Nepeta 22

The closest I can think of is a historic drama called The Wind Blows from Longxi.

Don't be angry. You've swallowed the woke tag. It's mis used and never intended to be used for in-cels. Allow women to enjoy a bit of escapism away from a (current) male dominated world. We all need a bit of Tang dynasty therapy. If this makes you nauseate, don't consume it. Find something that makes you happy.

Hope the drama lives up to its name as too many dramas make basic mistakes with plants and seasons which are the basics. Blossoms are the common ones. We then see full fruits on tables and lush green trees in the next scene.

I have seen the trailers, so far so good, so hope it's not more a metaphor than the actual craft. Attention needs to be with the light levels and seasons. I know they went out on location specifically for the blooms so that's a good start.

Thanks for letting me know. Sort of explains why he's gone off the rails. Very sad that a young person ends up with such bad behaviour to the situation.

Whatever his mental health, it's clear he has no regard for others with trashing a hotel room. Looks like he doesn't have a good support network of friends of family if he keeps going on about his finances!

Either way, I think this drama may just wait to see how things go. The worst case scenario would be he has AI face swap like in Brocade Odyssey...

Thanks for getting back on that. Does that mean his contract expired or they terminated his contract early?

I saw all this unfold yesterday. By any chance, is Li Ming De still with Hesong agency or has he left? It's just seems like there is no control on him. I doubt he could act so recklessly with commenting with netizens so freely, even if most of his replies looks like sour grapes to me.

Hi, not sure where you are based. I found the Youtube versions very good.

See if it's good enough for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma4XyvUbw00&list=PLQqbdnAgoRmb17AEUHb0VSl3jKe414i-s&index=1

Not at all. From the very beginning, it's clear Yuan Zhou's character was going to suffer the most. It was just a case of whether it would go that way and how would it happen.

I felt the direction was a bit strange. There seemed very little interaction between Yuan Zhou and Ying Lei and to some extent Bai Jiu. Because of this, when both died, it seemed quite detached and hollow because it felt like they are not inter-connected in anyway. Just my opinion.

I agree with you. However, there may be a reason for why some titles don't make it to places like Netflix. Soft power and cultural exchange springs to mind. The titles you mention will strangely dispel the type of narrative many western countries are trying to push. There was a time when Chinese films and its artists were respected, but in today's climate, these types of dramas will not be put to these international platforms unless there is one that does not touch upon the two subjects your titles tackle.

Yes, I get that. Sadly, that type of label is seldom put against other countries' dramas or films. Only for China. That ironically is how good other countries' propaganda work.

The Blossoming Love is due out on 2nd January.

Have you watched The Long Night or The Long River? Just these 2 dramas alone (one modern and one set in Qing) will show to you that what you think, might not be so. Truth is, there are plenty of dramas with the same theme, and no one bats an eye lid. In fact, I have even seen people accuse The Knockout as propaganda. You can't win...

Agree with what you have said there. All a bit unrealistic with so much of his endless talents all of a sudden. It even makes the cases fade into the background. Also, some of his conduct in a real-life scenario would have got him suspended or even disciplined, but in this drama, it's brushed aside as heroic. Let's see how it goes for you.

I got that he was trained in all these things from others on this forum. Not sure if it's accurate information, but I'm assuming this happened between season 1 to 2, or it was never revealed originally in season 1. Either way, this big change has made it a bit hard for me to watch. I understand, there is so much you can do with drawing, but expanding to many other areas seems as you say unrealistic and takes away from what it was like in season 1.

Since you are only on episode 14, I don't want to spoil your experience, but what you have said has been be talked about earlier in this forum. I personally don't like the change. I also think it's motivated by either pressure or the fact that TJC's profile has risen outside of the drama and there is a conscious effort to uplift his role. I hope not because it's quite difficult to watch if it is.

My personal take on this is it's due to capital. I haven't seen so much product placement in a long time. It's clear that TJC's profile has changed in China since the first season, and I cannot help think that the dynamics now show in how his character has changed quite dramatically. Du Cheng has a more back-seat type of role, and this is not what it was like in season 1.

I appreciate others saying he was trained in this and in that, but we never really got to see all that. Suddenly, he's some deep psychologist, able to draw carbon copies of likeness from skulls, see past characters that other police officers cannot see. I feel this is way too much. Coupled with Du Cheng made to be a stubborn and killjoy type of a cop. I know he'll save Shen Yi's character, but it feels uncomfortable to watch.

I think the comedy you describe is this attempt to be awkward and conscious type of funny. It's done in a way for an audience but not inside the drama itself. It's sometimes seen more in reality shows which maybe the director has been influenced by. After all, China is filled with these types of shows. It's hard to mimic this type of comedy inside a drama setting.

Here, it unsettles the drama and the dramatic style ends up more slapstick which is quite dated and looks out of place when acted out using young actors.

The problem is the over usage of jaunty music to steer us on when we should laugh. This can be jarring when the whole drama is some long drawn out music video in general. I get GJM wanted to break boundaries with music but in this case I think music was over used.

Just post what you need to on the drama, as long as it's respectful to others and we can all have an open discussion on what works and what doesn't work. Gate-keeping on forums is becoming more common because I fear it's tipped too much the other way because of some past discussions that may have descended into insults. Keep insults out and hopefully debate and discussions can flow peacefully.

Personally, it's Ying Lei's character that is the stand out even without the director's help. He was one that sacrificed the most along with his father. He was the one with the natural comedic timing and moments. Bai Jiu was second. It's classic that the director would choose these 2 characters to have the sad ending. Was it conscious or just his disrespect to these 2 characters?

I was more annoyed by that. No shade to ML and FL characters nor second ML character, but it felt really elitist and even without the confines of royalty it mimicked all the unfairness of some invisible class system.

When you pander to the fandom as clearly GJM did, it's unashamedly fanservice, it affects the true artistic control. Some will disagree with me on this, but I felt this happened on this drama. It has to stop because there needs to be a clear line between directors/script writers and demanding fandoms that often pester them on their Weibo pages with relentless demands on their faves.

No annoying bad guys here. The story is more about friendship, bonding and conflicting interest. The good and the pious are young and idealistic, and it's their journey into realising demons are not all that bad. The main lead is just that person. They embark on an emotional journey that takes them through many characters to build up for the pending sacrifice.

This is punctuated with strange comedy that some might find funny, but for me, very odd and did nothing but distracted the flow. It's these over-the-top comedic moments that made the young cast look awkward. Others had no issue, but I did. This is one of the downsides to the drama. There are long drawn out dramatic scenes that was filled with slow motion speech and movement. I watched on double speed and that still dragged on.

Pacing is an issue. The build up is so long and drawn out, with endless tears that after a while, had no more meaning because it was repeated again and again using different characters on the same format and formula. But give it a try, you might have a different view.

On the romance front. it's a subtle love and longing. If you like that sort of thing where small gestures and stolen glances with knowing smirks, this is for you.

For a Xianxia, maybe check out Ancient Love Poetry if you haven't seen it yet. This will help for the pending Bai Lu drama Moonlight Mystic.

For a good angsty and one of the best under-appreciated drama, Love in Between. You really will need a box of tissues for that one.

Sorry if you felt those words seemed extreme. I meant from the beginning, the story teller practically said he has to not exist in order for the mission to be complete. It's a classic storyline...MC cannot be alive or live with the ones he dearly loves. Catch-22. If he stayed existing, it would not be compatible with a good ending for the mortals.

Classically, it's the mortals that edges it, just. Whether that is a demon (even how good) or half demon. That is why I say the good die young leaving behind those that spent much of their lives preaching being pious and righteous - end up having a long life. This is how it ended. Safe and dare I say, quite disappointing. GJM fell back into tropey endings.