Watching both plus 7 other Chinese dramas and a few Koreans :)
I just counted and, apparently it's 9 not 7 :) I need to finish up:
The Litchi Road The Legend of Heroes Dashing Youth The Demon Hunter's Romance Fangs of Fortune Love in Pavilion (only watched 2 eps of that so far tho) The Prisoner of Beauty Kill Me Love Me A Moment But Forever
All of them are superb, btw. And hoping to get most of them finished by next week as I leave for the U.S. after that for a few months, and won't have as much time.
I also have a massive number of Kdramas I'm halfway through. I start watching most new dramas, as I write about them for a living, but don't have the time to finish everything obviously :)
I figure when I retire I'll eventually get to all of them :)
Slow moving at first but, after about Ep 10, it really grabs its narrative and then flies like a dragon with it.
A better drama than its prequel The Blood of Youth, and an easy 10/10 for me. Superb cast, political intrigue is nicely written, has gorgeous cinematography and the wire work in the fights is incredible.
Ep 6 - what did ML's wife mean by "I'd ike to ask for a repudiation". I didnt understand.
Yep. A divorce. Because she knows HE knows she's plotting against him, so wants to get out of the marriage while she's still alive.
But, he hasn't finished using her yet :), as he knows she's an evil witch. Hence, not allowing her to leave her palace from now on, so she can't cause any more trouble, but he still might need her around to use her in the future. (She brought this on herself, being such a nasty wench :)
And just to prove Liu Xue Yi's epic acting skills, in the scene where he goes to drink tea at his wife's palace,…
Mine too. The way his facial expression changes and the way subtle emotions just flash past in his eyes. So fast if you blink, you miss them. Phenomenally talented.
Chinese actors tend to be over exaggerated with their expressions in most instances and, to a western audience that can fee inauthentic, but he understands that subtle is often even more effective than obviously overt.
Easily one of China's best actors.
He's interesting too, as I've watched several snippets of his appearances in reality shows/talk shows, and I'd wager my career on it he's actually quite shy.
But that shyness immediately goes away when he plays a character.
In Austria, and it's looking like it will probably drop at 6pm? Maybe? If not, I'm going to bootleg it. As I'm…
Yep, I pay where I can, as it supports the whole production, and they spend a LOT of money on each episode.
I lived in Thailand between 2002 and 2017, and watching Kdramas legally was dead easy -- in Thai on TV, but also easy to find legal DVDs of shows WITH English subtitles. I used to go to Malaysia a few times a year and buy 20 shows on DVD to take back to Thailand each time, as they all had English subs there. :)
Impossible to find the same DVDs in Europe or the U.S though. International licensing really needs to modernize. Better nowadays, but still not perfect.
In Austria, and it's looking like it will probably drop at 6pm? Maybe? If not, I'm going to bootleg it. As I'm…
And I'll add, I recently had a conversation with a Japanese pop music manager who works for one of the biggest Japanese music companies (I wrote about/promoted Asian music for years and he wanted me to write about one of his boy bands, but their music wasn't available on ANY of the western streaming platforms or on YouTube).
Meanwhile, the Koreans prioritize the international market for their bands/singers. Hence, why BTS brings in over $3.5 BILLION to the Korean economy every year. And other Korean pop bands/singers bring in billions more.
On the other hand, a huge amount of Japanese and Chinese music is not as available on platforms like Spotify, so potential fans can't discover it and start buying it. And so the Japanese and Chinese artists miss out financially and with exposure to new fans.
(Japan is much further ahead, btw, than China, as China is still lagging behind allowing its music on western streaming platforms).
Even when I pointed out how MUCH money Japanese bands were losing by not being on western streaming platforms, the Japanese manager was still trying to argue with me that NOT putting his boy band's music on Spotify was a "good thing".
Then, a few months later, the band suddenly appeared on Spotify, and they've had tens of millions of plays since :)
In Austria, and it's looking like it will probably drop at 6pm? Maybe? If not, I'm going to bootleg it. As I'm…
Yep. And it's weird too, as years ago they went on and on about English being the language they thought was most important internationally, but then still over a decade later prioritize the Asian market over anywhere else.
I think this type of thinking is one reason C-dramas are still years behind K-dramas in popularity. The Koreans put international on the same footing as Korean -- meaning they view the international market as equally important , if not more so -- as they've figured out a long time ago that's where the real money is.
Hence, if Korea is getting a big drama, it drops in the U.S. and Europe at about the same time.
Chinese companies on the other hand are still prioritizing the billion plus Chinese, and then other Asians after that, and so earning less money and less popularity for their dramas because of it.
A shame. For the dramas. The Chinese directors, actors and production staff. And for western, Middle Eastern and South and North American fans.
"attention span of a flea on cocaine"LOL. I love that description. xD
Just about my absolute FAVORITE -- read the light novels and the manga too. Maomao is brilliant, and Jinshi is my dream guy -- if I was 20 years younger. And a cartoon :)
Oh and I just watched that scene, where Maomao has been kidnapped and Jinshi breaks down the door and finds her, about 37 times. Soooooo satisfying. Especially when she shuts him up with the "Master Jinshi, you look older than you are" comment when she finally realizes who he is --- hahahahaha.
In Austria, and showing it drops later today. Pretty typical with iQIYI. Weirdly :)
I do annual as it's cheaper and, because I write about Asian dramas, I tend to watch a huge number of them so the subscription is worth it to me. (Got YOUKU last year for $29 for a year -- well worth the cost).
Not always worth it though for someone who only watches a few shows a year.
But yep, I also watch dramas illegally as, either they're region locked for hours/days after they premiere elsewhere or, as in the case of some K-dramas and occasionally C-dramas, they are never legally licensed for Europe.
The Chinese services really need to join the modern world though. They offer superb dramas, but then have streaming platforms that aren't anywhere close to the quality of platforms like Netflix.
Agree with you on WeTV, I watch a lot there, but I also watch many shows on YOUKU. Both platforms are pretty equal in offering the shows I like.
iQIYI is the only one I won't pay for an annual subscription for as their content isn't great either -- a monthly sub a couple of times a year tends to cover what I need :)
And yep, we're now 7 hours behind half the planet, and still no sign of A Dream Within a Dream dropping in Europe. Highly annoying.
Thankfully, I haven't paid for a month yet (was doing a month BECAUSE of this show), If it doesn't show up by 6pm, I'll just bootleg it and save my money :)
For those of us who are still waiting for A Dream Within a Dream to drop, I'm playing on repeat on Spotify Liu Yu Ning's sound from 'The Litchi Road' -- dropped a couple of weeks ago.
It's brilliant, and his spoken introduction to it is FABULOUS!!
gruß aus Österreich. And, sorry, my German skills are freaking terrible. So that's about the extent of them, along with grüß Gott, vielen Dank etc. (I'm British-American, not Austrian :)
I speak Thai, after 15 yrs in Thailand, due to Thais' English skills not being particularly good but, even after 9 years in Austria, my German skills are abysmal -- I blame the Austrians (and you, Germans!). Because every time I try to speak in German, every bloody Austrian and German answers in English so I never learn. :)
Oh and funny story -- Austrians are known worldwide as not being friendly (most are just NOT remotely friendly when you first meet them, but they're lovely when you get to know them). But, I like to be polite, so I often tell waiters, supermarket staff etc who are friendly, "I love Austria, Austrians are so friendly", and EVERY SINGLE TIME the person replies "I'm not Austrian. I'm German" - hahahahaha.
1 
Great suspense during the gambling house and then the subsequent chase out in the countryside, and the leads have superb chemistry.
Still a shame they didn't have Liu Xue Yi's dub his own voice, as his performance isn't as effective as it normally is, but he's still stellar.
I'm loving everything about this.
The Litchi Road
The Legend of Heroes
Dashing Youth
The Demon Hunter's Romance
Fangs of Fortune
Love in Pavilion (only watched 2 eps of that so far tho)
The Prisoner of Beauty
Kill Me Love Me
A Moment But Forever
All of them are superb, btw. And hoping to get most of them finished by next week as I leave for the U.S. after that for a few months, and won't have as much time.
I also have a massive number of Kdramas I'm halfway through. I start watching most new dramas, as I write about them for a living, but don't have the time to finish everything obviously :)
I figure when I retire I'll eventually get to all of them :)
A better drama than its prequel The Blood of Youth, and an easy 10/10 for me. Superb cast, political intrigue is nicely written, has gorgeous cinematography and the wire work in the fights is incredible.
One of my faves this year.
But, he hasn't finished using her yet :), as he knows she's an evil witch. Hence, not allowing her to leave her palace from now on, so she can't cause any more trouble, but he still might need her around to use her in the future. (She brought this on herself, being such a nasty wench :)
That also means we'll be episodes behind the drama on IQIYI, which currently has 6 out, but only 2 on YouTube.
Bootleg it is then :)
Chinese actors tend to be over exaggerated with their expressions in most instances and, to a western audience that can fee inauthentic, but he understands that subtle is often even more effective than obviously overt.
Easily one of China's best actors.
He's interesting too, as I've watched several snippets of his appearances in reality shows/talk shows, and I'd wager my career on it he's actually quite shy.
But that shyness immediately goes away when he plays a character.
I lived in Thailand between 2002 and 2017, and watching Kdramas legally was dead easy -- in Thai on TV, but also easy to find legal DVDs of shows WITH English subtitles. I used to go to Malaysia a few times a year and buy 20 shows on DVD to take back to Thailand each time, as they all had English subs there. :)
Impossible to find the same DVDs in Europe or the U.S though. International licensing really needs to modernize. Better nowadays, but still not perfect.
Meanwhile, the Koreans prioritize the international market for their bands/singers. Hence, why BTS brings in over $3.5 BILLION to the Korean economy every year. And other Korean pop bands/singers bring in billions more.
On the other hand, a huge amount of Japanese and Chinese music is not as available on platforms like Spotify, so potential fans can't discover it and start buying it. And so the Japanese and Chinese artists miss out financially and with exposure to new fans.
(Japan is much further ahead, btw, than China, as China is still lagging behind allowing its music on western streaming platforms).
Even when I pointed out how MUCH money Japanese bands were losing by not being on western streaming platforms, the Japanese manager was still trying to argue with me that NOT putting his boy band's music on Spotify was a "good thing".
Then, a few months later, the band suddenly appeared on Spotify, and they've had tens of millions of plays since :)
I think this type of thinking is one reason C-dramas are still years behind K-dramas in popularity. The Koreans put international on the same footing as Korean -- meaning they view the international market as equally important , if not more so -- as they've figured out a long time ago that's where the real money is.
Hence, if Korea is getting a big drama, it drops in the U.S. and Europe at about the same time.
Chinese companies on the other hand are still prioritizing the billion plus Chinese, and then other Asians after that, and so earning less money and less popularity for their dramas because of it.
A shame. For the dramas. The Chinese directors, actors and production staff. And for western, Middle Eastern and South and North American fans.
If not, I'm going to bootleg it. As I'm not going to pay for another month of iQIYI and then be days behind half the rest of the planet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yx1aQb6DRc
Oh and I just watched that scene, where Maomao has been kidnapped and Jinshi breaks down the door and finds her, about 37 times. Soooooo satisfying. Especially when she shuts him up with the "Master Jinshi, you look older than you are" comment when she finally realizes who he is --- hahahahaha.
Not always worth it though for someone who only watches a few shows a year.
But yep, I also watch dramas illegally as, either they're region locked for hours/days after they premiere elsewhere or, as in the case of some K-dramas and occasionally C-dramas, they are never legally licensed for Europe.
The Chinese services really need to join the modern world though. They offer superb dramas, but then have streaming platforms that aren't anywhere close to the quality of platforms like Netflix.
Agree with you on WeTV, I watch a lot there, but I also watch many shows on YOUKU. Both platforms are pretty equal in offering the shows I like.
iQIYI is the only one I won't pay for an annual subscription for as their content isn't great either -- a monthly sub a couple of times a year tends to cover what I need :)
And yep, we're now 7 hours behind half the planet, and still no sign of A Dream Within a Dream dropping in Europe. Highly annoying.
Thankfully, I haven't paid for a month yet (was doing a month BECAUSE of this show), If it doesn't show up by 6pm, I'll just bootleg it and save my money :)
It's brilliant, and his spoken introduction to it is FABULOUS!!
https://open.spotify.com/track/69Y2guSyqCIyOxX6oKVA25?si=201c9c1336354d02
I speak Thai, after 15 yrs in Thailand, due to Thais' English skills not being particularly good but, even after 9 years in Austria, my German skills are abysmal -- I blame the Austrians (and you, Germans!). Because every time I try to speak in German, every bloody Austrian and German answers in English so I never learn. :)
Oh and funny story -- Austrians are known worldwide as not being friendly (most are just NOT remotely friendly when you first meet them, but they're lovely when you get to know them). But, I like to be polite, so I often tell waiters, supermarket staff etc who are friendly, "I love Austria, Austrians are so friendly", and EVERY SINGLE TIME the person replies "I'm not Austrian. I'm German" - hahahahaha.