WK1

Yeah. There are more productive ways to use our energies. This drama is so complex, we can find so many other ways to dissect it, People here are so supportive. New interpretations of old episodes are always encouraged and appreciated. Even when we rehash old stuff, no one will blame us.

We are getting closer and closer to being one tribe. So much so, whenever we get a strange view, silent lurkers will appear totally out of no where to either defend the drama as a whole or the main characters (especially the GeSun couple). I am especially touched by people who joined MDL just to push back against haters.

We can journey on in peace, knowing there are so many silent protectors out there.

Actually, I feel that there is not a lot of interest in that. Most demand for comparison comes from people who read the manhua first and then watched the drama, and then come here and ask, how come the screenwriters did not do this and that. By now, very few people are asking those kinds of questions. Most people have accepted the fact that the screenwriters did their best and are rather happy with this adaptation of the manhua

That is the case for me. As I read through the pages of the manhua, I can see the differences. Yet, I can more or less understand why they changed it in the drama.

Oh?? That is rather interesting. I don't follow her in her variety shows. Only watched one episode of her in Running Man, when she was with Yang Mi.

But I find her mannarism in TLB truly manly. Lots of her gestures. Lots of production crew members must have taught her reall well.

In Eternal Love of Dream, she was totally feminine. Maybe I was not paying too much attention to her sitting style there.

Yes, and it would have taken them zero amount of time. When the eagle is flying the narration can start. And even before the eagle's flight is over the narration would have ended. And then the camera can zoom in on AS.

Once Li Changge's age is made known, we can easily guess how old AS, Leyand the rest will be. The most important will still be her age, since she is the most important character in the whole drama.

I see this kind of narration in lots of dramas, to set the context for drama. So sad they did not do it for TLB.

To be honest, I only knew about her age when I came here to this forum and found out from manhua readers. So, yah, a short narration at the beginning would have set the context right and help so many of us understand the beginning episodes better. I suspect many people just dropped it early on, thinking that Li Changge is in her 20s, (because of Dilraba's age), and she would so implusive in those early episodes.

Oh, the author had some kind of issue with her former agency, so it will be while before she can complete it. And now that the drama is out, even if she continues, it will no longer the same manhua. She will likely have to continue were the drama left off.

If you wish to read the manhua, there is a link above, in the recent discussion section. It is in pdf format. High resolution, so easy on the eyes.

We all know, because we have been around. Please see my response to Fighter of Destiny.

That is the thing. Not all viewers will take the trouble to check Chang Ge Xin wiki. And not all viewers would have read the manhua.

I just thought, perhaps it would have been nice if right after the opening sequence showing Changge falling into the river, where they showed that eagle flying over the city of Chang'an, they have a narrator read a line (with running words by the side) that says it was AD 626, days before the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Changge was 14 years old. Something like that. Would have taken only a few seconds. Would have set the context for the drama,

That would have helped viewers to understand her impulsive behaviour in the earlier episodes (particularly for international viewers who may not have read the manhua or heard of the Xuanwu gate incident or read the Changge Xin Wiki page or even come to the MDL page, before they started watching this drama).

Just a thot

I think different people will likely choose different crying scenes from Reba, to say which is her best. I think I did discuss this with one or two of you.

Not sure if you were having that snow walk scene in your mind when you wrote that last para, but it will fit nicely. It would be most complex crying scene. She did not burst out like a water fountain, but she will have silent tears rolling down her checks. Look at this scene again very very carefully, and you will see tears trickling down her cheeks, some as if frozen by the cold weather, as if that was all that was left in her tear ducts, after crying for A'Dou and the Gongsun couple.

There in that scene, would be emotion of a battered spirit (what else can it be, when you are surrendering to an enemy?), loss of people she loved (the Gongsun couple), couldn't understand the world or a sense of betrayal (as she flashback those scenes of her and AS in better times - in her mind, she must have thought, "I thought you were my friend Ashun. Never in mind would I have imagined you are a Tegin, Ashile Sun, a leader of my enemy troops. Were you just playing with my feelings when you rescued me from the river, pretending to be my friend as spoke on the bridge, or when you caught me falling down that roof?).

A forlorn figure in the snow, cast against thousands of Ashile troops, all wanting AS to kill her. All, except Mujin.

Yet, her bravery will counter all those negative emotions. She had to stay strong and negotiate with Ashile Sun the terms of the surrender. If she had broken down in front on him, he may not buy her story that there are explosives planted in the city, and Tang soldiers were prepared to die with Ashile troops should they want to charge in and kill all the people.

I think this is also the very reason why this drama might not have appealed to as wide an audience as some of Reba's previous dramas.

The Li Changge character is just far too complex for many to want to invest the kind of time in trying to understand her. We had to google to find out more about Xuanwu Gate incident. We had to go back to the manhua to understand more about her age (or refer to internet sites to do that).

A lot of people are just popcorn viewers. They want a bowl of popcorn and a bottle of coke, and as they eat and drink, everything will be done for them. No need for immersive watching and analytical thinking of any sort. No wonder romantic comedies are so popular.

Unfortunately, TLB is not like that. Thoughtful and more analytical viewers will find this a total gem. The plot will level up to their thinking prowess and even stretch their thinking process, and not be an insult to their intelligence.

Correct me if I am wrong, in the manhua, there is no Mobei at all. Changge and the elderly Mr Qin will go to Uyghur, so that Changge can find her roots, as she knows that her mother is an Uyghur. Shiba will be her bodyguard. There in Uyghur, they will meet Pusa, which, as it turned out, would be her maternal uncle, and also the Changge's maternal grandmother.

In the drama, Uyghur became Mobei. They changed the name, because geographically, Uyghur (in the manhua) would be Xinjiang. And as we all know, lots of western press and western nations are not happy with the way China is treating the Uyghur people in Xinjiang. So, they decided to do away with Changge's Uyghur roots, and just portrayed Pusa as the king of Pusa, with no biological relations to Changge.

I am not so sure this has anything to do with censorship laws in China, as the manhua did not portray anything bad about the way the Uyghurs. But, in terms of international audience, this might help. Audience from the west, on learning about Changge roots may feel that this is a propaganda drama, to show how well the Uyghurs are treated, that it plays such a prominent role in this drama.

Doing away withe Uyghur arc will make this drama neutral, as in we do not read too much into Changge's Uyghur roots. What's more, ethnically, Dilraba is an Uyghur. All the more audience from the west might see this drama as Chinese propaganda (see! How well an Uyghur actress, she will get such a major role in an historical Chinese drama.

Reading your comments, I am so glad that Wu Lei is not as 'pretty' as Reba. Or else, some people will say that they were lesbians in the drama

I love all of your additional comments on the other hairstyles!!
Yes, poor Shiba! In the manhua she looks totally cool! She has a full battle armour and her hairstyle is quite nice!

I think in this short clip, we are unable to
'see' the context, so may not be able to fully appreciate the emotion in her eyes. For instance, E15, we can only appreciate her emotional intensity, when we see her grief in the context of the Gongun couple giving up their lives, he for the citizens of Shouzhou, she, to keep him company in her next life. And the old Mr Qin, reminding her why they gave up their lives, and asked her to reflect upon her path.

It is not a long scene. But when we immerse ourselves in that scene, we can see how 'beautifully' she cried, capturing what must have been a mixed bag of emotions of pain, sadness, and perhaps even shame (when she compared the Gongsun couples' path with hers).

Thanks. But this does not truly capture her emotion of sadness. More a short summary. To feel the full impact of her crying scenes, we will need to re-watch all those episodes where she cried. Not the entire episodes, but just a few moments, prior to her crying.

All I can say, she did an amazing job! Whoever who says she cannot perform crying scene well really needs to go for an eye check up.

Yes, most of Dilraba's past were indeed not as impactful as her role in TLB. Her role in TLB is just unique. I doubt she will be able to get a role like this again. I am not saying she will not get a better role. But just not as complex as Li Changge.

If you wish to start on something of her past drama that is still reasonably good, that will be Eternal Love of Dream. That drama was only aired last year. And it has the same director as TLB. That drama is of a different genre. It is a fantasy drama, not a historical drama. In short, everything is fictional. She did perform her character well. And she did look beautiful in that drama as well.

I would fully agree with you. Her cross dressing role was perfect. Close to perfect maybe. I will say 99%. The 1% that is short is due to her bust size. Nothing they can do about that. There was a scene here and there, when she tried to walk like a guy, her chest will be protruding. And it is hard not to know that she is woman. We can easily overlook that, because that is absolutely nothing she could do about it. Whatever she COULD do to portray accurately as a man, she did.

You are very ambitious. I am not sure I can find the time to do that. If you are suggesting I do double posting, meaning post stuff here as well as there (so that the thoughts will not get lost) I can do that. But I doubt I have the time to sort things in any systematic order. Will take lots of time. And there are simply far too many differences between the manhua and the drama, lots of which are rather umimportant. Not much point capturing those.

It may be long and lengthy, but you have captured all the essential points in their beautiful relationship. We need not be afraid of those who keep pushing the Haoyan relationship and degrade the GeSun relationship.

If they just talk about Haoyan, we don't even mind. But when they start degrading GeSun, they just get themselves into trouble here. They are far outnumbered, and will be no match for GeSun lovers. The more they try to degrade, the more they reveal what they are capable of understanding and what is simply beyond their ability to comprehend.

You did a beautiful summary and I really have nothing to add. Except one small point to your point 20. AS was not shot to his heart. If that arrow hit his heart, he would have died. He was shot in the chest, but that arrow missed his vital organs. Maybe missed his heart by inches. Helped came fast enough, and with constant care and Changge's love, he recovered.

Other parts of what you are very beautiful. It more or less summarises the position of 99.9% of the people here in this forum. The .1%, you don't need to worry about them. They just make a lot of empty noise.