Lynn

I actually haven't watched any of her shows, but I looked her up thinking that perhaps it was just the way the dialogue/character was written. The thing is I wanted to know if she was typecasted for such roles due to her personality so I watched an interview of hers, she is not like that in real life. I do not know why her acting in every show results in annoying portrayal of female characters. Either she is widely known in the industry to be 'good' at such roles (I cannot imagine any of such roles ever being good, but whatever), or she is just that bad at acting. Sigh.

I prefer historical/period pieces too, regardless of whether it is Chinese, English, Korean, Japanese, etc. I am just fond of historical stories, and I mean this in the sense that I also prefer such books. I noticed there has been a reduction in historical C-dramas over the years. I've never been much of a TV person, but I was raised by my grandparents and they watched so much of it, I guess I sort of semi-watched/semi-listened. As an adult, I find a lot of TV dramas appalling and a waste of time. Maybe I got more fussy as I aged, I can't stand of a lot of the acting, screenwriting and few have decent plots. Well if you have any good ones to recommend let me know. My bf loves watching drama so I just dump them all in a shortlist until I have time.

Don't bother. I had to drop it to retain my brain cells.

Lol. I explained why in my review. XD I don't think I would have enjoyed it at all if I hadn't already read the book and forced into watching the anime. I never trust any reviews with above 9/10 on MDL. I disagree with the previous commenter, the two main leads were popular well before this show; Yi Bo being the more popular of the two. I have seen the others in a handful of other productions (normally supporting cast). I like Meng Ziyi so it is one of the reasons I watched it (she isn't a good actress, I just like her demeanour). Once I started, I liked Wang Zhou Cheng so I just stayed on the show.

It gained a lot of fans because it was popularised by the anime (crazy otaku people and their obsessions), on top of that, the book was a hit (the English version is trash though) and it is one of the very few Chinese dramas on Netflix. As you can tell, I am very fussy. I rarely if ever watch TV, most of the time I keep it on in the background while I do data analysis. Otherwise, I only watch dramas to spend time with my bf.

If you are trying to get into historical C-drama, I would recommend trying Rise of the Phoenixes (has it's own problems). However, I'm warning you, it starts off strong and becomes utter crap mid-way. It was like they gave up production halfway into the show and threw the plot into the gutter. I did not review that title because I was so disappointed in the show, I felt I would bash the show if I wrote a review.

Nah. You're clearly the biased one. I said I am going to skip the show, what other people do is their own prerogative. Unless you are implying I have the power to control their minds. Lol, then you think too highly of me. I'm merely stating a fact. If you think she can act, then you have fairly low standards for what constitutes acting. It does not matter to me either way what you like or don't, but why be a hypocrite going around telling people off for critiquing her? That's not biasness, that's called having an opinion. Oh, the irony. XD

Oof... Sorry I'm totally not active here unless my bf makes me watch a new series. Haha! We are currently binging Word of Honour, it's very mediocre though, I would not recommend it, the plot is non-existent. We are really only there because of the gay scenes.

I'm not too fussy about CGI because most Asian shows have terrible CGIs to begin with, but I have a certain level of tolerance. If the explosion could use a bit of work to look realistic, I can let it go. If the animated dragon looks like a lizard, that's a problem. Lol. I used to watch a variety of dramas, mostly because my family members watch them. I'm not really a TV person, more of a book person. However, I used to watch TV adaptations of books even if they are quite disappointing. Recently, with the lack of time, I hardly ever watch anything unless my bf really wants us to spend time together.

Well, I personally think she is a terrible actress and cannot act to save her life. The only saving grace is that she is not ugly, otherwise, her shows would be unwatchable. I'm not saying it is bad to want to improve, I agree that's a good trait to have, but at the end of the day, it is still a job, a job where they are paid a lot to entertain. In any other regular job, you get fired if you're bad at your job, I don't see why it should be an issue to critique her bad acting. *shrug* To each their own, I was here because of the other actors in the cast, but seeing her on the list, I'm probably going to skip this one.

Unbiased opinion, I think she looks fine but in all fairness she is a terrible actress. There are worse out there, still, no excuses, she is quite bad at her job.

I'm also on it with my bf. I never trust any of the ratings here. They're often far too generous. Only watching this because my bf made me. I will try to pick up the book soon to see if it is better. The plot is non-existent, we are just binging because frankly, we like the gayness. If you are on episode 4, I suggest dropping, the plot only gets worse. LOL. Although this show is definitely flawed (I'm not going into detail, I'll review it when we actually finish the show), 'The Untamed' similarly, had a lot of inexplicable gaps. It was lacking compared to the book, but I was very generous with my scoring for 'The Untamed' seeing as the cast was made almost entirely from a bunch of Boy Bands. I actually read the book prior to watching 'The Untamed' which was why I understood it, while my bf found it incredibly confusing.

Ohhhhh... Argh... Don't even know how to verbalise this. So upset with The Rise of the Phoenixes! I skipped past most of the last 12 episodes to end my misery.

Lol! The first 8 episodes or so, I was not invested in the show. I decided that it is rare to find a show where the actors are good and there's a decent plot, so I started to focus when it was playing. They drew me into a drama only to murder the entire thing. It started off so clever and calculated, towards the end it was all crap. I'll take your advice and give Six Flying Dragons a go.

Yes, he did seem to be a very passive King until halfway through the show. It became clear that he had his own agenda and a lot more going on behind the scenes. I had not gotten that far when I commented. As for the Chang clan, initially, it just seemed rather odd that they had so much military power and were not ruling. Since the King came to power quite recently, I assumed the people with the strongest military power were the ones who contributed most to the coup. Throughout the show, I had the impression the Chang clan had more military power than the King as he did not seem to be doing much to put them in their place. No one else in the court seemed to participate in the plot, so they appeared to either side/fear the Changs or could not be bothered. In such a situation, I could not understand how he became King. I think it became clearer towards the end that he did have a strong army, he was just reluctant to fight someone who helped him seize the throne out of gratitude or whatever.

History is told by the victors or in some cases social constructs. Empresses are often depicted as less efficient or crueller than male counterparts, even if the majority of what they have done does not differ significantly from any male ruler.

I'm going through Rise of the Phoenixes at the moment and though I like the characters and their development, I cannot help but feel the storyline is incredibly flawed. As a TV series, it would be alright. I do not know what would become of the book though, would be a huge hole in the story.

The current empire was recently established but the Chang clan has so much power as compared to the King. This does not quite make sense since the Changs helped the current emperor come into power. If they were so much more powerful, they could have just ruled. How did the role land on this gentle and perceptive old man instead? This would make more sense if the emperor had a lot more support in court. However, amongst his court officials, really only one or two are involved in the drama such as either helping the Changs or helping Ning Yi/King. This means most of them are bystanders, wanting nothing to do with anything. It does make the show less frustrating, having less annoying characters, but at the same time loses some realism.

Ning Yi's character though interesting, is also quite flawed, as his personality seems to be quite at odds with each other. Not to say that this is completely impossible, but he would have to be some sort of psychopath. Yet, he shows a good amount of empathy, affection and compassion. It's just out of the ordinary, and again, a little too far-fetched or idealistic. I'm only like halfway through it, just my sense of the show.

Must say I haven't seen very good dramas in a long time, and I cannot rely on my childhood memory since they are peppered with moments I spent with my grandma. Admittedly, it would be biased. As an example, about a year ago, my bf and I decided to go through The Return of the Condor Heroes (2006). He wanted to watch the trilogy, and since this version was supposed to be one of the better ones, we chose this one. I remembered enjoying it much more as a child. However, sitting through it as an adult, it was a painful experience. Inexplicable blind love, ancient-wuxia version of stalking your crush, the most boring female lead (mostly because of the book, but still), cheesy lines and so forth. So many cringe-worthy scenes.

Unfortunately, time is something I barely have, so I haven't really sat down to watch in a long time. I did shortlist Nirvana in Fire, but I still have not had any time to go through it. We also have Rise of the Phoenixes in the list. I think we watched the first episode from both shows and it just seemed to be so slow. Never came around to giving them another shot.

I'll definitely add Six Flying Dragons to the list. It's going to be a busy 4 months for me, not sure when I can get to it. Lol! I'll probably just keep the rom-com in mind too. I find lots of reviewers here are extremely lenient with their 10s, just finding someone who will even give a 7-8 is hard, but those are normally the most accurate ratings.

It's Sunday and I was working from 11am-10pm, I finally sat down to randomly go through some sites, music and eat my dinner for some relaxation. My bf waited all day for a short 15 minutes videocall from me. I felt kind of bad. Hopefully, at the very least, some new shows will keep my bf entertained.

I normally come here to go through reviews to try and find dramas that can be watched for my bf and I. My bf likes to watch TV, he particularly likes drama (not so much Korean). I have limited time on my hands because I am a PhD student and I'm in the lab about 60-70 hours a week, I want to conserve my time so I seek out like-minded individuals. Sometimes should I chance upon anything that seems worthwhile watching, it helps not having to sit through 5 episodes before dropping a show. My bf and I are in LDR at the moment, our methods of spending time together are Netflix and video calls. We depleted the current resources. I'm trying to find a show for us to go through for another 4 weeks before he can visit. Also cause I am very busy these 3 weeks and he keeps bugging me and I feel bad, turning on the show while I semi-work and he watches is a good compromise. :D

I personally love historical dramas. On my own, it's the only genre for Asian TV shows that I would watch. In my history of watching K-dramas with my mom, I did not like any of them (this is coming from a very large sample size). The only one which I recall enjoying or liked (Empress Gi), she refused to sit through it because she complained it was too complex. I think I watch about the same number of K-drama and C-dramas, a lot less J-dramas because there's too much fake cuteness, it makes me want to stab them. If we were only ranking music though, in totality, K-dramas make a lot better songs (as in almost every show has some decent songs), that is why I find this specific show to stand out in terms of music, generally, very few C-dramas have decent songs. I do agree their vocals are not great, but that can be said for most new singers anyway. Plus, if I wanted good vocals, I probably would not listen to recordings. I really love traditional instruments though, so I am probably biased.

Generally, I avoid modern dramas, so I cannot say anything for crimes/thrillers. Bf loves romances so rom-com is another genre I to find good shows for the bucketlist. I also enjoy orchestras, I go to ballets far less.

Lol. See, this is precisely how I know the TV show as a standalone, was poorly executed.

Jiang Cheng was credited for his demise, but never actually caused it. Wei Ying fell when he destroyed half of the amulet which resulted in a recoil (imagine firing a gun).

I have to admit that of all the versions of Jiang Cheng, TV show Jiang Cheng was the most endearing of the lot.

I meant not the songs featured in the show per se (not the shitty flute-playing for sure, it drove me crazy), but the entire OST, about maybe 3 or 4 songs were pretty good, it is a big album FYI. The reason the music turned out better than the show is probably due to the fact nearly the entire cast comprised of popstars. Another reason it stood out is the use of Gu Qin and Gu Zheng, I like traditional instruments and it fits well with the overall theme. Use of traditional instruments is lacking for the Koreans, I think the Chinese and Japanese do better in this respect.

Lots of people will disagree with this, but this is my preference. Yet again, K-drama has its own fanbase which is often females who are into the whole classical puppy love/true love cliche (IMO nonsense, but people are free to watch whatever they like). I find K-dramas extremely overrated, most are mediocre at best, almost none would I ever willingly watch on my own. Since the plot is important to me, and I mean that in more of a literary sense, I simply cannot enjoy K-dramas, they are the worst of the lot, often lacking in originality, overplayed storylines and really sappy. Using the examples you have listed i.e.: Faith or Goblin, I found them to be some of the worst dramas I had to sit through. Faith has a few good songs, mostly instrumental that are good, Goblin also a couple, however, overall, I would argue this show has better songs, especially in terms of ballads. My mum used to watch K-dramas and made me sit with her (She absolutely loves K-dramas because she is a sucker for happy endings). Another issue with K-dramas is the plastic surgery fad, it bothers me that they look like they all came out of the same factory. At the end of the day, I guess I am more of a Shakespearean kind of lass, I enjoy a good death or tragedy. My kind of shows is limited to theatres and plays, Hamilton, Les Miserables and the works.

If I had to rate purely based on acting skills, the Koreans are better. If I had to rate originality and storyline, often the Japanese are more creative. If I had to rate overall, I think the Chinese are better. No matter what, they all just lack a certain gusto. Most of the time if I turn on any TV show, it functions as white noise for me to focus on reading/writing scientific articles. I consider most dramas to be a waste of time. Unfortunately, I can get a sense of most of it by just listening. Since I cannot have it all, I avoid TV shows in general. I make that exception only when I spend time with my bf (and he is a hardcore romantic).

Oof... Haha. I'm going to just copy paste what I commented on another user's review.

Copied:
Ahahaha... I have been waiting for fair negative comments on this show. I think this show deserves a 9-10 for music, it definitely was the best thing to come out of the drama. I actually agree that the drama on its own is not a 'masterpiece' like everyone else keeps saying. They have low standards. Lol.

I'm not sure if you are aware, this show was adapted from a book which was turned into manhua and anime prior to the TV show adaptation. It already had a huge fanbase, thus, explains all the hype. If you have not read it, it would be extremely confusing. I know this because I have read the book and while my bf and I watched this, I had to elaborate on the different characters and their motives/personal backstory, etc. Granted that they followed the book as close as they could, and the book did jump back and forth between timelines, the result is utter chaos for those who only tried watching the drama.

Personally, I felt even the book has flaws, but I think it was refreshing because it is a xianxia book, and Chinese aren't particularly big on homosexual relationships. The whole fantasy Ancient China setting helped to sell this part. I also really liked how in this story, unlike other xianxia stories, the author truly humanised everyone, all of them have flaws, including the most 'beloved' characters. A lot of these aspects are certainly lacking in the TV series, I don't think they managed to portray a lot of it, but I would say a lot of new Asian TV series have terrible acting anyway. I gave them benefit of doubt and I was really generous with the acting score since I do not think most of them are good actors (they were really just recruited to please all the female fans).

Ahahaha... I have been waiting for fair negative comments on this show. I think this show deserves a 9-10 for music, it definitely was the best thing to come out of the drama. I actually agree that the drama on its own is not a 'masterpiece' like everyone else keeps saying. They have low standards. Lol.

I'm not sure if you are aware, this show was adapted from a book which was turned into manhua and anime prior to the TV show adaptation. It already had a huge fanbase, thus, explains all the hype. If you have not read it, it would be extremely confusing. I know this because I have read the book and while my bf and I watched this, I had to elaborate on the different characters and their motives/personal backstory, etc. Granted that they followed the book as close as they could, and the book did jump back and forth between timelines, the result is utter chaos for those who only tried watching the drama.

Personally, I felt even the book has flaws, but I think it was refreshing because it is a xianxia book, and Chinese aren't particularly big on homosexual relationships. The whole fantasy Ancient China setting helped to sell this part. I also really liked how in this story, unlike other xianxia stories, the author truly humanised everyone, all of them have flaws, including the most 'beloved' characters. A lot of these aspects are certainly lacking in the TV series, I don't think they managed to portray a lot of it, but I would say a lot of new Asian TV series have terrible acting anyway. I gave them benefit of doubt and I was really generous with the acting score since I do not think most of them are good actors (they were really just recruited to please all the female fans).

Haha. Sorry, I do not come here very often, except to find a new show for my bf. Lol. I'm a sad, PhD student with very little time. I don't really like to watch TV, I just do it when I spend time with my bf. Not the romantic type and a lot of dramas are kind of off-putting for me nowadays.

To respond to your query, I was not referencing anything you said in particular, but since you brought up the concept of morality, I meant to say that a lot of drama-watchers have a skewed sense of morality (or bluntly put, a moral high horse) which is why a lot of shows feed on that mentality (to get the best viewer rating possible). Examples include the idea of 'true love', monogamy or good versus evil. Of course, this is very personal, I do not value monogamy or marriage, and I do not believe people are innately good or evil which is why I cannot condemn the man for going after someone else's wife. I believe in survival of the fittest. Ultimately, it is the choice of both parties that determines the outcome. As for your stand about her not being able to feel love, I can't actually say much about that since I dropped the series. I think they probably wanted to go for the 'love above all' (including a love-repressing pill) concept. Whether that was accurately portrayed, I can't say.

I'm just glad that there are those who do not just rate 10/10 for everything, I find it exceptionally hard to find a good show for my bf and I and I hate wasting time.

I put off watching this drama because I gave the first episode a shot (twice) and I really hated Yang Zi. I thought it was just me. Firstly, she was not physically appealing to me, and secondly, I found her character so annoying. I get that they tried to make her 'cute', but she was far more irritating than cute. It felt forced and unnatural, the cuteness was too fake. I cannot understand why she is considered to be one of the most bankable actresses. I think a different actress would have done a much better job.

Secondly, I saw so many reviews commenting about how good the CGI is. Can we all be honest? I'm Chinese, I've seen loads of Chinese dramas, bad CGI is our trademark. This show was no different, the CGI is terrible, though they obviously had a lot more $ for production, so I suppose it is 'good' relative to other Chinese dramas.

It is getting pretty hard to continue as I don't like both the female and male leads and I can already tell they will end up together no matter what. I managed to pull through to episode 5, mainly because I just wanted to watch Yukee as Liuying and I think that the actor who plays Run Yu is cute. I guess the other person I kind of want to see is Sa Dingding, but I may never get far enough to see her. Decided to come here for different perspectives and saw your review. Now, I might just drop it. Sad times.

P/S: I did not understand half of the spoilers, but I do not truly believe in morality. Morality tends to be either very personal or very cultural. Therefore, a person pursuing another even if they are betrothed is not necessarily something I would condemn, especially if the latter reciprocates.

Michelle Chen was an assault on my eyes, but I tried desperately to continue. I gave up after 4 episodes. Apart from the terrible miscast, I cannot stand shows whereby the actors cannot keep the accent consistent. How are they this bad at acting? One should either be drop-dead gorgeous so we can forgo your shitty acting skills or be so amazing as an actor we could care less how you look. Having neither is simply sad. Definitely one of the worse versions out there.