babepiggie

Believe me, I am so tempted to start the drama but I tried the first episode and struggled to get through as I find the translations to be too off-putting. I truly applaud good translators as I didn’t realize how tedious it must be and how much effort it takes to get the right wording and display it on screen to where they are not distracting to international viewers. Hopefully, they will be out sooner than later and we all can watch or for some, rewatch the drama and have lively discussions. But I have seen many BTS clips and some scenes on twitter. From what I have seen, I am very pleased with the chemistry between Reba and Allen and like you, I think these two are perfectly cast for our two leading characters. To be honest, I’m probably already half way in love with Allen. 😊 His portrayal of innocently sweet Chang Yi touches my heart and I’m anticipating his commanding presence as Lord of North Chang Yi.

I totally agree, Reba has great chemistry with most of her costars. She was great with Wu Lei, Yang Yang and now Allen Ren. I loved her collaboration with past male costars like Johnny Huang, Vengo Gao and Zhang Bin Bin (the drama plot with these actors might be average but her chemistry with them were stellar) and I expect her to sizzle with Gong Jun in the upcoming Legend of Anle. Those two will be another epic pair! So much to look forward to as a Reba fan!

Although I do not agree with her many takes, I do think she provides good background information about Chinese history, culture and etiquette and she does do a good job pointing out drama inconsistencies in that regard. I didn’t realize she shared her opinions on the ZZH case. I almost venture to her You Tube channel after reading your message but decided it was best not to do so for my own peace of mind. From your comments, I know I will be furious if I heard what she had said. More the reason for me to ignore her existence completely.

Agreed on Word of Honor. For a low-budget production, it maximized its potential to the fullest and was a megahit for Youku. I love the script and the cast was wonderful and gave heartfelt performances. I saw many BTS footage and the cast members appeared so close and I could tell they were so proud of their work in this drama. I am always happy when I see low budget productions exceeding expectations, so good for them!

It’s a tall order for TBW to surpass TMOPB (watched and enjoyed it), Ashes of Love (dropped it) and Love and Redemption (have not seen it), particularly the first two dramas where they were produced at the height of xianxia and fantasy craze. I’m in agreement with you that I feel more invested with The Blue Whisper plot and found their love story to be more riveting. I certainly hope for explosive success after it finish airing domestically and internationally but I am leveling my expectations. There are areas that I feel others might not enjoy or might find faults with especially relating to the changes that deviate from the novel. My hope for the drama is that it is one of the top dramas of 2022, possibly top fantasy drama. However it lands relative to the xianxia/fantasy landscape in terms of overall popularity, I feel like we shouldn’t worry too much about it. Best to enjoy the drama and let the work speak for itself.

Does Kong Ming know the complete truth in the novel though? I can’t recall but I remember Ji Yunhe gave it back to him when he was rude to her so I have no beef with their interaction. What I don’t like about his character in the novel is the ambiguous relationship he has with Luo Luo who I felt is too good for him. Although not explicitly written, it appears to me that Luo Luo has expressed her feelings to him many times and yet there seems to be no advancement to their romance so I see it as him holding back from pursuing a relationship. There were scenes in the trailer of the two where Luo Luo is in tears and I hope he does not break her heart because I just love cute bubbly Luo Luo. We shall see. I want to give him the benefit that his character and their love story might be better scripted in the drama, so much that we might end up liking this pair too. Fingers crossed!

If I can give this post a million hearts, I certainly will. I’m teary-eyed from reading this. 😢 Your words are too beautiful and so aptly described their intense and pure love for each other. Despite the changes made to the adaptation (some I am still uncertain if I agree with), I believe the drama so far managed to capture the essence of their story, of their pure love and sacrifice for one another. I cannot rave enough about Reba and Allen for their performances! Both actors truly gave justice to their characters and I can feel their emotions in these drama clips without understanding what was said. It’s truly a testament to their acting abilities to emote beyond words.

Ji Yunhe will forever be one of my favorite characters of all time. You eloquently described her many many too many positive traits. She is one who loves deeply, protects her friends fiercely and once decides on an action, she will not hesitate to see it through. In the novel, she never thought to exact revenge, she simply wanted to live freely and without fear. What was so heartbreaking (to me) when reading the novel was something so simple was so elusive to her. She fought with her every breath that one could not help but admire her for it. I hope the upcoming episodes further depict her fighting spirit and also her humor (the many internal monologues) in that she’s not afraid of dying but wants her death to have value if it meant her Big Tailed Fish gets to live freely.

Please post more of your thoughts as the drama progresses. I enjoy reading them and your comments make me anticipate the drama so very much! I also hope others are encouraged to share their impression of the characters and storyline too!

Amazing read! Your words captured episode 14 so poignantly, particularly Chang Yi’s point of view. At that moment, he was shocked but he never thought to avoid her attack because he refused to believe she was capable of hurting him or anyone else. Love your analysis that he accepted everything she had given him even if it was to his detriment (her stabbing). With a jab of a knife, she killed his innocence but not his love for her, which makes it all so tragic and antsy, doesn’t it?

I love reading more of these thoughtful comments so thank you! I’ve been engrossed with Ji Yunhe’s emotional turmoil that I have not really pondered Chang Yi’s feelings at the cliff scene. Allen’s shock expression was so on point and his eyes expressed immeasurable sorrow as he fell into the abyss. Such great acting on his part! I really cannot imagine another actor portraying our favorite Big Tailed Fish. I can’t wait to read more of your thoughts when he rules over the North and when they meet again!

That’s the million dollar question. The rumor is English subs will be available some time in April. 😔

So nice to see a familiar name! Like you, I love their relationship dynamic in the novel. They are competitive with each other but there is also mutual respect. And then reading the backstory of how their close relationship deteriorates makes me feel for the two youngsters and definitely made his character more sympathetic. They were both victims of Lin Canglan and I’m just glad they were able to get away from his toxicity and regain their freedom, albeit a much tougher journey for JYH.

I did read that the drama altered Lin Canglan’s fate. I assumed he lived (?) probably due to Chinese censorship so I agree that the drama is making Lin Haoqing much more relatable by showing his care and love for JYH. However, I too cannot help but wish they kept the same characterization as the novel because I was pleasantly surprised by his character’s direction in the second arc of the story and how much he helped JYH. He did it not because of some grand romantic love (that in itself is refreshing because this is a typical recipe for xianxia or fantasy dramas) but because he considers her as family and wants to grant her wish of freedom. It’s also great that he wanted to change the order of the world (the demon class unite against the imperial court), all the traits of a “good” character. The mystery surrounding his true motives and character would be compelling to watch with each episode IMO if his character was left “gray” in the drama (as it was written in the novel) and allow viewers to judge his later actions. His character’s intentions are not obvious initially but if the drama followed the novel, viewers should surely understand his motives and appreciate the complexity of Lin Haoqing. Just my opinion from reading the novel and my limited viewing of the drama clips. Perhaps my opinion might change after watching. I want to engage in full conversations but still hate to form solid opinions as it relates to the drama so forgive me if anything I said might contradict with what occurred onscreen in relation to this character.

The drama better not weaken his character! His development in the second arc of the novel was great and for me, was one of the pleasant surprises of the novel. I truly hope the drama develop the character similarly and his impact is not reduced to his unrequited love. It would be a shame to do so to this character.

I have watched AvenueX videos in the past and found her reviews to be quite biased and stop using her as a basis for what is a good drama; she seems to echo the Chinese audience sentiments which makes me wonder how much of her opinion is truly her own. I learned early on that my viewing preferences differ greatly from hers and the general Chinese population so I prefer seeking out MDL drama reviews to get a better gauge which dramas are worthy of my attention. Also if her statement is true that she doesn’t care for Chinese fantasy genre, it seems the more reason for viewers to take her opinions with a grain of salt. Hopefully, those who might be on the fence about watching this drama should research further to determine if TBW is worth their time.

Yup, JYH makes red eyes look very sexy!😍

The novel is great! I have read it twice already and still very touched by the scenes on my second read! I’m so glad the novelist is also gaining attention from many for this amazing work due to the release of the drama!

Viewership numbers is not everything in my eyes but I did get the feeling that TBW is performing well domestically. I read that TBW has consistently ranked high in top web dramas and did see Reba and Allen’s characters topping the character index in second and third places, respectively. And as Titania had mentioned, many have praised our leads’ performances and our supporting cast has garnered some recognition as well. Many positives already at the almost half way point. Just hope that the drama finishes strong!

As Reba fans, naturally we all wish for her dramas to perform well in total views because many of us have followed her career and appreciate her hard work but honestly, I’m just happy that her acting performances have improved and she has become a more well-rounded actress. I have not watched the drama yet (still waiting on official subs) but I can tell from the various BTS footage and clips of her that she is giving justice to the character in the novel. She is making JYH one of my favorite characters ever (and I already love the character in the novel). She is displaying nuances in her expressions that I have not noticed before in her previous works. It’s very heartwarming to see her progression and I am absolutely thrilled for her that audiences are recognizing her for her acting efforts. Anything beyond that is just cherry on top for me.

And to put things into perspective, her drama has to battle against a heavyweight in Oath of Love with two well-known artists and TBW is still able to garner traffic and ranked high in rating charts (obviously Reba and Allen are no slouch either); so it is a strong indication that the drama is performing well given the competition. That’s nothing for fans or viewers to scoff at or be disappointed with, in my humble opinion. My concern right now is those darn English subtitles. Come on Croton Media, surprise us with subs! I need to watch this drama pronto!

Thank you so much for your efforts in providing information for English subs! I watched one episode and found the translation distracting and decided to wait for official subs! Hope to see you in a few weeks when all international fans can finally understand and appreciate this drama!

Do you or anyone know how the ranking of these characters are determined? It seems to me that Xiao Zhan’s character from TOOL tops these charts, Reba’s JYH comes in second and Allen’s Chang Yi might be third in some charts. Very interested in how they come up with the ranking system. I’m no longer surprise that XZ always performs well in these rating charts. It seems like his dramas almost always do well and I can’t help but marvel at his overwhelming popularity. I would love to see him and Reba in a drama one day!

Yeah, I love their relationship in the novel and so glad both ladies are exuding the same sisterly chemistry in the drama! Luo Luo was perfectly cast and Hu Yi Xuan is portraying her character to be too cute for words. Definitely one area of the drama that was well adapted.

I also see lots of clips of Luo Luo too (she’s super adorable 😊) so the actress has garnered praises for her performance as well. I’m surprised she’s not listed as favorites on top character index. Regardless, it’s wonderful to read that many cast members received positive recognition for their roles and we still have so much left in this drama for the rest of the cast to showcase their talents! Go TBW team! 😊

Well, it does speak volume of both Reba and Allen’s performances that we can feel the emotions of their characters without any subs. They have to emote with their body, face and voice (credit to the voice actors) to be absolutely convincing. Watching raws does allow us to see the things that might be missed (like facial expressions) when we’re too busy reading subtitles. Regardless, that was an epic scene that I can’t help but watch over and over again! I hope English subs come out soon because I am dying to watch from the beginning!

I’m still not sure how I feel about that. I love their platonic relationship in the novel. I guess I’ll be okay if the drama limits the number of scenes where he is pining after her. I don’t want to see that. I have not started the drama yet (waiting on official subs) but I enjoyed his character growth in the novel and hope the character is well developed in the drama too.