Nepeta 22

I thought so too. It seemed like the story was going somewhere. It's a really weird time to leave a long gap.

I'm wondering whether they are actually editing parts out to stream-line the story after the feed back about the slow-mo and excess music.

I'm here for Li Guang Jie. The director is the same as The Bond, and you can feel the same vibe. So far I am enjoying it a lot.

Regarding MCU, I don't watch big American style films or dramas with fantasy elements, so would that mean I'm not qualified to make a comment on Chinese dramas? You immediately label me as weird because I am not entirely moved by PSJ's arc. That's a bit narrow minded. I think the story was there, but the excessive brawling and slow-mo shots and choice of how edits did nothing but prolong the message. Beyond that, it felt like filler. I felt it could have been cut by half. That is my opinion.

I also did not claim there is no promotion happening in China with other dramas either. I was commenting on the fact that FoF had also done promotions releasing music videos, sending their stars on a few reality type shows, these are all attempts to drum up interest. The fact that they did these even without a distribution licence shows how desperate or perhaps cocky they were with getting the drama out at the projected 26th October date.

Air dropping in China happens more than you think. Sometimes, for negative reasons such as A League of Nobleman. Another very big budget drama, The Longest Day in Chang'an dropped quietly without any warning with limited promotion. Every drama has their idea of what's best, but it does not mean they don't care. FoF was very conscious of their marketing.

As for flash backs, we have different opinions on how it can be used. Here, it's repetitive and uncreative to consistently do so. But you have made your point, and I respect that opinion.

I just hope the ML doesn't end up as always being the smart Alec with the dead-pan humour, having the last say and solves many of the mysteries. That will make the others look like tool characters. We sort of know the format will be spent on each character as the episodes move along. This is commonly used as a way to introduce a bit more of the character's background, but PSJ's story dragged on a bit, with the excessive crying I felt some scenes were filler scenes. Hopefully future characters will get a more decent intro.

I don't know whether my opinion is majority or minority here. I'm only writing what I see and feel from watching the drama. Flash backs can be used well when appropriate. Here, it's been used excessively to fill in gaps that they seem to not want to show on the surface level. It's fine here and there, but it seems to be used consistently so far, which feels like a short cut method to telling us the character's back story. There are more creative ways to do that. The flash back option is one way, but to do that so many times makes the story telling very repetitive and shallow.

GJM today uses his name to be the star. His brand is himself. The other one is having an open set so rueters can get plenty of material to sell to sister stations. Using his Weibo to engage with the public about the on-going story throughout the filming process. Anything or any star he uses, it's almost an unspoken thing that he has the potential to make them stars. This is seen with Ryan Cheng & Lu Yuxiao. In the past, I would hardly say Deng Lun or Mark Chao as small time actors. Not sure how you define A-List. Today, traffic stars seems to have taken over the stardom in China.

Promotion is not based on what someone writes on the front page of MDL. This site is more or less a fan-site, so it's not unusual for someone who's a big fan of Liu Yuning to post an article for The Story of Pearl Girl. Just as it's an active page here because there are a handful of very fervent fan-bases bombing the site day and night. That fan base does not actually represent the international audience either.

GJM started the dancing music video trend and now many other productions have moved away from finger dances to full on dancing as seen in the closing credits of this drama. The excessive usage of music, especially modern music is growing all across the board because many of the new stars bring along their fanbase which are normally from the music background. But here, GJM has amplified this to the the next level, which has made the drama almost hard to watch because the amount of music is not complementary but more distraction.

GJM is a two hour man. He made his money in the film and wants to enter drama land. His issues showed up in MJTY when he prolonged the drama up to episode 18 when it all unfolded. The majority of the drama as slow mo whispering to keep the almost non existing dialogue hidden and lots of posing and stylised shots.

In this drama, it looks like he's looked at how investigative dramas have had more success, and he's influenced by STofTD's weird and curious styled story lines and thought he could try it here against some poor attempt at dead-pan. The end result is a mish-mash of everything. Sometimes less is more.

The pacing is not the issue. It's the way the story unfolds using excessive flash-backs to push along/solving and closing story lines. For viewers, that leaves very little of suspense or connection. There is very little given about each character's excessive crying. So far, the the over use of water works feels like a shallow way of telling us their grief. There are many ways to do that, but I feel it's a very basic and simplistic choice which does not give the story telling any imagination.

I also don't think it's driven by word of mouth. GJM is well known for using fandom to do his bidding, and the excessive promotion and dance videos along with some nice black press, it's his signature to how to promote. Even others are copying that template. A drama that is good will pick up, and with the amount of promotion already, this is the time to see the results without the "inside the circle" fans doing the bidding. I hope the drama changes course. Because right now, it's OK, but nothing spectacular or new.

I think that is what the format will be. Nothing wrong with that as many dramas with investigative style end up like that. The issue is the execution. The excessive flash backs being used to help explain things leaving very little for viewers to guess or feel connected. Often the ML seems to know near enough all the answers and whys, which then leaves the side-kicks looking like tools for the misplaced humour which is a very poor attempt at dead-pan. It should really be dialled down. GJM can't read the room.

The problem with GJM is he has a very dated view on comedy. We saw in MJTY, the butt of jokes will be the only actress that sticks out like a sore thumb in character and aesthetics. Here LL's character is reduced to a cartoon caricature screaming banshee.

The flash backs are a cop-out. It also prolongs the story and drags out the already slow pace and light script. I suspect GJM looked at past successes such as investigative dramas like STof TD1/2 and thought the weird and wonderful is what viewers' tastes lie, but cannot understand the pacing and how a story is meant to unfold to keep viewers interested.

Here, he gives everything away through flash backs with very little room for suspense, and worst still, ML always seem to just know the reason or answer. The side-kicks are always left floundering. The excessive crying also emits no feelings for the viewers because they spend either too much time on why they might feel sad but quite often it's for basic reasons with no depth. PSJ's prolonged crying had me counting how many tear drops had dripped off her face. Surely that's not a good thing when you don't care or feel sad for her, but end up counting how many teardrops have landed on the floor. I was begging for that arc to move on.

Great drama, it gets better in the second half, but for the life of me, how did this level of violence pass the review? Many fight scenes were just scary. As for Wang Zi Qi's portrayal of a Cantonese speaker, there seems to be no attempt on his part at practicing the dialect. It would have been better if they had left some of those scenes out.

Charmaine Sheh & Selena Lee are both nominated for best actress at the Asian Television awards for 2024. The drama has also been nominated too. Good luck, all deserve this accolade.

To The Wonder has been nominated as best drama for this year's Asian Television Awards. Held in Jakarta.

Zhou Xun has been nominated as best FL in this drama for Asian Television Awards 2024. Good luck.

Seen you've re-edited your comment & made it clear. Bye girl🤦‍♀️

Like Editor said, what do you mean?

Is it just me? This actor Zhang Yu is a spitting image of Liu Yuning.

Both of them are IQIYI actors. Super Up is their subsidiary. They also have Chen Duling & Wang Yu Wen. On My Journey To You, it was a co-production between ZUI and IQIYI, and both of these companies had their actors in support roles. Wang Duo is with DUI, but there seems to be some sort of falling out with GJM, and he has been sidelined.

Yes, it's a slog. Definitely pacing issues. The ending is drawn out and should have finished in the early thirties. It's got to be ranked as one of the worst endings and I'm almost giving up on finding out what happened to Shen Du's father! That's not good.

Be honest, it's the type of drama you'd need to leave your brain at the door. I'm also struggling to finish it, but mainly due to the slow output because I'm not a VIP member but I'm not rushing to see the end. It's long and drawn out. A good story has been messed up with poor pacing and no attempt to re-write some illogical actions, especially as you state the FL's actions. I can only say it's just to try and create an independent persona, but in reality, it's making her seem silly and being naive just for the sake of the scriptwriters. This is where the drama falls flat. It's not the actors' fault, but the whole story.

As for Pan Chi, he is some annoying character! No amount of redeeming in the end can make him seem nice and decent.

I have no issue with your viewpoint. It's just I watch this as a pinch of salt. It's clearly not a serious ansty type of drama from what I can see so far. It's not meant to be taken as literal and serious. As explained in my post, I find modern day rom-com style dramas such as Lighter and Princess far more problematic because they try to portray this as a slice of life setting.

Wuxias, I take on with a special filter and that includes some level of violence which includes loss of lives and revenge, all part of the genre. Just like in Xanxias, it's part and parcel of stabbing and killing people who you will love or have loved. Then miraculously they tend to survive after a bit of TCM and care, and the cycle repeats.

I guess we all have different levels of what's acceptable. Here, I think it's not offensive for me. I am seeing a strong FL trying to survive in a time where women have very little power and the story is telling us how she manages to outsmart the 2 MLs, so I think it appeals strangely to the modern audience.