Firefly88

Ting XUE!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH! I LOATHE HER 🤬🤬🤬🤬

Same. Evil, unscrupulous, scheming! AHHHHH

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Very helpful.

Agree, she's gorgeous.

Is this drama worth watching?

What do you all think so far? Worth watching? Is it great, goodish, ok, meh, pretty bad or goddamn awful? 😅

I heard one of the main characters has been "cancelled" for making "inappropriate" remarks on Weibo. So, Kunning palace may be cancelled... 🥺 I can't find any reference to what he actually said but knowing Mainland China, "inappropriate" may just mean that what he said was true but not a popular truth with the CCP. 😅

What did he do/say?

Netflix should learn to embrace the Asian drama model with complete stories. Just how many series out there never get an ending or a second season even? It's so unsatisfying.

Speaking from personal experience... one just gets used to it and then when a darker show (for example with a lot of night scenes) comes on the low brightness becomes noticeable! Anyway, it was just a suggestion. :-)

I have to say personally, I prefer dramas that air in full from start to finish. That's something I love about Asian dramas. I hate waiting for new seasons.

Asian drama audiences are not used to seasons and the producers aren't either. Second seasons are often flops because of cast changes (e.g. Ever Night). Fans couldn't accept the change in ML. But... I think it's a multifaceted problem. In the West, they usually contract actors to X number of seasons, but in Asian drama land, they only do it for one season, which makes it hard to get the original cast all back together. Arthdal Chronicles is a great other example, but they were largely held back by the pandemic from what I heard, but the second season should be out this year (finally!)

Tribes and Empires is exceptional, but very very long with a million different characters and story lines. It was marketed as Chinese Game of Thrones. Sadly, even though they did so many episodes, it was more like a prologue. Of course, with such a large cast and no contractual commitment to a second part, it was never going to be finished. Such a shame. However, despite all that, it's still SO good. I can still remember scenes vividly long after watching it. If you ever find yourself without anything to watch, give it a go.

I don't know why they rehash the theme of disciple and teacher if it is so controversial and leads to excessive censorship...
Ever seen "Notes on a Scandal" with Cate Blanchett and Judy Dench? Now THAT film was controversial.

Oh yes, L&D had a great sex scene. Actually most xianxias have a good scene like that. Even for the prudes, it's not hard to make a sex scene like that without even any nudity. Have you watched Tribes & Empires? There's a particularly sexy scene with my man, Zhou Yiwei. 😍

🤣

Tell me about it! Since the whole story up until now has had the theme of repressed desires, it should have been more climactic. I wonder if it's because of the age difference between the leads. Asian drama audiences are so narrow minded about age gaps between actors. 🙄

The FL only likes the ML but several guys like her. There are secondary couples too.

Honestly, this drama is pretty weak and draggy and soo repetitive. The second arc is almost a complete repetition of the first and honestly, not much happens and the acting is mediocre. If you have nothing to watch, lower your expectations as low as possible and you might find it watchable, but it's nothing special. If you want something good to watch (if you haven't started it yet), try The Starry Love. Very good, fast paced, entertaining sweet and funny.

Ting Xue is the worst. I loathe her. But like you said... at least Yinfan got laid lmao.

I dunno though, all that build up to the consummation, and such a pathetic climax (ha ha). It was all over in a flash.

Well, it may be that you've just got used to the other things you watch being darker. Try it and see. :-)