koreanbosuji

Old Gao was materialistic and focused on money making and quickly reaching a 'lifestyle' that he craved (recall what he said when he was invited for dinner by Xu Lina in that fancy restaurant, ALL he could dream up was a want : the "lifestyle of the rich and famous").
He craved power and influence and even though he preached 'equality amongst colleagues' he operated and made no bones about who was the boss and decided as he pleased what the company should do.

Li Xun was a visionary - he was dreaming about how Tech could benefit humankind (the 1% cure rate for cancer was his DREAM) - he was on the mountain top already and seeing the future of TECH in the horizon dawning ..

Not once do we see Li Xun gape at 'money and power' .. what we see him doing is "avoiding the moneyed" / wary and suspicious of people with money who so often wanted to 'buy' him (FuZhio's dad .. Fuzhio himself / Xu Lina's dad .. Xu Lina herself) .. the ONLY person he made 'money transactions' with was his friend Ren-Di who was herself broke when she requested HIM to invest in HER BAND ..

He was sweet enough to to do that .. he VALUED her as a friend .. though he did not particularly like her music .. and thus probably didn't expect it to ever make it BIG ENOUGH to get him ANY profit).

We do NOT see him BUY anything of HIGH Value or GLITTER for Zhu Yun .. yeah .. a dinner (that too the ones he had for his base ) ; blue china roses were his splurge (LOL and Zhu Yun is happy BUT tells him to save up for their L&P); it's ONLY in the end .. when he has won back L&P and made decent money and become the HEAD of the company does he buy a posh HOME for themselves.

LOL ..
It's so interesting what different parts of the brain light up with the same show ..
The takeaways sound SO ALIEN to one's own experience of the show .. that you wonder were we talking about the same drama :-D

Then you know you are on a track perpendicular to the commenter and the ONLY point of intersection is that we both pressed enter on L&P on the VIKI selection menu - and that's all

He is misunderstood - as are MANY MANY MANY geniuses - geeks - nerds .. visionaries!!!
They aren't always attractive people either LOL

I am planning to write a LONGISH review on MDL about :
- Li Xun as experienced by his co-characters in the show
- Li Xun as experiences by drama viewers

If you were intently observing Li Xun's character (which in other words means watching Chen Fei Yu fill in the role) you would see the chasm of difference ...

Will notify here once that review is done ..

He is misunderstood - as are MANY MANY MANY geniuses - geeks - nerds .. visionaries!!!
They aren't always attractive people either LOL

I am planning to write a LONGISH review on MDL about :
- Li Xun as experienced by his co-characters in the show
- Li Xun as experiences by drama viewers

If you were intently observing Li Xun's character (which in other words means watching Chen Fei Yu fill in the role) you would see the chasm of difference ...

Will notify here once that review is done ..

oooooooooo thanks for this lead - I just read the MDL brief .. Will wait
She will shine if she get a capable actor - I haven't seen the actor cast with her

TRUE .. I saw this recco here (of YAMG) ..

Of Course Yang Yang acts well .. BUT the actress wasn't up my alley ..

Her character was CANDY like .. especially the way she was 'filmed' .. the camera angles used ended up making her look "cartoonish" (DOLL like .. you know those ones which open and close their eyes when you make them lie down or stand up) magnifying her already HUGE eyes - lips, pout and aegyo quality. Which is a turn off for me personally.

Secondly the script lacked tautness and wasted SO SO MUCH time on game-play which added zilch (IMO) to their character development ..
It was time wasted that could have been used to work on and unpack for us WHY Yang Yang's character 'chose' the other FL at college and "rejected" Doll-Eyes ..

It does not show the trajectory that made DOLL-EYES become a star whose face is flashed ALL over the city and has risen so high in the industry!!!
Is she product of media marketing .. and producing a celeb .. or a TRUE talent?? What dynamics played out in the making of her 'powerhouse' ..
NONE of that strength came through.

His Astrophysicist character's professional excellence and rise was show with GREAT clarity AND his struggle with choosing to stay or quit,

SO .. NOT at all at par with YAMG IMO.

honestly speaking .. I dropped it when I just couldn't bear one more "eye batting large lids' camera shot of the actress.

Thank you!!

I am planning to write a LONG PIECE of this "shallow and knee jerk" reading of Li Xun's character; with evidence from the show.

Am on slow rewatch mode .. and taking notes. It's THAT RICH a SHOW.
It's the first time I am doing so.
And I have watched at least 200 Kdramas in 3 years ;-p

Thanks for the recco .. keeping it for when I am ready to move from L&P

I am on a REWATCH mode of L&P and can't really seem to move on from this 'love affair' .. there is SO much beauty of craft to be found in it; in terms of acting, scripting, directing, music and sound track even

LOL .. goodness. We are kindred souls then.

I was getting so impatient with so many reviews which talked about being "bored" about FFDing, about dropping because there was nothing much happening, because it was a slow burn!!

I was like .. SERIOUSLY.

Then I read a feedback from a reviewer about not "getting" what they were talking about most of the time ..

That kind of made me think back on it and realize .. Oh Of course!! The "jargon" of IT and Computers and the Internet!!!

I hope you'll take a quick look at a review I left on MDL under L&P on this aspect .. so that some of the folks don't turn away because of a few negative reviews .. (you might need to sort the review comment under "most recent" for it to show up ;-p

Would LOVE to know what you think ;-p

Also I plan to write a few more pieces to dispel some of the "readings" made from the show of some of 'actions' and give my own as an alternative.

I was getting so impatient with so many reviews which talked about being "bored" about FFDing, about dropping because there was nothing much happening, because it was a slow burn!!

I was like .. SERIOUSLY.

Then I read a feedback from a reviewer about not "getting" what they were talking about most of the time ..

That kind of made me think back on it and realize .. Oh Of course!! The "jargon" of IT and Computers and the Internet!!!

I hope you'll take a quick look at a review I left on MDL under L&P on this aspect .. so that some of the folks don't turn away because of a few negative reviews .. (you might need to sort the review comment under "most recent" for it to show up ;-p

I was getting so impatient with so many reviews which talked about being "bored" about FFDing, about dropping because there was nothing much happening, because it was a slow burn!!

I was like .. SERIOUSLY.

Then I read a feedback from a reviewer about not "getting" what they were talking about most of the time ..

That kind of made me think back on it and realize .. Oh Of course!! The "jargon" of IT and Computers and the Internet!!!

I hope you'll take a quick look at a review I left on MDL under L&P on this aspect .. so that some of the folks don't turn away because of a few negative reviews .. (you might need to sort the review comment under "most recent" for it to show up ;-p

OMYGAWD!!!

Are you kidding me!!!
Of course!!

and VERRRY complex portrayal of it too.
The sort I like.
Drama-land IN GENERAL avoids delving into or exploring "complex romance angles".

It was my first ever WUXIA drama .. and I think EVER NIGHT damaged my WUXIA nerves too with its brilliance .. such that I have yet to find one comparable in story - theme - character and their arc.

LOVED the actress in EVER NIGHT,
She is soooo GOOD.

Check it out.

SHE is a BRILLIANT ACTRESS - Zhang Jing Yi

I watched her (for a few episodes) in "Fall in Love"
Great production value, exciting story, she performing at her best .. BUT unfortunately :-( a VERRRY POOR co-star .. who isn't able to "catch her throws" .. and sometimes even pulls down her impact ,, and sometimes even lowers her shine!!

I felt so so so bad watching her shine dimming next to his role play .. that I quit .. the second lead in fact was a FAAAR better actor .. filling out his role to the T. Even the two second FLs shone.

However I have put few of her shows on watchlist. Looks promising :-)
SHE IS BRILLIANT!!

How long is a pretty ML visual going to work if it's not cutting the character the right way :-((

Chen Xing Xu - IMO .. he's wooden / hammy / sub-par .. when compared to the few Chinese talents I have seen. For eg the MLs in

- Fireworks of my Heart (Yang Yang)
- Forever Love ( Wang An Yu .. given that the director wasn't the most skilled .. he translated his role pretty solid.)
- Road Home ( Jing Bo Ran )

and of course the actor in Hidden Love - the current HOT CDrama that is sweeping ratings charts - Chen She Yuan

Apologies :-)
I might not have made it clear in my above 'rant' ( embarrassed now, by my effusive expressions of upset feelings, because I DID REALLY want to LOVE the show).

I was NOT at ALL commenting on the actress's abilities or talent; her past achievements .. ALL BRILLIANT films that I enjoyed watching .. THEY were age-appropriate castings!

I was trying to make my point that, for me personally, the choice of using her (and the ML as well) as a 16 y,o. version turned me off COMPLETELY.
She looked silly to me.
(It wasn't even stage theatre .. where dramatic licence allows it / nor ART cinema which also might make such 'angular' casting work for creating a particular effect).

When I looked up more on this casting choice I read somewhere that the Scriptwriter and Director were "for this choice".

Oh well! For some of us .. it made us drop the show ..

I HAVE been SMITTEN with the BRILIANCE of L&P ... so much so that it's made anything else (as of now) look uninteresting and pale in comparison.
I echo many of the L&P fans addiction to the show when I say "L&P has damaged me for dramas"
;-D

I have also been puzzling over why for many it did not click.
A reason I thought of for those who have dropped it .. inspite of being initially interested .. or those just didn't get the point of it, couldn't tune into the 'sizzle' in the convos between the lead characters; a reason for the many who did not enjoy and got tired, bored, dropped the show WAS that it required a heavy doze of knowledge in Computer / Coding / Apps / Internet / Hacking / IT industry / future of IT etc details ,,, which played a BIG role in the "juice" and "thrill" of the show.

The entire dramatic suspense moments pivoted on 'understanding' even if just at basic GK (general knowledge) and current affairs level the world of computing / IT / computer hardware / game design / App and Website design / hacking / programming / viruses (the show STARTUP wasn't that solidly hinged around 'knowing' the jargon of the discipline).

There is so much 'technicalese' in the long convos amongst the characters :

- when and why Li Xun wins the Blue Crown Deal (the entire presentation for bidding)
- why it was a Herculean feat by Li Eun to have "rewritten" the bid AS WELL as the coding for the final website design
- how Zhu Yun (ZY) was discovered and what was she up to at the Xiaobei computer lab
- how Xiaobei was so shallow and silly in her understanding of the website design
- why it was a genius leap to have come up with the App for Blue Crown over Website of Blue crown (Li Xun's vision for future of Smart Phone use when 4G is moving into 5G soon)
- Li Xun's ability to see the future of how Apps / Internet use can be harnessed for GREATER GOOD of humanity
- the brilliance of dreaming of a future for medical Science and reducing the rate of cancer deaths by 1% (propelled by the all consuming grief at the death of his mother) and HOW were they going to go about it ... and why it needed deep pockets and backers; to see in it the immensity of the idea's scope
- when and how Li Xun exposes the weakness of Fang Zhijing's Star Award winning product
- how the Invincible General Game was turned around from being a laissez faire product to a product for nerds / geeks and found its niche following
- what was the Blind Box Game's allure (why it bothered ZY but all the males were cool with it, including her 'green flag' artist beau Xian) and why it would take 6 months even for any COPY to be made, unlike how easy it was for Old Gao to have copied Invincible General

And last but not least amongst this listing is WHY it was clear that Old Gao was bright BUT mediocre, his goals materialistic ... while Li Xun was a visionary, an institution builder (are there shadows of Ayn Rand's FOUNTAINHEAD in his and Zhu Yun's character portrayal) ??

You have spelt out a reason for the many who did not enjoy and got tired, bored, dropped,

The solid Computer / Coding / Apps / Internet / Hacking / IT industry / future of IT etc details ,,, which played a BIG role in the "juice" and "thrill" of the show.

The entire dramatic suspense moments pivoted on 'understanding' even if just at basic GK (general knowledge) level the world of computing / IT / computer hardware / game design / App and Website design / hacking / programming / virus

There is so much 'technicalese' in the long convos amongst the characters :
- when Li Xun wins the Blue Crown Deal (the entire presentation for bidding)
- why it was a Herculean feat by Li Eun to have "rewritten" the bid AS WELL as the coding for the final website design
- how Zhu Yun (ZY) was discovered and what was she up to at the Xiaobei computer lab
- how Xiaobei was so shallow and silly in her understanding of the website design
- why it was a genius leap to have come up with the App for Blue Crown over Website of Blue crown (Li Xun's vision for future of Smart Phone use when 4G is moving into 5G soon)
- Li Xun's ability to see the future of how Apps / Internet use can be harnessed for GREATER GOOD of humanity
- the brilliance of dreaming of a future for medical Science and reducing the rate of cancer deaths by 1% (propelled by the all consuming grief at the death of his mother) and how were they going to go about it ... and why it needed deep pockets and backers and see in it the immensity of its scope
- when Li Xun exposes the weakness of Fang Zhijing's Star Award winning product
- how the Invincible General Game was turned around from being a laissez faire product to a product for nerds / geeks and found its niche following
- what was the Blind Box Game's allure (why it bothered ZY but all the males were cool with it, including her 'green flag' artist beau Xian)
- and last but not least amongst this listing is WHY Old Gao was bright BUT mediocre .. while Li Xun was a visionary (are there shadows of Ayn Rand's FOUNTAINHEAD in his and Zhu Yun's character portrayal)

It's also uncanny how many of us talk about Hidden Love and Lighter and Princess in the same breath. Both possess an inexorable magnetism which kills all other shows for you.

I'll add "Fireworks of my Heart" in the mix.

BUT L&P is THE one that will call out your name again and again,

LOL ... It was hilarious reading the comments .. because I was in the same mode as many here.
Especially those who said they were immobilised after watching L&P and couldn't move on to another show,

I bet many others will be stricken similarly.

L&P has for now damaged me so badly that I am unable to move past it. Just watching it on rewind and replay .. and micro-watching the actors.

I did check out EVER NIGHT 1 though. Chen Fei Yu is fantastic in it.

LOL .. that precisely what hooked me!! Other than the fact that Chen Fei Yu is drop dead gorgeous to look at AND a top notch acting talent. Nothing gets deadlier a combo than that .. I binged breathlessly and rewatched several times