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This review may contain spoilers
A Dream from the Zhuang Zi - gentle satire and exhilarating drama as a must watch !
This was another roller coaster of a drama, starting with a bang, laying out the rules of the game, although like in any game, there were some hidden or additional ones that were revealed later. It blended hilariously and thrillingly references to other popular or beloved dramas, that seasoned drama watchers could nod wisely at.
The actors were so well chosen. Li Yitong was made up so much like Bai Lu, another queen of fantasy dramas, that many had to check that it was not the other actress: she was playing a role quite different from her former Hua Rong in "The Legend of Condor Heroes" 2017 version.
The first reference that came to mind was of course "The Romance of Tiger and Rose", with a dash of "Eternal Love 1" drama with Liang Jie. "Iconic scenes" explicitly referenced "One and Only" and "Love Like The Galaxy", etc. It could be almost treasure-hunting to go back and check for more of such references.
All this was woven into a story that had so many twists and turns, even hiccups! It could have been tiring and déjà vu. But the strength of the actors, leads and supporting cast included, and the excellent OST master minded by Chen Xueran, not shy to include Liu Yuning's signature "Offer" song in episode 19, all that kept audience on their toes to figure out what would happen. The prince of OST proved once again that he is a wonderful actor, and for once, despite his dour and dark, even masked appearance slowly thawing into gentle pursuer of the "female lead", got approval from the majority of audience, earning a very decent 7 rating from Douban raters, who usually are not kind with the long legged actor. Even the vloggers who usually rant against LYN (or "idols") found merit enough to rave and even make fan edits for this drama!
Some details also added zest: at one moment, we see a short haired cat and a small long haired dog ; the first one looked like Wang Youshuo's own cat, which he brought to set. Despite Wang Youshuo played a villain here, his taking part still was a major attraction for part of the audience. On the other hand, the small dog was definitely not Liu Yuning's beloved pet Schnauzer Daimi.
The script was so sweet to have a password spoken by Nan Heng in the bonus scene at the very end. The tamed prince had previously learned from his "one dream" (Yimeng) crush to pronounce "White Hand same heart" as a mock English translation from the Chinese 白首同心 (Together for life, where the second character is pronounced like "hand" 手 in Báishǒu tóngxīn). FL Song Yimeng was aware of her shortcomings as a student (her memories of chemistry classes had hilarious cartoon like results, but her chemistry with the "male lead" was still excellent, even if she was a lousy teacher misleading her student into learning mistakes that still could serve in another context). So, about that intriguing end scene: this was perhaps "real life" actress "Song Xiaoyu"'s happy dream to wrap the story for herself in her mind before filming, or perhaps it really was the crown prince crossing over into modern day reality.
After all, the whole drama also referenced repeatedly the "butterfly dream" of Zhuang Zi, a major Chinese parable of the famous classic philosopher. You could see it explicitly flitting around the head of characters, in several episodes, especially those when the "director" dropped in to become an additional "supporting character"!
--Finally, Liu Yuning's expressed his own views about his recent almost back to back aired dramas "The Prisoner of Beauty " and "A Dream Within A Dream" and the place they have in his acting career, in an interview which he granted to Beijing Youth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi3PHxZF3Ts
The actors were so well chosen. Li Yitong was made up so much like Bai Lu, another queen of fantasy dramas, that many had to check that it was not the other actress: she was playing a role quite different from her former Hua Rong in "The Legend of Condor Heroes" 2017 version.
The first reference that came to mind was of course "The Romance of Tiger and Rose", with a dash of "Eternal Love 1" drama with Liang Jie. "Iconic scenes" explicitly referenced "One and Only" and "Love Like The Galaxy", etc. It could be almost treasure-hunting to go back and check for more of such references.
All this was woven into a story that had so many twists and turns, even hiccups! It could have been tiring and déjà vu. But the strength of the actors, leads and supporting cast included, and the excellent OST master minded by Chen Xueran, not shy to include Liu Yuning's signature "Offer" song in episode 19, all that kept audience on their toes to figure out what would happen. The prince of OST proved once again that he is a wonderful actor, and for once, despite his dour and dark, even masked appearance slowly thawing into gentle pursuer of the "female lead", got approval from the majority of audience, earning a very decent 7 rating from Douban raters, who usually are not kind with the long legged actor. Even the vloggers who usually rant against LYN (or "idols") found merit enough to rave and even make fan edits for this drama!
Some details also added zest: at one moment, we see a short haired cat and a small long haired dog ; the first one looked like Wang Youshuo's own cat, which he brought to set. Despite Wang Youshuo played a villain here, his taking part still was a major attraction for part of the audience. On the other hand, the small dog was definitely not Liu Yuning's beloved pet Schnauzer Daimi.
The script was so sweet to have a password spoken by Nan Heng in the bonus scene at the very end. The tamed prince had previously learned from his "one dream" (Yimeng) crush to pronounce "White Hand same heart" as a mock English translation from the Chinese 白首同心 (Together for life, where the second character is pronounced like "hand" 手 in Báishǒu tóngxīn). FL Song Yimeng was aware of her shortcomings as a student (her memories of chemistry classes had hilarious cartoon like results, but her chemistry with the "male lead" was still excellent, even if she was a lousy teacher misleading her student into learning mistakes that still could serve in another context). So, about that intriguing end scene: this was perhaps "real life" actress "Song Xiaoyu"'s happy dream to wrap the story for herself in her mind before filming, or perhaps it really was the crown prince crossing over into modern day reality.
After all, the whole drama also referenced repeatedly the "butterfly dream" of Zhuang Zi, a major Chinese parable of the famous classic philosopher. You could see it explicitly flitting around the head of characters, in several episodes, especially those when the "director" dropped in to become an additional "supporting character"!
--Finally, Liu Yuning's expressed his own views about his recent almost back to back aired dramas "The Prisoner of Beauty " and "A Dream Within A Dream" and the place they have in his acting career, in an interview which he granted to Beijing Youth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi3PHxZF3Ts
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