laughter and tears and for those who have experienced it. 

It's no wonder those memories last for years…”

I truly loved this drama.

When I was finished with Arsenal Military Academy, I was left with a feeling of melancholy, as though I had to walk off into my own sunset, hoping to cross paths with Xiang/Liang Chen and Yan Zhen. But as expected, my journey with them had to come to an end.

I read countless reviews and comments all over the web in regard to AMA. Therefore, when starting the drama, I was a bit scared. I was anticipating my self to get frustrated and disappointed. But I wasn’t. I finished this drama in less than 5 days.

Most people complain about the love triangles and lack of screen time and skinship between the main pair…but, I was never truly dissatisfied. The main pair was who I rooted for from beginning to end. The first 20 episodes (basic training episodes) have a good amount of screen time between the pair. They aren’t kissing or proclaiming their love for each other…but they don’t and didn’t need to. How Xiang/Liang Chen and Yan Zhen looked at each other was enough for me. When Xiang/Liang Chen interacted with Yan Zhen I felt as though the outer world ceased to exist for her. From the beginning of the show Yan Zhen was drawn to Xiang/Liang Chen (the camisole scene in episode 1 is a scene I go back to a lot).


As for Jun Shan and Xiang/Liang Chen, when they were stuck in the hole together, he comforted Xiang/Liang Chen like an older brother. I feel as though this scene would’ve looked a lot different with Yan Zhen. I feel as though there would’ve been a lot more tension, plus it would have been more sweet and endearing. But ML and FL weren’t meant for this scene. The scene Xiang/Liang Chen and Yan Zhen were meant for happened previous episodes (e.g. When Yan Zhen surprises Xiang/Liang Chen by visiting her family home on break and meets the ‘Rents. Or when they end up in the jail cell with those students).

Some argue that Jun Shan was a better match because he loved “Liang Chen” before he loved Xiang, which painted a more of unconditional love. Yet, that isn’t a fair argument. Who knows if Yan Zhen would have fallen for “Liang Chen” if he had never known Liang Chen was a girl until a lot later. What matters is that Yan Zhen fell for Xiang/Liang Chen first.

Another staple scene I must note is around the first couple episodes. When Jun Shan prevents Xiang/Liang Chen from falling into the hole during their first test assignment and he carries her to safety—that scene is juxtaposed with a scene involving Xiang/Liang Chen and her late brother. What that simply shows to me is that Xiang/Liang Chen did in fact see Jun Shan as a brother from the get go. Disregard later episodes between Jun Shan and Xiang/Liang Chen because Xiang/Liang Chen was always running away from him or thinking of Yan Zhen who continued to have her back. I didn’t like it when Jun Shan realized his feelings and that Liang Chen was Xiang, and as a result started to become a lot more domineering towards Xiang/Liang Chen in later episodes (especially when he told her, seemingly out of nowhere, to button up her shirt). Sometimes Xiang/Liang Chen seemed a little annoyed by his behavior.

As someone else noted, after episode 38, when Xiang/Liang Chen realizes her feelings for Yan Zhen, she started to treat him more like a boyfriend. I wonder if Yan Zhen started to realize that…regardless, they started holding hands a lot more with subtle touches and throwing their arms around each other.

But outside of the romance, I loved all the characters. Especially those in the squad (Xiang/Liang Chen, Yan Zhen, Jun Shan, Song, Jin, and Yanlin). When it came to completing missions, the squad reminded me of episodes and dynamics you’d see in/from USA shows like Burn Notice and Leverage. I wish they’d have more “spy mission” episodes. Even when Wen Zhong was part of the squad everyone had an important role; nothing ever seemed amiss.

But my favorite episode arc is starting from episode 31 and ending around episode 38 when both Sergeants are MIA. Which meant all the students had a bit more freedom, and Jun Shan was out of the picture temporarily due to injuries obtained from a previous episode. But what this arc also consisted of was Yan Zhen unashamedly proclaiming his love for Xiang two times (“Happy birthday Xie Liang Chen! You know what I mean!”) as his classmates silently accept the bizarreness of it all. And a lot more funny and baddie episodes. The squad (minus Jun Shan) continued to dominate as well.

Yet, what I wished for was that Song could have had a love interest (I was low key shipping him and Xiao Jun), or that he could have found out that Liang Chen was the girl he’d in fact fallen for. I also wished that those deleted scenes could have been put back in the show along with those alleged 90 minutes of omitted footage too. But I’m okay with what I’ve got. Wait, one more wish is that Jun Shan could have found someone in the end, and that we could have gotten more of Xiang and Yan Zhen after they walked into the sunset. Yet, what would’ve made another interesting story arc would have been maybe that Jun Shan had truly fallen for Ms. Oda.

Yet, I’ll miss:

- Yanlin’s need to always act first when in the face of injustice. He really brought it home in the last episode.
- Ji Jin’s funny face expressions and subtleties.
- Song’s goofiness and innocence. Also his “bromance” with Yan Zhen and Xiang.
- Jin’s loyalty to Jun Shan.
- Sergeant Guo’s drinking and coolness. He was the cool and laidback Sergeant when compared to Lu. And I found it funny when Wen Zhong told him Liang Chen was actually a girl and Guo didn’t bat an eye.
- Song’s love for eggs.
- The fight scenes. I loved the revenge episode (ep 44), and the fight scene between Xiang and Ms. Oda. Sword vs. Bamboo stick.
- Tingbao’s love for Manting (and Manting’s subtle loyalty to Tingbai).
- Wen Zhong’s bullying ways…Only because that’s when Yan Zhen was able to showcase that he had Xiang’s back a lot more (staple episode: When Wen Zhong wants to be petty and have Xiang/Liang Chen fail the “tag test”, but Yan Zhen prevents that).
- An Wen’s beautiful face and notebook of names and pictures.
- Xiao Yu’s and Sergeant Guo’s love story.
- Xiao Yu’s “sons” who she took off the street and loved dearly.
- Yan Zhen’s hairdo, comic relief, outfits, and “smizing”.
- Manting’s rebellious but dignified ways. She was really cool when it came to snark and one-uppery
- Xiang/Liang Chen’s pretty face.
- Mrs. Xie being Team Yan Zhen, and telling Xiang (“I like to call him Yan Zhen. It sounds friendlier”).
- Tingbai’s ghost of a smile and mischievousness.

And the funny thing is, I started comparing AMA (Yan Zhen and Xiang/Liang Chen) to my favorite OTPs. Heck, I might even get around to writing some AMA FanFiction.

All in all, AMA is a great coming of age story. If only to cross paths with Yan Zhen and Xiang again…I’ll definitely rewatch in the future.

Happy birthday Arsenal Military Academy! I’ll celebrate it again.

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A political military hilarious drama

This was my first time watching both Xu Kai and Bai Lu drama.
The story is set in Republican era of China showcasing both political and military tensions.
But the best part is the academy and fights between Gu yanzhen and Xie Xiang.
Xu Kai as Gu yanzhen acted very perfectly.He really made me laugh in some scenes.Gu yanzhen is very funny,teasing and humourous.
Bai Lu's acting as Xie Xiang is very good.
All the other cast outshined in their roles.
Overall it is a very good drama which make you laugh and ease your tensions.
I highly recommend this drama.

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The ideal length of this drama series I feel should be max 30 -35 episodes, however total length is 48 episodes. The backdrop and costumes were commendable as the production actually paid attention to details and most props were fitting to almost every scene. Their military school canteen scenes actually have real food which were the type of food that reflected that era!

What I like - the story telling from the moment she decided to join the military school to happening surrounding in the military school. The ML screen presence was very strong and every scene he was in was just pleasant to watch and he acts best when pairing with Bai Lu as they both make believable romance, comedy and comradeship between them.

Supporting casts were also giving it all too but unfortunately 2nd FL and 2nd ML couldn't deliver their roles well enough to create tension and jealousy to ML and FL.

What I dislike - the timeline of the drama was during Republican period in China and therefore it is unconventional to inject "idol drama" elements or style of shooting the drama.

Overall I enjoyed the drama. The best work of Xu Kai and Bai Lu pairing so far.

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those day's I was really obsessed with the gender bender genre so I surfed a lot in web to find this genre series but here they concentrated more on the War between China and Japan
- The character development between Gu Yanzhe and other supporting charaters where pretty lame
- the background musics they put was pretty good but became boring soon because they keep the same track fro the entire 48 episodes
- To be honest I expected to be a lot of Shoujo but there was no trace of any romantic interaction what I saw was him bulling her for the entire show it looked more like a friendship relationship
- When I finally found a character to get attached Shen Jushen they literally gave all hero like role's only to Gu Yenzhe by putting aside Shen Jushen
- Well for Xie Xeng I think yeah the female lead at the begging they gave her a lot of screen time it was fun to watch but the way everyone discovers her identity was pretty much boring
IN THE END AFTER EPIODE 25 I KEEP WATCHING IT SEE HOW WAS GOING TO END
I'm not saying I wasted my time but If I knew it was going to be this predictable story I would gently avoid it i Thought it would be something like
- To the Beautiful you
- Coffe Prince
- Bromance
- Scholarwho walk the night
- Fabulous boys

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