Moonstruck

Ashes of Love is for me the gold standard for costume dramas. They don't make them like this anymore 😩

Love Between Fairy and Devil was great too. I was not a fan of any of the cast and honestly Esther's voice grated my nerves but this show made me love them. The story and visual was not perfect, but rated very high imo

For modern dramas, there is Lighter and Princess, Go Ahead and Reset.

Eternal Love and Pillow Book are also rated high for me. Although I think it's also because these are the first stories that introduced me to Cdrama world, so I have a soft spot. If I watch them now, I probably would have pointed a lot of plot flaws also.😆

Yeah, I forever hate the writer for that ending.
They created so many clues and plot anchors only for it to mean nothing in the end. I wish I could rewrite the last couple of episodes for that drama.😆

Breaks my heart whenever an amazing drama does so well and then starts showing signs of falling apart towards the end.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a great drama and definitely above average, but there's a feeling of loss knowing it could have achieved closer to perfection.
I remember last feeling this way for Feud.haha

In my almost a decade of watching Cdramas, there are probably less than 5 dramas that I feel were consistently good throughout.

The leaked episodes have wonky subtitles anyway, so better just wait for the official release

Yeah, this is what I surmised too. They didn't even give him a proper battle scene 😅

Yep, it's a risky business, specially there is no shortage of new dramas that gets released and could anytime pop. YangZi is basically an S-tier actress in China, I don't think ZLH is on that level yet.

Yes, we got robbed. The angst was really good for those chapters 🥲 he was so jealous and he gets upset everytime she calls him 'My Lord'.

This is my problem with Cdramas, specially ones adapted from novels with complex plot.
They starts so good but fails to sustain consistency towards the end.
Back then I always ask myself how come the story gets illogical towards the end, like many things don't make sense anymore.
But then I start reading the novel and realize everything is actually logical in the book and they are able to wrap the story perfectly.
It is the TV version that is always struggling with this as they make their own changes in the story that is disjointed to the narrative.
Wish we can go back to 60episodes format for the complex plot dramas.

Exactly. It wasn't even a bad breakup where people will call him red flag.
Time wise, i think they showed most of the scenes of their time apart anyhow.
Why not just add the short breakup scene before all that so that the story is a bit consistent to character 😩

Honestly, I think they could. Because most of the scenes of their time apart was shown anyhow.
They could have just inserted like a 3 minute him breaking up scene before all that.

It wasn't even that bad. In the novel, he came to his senses after 2 weeks.
TV version seem to coddle XZ character a lot. They put all the nastiness on Sui Brothers when in fact XZ has his own dark side.

It is a major change. It was his core character that he's out for revenge.
Think of something like LingBuyi in LLTG.

Just finished 32. It's official, I don't like what they changed in XZ's character. One of his core motivation is his desire to avenge his Father. Hence, in the original story he broke up with CY after finding out about her Father. This would have fit perfectly with their time apart and her being rumored with another man. This created a good angst when he finally wants her back but she avoids him after getting hurt from the breakup.

What they did in the series is not consistent, XZ would not have let Li that close to her if they weren't broken up. He acted so possessive in the beginning and now suddenly fine that they're apart and she's being rumored with Li? No way!

He automatically became so understanding and rational about the whole WeiQilin matter. Are they worried the audience won't react well if he lashed out?
Should have stayed true to the original story. Like in LLTG, I admired the production's guts to paint LingBuyi bad for abandoning ShaoShang for revenge, at least it was true to his character.

Yeah, I didn't like the change in the series at all. I feel it robbed us of the pivotal scenes for the story. 😭

Exactly, I was waiting for this breakup scene 😭
It would have been perfect, like after he took the lashes and came back to her, to see him jealous over her and Wenkan(even tho they changed the character from the novel). It would have perfectly made sense and we would enjoy a good angst.
Idk what benefit this change in the series brings. Are they afraid the audience would look at XZ negatively if he broke up with her? 😩

I think it's both, the whole novel material is already there. And the script is also more detailed. It's the Director who decides what gets in the final cut.

It's very out of character for XZ. After all the fuss he made, you can't make me believe he silently watches her on the sideline while everyone thinks her and Li are in love. They shld really have just followed the novel.

As much as I applaud the Director, I don't think he excels in weaving complicated plots and events.
The Lin'An town arc, with its small town charm and characters was perfect. But everything after the war seems disjointed to me.

31-32 i don't like that they changed the plot/ or the order of events.
Atp, XZ shld have broken up with her after finding out about her Father as in the novel.
In the series, CY suddenly becomes distant. It seems unbelievable that XZ would just accept that, specially with all the rumors about her and Li.
If they followed the novel, it would have perfectly explained their acceptance of their time apart.

For me it's the way she got distant to YZ. They were just cozy in ep30 (even after she knew about her Dad). And then 31 she suddenly calls him My Lord.
They should have atleast showed some scenes on how she came to that mental state.