This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this issue in Chinese dramas. Once screenwriters start trying to be “clever”…
Thank you, for pointing that out. I just assumed the production team felt leading with FL would be more appeasing to viewers. Because strong female leads are trending. I did not think it could be an actual client war where the actors management team wants them to have the spotlight - LOL like in that drama that was released a few months ago - I forgot the name of it. Where the actor and I think she was a writer/actress go to a Historical time and the system keeps rewriting the story...
Though I am not as such disappointed by his character arc in the drama, I have to agree, the novel did him better,…
I get it - compacting all of that into a visual drama is hard. But it seems like the switch of the lead storyline killed it for me. I have not read the novel.
Let me say this with my whole chest — Xie Zheng's storyline has Epic Lead DNA and they have him playing emotional support trophy for a butcher's daughter. A fallen Marquis. A military general. A 17-year blood feud simmering beneath the surface. That is the spine of a masterpiece drama. And yet somehow the production team looked at all of that and said, "But what if we spent more screen time watching her slap pigs?" 💀 I'm not even being dramatic. We have a man with the weight of a collapsed legacy on his shoulders, navigating political warfare and buried grief — and he's been relegated to an attic while the main stage belongs to village gossip, market charm and camp entertainment. The screen time alone tells the story: I came to watch The Pursuit of Jade. I am apparently watching The Diary of a Butcher's Daughter.
And look — Fan Changyu's story isn't bad. I want to be fair. Her character in the beginning? We ate. The energy, the personality, the charisma — she was everything a FL should be in the opening arc. But her journey is largely self-discovery orbiting his world. She is the ribs. He is the backbone. You cannot make the ribs the feature and expect the skeleton to hold. 😭
What really gets me is the "Pursuit" framing. There isn't much pursuit of Jade happening here. Jade is actively paving the road, rolling out her carpet, and her pursuit of jade is her own becoming. Nothing wrong with that but the title is doing the most for the least of our expectations. 😂
And can we talk about the accountability gap? This girl has done enough wrong to be six feet under by 100 hundred rods, fingers crushed and legs broken — and not once has the narrative stopped to reckon with it. No acknowledgment, no consequence, just a soft reset every time. Meanwhile Xie Zheng is carrying generational trauma like a thesis paper and we get fragments.
When the Matriarchal Husband finally left that house, I was READY. I needed him in full Marquis Mode. I needed him Marqueeing. The coat, the authority, the ice-cold vengeance era. What I got was... not that. Until episode 32 where they gave us a quick taste of what should have already been on the table.
LOL - I was in between just being dissatisfied or disappointed - and I think at this point I am just disappoint. Because this is a GREAT drama - but it dropped the ball and still remained very good - imagine if they prioritized the storylines better?
The production team chose Market Charm over Masterpiece Plot and I will die on this hill. FIGHT ME. 🗡️
For those who read the novel - was this disappointment in the book or was it different?
Bixia (陛下) is a formal Chinese term meaning "Your Majesty" or "His/Her Majesty," historically used to address the emperor. Literally translating to "beneath the steps," it allowed officials to address the emperor with respect, implying they were speaking to the steps leading up to the throne rather than directly to the monarch
I think it’s mostly the pacing and constant whisper-mode delivery which the director of this series apparently…
My Journey To You - I really wanted to finish this but just couldn't. I tried several times - lol I want to like it but just can't find anything of interest in it.
Ep33 The Marquise has the nerve to advise someone to take accountability for their lack of supervision. 😂 Not the man who had a captive seized and was put to 💤😴 sleep while someone took his place under his watch or the lack of it. He was too busy being tended to by his capricious wife.
Lol, the writers should have given me better than that. My critical thinking self says...
This is some bull... 😂
____ And it was very peculiar that Li stopped and tried to turn around when he saw Marquise instead of stopping and greeting him.
I have a feeling Li will be full on anti-Marquise soon.
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A fallen Marquis. A military general. A 17-year blood feud simmering beneath the surface. That is the spine of a masterpiece drama. And yet somehow the production team looked at all of that and said, "But what if we spent more screen time watching her slap pigs?" 💀
I'm not even being dramatic. We have a man with the weight of a collapsed legacy on his shoulders, navigating political warfare and buried grief — and he's been relegated to an attic while the main stage belongs to village gossip, market charm and camp entertainment. The screen time alone tells the story: I came to watch The Pursuit of Jade. I am apparently watching The Diary of a Butcher's Daughter.
And look — Fan Changyu's story isn't bad. I want to be fair. Her character in the beginning? We ate. The energy, the personality, the charisma — she was everything a FL should be in the opening arc. But her journey is largely self-discovery orbiting his world. She is the ribs. He is the backbone. You cannot make the ribs the feature and expect the skeleton to hold. 😭
What really gets me is the "Pursuit" framing. There isn't much pursuit of Jade happening here. Jade is actively paving the road, rolling out her carpet, and her pursuit of jade is her own becoming. Nothing wrong with that but the title is doing the most for the least of our expectations. 😂
And can we talk about the accountability gap? This girl has done enough wrong to be six feet under by 100 hundred rods, fingers crushed and legs broken — and not once has the narrative stopped to reckon with it. No acknowledgment, no consequence, just a soft reset every time. Meanwhile Xie Zheng is carrying generational trauma like a thesis paper and we get fragments.
When the Matriarchal Husband finally left that house, I was READY. I needed him in full Marquis Mode. I needed him Marqueeing. The coat, the authority, the ice-cold vengeance era. What I got was... not that. Until episode 32 where they gave us a quick taste of what should have already been on the table.
LOL - I was in between just being dissatisfied or disappointed - and I think at this point I am just disappoint. Because this is a GREAT drama - but it dropped the ball and still remained very good - imagine if they prioritized the storylines better?
The production team chose Market Charm over Masterpiece Plot and I will die on this hill.
FIGHT ME. 🗡️
For those who read the novel - was this disappointment in the book or was it different?
Pots Calling Kettles Black
The Marquise has the nerve to advise someone to take accountability for their lack of supervision. 😂 Not the man who had a captive seized and was put to 💤😴 sleep while someone took his place under his watch or the lack of it. He was too busy being tended to by his capricious wife.
Lol, the writers should have given me better than that. My critical thinking self says...
This is some bull... 😂
____
And it was very peculiar that Li stopped and tried to turn around when he saw Marquise instead of stopping and greeting him.
I have a feeling Li will be full on anti-Marquise soon.
_________________