WandereR

Great article as always. Thank you for your hard work in producing the December 2020 edition and hope you have a great year ahead too! Looking forward to more articles from you :)

The language of love needs no translation. The underlying plots, secret communiqué and such, on the other hand may require some clarity.
The pillow talk moment is great though, no kidding :P

Lol, you're too funny! But that is strangely true now that you mentioned it :D

You're totally right lol. I wonder what AI they used to do the translation, it's just so laughably horrendous!

Ah yes, TRoP is up there as well. These 3 are really the cream of the crop. It won't be easy for other productions to join this league.

Same here, I can't seem to watch or even start anything else. I'm fully immersed in this lol. Unless it really derails within the next half, this show is getting upwards of 9.5 rating from me.

This is a real phenomenon, a once in a blue moon event lol.

Hmmm.... this is where NiF excels, tbh. The villains and the politics are better structured (at least so far, in comparison). TRP is better in terms of the romance and ZZY's driving force. But both have their moments.

I wonder what's next in the plot...

I think so though I'm not certain, because I saw a dead eunuch in the dowager's chambers and didn't see him anymore afterwards.

Yes, I feel the same way. He seemed to have lost his sanity and became quite cringe-worthy.

Oh that guy lol
I guess every villain needs a sidekick. He's actually quite a comical character. I thought he was killed when the 2nd Prince took over the palace.

That's great, thanks for the update!

Ikr! When they translated A'Wu as Afghanistan, that was the last straw!

Yikes, harem war. I wonder if there's any pseudo eunuch involved, though I hope not... :O

Simply beautiful, uplifting and inspirational. What a great production this is!

Congrats on your first article! I really enjoyed reading it and though I haven't started watching, now I feel motivated to pick it up. You've raised some really good points and I happen to be a fan of Shin Se Kyung as well.
Good job and keep writing more fascinating articles :)

The synopsis sounds really interesting. Seems like the plot is focusing on a (fictional) side character instead of Wu Mei Niang this time. And the tailoring premise, doesn't that remind you a bit of Lu Zhen? lol

Speaking of low necklines, I remember watching Ren Jia Lun's Detective Dee which is obviously set during Wu Zetian's time. I read that the prosperous mid to later Tang era had some international exposure particularly to European influence. Anyway, that show, along with many other dramas and movies set along that timeline (Curse of the Golden Flower, Empress of China comes to mind) showcased cleavages galore. The Rebel Princess is considered modest by those standards lol

But @xinya does have a point regarding the fleur-de-lis, I only noticed that upon closer inspection. It does look nice though, even if it's definitely an anachronism :D

Yes, Xiao Qi's army wears armor that reminds me of GoT's House Stark. Black armor is not something that's easily made, especially in those days and the trimmings definitely has a European feel to it.

Sounds interesting!

Yup, these days that word is hardly used, at least in my part of the world. In this context, it's not wrong... probably the more contemporary term would be simply, "get out" or "get lost".

The bar is set high probably for years to come. It's been a long time coming since we had such a top quality historical production. This in itself is a historical event. Hopefully the show sustains its momentum going into the second half.

This is an interesting topic. Because this show is fictional and from the fashion, I think it draws inspiration from a few eras. The low neckline in some of the costumes especially among the royalty and the less extravagant makeup does seem to indicate early Tang Dynasty. The layered dresses in other costumes also resemble the Northern and Southern Dynasties era, without the elaborate hairstyle.

In any case, Wang Lin did reference Zhuge Liang in one of his conversations with Xiao Qi, meaning this setting is after the 3 Kingdoms era.