You know, normally I like to see dramas more fully fleshed out. I actually appreciate time being invested on telling…
I don't mind it all that much. Although I admit that shipping princess and shifu is my inner troll wanting to ruin the anticipated romance between the leads. That and I'm rather curious what shifu has up his sleeves. There is clearly a 'plan' from both sides. Curious to see the dominoes fall.
Also, there aren't much fields left to plough, story-wise. Tilan and the Emperor would be too frosty. Z and Z are sweet, but only in small doses. The frontier is peaceful for now. That only leaves the palace, the cloud around shifu and our dear princess.
Fang Zhouyin is such a great character. The drama continues to excel. As for the main romance, Zhouyin said all that needs to be said. Be done with it and move on.
It will air at the same time on few platforms, so airing slots may differ https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTIwMDcxMTI3Mg==.html?spm=a2h0c.8166622.PhoneSokuProgram_1.dtitle&s=fbdeb76493c343008ed0https://www.iqiyi.com/lib/m_4977940438744614.html?src=search
I think that's very subjective, while I like the other two couples, the highlight of this drama has been the brief…
It diminishes them both IMO. I like them more as individuals than as a couple.
I am biased, of course. I happen to find the constant emphasis on romance in genres not meant to be explicitly romantic stifling.
With that out of the way, even judged as a romance, those fall short.
A. He is her first crush. Nothing, literally nothing, shown on screen makes them a deserved romance. Tbh, I'd respect the writers more if they had him not cradle-rob.
B. Their stilted interactions are at the expense of better plots.
i. FH's exam arc was superb precisely because FS was absent. We got to see her shine.
ii. FS's was denied a similar moment during the port battle because they had to rush him across the continent to be where he was not needed. Imagine if instead of the rushed cut jobs to get him back to FH, we had a properly paced battle that allowed him demonstrate, on screen, some of the skills that made him legend.
iii. The fireworks horseride because he was not needed. That scene was at the expense of interactions with the Lords of Huku and Jianmen. FH had better chemistry with the steepe lord than FS. But I am biased.
Basically, I want more scenes of the badass Fangs and less of this simpering will they/won't they jousting. FZ and MZ get a pass because they are so sweet.
No doubt all their kissing and 'presumed' sexual activities in those bedroom scenes may make us feel a bit voyeuristic,…
Agreed on the journey part. My favourite part of the series was their courtship phase. The letters, especially, were really sweet.
I also appreciate whoever nixed the usual 'scorned lover' angle. Those are always dreadful to watch.
But once they got together, I started getting third wheel vibes. That's a good thing. Shows actors at the top of their game. But in my head, I kept saying 'get a room, you two!'. They listened, of course. Many times. And I had to watch.
I'm gonna need a heavy dose of Emperors punishing hapless courtiers to overcome all that saccharine.
The two leads are more interesting apart than they are together. Deep in your heart of hearts, you know this story would be much improved if they had just been brothers. Consider the steepe arc, the dude was an unneccessary edition. An opportunity to further develop both main characters by showing them overcome two separate challenges was ruined just so they gaze at each other in sloooow motion.
It has not yet been entirely ruined though. I look forward to the coming episodes.
Meh. Interesting no doubt, but rather pointless, no? You watch two very pretty people fall in love and live happily ever after. That's pretty much it. Hard not to feel like a bit of a voyeur at times.
After 14 episodes, I'm going to go ahead and declare this the greatest C-Drama ever. Like how much money was sunk into this? it shows!
Hopefully, they don't ruin my goodwill by making it a full-blown romance in the second half.
P.S There needs to be a 'bored emperor' tag. And Mu Deqing is secretly this show's MVP. It is very rare for a show to have zero weak links. Truly spectacular characterisation and casting.
Poor C-Drama female leads; can't stumble in slow motion into 1st ML's arms without slipping into a love triangle.
I have been whining about that for a while. The show is much better when it stuffs their 'romance' in a box.
Also, there aren't much fields left to plough, story-wise. Tilan and the Emperor would be too frosty. Z and Z are sweet, but only in small doses. The frontier is peaceful for now. That only leaves the palace, the cloud around shifu and our dear princess.
Started seeing mermaids yet?
Then you need to keep diving deeper 😁.
Dear writer gods, let Haishi outgrow her crush. Give her Shifu the strength not to be a cradle robber. Save us their boring, formulaic interactions.
I am biased, of course. I happen to find the constant emphasis on romance in genres not meant to be explicitly romantic stifling.
With that out of the way, even judged as a romance, those fall short.
A. He is her first crush. Nothing, literally nothing, shown on screen makes them a deserved romance. Tbh, I'd respect the writers more if they had him not cradle-rob.
B. Their stilted interactions are at the expense of better plots.
i. FH's exam arc was superb precisely because FS was absent. We got to see her shine.
ii. FS's was denied a similar moment during the port battle because they had to rush him across the continent to be where he was not needed. Imagine if instead of the rushed cut jobs to get him back to FH, we had a properly paced battle that allowed him demonstrate, on screen, some of the skills that made him legend.
iii. The fireworks horseride because he was not needed. That scene was at the expense of interactions with the Lords of Huku and Jianmen. FH had better chemistry with the steepe lord than FS. But I am biased.
Basically, I want more scenes of the badass Fangs and less of this simpering will they/won't they jousting. FZ and MZ get a pass because they are so sweet.
I also appreciate whoever nixed the usual 'scorned lover' angle. Those are always dreadful to watch.
But once they got together, I started getting third wheel vibes. That's a good thing. Shows actors at the top of their game. But in my head, I kept saying 'get a room, you two!'. They listened, of course. Many times. And I had to watch.
I'm gonna need a heavy dose of Emperors punishing hapless courtiers to overcome all that saccharine.
It has not yet been entirely ruined though. I look forward to the coming episodes.
Hopefully, they don't ruin my goodwill by making it a full-blown romance in the second half.
P.S There needs to be a 'bored emperor' tag. And Mu Deqing is secretly this show's MVP. It is very rare for a show to have zero weak links. Truly spectacular characterisation and casting.