1i love the female lead. She's smart and determined without resorting to over the top "strong female lead" tropes.
the acting is pretty good but there are moments where Lin Liu Di shows he's not as good as his co-stars. it throws off the vibe but not much and not for long.
i love Chris Wu but here he feels a touch miscast, or maybe it's just the direction or his performance. the character seems to have wanted to be animated and lively, but Wu's portrayal is muted and occasionally joyless.
still a great drama though.
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This drama would have worked better as a movie
I chose this drama based solely on the poster, thinking I would get some suspense/horror/mystery drama…but I didn’tThe first three episodes were so slow, I almost drop it.
Nearly every character is so one-dimensional, it’s painful to watch: the plucky FL is plucky to the end, the suffering but righteous SML is righteous to the end.
The only character that I liked was the antagonist, but his only saving grace was the charisma of the actor who played him .
Chris Wu is another bright spot, but sadly after being used as a comic relief for the first few episodes, I wrote him off as a viable love interest, so when hints of a romance with the FL appeared, it felt forced and unnatural.
Practically the only characters that have a hint of complexity are the mother of the antagonist and her daughter, their confrontation in ep 5 was a breath of fresh air, unfortunately the emotional layers of these characters appeared too late for me to really care.
Finally, the "big revelation" comes and goes so quick that it leaves no impact whatsoever, and neither does the defeat of the antagonist. After all the built up of the mystery, the real killer basically outs themselfs in such a head-desk moment... and the last trace of goodwill I had for this drama went up in flames.
This is the classic case of a drama that doesn't know what it wants to be, it doesn't have enough horror elements for the genre, the mystery was mediocre at best, the comedy fell flat, and the romance just wasn't there.
The soundtrack made me want to fight whoever was in charge.
In short, a good drama to binge if you're reeeeeeally bored.
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Even though the drama setting did seem very "Hollywood" and it looked like they were filming on a film set the whole time (I didn't truly believe they were filming in the locations they were in, but at some lot in Hollywood), it was oddly charming. Everyone seemed like they were playing a character, rather than actually being the character....but not in a bad way. It is hard to explain, but as a person who loves watching wildly different films with completely unique styles from the director, producer, and cinematographer, I found this drama to be extremely charming. The only way to describe it...is my relationship with the movie Hail Caesar! with George Clooney and Channing Tatum (the only actors I can remember on the spot.) The whole film seemed very Hollywood (given that it was shot almost entirely on a Hollywood film set and most actors were....actors) and all the actors came off like they were actors playing a stereotypical character. Did I believe the actors portrayal of their characters. No. Did I love the film anyways? Yes. The film knew what it was, and it played to it, and I think it paid off. Much like this drama, I didn't believe in the characters being their characters, but I think that the actors themselves were very charming and likable, and the plot was super intriguing and well done, that I didn't care. I was sucked in within the first few minutes of ep 1.
The funny thing though is that, I didn't realize Netflix had the option of watching the drama in Mandarin as it was filmed, or in a few other languages dubbed. So I watched the first episode in Mandarin, and the remaining episodes in English (British) so it became almost a comedy to me, and everyone was in Asia, yet everyone had British accents, talking in slang. It was cringy and funny, and I had a great time. But I did go back and watch a few of my favorite scenes in Mandarin to see how the compared.
I loved most of the characters. I loved how Li Lan was very spunky, independent, driven, and familial. She would sacrifice herself in order for her family to be healthy and happy. She was selfish, but not in a bad way...in a way where she made sure everyone was happy and thriving while being able to achieve her dream. Also, she knew that she was allowed to be selfish, and other people should be as well, but not when they are replacing their dreams with something that they knew didn't compare. Er Lang was by far my favorite character in this drama from the moment we met him under a piece of furniture because he was "exhausted from housework and decided to take a nap." He was super comedic and driven as well, even if he was a little bit of a butthead in the beginning. I still liked him. Everyone seemed so proper in this drama and it was nice seeing someone as quirky as Li Lan, but in a male role. It's funny though. I had no idea if this was supposed to be a romance drama, but from the moment Li Lan encountered Er Lang, I shipped the pair. Then we have Li Lan's childhood sweetheart Tian Bai. He wasn't a terrible person. If anything, he had to go through and overcome a lot of personal challenges in order to be the person he wants to be, and not the heir to the family after his cousin's death. He wasn't a dislike-able character and would always accompany Li Lan whenever she was in any kind of trouble, but he did have a lot of issues that he needed to figure out himself before leading Li Lan on. Like Li Lan went through a lot of hardship in this drama, but I think Tian Bai was the reason for so much heartbreak. That is why I liked Er Lang. Both men are amazing people - they used their different strengths to help Li Lan and her fate as a ghost bride, but where Tian Bai always accompanied her, Er Lang would take action and him and Li Lan would work together and take action.
I've read a few reviews before writing mine, as well as before I decided to watch this drama, and they all said they same thing. The actor who played Tian Ching, Li Lan's dead husband and ruler of the "Underworld" or the realm of judgement, was flat and didn't compare to the other actors, but it was ok, because everyone else's "imdb" page has rows of experience, while this was homeboy's first drama. Which is fair, but I think he did an amazing job portraying a spoiled heir who had been poisoned and seeking revenge from his killer. It was weird though, because there were some scenes where he was supposed to be this scary ghost who haunts Li Lan, but there were some "tender" moments between them in the underworld, where it seemed that he genuinely cared about her. For weird reasons, but nonetheless, he seemed like he wanted companionship in a world that scared him as well (and it helps if it was someone he cared about in the human world as kids.) I almost felt bad for his character every time we saw him "out of his normal role" and it was hard to fully lean on one side for him. He was a horrible person who did whatever he wanted in order to get what he wanted, but he did seem to have some kind of heart. Even if it was a little one, he had one. If anything, I think his mother was the true villain in this drama, and I wasn't satisfied with her ending. It was almost like she was playing the victim, even though she was the one stirring the pot. She was allowing her son to act a certain way, making him feel like it was okay his entire life, and she had the audacity to act like she was a victim. That he must have been born the devil and even though she didn't help the cause, he was always going to end up that way regardless.
Which is why I am hoping for a season two. The ending of Volume 1 tied up nicely, but it was also open ended where they could and honestly should write for a second season. Maybe...we would get to see Tian Ching become a better person, helping Li Lan with another "life altering" situation because if there is a season two, we will 100% be going back to the underworld, even if not at first.
I 100% recommend this drama to someone who is looking for something completely different from the average romance drama. This drama also has elements of a budding romance, but it is about learning what love is and what kind of love you desire to have for the rest of your life. There isn't one road and love isn't just one thing. Everyone expresses love in a different way and sometimes the love you've always thought you wanted, isn't what you want now. Not that one person's way of love is better than the other, but sometimes you have figure out what love means to you and to find someone who will compliment that.
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This review may contain spoilers
I read the book a few months ago. I absolutely loved it. I enjoyed the drama, too, but the reason I felt that I could not rate it above an 8.5 is because I was left scratching my head as to why they changed some of what they did to the story.First off, let's talk about Er Lang. In the book, he was pretty badass. Like, could turn into a dragon badass. Was manly and herouc. I adore Chris Wu, but why in the world did they opt to make the character into such a low level weakling? I was greatly disappointed in that. Even if the special effects of making him turn into dragon would have been too expensive, couldn't they have made him still be a strong, competant male lead? What is up with the wuss factor?
Second, I have no clue why they opted to have all the supernatural elements be known to the mortal characters. Like, Li Lan and Er Lang just tell everyone and are totally believed, not questioned and no one thinks they are crazy at all. I also can't understand why they made Li Lan's father a victim when that never happened in the book. I can get why they cut out him being an opium addict, but why make him go to the netherworld? In the book, it just her.
Next up, the main villian from the book is turned into a woman and turned into a very minor character. The main villian is turned into Tian Ching. In the book, he is an idiot and a pawn, though I must admit that he is written much more interesting here. I also hope to see more of the actor.
Then there is Isobel. In the book, she is not even a character, really. She is just someone Tian Bai had feelings for in Hong Kong. Here, they made her a jealous second female lead and a villian. In the book, she is hardly mentioned it all.
The last thing I am disappointed in is the absence of an imortant character, a villian female ghost and a huge part of the plotline at the end. It really made the story much more interesting and without her in the drama at all, it felt like a huge chunk was missing in the plot.
Despite my complaints, however, I did enjoy the drama overall. If you haven't read the book, none of these is likely to concern you or affect your opinion of the drama. The acting was top notch, the story solid (though made very formulatic and predicible, imo) and the visuals are awesome. Very creepy, with the music was hauting and chilling. I do reccommend it highly, despite my qualms with it. Perhaps if they had a bigger budget and could have added more episodes, the story could have remained more faithful to the original work.
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Sadly the execution wasn’t exactly to my tastes. The first 3 episodes are very much a murder mystery with the fantasy elements super understated. Then for the last 3 episodes, those two themes are switched. As someone drawn in by the trailer promising ghosts and supernatural shenanigans, I found myself skipping through a lot of the beginning as it didn’t match my expectations. Still, if you read this & go into the series knowing what it’ll be like maybe you’ll enjoy it more!
The story was serviceable, with some highs (Li Lan x Er Lang interactions) and some lows (the second-male lead and his whole side plot? I didn’t care) and the highlights for me were definitely our two leads who have an easy banter that makes their chemistry pop and the show’s villain who was over-the-top in the most fun way (also has gorgeous hair & gorgeous clothes).
I recommend for anyone who enjoys fantasy elements or ghost stories but doesn’t want to be scared. Oth murder mystery thread running through the whole thing could be your thing! To round it off, Li Lan, our lead, is witty and sharp who holds her own even when the going gets tough.
Enjoyable and short enough that it’s the perfect choice for newcomers to the genre to dip their toe!
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the villain is eye candy
I stumbled upon this on Netflix and I was intrigued by the trailer. If you enjoyed the trailer, I think you’ll like The Ghost Bride!I went into it not taking it seriously, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the acting. I would say that the story gets a bit off track because it felt rushed towards the end. Despite the fault with the story, it was immersive enough for me to keep watching until the end. Nevertheless, it was a fun drama to watch (and you get to see the cute villain).
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I think this show balances its tone very well. It's got horror elements, a mystery, some romance, some drama, some humorous scenes and heartwarming moments. It doesn't veer off too far into any of them, so nothing feels particularly jarring. I almost wish this show was a bit more dark, but that probably would've taken away from some other elements that I really enjoyed.
The two characters I enjoyed the most were Li Lan and Er Lang. Er Lang in particular gets some great character development; he's the trickster-type character, who is outwardly self-serving but ends up being sensitive to how he affects other people. Not only to our lead protagonist, Li Lan, but with others as well, which I think rounds him out well as a character. Li Lan is also a great lead protagonist; she's strong, but more in the sense of having inner strength and resolve. She's very compassionate, and while I would occasionally disagree with decisions she made I recognized that it wouldn't make sense for her as a character to act differently.
I wish this show had a slightly bigger budget so it could improve some of the special effects, and also expand upon some of the sets, which seemed kind of small (like the downtown area, which appeared to be like one street). A lot of the characters don't get a lot of development, but the show is short and it focused on telling the story, which is what it should have done. Besides, Li Lan and Er Lang got plenty of development and it was very satisfying. I loved their adventures together! I hope there's a second season so we can continue to see them go on adventures.
I made a fun powerpoint about it if you’re interested: https://kdramakitty.tumblr.com/post/190884435519
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This review may contain spoilers
The moment that I find out about the setting of the story and the fact it's written by a Malaysian author made me want to watch this drama. That said, the concept about ghost bride is something you can see often in a lot of East Asian mythologies and I was curious at how that would come to play here. Loved the Peranakan setting and the fact that it was set in 1980s Malaya. Aside from the supernatural elements, there was a touch of mystery involving Li Lan's mission to find out the truth about Tian Ching's murder (in order for her to save her father) as well as Er Lang's mission. Overall, the drama is quite good and entertaining. And if you're a Malaysian, you'll appreciate a lot of the little bits of local 'inside jokes' that come out occasionally.
I loved the casting for the drama. If you didn't know any better, you'd think everyone there (who're Chinese) were local people. Even when some of the main cast were actually Taiwanese etc. While there are some details in the drama that runs differently than in the original novel, the drama still manages to convey an enjoyable story. I love the attention to detail in the Peranakan culture, Malay culture as well as the culture of people from that time, it even had that quality you get from Yasmin Ahmad movies.
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Li Lan got into a kind of Beauty and the Beast situation saving her dad. I'm pleasantly surprised by the humor and the slow burn romance which was done well, and totally ship it! Admittedly, the drama can be thought of as Li Lan choosing between 3 unlikely suitors lol.
I adore the distinct Malay-Chi identity of the drama. We may be from different cultures, but I felt a familiar bond in timeless practices like serving food and burning incense for loved ones to still care for them even beyond death. The Ghost Bride just portrays a theme of love that transcends culture and mortality.
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It’s worth your time!
I will start this review with the fact that I wasn’t expecting to like this short series as much as I do after first reading the reviews.It started very slow at least for me, I couldn’t figure it out if I should continue watching it or no, but believe me that after 3rd episode you will be so engaged in the story that you wouldn’t want it to finish.
The first thing that hooked me up was the soundtrack (that I am still looking for), the actors played very well, and I kinda shipped the main actress with all three of them, but of course my favorite would be the guardian.
No spoilers but I cried so much at the end, for me it was a perfect story...wish it was longer...
So watch it, in my opinion this mini series is absolutely amazing!
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The main duo’s bickering was hilarious and their chemistry wonderful. And the ending open enough for a possible continuation. I loved the Netherworld setting, it was very moody. The story worked really well with themes like reincarnation, grief and letting go. Quite unexpectedly, I loved the character development of the villain’s family, the “evil” mother and her neglected stepdaughter’s relationship. That? Was very unusual, how it turned out. And I loved it.
Apparently, this series is based on a book and a movie and those who loved them, hated the series, it seems. But since I didn’t read the book nor did I see the movie, I didn’t care. Personally, I liked it. It’s definitely one of the best TW dramas I’ve seen.
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