KingC

Namunosuke died? Just great. Atleast, now Daisaku has company from his Mibu Roshi comrades . ☠️💀

I like Namu A LOT. He and Shinnojo are the only less anxiety inducing characters.

But, I guess that's what's to be expected from a drama where all the characters except two (Saito Hajime and Choshu guys) are doomed to die horrible deaths, starting with Serizawa.
(Who is suspected to have been killed by Hijikata and his team as per history, don't know about this drama though.) Every character of Mibu-Roshi looks harmless in this version.
The history is bloody and not at all 'blooming flowers'. More like mass tragedy.

And yes, they are going the hard way to break our hearts as per EP6. (For both couples if they kill of Namu.) 🤡

I think the reason he didn't kill Kyujuro is the same as that of the manga, now that you said this. Sakamoto Ryoma did remark what a lively kid he was.
The first time I watched this series, I was dumb. Now, that I rewatched, the more ominous the plot is.

Whelp. The fact that Shinnojo sama was not in the manga is kind of bad news -- the Mibu Roshi are keeping him as a 'seed' as his family was wiped out by the Ansei Purge -- he can run off to anti-shogunate factions easily. [I can't still understand why Hijikata is labelled a Demon. But, he sure is clever.]
I have a bad feeling that they introduced him to kill him off -- Namunosuke (who is there in Mibu Roshi just for food and shelter) will go to all lengths to protect that dude. Unfortunately, I'm already too invested in that silly couple. Hope that they make it out alive.

The worse is indeed coming.
There is no Tragedy tag because no one has added it yet. 😞
I just now hope that Daisaku distances himself from Kyujuro in the upcoming episodes just like how he did in EP5 albeit almost beheading him. That way, when the final duel happens, I can atleast think that they spent limited time together.

Your welcome, Faarian! :D
Haven't seen Mitsu no Aji, but I'll check out your comparison.

Thanks a tonne for this!
Had to rewatch the first two episodes since I still haven't figured out who is who in the Mibu Roshi.
I completely ignored the Ishin Shishi dude who saved Kyujuro from that assassin, but it makes me wonder why he didn't just kill him.

Well, now I know why they are going the intense bromance path.
[EP1, it seemed like Kyujuro had just learnt about Daisaku the minute before they fight. Plus, some of the important swordsmen seem to be double checking their decision to join Mibu Roshi after listening to Serizawa.]

I love your scenario where they both run off. Or I hope that the fight mirrors their first duel and Kyujuro somehow ends up dead too.
Either that, or the story should start separating them like what they did in EP5 to ease the pain.
We already got the Azuki beans scene, so my hopes are really low for a happy ending.
Damn. I should've checked for real spoilers cause this really is a tragedy.

Nah, it's not impressive really. [I've seen way too many dramas and his character setup and EP2 sort of confirmed that he had something to do with the other party. ]

Your post was helpful, GinnyDragon! Thanks for that! :D

Ooh. I already suspected that he was a spy since he was too secretive everytime. Thanks for this!

Thanks. Well... I do not know if I should feel happy or sad. (Daisaku seems to be getting ready for parting according to the drama.)
If you don't mind, why does Kyujiro kill him? (His identity?)

Please do! I like to be prepared.

I can't find any information about the manga, but based on the synopsis and the opening, Daisaku dies. Or does Kyujiro die too?
Watching this, I realized that I have zero idea about Japanese History.

I just checked. EP19. FL never actually confesses in this episode to the ML mind you, but she accepts him but doesn't admit it.

It's a well paced/written drama. So, yes, give it a try, even if it's a bit predictable.
The 'couple' are married from the beginning, but they are both plotting and trying to trap each other. FL and ML are almost constantly together due to several circumstances/plots but FL only starts to warm up to ML (romantically) after EP18.

Funny, because when this drama was airing, there were several arguments/fights regarding the pace and the FL in particular. (My review is not that pretty, despite the 8 rating.)
But, all those comments got buried and it is now that we can see at least 2-3 comments that do not support FL.
Most people stuck around for Shi Yi -- but, dude was perpetually stuck as a 2nd ML in FL's life.
The novel ends at EP34. And the way EP34 ends seems like the writers really thought of wrapping it all up like that, then added the final 2 episodes for consolation.

In the book, he is around 35+. Must be about the same here, too.

You might want to hide this comment as a spoiler.
I agree with your thoughts. After rewatching, I think the main reason why Hua Qing Ge (the author, possibly a bad one) was acting silly was because she never took the characters as real people. I mean, she tries to change the ML by doing some stupid stuff which would've worked in cartoons. The only good thing it did was convince the ML that she was harmless/insane/not Hua Qing Ge.

She designed ideal characters (such as dream ML, evil tropey hostage villain prince) and tried to fit them into a plot that was not for them instead of crafting a scenario that actually is tailored for them.
If you notice, she doesn't know anything about the main villain, till the very end -- her original story was never deep to begin with and her readers were right to criticize her. She is absent in 70% of the important stuff that happens between the royal siblings.

Hence, she tries to force her beliefs on the characters, including ML and SML, forgetting that they were people with their own minds and decisions -- like how that one reader accused her of circumventing character logic. Gong Ye Qi was literally the only character who boldly called her out for her prejudice.
Literally, many good people who did not have to die died in her novel (Qing does say that their love ends badly, but we'll never know how it ended in her version. Though I doubt it is a logical one.)

This is the trouble with CEnt. Anytime anything or anyone gets remotely some amount of attention, there'll be someone digging around for trouble.

This drama went overboard with 'slow motion'. I skipped around 20s and still did not miss anything except maybe the soundtrack.

Usually in dramas, some major palace politics is definitely behind the scenes. Here, the main characters have someone associated with the Royals - Pan Yue and Yang Cai Wei's fathers both worked for the Emperor.
So, it definitely is relayed to someone influential.

I think the transmigration rule is not too strict for webdramas. The Story of Kunning Palace (she dreams up the stuff just like Hua Qing Ge and even a similar ending) and Legally Romance (she dreams everything, but there is no change in the future) are two other dramas that come to my mind. In all stories, there is nothing significantly 'changing' in the present. Just that there is no 'real' time travel. Even in Different Princess, the clock stops when she disappears.

I've always watched CDramas warily due to their love for dramatic sad endings. This one is far from a terrible ending. It's clearly a happy one.

The one I'm truly upset about is Wan'er. But, knowing her, I knew she carried the guilt of her mother's crimes. It was a stupid decision, but did not seem out of character for her.
The same for Ji Yun. I knew he'd try to kill himself to stop his mother, but it only turned into a HE because of Gong Ye Chi.

The ending changed as Hua Qing Ge intended it to be -- because in the story, Ji Yun was the dream man that everyone loved. He got his happy ending the way he wanted it to happen -- live freely away from the palace. Ji Chu still became the Emperor, but his last wish was to just get over everything and meet Qing in the future world. If Hua Qing Ge could live and fall in love with Ji Chu in the fictional world and never forget him, I think he could do the same.

Their first meeting (EP2) and last meeting (EP36) almost mirror each other. Her in complete shock, trying to slip away and him calling her out.

Honestly, I loved the ending. (Which itself tells how low my expectations are thanks to the exceptional talent of CDrama scriptwriters to turn even a happy ending to a terrible one. There might be a million ways to make a happy ending or even a hopeful or open ending, yet they go 'On your Marks! Get set! Cry!'