phoenixfrost

I don't want her passion for justice to be toned down. I think that's a major reason XJX fell for her, not to mention her intelligence, deeply analytical mind and ability to carry out well-thought-out plans. These traits need to be carried over to the drama. Her viciousness needs some toning down though. What happened at Wolong Temple is just too barbaric.

I've seen "Only Daughter Of a General Family" being used on Twitter. So it seems to be the right translation.

Oh, ok, I used the MSN translator. Google translator translates it to "The only one left behind". But I defer to those who know Chinese.

The Chinese title of this drama, MSN-translated to "The Last of a Distinguished Family", is actually brilliant. In Google, it translates to "The only one left behind". It can apply to both Xie Jing Xing and Shen Miao since they're both the last of their distinguished families. I wonder why Tencent Video is not yet using the tag #TheLastOfADistinguishedFamily on Twitter/X.

I think making the drama male-centric would be too large a swing from the novel. Neutral would be a good compromise, with more of the ML's background story fleshed out. I agree the writer should not make the FL a weak damsel in distress. The personalities of the ML and FL should be kept as they are in the novel, except for the FL's viciousness that I hope would be toned down.

You're right. I guess that's the reason the novel title has "malicious empress". The Chinese drama title translates to "The last of a distinguished family". It doesn't contain the word "malicious", probably because they need to tone the violence down.

Oh yes, in 2nd life, after he and sm got married. It was kind of funny and wasn't mentioned that much, probably 2 or 3 occasions

He loved her in both lives. He fought the feeling in both lives too. In SM's first life, PL did things that greatly harmed and hurt her and her children because he was trying to suppress his feelings. But he made up for his villainy by doing something extraordinary.

Since Shen Miao is draping a cloak over her cousin, it does seem they toned it down. However, the story still needs to change such that what happened is not maneuvered by her, otherwise, her culpability is the same, i.e. she is still vicious.

Exactly what I was thinking while reading that part - “this would never pass censorship”

ikr? That scene, especially, is too vicious and shocking. Thus, I’m rather bemused at the hullabaloo surrounding the possible change in POV from female-centric because with parts of the story needing to be changed to not make this XXX-rated, I doubt a change in POV to neutral would register a blip in the consciousness of novel readers watching the drama.

I've been saying I just want the story intact. I don't care whether it's female-centric or not. But let me recant a bit. There's a part of the story that I hope would be changed - when a girl is being violated, I hope the scene would be changed such that Shen Miao and Xie Jing Xing had already left by then. Also, I hope the scriptwriter closes the loophole about the search XJX is conducting. I don't remember what the item he is searching for is. Or did I miss the reveal?

Yup, this novel is amazing. I had vowed not to watch another revenge cdrama, but it made me recant. I'm eagerly anticipating these enhancements - fleshing out XJX's story and finishing the item search sub-plot.

Lol The dance sequence in P&P was when they were at the Netherfield ball and Lizzy and Darcy had an icy conversation at the start of the dance then the other dancers disappeared showing only the two of them coldly dancing 🤭

Yup, I expect that too. I also expect nitpicking on writing, direction, acting, chemistry between leads, camera angles, filtering, etc. People who are determined to criticize would find something to criticize.

The producers have been eyeing Dylan for the ML role since 2022. He rejected it at least once before finally agreeing to take it.

For me, the story of a novel is sacred. The POV may be changed, and some artistic flourishes may be added, like the dance between Lizzy Bennet and Mr. Darcy in the Keira Knightly adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but the story needs to be intact. This novel was written long before many current dramas were made. So, it would actually be interesting to see which other dramas are similar to this. I know a very popular drama that has almost the same background for Shen Miao, i.e. daughter of generals and left with grandma and other relatives, but this similarity did not affect my enjoyment of the novel which I read after watching the drama. One enhancement I'm interested to see is having the story of XJX fleshed out. Another is filling out the hole in the novel regarding a search that XJX has been doing that provided opportunities for him and SM to meet many times, but the novel didn't reveal what item he was searching for. It seemed like the author forgot about it.

We don't even know whether the POV is going to change, why get all worked up, already accusing the ML of arrogance and messing up productions for his ego? That's indulging in the male equivalent of misogyny called misandry which is just as bad. Dylan, especially, does not deserve this prejudice and hatred. He has been an outsider of C-Ent since he started, having come from a humble background with no powerful backer and publicity team. He is a grassroots actor, depending solely on his fans. This is why he is being bullied to death by industry bigwigs who don't want him to compete for resources with their boys. Despite the bullying, he wrote a rap song about being elegant/graceful such that even if "storm beats the face", one needs to "block the malice and still keep good manners".
If there are going to be changes made for this drama, it might be with fleshing out XJX's story, e.g. instead of perfunctory description of his origin, from babyhood up to when he meets Shen Miao, the drama might dramatize its highlights. And that can only be good for the drama as XJX's story is just as compelling as Shen Miao's. There are also holes in the story, such as that item XJX has been searching for that caused him to cross paths with SM many times. Yet it was never revealed what the item is. It seems the author forgot about it. Here's hoping it will be explained in the drama.

Hoping that most, if not all, issues are sorted out by the time the drama airs so we can focus on the story. It's such a beautiful story that made me rethink my vow not to watch any more revenge dramas.

I think it's good that the circus is happening now, while there is enough time to explain and understand why things happened, e.g. billing

I heard this is based on a true story and dramas like this take a while to be licensed. But I'm not sure about this rumor.