The House of Magic (2013)

when his previous owner moved, Thunder the cat was abandoned. seeking shelter from a storm, Thunder came across a seemingly haunted house. while frightened by many of the automatons coming alive, Thunder found the owner, an old magician a soothing sight. everyone was eager to accept Thunder into their home, but Jack the rabbit and Maggie the mouse were eager to evict him. the situation worsen when the magician landed in a hospital and his nephew, Daniel took the chance to sell the mansion for some extra cash. determined to keep the house until the magician returned, Thunder led the group towards keeping outsiders from being interested in the house.

the film had a very pleasant animation, making Thunder so fluffy and inviting. despite the simple plot, the whole adventure in overall was highly entertaining. having two sets of villain were unexpected for an animation, one being Jack and Maggie, another being Daniel. Jack and Maggie, Thunder had to win over; while Daniel, he had to get rid off. the first glance of the house was spooky only because it was so huge and had so many abandoned prop collected from the magician's work. it was satisfying to see how some of these seemingly useless junk was later put to use, creating hilarious effects. character wise, Thunder had become a favorite easily after the film started. even Jack and Maggie were stunning in their roles, making it somewhat difficult to dislike them.

Vampire Academy (2014)

Rose was a Dhampir, a half-vampire trained to be a Guardian. Moroi were vampires that co-existed peacefully among the human, having the ability to control the four elements and drinking only from wiling donors; while Strigoi were evil vampires that drink only to kill. Princess Lissa was a Moroi, also the last of her line. Rose had an unbreakable bond with Lissa, making them best friends. with many aimed to harm the Princess, Rose must protect Lissa by all means.

Vampire Academy was a series by author Richelle Mead. first adaptation remained mostly true to its book. Rose became a character a bit too loud to our liking, but she did her part well by protecting the princess. a few characters here and there, who seemed to have a higher rate of becoming a villain didn't turn out to be a villain. on the contrary, the seemingly innocent one turned out to be one. although that didn't come as a huge surprise, it was pleasant to find some twists. it was a pity that the guys seemed to not stand out from one another. taking less effort to identify them would have been perfect.

The Palace: the Lost Daughter (2014) 宫锁连城

the General's wife had given birth to three daughters previously. if she were to give birth to another girl, her position would highly affected. to her dismay, her forth child turned out to be indeed a girl. she had her nanny exchanged the child with a baby boy before informing the General. the baby boy was named Hengtai and was brought up like her own child, trained to be perfect into serving the Emperor. the baby girl was adopted by commoners and raised in the street, named Liancheng. coincidentally, the duo met and slowly developed feelings for each other. their romance led Liancheng into the General's mansion and her origins was uncovered.

the series was highly addictive as each episodes added a different and often unexpected twists to it. their romance was somewhat complicated with the involvement of the Princess, who married Hentai, and Yuxiu, who wanted revenge by destroying Hengtai and his family. in the meanwhile, Liancheng also held the interest of Yicheng, a man who also grew up in the street. his continuous pursuit often messed things up, but made the challenge towards Hengtai even more interesting nonetheless. despite the unsatisfying twists of having the duo separated twice throughout the series, each reunion was so different and unique in its own way that the wait was very much worthwhile every time.

The Wife’s Secret (2014) 妻子的秘密

the Li family had two brothers, Li Tian and Li Minglang. while Minglang, the younger brother was announced the heir of the Li Enterprise, the elder brother Litian, was vengeful and feeling very insecure especially after finding out that he was adopted. Baihe was Minglang's girlfriend before her parents were killed in a car accident. being framed, she lost all her family's wealth to debts. with the risk of bankruptcy, Minglang's mother was against their marriage initially, especially with the interference of Ningxia, a secretary that's deeply in love with Minglang and vowed to keep him for herself.

the series started out promising, especially with the unchanging love Minglang held for Baihe during her most difficult times facing the threats of debtors. Litian played a huge role in breaking the duo apart, causing them to lack communication by misleading them through the trust they held for him. as much as i sympathized with his character, it was difficult to hate him as much as Ningxia, another main villain for the series. however, Ningxia in comparison, was much more convincing. her desperation for love and acknowledgement made her a highly distasteful character, but her effort was equally admirable. despite the happy ending, the experience was far from satisfying, nor was their reunion heartwarming, just essential after the mass amount of episodes painfully endured.