The Emperor Mingde and one of his (favorite) consorts. I don't know if we ever hear her name. She's not mentioned…
Emperor Mingde is the Emperor in Blood Of Youth. One of his sons inherits the throne by the end of BoY (I think it's Prince Bai, Xiao Se's brother). I haven't seen Dashing Youth, so I'm not sure if he's in it. Sorry.
This one is a little weird in the sense that it was both awesomely horrible and wonderfully fantastic. There were…
It was these kinds of comments that puzzled me about this drama and drew me in and convinced me to watch it. When I eventually showed it to my sister she agreed with me that it was the type of show she shouldn't like, and in theory wouldn't like, but still greatly enjoyed. It's a classic for a reason, flaws and all! It's just such an iconic story, and Lee Min Ho just somehow makes this dorky loser work (and by the end, become inexplicably endearing). 😅
Not a drama for everyone, but it holds it's charms for those willing to brave the "awesomely horrible" to get to the "wonderfully fantastic." 😂
debating to fully watch this or scrim through the episodes, besides the negativity, some stuff said about the…
I've seen a lot of people on here who don't like it, a lot who do, some who find it okay, and I've seen a decent amount who admitted that at first they got scared off due to the bad reviews and comments and ended up loving it.
If you're okay with trying the first two episodes, give them a shot. I think that will give you a good feel for the tone and will welcome you into a plot twist. If by then you don't like it, you probably will dislike the rest, too (I think most agreed it got a bit draggy in Episodes 12-14, which is typical of Kdramas, to be honest). Episodes 8 and 16 were my favorites. :)
Nah, it's just the Kdramas. The Cdrama pages (as far as interactions in the comments go) are much pleasanter than…
My experience is they're nicer (that's just what I've seen, but I'll admit I've just started getting into Cdramas), but I think you're right that Kdramas have a lot more traffic and therefore in visiting these comment threads you have more opportunities to interact with unpleasant people. *sigh*
But, to be fair, you can find psychos in every fan base. 😏
Nah, it's just the Kdramas. The Cdrama pages (as far as interactions in the comments go) are much pleasanter than the Kdrama pages these days (the last truly pleasant thread with a fun community in a comment section for a Kdrama that I visited was Knight Flower).
Check out Cdrama pages, a different vibe entirely. I've been migrating more and more and it's so much nicer. 😅
The author had written a HE for this story. I think the drama did not do it justice. We were all upset when we…
Thank you! I'm finding Cdrama MDL fans are always so sweet, accommodating and helpful. 😅
I haven't tried much wuxia or xianxia, but I fell love in love with NIF 1 and 2, so I'm trying some more out at a person's suggestion who I connected with over NIF. I'm almost done with Blood Of Youth and have mixed feelings about it. I care less about beautiful actors (though I can appreciate chemistry, just not a huge fan of the the ML being sexually aggressive, it gives me the ick, and value strong plots and beautiful, inspiring themes). Thanks again!
The author had written a HE for this story. I think the drama did not do it justice. We were all upset when we…
Okay, so this has a sad ending? Someone recommended it to me but I don't usually do well with sad endings. Is it a sad ending with a hopeful feel to it, like Nirvana in Fire, or sad like Mr. Sunshine, which is just a depressing sad? 😅
I'll second that recommendation for Nirvana in Fire. Season 2 is also very good! Both excellent, fantastic watches (though Season 2 has more tragedy, it ends well). Some of my favorite dramas I've ever seen, Kdrama or Cdrama (which I'm still pretty new to).
Also, I kind of liked that they didn't jump to the past too much. Sometimes those jumps pull you away from the…
I think I know what you mean. I felt that way at times, especially at first. It doesn't feel like writing or acting I've ever seen before, and the only way I can describe the quality of it that I felt while watching was it was almost as subtle as real life human interactions. Movies and TV always exaggerate things, while this drama didn't in ways I'm not used so that at times it felt emotionally colorless until I got used to the level of nuance.
There's a massive amount of extremely intentional and subtle showing, and almost no telling (it's so rare for entertainment to take its watchers THIS seriously).
The indicators that these characters were deeply connected to each other were very subtle (unusually so, which is how this drama blew me away), much subtler than typical entertainment (which usually shouts things at you so clearly that you can't miss it). It's in the little, unspoken details; in the way Chang Su plans and the factors he takes into account, the way he uses how well he knows someone to plan them into his strategy in a way that honors that person's values and abilities and then the way they recognize it and reciprocate his thoughtfulness in gratitude and devotion (similar with Consort Jing, she operates similarly to this). I think they're the sort of things that you notice more when you rewatch.
And it IS true much of the connections were already forged before we enter into the story, and that can make it harder for the viewer to understand WHY they care so deeply for each other. I think the way I see it is that this story wasn't about showing us why the individual characters each came to devote themselves to Chang Su personally and individually, but help US get a glimpse of the kind of person he is and why he's so incredible which makes us slowly become devoted to him, too. This is largely demonstrated through the way he turns Jingyan from a nobody, out-of-favor prince with no future prospects into the next Emperor (not just behind the scenes through his immaculate planning but also by empowering Jingyan with confidence to become the amazing individual he always has been and help him come into his own). What he has done with Jingyan he has done with others in ways unique to their situations, even though we haven't seen it. You can tell based on the way they interact with him.
The moment when all of Chang Su's friends were ready to stage a coup against the Emperor just to protect him from harm, and risk everything they'd done up to that point... 🤯 They were willing to risk Jingyan's shot at the throne (even Jingyan himself didn't blink an eye) and Chang Su's revenge just to make sure Chang Su was safe. 😭 Just shows how wildly devoted people are to him. I didn't get it at first, but by the end, I 100% did.
But, again, Season 2 might be more your cup of tea since you very much get to connect with characters as they struggle. Pingjing feels much like what Lin Shu might have become if he never got betrayed and turned into Chang Su through suffering and illness. Pingjing is not quite as brilliant as Chang Su (largely because he's much younger and much less sure of himself than Chang Su is in NIF) but you get to see why people love him and trust him as he grows into a dependable, responsible leader (as well as why people loved his father and brother who pass the mantle of championing justice and goodness without grasping for power onto Pingjing (which was passed on to them from Chang Su, really)).
Finally gave it a try and just finished watching. I guess, it deserves the hype it has.I was so invested, watching…
Also, I kind of liked that they didn't jump to the past too much. Sometimes those jumps pull you away from the characters in the current story in a way that makes the present less impactful. I think that the present was meant to show why people cared so deeply for Chang Su (you slowly see how amazing he is, and his heart of gold), and show them rebuild old bonds so that Chang Su and Jingyan becomes friends AGAIN as adults and as different people. It just makes their connection to the past all the more special because they are clearly still like-minded (the way they finished each other's sentences and left General Meng completely lost when planning to thwart Prince Yu's rebellion, and then when Chang Su pulled out Jingyan's sword--uh, it was so good!).
Also, I love this line about Xiao Se (said by an older man disappointed by being out-matured by a "kid"):
"That child reads human hearts."
Not a drama for everyone, but it holds it's charms for those willing to brave the "awesomely horrible" to get to the "wonderfully fantastic." 😂
If you're okay with trying the first two episodes, give them a shot. I think that will give you a good feel for the tone and will welcome you into a plot twist. If by then you don't like it, you probably will dislike the rest, too (I think most agreed it got a bit draggy in Episodes 12-14, which is typical of Kdramas, to be honest). Episodes 8 and 16 were my favorites. :)
But, to be fair, you can find psychos in every fan base. 😏
Check out Cdrama pages, a different vibe entirely. I've been migrating more and more and it's so much nicer. 😅
I haven't tried much wuxia or xianxia, but I fell love in love with NIF 1 and 2, so I'm trying some more out at a person's suggestion who I connected with over NIF. I'm almost done with Blood Of Youth and have mixed feelings about it. I care less about beautiful actors (though I can appreciate chemistry, just not a huge fan of the the ML being sexually aggressive, it gives me the ick, and value strong plots and beautiful, inspiring themes). Thanks again!
There's a massive amount of extremely intentional and subtle showing, and almost no telling (it's so rare for entertainment to take its watchers THIS seriously).
The indicators that these characters were deeply connected to each other were very subtle (unusually so, which is how this drama blew me away), much subtler than typical entertainment (which usually shouts things at you so clearly that you can't miss it). It's in the little, unspoken details; in the way Chang Su plans and the factors he takes into account, the way he uses how well he knows someone to plan them into his strategy in a way that honors that person's values and abilities and then the way they recognize it and reciprocate his thoughtfulness in gratitude and devotion (similar with Consort Jing, she operates similarly to this). I think they're the sort of things that you notice more when you rewatch.
And it IS true much of the connections were already forged before we enter into the story, and that can make it harder for the viewer to understand WHY they care so deeply for each other. I think the way I see it is that this story wasn't about showing us why the individual characters each came to devote themselves to Chang Su personally and individually, but help US get a glimpse of the kind of person he is and why he's so incredible which makes us slowly become devoted to him, too. This is largely demonstrated through the way he turns Jingyan from a nobody, out-of-favor prince with no future prospects into the next Emperor (not just behind the scenes through his immaculate planning but also by empowering Jingyan with confidence to become the amazing individual he always has been and help him come into his own). What he has done with Jingyan he has done with others in ways unique to their situations, even though we haven't seen it. You can tell based on the way they interact with him.
The moment when all of Chang Su's friends were ready to stage a coup against the Emperor just to protect him from harm, and risk everything they'd done up to that point... 🤯 They were willing to risk Jingyan's shot at the throne (even Jingyan himself didn't blink an eye) and Chang Su's revenge just to make sure Chang Su was safe. 😭 Just shows how wildly devoted people are to him. I didn't get it at first, but by the end, I 100% did.
But, again, Season 2 might be more your cup of tea since you very much get to connect with characters as they struggle. Pingjing feels much like what Lin Shu might have become if he never got betrayed and turned into Chang Su through suffering and illness. Pingjing is not quite as brilliant as Chang Su (largely because he's much younger and much less sure of himself than Chang Su is in NIF) but you get to see why people love him and trust him as he grows into a dependable, responsible leader (as well as why people loved his father and brother who pass the mantle of championing justice and goodness without grasping for power onto Pingjing (which was passed on to them from Chang Su, really)).