TeaLily

Oh, I'm sure no one likes characters that are truly spoiled. I was just hoping you'd be able to provide actual examples to demonstrate how Zhu Yan is spoiled (as opposed to being just very young, naive, hyperactive, and overly passionate). But that's ok.

I'm glad to hear it was profitable. I guess it probably did a lot better in China than outside of it. International viewers don't seem to like it very much.

How was she spoiled?

It's an open ending that, on further examination and deeper analysis, is either happy or at worst bittersweet.

Exactly. This is the one drama where it would really help if they made the age of the FL more clear. So many people don't seem to realize how young she's supposed to be in the early episodes. She could even be as young as 13. She was one of the girls invited to the Star Gazing ceremony because she had apparently "just come of age" -- so what does that mean? In ancient times, that could be when a girl gets her period and is therefore considered to have become a woman. In the novel, Zhu Yan got her period when she was 13 years-old, and from that point on, she was considered to be a true woman (though still a very young one) -- in other words, she had "come of age" at age 13.

Some Chinese viewers may be able to clue in on how young the FL is based on the styling of her hair in the early episodes (the fact that she wears it in two side knots -- which is a hairstyle typically worn by very young girls in ancient China). But international viewers would not be able to see the significance of that hairstyle.

Wow, I love your review! You should put it in the discussions board (if you haven't already) so it doesn't get lost in the comments. Your theory about Shi Ying is also intriguing, and one that I haven't seen -- but I think definitely possible. Thanks so much!

I agree! I find this drama to be much better than many other more highly-rated dramas that I've watched.

Zhu Yan strikes me as a character that displays characteristics of ADHD. And there's nothing wrong with that. But I guess a lot of viewers just don't like those characteristics in the dramas that they watch.

You judge the script and story of this drama to be "unimaginative" (and "terrible") after having seen only 2 episodes. That's basically as accurate as judging an entire book to be bad by reading only the first 2 chapters.

Janec - I got a notification that you responded to me, but I had to sign out to see your response because you blocked me. In case you're still able to see my response after signing out -- I just want to say, I admit maybe it was a bit uncalled for of me to bring psychology into it. But I just couldn't understand why you would feel so triggered by this drama that you would stick around its review page for months to comment about it if you didn't enjoy or even finish it. Usually people move on if they don't like a drama. It's usually only if you really love the drama -- like I do -- that you would stick around for a long time.

You accuse me of "attacking anyone who doesn't like something about this drama". So I guess responding/explaining and/or presenting an alternative perspective = attacking. This drama already doesn't attract much discussion anywhere on the English-speaking internet. Its popularity has been so diminished and reputation so severely damaged already -- precisely because many people who didn't even finish watching the drama are constantly making negative reviews about it based on an incomplete picture. So forgive me if I feel a little bit over-passionate in wanting to defend this drama and clear up the many misunderstandings that people have about it. Personally, if I haven't even finished watching a drama, I don't keep commenting about it to stop others from watching it -- but that's just me. How's that for "ethics"?

Also, I'm here to respond to people's comments because I want to discuss this drama. There's really not many other places to discuss it. I guess to you that's considered "attacking". OK, whatever you want to think.

And as for your ending remark that I should look into how obsession manifests itself and come to some conclusions about myself -- I suggest you do the same. My obsession is love for this drama -- yours seem to be an obsessive hatred for it (otherwise there's no reason to keep hanging about here if you didn't even finish watching this show).

I really like the chemistry between the leads. But chemistry can be very subjective -- different people may feel differently. And bear in mind that the leads in the story are Master & Disciple, that love between them is forbidden, and they have to show a lot of restraint in their relationship. Their feelings for each other are usually revealed in subtle and indirect ways -- and for some viewers, that is not romantic enough. But for me, it's delicious -- I love the tension of hidden feelings and unspoken words.

Well, the psychologist Carl Jung did once say "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves", and that the things that bother us most about others are often projections of our own issues.

If a fictional character can trigger such strong negative reactions in you that you would hang around at a drama review page for months (even though you didn't even finish watching the drama) for the purpose of complaining about it, then maybe you should examine why you feel so triggered by the character.

This is especially so considering the fact that the Zhu Yan character, despite having some flaws (recklessness, naïveté, etc) actually also has many admirable qualities, such as compassion, loyalty, and strong values. None of the mistakes she made in the story were out of intention to hurt people -- she was kept in the dark about a lot of things throughout the story. But there are other characters (such as Bai Xuelu) who hurt people knowingly, just to get what they want, and somehow those characters are less triggering for some viewers -- which I find very interesting.

It seems to me there's something about the Zhu Yan character that is triggering a lot of shadow projection in certain viewers, hence their strong feelings of irritation and even anger at the character for her specific flaws (even though other characters in the story also have very obvious and more serious flaws and yet don't trigger any negative reaction).

There's a lot of anti-fans trying very hard to drag down and damage the reputation of this drama. Also, the rating of this drama can't be trusted, because there have been people with artificial accounts giving a 1 rating to this drama even when it barely started airing.

Also, keep in mind that a lot of the negative comments about this drama come from people who didn't really watch it, who dropped it after a few episodes as a result of feeling irrationally triggered by the FL. That's why there's hardly any comments about the actual story, because a lot of people were too busy feeling annoyed at the FL to pay attention to the actual story.

Not saying you have to like her -- but her character is important to the story. If the FL was a different kind of person, the story would be completely different. (Imagine if the FL was someone like Bai Xuelu pr Bai Xueying, for example -- how would that change the story?) A huge part of what makes the story is the fact that the FL and ML are nearly polar opposites, and that they eventually change each other. Her extroverted & unrestrained nature draws him out of himself, and his introverted and profound nature leads her to become more reflective and restrained. They're like Fire & Ice, Light & Shadow (even their names imply their opposite nature).

The FL's character is important because she is the chaos that ruffles the ML's repressed personality and stirs up his overly controlled and orderly life and starts him on his path of inner and spiritual growth. Without the FL, the ML would've just stayed in his lonely & isolated mountain forever, and there would be no story. But yeah, if we focus on the FL as a personality detached from the larger story, then she's not necessarily likeable to some viewers.

And also, I think the author of the original source material emphasized the FL's childlike immaturity just much as she emphasized the maturity of the ML because she really wanted to hammer in the fact that they are master and disciple.

Can you provide some examples of the ML appearing fearful when he's supposed to be happy? I'm asking because I'm genuinely curious -- as I don't recall seeing such scenes.

Everything is actually explained later in the series. It's a really good drama, but it does require patience from the viewer.

Yes, it's a pity, because I think Ren Min's real voice is quite pretty. She should have done her own dubbing. I'm so glad that Xiao Zhan did his own though -- I love his voice!

Her character goes through a change later on in the drama so she does eventually tone down a bit.

Ah, so there's a league of antis smearing her. That explains so much. I always find the sheer amount of negativity/hate towards her to be excessive and disproportionate. I'm not even her fan (I'm neutral towards her) and I'm saddened by people's meanness and unfairness towards her. I think she's pretty, or at worse just average-looking. She is by no means ugly, so I don't get why people are complaining so much about her looks.

I do agree though that the styling of her hair and costumes in certain parts of TLP really doesn't flatter her. However, I'd say that is true mainly in the episodes where she has officially become Shi Ying's disciple -- from around episodes 13 to 17. I actually think she looks fine before and after those episodes. There are even certain episodes where I think she looks quite ethereal and pretty.

It occurs to me, however, that one of the problems in the drama (and this is true of a lot of costume cdramas) is that it isn't clear how old the characters are. In this drama, only Shi Ying's age is mentioned because his 18th year is an important turning point to the story. But Zhu Yan's age was never made clear, so people don't realize that in the beginning of the drama she's supposed to be only around 14 or 15 years-old. I think part of the reason for the styling in the early episodes of this series is to show that she is still supposed to be very young. An example is how, in some episodes in the beginning she wears her hair in two side knots -- which is typically the hairstyle of little girls (or maidservants) in ancient China.

Yes, I totally agree. There are too many haters working against this drama. It just goes to show that number ratings can't always be trusted. Personally, I love this drama way more than many dramas that got ratings over 8.5. The Longest Promise is a much more intricate and multi-layered story than many people give it credit for. Plus the whole cast acted so well, which can't be said for a lot of dramas I've seen (including some that received a higher than 8.5 rating).