👍it had a sense of urgency and desperation in that misty atmosphere, moves were fast, sharp and nasty.. but losing PangQi hit hard, he was the last of the old original Weibei
Same for me, unfortunately. I’ll probably run through it when all the Eps have completed release just to see…
I started this drama hoping for a story focused on revenge, redress and redemption all the while building a slow-burn complex relationship between the leads - unfortunately by these latest Eps 8 and 9, it’s well proving to be a run-off-the-mill campy romance with a paint-by-numbers attempt at court and kingdom intrigue.
Presenting : Exhibit A - Murong Jinghe Eps 1&2 set the stage for a complex bitter, tortured, yet unpredictable protagonist - however the earlier promise has by now been dumbed down into, ‘I’m the biggest bastard, I’m back, just watch me fly!’ We now have a shallow, childish, campy, petty and manipulative character by Ep 9 Case in point : General Yin - who still treats him with respect for whatever he was in the past despite his selfishly pretending to turn up drunk at her premises to demand his ‘gift-in-exchange’ for the dagger she won from him when they were teens - does not deserve his repeated cruel baiting and manipulation. If it’s his intention to disgust her into getting her to wash her hands of him by flaunting his ‘beauty’ (mei ren ie. Mei Lin) before her, he ought to be soundly smacked for disrespecting and cruelly manipulating the feelings of an honourable old friend just because his rival-for-the-throne half-brother is besotted with her. In fact, I even pity the Crown Prince - the adult in this throne-rivalry farce - who already sees through his Third brother’s provocative antics for what they are. I’d be relieved if somewhere down the line, the writers allow a glimpse (or a ton) of remorse from the character viz General Yin, but i’m not hopeful.
Don’t get me wrong, LXY is hands down, a terrific actor, (even voicewise - in Ep 5, listen carefully to the gradations of his voice as he led Mei Lin, planting inkbrushes all the way) and i really hope the burgeoning popularity of this drama does a lot of good to his career, but the writers have torpedoed a character for which I strongly believe he would have made even more memorable with a depth and complexity that they haven’t been able to allow him to portray.
After ep7, the drama is kinda off for me.The pacing is problematic and especially the narration.I thought it would've…
Same for me, unfortunately. I’ll probably run through it when all the Eps have completed release just to see how it ended. A pity really, the cast is doing an excellent job, the material, direction and pacing is just not doing them justice. More detail in spoiler below.
Very entertaining so far, though moving a bit fast with the so many reveals just 3 Eps in 🤔as others have mentioned,…
And no, i don’t think Murong JingHe is ‘unhinged’, despite LXY having described the role as such, the man Murong JingHe has been broken physically and in spirit and what has been fiercely, agonisingly put together again, is grimly capable of ruthless brutal calculation, yet underlying is still the son raised to be a noble man, still capable of tempering his actions with decency and compassion - he’s an intriguing character and a pleasure to observe :)
Mei Lin .. reminds me of Nikita (La Femme) .. both from the original Luc Besson movie and especially the subsequent (and excellent) Canadian series of the 90’s starring Peta Wison and Roy Dupuis :)
Very entertaining so far, though moving a bit fast with the so many reveals just 3 Eps in 🤔as others have mentioned, i hope this series has enough powder left dry to power this through the remaining 32 eps.. (take 10 years of scheming and suffering just to finish it all off in less than a quarter of the way into the drama? … come on!) That said, it’s wonderful whenever the two leads are involved - they bring so much emotion, tension and suspense to the game, even when not directly facing each other - the last minutes of Ep3 where he stood apart in shadow, watching and listening to her and that final quiet chilling dismissal of his aide’s protest was just brutal yet very effective. Cinematography-wise it’s lovely, though i wish there was more use of shadow to convey mood and tension rather than so much use of bright light and close-ups (i found the cinematography in 花间令 more nuanced esp in the small spaces) .. however that confrontation in Ep 2 with the rain softly falling was very well done (the despair, grief and rage was well wrung out)
All that said, I’m invested, because Definitely, the two leads are the best thing about this drama, apart and individually, they’re terrific; but what they can do on-screen together - is almost sublime :)
A good start to September so far :) the latest two teaser/trailers (Peach Blossoms and Kill me Love me) have me anticipating a good viewing experience .. within the next twelve months, hopefully 😁! I like what both directors have done - sharp, fast scene transitions, just enough to fascinate and hook me in, tense close-ups with meaning implied w/o needing a word said, suspenseful bgms (.. that poem recital..!) and very impressive voiceovers, yup count me seated.. and paitently waiting! 😁
How it was filmed: https://weibo.com/7842853028/5076296243872926
@Enigma05 That’s one Compelling, Well shot and Well edited teaser-trailer for a work that’s just wrapped on Friday! The hallmarks of high drama, intrigue and impending tragedy are so well teased .. and the chilling powerful voiceover of Shen ZaiYe..! ..Ah it’s Great to have something like this to look forward to in 2025!
According to #AoRuipeng’s September schedule, reshooting for drama #LoveNeverFails will start in September.It’s…
😀Impressive..! that they’re willing to create new reaction shots among the leads, will look forward to this one indeed! Grateful to AoRuiPeng for announcing it in his schedule :)
Presenting :
Exhibit A - Murong Jinghe
Eps 1&2 set the stage for a complex bitter, tortured, yet unpredictable protagonist - however the earlier promise has by now been dumbed down into, ‘I’m the biggest bastard, I’m back, just watch me fly!’ We now have a shallow, childish, campy, petty and manipulative character by Ep 9
Case in point : General Yin - who still treats him with respect for whatever he was in the past despite his selfishly pretending to turn up drunk at her premises to demand his ‘gift-in-exchange’ for the dagger she won from him when they were teens - does not deserve his repeated cruel baiting and manipulation. If it’s his intention to disgust her into getting her to wash her hands of him by flaunting his ‘beauty’ (mei ren ie. Mei Lin) before her, he ought to be soundly smacked for disrespecting and cruelly manipulating the feelings of an honourable old friend just because his rival-for-the-throne half-brother is besotted with her. In fact, I even pity the Crown Prince - the adult in this throne-rivalry farce - who already sees through his Third brother’s provocative antics for what they are.
I’d be relieved if somewhere down the line, the writers allow a glimpse (or a ton) of remorse from the character viz General Yin, but i’m not hopeful.
Don’t get me wrong, LXY is hands down, a terrific actor, (even voicewise - in Ep 5, listen carefully to the gradations of his voice as he led Mei Lin, planting inkbrushes all the way) and i really hope the burgeoning popularity of this drama does a lot of good to his career, but the writers have torpedoed a character for which I strongly believe he would have made even more memorable with a depth and complexity that they haven’t been able to allow him to portray.
moments later..
.. I am NOT your Scratching post!!!!
Mei Lin .. reminds me of Nikita (La Femme) .. both from the original Luc Besson movie and especially the subsequent (and excellent) Canadian series of the 90’s starring Peta Wison and Roy Dupuis :)
That said, it’s wonderful whenever the two leads are involved - they bring so much emotion, tension and suspense to the game, even when not directly facing each other - the last minutes of Ep3 where he stood apart in shadow, watching and listening to her and that final quiet chilling dismissal of his aide’s protest was just brutal yet very effective.
Cinematography-wise it’s lovely, though i wish there was more use of shadow to convey mood and tension rather than so much use of bright light and close-ups (i found the cinematography in 花间令 more nuanced esp in the small spaces) .. however that confrontation in Ep 2 with the rain softly falling was very well done (the despair, grief and rage was well wrung out)
All that said, I’m invested, because Definitely, the two leads are the best thing about this drama, apart and individually, they’re terrific; but what they can do on-screen together - is almost sublime :)