ibisfeather

EP23. I do love sneak attacks, heartwarming victories snatched from the jaws of death. The loyalty of the people of Hedong was moving. The flaming arrows were cool especially by night. Although it is probably impracticable on so many fronts, the horses leaping over a flaming ditch in the dark were great to look at.

The censors require a certain amount of pretty cheesy patriotic statements, but the worst seems to have been during the previous 5 chapters, so this part was enjoyable. Nothing like a good battle to liven things up.

Loved the still-evil Miles. The Emperor has really slowly grown on me, I really appreciated his struglles also in these last few chapters.

I am so glad Kim Do Yeon is getting new opportunities for work in acting. She definitely has fire in her bones. I hope Lee Jong Won lights up in her presence,

Both the life paths of the main leads are ones which in RL would be ones fraught with danger and changing fortunes; a courtier in an unstable court, and an independent merchant -- it took her quite a while to find a client base and pricepoints which matched her abilities and beliefs. Given that both Cdrama and Kdrama dependably separate their characters as often as possible in copmpetely crazy ways, I am pretty tolerant of this one. There is little dramatic tension in the sort of quiet grownup love affair these two are working towards, esp. in a weekly show, so obviously dramatic tension can only be maintained by constant separations.

I think the writers/director were going for the 'tragic' mode. Not cartoonish but truly evil characters who still move you in their pitiable wreck of humanity.

Totally with you here. on overall balance. It must have been an amazing performance given that its depth allowed all these emotions from the viewers to be legitimately in play. I was done with him from the first attempt at rape and wanted him to die forthwith, and I kept wondering why he was hanging around. The drama rubbed my nose in what grand drama is supposed to be like.

I like your analysis. Still, I think the over-the-top way he played was also valuable. There is a careful balance in Cdrama right now between the basic operatic tragic style and some more naturalistic acting. It is very exciting and extremely creative. I will be sad when we only see realism in historical cdrama -- it is coming...

EP22. This is where Yang Zi is demonstrating her chops. Her microexpressions are way improved.

I loved the dream sequences in 21. It is good that both the closeness of the couple and the slight fantastical air of the whole drama was highlighted.

Watching this because of Law and the City, where Moon Ga Young's chirpiness surprised me. I didnt see it in My Dear Nemesis nor in In the Interest of Love. I see it here...used in a different way. The character she is now (2025) playing, Kang Hee Ji (LitC), has a natural bounciness, which she drops when she needs to be more direct. Yeo Ha Jin, here in Find me in your Memory (2020), uses a natural cheerfulness just this edge of ditziness to cover for her problem. It is a complicated role for an actress bec the character already possesses the different intelligence of a dancer, and mysteriously still possesses a good enough working memory as an actress to memorize and deliver lines sincerely. So her ability to navigate while missing a whole chunk of her memory is not an intellectual feat, but a miraculous and hardy survival instinct.

South Korean actresses amaze me -- they have to navigate a forest of bizarre female representations in drama in order to pay the rent, but in order not to lose their minds they have to figure out how to give these characters the authenticity that they themselves possess as real 21st century women. My heart goes out to them, and respect.

EP21. Ok I am trusting in yall. Changyang has not yet risen from the dead but I have faith he is with the army.
The "tang empire respects other nation". I have to groan.

Calmate.........

Thank you for your post. Yes, in the end I think this was a story of a great love.

(I like this list!: physical touch, words of affirmation, gift-giving, acts of service and quality time)

Loved will love in spring. How about Ho Su in Our Unwritten Seoul?

Miles Wei is a revelation. The way his story with the princess continuously runs under the narrative. For an actor the limp is a gift, bec he can express his unhappiness with every move. The disability always reminds me of the cruelty of Prince Ning, who deliberately crushed the leg of Liu Chang.

I hear you on the equation of internal damage with external, which should not be automatically linked in RL, or even in dramas...

Here is one weird thing -- in kdrama these huge tall guys are never shot as large as they are in order not to make other actors seem dwarfish. All sorts of tricks are employed.

But when a Korean guy is inserted into a jdrama their height is emphasized...for humor? because to the Japanese it seems freakish? The japanese male actors dont mind being in the same frame...?

TBS/Studio Dragon collab? First one ever? Maybe it will be tacky too...

EP19. So the County Princess Li You Zhen is the witness figure. The love between Liu Chang and herself started off this train of events. What will she do?

Still plodding thru viki releases.

For those done, I am planning to follow the director Ding Zi Guang's previous work. Most of it is available on viki or netflix, and I liked Meet Yourself. I already spent time in between Parts1&2 looking at LX and YZ's previous work.

It is hard to follow chinese directors so I want to seize the chance. DZG looks as if he will do more interesting work, altho maybe in the modern vein, as in his previous.

thanks.

ops, Lin Xin Yi is an earth tiger (98). I knew there was something wrong abt what I was saying. Earth and wood, no problem.

I know what you mean by addictive. I started to watch this by mistake!

About the scorpios, I have a theory that casting directors might pick leads by their chinese years. Lin Xin Yi is another one of the great cohort of Fire Rat women born in 1998, and Luo Zheng is a handsome Wood Pig from 1995 (a good example is LeeDo Hyun) . Good chemistry, more or less. Not too sure about the wood and fire...

I am hooked, unfortunately. No matter how cliched, no matter how melodramatic, thats how soap opera works, on ep20, my mistake. Somehow I misread this and thought it would be a snappy little 8EP chinese bite-sizer. Then I kept saying, just a pair more episodes, then I'll turn out the light...