calamariexpert

I was gifted a Viki subscription and it's good. Episodes come out on schedule, and the volunteers add the subtitles as quickly as they can. You can also watch most Viki shows for free with ads. You can check out viki.com to see what they have.

I'm reading the novel now, but since the novel describes "mountains of corpses and oceans of blood", lots of gore, graphic smut, (not to mention the rebirth and LGBTQ+ mentioned above), etc., the drama will probably be very, very different.

As with Mo Dao Zu Shi /The Untamed, and Douluo Dalu/ Douluo Continent, I think of the novel and drama as two very different entertainment projects that some very talented people/author/team have spent lots of time/money/talent on for me to enjoy as a viewer/reader, and which I'm thankful for.

Thanks for the music video link! Overflowing with CP sweetness. Impressive high notes from the male singer.

I was really impressed by him too - especially his horse-riding and weapons-wielding scenes! He's really convincing as a mature, battle-hardened General with mad strength and riding and fighting skills. In comparison, when I watch other historical dramas with younger male leads who supposedly have military/fighting/riding skills, they pale in comparison to Wallace Chung in these short physical scenes. According to this website, Wallace is 46, and Seven Tan is 30 - they both look a lot younger and age appropriate for this drama, but with such long careers and acting experience, no wonder this drama is so watchable and enjoyable. Seven Tan's face is very expressive, and she's generally calm and smart, but you can also see the fish-out-water personality quirks that make the story more interesting. I also really like the intricate sets with all the detailed, luxurious carvings and accessories in each room.

Maiden Holmes was also good. Or for something different, Douluo Continent or The Sword and the Brocade.

For historical, anything by Butterfly's Shadow Beneath The Moon or Mask Feast is good, and I also liked Pampered Consort’s Acting Awards. I usually have to MTL the remainder of the novels if they're not done translating. I'll have to try Under the Power novel, I enjoyed the drama a lot. Thanks!

I'm a huge fan of author Qian Shan Cha Ke too! Shen Miao (female lead  from Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage) and He Yan (female lead from Rebirth of a Star General) are some of my favourite characters.

For those who are  not familiar with this author, you can read the freely english translated novels here - it links to  the actual translator websites so that they get the credit for their translations: https://www.novelupdates.com/nauthor/qian-shan-cha-ke/

For The Sword and Brocade, only the first 3 translated chapters of the novel, Concubine Raiders, are out, so I'm going to try and read the machine translation somewhere.

Okay, I somehow binged the 18 available subtitled episodes on Viki in a day. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm really enjoying watching the male lead riding on that pretty black horse. Other than Er Niang, everyone's acting is subtle and the lead actress is very watchable. I'm a bit confused by the extra relatives, but I guess I could read the novel to figure it out. The first few chapters are at novel updates: https://www.novelupdates.com/series/concubine-raiders/

A big part of the Ashes of Love plot is that the female lead has something inside her heart to prevent her from feeling emotions. So while the male lead is head over heels for her, she is totally unmoved. This continues until the middle of the story. So for half the drama/novel the female lead is an innocent idiot trope. Lots of people love the drama, but I just couldn't get into it after reading the novel.

I somehow binged the first 8 episodes - the male lead is so righteous/dry/cold that he is disgusted by his conniving concubine's selfishness after his wife's death - I guess he is going to meet his match b/c the female lead is even more principled/righteous than him...

I'm so excited to start this. I liked the female lead from Under the Power, the production/story reminds me of the Story of Minglan, and although I'm only a few minutes in, the male lead's voice reminds me of Crown Prince Ye Hua (from 3 Lives 3 Worlds Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms)! Watching Seven Tan being demure and quietly intelligent after her action shenanigans in Under the Power - it reminds me of Zanilla Zhao being demure and quietly intelligent in Story of Minglan compared to her kick butt fighter character in Princess Agents.

I really want to see more of Dao Mu Bai and Zhu Zhu Qing's story. I read the novel and it wasn't enough.

I think viewers sometimes forget that the actor/actress isn't solely responsible for their performance. An author writes a character, a screenwriter adapts the actions/lines, the casting people choose the actor/actress, the director directs/chooses the actor/actress' acting in a scene, post-production edits the performance, and I'm sure there are more levels of approval needed before an actor/actress' performance ends up in a drama. If acting is poorly done, like the second male lead in Under The Power, then I wonder what the director/drama higher-ups were thinking (that particular actor was remarkably better as the merman in Love and Redemption, by the way).

novel updates - it lists all freely-translated asian novels. https://www.novelupdates.com/series/douluo-dalu/

I liked Xiao Wu. The way the screenwriter/director made her character, she's not as annoying as the female lead in the first half of Ashes of Love (innocent idiot) or the female lead in the first 20 episodes of Love and Redemption (another innocent idiot). Although Xiao Wu is innocent ("blank slate of paper", as she's described in the book, for a very good reason), but at least she is fairly emotionally mature and can fight. She's a contrast/foil to the older Hell Cat girl, the vivacious Pagoda girl, and the scheming Spirit Hall girl. I hope the same actress comes back. And she rocks the scorpion braid.

They're best friends who fall in love when they're older.

I enjoyed the drama. While waiting for the last episodes to be subtitled, I binged the entire novel in English (novel updates). Then I went back and finished the last episodes of the drama, so the abrupt ending is fine, I know what happens next. Now I have to watch the anime/donghua....

Random thought: A commentator earlier mentioned that the sets/background were poorly done. I think it would be amazing if they could film live action dramas using the same LED technology as the Mandalorian (see article below) - I think the Mandalorian used video game backgrounds for their LED set backgrounds, and it also saved money and time. That would be an amazing way to do live action season 2 against the digital world building of the same novel donghua or other already-made CG sets. https://www.inkstonenews.com/tech/mandalorian-inspiring-china-use-more-virtual-production-sets/article/3122008

So if I were to watch the Great Ruler, Fights Break Sphere, Legend of Chosen, other similar dramas, etc., what order would you suggest? I don't know any of those stories but I've heard of the books on novelupdates.

A previous commentator mentioned that this drama was filmed years ago on a low budget, and they had cast new people. In the interim, the male lead became hugely popular from The Untamed, investors poured money into this drama, and the money went towards special effects. So it's basically a low budget drama with relatively nice special effects and a very famous male lead. Are there any tv historical fantasy dramas with really nice sets (I'm asking because I don't know many)? I know Ever Night had really gorgeous outdoor cinematography.