Jungshooky

Haha I started TD as something to watch while I waited for new eps of ABAY and The Princess Royal to be available on Viki . . . and then ended up just binging TD 😅😅

It was so good. I wasn’t as fond of the ending, it was so short and vague, but that wasn’t enough to even remotely take away from my overall enjoyment 😊

*sigh* yeah, most c-dramas really flub the ending. I really won’t argue with you on that. ABAY has a really good ending though (in my opinion) especially if you watch the special episode.

I will say, this show focuses a lot on the business aspect and romance comes later, but I personally didn’t find it dry or draggy. And while the plot may not be unique, it and the characters are executed really well and compared to other recent CEO dramas, is a bit more down to earth/organic and the leads have electric chemistry which is really what makes this show so good

It's a bit of both. I think when burned/aerosolized it acts like a hallucinogen and causes a high, but if someone consumes purified extract, it's highly toxic and fatal. As they say - the dose makes the poison.

It seems to be highly addictive based on the depictions of users throughout the show - including the emperor who becomes completely dependent on his spiked incense. So yeah, people will buy it in droves - very much like the opiate crisis here in the US right now. Although it seems like they make some blatant references to pot/marijuana (the purple color of the plant --> "purple haze" and "purple kush" being highly associated with pot; the distinctive strong odor --> pot has a very characteristic skunky smell), it seems Zornia acts most similarly to an opiate - so like opium, heroin, morphine etc.

It sounds like c-dramas just may not be for you.? Especially if you think even 15-20 episode long dramas that have 10 min episodes are too long. To be honest, I don't think you'll be successful in finding quality visual media shorter than that anywhere - except maybe like anime. Maybe try Chinese animation? There seem to be a lot of them popping up on streaming sites like WeTV, iQiyi, Viki, etc

Though, I'm afraid you'll still run into the 'formulaic' issue . . . Though the corporate/profit-seeking nature of c-ent definitely plays a role, I think a large part of the 'formulaic' nature of c-dramas is also heavy censorship from the Chinese government. K-dramas also have a lot of the corporate/profit-seeking agenda but have much more varied plots/genres than c-dramas currently - and with S Korea being democratic with like freedom of speech and artistic expression, drama production isn't limited by arbitrary regulations.

In c-ent there are so many scenarios, plot points, and even entire genres that get 'banned' by the government - sometimes seemingly for no other reason except they decide they don't like it one day. Some notable things that have been banned --> anything having to do with time travel (seems they've let up on that recently tho), tomb raider/Indiana Jones-esque plots, Esports/video games, anything that could be even vaguely construed as NOT 100% heterosexual . . . dramas often have to rewrite/dub dialogue, cut scenes or entire episodes worth of the material, or go back and refilm scenes because of censorship issues. It's a major issue that I think is truly holding C-dramas back from reaching K-drama status on the international stage.

I really enjoy C-drama, but I've learned to enjoy it for reasons outside of a 'unique plot' - such as character/relationship dynamics which ABAY has in spades and does exceptionally well. If you do end up giving ABAY a chance, I hope you enjoy it - and if not, I hope you find something you do like! :)

I honestly don't know why people get so upset that a lot of c-dramas have "a lot" of episodes. You see to me, 40 episodes is hella short! My favorite TV shows like Criminal Minds, Buffy the Vampire Slayer have like 100-200+ episodes and I have happily watched them all multiple times

So 40 episodes with a closed-ended plot? Total breeze lol

But seriously, this drama didn't feel draggy to me at all, and actually I wish it could have had more episodes. So give it a try, you may be surprised

To each their own I suppose - I literally went on a mad binge of most of his dramas from the moment I finished Wonderland of Love and haven't found him monotonous, average, or lacking at all. Some of his drama choices (or those forced upon him if rumors are true) weren't always the best per se, but he never gets stale for me!

I've also noticed a dramatic improvement in his acting chops over his various dramas, so I think many of those who continue to criticize his acting are those that decided he was a bad actor during his earlier work and haven't bothered to actually like WATCH him again and just spout the same "block of wood" rhetoric you see everywhere

I’m wondering if the extended shoot time compared to episodes is because they’re doing a lot of live fire/explosion work, which likely wouldn’t require XK or other actors to be on set at the time

Does anyone know how long filming is scheduled for this? I forgot what was in the initial announcements and can't find it again. I'm just curious - they've been filming for almost a month now correct?

Most likely sometime in 2025. Unless they hella rush post-production (which I hope they don't do) and breeze through the censors with no issues, we likely won't see it this year

We're supposedly getting Story of Pearl Girl (with Zhao Lusi) later this year even though they wrapped filming only a few months ago . . . so anything is possible I suppose

I'd love to see them in a costume drama together, or maybe Republican Era? Xu Kai in 20s/30s era three pieces suits is literally what got me through Lost in Kunlun Mountains ^^'

Even if everything you're saying is true and accurate (it's not FYI) being a pretentious, know-it-all asshole about it isn't going to make anyone a) agree with you, b) like you, or c) care enough to read all of your word vomit.

I also agree that you've grossly misunderstood and misinterpreted the characters' intentions and actions here. Frankly it seems you made a snap judgement about this show either before you started watching or in the very beginning and have warped the story to fit the narrative you expected to see. This is the point where a discussion could occur, in which both parties express their view points in respectful ways and either convince one of the other's opinion, or both walk away agreeing to disagree . . . But you're the type that is 110% convinced you're right all the time and feel the need to mansplain everything to everyone - so why bother trying to change your mind or have a civilized discussion?

Hope you don't talk to people in real life this way - you won't like how that turns out - just saying <3

They probably both dropped in points because they’ve finished airing and nothing has really premiered recently that would easily take either drama’s place at the top (likely because of the Olympics).

Waaaah finally finished! This drama is just *chef's kiss* Definitely one of the best modern C-dramas I've watched!

That special episode almost killed me though. A tear may have been shed :')

I'm honestly not sure how significantly episode ratings contribute to the overall rating, but it can't hurt to try.

MDL has never revealed their 'special algorithm' that they use to determine ratings, which is why I find the ratings on this site highly suspicious and honestly not trustworthy anyway

Brief public service announcement:

You can rate individual episodes, which may help the overall drama rating!

It looks like a number of antis have sabotaged the ratings for the last 5-7 episodes to the point many of them are as low as 7.5 (they were over a point higher this time yesterday) and I don’t know about y’all but I feel the last few episodes definitely deserve higher ratings!

Most likely no, but a low rating will turn potential watchers away, especially if they’re not aware of how frustrating the rating system is on this site

Right? Like in my mind a 1-2 drama would be extremely shoddy (as in made by like middle schoolers) OR glorify something objectively bad, like Nazis, r*pe etc.

Not because it stars someone you hate (for superficial reasons) or because you think the plot is cliche. Nothing is original anymore - and CCP censorship makes it worse for c-dramas - both modern AND period.

I was rating episodes as I was watching last night and literally between one episode and the next, all the later episodes 35-40 dropped like more than a point and the number of user ratings jumped up by at least 5-10 people so yeah haters be working overtime

And those that come here and refute that it happens are either blind or haters disguised as fans

I keep seeing people complain about excessive side characters and plots in c-dramas (period and modern) - am I like the only person that's not bothered much at all by it? I have never fast-forwarded a C- or K-drama, and never felt the need to. But to each their own I suppose *shrug*

Just watched episode 30 (I'm behind I know) with the Han family dinner and thank god for Grand-Aunt Han man. She's a class act and such a lovely person.