Two diametrically opposed characters
I will pre-cursor this by saying I only care the acting, characterization, and the overall storyline/plot progression. From these narrow areas of interest, I have come to two conclusions. First, Hu Yu was a god in this. He is the only reason I stayed. The love, compassion, devotion, and yearning pours from his eyes and from every motion of his being. It slowly fills up your soul and sets it alight.
On the other hand, Su Mu (using the character's name on purpose because it's not the actress's fault. I know her to be a good actress) is hands down the worst female character of her type I have ever seen. You say a 2 dementional character to describe a character that lacks depth. She was a 1 dimentional character. She was negative depth. There was no presence to even build depth off of. She was fluff if a piece of fluff had already been ingested and then regurgitated by an alley rat after a trip through the sewers. That's how the existence of her character made me feel. Truly gag-reflex-inspiring. The closest I could get to describing her character would be ditsy, but there was not enough of a presence to even build that claim off of. She would have had to carry out actions. She would have to move through space and create an effect on space and time, but space and time came across her and turned their noses up at her and gagged in disgust.
You read in the description that she became his navigator, but that's if you count 15 seconds of reading the directions off of google maps (or their equivalent). Some comments claim she was a metaphorical navigator, but you could have put a stick figure with her eyes across from him, and that wouldn't have changed the story one iota (actually, it might have been better). As long as he had something to direct his smolder, the show was heart-stopping. I wouldn't say she's the ultimate bad representation of womanhood because that would require her to represent something. But I did feel shame that she exists. And I am a woman.
It was such a conundrum because her character made me feel a combination of nausea and shame, and his character was compelling and mind-blowingly magnetic. But with that magnetism, you didn't need anything else. But it also meant that you didn't get anything else (character-wise).
I gave the story a 7.5 because the story was good, and it wasn't the story's fault she was negative presence. I gave acting 8 because she was just acting her character, and while she does often play annoying, ditsy characters, that doesn't mean she's a bad actress; it just means I don't like the characters she plays. Maybe, in fact, it means she's doing a great job because they annoy me so much.
Finally, I gave a 9 for rewatch value because I went back and replayed every time he looked at her. It wasn't just one type of emotion or look. They were endless. The depths his eyes held multitudes... and made up for her negative lack of presence! But in the end, her character brought the total down to a flat 7. Sorry, world! Hopefully, its popularity means He Yu is getting the accolades he deserves, while at the same time, no other producer ever considers a character like her again. It would be pretty hard, now that I think about it. She was certainly unique in that way.
On the other hand, Su Mu (using the character's name on purpose because it's not the actress's fault. I know her to be a good actress) is hands down the worst female character of her type I have ever seen. You say a 2 dementional character to describe a character that lacks depth. She was a 1 dimentional character. She was negative depth. There was no presence to even build depth off of. She was fluff if a piece of fluff had already been ingested and then regurgitated by an alley rat after a trip through the sewers. That's how the existence of her character made me feel. Truly gag-reflex-inspiring. The closest I could get to describing her character would be ditsy, but there was not enough of a presence to even build that claim off of. She would have had to carry out actions. She would have to move through space and create an effect on space and time, but space and time came across her and turned their noses up at her and gagged in disgust.
You read in the description that she became his navigator, but that's if you count 15 seconds of reading the directions off of google maps (or their equivalent). Some comments claim she was a metaphorical navigator, but you could have put a stick figure with her eyes across from him, and that wouldn't have changed the story one iota (actually, it might have been better). As long as he had something to direct his smolder, the show was heart-stopping. I wouldn't say she's the ultimate bad representation of womanhood because that would require her to represent something. But I did feel shame that she exists. And I am a woman.
It was such a conundrum because her character made me feel a combination of nausea and shame, and his character was compelling and mind-blowingly magnetic. But with that magnetism, you didn't need anything else. But it also meant that you didn't get anything else (character-wise).
I gave the story a 7.5 because the story was good, and it wasn't the story's fault she was negative presence. I gave acting 8 because she was just acting her character, and while she does often play annoying, ditsy characters, that doesn't mean she's a bad actress; it just means I don't like the characters she plays. Maybe, in fact, it means she's doing a great job because they annoy me so much.
Finally, I gave a 9 for rewatch value because I went back and replayed every time he looked at her. It wasn't just one type of emotion or look. They were endless. The depths his eyes held multitudes... and made up for her negative lack of presence! But in the end, her character brought the total down to a flat 7. Sorry, world! Hopefully, its popularity means He Yu is getting the accolades he deserves, while at the same time, no other producer ever considers a character like her again. It would be pretty hard, now that I think about it. She was certainly unique in that way.
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