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Nine tailed demon king falls for a complicated heroine
Nice spontaneous play by the FL Li Lulu (Hua Ling) who flashes lovely smiles. Lots of fluff.The story is somewhat convoluted with the off voice of an "NPC" that is supposed to help the heroine unravel the intricacies of a "predestined fate" that turns out to be anything but. Like the tangled red thread of the matchmaking god. The Demon king has a cute and spectacular nine fox-tails that flash out on occasion. The "senior brother Shen Yan" leader of a demon hunting sect, turns out to be different from expected - he is played by Richar Li (Li Fei) who also appears as "Fang Wu Yue" in black and red at the brothel, as is shown in promo clip 2, available on dailymotion.
The bullet-time drama (2'+ episodes) glued together in 30' episodes x2 is not available any longer on Youtube, but original episodes can be watched on dailymotion or on myasiantv.
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Sequel to same
I was often bored while I watched this one. The story did not get very interesting and in my opinion, it often dragged. The villains were not very villainous, the good guys did unreasonably not get along and if there was an investigation, and jalousy. it stayed below heating up to burn. The music was nice but too bland.The rich and powerful were a bit lacking in both, much of what happened could be expected and even cooking became a subject for hit-or-miss experiments.
The last part was pleasant, but leaves with the menace of a Season 3. While I don't dislike the three couples, I think it is best if the story stopped here.
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This review may contain spoilers
Yang Zi as a proud Peony, role model of the strong independent women in ancient times
I finally caught up with the drama till end. It was very colorful and beautiful, twists and turns, morally fulfilling, Yang Zi flawlessly portraying the strong and proud Mudan, who even saved the army to win the battle, Li Xian also admirable, and Miles Wei as despicable and hateable as his villain character demanded, many support actors who came to life...So why did I feel a bit tired and even frustrated by this long drama? Perhaps because of the overuse of the two main musical themes at every turn, and the design of the emperor as weakling to almost idiocy, supported god only knows why by the leads despite we never saw him take one good action, just rolling with the flow and nodding in acceptance when he schemed in secret meetings with the Flower envoy and the Flower merchant. The villainous elder brother(why not emperor then?) of the emperor, King Ning was too often seen seated, stroking his beard, looking cruel. His unreasonably jealous daughter appeared on and off like a puppet on strings to look harsh, try and fail to hurt Mudan, getting hurt herself and... well her fate was almost clear from beginning (and no, she did not get offed or off herself).
The story still had its merits, so I award it an 8.5 but I only learned a few interesting things about the historical period and the plants in the first part, Flourished Peony, which was cut artificially from end because of regulatory reasons. The remaining part was.... okay, not extraordinary, despite the twist of Jiang Changyang's almost Christ-like returning from the dead. Well, since we had not seen him buried, it was not that big a surprise or a heartbreak to see him stabbed by Liu Chang... King Ning had publicly said that Jiang was "hard to kill". Nor was it a surprise to see Mudan rescued as she was since Jiang had sent his best swordsman to protect her (even if he missed the necessary abduction by the arch villain). So, there were many quite predictable twists, nice words, sweetness somehow watered down since the couple really was "too busy", got into "misunderstanding" (sighs), had little time to spend together after the evenings guzzling wine by the swing under the moon, which also got too repeatedly used, perhaps.
The last episode features a shadow theater moment as an anthology of the milestones of the story, how Mudan bruised and battered was rescued to become the employee and next, concubine of Jiang ; how the main secondary characters grew noticed, etc. But to me, it felt like a very artificial filler moment, alas.
For newbies, it may still be a thrilling and nice watch (although they should start from beginning in Flourished Peony as this part here is wacky as a stand alone, so be prepared for 32+24 episodes watching, although, exceptionally in second part, some skipping may be forgiven), and for the leads, it certainly was a task adequately performed, and an enjoyment to wear those costumes, bring ancient makeup back to life, and finish with the hopeful message that flowers will eventually be more important than medicine once wars and sickness have been contained. Overall, the drama was nicely painted in bright colors (I particularly liked the draped red shawl, cute hairdo and hat of Mudan before "the tragic episode"), but too airbrushed, despite some arresting episodes. Sometimes I felt Mudan was too much cast as a Mary Sue. I leave feeling "mission accomplished": another historical watched till end.
And don't let my lukewarm feelings deter you from appreciating this FP1+2 drama. Everyone may have different feelings. It is late on my end, and I am eager to go dream about another one, which perhaps appeals more to me because of its humor and quite a lot of thrills, even in the explicitly ridiculous parts. It does not have ambitious lessons to proffer, is more pure entertainment, also a nice watch, which I got sidetracked from to watch the Flourished Peony story till end first, as I had decided I would do (although, that other one, frustratingly, released last episodes just a tad earlier than FP2), so I'll have to digest it a little more before adding a review there. Watching two dramas simultaneously can be frustrating.
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Lovely winter sports and romance drama
This was a lovely winter sports and romance story even with the expected elements, beautiful pictures, nice showcase of the ice sports. The actors are very good looking and act well, so despite the 33 episode length, the drama goes by smoothly. Both leads : Wang Anyu (as Shao Beisheng, the "Prince" of pair and figure skating) and Song Zuer (as Shen Zhengyi the budding speed skater who joins a team belatedly at age 18), and supporting characters were pleasingly portrayed. The shy college romance, ebullience and naiveté of some might make them look younger than their age group, but this makes for a "forever young" atmosphere. The older adults, teachers, coaches, parents, doctors are present too.The brief appearance of real life speed skating legend Wang Meng 王濛 in episode 31 was a nice surprise.
The optimistic mindset, breaking down of mental barriers to overcome challenges and past or present traumas, emphasis on trust, friendship and team spirit in practical demonstration, importance of food and family, and learning something about the figure skating, speed skating and some more in present day college life in China, are some of what can be remembered.
This was a nice drama to watch before Winter Olympics and even after.
Winter sports have come to be popular in China, with ski domes and skating rinks in many cities (even tropical weather ones), bringing them to new and young players who may or may not also have enjoyed skating on natural ice in the north where winter freezes lakes and rivers. Those who want to embrace these sports professionally look further than inter college contests, having ambitions to be better and win honors even abroad with the teams they'd join. But it is clear that this is a physically and mentally demanding short career, where retirement comes very early, sometimes as early as graduation from the university where they joined teams (Wang Meng in real life retired in 2014 after an injury and converted to business after earning a diploma in Business administration from Renmin Daxue). The drama shows realistically the hurdles, jealousies and joys of training in sports beyond the amateur level, and what such players may expect for their future.
When hopes are dashed, converting the energy to look away from the closed and locked door, and find the open window to move forward again, is pleasingly shown in this drama. I may go to rewatch some parts or episodes that I liked, not only for the sweet romance or comedic moments.
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Solid Richard Li in an ambiguous role
Solid Richard Li as mysterious Preceptor Dongfang Zui with foresight, wuxia skills, and tainted blood from being a bastard prince raised in hiding by his mother's Na family. Na Jianci's existence caused the whole Na family to be slaughtered, so he has grounds to seek revenge. He appears as quite ambiguous, at first, domineering, charming, purposeful with secrets to hide.Richard Li's smiles could dispel clouds and light up suns in a stormy night, and his kissing skills are famous. His roles in shorter dramas never disappoint, although they often have tragic ends; this one is not decidedly tragic, so it will be a positive point.
Good He Xuanlin (as FL Xie Wanyin) and surprisingly good SFL Luo Yutian (as Mingyue) who was wonderful as both sunny and respectful young lady of a military family, and as forced to palace lady in waiting with a tragic fate. The villains are very villainous (Emperor, Empress, and Crown Prince).
There are triggering parts (in episode 9, and up till episode 16-17 with SFL story, so this is perhaps not for the too easily triggered young ladies... Better skip then and focus on the lead couple story, which also has dangers, but is less triggering).
The secrets make it so that the drama feels a bit like hopscotch from one base to another in some parts. But there are many beautiful pictures. The cranes flying over to help Dongfang Zui find his spouse make for nice flyby scenes.
The revenge is not easy to get, but the villains don't meet a happy end.
The drama has a possible open end, which most can interpret as happy since it looks like perhaps Na and Xie found the cure to his condition.
The music is nice. The MVs can be found in Discussion section, subtitled by MDL contributor Peachey Blossom, who has a YouTube channel for c-drama OST music and song lovers.
Overall, I found "Dawn is Breaking" satisfying as a good watch, even if much was quite expected, story-wise, and although I had left it on hold for various reasons, coming back to finish it in two sittings: the impressions from where I had left off were still clear enough that I did not need to go back to refresh memory.
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Dai Gaozheng is spectacular
Dai Gaozheng as Gu Linyuan is spectacular in this costume drama.I did not know Tu Zhiying (who plays Yun Feifei) despite she was in small support roles in Only For Love and The Pavilion, plus another one that I have yet to complete (was too busy at the time).
The story is well paced, time goes quickly since it is only 20 x 10 minutes or so; can be watched in two sittings with a pause for snack, or like a 2 hours movie. It is an original script.
Although a costume drama, it is not historical. It is a wuxia fantasy in martial universe, opposing a sect and an enforcement agency the backing of which is not very clear: sect or government? It does not really matter.
The synopsis says that Yun Feifei is the (female) "headhunter of the Six Sects", the incompatible rival of Gu Linyuan from "Qiankun gang". In Chinese, qian(乾) means heaven and kun(坤) earth ; qiankun （乾坤） is the universe. In many fantasy xianxia, wuxia or xuanhuan dramas, we may encounter a "qiankun bag", a magic one where all sorts of things can be stored and hidden from sight, but there is no such bag in this drama. Instead, qiankun conveys the occult, dishonest nature of the sect whose leader's daughter is a shameless minx, intent on tying Gu Linyuan to her in an unholy marriage and binding him and her minions further with a Perish Pill (a potent drug with addictive effect). Cultivation powers were just a tool for the leads, to use extraordinary strength, even bordering telekinesis, and to fight spectacularly, but not to the point of flying. But acupoints were used to subdue a victim, poisonous arrows were shot, and specially poisoned darts to cause memory loss. The leads still united to find a cure for the Perish Pill, despite mortal dangers and possible betrayers.
The sets are familiar for those who watch many fantasy or wuxia dramas. One scene with changing rooms had me chuckle since it featured the same rooms that were used in another drama (probably more than one): a modern one that also had a steamy scene there (Embrace in the Dark Night). Less than ancient urban setting, the story takes place in rooms of cult seats, "libraries", and away from town, in a remote but tastefully furnished ancient country house near a bamboo forest which sways in the wind, not too far from a temple which sports "fate" or "good luck wishes" : rectangular pieces of red painted wood inscribed by fortune seekers in handwriting and hung as pendants on "holy" trees, blessed by the fengshui master there (such good luck charms are traditional in some such real places in China).
That said, the chemistry between the leads in Lost You Found You was sweet, despite the induced misunderstandings, and the kiss scenes are quite excellent. We don't get as much a glimpse of Dai Gaozheng's spectacular abs (as in Maid's Revenge): after all, costume dramas can't go much into undressing! Anyway, the costumes are pleasing to watch, if expected, and the pendant in two parts is a nice looking sign and jewel.
The main, ending song : Your Last Name, My First Name (你的姓氏我的名字) by Liu Da Na (刘大拿) is very sweet, somewhat wistful : an ear-worm one.
The end was hovering between tragic and happy ; the happy one prevailed, probably in order not to displease audience, but I felt it to be rather implausible, so only 9.5 for me. But I would still recommend Lost You Found You to those who have some notions about this type of c-drama, and of course, to those who like watching the evolution of Dai Gaozheng's acting career.
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A snack with mustard for rainy days and rants
This drama had beautiful scenery in the famous water town (50km from Shanghai) a part of which is scenic ancient Zhou zhuang (village of the Zhou family). Those who have been there will recognize the ancient and modern parts of the city, which won an award for ecology in 2016 (her is some date about it : https://iwa-network.org/city/kunshan/).The family name of the three grown daughters is Xiang, but only two are blood related to the retired father and mother. Xiang Nan 向南 (played by Wang Yuwen) is an adopted survivor from a friend's family which was killed in an accident. Xiang Qian 向前 (played by Bai Baihe) is the eldest, as her name gives away, and Xiang Zhong 向中 (Li Chun) is the middle one, as her name also points to.
The title in Chinese means 'Good reunion' (Hǎo tuányuán 好团圆) and the drama is adapted from a novel the title of which translates to "The Years of the Goddess" ; it is a relatively ordinary family drama, which was included in Tencent catalogue in May 2023 with a first poster in June announcing the three FL, and authorized to shoot for 12 months starting in July 2023. It did not take that long since by December, the first trailer was released with main moments (https://weibo.com/7843789699/NxdPDkdYh) , the final trailer was released in June with English subtitles on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-C-_QaMFhM).
The cast was composed of seasoned actors and actresses ; newcomer Chang Huasen (noticed in A Journey To Love) had a brief role. Bai Baihe and Wang Yuwen stood out, as expected; the stubborn and righteous character stuck in the middle, played by Li Chun, stomped her way through the story. The male "spouse" or "boyfriend" characters were a collection of misfits or villains from start, and Deng Haiyang (played by Chen He) the sloth seemed the worst, until Gao Ping the schemer (Zhang Tao) revealed his true colors, overshadowed by the violent and controlling narcissist Yu Jinwei (Jiang Hongbin) : a cautionary tale for young naive ladies hoping for marriage. A fleeting flirt added sizzle but no future, with Wang Yuxi (Chang Huasen). The drama was so female centric that the more acceptable males : hot headed dad and ever supportive boss and godfather, friend of the sloth, seemed unable to lift the men into more desirable role models.
The OST features nice songs; one sung by Liu Yuning : 这一路 (On This Road) ; another by Curly Gao : 遇见 (Meet You) and a third one by Shi Yue/Abby : 最好的答案 (The Best Answer) The following is a video compilation of those three songs, with Hanzi, pinyin transcription and English translation on screen : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80bobz97yFM (total time 13 minutes)
The drama fell flat for Chinese audiences who were not enthralled by what they felt was too much of a hackneyed theme. It has not achieved a Douban rating, and the Chinese press did not rush to comment, was not kind, describing it as a pastime if you have time to kill, and as too reminiscent with less thrills of a reality show that aired before it.
Our Days, therefore, is only an okay drama, not groundbreaking, with some flaws (drag, fillers, plot holes if you look for those, too stereotyped "villain" men so the story may feel preachy in its "warning ladies" purpose). But it can indeed be enjoyed on WeTV as a modern aside. It is not full of annoying product placement (well, the cars and phones, of course, some children's books and toys, modern home appliances perhaps, the remote controlled curtains, .... in line with the "smart home" profession of Xiang Qian, and the many bottles of beer, a staple in c-dramas ; I was almost surprised by the absence of the elsewhere ubiquitous face masks). And the characters are pretty, if stereotyped; the sibling relationship of the sisters was rather good, if a bit idealized.
I came to watch it after Liu Yuning's mentioned it in his long livestream, where he was singing samples from the songs he sung for 5 dramas that aired almost at the same period. I watched it for Wang Yuwen, admiring also Bai Baihe, and the pleasant surprise of Chang Huasen who brought a too short spark of sizzle, enjoying the views of the canal town in Kunshan, of Suzhou a stone's throw away, and Shanghai.
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Chinese family feud to kill time on a rainy day
This is a chaotic story, less comedy than caricature of the survival into modern days of outdated customs and the clash of greed and family.An awful looking fortune teller, who of course had a hidden backer, instructed a gullible middle aged woman (Chen Guihua) to get her son (Gu Jiahui) and daughter in law (Yu Jing) to "make a descendant", less for her own desire than for getting back a dowry she was cheated out of when she agreed to divorce her son's dad (Gu Dequan). She suddenly arrived at her son's apartment, in company of her "step daughter" (Yu Chun).
The daughter in law was busy setting up a company with a best friend (Xiao Shan), so making babies was not her primary goal ; Xiao Shan, feeling the threat if Yu Jing changed her mind, with all the baby care products she sold online, took a drastic step to force a divorce between her friend and her wimpy husband.
The old man was quite the fiend, aided and abetted by his second wife cum free caretaker (Li Xiao), who was not even pitiable.
The couple found out about the conspiracies and tried to confront the ones who were behind them. Even those who seemed close to Chen Guihua and Yu Jing were double faced.
Fights, abduction, slanders, embezzlement, wife beating, mistreatment.... That family, the couple is saddled with, is as dysfunctional as can be. Will the old fiend, at the brink of death, get a redemption and escape punishment for his decades of wrongdoings ? He does get a slap in the face when he is confronted with the truth about his younger son. If tradition requires descendants, he has in fact no choice. He is afraid to die alone and get to afterlife with no proper mourning in his luxurious mansion in cherry growing countryside, despite his ill gotten wealth.
The drama is fast paced, sometimes jumpily so, and there is a happy end of sorts.
Can be watched for a few hours on a rainy day, amused by the wives epic hair pulling, like hens flying into each other's feathers ; a fat rabbit once steals the show.
The full cast was not disclosed on Baidu, despite there are only 7 who drive that mini drama. Here they are, from end credits :
Chen Guihua 陈桂花, is played by Shen Chang 沈畅
Yu Jing 于静 is played by Li Yizhen 李奕臻
Gu Jiahui 顾家辉 is played by Danson Tang /Tang Yuzhe 唐禹哲
Xiao Shan 肖珊, played by Pang Yixin "Scarlett" 庞奕欣
Yu Chun 俞春 is played by Chen Zhiqiao 陈芷翘
Gu Dequan 顾徳全 is played by Li Ou 李欧
Li Xiao 李晓 is played by Suxiu 苏绣
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A different time travel romance
I was really taken by this thrilling drama which took us high in the Ferris wheel and low in the hidden haunts of modern criminals, and back and forth in space and time to sweep away the misunderstandings that pushed Qian Wei into her first 2022 predicaments.This story was very satisfying for me and I enjoyed the mix of modern real life, "long gone" past of 2011, and a dash of mystery, even magic with the destiny changing ring, "seeing" the future and use the warnings to avoid disasters despite events sometimes being unavoidable.
Song Zu'er, playing the shrewd staccato fire talking lawyer's paralegal and Z.Tao the star lawyer of the firm, with his unmistakable deep voice, are very good actors; the rest of the cast did not put their work to shame.
It was not a mere love story, though, and it was interesting to learn about the evolution of some laws and regulations in China from 2011 to present day, and Chinese college of law life where the students competed for first place, debated, participated in community work, amateur theater, were hired by law firms, worked on intellectual property cases and less obvious ones; and also how justice was served and how criminals were sentenced.
There were a lot of twists in the sub plots that ,ever strayed too far from the main story. The aspirations of the characters were varied, in the field of law but also business, music, media producing... There was food for thought including about food!
The OST is of course very good, with songs penned by Z.Tao.
So even though it was 33 episodes long, it was not boring and the end could even have been spinned further for the ones who, well hooked on this drama, were relunctant to see it come to an end after having been kept on tenterhooks for the best part of the last few episodes until today.
Now, I'll move to rewatch for the small details that were unavoidably missed!
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Sweet realistic romance
The story is indeed slow burn, and I admit there were moments when I felt slightly bored, but I still think the actors were excellent, both Yang Zi and Xiao Zhan and the supporting cast of younger and older actors. Special mention to the nice little boy who played the role of Cupid in the hospital ward.I was not drawn in immediately, found the bar scene a bit hysterical and Yang Zi despite her dimples looked too old at first (she is 29) to play the role of a supposed 23 year old behaving like a rash and rebellious adolescent in the first episodes. But turning out to be a rather repressed girl afraid of going all the way with her partner despite being able to enter his apartment almost at all times and getting a sterling occasion when she could share a room for a weekend. She was hiding their relationship from the terminally ill father and the mother who might also be opposed to her dating a doctor with a big age difference.
Xiao Zhan was quite well cast here, as the serious and attentive bachelor doctor wrapped up in his profession, who still had not found a love interest before his attraction to the ebullient girl. His talks with her were very reasonable, and the chemistry was rather natural, although I am not fond of lengthy deep inscrutable stares, to express his character's difficulty when he was in a quandary because of nasty news or events. Nor did I like the plot device of having him suffer from a psychological trauma because of a previously unsuccessful operation.
It got better on the way. The story is very simple. It carried some lessons about interpersonal relations, touched on the present world dangers to some professionals when they get in the cross hairs of social media rumors and disputes.
The ending was very satisfactory, romance wise.
I don't know if the difference between the TV version (which was unavailable to me) and the other version (DVD or international online 29 episode release) is only a question of cutting to size for ads or if there was more in the 32 episode TV version. I found the 29 episode version sufficient to my taste, but I don't think I will go back to rewatch it soon.
I am not that fond of the OST songs either: one makes me feel like it is a sort of lullaby, too sugary for me. But the whole story being steeped in honey brew, I cannot be too critical there. It is a "nice" story, very clean, very respectful of current social rules, and it deals with problems that anybody can expect (age, illness, protecting one's reputation) and hopes that everyone may have (the oath of love in the end is very sweet). It certainly is worth watching once at least.
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Let's go on holidays !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCVAqlybDwc&t=287s (episode 1) 19.50 minutes full screenhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU3e6PssdY4 (episode 2) 19.08 minutes, mobile phone screen format in the beginning, to get in the mood of the mobility
both subtitled or double subtitled Hanzi + English.
It feels like a while now since episode 1 was out, I was almost despairing to get to see episode 2. At last, it dropped on screen today :-)
I love this feeling of traveling by proxy with a smiling and humorous travel companion ! Islands, markets, volcanoes, and now underwater : exhilarating! I too used to collect postcards to send souvenirs including to self, and visited some unusual post offices, that had unusual stamps, but did not know about this one which makes the trip particularly interesting.
And a beautiful sunrise on June 29 (2023, presumably), after the time stamp 5 am on the phone's screen,, so we know when that was filmed : did "post production" take that long that we only got to see it now?
That episode 2 outing to discover another island in the archipelago felt like best of holiday making : dream like accommodation with a pier, dancing on old music, night sky illuminated by fire eaters to remind us of the previous episode where the Earth itself blew fire.
Wu Lei stated in another video (the one about Xiamen in the Marvelous City series), that he had a fear of the sea ; yet, he pushed his limits and overcame it, even diving under potentially dangerous rocks or hard coral : he admitted he was a little scared, but curiosity drove him to do it anyway. He got a reward from the lofty sky down to azure stellar life of those clear waters.
Short episodes but so nice to share his view of the world he travels to!
"best supporting actor goes to the mouse" :-D
There was not much music there. Since this is French speaking islands, I would have suggested Polnareff's "Holidays" song, an oldie but goldie : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oTIf6AvsaY (especially the hook and riff with the last chorus)
That will be my review, then, in waiting for further micro adventures.
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Food for thought, Dear spiky mommy, darling daughter who doesn't lose her aims in life
As most audience noticing in headlines Yang Zi and Xu Kai, I had got sold on an office romance when indeed it is a family drama about, at center, the conflicted relationship between a mom and daughter. But there's more than just that, it's a dark cuisine take on sustenance and food for thoughtThat mom was to start with extremely grating on the nerves : a character one loves to hate ? As episodes went by, it looked like it, but of course, lack of reason and shrewish behavior had to run their course until spent.
From the moment the mom realized how important it was for all to be more appeased, she became what everyone hopes for, a caring and doting person, who wraps the worst heartaches in warmth and nourishment. Could she get the same when she needed it? It was not easy: she did not wish to have roles reversed. What she was faced with is ultimately what many women fear, not divorce, not sudden death...
Redemption does not always bring sweet rewards as we also saw. Although it was rather expected, it was very well performed and logical.
It was a roller coaster of an emotional journey. "Liu Wan Yu", the alley queen mom, will certainly be a memorable role for He Saifei, who showed so many sides of what moms can be. She indeed should have been billed among the main roles.
Yang Zi and Xu Kai were, as expected, good leads, in an almost too reasonable adult relationship (so those who crave hot fire will be disappointed, but those who like it more down to earth will feel the warmth of realistic human touch). Their Huan Huan and Ming Ming were sometimes very funny, scaling walls and catching all sorts of fish although the returnee initially preferred raw sashimi (and raw treatment of peccadilloes) and the "alley princess" looked less for pearls and fairy tale frogs, more to the fabled crucian carp white soup with tofu. One image of simply, lovingly held in hand, half peeled soft skinned immaculate hard boiled egg struck me. Breakfasts should never be skipped...
Most of the other actors and actresses are good in their supporting roles. The father, who can shout but prefers to play the role of peace maker. The son, who looks to find his own way with the best friend, helping her and himself ultimately. The ironic but faithful male secretary. The insufferable in law hicks with their fat bully offspring. The scheming colleagues and bosses, those who care more for money than for honesty. The queen bee grandmother who provided the fairy honeyed glue to bind the leads. The repentant father who strayed like a cat craving for a family. They formed a rich dark cuisine of varied tastes, some disgusting, some wholesome, and some surprising in their changeability.
The music score and songs was very appropriate, especially the episode end song sung by the two stars, Yang Zi and He Saifei: "It’s mother, it’s daughter" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcljQOCYmg4 with translation and pinyin). This is a simple, but gripping song that resonates for all who are or have been mothers... It also embodies well the struggles of the generational gap the characters faced.
The last handful episodes were very good and healing --ok, I know : as expected, but so well performed, with beautiful cinematography, and a snippet of performance of a favorite Huangmei opera (The Female Consort), that Zhou Shen a few years back included in one of his endearing songs titled Huangmei Opera, where he weaves in his song the nostalgy of attending those performances and a short snippet, that is easy to recognize for those who reach episode 37 of BCE, warts and all. Here is the link to the Zhou Shen song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z325SnsDIU
By the way, the dishes featured in BCE are not bad either, I was relishing the gamut from raw fish sashimi to crucian carp white soup with tofu, and of course that mandarin fish dish which gave me a literal craving to up and storm the stores to get ingredients and start cooking!! These were some of my best take away from the roller coaster of emotions that audience were subjected to, in the mother-daughter relentless sparring. Now why do I come back to that... Just finished it, so digesting.
Don't look down on that drama because of its tepid Douban opening rating; it is worth much more, in the end.
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Short thriller, for a rainy day
This is a thriller, where two sisters investigate the suicide of their father, years earlier.Coincidentally, the younger sister Lu Xi finds that her childhood playmate Xie Ziyu has now become the young (prince) vice president of a large company after a long stay abroad. But the expected budding romance is minimal, while the elder married sister’s marriage is on the rocks and her position as director in the Xie group does not totally protect her from malicious men.
Clue-hunting, both women almost get killed several times, but is it prescience or dreams or magic time travel? Lu Xi manages twice to get back to original point before her sister could be killed. This reset device looks so matter-of-fact that it appears almost unnecessary for the plot, like an added fig in a plum tree..
The drama started with some promise, but soon became humdrum. The reasons for the murder were rather weak and why the two women started investigating there and then remains murky.
The short drama is still watchable, but none of the actors really stand out, and the chemistry is not that strong.
The plot, at times, is very weak, with implausible pursuits, too predictable villains, hoodlum kids who don't serve a real purpose and look like they only filled time...
There's not much to take home from that drama, except it may help kill time on a rainy day if nothing more exciting is up there.
The music was not remarkable. There's no real point re-watching. Watching it once is enough: once the mystery is gone, it is like a burst soap bubble, not one of the most dazzling ones either.
The 18 episodes are short and have been compiled into 3 parts which have been posted to YouTube.
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A wonderful two episode fantasy very short mini drama about a phone
This mini drama (about 12-13 minutes for each of the two episodes) is very refreshing and endearing.The story revolves about the imaginary friend of a lonely little girl who will grow up and find the imaginary friend yielding to a real life one in the second episode, as it should be. But the phone, despite it needing to be updated periodically, may still accompany her faithfully even into the future. At the time, the Oppo brand was still not very well known, now it is.
It shows an optimistic and imaginative vision of a peaceful present and future, and showcases the use of a phone not only as a means of communication, but also as a treasured possession at the service of its owner, almost like a full friend in the flesh.
The bleating of the alarm is a tongue-in-cheek play on Yang Yang's acquired nickname "mie mie" and his Chinese zodiac star sign as a Sheep. The actor's youthful, slightly clownish or android like appearance and act complement the liveliness of the little girl who is the other main character.
The two episodes are easy to find on YouTube, using the keywords "[Eng subs] Yang Yang @ phone mini drama - part 1 of 2"
It is well worth the half hour watching, for every public, not only the die hard "yangmao" fans.
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Pastime before taking off on vacation
The movie is not awful; Guan Xiaotong and Xia Yu are really cute, colors are nice, there are lots of fun moments, but the story was flimsy and nonsense, just pastime, despite the interesting idea of portraying a daydreamer, and despite director is a minor celeb from the "5th-6th generation" : Ning Ying, who studied with Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, went to Italy film academy and worked wit Bertolucci on his 1987 The Last Emperor, reaping an award at the time. 6.5/10 from me.Watched on YouTube where some music, sadly, was cut away for the dance of the stewardesses.
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