Kaihua

Give me strength... I'm on episode 13 in the dream arc and I feel like choking up blood from having to sit through this spider spinning her web. I already know how this will end and Viki doesn't even have a 2x speed to ease me through the pain

I'm italian american and I've been looking for italian dramas to watch, I think I will check this out! Do you have any other recommendations?

And it's not to say Li Xun is socially perfect, but neither is anyone else in their own ways. To me his actions make sense, especially because he isn't afraid of other people disliking him. Li Xun, in many of the scenes, is who most people wish they could be in those situations, able to stand up for themself.

It's funny, normally I'm the first person to say "throw the whole man away" if he's a jerk. But when I watched the beginning (of the college years), personally Zhu Yun, Lao Gao and co were the ones who were too prideful to admit their faults and put on airs! They criticized Li Xun and doubted his talents when he didn't owe them any proof, and even when he proved his skills they still refused to follow directions and take concrit from the one person who knows what he's talking about and has the skills to back it up. That's why Lao Gao was always a jerk, because he let his pride of always being #1 before Li Xun came along turn into an inferiority complex whereas Zhu Yun got over it and learned to work together with him and improve herself before judging others.

Oh my goddddd this was so cuuute! I was so happy to see character development in a way you could tell the characters put serious thought into it, but in a way that felt realistic. The relationship dynamics felt really natural too, and so sweet~ I'm so excited for the special episodes!!

Ah, and I really liked the directing. The camera work went really well with the acting, and they knew exactly when to leave moments completely unaccompanied by the soundtrack. Some dramas can't stand having a single quiet moment, but this series knew that the impact is often strengthened and emotions more relatable than with a soundtrack constantly on blast.

Han So Ra really made a lot of the show so entertaining. Han Pan Ro is the main villain but he's very inaccessible due to his lofty position and tactfulness, so Han So Ra was a good way around that. And even though she is a victim of her father, her own victimhood was what ultimately drove her to become a monster as well. If she was a good person like her mother, she wouldn't have lived to adulthood, but the show makes it very clear that she's gone full circle of abused to abuser and is beyond the point of no return. Rather, her upbringing serves as an explanation for all of her behaviour, especially in how childish and broken she acts, with a severe lack of self awareness.

That was a fun ride! The last few episodes, as with the general consensus, were not as great as the rest of the show, but overall a solid watch for me; especially since I usually find some episodes in kdramas to be a drag (mostly in the middle), it was pretty consistently entertaining. I do think the expectations of what to get out of this really affect it, because people who went in expecting something more romantic seem to be dissatisfied with various aspects in that regard.
But I went in to watch a human car crash light everything up in flames or drag everyone into the ditch with her. So I had a good time LOL

Hearing it's gonna be a rollercoaster is both exciting and terrifying LOL. It's the first time in a while that I've felt a consistent level of investment in a series, since usually by eps 7-9 the drama starts to wear me out or it starts to feel like a drag. Eve has been hella fun the entire time!! Rather, I think I'm more invested than ever.
And I was thinking the same thing about Eun Pyeong!! I think he will either sacrifice himself willingly, or she will lose him as a narrative consequence to her darker actions. It might end up being both actually, and if that's the case, it might just save her from going down a dark path beyond the point of no return.

With second leads, usually there is a reason why they're unqualified to be the romantic partner with regards to the thematic narrative. In this case, I feel like the narrative is setting up Eun Pyeong to be unqualified to be her partner because he doesn't understand her the way Yoon Kyum does, and seems to be primarily driven by his guilt towards having failed her family. By comparison, Yoon Kyum and La El are both victims and can project onto each other. Whether or not it will be healthy and lead to them truly understanding one another, I think time will tell. I'm just as unsure as you if La El will come out of this without destroying herself and ending up with no one.

Not at all, if you pay attention to the subtext throughout Ming Lan's scenes with the secondary love interest, it's clear that the arc with him is to showcase why he isn't a good match for her and why the male lead is - because even though the secondary lead is a perfectly nice guy, he doesn't get Ming Lan and never tries to understand her beyond his image of her. He's nice but inconsiderate towards her without realizing. If she ended up with him she could never be her true self an thus never truly happy. It's not a love triangle but an arc to serve the themes of the story.

That makes a lot of sense, I actually wondered how Xia Da was able to publish the story at the time. Xia Da seems okay, she has since moved on to making a new comic in full colour

Oh my god how did I not know about this until now? I'm a huge fan of the original comic by Xia Da and I'm so sad she'll never get to finish her work. The artwork is absolutely stunning. Hopefully I can get closure through this drama

why are you being so passive aggressive to someone who simply put their opinion out there? they didn't even say 'other people aren't allowed to like this because i don't like it', they didn't even senselessly bash it, they just said it was a let down. if their opinion isn't your cup of tea, maybe you are the one who should move on?

Thank you very much, I really appreciate it!

Ohh thank you so much!

I finally wanted to watch this but it's not available on Viki [in my country] anymore. What happened to the publishing license for Nirvana in Fire? I can't find it anywhere now.

I feel like a lot of time could have been cut from one of the last episodes to give the ending more fleshing out. I wanted to see what would happen to the other characters in the next setting (although I kind of disliked that they just keep living through migrating stories, but that's a different discussion). I especially wanted to know about Baek kyung; in his final scene, he ends up disappearing, completely alone, just like how he started. He definitely deserves it even if he's 'redeemed', but I would have liked to see him further redeeming himself in the next setting by seeing him finding his real self. Also, Haru remained almost completely a blank slate throughout the story. Now that he was free of his 'extra' writing, it would've been nice to see how he developes into a more dimensional character too. In fact, instead of seeing this 'will they won't they remember' epilogue play out, I would've liked an honest to goodness epilogue that shows how the characters are living their lives AFTER regaining their memories, and how they are enjoying their new freedom to live as they please even. That would've been more satisfying.