godscow

what in the voice over hell is going on with the dubbing? seems like a decent production (minus the nausea inducing slo mo) - but the dubbers are making it seem like its some cheap modern romcom. its very difficult to process given the disparity. especially that chihuahua sidekick by the fls side - chuichui or wtf her name is. that dubber needs to leave the business.

This show was endearing and fresh until ep 18. it had wonderful characters and a very interesting ML with a very interesting psychological issue that was mesmerizing to watch as he grappled with his serious limitations and this clingy girls love that he was so drawn to. he was such an interesting character. FL was sweet, naive and in love but also way in over her head in terms of how to deal with his very serious issue as an adult in an adult relationship. it was heartwarming to watch these two polar opposites come together (altho it was done ever so randomly lol). even when she was annoying - i understood the scripts intentions and accepted her. when he was being a jerk - i understood the scripts intentions and accepted him. it was very interesting to watch and i was excited to see how theyd solve it all. Lin Yi performed superbly keeping a stone face that cannot process emotions but is in constant turmoil as they slowly surface up in varying effects. i love that he takes on these rare characters that challenge the typical idol ML (angels fall sometimes was done brilliantly by him).
we also had such an awesome mom character (fls mom) - really refreshing to see a mom like that in this show.

after episode 18 the following somehow happened which genuinely pissed me off and upset me that such a immensely potential show fucked up. MLs unique personality WAS the shows strength - and they wiped that so clean i doubled back to see if i missed any episodes - not kidding. doubled back, went online to see recaps even cuz i was genuinely confused as fuck.

- whiplash story change from focusing on a very specific mental health issue and how these two would grow through that - to a 2010 romcom of a guy with a personality quirk thats lighthearted (and also a problem he needs to solve cuz its in the way of everyone else) - that simps his way back into his chicks heart. she even became unbearably rude and brash for a bit. like outwardly selfish almost and completely uncaring for his health issues. lin yi was styled like some green flag mr perfect from a teen drama. it was so weird. all his intensity was gone. his disease just magically disappeared off screen and he started smiling and emoting like a normal idol ML. they even did his make up differently. all the things that made this show interesting were just gone. it turned into just a regular family drama with a bunch of secondary stories that were boring af, and some events happening that were supposed to be serious but given that all the main juice was gone, those stories didnt hit that hard anymore, whilst our ML ironed himself into a flat silk green flag that wasnt allowed to have any bumps or wrinkles - to a point where he kept apologizing for this debilitating psychological issue. it whiplashed so bad i was extremely heartbroken because thats not where the show was heading up to episode 18.


everything just mushed into this vague random show with some events here and there and completely lost its soul and purpose. it was VERY disheartening given the great build up and initial core.
id still recommend watching. just the first 18 eps and the eps once theyre together (and their togetherness in between) are worth it. they did have wonderful chemistry and a heartwarming love (cringey shit aside - they inserted all the cringey tropes they could during his chase and perfection of himself). i really hope to see Lin Yi continue to take on challenging roles like this but with scripts that stick to their premise- hes really turned a massive corner since his cringe factor put your head on mu shoulders (where he was the only decentish actor (he was bad but compared to everyone else...)

yea considering the grandness of it all - the emptiness was very weird and noticeable

i love the first two most cuz their acting has a very distinctive charisma. Chen is also awesome - strong actor - im just very biased with the first 2 😁. actually with each successful drama i seem to grow all kinds of biases 🤣

i had no issue with colours or outfits (altho some of bailus were illfitting tbh) - i had an issue with interiors. they used cheap materials and it was obvious. given their rich costume textures, the plastic decor of their interiors clashed massively. nothing to do with any styles or anything. just poor prop choice in my opinion. overall i loved the aesthetic and its colours - just wished they didnt cut their budget on background props and materials so much

yea but to be in a realm and see like 10 people is weird also. we get it in all the other shows - but this one is one of the few that had noone unless it was a street. it was too obvious for me personally.

yea all that emptiness felt really weird. even low budgets usually fill up with more people
i loved how colourful it was overall - it was different from the usual pastels or simple brights - this was pretty cool - i just didnt like some of the interiors lol - those weird plastic statues at MLs entertainment building - and their colour - were tacky imho

this packed a good punch. although it had its super cheesy moments, and rushed scenarios that made your head spin here and there - it still delivered a fun story that made you want to follow and see everyone till the end. beautiful ML costumes. good mix of humour and serious sadness. was surprised how cruel they made all the villains (and some of the heroes) - loved that.

if i had any issues itd be - the sets felt too empty (rare to see any extras around unless on a street which made it weird considering how big budget this must have been) - like the scene where they celebrate with the fireworks - theres like 30 people..really odd.
and bai lus hair in some scenes gave "15th century european empress" vibes and made her look old. weird choice. also they coulda toned down on some of the cheap colourful stripper vibes of the interiors - it sometimes looked a bit too trashy - ie MLs building.

worth a watch. very immersive. cant say it stays with you - but definitely keeps you watching

very disney for teens this turned out to be. has its moments, but overall kinda bland (altho on paper the story should be anything but bland - but delivery just disney-ed it up too much).

too many character stories on top of a lot of main stories - gave us a beautiful clean production with decent storytelling (no weird editing,nothing was rushed), but not much emotional punch overall (maybe some stories hit some notes but overall too much happening). visually very pretty, and characters had some nice emotional quests to go through - but it..just lacked something. cant quite say what.
MM has a bunch of cheesy moments and rushed scenes but it never bores you and keeps you glued to the story immersing you in it - here they failed (even though they had no cheesy moments and never rushed anything). a lot of stories were utterly snooze worthy (snake lady, 2nd couple a lot of times, weird maid and young prince - i could go on. they were so bland and unexciting)

last few episodes went down the drain. FL became stupid over a random maid and some clan she had zero feelings for. she was never shown to be this dumb over random people - the radical switch was out of nowhere.
ending was clearly hinting at happy and yet for some reason gave us no confirmation. like why do that? you have time to waste on random ass characters we couldnt care less for but wont give us proper visuals for our mains even though it was clearly headed there? whats the point? its not artsy or philosophical - its just...weird. it doesnt leave much to the imagination cuz the show filled that...so why not finish the story visually? did they run out of money? do they hate the audience lol?

first time i agreed FL should have perished to pay for her utter stupidity and self centred behavior that almost lead to the world ending. her pity party was over used throughout the whole show but there were characters who had way worse lives..so watching her pity herself so grandly was annoying. they made it bigger than it should have been - so i stopped pitying her tbh - when she hit her worst where we should actually feel sorry for her - i was couldnt care anymore about her. had they toned it down - maybe i wouldn't be this annoyed and felt bad for her losses but instead i felt bad for the characters who died but not the FL at all.
hated that our ML was stripped of any opinions or personality - his job was to just aid FL in her "perfection". hes a strong actor - to see him underutilized like some side kick was odd. it had promise in the beginning with his 4 different personalities - and then he came back and became some weird side dish of a personality.

her revenge was lacklustre (learn to hold a sword before you point it on camera in a supposed commanding manner). she had no oomph - it wasnt dark or edgy it was very underwhelming. i love this actress and she acted well here but some things are just not her vibe - ie dark revenge is just not her cake - like at all.

overall - a one time watch that has nothing memorable in the end with writing that ruins it as it goes further - but worth it for the good parts in between and the solid production (plus for once there was no weird editing or rushing of things)

omg i was so happy they gave 2ML a personality and detailed background finally. and it was so well done. so tired of mopey 2mls who's sole purpose of existence is to pine for the fl and be constantly pitied with sappy flashback stories of how kind he was to fl when they were toddlers 🤦🏻‍♀️

i dont want to see those pics - too young to have a heart attack

..is there like a petition we can start to the chinese gov asking them to force ARP to always wear these clothes and wig...permanently leaving him all majestic like that?......asking for a friend

i switched my focus on MM. theres a story there and although everyones weirdly saying their lines a la reciting a story - theres non stop stories that are more interesting and all the side characters are engaging. in TBL i was watching paint dry with all those characters whos boring monologs about their feelings drove me mad. ill go back to TBL again cuz i find the last 10 episodes more interesting in terms of story (i read ahead) so i wanna see how it plays out i guess. maybe my overall opinion of the show will change (altho i doubt it)

i no longer remember anything tbh

im only on ep 25 but its all so tedious so far. so many boring side characters im forced to watch because they do tie into the story. theyre all flat, boring, with zero dimension
-a non existent whiplash romance (she likes him out of nowhere, he likes her eventually but not sure why (they didnt show any growth between them at all just..random liking), then he blames himself not even sure why (it was her he caused all the issues anyway), - no build up, no significant time spent really - to show any potential romance - just random actions here and there. and then it disappears all together
-a pretty 2ML who is still too shallow to be interesting (i guess it might be more interesting during the big reveal of it all??), he started out interesting - but now hes getting mopey and im so tired of that overdone trope. mopey puppy eyed 2ml who gets in everyones way 🤦🏻‍♀️
-a costume department that did Vin dirty af - this man can be ethereal given the right make up and costume - instead hes stuck in the worst fitting costumes out of all of them, and a weird flat hairdo that does him no justice. he looks 1/10th of what he can look like - it almost feels...cheap?
-the scenes are randomly thrown in to add tons of stories in 5 minute installments - making it very whiplashy and giving no depth to it all. just info after info from all kinds of characters who you have no time to care for at all.
-FL is breathtakingly beautiful but her hatred of him during the wujin water thingy is annoying as hell and really a waste of screen time (coupled with a ton of unnecessary cringey conversations). she was cool at first but i feel very underused. i hope to see her in more stuff. shes stunning and holds her own well
-fight scenes are all cool to watch though
- id understand if this was rated 8.1 - but 8.5? thats pushing it. also seeing Vin do so many fish kiss scenes was weird as hell - hes one of the best on screen kissers - and these fish scenes (he literally stands there with his mouth open as if a damsel in distress) are so weird to watch
- i feel like vin is surrounded by unseasoned younger actors making him standout like a sore thumb in it all. in fact his own performance was at times really awkward to watch. he does have good chemistry with his FL - but hed have good chemistry with a tree tbh.

omfg the lady playing su ning zhen needs calming pills. her acting is the most off putting thing ive seen in a while 🤦🏻‍♀️

yea it was ok at first, but then got a wee bit annoying but not enough for me to not like it so i loved the show overall. i remember dream of splendor annoyed the living crap out of me cuz they went way overboard cleaning their FLs image and making her all perfect/knowitall whilst shitting on everyone else lol

awesome show. proper slow burn build up where they get to know each other and appreciate each other by becoming friends(thank you show for not throwing us into the usual "fl hates ml for a long time without reason" trope, and thank you for making our fl clear headed and awesome - able to see other sides perspectives and not be some righteous blind child as we often get stuck with. first time i love yang zi in a role this much. ml did very well as well. cant wait for season 2. costumes and setting were stunning. loved watching 2ML as villain in the making. its refreshing to see a proper story about our 2ML and how he becomes what he becomes, and not being forced to watch some mopey lovesick idiot without any reason to be evil except stupidly being in love as we usually get in most shows. appreciate that the business side of things was taken more seriously than most shows (hello new life begins) - and we actually see a bit of business and not random "pretend to business" scenes for the sake of some scene fillers. not perfect but good enough that you dont skip or want to ignore it.

if i had two issues it would be -1) some of the editing is weird and throws you under the bus - which doesnt suit the overall professional way this show is made. and 2) the FLs abilities to solve all and everyones problems gets a bit much (her helping the empress had my eyes rolling cuz come on..theres a limit to how much you try to make her perfect). also when they over-lean into some feminist speeches - gets annoying. we know where this story is set - fixating very strongly on a more modern message just feels weirdly out of place

definitely recommend - and its even awesome as a rewatch. cant wait for season 2

thank you

whats LT?