Hime

For sure. Deaths in Chinese historical dramas are nothing new, but this one leaves alive a lot of the supporting characters while killing ALL of the characters that pretty much make the entire drama. A better name for this drama would be A Journey to Death. Sigh

I think 2 of them die a few episodes before episode 35 but on episode 35 another one of them dies and it starts to feel like a joke, like the writers just want to kill every character the viewers like. And for the rest of the episodes more characters die, I won’t even talk about the last episode.

But yeah, it is a good drama, I would have still watched it, just not with my mother to keep her from all the frustration. I like to know when I am getting into a drama with a tragic ending before watching so I can be mentally prepared, as much as possible. ^^'

Done. I moved the parts that revealed too much into the reply which is marked as a spoiler. I left the warning in caps so people will still be drawn to it and read the spoiler if they want.

I chose to watch this one with my mother because I know she loves this kind of drama with a badass female lead and a lot of fighting. BUT I did so because at the time I added it to my plan to watch list I trusted a comment that said this had a happy ending. I mean, we can all be delusional and pretend it was but was it really?? I prefer happy endings but I am ok with tragic or open endings when done well, but my mother cannot stand those kind of endings and it ruins the whole drama for her.

Overall it was a good drama ........... until they started to kill off all the important characters one after the other, not even sparing the main leads. I mean, I knew there were going to be deaths, it is a Chinese drama, Yuan Lu was expected because of his illness and I thought maybe they might kill one or two of the main group, but ALL OF THEM?? One after the other in the most senseless way.

They survived all sorts of impossible fights but suddenly they are unable to dodge weapons coming at them, or do dumb stuff like sacrificing yourself for a man you wanted dead, running a bunch of miles with a health problem, no resting, no food or medication, fight a bunch of enemies while unable to see and exploding themselves with the enemies. Come on, the characters were killed just for the shock value, they knew the viewers would be angry and sad and would remember the drama for longer. And then to make that half-assed ending just so we can allow ourselves to be delusional and think the main leads somehow survived and had kids...yeah sure, but then they come in horses next to all the other dead people, so which one is it?

Anyway, my mother was so disappointed that she told me to give the drama a bad rating. I did not just because we both enjoyed most of it, but the last 5 episodes or so were a joke and because of that I rated it a lot lower than I thought I would based on the rest of the drama.

WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Check the spoiler below to find out why you might want to stay away from this one or at least watch it emotionally prepared for what is coming.

The first few episodes were interesting but then it started to focus too much on palace politics . If the palace politics were executed well I might have still enjoyed it, like I did while watching other dramas in the past that did the same, but they weren’t so I started getting quite bored and skipping scenes.

The romance was also not my cup of tea, quite dull and lacking chemistry. If anything, the high point was Jo Jung Suk’s acting, which was great as usual.

I just replied to someone else‘s comment on the spur of the moment because I agreed with that person that Zhou Ye has been in many of the dramas that have aired recently. That is why I did not check things like filming dates and was just commenting based on the fact that I have watched 3 of her dramas that aired just a few months apart.

I agree that the Chinese fandom tend to be toxic and that ZLS has been getting a lot of haters for some reason (not sure why since she is a great actress and seems like a nice person, go figure). I do not belong to any fandom and rarely go deep into details about the actors and their filming schedules and stuff like that. When I say I am a ZLS fan I mean I like most of her dramas and will be super excited when she stars in a new drama but I do not go as far as to research about things like her filming schedule and what she has been doing lately.

I did notice she did not appear in as many dramas lately compared to maybe the last 2 years, but since I rewatched Love Like The Galaxy with my mother, then Who Rules The World and since my mother started liking ZLS a lot too I also rewatched The Long Ballad with her, all 3 in a row. Probably why the timeline is a mess in my head and I thought I was seeing ZLS on screen a lot more, when in fact the more recent dramas I watched of her were just 2 - Hidden Love and The Last Immortal. ^^'

Anyway, glad we got things figured out. Happy drama watching for you too. ^^

I think this drama was filmed many years ago and got delayed because of the ban against dramas with Korean actors. Bai Lu might have not even been acting yet when this was filmed. But Dilraba and Yang Zi were already around, so I agree that they should have used a Chinese actress. Not sure why back then they were so obsessed with staring Korean actors, maybe to make Chinese dramas get more international attention. Who knows.

I think I remember this drama being set to air many years ago and then getting canceled because dramas with Korean actors were banned. So yeah, it should be pretty old, like at least 7 years if not more.

Pasta was actually my first ever Korean drama. I had just started cooking school back then and it felt like the perfect drama to "test the waters".

So sad that this keeps happening. Korean police seems to be pretty incompetent and netizens so quick to judge. It should be innocent until proven guilty and not the other way around.

I have been watching for a little bit longer. My first kdrama was the drama Pasta, which is sad to remember because of what happened recently to the actor playing the main lead.

At the time I had just started cooking school so a drama about cooking seemed the perfect fit. So yeah, I think I started watching kdramas around 2010, so it has been 13 years. Gets harder and harder to find something exciting.

About Alice, I have the same worries as you but have also created all sorts of theories to what they might do for the 3rd season. I just wish they keep the whole thing interesting. I found some episodes in the second season to be a little slow, almost like they dragged it just so they could make another season. ^^'

What I find the saddest is when they put so much work into a drama just to have it get delayed or even canceled. And the editing, imagine filming a kiss scene 10 times just for it to be edited out because of censorship. I would be pretty disappointed if a scene I worked hard to act well was just removed and never saw the light of day.

I agree but its actually not my case. ^^'

I have been watching Chinese dramas for at least 7-8 years, Korean dramas for more than 10. I have had to wait years for dramas to air because of things like censorship, scandals, and so on. So I am aware of cdrama production being a lot more strict and how unfair it can be for actors to work for many months and then seeing their hard work being delayed or even canceled.

I was not very familiar with Zhou Ye until like 6 months ago so I was not aware these dramas were filmed so far apart. I think I have watched her in other dramas a few years ago but since I watch so many dramas I might have forgotten so now that 4 of her dramas aired almost one after the other she became a familiar face and I was just wondering if she had been filming a lot since I could not tell just from watching the dramas if they were filmed recently or years ago. Some dramas you can tell from the quality, clothes and other stuff that they are a few years old, these ones in particular I did not notice any of that, or at least don’t remember.

I kinda knew that but with these ones I was not sure if they were filmed one after the other. There are some dramas you can tell were filmed years earlier. Someone already clarified and mentioned when each one was filmed.

Yeah, I knew that. In some dramas it is pretty obvious they were filmed a few years ago but with the ones I mentioned I was not sure if they were filmed one after the other or not.

First, chill.

I have been watching Chinese dramas for many years and I know there is a lot that affects airing dates like censorship and editing. I enjoy watching dramas for entertainment but do not go as far as to research when they began or finished filming, unless I am waiting for the next season and am curious as to the progress of filming. If you know all that, great, but don’t expect everyone else to know these things. I even mentioned that some dramas might have been filmed earlier, which made it pretty clear I was not stating anything as a fact, just what I was thinking.

Second, I am a huge fan of Zhao Lu Si and have recently paid attention to Zhou Ye too. My comment was harmless, I was just wondering if she might have been really busy with filming. I am glad so many dramas with them have been airing. And of course I know actors have no say to when dramas air, sometimes they strategically decide to air dramas that star the same actors one after the other or even simultaneously. Happened with Bai Lu just recently.

You made it seem like I was a hater or blaming them for being in so many dramas and stealing opportunities for other actresses or something. Maybe that was not your intention, but it was how your comment came across. I can tell you are very passionate about this, so I don’t blame you.

Basically I was just worried that she might have been working too much, but now you have clarified things and I know the dramas were filmed at different times.

That is why I was thinking some might have been filmed earlier. Because of censorship and editing some dramas get delayed. I also thought 4 dramas in a year is too much, imagining it would take about 6 months to finish filming, she would have to be filming two dramas at the same time and not have a break the entire year.

Ikr? I finished Scent of Time and a few weeks later was watching Love Me, Love My Voice. Then when I checked I noticed she was the FL on Back From the Brink too and now this one. I mean, technically it’s not the same year since it’s already 2024, but they all aired one after the other.

She needs a break. Unless some were filmed earlier than the others, playing the FL in 4 dramas in a single year must be tiring. Reminds me of Zhao Lu Si, who is also doing like 3 or 4 dramas a year.

Yeah. It has been 6 years since I left that comment but not much has changed. I have watched a lot of great dramas since then but it gets harder and harder to find dramas that make me super invested like it happened when I first started watching them. Most of the plot devices and characterization are things that I have seen countless times to the point I can predict what will happen episodes ahead or how a character will behave, sometimes even what they will say. ^^'

Btw, I noticed your profile pic is a character from Alice in Borderland....just reminded me that I am still waiting for season 3. T T
One of the better action/thriller dramas I have watched lately. I do not usually give Japanese dramas very high ratings because I feel the acting and plot can be a little bit over the top (works for anime but feels cringy when its real people). But Alice in Borderland was one of the best Japanese dramas I have watched. I binge-watched the whole 2 seasons in 2 days.

This one is a hard pill to swallow...a makjang at its best or worst, not sure which one would be more accurate.

At the end of the day it was frustrating to watch from beginning to end and the title of the drama could not be further from what happens in it because no one is happy and the ones behind all the unhappiness are the ones who suffer the least. If I would describe how it made me feel, I would say it felt like taking a punch to the stomach. Watch knowing you will not leave this one with a smile on your face.