Kannadin

Not surprising given how many dramas these Chinese actors and actresses do every single year. The numbers are just ridiculous. Also, it seems Chinese people like to have anorexic actors and actresses given how much online shaming goes whenever they put on a little bit of weight. Whether males or females they all look terribly unhealthy... If it wasn't for all these filters and make up, most of these actors and actresses wouldn't look good on screen... For a simple reason... Your skin is not gonna look good if you're underfed and overworked, plain and simple.
Korean standards of beauty are already pretty ridiculous but the Chinese go way beyond that. Truly sad.

Personally I don't think you should trust any ratings given before at least half of the series has aired. Btw, from what I remember it was already rated BEFORE the show has aired... like a few hours before the first episode aired. Dunno who does that. Don't care, but whatever.

Answering to myself... for others who are curious:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ95PO_kYps

Preview scene for episode 3.
I set my VPN to South Korea to be sure so if you can't watch it directly just set your VPN to South Korea and the video should be available.

Does anybody know if there's any "pre-release" like what they're doing with "When the Phone Rings"?
I doubt it but you never know. I'm dying of curiosity. Gender bender is my ultimate favorite trope.

I haven't watched "Captivating the King" because of that yet. Out of ALL the gender-benders I've seen in my life, that one was the least convincing. At least based on the few videos I saw.

Hmmm. Weird. Have you really set it to South Korea? Well normally it should work. Both preview scenes are available. on the link I posted...
No subs though.

If you've got a VPN, you set it on South Korea and then go on their youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7lb15P-Hux7A5gBuhCxtuQ/videos

It's also a great way to have scenes available BEFORE the netflix release.

2024 coming to a close and I'm just popping here to declare my eternal love to this drama. It's hands down my ultimate favorite this year. I hadn't been invested that much in any K-drama for YEARS. It delivered all the right feels and then some in spite of its many plotholes. I'm probably gonna do a yearly Lovely Runner marathon each year just to get back that nostalgic feel and watch my (complety unrealistic) boy Seon Jae being in love with Sol with this amazing soundtrack. Just perfection, right balance between suspens and romance.

I honestly don't mind negative opinions. It's not gonna make me dislike the show. Just like overwhelming positive comments are not gonna make me like a show I don't. No shows can please everyone. I don't understand the need for validations either from hardcore fans nor from haters. What's the point of arguing or nitpicking about this or that. Neither are going to change their opinions after getting angry online. Complete waste of time.

MDL is becoming like Twitter. People arguing for no reason. If you don't like a show, feel free to express your opinion without being insulting or being insulted by fans. If you like a show, feel free to express your opinion without being insulting or being insulted by those who don't share the same opinions as you do.
Internet has literally become an extension of people's lives IRL, the same courtesy you observe IRL should be observed online. Do you insult people over DRAMAS in real life?
If so.... You have a serious problem. Just sayin'

At episode 10, my potential rating for this one is 8.5. It's good but there's too much politics for my taste and not enough time between our leads. I'm more interested in the romance aspect than the political one and we get more of the second than the first.

Not a bad show though, cinematography is great and I like both leads so far. I just wish we had more time together instead of spending most of it on all the backstabbings that are going on. Hoping that trend changes for the 24 episodes to come but we'll see...

Pace is slower than I thought... but I'm enjoying this so far... I just think I'm going to take a break with something else after episode 10 (or maybe not we'll see, I'm on episode 9 now)

This being said all I want to say is WU SHAN!!! If you can't marry her MARRY ME INSTEAD! I think your woodcraft is wonderful, I don't care about generals and warriors, I prefer geeks anyway.
WU SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN

Yeah... Same dynamic.
Merry Christmas!

I've wrote a global answer for everybody but thank you again for the detailed reply and the link. Gotta bookmark them ^^

THANK YOU very much everybody for your very detailed reply!

It's gonna be the Blossom then due to it being lighter and having a more satisfying ending. I've been watching "Three Body" in parallel for a couple of weeks, and I love this drama but the atmosphere is really heavy and I'm not in the mood to add anything too heavy at present.

I'll probably start the double next year then :D Once I've finished both.

Thank you again for the links and the detailed replies, I really appreciate it.

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!!😆😆😆

Looking for a recommendation...
I have only the 25th to binge a series and I'm currently hesitating between this one and "The Double".
Also is it 34 or 30 episodes? Viki lists only 30 episodes...

Anyway, I'm going to sleep, hoping somebody who has seen both dramas tell which one they prefer by the time I wake up ( I'll watch them both eventually, it's just that I have ONE DAY, so I really want to watch a maximum of episodes of one of them even though I know I won't be able to finish them entirely in a single day.)

I get you. Kim Hye Yoon has been a fave of mine since her Extraordinary You days... Took 5 years to finally get off the ground thanks to Lovely Runner but luck unfortunately is also part of the deal when you're an artist..

Ah sorry, I didn't get it that way. Well personally I'm pretty confident it's going that way with a bit more angst down the road though... But the dynamic between the characters is giving off the same vibe and it's one of the thing I really loved with that show... which I've noticed... I've not rated as high as I enjoyed it back then... so I'm off to rerate it.

Don't think there's gonna be any hype... Competition has been tough on the weekend slot this year... They'd probably would have done better if they aired that one on mondays and tuesdays... Way less competition and that can allow your drama to be noticed. Look at what happened with Lovely Runner. Even The Tale of Lady Ok is struggling to get attention in spite of the big budget and all the promotion that's been going on for months.

It's cool you know, them voicing that this particular details threw them off doesn't play or diminish your personal enjoyment of the series. They can express their opinion. I just personally don't understand the point of speaking about such details for something that is already sold as being unrealistic in the first place.

Honestly personal experience... your face doesn't change that much between the age of 25 and 40 if you don't overexpose yourself to the sun... I could even argue up to your 50s ( I'm not yet at that age so time will tell). That's not to say there's no sign of aging but honestly it really depends on the person. My mom started to get visible wrinkles only when she got in her mid-fifties. Before, honestly I wouldn't say she looked twenty but it was very difficult to pintpoint how old she was.

Well the drama is not serious anyway. The whole premise is completely ridiculous in the first place so I don't really understand why we should nitpick regarding historical accuracy for a kingdom that never existed in the first place.

Any drama with such a silly setting is happening in a parallel universe as far as I'm concerned, they could even have TV for all I care. Look at the Steampunk genre...

Now that's an idea that could be fun...