Big_Red_1011

Sigh 😔… I really hope they start paying screenwriters more money to come up with better scripts. Long episode counts should be justified mostly for truly epic adaptations like The Immortal Ascension (which, coincidentally, only has 30 episodes in season 1). We roughly estimated it’d take 9-10 seasons to cover both volumes of the source books 😳🤯

33 episodes are out as of today (on Netflix, Tencent, iQIYI). Last episode is scheduled to be released on March 30 (Netflix). We don’t know yet about express package availability.

I don’t think FL really cares about that (it was mostly other people joking about it).
FL is just afraid to be with ML because of who her dad is and how it relates to ML’s dad and to events 17 years ago.
But every main character knows Princess doesn’t want to be with ML. The Princess sent eunuch to ML knowing full well that eunuch may not survive 😁🤣

He’s missing his wife and wants to reconcile with her. But she’s afraid to be with him because of who her father is and how it relates to ML’s dad and to events 17 years ago.

This emperor is a prime example of why I would never want to be an emperor. They are usually not very powerful, are too restricted and are forced to navigate between interests of different clans. Sounds like a giant headache 🤕

Fated Hearts still has 8.8 somehow even though only first 15-16 episodes were great and the rest were written by aliens 👽 who abducted earlier screenwriters (first time I’ve watched a drama on 2x or 3x).

Thank you for the write up! ML didn’t even give up his revenge or anything like that. He’s been investigating it himself and was already suspecting there was something fishy with the the official version. And since FL and her sister were attacked by assassins multiple times, it only gave more credibility to the fact that her dad may indeed be innocent. Maybe people who make these complaints should pay more attention 🧐

I’m watching ongoing on Netflix but will pay for express packages on both platforms if/when they become available. The only thing about Netflix Indknt like is that we don’t get translations of the songs.

Oh, thank you for the reminder. MDL really needs to have a notification setting for “plan to watch” dramas when they get an official release date :)

Ahhh… I hope this gets released on other platforms too. MGTV is the only one I don’t have because their shows usually air elsewhere too.

It’s very entertaining with some thoughtful moments (like impact of war on regular people) and some humor. It’s also insanely popular domestically in China and globally (via Netflix). Like, it’s so popular, there are antis/haters who claim platforms (iQIYI and Tencent/WeTV) manipulated the metrics — they can’t live with a fact that PoJ is the first drama to hit top-tier heat index on both Tencent and iQIYI at the same time.

After credits scene was hilarious 🫣 🍿

Not yet. People are speculating maybe Wednesday. Without express, final episode is out on March 30 (per Netflix).

I’m probably the #1 AYtO fan on MDL :) But there really are some similarities. Screenwriting may be a bit better (more logical) in AYtO but the budget in PoJ must be 10x higher. And, hey, ML here gets off easy by only getting slapped and being forgiven quickly. In AYtO he was stabbed, had to break his leg and earn FL a title of Princess 😁🥰❤️‍🔥

Which characters became annoying in your eyes?

This is why majority of dramas need to have less episodes so that they can focus their efforts on them instead of wasting time & money on filler episodes that are a result of tired tropes.

Sure, there are dramas where there’s a lot of interesting story in a source novel that can justify 40 episodes or longer, but how many times do we have to roll our eyes at episodes/plot points that don’t add anything. For example, Flourished Peony & In the Name of Blossom could have easily been a 40-episode (or less) drama instead of splitting them into the seasons and then having first half of season 2 be mostly unimportant episodes (and this is difficult for me to admit because I love the cast, production, everything… except for screenwriters).

That’s because her father is supposedly responsible for the deaths of ML’s father, death a of Prince and hundred(s) of other thousands of other soldiers (because he was framed for not delivering food supplies and the army starved & lost the battle/cuty). Her dad has been vilifified for 17 years and there are even children’s games where they shame him (as we are shown). So not only is their love tested on personal level (meaning, can he love a daughter of a person responsible for death of his father) but also impacts his career. Even if ML & FL think her dad was innocent, everyone else thinks he’s guilty and ML’s enemies will use against him the fact that his wife is a daughter of the greatest traitor of the nation.

Dramas always get released without much warning but I’m most looking forward to Hidden Shadow (latest rumor is early/mid-May and will be aired on both YOUKU and iQIYI). It stars Wang Chu Ran as the FL — she starred in Are You the One (a bit similar to PoJ) and just-aired How Dare You (surprisingly deep after early humorous episodes).

Thanks! I know that’s supposed to be a very well made drama but haven’t watched it yet.

Out of curiosity, what’s #1?