Skibbies

Oh my gosh you are so sweet ahhhh. There's so much I love about the drama but I don't know how to talk about this without rambling at length or not spoilering the show. I end up watching 2.5 of the dramas I mentioned to you when you asked for ccp themed dramas, do you want a run down by the way? (since I'm too lazy to write a proper review for them oops) I might watch more lmao, before I start on the classic espionage dramas binge.

Yeah I'm talking about cdramas. I mostly refer to iqiyi and tencent dramas, youku and mangotv are much more likely to mess with their schedule in my experience. Mangotv are more likely to have vvip episodes earlier (saw one that started on day 2 lol) and they usually don't have subs. Youku is more likely to drag out their schedule, especially for non vip (iqiyi and tencent's non vip is about 6 to 8 weeks for 30 to 40 ep drama)

If you just dump all the episode at once, there's no time to generate buzz and hype up the drama. Dramas that dump all their episodes at once usually fade to oblivion domestically, so most big budget dramas will never do that since they can't price discriminate (non vip, vip, vvip determine how early you see the episodes) This didn't start this year, it started late 2019 and applied to almost every drama, and it's not related to covid at all.

If you follow a drama using non vip, it's usually 2-2-2 at fairly even pace, the extra eps for vip is specifically made to entice you into subscribing, the vvip is a way to entice vip users to pay extra just to get the epiodes a week earlier. (tencent tends to dump 6 ep-ish per week for vvip, but it lasts for 2 to 4 weeks, while iqiyi is usually more likely to dump 6 to 10 eps right at the end)

Hahahaha, I should have written this 3 months ago then! I definitely really like the various ideologies being presented (or mentioned) and everyone that debate fiercely about them are usually still pretty good friends around this time. Interestingly it reminds me of Warring States when it was 百家争鸣. Hope your mum likes it too :D

I've been sitting on writing a review for three months and started yesterday so I'm right on time! hahaha. Hope it helps a little, feel free to ask me questions too since I didn't know where to begin with my review OTL

I'm not surprised Tong Yao's character end up being like that, cdramas does it so often omg. rip *patpats* Rayzha was praised for Minning Town, and she was pretty well liked for Longest Day in Chang'an. She had mini scandal before Chang'an aired because she had postnatal depression (?) and was sensitive to some rude comments + sound criticism, but that's pretty much all water under the bridge I think. As for Dilraba, she's always been popular and also criticised a lot (for middling performance), her fans are on the more annoying side but I think that's side effect of being traffic actress.

Take your time with AA, even a lot of cnetizens only end up watching it recently, it's being watched more than when it was airing lol.

that's how all platforms release their dramas, 6 or 8 ep dump at the beginning. it's 2 free ep + 6 vip ep, the update schedule is 2 at a time. There's 8 episode dump because it's on demand/vvip which started from summer 2019, and was mass implemented after Joy of Life (end of 2019).

The initial ep dump is to draw in audience, update 2 at a time, 3 days (or 4 if the drama is longer) to keep the audience. normally on demand/vvip starts on the third week, but this drama got it early, looks like iqiyi is desperate to grab more money from the audience. (on demand/vvip tanks the drama's viewcounts + discussion and thus popularity, but it gets money for the paltform and it's friendlier to binge watchers)

mhmm I see what you mean by putting the genie back in the bottle. She did struggle between "being hip and fashionable in Fujian" compared to her hometown being so "backwards" but she came to appreciate it. I agree on glossing over how she end up going back to Ningxia, but I actually took it for granted, since in 2010s, a lot of migrant workers end up moving back home to start their own business, or just find work there because it's developed enough for that. You get to be close to your family + escape the stress of big city. I actually would have been interested to see how they start up on vineyard and various promotion tactics to sell it, especially in days of streaming and such.

I loved Shuihua and I liked how she struggled in face of adversity, and she do her best with what she have and what she can, and I did like their more realistic relationship, but somehow I regularly forget about Defu (sorry bro). Maimiao wasn't put forward in front of Shuihua, Shuihua was nominated for best main actress and lost, when Maimiao (who had more screentime I think) was nominated for best supporting actress and won. I guess they thought Shuihua deserve to be nominated as main actress since she was THE most memorable character of the drama for most people.

LOL, Tong Yao's character in Nothing But Thirty was apparently very memorable. I liked her in Like a Flowing River 1, she's ML;s sister, and she shone despite having limited screentime. I think it was her amazing character than her performance though. She won best supporting for that role for Magnolia and got Golden Eagle award (which doesn't distinguish between main or supporting) for it, so she got lot of backlash THEN and got more NOW due to winning over Rayzha lol.

You finished it! Hooray! There's actually a standard mandarin dubbed version, but I think you lose out on the fun with that version XD My favourite arc was the mushroom arc and the education arc, since they were such vital part of poverty alleviation. By the way, the small village that half the drama is shot in was built from grounds up, the mushrooms were also planted for real, Daylight Ent really go as realistic as you can go when it comes with these things. Not huge on the closing arc, but I think I mentioned that already, and it was still kind of neat to see how much it had changed, and neat to compare how the kids see Xihaigu (fun adventurous place) vs the kids from beginning of the drama (a place they are trapped in).

Rayzha got nominated for Magnolia (one of the three big tv awards in China) for best main actress, but she lost out to Tong Yao for her roles in Nothing but Thirty (which I never watched but it was really popular and decently received critically). I really think it's due to her not having enough screentime, she would have been sure in for best supporting actress. Instead they put Huang Yao (Mai Miao, the girl that went to Fujian to work) down for best supporting (I think she had more screentime lol...), and she won the award. I actually really loved Maimiao too, since she was very relatable as a young girl that wanted to see the outside world, that wanted to break out from the poor village she grew up in. But she got grew up and she eventually did get the chance to see a different place, but eventually came back to home because there's no place like home, there was new found appreciation for her hometown + she bought back skills and ideas to help develop it. That was the story of many many migrant workers in 90s and early 00s. I liked Debao too for similar reason actually, Defu pales in comparison for me (even though his character was essential and he was always the person solving various problems they have).

there's multiple body swaps, the first lasted three episodes

yeah that confuses me sometimes, but I think it's somewhat explained in the dialogues? ML is on temporary hiatus due to "health issue" (made up from first body swap). Set up for ML seems like a popular idol but his schedule doesn't feel like it hahaha, guess they are nearly at the end of the group's life expectancy so they don't have as much work while prepping for solo debut. FL works with her bestie and as long as she brings back stories, it's ok (she also make up for it).

original script, probably happy ending. modern dramas usually have happy ending.

...it's an original plot, not a remake. body swap existed before secret garden.

yup yup :D I like that you can ship any two characters in the group too and it totally works, so much fun. I sort of like Ancient Detective for similar reason, but that group have more characters that comes and goes. I like JoL for its set up more than anything else.

LMAO I can't believe you googled his nose job. He looked all puffed up in the wrap up photo for 君九龄 too but that's probably temporary. I mentioned the nose job cos when Imperial Coroner aired, all the fans were like "bye Wang Kuan, I'm getting a new son in law till you fix your nose" LOL

I'm super happy you liked this, the ensemble camaraderie is my favourite part of the drama. I'm such a sucker for these kinds of relationships/dramas, too bad it doesn't seem that common in historical dramas. It seems far more common in modern school dramas (so I end up watching lot of those too lol) and esport dramas? I definitely prefer Xiao Jin x Wang Kuan, sorry Chu Chu x Prince An LOL

Wang Juan is hilariously fond of too many twists, and it's totally going for gotcha moment half the time. Totally agree on the noticeable drop in writing in latter arcs and such. If you are up for more twisty ensemble cast historical, you could try 舞乐传奇, but it's oldish drama (late 2014) so might have to look around for a bit. Lot of people kind of dislike the costume too + find the beginning bit slow, I did too but I rather like the setting of the drama in the beginning, Myanmar in the beginning then Yunnan for most of the drama.

i'd say the portrayal of c-ent is closer to the truth than most, I rather like a lot of little bits of c-ent "open secrets" they put in. If you are interested in more of c-ent, you can also try We Are All Alone, the FL is an agent and she manage different kind of celebrities, I find that fairly interesting and enlightening too. The Brightest Star in the Sky also shows bit more of idols and fan relationship, but I find some of ithe story rather draggy and unnecessary.

While I don't sympathise YMG much and think her redemption arc could be better, I actually rather like her as a character. Femme Fatale, selfish and manipulative are rarely seen in female characters in cdramas. I'm also annoyed at Xiao Mu and Chen Mu being both too nice, I do know that if they aren't that way, then they wouldn't be them, but at times it's rather frustrating to watch. YMG and SC's relationship was kind of neat in that they seem like two peas in a pod, it's too bad he ends up like a lost puppy and keep on giving instead of pulling back like he said he would.

you know those monologues that say what they do and such, i think they cut out some stuff there as well? i don't find it too abrupt honestly? maybe it's just cao dun pacing, he films meticulously but sometimes it's excessive. this drama keeps lulls me to sleep, i blame cao dun. or maybe it's 12 ep x 45mins, so 8 ep x 60mins? lol?

yeah i'm watching it. i heard it got cut 4 ep too. I get the impression it cut the more gorey scenes,

it's 60mins episodes instead of 45mins, Hunan TV have a different schedule for this slot starting from this drama.

If you are asking why it ends today, it's because on tv, it's going to air ep 4. Mangotv vip is ahead by 2 ep (ep 6) and it'll have on demand ep today for the last two ep (ep 8). Following the tv schedule, it'll end on June 15th.

3 ep about 30mins each or something, it's about planning the proposal.

I liked LYT in Bloody Romance, there were fair bit of depth in that character. This could def have been breakout role for her, Yu Zheng is good at promoting his dramas, but then he got slammed, alas. She was pretty well cast in GGS2 too as well, but that story + director had lot of issues, and the character isn't super interesting. I think her fans are bit disappointed too, but most fans sort of gave up on pushing the drama around second or third week, so it's all just non fans popcorning.

Well, Li Chengqian is one of the most well known princes, so I wouldn't be surprised if his experience contributed to Royal Nirvana's plot, since that plot is basically about "how difficult is it being a crown prince". Wasn't Luo Jin casted in RN cos of the producer? Even if Li Zefeng was casted, I'm sure they'd make him cry too :P If it's his character you are talking about, lol then I would actually watch Royal Nirvana. Cnet will tell you what flag waving dramas are good, most young cnetizens don't really care for them either. So far it's just Awakening Age (it's getting more views now than when it was airing, which is kind of hilarious), I don't think Minning Town even counts, and I don't think any of the remaining dramas will surpass them. :P Neither of them were overly in your face about flag waving till like last two episodes, which you can skip or fast forward (I still find them watchable, and interesting in the case of Awakening Age, in a visualising history way).