DiggingIt

She has the eyes for it! It’s anime level big.

I hear ya. But he did meet Xing Er before the king. Wolves are very loyal and I believe mate for life. For the sake of this drama, I’d like or better yet, hope, this will be so. Speaking of wolves, isn’t it great he has own wolf pack? They seem to be a tight group with a definite alpha male!

I don’t discount the king’s influence. It will be interesting to see the extent of that upbringing...and how far they go with making this drama dark. Although after 3 long years, I suspect the censors have left their marks.

I’ve really enjoyed the first 6 episodes so far. So much so I did what I hate. I watched future episodes on a Chinese site with VPN. Although my Mandarin is improving, I know I’m missing info and it really kills any and all nuances once you start assuming! I’ve decided to exercise some restraints and wait patiently (and anxiously) for subtitles on Viki . I’m also hoping iQIYI will release it on their international platform. They tend to be faster with subtitles. This leads to a whole other discussion about how shitty C-drama programming is for the international market. But die-hard fans must adapt and navigate the landscape in front of us.

The first 3 episodes with Lang Zai and Xing’r can be a turn off for some due to the over acting. Perhaps young actors should have played our male and female leads. However, we would miss Darren Wang’s muscular chest and abs. That’s a tough decision!

I will put up with many flaws if the main couple have enough chemistry...and here, they are oozing with it! I know many have been anticipating this drama because of Xiao Zhan. I have come to appreciate idol actors, albeit I’m late to the game. They have their value and can serve a C-drama well. However, Darren Wang has the kind of masculinity sorely missed in C-dramas. We don’t get ruggedly handsome male leads often. I for one am loving it! The pairing with Li Qin’s delicate and classical beauty parallels the differences in their characters. Whereas Lang Zai becomes the much feared brooding warrior, Xing’r is the eternally loyal free spirit who wants to make right every wrong in the world. The uber do-gooder to her own detriment.

I am expecting more misunderstandings, heartbreaks, royal in-fighting, and moments of sweet romance in upcoming episodes. I just hope that unlike many C-dramas recently, please give us a bit more passion befitting of these characters. Need I point out the male lead was raised by wolves?

Agreed. I believed she did “break” when Fu Rong was facing execution for killing her master. Fu Xuan could barely walk or speak. She internalizes everything. Perhaps it was the editing. I would buy the hysteria if there was a hint of that possibility in earlier scenes.

Fu Xuan always behaved intelligently and emotionally restrained. It was inconsistent with her character. I’m not opposed to her breaking from her more repressed self in such a situation, but the hysteria was too much.

There are so many things wrong with this drama I don’t know where to begin. However, I still enjoyed it! Perhaps it’s some post-election side effects. Somehow watching beautiful people make stupid life decisions in a Chinese romance fantasy beats watching half the country descend further into their baser instincts. There was a moment when I almost envied Fu Rong receiving a royal decree to sacrifice her life and be buried along with her beloved. I felt like patting her back when she threw the signed divorce letter into the fire. I cheered silently when Wu Bai Qi knocked out the usually intelligent Fu Xuan over her hysteria (which I attribute to bad writing). Palace life as a concubine to a deceased Duke sounds like hell. I might be overreacting. Ask me after Jan. 20th!

iQIYI Standard VIP with the 50% discount was $34.99 for the year! If prices do go up as you predict, than I definitely got a great deal!

That’s odd. I renewed for the year because it was 50% off. Holiday specials and discounts begin around November in the US. Viki typically have membership sales at the end of the year as well. I’m adding streaming services as another lockdown is likely in the US, CA in particular. Although I have more than I need at present. I guess I’m just greedy!

I thought it was a tease or a mistake! I just renewed for the year, feels like a bonus! LOL

They may be able to get away with it in China for now. I can’t see international audiences putting up with it, especially in the US. Maybe the international market isn’t big enough to incentivize changes. But good luck for meaningful growth and the ability to sustain it with such shitty business practices.

Maybe there will be director’s cut someday.

I read about the possibility of 6 episodes from Soompi. I don’t know how credible it is. That’s a lot of footage to squeeze out of the ending.

If streaming sites are bleeding, it is because they don’t understand their customers. It’s all about subscriber-based entertainment. Look no further than Netflix. They cater to EVERYONE! Charge a flat monthly rate and provide consistent programming that runs a broad spectrum from Tiger King to The Irishman to Ashes of Love! Use the data you’ve collected to build deterministic and/or probabilistic models (or whatever works for entertainment) to predict future trends and expand the entertainment landscape. But most of all, take risks and encourage artistic creativity. Remakes and re-runs will only go so far.

Apologies for the diatribe. I’d like to see Chinese TV avoid some of the transitional pains the US endured. But I must say the TV medium here has enjoyed quite a remarkable renaissance since the late 1990s especially with cable TV programming.

Looks like there’s a lot of shady business in TV Land in China. Love and Redemption was supposed to air simultaneously on Youku and Mango TV. But Youku reneged last minute. They appear to have resolved the matter and L&R is airing on Mango TV now. How do they get away with such business practices?

The executives at Mango TV are not bothering to pretend, they’re truly greedy bastards. How is this good branding? There seems to be a giant chasm between Chinese TV marketing and what is found in the US. I’m rather used to all the overt manipulating attempts in entertainment marketing. But Mango TV just took a giant shit on the audience and fans of this show. I don’t know the business matrix of the Chinese entertainment industry, but who owns the rights to the show?

This will likely be my last Mango TV show. They obviously don’t care about the audience experience. In the age of the internet, how difficult is it to watch it for free? I’m happy to pay, but I don’t like being insulted.

Just read it too. Agreed, nothing like greedy commerce to ruin a good thing!

On a separate note, someone has to explain to me why they would leak an edited version. You can literally see the choppy editing job! Why bother? If the consequences are the same when caught, go all the way! It’s like cheating in school. why cheat for a C instead of an A?!!!

It’s likely edited to I will definitely watch again in the morning!

Ep 33 is leaked on YouTube. Watching without subtitles or recaps because, well, it can’t be helped!

I’m enjoying my bout of OCD for this drama. It’s nice getting ridiculously giddy over the smoking hot ZYC! He always stands out even when he’s not the main lead. Who am I kidding? I’d watch him watch paint dry!

There are no good subtitles. Just bad and worse. I believe Dramacool uses MGTV subtitles. They currently have ep 21-22 subs available, BUT NOT ep 19-20!

I’ve noticed my comprehension of Mandarin improving by watching raw files of SP. I speak conversational Cantonese at best, but cannot read or write. It’s still frustracting!