tsutsuloo

Oof, that is low! I usually take Douban scores with a grain of salt because Chinese netizens are much more critical about alignment with original novels, historical accuracy, and beauty standards.

That said, I've decided to drop after three episodes. It's too painful for me to watch:

1) It's depressing to watch a solid cast and high production values undermined by ... what the hell happened? This was obviously HACKED down from a longer series. The over reliance of flashbacks is laughable-especially when flashbacks have nested flashbacks (thank you for catching that, @julekk.)

2) Zero time spent establishing the primary "romantic" relationship means I don't care. The FL should run away with her maid or with her buddy Su Yijian/Su Wen.

2) The show doesn't flinch away from the reality of unfathomably cruel harem politics. I'm not up that for this month.

I will certainly follow more of Emoto Tasuku's work!

How did Riku (Emoto Tasuku) go from being annoying to adorable? His character is listed as Watanabe Riku {Freeloader] but we know he's so much more than that. He is smart and the most loyal of friends. Outstanding stay-at-home-dad material for the right person.

Emoto Tasuku is wonderful and I just started watching his 2020 4-ep series KOKORO NO KIZU WO IYASU TO IU KOTO (To Heal the Wounds of the Heart). He plays a deeply compassionate psychiatrist who helps his countrymen following the Great Hanshin earthquake (1995). It's quiet and reflective; I recommend it.

I've been watching the series in spurts of 2 episodes at a time but just binged Ep. 6-9 in 1 day. Woah. I can't wait for the last episode! This show is a bracing palette cleanser after over-indulging in lush, cheesy, overly-looooong dramas from China and Korea. (Not to diss those dramas. I love 'em but I need a balanced diet.)

UNEXPECTED PLEASURES
1) Given the dark subject matter, there's a surprising amount of humanity and quirky humor.

2) This isn't a romance in the conventional sense but there are undeniable connections amongst different parties. The familial, collegial, and even lustful bonds make things interesting. Sure, the relationship between the two leads is weird AF but it's crackly goodness and I'm here for it!

3) That song! Thanks to @Kat39 for sharing the link to Aoi Teshima's "Tadaima" https://youtu.be/0IueDUcDmRY. I'm now conditioned to start crying when I hear it. (Baby teeth! Gah!)

4) The body switch is one of my favorite tropes. This show is one of the best of this whole genre.

5) Takahashi Issei never disappoints. Okay, this last point wasn't "unexpected" but it's still worth saying.

Damn. I watched to the end of the episode. His movements reminded me a little of Maori haka—so riveting! Yeah ... I'm going to put this on my 2021 watch list. Thank you for sharing this!!!

Heh. (I have a 164-episode Turkish dizi in my Netflix queue that might take me through 2022 to finish.) Do you mind sharing which episode features the wolf dance?

Watched because the cinematographer was Cao Dun, who later directed LONGEST DAY IN CHANG'AN. I liked this and found it a charming and low-key film. At the film's beginning, Xiao Xian loses both her boyfriend and her best friend in an instant. Over the course of 33 days, she grieves and grows a little as she acknowledges her faults—without abandoning her principles. Her friendship with Jian is fun to watch as it deepens from colleagues into a closer friendship. Jian is kind of ... ambiguous so I'm not sure you can really call this a "romance" but I still recommend it for the good vibes. Supporting characters such as their forgiving boss and a pair of older clients add warmth.

Same here. I paused midway LONGEST DAY IN CHANG'AN and I'm now energized to finish! I've heard references to the wolf dance ... and the TRIBES AND EMPIRES trailer on YouTube is killer. But 75 episodes? 75?!

I'm curious how many costumes our princess has. Does she repeat any clothing? Pajamas, maybe?

After beginning the series in a feverish state, my ardor cooled to casual enjoyment and selective appreciation. Thanks to the comments below, I minimized tiresome characters and story arcs while savoring everything involving CP interactions, Xiao Qi and Daddy Wang Lin.

While waiting for the last three episode's translations, I have three quick thoughts:

1) Zhou Yiwei. Zhou Yiwei. Zhou Yiwei. He is CHARISMA personified. If you're a member of his thirst community. consider visiting https://www.tumblr.com/search/zhou+yiwei for lots of delicious Zhou Yiwei slo-mo.

2) Many viewers are upset that certain characters are still alive by the series end. However, for at least one stupid character, being alive is a life sentence in the prison of his own making. It's an apt punishment.

3) I love sumptuous costumes as much as the next fan but I want them to be grounded in reality. Would someone like A'wu really wear such a long trains for nearly EVERY context—walking in the rain, sauntering in the country side, and even while tending bleeding soldiers?! Those long trains make NO sense! (It's a LOT of resources to keep those dresses clean. Or is that part of the fantasy element?)

Thankyou! What a brilliant, pithy summary. Love it!

Ugh. Don't watch this series if you need to get work done or go to sleep before midnight. So far, this is a charming and clever comedy to balance the epic drama I'm concurrently following. Foolishly, I started the first episode at 9 pm. I plowed through four or five episodes muttering, "Just one more episode. Just one more. Just one .... zzzzzzz."

I think JIU LIU OVERLORD (2020) would've been much better if it had captured the cheekiness of this series. Ning Yi is a FICTIONAL fictional character so his being a polymath is utterly hilarious. Accounting! Merchandising! Cooking! Romance novel author! He loves to learn and is surprisingly lovable.

There's so much to chuckle at. The humor runs the gamut of slapstick to frothy repartee. I especially loved the breezy interactions between the ML and his father-in-law's servant in Ep. 4. It felt fresh and almost-improvised.

Will MY HEROIC HUSBAND keep its lightness as it shifts to palace intrigues? I hope so!

I like her posts—snarky and reasonable.

Indeed.

I was shocked by Zi Long's request but maybe he wasn't wrong about why the Empress had to "follow" him. (That man was cursed with three qualities that make him an awful leader—he was stupid, selfish and spoiled.) Despite all their flaws, Zi Long and Wan Ruhad at least the sense to agree that A'wu was the best person to protect their infant son.

In reality, queens were generally exempt from having to die with the emperor. It's the CONCUBINES who suffered. The Ming Dynasty founder, Hongwu Emperor, revived that horrid practice and ordered at least 3 dozen concubines to be killed at his death in 1398. The Zhengtong Emperor (#6, #8 Ming Dynasty emperor) finally ended the practice before he died in 1464.

I think Liang Zhi Xiao sincerely likes the sister. His concern for the FL is not romantic. (And he's clueless about how is brotherly concern is misinterpreted by others.) So the tension between the two men feels like a mix of the ML (jealously?) misunderstanding that platonic relationship and LZX despising how the ML conducts business.

I recommend this show if you're in search of something fun, cheap and cheerful. Corporate shadiness and tsundere types generally bore me but the scenario is hilarious. No love geometry either!

PLEASE look at the shirt she's wearing towards the end of Ep. 7/beginning of Ep. 8. Tell me my eyes are not deceiving me. Is she really wearing a shirt with an embroidered patch spelling out F*ck in a huge, script font—in a corporate setting? I couldn't stop laughing. Oh gawd ...

So funny to see the cast be such dorks. I live in a northern climate where ice skating is popular; the teddy bear crash pads are adorably goofy. I'd seriously consider doing the human curling though.

But do we need subs to translate the language of love? Just kidding.

But seriously, Ep. 18 has one of the best pillow talk moments I've EVER seen in c-drama. It's a master class in showing intimacy with eyes, voice, hands, and close proximity without kissing. My heart!

LINGUISTIC QUESTION for Chinese speakers: While watching with English subs on Viki and YouTube, I've noticed the word "scram" used throughout. It's what the the elites say to servants when they want them to clear out—said with the force of "F*ck off!"

Have you noticed this? Would you translate it as "scram"? I'm a Gen X'er and "scram" was old-fashioned when I was a kid. It's a word I connect to Hollywood films from the 30s and 40s.