RSMasterfade

IMO Bai Zihua is a much nicer person than Luo Yinfan. I would always root for Xiaogu and Shifu but not really for Chong Zi and Luo Yinfan. Interesting to see if they've made major changes to the novel's plot.

It was actually a much older Li Xiaoyao that went back in time. He's the Li Xiaoyao from the fifth installment of the game . By then Yue'ru had died again after being resurrected at the end of the second game (due to the power of the Orb of Reincarnation fading), and Li Xiaoyao's daughter Yiru had also died. Li Xiaoyao had basically became a self-pitying alcoholic.

It's an adaptation of a famously sad video game, so unfortunately it will have a sad ending. However the rumors are pointing at a more substantial Xiaoyao-Yueru romance compared to the first adaptation, so I'm hopeful the show will feature the canonical ending (and aftermath) of the video game series, which has some degree of bittersweetness.

Someone has released a one-hour fanedit of the series to recreate the story flow and the mood of the novel.

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1gS4y1X7hX

I think they either managed to get the voice actor for Huaiji to do the narration (the novel was written in first person from Huaji's perspective) or someone sound like him, and for Zhang Maoze too. Impressive resourcefulness.

The English sub is okay. Not great but serviceable.

If Dilraba ends not being offered any role then of course it's not for her to accept or reject. I'm just saying it's an opportunity she will not let pass. And I do expect she will be offered a role.

How did you get the idea that "Tibet and Uyghur books" were banned in China from the Wikipedia article you quoted? And what does "Tibet and Uyghur books" even mean? Books about Tibet or Uyghurs? Books in Tibetan or Uyghur languages? Books written by Tibetan or Uyghurs authors? It's false on all three readings. Just do some searches on Taobao or Pinduoduo for Tibetan/Uyghur books.

Contemporary Tibetan novelists tend to write in Chinese. Tibetan language books are being published, but most of them are books about religion. Audience for Tibetan language novels are just not there. Don't know much about Uyghur novelists, but Uyghur language publishing in general is definitely still going on, e.g. I know the Uyghur version of Negmat Rahman's memoir was published last year.

Dilraba will almost certainly take the role even if it means accepting reduced pay. As I said you don't turn down opportunities to star in prestige TV of this caliber. It's especially true for Chinese actors who're not Han-passing, like Dilraba. It will be another decade before a project like this comes along. I think Dilraba cares about her career as an actress and is not in it just for the money.

Some thoughts/info on The Scenery Here now I've finished the first few chapters of the novel.
1. First and foremost, Dilraba will star in this. I have no insider information, but if Dilraba is serious about her career she won't pass on prestige TV of this caliber.
2. During Cultural Revolution, author of the source novel, Wang Meng, was exiled from his university job in Beijing to rural Xinjiang where he learned Uyghur and worked as an interpreter. After Culture Revolution, Wang Meng returned to Beijing and eventually became China's Minister of Culture. The novel was written during his stay in Xinjiang but was only published 40 years later.
3. The novel was set in 1962, in the aftermath of the Great Leap Forward and at height of the Sino-Soviet Split. It was a time of tense inter-ethnic relations in Xinjiang after the arrival of many Han migrants fleeing famine in their home provinces. There were also numerous cases of defections from Xinjiang to Soviet Union as the Great Leap Forward wreaked havoc on Chinese economy and Sino-Soviet relation deteriorated for ideological and geopolitical reasons.
4. The novel starts with a Uyghur cadre coming back to his hometown and meets on the road a woman who's in grief from being separated from her child. Later he learns that a large amount of grain has been stolen from the local granary. The husband of the woman he meet on the road is suspected to be the thief and the family is thought to have defected to USSR. However for reasons unknown the woman decides to come back. If Dilraba join the project, I think she will likely play the woman who returned. She's the most prominent female character in the chapters I've read so far.
5. Big name director + Maodun Prize winning source novel is the favorite combination for Chinese prestige dramas. Director of this series, Li Lu, is also the director of A Lifelong Journey, which is based on another Maodun Prize winning novel. A Lifelong Journey is probably the most talked about TV series in China this year.
6. I hope the show can reunite Dilraba with her Anarhan costar Ablikim Ablet. Eldos Faruk from the Longest Day in Chang'an is another actor I wish to see.
7. Yes this is going to be very boring for a lot of people.

For those who're not versed in Chinese history: Li Xian's character is clearly based on Liangbi (良弼) a late Qing military reformer and hardcore monarchist who advocated war with Xinhai revolutionaries and was abundantly against peace negotiation between the Qing court and Republic of China Provisional Government. Sun Yat-sen called Liangbi a "great villain" ("大憝"). China narrowly avoided a bloody civil war only because of his assassination by 24 years old revolutionary Peng Jiazhen (who studied in Japan just like Liangbi). Mao Zedong called Peng's assassination of Liangbi "a heroic feat to be remembered in in perpetuity".

I don't think Chinese TV shows have to avoid controversial historical characters. One of the two main protagonists of last year's run-away hit Age of Awakening is Chen Duxiu, a co-founder and later critic of the Chinese Communist Party (to simplify things grossly, think of Chen as the Chinese Trotsky). But having a hardcore monarchist who advocated military crackdown on the Xinhai revolution as the lead character is just one step to far. Liangbi was 100% on the wrong side of history re Xinhai Revolution. Even as a Qing dynasty reformer he was primarily a military reformer, not a political reformer. I'm sure Liangbi was a complex and interesting person, but I just don't think he had enough good side to warrant a positive portrayal as the no.1 main character in a major historical series.

Cutting Li Xian's airtime is the right way forward.

Despite its time loop plot and English heavy OST, Reset is surprisingly a quintessential (Mainland) Chinese drama. Some earlier commentators here suggested the show had a K-drama vibe. I just don't feel it. Even though its cast of characters are stacked full of people marginalized or alienated from the society, the show never gets dark and are often tirelessly uplifting. I have difficulties picturing the watermelon scene or for that matter the ending in a K-drama. It's a very C-drama thing.

I hope she gets a chance to work with a "serious" actor like Zhang Lu Yi or Zhu Ya Wen.

Don't believe every random stuff you read on the internet. Go with a reliable source like @dramapotatoes on Twitter. Kris Wu hasn't even been charged, let alone sentenced.

A short explanation on the difference between detention and arrest in Chinese legal context (not a lawyer so take with a pinch of salt):

Detention:
1. Made at the discretion of the police.
2. There's a time limit (the suspect must be released from detention after 37 days).
3. The state is not liable for compensation (for the suspect's loss of freedom) as long as the state is not at fault (procedure mistakes, malicious intent, etc).

Arrest:
1. Must be authorized by a public prosecutor.
2. There is no time limit on an arrest, the suspect will stay arrested until the case is decided by the court or if the public prosecutor decides to not press charges.
3. The state is ALWAYS liable for compensation if the suspect is found not guilty or if the public prosecutor decides not to press charge regardless of whether the state is at fault.

The last one is a major difference between the Chinese and the American legal system. As a result Chinese public prosecutors usually requires strong evidence from the police to authorize an arrest.

Now formally arrested.

On the contrary, the censors are usually particularly concerned with vilification of historical figures of other ethnicities. The Story of Yanxi, for example, saw substantial cuts in its last 1/3 because in the original version the character Zhang Jia Ni played (Consort Shun) was based on Consort Rong (who's Uyghur). In order to pass the censorship the production team had to remove all scenes that directly connect the character to Consort Rong and give her a new identity, and the character went from a Big Bad to a minor villain.

Kinda disappointed that they didn't use a fictional Liao emperor instead of Yelu Hongji. I thought the censors are now more sensitive to misrepresenting historical figures. Perhaps because it's Jin Yong's work so the censors decide to let it pass?

Yelu Hongji was one of the historical figures most seriously misrepresented by Jin Yong, who wrote him as a war-mongering anti-Song racist who shot Song prisoners for fun. In actual history, Yelu Hongji was a huge admirer of Song culture and always insisted on peaceful co-existence with Song even when border tension inevitably flared up. He also told his heir to never initiate a war with Song on his death bed. It was off-putting to hear the narrator at the beginning of Ep1 describing in a solemn voice Yelu Hongji's aggression toward Song which was exactly opposite of the real history.

Yelu Hongji made a brief appearance in last year's Serenade of Peaceful Joy where he disguised as a student to visit the Song capital and attended the imperial exam. That story was completely fictional but much more in tone with his personality in history.

Some sharp-eyed people on Douban noticed that the movie Jingjing was shooting in ep26 was almost certainly a remake of the 1992 classic New Dragon Gate Inn because of the costumes and the location. Jingjing was playing Brigitte Lin's role and the other actress Maggie Cheung's.

I didn't read the novel and I was fully expecting Yu Tu to tell Jingjing that he's there just for her, so I had to pause when he instead asked if she's there for him. But I then realized that since he went straight to her after his high-profile arrival, it should be clear to everyone in the room that he was there for her, so there's no need to say it.

Things Zhang Zhe Han did that led to his fall:
1. Visiting the Yasukuni Shrine.
2. Attending a friend's wedding at the Nogi Shrine (dedicated to a Japanese general who led multiple Japanese invasion forces in China). Many of the guests present were members of the Japanese far right.
3. Posting a photo of a modded car full of Japan's WWII era military symbolism (with the imperial army flag and a design based on Japanese WWII bombers that killed 20,000+ civilians during the Japanese bombardment of Chongqing).
4. Performing the Nazi salute in front of a war memorial and sharing photos on social media. Many of his fans later posted photos of themselves performing the Nazi salute at the same location.

It's hard to believe those were all by coincidence.

Nah, it's not that YT's ex liked Yu Tu deep down. She just wanted to avoid losing to Jingjing. Remember earlier (episode 6?) when she asked Yu Tu out for coffee she lamented that Jingjing's career was far ahead of them despite them being much better students in high school. She knew that she had already lost to Jingjing in term of career, so she desperately wanted not to lose Yu Tu to her as well. She was jealous but it wasn't because she loved Yu Tu, she was jealous because she hated Jingjing (for her success).

Building estimators/cost engineers on both Douban and Zhihu are expressing disappointments with the show's representation of their profession. Looks like the scriptwriters have failed to do their homework.

Disappointing especially after You Are My Glory where aerospace content was excellent (even though it's a romance rather than a workplace drama). I see no reason to watch a workplace drama if it seriously misrepresents the profession. So I'll skip this one.