Platinum Fox

You're right, they could have made the ML anything and they did from the very beginning. From the very beginning his character was one of behind the scenes support. His role in her household in the first nine episodes tells you that his character is essentially going to be a foil for her character. Women's and men's roles will be reversed. No longer will she be just a housewife hidden in the shadow of her husband. She will be the provider, protector, and dominant character of the drama.

When she kills the two main generals, this is symbolic to women conquering their two biggest hurdles in life: to be recognized as human beings and to be recognized for their own merits.

The first part of the drama is paying homage to Empress Wu who became queen of China. She reigned over the land in no one's shadow. Fan Chang Yu becomes "queen" of the village. When she becomes a general, the writers are paying homage to Mulan who switched places with her dad and became a general through her own merits. The end arc pays homage to business woman Zhou Ying who changed the way women were looked upon in business during the Qing dynasty.

Because of the above, ZLS' fight scenes are appropriate to the drama as they relate to him alone (the uncle). His fierceness is shown through this fight scene. We don't need anymore to show his fierceness. And ZLS is on screen more than what it seems.

Hope this helps. Thank you for the discussion and happy drama watching.

Glad you enjoyed The Untamed. I couldn't get past the amateur acting, poor storytelling, and the portrayal of women.

Since I don't know how far you got in this drama, that flirting around is there for a reason, it was to show that this was a bl love story, and even though there was no kissing or sex, there was plenty of hugs and romantic gestures. At one point, WKX even gives ZZS a hairpin. Something that is a romantic gesture in heterosexual couples in historical dramas. These seemingly innocent gestures are sprinkled throughout the drama making it love story between these two gentlemen.

Happy drama watching.

This is why I love kdramas.

Since I don't know Korean and must rely on subtitles, it seemed to me that Robin was the original personality of the child Seo Jin. After the kidnapping , Seo Jin's personality changed to being vulnerable, cold, and aloof. As they kept saying that Seo Jin, before the kidnapping, was fun, brave, and protective of his friend. Seo Jin's cold and ruthless personality didn't come out until after the kidnapping as he wanted a way to protect himself from his father and his friend who he thought had betrayed him. So I am not really clear on why the people in the drama were saying that cold, aloof, vulnerable Seo Jin is the original personality. In the end, it didn't really matter as the two personalities merged into one. jmo

Actually, I have to disagree. The story is not about them as a couple or the general's story (his is a side story connected to hers). This drama is about showing women being human beings and people. It illustrates the struggles (battles both metaphorically and literally) women have gone through to be recognized for their own merits, intelligence, business acumen, and desires. The villains do get more screen time as they are a part of the narrative of this struggle.

I finished this yesterday after taking a break from it. I'm glad I did as I now understand what they were trying to do. It is a social commentary on the history of women's struggles to be recognized as human beings and people, hence the four main couples. Two showing the best way to treat women and two showing how not to treat women. The writers created a good balance in that respect. jmo

Loved that they allowed the kids to be kids and not little adults.

Wow, for me, it is the other way around. I slogged through The Untamed (six months) and zipped through this one (three weeks). I don't have any historical ones to recommend.

Happy drama watching.

Since I haven't read the novel, nor will I, I can't be disappointed about the marquis and his portrayal. However, I think viewers have missed the point of the drama and why the marquis wasn't in it as much. This drama was her story, not his. The writers focused more on how women have battled both metaphorically and literally to get recognized for their own merits and even to be just recognized as human beings and not play things for men, hence the three couples.

For me, to show the marquis "in all of his glory" as you wrote would have overshadowed her achievements and gone against everything the drama was trying to accomplish. Women are human beings with intelligence and business acumen; have good and bad intentions; above level endurance and strength; and have thoughts, emotions, and desires. Also, they didn't need another "ruthless" male general, they had many ruthless villains to fill that role. His role was meant to be a foil of the "villains". His gentleness compared to their ruthlessness. His devotion to her needs, wants, and desires as opposed to the greed, selfishness, and cruelty of the villains towards women, hence the three couples.

Happy drama watching.

Do you want modern or historical? Stay with Me is a modern adaption. However, I will warn you that Stay with Me ends on a cliffhanger with no second season in sight.

It is on KissKH as well.

You should watch Love Like the Galaxy as this one and The Double basically interpret that drama.

That's the whole point of the drama. At what age should girls start their sexual journey and with whom (someone older or someone her own age). BTW, I don't have a problem with the age gap.

She is not technically an adult socially until 20 when she is of marriageable age, yet she is mature enough to have sex with anyone at the age of 14 (age of consent). In China, males and females are expected to remain (chaste) until they turn marriageable age. Now, we all know that just isn't how life goes as you said.

Yes, I have heard that. That is why the drama is so aptly named. People have taken this drama as a serious drama. If you take it as a serious drama then it is full of plagiarized scenes from many other dramas. I would add Princess Wei Young to the mix as well. I, on the other hand, see it as a parody on the genre, specifically the ones I mentioned as each and every scene is used for comic effect and everything is over the top.

Since I don't know how plagiarism works in China, I don't know if parodies are considered plagiarism or works of free speech.

If you still haven't watched it. It is on Tubi.

Very interesting drama. How far will you go to get what you want?

Yes, I loved her in Meteor Garden as well. Happy drama watching.

Also, you need to take into account the rating in the orange square is the one that has not been modified for multiple accounts by the same person rating the drama. When you swipe over the orange square it gives a verified rating. This rating sometimes is higher, lower, or right on target with the orange square. It means the rater has been verified as an official member of MDL.

Happy drama watching.

Yes, they are connected. Hidden Love is Sang Zhi's love story. Sang Yan is Sang Zhi's brother played by Victor Ma. The First Frost is Sang Yan's love story played by Bai Jing Ting. Victor Ma said in an interview that he didn't think he could pull off a romantic Sang Yan, thus why they changed actors for Sang Yan in The First Frost.

So in Hidden Love we get his brotherly side. We only get a hint of Sang Yan's romantic side which is the "dog" side of him. The First Frost explains why Sang Yan is always broody, comedic, and full of false bravado especially when it comes to women.

As I wrote to the op, think of The First Frost as Sang Yan's romantic personality and Hidden Love as his brotherly personality. We are all different when we are around different people in our lives as huahua1005 said.

Hope this helps.

For you, the dramas themselves may not cover societal values, but the government sure thinks so. It cares about what people are seeing, hence the censorship and propaganda.

Sometimes what is popular isn't always right. What is right isn't always popular.

You have every right to not sweat over who is worse, and you can justify your thoughts by just lumping both as evil. That is the fantasy genre. But at some point we as a society have to ask, how did we get this way. The fantasy genre is a great way of exploring this idea.

Have a great week, thank you for the discussion, and happy drama watching.

Byeon Wo Seok and Gong Seung Yeon acted together in another drama. Their chemistry was amazing in that drama as well, but they were not a couple.

To help you with that, think of Victor Ma as one aspect of Sang Yan's personality (the brotherly side) and BJT as the romantic side of Sang Yan. Notice we do not get much hint on Sang Yan's romantic side in Hidden Love as they were saving it for The First Frost.

But I understand what you mean about trying to mesh the two sides of Sang Yan together, so you are not alone in that regard.