Ok, I started this drama, got to Ep. 15, and took a break. The make-up and cinematography are terrible, and the storyline is draggy and uninteresting. I then saw a review by Avenuex and thought, maybe it gets interesting later on, so I should try to finish it.
It was the worst mistake ever! I kept holding on to find out what she meant by "one of the best Xianxia we're going to get for a while."
I wasted my time and should have dropped it at Ep. 15. I watched the whole thing, and it is as terrible as the bad make-up and cinematography. Time to unsubscribe from her. She's lost the reason I was subscribed initially. Phew!
OMG! This show! 😍😍😍. I can’t believe they almost didn’t release it. It’s even surpassing Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty. Amazing makeup and cinematography.
What a show! I thought they wouldn't do justice to such a complicated plot in 30 episodes. Boy, was I wrong! A real thriller from C-dramaland.
I also want to give a special shout-out to the makeup artist. They threw their backs into this show. The scars, wetness, and sweat looked real, something that is often lacking in C-dramas—a 10 for me.
The actor who played Zhuang Shiyan also deserves the biggest cast recognition. This man played a psychopath to the "T". Such a great actor. He was indeed a worthy antagonist.
The leads also did a good job, and the director ended the drama realistically and beautifully.
C-dramaland has been spoiling me recently with 10/10 dramas. First, Filter, then Northward and now, this one. Please keep up this streak. I am not complaining at all. 😊.
he is willing to sacrifice all his children to survive and for his ambitions. but what made ruyin sacrifice her…
She doesn’t know yet. She thinks the position will benefit them. And the daughter can win the Duke’s affection. She has no idea the extent of how crazy he is
I dont think his wife got manipulated. She clearly knows what kind of man he is.
She got. Rewatch the scene again. He acted afraid of the idea by the Duke and even telling her the horror stories of the ex-wives (meanwhile he’s only acting as if he was against the idea). This was to get the wife to push the idea forward and also she wanting to help him from his distress (which is a lie). He knows the wife very well and knows she also wants a Duke as an in-law. This is how manipulators work. They make you think the ideas are yours, meanwhile they’ve been subtly leading you there.
In previous episodes the other wife (FL’s mum) warned her and told her she was being used as a blade, she apparently didn’t understand get it. Just look at how she called the Daoist when FL was born, it seemed like her idea, but events have shown it was her husband’s idea from the get go to cover for his own crime.
The father actor is the biggest manipulator. A real psychopath 🤮. After inviting the Duke (obviously to marry his 2nd daughter), he manipulated everyone around him to come up with the idea themselves. The same conclusion he already had and planned from when he sent out the invite to the Duke. A real snake.
I dropped it the first time because the translation was so bad. However, found a decent translation and fell in…
This wasn’t about translation. Just the general slowness of events and I keep waiting for something to happen (even in the business part of the show) and it falls flat.
I'm also wondering these things lol. I mean did he ever love yunxi throughout their marriage? Or if his wife was…
Wife has been dead for 5 years (their child was a baby when they were mourning her in the scene shown). It’s realistic that people fall in love again after 5 years of losing a loved one.
I don't think I've ever waited on the release time of a show before. This show made me do it. On the platform I watched it on, it releases daily by 1 pm, and each day, once it is 1 o'clock, I start to refresh the page to see if it has come online.
Phew! What this show did to me. An all-around 10/10. The MDL rating does not do it justice (maybe it is the age of those who are majority users of MDL or their superficiality), but this show deserves to have the rating of all the highest-ranked C-dramas on this platform (10 miles of peach blossom, Nirvana in Fire, Story of Milan, Joy of Life etc.) Even Bai Lu exceeded my expectations. It seems she's transitioning to take on serious actor roles and not be typecast into Idol roles like other actors her age and get stuck there. Apart from that Mystique show, which is idol drama, she's been in more serious/proper drama roles to prove her worth (e.g. Ordinary Greatness and now this one). Good for her, I like her, she doesn't have the typical childish look-mian and can't wait to see her in more proper acting roles.
Kudos to the other cast and crew of this show. I was drooling over grown-up Ou Hao styling (I hardly drool over actors 🤭); he was that hot 🤣. The actor who played HaiKuo was in Six Sisters and was good at it; I am glad to see him here, too. [He reminds me of the actor who was in Heroes (2024), Qin Jun Jie (who is a very great actor, too).] ChenRui's actor was in Tender Light, and I hope he gets more roles that will allow him to showcase his talent more and more. XiangChi's actor was in She and Her Girls (another great C-drama), and I hope he keeps getting proper roles, too. I hope Siyi's actor will continue to grow in her acting pursuit (this is my first time watching her, and she's quite capable).
Of course, let us not forget the seasoned older cast members who were like the oil that kept this show moving even better.
All in all, I doff my hat to everyone who made this show the beautiful piece that it is.
It was the worst mistake ever! I kept holding on to find out what she meant by "one of the best Xianxia we're going to get for a while."
I wasted my time and should have dropped it at Ep. 15. I watched the whole thing, and it is as terrible as the bad make-up and cinematography. Time to unsubscribe from her. She's lost the reason I was subscribed initially. Phew!
6/6.5 over 10 for me.
I also want to give a special shout-out to the makeup artist. They threw their backs into this show. The scars, wetness, and sweat looked real, something that is often lacking in C-dramas—a 10 for me.
The actor who played Zhuang Shiyan also deserves the biggest cast recognition. This man played a psychopath to the "T". Such a great actor. He was indeed a worthy antagonist.
The leads also did a good job, and the director ended the drama realistically and beautifully.
C-dramaland has been spoiling me recently with 10/10 dramas. First, Filter, then Northward and now, this one.
Please keep up this streak. I am not complaining at all. 😊.
This is how manipulators work. They make you think the ideas are yours, meanwhile they’ve been subtly leading you there.
In previous episodes the other wife (FL’s mum) warned her and told her she was being used as a blade, she apparently didn’t understand get it.
Just look at how she called the Daoist when FL was born, it seemed like her idea, but events have shown it was her husband’s idea from the get go to cover for his own crime.
Phew! What this show did to me. An all-around 10/10. The MDL rating does not do it justice (maybe it is the age of those who are majority users of MDL or their superficiality), but this show deserves to have the rating of all the highest-ranked C-dramas on this platform (10 miles of peach blossom, Nirvana in Fire, Story of Milan, Joy of Life etc.)
Even Bai Lu exceeded my expectations. It seems she's transitioning to take on serious actor roles and not be typecast into Idol roles like other actors her age and get stuck there. Apart from that Mystique show, which is idol drama, she's been in more serious/proper drama roles to prove her worth (e.g. Ordinary Greatness and now this one). Good for her, I like her, she doesn't have the typical childish look-mian and can't wait to see her in more proper acting roles.
Kudos to the other cast and crew of this show. I was drooling over grown-up Ou Hao styling (I hardly drool over actors 🤭); he was that hot 🤣. The actor who played HaiKuo was in Six Sisters and was good at it; I am glad to see him here, too. [He reminds me of the actor who was in Heroes (2024), Qin Jun Jie (who is a very great actor, too).] ChenRui's actor was in Tender Light, and I hope he gets more roles that will allow him to showcase his talent more and more. XiangChi's actor was in She and Her Girls (another great C-drama), and I hope he keeps getting proper roles, too. I hope Siyi's actor will continue to grow in her acting pursuit (this is my first time watching her, and she's quite capable).
Of course, let us not forget the seasoned older cast members who were like the oil that kept this show moving even better.
All in all, I doff my hat to everyone who made this show the beautiful piece that it is.
Goodbye Hua Jie (Flower Street) and the Canal.