That scene where Qian Hong Chu confronted the Khitan King at court and stabbed Zhang Yan Zhe is fictional right?…
Yes, and then all the ministers are like "he is a child"! This scene needed a lot of suspension of disbelief from the audience. It would have hit very differently if they kept the younger actor around for a bit longer.
Zhu ya wen & Yu Hao Ming really outsmarted Bai Yu in their roles. i never knew this actor of guo rong,he's…
I think the young actor playing Hongchu being as good as he was did Bai Yu no favors. The audience got attached to the kid (at least I did) and Bai Yu seems too low-key compared to him. So far all three MLs are too old for their characters, although they will grow into them.
ZKY's father the Marshal is a mean old bastard (although his whole reaction to the assassination plot shows he knows what he is about). He does not like his sone being praised even though his son is extremely capable. And that scene in ep. 9 where ZKY just automatically expected his father to hit him was heartbreaking. The whole Confucian filial piety thing is a bit... extreme.
I have to say I am surprised that some things in ep 1 and eps 9-10 got through censorship, although it WAS a brutal time. You can get away with some things in the name of authenticity, I suppose.
In the interest of full disclosure, I actually have no idea how censorship works in China. My own experience with censorship is from a different time and place.
I like all the historical background, it's been a really really long time since I studied the history of this area/period. I really enjoyed the teenage Hongchu, I wish they kept him around for a while longer, so far all of the MLs are too old for the characters they are portraying, although I understand that (a) this is a c-drama and a non-idol one at that and (b) this drama will take place over a really long period so to some extent it's inevitable. I am really enjoying all the veteran actors in support roles. They are fantastic.
Personally this drama deserves a 9/10. Only the few last episodes involving LJL’s family and drama was so unnecessary.…
The last six episodes felt like an entirety different drama tacked onto the original drama. It was not the time to introduce a whole slew of new characters that weren't fleshed out enough at the expense of the existing characters.
I am here mostly to comment on the costumes - they were chef's kiss, especially the ML's outfits in the last six episodes. Whatever awards they have for this in c-ent, I hope the costume designer gets them.
As far as the ending - I am just glad it wasn't a mess like The Unclouded Soul. I am satisfied enough. The actors did a great job with what they were given.
Super cover. He doesn’t know anything about his Yan “family” bg
It's interesting that he seems to be Team Lu Jianglai. Is it out of gratitude for what LJL did for the Wei family at this point? Or is he just trying to kiss up to RSB this way?
For the most part this drama can count as well-done escapist entertainment, so I can live with the ending, for the most part. This wasn't like Love of Nirvana, The Glory or KMLM that you had to suffer through and then get stuck with THAT ending, so overall this lands on the plus side for me (and even I can't believe I am saying this because I generally hate open/bad endings).
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In the interest of full disclosure, I actually have no idea how censorship works in China. My own experience with censorship is from a different time and place.
As far as the ending - I am just glad it wasn't a mess like The Unclouded Soul. I am satisfied enough. The actors did a great job with what they were given.