People complain all the time about supposed plagiarism or over-used tropes, but then if a possible revenge plot doesnt go their way, they complain about that.
'How to rule a state' was the norm in historicals, as far as I can tell, up until recently. That is where this drama is landing. Very philosophical and sophisticated, but not as bloody as usual, and with a good romance. Tragedy, complicated characters, the poetry, and the storytelling are all great.
Not all the scenes are perfect and the acting can be a bit meh with notable exceptions. I would never have expected Ye Ying and Mo Jing Li to suddenly dominate as they have in 38. But the plot holds together through every episode, much more coherently than some of my recent favorites.
Dropped on episode 36. 😑I was mostly invested in Xiuyao clearing his brother's name and Ye Li's illness. With…
The actor playing Mo Jing Li, Cai Zheng Jie, was shortchanged, I think.
He made a big impact in the beginning despite only having a few scenes. Then his lurking presence was not really worked up enough for my taste. I really wanted to know what became of him.
The scenes in 38, where he dealt with his wife (Ye Ying) and then later parted with his bodyservant, were really good. So good that I now look forward to seeing him in main roles. That is the way it should go.
The comments about the ending are truly bizarre. TRULY BIZARRE.
I just finished ep38, where I knew YeLi would smell the plot, and in the teaser appears to defend the city like a TRUE HEROINE!
And the dispositions of Mo Jing Li's forces are not unpredictable at all. Someone said it was a sudden event? Nonsense.
I cant wait to see ep39, and am intrigued by the writing, which seems to be getting bteer and better, with all the weighty intellectual meat saved for the ending episodes.
Once again, looking at these short reviews in the comments, the judgements on the ends of these shows sound like the viewer just fast-forwarded because they dont like actual 'how to rule a state' themes of cdrama.
That's fine but because politics is always part and parcel of cdrama itself, admit your shortcomings when you judge.
38 Wow. Cai Zheng Jie really came through in these final scenes. Really well-done -- the interactiopn with his silly Princess, and with his body servant.
Looking forward to this although now that I look at the synopsis -- the gender politics of South Korea have never been so obvious. Girl does not achieve her dream of becoming a filmmaker. Boy does and then returns home covered in glory. How bitter!
But it is billed as a healing drama where he will encourage her to return to her dream.
I think this has the best production in recent times. From backgroundscore to visuals they spent great effort.…
The writing showed more attention to an overall plot and pace. Cdrama is just starting to move away from a traditional 'episode' structure used when viewers actually watch a show for months on tv.
Really one of the best Chinese dramas I’ve ever watched! It feels quite different to other recent historical…
I think the later episodes look to be very well-plotted. I am enjoying them. the leap into politics alienates the never-die romantics among the viewers. But the script is great.
oh heck, ill put on the spoiler veil. so I can talk about ep37 YeLi being taken into the palace in the most genteel way as a hostage is a brilliant stroke of the writer. Wait until you hear the letter she wrote to Yao. YeLi is a genius. Not only is the letter masterfully poetic, it also conveyed the political situation completely. Love it.
Ep37 excellent exposition... starting with life on the street and the rumors, YeLi's intuitions about them, [[the return of the Dowager and YeLi being taken hostage. Then only then do we go to the army camp and learn of Yao's feint and disposition of the troops. VERY well-done.
I dislike the opposite choice and glad the scriptwriter avoided it -- if we had known of Yao's cleverness to begin with, annoyance and fear at the situation at home would have been annoying because we already knew the truth. As it is of course we were stalwart and loyal but the uncertainty holds our interest now instead of being annoying.
starting ep37.This is a very unpopular opinion. I love the show but please skip this if you cant handle complicated responses.
As the FL finishes dyeing the Ml's hair to ready him for his departure for battle, one eyeblink from ChengLei in a closeup and the angle of his head when he stands fulfills the lush musical background and tugs at your heart.
And makes up for the inability of BaiLu to project any helpful emotion in this scene.
I am going to stop trying to find any micro-expressions on BaiLu's beautiful face and admit defeat. I will not watch another drama where she plays the lead, while I am a ChengLei fan for life because of this show.
This show is a director's triumph -- they managed to use BaiLu's limited skills to advance the narrative quite well. The FL, of course, suffers from a previous trauma that has divorced her from reality, although strangely it allows for a relatively childlike but positive relationship with her husband. So the effort required to maintain her strange emotional disconnect, a tour de force for any other actress, for BaiLu was a piece of cake.
However, apart from the storyline and camera angles, the best technique the director employed was to use a very very very elegant performance by ChengLei to create spaces for her baeutiful profile, in which the viewer could play fill-in-the-blank with emotion.
A question over these nonsense activists -- Often the account is only a few days old, but I just blocked two accounts which have been inactive for years to the point where there is history of only one show being watched, and it isnt this one that they are complaining about. Is there a way to hijack inactive accounts or to falsify the sign-in date? Bot activity or people using Granny's account?
The world is loving this drama and that is all that matters. Everywhere it’s above 9.5 ratings. MDL was always…
His mouth! It looks so pursed as Manager Kim and then all of a sudden grim as heck as Agent Kim!!! That is down to the actor. MOvement too, although that is interpretation of the script, he is enduring raising a teen with shoulders sort of hunched, except when the actor stands up and his natural posture is rod-straight.
There is probably more to say about lighting and camera distance -- playio\ng role of dad -- medium distance shots, secret self-revealed, closeups and POV shots?
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'How to rule a state' was the norm in historicals, as far as I can tell, up until recently. That is where this drama is landing. Very philosophical and sophisticated, but not as bloody as usual, and with a good romance. Tragedy, complicated characters, the poetry, and the storytelling are all great.
Not all the scenes are perfect and the acting can be a bit meh with notable exceptions. I would never have expected Ye Ying and Mo Jing Li to suddenly dominate as they have in 38. But the plot holds together through every episode, much more coherently than some of my recent favorites.
He made a big impact in the beginning despite only having a few scenes. Then his lurking presence was not really worked up enough for my taste. I really wanted to know what became of him.
The scenes in 38, where he dealt with his wife (Ye Ying) and then later parted with his bodyservant, were really good.
So good that I now look forward to seeing him in main roles. That is the way it should go.
I just finished ep38, where I knew YeLi would smell the plot, and in the teaser appears to defend the city like a TRUE HEROINE!
And the dispositions of Mo Jing Li's forces are not unpredictable at all. Someone said it was a sudden event? Nonsense.
I cant wait to see ep39, and am intrigued by the writing, which seems to be getting bteer and better, with all the weighty intellectual meat saved for the ending episodes.
Once again, looking at these short reviews in the comments, the judgements on the ends of these shows sound like the viewer just fast-forwarded because they dont like actual 'how to rule a state' themes of cdrama.
That's fine but because politics is always part and parcel of cdrama itself, admit your shortcomings when you judge.
Wow. Cai Zheng Jie really came through in these final scenes. Really well-done -- the interactiopn with his silly Princess, and with his body servant.
Girl does not achieve her dream of becoming a filmmaker. Boy does and then returns home covered in glory. How bitter!
But it is billed as a healing drama where he will encourage her to return to her dream.
Fat chance IRL!
oh heck, ill put on the spoiler veil. so I can talk about ep37
YeLi being taken into the palace in the most genteel way as a hostage is a brilliant stroke of the writer. Wait until you hear the letter she wrote to Yao.
YeLi is a genius. Not only is the letter masterfully poetic, it also conveyed the political situation completely. Love it.
excellent exposition... starting with life on the street and the rumors, YeLi's intuitions about them, [[the return of the Dowager and YeLi being taken hostage. Then only then do we go to the army camp and learn of Yao's feint and disposition of the troops. VERY well-done.
I dislike the opposite choice and glad the scriptwriter avoided it -- if we had known of Yao's cleverness to begin with, annoyance and fear at the situation at home would have been annoying because we already knew the truth. As it is of course we were stalwart and loyal but the uncertainty holds our interest now instead of being annoying.
I love the show but please skip this if you cant handle complicated responses.
As the FL finishes dyeing the Ml's hair to ready him for his departure for battle, one eyeblink from ChengLei in a closeup and the angle of his head when he stands fulfills the lush musical background and tugs at your heart.
And makes up for the inability of BaiLu to project any helpful emotion in this scene.
I am going to stop trying to find any micro-expressions on BaiLu's beautiful face and admit defeat.
I will not watch another drama where she plays the lead, while I am a ChengLei fan for life because of this show.
This show is a director's triumph -- they managed to use BaiLu's limited skills to advance the narrative quite well. The FL, of course, suffers from a previous trauma that has divorced her from reality, although strangely it allows for a relatively childlike but positive relationship with her husband. So the effort required to maintain her strange emotional disconnect, a tour de force for any other actress, for BaiLu was a piece of cake.
However, apart from the storyline and camera angles, the best technique the director employed was to use a very very very elegant performance by ChengLei to create spaces for her baeutiful profile, in which the viewer could play fill-in-the-blank with emotion.
THank you to the Cyber Security police of Guangdong for supporting the entertainment industry.
There is probably more to say about lighting and camera distance -- playio\ng role of dad -- medium distance shots, secret self-revealed, closeups and POV shots?