Ice Vixen

VIEWERS CHALLENGED TO RETHINK & REFEEL THEIR ATTITUDE TO SCAPEGOATING

Below is my evaluation of themes & techniques found at a closer observation in the C-drama “The Journey of Chong Zi.”

TEST ON AUDIENCE
The main theme is the condemnation of scapegoating of an innocent girl who grows into a femme fatale by force of her environment’s warped perception of who she potentially is.

There are countless works on this subject-matter. Here, however, the authors manage to… split the audience. The tool is the creation of a beautiful heroine endowed with weaknesses & provoking viewers to utilise these. Just like the candidates for the sect have to jump from rock to rock to reach the shore or fall into the abyss, we also pass or fail a test of humanity.

Viewers who have had similar life experience and/or empathy, relate to Chong Zi, treating her shortcomings as a secondary matter. Having experienced or envisioned fight for survival & loneliness among the crowd, you are prone to understand her quirks are either scars or self-defence responses. Her appetite is the reflex to years of hunger. The habit of tugging at clothes is despair to keep someone engaged. Even the fact that she is not eager to learn is related to thwarted hopes for any investment in herself to start paying off. She has not quit the survival mode, her PTSD. Her persistence in honesty is proof of a strong will. She even avoids white lies & thus deserves a better love than Luo Yin Fan’s, who keeps her misinformed. Her resilience at the difficult age of puberty is simply astounding.

Viewers who fail to see these psychological mechanisms see a troubled & troublesome individual, with underdeveloped social skills & unsteady emotionality. Some will stop at this. Some will find her defencelessness as an opportunity to project their atavistic deficiencies (easy target). Earnestly, do they not resemble Sima Miao Yuan, Ting Xue, Min Yun Zhong or the baozi thief lyncher?

FLATNESS VS ROUNDNESS + VACILLATION
For disambiguation: a flat character is one who remains unchanged; a round character evolves. Main characters tend to be round, but it is not a prerequisite. Flatness is not inferiority: it can denote a timely selection of the right path. Flat ones serve as points of reference, but can be fully-fledged too.

Most characters entrench themselves in obsessions, incl. Luo Yin Fan. He undergoes improvements as the master of the reincarnated Chong Zi, responding to her desire to start eating well, granting her more freedom. However, he clings to insincerity. The first & only radical change happens in the last episode, as he decides to revoke his overprotection & sacrifice himself. Worth noting is the way he accumulates thoughts before a short utterance & how decisive his protective movements are. Zhuo Hao & Qin Ke soon pick up this feature.

The most solid personality is Qin Ke’s. He seeks to appease every conflict; if mediation has no effect, he takes the blame on himself. He exudes doubtless pureness, unlike the volatile Mu Yu or the mercurial Zhuo Hao. Qin Ke’s exaggerated modesty might partly result from Deng Wei’s awareness of viewers’ reception of an earlier drama, “Miss the Dragon,” where his vivid rendering of a supporting role outshone the whole cast: here, he seems to be restricting himself, leaving room for Xu Zheng Xi’s character to bloom. Thus a modest, self-restrained character emerges, serving others & refraining from being served. His reincarnation in the extra episode might be a tribute to his pillar-like consistency.

The roundest characters are Wan Jie & Zhuo Hao. Life forces them into attitudes foreign to their natures. Also Dragon King, Leng Wan Li & Yin Shui Xian are round. Wang Yue turns out to be exceptionally responsive for a villain.

Chong Zi goes beyond the flat-round paradigm. A frantic pendulum, lost between the opposite forces, trying to adopt but rejecting. This vacillation accelerates to disorientation & exasperation. It deliberately gives us a taste of pain such friction must cause.

POTENCY OF MORAL CONCESSION
Moral concession is commendable, its improper use is destructive. Observing Luo Yin Fan’s adamant protection of Chong Zi with an inherent demon element, our heart feels right, but our logic cries for caution.

Instances of misdirected or excessive concession abound. The authors display special tenderness towards Demons’ world, except Wang Yue’s attendant.

Demon agents among Immortals, Yan Zhen Zhu & Mu Yu, repetitively seek to expose Chong Zi to the contact with the demonic objects, murder an innocent person to frame the heroine & force her environment to break the last bond with her. Yet she keeps treating them with trust.

Immortal Min Yun Zhong crowns his lifetime of hypocrisy with a heroic death. Yu Du’s blind loyalty calls for punishment – instead, he survives to usher next generations into the new order.

Being or becoming a mortal is viewed as more meritorious & enhancing chances of survival. When Chong Zi & her master meet the notorious village bully, they talk generously to him, show support. Ting Xue is allowed to survive. Sima Miao Yuan gets violently mutilated in a way C-drama generals do. She is granted a possibility to execute herself & earns Qin Ke’s compassion.

Goodness or neutrality do not pay off – we witness the tragedy of the benevolent Zhuo Yun Zhi, the ‘converted’ Wan Jie, the withdrawn Dragon King & his spouse. Unmerited concession is granted to men’s possessiveness in courting: Luo Yin Fan, Mu Yu & the early Zhuo Hao.

In this unfair world, Chong Zi is equipped late (upon her desperate request) with rudimentary knowledge & a blunt weapon, victim to her inborn disposition, difficult childhood, overprotection, abuse, her inconsistency & inaptitude to learn.

TESTING THE DOOM’S LIMITS
Both main characters recklessly flirt with doom. Luo Yin Fan naively leaves his beloved one in prison & even lets her experience twice the same ordeal with hooks. He gives the reincarnated apprentice the same name. He welcomes the unknown red snake. He does nothing to trace agents.

Chong Zi shifts between the opposite camps, believing each time to be accepted. She disregards signs, e.g. Wang Yue’s repeated assertions of being a good man. She discards orders & friendly advice by Luo Yin Fan, Wan Jie & Zhuo Hao. She forgets to check on Hong Dou, then on Qin Ke. She takes oaths too lightly: ‘pinky swear’ with Qin Ke, assertions to stay home, even public declaration to fight on the Demon side. Wang Yue’s incredible leniency lets her break this promise & elope from the altar; no punishment comes from other Demons.

VARIOUS WAYS TO MATURITY
Two sets of modes of adolescence can be detected. Chong Zi gains hard lesson as an orphan, then takes a step back under an overpotective master. Reincarnated & introduced into a decent Wen family, she grows more ladylike, but the ‘demon scent’ makes her reach the same quicksand as an earlier uncouth findling.

As an opposite, Zhuo Hao sets off at a great advantage. He disrespects his father & will not share his aunt’s considerate disposition. Little does he realise how hurtful his behaviour must be to Chong Zi, for whom human wilfulness used to be daily bane. His maturity comes with unrequited love, loss of his father & the vicissitudes of the universe indifferent to his splendid self.

The 9th princess Sima Miao Yuan is prepossessed with the snobbish assertion of her alleged experience & moral qualifications – but proves locked in a state of conceited puerility so intense as to pose danger to herself & others.

As an opposite, the prince Qin Ke evades his parents’ support, relying on his own development. When Sima Miao Yuan’s parents lose power, he provides solace. Though not enjoying her presence, he acts brotherly & discreetly.

THE ESSENCE OF HOME
An interior is an important home-making factor. Chong Zi’s first home ever is exquisitely furnished, with bright woodwork, sunlight, comfy bed & rich library. There is no kitchen, but the resolute girl turns an incense burner into a stove to prepare a koi fish.

The Demon home is surprisingly liveable, with elevated aesthetics & functionality, flowers, figurines & fancy bed. This reflects the oddly welcoming nature of this realm: even intruders are treated like guests, given kind directions.

An ambivalent interaction between Chong Zi & her kidnapper ‘uncle’ turns the arid, crushing Land of Tribulation into home.

OBJECTIFICATION OF MEN… & MORE
This inherent flaw of C-dramas is also here. A crowd of suitors serves as proof of the heroine’s value. But also of her master, chosen among such valiant rivals.

Women are also targets: the allegedly upright sect leaders make use of Gong Ke Ran as a living bait (her uncle among them), like hunters do to female birds.

Chong Zi keeps hearing 3rd-person remarks from the Immortals, meant to question her capability of thinking, feeling, deciding for herself. Though at times they seem to accept her cleverness, charm & sharp tongue, it is a patronising attitude. Let us add the suitors’ careless language: ‘silly girl,’ ‘ugly girl.’

GLITCHES & FLAWS
- Mortals scarcely shown. The motive of a promising mortal sect Fusheng drops.
- Disregard for countrymen. Two negative comparisons by main characters.
- Forgotten demon creatures (cat, snake) or objects (Kunlun incense, fruit lantern).
- Convention taken for granted. Viewers expected to know that C-drama Immortals are generally hypocrites. That postpones their understanding of the discrepancy between the sect rules (no violence, even revenge) & their behaviour (scheming, human sacrifice, judging a priori, no intention evaluation, little use of Yu Du’s predicting capabilities).
- Selecting a young actor for the ‘uncle’ (Gao Han should urgently be cast in a major protagonist role soon).

APPEAL
The world is not likely to shake off its obsession with questionable beauty standards soon. Believing that Asian cultures attach importance to the ‘face’ as an ultimate value, please keep C-drama free from the unnecessary plastic surgery and tweakments.

Written by a nationless spirit confined in the decaying Mid-Europe.

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THE DELIBERATIONS OVER FATE & KNOWLEDGE

As a theme-digger, let me detect for you some less obvious layers of meaning in the C-drama „Miss the Dragon.” There is more to discover & savour than meets the eye.

THE VALUE OF SCIENCE
Our times call for a redefinition of the value of the ‘certified’ facts & interpretations. The centre of the evil in this drama is a large rotunda library, run by the Heavens, calling for awe. At its centre, the Immortal of Fate is an individual of refined appearance & pleasing demeanour, responsible for attaining, storing & distributing the bulk of ‘received’ scholarly literature, but can indulge in providing evaluation or interpretation…

His visitors accept the library with utmost reverence. Qing Qing’s attitude is the opposite: she detests the written word, even though she knows that her negligence in education will deprive her of immortality. Being given “The Book of Reincarnation”, which would spare her suffering, she puts it back. Both idolatry of books & total disrespect prove wrong.

While the cunning Immortal of Fate makes a deliberate abuse of authority in source selection, the inexperienced Dragon King clings to the worst possible references out of his lack of the ability to judge their relevance or intention of authors. He follows a “bad book” & a brothel show, which almost ruin his budding relationship with Liu Ying.

PROFESSIONALISM & ETHICAL ATTITUDE
The position, independence, perception by superiors/colleagues/clients, amount of leisure determine our ethical attitude. Likewise backwards: our morality decides if our work will serve or disrupt the community.

We see it at play from the first episode, when the Immortal of Fate encourages the Dragon King to steal the Ancient Golden Armour. He does not use the imperative ‘steal’ – just toys with the hero’s anxiety & ambition. The Dragon King has already been burdened with an unjust accusation (the misappropriation of the Stone of Nuwa), leading to the Heaven’s thunderous wrath. As a recidivist, he will be doomed…

Each time we meet the Immortal of Fate, this smooth operator takes a step towards mischief. He makes grand use of Qing Qing’s obsession with appearance (her own & the handsome librarian’s) to confront her with the merciless Lord of Luofeng Pavillion, by advising her to pull at his most tender strings.

The heavenly library has a second enterprise profile, a very nasty one: a commission-house for all sorts of shady magical artefacts, poisons pushed as medicines, harmful headbands etc. To get these, a client must offer the most precious piece of their body, being even informed that the business is illegal.

The Immortal of Fate’s corruption has a form of a vicious cycle: he is armoured with unearned authority, with no surveillance from above or objection from beneath. But he is not free from unearned disregard, too: for Qing Qing he is not a suzerain but a plain librarian. Such occurrences even raise the Immortal’s contempt towards his working environment and make him indulge in exploiting the naivety of his client. He knows he can venture offering her a crucial book because she is likely to turn it down. He goes as far as to delete pages from the record on Lord of Luofeng Pavillion. He spends his entire life in the library or at courts, having no pastime, craving for none. While privately visiting the Dragon King at the pool, he is still ‘at work,’ scheming.

Lord of Luofeng Pavillion has a profession that collides with his inborn personality but corresponds to his current embittered state of mind. He feeds people Lethe (memory poison he had also taken willingly) and guides them into oblivion, genuinely believing that this is the right path away from suffering. A crack appears when Qing Qing twits her spontaneity into his ear, pleading for mercy, rekindling buried memories & instincts. Each twit enlivens the past and finally pries the cold heart open. However, Lord’s two unhealed traits guide him back dangerously close to his professional failure & private misery: the susceptibility to evil authority & the inability to communicate effectively.

Various hilarious but serious observations may be drawn from the interaction between the Dragon King & other professionals: the Immortal of Fire & the Immortal of Rain. Worth following is the insight into Ayu’s tortured state of mind, as she tries to extricate herself from the post of Goddess of Rain, imposed on her by circumstances. Facing the imminent revelation of her incompetence, ‘the loss of face,’ Ayu pleads guilty. Not to Heavens, but to common folk. Having repeatedly suffered violence at work as a merchant, she still has deep respect for her imperfect community.

COMMUNICATION INEFFICIENCY
Many C-dramas involve motives of amnesia to prevent a character from communicating with others, revealing crucial facts, sharing emotions. Here we have the motives of reincarnation and Lethe drink. Interestingly, Liu Ying’s every reincarnation involves a different pattern of selective, incomplete forgetting. Every lifespan leaves an imprint on her itinerary soul. Her friends are obliged each time to adhere to a different range of secrecy. Of course, with Qing Qing around, Liu Ying & her later selves quickly pick up the essence of her accumulative past. Also the Dragon King’s yearning for outspokenness allows her to peek into it.

We do not doubt that Xue Qian Xun has grown ready to confess surprisingly soon, but his sincerity is handicapped by the half-forgotten hurt, years spent at the heartless truth-pruning office. Qing Qing yearns for any sign of appreciation from him, yet her obsession with his perception of her face & intellect makes her deaf to his appraisal. His introverted attitude, enhanced by the gravity of his post, gives priority to silent musing (the content of thought). Her extroverted manner, enhanced by the habit of constant nervous pleading for herself, gives priority to chaotic vocalisation (the form of thought). That stalemate of form & content, of the willingness & inability to give & receive, can only be broken by a thunderous interference.

Worth noting is Liu Ying’s maturing openness, as she learns to refuse to reciprocate men’s favour, gently but decisively. In two lifetimes she let circumstances impose marriage, but as general Chen Yue she informs Lu Zheng about her feelings to another man, without causing excessive suffering. Then, as a small girl, she is ready to assert her worldview, aware that her sincerity puts her future at the cultivators’ sect & her immortality at stake.

CONTROL OVER FATE
When Ayu decides not to drink Lethe and vows to gain control over her fate, we might expect her to become what she wants. But it is her father and uncle who channel her fate at her rebirth as Chen Yue. Being strong and skilled in martial arts still has nothing to do with freedom of choice. The fourth incarnation gets close to it, but the heroine is made to die on the day of gaining maturity. It may mean that life is too brutal to grant full independence even to the fourfold refined personalities.

The Dragon King & his beloved remain smitten by the tides & ebbs of fate. The strongest character, the only truly friendly counsellor, eager to lend useful objects and give a helpful hand, is Xue Qian Xun, who manages to adjust the frantic torrents of fate for himself & others, but even he falls victim to the poisonous spell by the Immortal of Fate.

OBJECTIFICATION OF MEN
This serious drawback is present in all C-dramas known to me, alas. Male characters have the responsibility to provide a background for female. Here, we have a man-pillow, a walking purse, a face-canvas for drawing ridiculous patterns; even emperors are objectified as spouses or sources of admiration & promotion. Only the Immortal of Fate is the independent one who exploits, but he dies violently shortly after revealing his aim.

GLITCHES & FLAWS
The greatest flaw of this C-drama results from its greatest merit. The engagement of Deng Wei was a priceless acquisition, but placing him in a role other than the main proved disruptive. Unintentionally, this cautious placement did injustice to the rest of the cast, who are all professional, devoted & expressive to the extent required by their roles. Deng Wei is not an actor, he is a wizard.

Another flaw of this series is the amount & final affirmation of sadism. We see many facets of cruelty, the most disturbing instance being the pervert atrocity of Dongluo’s Crown Prince, rightfully punished. But in the final fight against the Immortal of Fate, the Dragon King chooses to indulge in a similar type & intensity of cruelty. This time we are forced to believe this excess is justifiable.

Preoccupied with his beloved’s affairs throughout the series, without a wider scope of concern for the world, the Dragon King turns into a rebel eager to sacrifice himself in a desperate assault against the unjust Heaven. Not the change itself but its abruptness is unconvincing and leaves enough space for doubt whether it was the hero’s deliberate act or just the ill-considered result of a momentary surge of despair, worth his regret.

One more flaw connected with psychological portrayal is how cold Liu Ying & her next selves can be. She forgets her newborn child, wandering & musing about her feelings. The child never reappears, though minor persons like Marble do. We never get to see the emperor she marries or learn about her struggle to develop a bond. Although she gets 60, we see her preserve a youthful appearance – no trace of emotional wear. Her coldness towards ‘brother’ Lu Zheng is also conspicuous.

APPEAL
Qing Qing went a long & painful way to respect her face. C-drama is this one spark of hope left to preserve dignity, creativity, modesty, true development, faith in humanity & more, to avoid the Western ‘aesthetics.’ One of the greatest threats is the indulgence in unnecessary plastic surgery & tweakments as breach of authenticity, as interference in actors’ & actresses’ integrity.

Written by a nationless spirit confined in the decaying Mid-Europe.

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Abundant themes and ideas with a major ethical reservation

„Love of the Divine Tree” harbours an impressive number of themes in the neat chain of causality. However, some ask for ethical reconsideration, so prepare for a bitterness overload.

YIN & YANG. It is pleasing to observe how these clash when the two strong leads are confronted, then gradually mix and form a delineating curve. When the plot tears them apart, the yin and yang start rattling anew, searching for a new equilibrium.

Su Yi Shui is tagged as a sample of yin. He displays a total immersion in a belief or feeling. All he needs is freedom and appreciation. His opening up to love reveals his hidden nature of a giver. After the loss of his master, his remorse grows immense till it blocks his ability to participate in life fully. Followed by a short period of calm, his amnesia phase sees a radical depletion of his potential.

Deng Wei in this role is brilliant at expressing those wuthering heights, this wild turmoil – especially by means of one-second movements, gestures, glances, outbursts with graded volumes of fury, longing or regret. He is immersed in this character so deeply that each cell seems to play the role. He is a black diamond of hundred facets, each imprinted as a dark hot flash in our memory. The dignified frame and silky movements add to the impression. Note the actor’s awareness of the meaning a body position may convey: when exposed to a comparison against Wei Jiu, Su Yi Shui chooses to stand half-turned away from the crowd: perplexity and unwillingness to participate. Regardless of the prevalent Asian standard of beauty, he has been adorned with wavy hair; both black and white wigs match the complexion. Alert – he cannot hold a baby safely.

This character would not be complete without Xu Yi Ming and Zhang Jing Yi, performing scenes from Su Yi Shui’s childhood. The scene with the mother’s door shut is truly heart-rending. I am not in favour of stripping actors of their natural voice, but the selected voice actor (Sun Rui Yang) yields a matching timbre for exasperation.

Mu Qing Ge vel Xue Ran Ran is a specimen of yang, with self-certainty, pride, joviality. Her readiness to take responsibility, straightforwardness, lack of fear or regret are also bright. A lady in red, her broad smile and directness in flirting challenges to surpass the Chinese convention of modesty.

Han Zhi Xiang did well in depicting both the mature master and the budding apprentice. Worth noticing is her capability of presenting the purged memory, the unprepared youth. When confronted with the masked stranger, she tosses all the paper spells at him. The voice actress (Duan Yi Xuan) did her work so diligently that I thought there are two.

RESOCIALISATION. The subjugation of Su Yi Shui is not an isolated occurrence. Mu Qing Ge has a vocation, an innate tendency to rehabilitate. Apart form building a mixed-ability team of apprentices, she manages to convert Wei Jiu, as soon as Tu Jiu Yuan has cracked his callousness. She also reshapes the world-view of the sects that once killed her, and catalyses a bond between two ex-enemies.

The prolonged presence of Spirit Spring inside Su Yi Shui’s heart is a symbolic reminder that childhood abuse drags on, requiring time, empathy, willingness on both sides. Unfortunately, the drama involuntarily challenges the boundaries of interference in another person’s integrity.

OBJECTIFICATION OF MEN. In most C-dramas man has to serve woman, which is hardly acceptable. There is a heavy load of possessiveness in Mu Qing Ge’s acts. The chains she put on her apprentice are no different from those of the Eternal Sect or in his nightmare. After the memorable scene with lamps, she ruins the mood by insisting twice on his eating fruit and drinking alcohol. Once means an offer, twice is coercion. The scene in which Su Yi Shui receives cat pets and starts purring (vol up!) shows that the heroine fails to respect his dignity.

SHORTAGE OF TRUST. We gather enough evidence that the young man knows his aim, the risk of hosting an evil force, and his eagerness to quit crime once he breaks free. The prophetic book shows merely a dispute who would become the new emperor – not the end of the world. Princes’ rivalry has always brought a bloody fight. So Mu Qing Ge had better advise rivals to take a duel, instead of bloodshed that depletes the army. Su Yi Shui does not pose threat to humankind, his intentions deserve no distrust. Unlike Dun Tian, with whom she shares her plans.

LACK OF SENSE OF JUSTICE. Mu Qing Ge disregards the long list of persons Su Yi Shui’s father once ordered him to eliminate. A punishment for the past would serve as a practical guidance better than irrational blame of potential future crimes. The worst example of validation of cruelty is the justification of Su Yi Shui’s mother through her dishonest letter. At the Marrow Cleansing Pool, supposed to accept cultivators after they leave their obsessions, Xue Ran Ran and Dun Tian somehow manage to retrieve theirs.

FALSIFIED HISTORY. The opening legend is all twisted on purpose. Mu Qing Ge is its main victim of accumulated superstitions that brought about a ‘witch process’ and foddered the hypocrisy of observers. Even Su Yi Shui’s hitting the formation wall is misinterpreted as his attempt to kill his master. The legend leaves out Mu Ran Wu’s enactment.

COMMUNICATION ISSUES. Much plight results in insufficient communication. It was given the form of a muteness spell. In spite of her eloquent quirk, Mu Qing Ge / Xue Ran Ran proves unable to circumvent the spell (by gestures, metaphors) or detect its symptoms on others. She seals Su Yi Shui’s and Zeng Yi’s mouths, being aware of ensuing injustice. Note her negligent attitude to other sects and her sister as regards the information flow. She indeed is warm but frank towards Su Yu, and reasonably instructive towards the rehabilitated Wei Jiu.

Mu Qing Ge fails at overhauling information gaps. She takes Su Yi Shui’s integrity as obstinacy. Having been around her sister or Dun Tian, she remains unaware of their evil nature. As Xue Ran Ran she is unable to recognise her master in Ling Xiao. When she talks deprecatively about Su Yi Shui to his rival, the content is abusive enough, the wording even more.

BASIS OF LOVE. A drunken kiss brings pain. Trying to reignite love to regain memory, the leads hastily kiss and fail. It shows that love needs an emotional basis, not physical. When forced it can be unrewarding. It takes work to find and maintain a point of convergence. What triggers Su Yi Shui is a promise of a home, light, good food (alco and cicadas excluded!) and understanding.

LOVE AFTER LOVE. This is relevant for viewers who experienced the loss of their beloved. It touches subtly upon the aspect of age difference in a relationship, attitudes and expectations, similarity vs sameness.

APPROACH TO THE LOSS. Unlike many dramas indulging in time travel, this one disdains the idea. Changing one’s fate is possible, but only in alignment with its temporal development. We must embrace the bygone. The greatest offence is made by the worst villain, Dun Tian. His family love is vitiated in confrontation with the spirit of his wife, whom he grabs by the throat. Mu Ran Wu is punished for ousting a person, Su Yu for drawing someone unwilling. The conflict between particular interest and common good is relevant here.

INSTABILITY AS A CIVILISATIONAL THREAT. There is a symbolic scene at the invaded Mount Wester, with dilapidation and nauseatic rolling movement of grey, disintegrated settings, and the death of the Reincarnation Tree. It may stand for today’s world’s decay, atomisation. There is nothing left to adhere to, no point of reference.

TRAP OF PROFESSIONALISM. Mu Qing Ge is so self-assured in her moral teaching skill that she trespasses the boundaries of Su Yi Shui’s integrity. Even if the outcome turns out to be right, it is not THANKS TO but IN SPITE OF the intrusion. He separated the good he received (love, home, sacrifice) from the accompanying bad.

Mu Qing Ge’s sect’s recruitment pattern is gathering youth whose talents fail to comply with the expectations of the competitive sects. She is adamant in defending them – and proves right. Su Yi Shui’s process of recruitment proves wrong: what matters is devotion, mere skill is insufficient, pride is disruptive.

The married leads organise chores to reflect their past turn-taking at supremacy. This model builds independence and yin-yang completion. However, the eldest son should have been taught to wipe off his stain.

NOTES

The flow gets disrupted by redundant verbalisations, reappearance of longish proper names. Still fewer in comparison with the artifact data in “The Blood of Youth”. It makes a viewer feel like a PC gamer, having to “select the weapon” to be allowed to move. The imagery also needs trimming: too many symbolic trees, twigs and one-use beasts.

OST: some phrases will stay in my memory for long. However, I reserve max 10 pt for creative masterpieces like in “The Blue Whisper” or “Kill Me, Love Me”.

The YouTube version might be abridged. Probably this is why it is not clear when Wen Hong Shan claimed to be disfigured by Mu Qing Ge, when Wang Sui Zhi left the Wester, when Su Yu got poisoned or when Tu Jiu Yuan gave birth. For final battle resolution, it took an irrelevant dragon immortal and her motionless child.

APPEAL

My appeal concerns everybody involved in determining C-drama’s future development directions. The genre has become a chance to evade being under the fusillade of the Western convention: this one spark of hope left to preserve dignity, creativity, modesty, true development, faith in humanity and more. Please avoid the Western ‘aesthetics.’ One of the greatest threats is the indulgence in unnecessary plastic surgery and tweakments as breach of authenticity, as interference in actors’ and actresses’ integrity, in their sacred bodies and countenances – the beautiful mirrors of their souls.

Written by a nationless spirit confined in the decaying Mid-Europe.

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