Michelle Topham

For the 9,000th time, THAT is who the character is. Maybe, if you don't understand the world or the characters in it, don't comment.

It's sad, but also funny to me that so many people waste their finite time on this planet downrating a drama because they're "offended" by something, or don't like the actors. And then patting themselves on the back, thinking they've done something "useful" :)

Imagine how successful these idiots could be if they actually used their time in a positive, constructive manner. I guess it's why few people are truly successful, as so many waste huge percentages of their life on bullshit :)

That's who the character is - stoic, never shows emotion. That's why he's doing such a brilliant job in the role.

I do agree with you on some of the plot though. It's fine for me, as I've watched all the donghua series -- several times. But I can see why it would be confusing for someone who hasn't.

Never ever ever make a decision on if to watch a drama based on MDL ratings. The site is decent as a forum where you can talk about dramas you're watching, and for reference. For ratings it's literally hot garbage and not taken seriously by anyone in the Asian drama industry :)

Although it is a step up from Soompi, as their "writers" can't even be bothered to check basic facts before hitting 'Publish'. :)

The ratings on MDL aren't remotely relevant to anything though. The only reference as to whether a drama is successful is how it's performing in China, and in China, it's a big hit.

BTW, the Chinese couldn't care less what a bunch of trolls-operating-on-2-brain-cells are doing on MDL either. So there's that :)

DY first. But you really should watch both. I watched the donghua first, and so already knew the story before I even started the dramas, and still thought they were some of the best coming out of China the year they were released. Exceptionally good casts in both too.

Plus, they give some back story to some of the characters who pop up in Blood River.

Thanks. I won't pay for Viki, which is the only place it's legally available in my region, as they make boatloads of money off their subtitlers yet treat them like garbage. So, it will be the high seas for me on this one unfortunately.

Truly terrible Season 2 that descended into literal trash in the last 10 episodes.

Plot is all over the map. Some arcs are never ending and incredibly dull, and then it wanders off into an overly dramatic script obviously written by an 11 year old, as little of the events in it make any sense. (Kept feeling sorry for the actors that they were forced to regurgitate this absolute drivel).

A pity as Season 1 was a good watch, Season 2 is truly tedious. Finally finished it by watching the last 8 episodes on double speed -- no other way I was going to get thru it. And, by the end, I didn't care about any of the characters either. Anyway, Finished. Moving on :)

As someone who has watched the donghua 3 times, gotta say the drama is incredibly well done.

It's very well cast, the performances are exceptionally good, and the set design, costumes, wire work/stunts, locations, cinematography etc all work beautifully together to make it gorgeously atmospheric.

Thought the trailers made it appear as though the live action series would be good, but I'm enjoying this even more than I expected.

Unfortunately, it maxes out at 100 people, which I hit a LONG time ago 🤣.

Only one episode in, and already hating Yang Yu Tong's voice acting. Bai He Huai sounds like a child, and that's not how she should ever sound. Already playing all her scenes on 2x speed, as I cannot stand her.

The rest of it so far is decent (although it's not topping the donghua yet for excitement, voice acting or character depth due to said voice acting -- which is superior in the donghua - so far at least). (Donghua also on YOUKU btw -- https://www.youku.tv/v/v_show/id_XNTk5NDcwNjkyMA==.html? -- free to watch for Season 1, VIP only for Season 2, 3 and 4).

Do like the CGI, stunts and wire work though, and it has the atmosphere that made the donghua so beautiful. The older characters too are portrayed beautifully -- both the actors and the character design/costuming.

Will reserve judgement until I'm a few more episodes in but, so far, it's decent enough so I think I'll enjoy this.

Yep, no need to know about the world inhabited in it although knowing more of the backstory, IMO, enables you to understand the characters more. I'm coming off both dramas and the several donghua series, though, so maybe I'm biased, as so many of these characters are my all-time favorites :)

Would say though you'll be fine understanding what's going on and being able to empathize with the characters, although I would recommend the other dramas (and the Tales of Dark River donghua -- which is the same story, and absolutely superb, btw) if you like the story. They are all some of the best out there in their genres.

Agree. I'm liking the old guys more than the young ones so far :)

If you cancel iQIYI, you can watch a lot of their dramas on their YouTube channel or on other channels affiliated with them anyway. They might be a few weeks behind before they drop all their episodes but, if you don't mind watching dramas a couple of weeks after everyone else, you can often do it for free :).

Yep. The Light On dramas were one of the reasons I originally subscribed. Paid for it for 3 months (thank God I didn't pay for a year), then realized half the series I wanted to watch weren't available in Europe or the U.S. and dropped it like the steaming turd the service has turned out to be. :)

Amazing to me they have the audacity to charge a fair bit more than both YOUKU and WeTV (Tencent) yet don't give their western subscribers access to a substantial number of dramas.

Big fan of WeTV and YOUKU, with no real complaints about either, and haven't been disappointed yet with what's available there, and I've been subscribing to them for about 3 years,

Oh and I knew you were being genuine. Sorry if my reply came off as I didn't :) And thanks for the comment about my site. That means a lot -- as it's a labor of love, but not exactly a money earner for the amount of time I put into it :)

Exactly. And yes, the anti-CCP loonies are just as crazy as the drama fans :) 99% of whom have obviously never been to China and know nothing about the government or its people.

I'm not pro-CCP or anti-CCP (honestly don't care one way or the other -- not my country :), but I do think people need to spend a fair amount of time in a country before creating a strong opinion of a government. Pro or negative. Otherwise, they just come off as rabid fanatics or useful idiots used by a pro or anti group.

For instance, I have strong opinions about successive Thai governments. But I lived in Thailand for almost 15 years. I also have strong opinions about the UK's current authoritarian government (British, grew up there), the government we now have in the U.S. (I'm a naturalized American - and as a legal immigrant, proud of our present government for a thousand reasons. You may disagree :) and the utterly useless one we now have in Austria (I live there).

I don't, however, have strong opinions about the Chinese government -- don't really follow its politics. Not my business.

Honestly, though, the two real victims in all of this ugly and crazy pile-on are Yu Menglong, whose sad death is being lied about to serve a cause, and his poor family whose agony is being newly picked raw every day by people who don't give a damn about them or about Menglong.

And, of course, Fan Shi Qi who has done nothing but be an actor who people are using to further their own nasty ends. Even if it means destroying his career or pushing him towards suicide. Doesn't matter to them. Vile.

Yep. There is a small army of trolls on MDL downrating almost every drama. Has been for a long time. And MDL admin do nothing about it. Stop the ability to rate dramas until at least the first 3 episodes have been released, IMO, and that would go a long way to stopping this.

It's a shame, as it's what has now made MDL an unreliable and disreputable site for ratings.

Available here in Austria, but only with Chinese subs so, unfortunately, useless to anyone who doesn't understand Mandarin. Typical iQIYI :)

Not available in Austria either. And the only channel that has it on YouTube only features Chinese subs.