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Yeah I agree, with switching out actors after the time gap, the backlash could be even more severe. I guess haters just gonna hate, eh? :P I haven't seen Moon Embracing the Sun, but it's a period drama I think where they switched out younger with older actors??? (and the younger ones are considered 'hallyu stars' of their generation now...) Any idea how that came along?
But yeah you're right, no shade to the ML/FL there (kim soo-hyun and the other lady)... but yeah, Zhang Ziyi is a class of her own, she's a tough act to follow...err, open?
There were these absolutely mind-blowing scenes of her steeling her resolve of giving up on her childhood love, and entering the arranged marriage for her family's sake. You're right, it's really ambitious to assume those CRITICAL scenes could be delivered by a younger actress with such finesse. Ugh, I'm just going to accept it as it is, because I love ZZY on my screen. And I am head-over-heels for ZYW's portrayal of the general here. (no adolescent twig could have done him justice...) T_T

Yup, like I said before, writers made Start-Up its *OWN* meme ^^

The ONLY complaint I have of KSH's side profile shots is that it captures only ONE dimple at a time. His beautiful nose compensates to a great extent, especially against sunlight. But nah xD :P

Are the leads here Mary Sues?
> Mary Sue is a stock-character, often female, who is defined as somebody being unrealistically perfect, and also devoid of character weaknesses. The 'male' version of it exists in literature, and is called as a 'Gary Stu'.

Thus she will have all or most of these character strengths:
- Be Honest, Determined, Honorable, Courageous, Brave (even if she can't do martial arts), Have Moral Integrity, Strong sense of responsibility & justice, and Possessing immense capacity to love, forgive and be patient.

AND she will be devoid of character weaknesses, like:
- Jealousy, Power-hunger, Infidelity, Haughtiness, Vengefulness, Insecurity, Impulsiveness, Pettiness, Emotionally Manipulative, etc etc.

AND any of the other negative characters she might possess, is used for a greater good, and a higher purpose.
-Like being shrewd & calculative to protect her family, or having pride in one's own worth without being boastful or haughty.

A Mary Sue, is often mistaken for being a 'benign, little pushover and a complete doormat' because she's associated with positive qualities like 'love and forgiveness' and lacking negative qualities like 'jealousy'. However, a character who satisfies all of the above, and in addition to that, say, is loud, initially bratty, states her opinions loudly and has a spine of steel, is STILL very much a Mary Sue.

But here's the thing: I don't see a problem with Mary Sues as leads. Infact, all Mary Sues are good human beings. As for stock characters, it's like 'Yamato Nadeshiko' or a 'Byronic Hero'. I have no idea why Mary Sues get all the flak.... yes they are unrealistically perfect, but this literature is also FICTION!. Besides, media has 'more problematic' stock character depictions, like the 'bully with the heart of gold', which somehow justifies and reinforces 'bad behavior' yet nobody is stuck up on those. -__-
Sure, Mary Sues are tropey, but get such a bad rep, and such unnecessary hate. :/ :/

(ps. I agree Awu ticks a lot of these Mary-Sue boxes. Even Xiao Qi does too. I have heard lots say: 'Can this man BE anymore perfect?'.... and 'the only downside to this man, is that there is nothing unlikeable about him'. I still love them both, in all their unrealistic-ness, and don't see why these characters are getting all this hate just because?)

~Thank you for reading this rant xD xD

@MN x... about the age thing, I remember a similar, but also reverse incident that happened with Fan BingBing's Empress of China. The backlash she got, was for portraying Wu Zetian (the empress), who is supposed to be an older middle-aged lady (around 50's)... with prosthetics, CGI and makeup.
She was roasted for portraying a character 'too old' (opposite to this case), and accused of holding the story out in a more 'age-appropriate' range (where the character is a young 20 to mid 30's) just so that she has 'more screen-time to look pretty' lmao!... People were mad, because they wanted to see the 'first female monarch of China'.... however, FBB is crowned 'female Emperor' only 5 episodes before the finale xD xD

>>>It isn't so much about age-shaming, rather about superstar leading-ladies refusing to give up little spotlight and some screen-time, to actors who are more age-appropriate to portray the character (in FBB's case, it would have been someone older than her; and in ZZY's case, it would be someone younger than her)

Regarding the age-thing...while I don't have any problems with ZZY pretending to be a 15-yo (because I literally skipped 7 episodes because of the potential cringe)...
I DO THINK because
1. ZZY has assembled such an amazing crew, she could have tried to scout supremely talented, under-the-radar actors to portray a younger-version of all the characters in Awu's generation (yes, that includes, Awu, the princes, Xiao Qi, the wives of the brothers and the princes, etc.)

2. The story has a natural 3 year-time gap, after which all the older generation characters like the PM, Awu's mom, Emperor, Empress could have been styled slightly older, and replace the entire generation of Awu's, with the older/ seasoned actors. Is ZZY more believable as an 18 y/o than a 15 y/o? Maybe marginally. But would 'haters' have complained less? ABSOLUTELY YES!. This idea would have worked better, AND the seasoned actors would only have to give up about 7 episodes worth of screen-time. Pretty fair trade imo. Three years, as we see in the storyline, is enough to mentally age characters by a decade (as they are forced to 'grow up overnight')...and I'd be sold on the physical age-upgrade TOO ^^
[NTM, it would have been a slick transition, switching from a 'young' Xiao Qi to an 'older' Xiao Qi :P]

Now finding a rugged 25/ 27 y/o old actor for Xiao Qi, a 15/20 y/o dainty actress for Awu (who isn't annoying)... maybe a challenge, agreed. But for someone of ZZY's standing, its easy task for her to audition and cherry-pick talents. She can literally go to her alma-mater, and pick young students from those classes, maybe even train a couple of the young-actors while she's at it! I think a cast change with the time-skip would have made for more compelling story-telling. And this has been done in drama-land before. I can't believe they didn't anticipate this backlash. But I guess, you can't make everybody happy! :D

I think a reviewer of her caliber and scale watches entirely too many c-dramas every year. So the stuff that appears fresh to us, may not be the case with AvenueX. This is a 'Big Female Lead' drama, we can all agree. I for one have started watching dramas very recently. Others may have been watching for quite long, but they watch sparingly watch a few. Since the Rebel Princess is 'an ancestor' novel of this genre, most of the previous adaptations of 'newer' works have already shown stuff in TRP, which was fresh when the novel released, but is considered 'tired and tropey' now. I haven't watched Xiao Chuo yet, but if I were to pick that up after TRP, I would rant about it for stealing stuff from TPP :P
BFL dramas... let's see....the actresses usually always have bigger/ more rabid fanbase, and thus more screentime, and she somehow become a crucial center-piece of the plot. So TRP fits this definition atleast, without going into the whole Mary-Sue arguement. I haven't yet watched Ming-lan, Xiao Chuo, Zhen-Huan, Ruyi, Weiyoung, Mi-Yue, Hao-lan, BBJX etc. [only considering 'court-palace' dramas, and not counting BFL xianxia and wuxia dramas, like TMOPB and LoF]
The only ones I have watched is, is Wu Zetian (why?), Yanxi Palace, and Empress Ki (altho that's a k-drama). Thus, TRP, despite using a typical plot progression as all those dramas listed above... appears fresh to me. I can imagine folks who have watched ALL those BFL dramas, and more... and BFL dramas of xianxia and wuxia genres too... must be SO frustrated because it's nothing new. With the scale of crew ZZY has assembled, she could have done something perhaps... fresher? Did we really *need* an adaptation for TRP, after *all those* other endless BFL dramas listed above? [objectively no, but my inner Xiao-Qi fangirl begs to disagree on a completely superficial reason, lol!] hehehehe
So, I understand where her 'rant' is coming from (yes, she watches entirely TOO many dramas, because that's literally her job!).... but I don't 'relate' to it, as I don't share her perspective. I think people who don't watch as many dramas as her, are a LOT more forgiving towards TRP, where we can leave prejudice aside, and enjoy it for what it really is.

Well, you know why CC as xiao qi wouldn't have worked? Because there is NO way CC appears in front of a 15-y.o. marriageable girl, and she doesn't fall for him *right* then and there, irrespective of the fact that she is love with a young prince. Whereas, ZYW takes his own sweet time to 'grow' on the viewers, thus our gradual warming up to him is at a similar pace to Awu's journey of slowly falling for him, and is fitting, because the story is seen through Awu's lens.
You're right.... NiNi, YM and ZZY are absolute goddesses in their respective age-range/ genre. Compared to them, the actors are definitely more low-key (other than CC maybe). Most female audience started with heart-eyes for these girl-crushes. And then, as we know.... the Male Leads happened. Lmao! There are scenes in ALL three of these productions, where during certain emotional scenes, the actors ended up overshadowing their costars SO much. Fo' sure, all 3 men will go down in history as some of the swooniest c-drama men! <3

I admit, a re-collab from ZZY and CC in their near 40's would have been absolutely explosive! But ZYW has sealed the deal for me ^^

Both actors naturally have a very 'breathy', 'whispery' natural voice...
So when they talk like that, it seems extra intimate, like they are whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears....
Its extra cute seeing a fierce general, and battle-hero do that! ^^

Or like Jaime Lannister's Hand of Gold, lmao xD

Haha, this reminded me of Mark Chao when he was casted as Yehua/ Moyuan in TMOPB. Netz called him 'too-ugly' and 'too-old' to play the role. There were mini-petitions online. Mark Chao jokes to this day, that the director thought he was 'ugly', had hired him only on trial basis, but later his 'non-conventional appearance' grew on her, and she was blown by his talent, and the rest as we know... is history. Funnily ZYW, CC and MC all three aren't considered 'flower-boys', haven't done 'idol-ish' dramas before, and aren't the first people you think of when 'romantic ML' is brought up. Interestingly enough, all three convinced us HOW besotted they are in love for their respective women, and wouldn't entertain the idea of taking concubines, ever. Even more funnily, L&D and TRP were supposed to start shooting earlier, and Chan Chen was offered the ML role in both, but he picked the former.
I don't care whoever call these men 'ugly and too old', but I find them to be perfect *dreamboats*. Their respective characters are an added cherry on my fangirling-cake! *_* <3

Absolutely, she would be relieved to secure ZYW. Firstly, her prev costar Chang Chen dropped the script and she wasn't sure who to cast instead for a long time. Secondly, she was smitten with ZYW's acting in a movie that she watched for Chang Chen. And thirdly, she first-hand witnessed HOW talented this man can be. Fourthly, if to remove any doubts in her mind, (and I dont care if people call it rigged), a winner is a winner, and he won the finale. In her mind, she couldn't have found a more perfect Xiao Qi (not even considering the wide portfolio of roles XYW has already done, he's honestly such a chameleon!) <3
Yes you're right, her handmaid was also in the acting show, altho she didnt end up on the finale top 3, and to be fair, was in the other mentor's team (so i don't also see 'nepotism' as people are accusing her of!). :p

What a disaster.. xD

I think the reality show had already declared the winner, before ZYW was casted as the ML here, which goes onto show since ZZY was on the lookout for a ML actor since a loooong time, she ended up cherry-picking ZYW after the reality show. Acting with him during the scene of the Rouge, probably confirmed to her the great chemistry that they would share on TRP.

Interesting to note that, ZZY brought up Brotherhood of the Blades for talking about Chang Chen and ZYW. At that point Chang Chen had already been offered the role of a General in TWO parallel productions (Love & Destiny, and the Rebel Princess), and he turned down the latter. Ever since, ZZY had been on lookout for a ML. Brotherhood of the Blades might have been where she was first impressed with ZYW, and finally, the reality show, where she mentally finalized on him, before he was officially declared as the ML for TRP. So, her bias towards him was obvious, not because he was already her ML, but because she has an eye for talent, and knew she'd pick him in the future as Xiao Qi.

Infact, since it's ZZY's investment money, I have zero problem with her using a talent variety show as a mini-audition/ screen-test to pick her costars for her own project. Especially, if the result works out to be as successful as this (honestly, I'm convinced nobody can play Xiao Qi other than ZYW....not even Chang Chen) :D :D

Hasn't been casted yet.... (Ah-yi)

The artwork, imagery and the setting definitely has fantasy-vibes! :)
But nothing could be farther from the truth! :P

Here you go! ^^
https://manhuascan.com/manga-annarasumanara.html
Since it's a webtoon, each chapter appears as a single spread and you have to scroll down to read the full spread! :D

I know exactly who you're talking about xD xD xD

-Dalmi not choosing to fulfill Dad's dreams of food business. She'd rock with her own Korean Uber-Eats! I mean, why stress specifically that Halmeoni had a corn-dog shop, then Dad almost started his own *food-delivery* business? So that Dalmi could build self-drive cars?
-The point of the handwriting-analysis AI algo. Wasn't that supposed to reveal the author of the letters? Esp since NoonGil was connected to Grandma's blindness, it was logical to have the handwriting algo connected to the letters.
-Dosan always feeling like a fraud, and when he snaps (as was foreshadowed multiple times with his whole fidgety nervousness, pent-up rage issues and the ironic 'Living Buddha' moniker).... he either resorts to violence. Or goes and blurts out about the Math Olympiad fiasco all those years back. Instead of having Dalmi being the instigator in his life, for him to come clean once and for all, on his own, because he *loves* her. And this confession setting him free, absolving him of any of his self-imposed guilt, and Dosan finally overcoming his inferiority and Imposter Syndrome.
-Random countless parallels between Dalmi x JiPyeong.... like writer-nim, what was the point exactly?

I remembered this incident from back in the school days. It was lit class, and students were theorizing what was the hidden reason behind the phrase 'blue skies'? Some wondered if that signified an apparent depression, or perhaps a sliver of hope towards a better future, etc, etc. Then our teacher walked in after a coffee-break and said, 'He just meant BLUE SKIES, people! Get over it, next line please.'
T_T
101 Bamboozling.