Ep 23-24: oh no, they're starting to lose their trusted friends & wingmen. +
Crying buckets after our leads each lost one of the most important people in their lives ... 😭 Luckily our sweet Wen Jun and plucky Kaka/Gavroche are there to help mend the rift ... but bracing myself for more angst!
Omo, Chilan and Prince Wen Ying's are on the same page, literally - their lanterns carry the same message, in different languages. Another cross-race couple also sharing the same thoughts and goals - please let there be a HE for this promising duo!
I like how they emphasize the similarities between their cultures, like the Lantern Festival/Soul Ferrying Festival. It's always better to try and find the shared commonalities that bring them together, rather than focusing on their differences!
Wen Ying's a dark horse at this stage. He may lean more pro-Qi than his dad the emperor, but if he wants to pursue his badass Qi General Lady, then he's gonna have to tread very carefully at home! I wanna see him act as a double agent (gotta make the most of his semi-evil shifty vibes, lol) while pretending to obey his father, and working hand in glove with Team HZ & J'E with a last-minute reverse betrayal!
Been admiring the aesthetics of this show - each kingdom, culture and case has distinct and gorgeous costumes and landscapes. The show tends to be pretty simple with its colour choices (mainly sticks to black/blue vs white/red) and doesn't use the pastels commonly adopted in other historical dramas, but I find it to be in keeping with the hot/cold theme of the show. These pics especially show the beautiful textures and layering of the costumes - https://inf.news/en/entertainment/4d0da83ec907f11de37b49f8bf172dc1.html
Some extra comments: Despite being (Qi) 60 yrs old, in the recent eps, it really does feel like Han Zheng is just…
So true! Progress is never a straight line - it's 3 steps fwd and 2 steps back. And people are indifferent to discrimination issues when it doesn't concern them directly, and quick to give (lazy) judgments. For instance, the Inspection Bureau guys are kind of the litmus test of public sentiment The ML & FL aren't immune from these biases either, but they're always able to see each other's point of view eventually, which deepens their mutual understanding and makes them such a convincing couple!
Well hello there couple number 2. I knew from the look he gave her upon first meeting that she captured his heart.…
Yay! and about time too! Our CP desperately need a strong ally to ensure that Qi-Qian relations work out successfully! I wanna root for Wen Ying, I really do!
My love for this CP is growing by the episode!! 🐺💕🐰This is gonna get rather looong! Like others, I started…
Some extra comments: Despite being (Qi) 60 yrs old, in the recent eps, it really does feel like Han Zheng is just a young man running away from home to a strange land and ending up hiding out with no money and no ID card, getting teased/scolded by Uncle Hu, learning about love and relationships for the first time, as well as the responsibilities of his first full-time "job". Despite his superpowers, he's not an all-seeing mastermind and not your typical cold emotionless tsundere ML - he's very affectionate towards the people he trusts. BWJ is doing a great job with the microexpressions!!
I also like how the race relations dynamics are realistically depicted - people are fickle and slow to change: even after painstaking efforts to improve the image of Qi people, it only takes a small incident for people to revert to their engrained prejudices. Even if treaties are signed and laws changed, it doesn't change the grass roots reality of how people protect the status quo and the "us vs them" mindset.
They've still got lots of mountains to overcome, including: * overcoming the engrained prejudice and discrimination of Qians towards Qi peoples (and vice versa) * preventing the extinction of the Qi race & finding a way for all the Qi clans to coexist peacefully * finding Mu Yan and solving the mystery of the death (and likely poisoning/assassination) of Jiu'er's father * finding a way to be together despite the discrepancies in their status & lifepsans
If they manage to successfully solve these, this show is on its way to becoming one of my favourites of the year!!
My love for this CP is growing by the episode!! 🐺💕🐰
This is gonna get rather looong! Like others, I started with moderate expectations, but now I can't wait for my daily fix of our Jealous "None-of-Your-Business" Wolfie & frail but irrepressible Bunny!
Once our Hot Wolf Prince started thawing, it didn't take long before he totally MELTED whenever she was around, and now he's practically addicted to holding her hand!! They're SUCH a cute couple!🐺🐰
I liked both leads from their previous works. LYT was totally charming in Dt.Appedog's Time/Go Go Squid 2 and BWJ made a great impression in In A Class of Her Own! And ofc, you can't go wrong when Liu Yiuning's on the OST!! 💪🎶
Am liking how they're handling the cross-genre balance - diligently solving cases in police procedural mode vs the bigger arc involving his missing friend + the Three Scar Man conspiracy + the fate of the Qi peoples. In rom/com terms, despite his strength/noble status and her weakness/insignificant background, they're shown as being on an EQUAL footing in terms of intelligence and capabilities. Their bickering cat-dog chemistry is undeniable, but a big part of that lies in how well they complement each other on the job, as well as on other levels - love when they're in sync with their telepathic conversation! It's rewarding to see them opening up to each other, overcoming their prejudices and preconceptions, and becoming true partners based on mutual respect and willingness to put themselves on the line to protect each other.
We're more than halfway into the show already, and the stakes keep getting higher! Fingers crossed that the show doesn't lose its pace and that they find a HEA for our CP!!
Didn't realise that being an actress needed good batting skills too 🤣 ... my poor girl
ikr?! it's not like it's her first action drama 😆 But I get it - if I was her, I'd totally want to make sure those things never go anywhere near BWJ's bootiful face 😜
It is a bittersweet ending for me. After they saved Jirong they knew someone had to die to compensate and it was…
(also @xmag & @Becky!)
Yes, some people noted that the purpose of the origami crane and the time/space overlap was to save Jialan's life (since the crane & the apartment belongs to her).
As @Becky said, the 46 minutes overlap seems to be determined by the time of the FL's accident at 10:06pm and death at 10:52pm (while the ML's death presumably also happened around then). So I think it confirms that the time/space overlap was always about HZY and Jialan's fates being inextricably intertwined, so that ONE OF THEM would inevitably have to die for the situation to be resolved. Specifically, 2022 HZY.
All the plot points focused around HZY: it was his friend Jirong who died initially; Sun Defeng's hatred of HZY was the driving force behind all his plotting (and likewise, Wu Anren in the initial timeline said he was going to kill Jialan to hurt HZY); it was HZY's friend (WAR) who hit Jialan with his car ... but either way, it was always Jialan who got caught in between and ended up in a coma/dead by 6 Jan 2022.
So to prevent Jialan's fate before then, HZY (not Jirong or anyone else) had to die, and that ONLY worked because Sun Defeng killed 2022 HZY *in the 2021 setting* (wouldn't have worked in 2022, since Jialan was already gone by then, and 2021 HZY had to be around to make sure SDF was neutralised in 2021 before he hurt Jialan).
So for me, the tragic part was the conclusion that 2022 HZY never really had a future with Jialan to begin with, and they never quite figured out exactly how to solve the time/space overlap.
Although both JCL and HZY loved each other enough to willingly die for one another, and 2022 HZY resolved to sacrifice himself to save Jialan, it's not like he deliberately went to meet SDF in order to get himself killed, or knowing exactly how he'd die, right? Or are they just simply plot holes by the writer ...??
Also, I'm guessing that even if the time/space overlap had continued (along with the relationship between 2022 HZY & JCL), it would have required more sacrifices to maintain / balance the co-existence of 2021 HZY & 2021 HZY & CJL, so it would have resulted in more unexpected consequences - in effect, they couldn't maintain the 2022 relationship for long anway. My poor 2022 He Zheng Yu!!!
Yeah, I was wondering if they *had* to sacrifice someone, couldn't they swap one HZY for Sun Defeng + Wu Anren + Jirong packaged together? But I guess that's not how the law of entropy or dramaland works! :P
If you think about it, the only option is for 2022 HZY to die so he (back in 2021) can have a future with CJL.Without…
Great summary!!! \^^/ The ending twist of 2021HZY absorbing all of 2022HZY's memories & feelings was a trick that felt a bit wobbly to me (I mean, it's always been 2022HZY on the receiving end of the updated memories - so how come 2021HZY can suddenly get his future memories in reverse?!). But maybe dying results in a bigger transference of energy and that somehow magically enables the 2022 memories to be transferred to 2021 -- 2021HZY really IS a walking hard drive, hehe! As long as we get a happy ending between HZY & CJL, I ain't complaining!! I absolutely loved these two (these three?!) together!!!
It would have been nice if they'd made her a more complex character so that we could justify Sheng Hao's utter…
True, even if the time-space overlap had continued indefinitely past 12th Dec, 2022HZY could only be with Jialan for 46 mins every night. As @Dramanoona3 commented below (in spoiler), 2022HZY realised that and knew that the best solution was for him to give way so that 2021HZY and Jialan could have a future where they can stay together 24/7.
And even if he had survived, the entropy law would mean that SOMEONE had would keep getting injured/dying in any event. So if Jialan and 2021HZY are always running around like headless chickens trying to prevent this from happening, and the future is constantly changing and 2022HZY's memories are constantly updating ... that would be pure chaos and no way to live!
Re Sun Defeng, yeah it was interesting that his hatred of HZY was the driving force behind everything (like teaming up with Wu Anren, Gao, anyone, to bring down HZY) and Jirong's matter ended up being the red herring. Actually, Wu Anren also said that he was going to kill Jialan to hurt HZY, rather than kill HZY directly ... just shows the type of cowards that SDF and WAR are, I guess ...
Finished this show and although it was a bit bittersweet, I'm at peace with the ending. It was as good and believable…
It would have been nice if they'd made her a more complex character so that we could justify Sheng Hao's utter infatuation with her. I mean, even Chen Ke Xin was more proactive than her!
Would Jirong have acted any differently if they'd told her she was going to die?? What if ...
And (although we weren't shown any of this) if your best friend 2022 HZY was murdered, shouldn't Jirong be sadder about it? Especially when HZY had put everything on the line to try and stop Jirong from dying? Poor 2022 HZY!
Finished this show and although it was a bit bittersweet, I'm at peace with the ending. It was as good and believable as it could be, and let them all stay true to their characters.
Love triangles are usually trite and overdone, but THIS one really needed all 3 of them to be 100% committed, so that they could resolve all the mysteries and to complete their relationship.
Apart from a few moments of noble idiocy, the MLs & FL together made the best team - they were mature, smart and worked hard to communicate with each other.
I also liked how, despite being a fated love across time and space, Zheng Yu and Jialan's romance was all about the small, intimate moments, like their "dates" being just simple things like brushing their teeth and playing chess together, eating a meal together, or doing their date vlog - I laughed when the FL yelled that "he makes me want to beat him up!" in the middle of their date, it was so relatable!! Yet it only served to underscore how much they understood and trusted each other.
It was a good contrast to the Jirong/Sheng Hao relationship which was tempestuous and dramatic but didn't manage to make anyone very happy in the end ...
I like how they emphasize the similarities between their cultures, like the Lantern Festival/Soul Ferrying Festival. It's always better to try and find the shared commonalities that bring them together, rather than focusing on their differences!
Wen Ying's a dark horse at this stage. He may lean more pro-Qi than his dad the emperor, but if he wants to pursue his badass Qi General Lady, then he's gonna have to tread very carefully at home! I wanna see him act as a double agent (gotta make the most of his semi-evil shifty vibes, lol) while pretending to obey his father, and working hand in glove with Team HZ & J'E with a last-minute reverse betrayal!
- https://inf.news/en/entertainment/4d0da83ec907f11de37b49f8bf172dc1.html
On another note, HZ & JE are truly such a good-looking couple! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4DMEcbyJwQ. It makes me want to see them paired in a modern drama!!
The ML & FL aren't immune from these biases either, but they're always able to see each other's point of view eventually, which deepens their mutual understanding and makes them such a convincing couple!
I wanna root for Wen Ying, I really do!
Despite being (Qi) 60 yrs old, in the recent eps, it really does feel like Han Zheng is just a young man running away from home to a strange land and ending up hiding out with no money and no ID card, getting teased/scolded by Uncle Hu, learning about love and relationships for the first time, as well as the responsibilities of his first full-time "job". Despite his superpowers, he's not an all-seeing mastermind and not your typical cold emotionless tsundere ML - he's very affectionate towards the people he trusts. BWJ is doing a great job with the microexpressions!!
I also like how the race relations dynamics are realistically depicted - people are fickle and slow to change: even after painstaking efforts to improve the image of Qi people, it only takes a small incident for people to revert to their engrained prejudices. Even if treaties are signed and laws changed, it doesn't change the grass roots reality of how people protect the status quo and the "us vs them" mindset.
They've still got lots of mountains to overcome, including:
* overcoming the engrained prejudice and discrimination of Qians towards Qi peoples (and vice versa)
* preventing the extinction of the Qi race & finding a way for all the Qi clans to coexist peacefully
* finding Mu Yan and solving the mystery of the death (and likely poisoning/assassination) of Jiu'er's father
* finding a way to be together despite the discrepancies in their status & lifepsans
If they manage to successfully solve these, this show is on its way to becoming one of my favourites of the year!!
This is gonna get rather looong! Like others, I started with moderate expectations, but now I can't wait for my daily fix of our Jealous "None-of-Your-Business" Wolfie & frail but irrepressible Bunny!
Once our Hot Wolf Prince started thawing, it didn't take long before he totally MELTED whenever she was around, and now he's practically addicted to holding her hand!! They're SUCH a cute couple!🐺🐰
I liked both leads from their previous works. LYT was totally charming in Dt.Appedog's Time/Go Go Squid 2 and BWJ made a great impression in In A Class of Her Own! And ofc, you can't go wrong when Liu Yiuning's on the OST!! 💪🎶
Am liking how they're handling the cross-genre balance - diligently solving cases in police procedural mode vs the bigger arc involving his missing friend + the Three Scar Man conspiracy + the fate of the Qi peoples. In rom/com terms, despite his strength/noble status and her weakness/insignificant background, they're shown as being on an EQUAL footing in terms of intelligence and capabilities. Their bickering cat-dog chemistry is undeniable, but a big part of that lies in how well they complement each other on the job, as well as on other levels - love when they're in sync with their telepathic conversation! It's rewarding to see them opening up to each other, overcoming their prejudices and preconceptions, and becoming true partners based on mutual respect and willingness to put themselves on the line to protect each other.
We're more than halfway into the show already, and the stakes keep getting higher! Fingers crossed that the show doesn't lose its pace and that they find a HEA for our CP!!
But I get it - if I was her, I'd totally want to make sure those things never go anywhere near BWJ's bootiful face 😜
Yes, some people noted that the purpose of the origami crane and the time/space overlap was to save Jialan's life (since the crane & the apartment belongs to her).
As @Becky said, the 46 minutes overlap seems to be determined by the time of the FL's accident at 10:06pm and death at 10:52pm (while the ML's death presumably also happened around then). So I think it confirms that the time/space overlap was always about HZY and Jialan's fates being inextricably intertwined, so that ONE OF THEM would inevitably have to die for the situation to be resolved. Specifically, 2022 HZY.
All the plot points focused around HZY: it was his friend Jirong who died initially; Sun Defeng's hatred of HZY was the driving force behind all his plotting (and likewise, Wu Anren in the initial timeline said he was going to kill Jialan to hurt HZY); it was HZY's friend (WAR) who hit Jialan with his car ... but either way, it was always Jialan who got caught in between and ended up in a coma/dead by 6 Jan 2022.
So to prevent Jialan's fate before then, HZY (not Jirong or anyone else) had to die, and that ONLY worked because Sun Defeng killed 2022 HZY *in the 2021 setting* (wouldn't have worked in 2022, since Jialan was already gone by then, and 2021 HZY had to be around to make sure SDF was neutralised in 2021 before he hurt Jialan).
So for me, the tragic part was the conclusion that 2022 HZY never really had a future with Jialan to begin with, and they never quite figured out exactly how to solve the time/space overlap.
Although both JCL and HZY loved each other enough to willingly die for one another, and 2022 HZY resolved to sacrifice himself to save Jialan, it's not like he deliberately went to meet SDF in order to get himself killed, or knowing exactly how he'd die, right? Or are they just simply plot holes by the writer ...??
Also, I'm guessing that even if the time/space overlap had continued (along with the relationship between 2022 HZY & JCL), it would have required more sacrifices to maintain / balance the co-existence of 2021 HZY & 2021 HZY & CJL, so it would have resulted in more unexpected consequences - in effect, they couldn't maintain the 2022 relationship for long anway. My poor 2022 He Zheng Yu!!!
The ending twist of 2021HZY absorbing all of 2022HZY's memories & feelings was a trick that felt a bit wobbly to me (I mean, it's always been 2022HZY on the receiving end of the updated memories - so how come 2021HZY can suddenly get his future memories in reverse?!).
But maybe dying results in a bigger transference of energy and that somehow magically enables the 2022 memories to be transferred to 2021 -- 2021HZY really IS a walking hard drive, hehe!
As long as we get a happy ending between HZY & CJL, I ain't complaining!! I absolutely loved these two (these three?!) together!!!
And even if he had survived, the entropy law would mean that SOMEONE had would keep getting injured/dying in any event. So if Jialan and 2021HZY are always running around like headless chickens trying to prevent this from happening, and the future is constantly changing and 2022HZY's memories are constantly updating ... that would be pure chaos and no way to live!
Re Sun Defeng, yeah it was interesting that his hatred of HZY was the driving force behind everything (like teaming up with Wu Anren, Gao, anyone, to bring down HZY) and Jirong's matter ended up being the red herring. Actually, Wu Anren also said that he was going to kill Jialan to hurt HZY, rather than kill HZY directly ... just shows the type of cowards that SDF and WAR are, I guess ...
Would Jirong have acted any differently if they'd told her she was going to die?? What if ...
And (although we weren't shown any of this) if your best friend 2022 HZY was murdered, shouldn't Jirong be sadder about it? Especially when HZY had put everything on the line to try and stop Jirong from dying? Poor 2022 HZY!
Love triangles are usually trite and overdone, but THIS one really needed all 3 of them to be 100% committed, so that they could resolve all the mysteries and to complete their relationship.
Apart from a few moments of noble idiocy, the MLs & FL together made the best team - they were mature, smart and worked hard to communicate with each other.
I also liked how, despite being a fated love across time and space, Zheng Yu and Jialan's romance was all about the small, intimate moments, like their "dates" being just simple things like brushing their teeth and playing chess together, eating a meal together, or doing their date vlog - I laughed when the FL yelled that "he makes me want to beat him up!" in the middle of their date, it was so relatable!! Yet it only served to underscore how much they understood and trusted each other.
It was a good contrast to the Jirong/Sheng Hao relationship which was tempestuous and dramatic but didn't manage to make anyone very happy in the end ...
As for Jirong ... +