Lynn

We finished it. Unimpressed, uninspired. :/

Ok. I really need to try and get past the first few, I've seen lots of people making the same comment. The problem is both my bf and I seem to be unable to focus for this show. It also feels like the type of show that requires you to have some context/know the characters for the plot development which means we can't just skip past it. @________@"

Also, it might just be makeup and whatnot, but the entire cast looks better in their headshots than they do in the show. I'm normally a bigger fan of historical setting/clothing. This really odd.

The thing is I don't watch that many dramas, I keep them on because I need noise to work and dramas/sitcoms are easier since I can set it up to auto-play. If there is one that stands out, I may end up watching, but I do pick and choose. To save time, if it is bad within the first 5-8 episodes, I will drop it. That's why my drop-list is so incredibly long. That's also why I'm targeting C-drama right now cause I can understand if it's just playing in the background.

I know that Yang Zi is quite a 'seasoned' actress (child actress from my understanding), but she seems to mainly play these type of roles. I thought it was just her personality so I did some digging, I watched a clip of her interview and she is not like that irl, which suggests that she is typecasted or made to play such roles. I have no idea why they do that, she has a normal and pretty decent voice when she is not pretending to be a life-sized anime character. If I wanted to watch anime, I would watch anime; I really don't.

Side note, not a fan of Dilraba, I do not think she is particularly good at acting. Her face is always frozen in a perplexed look. Not exaggerated like Yang Zi, but her expressions aren't natural. Needless to say, I also don't like the way she looks, I can't pinpoint precisely why, but I would much rather watch NiNi or YiTong. I didn't even know of Dilraba's existence until recently for Chang Ge. Posted a comment and got blasted for no reason, mostly by inane and illiterate people. XD LOL! Tbf, I'm fussy. My idea of a 10 in acting is Meryl Streep or 9.5 Audrey Hepburn/Zhou Xun (not that I am expecting this for TV shows), but at least 8-9 is ideal. I'd say Dilraba's acting is mediocre at best, I would not give it more than a 6-7 (7 is really stretching it). I do not know who Crystal Yuan is. 5 and below for acting is utterly unwatchable for me. Priorities are plot > acting > others. Acting is rated based on acting (the role given in the specific show), versatility (if more than a single show, i.e.: serious versus comical) and difficulty (are you doing Shakespeare or are you doing sitcoms?).

Edit: I'll put that on the list, but may not touch it. Thanks for the suggestion though. Maybe if I decide to give her another shot.

The initial comment made was with regards to her acting. The judgment made on her acting stands on its own. For instance, I much prefer NiNi although she is not deemed as pretty. Despite two people stating there are over 31k discussions on the show, I am not going to be going over all the nitty-gritty details, the original question serves to determine whether it is worth spending another 40 hours on this. Her job scope involves being judged, not going to comment further on that. Acting>Looks. The problem I had was -> didn't like her acting -> tried to focus on her face -> face bothered me -> want to know why -> couldn't find good reason -> ask.

Admittedly, I did want to know why I felt that her face was uncomfortable to look at. This is probably not going to change whether we actually watch the show. Gulinazha (I also think her acting leaves much to be desired) has very similar features, yet, I find her face appealing. Obviously, this is of no concern for people who are not interested in the subject, I elaborated or rather summarised what you would find in terms of studying facial symmetry and its correlation with perceived beauty. By no means am I for or against the findings, I just know that it matters to the human eye that perfect symmetry = disturbing and slight asymmetry = better looking. I also pointed out that she does not have a fully symmetrical face which is why I ruled that out.

To further illustrate why the question matters or could matter, facial symmetry helps determines facial recognition by finding focal points that the AI can concentrate on. Not only that, if you want to reconstruct a face either using polymers or grafts, having full symmetry results in more 'robot-looking' features = disturbing. Areas of application include palsy, burn, androids, etc. Again, not once did I ever say she was ugly, quite the contrary, I find all her features to be ideal, but not in combination. Lol! A reversal of the uncanny valley phenomenon? I merely stated I find her looks uncomfortable, so I dissected the portions to try to find specifically why, and I could not find it. If people jump to the conclusion that uncomfortable = ugly, that's not on me. Toxic positivity and CWS are real. *shrug* Not that I care, I just want answers.

Interesting. I actually love literature, it is probably part of why I am incredibly critical. I wanted to do creative writing, but I'm Chinese so I was pressured into medicine. Sigh. Yes, I am immensely fussy, but I am by no means unfair. I just find her face uncomfortable to look at which made me think it could be due to symmetry, but when I dissected her face into smaller portions, I could not find anything really 'wrong' with it.

Lol. I do not study sociology/psychology. I specialise in Immunology, but no matter. My original question was referring to the plot/storyline. I merely pointed out that I find her face uncomfortable. There is a difference between ugly and uncomfortable.

While I agree that people can have different opinions, as you can tell, I have my opinions and the commenters are clearly biased and attempting to disregard my opinions/convert me. Not going to have that, I am simply defending my statements. :) It's my expertise after all. Still, no one has actually answered the real question. Yours is as close as it gets. So dropping then.

So tags that fit the bill (not exclusively), historical, character development, strong leads, drama, smart male lead, political, power struggle, adapted from novel, personal growth, eccentric lead, etc.

Popular opinion =/= good opinion.

Because a show comprises of many aspects. The biggest contributor being the plot and acting. The acting IMO is subpar since it mostly revolves around the same actress (unlikely to change although rarely it can), so far the plot has been meh, I want to know if the plot gets better or stays the same. I am more of a book person than a TV person, my bf is the opposite so we compromise (sometimes). I don't read manhua and will not be reading the manhua. I could pick up the novel if it was a novel, but it isn't.

Dramas, none. Closest I think that could potentially make the A-list would be Empress Gi/Ki (possibly a 9/10 this is from my recollection of over 7 years ago - I do not re-watch/re-read anything). For my standards, I can 'watch' or rather go through a drama that is at least a 7/10. Right now, this show is around a 5.5-6 for me. I'm just considering whether it has any potential to improve or if it is pretty much going to stay the same throughout. If it is the latter, I won't be wasting time.

Refer to post below. Not going to reiterate. I'm a PhD student and I can safely say there are rules that define beauty and what is considered to be socially comfortable. Lol! It sounds insane but it is true. Look up on studies on facial symmetry. If you want to test the theory, take random pictures of 'decent-looking' people on the internet, half the face, flip and paste it. Complete symmetry is disturbing to the eye. This is known. Asymmetry is also considered to be ugly, so there is a balance which dictates how good or bad looking a person can be.

1) I've mentioned why. Initially, I thought it could be due to symmetry, but I do not think her eyes are symmetrical. I ruled that out too. I never said she is not pretty, I agree if I were to individually rate each portion, I don't think she has ugly features (I define beautiful differently, nobody who I do not personally know can be considered beautiful). Again, I never trust 'rankings', so that doesn't really strengthen any arguments.

2) Disagree. I find her acting quite bland (not as bad as some others, but also if I were to solely rate her acting, probably would not watch another one of her shows).

3) I do not trust the ratings here. :) I'm simply using the algorithm, tags, to find a drama that won't be too much of a put-off.

4) I am well aware of the historical context. Also, if I'm going to do research, it will be on cell signalling pathways or something, certainly not a drama. *facepalm* Contrary to what you're stating, I find the plot to be too simplistic and truly nothing exciting, so far everything has been predictable, which is why I am considering dropping.

I have very high expectations for everything from plot, to cast, to choreography/screenwriting/directing and even filming/editing. So far, this show is mediocre at best, with acting on the pretty low-end.

Does the show get better or worse? Don't like Dilraba's acting (or lack thereof). Also, something off about her face. We are on episode 6 and about to drop again.

My bf and I tried this show 4 times, I can't even get past half of the first episode. ._." No eye candy, slow asf, OST so-so, is the novel better than the show?

I'm not really a TV person, I prefer books. I only semi-watched as a child because the older generation/Asian households love watching drama. Totally unrelated subject but there's logic to this I promise, I've always lived in large cities, since moving to Canada I picked up 'watching' Asian dramas again because I need background noise to focus on working. My bf likes to watch TV, and we are in LDR right now, so I get to work, he gets to watch a show, win-win.

You sound like me, I share your sentiments, I hate weak characters, I can't stand annoying characters, I do not like one-dimensional sort of acting or writing. Yeah, I do ask for a lot. I know I stand on the harsher, more critical side. I didn't really want to review every show I watched but the people here are too generous with the scores. I'm actually wondering if most of them are teens. I guess I'm part of the unpopular opinions gang. Rofl.

You again! XD Yeah, I think this is becoming a common problem for a lot of C-dramas. Sigh... I think I need to go and stalk NiNi and Xuan Lu, they are the very few actresses that did not drive me mad. :(

LOL! Got routed here because I recently reviewed TRoP. I second this, Angelababy cannot act to save her life.

It's that Angelababy worshipper again. @_@ Good God. Same comment everywhere. It's like this person's being paid to try to change everyone else's perspective. XD How much are you being paid? I could get behind this if it's a good amount. Rofl.

What an insult to be compared to the likes of Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi. Lol! @_@ Nini is so much better at acting than those two.

*in a deep, hushed voice* You were my greatest disappointment.

My anger has long subsided, but this was one of the best/worst dramas; all packaged into a time-wasting nightmare.

Haha. Reading and writing is the academic's way of life. I've always preferred reading because I prefer imagining than visualising it. When they turn it into a film/show, it is rather disappointing and cannot live up to my expectations. Acting is often incredibly bad too, for instance, Yang Zi. *shakes head, cue eyeroll*

That's an interesting list because all of the Korean shows you listed, I've never heard of. Perhaps I've been out of the K-drama scene for too long (used to be my mum who watches them).

I tend to prefer going for Chinese shows because I'm ethnically Chinese and can understand 3 dialects, which means I do not need to stare at subtitles. Sometimes, my bf and I 'watch' it together, I leave it on in the background while I do data analysis, or something else. I also have a preference for historical dramas (regardless of Chinese, English, Korean, Japanese or whatever else).

Nirvana in Fire is one of those that we tried to start, but shy of a couple of episodes, we could not find it compelling enough to continue. It's on the list because my bf is convinced that it is a good show and suited for us.

If you read my reviews, you'll know I'm fairly fussy. I need a good plot, good acting, not an eyesore, etc. I know it's a lot to ask, I've tried to be very lenient with my ratings. The good thing for WOH is that I have not read the book. From what I could gather, it is so different from the book that book fans have a huge problem with the show. The bad part, or the main problem with WOH as a TV show is that there is almost zero plot, or rather there is a plot, but the way the show was written/directed, they may as well have had no plot. It also gave me a similar feel to The Untamed (if you've ever watched it, it's still better than WOH), it's probably because viewers like it that way, but it is super white-washed, mainly the whole villains versus heroes theme. In a lot of Chinese mythology, wuxia, xianxia, authors do not like portraying good versus evil, the characters are all humans who err. There are good values, teachings and practices, but every human being is always both good and bad. It's a little annoying that all the shows fail to portray this. As an avid reader who prefers the book version (obviously slightly biased), I feel like the shows failed their books.

Side note, I feel like I have to mention that Chinese cannot be translated completely without some of the meaning getting lost in translation. Both in songs and in shows, it is often quite poetic (the closest equivalent I can think of is sort of Shakespearean in nature). There has never been a Chinese drama where the subtitles were accurate. I'm sure that subtitles are never completely accurate, but this is particularly true for Chinese historical dramas.

Since this is so long, may as well continue writing. I failed to answer your question from 8 months ago. I basically skimmed it. Ok, when you asked why is morality personal or cultural, it is because morality is constructed by humans and everything constructed by us is henceforth biased. To understand this, we need to think about philosophy and go through a short mental exercise. For example, let's assume Americans think cannibalism is barbaric and savage, they try to eradicate this. Tell me why it is morally wrong to cannibalise a person? If let's say you have to kill someone to eat them, most people will definitely argue that it is wrong, what if the person is already dead, is it still wrong? Moreover, if you argue that it is wrong to eat a person, I could argue that wasting meat regardless of whether it is the same species is wasting food, which is also wrong. This concept exists in anthropology, it is called ethnocentrism when a person holds their own values/morals over another. Let's then ask the people of Papua New Guinea why is cannibalism considered to be morally good and why it still exists. Some tribes consume the flesh of their relatives as an act of respect, to keep the deceased as part of them forever. In fact, not only is this a good moral value to certain tribes, they've evolved biologically to become resistant to a disease called kuru (a form of Prion disease). So now, with this information, do you think the Americans are morally right or wrong for killing cannibals? The real answer is that there is no right or wrong. Morality is not fundamentally real, just like time is not real, they're constructed by humans, they don't really exist. This goes back to the earlier premise of why I do not really like TV shows compared to books. Modern TV shows like to portray morality in a very Americanised manner. Chinese especially, although we have a concept of right and wrong which reflect the moral values, I think it is widely known and accepted that humans are neither. Karma, reincarnation, circle of life, are all examples of ideas that support that notion. If you're curious about what I mean, read Andy Weir's short story, 'The Egg'. YAY! New scenario, the world is ending, there is no food left, we are left with a lot of corpses and no land for agriculture. This tribe from Papua New Guinea has evolved and are able to eat people, thus, they survive (survival of the fittest). Does it matter if it is 'morally wrong'? Are you going to join the 'morally wrong' to survive or stay 'morally right' and die? Humans by nature are selfish (all species are), those so-called 'morally right' people, when put in a dire situation, the majority of them will turn their back on morals. In the end, morality is personal and cultural because, in reality, there is no such thing. This falls under moral relativism, although, I'm borderline nihilist too.

If you're wondering why I have so much random information, I'm a PhD student in Immunology. XD If you don't understand some of what I'm saying, it's alright, just ignore it. If you like thinking a lot and discussing philosophy and ideas, I'm your girl. My brain is a crazy place to be. Sorry for taking you on a trip there.