John Hart

This is my second witness to this 'forced kiss' thing. See my review. I think it's a weird cultural thing. I believe the Chinese consider a romantic kiss not a prelude to sex but basically 'as' sex.

And so in their culture a forced kiss isn't romantic and so it won't lead to sex, which in their eyes is watchable.

I can't believe all the fuss either. A flat almost non-existent story with otherwise amazing production values. Where we differ (if we do) is I felt the acting was solid. Maybe it was a casting problem?

The following only spoils a minor detail in Episode 1 -- but I had to say something about it somewhere because it's a first for me after 5 or so C-Dramas.

When I completed Episode 1 -- it occurred to me there was no obvious romantic nod between two people. No guy 'caught' a gal in his arms. No long slow motion meeting of eyes. Nice to have a break from this cliche.

I know, it may happen in Ep 2 or 3, but for now... I'm so happy.

An actress? Are you kidding?!? This show is a Who's Who of gorgeous actresses.

Dear Faithless,

Thanks for taking the time to explain that to me.

See my perspective was the YouTube (in America) has two types of Chinese offerings.

One is a bunch of low budget movies, often rural, typically about families. These films don't seem to star 'stars' but real people instead. One such movie is called 'Red Paper-Cut' (2017). I presumed these people were 'Communist' China.

Two are big budget dramas, starring STARS like Wallace, Zhou, Janine Chang, Yang Mi and a slew of similar actors. I presumed THESE people were 'Western' Taiwan actors.

So when I saw this Taiwanese show on Netflix -- I was -- completely confused. It was a 3rd type. This would have bugged me for years but thanks to you only bothered me a week or so. <3

If I can return the favor, I highly recommend trying MAKE A WISH. The show isn't perfect but I prefer it to MOM DON'T DO THAT. You really start to love the characters in make a wish. A lot. (The only shortcoming is the show resets itself near the end where really it should have finished... urm... cleaner?)

In America there's a YouTube Channel called AvenueX. This Chinese woman is a critical monster and yet she had to give it up for MAKE A WISH. As she says, "The leads are just SO GOOD." They are. And I was happy to pay to see the series. No complaints.

As an American Non-Chinese person, I have a question that maybe someone can answer. I've been watching Chinese Dramas and movies for about two years. I've watched Zhou Xun in RUYI and IMPERFECT LOVE, Wallace Huo in RUYI and CRAFTSMAN, and the series REBEL PRINCESS and MAKE A WISH.

A young friend recommended this show and I immediately noticed the Chinese was... different. I don't know Chinese but I do know this show isn't speaking the Chinese of those other shows. This show (apparently?) is in Taiwanese. So my simple question is --

-- what language or dialect are those other shows using? I had a feeling those shows were sort of produced int 'Western' China but now that I see this show I suspect they're not.

Where are THOSE shows coming from?

She decided to play the character understated -- and it didn't quite work. If you think of the series Seinfeld, Jerry is kind of bland -- which makes everyone around him more interesting. The same thing is true with Rebel.

If you want an incredible female lead: RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE. In fact everyone in that production is incredible. But you'll want to kill yourself because it's so sad.

REBEL, on the other hand, offers hope. The rest of the cast is terrific and fun. The story is epic. But you have to give it about 8 episodes to GRAB grab you.

... and a fascinating coupling they are

He's in a photo in the final episode. The one beside Li Dong.

The above discusses how this otherwise brilliant soap FUMBLED the final episode.

I've completed the series and would like to say I'd have given it a 10 were it not for the final episode, which I believe FUMBLES badly enough to damage the series.

1. Li Dong accomplishes his goal and decides to -- vaporize? Wait -- what? We can't finally have the family together? The frickin' POINT of the show?!? Secondly --

2. -- am I crazy or was the show implying that Li Dong was gay? He never once looked at one woman, which is weird because he was surrounded by beauties. His biggest smile was seeing Dandy Du happy. And the way he ran off to the Revolutionary Army with his cohort? I don't care if he was gay but I had this feeling they were saying, "The only way Li Dong can have a happy ending is with a boyfriend... which he'd have to hide form his Lucy and Daniel. Even stranger --

3. -- was how their youngest brother emerged so nonchalantly. In a photo. As if we didn't want to see this moment. Or frankly a way better version of this moment. And Li Dong sure was lucky his youngest brother was carrying around a diaper with a special emblem on it. (WTflyingF was that?!?)

Any writer would have said, nope, youngest brother has to be seen and heard so that the family could have a group hug. I believe the easiest way to have accomplished this was to make the courtroom scene a REALLY BIG DEAL. That the press found it FASCINATING that three of four orphans had managed to drag a frickin' MINISTER before a judge. There would be a seen of people all over the nation reading this story -- 3 of 4 Accuse Du of Murder!

The youngest brother would wonder if he was #4. We wouldn't see that. We'd only see someone in the court room listening to the proceedings, being specifically shown when locations were mentioned. At the end, when our siblings were jubilant, he'd suggest he was their brother.

Predictable? Yes, a little. But this is what's known as an obligatory scene and something like it should have shown up. It's closure for us.

4. The worst botch, though, was Qi Nan's decision to finally commit to her. When he walked in on Hanjun in the hospital, Han's Mother (who I call 'Boop' because she looked like an elder Betty Boop) left the room. If I were her Mom I wouldn't have moved a damn inch. I'd point a finger at Qi Nan and say "Sh!t or get off the pot!" as we say in America. Meaning either accept my daughter's love or hit the road, Jack. At that moment Qi had the GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to say he loved Hanjun from the very first moment he met her and always will. THAT is when and why he should have been crying. Then Mom and Qi Nan sit by her side.

The way it was written you might as well have called Qi Nan "Dandy Shen". Did he actually say he did her makeup for her?!? (It reminds of a scene in RUYI where was as emotionally disconnected.) What we were given seemed to be that he had no character arc, that he was still the silly hurt street boy. It also implies that if Hanjun had not fallen ill he would have been done with her. VERY UNSATISFACTORY resolution for these two.

I can see you haven't seen THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN. She stars in the first episodes -- where a stranger becomes a friend, her servant, and the love of her life. As the Witched Witch of The West once said, "These things have to be handled very delicately."

Ouch! My bad!

English? It's on YouTube. You have to click CC.

The audio seemed out of sync.

This story seems long (at first) because it does something stories are not supposed to do. It includes 6 episodes of backstory. Backstory is when people refer to story before the series starts, which usually need not be staged. "I went to Babson college" is a reference to backstory that need not be shown.

But it turns out (this time) the story works better for us if we know precisely what the characters have lost. And the young actors playing the main characters are TERRIFIC.

But one thing that makes the first half of the series feel long is any discussion regarding their business. It could use a little more editing.

If you need an English version of this terrific series it ESSENTIALLY doesn't exist, which is terribly frustrating. YES there is a free copy on YouTube but it cuts out all the songs. I can live with a C-drama that mutes such sequences but MangoTV actually REMOVES said sequences, which are almost once an episode and always showcase a critical emotional/story moment.

Wanna know how bad it is? There's a scene where two siblings unite after many years -- and it's completely gone from YouTube because a song plays in the background. I'd gladly pay to see this on Mango but it appears there they have no English subtitles. ARRGGGGH!

(If you're wondering how I know something is there that isn't, each time a song plays I have to go to a site that streams some crappy quality versions of these episodes. But at least I get to see what we're missing. A serious annoyance I'd gladly resolve with a paywall.)

I just saw THE RESCUE and yes they use her real voice in both pieces. RUYI is a long miserable sad melodrama but totally worth it for Zhou Xun and Xin Zhi Lei. (Not to mention about 10 other amazing actors/actresses.)

What blows my mind is I'm reading people saying it starts slow. I watched Episode 1 a few months ago and admit it left me 'interested' but not 'hooked'. Last night I rewatched it and also Episode 2 -- and it HOOKED.

I peeked ahead a few episodes and confirmed my theory of who Wallace plays in this series. Unfortunatly there's a thing in writing called 'backstory', which isn't supposed to be included in the story. When you do -- when you literally stage it -- the pace feels slow because you haven't caught up to your protagonist inside the proper story.

However, in this case, I don't mind the backstory at all. Because it set the 'world' for me and ws terribly interesting, especially in Episode 2.

They removed her voice?!? That's a non-starter. Please tell me her real voice is in RUYI?