ChongqingPride

This movie is not a summer adventure like Spirited Away. The Boy And The Heron is much darker, dramatic and melancholic. To appreciate it fully you need to know Hayao Miyazaki, his biography, his views on war, Japan involvement in WWII and the spirituality of Shinto, Japanese religion. The movie shows Miyazaki in a great shape. The animation is superb, the characters feel both familiar and original at the same. The movie has an atmosphere not found in any other Miyazaki's movies. It's.intimate like in My Neighbour Totoro and imaginative like in Spirited Away, but at the same time much darker and dramatic. The Boy and the Heron is a feast for eyes and I can stronngly reccoment it to every fan of Miyazaki's movies.

For me, the most important things about the drama are: if it's consistent, if the story and its characters' relationships progress in a natural way, if there is an internal logic, and if the threads connect with each other. The Longest Promise meets all of these conditions. The Longest Promise has amazing visuals and beautiful music that complements its visual side, but what's most important it's led by an exceptional Xiao Zhan. His portrayal of Shi Ying is captivating, fascinating, vibrant, and dramatic. I really admire how the characters of The Longest Promise are written. There's some ambiguity about them, uncertainty, mystery, complexity. I think Da Si Ming is a good example. Since the moment he was introduced I couldn't make an opinion on him. Although he gave the impression he cared for Shi Ying, I couldn't stop thinking he had a hidden agenda. That created tension and kept me wondering who he really is. This drama also has an incredible villain. He hides himself behind the mask, disguises as the Emperor Xingzun, deceives everyone but in the end it turns up he is truly powerful and terrifying. In so many storries villains are introduced as powerful and unbeatable, but throughout the story they lost all their appeal, are stripped of mystery and in the end the final battle is boring and disappointomg. It's not the case in the Longest Promise. The scriptwriter and the actor who was portraying him (don't want to spoil) did a great job creating real atmosphere of terror and desperation. The Longest Promise script is very well written. All kinds of elements of the plot are scattered all over the story. Even if at first they seem not important, later they connect with each other and become crucial. The Longest Promise is a drama that is smooth. Some might find its pace slow but for me it was perfect because it felt like I entered the world of Kongsang and stayed there for three weeks. The Longest Promise doesn't have bloodsheds every three episodes, but the fight sequences are simply epic (Xiao Zhan simply outdid himself). The final has everything. If you want intense experiance, you will get it for sure. The visuals of the drama are amazing, the production is top-notch.

I know that many people think that this drama is ridiculous and silly, but it's so bad that it actually makes it brilliant. It's not simply a youth drama, it's more a parody. And as that, it's a weird masterpiece. There's a lot of puns here and really comical moments but it doesn't lack moving and dramatic scenes. The dynamics between the main couple is worth following, the actors did very well. It was the first Xiao Zhan drama and he already showed his big potential creating a character of Fang Tianze, who may seem cold and pompeous, but inside is a sensitive and kind-hearted person. If you want to watch a drama which is very funny and quite dramatic this drama is for you, but don't take it too seriously.