Reset

First two episodes are such a vibe. All sorts of feels along with that awesome and terrifying sense of destiny.

Apparently, only 6 users have cast a rating.

Is Wang He Di dubbed in this? I know he's dubbed in almost everything and his Mandarin is apparently suspect + a strong accent not preferred in the industry, but if he's dubbed here then this man is the best dubbed actor in history lol. The dub in LBFAD is pretty much *immaculate*, and if it's the case again here then once again, what a meticulous job of synchronisation.

Although it's very easy to get around that 40-ep limit by releasing dramas in two parts. Wow - what a regulation! There's a problem in general with dramas not being as long as they ought to be, whether that's about money or about a commercial framework within which to adhere (all these 16 or 12 episode K-dramas and I'm sure a lot of C-dramas are now going to purposefully hit the 40-ep limit). At this point, the story is being compromised by an arbitrary frame. Stories should be as long as they need to be with the art at the absolute forefront of consideration. But I'm being idealistic...

The Bad Kids told its story impeccably in its mere 12 episodes, several of which were quite short. That's the sort of focused and intense storytelling I often enjoy, albeit they had to make a lot of changes to the original and apparently absurdly sordid novel to pass censorship. The adaptation which they arrived to is a credit to the gang. It stands very well by itself.

Big shame to hear about Tiger and Rose, because the storytelling potential (much like with Reborn Rich ATM) is immense -- just think about all the brilliant cleverness that can come about by living in your own created world as a character you wrote yourself who is in some sort of fated predicament, knowing the profiles of every character and the intended plot. The plays on fate and will, how well one knows themselves as the originator, the parallels to juggling ideas in real-time as an actual screenwriter. The potential for ingenious plot devices and turns which could be legitimised to the viewer in novel ways is vast (though hard to control). How well does our protagonist REALLY know her characters and what they would do in scenarios she had not foreseen, should fate rebel off the predetermined track?

I see what you mean about the framing of morally dubious plots, often with BS justifications. Irresponsible story-telling is a good way of putting it.

I just really enjoy a good story, modern or historical. A fine plot (something which is both interesting and makes sense within its world) with intriguing, compelling characters of strong presence does the trick, though I like to find stories with ample subplots which don't go ham in only focusing on main leads, or dramas that have many leads. It's one of the big reasons I took a liking to Dark recently, or why I really enjoyed Magnolia (film). Shame that I couldn't get into the Dark follow up, 1899, in quite the same way.

There's a C-drama Discord server and, again, most people there are heavily invested into the costume dramas. Not sure what it is, as it's probably the other way around for K-drama (and maybe every single other region?)... I guess China are just really prolific in the fantasy and historical genres, with their mass releases of xianxia and wuxia dramas.

Yeah I'm about 10 eps through Eternal Love and will probably drop it... Dilraba plays a fox spirit in it. I'm only 3 eps through Tiger and Rose - it's OK, but the two I mentioned are a completely different class from these for my money in perhaps all aspects, and the chemistry in ADOS is standout and I don't recall the ML being inappropriate (I don't quite recall the very early episodes in terms of potential forcefulness ... edit: mild spoilers... dire circumstances forces an unusual circumstance in episode 2, and their initial meeting in episode 1 is frosty, but no physical force there... that's about it from memory). The FL might tick all your boxes... maybe more. I'd say if you're gonna give a historical C-drama another shot, it would be a good one to test the waters with again (LLTG has a much younger and less immediately mature FL to open). I'm quite big on tough and great FLs, especially those which are nuanced and multi-layered, hard and soft as you put it, and the ADOS FL has incredible moments of strength, wit and vulnerability; moments where she almost loses herself and moments of sheer charisma, all without coming across as pretentious or the drama seeming bloated or full of affectation.

So The Rational Life is good, is it? I was certainly impressed with Dylan Wang in Love Between Fairy and Devil. I'll plop that one on my plan to watch as well.

You talk of female characters coming a long way since the 2000s, and there seems to be a focus on female empowerment in the 2022 offerings. New Life Begins is especially focused on sisterhood (ongoing). There might be a good chance that most or all of those tired, cringe, offputting elements and interactions between the leads have been put to bed in some of these most recent costume dramas. I guess it's hard to account for potential plot points which arise which are just morally unacceptable, because the cavalier attitude of these historical pieces leads to a general disregard for human life that doesn't tend to arise in modern dramas (ya know.. all these violent wars and nasty schemers who do AWFUL things such as trying to deliberately sabotage pregnant women). Are there subplots which might completely turn you away from ADOS or LLTG? Honestly, yes. My main problem with these long period dramas is that many of them do take their sweet time and go on too long, but then again I still persist with watching these epics anyway (ADOS considerably shorter than LLTG at 40 eps). I guess my completion rate is about 50/50.

I've read some complaints here and there that SAHPHusband is too long at 40 eps but I guess we'll see... not remotely bored yet 14 eps in and it has plenty of room to grow and develop.

It's interesting to connect with someone who actually has a preference for modern C-drama, because everyone else I've talked to in the last months watch C-drama with a heavy bias toward costume dramas.

(Some minor edits.)

The FL from A Dream of Splendor isn't older than the ML but is the definition of smart and spunky and she's highly nuanced and multi-layered. Crystal Liu also in general just has a very strong and mature vibe. It's not modern day, though. ADOSplendor and LLTGalaxy definitely deliver strong dialogue and depth for their highly competent and smart FLs. Also, ADOS is an absolute standout in terms of aesthetic and cinema - it's like watching paintings come to life. Every shot feels meaningful.

Glowing endorsement there of Falling Into You. I'll give it a whirl.

One more thing. I noticed you like smart/spunky FLs. She and Her Perfect Husband is delivering well on that front (noticed it's in your plan to watch) and perhaps look into Love Like the Galaxy. Peace peace.

Fair points - I agree in general. I have high hopes for this one bit won't hold my breath, I suppose. The dynamic expressed in the synopsis opens up the door for brilliantly clever writing, so I can only hope it delivers on that potential.

The premise is simply way too interesting to not follow up on at least for a while, to see if this show can make good on such thrilling potential. Hopefully it delivers but so far it's been a well-paced beginning which builds serious intrigue.

I'm up to date at this point and 26 eps in it's still going strong. In fact, I'd say it's peaking.

Also, is anybody else wildly amused by little kids telling adults how stupid they are in this show and giving them advice to be direct? Ahahah.

Well said.

Li Wei has the highest emotional intelligence of all the characters in this show. She is a marvel and works wonders with people. She also has some considerable talents (cooking, even some medicines, even some engineering and design for agrarian advancement) and management skills in general. Highly competent, learns well, and takes the initiative. She's also a sort of healer archetype, not dissimilar to the FL from Fairy and Devil, but with a deeper and more nuanced character development. Li Wei is the "connector".

Yin Zheng has already had more favours and trust put in him for his 6 months in court than anybody else.

When reading this I assumed I'd see something like a 6.8 rating when checking the score, but instead it's a strong 8.3. I'm confused.

Episode 24 is tough. How beautiful she is, though. The burden of her life is crushing. Wondering whether suicide is the only option and the conversation with her mother were especially despairing... just brutal.

Nothing. The point is his portrayal here is so markedly different from that of say, Vincenzo, that it demonstrates a high level of adaptability. This goes beyond how a character is written and into his ability as an actor to get in role.

Also, Song Joong Ki, who honestly I was sceptical of in terms of acting after comparing DOTS with Vincenzo, is absolutely showing off his acting chops here. What an interpretation of character he is producing here - barely recognisable from the man who portrayed Vincenzo. An impressive acting adaptation from him so far, even rewiring many of his basic mannerisms.

Wasn't expecting the story to take this kind of turn. Very compelling premise.

Even though I explained it so clearly you deliberately choose to be obtuse. I read your comment on Real Actor and I see no need to address it. It's a whatever. I'm not debating you on taste I'm debating you on logic - that's the whole point. Even now you clown about because you can't let go of the fact that this is not about a comparison to my own standards. You also project about taking logic classes which is tremendously ironic. I do agree that you don't get the point. We can agree there.

I'll try to make it easy for you and hopefully you can make some headway here, so let's see how it goes.

Your standards are easily met has nothing to do with comparisons to other users, it's about the internal evidence of your own existing ratings. Giving every drama except one the maximum score directly shows that you award an extremely high percentage of dramas you've openly judged top marks, hence your standards are easily met, ergo, there's a high chance that whatever you mark will achieve a top grade. No comparison outside of your own ledger is required. The single outlier is suspicious precisely because it is that - an outlier.

I've been crystalline in my explanation a couple of times now, so if this basic reasoning flies over your head, then I'm at a loss. Happy viewing.