MagnoliaCream

One of the rather irritating things about cdramas is how fond they are of flashbacks; sometimes a particular scene is flashed-back several times. A flashback of a new scene would be much more welcome. XD told BYL how he feels several times. Which scenes in which episodes do you mean? That's why I didn't view the cut scenes because I knew I would hanker after them once I viewed them. I believe in "no expectations, no disappointment"

Very. The leads ran exuberantly out of the confines of the Imperial City while the Futu pagoda, a symbol of female oppression, burned and the pathetic emperor lay crumpled on the ground. All these images signal a new beginning from the ashes of oppression for both the leads and the empire. It's poetic.

Right now, without the cut scenes, it's in my top 10 best cdramas. If the scenes were not cut, I would rank it probably one place higher, not much difference because I already love it as it is

#4 😂 also heart palpitations or heart melting altogether 😂

so true :)

Such a pity. It's such a good drama compared to others that have higher ratings. This shows that no rating system is reliable because it depends so much on people's emotions. Viewers got mad at cut scenes that make up less than 1% of the whole, and forgot how good the 99% was.

I got both horrified and bored at the vengefulness of Ling Bu Yi . Imagine all those people he killed. If the relatives of those people were as vengeful as he was, he and Shao Shang won't have a moment's peace ever again.

I understand, at one point I wished Zhang Ling He played the emperor :) but then that might have made me less invested in Xiao Duo and Bu Yinlou's romance :)

Thank you 🥰 Whenever I see comments, not just here but also in Twitter and Youtube, about the drama being ruined because of the cut scenes, I wonder whether those commenters watched the drama at all because if they had, they would have realized that those cut scenes matter very little in terms of the story, even in the romance angle as the drama already shows a lot of romantic scenes

Yes, he was a killing machine . It was part of his job description as chief of Zhaoding Bureau. That's why people feared him. But in the end, he realized that the best way to deal with criminals/enemies is through the law. He also threw away Denghuo, his main instrument for killing.

I'm happy he has a gf. Hope they are still happily together. It's interesting to note that in this case, the younger fans are acting more mature than the older ones😂 I wonder why that is :)

I think throwing the sword away was symbolic of a new beginning in his life, free from hatred, from killing. Denghuo also had a dark history and foreboding for its owner. XD made sure his life with BYL would be free from such foreboding

I think being disgusting was what the role called for, the more disgusting, the more effective :)

Yes, it would have been best if the drama was left uncensored, with no scenes cut.

However, this drama has such a compelling story, characters that are well-acted and have so much depth, heart-fluttering romance, stunning cinematography and beautiful music that cannot be ruined by a few missing scenes. Even if all missing scenes make up one episode, there are still 36 episodes of wonderful storytelling left. Had no one known about those missing scenes, this drama would have been considered a masterpiece.

It is the only cdrama I've watched where the revenge-seeker gets enlightened about the nonsense and futility of killing people with his own hands to avenge a wrongful death. I've seen cdramas where the lead kills hundreds of people on his path to killing the main culprit. This is utter nonsense. It's pure arrogance on the part of the lead to think that he is the only one deserving of exacting revenge. What about the relatives of those hundreds of people he killed? Wouldn't they have reason to want to kill him and his clan too, and along the way also kill hundreds of people? If everybody who feels wronged seeks revenge this way, pretty soon, the world would have nobody left but revenge-seekers. How justice is served in this drama shows the brilliance of its storytelling.

This drama also depicts the deficiencies of the monarchical form of government. Aside from the fact that royal heirs would not always be the most qualified rulers nor always have the heart for the people, monarchy bred many other ills, including the concubine system. To make sure that monarchs had heirs, women were used as child-bearing machines. And those who didn't bear children became tribute ladies who were forced to kill themselves to accompany the dead emperor in the afterlife. Yes, such custom may have been mentioned in other cdramas, but this one made us experience how tribute ladies mourned, protested and finally accepted their fate, as we followed the female lead, a tribute lady herself.

Most of all, this is one of the most romantic cdramas I've watched. Yes, even without the cut scenes. From the start, Xiao Duo and Bu Yinlou showed how well matched they were in terms of intelligence and values. From their first meeting, XD knew BYL was smart when he saw how she tried to escape her fate as a tribute lady. His change of heart, from being disgusted with her "pretentiousness and flattery" to admiration, respect and love, is enchanting. The way they collaborated extemporaneously to get the crown prince to cooperate with them showed how synchronized their brain waves were. Before he realized his feelings for her, he showed his genuine care. When BYL hurt her leg against a railing, he had the railing removed. Jealous XD was the cutest thing ever. He seethed over Fu's courtship of her. His attempts to get rid of the lantern Fu gave BYL were hilarious. When XD fell in love, he pursued her relentlessly, only holding back when his advances would endanger her. He knew she craved freedom and thus helped her, as much as he could, escape being brought back to the palace. He transplanted the pear tree to please her. He made sure she was more than comfortable in the Imperial Mausoleum. And he let her whip him. BYL was just as passionate about him. She knew even before he knew himself that he fancied her. But she did not abuse that knowledge. She was, in fact, kind of wary of it, though she was not above teasing or flirting with him. But she would do anything to amuse him (hurt her shoulder to create a flower shower), or protect him (go to the palace instead of escaping and getting him killed). With their intelligence and cunning, it was sheer pleasure watching them overcome adversities together. I'm just scraping the surface here. There are many, many more heart-fluttering moments between them, much, much more than the cut scenes.

There are several cases of actors complaining about what their directors made them do when they were younger. The actors of Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet have recently filed a lawsuit against Paramount for making them do nude scenes in 1968.

Exactly! It's been more than 4 years and some fans of Meteor Garden are still hoping for the leads to be a couple in real life. I don't know if I should pity them or be worried about them. Hopefully, LBFAD fans won't be that obsessive and realize soon that the actors were just doing their jobs.

Wanwan becomes like an advisor to the emperor, overseeing the lantern festival, among other things. After what happens to the emperor in the end, I think she will have an even bigger role. The useless prince 😂 helps XD with his plan to rescue BYL and I assume he helps with other things in support of XD and BYL as well. Bu Yulu was slated for execution when BYL saw him last.

those were the most heartbreaking scenes in LBFAD, eps 18 and 31. From ep 31 onwards, my heart felt heavy, I was close to tears the whole time until the end

come to think of it, might the strict censorship also be caused by Dylan's age? He was just 23 when he made the drama. I think he really shouldn't have been made to do those steamy scenes at his age.

He really impressed me in this drama. Xiao Duo is a very complicated character and Dylan nailed it. He acts really heartless and competent when being the chief of Zhaoding Bureau, but melts into a lovesick puppy when he is with Bu Yinlou. I keep repeating that scene when he just got caned for letting BYL be poisoned and he whined about the wounds hurting to her. It was very brief, a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but he was just so cute, being a baby :) And there are many more such scenes where your heart can't help fluttering.