Never watched C-Drama before. Would you recommend Pursuit of Jade as the first C-Drama?
My first cdrama love was Love between Fairy and Devil, my second love was The Double.
But this year and last year have been so amazing, you probably need to focus on your genre.
Nothing wrong with exploring and picking up then dropping a good half dozen to get a feel for what is happening.
Since the genres and audience expectations have been very fluid lately, do try a few oldies to get an idea of where anything which feels unusual to you in new stuff might be coming from.
1. The actress HTT is a real person, not some clickbait. She started working in the industry at the age of ten. It is insanely difficult for child actors to graduate to adult roles because directors get stuck in stereotypes when they cast. She is a professional actress and this is a good break for her. Dont ruin her chance just for lack of something better (and certainty more truthful) to say about the drama.
2, She was of age. Filming was scheduled to start in dec24/Jan25. She reached legal majority in july of 25. In China she probably was informally already considered to be in the 18yrold cohort. Every legal precaution was surely taken care of.
3. Yes, the lovely Li Yun Rui was born in 96. The gods have blessed him with an ageless face. HTT is from '07, ZKL is from '01. BUT since they are actors, it is ok for them to play all sorts of ages in their roles. The actual question is not, is HTT too young, but is LYR too old? Of course not, we all roar with one voice!
The weird thing abt all this is, we are writing on an Asiandrama list. The most well-worn popular trope in Asian drama is Daddy's girl. The man who loves you forever. Fictional age-gap is this industry's bread-and-butter.
RL age-gaps between MLs/FLs happen for all kinds of bts commercial reasons. There are protocols in the industry. I am not saying get over it, but there are some serious fictional age-gaps out there that all these haters could really get their teeth into. Why are they here, in this little drama?
They picked her because she was playing in first season FL in childhood
Filming started in winter of 24-25. HTT reached legal majority in july 25. Informally in China she was probably considered in the 18yrold cohort. If there was a need there must have been legal paperwork for her or her guardians.
the lead actress is of legal age. stop spreading false rumors.
schedule was dec 24/jan 25. HTT legally hit 18 in July of 25. It might be a factor that in China informally, you are 1 year old at birth and then you add a year together with your age cohort at the next lunar new year. I am not really sure why this is important. Surely an actress can take any job she wants to, and her guardians agree to?
Ep5-7 So much complaining about HTT. Meanwhile her poor character Chu Qiao is grievously wounded in her sword arm, escaping Yan only to land in the clutches of the bad empress of Biantang. In all this frenzy the actress does hold up under scrutiny. She looks and is very stubborn indeed, as all her suitors keep saying about her.
Tininess is of course an advantage if your costars have to pick you up a lot. LYR was probably happy in the burnt-feet scene.
And was that our dear Li Mu Ran there sadistically whipping the maids? I am glad I saw him first in POJ and loved him. It would have been harder to get over this role. Ick.
ep5-7 Having to guess about what happened until you receive confirmation of your guess seems to be the norm for cdramas this year. I can get used to it. More like a film than a tv show. As long as I get that gorgeous extra help from visuals and music.
The 'rebirth' (from yet another frozen state) of Yan Xun was a little overdone -- the Goddess of Wuan was waving around too much, and the vultures, what were they doing? Walking on him? But..he looked absolutely amazing when he finally stood up half-naked under his black fur cloak.
PA was an unlicensed adaptation of the novel, but Rebirth is an adaptation of the novel by the novelist herself, more or less. It picks up where PA left off but the story it tells, the way it is told, the emotional shadings, are all vastly different.
The Prince of Biantang, "right, this is QiaoQiao...get the biggest carriage possible (and knock her out) We shall spirit her away in style!" Somebody said, miles below, something like ' call this "Let's Capture Chu Qiao and Carry Her Back and Forth"!'. Whoever you were, come back and repeat that so I can giggle some more!
People said before 18. maybe there won't be any romantic senses. The way drama is going.... very good.
HTT turned 18 in July 2025. It is said that the show filmed in the fall/winter. But AiMi, currently filming Key to the Phoenix Heart, is a year younger so presumably minors can do romantic roles within certain limits.
So, if I understand correctly, Princess Agents did not have license to adapt the original novel so they changed the names of the characters.
Rebirth is actually written or somehow licensed by the author of the novel, so the characters' names are not changed, and the whole look of the production etc presumably is also blessed by her. I really like the restricted and powerful use of color.
The actor who plays Yan Xun has the right aura and look to heat up his scenes, but he seems a little raw, beyond the character's portrait, so yeah...My favorite female character so far is the Helian general, male character is expected to be Li Yun Rui's Zhuge Yue.
Unlike other cdramas featuring a mainly young cast, the main characters are cleanly drawn and easy to tell apart. A real author at work, I suspect, but casting is precise too.
My only complaint, as always, is I need a better map, literally a map, of the mountains and roads to visualize any military campaign. Northwest, southeast, whatever, where is the Meilin Pass?
ep1 Great beginning scene. The horses' legs against that white sand during the welcomeback. Practically Renaissance; same strategy, to give a sense of movement with limited resources -- i.e. make half a dozen horsemen feel like 20.
My first time watching. I am here for Zou Yue, the screenwriter, who also adapted Pursuit of jade.
1 
1 
I think of the climate as more like San Francisco. You need lots of sweaters.
But this year and last year have been so amazing, you probably need to focus on your genre.
Nothing wrong with exploring and picking up then dropping a good half dozen to get a feel for what is happening.
Since the genres and audience expectations have been very fluid lately, do try a few oldies to get an idea of where anything which feels unusual to you in new stuff might be coming from.
2, She was of age. Filming was scheduled to start in dec24/Jan25. She reached legal majority in july of 25. In China she probably was informally already considered to be in the 18yrold cohort. Every legal precaution was surely taken care of.
3. Yes, the lovely Li Yun Rui was born in 96. The gods have blessed him with an ageless face. HTT is from '07, ZKL is from '01. BUT since they are actors, it is ok for them to play all sorts of ages in their roles. The actual question is not, is HTT too young, but is LYR too old? Of course not, we all roar with one voice!
The weird thing abt all this is, we are writing on an Asiandrama list. The most well-worn popular trope in Asian drama is Daddy's girl. The man who loves you forever. Fictional age-gap is this industry's bread-and-butter.
RL age-gaps between MLs/FLs happen for all kinds of bts commercial reasons. There are protocols in the industry. I am not saying get over it, but there are some serious fictional age-gaps out there that all these haters could really get their teeth into. Why are they here, in this little drama?
I am not really sure why this is important. Surely an actress can take any job she wants to, and her guardians agree to?
So much complaining about HTT. Meanwhile her poor character Chu Qiao is grievously wounded in her sword arm, escaping Yan only to land in the clutches of the bad empress of Biantang. In all this frenzy the actress does hold up under scrutiny. She looks and is very stubborn indeed, as all her suitors keep saying about her.
Tininess is of course an advantage if your costars have to pick you up a lot. LYR was probably happy in the burnt-feet scene.
And was that our dear Li Mu Ran there sadistically whipping the maids? I am glad I saw him first in POJ and loved him. It would have been harder to get over this role. Ick.
Having to guess about what happened until you receive confirmation of your guess seems to be the norm for cdramas this year. I can get used to it. More like a film than a tv show. As long as I get that gorgeous extra help from visuals and music.
The 'rebirth' (from yet another frozen state) of Yan Xun was a little overdone -- the Goddess of Wuan was waving around too much, and the vultures, what were they doing? Walking on him?
But..he looked absolutely amazing when he finally stood up half-naked under his black fur cloak.
The face card is wild.
Somebody said, miles below, something like ' call this "Let's Capture Chu Qiao and Carry Her Back and Forth"!'.
Whoever you were, come back and repeat that so I can giggle some more!
Rebirth is actually written or somehow licensed by the author of the novel, so the characters' names are not changed, and the whole look of the production etc presumably is also blessed by her. I really like the restricted and powerful use of color.
The actor who plays Yan Xun has the right aura and look to heat up his scenes, but he seems a little raw, beyond the character's portrait, so yeah...My favorite female character so far is the Helian general, male character is expected to be Li Yun Rui's Zhuge Yue.
Unlike other cdramas featuring a mainly young cast, the main characters are cleanly drawn and easy to tell apart. A real author at work, I suspect, but casting is precise too.
My only complaint, as always, is I need a better map, literally a map, of the mountains and roads to visualize any military campaign. Northwest, southeast, whatever, where is the Meilin Pass?
Great beginning scene. The horses' legs against that white sand during the welcomeback. Practically Renaissance; same strategy, to give a sense of movement with limited resources -- i.e. make half a dozen horsemen feel like 20.
My first time watching. I am here for Zou Yue, the screenwriter, who also adapted Pursuit of jade.