I definitely started this out thinking it would be quite cringe-tropey with a really weak / pathetic like MC and typical manly ML but... I have to say this drama surprised me! The different characters were all very well done. Honestly, the family drama felt so... frustratingly real... sigh. Got to me more than the romance drama ever did (which I'm kinda glad for).
Some of the romance bits didn't make total sense, but it kinda worked in its own way. Loved Xiao Fan's whole journey. Even though it was very hard to watch him in the beginning. What a ride.
I think this drama comes off (and starts off) as way more shallow than it actually is.
Wow this was so well done! Based on visuals (actors are very 'pretty' and super skinny), I totally expected this to feel like a cheaper, melodramatic BL; but who would have thought both the inner script and the the outer story were, while dramatic, very plausible and well written!
The constant (intended? unintended?) pun on Zhen Xin's name was a bit eye-rolling at times but also cute. (Zhen Xin is homonymous with 'pure heart' which can be 'sincere' or 'true love' depending on the context).
+1. Part of what makes for a good 'adaptation' is accounting for the medium shift and changing things up accordingly. Some adaptations choose to lean into the absurdity; others try to take a realistic spin on things. Both are acceptable as long as it's done well and consistently. This is definitely pretty good as far as adaptations go, but I would say it's not totally consistent for the level of realism it aimed for. Some parts felt a little comical in a not so good way.
the saddest part was that even the servants of the palace were crying after the revolution, that's the worse part…
This is interesting, because I actually think that's a very 'moral superiority' way of thinking, the kind of thing this drama is actually trying to frame as nuanced and hard to articulate. The reality is... modern democracy hasn't yet withstood the test of time. You've have non-democratic regimes in history last longer than any of our current runs of 'democracy'. And we can clearly see many variations of today's democracy failing in real time.
'What's better' is in the eye of each individual. In truth, some of those servants who lived under kind royal households probably *were* happier. But it's also true that many were suffering and not.
Also, I think distilling it down to 'they think they're inferior' is actually a bit degrading to those people themselves. It's not like our modern society has done away with that mentality either. We have our own version of 'this is our lot in life', and tbh that's not always a bad thing. If people aren't suffering, they generally don't care for inequality or that there's people 'above' them. Tbh, this is the same kind of thought that has a lot of Chinese people going '???' when western media goes all 'they're oppressed!'
Anyway, I'm loving the very nuanced take this drama is actually taking with all of this. It's not a simple black / white, what's better vs. not. I think change is always necessary and unavoidable, when enough people are suffering, but it's not always for the better. And not always clearly for the people you think. It's always a gamble. Many regime changes have yielded worse results.
Wow this was... surprisingly good. For a tropey plot (which, admittedly, I do love), it was well-done and not cringe. I think the shorter episodes helped that aspect. No long drawn out drama, but rather decently believable moments.
By my measure (I usually go off of emotional potential rather than actual number of physical interaction scenes), very much yes. But I'd echo the other comment's sentiments.
One way I like to measure potential is also just seeing how many CP fics are on Lofter. and there are.... a lot. Like a lot lot. Mostly YanLi, but also quite a bit of AllxLi lol.
Chinese bls are where it's at this has an actual plot with complex characters not just what they call a red flag…
I'm convinced that this is basically Chinese netizens' way of venting about the frustrations of life / culture that is Chinese societal expectations lol. No one does psychological / emotional manipulation better than China.... also the entirety of the culture is hierarchy and 'stability' based on calculated duplicity. So everyone is well practiced in these nuances of the human psyche, but they don't have outlets except for in fiction. Hence you'll find way more of these complex scenarios and characters coming out of China compared to other countries.
did u watch abo desire? it’s kinda similar psychologically
That one plus Secret Relationships (kdrama) are probably the only BLs currently that serve this level of toxic monstrosity in such a delicious fashion.
Holy hells this is beautifully done. What an unbelievable but also somehow flawlessly realistic journey. The drama may be larger than life, but every moment and decision and reaction was extremely rational and believable in this totally absurd and irrational context.
I loved YSL's character journey. Most BL MCs are clear 'bottoms' (which I do enjoy), and carry an element of helplessness even if they're 'strong in spirit'. Not YSL. I can see him for the domineering figure that stands on his own, and even in his moments of submission it's clear he's put in every last inch of fight possible. He didn't take anything lying down (figuratively lol, literally cough cough).
There is no moment of absurd drama making that you will almost always find in BLs. All of the monstrous drama stems purely from the fucked up motivations of FX's character clashing perfectly YSL's ideals and emotions. It's very rare to find dramas that can do that, where there's little to no reliance on serendipitous plot coincidences or suspense of disbelief to keep the plot entirely moving.
TBH I thought FX's acting was a bit weaker, emotions a bit more stale at times. Initially, I chalked it up to just the characterization of FX, but I do think there were later moments that could have been more emotive but weren't. However, considering it's the actor's first role, that's pretty damn impressive.
Wow this was surprisingly good. Certainly it echoes a lot of WoH themes, but it does stand on its own due to the great acting and chemistry. Also, if you were a big WKX fan but not a ZZS fan (like me), you might actually enjoy this series quite a bit. One big criticism I had of WoH despite overall liking it was that the characterizations felt lopsided, where WKX dominated in backstory richness and development but ZZS felt very surface level and not well developed. This series is of course a lot simpler in comparison, but the characterization dynamics between the two leads feels better balanced.
Also, I was surprised by how well done the dramatic moments are. Often with these low budget dramas, more serious scenes such as when someone is dying or grievously injured (and even WoH fell prey to this), the acting and way the scenes are shot becomes a bit comical and takes you out of it. But this was scripted and acted super smoothly. There's no weird backwards horizontal falling scenes, no unnecessary slo-mos and 'they're looking a bit too alert and healthy to be dying' moments. Everything was just enough to tug at your heart strings but not overly done to make it unbelievable.
Don't go expecting the plot to be anything super fancy, but if some yummy dynamics are what you're looking for, this will deliver. Superb angst and sweet moments.
NGL I had super low expectations of this but.... it's quite good for the budget actually! Acting was good. Special effects and pacing are as you might expect given the nature of the production, and story is not going to be anything profound, but still a very fun and entertaining watch since the leads did quite well. Definitely gave me major Hello Monster / I Remember You vibes... curious if part of the dynamics inspiration came from there
Xie Lianhuan and Sanxing, why didn't they have the same face when they were young in this version?
It's complicated but it's both 1) they should have looked more similar, I believe it was commented by Wenjin in the books or something, and 2) they did leverage disguises
Why is this so hard to understand? 1) Khem is young and under a lot of stress, and Peem is handsome and the only…
Lol how many people nowadays actually encounter scenarios where their life is in danger AND someone even has an opportunity to step in? It's not at all unusual to feel attracted to someone who helps you (and has a handsome face). Sure, maintaining a relationship is different, but attraction is pretty normal?
He's giving the cold shoulder because he wants to create distance between them. There very much are reasons... like the desire to not intervene with karma and not wanting to be beholden to a past life that isn't necessarily them. Seems pretty reasonable to me. Plus Khem is not dumb and sees the things Peem does for him. He knows it's mostly bark and no bite.
TBH I found the book (or at least translation of it) very.... lacking. Maybe I've been spoiled by complex danmei novels with intricate epic plots, but Khemjira the novel still felt very very simple. The references to Thai culture were fascinating and fun, but it's still a plot+romance story together. I wouldn't say the romance was secondary. It's not primary either, but it's equal. Compared to the danmei novels I normally read... the plot is very straightforward still. That said, it's definitely more involved than the average Thai BL, so I guess it's all based on context. I actually think the live action manages to illustrate the nuanced dynamics better than the novel describes. The novel certainly makes Peem out to be more arbitrarily tsundere rather than understandably conflicted.
You know, I feel like this is going to get really sad. That's the tone it's following. But despite that, I'm a…
Lol I'm glad they went with a female actress for Khemmika instead of... Khem dressed up as a woman. That whole bit of The Sign just killed me (as in I found it too silly and couldn't take it seriously).
This is a long post about the team behind this series you can skip if not interested ^^" I am going to start…
I respect them. They had a passion project, they used the resources at their disposal, they saw it through, and they did a pretty good job.
This second half of the story probably won't end up to my tastes (I do have my prefs for the top / bottom dynamics), but wow was it pretty well done for a genre that had a lot of potential to exceedingly cliche and cringe. Definitely exceeded my expectations.
Ok y'all this is quite enticing. I'm normally a huge skeptical omegaverse lover... as in, I enjoy omegaverse as a universe concept, but generally dislike most executions of it because the characters are often written like extreme gender stereotype caricatures just with different labels. (And I hate a useless omega in distress as much as a useless damsel in distress.) So I was prepared for a decent amount of cringe going into this.
But so far... it's pretty good! The more 'cliche' dynamic sits with the second CP rather than main... and even then, it's not too over the top. Definitely an intriguing premise and characters.
Tbh I think the stills / trailer did it a disservice... makes it look like a cliche melodrama. Or maybe that's the point. Definitely excited to continue this though and see where it goes. I kinda regret starting it before it's done airing though lol
Ok the later episodes were better. I feel like the starting episodes were too dramatically written / weirdly cut or paced. But as the plot properly turned more serious, the drama felt more appropriate.
Definitely good for the production budget though!
But side note anyone confused... no they're not blood-related brothers. They're 'sworn' brothers. It's not technically BL (still mainland China after all), but definitely in that ship-potential bromance category.
Some of the romance bits didn't make total sense, but it kinda worked in its own way. Loved Xiao Fan's whole journey. Even though it was very hard to watch him in the beginning. What a ride.
I think this drama comes off (and starts off) as way more shallow than it actually is.
The constant (intended? unintended?) pun on Zhen Xin's name was a bit eye-rolling at times but also cute. (Zhen Xin is homonymous with 'pure heart' which can be 'sincere' or 'true love' depending on the context).
'What's better' is in the eye of each individual. In truth, some of those servants who lived under kind royal households probably *were* happier. But it's also true that many were suffering and not.
Also, I think distilling it down to 'they think they're inferior' is actually a bit degrading to those people themselves. It's not like our modern society has done away with that mentality either. We have our own version of 'this is our lot in life', and tbh that's not always a bad thing. If people aren't suffering, they generally don't care for inequality or that there's people 'above' them. Tbh, this is the same kind of thought that has a lot of Chinese people going '???' when western media goes all 'they're oppressed!'
Anyway, I'm loving the very nuanced take this drama is actually taking with all of this. It's not a simple black / white, what's better vs. not. I think change is always necessary and unavoidable, when enough people are suffering, but it's not always for the better. And not always clearly for the people you think. It's always a gamble. Many regime changes have yielded worse results.
One way I like to measure potential is also just seeing how many CP fics are on Lofter. and there are.... a lot. Like a lot lot. Mostly YanLi, but also quite a bit of AllxLi lol.
I loved YSL's character journey. Most BL MCs are clear 'bottoms' (which I do enjoy), and carry an element of helplessness even if they're 'strong in spirit'. Not YSL. I can see him for the domineering figure that stands on his own, and even in his moments of submission it's clear he's put in every last inch of fight possible. He didn't take anything lying down (figuratively lol, literally cough cough).
There is no moment of absurd drama making that you will almost always find in BLs. All of the monstrous drama stems purely from the fucked up motivations of FX's character clashing perfectly YSL's ideals and emotions. It's very rare to find dramas that can do that, where there's little to no reliance on serendipitous plot coincidences or suspense of disbelief to keep the plot entirely moving.
TBH I thought FX's acting was a bit weaker, emotions a bit more stale at times. Initially, I chalked it up to just the characterization of FX, but I do think there were later moments that could have been more emotive but weren't. However, considering it's the actor's first role, that's pretty damn impressive.
Also, I was surprised by how well done the dramatic moments are. Often with these low budget dramas, more serious scenes such as when someone is dying or grievously injured (and even WoH fell prey to this), the acting and way the scenes are shot becomes a bit comical and takes you out of it. But this was scripted and acted super smoothly. There's no weird backwards horizontal falling scenes, no unnecessary slo-mos and 'they're looking a bit too alert and healthy to be dying' moments. Everything was just enough to tug at your heart strings but not overly done to make it unbelievable.
Don't go expecting the plot to be anything super fancy, but if some yummy dynamics are what you're looking for, this will deliver. Superb angst and sweet moments.
He's giving the cold shoulder because he wants to create distance between them. There very much are reasons... like the desire to not intervene with karma and not wanting to be beholden to a past life that isn't necessarily them. Seems pretty reasonable to me. Plus Khem is not dumb and sees the things Peem does for him. He knows it's mostly bark and no bite.
TBH I found the book (or at least translation of it) very.... lacking. Maybe I've been spoiled by complex danmei novels with intricate epic plots, but Khemjira the novel still felt very very simple. The references to Thai culture were fascinating and fun, but it's still a plot+romance story together. I wouldn't say the romance was secondary. It's not primary either, but it's equal. Compared to the danmei novels I normally read... the plot is very straightforward still. That said, it's definitely more involved than the average Thai BL, so I guess it's all based on context. I actually think the live action manages to illustrate the nuanced dynamics better than the novel describes. The novel certainly makes Peem out to be more arbitrarily tsundere rather than understandably conflicted.
But pls Thailand, continue to do more slow burn BLs. Those are just up my alley.
This second half of the story probably won't end up to my tastes (I do have my prefs for the top / bottom dynamics), but wow was it pretty well done for a genre that had a lot of potential to exceedingly cliche and cringe. Definitely exceeded my expectations.
But so far... it's pretty good! The more 'cliche' dynamic sits with the second CP rather than main... and even then, it's not too over the top. Definitely an intriguing premise and characters.
Tbh I think the stills / trailer did it a disservice... makes it look like a cliche melodrama. Or maybe that's the point. Definitely excited to continue this though and see where it goes. I kinda regret starting it before it's done airing though lol
Definitely good for the production budget though!
But side note anyone confused... no they're not blood-related brothers. They're 'sworn' brothers. It's not technically BL (still mainland China after all), but definitely in that ship-potential bromance category.