I just finished the drama, but will take my time digesting and re-watching some parts before perhaps adding a nice review. First impression on my end was that it was rather wholesome, so I will tentatively already award a lenient 9. There are parts that do come as tearjerkers and some that ring true and thoughtful ; the characters are very human, pitted against the harshness of an adult world which is not the fairy tale dream envisioned in youth. The dangers are pointed out : the pilot might have lost his life and only luck turned it into "valuable experience", the other childhood friends pale a lot in the university and adult part, compared to the "fall" of the confident over achiever, saved by a momentary whim from a stranger who became a friend and a lodger.
Mild spoilers ahead, but perhaps you'll like to recognize the sequences that stayed in my mind, moments after turning off the drama. The spending of the money from the lottery ticket was an odd choice but why not. The ending felt like the three dots at the end of a paragraph, after a short lecture, and oddly putting the lovers in a candy box, all alone, but the dress was very pretty. It did feel like a nice mutual "Choice" ending, like in the old song. The debate about fate vs free choice felt ... fated.
I liked the OST songs The song of the Sunflower "Ah-oh-ah-oh -oh -oh.... " is an easy to remember one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpks44OvzF0&list=RDJpks44OvzF0&start_radio=1 (full OST with lyrics translations from Peachey Blossom) : pleasant playlist! Presently listening at ease. Sometimes, the songs did interfere with the dialogues, in the drama, that's one small reproach I have, but they did accompany situations well.
I strayed onto Reddit where a number of commentators were quite positive despite novel readers having had initial misgivings. One asked for the Douban rating which is still not out. Another had this interesting mention about where to watch on official platforms : International Platforms*: Netflix, Viu, Viki, True ID Thailand, Vietnam's K+, Daylight Entertainment's YouTube channel. Additional Broadcast Platforms: China TV (Korea), PPCTV (Cambodia)
I hope that "Our Generation/Ocean's Time" will be appreciated by more audience over time, if they don't get too sidetracked by the avalanche of dramas heaping up on tbw lists.
Ep 21-24 -done and dustedVictoria Harbor 🤗Carmen Lee💗😎😎Why 4k camera suddenly blurred like this🤧Steamed…
Carman Lee 李若彤, yes, you're right to point her out. An old hand in wuxia dramas since her signature role as Xiao Longnü in The Return of the Condor Heroes 1995 Cantonese version. As a Hongkonger, she was perfect fit for the role of the wife of JQX's cousin in the few end episodes. ♥️
I can't hold.my laugh after watching tanned JqX ... literally they should have deducted the salary of makeup artist…
ouch, that was harsh, but I too thought the makeup was somehow too unnatural there. Poor ZLH: he must have suffered. One redeeming thing: many scenes in the HK part were in the dark or under covers, towels, overalls... so we did not have to notice too much.
totally agree. I started reading the book around episode 14 or so), because I prefer to follow the drama unbiased, but peeked once or twice at the comments and was puzzled about the dissatisfaction about "deleted scenes". I clicked on one, which was nothing special, on Twitter, and stopped there. The title "ocean's time" had puzzled me, but the Titanic reference is interesting. Anyway I am on board (lol) till end. Just a bit regretting that the sailing maybe over very soon now.
About the novel, I have not caught up with what happened in eps 15-20 yet, just noticed the drama was rather true to book in chapters 1-11, although the first to cuddle the rabbit was not JQX. Liked all those true to times references in the novel, which were not all perfectly woven in the drama, so I was balancing between suspecting that the start of story in Qunshan was around 1997 or 1999 (in the book it is 1999). I like that dramas set in specific time periods of 20th- early 21st century give a true impression of those times (I was there too ;)).
Lots of musical references in the book too. I would have to go back to early episodes to check if they got in, or perhaps copyrights did not allow them all; episode 19 showed Yingtao looking at the CDs Jiang Xiaoqi somehow had "stolen" from her together with all the small thing he hoarded, but we did not hear in the drama that JQX's first revealing his musical taste was : Leonard Cohen? The musician who penned and composed "Suzanne" back in 1967 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o6zMPLcXZ8 That song does resonate so much with the story, especially the first verse. Also with the melancholic "Dreamweaver" 2007 song from Sword and Fairy 4 game (which is briefly mentioned I think, anyway the game is mentioned in the novel) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqE66qEC8wk btw, I offered way back when a translation of the lyrics of that song in my companion piece, section 1.5 https://kisskh.at/discussions/chinese-paladin-4/122627-chen-zheyuan-profile-link). But although the white rabbit and rabbit story reference in the drama made me re-listen to Grace Slick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl89g2SwMh4, that old song of 1969 although undying, is perhaps not exactly appropriate.
As for the Leonard Cohen song, it is one I knew from those bygone times too, although I found it somewhat too depressing to often play and sing on the guitar (did so only on request); I preferred 1971 "Imagine" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOgFZfRVaww; 1993 "Xiao Sa Zou Yi Hui" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Zdfot2b_k ; or 1985 undying "Tomorrow will be better", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSO6nOKU4-A, often reused by recent singers lol. But I acknowledge that the sad song of the Canadian singer was indeed a sort of anthem for many who preferred those raw ballad vibes, to the wild, raw too, blues and rock 1971 "Pearl" album of Janis Joplin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4zumh4m7Kg (the first song there could well have been Yingtao's anthem ?).
you do realise s1 and 2 were filmed together...They just split them in two shows so they have more eps
You might like EB especially if you caught the Liu Yuning addiction ;) I did a Companion piece for EB"1" but too many things got in the way for me to move the notes in Discussions and add+ expand and update them to the Discussions page of EB"2". Anyway EB is ONE drama filmed long ago already, from an impossibly long novel and a donghua that was still ongoing at the time of EB"1" airing.
I see you are watching or soon will be watching "A Journey To Love", the epic tragedy. This has become one of my personal favorites and I warmly recommend you that one, perhaps first. I also have a very illustrated Companion piece for that drama in the Discussions page there, which comes with a Profile of Liu Yuning as actor, singer, and "idol", together with a detailed list / playlist of many of his 100+ songs. It links to Cho Na's ongoing log of his songs (although Cho Na has been sidetracked too, recently, and had trouble keeping accurate log of the latest songs.) LYN will soon be taking time off from filming to do a concert tour, btw. I am happy that Liu Yuning finally got the recognition he deserves as an actor, after having long been dismissed, attacked or mocked for his long legs, lanky and stooped frame, and angular face with "dragon eyes". Some despicable haters even went suggesting he ought to have been AI face replaced !! But LYN is not only a good professional, he is also a grounded person with biting humor and decisive replies to the worst attackers trying to taint his person and former family. He bites the bullets and joked with Bai Lu about them dressing in black as fitting that they regularly get "blackened" in comments... He is quite an interesting person, worth following (but I am only a "fandom explorer" so don't expect me to camp out on his Weibo even if I get alerts for news about him -- as I do for a score of other interesting actors and actresses that I noticed along my drama watching. I only update the Profiles once in a while and state when I did so, then. ).
If you have time, I also recommend the other costume dramas of Liu Yuning: from the most recent and just finished airing delightfully wacky " Dream Within A Dream", to very good and nuanced "The Prisoner of Beauty" that got postponed (because of FL Song Zu'er's brush with controversy, finally cleared away and productions finalizing airing slots) after "The Story Of Pearl Girl". The latter was the first of the three "culturally ambitious and didactic" dramas about the Tang Dynasty that aired last year. I wrote a very illustrated Companion piece with maps of journey for that one too btw, as I also did for the second "cultural project": "Brocade Odyssey" starring Tan Songyun and Zheng Yecheng.
I was debating with myself whether or not to do one too for "Flourished Peony", as third "cultural drama", but got sidetracked. So, I only dropped some notes in comments about peonies and the interesting status of the "Flower and Birds envoy", which really existed! But I did not get back to it later, to embark on another time consuming Companion piece. Anyway, I thought everybody would follow the story with ease, and there were also many comments to explain what was worthy of a few lines.
Another drama that is worth spending some time with, imho, is "Joy of Life", also adapted from an impossibly long novel. It got a second part, filmed a few years later after the cliffhanger ending of JOL"1", and although there are some weaknesses in "2" it is thrilling enough. I came too late to offer a Companion piece there, but you may find in Discussions my (and a few interested others) poster links and notes to make a more detailed description of the characters, numbered from those two posters.. The list and pictures of characters more or less follow the order of appearance, to remind myself and others of "who was who" exactly and their relationship in the "tangled web" tying them to each other.
Of course, there may be other iconic dramas you'd like to watch, or upcoming. Enjoy your watching !
you do realise s1 and 2 were filmed together...They just split them in two shows so they have more eps
right, almost misleading. Eternal Brotherhood also got cut in two but did not change name so part 2 had to wait a year to air... But that was expected, and the fans stayed on. Very different dramas of course: EB was NOT a "sweet romance" lol. All those Blossom titles make me frown, even more than the Love etc ones - can't they come up with something more imaginative? If anything had to be changed I'd have suggested "Flourished P... - next"
you do realise s1 and 2 were filmed together...They just split them in two shows so they have more eps
We all know, I think. That's perhaps why this part did not really fulfill hopes for some of those who loved "first part": it did feel like the remaining story became too much predictable and unnecessary. Cutting parts of ITN of Blossom (too many Blossoms anyway in drama titles) to end Flourished Peony properly as the standalone it ought to have been, might have been more satisfying.
I heard its supposed to be the story of their daughter....idk if its true
Agree. Task for me was completed when this part ended. I am not eager to watch a sequel or to see Li Xian and Mudan portrayed as grey heads. If production wants to milk the Flower merchant story some more nonetheless, I'll just give it a peek perhaps, but already doubt it will really attract me to stay on.
By far my most favourite drama of the year, I had so much fun while watching. I laughed my heart out, even with…
Exactly my feelings for this one. It is a delight. Although I still have a few episodes to catch up with (real life dramas being invasive), even without spending too much time on spoilers, previews, and assorted rave comments, I already know this is a 10/10 from me too. One reason is also that awesome OST, despite it sometimes got a bit too loud to accompany action, it was so full of musical nuggets that it also added to my joy when sitting to watch the episodes on a decent screen!
Watched it on YouTube; rather unbelievable plotbut since this is a Cinderella story, why not sit back and relax with it till expected happy end and punishment of wrongdoers, nonetheless?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwW9b_uZaUk(indeed, pretty drama tea party, lol!)
Happy to have been of service then!
Although I am far from as knowledgeable about vertical dramas as Jwells, and only stumbling upon them so often over the past year on YT. I admit I get "guilty pleasure" sidetracked for their fun relaxation and not too lengthy features, even though they are often very formulaic and predictable. The faces of their actors and actresses are now becoming better known both on MDL and Global Granary, as they deserve to be.
I can't watch 16 dramas (even short ones) simultaneously. So at the moment, I am content with finishing slowly "The Seven Relics of Ill omen", staying till end of "In the Name of Blossom/Flourished Peony 2", and catching up with glee on "A Dream Within A Dream". While trying, sometimes unsuccessfully, not to jump from one V drama to the next in suggestions, lol. For once, I agreed with Avenue X who was praising LYN's last opus and the soundtrack - yes I also like Chen Xueran (and his wife MingTian + faithful band)'s music: not surprised that they are in the circle of friends of Liu Yuning, and vice-versa.
Wishing you continued pleasure in your drama watching, twinty!
Congratulation to the proud parents : the picture on his Weibo of his and his wife's hands forming a heart around the tiny arms emerging from a diaper, was very cute. He keeps his wife's name and person out of the news.
2 
5 
1 
1 
1 
but a bit out of place in the generally tame G rated option from production, of this drama.
I just finished the drama, but will take my time digesting and re-watching some parts before perhaps adding a nice review.
First impression on my end was that it was rather wholesome, so I will tentatively already award a lenient 9. There are parts that do come as tearjerkers and some that ring true and thoughtful ; the characters are very human, pitted against the harshness of an adult world which is not the fairy tale dream envisioned in youth. The dangers are pointed out : the pilot might have lost his life and only luck turned it into "valuable experience", the other childhood friends pale a lot in the university and adult part, compared to the "fall" of the confident over achiever, saved by a momentary whim from a stranger who became a friend and a lodger.
Mild spoilers ahead, but perhaps you'll like to recognize the sequences that stayed in my mind, moments after turning off the drama.
The spending of the money from the lottery ticket was an odd choice but why not.
The ending felt like the three dots at the end of a paragraph, after a short lecture, and oddly putting the lovers in a candy box, all alone, but the dress was very pretty. It did feel like a nice mutual "Choice" ending, like in the old song. The debate about fate vs free choice felt ... fated.
I liked the OST songs The song of the Sunflower "Ah-oh-ah-oh -oh -oh.... " is an easy to remember one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpks44OvzF0&list=RDJpks44OvzF0&start_radio=1 (full OST with lyrics translations from Peachey Blossom) : pleasant playlist! Presently listening at ease. Sometimes, the songs did interfere with the dialogues, in the drama, that's one small reproach I have, but they did accompany situations well.
I strayed onto Reddit where a number of commentators were quite positive despite novel readers having had initial misgivings. One asked for the Douban rating which is still not out. Another had this interesting mention about where to watch on official platforms : International Platforms*: Netflix, Viu, Viki, True ID Thailand, Vietnam's K+, Daylight Entertainment's YouTube channel.
Additional Broadcast Platforms: China TV (Korea), PPCTV (Cambodia)
I hope that "Our Generation/Ocean's Time" will be appreciated by more audience over time, if they don't get too sidetracked by the avalanche of dramas heaping up on tbw lists.
An old hand in wuxia dramas since her signature role as Xiao Longnü in The Return of the Condor Heroes 1995 Cantonese version. As a Hongkonger, she was perfect fit for the role of the wife of JQX's cousin in the few end episodes. ♥️
Poor ZLH: he must have suffered. One redeeming thing: many scenes in the HK part were in the dark or under covers, towels, overalls... so we did not have to notice too much.
About the novel, I have not caught up with what happened in eps 15-20 yet, just noticed the drama was rather true to book in chapters 1-11, although the first to cuddle the rabbit was not JQX. Liked all those true to times references in the novel, which were not all perfectly woven in the drama, so I was balancing between suspecting that the start of story in Qunshan was around 1997 or 1999 (in the book it is 1999). I like that dramas set in specific time periods of 20th- early 21st century give a true impression of those times (I was there too ;)).
Lots of musical references in the book too. I would have to go back to early episodes to check if they got in, or perhaps copyrights did not allow them all; episode 19 showed Yingtao looking at the CDs Jiang Xiaoqi somehow had "stolen" from her together with all the small thing he hoarded, but we did not hear in the drama that JQX's first revealing his musical taste was : Leonard Cohen? The musician who penned and composed "Suzanne" back in 1967 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o6zMPLcXZ8 That song does resonate so much with the story, especially the first verse.
Also with the melancholic "Dreamweaver" 2007 song from Sword and Fairy 4 game (which is briefly mentioned I think, anyway the game is mentioned in the novel) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqE66qEC8wk
btw, I offered way back when a translation of the lyrics of that song in my companion piece, section 1.5 https://kisskh.at/discussions/chinese-paladin-4/122627-chen-zheyuan-profile-link). But although the white rabbit and rabbit story reference in the drama made me re-listen to Grace Slick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl89g2SwMh4, that old song of 1969 although undying, is perhaps not exactly appropriate.
As for the Leonard Cohen song, it is one I knew from those bygone times too, although I found it somewhat too depressing to often play and sing on the guitar (did so only on request); I preferred 1971 "Imagine" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOgFZfRVaww; 1993 "Xiao Sa Zou Yi Hui" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Zdfot2b_k ; or 1985 undying "Tomorrow will be better", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSO6nOKU4-A, often reused by recent singers lol. But I acknowledge that the sad song of the Canadian singer was indeed a sort of anthem for many who preferred those raw ballad vibes, to the wild, raw too, blues and rock 1971 "Pearl" album of Janis Joplin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4zumh4m7Kg (the first song there could well have been Yingtao's anthem ?).
Reading on until the drama resumes ;)
I did a Companion piece for EB"1" but too many things got in the way for me to move the notes in Discussions and add+ expand and update them to the Discussions page of EB"2". Anyway EB is ONE drama filmed long ago already, from an impossibly long novel and a donghua that was still ongoing at the time of EB"1" airing.
I see you are watching or soon will be watching "A Journey To Love", the epic tragedy. This has become one of my personal favorites and I warmly recommend you that one, perhaps first. I also have a very illustrated Companion piece for that drama in the Discussions page there, which comes with a Profile of Liu Yuning as actor, singer, and "idol", together with a detailed list / playlist of many of his 100+ songs. It links to Cho Na's ongoing log of his songs (although Cho Na has been sidetracked too, recently, and had trouble keeping accurate log of the latest songs.) LYN will soon be taking time off from filming to do a concert tour, btw. I am happy that Liu Yuning finally got the recognition he deserves as an actor, after having long been dismissed, attacked or mocked for his long legs, lanky and stooped frame, and angular face with "dragon eyes". Some despicable haters even went suggesting he ought to have been AI face replaced !! But LYN is not only a good professional, he is also a grounded person with biting humor and decisive replies to the worst attackers trying to taint his person and former family. He bites the bullets and joked with Bai Lu about them dressing in black as fitting that they regularly get "blackened" in comments... He is quite an interesting person, worth following (but I am only a "fandom explorer" so don't expect me to camp out on his Weibo even if I get alerts for news about him -- as I do for a score of other interesting actors and actresses that I noticed along my drama watching. I only update the Profiles once in a while and state when I did so, then. ).
If you have time, I also recommend the other costume dramas of Liu Yuning: from the most recent and just finished airing delightfully wacky " Dream Within A Dream", to very good and nuanced "The Prisoner of Beauty" that got postponed (because of FL Song Zu'er's brush with controversy, finally cleared away and productions finalizing airing slots) after "The Story Of Pearl Girl". The latter was the first of the three "culturally ambitious and didactic" dramas about the Tang Dynasty that aired last year. I wrote a very illustrated Companion piece with maps of journey for that one too btw, as I also did for the second "cultural project": "Brocade Odyssey" starring Tan Songyun and Zheng Yecheng.
I was debating with myself whether or not to do one too for "Flourished Peony", as third "cultural drama", but got sidetracked. So, I only dropped some notes in comments about peonies and the interesting status of the "Flower and Birds envoy", which really existed! But I did not get back to it later, to embark on another time consuming Companion piece. Anyway, I thought everybody would follow the story with ease, and there were also many comments to explain what was worthy of a few lines.
Another drama that is worth spending some time with, imho, is "Joy of Life", also adapted from an impossibly long novel. It got a second part, filmed a few years later after the cliffhanger ending of JOL"1", and although there are some weaknesses in "2" it is thrilling enough. I came too late to offer a Companion piece there, but you may find in Discussions my (and a few interested others) poster links and notes to make a more detailed description of the characters, numbered from those two posters.. The list and pictures of characters more or less follow the order of appearance, to remind myself and others of "who was who" exactly and their relationship in the "tangled web" tying them to each other.
Of course, there may be other iconic dramas you'd like to watch, or upcoming. Enjoy your watching !
Eternal Brotherhood also got cut in two but did not change name so part 2 had to wait a year to air... But that was expected, and the fans stayed on. Very different dramas of course: EB was NOT a "sweet romance" lol.
All those Blossom titles make me frown, even more than the Love etc ones - can't they come up with something more imaginative? If anything had to be changed I'd have suggested "Flourished P... - next"
Although I am far from as knowledgeable about vertical dramas as Jwells, and only stumbling upon them so often over the past year on YT. I admit I get "guilty pleasure" sidetracked for their fun relaxation and not too lengthy features, even though they are often very formulaic and predictable. The faces of their actors and actresses are now becoming better known both on MDL and Global Granary, as they deserve to be.
I can't watch 16 dramas (even short ones) simultaneously. So at the moment, I am content with finishing slowly "The Seven Relics of Ill omen", staying till end of "In the Name of Blossom/Flourished Peony 2", and catching up with glee on "A Dream Within A Dream". While trying, sometimes unsuccessfully, not to jump from one V drama to the next in suggestions, lol. For once, I agreed with Avenue X who was praising LYN's last opus and the soundtrack - yes I also like Chen Xueran (and his wife MingTian + faithful band)'s music: not surprised that they are in the circle of friends of Liu Yuning, and vice-versa.
Wishing you continued pleasure in your drama watching, twinty!