Nepeta 22

I think Li Xian doesn't have the pressure or baggage Xiao Zhan has, but yes, how Li Xian is moving forward has been very measured. His recent role with Yang Zi has been good for him. This recent historic republican drama A Love Never Lost is a very high standard and clearly a quality production. It will also show he is willing to learn Japanese language and shave his hair. I am also interested in his next project "A Prophet" which is also a very interesting drama with Li Yi Tong and looks like it's going to be a mystery drama.

I think Xiao Zhan is going the same way but a portion of his fandom do not seem to mature with him rather prefer to peg him to a time that will hold him back.

OK, thanks for clearing that up. He answered indirectly. Wonder if his next job would be to do with investigation. Sounds like he's interested in that type of role next.

25 million is good, but around 40 million plus is considered super-good.

It's called fan service. Please just say it 😁...

Just like of all people to bash him on the head from behind just to force the story line that his childhood friend is also around doing exactly the same thing as him but with irony that he wants his face!😂 I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that moment.

But reading comments when the drama is live is also misleading. The "real" comments are when the drama is fully aired and 2-3 months afterwards where commentators are not influenced by barrage culture. I have seen numerous comments change drastically after a year of the drama aired and those that just put in a comment after watching all the drama seems more individual and honest.

I'm more intrigued with the master that seems to know everything and everyone. Did you see the scene with the dagger to his eyes? That scene had me thinking he's possibly behind some act including the Marquis. He gets about always just in time. I know that the plan with that trap door was shared with ML character, but he was in on it from beginning to the end. This level of knowledge is scary.

I agree with that, but from the outside, ML's plans are on very shaky grounds and on his back foot. It's clear at this moment in time ZZX is a flakey character and almost a liability if he gets his part wrong. But knowing how the story goes, he gets a character growth, otherwise, he would not be listed high up as high support.

In C-dramaland, we love to see a useless nobody blossoming into something...

Maybe it's the trailer and how the drama was promoted, it makes ML character seem smart and calculating to the point of being determined and cold.

The first quarter shows a determined young man, but sent out by people he really don't know much about and he's controlled in such a way as not to question, but to be grateful because his life was saved by them.

If the end of this drama reveals any of the 2 people closes to him to be the controller and mastermind, it will be more like a Stockholm Syndrome scenario which brings us back to the ML's character. How smart is he? Will he turn this around? I suspect, he grows and matures as the story unfolds. Not quite how some might have thought the story would be. It's more about his journey.

I think this stems from how the promotions and trailers felt like. Nothing wrong with help along the way and team effort, but I think some may have thought like myself he's a lone wolf doing his own thing silently.

In The Wind Blows from Longxi, it was far from group effort and right up to the end episodes, you really did not know it was just one causing all that ripple effect. Same for Ripe Town. That's mystery and intrigue.

So far this drama is more - gather more knowledge along the way and adapt to as you learn. It's a journey of a young man embarking on what he thought would be a very measured calculated path to his target, but gets side-tracked and even humbled along the way. I feel this is more closer to idol drama territory.

Yes, I suspect there will be some plot twists about who the 3rd character is behind all this, but half of the mystery has gone already and no doubt the 3rd character may just be another red herring, we're just second guessing with ML who is behind his father's death.

Then it's punctuated with his near death experience on nearly all episodes, this constant barrage of near death, graphic tortuous scenes almosts gets you de-sensitised because you know it's 40 episodes, so he will survive anyway.

These types of mad-cap scenes are forced to push a specific scene and is often seen in drama land. You will see soon enough see more of this mad-cap out-of the-scene scenarios later that are only pushed into the scenes so that they can do a reveal or flash-back, which I must say is quite excessive even for this genre.

Has this been edited wrong? The question of not being defined by past works was not answered. Anyone know what he answered? That's an interesting comment to make about not being remembered for a past role since that implies he wants a long career with multiple roles? Love to know if he still thinks that .

I'm not that far ahead and not surprised by what unfolds. The interesting thing is some of the earliest revolutionary recruitments are with the equality angle of telling women, they can have freedom and choice if they rise up. This area can be a grey area in more mouth than action. You do wonder if it's more "performative" rather than real action for women. In Heroes (2024), you see this played out where women are actively encouraged because they'll be educated, breaking societal norms of having family choose when they marry and of course going out to work and earning money for independence.

This discussion about historic romance dramas/costume dramas imposing modern day gender equality has been going on for a while. I fear if they portrayed it too realistically, the modern audience will reject it and demand it be re-written for modern day sensitivities.

I've only watched 3 episodes, so I will assume in the future episodes, we will know. (dead or alive). If nothing is mentioned again, then it's clear this character is very important to the plot. I suspect connected to the tomb and his job is to get ML's character to do what he trained him to do.

Come on, some dramas are like that, just like we expect in Wuxias, people just to levitate onto tops of bushes when the going gets tough during fight scenes, but most of the time, you're thinking why didn't they just do that a minute ago? It's part of the genre.

Think of all the endless year-round peach & cherry blossoms around lush greenery which clearly is an issue for those that need realism. But should C-drama be aping K-drama or Western dramas? I'm not so sure. China has its selling points in these types of dramas, but it doesn't need to be logical in all its forms.

Based on what I have seen so far it's a bit like Xuanhuan. Think of those Tribes & Empires series or Eternal Brotherhood.

Yes I noticed that 😁! But help me here. Did he just commit suicide with all that paperwork?

It certainly made history come to life. The 3 women characters in it were also strong in different ways. I liked how they injected subtle humour here and there. I liked how it didn't try to be all one sided. It was told in a very matter-of-fact way. I too hope this drama turns out to be good and interesting. We'll see...

Yes they do.

In fact, the one other drama I did like was from this same director come to think of it! Fearless Whispers, also set at an interesting time of change. I couldn't get it on English Subs so watched each part and then read each episode from Baike Baidu on machine auto translate. That was my dedication to that drama.

I also enjoyed War of Faith which I thought was entertaining and engaging. Heroes (2024) was very interesting. I think by watching that drama, it's helped me with this drama. I liked how the tone was silly and serious at the same time. The comedy in it was so spot on. I'm only on the early episodes here, so hope this drama can match Heroes in the way it's edited.