Eleison

By the end of the first 1/3 of the drama, but it takes a while while for them to get together properly. But their romance at the end is very sweet and satisfying (I think).

He is the only humanized, fleshed out male character in the show, really, but his arc is great. This is where I got introduced to BJT, and now I love him. I give them a pass for caricaturing the other men because this is satirical. It's meant to exaggerate so a point can be made.

Without realizing this FL was the actress from the Disney live action Mulan, as I was watching Episode 1, I immediately began to wonder why her acting felt unique. There was something about the way she carried herself that feels mind of American. Did anyone pick up on that? I know she's lived in both countries, but her mannerisms feel different from the typical Chinese actress to me (compared to any other FL I've seen in a Cdrama). There's an assertiveness and casualness that smells American. 😅 Just wondered if anyone else noticed these differences!

He doesn't have "idol" type handsomeness (which I find refreshing), but he is a very good actor and his flirting (I love it)/banter/chemistry with the FL is extremely good (so far!).

I'm still at the beginning, but so far it feels more realistic/historical than New Life Begins (not that dramas ever feel super realistic, haha), which felt like pure fantasy, and even anachronistic in a lot of ways.

Oh phew!

Wait, does this have a sad ending?

Ah, so who gets the special name for only close family and friends?

But I did hear him call her Man Man a few times, which is her "close fanily" name! I assume it's a patriarchal cultural thing?

Loved the cameo from Seta, and always love watching Saito kick butt while multitasking. 😉 Sano must actually be a cat because the guy has an infinite number of lives. I guess if you're in the Kenshin Squad, you're basically indestructable! 😅

Enishi was also my favorite villain. His connection to Kenshin made this movie more heartwrenching and powerful, especially after watching The Beginning.

I also loved that they kept key scenes from the first movie that were flashbacks there as part of the story in The Beginning that they built the rest of the story about Tomoe around.

What a great series! It is extremely bloody, but the choreography is beautiful to watch, and I love how Kenshin wins over enemies in each movie, and they all come back at the end to support him. Loved, loved, loved that! What a beautiful way to tie up loose ends. It has lovely flashbacks to significant characters from each movie, and just did a great job wrapping everything up as the final movie of a series should.

I agree with @Karma's suggestion for watching order. It was perfect that way!

Yes, I watched in this order and I 100% agree! It also ends on a happier note if watched in this order, and helps make the emotional beats of this film in particular more impactful (and to see how far characters have come since The Beginning (e.g. Saito) and afterwards).

I followed your advice about watching The Beginning before The Final and it was a great suggestion. Really did make the last movie more impactful!

Are the dialects so different that actors can't learn them? British actors play American roles and do American accents all the time (I think because they have more accents within their country in smaller regions their ear is more attuned to hearing and adapting to accents than Americans tend to be). If China has a lot of accents already, why not just learn the standard accent? Or are the dialects more diverse, like with Arabic, for instance, so that they almost become another language?

I think it was so slow, steady and gradual that it's hard to pinpoint a moment where "things changed." I kind of liked that, actually, since that's probably how it would be in a scenario like this if a couple did fall in love after an arranged marriage.

But the FL never calls him that, no? Or does she after Episode 31 (Viki hasn't uploaded the rest yet)?

Not really, because the leads are already married from like Episode 3 or 4 on.

I thought Wei Yan and Bi Zhi would die, too, but I was also bracing myself for Wei Liang. 😣

Got it, thanks!

Does anyone know when the rest of the episodes are coming to Viki in the U.S.? It's not showing anything beyond Episode 31 which aired today (PST).