phoenixfrost

Netflix too please!

maybe one of the couples?

my understanding is that there are at least 3 couples. maybe wei zhe ming makes up one of the couples

seeing a lot of posts about this on Twitter. hope this really drops in Oct 2023

ep 7 is also a lot of fun. Patrick teaching Xu Zhi Sheng to dance is so funny! the disco and 650 competition were very entertaining

I was tempted to drop the drama several times because I couldn't stand Orchid's voice and mannerisms. Only Dylan's presence kept me watching. Though Orchid got less and less annoying as the story progressed, this drama did not make me a fan of the actress.

i strongly agree with your views concerning explicit scenes vs minimal skinship. I actually get turned off by scenes that are obviously meant to indulge viewers’ banal instincts like sex and violence. I feel like a peeping tom watching what should happen behind closed doors.

Yeah, the pear tree scene in episode 5 is one of the most momentous scenes in the drama, showing the exact moment Xiao Duo fell in love. I also love their interactions during the lantern festival when Xiao Duo first told Bu Yin Lou about his brother and where she praised his good-heart, making him love himself.

Regarding the revelation about Xiao Duo’s secret, I agree with another commenter here that it was not anymore a secret to the audience nor to Bu Yin Lou. Just the fact that she had his pills checked already indicates she already had her suspicions. The results of her investigation confrmed such suspicions. So, the revelation was actually anti-climactic, thus I was ok with just knowing he told her directly about it, even in flashback.

I agree with all your points. That scene where she broke Xiao Duo's heart was really wretched. She could have explained to him why he needs to keep his distance. But I guess she was in panic mode seeing Xiao Duo still madly in love with her despite her abandoning their escape plan, and being a caged bird in the palace sapped her confidence that she can protect him further. And yeah, the open closet door! It's times like this that remind me she is still a young girl who can get careless, making her ability to navigate the perilous waters of the Imperial City even more admirable.

That pavilion by the river feels like paradise. I also love that scene when they fell asleep hugging each other, holding each other's hand. That's why I don't mind the cut scenes because of scenes like this, including the petal shower scene and when they shared each other's nickname, that for me, are more meaningful.

I had to re-rewatch those scenes you mentioned, indicating the cuts were indiscernible to unbiased eyes. For the scene where Xiao Duo taps his lips and Bu Yin Lou kowtows to him, I think the cut scene was really meant to be cut. And I much prefer the kowtowing than the jumping and kissing. It's more consistent with her characterization. She likes to appear silly, even crazy, but not sexually maniacal. As for her jerky movement, it's consistent with her panicky state at the time. Imagine, there is this young girl ( I think she's supposed to be around 16) who was supposed to have been sacrificed as a tribute lady. She tried to save herself, making herself sick and trying to cut the hanging cloth, but failed. Miraculously, she is saved and is now talking to her savior. Being the intelligent girl she is, she's wondering what her savior wants from her. When he appears like he wants to be kissed, she panics. As she told Tong Yun after Xiao Duo leaves, it was a near-death experience.

Anyway, whether there were 3 or 6 or more cut scenes, the cuts were less aggravating for me than the lousy CGI of TMOPB and the whiney pouty Orchid of LBFAD. All these dramas are now among my best cdramas of all time, showing that an exceptional drama makes viewers overlook its flaws.

There were just three places where the cuts caused somewhat choppy editing, and only when I rewatched the drama looking for those cuts as I did not notice them on my first watch - the aphrodisiac, bathtub and lip bite scenes. Compared to the lousy CGI of TMOPB and the almost unbearable bratty cutesy behavior of the FL in LBFAD, I would take the choppy editing anytime

I agree with other commenters here that the issue of the cut scenes has been overblown. I had to re-watch the drama to see the effect of the cut scenes because I didn't feel it on my first watch. This shows that unless you are aware of its existence and rendered prejudiced against the drama, it’s a non-issue. And those who say the cut scenes made the story incomprehensible must have been obsessing over the cut scenes instead of following the story. It’s like, the cut scenes have become a teeny-weeny pimple that causes a vain person to miserably obsess over it, making her unable to see that the tiny pimple hasn't spoiled her good looks.

I, too, was wowed by Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms and Love Between Fairy and Devil. But I almost dropped them because of some flaws. With TMOPB, I initially laughed at the lousy CGI and wondered how a drama with C-grade CGI could be the most watched cdrama of all time. LBFAD has better CGI, though I also laughed at how awkward and unnatural Orchid's feet were positioned when she first saw DFQC. But what really made me almost drop LBFAD was the annoying high-pitched voice and pouty, bratty mannerisms of Orchid. However, after curiosity overcame my initial bad impressions of these dramas, I realized how great they are in essence and now they are among my best cdramas of all time.

As for Unchained Love, I also agree with other commenters that this is one of the greatest love stories I've seen, showing how love prevails over the chains of oppression, including hatred.

This drama deserves a much higher rating than 8! The awesome factor does not end with a gorgeous bad boy with a noble heart for a male lead and a brainy, feisty female lead who would rather appear silly and lazy than compete with other palace ladies for favors or brew up intrigues. The build up of their chemistry is expertly done, starting with his disgust at what he thought was another pretentious and obsequious palace lady he could use to control a prince and her cheeky suggestion to have a powerful eunuch for a sister. Their collusion develops into mutual respect then love. And what a powerful love it is! It's the type that could overrule hatred or ambition, there and then, not the love that waits until all goals are achieved. I rarely see this in cdramas; usually the lead with revenge or financial goal would keep the love interest at bay until the goal is achieved, meaning love is secondary. In this drama, love prevails over everything. I really love it when leads decide to tackle difficulties together.

Another awesome point is how revenge is still achieved without sacrificing love. Still another awesome point is the powerful message against oppression as other commenters have pointed out. The drama really makes you feel disgusted at how the tribute ladies were treated. The obsession of the emperor towards Bu Yin Lou and that of the empress towards Xiao Duo are just as sickening. I think it's brilliant how the drama gives the emperor so much screen time that the audience gets sick of seeing him as if showing us how sickened we should be when we see oppression in action. Those who have been disgusted at how the tribute ladies were treated and those who think the emperor deserves death or a fate worse than death should feel vindicated at the ending. This drama is really a brilliant gem that deserves a much higher rating!

Please note that Flixpatrol is not affiliated with Netflix. It uses flawed logic to derive its global charts. For example, it assigns the same weight to all countries, not counting the number of subscribers in each country, i.e. being #1 in a country that has 10 thousand subscribers is given the same weight as being #1 in a country that has 70 million subscribers. Also, Flixpatrol does not have data for all countries served by Netflix. Thus, it erroneously reported the most watched kdrama of 2020 as It's Okay Not To Be Okay. The most watched Netflix kdrama of 2020, Kingdom season 2, was not even in its top 100 list.

As for All Of Us Are Dead, I know it's an international hit because Netflix says so, regardless of what Flixpatrol says.