BearFightingFanBackAgain

The hate is really annoying. It’s honestly mostly down to a close minded view of who can act in certain dramas, targeted (hate/bloodsucking) marketing early on, and blatant ageism. This show has given us such a good main couple. One that can be a hard sell but through acting, decent direction, and an okay script has navigated itself into something delicate, entertaining, and relatively healthy for the trope. I believe it when the creators say the script took years to develop just in watching the leads alone.
Yebei is hit or miss but the main Tianqi cast are all doing the best within the role of their characters and they really do stand out. Cheng Wu is loyal to the point of stupidity 😂. Minister Jie was a convincing duality of kind to Yezi yet scheming against Emperor Ming. Fan Ruhui is a lively typical villain playing evil and slapstick never goes over the line that makes it awkward. Even Tianfei is a surprise. She looks cold but so far has had nothing but a gentle heart when it comes to Emperor Ming.
The plot is the way it is mostly due to the cuts and poor edits but the characters are really shining through just like title. And that’s mostly due to acting. FSF is killing it. The director is right in that no one else could play Yu Xiuming because I can’t think of an actor in his cohort willing to do this that can deliver that combination of the divine presence of the emperor, the guiding guardian, and man focused on a career but falling in love with a much younger women who he is tutoring to survive a life in power. He’s ruthless but he’s also flesh and blood. He can destroy countries to unite the world but he can’t bear to lose his temper at the woman he loves.
And, Yezi. They’ve cut her character to shreds so she appears as some innocent white rabbit when she was supposed be a bit more ruthless and out for revenge. They cut the whole backstory meant to make you understand her and yet PXR can still deliver a performance against FSF that has satisfied viewers and especially his fans. I can still see a proud girl who grew up without love in Yebei and at the first opportunity, made something of herself. And this may start a fight but to me she really is the only actress in her cohort who does TV that can play Bai Lu. Many of them are no longer believable playing cutesy and few of them are able to make the clear transition of growth in a character like PXR can. She might need to work more on bigger body movements rather than relying so much on eyes skills and micro movements but she gives a satisfactory performance in my opinion.
Someone had the heart to say this show is patriarchal and maybe it is but we’re 16/17 episodes in and the key identity of Yezi is that she is a top and talented official. Emperor Ming may toy with her but she definitely has her own thing going and it is a far more interesting dynamic than a show where the heroine’s key storyline is to be a wife and mother. People always complain about how costume Cdrama are mostly cutesy FL who need saving all the time and yet they’re ready to trash the one who basically builds her own career through self determination because they feel her romantic is not handsome enough.
Sorry for the long rant. It’s just ridiculous to me to throw the whole show away for a 3 minute scene with a wolf and a rough start especially when Cdramas are notorious for having very weak starts. I won’t name dramas but I often have to give a show 10 episodes before I give up and this show starts to right itself by the 4th episode.
That reviewer has a very narrow set of skills and really can’t see the larger picture of why stories with imperfections may work. They also only watch the first few episodes so they rarely have a holistic view. This key to this story is the characters and the emotional line between the leads. I hope in the future as Cdramas become more popular that there will be better and more talented reviewers because there are a lot of great stories out there and they shouldn’t be gatekept by the voice of one.

Yeah, I didn’t want to make myself angrier but I did go and complain to Youku😂

Yeah script is definitely important but I also feel a really good actor can bring that essence to the character regardless. Like the fight in yesterday’s episodes would have been just a normal misunderstanding between lesser actors. FSF restrained then explosive rage and PXR tearful yet stiff with anger posture took it to the next level. FSF blew me away but the detail of angry tears in PXR also impressed me. Dunno if it’s conditioning or what, but there have been studies that found women are more likely to cry when very angry so it was a nice detail when many would have played it with straight anger.

The kiss scene icon was apparently for the vice couple which I have never seen before. 😂 However the episodes tonight look pretty romantic/sweet even if there’s no kiss.

In terms of plot construction, I’ve been trying to figure out how A’rui’s death figures into the storyline and its significance and after much thought, I feel like it would be what is called in novel writing the “darkest hour”, the lowest point for the characters or in this story’s case the plot point that puts the main lead’s relationship to the ultimate test. For the two key relationships in Yezi’s life, going back in time seems to be the last hurdle/the biggest trial before the conclusion.
Marketing has set up the show to be a love triangle between Yezi, Yi Wuyou, and Yu Xiuming but the triangle is between A’Rui (with A’Rui I don’t think the “love” is necessarily romantic tho) Yezi, and Yu Xiuming. In reality Yi Wuyou in terms of plot is a bit of a tool character, a stand-in or a reminder for A’Rui for the story’s plot is working, especially since Yezi doesn’t seem to love him.
I feel like the question the show will ask is “Is will Yu Xiuming’s opportunities, care, and affection throughout the show be enough to overcome the deep childhood bond Yezi had with A’Rui?” Yebei should have set viewers up for why Yezi loves A’Rui and Tianqi is setting up the story of why Yezi falls for Yu Xiuming. It’s actually a little touching that the two people Yezi loves most are on opposite sides and meant to destroy each other. Plot wise/conflict wise, it makes sense to battle her two greatest loves and the people who have cared the most for her against each other. She’ll either love A’Rui more and get revenge on Yu Xiuming for his involvement or she’ll love Yu Xiuming more and stay in the relationship with him. I’m really intrigued to see how the show deals with this because while I know the original ending of the book, this show doesn’t seem to be following the book completely.

Just watched it. I love her interviews. They’re really thoughtful. Hope more of them get translated in the future.

The level of annoyance I felt when I saw them! 😒Like dang even in illusions, they got to be here. Really wondering what the editors/producers were thinking cause their storyline is basically complete and yet 0 people care.

Omg tonight’s episodes with Emperor Ming helping Bai Lu put on her armour 😭. They look so gorgeous together. Absolute power couple energy. I really love this pairing.
Everyone is harping on the age difference/looks but I can’t remember the last time I saw a couple so complete. Both are flesh and blood characters and are interesting enough to hold the audience’s attention on their own. They’re both smart and capable. Though they’ve cut her character into something of a white rabbit, the female lead isn’t dumbed down. The FL is beautiful but the ML engages with her intelligence, rather than the cliché of her beauty. This is a show where the “love tokens” to the FL are actually access to power and job promotion and it’s usually after the heroine has done a task well or cleverly. The biggest selling point, however, is the ML is emotionally intelligent, and it’s this emotional intelligence coupled with the FL’s resolute sense of spirit that turns what could have been a very cringey dynamic into one that is engaging and fun to watch. The acting between the leads sometimes is so delicate it’s easy to miss. Often it’s a mere moment; a shift in stance, a shine of tears in the eye, a smile that leans ever so slightly into a satisfied smirk.
And can I just say how sweet is it that Emperor Ming’s favourite way to hang out with Bai Lu is by playing military chess!? And not just any type of chess, but the game she specifically created and is full of strategy and calculation.

Honestly the biggest selling point of this drama is the Tianqi cast. The key players all seem to have their own sense of existence and continue to remind me that you can have all the special effects, fancy costumes, swelling and grand OSTs but at the end of the day, acting is king.

I saw Weibo calling her a Sky Prison VIP user. 😂

I love this dynamic so much but it has me worried about how things change in the last 5 episodes. From the costumes Bai Lu wears in the later part of the drama it looks like she’s entered the harem and so won’t be an official anymore. YXM still seems besotted but it would be sad if it wasn’t for the same reasons as the first half.

For some reason I thought she was murdered but you’re right they forced her to kill herself.

Honestly need more male leads like Yu Xiuming. You can see that he genuinely values Bai Lu’s intelligence. It’s so good to see and it makes me so heartbroken that this show is so short. 😭😭😭

Wasn’t she murdered?

Bai Lu is so spoiled. I really can’t help but love it.😭 Episode 16’s interactions were so cute it made me put down my pitchfork over being cheated out of a kiss this episode.😩

I love Cheng Wu. That scene with the Emperor. I laughed so hard I choked.😂

GMP is the shorthand for Goodbye My Princess. The author of the book this drama is based off made some comments last year that basically got them cancelled.

Apparently it was the vice couple who kissed. I feel like fans are going to be furious.😂

Mini cuts are usually to save time but after cutting 11 episodes what’s left to save? At least give us scene continuity 😭The mini cuts aren’t actual scenes. It’s the cuts where they’ll be in one position in one shot and a completely different position in the next shot. It’s like an animation without enough frame rates. It’s jumpy and ruins the flow. Watching this show, I have a feeling that this show was in post production when the author scandal hit and somehow, that affected things like editing, filters, voice acting, etc. Because some scenes are very beautiful and high quality and some are really amateur.
Youku’s been torturing viewers like this for years. People are still asking for the cut kiss scenes from GMP which aired in 2019 and still nada for some of them. I can’t see them changing their evil ways any time soon.😂

Yeah, editing in general is a minefield in Cdrama. Given that cuts don’t just come from the censors but also the platforms, I don’t understand why there isn’t more investment in good ones. This show is suffering from the issue of massive cuts plus mini cuts that ruin scene continuity. I can understand the big cuts but mini cuts always annoy me because they drag down the whole drama and are only really seconds saved.

Yes, there should be two episodes updated tonight for VIP users.