So I felt the final scene in the final episode was a little cramped. That scenes had to be omitted. For instance,…
It's that most painful of C-Drama traditions. I loved MAKE A WISH but concede the final series twist was botched and unnecessary. Still worth seeing if you haven't tried it. It's so much fun.
THE DISAPPEARING CHILD was a masterwork... until the final episode where it was trying to imply something. It turns out the book had a very dark ending which the series refused to do... but in the last episode they almost imply it... rending said finale non-committal, pointless, and therefore mildly annoying.
THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN was nearly perfect until the final episode when a major payoff scene was minimized out of... shyness?
I would have added two scenes at the end. It's in my reply below and don't read until you've seen this series.
So I felt the final scene in the final episode was a little cramped. That scenes had to be omitted.
For instance, remember the boy in the office that was in love with our victim? Well, he's waiting outside the courtroom but that's all we saw of him. Not even a look between him and the victim. I felt something more was needed there.
I would have liked if their eyes met, and she was touched he attended. He'd approach and say, "I'm sorry I lost faith in you." And she'd say something like, "It's okay. I didn't have faith in me either. Until now." They would hug, and you'd feel they might remain friends but never be a couple.
After the Police Captain arrives and the three main women are seen, maybe one more 'A Few Months Later" and we're in Lin Kan's home. She is cooking and the victim is there, seated at the table, going thru the lawyer's paperwork -- proving how hard she is working as Lin Kan's assistant.
Lin Kan comes over and takes the folders away, saying "You've got to stop working. Please, have some of my wontons." We now hear someone else at the table, and it's the former assistant, Kang Hui. With wontons in his mouth, "You have to watch her. She'll work you to death!" Victim smiles. "And she needs to work on her wontons." Lin Kan feigns offense and all three laugh. You can tell by eyes that maybe... just maybe... Kang and the victim might become an item someday. "Maybe I'll hire you as my assistant one day, " Kang says, taking away one of those maybes.
am I the only one who think the episodes are so long?
No, but I will say that (in general) Chinese Dramas run talky. There's a rule in screenwriting which says DON'T TELL THE AUDIENCE SOMETHING THEY ALREADY KNOW.
In this show there's a moment where Zhou Xun suspects the girl read a text off of her phone. She has a flashback that lets us read her mind. Then the lawyer turns to her assistant and says, "I think she read a text on my phone."
In America writers reliably trim that. If we already know what she suspects it doesn't need to be said (again). In fact you don't even need the flashback. The lawyer can simply look at the message on her phone and say, "I think she read this text."
My wife and I are up to Episode 18 and this is (so far) the best Chinese drama we've ever seen. Our go to favorite is RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE but this may blow that out of water.
The only things I don't like about this series are very minor. The opening and closing songs... MEH somehow. At first I liked them but now I don't listen to them at all. This is weird because some shows I've seen that are only okay have better opening and closing material.
My favorite song is the closing song from IMPERFECT LOVE. Check it out on Ep 1 on YouTube. It may sell you on seeing that series.
On Episode 12... what I find so scary is how the Chinese law system works. The police can detain you for any reason…
In America I actually found the Chinese police approach rather refreshing. If this were China, Trump would have led his Insurrection on Jan 6th and been detained on the 7th. All you'd need is a Grand Jury to indicate it's likely Trump did something illegal, so that a trial could ensue. Instead that giant pile of garbage has been walking free for how long?!? This isn't my politics talking: America has a comatose Justice system.
Do keep in mind JOL *is* comedy first and drama second. It's definitely one of the funniest shows the last 5-10…
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, MLL.
I am not a Chinese speaker. All I know about China is really thru about 12 series I've seen (had to abandon one) and about 20 movies. So if there were some amazing puns the translation hid or hilarious cultural references, yup, I missed them.
The way I look at the puns/references goes like this.
Once upon a time there was a STAR TREK movie called THE VOYAGE HOME. It did HUGE business because you didn't need to know STAR TREK to enjoy it. But if you did know TREK it was even better.
JOL isn't like that. For the uninformed (?) it simply drags, in my opinion.
Have you ever tried MAKE A WISH? The pilot is on YouTube and iQiyi. It's a well made /disguised variant of I DREAM OF JEANNIE. It doesn't stick the landing at series finale but it's close enough to re-watch at some point. The lead actress is a FIND and presuming it is her actual voice (not another actress dubbing) she will have a fun bright future.
Lately I've been disappointed by the low quality of some C-Dramas I had watched. It seemed my first 5 series were all great choices but the second 5 were not so much. I recently abandoned a show for the first time, one of the worst TV shows I've ever seen over the last 50 years.
And then IMPERFECT VICTIM arrives with my fave rave Zhou Xun. But I was scared. Was this going to be mediocre too? Based on Episode 1 -- let me tell you I'm VERY impressed.
I agree with you. I started watching the drama based on the excellent ratings and after episodes I stopped. Too…
My wife and I have become C-Drama addicts, but I must confess that weaker entries use a trick to reach the over 40 episode threshold: they double the needed cast and create voluminous subplots. Why? So that people explaining what has gone on, what is going on, and what might happen next are everywhere... adding to the Episode count. There were at least 6 episodes of this series where all they're doing is, again. explaining what has gone on, what is going on, and what might happen.
I must tell you that around Ep 40ish there's a GINORMOUS reveal that sets up the next installment of the series. And it is TERRIBLY exciting. But the 39 episodes it took to get there just isn't worth me recommending to anyone.
It turns out this series FINALLY gets its act together by Ep 35ish. That's WAY TOO LONG to start to like a series. The series shortcoming is the early obsession with comic scenes. It turns what would be a compelling drama into a sitcom. I must confess the set up for the next season is tempting to me.
Hi. I discovered RUYI and Chinese Dramas during Covid. It has taken over my life as a great new hobby. I have to tell readers something very important: if you dislike sad stories (THE LAST EMPEROR) you're not going to love this.
That said, RUYI is better than anything I've since watched. REBEL PRINCESS and THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN are damn good, so is DISAPPEARING CHILD and the light hearted MAKE A WISH is wonderful, but no matter what we watch nothing holds a candle. Including --
-- JOY OF LIFE, an insanely over-rated series that isn't even as good as what I've just mentioned. To rate it a 9 and RUYI an 8 is appalling.
Now if you enjoyed JOY I'm not saying you didn't have a good time. It's okay and I haven't gotten to my favorite actress yet. In fact if you like JOY you'll see all sorts of familiar faces here in RUYI. What I'm saying is that show is fluff compared to this.
For me I'm on a personal journey to find something better than RUYI. I loved REBEL PRINCESS in different ways, but I believe I'm on a goose chase.
1 
THE DISAPPEARING CHILD was a masterwork... until the final episode where it was trying to imply something. It turns out the book had a very dark ending which the series refused to do... but in the last episode they almost imply it... rending said finale non-committal, pointless, and therefore mildly annoying.
THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN was nearly perfect until the final episode when a major payoff scene was minimized out of... shyness?
For instance, remember the boy in the office that was in love with our victim? Well, he's waiting outside the courtroom but that's all we saw of him. Not even a look between him and the victim. I felt something more was needed there.
I would have liked if their eyes met, and she was touched he attended. He'd approach and say, "I'm sorry I lost faith in you." And she'd say something like, "It's okay. I didn't have faith in me either. Until now." They would hug, and you'd feel they might remain friends but never be a couple.
After the Police Captain arrives and the three main women are seen, maybe one more 'A Few Months Later" and we're in Lin Kan's home. She is cooking and the victim is there, seated at the table, going thru the lawyer's paperwork -- proving how hard she is working as Lin Kan's assistant.
Lin Kan comes over and takes the folders away, saying "You've got to stop working. Please, have some of my wontons." We now hear someone else at the table, and it's the former assistant, Kang Hui. With wontons in his mouth, "You have to watch her. She'll work you to death!" Victim smiles. "And she needs to work on her wontons." Lin Kan feigns offense and all three laugh. You can tell by eyes that maybe... just maybe... Kang and the victim might become an item someday. "Maybe I'll hire you as my assistant one day, " Kang says, taking away one of those maybes.
In this show there's a moment where Zhou Xun suspects the girl read a text off of her phone. She has a flashback that lets us read her mind. Then the lawyer turns to her assistant and says, "I think she read a text on my phone."
In America writers reliably trim that. If we already know what she suspects it doesn't need to be said (again). In fact you don't even need the flashback. The lawyer can simply look at the message on her phone and say, "I think she read this text."
The only things I don't like about this series are very minor. The opening and closing songs... MEH somehow. At first I liked them but now I don't listen to them at all. This is weird because some shows I've seen that are only okay have better opening and closing material.
My favorite song is the closing song from IMPERFECT LOVE. Check it out on Ep 1 on YouTube. It may sell you on seeing that series.
I am not a Chinese speaker. All I know about China is really thru about 12 series I've seen (had to abandon one) and about 20 movies. So if there were some amazing puns the translation hid or hilarious cultural references, yup, I missed them.
The way I look at the puns/references goes like this.
Once upon a time there was a STAR TREK movie called THE VOYAGE HOME. It did HUGE business because you didn't need to know STAR TREK to enjoy it. But if you did know TREK it was even better.
JOL isn't like that. For the uninformed (?) it simply drags, in my opinion.
And then IMPERFECT VICTIM arrives with my fave rave Zhou Xun. But I was scared. Was this going to be mediocre too? Based on Episode 1 -- let me tell you I'm VERY impressed.
I must tell you that around Ep 40ish there's a GINORMOUS reveal that sets up the next installment of the series. And it is TERRIBLY exciting. But the 39 episodes it took to get there just isn't worth me recommending to anyone.
https://youtu.be/VxwPp-Wl_6Q?t=1399
I wish I could remove the Chinese 'cartoon' sounds because it otherwise looks fun. You'd have to go back to the beginning to have this make sense --
https://youtu.be/VxwPp-Wl_6Q?t=1399
That said, RUYI is better than anything I've since watched. REBEL PRINCESS and THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN are damn good, so is DISAPPEARING CHILD and the light hearted MAKE A WISH is wonderful, but no matter what we watch nothing holds a candle. Including --
-- JOY OF LIFE, an insanely over-rated series that isn't even as good as what I've just mentioned. To rate it a 9 and RUYI an 8 is appalling.
Now if you enjoyed JOY I'm not saying you didn't have a good time. It's okay and I haven't gotten to my favorite actress yet. In fact if you like JOY you'll see all sorts of familiar faces here in RUYI. What I'm saying is that show is fluff compared to this.
For me I'm on a personal journey to find something better than RUYI. I loved REBEL PRINCESS in different ways, but I believe I'm on a goose chase.