tsutsuloo

The description for THE MOST ORDINARY ROMANCE is not quite correct. The two leads are not ex-lovers. He's in love with his ex and she's just broken up with her boyfriend.

He's Han Joo's new (and younger) colleague. Very sweet personality with a toxic girlfriend.

I also hate the typical k-drama love triangles. Here, the romantic geometry is more for discomfort and comedy—it moves the story along without being central to the plot. There's an ex-boyfriend who doesn't stand a chance and a supporting character in a slow motion breakup with his toxic girlfriend.

I absolutely love this show. It's weirdly wonderful and unlike anything I've ever seen in k-drama.

I'm hoping we'll see it on Netflix later. I'm watching with Google Translate—very awkward but I get the bones of story and really like it so far. It'll be great once the full subs are available!

@PeachBlossomGoddess—Thanks for sharing this. This line about locals profiting from the growing tourism industry (homestays, restaurants, grocery stores, etc.) grabbed my attention:

"In peak season, their daily income matches their annual revenue as farmers. So many locals have returned to make a living here, rather than become migrant workers."

I hope this is true.

Yes! I have watched 9 End 2 Outs! Co-habitation hijinks x friends-to-lovers is a trope recipe for good times!

Each episode ends with a short interlude that sometimes foreshadows coming events or reveals something of life in Chang'an. At the end of Ep. 16, the camera submerges below the surface of the burning lake and glides past a giant sculpture with Zhang Xiao Jing's belt draped across its hand. Look back at Ep. 2 where he's getting "armed to the teeth." Right at 07:34, you get a good view of the tiny-but-lethal bow holster and quiver he wears at the small of his back on that very same belt.

Ep. 17 begins with a flash-forward and was utterly confusing because that narrative structure hadn't been used before in the cold open. I asked myself, "The light is golden. Is this a flashback? Flash-forward? Wha'?"

Perhaps the editing is influenced by form of storytelling that doesn't depend so much on all the transitions being filled in. While I don't need ALL the "and then this happened and then this happened" to be explained, not showing how ZXJ survived the crash is frustratingly lazy.

All that said, I still love this show.

Saw "A Hard Day" in 2015 at a film festival and still hold it as one of the best action-thrillers I've ever seen. Will definitely watch "Parasite" soon.

Overall, the series is tight—which makes the occasional plot holes a bit surprising. I've been asking myself the same question—why cut out important transitions, especially following a cliff hanger? Had I skipped something or perhaps blacked out from all the excitement? There are more "missing bits" to come but it's not so bad ...

@QAS—Heh. My favorite was Yao Ru Neng referring to Xu Bin as a "nerd" (Ep. 12 | 25:44, Amazon Prime).

—This is splendid. Thanks for the recommendation! I found the 12 episodes at InfoCoBuild, a website devoted to educational resources: http://www.infocobuild.com/books-and-films/social-science/the-silk-road.html.

I'll take two persimmons. No straws.

Speaking of product placements, I'm curious how the city of Xi'an, school teachers, historians, museums, designers, etc. might benefit from this series. Will there be a deepened interest in all things late Tang dynasty?

Has Amazon seen a spike in books related to the Silk Road? I know I've got Susan Whitfield's "Life on the Silk Road" in my shopping cart, thanks to your recommendation.

The show was nominally split into two "seasons" that were streamed back-to-back without interruption. "Season 1" encompassed 1-24. "Season 2" covered 25-48. The fans stayed on this page after Episode 24.

I wonder why the other Mydramalist page says Season 2 begins Dec. 19, 2019. https://kisskh.at/38591-the-longest-day-in-chang-an-season-2.

Its verisimilitude is what sets The Longest Day in Chang'an apart from any of the wuxia or historical dramas I've ever seen. (I confess not having seen Nirvana in Fire though I know the story and character development are highly regarded.)

It's unequivocally one of the best dramas of 2019. It sets the bar for fusion historical dramas, masterfully balancing action and political thriller genres within a richly realized setting. While some viewers find the character development thin, there is a satisfying range of complex alliances and impulses driving the action—political, familial, economic and even (low key) romantic.

The series is not perfect—but what is? Occasionally, I've wondered if I missed a scene because I didn't understand how someone got from A to B. Zhang Xiao Jing's skills border on the supernatural but he's so damn thrilling to watch. And there are a couple characters I wish would fall off a cliff—history will bring their comeuppance later.

The fan base here is particularly erudite and engaged, grounding the series in real history. Now is a good time to start—the series should be fully subbed by the time you get to the end.

Gotcha. Curious why it's not consistent across all replies. Thx anyway.

Excellent point, @hohliu. I also enjoy nuanced subs! For Korean dramas, I occasionally compare scenes in Viki and Kocowa—it's surprising how something like pronouns can really throw off the meaning. It frustrates me when English subs use a person's name when the speaker actually used an honorific or relationship label.

When the 2017 K-drama Avengers Social Club wasn't picked up by the major streaming networks, a group of dedicated fans pulled together to sub the series. The subs were brilliant—often w/contextual notes.

What if a streaming interface had an option to switch on different levels of complexity?
--Option 1: Simple English
--Option 2: All honorifics written in transliterated English (unnie, noona, orabeoni, etc.)
--Option 2: Sociolinguistic footnotes explaining aphorisms, levels of formality, etc. (A good example is when someone says, "I'm sorry." Is it the casual, everyday "I'm sorry" or is it more formal apology that connotes more gravity?)

Technical question—how do you make @tags work? Mine never turn blue. What's the secret?

"Best" seems relative. As a non-Chinese speaker, I'm happy enough to toggle amongst Viki, Amazon and *cough* other sources for whatever is available.
I'd like to hear more from @RSMasterfade and other Chinese speakers about why they've been lamenting the quality of English subs.