Mars

The story revolves around the love and tribulations of Chen Ling and his girlfriend, Han Qiluo. This is a very good series. The plot and pace are good and the many secrets that emerged as you watched the show kept me at the edge of my seat. The acting by the 2 main leads was also very intense.

Characters:
Chen Ling comes from a rich background. His mother died when he was young and he and his twin, Chen Sheng, were sent away from home by his father. As a result both twins had a very close bond, as they were the only persons each could depend on for support. Unfortunately, their family had many secrets and Sheng committed suicide right in front of Ling, causing him mental trauma and he was hospitalized in a mental institute. However, he recovers and is again outwardly lively, cavalier, and flirty although he is still haunted by his inner demons. He rebels against his father as he feels his father tries to control him too much.

Han Qiluo is a fragile classmate of Ling's whose quiet and passive demeanor invites bullies of all kinds since they know she won't retaliate. Her helplessness, shyness and artistic talent catches the eye of Ling. In return for a favour, he offers to be her protector but eventually, is caught up in her soft snare of love. Qiluo has her own inner secrets and demons and this perhaps is the reason why both are suited for each other although their external characteristics seem to be extremes.

Daye is Chen Ling's best friend. He is a good and steadfast friend. He had a crush on Qiluo since junior school but because he has never known tragedy in his life, he is unable to relate to or develop a relationship with Qiluo. He gentlemanly gives way to Ling when he realizes Ling is the only one who can bring happiness to Qiluo. In turn, he himself finds his own true love.

Qingmei was one of Chen Ling's ex-girlfriends. She still wants him and therefore bullies Qiluo in jealousy. But she is eventually struck by Qiluo's uncharacteristic courage in pursuing love with Ling. With an example set by Daye, she too learns to let go and eventually becomes a firm supporter of Chen Ling and Qiluo's relationship, lending Qiluo a firm female friendship she had never had before.

Shazi was Chen Ling's girlfriend from his previous school. She was originally Sheng's girlfriend. Her return to Ling's life creates a ripple in the relationship between Ling and Qiluo as she tries to reclaim Ling. Furthermore, Ling believes that it was due to him snatching her from Sheng that caused Sheng to commit suicide. Shazi also has been living with the guilt of breaking up a pair of loving twin brothers and eventually causing the death of one.

Tongdao is a new student who has a very feminine look. He proclaims that he is in love with Ling. Tongdao is actually mentally very disturbed and takes pleasure in killing.

Relationships:
Ling and Qiluo: This pair of very dissimilar people actually have a very unusual and common core. They have both experienced extreme tragedy and are coping with it in their different ways. I believe that Qiluo comes to look towards Ling as someone who can save her, at least physically from harm. Also, his teasing manner always lets her momentarily forget her sorrows yet at the appropriate times, his gentleness is what she needs. Ling needs Qiluo's firm belief in goodness despite whatever happens. Ling may appear to have recovered externally from his tragedies but emotionally and psychologically, he is still very affected by what had happened in the past. Qiluo is the only one who can understand how he feels and be his anchor of strength during the times when emotions overwhelm him.

Ling and Sheng: From youth, Ling is known as the impulsive and naughty twin. Sheng is the good twin who does no wrong. However, the ties between these 2 brothers are more complicated than that. Their relationship is one born out of survival needs. Being abandoned from youth by their parents, they turned to each other. However, Ling resents the fact that he will always be compared unfavourably to his saintly brother who is aptly named. Sheng, in turn, is actually not as saintly as he would have others believe. In his suicide note, it is revealed that he actually has a more human side that enjoys revenge, violence etc. and has enjoyed being the good twin in comparison to Ling. In that sense he manipulates Ling because he knows Ling is more direct and straightforward. So if he is bullied or anything, he doesn't have to do anything because Ling will protect him or seek vengence for him. So he thinks of himself as angelic and above all this violence and petty trivial stuff. However, he finds that truly inside him, it's not true. He also enjoys the violence and there is also human weakness in him. He is unable to accept this and wants to always be the good twin and Ling to be the bad/rebel/ naughty twin. So he committed suicide to get away from the dilemma of resisting temptations. However, before he does so, he still ensures that Ling will be deeply affected by his death so that even in death, he will still be controlling Ling's actions. Therefore in reality, the scarier and worse twin is actually Sheng despite his outward behaviour in life.

Ling & Tongdao: Tongdao becomes infatuated with Ling after knowing Ling's medical history. Tongdao is a twisted person who has no qualms about killing. Because of Ling's many bad behaviours previously, he believes that Ling is his soulmate and they are cut from the same cloth. Therefore, he tries to pull Ling towards his world of darkness. However, Ling has Qiluo by his side so he remains grounded in the light, frustrating Tongdao constantly. Ling is aware that there is a huge difference between him and Tongdao. Tongdao enjoys violence and pain itself whereas Ling sees it as a tool to either protect himself or exact revenge.

Qiluo & Tongdao: Qiluo is fascinated by Tongdao as she sees the darkness in him. She herself has moments where she has the urges of violence for what has happened to her. Whilst she has repressed these urges, she is nonetheless curious about whether one day, she will be brave enough to fight back. She feels similar to him in that they are both victims of violence (he was beaten up all the time by this guy) and then in the end Tong Dao killed the guy and in her heart she keeps killing her stepfather and possibly wants him dead. Twice in the show, she shows her vicious side towards her stepfather, when she clobbers him with some ornament and when Ling was about to push him down the building. So she could be feeling some facination towards Tong Dao for having gone through something like what she did and actually eventually retaliated which is what she secretly wants too. Plus both of them are drawn to Ling. So perhaps she sees a mirror of herself in Tong Dao and therefore hopes that he will heal and be normal. However, Ling knows that there's a difference between Tong Dao and her, i.e. her anger is a reaction of what had happened to her. But Tong Dao is basically evil and enjoys what he is doing, whether or not it is in retaliation e.g. he tries to kill Qiluo although Qiluo didn't do anything to him.

Cast:

Vic Zhou as Chen Ling:
Very good. He brought out the character very well with the anger, frustration, sadness, and doubt he had in him. And he looked totally hot in the show.

Barbie Hsu as Han Qiluo:
She was good also as she really had the scared-deer-in-headlights look most of the time. However, I thought I caught a few instances of Shancai in her acting so I have to say she did not act as well as Vic in the show. But still a good performance generally.

Xie Jie Kai as Daye
This guy had a real good earnest demeanor which made Daye really believable. There were times I rooted for him because he really deserved it. Was happy he found his own love.

Lai Ya Yan as Qingmei
She acted as a headstrong yet kindhearted girl well. She started off the series as a hateful person but managed to pull the audience along with the development of her character as being hateful at the beginning, then kind at the end. Much better than her irritating character in "Meteor Garden 2".

An Jun Cao as Tong Dao
He was excellent as the psychotic killer. His intense gaze coupled with his seemingly frail and pale physique left chills down your back whenever he appears.