Kill My Sins review

Kill My Sins stood out to me because it is an original script and is played by more mature actors. This is unique in the realm of Chinese costumed dramas.

Tip: You can read my episode-by-episode detailed analysis of Kill My Sins while watching it.

The story

The wandering physician Ye Ping An arrives in Chang’an to set up a clinic where she quickly earns a reputation as a witch for her mysterious treatments. When she gets accused of murder, the ruthless magistrate Yuan Shao Cheng, a low-born man who is quickly rising the ranks of power, sets his eyes on her. But he doesn’t realise that this is part of Ping An’s 18-year journey of revenge.

Characters

Ye Ping An (played by Liu Shi Shi): A physician specializing in psychological conditions, but seen as a witch by most.

Yuan Shao Cheng (played by Shawn Dou): A ruthless official in the Justice department who is eager to cement his power and gain more power.

Wu An Kang (played by Zheng Ye Cheng): An accomplished general who is loyal to the Emperor, and is a scion of the prominent Wu family.

Lu Dan Xin (played by Xuan Lu): Ping’an’s loyal friend and fellow sleuth who is focused on seeking revenge.

Cai Lan (played by Ding Jie): Another friend of Ping’an who is also seeking justice for wronged women.

What I liked

What I didn’t like

Thoughts about the ending

Kill My Sins ended very satisfyingly, with most threads tied, and our hero and heroine safe after achieving their goals. One can’t wish for more! (Well, okay, maybe a less rushed story.)

Sure, I wished romance happened between them, but I think they would’ve gotten into each other’s way. I think love would’ve complicated their already difficult missions and it would’ve made it almost typical in terms of plot.

Conclusion

Ultimately, this drama is a tale of how people who started out with honourable intentions, who can be defined as “good” people, ended up losing their way and causing much evil.

Sure, this drama was topsy-turvy in many ways, with the first 7 episodes being so overwhelming that those not committed to figuring out the tale ended up dropping off.

I also think original scripts like these should be celebrated.

For so long, Cdramaland depended on webnovels to adapt, and this is something I grieved. Because, honestly, not every webnovel should be turned into a TV series.

Although this drama wasn’t perfect, it showed us that CDramaland is still capable of producing original, non-webnovel adapted work, so I hope they continue to produce these.

Final rating: 3 out of 5

#3Stars #CDrama #CDramas #ChineseDrama #CostumedDrama #KillMySins #LiuShiShi #ShaunDou #TV

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Yet another re-read. This isn't my favourite in the series, I didn't find the story quite as enjoyable, and miss ART. However, Murderbot continues to be unacceptably relatable. "I needed to have an emotion in private." You and me both, Murderbot. ★★★☆☆

#Books #BookReview #3stars

Black Woods, Blue Sky

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free of charge for review purposes only. Receipt of a book does not guarantee a review or endorsement.

Birdie works at a remote Alaskan lodge, leaving her young daughter alone while she works late for tips. Works late and parties too, while she’s at it. When she takes it too far one night, she’s moved to the day shift. There she meets Arthur, a […]

#3Stars #blackWoodsBlueSky #eowynIvey #Review

https://www.curiositykilledthebookworm.net/2025/01/black-woods-blue-sky/

Judge Dee’s Mystery

Judge Dee’s Mystery is inspired by the character Di Renjie (Judge Dee), based on a real-life, celebrated judge during the Tang Dynasty.

The character first appeared in the anonymously authored 18th-century Chinese novel, Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (狄公案; Dí Gōng Àn).

Around the 1940s, Dutch diplomat Robert Van Gulik came across the book in a second-hand bookstore in Tokyo and translated it into English. He later wrote his own Di Renjie stories.

The character became even more renowned after filmmaker Tsui Hark’s made the acclaimed Detective Dee films.

This drama starts at the very beginning before Di Renjie becomes that renowned detective. We see how he develops into the official revered for his detective skills.

In this adaptation, he is a man haunted by a tragic past. After being implicated for a crime, he volunteers to solve it. Thus, begins his career as a famous detective.

What I liked

• Zhang Yi We’s charismatic presence as Di Renjie. I can’t tear my eyes away from him. He may not play a “traditional” version of Di Ren Jie, but I sure love his wuxia, broody version. One of the pet peeves I have is seeing reviews that state that they avoided the drama because “the male lead wasn’t attractive”. To me, he’s a real man with imperfections. He looked like a man who had seen and been through things. He may not be idol-pretty, but he is real-world manly.
• Unlike many people, I didn’t mind that the writers messed with the traditional depiction of Di Renjie in film. (Most adaptations depict him as sly, witty and sometimes even a bit of a bumbling (pretend) idiot.) I liked that they explored his origin story here. It is tragic, sad and filled with mystery.
• Bonus mention: The actress who played Empress Wu Zetian is appropriately intimidating and regal.
• The romance between Di Ren Jie and Cao An is endearing. Di Ren Jie is so lousy when it comes to romance that it is cute to see his comrades stepping in to intervene for him. If Hong Liang (his mentor and old manservant) hadn’t stepped in at one point of the story, it may very well be that they would never be together.
• The Zhang Ruoyun arc! I must say he really added “life” to the drama. (In case you’re wondering, Zhang Rouyun is the lead actor of the critically-acclaimed Joy of Life, which propelled him to fame.) Rouyun’s character, so mysterious, shady and ultimately, shocking, gave the drama a big shot of electricity that it needed.
• The cinematography, the acting—chef’s kiss.

What I didn’t like

• The female sidekick is very annoying and often causes more trouble for the team than help them.
• The mysteries are rather … unmemorable and bland.
• Despite loving the production quality, acting, the cases … somehow the drama lacked the emotional “oomph” that makes a drama addictive. I’m not exactly sure why this is. My theory is that while the production and acting is technically good, many of the characters felt bland and colourless, even Di Renjie. The writing does not move us to really connect with the characters.
• Certain elements were revealed far to late in the story. This lessened the impact of pivotal arcs, especially the second last arc.
• They never revealed why Di Ren Jie’s father did what he did in episode one. Hopefully they’d give more clues in Part 2 besides Di’s sad memories of the event.

This was supposed to be Youku’s Big Drama of the Year, but for some reason it fell flat. I’m not entirely show why as it’s a well-made drama.

However, if you loved Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty, you will enjoy this. It wasn’t the big blockbuster hit that I’d hoped but it is definitely better than the average fare that came out in January and February this year.

Final rating: 3 out of 5

#3Stars #CDrama #China #ChineseDrama #CostumedDrama #DetectiveDee #DiRenjie #TV

With You (review)

With You is an anthology of stories about life in China right before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The drama is set against the backdrop of the pandemic and focuses on the struggles and challenges faced by individuals, families, and communities as they navigate the uncertainties brought about by the pandemic.

Here are my favourite stories:

Episodes 1 and 2

Doctors of a hospital grapple with the realities of a pandemic including the heart-rending cost of not being able to save every soul.

This was a realistic depiction of the realities of the early days of the pandemic. The story of the old woman waiting for her son to come out of the ICU, and how it affected everyone in the hospital, formed the heart of the story.

Episodes 3 and 4

A delivery rider watches the city implode as a mysterious virus appears. He decides to continue delivering food and driving people around, even volunteering for hospital work despite the anger of his wife.

Starring Ni Ni.

During the pandemic, we depended so much on delivery riders. Yet, despite putting their lives in danger, they get so little in return. I liked how this story highlighted how he was torn between doing the right thing (volunteering to ferry hospital workers and getting them food) and his wife’s anger at his “selfishness” of not placing his family first by putting himself in danger (and possibly bringing home the virus).

Episodes 5 and 6

Two medical students go on a road trip to return to Wuhan after news of the pandemic hits. They could’ve chosen to stay in the safety of their rural towns but decided that they were needed back in Wuhan. However, the trip proved to be more challenging than thought.

Starring Yang Yang.

Okay, this was a more pleasant sojourn compared to many of the stories. It highlights the paranoia in the rural areas about people coming from the cities. It does make me think about how Malaysian villages fared during the time. A lot of the coverage was about the cities, and hardly anyone talked about what was happening in the outskirts.

Episode 15 and 16

A chef ends up stranded in Wuhan when he takes the wrong train. Without any accommodation or money, he decides to take a job at the hospital as a cleaner. At first, he was so terrified by what he saw that he fled, but in the end, he overcomes his fear to serve the staff and patients inside. Starring the now-thoroughly-cancelled-because-of-unpaid-taxes Deng Lun.

This was my favourite tale because our hero was very relatable. (Also it was wild that this actually happened—that people ended up stranded in cities when lockdown was suddenly imposed.)

Our main character was, in the beginning, quite cowardly, and there will be a part of you who will be twitching at his actions. Watching him grow a spine and develop empathy for the patients and hospital workers was gratifying. Also, it was nice to see Deng Lung out of wigs for once!

Conclusion

I enjoy dramas about social issues, and China produces some of the most positive ones out there. So often, dramas that centre around society’s ills get so dark and depressing, but I like China’s brand of social issue dramas because they often have a more hopeful message.

Sure, call this propaganda if you like, but With You isn’t it despite what you may think. For one, there are criticisms about the Chinese government’s COVID-19 actions, but I suspect that Western or international viewers are not used to the more subtle or softer way Asians tend to criticise the authorities. Or, they view the more communal approach to solving issues with suspicion.

To be honest, some episodes were a bit dull, and some were a little jingoistic for me to suspend disbelief. The stories that won me over were the stories about ordinary people just trying to cope with a crazy situation—the delivery men, the ordinary workers and more.

Final rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Admittedly, this drama is difficult to access. If you’re not geo-blocked, you can watch it via iQIYI.

#3Stars #CDrama #CDramas #China #ChineseDrama #Covid #covid19 #TV

Who Rules the World (review)

This was actually one of the earliest Chinese dramas I watched after returning to Chinese drama-land after a long hiatus. I knew nothing about the two main actors’ fame (Yang Yang and Zhao Lusi were major liu liangs or “traffic actors”), so had no preconceived notions about their acting abilities to influence me. (Liu liangs get a bad rap for their acting skills, essentially.)

The characters:

Hei Feng Xi / Feng Lan Xi – played by Yang Yang
Hei Feng Xi is a skilled martial artist known for his intelligence, strength, and his calm and calculating demeanor. He has a secret identity.

Bai Feng Xi – played by Zhao Lusi
Bai Feng Xi is a powerful martial artist who is carefree, spirited and fights for justice.

Huang Chao – played by Zhang Fengyi
Huang Chao is a scheming and ambitious prince who seeks to conquer the world and challenge the rule of the kingdoms.

Feng Ju – played by Liu Ruilin
Feng Ju is the half-brother of Feng Lan Xi and a prince of the Feng Kingdom, who harbors ambitions of his own.

The Story

Hei Feng Xi and Bai Feng Xi are two heroes of the “jiang hu” (martial arts world).

Hei or “black fox” as he is called by Bai Feng Xi, is cool, confident, and mysterious. He is the leader of the Fountain Abode, which keeps tabs on the world. He trades in information; he’s like the CIA and is feared by most people.

Bai Feng Xi is impetuous, adventurous, free-spirited and hot-tempered. She doesn’t like “Black Fox”, but can’t help but be drawn to him after being pulled into a series of adventures with him. And this is the same for Hei Feng Xi who is used to people being wary or afraid of him, but is befuddled by Bai’s refusal to be cowed by him.

Two of them have hidden identities. And this will play a factor in their many adventures together.

At the same time, the empire is rocked by a conspiracy—the imperial tablet has been stolen, and all the kingdoms are trying to capture it to claim the imperial throne. But there’s more than meets the eye here.

My thoughts

I was pleasantly surprised by how good Who Rules the World turned out to be.

One of the aspects that stood out the most was the dynamic between Bai Feng Xi and Hei Feng Xi. Both are mature characters, equal in terms of power and abilities, which felt refreshing.

Bai Feng Xi is assertive, confident, and independent, bringing a sense of balance to their relationship. It’s not often you see such a strong female character in a wuxia drama, where both leads complement each other in terms of skills and strength.

Another element that really impressed me was the CGI. I’m so used to seeing subpar effects in many dramas that I was taken aback by how well it was executed here. The visuals were much better than expected, and it added to the overall atmosphere of the show without distracting from the story. It felt like real care went into the production design, making the world of the drama more immersive.

The fight scenes were also beautifully done. I later found out that Yang Yang, who plays Hei Feng Xi, is a classically trained dancer, and that really shows in the way he moves during the combat sequences. Still, it was a little too little and brief for my liking. I wanted more and felt like I was given more beyond lots of fan waving.

However, I ended up losing interest after a major plot point. In fact, I felt the show should’ve ended at that happy occasion, but instead the story segued into a clumsy last arc that I had just no interest in.

In the end, I watched the last few episodes while doing other stuff, a sure sign that I’m just trying to “get over it”.

Ending

The drama had a bittersweet ending. Honestly, I wanted a way more sugar-coated ending but I hear the book ends happily. Not sure why it’s such a thing in Cdrama-land to have these types of endings, but if you want a happier ending, read the novel instead!

Final Rating: 3 stars out of 5

#3Stars #CDrama #CDramas #China #ChineseDrama #CostumedDrama