Rise from the Ashes (quick review)
Our heroine had been burnt alive by her husband in her past life, so when she is reborn, she decides to make her ex-husband suffer. After her horrific death, she deserves all the vengeance! But in this life she discovers something new: Her “young uncle” is actually an imposter and has a vendetta of his own. They decide to be partners in vengeance.
My thoughts
Me and mini-dramas. I gravitate towards them like moths to a flame. Maybe this is because I long to recapture the satisfaction I got from watching the famous mini drama, A Familiar Stranger, and to relive the satisfaction of binging a story in a day in a CDramaland of 40-episode dramas.
Unfortunately, Rise from the Ashes, isn’t it, though there are some aspects that makes it come tatalisingly close.
The good bits
- Above average camerawork and production quality for the genre.
- The leads are better than the average in this genre. In fact, I can say that the leads are better actors than those in many S-level dramas.
The bad bits
- Uneven tone. Humour intrudes at the strangest moments. Our heroine swerves from smart, vengeful queen to 撒娇 (sā jiāo) girlfriend. It’s like she’s Jekyll and Hyde, but Hyde is a cutesy aegyo, pouty female.
- Story with plot holes as big as a sinkhole. Half the time I have no idea how they got away with half the things they did. You disguise yourself as an uncle to a family, everyone remarks that you look so different and for some reason nobody questions your existence for most of the drama? I have a difficult time following their revenge plot.
- This is a typical rebirth revenge drama. I daresay that if I have not seen this trope far too many times, I would probably be more receptive to it. Dear Lord in Heaven, I’d be glad that Cdramaland gets tired of this because I certainly am.
Initially, I was attracted by the above average production, but I have to say, towards the end it felt very odd. Sure, people get their just deserts, but I found the path towards it rather weird and illogical.
Great if you don’t mind all those holes and just want to soak in the pretty, because there’s lots of it here.
Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
#1Star #CDrama #CDramas #ChineseDrama #CostumedDrama #ShortDrama
Drama Tea
A thinking meat
Jason Pettus 
