Gudrun5

This was one of the most satisfying c-dramas I've seen. Like The Untamed, Sword Snow Stride, Ancient Detective, and Listening Snow Tower, it has surprising twists and turns with likeable characters, interesting villains, and follows the storylines to the very end without dropping any of them. I found myself thinking throughout that this is mature storytelling, still firmly in the genre of wuxia romance, not too dark and gloomy, yet it challenges the characters and the audience in ways I haven't seen in other dramas. I came here after Ancient Detective and found this astonishingly good. Everyone who likes the shows I mentioned above may enjoy this one.

Yes! I wish there were a bunch of his I could watch. An actor's life is not easy.

Yes, now all episodes have English subtitles.

I was just thinking about this, they may want to change up the King and Queen now just to set the precedent that it changes every year. Because XZ is not likely to get LESS popular this year, so what would they do next year? I personally think it was a huge honor for him to have won the previous two years, so it's not a big deal to me about this year.

Your words are deeply moving. I've been praying for ZZH that he can receive justice and for his safety and emotional health. I also pray for all his fans whom I know are deeply affected. I'm just a c-drama fan, and I was still sad about his situation. I came here while watching WOH and it's moving to see people supporting him, as you say, as a person first. I wish him all the best.

More spoiler thoughts: The center of the story is Xu Feng Nian's desire to bring his siblings back with him as well as Jiang Ni, with the backdrop of the martial arts world and court and his father all trying to anticipate his moves and control him. But the heart of the story is quite simple, and I loved how the final episode brings together his siblings for the first time, but they have to split up because he hasn't achieved his true goal yet. It's heartbreaking that he is left almost alone at the end, and this was a recurrent theme throughout the story, of friends or enemies-turned-comrades being drawn to him due to his bright wholesomeness, but each leaving one by one as the story progresses. The ending was deeply emotional and a perfect conclusion to this wuxia story. Many times a hero's journey is lonely, so XFN's character is a little unusual in that he cares most about creating closeness with his family and those he trusts (his father not being one of them). I appreciate that goal for him, and how the many obstacles throughout the drama were pulling against his goal, and left him at a bittersweet point. Ah, I love this so much!

But I have to say that I love GYY's arc in the whole drama, so I found it worthwhile. Though it seems like his arc is shown from an external point of view, whereas GL's arc is more of a first person (closer to the audience), I found all the scenes of GYY's story very interesting. Hopefully you can find enough enjoyment in them.

Zhang Ruo Yun really acted his heart out and made me cry throughout the drama when he portrayed Xu Feng Nian's emotions through subtle expressions. This story gave him a lot of space to act in the quiet moments between dialogue, and I appreciate how the story allows the main hero to have emotions at critical points, especially relating to all his comrades. Such an amazing production, I wonder if any others in 2022 can rival this, even with the number I am looking forward to. This solidifies my appreciation of ZRY and of course I am looking forward to JOL 2 and 3.

Evernight is up there with Sword Snow Stride in terms of quality of production, charismatic solo hero, and martial arts, so one of my favorite. Though you really need to watch season 2 to get the full story which switches the main actor, so you need to be prepared for that.

I agree with your assessment. Yep, I finished the drama, and it had those two somewhat conflicting events: the final show-down in the military exercise where the two men fought hand-to-hand like they'd always WANTED to do, and then the final episode where GYY is roped into bringing JNZ out like a best friend would. I was quite glad, actually, that they didn't become bosom friends and still retained that distance which was true to each of their characters, because from the beginning I couldn't imagine them getting to that point. We may have missed a few scenes in the middle that would have cemented their friendship, but I can easily fill those in from where the story plots go.

Sorry about that, added the spoiler tag.

I found it worthwhile for XZ, it's more of a slice of life in the army story, so I agree one or two episodes at once works well. People liked eps 18-21 which were really important to GYY, and then all of his story after that I found deeply interesting. You could skip scenes without him and still get a great story about his character.

Why do you think GYY and GL became friends? Honestly they remained "frenemies" throughout, especially toward the end, yet also it's clear by the end that they are friends that are in each other's lives. I wonder if Gu Yiye did not have many other friends, and GL was just always there and became a default friend? GYY would attract a lot of people to him, but perhaps not in a friend sense. I don't remember if we saw him with many others. so, is this relationships one of those male friendships that happen through shared experience and thus endure, even though the two guys are completely at odds with each other? What do you think?

Oh wow, I didn't realize WJ had also written SSS! I"'m such a fan, Now I"m hanging waiting for all the next season so his dramas: not just JOL, and SSS (I'm just in the middle of it), but also Young Blood is lovely and I've heard they are filming a season 2. So if writing SSS s2 is a priority, hopefully Duoluo s2 is next, as i heard last year that tencent was prioritizing it. I just got scared today thinking the XZ may not want to return to DC, I assume yes but if they wait too long, things can change.

I mean, I don't like tragedies at all. But have you watched Goodbye My Princes? I watched it unintentionally thinking it was a romance, and became a huge fan of Cheng Xing Xu through it. Both actors are so good. The drama is one of the top c-dramas I've seen, and in my head-canon I've written an entirely different ending for it. I hesitate to recommend to anyone without giving some caveats, but maybe you would like it.

I am really looking forward to this XZ romance drama after watching Ace Troops, which has some romance but isn't the main focus. Modern dramas aren't my favorite, but the OOL trailer last summer made me so excited for this, and now especially to see a full romance.

Such a good question. I am hoping he'll be returning in a certain project, but I would think at least 2 projects? I'm still not used to Chinese actors being expected to do projects back to back in a full year, but if he wanted a full schedule I'm sure he could. Whatever projects he does, I'm confident that they are ones he's personally chosen and wants to be involved in.

The comparison with Evernight is apt, because of where both season 1s ended. It's such a huge gamble to end in the middle of a scene, and risk opening later with different actors. I adore Evenight Season 1, and managed to enjoy season 2 as much as possible. (I'm a fan of Dylan Wang now.) But, it was like transitioning the story to a different medium, such as from a novel to movie version, and I watched season 2 as a "dramatized" version of what really happened (as if Chen Fei yu were the real version).

So, I'm still surprised that Joy of Life ended where it did due to this huge gamble. It seems like the director had a lot of confidence in the drama (justified) to expect a second season, but I personally prefer a good ending in season to let us breath comfortably during the wait in between.

Such a good line. I was thinking of the feel-good atmosphere at GYY's wedding and thinking how it seems real to life, that everyone is there and happy for them, but that GYY had to make the original tough choice to get to this point. Kind of like the village all celebrating a new house being built after a fire, "we'll all be there for you"!, but it takes a few hard-working people to actually rebuild a house, when the entire community can celebrate its completion.

Also I agree with your comment about GYY and A xiu;s romance. I really like how the episode dealt with their awkwardness around each other. It seems quite real that after GYY make that self-sacrificing decision, in the end it is he and A xiu making a life together, there would be some awkwardness and questions (on her part) about whether she can accept him. And the overarching question, of course, is whether such a sacrificial love can continue and deepen into real love. I am left hanging at the end of ep 29 to find out what GYY says. So far I think there's a lot of realism being explored in his character arc.

I caught that spoon drop too! And worried, but then forgot about it until you mentioned it. Sharp eyes. Wow, that's something to ponder. I wish ep 29 didn't end mid-sentence! Waiting anxiously for the conversation to pick up tomorrow.