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wil92 · 5 years

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May contain spoilers, read at your own risk.

I just finished Arsenal Military Academy starring Bai Lu as Xie Liang Chen (Xie Xiang) and Xu Kai as Gu Yan Zhen. I’m not a big fan of political or military shows, but I liked Bai Lu and Xu Kai in The Legends so I decided to watch it.

I didn’t mind Bai Lu’s character in this drama, I think there’s something admirable about being able to keep up with military training with the boys, especially since she’s a lot smaller than most of them. I liked that she didn’t take shit from other people and that she wasn’t a weepy character (there’s nothing wrong with crying, but sometimes they make the character cry too much). While I didn’t mind her character, her wig was another story, it didn’t look good and was so fake. I think Xu Kai was a good fit for the role of Gu Yan Zheng because he did well in acting out a mischievous person who can rise to the occasion. He could be quite childish, but I liked how he was able to lead others and come up with plans. I was relieved to find that when I watched AMA, I was not reminded of the characters from The Legends. Zhao Yao was more charismatic and more of a leader compared to Xie Liang Chen. Also, I was surprised that Bai Lu was able to pull off a guy look because she was so pretty in The Legends. When I look at Li Chen Lan from The Legends, he was quieter character and wasn’t a rogue like Gu Yan Zhen, but both were protective. I think Xu Kai shined brighter in this drama than he did in The Legends.

There were many characters and sometimes it was hard to keep track of who was who, but there were some supporting characters that caught my eyes ( some in good ways and some in not so good ways). One of them is Qu Man Ting ( played by Wu Jia Yi), who could be a bit of a diva, but I liked that she did her own thing and that she was able to use her connections to aid in certain situations. In the beginning I liked Shen Jun Shan ( Toby Lee) because he was such a sturdy person but his persistence in trying to woo Xie Xiang irritated me at times especially when he wouldn’t let her reject him. Jin Xian Rong (Gao Yu Er) almost had my pity with her family story but her smug smile and bad deeds made me want to smack her. I liked Shen Ting Bai (Hong Yao) more than I thought I would. I admire his ability to let go of the girl he loves so that she can be happy ( but I’m glad that they were able to get together in the end).

Gender-bender stories are nothing new and neither are political ones, so I can’t really say that it was a refreshing story but it was able to keep my attention. It did seem a little far-fetched that she was able to get into the military without anyone finding out she was a a girl though. I think one of the best things about this drama was the camaraderie that formed between everyone, I really loved the support that they gave to each other (although there were times where some soldiers ganged up on specific people). I know people were upset because it wasn’t more romantic, but for me I didn’t mind it. I considered the romance pure and I think they had more on their minds like surviving and trying to find out what nefarious plans the Japanese had rather than worry about their romantic life. I’ll be honest, I was expecting more characters to die since there was so much fighting. I wasn’t exactly surprised when Huang Song died, but I was still sad and of course, it was a selfless death. I was unsatisfied with Li Wen Zhong’s death because I thought that it was a bit pointless. I get that he wants revenge for Huang Song for saving him, but it was stupid to provoke a group of Japanese by himself. I think he should have saved himself for a bigger plan to take them down. It was sad to see a new character be introduced near the end ( An Wen played by An Xue Yi) for Li Wen Zhong to fall in love with, only for him to die that way. I think I should have expected Guo Shu Ting’s demise, but I gave myself some hope since he finally married Huo Xiao Yu (Liu Min) and I thought they would be able to have blissful ending after all they’ve been through. The ending was happy, but I wished they showed more about Xie Xiang and Gu Yan Zhen other than them walking into the sunset.

I give this 8.3/10.

photo credit: mydramalist

#Arsenal Military Academy

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