Divine Aria

Your comment is quite old, but I just had to comment that your explanation was great and that I totally agree with it. That's how I saw it too. It didn't have the shock factor for them because it was all gradually introduced to them by An Tifeng, little by little and through all kinds of manipulation. In fact, they basically had to accept their past and their true identities before they could even truly gain their powers.

Well, I think it would be kind of unrealistic to portray characters as always being smart and always solving every situation perfectly. It's believable to me, and actually more realistic, that even people who are quite smart would struggle and show weaknesses at times. They're supposed to be human after all. I didn't think any of them really did things that were not in character. Also, what are these plot holes concerning the royal family that you speak of? Was there something you didn't understand? I actually thought that one of TLB's strengths was that it has a ton of character growth....even many of its support characters had growth and redeeming qualities. Most dramas don't offer that, and TLB did. It most definitely wasn't just Zhao Lusi's character who went through growth.

Because they were both award-winning child actors who both have a reputation for being good at what they do. The two are friends and know each other quite well in real life. They were close classmates at Beijing Film Academy and have worked together on various school projects and class assignments. She and Wu Lei entered Beijing Film Academy(an acting school quite difficult to get into, I heard) after placing third and first on their respective entrance exams out of thousands of students. I don't know if you've seen their drama "Guardians of the Ancient Oath"(a Beijing Film Academy graduation project), but they had really nice chemistry in there, even though they were both younger and playing a more youthful CP at the time. Fun fact: when they were kids, they both even played the same character(Nezha) in different productions. Now that they're both older, people are just really curious to see them reunite in a more authentic collaboration as more mature leads. Not just in terms of acting prowess, but they're pretty compatible in terms of looks as well. If they landed the right project, I think it would be big.

I think he typically does 2 major projects a year, and from what I've seen in the past, usually one drama and one film(except for the past two years, because that was intentionally only all theatrical films, unless you count "Northwest Years"). Unlike many other well-known actors, he splits his time between films and dramas, so international fans who only pay attention/have access to dramas, will not see him as much as they do other actors. He has always said that he wants to be a serious actor with the acting chops to be able to work on serious projects on the big screen too, and not just an actor who has to rely on his youth and looks in idol-type projects.

And, yes, he is picky about his projects, and because he has had his own studio from a young age, there is nobody(outside of family, that is) forcing decisions and projects on him. More recently, he did mention having some announcement to make to fans, so I hope that means that he's either picked a new project or that it's related to the release of his newest drama.

Pretty sure you're right. I'm just being too wishful, lol. He more recently did say at an event that he had an upcoming announcement to make though. I hope it's related to the release of this drama or maybe announcement for a new project. We'll see.

He more recently mentioned something about an announcement. I hope it's either related to the release of this drama or the filming of a new drama. Crossing my fingers. Getting access to his theatrical films as an international fan is so, so tough. It's so much easier to catch him when he's in a drama. Miss him!

Ultimately, she puts her country over herself every time, even though she struggles at times with the idea that she would also inevitably be helping those who have killed off her family and loved ones. The struggle, to me, is the realistic part. Nobody in her situation can so easily choose to help those who have hurt them personally. She stole the seal, not because she didn't want her uncle using it, but because she thought she could use it to raise an army for herself. Her father still has men loyal to him, despite her uncle's coup. She learns later on that she doesn't need it though and that it's not of much use anyhow. Also, fighting isn't Changge's specialty. She knows enough just to get by. It's her courage, her ability to trick/outsmart others, and her knowledge of battle tactics that make her special.

Hopefully by the end of the year. If not, then early next year. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much news of when exactly we can expect this drama. So far, we've only seen one rather vague trailer.

The only thing I agree with you on is Leo Wu being gorgeous. He was def ALSO my most favorite thing about the drama! I do love TLB as a whole though, and it's actually one of my favorite dramas, personally. I love the story, I love the conflicting struggles that Changge has to navigate between her personal desire for revenge VS her desire to help her people. I honestly have no clue how I would have handled things if I'd been in her shoes, stuck between wanting revenge and having to help those who've hurt me in order to save my country. I've rewatched TLB many times since. I love all the different themes that this story has to offer and the way everything still ties together. But, hey, somebody else's favorite cup of tea might not be your favorite cup of tea, and that's totally okay too! I'm glad that you were still able to finally watch it so you didn't have to keep wondering about it.

That's what this drama is about. It's about a young girl whose family has just been destroyed and she initially sets out with only revenge on her mind, but she learns along the way that she has to handle her decisions with care since there's an entire nation at stake, and has to figure out how to navigate her conflicting emotions and decisions regarding her personal desire for revenge vs her desire to save her people. In her case, helping her country also means helping those who have personally hurt her. I think it's very realistic that when we're affected emotionally by betrayal and concerning those we personally love, there's going to be a lot of emotions and conflicting feelings. I like that this isn't the typical drama where the FL/ML always have black and white decisions to make. At times, they have to do things that they may not want to do personally, but know that it's ultimately for the greater good of their people.

I guess when you just say Turkic Tribes, there were many of them. For example, there are the Uyghurs, who are also Turkic, but they are not Gokturks(or Blue Turks), which was specific just to the Ashina Tribe. I'm sure there were some clothing differences, even within various Turkic tribes. TBH, I'm not sure how accurately the clothing was depicted for Ashile tribe in this drama(the manhua too, since what they wore here was basically designed off of what was in the manhua). Since the Gokturks have dispersed into various other Turkic tribes over the ages though, it's hard to say what their original attire was exactly like. Pictures I have seen, at least of the men, show them in layers of robes and armor w/animal fur.

If you think Ashile Sun is a "controlling brute", I would hate to see how you feel about so many other MLs in these c-dramas. Sun is one of the most green flag, respectful male leads around. There is one part in the middle of the drama where he makes her his "slave" in order to save her, but, other than that, he explains things to her and gives her so much space to be herself and to allow her to grow on her own. He basically let her run around doing whatever. Like, when she wanted to stay behind to free the general who once was loyal to her father, although A'Sun didn't agree with her plans, he even lied to Great Khan that he no longer wanted her just so that she could stay behind with She'er to do whatever she needed to do. "controlling brute"? Not at all. I love how he respects her and admires her.

They're both grassland, nomadic, ethnic groups that interacted and lived in close proximity historically, so I think they shared some similarities...such as in the material that they used for their clothing(like robes, layers of animal furs, etc). If you google ancient Turkic tribes vs Mongol clothing, they're not that drastically different. Anyway, we're told that those in this drama are Ashina/Ashile Tribe, which is a factual Turkic tribe and the ruling dynasty of the Gokturks, so there shouldn't be any confusion between them and the Mongols.

Took a break from dramas to focus on the filming industry. Since then, he has done 4 major theatrical films and played more minor guest roles in a few other films(All Ears, Papa) as well as taking part in a political drama(playing the younger version of the ML) called "Northwest Years". His costume drama(The One/Jian Lai) will release later this year or early next year.

I don't know that plotting and planning with Li Shimin means that he would have known the two ladies on a personal level. I'm sure they were all aware of each other's existence, but that may have been about it at that point. I wasn't really under the impression that they knew each other well. It's really not something that greatly impacts the plot of the story anyway. I was just curious.

That's assuming he knows the two ladies well at that point. I don't know that he does or that they've ever interacted much because he also gets a lot wrong about Changge, and the only thing Leyan seems to know about Hao Du at that point is through what Shuyu told her(which is that he's dangerous)...but, I guess we'll just pass it off as such.

Pretty sure the director knows what he's looking for in his cast.

Hmm. To be honest, I don't know that this is the kind of project Wu Lei would want to do anymore. I was hoping for a costume drama with the two of them...but, hey, whatever. Just make LeiLei and Song Zuer happen, pls. Thanks!

In the drama, he is not an adopted Khitan though. That's his backstory from the manhua. In the drama, it is insinuated that he is simply Han(because his origin is said to be the Central Plains). The Central Plains is where all the Han people live. And it's Khaganate, not "Khanagate". That's what I was pointing out. Ashile is turkic and part of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, too, in the drama. Apparently, changing the name from "Ashina" to Ashile" is related to political sensitivities and controversies regarding real ethnic history. Basically, I guess since we're getting the story/some history from the perspective of the Han which might be seen as controversial to the views from those of Turkic descent then the name change is supposed to "fictionalize" the Turkic tribe in this drama version in order to prevent those controversies. I don't know if that makes total sense.

Oh, strange, I don't recall him pulling it out before getting to Louyang. Even if he had it on him though, he never pulled it out all that time until then, so I'm not sure that it's saying he'd been in love with her since the very beginning. I think it might actually reinforce that his feelings for her in that moment were in the process of changing, which is why he finally pulled it out to look at. I just don't really see his story as a story of being in love with her from the start. To me, his entire story is a story of change, where his character and feelings go through a process and develop over time as he interacts with her and gets to know her.

I wonder though, how would he have known that it belonged to her anyway when he first picked it up? Changge was there too when he found it, so how would he have known which girl dropped it?