Ep. 9: The entire episode was spent on the pharmacist who was FL's villainous ex-husband in The Double. And when he spoke to the Emperor/ML in Ep. 10, it made me suspect he's playing one of the villains here too!!!! The guy is a good actor but I was hoping he'd just be FL's magic-potion sidekick, alas, not meant to be! He probably is the heir to the former dynasty IMO.
Ep. 10: ML was the one who told FL years ago (when he had saved her from traffickers) that if she wants to get ahead in life she needs to study....so he is the reason she got on the track of using education to get status & security (she doesn't know that yet but she got the idea from a stranger). Nothing scares FL, which ML likes. He also showed a bit of jealousy at pharmacist. I love the FL but she thinks she's his equal & can stand next to him without bowing or asking permission. And she does it in front of everyone. She owes her position to this guy so a little bit of respect for his position should be there. Drama is trying to show that the guy is emotionally secure enough to not mind her disrespect because he wants to get a job done from her & is secretly in love with her (plus, they were probably just acting for potential spies), but she only becomes his equal when he gifts half of his territory to her as his wife/empress (as per webnovel). And she can deny it but she DID beat the crap out of those grave robbers because of childhood trauma.
FL's friend is SO LOUD, she is irritating as hell. Yes, she's a loyal friend, but to pair a fish-market hyena like her with the very good-looking cute flirt who is graceful & comes from a 'soft-spoken' well-educated elite family is soooooooooooooo jarring. Cannot stand this pairing!
SML has more scenes than ML!!!! I don't mind, but I do mind his pairing with that screaming hyena.
I am also getting tired of long sermons in C-dramas on government corruption and plight of poverty stricken people. Every drama is like this.
Ep. 3: The tie in between FL & ML, in that cave, and in the desert, where he gets to see her bravery and spunk was good. I am sure he knows she's the one who led him to the child traffickers.
Ep. 6: Lump in my throat as FL fought her way to escape from the jail & the 2 wannabe killers. But what crime had that irritating byotch daughter of governor had done to get death sentence? All she did was be a b***** to other academy students, FL & then stole FL's paper. She didn't kill anyone did she? Or did I miss something?
Ep.7: FL's husband in The Double is here playing a totally different vibe character - that of a pharmacist. A pleasant surprise wink to their previous drama. Hope he doesn't turn villainous!
I forwarded most of early episodes because they were very loud - especially FL's sidekick's scenes. Now since the set piece is the palace / courtiers, the drama is not as loud as it was, but it IS still campy & over the top. And is full of good looking men - the ML's 2 sidekicks are a hoot, especially the 'romantic' one.
I love the FL, what a courageous never-say-die spirit she has. ML is doing a good job in the role of the emperor avatar, is graceful & powerful without being obvious. You can feel the hidden danger of saying the wrong thing to such a fellow. I also like the relationship dynamic - very professional - he wants her to serve the people & she wants to use him as a shield / stepping stone to secure herself & get more power. Hopefully the drama will have more of their scenes together and show a natural progression or romance.
I thought the male lead was quite thoughtful and intelligent in his portrayal, but am only up to E2 here in Australia.…
There is zero depth and conflict in this drama - old jdramas from 90s and early 2000s used to have complicated real-life problems and characters - and great OSTs. These new-age dramas are dabbling in privileged / manufactured pain just for the sake of it.
Ep. 1 & 2: This is a VERY LOUD drama, everyone is screaming and shouting. It's also very campy. Everyone is hamming. Everyone is loud & campy. Very weird drama. I forwarded most scenes that did not have ML & FL, even though FL is also loud. And very large use of AI (not just in credits - like in Overdo which had to do a Redo) but also in episodic scenes. Places look like fish market, including the palace.
I've skimmed the webnovel to know the beginning, middle & end, and unless the scenes between FL & ML for the next 20 years (or 15, as the webnovel suggests) increase and aren't loud & campy, it will be hard for me to watch this one.
Well, I don't think that the spouses of FL & ML were having an affair - they most probably were biological siblings or kids who grew up together in a small town & wanted to go visit that place again. FL's husband may have been unable to get back on the bus after a stopover & that's why he wasn't found with ML's wife.
I think this drama is headed towards a 'healing' trope where even if husband comes back, FL will have to deal with her bad overbearing mother & gaslighting husband.
IF spouses were having an affair & wanted to elope or something, ML's wife probably got cold feet and wanted to get back to husband & kid & that's why she was on the bus alone.
I wish J-dramas went back to solid storylines & great acting even though the production used to be of low quality. Now the camera visuals are high-end, 2 pretty boys have been hired (the cafe guy & ML) and a good film actress has been roped in to play a mousy yes-woman. J-dramas are no longer selling great dramatic, emotionally complex stuff.
Well the ending of Ep. 3 confirmed my suspicions.....
Husband is alive & wants to stay away - did he disappear because he wanted a different life without any previous attachments & financial burdens OR is he dying of some incurable disease & wants to save his wife from THAT kind of pain? (trope)
My guess is he wanted out of marriage & career without explanations & wants to stay away. And he WILL come back, only to find FL getting attracted or involved with ML. FL will have a choice to either go back to husband or start with new 'friend' & his kid....hence the title, 'until the T-shirt dries'.
My assessment of Ep. 25-28 is below.....Thanks to all the commenters on this page, unlike elsewhere, there was…
Ep. 25: Would've been a very good episode IF it were ALL true! But of course, it was all an act (as assumed by many of us).
Incredibly ridiculous storyline: General & king announce to his army / imperial guards that king & general's plan is to fake everything, fake fight, fake execution, general will defect to Northern Qin as traitor, his wife will be king's wife, soldiers will meet near a mountain & throw golden balls of fire to melt each other! And none of them spilled the beans to anyone!
I also think Northern Qin's young emperor storyline was dumb as hell too - why would an emperor weaken & defeat his own country's army faction against a historical enemy?! No wonder dumb highness was poisoned later on!
Ep. 26-27: This Mr. Noble ML irritated the hell out of me, especially in the SFL death sequence - even at that late stage of the game / ruse / plan, he only killed her after she had told him to do so! An incredibly unrealistic ML, if ever there was one in dramaland, for having never done ANY wrong in his life himself.
Ep. 28: THREE YEARS LATER???? So much for having an adopted bro like ML's who didn't even have the decency of telling ML's WIFE that he was not only alive & unconscious & later on suffering from amnesia. FL was living as a widow but not really a widow because she held out hope FOR THREE YEARS?! I won't blame SML / king for not saying a word because he brought them together as soon as he was conscious, essentially by making him head of imperial guards, getting her in palace, telling him to go to Crafts shop for weaponry, talk to her over mineral map, etc. etc.
It was also ridiculous that people did not remember the traitor general whose wife (announced as marrying the king 3 years ago) was roaming freely & expressing loyalty for that very traitor general openly, without guards.
It was also ridiculous that ML announced to the whole city with drums that 'Xiao Wuyi' was back - by not wearing his mask......
Drama should only have had the THREE YEARS LATER trope if they planned on showing a KISS between the leads...... (6 years since marriage put FL over every kind of age limit) - they could've shot the scene this year!!!
To end the drama with an after-credits scene confirming SML as the real heir & not grand tutor's son as if illegitimate king was a bad thing under Chinese censors!......Instead of telling the viewers what happened with the new war - did this idiotic ML go as planned to mine the mountains & supervise the new war as a masked man (who would follow him if they knew his identity?), leading to another year-long war or so.
With his health being sketchy, he looked like a dead / blind man sitting more than anything else..... I've never seen a ML work this hard over 28 episodes to stay away from their 'beloved wife' as this guy! He should never have gotten married.
The last 4 episodes made me feel like this drama was aimed at teenagers.
Thanks to all the commenters on this page, unlike elsewhere, there was engaging, respectful & funny commentary here. See you all on some other drama page soon!
He did that to protect XJY. So that none can hurt her even after his death.
Destroying Phoenix token means FL is the only person in the realm who knows where minerals mountains are - these minerals will make great weapons & make an army indestructible. Hence, no one will kill her.
So now that his family are going to be executed her realised that Li Mao is his enemy and cannot be trusted.Well…
ML's family is not innocent - his adopted dad / general orchestrated the murder of 200 members of An-Lu families knowing full well that they were not traitors. And if families are to be executed as revenge / justice in this medieval time, then as per law, dad/ general & his wife should be executed.
I just don't know why Ruisheng's son (raised as ML's but not really ML's) could not be excused.
Ep. 24: Who wants to bet that SML & ML are working together right now? Grand tutor was most definitely killed by a 'mask-wearing' agent of Northern Qin (if he was killed at all). SML has gone to a life saving 'magician' to save ML & he also got the poisoned emperor saved. I think FL is right when she says she doesn't know when he's acting & when he's genuine, maybe he is suited to be an emperor. I think SML is a great machiavellian character.
Remember, ML was the 'villainous' guy in the beginning now since he's the hero, so SML is playing the part of the villain. This is to root out some conspiracy & Qin agents & beat Northern Qin once & for all. ML will be presumed dead & it will all be part of the plan hatched out between SML & ML. I don't believe those 30 hits to ML's former wife were real (she probably was wearing a cushion) - they were to show whoever is Qin agent that SML is taking action against ML's family & dissent. The only people I feel sorry for are the soldiers who are caught in the middle - as per Ep. 25 trailer, ML is shown killing guards on his way to execution ground (& guards were killed while rescuing FL as well in Ep. 24).
I am suspicious of SML's sidekicks - that eunuch we are shown every 2 seconds & that concubine. I hope one of them doesn't poison or backstab SML!
I am also getting tired of ML's too-good-to-be-true persona, the country needed a leader like him, he just doesn't want to be king but is pontificating all the time.
I also think at least ML's adopted dad / general should be executed for his role in getting 200 members of An & Lu families killed 20 years ago..... that's the criteria of justice in this medieval time, he shouldn't survive.
Let's have the battle with the Northern Qin already!
The one who kills grand tutor? He's not really ML's Xiao father? Right?
I know who his bio parents are, I'm talking about the Xiao father, adopted parent, who is a general & he has lived with him! I'm asking whether the scene where grand tutor is killed by that adopted father is really adopted father & not an agent in a mask sent by Northern Qi to ruin the peace?
I don't see why ML's adopted father would kill grand tutor after events of Ep.23.
Ep. 10: ML was the one who told FL years ago (when he had saved her from traffickers) that if she wants to get ahead in life she needs to study....so he is the reason she got on the track of using education to get status & security (she doesn't know that yet but she got the idea from a stranger). Nothing scares FL, which ML likes. He also showed a bit of jealousy at pharmacist. I love the FL but she thinks she's his equal & can stand next to him without bowing or asking permission. And she does it in front of everyone. She owes her position to this guy so a little bit of respect for his position should be there. Drama is trying to show that the guy is emotionally secure enough to not mind her disrespect because he wants to get a job done from her & is secretly in love with her (plus, they were probably just acting for potential spies), but she only becomes his equal when he gifts half of his territory to her as his wife/empress (as per webnovel). And she can deny it but she DID beat the crap out of those grave robbers because of childhood trauma.
FL's friend is SO LOUD, she is irritating as hell. Yes, she's a loyal friend, but to pair a fish-market hyena like her with the very good-looking cute flirt who is graceful & comes from a 'soft-spoken' well-educated elite family is soooooooooooooo jarring. Cannot stand this pairing!
SML has more scenes than ML!!!! I don't mind, but I do mind his pairing with that screaming hyena.
I am also getting tired of long sermons in C-dramas on government corruption and plight of poverty stricken people. Every drama is like this.
Ep. 6: Lump in my throat as FL fought her way to escape from the jail & the 2 wannabe killers. But what crime had that irritating byotch daughter of governor had done to get death sentence? All she did was be a b***** to other academy students, FL & then stole FL's paper. She didn't kill anyone did she? Or did I miss something?
Ep.7: FL's husband in The Double is here playing a totally different vibe character - that of a pharmacist. A pleasant surprise wink to their previous drama. Hope he doesn't turn villainous!
I forwarded most of early episodes because they were very loud - especially FL's sidekick's scenes. Now since the set piece is the palace / courtiers, the drama is not as loud as it was, but it IS still campy & over the top. And is full of good looking men - the ML's 2 sidekicks are a hoot, especially the 'romantic' one.
I love the FL, what a courageous never-say-die spirit she has. ML is doing a good job in the role of the emperor avatar, is graceful & powerful without being obvious. You can feel the hidden danger of saying the wrong thing to such a fellow. I also like the relationship dynamic - very professional - he wants her to serve the people & she wants to use him as a shield / stepping stone to secure herself & get more power. Hopefully the drama will have more of their scenes together and show a natural progression or romance.
I am not talking about actors ability.
I've skimmed the webnovel to know the beginning, middle & end, and unless the scenes between FL & ML for the next 20 years (or 15, as the webnovel suggests) increase and aren't loud & campy, it will be hard for me to watch this one.
I think this drama is headed towards a 'healing' trope where even if husband comes back, FL will have to deal with her bad overbearing mother & gaslighting husband.
IF spouses were having an affair & wanted to elope or something, ML's wife probably got cold feet and wanted to get back to husband & kid & that's why she was on the bus alone.
I wish J-dramas went back to solid storylines & great acting even though the production used to be of low quality. Now the camera visuals are high-end, 2 pretty boys have been hired (the cafe guy & ML) and a good film actress has been roped in to play a mousy yes-woman. J-dramas are no longer selling great dramatic, emotionally complex stuff.
https://dramasq.com.tr/video/59177-1.html#sid=5
My guess is he wanted out of marriage & career without explanations & wants to stay away. And he WILL come back, only to find FL getting attracted or involved with ML. FL will have a choice to either go back to husband or start with new 'friend' & his kid....hence the title, 'until the T-shirt dries'.
Incredibly ridiculous storyline: General & king announce to his army / imperial guards that king & general's plan is to fake everything, fake fight, fake execution, general will defect to Northern Qin as traitor, his wife will be king's wife, soldiers will meet near a mountain & throw golden balls of fire to melt each other! And none of them spilled the beans to anyone!
I also think Northern Qin's young emperor storyline was dumb as hell too - why would an emperor weaken & defeat his own country's army faction against a historical enemy?! No wonder dumb highness was poisoned later on!
Ep. 26-27: This Mr. Noble ML irritated the hell out of me, especially in the SFL death sequence - even at that late stage of the game / ruse / plan, he only killed her after she had told him to do so! An incredibly unrealistic ML, if ever there was one in dramaland, for having never done ANY wrong in his life himself.
Ep. 28: THREE YEARS LATER???? So much for having an adopted bro like ML's who didn't even have the decency of telling ML's WIFE that he was not only alive & unconscious & later on suffering from amnesia. FL was living as a widow but not really a widow because she held out hope FOR THREE YEARS?! I won't blame SML / king for not saying a word because he brought them together as soon as he was conscious, essentially by making him head of imperial guards, getting her in palace, telling him to go to Crafts shop for weaponry, talk to her over mineral map, etc. etc.
It was also ridiculous that people did not remember the traitor general whose wife (announced as marrying the king 3 years ago) was roaming freely & expressing loyalty for that very traitor general openly, without guards.
It was also ridiculous that ML announced to the whole city with drums that 'Xiao Wuyi' was back - by not wearing his mask......
Drama should only have had the THREE YEARS LATER trope if they planned on showing a KISS between the leads...... (6 years since marriage put FL over every kind of age limit) - they could've shot the scene this year!!!
To end the drama with an after-credits scene confirming SML as the real heir & not grand tutor's son as if illegitimate king was a bad thing under Chinese censors!......Instead of telling the viewers what happened with the new war - did this idiotic ML go as planned to mine the mountains & supervise the new war as a masked man (who would follow him if they knew his identity?), leading to another year-long war or so.
With his health being sketchy, he looked like a dead / blind man sitting more than anything else..... I've never seen a ML work this hard over 28 episodes to stay away from their 'beloved wife' as this guy! He should never have gotten married.
The last 4 episodes made me feel like this drama was aimed at teenagers.
Thanks to all the commenters on this page, unlike elsewhere, there was engaging, respectful & funny commentary here. See you all on some other drama page soon!
I just don't know why Ruisheng's son (raised as ML's but not really ML's) could not be excused.
Remember, ML was the 'villainous' guy in the beginning now since he's the hero, so SML is playing the part of the villain. This is to root out some conspiracy & Qin agents & beat Northern Qin once & for all. ML will be presumed dead & it will all be part of the plan hatched out between SML & ML. I don't believe those 30 hits to ML's former wife were real (she probably was wearing a cushion) - they were to show whoever is Qin agent that SML is taking action against ML's family & dissent. The only people I feel sorry for are the soldiers who are caught in the middle - as per Ep. 25 trailer, ML is shown killing guards on his way to execution ground (& guards were killed while rescuing FL as well in Ep. 24).
I am suspicious of SML's sidekicks - that eunuch we are shown every 2 seconds & that concubine. I hope one of them doesn't poison or backstab SML!
I am also getting tired of ML's too-good-to-be-true persona, the country needed a leader like him, he just doesn't want to be king but is pontificating all the time.
I also think at least ML's adopted dad / general should be executed for his role in getting 200 members of An & Lu families killed 20 years ago..... that's the criteria of justice in this medieval time, he shouldn't survive.
Let's have the battle with the Northern Qin already!
I don't see why ML's adopted father would kill grand tutor after events of Ep.23.