8/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 Chinese Action and mystery romance drama. With 24, 45 minute episodes.
First I provide a unique synopsis then I review.
Synopsis
Theoretically most people have a doppelgänger (someone not genetically related that looks identical or nearly identical to someone else). This story centers around a rich Chinese heiress' doppelgänger. Shen Man Ning (Li Mo Zhi) grew up abroad after her parent's untimely death. Her grandfather, the Chairman of the family conglomerate, figured it was the best way to keep her safe from others who wanted to eliminate her to gain the company. Zhuang Xin Yan (also played by Li Mo Zhi) and Shen Man Ning's paths cross at the university they are both attending. When Xin Yan is kidnapped after be mistaken as Man Ning, Xin Yan dies while rescuing her. When she wakes up in the hospital, Man Ning meets Yan Xing Cheng (Fan Zhe Xin) who was Man Ning's fiance (or so she originally thought. Although distressed at Man Nig's death, Xing Cheng, doesn't directly show his grief. Instead he bullies Xin Yan into a scheme to fake she is Man Ning in order to inherit the conglomerate as Man Ning rightfully should have. In a bloody battle for the inheritance, it is a dangerous deception. But with the brilliant and forceful Xing Cheng at her side, they work to unravel the mystery behind Man Ning's death, prize the inheritance, and slowly fall in love.
Review
I recommend this as a good action movie with a solid central romance. The acting and chemistry between the main leads makes it a worthwhile watch. I don't rate it super high, because there were a lot of inconsistencies and character development issues that kept it from being an outstanding show. The musical score for it was really good, I liked all the songs and particularly liked the theme song. I would recommend it for anyone that is a fan of either of the leads, and/ or those that can suspend a lot of belief and just enjoy the action, the intended mystery and the romance of the leads. I would not rewatch it very soon, although if it was on, and somebody was watching it, I would probably watch it with them.
Spoilers*
Although doppelgängers are a real thing they never explained well how the two came to be in the same place overseas at the same time. If they had crossed paths in China it would have been more believable but for doppelgängers to cross paths overseas like that just when the one is about to be kidnapped, represents too many rare events all in one to make it believable.
The main girl was very uncertain, not very forceful, and got very nervous about everything in tge start of the series and the male lead role in that first part fit that lethal man description. There were a series of action scenes. Where he was forceful, and was amazing in fighting. He talked her into pretending to be the girl that had died and even guilted her into it. In the first part of the series, they made it out that her pretending to be her doppelgänger was a critical part of his plan to get in and back at that family. But then the chaebol girl, that was in love with Xing Chen, found out that Man Ning wasn't really the daughter of the family. To get Xing Chen, the love rival forced a situation that caused Man Ning to reveal she was not the family heiress. Rather than remedy the situation as he so vehemently promised he would,he drops the plan and reveals he is the grandson they thought was dead. Which made his insistence Man Ning pose as her look alike nonsensicle. Why did they need to do that if he was a relative? They never fully explained why he did not reveal his identity in the first place. ZHe also also agreed to marry the girl that had tried to kill the woman he loved. That made no sense as there was little to gain from marrying her.
The entire "she is allergic to mangoes but has to eat them to prove she is the heiress" made no sense. Knowing how severly allergic she was, there were so many options she had not to eat them. She could've said she developed an allergy. She could've said she was feeling sick. She could've just had a small but and said she was full. With so many believable reasons to not eat the mangoes, it was odd that she ate the whole thing. Then here he was, the guy who promised he would protect her and take care of problems, watching her eat the desert. He should have been able to clearly see something was wrong with her eating the mangoes. He wasn't a lethal man in those portions of the story he was more like inaction man. And then she has this huge allergic reaction, and rather than take her into a hospital, he gives her some home remedy to make her vomit. Simply making someone vomit that has that severe of a reaction is not enough to stop it. And then he puts her in the shower presumptively to cool her rash or fever but blocks her body with his which kept most of the water off her.
The "love at first sight was way overdone." Multiple characters has love at first sight with other characters. They made it out like loving someone at first sight is a valid thing and you can develop a deep emotional attachment that quickly. It made it nonsensical that several of the characters were so heartbroken when they were rejected after not really knoing the person to begin with.
While Xing Chen was a not so lethal man, more of an overly emotional wreck on many occasions his right hand man team was worse. One of his team was supposed to be an amazing bodyguard and the other a highly skilled hacjpker but they both failed more than they succeeded. Main guy would assign something to them, like keeping the girl from leaving, and she would just slip by them relatively easily. Still he acted like they were so awesome and trustworthy .
The second half of the show the characters did a flip-flop where now she is strong and forceful, and he is uncertain and even gets suicidal. While I love that she never let him trample on her, and when he was cruel, rejecting her, she didn't cry and beg, it was a reversal of her earlier personality. I was happy she told him off and even bit him when he acted cruelly toward her. But whe had allowed him, early on, to put his hands on her and even choke her and just cowered in response. So for her to suddenly be the forceful one was a huge shift. He, on the other hand, had been arrogant, confident and cold, and also very capable and strong emotionally in the first partl. Then, in the second half he was suddenly falling all apart. I think the most confusing scene with him was after he told her he didn't love her, goes to confront the family all forcefully but just falls apart the moment they flip it on him. So they lied to him and told him he wasn't part of the family that he was adopted or a bastard child and he initially meets it with his usual "lethal man" like response. He even responds defiantly "you think you're gonna do anything to me?" But then, the next scene, he's at the water ready to jump in and end it all. Was he defiant or broken? Defiant made sense as a "lethal man" but broken like that was out of character.
It felt like they missed a lot of opportunities. They could've made her the actual real daughter, and that the identical twins were split up when they were young to keep them safe. That would have been a twist tha made sense. And he could've been a son of the other family. That way they weren't related, but they both were heirs to explain why they would've wanted to hide them. Then with the aunt, who was all murderous, we find out she's the daughter of the Butler essentially, and that they adopted her into the family and treated her as one of them. From scores of other dramas the wealthy famikies usually ostracized and ousted illegitamite children so for them to so easily incorporate her made no sense. Why? The mother typically refused to accpept children that were not her own so where was the grandmother? Since the Aunt was a preteenor teenager when she was adopted, why did she feel so entitled to everything the family had? I know she was crazy, but even a crazy person would've realized that they weren't a natural born child, and would not have had as much as the oldest child, so that didn't make any sense. She also claimed a lot of abuse in that gazebo garden area but they only showed one incident and it seem to be grandfatger misunderstood and thought she had hurt the oldest daughter. Just that one incident made it hard to buy that she was as crazy as she was about that gazebo.
There was never any justice for grandpa. It was never revealed the Aunt made him so distressed it triggered the heart attack and then she, rather than help him, backed him off the steps, and then he fell and hit hiss head. She murdered him. The grandpa wanted to cover for her for 17 years, which made no sense as he was supposedly always punishing her for other things. Little things. But he was okay covering up her murders? The murder of his daughter and her family? Made no sense.
First I provide a unique synopsis then I review.
Synopsis
Theoretically most people have a doppelgänger (someone not genetically related that looks identical or nearly identical to someone else). This story centers around a rich Chinese heiress' doppelgänger. Shen Man Ning (Li Mo Zhi) grew up abroad after her parent's untimely death. Her grandfather, the Chairman of the family conglomerate, figured it was the best way to keep her safe from others who wanted to eliminate her to gain the company. Zhuang Xin Yan (also played by Li Mo Zhi) and Shen Man Ning's paths cross at the university they are both attending. When Xin Yan is kidnapped after be mistaken as Man Ning, Xin Yan dies while rescuing her. When she wakes up in the hospital, Man Ning meets Yan Xing Cheng (Fan Zhe Xin) who was Man Ning's fiance (or so she originally thought. Although distressed at Man Nig's death, Xing Cheng, doesn't directly show his grief. Instead he bullies Xin Yan into a scheme to fake she is Man Ning in order to inherit the conglomerate as Man Ning rightfully should have. In a bloody battle for the inheritance, it is a dangerous deception. But with the brilliant and forceful Xing Cheng at her side, they work to unravel the mystery behind Man Ning's death, prize the inheritance, and slowly fall in love.
Review
I recommend this as a good action movie with a solid central romance. The acting and chemistry between the main leads makes it a worthwhile watch. I don't rate it super high, because there were a lot of inconsistencies and character development issues that kept it from being an outstanding show. The musical score for it was really good, I liked all the songs and particularly liked the theme song. I would recommend it for anyone that is a fan of either of the leads, and/ or those that can suspend a lot of belief and just enjoy the action, the intended mystery and the romance of the leads. I would not rewatch it very soon, although if it was on, and somebody was watching it, I would probably watch it with them.
Spoilers*
Although doppelgängers are a real thing they never explained well how the two came to be in the same place overseas at the same time. If they had crossed paths in China it would have been more believable but for doppelgängers to cross paths overseas like that just when the one is about to be kidnapped, represents too many rare events all in one to make it believable.
The main girl was very uncertain, not very forceful, and got very nervous about everything in tge start of the series and the male lead role in that first part fit that lethal man description. There were a series of action scenes. Where he was forceful, and was amazing in fighting. He talked her into pretending to be the girl that had died and even guilted her into it. In the first part of the series, they made it out that her pretending to be her doppelgänger was a critical part of his plan to get in and back at that family. But then the chaebol girl, that was in love with Xing Chen, found out that Man Ning wasn't really the daughter of the family. To get Xing Chen, the love rival forced a situation that caused Man Ning to reveal she was not the family heiress. Rather than remedy the situation as he so vehemently promised he would,he drops the plan and reveals he is the grandson they thought was dead. Which made his insistence Man Ning pose as her look alike nonsensicle. Why did they need to do that if he was a relative? They never fully explained why he did not reveal his identity in the first place. ZHe also also agreed to marry the girl that had tried to kill the woman he loved. That made no sense as there was little to gain from marrying her.
The entire "she is allergic to mangoes but has to eat them to prove she is the heiress" made no sense. Knowing how severly allergic she was, there were so many options she had not to eat them. She could've said she developed an allergy. She could've said she was feeling sick. She could've just had a small but and said she was full. With so many believable reasons to not eat the mangoes, it was odd that she ate the whole thing. Then here he was, the guy who promised he would protect her and take care of problems, watching her eat the desert. He should have been able to clearly see something was wrong with her eating the mangoes. He wasn't a lethal man in those portions of the story he was more like inaction man. And then she has this huge allergic reaction, and rather than take her into a hospital, he gives her some home remedy to make her vomit. Simply making someone vomit that has that severe of a reaction is not enough to stop it. And then he puts her in the shower presumptively to cool her rash or fever but blocks her body with his which kept most of the water off her.
The "love at first sight was way overdone." Multiple characters has love at first sight with other characters. They made it out like loving someone at first sight is a valid thing and you can develop a deep emotional attachment that quickly. It made it nonsensical that several of the characters were so heartbroken when they were rejected after not really knoing the person to begin with.
While Xing Chen was a not so lethal man, more of an overly emotional wreck on many occasions his right hand man team was worse. One of his team was supposed to be an amazing bodyguard and the other a highly skilled hacjpker but they both failed more than they succeeded. Main guy would assign something to them, like keeping the girl from leaving, and she would just slip by them relatively easily. Still he acted like they were so awesome and trustworthy .
The second half of the show the characters did a flip-flop where now she is strong and forceful, and he is uncertain and even gets suicidal. While I love that she never let him trample on her, and when he was cruel, rejecting her, she didn't cry and beg, it was a reversal of her earlier personality. I was happy she told him off and even bit him when he acted cruelly toward her. But whe had allowed him, early on, to put his hands on her and even choke her and just cowered in response. So for her to suddenly be the forceful one was a huge shift. He, on the other hand, had been arrogant, confident and cold, and also very capable and strong emotionally in the first partl. Then, in the second half he was suddenly falling all apart. I think the most confusing scene with him was after he told her he didn't love her, goes to confront the family all forcefully but just falls apart the moment they flip it on him. So they lied to him and told him he wasn't part of the family that he was adopted or a bastard child and he initially meets it with his usual "lethal man" like response. He even responds defiantly "you think you're gonna do anything to me?" But then, the next scene, he's at the water ready to jump in and end it all. Was he defiant or broken? Defiant made sense as a "lethal man" but broken like that was out of character.
It felt like they missed a lot of opportunities. They could've made her the actual real daughter, and that the identical twins were split up when they were young to keep them safe. That would have been a twist tha made sense. And he could've been a son of the other family. That way they weren't related, but they both were heirs to explain why they would've wanted to hide them. Then with the aunt, who was all murderous, we find out she's the daughter of the Butler essentially, and that they adopted her into the family and treated her as one of them. From scores of other dramas the wealthy famikies usually ostracized and ousted illegitamite children so for them to so easily incorporate her made no sense. Why? The mother typically refused to accpept children that were not her own so where was the grandmother? Since the Aunt was a preteenor teenager when she was adopted, why did she feel so entitled to everything the family had? I know she was crazy, but even a crazy person would've realized that they weren't a natural born child, and would not have had as much as the oldest child, so that didn't make any sense. She also claimed a lot of abuse in that gazebo garden area but they only showed one incident and it seem to be grandfatger misunderstood and thought she had hurt the oldest daughter. Just that one incident made it hard to buy that she was as crazy as she was about that gazebo.
There was never any justice for grandpa. It was never revealed the Aunt made him so distressed it triggered the heart attack and then she, rather than help him, backed him off the steps, and then he fell and hit hiss head. She murdered him. The grandpa wanted to cover for her for 17 years, which made no sense as he was supposedly always punishing her for other things. Little things. But he was okay covering up her murders? The murder of his daughter and her family? Made no sense.
