[Review] The Disguiser with Jin Dong, Hu Ge, and Wang Kai

VROOM, VROOM, here comes the Ming family ready to sweep you off your feet 🙂

Synopsis

In 1939, the Chinese central government was occupied by the Japaneses. In Shanghai lives the Ming family, an elite group of “Ai Guo” (love the home country) men. They will act as disguisers to reclaim their country.

My friend told me about The Disguiser during a dinner with such passion that I decided to give it a try… I didn’t expect much,… but it was worth every bit of my time.

The first episode starts very strong, with Wang Man Chun killing her underlings after discovering there are spies in the office. She is a cold blood woman and at that moment, Man Chun is over the moon happy her “Shi Ge” Ming Lou is back in the city (I knew I would too, he is really handsome)! At the same time, Ming Tai goes to Hong Kong to study abroad but is forcefully scouted by Wang Tian Feng to become a KMT soldier. We start discovering secrets behind the Ming family and… I was already craving for what will happen next. For a first episode, it is pretty solid, right?

Review

9/10. The plot is amazing, so many twists, so many links between each character, everything move fast and there are a lot of action scenes starring the eye candies Ming Tai and Yu Manli. The whole drama made Ming Lou, Ming Tai, and Ah Cheng shine like new dimes. You are left in awe in front of Ming Lou’s will power, Ah Cheng’s dedication, and Ming Tai’s abilities… It is almost too good to be true. How am I supposed to believe the scheming of three guys successfully fooled everyone in the drama and managed to kill hundreds (or even thousands) of people… some extremely close to their real life identity? Since the beginning, the Japanese government suspected Ming Lou. However, they are willing to kill less suspicious people than put him under investigation! Also, that scene of Ming Tai jumping from one roof to another one, ten meters away… it was beautiful, yet hard to digest. And how about those scenes of Yu Manli and Ming Tai on a killing spree without getting caught… I had difficulty believing them all. Indeed, during war time, China’s lose is far greater than Japan’s.

Which ship do you prefer? 😀

However! Putting aside the fact that no one investigated them (which is not hard to do after you fall in love with the three boys and see Ming Tai get tortured ><)… this drama has such a good plot! From Ming Tai’s first meeting with Wasp to the many scheming of Ming Lou, everything is incredibly well thought. The story makes sense and everything is fast paced. The boys put their life on the line for each mission and I got so worried for them. If they get caught, everything will be over. Who else is involved, and who can they ask help from? And they have their enemies so close by! Wang Man Chun is directly involved with Ming Lou and I grew scared of her. Haha, it doesn’t help that Ming Tai falls in love with a troublemaker: Jing Yun. She is kinda silly and always put the mission in jeopardy… and we already have Yu Manli ready to sail her ship. Oh well, at least she makes the story more spicy? :”D The first half of the drama is full of wins and the audience is made to believe it will continue like this. During the second half, we are left worried and wondering. It is war drama, and people can die. This is a notion I am not used to in c-dramas.

Another highlight of the drama is the strong bond between the three golden boys: Ming Tai, Ming Lou, and Ah Cheng. They have a complex relationship together and it is touching to see.

Ming Tai is young (despite being super smart, let’s say Hu Ge repeated a lot at school ^^), he has to face a completely different world by himself. And he is ready, as his love for the country is great. The boy is smart but also cocky, he believes in his abilities. It is weird to see Ming Tai acting super duper childish (almost like Fei Liu), then extremely serious and dangerous. When he discover his boss is none other than his own brother.. I felt for him. So much unnecessary angst, so much trust lost in one moment, all the emotional rollercoaster happening at the same time. And the second time he learnt the identity of his brother, he almost had a mental breakdown. I love watching Hu Ge back in the form of a little kid, he is pushed from his little world to the cruel world of war.

This drama introduced me to Jin Dong, and just for his character Ming Lou, it became a must watch drama. It is a conflicting character, the most complex of the batch and his relationship with Wang Man Chun is bittersweet. Yes, he has platonic feelings (maybe even real feelings) but there is no opportunity to show them. He can’t change her and he can’t show his true self to her. And just like with Wang Man Chun, there is so much on his chest he can’t share with anyone. He belongs to the state, to the people who needs him. Jin Dong’s performance is memorable (not only because he is hot) but also because of so many feelings he manage to pull out of me. I am impressed by his brilliance, his actions, how he handle everything. There is pain in him and he has to continue.

Ah Cheng is my little puppy! He is the assistant of Ming Lou and the adopted son in Ming family… as such, he is less opinionated than hiss brothers. Ah Cheng is a positive and sunny boy and has fun playing a triple spy for Ming Lou. When he makes a mistake, he goes back to Ming Lou for help. And when Ming Tai makes a mistake, he is the one to solve it. ^^ Watch all the episodes and you will understand how great these three brothers are together! Ah Cheng has a lot of great moments been a cute puppy. How can you not love this character? His love interest is Ming Jing (who played his mother in Nirvana in Fire XD) yet she always try to set him up with another girl (awwnnn).

Finally, I want to end this review to say how much I appreciate characters like Yu Manli. She is exciting to see in action, very pure despite her horrible past, and her last scene was heartbreaking. I also appreciate all the remaining cast: Wasp was insane but so good to watch in action, Ming Jing is funny as the nagging Shanghai lady full of class and capable put anyone to her feet (insert Ming Lou). Liang Zhong Chun is a cunt, but I loved him as such 😀 He was adorable and almost a good character… almost. Overall, except for Jin Yun, I loved the whole cast of this drama :).