Michelle Topham

I'm now in the middle of Ep 10, and the plot has definitely become more interesting. The FL's performance, however, has not. :)

I'm not sure I'll go as far as to avoid her dramas yet (I'll see how much she irritates me by the time I've finished LOZ :), as there is only one Chinese actress I refuse to watch anything she's in, with another who starred in a recent drama I watched I'm considering nixing completely as well :) And Jing Tian isn't quite giving me that level of annoyance of those two - yet!

It's such a shame there are is a substantial number of Chinese actors/actresses who don't have the skills to pull off a leading role. It always makes me sad for those who do have the skills but, because they aren't considered "beautiful" enough for the Chinese drama industry (since when did beauty earn anyone acting skills?), they are never given the chance.

I'm trying out The Legend of Zhuohua, which someone said was similar, but I'm still struggling to love it.

The ML, who I still kind of think is miscast (he's in his mid-40s and looks it, while playing a character in his early 30s) IS growing on me, although the FL's acting skills aren't :) I'm going to stick with it for now, but am disappointed that both the drama and the ML don't have the same 'Wow' factor as A Splendid Match. At least up to Ep 8 where I currently am.

Oh absolutely. Some of her day dresses would make gorgeous evening clothes even now -- beautiful colors, stunning embroidery and flowing lines.

I always think that people who come from cultures where the traditional clothing was so beautiful should never have adopted western-style clothing. What they originally wore, in many cases, was not only much more beautiful, but was also often more suitable for the climate/terrain etc. There's usually a reason for how clothing developed the way it did.

I lived in Thailand for many years, where silk was once the fabric of choice, and it's much more compatible with the hot Thai climate than many modern fabrics as it's incredibly breathable and very lightweight.

I wore mainly cotton while in Bangkok, but when I wore traditional Thai dress (once a week, mandated where I worked), I was always FAR cooler and more comfortable. Probably the same with traditional Chinese dress from all eras.

It's hilarious how, every time she has a problem, the ML drops what he's doing and goes rushing off to help her. But then pretends he's just doing it "Because the Gu and Ji families have been so loyal" - hahahaha.

And just wait till they get together. You're in for a treat :) (Best ML and FL ever, IMO)

Some of the prettiest costumes I've seen in any C-drama. Like you said, the costume designer did a beautiful job.

You're the first person I've seen who loved the music. I've been playing the OST on YouTube Music on repeat for about 5 days now. It's so beautiful, isn't it? :)

He is brilliant in the role, isn't he?

I had honestly paid him NO attention in previous dramas I've skimmed through. Just thought "another pretty boy without much talent". He proved me wrong here :)

That's exactly it. Amazed some people missed that. I am absolutely 1,000% convinced some people must be doing something else while watching dramas, as the absolutely obvious, completely spelled out things, seem to go right over their heads. And then they're in here stating things that simply aren't true and didn't happen.

He wasn't mourning his wife, hadn't been mourning his wife for years. He never even mentioned her. Not until his mother pressed him to get married again, and came up with names of a couple of women. By that point, he was in love with GJZ and had NO intention of marrying anyone else :) And THAT's when he used "mourning his wife" as an excuse.

He did not have concubines.

Well said.

I'm about 2 episodes into that and haven't gotten any further. Yet. (I do intend to, as I enjoyed what I watched). But from what I remember from the first couple of episodes, he really inhabited the role. Like he does with every role he plays.

The Blue Whisperer is actually the next older drama on my list to watch (and boy, does that look like an odd one - CGI is so bizarre :) -- an amazing cast though! Really looking forward to it.

As for the Love Beyond the Grave comment section (which I haven't read, btw), it's likely the same people who uprate idol actors even when they appear in the worst dramas and prove they can't act. For those people, what they promote has nothing to do with talent at all, and everything to do with which hot boy of the moment floats their boat.

I always think they must be immature teenagers or wouldn't know talent if it smacked them upside the head :)

They were actually some of the funniest scenes. I laughed out loud several times when Mr Wang was berating his wife for something she had done that had backfired. Brilliantly performed by both actors too :)

You can tell how phenomenal his skills are as he's just so sweet and cute in real life :) The direct opposite of CYY.

I still can't wrap my head around that he's only 29. When I watched the first episode, I had it in my head he was 37 or 38, as I had watched him in a few dramas before, and he seems very mature in those. I was floored when I checked his age.

Yep, you're correct. Just said exactly the same thing further down. And yep, surprised that anyone would be surprised.

He's WAY hotter. :) Not only with looks but with solidness of presence and personality.

I get confused with many of the current crop of idol actors as half of them look the same. You could swop about four of them into each other's dramas and you wouldn't notice a difference -- same facial structure, same body type, same poor acting skills :) Same fans uprating all their dramas to levels they shouldn't be anywhere near.

A couple of them do show signs of their performances improving. A couple look like a lost cause at this point and, when their looks fade, they will have nothing of substance left.

One younger actor who I think is as good as Ci Sha though is Arthur Chen (Chen Fei Yu), who is currently blowing me away in Love Beyond the Grave (he and Dilraba really do bring out the best in each other).

He's one Chinese actor who does not care if he looks ugly as long as he can portray properly the emotions of the character he is playing. Ci Sha is the same. It's all about the character, and not how his face looks on screen.

Wish some of the idol actors would figure out how powerful that can be but, instead, we get "brooding and stoic makes me look like I know what I'm doing". And no, just no ;)

The whole thing was confusing to me from Chapter 1. Probably wouldn't have been as bad if I hadn't watched the drama first, but from the 40 chapters I read, the FL's motivations don't make much sense. The ML also doesn't even properly arrive until midway thru the novel apparently, and I don't have any patience for that :) The family structure is also markedly different.

Sorry I can't tell you anything about the last parts of the novel. I was long gone by then :)

I think the writer is lucky to have had what I perceive to be a mediocre novel turned into a drama of this caliber though. She/he provided the shell of a story. The screenwriter made it into something worth watching.

Sadly, it's going to be a struggle :) So much is wrong with this drama from the FL actress's poor acting skills, to the ML being too old for the part and most of the main actors about 10 to 15 years too old for their parts (the princess, for one, is supposed to be in her 20s and is an actress in her late 30s who looks her age -- so "off" is so much of the casting for almost all of the main leads it's the worst I've seen in forever).

Plus, so far, the plot is nothing different than I've seen 100 times before. I'm giving it 2 more episodes to get to Episode 10 and then I'll make a decision but, so far, it's not the worst thing I've ever watched, but it's not grabbing my attention but it is grabbing my irritation :)

1,000 percent!