Korean, Thai or danmei? Danmei has every sub-genre and trope you want, including enemies-to-lovers. They also…
What, Pit Babe is ABO?! I wasn't interested enough to watch LOL. I might take a look now.
Knot works great IMO. They're touching most of the tropes and the acting is adequate (which is my main point of sorrow concerning Thai BL, it's always a toss if they're going to be good or just phoning it in).
Deep In is GREAT so far. They're doing an amazing job, and this is going to be a good drama in a year chock full of good BL dramas, LOL (this is the richest BL year I've ever known).
Also, if you're in the mood for GOOD story and great music, good acting and deeply in love drama, give a try to A Winter's Sun Wakes the Wind in Spring Hill's Dream. The title is title-gore level, LOL, I guess it's shorter in Chinese or something. But this is shaping up to be one of the GOATs.
Others (already aired and done) - Goddess Bless You From Death has your Pavel, LOL, and TBH I kind of watched it for the horror (they did great SFX :D) more than for the romance; then, the Thai BL Reset (because there's a powerful and caring top to a whimsical and hurt bottom and they're both beautiful); also Thai, you might try Wu (it's not BL, officially, but there are so many BL undercurrents they might as well drop the pretense LOL. Also, it's a good story and nicely filmed). Another Thai BL, a lot more introspective, is Spare Me Your Mercy. It has a story on assisted suicide, so just a warning if you're iffy about the subject.
Aww, are you sure about danmei? These men with their long flowing hair and amazing costumes, yearning for each other and crossing... swords half their lives are worth a look :D
ETA The BEST ever switch/reverse yaoi manga is Haru Wo Daiteita and there's none that comes close. And sadly there's nobody like Iwaki-san in drama (yet. I still have hope).
Korean, Thai or danmei? Danmei has every sub-genre and trope you want, including enemies-to-lovers. They also…
Danmei is the Chinese BL version (novels and a few dramas and audio dramas. The Japanese term for BL is Yaoi - or shounen-ai, if they're not being too explicit), Thai is just BL and Koreans also are supposedly just BL. Each of them is kind of specific, so you'll immediately know what you're reading or watching, even if you don't catch it with the language and names, LOL.
And yes, danmei are very much well-present in English due to licensing and good TLs. Thai BLs mostly get TLed via wattpad and the TLers aren't as experienced usually, so the novels don't look as good as danmei or yaoi for example. (For yaoi, TBH, it's going to be mostly manga, as the light novels I did read... I wouldn't recc' for various reasons - mostly for how dark they get).
To me, KBL novels are still in their early years. Aside from the oversized tops LOL, there's a kind of naive level of speaking (particularly from the bottom's POV) that's a bit off-putting to me. Their manhwa get in line with some of the good yaoi manga, but the novels (The Prosecutor's Proposal included)... not so much, LOL. I did try to read it through, as much of the chapters that were free, but it didn't catch me. Maybe danmei got me jaded LOL.
So yeah, what I've read is mostly (though not completely) danmei (and a lot of yaoi manga). Most of what I've mentioned before are danmei novels (that is, Chinese BL). Wuxia (and xianxia, and costume) mostly means martial-arts (some with some supernatural in xianxia or just simply historical in "costume") world. Like Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (the drama is The Untamed), or Faraway Wanderers (the drama is Word of Honor), or The14th Year of ChengHua (the drama is The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty). I'm mentioning these because they are basically the best-known danmei turned into dramas out there, and they're all wuxia :D
Enemies-to-lovers trope - DEFINITELY Ballad of Sword and Wine. They earnestly try to kill each other and then fall like nobody has ever fallen before. And I LOVE, love the shou (bottom) - he is DEADLY and at the same time, fragile and precious. If you want to set a standard, that one would be it :D
For Thai novels, I did read a few, but the only one that eventually got officially TLed into English is KinnPorsche, which is about gangsters (and there's a drama too), so I am not a fan (of gangsters in general, either).
For KBL, if you want to dive into why I can't really take them completely serious yet. you can try ZIG's Kiss Me Liar and Kiss Me If You Can novels (rough handling, some mental and physical torment, eventually love). There are some manhwa too, I think. And they're ABO 'verse so be warned (ABO is Alpha, Beta and Omega. If you haven't touched the genre yet, there's a cdrama called ABO Desire already released, for research purposes LOL and another ongoing Thai drama called Knot. You should know ABO usually means mpreg too and be prepared LOL).
For a beginner though... I highly recommend the best-known danmei novels. They're known because they're worth it, and most of them got official TLs OR high-quality fan-TLs.
Um so anyone know like good bl novels? Like payback was a novel as well. Like, i want one that's good, angsty,…
Korean, Thai or danmei? Danmei has every sub-genre and trope you want, including enemies-to-lovers. They also tend to be way more often translated (because a lot of them are extremely good). And some of the TLers are also extremely good.
Of which, if you haven't read them already, Ballad of Sword and Wine (Qiang Jin Jiu) and Golden Terrace might be exactly what you want. (Both wuxia danmei). Even How To Survive As a Villain (though you'll have to look up the fan TLs, 'cause the licenser is sure taking their sweet time releasing it in English). Or Copper Coins! Or Remnants of Filth. And for comfort and hurt/healing - Thrice Married to Salted Fish is the best.
Or if you want modern or sci-fi... Rebirth of a Movie Star is a comfort read to me, LOL. Or Sa Ye. Or Professional Body Double (the Thai drama version of the cnovel is My Stand-In). Or Silent Witness (the cdrama version is Justice in the Dark).
I've read less of kBL novels, so I can't tell you much (mostly because the sex scenes are hilarious LOL. A lot in line with their BL manhwa :D where everybody's donkey sized and the bottoms are strictly bottoms, never to reverse. As in, EVER.)
There was a lot of flash and less of a bang. But it was enjoyable.
The best character was the King - he could have stopped everything though and went "nah, more secrets is always good".
I wish there was some conclusion as to what the chain and promise to the Gwi Mae meant, I hope it's not a coda left to hook a second season. (Bet they're going to try anyway).
PS the little ggeokmeoksali (sp) is a no for me, sorry. I mean, he went into hysterics the first time he saw it, and by the end it's a house pet to him?! Like, what the heck. Keep monsters being monsters.
Anyway, give Kwak DongYeon more roles and make him lead already, he has the poise to carry it.
Lang Di, a little confused: Is your sister a bit abnormal? :D
I was ROFLMAO at that point. I mean, he HAS to have had crazy shippers before, but she's one to top some of the worst of them, LOL. The way she starts wailing the second she remembers hahaha~
Can someone explain the results of the DNA evidence?
The person who manipulated evidence in the case of the meth-death (their DNA was on the inside of the glove found at the site) is the biological son of Prosecutor Tak.
Now, since the actual legal son of Prosecutor Tak is adopted, being his wife's son from a previous marriage, it's evident this is another son, not legally recognised. And Mrs Oh is involved in basically all the crimes they're investigating, in one manner or another. So they deducted it must be HER biological son and Prosecutor Tak's.
I think it's Mr Song, the other investigator in Ju TaeSeon's office. It would make sense his father - if he knows about him - would put him in a certain position where he could find out anything about what's concerning Mrs Oh and Mr Tak... And if it's not the father, given how the killer keeps weapons and other keepsakes from the murders - maybe Mr Song is actually doing it by himself just for his own reasons.
It HAS to be Mr. Song. He's too in for all of it, nosing around, trying to ingratiate himself to Lee ChaeHa.
Now Mrs Oh has gone and done it - exposed Ju TaeSeon to Lee ChaeHa, good for her! Now they can air all the grievances and come to a better understanding.
Like, I can't believe how badly the whole Duke Ying sideplot was executed. So, an out-of-the-blue kid comes to…
It's accumulated frustration (because I really, really wanted to like this, and did, in the beginning. But the repetititve near-misses and last-second-saves and the harem-like devotion of basically every male around to the FL got to me.
I know they explained how Prince Lie came to her, I wanted to note how each and every time there's someone suddenly appearing just in time to save the FL from some sudden / random danger while she stays there petrified waiting for it to happen (usually the CP, this time Prince Lie). I wanted her to have (a lot) more agency herself. It's not that hard to learn to move a bit a let the arrows / kidnappers / arsons / b!tchy female villain's horse whip miss. She DID, previously (what with the scene where that noble lady fell in the water). She forgot how, lately.
Anyway. I guess it's to each their own. As I said, I'll try to keep watching - because of the ML, who does a decent job of a pretty one-tone character, but I had hoped for a lot more. And from time to time, there's a scene or two that show what could have been and it's really sad. (For example, that scene where he realizes he exposed his secret side by accident when sending the incense bracelets as a betrothal gift. That scene was so good, it deserved a lot more like it to join it in the drama, LOL.)
And now that I think about it, what's even worse is how they got a whole studded-cast that they're not even using well (they might be not lead-level but they're all experienced and pretty present in most dramas, which is a lot, given the huge competition in Chinese ent. - like, Lester Lin is there but mostly as a comic side-kick, Chen HeYi (his character has disappeared lately), Jeremy Xu has to play another one-tone character, Gala Zhang is... just there. And what they're doing with Ye ZuXin's character is criminal.)
I still blame the writing. I KNOW Meng ZiYi can do a lot better, I've seen her do it. If she - and basically all of them - feel so flat, it might be how their characters are written.
Book is same like this ml and fl are a ten steps a head to be frank ..any way i understand ur frustration you…
I meant they teleport in jest, they obviously have to travel. But Ancient China (even fantasy Ancient China) travel takes freaking time, a lot of it.
They just announce they're going to X county and they're - poof! - there. They announce the brother will come aaaaaall the way from the border and he - poof! - is there. They announce the father will also visit aaaaaall the way from the border, and he - poof! - arrives.
The freaking kitten never grew up, but we're supposed to believe at LEAST some months passed.
And it bugs me no end when the CP just materializes out of thin air just to block some arrow for her - he HAS good aides, why not send those? Why gallivant around while he's supposedly death-sick AND has complex schemes of his own to plan and execute?!
It's frustrating we're being TOLD they're both smart, but we don't see that, she's girlsplaining things to him all the time, even when it's obvious. Or she's basically taking info out of thin air and they turn out to be the exact true explanations of things that happened. Like - it's magic, trust us bro, that's what happened.
I don't even want to go into her super-nose (that's the original body's nose too, since she's reincarnated, not that we ever revisited much of that backstory yet.)
Like, I can't believe how badly the whole Duke Ying sideplot was executed. So, an out-of-the-blue kid comes to…
I watched the first episodes, these things you mention (other than her being married to Prince Xin and then killing herself in order to set a trap and revenge her family) were NEVER mentioned at all.
Have you read the book and are taking this info from the novel?! Because I can promise you... they did not mention anything about her being affianced to Dr Xie before. And she never had any kind of reaction to him when she got to meet him in her reincarnated period.
Anyway.... I don't need more words to explain this drama, I need this drama to show more than tell. Because so far they've been telling us a lot of things that happened offscreen and should have mattered but they never came into play, being replaced by yet another romantic scene with a song where she's looking at rain or snow and he's looking at her for the tenth time.
Thanks for trying to explain :)
PS The CP moving around freely in the capital or around it does not warrant him being able to take a few weeks/months to go on a different county where some prefect was killed and replaced and NOBODY found out for TWO YEARS. TWO YEARS?! And they only found out because some random kid managed to escape being hunted down by rebels and tell HER?!
NGL, I stayed in spite of the messy execution/plot (because they're cute) but it's became slowly kind of stale.…
Like, I can't believe how badly the whole Duke Ying sideplot was executed.
So, an out-of-the-blue kid comes to appeal on his brother's behalf (we never learn what happened to the kid and his brother, either), there's a sudden fire that endangers her (like, how many times it's been now? About the 5th at least, right?), Prince Lie saves her (because of reasons, he just teleported there for a change instead of the CP doing the teleportation to save her in the last second). We find out Doctor Xie is Duke Xie's estranged son (this never came up ever before, despite the doctor being pretty present in the drama so far. And TBH, I expected a bigger presence from Gala Zhang). Then she promises him that IF he EVER needs help, she'll help him. The same day off he goes and disappears prompting her to go help him. She engineers a missing token and sidetracks into finding a hiding place where Duke Ying- never spoken of before - is hiding and being treated by Xie's estranged son that doesn't care his father is about to get arrested. (Because in his case filial piety isn't a thing since he SUSPECTS his father poisoned his mother). And so in the space of a few days we get an unknown noble connection for Dr Xie, find out more unsavoury things about the current Emperor, lose and save Dr Xie, unearth a whole conspiracy (and sideline the love story between Mr Cui and Ms Bu), investigate everything and find out that ooops this isn't the poisoner you're looking for.
In two episodes.
Not to mention the mine-and-forge plot (okay so Mr Cui and Ms Bu could admire each other's attributes - his more than hers - and then appreciate each other more etc). But XiHe and CP get to teleport to that province out of the blue (nobody told the Emperor his CP is going on a wander about AGAIN), XiHe inserts herself into guvernatorial business - like by WHAT authority?! There's no logic - and then SHE gets to decide what happens to the rescued prisoners. Because of reasons. While the CP is standing there like an idiot, being cute wallpaper (I mean he IS supposed to inherit, if he lives, that would be a perfect PR opportunity for him, what, are we supposed to believe the Emperor wouldn't use it?!)
Anyway - the most stupid plot point is CP arguing that Dr Xie's poisoned mother that we never found out about until 20 minutes before he disappeared deserves to be raised in rank post-mortem because she was chaste and demure and noble and whatnot. And the Emperor going OMG that's an AMAZING idea, why didn't we ever do that before?! Let's do that, let me give an edict about it right this minute!!
My IQ slipped 2 points on that scene alone.
Anyway. Long story short, I wanted to like this or at least enjoy some mindless fun, but it's not really fun any more...
NGL, I stayed in spite of the messy execution/plot (because they're cute) but it's became slowly kind of stale. I mean, it already feels episodic and disjointed and I bet they didn't intend for it to be so.
Something happens - gets solved (through deus-ex-machina, out-of-the-blue information that was never brought up before the moment it was needed, magical intervention of a character that never appeared before and never returns, etc) - next episode another thing happens. The other princes are basically MIA at this point, the CP is simping like no man ever simped before, she's playing ice goddess (because why?!) and all the rest of the story is meaningless and inane.
This drama had an attempt to the life of a royal at least once every two episodes and nobody ever batted an eye. They all go in and out of the Imperial Palace on a whim, nobody cares (are those eunuchs for decor or what?!) The people from the NW frontier teleport back and forth in an instant. Huge important clue into the poisoning comes and goes in two eps (that were mostly about completely different things than the poisoning).
However I tried to just not mind and turn my brain off, it's became annoying about now. There are cute scenes and he's being heroic at times and then all the rest of the support cast comes and goes but dammit... it feels empty. Completely lacking in substance.
I might continue just because I never watched a drama with this ML before, but it's going to be a struggle.
Liked the opening. My catching point so far for this is that it has gorgeous historical costumes, usually not something I've seen in Thai BLs (also most of the men and women from 350 years ago go around half naked anyway LOL). And Gaew going into shock instead of just diving right into the isekai transmigration was on point, LOL. I mean, who wouldn't go a bit crazy over something like that?!
The main cast is gorgeous - though WTF is original Gaew's problem?! I hope the new and improved Gaew starts impressing people right and left immediately with his cutie side.
PS I thought cars were practical Faraday cages, someone inside a car struck by lightning wouldn't get electrocuted (if all doors and windows are closed). I guess we're going with the "he hit his head" (where the heck is his belt though?)
daddy dearest is in for another disappointment. it's 2026, conservative dads, entrust your legacy to your daughters…
The men could also use surrogacy if they really wanted babies - but I think that, despite the age difference, ChangYang already has his hands full with his QingLang baby :D
Oh my God, comments about the dubbing, the story not being someone’s cup of tea, the pacing being fast, or the…
But she's not of that family, going by the reincarnation. Which begs the question on WHO exactly she is - is she the original Gu daughter who killed herself (since she does her incense stuff and knows the Imperial family), or is she the not-drowned Shen daughter (who was naive and not really worldly before the drowning). Or is she supposed to be a mix between them?
She doesn't owe the Wen Duke's family anything if she's reborn, she's protecting them because she needs their power structure BUT she's not their daughter. They cared for the original girl, not this one. All her powerplays make no sense in this POV. She's doing it because she used to do it as a Prince's wife.
But then this again makes no sense - it's been three years since she killed herself, she HAS to have known all the princes, they're not younglings. She HAS to have known the Crown Prince too (even if she didn't care much for him at the time). There's not a lot of logic into her going to test each and every one of them. Not in the drama, anyway. Maybe in the novel she forgot most of her previous life or something so that she needs to learn things anew. But the drama doesn't imply that at all. She also remembers everyone her body's original knew and the secret codes between the family (that she knew WHY?! Since the original body's conscience wasn't really smart enough to use them safely).
However you're looking at it, there are too many fails of logic in this one.
Anyway, it's pretty and there are good scenes and it moves fast (sometimes too fast). For me, TBH, the support characters and the secondary leads carry the drama. So far anyway.
3 
Knot works great IMO. They're touching most of the tropes and the acting is adequate (which is my main point of sorrow concerning Thai BL, it's always a toss if they're going to be good or just phoning it in).
Deep In is GREAT so far. They're doing an amazing job, and this is going to be a good drama in a year chock full of good BL dramas, LOL (this is the richest BL year I've ever known).
Also, if you're in the mood for GOOD story and great music, good acting and deeply in love drama, give a try to A Winter's Sun Wakes the Wind in Spring Hill's Dream. The title is title-gore level, LOL, I guess it's shorter in Chinese or something. But this is shaping up to be one of the GOATs.
Others (already aired and done) - Goddess Bless You From Death has your Pavel, LOL, and TBH I kind of watched it for the horror (they did great SFX :D) more than for the romance; then, the Thai BL Reset (because there's a powerful and caring top to a whimsical and hurt bottom and they're both beautiful); also Thai, you might try Wu (it's not BL, officially, but there are so many BL undercurrents they might as well drop the pretense LOL. Also, it's a good story and nicely filmed). Another Thai BL, a lot more introspective, is Spare Me Your Mercy. It has a story on assisted suicide, so just a warning if you're iffy about the subject.
Aww, are you sure about danmei? These men with their long flowing hair and amazing costumes, yearning for each other and crossing... swords half their lives are worth a look :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzdtZiuwChM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fosOwbkH8xU
And let nobody tell you they're not romantic :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icGyEwDdsYA
ETA The BEST ever switch/reverse yaoi manga is Haru Wo Daiteita and there's none that comes close. And sadly there's nobody like Iwaki-san in drama (yet. I still have hope).
And yes, danmei are very much well-present in English due to licensing and good TLs. Thai BLs mostly get TLed via wattpad and the TLers aren't as experienced usually, so the novels don't look as good as danmei or yaoi for example. (For yaoi, TBH, it's going to be mostly manga, as the light novels I did read... I wouldn't recc' for various reasons - mostly for how dark they get).
To me, KBL novels are still in their early years. Aside from the oversized tops LOL, there's a kind of naive level of speaking (particularly from the bottom's POV) that's a bit off-putting to me. Their manhwa get in line with some of the good yaoi manga, but the novels (The Prosecutor's Proposal included)... not so much, LOL. I did try to read it through, as much of the chapters that were free, but it didn't catch me. Maybe danmei got me jaded LOL.
So yeah, what I've read is mostly (though not completely) danmei (and a lot of yaoi manga). Most of what I've mentioned before are danmei novels (that is, Chinese BL). Wuxia (and xianxia, and costume) mostly means martial-arts (some with some supernatural in xianxia or just simply historical in "costume") world. Like Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (the drama is The Untamed), or Faraway Wanderers (the drama is Word of Honor), or The14th Year of ChengHua (the drama is The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty). I'm mentioning these because they are basically the best-known danmei turned into dramas out there, and they're all wuxia :D
Enemies-to-lovers trope - DEFINITELY Ballad of Sword and Wine. They earnestly try to kill each other and then fall like nobody has ever fallen before. And I LOVE, love the shou (bottom) - he is DEADLY and at the same time, fragile and precious. If you want to set a standard, that one would be it :D
For Thai novels, I did read a few, but the only one that eventually got officially TLed into English is KinnPorsche, which is about gangsters (and there's a drama too), so I am not a fan (of gangsters in general, either).
For KBL, if you want to dive into why I can't really take them completely serious yet. you can try ZIG's Kiss Me Liar and Kiss Me If You Can novels (rough handling, some mental and physical torment, eventually love). There are some manhwa too, I think. And they're ABO 'verse so be warned (ABO is Alpha, Beta and Omega. If you haven't touched the genre yet, there's a cdrama called ABO Desire already released, for research purposes LOL and another ongoing Thai drama called Knot. You should know ABO usually means mpreg too and be prepared LOL).
For a beginner though... I highly recommend the best-known danmei novels. They're known because they're worth it, and most of them got official TLs OR high-quality fan-TLs.
Of which, if you haven't read them already, Ballad of Sword and Wine (Qiang Jin Jiu) and Golden Terrace might be exactly what you want. (Both wuxia danmei). Even How To Survive As a Villain (though you'll have to look up the fan TLs, 'cause the licenser is sure taking their sweet time releasing it in English). Or Copper Coins! Or Remnants of Filth. And for comfort and hurt/healing - Thrice Married to Salted Fish is the best.
Or if you want modern or sci-fi... Rebirth of a Movie Star is a comfort read to me, LOL. Or Sa Ye. Or Professional Body Double (the Thai drama version of the cnovel is My Stand-In). Or Silent Witness (the cdrama version is Justice in the Dark).
I've read less of kBL novels, so I can't tell you much (mostly because the sex scenes are hilarious LOL. A lot in line with their BL manhwa :D where everybody's donkey sized and the bottoms are strictly bottoms, never to reverse. As in, EVER.)
The best character was the King - he could have stopped everything though and went "nah, more secrets is always good".
I wish there was some conclusion as to what the chain and promise to the Gwi Mae meant, I hope it's not a coda left to hook a second season. (Bet they're going to try anyway).
PS the little ggeokmeoksali (sp) is a no for me, sorry. I mean, he went into hysterics the first time he saw it, and by the end it's a house pet to him?! Like, what the heck. Keep monsters being monsters.
Anyway, give Kwak DongYeon more roles and make him lead already, he has the poise to carry it.
Lang Di, a little confused: Is your sister a bit abnormal? :D
I was ROFLMAO at that point. I mean, he HAS to have had crazy shippers before, but she's one to top some of the worst of them, LOL. The way she starts wailing the second she remembers hahaha~
Now, since the actual legal son of Prosecutor Tak is adopted, being his wife's son from a previous marriage, it's evident this is another son, not legally recognised. And Mrs Oh is involved in basically all the crimes they're investigating, in one manner or another. So they deducted it must be HER biological son and Prosecutor Tak's.
I think it's Mr Song, the other investigator in Ju TaeSeon's office. It would make sense his father - if he knows about him - would put him in a certain position where he could find out anything about what's concerning Mrs Oh and Mr Tak... And if it's not the father, given how the killer keeps weapons and other keepsakes from the murders - maybe Mr Song is actually doing it by himself just for his own reasons.
Now Mrs Oh has gone and done it - exposed Ju TaeSeon to Lee ChaeHa, good for her! Now they can air all the grievances and come to a better understanding.
Also, JTS fell so hard LOL.
Yummy Yummy Yummy - the family that cooks together (and stuff) stays together.
There are plenty of nice family costume dramas. But there are so many cdramas you just have to get lucky finding them :D
I know they explained how Prince Lie came to her, I wanted to note how each and every time there's someone suddenly appearing just in time to save the FL from some sudden / random danger while she stays there petrified waiting for it to happen (usually the CP, this time Prince Lie). I wanted her to have (a lot) more agency herself. It's not that hard to learn to move a bit a let the arrows / kidnappers / arsons / b!tchy female villain's horse whip miss. She DID, previously (what with the scene where that noble lady fell in the water). She forgot how, lately.
Anyway. I guess it's to each their own. As I said, I'll try to keep watching - because of the ML, who does a decent job of a pretty one-tone character, but I had hoped for a lot more. And from time to time, there's a scene or two that show what could have been and it's really sad. (For example, that scene where he realizes he exposed his secret side by accident when sending the incense bracelets as a betrothal gift. That scene was so good, it deserved a lot more like it to join it in the drama, LOL.)
And now that I think about it, what's even worse is how they got a whole studded-cast that they're not even using well (they might be not lead-level but they're all experienced and pretty present in most dramas, which is a lot, given the huge competition in Chinese ent. - like, Lester Lin is there but mostly as a comic side-kick, Chen HeYi (his character has disappeared lately), Jeremy Xu has to play another one-tone character, Gala Zhang is... just there. And what they're doing with Ye ZuXin's character is criminal.)
I still blame the writing. I KNOW Meng ZiYi can do a lot better, I've seen her do it. If she - and basically all of them - feel so flat, it might be how their characters are written.
They just announce they're going to X county and they're - poof! - there. They announce the brother will come aaaaaall the way from the border and he - poof! - is there. They announce the father will also visit aaaaaall the way from the border, and he - poof! - arrives.
The freaking kitten never grew up, but we're supposed to believe at LEAST some months passed.
And it bugs me no end when the CP just materializes out of thin air just to block some arrow for her - he HAS good aides, why not send those? Why gallivant around while he's supposedly death-sick AND has complex schemes of his own to plan and execute?!
It's frustrating we're being TOLD they're both smart, but we don't see that, she's girlsplaining things to him all the time, even when it's obvious. Or she's basically taking info out of thin air and they turn out to be the exact true explanations of things that happened. Like - it's magic, trust us bro, that's what happened.
I don't even want to go into her super-nose (that's the original body's nose too, since she's reincarnated, not that we ever revisited much of that backstory yet.)
Have you read the book and are taking this info from the novel?! Because I can promise you... they did not mention anything about her being affianced to Dr Xie before. And she never had any kind of reaction to him when she got to meet him in her reincarnated period.
Anyway.... I don't need more words to explain this drama, I need this drama to show more than tell. Because so far they've been telling us a lot of things that happened offscreen and should have mattered but they never came into play, being replaced by yet another romantic scene with a song where she's looking at rain or snow and he's looking at her for the tenth time.
Thanks for trying to explain :)
PS The CP moving around freely in the capital or around it does not warrant him being able to take a few weeks/months to go on a different county where some prefect was killed and replaced and NOBODY found out for TWO YEARS. TWO YEARS?! And they only found out because some random kid managed to escape being hunted down by rebels and tell HER?!
Like... this is ridiculous.
So, an out-of-the-blue kid comes to appeal on his brother's behalf (we never learn what happened to the kid and his brother, either), there's a sudden fire that endangers her (like, how many times it's been now? About the 5th at least, right?), Prince Lie saves her (because of reasons, he just teleported there for a change instead of the CP doing the teleportation to save her in the last second). We find out Doctor Xie is Duke Xie's estranged son (this never came up ever before, despite the doctor being pretty present in the drama so far. And TBH, I expected a bigger presence from Gala Zhang). Then she promises him that IF he EVER needs help, she'll help him. The same day off he goes and disappears prompting her to go help him. She engineers a missing token and sidetracks into finding a hiding place where Duke Ying- never spoken of before - is hiding and being treated by Xie's estranged son that doesn't care his father is about to get arrested. (Because in his case filial piety isn't a thing since he SUSPECTS his father poisoned his mother). And so in the space of a few days we get an unknown noble connection for Dr Xie, find out more unsavoury things about the current Emperor, lose and save Dr Xie, unearth a whole conspiracy (and sideline the love story between Mr Cui and Ms Bu), investigate everything and find out that ooops this isn't the poisoner you're looking for.
In two episodes.
Not to mention the mine-and-forge plot (okay so Mr Cui and Ms Bu could admire each other's attributes - his more than hers - and then appreciate each other more etc). But XiHe and CP get to teleport to that province out of the blue (nobody told the Emperor his CP is going on a wander about AGAIN), XiHe inserts herself into guvernatorial business - like by WHAT authority?! There's no logic - and then SHE gets to decide what happens to the rescued prisoners. Because of reasons. While the CP is standing there like an idiot, being cute wallpaper (I mean he IS supposed to inherit, if he lives, that would be a perfect PR opportunity for him, what, are we supposed to believe the Emperor wouldn't use it?!)
Anyway - the most stupid plot point is CP arguing that Dr Xie's poisoned mother that we never found out about until 20 minutes before he disappeared deserves to be raised in rank post-mortem because she was chaste and demure and noble and whatnot. And the Emperor going OMG that's an AMAZING idea, why didn't we ever do that before?! Let's do that, let me give an edict about it right this minute!!
My IQ slipped 2 points on that scene alone.
Anyway. Long story short, I wanted to like this or at least enjoy some mindless fun, but it's not really fun any more...
Something happens - gets solved (through deus-ex-machina, out-of-the-blue information that was never brought up before the moment it was needed, magical intervention of a character that never appeared before and never returns, etc) - next episode another thing happens. The other princes are basically MIA at this point, the CP is simping like no man ever simped before, she's playing ice goddess (because why?!) and all the rest of the story is meaningless and inane.
This drama had an attempt to the life of a royal at least once every two episodes and nobody ever batted an eye. They all go in and out of the Imperial Palace on a whim, nobody cares (are those eunuchs for decor or what?!) The people from the NW frontier teleport back and forth in an instant. Huge important clue into the poisoning comes and goes in two eps (that were mostly about completely different things than the poisoning).
However I tried to just not mind and turn my brain off, it's became annoying about now. There are cute scenes and he's being heroic at times and then all the rest of the support cast comes and goes but dammit... it feels empty. Completely lacking in substance.
I might continue just because I never watched a drama with this ML before, but it's going to be a struggle.
Is the book as bad?!
You can take your AI-generated content and shove it.
The main cast is gorgeous - though WTF is original Gaew's problem?! I hope the new and improved Gaew starts impressing people right and left immediately with his cutie side.
PS I thought cars were practical Faraday cages, someone inside a car struck by lightning wouldn't get electrocuted (if all doors and windows are closed). I guess we're going with the "he hit his head" (where the heck is his belt though?)
She doesn't owe the Wen Duke's family anything if she's reborn, she's protecting them because she needs their power structure BUT she's not their daughter. They cared for the original girl, not this one. All her powerplays make no sense in this POV. She's doing it because she used to do it as a Prince's wife.
But then this again makes no sense - it's been three years since she killed herself, she HAS to have known all the princes, they're not younglings. She HAS to have known the Crown Prince too (even if she didn't care much for him at the time). There's not a lot of logic into her going to test each and every one of them. Not in the drama, anyway. Maybe in the novel she forgot most of her previous life or something so that she needs to learn things anew. But the drama doesn't imply that at all. She also remembers everyone her body's original knew and the secret codes between the family (that she knew WHY?! Since the original body's conscience wasn't really smart enough to use them safely).
However you're looking at it, there are too many fails of logic in this one.
Anyway, it's pretty and there are good scenes and it moves fast (sometimes too fast). For me, TBH, the support characters and the secondary leads carry the drama. So far anyway.