I caught this one on a whim, and binged it in a few days up till episode 22 (waiting for the last episodes tomorrow). It was very enjoyable, especially the light hearted part until it got "serious" between Lou Yuan and Dong DongEn, and the antagonists appeared, first the reluctant "cousin" of the malicious business competitor Su Qi, who is the instrument of the crisis in the four last episodes, and next the jealous "childhood neighbor" who is the cause of much grief until episode 22 (ha, we knew as soon as she appeared stalking into the company on her high heels, that she was up to no good, so we were concerned as audience about En's naiveté to work with her... The cousin was also a case where En was too trustful, but she couldn't see what we saw of her link to Su Qi, and she did own up to her misdeed when the crisis broke for 82 company.)
But that gives a balance to the light hearted part, introducing more serious concerns about how ordinary people still might be targeted by cyberbullying, the dangers it brings and how to react. Interesting also to see that perhaps offices ought to be routinely security checked for spying devices, that many can buy easily and conceal, also in homes! My surprise was that we almost saw no police involvement, except in the field where En was assaulted by club wielding thugs (even then, the mere mention of them and sound of police car alarm was enough to send the thugs packing). There are some very lawfully reprehensible acts in these last episodes, so, shall we see all these rotten turtle eggs get slapped with sentences? To be continued...
Meanwhile, as I was watching, and using the lulls in airing to listen to Peachey Blossom's OST Ch/Pin/Eng lyrics translation videos (I try to avoid trailers and previews, although BTS can be fun), my attention was drawn to a Hero song that was repeated a few times. Looking into it, I found the lyrics under Black Duck group, but I could not remember that song on their album that I have somewhere, so I dug further. It just might be them who wrote it, although I wondered if it was a cover of an older song --- and I was right, since I later found it as a song from the TV series “The Water Margin” (1998), sung by Liu Han. Black Duck Singing Group was established in 1992 ("composed of graduates of the Central Conservatory of Music in China.") . They had released nearly 50 records, and participated in many large-scale performances, but I only have one record. Continuing my research, I came across a couple of videos of the song (it took time to sift until these popped up) , and interestingly to me, of a spoof of it in English, with Da Shan listening to the "teacher of English" who sang that. It is all here for you to enjoy : https://kisskh.at/discussions/jinpai-kefu-dong-dong-en/120129-songs-and-ost-in-hello-i-m-at-your-service
About cast and crew, I looked into the Baidu page to check about dubbing, but no voice actor is listed for any in the cast, despite there is a mention of dubbing directors (Li Jiasi, Yu Mengci) ; this could indicate that actors and actresses dubbed themselves, as is more and more the case. A commenter noted an unusual accent for one of the members of 82 company. I rather liked Xu Lu even when she was using the coaxing voice in the beginning.
Where and when was this filmed : Baidu informed that it started shooting on October 20, 2021, and was completed January 5, 2022. I will add that this was in Chengdu, as many stills in the drama show, and the episode 17 stroll in the old quarter there. Just received a small Mid autumn festival greeting in the form of a short video of the drones show celebration there on Sept.29 evening; I can't show it here, but have appended a small GIF of it added to the song thread mentioned. You will recognize the twin towers that often appear over the crossroad views in the drama. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igh06RouTrg&list=PLrft65fJ0IqP0lsw1_Y-EsKVWqOgZq9ig&index=26There are two compilations…
Sorry about your disappointment. Links from long ago often are not valid after a while... I have not checked, but have you tried dramacool and kissasian ? That's one of the places where difficult to find old shows can be kept still (although not all...) As for English subs, for many minor c-dramas I agree it can be "hit-or-miss.".. Good luck hunting! Have a mooncake since it is still season, and watch the National day celebrations in China, this weekend? It's also wedding season: friends of mine are going to tie the knot irl tomorrow!
@MsDarkqueen, @Qipa No1 Fan and all those who enjoy(ed) TPATW :
I can't resist copying down for you all a snippet from Swedish fan writer Örjan Westin, who published two collections of micro stories that are available on different platforms, Amazon included. Here was his 2022.04.16 piece:
"How full does the moon have to be ?" "What?" "The moon looked full last night, but you didn't turn into a wolf." "The moon will be full tonight, just before seven." "It's that precise ?" "Yes, it's only full for a few minutes." "So it's manageable?" "My condition? Yeah."
Fitting for a zhongqiujie appreciation while munching on mooncakes while gazing at the full moon. And to remember TPATW !
Not at all. I just watched both. But thanks for drawing my attention to them, since I usually don't really like to watch other than C-drama (in part for language reasons). Even current movies can bore me, such as, unfortunately, the new Kenneth Branagh movie The Haunting In Venice, seen yesterday, which I still appreciated because of the very beautiful end sequences cinematography, the logical denouement, and the presence in the beginning of Michelle Yeoh (whom I had forecast as Oscar winner from watching Everything, Everywhere All at Once, early on.)
2021 Switch On is nice, but a different story; it's not because both have VR glasses and a game (a dating one in Metaverse) that this is the same and copy. There is no quest for a missing person in Metaverse, nor any martial arts fighting, since it's all based on a relative copy of the "real world", even if it is not very elaborate within the short episodes frame. Besides, there is only a one way crossing into imaginary world, not like in Switch On, where the "heroine" does not know how she crossed over into the game, and the "hero" appears in real world. The Metaverse story stays firmly in science fiction, not in fantasy, and can be explained very logically, unlike W and Switch On.
This was a very nice short length drama that kept me watching from beginning to end. There are indeed philosophical ideas woven in, but the story flows well. I like science fiction, so I am happy I stumbled on this one in the WeTV bingewatch challenge. Lu Ting and An Mei were interesting characters, I was in two minds whether NaiNai followed her own routines like Lu Ting or was a game form for Fang. Fang was the competitive assistant director to the more benevolent Zhu zong, who cared as much for his company's product as for the well being of his employees, while also pursuing his own interests about AIs. The development was fairly logical. As for the end part, I think it could be a dream, like the persistence of the dream qualities experienced in the addictive game.
Chén Zhéyuǎn as Lín Shàobái 林少白, Xíng Fēi 邢菲 as Jīn Yán 金妍, Niè Yuǎn 聂远 as Lù Zhèngyáng 陆正阳, Annabel Yao as Cén Xiǎomǎn 岑小满 Cast lineup was released in July 2023 on Weibo with first name posters that were reposted in the photo section above : I've added the names in comment of these photos for the principal cast (mains and support)- The rest of cast name posters have just been released yesterday together with the Weibo trailer. In a nutshell with GIFs, I've added some info in the Chen Zheyuan Profile (in Discussion above), section 3, Upcoming dramas.
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But that gives a balance to the light hearted part, introducing more serious concerns about how ordinary people still might be targeted by cyberbullying, the dangers it brings and how to react. Interesting also to see that perhaps offices ought to be routinely security checked for spying devices, that many can buy easily and conceal, also in homes! My surprise was that we almost saw no police involvement, except in the field where En was assaulted by club wielding thugs (even then, the mere mention of them and sound of police car alarm was enough to send the thugs packing). There are some very lawfully reprehensible acts in these last episodes, so, shall we see all these rotten turtle eggs get slapped with sentences? To be continued...
Meanwhile, as I was watching, and using the lulls in airing to listen to Peachey Blossom's OST Ch/Pin/Eng lyrics translation videos (I try to avoid trailers and previews, although BTS can be fun), my attention was drawn to a Hero song that was repeated a few times. Looking into it, I found the lyrics under Black Duck group, but I could not remember that song on their album that I have somewhere, so I dug further. It just might be them who wrote it, although I wondered if it was a cover of an older song --- and I was right, since I later found it as a song from the TV series “The Water Margin” (1998), sung by Liu Han. Black Duck Singing Group was established in 1992 ("composed of graduates of the Central Conservatory of Music in China.") . They had released nearly 50 records, and participated in many large-scale performances, but I only have one record. Continuing my research, I came across a couple of videos of the song (it took time to sift until these popped up) , and interestingly to me, of a spoof of it in English, with Da Shan listening to the "teacher of English" who sang that. It is all here for you to enjoy : https://kisskh.at/discussions/jinpai-kefu-dong-dong-en/120129-songs-and-ost-in-hello-i-m-at-your-service
About cast and crew, I looked into the Baidu page to check about dubbing, but no voice actor is listed for any in the cast, despite there is a mention of dubbing directors (Li Jiasi, Yu Mengci) ; this could indicate that actors and actresses dubbed themselves, as is more and more the case. A commenter noted an unusual accent for one of the members of 82 company. I rather liked Xu Lu even when she was using the coaxing voice in the beginning.
Where and when was this filmed : Baidu informed that it started shooting on October 20, 2021, and was completed January 5, 2022. I will add that this was in Chengdu, as many stills in the drama show, and the episode 17 stroll in the old quarter there. Just received a small Mid autumn festival greeting in the form of a short video of the drones show celebration there on Sept.29 evening; I can't show it here, but have appended a small GIF of it added to the song thread mentioned. You will recognize the twin towers that often appear over the crossroad views in the drama. Enjoy!
I have not checked, but have you tried dramacool and kissasian ? That's one of the places where difficult to find old shows can be kept still (although not all...) As for English subs, for many minor c-dramas I agree it can be "hit-or-miss.".. Good luck hunting!
Have a mooncake since it is still season, and watch the National day celebrations in China, this weekend? It's also wedding season: friends of mine are going to tie the knot irl tomorrow!
I can't resist copying down for you all a snippet from Swedish fan writer Örjan Westin, who published two collections of micro stories that are available on different platforms, Amazon included. Here was his 2022.04.16 piece:
"How full does the moon have to be ?"
"What?"
"The moon looked full last night, but you didn't turn into a wolf."
"The moon will be full tonight, just before seven."
"It's that precise ?"
"Yes, it's only full for a few minutes."
"So it's manageable?"
"My condition? Yeah."
Fitting for a zhongqiujie appreciation while munching on mooncakes while gazing at the full moon. And to remember TPATW !
2021 Switch On is nice, but a different story; it's not because both have VR glasses and a game (a dating one in Metaverse) that this is the same and copy.
There is no quest for a missing person in Metaverse, nor any martial arts fighting, since it's all based on a relative copy of the "real world", even if it is not very elaborate within the short episodes frame. Besides, there is only a one way crossing into imaginary world, not like in Switch On, where the "heroine" does not know how she crossed over into the game, and the "hero" appears in real world.
The Metaverse story stays firmly in science fiction, not in fantasy, and can be explained very logically, unlike W and Switch On.
Lu Ting and An Mei were interesting characters, I was in two minds whether NaiNai followed her own routines like Lu Ting or was a game form for Fang.
Fang was the competitive assistant director to the more benevolent Zhu zong, who cared as much for his company's product as for the well being of his employees, while also pursuing his own interests about AIs. The development was fairly logical. As for the end part, I think it could be a dream, like the persistence of the dream qualities experienced in the addictive game.
Xíng Fēi 邢菲 as Jīn Yán 金妍,
Niè Yuǎn 聂远 as Lù Zhèngyáng 陆正阳,
Annabel Yao as Cén Xiǎomǎn 岑小满
Cast lineup was released in July 2023 on Weibo with first name posters that were reposted in the photo section above : I've added the names in comment of these photos for the principal cast (mains and support)- The rest of cast name posters have just been released yesterday together with the Weibo trailer.
In a nutshell with GIFs, I've added some info in the Chen Zheyuan Profile (in Discussion above), section 3, Upcoming dramas.