Eleison

It bothers me sometimes, but I've gotten used to it, but some of the costume dramas are totally worth it, and VERY good (this (I'm about halfway) and Reset are also a great watch). I have to be picky with Cdramas because some are really not my cup of tea, genre-wise, and content-wise--a lot of the modern romantic ones are kind of problematic to me.

One of my biggest gripes in this so far is Maggie's scenes. They are so distracting because her English is dreadful (I think I need subtitles for her English-speaking parts), and then when she speaks Mandarin (magically--why was she talking to An Lan in poor English, then? 😅), it's so obviously dubbed (because the actress is Thai). 😅

I think the ML dubs his own roles, as I recognize his voice (he's one of my Cdrama faves). I think his and some of the other characters may not be dubbed, or, if they are, they're dubbing their own parts.

The soundtrack was a little different; sometimes I find it a bit distracting, and the Cantonese is taking some getting used to. It actually sounds so different than Mandarin, more different than I expected.

I feel that watching Cdramas most of the time. It's usually so obvious when they're dubbed, since their visuals synced with sound are usually not that great. I just have to look past it... 😅

I am on Episode 32 after getting back into this after a break.

But I feel like Xu Xing Fu using ACTUAL Hei Ru Fei to help him build and plot makes no sense. Cause He Ru Fei is not good at ANYTHING. He's overly emotional, and mucks up anything he handles, so why would a so-called brilliant mastermind like Xu Xing Fu pursue him while he was in hiding, plot with him, and appear to have no one else to leverage and work with to accomplish his goals in the court? It just feels overly simplistic after watching sophisticated court wrangling and schemes/machinations as shown in other dramas like Joy Of Life or Nirvana In Fire (though I guess comparing this drama to those dramas is already a bad idea. 😅 Different leagues, so... difficult to compare).

I've wondered that, too! In this and Guardians of the Dafeng.

Oh, really? Good to know.

What kind of sex, and how much?

I love BJT's acting and would love to see this, but Viki hasn't released it yet in the U.S. 😔

Yes, but not a single Cdrama I've seen has shown a historically accurate version of China in any believable way, which is why I asked how much it leaned "realistic" vs. typical fantasy costume drama "set" in a "historical" time period.

I was sad to see that, too, but It's still kind of insane that it has maintained a 9.3 after almost a hundred thousand watchers. That continues to be completely unprecedented on MDL.

There is a bonus episode that was released (but it can only be found on random sites, not sure where), that's short (like 5-10 minutes), and so a fellow watcher recommended I stop the last episode (40) halfway through, then she suggested I just skip from there to the bonus episode for the ending; so I could skip the weird, random ending with the battle and good characters dying at the end of 40. It was a perfect watch that way, no frustrations, or "what the heck is going on?" moments. 😉

Yes, he's very talented. Definitely one of the better K-actors, in my opinion. But right after this drama he got caught up in a scandal that halted his career until they snuck him into When Life Gives You Tangerines recently. I think he might be back on track now, maybe?

He's also great in Start Up; that was his breakout role. The screenwriter for it is my all-time favorite, but it was a mistake casting him as the 2ML and Nam Joo Hyuk as 1ML since Nam Joo Hyuk's range is not as good. People were in an uproar over the FL ending up with Nam Joo Hyuk's character over Kim Seon Ho's (but he was the 2ML, so they should have just stopped the drama if they couldn't envision the leads together; there was no way in Kdramaland it wasn't gonna end that way 😅).

Yes, I enjoyed it more the second time around than on my first watch!

I kind of feel like talking about that with Song Mo would have taken the focus from the "second chance" story and put more emphasis on why and how that happened, which is never a mystery the drama set out to answer?

Other great costume dramas with strong female leads and the leads as partners and teammates/equals are A Dream Of Splendor, He Who Rules The World, Flourished Peony (part 1)/In The Name Of Blossom (part 2), A New Life Begins, and Love Like The Galaxy.

Well, pretty much all historical Kdramas have bad (or just plain weak) kings, unless they're the ML. You can try some of those! 😅

You're right, Cdramas do tend to do bad kings less often. Maybe it's a censorship thing? I doubt it's because actual empoerors/kings were not bad, haha.

On second thought, Joy Of Life has a shifty emperor. Season 1 keeps you guessing about what he's really like, but by the end of season 2 it slowly becomes clear that he's no good.

Did you see Episode 40.5? I watched till halfway through 40 (before the story gets weird 😅) and then skipped to the 5 to 10 minute bonus episode that ends quite satisfyingly (... and with some spiciness, but in the way this drama does spicy, which is with wordplay and subtlety 😅). It makes the ending way more enjoyable! I'm unfortunately no help whatsoever in finding 40.5, but maybe someone on this thread will know? It wasn't officially released with the rest of this drama.

Yes, stopped it halfway through the last episode (on @ThaliaToo's expert recommendation), and just skipped to Episode 40.5 (too bad it's not posted on streaming sites). Kind of a pain in the neck to find, but the best way to end this properly. 😉

This was lovely! Another great costume drama with a strong female lead and leads that works together as equals in their relationship; similar in this sense to dramas like A New Life Begins, A Dream Of Splendor, Who Rules The World, The Double, Flourished Peony/In The Name Of Blossom, and Love Like The Galaxy. It doesn't have the coziness of A New Life Begins, or the chemistry of A Dream Of Splendor, or the playfulness of He Who Rules The World, the subtlety/twistiness of The Double, nor does it innovate relationally like Flourished Peony or have the scale and scope of Love Like The Galaxy, but it has it's own charms, and I think the word I'd use to describe this drama is "hope." It permeates the story from beginning to end.

I'm not quite sure why the king kept so much close to his chest when things could have been a heck of a lot easier for his loyal people to know more of the scoop... but by the end we can overlook such things.

I'm not sure Li Yin Rui had the onscreen presence and gravitas of some other MLs, but I still really liked his character. I didn't like that the end had more scenes of Song Han than Song Mo, and he got kind of sidelined (I felt) a bit by the end. I always loved Yantang's scenes with Shougu the best. ☺️

The arcs at times were a bit messy and hard to follow, but what I loved most is that our leads built an enduring framework of trust and security through caring deeply for others. Their currency was selflessness, kindness, integrity and compassion, and I loved that these values triumphed in the end. Shougu's tenacity and dedication to achieving flourishing and a second chance for herself and those she loved was matched only by Yantang's persistent integrity and loyalty, and I loved the way they supported each other and grew in trust. It's always so fun to watch two clever people put their heads together--they made quite the pair!

Very much enjoyed this. Highly recommend!

P.S. Song Mo was absolutely stunning in those opening scenes. Totally rocked that gray hair!

So true! No one seems to be able to feel anything in moderation about this drama.😅