C-Drama Review: The Golden Eyes (黄金瞳)

March 9, 2019April 24, 2019 by eastasianlover ♥ 7 Comments

Edit: Updated the review to rant about it. The earlier review was till ep 12 and I really liked the concept till then, although there were flaws. 50 eps later, I am so disappointed that I can’t even bring myself to watch the finale. But I have read enough spoilers to know what happens and hence can complete this review. Also, note that I have changed it from reco to review unfortunately.

Updated Review

Okay people, results are in and the verdict is that this drama sucks. From plot being all over the place to less to no character development, I am just honestly so sad for this drama. It had great potential. At this point of time, I can’t even say if it had an excess of episodes and they stretched the story quite a bit or if there were too few episodes that they could’ve done better if they gave time to each character. I am just speechless at the bad quality of plot.

For plot, please read the original review below.

As I have said in some later post, I hate it when the scriptwriters think of the audience as fools. In this story, anything and everything happens. One moment the MC is acting so foolish that the truth is laying before him but he refuses to believe it, the other moment, he becomes so intelligent that most villainous person cannot escape his schemes.

The villains in this story are so torn between their feelings for MC (our typical kindest guy you’ll ever see) and their greed that they cannot really choose a side till the end. One can argue that it’s the actual human nature but in the end you have to choose a side. And till the end, you just cannot make out what’s gonna happen with whom.

My Google search terms tell me that there is a novel for this series and I would really like to read it to know if the drama did justice to the novel or not. If they did, then I am sorry to say, but please choose better plots to convert to drama.

Anyway, as I said, I am quite disappointed by the fact that Zhang Yixing would choose such a lacking script. If he did it just because the MC follows the same life philosophy as him, then I am sorry, gonna stay away from his other dramas from now. I personally think the producers of this drama were trying to ride the wave of popularity of media related to tomb raiding. And they probably succeeded because a lot of reviews I read on Viki really appreciate the drama.

Heck it doesn’t even look like tomb raiding because you cannot find a single cobweb in the tombs shown in this drama. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE? Those tombs are supposed to be laying there for thousands of years. If you can show blood sucking creatures there, how come the paths to the tombs are without any spiders even? Common sense?

I really appreciate adaptations of Daomu Biji series (The Mystic Nine, The Lost Tomb and The Tomb at the Sea) for this. They at least took care of such details, even if their graphics were lacking. The Tomb at the Sea is doing great in that aspect as well. Although that is another series I need to rant about.

But seriously, my rating fell from 7/10 to -100/10. Please do not watch if you cannot bear plot holes. Oh wait, this plot in itself is a hole, a black hole of frustration.

Actually, you know what, the whole premise itself is something that I don’t understand. The rich heiress sent thieves in a pawnshop to steal a worthless piece of jade. This is the first episode. The jade breaks and injures our MC giving him the golden eyes. If the girl was so rich, she could’ve just bought it. Why send thieves. OMG, what a realization!!

So, in the end, only good thing about the series remains the identity of actual villain. You just won’t ever imagine that they were the people behind whole drama in MC’s life. Anyway, I’ll directly skip to last episode maybe and watch it at 4x speed just for myself, that I actually finished the series lol. Read for the plot and everything else below. I’ve edited my conclusion and final feelings section as well. And I would really like to apologize to people who read my earlier review and started the series already.

Original Review

I was trying to refrain from posting the review before the drama was fully released. B-but I just could not stop myself. As I said in my last post, my two tomb raiding posts are popular as ever. And I have been on lookout for similar kind of dramas and novels. And I am sure my readers are dying to find similar stuff as well.

Unfortunately, there is so much dearth of entertainment media like this. So, although this drama is still being subbed, putting my trust in Zhang Yixing’s fans, I decided to review this drama. Let’s begin.

I watched the trailer for the golden eyes in another C-drama I was watching last year. Well, it’s the combination of Zhang Yixing and oriental mystery, so why not.

Except that I completely forgot about it till now and stumbled across it again 4 days back. As expected, I finished 7 eps released in 2 days and have been following the releases since then. And of course, thoroughly enjoyed the marathon. However, the drama comes with its usual annoyances.

The drama follows Zhuang Rui (Zhang Yixing), a simple and naive worker at a pawnshop, who has a degree in history and archaeology from Peking University. One day, some people broke into his employer’s shop and tried to steal an antique piece in shape of the eye made out of jade stone. By accident, the piece shatters and injures Zhuang Rui’s eyes, only to gift him with the golden eyes, eyes that can see through everything.

He ends up using his newly found power to do antique and jade business, archaeologically exploring tombs and learning about stuff along the way and meeting all sorts of people; people, who seem friends but might not really be and vice versa as well.

He also gets to know about his long lost family it seems. Apparently, there should exist a dragon clan where two people also possess the same pair of eyes, but they haven’t been introduced till 11th episode, so I cannot say. (Edit: no dragon clan till 50th episode, sorry.)

Now, the plus points. I really enjoy Zhang Yixing’s acting (not a new thing, I guess my readers must have become accustomed to it by now). The story has been okay so far, slow to develop but the mystery is still there and the characters are developing slowly but at a good pace.

Graphics have been great despite it being an iQiyi drama. And music is absolutely fantastic, background music goes so well with the situations and some of the trot songs used are such honey to the ears.

And I also like the subtle comedy the drama puts in between which doesn’t look too forced given how serious some situations can become when the main villain and the protagonist interact. Oh yeah, this drama also has a lot of face slapping. Since our Zhuang Rui sees it all, he doesn’t give any face to the cheaters in the business.

But, as I said, the drama is not devoid of its flaws as C-dramas usually all have. First is some of the poorly written characters, especially females. There is this policewoman who is always on Zhuang Rui’s case for some reason. I see this character becoming the main love interest of Zhuang Rui in future.

But for now, the character is absolutely trash. The lady, despite being a policewoman has absolutely no skills of a detective. It seems to be a character there just for the sake of it. I hope they give her some more substance otherwise she’ll just remain as an annoying b**** despite having such a great potential.

The other female character, Bing Bing, she’s supposed to be heir to some very rich person, but she doesn’t exude that charm or elegance of a rich heiress at all. All she does is give orders to this one underling and just overall, trying to avoid the villain guy who’s set to make her his girlfriend. Like please give her something else to do, eh?

Same with all the professor characters. They’re not annoying but might use some more development. Since I am writing the review based on 12 episodes out of 56, I do hope my wish comes true. And that they properly finish the story this time rather than hanging us audience with the hopes of a second season that would never happen. I will make sure to update this review once the drama finishes.

Conclusion: Changing from original highly recommended to don’t watch it for your sanity. It might satiate people still struggling with withdrawal symptoms from The Mystic Nine and The Lost Tomb (I do hope they sub the sequel in Lao Jiu Men series, The Tomb of The Sea soon). But this drama pales in comparison to other two (and I really did not like The Lost Tomb that much either, trust me).

You would only like it if you can ignore the plot and just wanna look at Zhang Yixing’s acting in the main role, supposedly action. I personally felt like it was a waste of time to invest myself in this drama. Do comment how you would rate it.

Final feelings: (◣_◢)

Watch here: The Golden Eyes on Viki

Personal Front: I am running late with the schedule again! Actually, I went for getting my driving learner’s permit today, and it being a weekend, there was just too much crowd at the center. And I didn’t even get it because I still don’t have my new authorization card. Ugh, life is tough in another country. And I really wanted my learner’s permit today so I could practice driving and get my license by the end of the month TT_TT

Anyway, since I and my friend went too early in the morning, I came back and slept for like 4 hours. I could have prepared my post in advance, but last few days have been really hectic somehow. It’s the tax season in US and so it’s been more busy. Gathering all the documents, ensuring everything is in correct order and then sending them away is not easy after all. I hope all my US readers get huge tax refunds.

I don’t think I have anything really exciting to tell other than I almost got my learner’s driving license but just at the last stage, I could not. See you guys next week then!

Today’s song: I got one from the drama and really really love it:

C-Variety Reco: Idol Producer (偶像练习生)

February 9, 2019 by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

To the uninitiated, as the name suggests, it is a show where 101 trainees from different idol companies in China compete to grab a spot in a 9 members group. They get training from the trainers of the show and through weekly missions, they show their talents to the viewers. And the viewers then vote for their favorite trainees.

Now that we have got that out of way, I am pretty sure fans of Korean Produce 101 series would bash me for recommending a blatant copy of the concept, but hear me out. There are two types of copies according to yours truly, one which fails to even be at par with the original and another that surpasses the original.

I claim that Idol producer belongs to the latter category. There are tons of idol/ singer/ rapper producing shows in the world, why this one you ask? First, as you guys might already know that I am a big fan of Zhang Yixing’s philosophy and attitude towards life, which is also portrayed in his book Standing Firm at 24.

This show draws on that philosophy and starts with very inspiring quotes and flashbacks on idol lives. I would rather say it’s replete with those kind of moments, where you just cannot help but be so encouraged that you wanna start working hard right at that moment. If you’re looking for some inspiration, please do watch it.

Second, the editing. Mnet of South Korea has been criticized heavily for their evil editing, where they portray a few trainees as a character who either are unhelpful or rude or something. Then those trainees get bashed a lot for no reason and then either they’re eliminated or rank very low even with great talents (Yoo Yeon Jung from I.O.I. anyone?)

The editing here is funny. Like I am laughing just thinking about the show lol. It’s full of comedy. I haven’t seen any trainee in bad light, even once. Plus their background music and the funny subtitles add icing on the cake. All these elements come together to become such a comic spectacular (Did I praise it too much?)

Sure, producers and directors are biased towards some popular trainees and they get even more screen time, but where does that not happen? ~~I even suspect that they already have some people in their minds to debut and hence show them more on purpose~~.

Anyway, third is handsome bois *drools*. I am sorry, but apart from the 101 trainees in the show, the mentor themselves are so handsome and so….. handsome (Li Ronghao (❤ω❤) ). Not to forget Zhang Yixing. First season features Got7’s Jackson and pretty Kyulkyung and Cheng Xiao as mentors. Second season has got Xu Minghao from Seventeen and prettiest ever Jolin Tsai. Anyway, let’s not get into personal reasons here, shall we? ヽ(￣～￣　)ノ

I definitely dig the combo of inspiring and comedy when it comes to variety shows, or any other drama for that matter. It has helped me go through some of the toughest times in my life. And I would gladly come back to this particular show if, God forbids, I go through such times again.

Conclusion: So, my dear readers, if you’re lacking some encouragement in your life or are depressed about small stuff, do give this show a try. I guarantee that by the end of the show, something inside you would have changed. The best part is that it is entirely available on YouTube.

Final feelings about the show: (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

More info: This show has a second season going on right now called Youth Has You(?) ( 青春有你). Three episodes out currently, it is as good as season 1.

Watch here: They had the whole thing english subbed on youtube and I cannot find it. But the same people have those uploaded onto FB. Here: Watch Idol Producer Season 1.
On their Youtube channel, there is a lot of content, so I am linking it here as well, just in case anyone is interested: Idol Producer Subs Channel on YouTube.
And here is season 2: Qing Chun You Ni Subs 2.

Personal Talk: Did you guys notice the change in the format of my posts? There aren’t enough yet to notice any pattern or anything but I am hoping to set a schedule, so that people who are not interested in one particular type can easily enjoy others, albeit it will work on the condition that I write regularly. I am hoping to keep the schedule as follows:
Saturday 1: Webnovels
Saturday 2: Dramas
Saturday 3: Webtoons/ Manga
Saturday 4: Anime
Saturday 5 (If any): Personal update/ Travel posts/ QnA if I receive any (If you guys have any questions to ask me, please do comment or send me at eastasianlover@gmail.com).

Today’s song: It’s hard to be searching for a song when I am not listening to any right now! Since we’re talking about idol producer, let’s go with a song I liked from here (It is actually Jolin Tsai’s classic and I love the original better. Original after this rendition):

C-Drama Review: The Mystic Nine (老九门)

July 12, 2017 by eastasianlover ♥ 5 Comments

And I bring another Chinese mystery drama based on another acclaimed novel. And supposedly the drama again did not live up to the expectations of novel readers (At this point of time, I am not sure if the novel for this drama exists or not. But its sequel does have one, for sure! It might be that there are references of this story in the actual novel of the sequel but still, I need to do more research).

This time it’s just a review because of too many loopholes in the plot and lack of good graphics. But the sequel, which I’ll review next week, suffers from the latter problem so much I would rather appreciate the graphics of Mystic Nine, lol. So, review is mainly because of the plot. Also, I am suffering from the drama withdrawal symptoms even after all the rant I am gonna write. Gimme novel, or next season or whatever, just give me something ;-;

Plot: If I am going to write the plot out, it will take too much of space, because it is mystic ‘nine’ after all. So, I’ll try to be as precise and understandable as possible. The mystic nine is set in early 1900s. Changsha is ruled by 9 families called old 9 gates. The head of these nine gates Zhang Qi Shan, also called Fo Ye (The Head of the First family, played by William Chan) is also the defense chief of the city.

Mystic 9 4 William Chan — The supercool mysterious guy, Fo Ye, perfectly portrayed by William Chan

One day, a mysterious train stops at the station of the city with dead bodies of Japanese people and coffins inside the train. He researches and finds out that this is related to the peculiar mines just outside the city. He wants to enlist the help of Er Ye (The head of the Second family, played by Zhang Yixing), because his family has a history of tomb raiding and the knowledge of those unknown secrets runs deep in their family. But Er Ye has given up that family business in order to receive good blessing for his ill wife Ya Tou. Hence, he works as Chinese Opera singer these days. They come across a magical medicine being auctioned at some other place which might save Ya Tou. So, Fo Ye helps Er Ye to get that medicine, staking his family fortune so that he could convince Er Ye to help him with regards to those mines. Er Ye indeed helps him uncover the truth, but the truth is far more complex than it seems.

Mystic 9 5 Zhang Yixing Er Ye Ya Tou — The sad and dragged part of the series

The mines are not only ancient tombs of some of the greatest poets of China but they contain something which Japanese people want and hence, they have been doing some experiments in and around the caves. Fo Ye, with the help of Er Ye, and other gates, tries to find out the truth behind the mines and the Japanese conspiracy.

Now, the plot is what actually drew me in. I have never seen anything related to tomb raiding. It was scary but exhilarating to watch. I actually watched the sequel to this drama called The Lost Tomb first. Although I did not like that one much owing to non-existent plot just like this one and horrible graphics, just the tomb raiding part kept me going on with these two. Not to mention the handsome guys to fangirl on ❤

However, the plot has so many problems with it, I cannot even count. I’ll explain those later in the post.

Characters: Characters are amazing but not so amazing. Fo Ye is the ultimate person and sees the most character development. From the most rigid personality who keeps the country above anything to the warmest of husband after he falls in love with Yin Xinyue (played by Zhao Liying), William has done quite a good job. My favorite character however is Lieutenant Zhang, right hand man of Fo Ye. His one smile melts the heart of girls in an instant. Oops, fangirling mode on again. His character is loyal and intelligent.

Mystic 9 9 Zhang Ming En — THE Lieutenant Zhang ❤

Er Ye is proficient in martial arts but is too blinded by his love for his wife. So much that major part of the 48 episodes goes into his reminiscing about her after her death and his hallucinations about her. And that gets boring, like really boring. Anyway, next character is Ba Ye, the head of eighth family in nine gates. He is a great fortune teller and becomes a kid in behaviour when he is near Fo Ye. Some times, you as an audience feel like sewing his mouth shut so that he could not whine. However, he is as helpful in the whole series as Er Ye. He is not shown with any family attachments in the series.

Now since, this is about nine families and is set into war period, it’s natural to have tons of important characters, nine being the heads of the nine families. I am pretty sure, given the popularity of the novels, too many cooks did not spoil the broth here after all. But drama does not do justice to all the characters. While the title is nine gates, the other gates gain importance only in last few episodes. Except that the evil disciple of Er Ye forcefully takes up the seat of Si Ye (The Fourth) and the seventh gate, the shrewd Huo girl, joins hands with Japanese earlier in the series, only to find her family reputation in jeopardy because of her actions.

Speaking of females, the two most important females of the series are Ya Tou and Xin Yue. Ya Tou is wife of Er Ye and is sick with an unknown illness for the major part of the series. Not much to her character. Xin Yue is daughter of the hotel where the auction for that magical medicine takes place and is really irritating in the beginning. As the series goes on, she becomes one of the most likable and clever character. There are more pretty female characters essential to the plot.

Mystic 9 7 Chem — Aiyo, the chemistry between them ❤

Mystic 9 11 — Though, I think she’s the prettiest in the drama

When there is so much evil in the series, there are definitely evil characters. There is this whole Japanese part to the series. And these characters have their own share of screen time, unnecessarily so. I skipped most of the part of their discussions, which saved me almost half of the time I spent on the series watching. And I advise the same to everyone who is watching or planning to do so, especially in the second half of the series. Not gonna spend time on explaining those.

Bad things: My biggest complaint is with the plot. The problem is, the story is all over the place. As with ‘Decoded‘ some side plot is started, and it gets lost somewhere, starting another story, just to abandon it again. Viewers are left with so many whys and hows at the end, it’s unbearable. The mystery of mines isn’t solved till the end, for obvious reasons since it sets the premises of whole story. But in the last episodes they just mention it once, and lo, finished. Similarly, there are supposed to be thousands of traps inside the mines, but in the end, anyone could enter them just like that like where did the need of Er Ye’s family go now? And this is just starting of the list.

Also, some of the graphics are like those kids shows with fairies and magic of the 90s. Heck, even their graphics were better than some of the tomb stuff shown in here. And this drama was made in 2016. I expected more, but given the intricate details of mines and caves, I wouldn’t complain much here. Those rants I’ll save for next week.

Good things: I should start writing good things first. Anyway, I was about to give up on the series halfway through after reading all those awful comments from hurt viewers. But I persisted. So, I guess it’s best if someone reaches the good things after my whining about the flaws. It would mean the series is for you. I loved the tomb raiding part. I kept watching the series because I knew more adventures were coming. They had to enter that mine again and again anyway.

Mystic 9 6 William Chan — The suffocating mines enough to make you claustrophobic

I also liked the usual politics and games. However, there wasn’t much evil in the evil characters to be honest. Not much psychological warfare either. Ugh. Another good thing for all the females is number of good looking males in the series, and I am not even talking about Zhang Yixing.

This was the first series I watched starring William Chan and he suited the character well. And the rare occasions when he smiled *melting away*. Same with Lieutenant Zhang. To think that guy is just 22 years old in real life! Zhang Yixing needs to be just Zhang Yixing, he’s perfect like that. The beauty when he transforms into the opera singer, I was mesmerized. Ba Ye is not bad looking either but well, his character is a bit maddening.

Mystic 9 14 Zhang Ming Er — That smile ❤

Music! Music is incredible as well. I am still listening to the opening and ending themes, and plan to do so until some new song grows on me. Background music is not as dramatic to make an impact but goes well with the situations. And costumes! I love this thing about period dramas, you get to see those historical elegant dresses, not only for women but men as well. Also, the mansions! The amazing stuff!!

And of course, action. Being from Wuxia genre, it has plenty of martial arts scenes, amazing stuff at that. Probably people who are familiar with wuxia genre, might find it bland, but this being my one of the first series in the genre, I loved it. It was not over the top, so felt a bit real at least.

Other things: I am still so furious that I did not get to see this through the end, like every fan who is patiently waiting for a season 2. But the demand is the same characters which is next to impossible. The ending was ok, people who have read the novels know better. Which makes me want to read them as well. Again, as a standalone drama, its ending was an open ended one.

Mystic 9 10 — I love it but I hate it! These bloody villains again >.>

You can watch the drama with English subtitles here: The Mystic Nine Eng Sub on Facebook

Today’s song(s): I am gonna post my newest obsession(s) here:

Happy tomb raiding everyone!

The Joys and Worries of an East Asia Lover

The name says it all!

Tag: Zhang Yixing

C-Drama Review: The Golden Eyes (黄金瞳)

C-Variety Reco: Idol Producer (偶像练习生)

C-Drama Review: The Mystic Nine (老九门)

Recommend to your friends

Recommend to your friends

Recommend to your friends