WK1

By time lag, I meant the short time between the time you hit the post button and the time others have already posted theirs. So, when I was typing my post, I did not see her post at all. It was only till after I hit mine that I saw hers, even though by that time, she had already hit her post button about 15 mins before I did.

Not sure I explained it well, or caused you even more confusion.

I have watched E8. Do you want me to give you the answer?

No one knows, for sure. Just come back to this page every 2-3 days. Once it is out, someone will surely let you know.

Have you watched the drama? Judging from your comments, the drama is lighter than the novel. There are sweet moments of happiness in the drama. Her life is not a life of constant pain.

I think this could be deliberate. Drama viewers may not be able to handle as much pain as novel readers, so there are indeed moments of sweetness and days of peace for Ji Yun He in the drama.

Hard to say. What is your benchmark?? Which Chinese fantasy drama are you comparing TBW with, to cause you to feel this way?

Nicole, please wait. Watching with poor sub can cause you to misunderstand what is going on. You end up having to re-watch. With good subs, you just need to watch once. Even if you want to do re-watch, it is better to watch this drama twice or thrice, using good subs.

I am only watching this in raw, while waiting for subs, because as an overseas Chinese, my Mandarin is passable.

But, I did not read the novel! You can see that there are a few non-Chinese here who have read the novel. They are watching this in the raw and seems to be enjoying it!! Quite amazing, I must say. They must charmed by the beautiful CGI, or simply big fans of Dilraba and Allen and want to watch them in a drama, subs or no subs.

Totally. This is really ancient stuff. So they use Mandarin phrases we do not normally use in the 21st Century.

When I watched this in raw, I needed to do two things simultaneously. Listen and watch their actions. Even with that kind of multi-tasking, I can only understand about 50-60% of what is going on. The rest, I just made assumptions, which could well be wrong!

Yet, we do not need to care too much for the moment, since we will be watching later. Whatever we do not understand will be cleared up, once the subs are here.

My own interpretation of her character is rather simple. In the drama, they deliberately make her character slightly manipulative at the beginning, but then she changed gradually as her interactions with Changyi deepens and she learns more about Changyi.

That was the basis of her love for Changyi, when she found that he would be willing to make huge personal sacrifices for her. This trope is not new. Lots of historical and modern dramas use this trope.

That is how I see things. You might see it differently, though. Especially since you read the novel. Which is why I said it is so interesting to exchange notes, between those who read and those who did not read the novel. We are likely to see things differently.

Oh, in that case, let me clear it up for you. You can be absolutely and totally sure that my post was not directed at your analyses, which I happen to appreciate very much.

While I may not have read the book, I have always been interested in what book readers think about this drama. I told lots of people from the pages of TLB whom I know nearly a year ago, who did read the novel, that when the time is right, we should compare notes. They, from the viewpoint of those read the novel; me, from the viewpoint of those who did not read the novel.

But, I just didn't think that now is the right time to do it. To compare notes. It is too early. Too early for us to know if changes in the drama made it superior or inferior, compared to the novel. In particular, because many of us are watching it raw.

Non-novel readers who watch it raw will definitely not have full understanding of the drama, unless their Mandarin and Chinese are really good, and no one here is in that category. We are all crying for the Eng sub. I only understand about 50% of the dialogues and making inferences about the story based on the cast's facial expressions and their actions. I most certainly need Eng sub to better understand the rest of the dialogues. This is especially so, because we are dealing with a historical drama. Modern Chinese drama is a different story, as the usage of Chinese phrases has changed over the years.

Please do note that posts in MDL do have a time lapse. So, when I started typing my post, your original post was not up. We were typing our post concurrently. But I took longer time to type mine. It is longer, and I took a lot of time, because I wanted to make sure I explained myself well.

So, you finished yours first, and hit the 'post' button, and hence yours appeared before mine. Probably about 10-15 mins before mine. But, I did not read it, as I was still typing mine.

So, it was really interesting that after I posted mine, and went to read your post, I realised that your analyses ran straight into my comments!

But you need not worry. A number of people here know me very well. And they know that I have no fear whatsoever in confronting people directly. If I had wanted to tell you something, I will do it directly. I will not do it indirectly via another post. That will be too underhanded for me.

Haha! Most certainly not. It took me a long long while to type that post. And I only read yours, after I finished mine. So, no, it was not directed toward you.

I have watched lots of dramas, so I know that sooner or later, some people will compare drama with novel. I had even wanted to write a post like that, even before TBW started.

So, you can be 100% sure, my post is NOT directed at your post. Have no worries.

Of course you can be disappointed for now. And you are entitled to be disappointed, as those scenes were so personal to you.

See, this is the reason why I did not want to read a novel , before I start to watch a drama. I am really afraid that I will be so attached to certain scenes that, if they should change them, I will be heartbroken.

You said you love Dilraba. You know her drama, The Long Ballad? I stayed on that page for months. And I came across a number of people who came to that page and said, I do not like the drama. They made Li Changge different from the manhua. In the manhua, Li Changge is so smart, no need to be rescued by Ashile Sun. But in the drama, she seemed so helpless, so silly. Making so many mistakes. And they told me, they do not want to watch that drama, because of that.

I felt so sad for those people, because they missed a great great drama. Dilraba acted so well in that drama.

Incidentally, the director for TLB is also the director of TBW.

So, yah, if it helps you, it is not a bad idea to look at the novel and the drama as two different stories. Perhaps, that way, you might feel less sad??

But, perhaps, it may not be necessary too! They may well add scenes or stories to the drama that will make it even more intense and more sad than what you find in the novel??

Haha! Most certainly not. It took me a long long while to type that post. And I only read yours, after I finished mine. So, no, it was not directed toward you.

I have watched lots of dramas, so I know that sooner or later, some people will compare drama with novel. I had even wanted to write a post like that, even before TBW started.

Then, I thought there was no necessity, because so many novel readers said they are following the novel. Till I read some posts, not yours, which suggested that in the drama, they made Ji Yun He far more manipulative than she was in the novel.

So, you can be 100% sure, my post is NOT directed at you. Have no worries.

You can watch it raw now, on the unofficial channels. And then do a re-watch, when the subs are out on Croton Media. That way, both your objectives are met (not wanting to wait, but also wanting to support the drama)

So far, it is good. So, re-watching will hardly be a waste of time.

I love your analyses. Very very constructive. Especially the part on the differences between the novel and the drama. I did not read the novel, but, I can see where you are coming from.

But this director is a very experienced director. Those changes you mentioned, he might have reasons for making them. And these reasons may only be found in later episodes?? Because, we are now only at E8. Maybe they will add stuff that are far more emotional?? More intense??

I understand. But, it does seem that lots of viewers have complained that many historical cdramas are excessively long. Lot of them have 'filler' episodes, just to lengthen the drama. Some of those dramas you mentioned, they were very well done, so we dnot feel that they are very long. But, there are some really bad ones which are really long too.

Hence, over time, the censorboard in China have been asking producers to reduce the number of episodes. Make their dramas shorter and tighter.

In some ways, this is good. It forces screenwriters and directors to be more parsimomous. Write tighter scripts. Don't beat around the bush. I think you know what I mean.

If you look at the trend of Korean dramas, it is the same. Over the years, they have become shorter and shorter.

Warning: This is a long post. Do not read, if you do not like long posts.

Drama Adaptations:

I know that some of you are not happy with the changes you see in the drama,
compared to what is in the novel. But, this is to be expected

There are basically two kinds of novel writers.

Type 1; They hold their works very dear to their hearts. They do not want anyone to touch or change it. The author of You are my glory, Gu Man, is one such person. Whenever producer wants to buy the rights to her novels, the condition is that she must be the screenwriter. Hence, there are very little changes to all the dramas based on her novels. Why should there be, when she is the screenwriter and her treats all her works like her babies (I meant this as an analogy, not literal). I am not much of a novel reader, but lots of my friends from the page of The Long Ballad are. So, when we watched You Are My Glory, many of them said, my goodness, some of the dialogues are taken right from the novel!

Gu Man is not the only author who is Type 1.

Type 2: These writers are definitely not like Type 1. When producers buy the rights to their works, they do not mind to let a third party screenwriter change it. They get their money and they are very happy.

The author of the novel that TBW is based on belongs to Type 2. Her name is Jiu Lu Fei Xiang, She wrote many novels and many of them have been successfully adapted to Chinese dramas. And in many of them, she is not the screenwriter. TBW is a very good example. Another lady, Li Jing Ling, is the screenwriter.

For Type 2 authors, when we watch drama adaptations based on their works, we must expect changes. If the original novel writers are not concerned about it, why should we? And, director Chu (or Zhu) is a very very experienced director, who have directed many blockbuster Xianxia dramas (Ashes of Love; ELOD; Noble Aspirations; Noble Aspirations 2).

We are now only into episode 8. Please do not make any premature conclusion that changes made thus far have somehow made this drama inferior, compare to the novel. If I am not wrong, Jiu Lu Fei Xiang herself is watching TBW and she is enjoying it. I read in twitter, she is enjoying Dilraba's interpretation of Ji Yun He. I really wish I had kept the link to that tweet, but I did not, and now I am not sure I can find it again.

Normally, when an author's work has been brutalised by the screenwriter and director, they will make lots of noise and really complain about it in the social media. In this case, nothing. Not a single complain from Ms Jiu.

So, whether we are watching it raw now, or watching it with Eng sub later, watch the entire drama first. Let us just enjoy episode as it comes. Perhaps, when we come to the later episodes, we may better appreciate why the screenwriter and director made the changes that they did. Our conclusion then could be very different from our opinion now.

Given the great experience of this director and the writing skill of the screenwriter (she also wrote The Rebel Princess, staring the great actress Zhang Ziyi), many of us have confidence that TBW will be a great drama.

P.S. This is a general post. I am not 'attacking' anyone in particular, but simply offering an opinion.

To all others, as Elena have hidden her original post, if you have some views, please join in the discussion. Please put your comment in spoiler, so that others who do not wish to read do not have to open your comment.

First question and my apologies. Which episode is this in? I have watched all the 8 episodes. I want to re-watch it, before I discuss with you, so that I do not refer to the wrong things.