Xiang83

This is a drama which easily polarises viewers, especially if one cottons on to certain problems within the first four episodes. Aesthetics and music hit the mark. Fight scenes could benefit from more urgency at times. GJM's biggest problems boil down to not properly fleshing out the fundamental themes of karma and debt that he was paying homage to via two Tsui Hark movies, plus his refusal to put a stopper on self-indulgences for one sub-plot which nearly derails this entire drama (wrt Zhao Yuanzhou, which made it difficult to watch Zhao Yuanzhou without feeling disgusted alongside pity, for at least twenty episodes). I gave my views below in-detail, while wondering how people missed the problems with GJM's portrayal of Zhao Yuanzhou:

https://kisskh.at/755301-the-story-of-mystics#comment-22919316

To keep the comment section easy to scroll, this is under a Spoiler Tag:

I managed to enjoy myself growing up and watching so many different types of movies and dramas in multiple languages as a kid and teenager, and all of them did not depend on any PDA to be memorable. "Mind Your Language"(UK) and "Perfect Strangers"(USA) were introduced to me in the 90s.

2003 movie "Azumi" starring Ueto Aya was very enjoyable. Strong secondary cast with their own unforgettable stories, for a simple plot coupled with action since the focus was a bunch of young assassins set in 19th century Japan.

2003 movie "Zatoichi" by Beat Takeshi is awesome. A great introduction to samurai movies by combining comedy and tradition, if one isn't ready for the intensity of Kurosawa Akira's movies.

2001 movie "Yamakasi : Les Samouraïs des temps modernes" is a modern day Robin Hood movie about seven men with memorable individual characteristics trying to save the life of a young boy using their parkour skills.

2008 movie "Tropic Thunder" is a timeless gem of parody and comedy which will never grace the likes of Hollywood again.

2009 drama series "Love Shuffle" - Brilliant cast, wit and plot. Primarily about psychology, humour, individuals and suspense in uncovering a certain mystery about one of their "partners" while overcoming personal challenges, due to eight people agreeing to swap "partners" (not in the sense you are thinking). The romance is driven by the plot and characters' development. You want a modern Japanese rom-com laced with humour and wit and heart, this is what I'd recommend. The elevator scene is unforgettable. Note that some bits of humour may escape one due to the timeframe, such as the reference to “Uso da to itte yo, Joe!” and "Yay panda!"

For something more recent, I would recommend the 2023 Belgium movie "Here" by Bas Devos, about a Romanian construction worker having an unexpected encounter with a Chinese-Belgian bryologist after he set out to say goodbye to his friends with a pot of home-cooked borscht soup. Together, through looking at moss and forgotten nooks of the city they live in, two strangers form an unlikely friendship possibly leading to something else. But as to whether it does, the film ends on the note that it does: Intriguing and memorably sweet. You'll never look at a city and moss in the same way again.

There's a lot of good or excellent movies and dramas out there. But I acknowledge I am not into romance. Also because if there is romance, I expect it to be good or brilliant, meaning it actually requires a standard of effort from screenwriters and directors to either contribute to the plot or the characters, and help connect the audience to both. Otherwise I will gladly skip.

Feel free to add your own gems. If people want to only keep going on about the age gap (which isn't that big) and/or Ai Mi as a minor but avoid addressing those of us who can point out ignorance and self-entitlement rife in those assumptions, it is safe to assume they are just here to bash and not genuinely interested in anything else.

For a guy who looks amazing in historical costume dramas, the man does not hold still for the equivalent of modern shots. I uploaded something from his official douyin account posted last month, so let's see if that is approved. Although now I think about it, there is a photo on weibo that looks rather good.

Considering how much carrying HMH is doing for this drama, at least it gives him incentive to stay in shape XD

And your new avatar is nice!

Maybe if you find different links from different sites, you could maybe list them as 1a (weibo), 1b (douyin) and 1c (tiktok) so people know it is the same clip only different option?

In the comment just below this comment of yours, I have found certain clips for Khaana on douyin, since weibo is not accessible.

Khaana since you cannot open weibo, I will use douyin for the better clips of the compilation.

P2 is this - https://so.douyin.com/video/detail?aweme_id=7530810481196780860

P4 is this - https://so.douyin.com/video/detail?aweme_id=7530927625742322986

P5 is roughly 25 seconds long, then joined to P3 in this same upload- https://so.douyin.com/video/detail?aweme_id=7530894551478160667

P9 is this - https://so.douyin.com/video/detail?aweme_id=7530700511529192744

I edited my long comment to post part of a translation of a song as per how it would be perceived from a single POV, along with footage from episode 32 from a fan's POV. This was noticed by a fair number of mandarin speakers (not just me) when we listened to the song, before episode 32 was released.

Zhao Yuanzhou was never in love with Zhuo Yichen for the entire FoF. IQiyi's atrocious subtitles can be blamed for many people thinking Zhao Yuanzhou and Zhuo Yichen are a pair. Canon-wise, Zhao Yuanzhou was in love with Wen Xiao and vice versa. Where GJM screwed up was to create enough footage to imply that Zhao Yuanzhou and Li Lun also had a relationship encompassing friends and family and more than that. I simply addressed all of it.

Khaana, please put full-stops between your sentences. By the way, can you open douyin? Or you cannot open weibo and douyin?

Such as:

Okay! I know. I'm new! When I'm excited I do so many errors in writing. Please guide me in writing comments. Sorry, next time I'll be careful. Don't be sad.

Sorry to hear about your grandfather's situation. I am glad he has you. This drama is worth watching for all the noteworthy points as per your observations, but until which episode will depend on the viewer (as per what I listed in my comment to complete the review involving spoilers).

The acting was a bit uneven from the actors for Zhuo Yi Chen and Bai Jiu as you pointed out. Tian Jiarui did a good job overall considering his character was expected to go from one emotional extreme to the other while remaining stoic.

As to the cutting and pasting that you observed very astutely, this boils down to the number of original writers for the original script, number of screenwriters, number of directors, and final edits.

For the original script, four writers including GJM was involved. For the directors, three directors including GJM were involved. Six people were involved in the screenwriting, but I don't know the influence distribution for the various components including screenwriting.

With all this in mind, that's a key reason for why I praised the interpretation of characters by cast members such as Neo Hou, Chen Duling, Yan An and Xu Zhen Xuan. Since GJM gets the final say, I can fault him for his indulgences.

And elsewhere, a fair number of viewers observed what I observed but couldn't be as precise due to a language barrier. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of non-mandarin speakers who only wanted me to confirm if their guesses were true, so I provided the necessary in translations and context since IQiyi subtitles are so misleading for dialogue (especially between Zhao Yuanzhou and Zhuo Yi Chen).

There's a discussion post of certain details posted more than 10 days ago above.

I can also see why your comments rub people the wrong way. And then of course, you seem to be quite unaware of certain details (such as the Director whose first movies as lead director was not romantic but serious), so let me help you by C-and-Ping one of my comments to another poster:

[ Your point about the age gap between actors and actresses is appreciated.

That said, there are several people complaining about Ai Mi being a minor in this drama, while projecting their beliefs about what they see as necessary romance in a drama onto this drama and conflating their beliefs as necessary to portray a non-platonic relationship while ignoring everything else vital about this project... Such as the director, the script, Ai Mi's widely varied body of hard work ever since she started acting as a child to get to this role, or the fact that it is possible to have a good or excellent drama without overt romantic gestures. Given the first choice was Huangyang Tian Tian followed by Ai Mi, Ai Mi and Huangyuan Tian Tian cement the fact that the FL has to look a certain young age, which the likes of Li Landi or Ju Jingyi cannot carry off.

I am glad this director is in charge because he gives me the best hopes for a historical C-drama that I am used to: Conveying the impact of strong bonds in different types of relationships, without kissing, skinship or groping. This also means tradition plus inventiveness is required, to portray two individuals holding zero trust into becoming a strong true bond between husband and wife.

The Empress of China at 82 episodes of 45 minutes each was at least 55 episodes of a main plot, subplots and mostly-commendable acting without PDA. I don't know about the people slamming this drama because their primary complaint is Ai Mi as a minor, but there was a time in C-dramas (modern and historical) when a good or excellent drama didn't involve all the overt Western PDA gestures that I and others prefer to be kept out of C-dramas (unless it is comedy or serves a vital plot point).

I also know that happens to be the preference among certain older generations who don't want this in C-dramas. How does face-mashing/skinship/groping empower the script or enhance the story or deepen connections between viewers and the characters? Great fanservice for some fans, huge turn-off to other viewers. That is why a good solid story, a reliable experienced director, and a capable screenwriter are as primarily vital as the cast.

I'll hope this director doesn't disappoint me. So far, he's zooming in on the small details that I expect.

The historical drama "Su Ji" was directed by him and finished in July 2021 starring Li Landi and Zhu Zheng Ting, but not yet released. It provides an insight into his work, which I summarised in a comment here:

https://kisskh.at/790870-que-gu#comment-22893982 ]

Put your comment under a spoiler, even though it is not confirmed.

Unlike Su Ji, at least this drama will air and see the ML in red, unlike the other ML in red.

Thank you for the compilation! I wonder how many can open douyin versus opening tiktok.

Your point about the age gap between actors and actresses is appreciated.

That said, there are several people complaining about Ai Mi being a minor in this drama, while projecting their beliefs about what they see as necessary romance in a drama onto this drama and conflating their beliefs as necessary to portray a non-platonic relationship while ignoring everything else vital about this project... Such as the director, the script, Ai Mi's widely varied body of hard work ever since she started acting as a child to get to this role, or the fact that it is possible to have a good or excellent drama without overt romantic gestures. Given the first choice was Huangyang Tian Tian followed by Ai Mi, Ai Mi and Huangyuan Tian Tian cement the fact that the FL has to look a certain young age, which the likes of Li Landi or Ju Jingyi cannot carry off.

I am glad this director is in charge because he gives me the best hopes for a historical C-drama that I am used to: Conveying the impact of strong bonds in different types of relationships, without kissing, skinship or groping. This also means tradition plus inventiveness is required, to portray two individuals holding zero trust into becoming a strong true bond between husband and wife.

The Empress of China at 82 episodes of 45 minutes each was at least 55 episodes of a main plot, subplots and mostly-commendable acting without PDA. I don't know about the people slamming this drama because their primary complaint is Ai Mi as a minor, but there was a time in C-dramas (modern and historical) when a good or excellent drama didn't involve all the overt Western PDA gestures that I and others prefer to be kept out of C-dramas (unless it is comedy or serves a vital plot point).

I also know that happens to be the preference among certain older generations who don't want this in C-dramas. How does face-mashing/skinship/groping empower the script or enhance the story or deepen connections between viewers and the characters? Great fanservice for some fans, huge turn-off to other viewers. That is why a good solid story, a reliable experienced director, and a capable screenwriter are as primarily vital as the cast.

I'll hope this director doesn't disappoint me. So far, he's zooming in on the small details that I expect.

The historical drama "Su Ji" was directed by him and finished in July 2021 starring Li Landi and Zhu Zheng Ting, but not yet released. It provides an insight into his work, which I summarised in a comment here:

https://kisskh.at/790870-que-gu#comment-22893982

Dearie, please separate your thoughts into sentences and put a full-stop between each sentence. Could you do that for your confusing comment above?

I strongly believes it makes a difference for understanding this drama, wrt Mandarin. That said, I was quite surprised by the number of non-mandarin-speaking anti-Zhao Yuanzhou fans all picking up on certain details quite apparent to me but less apparent to them only because of a language barrier.

I discovered that via comments to my fanfiction for this drama XD

I posted my review above, and the review includes a link to a comment that answers why I see Zhao Yuanzhou in a certain manner and frankly, it is GJM's fault.

I am not blaming GJM for the beauty of his efforts. Where GJM screwed up was his refusal to have limitations on self-indulgences. For the original story, four writers including GJM were involved. For the directors, three directors including GJM were involved. Six people were involved in the screenwriting. I am certain GJM had the final say.

I am about to post a review above, but the spoilers relevant to the review will be posted below because I don't want them to be shown in the review.

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Spoilers to complete this review (if you have watched until Episode 30 or don’t mind spoilers beyond Episode 1, then continue reading)

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Kudos to the cast, especially the performances and efforts of two main leads whose interpretation of a script was not given more deserving screentime in the final editing decisions. Neo Minghou turned in a wonderful performance with a spot-on interpretation of a character which could have been a mess given the director’s flaws, while Chen Duling made the best of a character poorly written after her strong opening in the first episode of this drama.

Yan An’s performance was enthralling considering the ambiguities of his character Li Lun. Xu Zhenxuan as Ying Lei was much-needed charm and practicality, his presence brightening the screen with his portrayal of ideas such as throwing a unique spice mix on a certain demon and thus enabling him to smell and find that demon regardless of where the demon hides.

As someone who is not a fan of any actors or actresses in this drama, the director’s seemingly favourite actor (judging by screentime) was unfortunately more limited in character development for this script than a standout portrayal as Gong Yuanzhi in My Journey To You by the same director. Screentime involving this actor would have benefitted from at least ten minutes being allotted to Chen Duling, to better illustrate her character and help viewers understand her importance as the glue of the team. One example is her time spent in the sundial, whereby seeing her struggle to grow the Divine Wood would have helped the audience connect with her character as the Baize Goddess.

IQiyi’s subtitles have always veered between being somewhat decent to atrocious (atrocious, for leaving out key context and details). This primary factor leaning towards the latter for conversations is why (for example) a scene between two male characters in Coroner’s Diary to thoroughly address a significant mistake made by one of them became completely misconstrued primarily as a dirty joke and would result in totally missing the emotional weight of that conversation, if you relied only on the subtitles to understand dialogue.

This also helps enable all sorts of shipping to occur between various characters of this drama from the viewer, which helps this drama to have a larger international reach and is good for IQiyi plus all actors involved.

In episode 8, Zhuo Yichen gives a jade piece to Zhao Yuanzhou, which Zhao Yuanzhou praises as beautiful. Despite scenic beauty of this seemingly touching exchange, Zhao Yuanzhou in his teasing alludes to humans have a saying, "亲兄弟，明算帐" (even between brothers, accounts must be settled). The full meaning is not conveyed in the English subtitles of IQiyi, as one example. Needling Zhuo Yichen on this debt is embarrassing and infuriating to Zhuo Yichen. If I was brought up with rules of honour as per my clan and I hate owing people especially a demon I want to kill for murdering my older brother and father and clansmen, and this demon did not give me any face by reminding me of the extent of my inferiority to him and what I owe him… Only makes one more determined to kill him. Not romantic by a longshot.

The first four episodes of this drama (based on the mandarin title alone, I could already guess most of the cast would perish and hence awaken from a temporary dream of unique shared preciousness) made for uneasy viewing about the two main characters of Wen Xiao and Zhao Yuanzhou, relative to Li Lun. Episodes 4 to 6 in the first viewing had me wondering why Zhao Yuanzhou was behaving as if Li Lun had betrayed Zhao Yuanzhou in some unforgivable manner and whether Zhao Yuanzhou had done something wrong to Li Lun.

Pagoda Tree Demon Li Lun of Huaijiang Valley is sealed by Wen Xiao’s predecessor for killing humans, and this was only possible because his childhood companion White Ape Demon Zhu Yan of Mount Xiaoci intervened and prevented the Baize goddess from being swiftly murdered. In episode 1, Zhu Yan now known as Zhao Yuanzhou shows no hesitation or remorse when telling Zhuo Yichen he will kill the guards if Zhuo Yichen does not sheath his sword, then proceeds to easily explode the heart of one guard to make his point.

How can it be acceptable that Li Lun deserves to be mortally wounded by his best friend of more than thirty thousand years and sealed for eternity, due to being incredibly furious at finding beasts and demons enslaved underground for experiments or worse and hence making a mistake of killing humans, but Zhao Yuanzhou’s freedom despite killing many more humans than Li Lun is acceptable because Zhao Yuanzhou has been remorseful and wants to die? What if I believe that Zhao Yuanzhou doing so in episode one is because he wants Zhuo Yichen to promise to kill him with the Cloud Light Sword in order to try to break the cycle of a unique vessel for malicious energy? Zhao Yuanzhou intentionally chose to kill a random guard who might have had family and loved ones, including other humans when he was unable to control himself during a blood moon until he learned to do so. Li Lun intentionally chose to kill humans after what he witnessed of demons and beasts in cages underground enraging him.

How is it acceptable to excuse Zhao Yuanzhou with the ends justify the means" in killing a human yet deserving of freedom to roam all these years, because the Ever-Burning Wood made him lose control during blood moons? Because Zhao Yuanzhou is supposed to be the male lead and has half the Baize token in him? Why is Li Lun considered irredeemably evil and should be sealed forever, for getting enraged at what Li Lun sees as deception from humans? When we do a body count, Zhao Yuanzhou killed more people than Li Lun. How is the Great Demon supposedly more emotionally mature and favoured by the demon hunting team supposedly more morally excusable than the Great Demon being a plant demon understandably of slower emotional growth who mistakenly thought humans had deceived demons and beasts, only to end up badly betrayed and abandoned by his so-called best friend without any explanations or apologies?

Zhao Yuanzhou’s treatment of Li Lun is impossible to accept. Li Lun is the individual that Zhu Yan spent more than 99% of his life with. The main hero lies about Li Lun and minimises Li Lun’s significance to himself with the demon hunting team, until he cannot do it anymore in episode 30.

This main male lead extends understanding and compassion to people whom he has known for less than several days or weeks or years including the likes of Qinggeng, but denies such kindness to his friend of more than 34,000 years. He also favours humans over demons to the point that he looks unfair. Li Lun’s skills involve being able to parasitise humans, and doing so will kill humans. But how is Li Lun supposed to stay sane, when imprisoned for eternity within a cave only to live through cycles of semi-darkness and darkness? Did Li Lun’s most trusted friend ever visit him to apologise for the fatal wound inflicted via the Ever-Burning Wood, during those eight years of imprisonment? No.

In short, Zhao Yuanzhou does his best to bury history and avoid facing his mistakes with this precious friend whom he fatally wounded and only preserved that one’s life by awarding a fate worse than death. Should Li Lun thank Zhu Yan for being literally buried alive for all eternity, only to find out Zhu Yan seems to have easily replaced Li Lun with a new bunch of friends without looking back? Without being able to parasitise humans, Li Lun would have gone completely insane. Anybody who wants to live will find a way to free themselves, in Li Lun's circumstances.

Li Lun's behaviour is not excusable for what he does to demons such as Ranyi and Qinggeng, but the extent of PTSD due to experiencing a bond of 34,000 years being fundamentally betrayed would be devastating and can drive one half-mad. Such cowardice from the main lead of this story towards a bosom childhood friend since existence is completely distasteful to me. I felt sorry for Wen Xiao falling in love with the main character, when Zhuo Yichen was a much more-fitting candidate for her love.

Neo Hou gave a stellar performance significantly making tolerable the distaste I had for the main character throughout more than 20 episodes, whenever I found myself by turns pitying and disgusted with Zhao Yuanzhou. The humour was also spot-on, to lighten a dark drama laden with a fundamental theme of inevitable karma. But in rewatching the drama a second time, I could understand why Zhao Yuanzhou would have to adopt such an approach: Being too sentimental while emotionally not an example Li Lun or any other demon should emulate, to fully comprehend the depths and extent of his betrayal and cowardice towards Li Lun would be too much for Zhao Yuanzhou to face.

Sealing Li Lun to keep Li Lun alive with the curse of the Ever-Burning Wood even if he knowingly consigned his closest friend to a fate worse than death for eternity, using the primordial root to keep Li Lun alive- He could willingly delay his own death, but not if he witnesses Li Lun leaving him behind to die first. Not addressing the necessary with Li Lun led to Li Lun’s karma creating his karma: Watching Li Lun leave him behind to face Wen Zongyu, then being hit with the full impact of finally realising what you have irreversibly lost and how dear that person is to you.

My issues with Zhao Yuanzhou as a character can be attributed to GJM’s choices of self-indulgence. In the case of Li Lun and Zhao Yuanzhou, GJM allotted much of their shared limited screentime to:

1) Zhu Yan wants a paper windmill he views as very pretty and mistook for a hair ornament, to insert into Li Lun’s hair. In ancient China, when does an adult go around easily inserting a hair pin or hair ornament into another adult’s hair? Hint: Not usually platonic.

2) Zhao Yuanzhou being very emotionally reactive and/or defensive when exchanging words with Li Lun or tearing up with Li Lun. What percentage of their shared screentime resulted in such reactions from Zhao Yuanzhou, when compared to other characters with Zhao Yuanzhou?

3) Zhu Yan gave his Illusion-Dispelling Eyes of Truth to Li Lun to make Li Lun happy. Li Lun is the equal of the most powerful demon of the Wilderness, and does not need such protection. In return, Li Lun gave his primordial root to Zhu Yan. Episode 30 has Zhao Yuanzhou alluding to all this, in that order. Under what circumstances do gods or demons give away parts of their primordial form? Hint: In Ashes of Love, Jin Mi gave one of her six petals to the god she chose to marry as her life partner.

4) Since Zhao Yuanzhou is willing to lie to the entire demon hunting team and himself about Li Lun’s significance and history to him until it is inevitable (even if I overlook all of GJM’s non-platonic carrots and go with Li Lun as “挚友” according to Zhao Yuanzhou in episode 30), how much truth can I put in Zhao Yuanzhou’s usage of “知己” from himself towards Zhuo Yichen? How much self-honesty do you have and what can someone believe, when minimising dearness to people you have barely known for days or weeks, about someone that you spent at least 99% of your life with (for more than thirty thousand years)?

5) If the deleted lines from the original script involving Li Lun and Zhu Yan had been included, the premise of Zhao Yuanzhou being in love with Wen Xiao for this drama would become obviously questionable, given how Wen Xiao’s character was portrayed and then sidelined throughout this entire drama after episode 1. Thankfully those lines were not used because the strong chemistry and included lines between Zhao Yuanzhou and Li Lun for this drama was baffling to be considered completely non-platonic, even while Zhao Yuanzhou and Wen Xiao behave like a long-married couple. In episode 4, Wen Xiao resembled a clueless third wheel between two demons having a very uncomfortable conversation.

Overall, I preferred Li Lun flying solo before the final episode given all that transpired beforehand, which was a most fitting choice. The flashback by GJM where Zhu Yan uses the umbrella to stop Li Lun from moving forward and not leave Zhu Yan behind also helped me understand how Zhu Yan might perceive Li Lun freeing Ao Yin from the cage and telling Ao Yin to follow, while leaving Zhu Yan behind. Zhao Yuanzhou’s behaviour and words in episodes 4 to 6 towards Li Lun became understandable, once I saw this flashback. To Zhu Yan, Li Lun betrayed Zhu Yan when Li Lun left him behind and asked another demon to follow. Zhu Yan takes being equals with Li Lun very seriously, as you can see from the flashback of Li Lun smiling and telling Zhu Yan that he doesn't mind Zhu Yan being number one alongside him.

And when Li Lun leaves Zhao Yuanzhou behind for the last time to face Wen Zongyu, Zhuo Yichen finally sees Zhao Yuanzhou’s true feelings towards Li Lun to the point that he has to stop Zhao Yuanzhou from ruining Li Lun’s sacrifice. The camerawork panning to Zhao Yuanzhou's face as he wakes up after being given half of Li Lun's energy, followed by realisation of what Li Lun has sacrificed to heal him and enable him to be able to fight and what Li Lun is about to do, followed by Zhao Yuanzhou scrambling to get up- Part (or all, depending on whether you realise how well it applies) of one of the songs for this drama seems to be solely dedicated to Li Lun and Zhao Yuanzhou: 《大夢歸離》 by 李宇春

The exact portion includes the Bridge section followed immediately by the chorus.

Bridge: [ 总有一天我会回到老故乡
穿着旧衣裳 但眼睛亮着光 1
右手紧握着锋芒 咬紧所有慌张 2
左手擦去风霜 我终于抬头望 3
你在我前方 挡着伤 4 ] -
(One day I will return to my roots wearing old clothes but with bright eyes [ 我会回到老乡] is fundamentally similar to 落叶归根 and should not be taken literally here 1)
(Right hand grips the blade tightly Tightly biting back the panic 2)
(Left hand wiping away the wind and frost I finally raise my head 3)
(You stand before me Blocking wounds 4)

followed directly by->

Chorus: [ 谁哭红眼睛 斑驳的心 5
走走停停 追着你的声音 6 ] -
(Who cries with reddened eyes and mottled heart 5
Stumbling {=walking and stopping}, chasing the sound of you 6)

[我会化成雨滴 古老的歌曲 7
奔向你 寻找你 8 ] - (I will turn into rain, An ancient song
running towards you, searching for you)

When Zhao Yuanzhou once told Wen Xiao he would turn into rain, did Wen Xiao say she does not like rainy days? Who would Zhao Yuanzhou be searching for, as rain? Makes no sense for the song to keep switching POVs within lyrics... But this entire song can be viewed solely from Zhao Yuanzhou's perspective.

Li Lun's theme song sung by Yan An already gave me a gigantic clue as to what would happen to Li Lun. The lyrics of FoF tend to give big hints of what is to come. There are a significant number of listeners who cottoned on to the above lines being solely from Zhu Yan's pov in that song, so is it any surprise the accompanying footage from episode 32 became an FMV using the drama theme song: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1n7CiYJEdV/

There was a short 2024 interview of Yan An and Neo Hou in-costume together, where Li Lun is wearing only white with his hair down for a dream scene. That interview was interesting, when Yan An broke through his diplomatic mode to reveal in a few words what he thought of Zhao Yuanzhou's behaviour towards Li Lun (his answer indirectly referencing the paper windmill, being intercepted with umbrella, being given the Illusion-Dispelling Eyes of Truth etc). Since Yan An probably also saw the deleted lines from the script judging by his answer, his portrayal of Li Lun was what GJM originally wanted.

Ying Lei’s death in Episode 30 was the confirmation for me that GJM decided to hold true to karma and rules as per “Green Snake” and “Zu Warriors From The Magic Mountain”. Karma meant Ying Lei would die for running away from his duties as a mountain god because he also has divine blood, Bai Jiu would die from love for his most precious Xiao Zhuo-ge and being punished for betrayal because he has divine blood, Pei Sijing only has her brother A-Heng for a while and must suffer him dying again because of her foolishness in wrongly killing him, Zhao Yuanzhou must experience the agony of helplessly watching Li Lun truly die and not get any proper closure beforehand… But what did Zhuo Yichen do, to deserve losing so many precious friends and live like a walking coffin to suffer for a best friend, while looking for a shred of that one’s soul?

Mostly likely as the reincarnation of Bingyi needing to face karma for his best friend Yinglong dying on his sword after everything Yinglong sacrificed for him, even though it was not his fault.

If you believe GJM was slaughtering characters senselessly to milk the tragedy angle, I disagree. Just watch those two Tsui Hark movies while aware of the boundaries and rules for 神人鬼妖 when understanding how karma works, which will be harsher for those with divine blood or those aspiring to divinity where the rules are stricter. As to the bond between Zhuo Yichen and Zhao Yuanzhou, it reminded me of the bond between Yizhen and Mingqi in “Zu Warriors From the Magic Mountain”, by turns funny and endearing and eventually 心灵相通 in a non-platonic sense, although one might suspect something potentially non-platonic from Zhuo Yichen’s end by episode 34 depending on your viewpoint. “心灵相通” does not necessitate non-platonic feelings. It requires not having significant negative thoughts and feelings for each other which would interfere with achieving that state of togetherness.

Zhuo Yichen and Zhao Yuanzhou is not canon. Fanservice from GJM is one thing, but when Zhao Yuanzhou is telling off Zhuo Yichen as a elder would tell off a youngster in episode 30 in Li Lun's birthplace of existence (once again, don't rely on IQiyi subtitles to truly understand the entire scene)....They are not equals. And would you really want Zhao Yuanzhou to have something for Zhuo Yichen or be in love with another character other than Wen Xiao? That makes Zhao Yuanzhou a horrible character for a male lead. What is GJM trying to go for?

In the world of Tsui Hark for wuxia and xianxia before 2000, remaining alive is not necessarily a happy ending. Being alive and happy at the end is a rarity, if it happens for a character. I salute GJM’s ambitious attempt to pay homage to Tsui Hark, but this drama would have benefitted significantly from Tsui Hark’s input on limitations and edits before being released.

Scenes between Bai Jiu and Zhuo Yichen before episode 33 were very touching, and I always enjoyed them. Episode 34 was truly heartrending for Zhuo Yichen. Tian Jiarui was splendid at conveying devastation and loss, to find Xiao Jiu dead. Between Zhao Yuanzhou and Zhuo Yichen… Given everything Zhao Yuanzhou had done for Zhuo Yichen, to end on such a note would haunt Xiao Zhuo forever if he cannot make amends.

Tian Jiarui’s performance in episode 34 was the perfect anchor to end this episode. Rewatching this drama a second time did not change certain conclusions. Despite the flaws, certain scenes and music will always be rewatchable, even when a new year comes around. The dream ends. The memories will continue on IQiyi or fanfiction.

Have you been able to find a volunteer staff and bring this up with them?

The drama has its good points and bad points, and I am sure certain uncomfortable details whizzed over the heads of many non-Mandarin speakers. There is a segment of anti-Zhao Yuanzhou viewers whereby what ZYZ did to Li Lun is hypocritical and cowardly when contrasted with how ZYZ treated the members of demon hunting team, and these viewers also believe ZYZ should suffer forever and Li Lun was right to go out the way he did. I don't believe ZYZ should suffer forever but I don't have a good opinion of ZYZ for what is understandably viewed as hypocrisy and cowardice from him, even though I also feel sorry for ZYZ who is a victim as well.

Your initial exclamation was "OMG these BTS are so good why I haven't seen them", so I simply took it as a question of why you can't find them, and answered accordingly.

Because in order to find them easily, you need to understand mandarin well enough. That's why I can find fan edits and videos of KTTPH to share which cannot be gleaned just from hashtags.

Here's a fun BTS of Yan An with Lester Lin, posted on the various sites during November 2023. I'm using the one from bilibili.com:

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ow411p7Vh/

No idea. That said, you can imagine Neo Hou as the male lead in this BTS for Su Ji, whereby the male lead is showcasing his horse-riding skills in a regal manner:

https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5185308847245559