mione

judging the comments below, not sure if i should give this drama a chance...?

some questions i would like to know (because really, my life cannot deal with anymore headache-type of drama during this whole quarantine situation T_T and since this is a period drama, i gotta prepare myself):
1. is the fl’s acting THAT bad, like people are commenting?
2. how’s the romance? steamy? mediocre? or zero chemistry?
3. who are the side bitches and do they have any skinships with the ml? (coughcough by that i mean does he bed them lmao)
4. how’s the ending? i heard that it’s a happy ending but to what extent? like, is it an open happy ending or do we know for sure that the leads end up together?
5. my bad for reading the spoilers prior to writing this; i know she will not become queen which is a disappointment —so how is this situation resolved? i mean, a king cannot have a queen right?

to whoever is willing to answer those questions, thanks in advance! :D pls spoil me as much as you can —shower me with them spoilers, i love spoilers hahahah :’)

great article!

as someone who have watched tonnsss of taiwanese dramas growing up, it’s interesting to see its popularity slowing down nowadays. it had its glory days with fun dramas like hana kimi, it started with a kiss, fated to love you, autumn concerto, pi li mit, smiling pasta and the k.o one series —or with collabs from mainland chinese companies, such as dramas produced from chiung yao’s novels (i.e huan zhu ge ge, romance in the rain). taiwanese dramas aren’t as popular as back then since mainland chinese took advantage of their production budget, which allows their show to look more aesthetically pleasing in their story telling (something close to kdramas aesthetic because we all know kdramas are super popular in the recent years or decade even).

but even with its popularity slowing down, personally, i find recent taiwanese dramas more enjoyable than hk dramas (which is a good thing cause hk dramas used to be better than taiwanese dramas) since they’re willing to explore their stories and character developments in a creative and artistic way (without losing the flavour of a taiwanese drama...if that makes any sense haha). their actors’ acting chops are also much better lmao. with mainland chinese actors, hmmm, questionable for some :’)

i haven’t watched the ghost bride, but i do plan to watch it once season 2 is available (?). one other drama that i would personally add to the rec list would be before we get married. as someone who dislike characters like the ml lead, i find the drama quite enjoyable since the themes explored are quite interesting.

p.s. and yes, i relate to that bai feng jiu part HAHAHAHAH

haven’t been back on this pg in a while. baffled to see how toxic this community is becoming :/

i highly recommend FH1 & 2, especially 1 since it’s the OG and still the best one. same cast in both seasons too! :D the crime cases and romances balance better in the other FH franchise and once you watch it you will understand how inferior FH4 is to its predecessors.

great article! it’s very interesting to read other people’s perspective on a drama and the way they’re enjoying it (i.e. blasting the ost in the bg while you were writing the article haha :D)

imo dreaming back to qing dynasty is good to only an enjoyable level, but if we judge it from the way the plot was unfolded and then solved (especially towards the ending) —it’s not as satisfying and well made as scarlet heart. i can’t fault this because the stories are different to each of its own, actors are younger and that the original novels were written by different authors.

however, if viewers are looking into watching time-travel qing dynasty dramas, then i would recommend watching dreaming back to qing dynasty first; only because it’s more light-hearted than scarlet heart, so it’s a good starter. warning to new viewers: doesn’t mean it doesn’t contain angst!

while both dramas were produced by tangren media, the target audience for each production are different imo: scarlet heart, which dates back to 2011 has a more mature theme to it therefore is a perfect cup of tea for young adults and those older (and one of its successful factors is that it still is not boring to watch until today, even if we rewatch). whereas with dreaming back to qing dynasty, i would say it’s more aimed at the young audiences, particularly the audiences between 13-25 (not saying that older people cannot watch it, but the likelihood is not as high because the storytelling is not as flavourful to fit older audiences tastes (and would not stay as popular as scarlet heart because the story can become boring overtime as the original audiences grow older).

thanks to dreaming back to qing dynasty though, that i get to be introduced to landy li. she’s one of the few new actresses who can actually act and i appreciate that as an audience :)

thanks for the article! it was an interesting read :)

when it comes to historical dramas, i would always recommend nirvana in fire because imo it’s a masterpiece that no other drama have managed to top it yet. all the character developments were very well done (especially the main lead), unlike most dramas that leave some characters under-developed (whether they’re in lead role or not). the production team did their casting very well too. the actors did a really good job portraying their characters; if not for them, the drama would not be so good despite the good drama script.

helloooo, i’m back with another comment because that’s how free i am at 1:30am lmao. in all seriousness though, i just finished the last ep and really need to rant.

the direction they went with the last case was just...bad. it felt like the writers reused ideas from FH2 and just changed it to fit the context of the written case for FH4 because they ran out of ideas on how to make the finale intense and exciting.

...it was not intense and exciting at all.

it felt like i was watching a parody from the previous FH franchise. yep you heard right. i said parody.

for example, that explosion scene with king and queen was very similar to ivan’s and bell’s car crash scene in FH2 (and ada’s and chin-fung’s in FH3 and pretty much most hk crime-related dramas). i couldn’t take it srsly because the writers created that scene to make it as though king and queen went through life and death together so they must be fated for each other...??????

another example would be when emma fell off the balcony because of her adopted brother —her being held back and saved by her biological brother and later when king arrived was very similar to the scene in FH2 when kwok yee fan almost fell off the balcony and was saved by bell. another balcony-falling count would be when sam almost fell off but was thankfully saved.

and of course, the usual kind of plot expected from this FH franchise; someone from either the forensics team or from the crime unit has to be harmed to the point they need to be hospitalised and be in critical condition (or die) because we need the other characters to feel super worried and angry at the perpetrator.

shall i list them out:
- in FH1, it was tim (survived), his wife (deceased), charlie (deceased), mon (deceased) and ding ding (survived).
- in FH2 there were ding ding (deceased), madam leung (survived) and ivan (survived).
- in FH 3 there were eva (deceased), angel (deceased), dr jack po and mandy (both survived).
- in FH 4, we have lee chau (deceased), emma (survived) and ko ching (survived).

it’s so cliche and predictable that i bet in the next series they’ll kill off one of the main characters because they did not do so in FH4. if you’ve watched the past series, can you see the pattern?

is it really too much to ask for something new from tvb? T_T the continuation of these uncreative plot devices is such a disrespect to your loyal audiences.

additionally, i would rather that they not add the romance AT ALL in the drama than stuffing it in the last ep where pretty much everyone gets a happy ending because heck yeah, the writers thought that the audience would appreciate it. i mean, we would if it was done right. in this case, no.

the romance between the characters were very forced and there were just no development to make the pairings convincing. perhaps the only acceptable one (though still not so greatly developed) couple was dr man and stan because comparing to the other couples, they actually had scenes of them interacting in a way that indicated they’re interested in each other but due to stan being dr man’s deceased sister’s bf, that became their barrier. whereas with a couple like king and queen —like sure, we know that king has a crush on queen for a long time, but her accepting him and even going as far as getting married was too rushed? it honestly felt like she couldn’t handle the single life so she just picked him to be her partner because, well, the writer wanted them to be destined for each other. so why not?

the most disappointing couple was ko on and tsui yi. i was actually anticipating most to see how this couple would play out since the very beginning of the drama because it was already known to those who have been following news of FH that these two were going to be paired together and the production team even went out their way to replace the role of tsui yi with another actress just because of a scandal. but srsly, wth happened? x’D there were like —zero development for their romance so the last episode really felt like a joke. first of all, since when did tsui yi start crushing on ko on? second of all, since when did ko on started showing interest in tsui yi? do not tell me that it was when his ex gf was teasing them in that scene from the last ep. NOPE, i’m not convinced.

for more than half of the drama, ko on spent most of his time dedicated to his ex gf and finding his lost sister; and when they finally reunited, he was busy making their family cozy again and then he was occupied with proving that his sister was innocent. where was the time for any new romance in his life??? if the writers think that this is something that could've happened off the screen then that’s just pure lazy writing...!!!

i initially thought that FH3 was the worse of the FH franchise, but now i’m not even hesitating to give this worse-drama-of-the-year award to FH4. FH3 was farrrrr better even though not the best.

there are rumours that there will be FH5, but srsly tvb, stop. just stop. it’s getting worse and worse. just because the viewership ratings are high, doesn’t mean that this is a good piece of work. perhaps people are only watching this (like me) because they have nothing else better to do during this quarantine situation. if you want to make money, at least show some respect to your artists and don’t get them involved in such sh*tty projects like FH4 that seemed to have been written by lazy writers. it’s either you put 200% effort when you produce a drama or don’t put any at all.

edit: so apparently tvb is working on detective investigation files v...this just tells us that the team at tvb are running out of ideas so they’re just pulling out good old dramas and then ruining it with a new (more modernised) version of the series. with how horrible FH4 went, i honestly don’t think detective investigation files v will be good either. probs just more recycling of ideas and mediocre acting :/

i have to agree with @Clesias on this one. this drama was overall a disappointment. there are only 2 eps left and i have already predicted the ending; just waiting for the last 2 eps to prove myself what a waste of time to follow this drama in the past few weeks. i wouldve dropped it ages ago if not for being quarantined at home because of lockdown and im pretty sure that this is the case for many viewers. rather than watching this series because of being captured by the storyline, im watching it for the LOLs...as in to see how much worse it’s going to progress. the funnier thing is, i bet you tvb would take advantage of their high viewing ratings as “positive feedback”. smh.

@XxKrazyFoxX
just because hk is known for its crime related dramas, this doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve 0.5 (although i wouldn’t personally give such a low score, but i see no reason why other people cannot). besides, as someone who grew up watching hk dramas, i wouldn’t be so proud to say that (at present) hk is known for its crime related dramas. it should be worded as “used to be known for its crime related dramas”. such a sad thing to acknowledge, but as viewers it’s a right to be harsh and give critics so that producers and writers can improve. the golden era of tvb died long ago and im baffled to see tvb not accepting that or at least doing something to change that. the problem with tvb’s poor production and outdated storylines are the result of stubbornness and unwillingness of change, including taking risks —this makes them fall behind other producers and writers from other countries in asia. i don’t watch lots of kdramas (at present) and thai dramas but they are good examples of willingness to change and improve to wow their audience whether it’s in storylines or acting. at tvb, even their own actors have called out how bad and uncreative the teams are at tvb, but even this doesn’t make them change. they could even shamelessly make an actor such as kenneth ma renew his contract for a useless tvb king award because while they know that they are losing lots of their good actors, they’re not making any good effort to fix this problem. their (poor) solution is to keep old actors (must i note who used to play supporting roles a lot) like kenneth because he’s one of the familiar faces people love seeing in tvb dramas (so now they value him and give him lead roles) :/ if it were not because kenneth has no other markets and opportunities to breakthrough as an actor, im pretty sure he wouldnt make himself stuck at tvb and their poor productions. (...im rambling irrelevant stuff now haha)

back to FH...

i think that just because this drama was “implicated in some drama before it aired” doesn’t make it excusable for how half-hearted this drama was curated together. and knowing that it’s mui siu ching’s last project with tvb and the FH franchise makes it more disappointing because what was supposed to be a project leaving the wow-factor to the viewers before really saying goodbye —is pretty much non-existent after seeing the final work. additionally, tvb has been hyping this series for monthsssss and this is what viewers are getting? a half-hearted produced drama with lazy writing and bad acting chops? this whole drama feels like the production team curated old tvb crime dramas, sorted out some potential stories, modernised them a little and then gave them a tweak here and there to fit in the “forensics” theme and then threw in under-developed and half-hearted romantic side-stories; voila —FH IV is born.

i have to also agree with clesias about the changing of jac with rox —and this was probably the only thing that the production team did right in this entire project. i honestly think tvb under values rox’s talent just because she has body-image issues; they made her promise to lose 10 pounds in 1 month in order to play tsui yi...that’s just ridiculous (and what does this tell us? that tvb cares more about an actor’s appearance and give no heart to the core of their productions, which are the storylines). lets just say, even if jac was not changed, i think my impression of this drama would still be the same —a disappointment (if not worse becaus e personally i dont see jac fitting the role).

my question for the production team would be: why promote rox’s character so much and pretty much leave her character so under developed, even going out their way to change the actress playing the character? (or was it because initially it was jac who played the character and they wanted to promote her and so they had no choice but to do the same when rox took over the role?) it wasn’t cheap refilming scenes with rox’s character in the series even though her role was clearly insignificant (other than to the ko’s family). and knowing that some of the actors had a chance to refilm their scenes, you would think that they might do a better job because they had time to reflect and to improve their job. but no, all we got were actors reciting their lines like robots on the screen and forcing themselves to smile or cry whenever they need to. i reckon almost all of the characters were under-developed. there was nothing solid to justify that the production team tried their best (although im sure they did...just not 110% :s)

i have long lost faith in tvb dramas. the only reason why i come back to watch their new series once in a while is because they make me feel nostalgic and bring me back to my childhood...

it’s only 30 eps, idk why it says 40 on MDL.

considering how there’s only 5 eps left, i wonder how they’re going to develop the romance of the main characters because so far there’s really no development?? like your previous comment, it’s just boring and predictable. and now, there’s probably going to be the rush-ending too.

the problem with this drama is that despite tvb using new film techniques and technology, the story however, is just so outdated which is why for us viewers, it’s ‘boring’ because there’s nothing new to capture our interest. let’s not even forget to mention, the actors did such a horrible job in this drama; there’s literally no emotions. i think the writers tried to interpret the characters as people who are always calm and composed in every situation because of their respective occupation. but honestly, they look like robots to me :’) i’m only continuing because of selena and roxanne (because while not the best, compared to the other cast they’re doing a decent job. so glad this is selena’s last project with tvb).

edit: can i also rant how cringy that dramatic music is whenever they have a new case??? [inserts facepalm]

just finished ep 18 and i need to rant lmao.

i'm quite disappointed in raymond's acting in this drama. i think he should stick to the silly and carefree characters that he usually acts because there are no emotions when he needs to show it for a character like ko on??? between ep 16-17, he supposedly found his lost younger sister, but when they met and she got hit by that car right in front of him before they even get to have a nice reunion, i didn't see any signs of shock or distress although he (the actor) 'tried'. even though the girl turned out not to be his biological sister, like come on, show a bit more disappointment or something. the way he reacted was like whatever, if we find her we find her; if not, i'll continue to live my life.

lmao did tvb cut his pay too? which was why he didn't put in any effort in his acting??? :s

can we also talk about how unrealistic it is that chris and ko on kept on bumping into each other at places...even in taiwan??? like sure, we get it, their characters are meant to be for each other but can writers at tvb stop using such old plot devices? the same thing with queen's storyline —so apparently the woman her boyfriend cheated with is pulling out the pregnancy card in the next ep. [INSERTS HEAVY SIGH AND FACEPALM]

again, my opinions have not changed since my last comment 11 days ago: i should really be focusing on the criminal cases since it's a drama about 'forensic heroes,' but the stories aren't that interesting (+outdated) to keep me invested and tbh they seem more like fillers even though they’re supposed to be the main focus. it's quite unfortunate that i'm more interested in the characters' personal lives despite their storylines being so cliche and predictable. aiya, you disappoint me again, tvb smh.

i think i missed it when i was watching the show haha
but when was it revealed that zi yuan was never pregnant in the first place?

https://www.jaynestars.com/news/china-to-limit-tv-dramas-to-40-episodes/

i think the possibility of splitting them into seasons is very high, like those american tv shows. but i have no idea :(

i did say that all opinions are respected so it doesn’t matter to me if you were trying to nullify my opinion :’) again, because of personal preference.

on the other hand, i’m happy to know that you’re enjoying the 3l3w series! have a nice day :)

i cried laughing at this comment :’D
you’re not wrong HAHAHA

i think we should feel thankful that ELOD was broadcasted before china brought out the new rule to limit dramas to 40 eps. cutting it from 60 to 56 is better than 60 to 40 in this case :(

i was wondering the same! :o

you don’t have to agree; all opinions are respected. i can also see what you mean by “characters’ evolution from the very beginning” and it does sound convincing actually. my comment and opinion were based on my pov and from friends who have not watched TMOPB but after i recommended for them to watch TMOPB and then go back and start ELOD —their perspective on the drama completely changed; they enjoyed it a lot more than their initial impression. personal preference, i guess :’)

wow, i have not written a long comment in a loooong time. didn’t expect for my next long comment to be a response to something like this.

first off, thanks for your comment. but i will stick to my original opinion. you didn’t have to be so rude and say i need to “empty [my] brain off everything about TMOPB” :/ did i do anything wrong to you for you to be so defensive? chill, it’s only a drama lmao

you have every right to disagree to my previous comment just because you happen to be one of the few who did not enjoy TMOPB but then end up enjoying ELOD. i did state clearly in my previous comment “most likely,” which does not mean that it is a guarantee that it will be enjoyable for everyone.

now that you’ve made you’re list, i think i have my rights to say that you shouldn’t say it’s “unfair” to compare ELOD to TMOPB, especially since:

1. you got “bored of the story of BQ & YH”, therefore i assume that you didn’t even finish the drama since you didn’t even see the development of FJ & DJ in TMOPB.

2. just because both productions were not filmed on the same budget —this does not mean that as fans we are not allow to compare them. ever heard of quality over quantity?

3. yep, i agree; both are “different story and different books”...that is if you mean literally. may i add an extra note, it was written by the same author of TMOPB. it is well known to the author (i mean, it would be a funny story to tell if the author wasn’t even aware of this) and the loyal fans that ELOD aka three lives three worlds: the pillow book is an official squeal to TMOPB.

4. your third point does not make any sense. so are you implying that TMOPB was not adapted from a novel? if it were not for TMOPB, ELOD wouldn’t even have been made into a drama...

5. ELOD only happen to have a bit of bad luck because of china’s censorship for period/ancient dramas to be broadcasted on tv. but this still doesn’t mean that we can’t compare it to TMOPB. this is a personal opinion, but having more exposure or not does not matter much. in other words, the success of a drama should not be relied on how many streaming sites or tv stations it is being broadcasted on. ever heard of sleeper hits? besides, i think your comment would still be invalid since reba and vengo already had exposures from TMOPB and fans have been waiting for ELOD ever since filming started in 2018.

6. “How can one compare 2 different story as same story?” —well, they share the same universe and the same support characters. the only change in ELOD are the main characters and some of the actors who played the support characters. (i know you haven’t gotten a glimpse of their story in TMOPB but) take note that FJ’s & DH’s story were changed in TMOPB because the production team were not able to buy the copyrights to the original novel (pillow book). the copyrights to pillow book was later bought by liu yu xin (who played ji heng) and as loyal fans of TMOPB were unwilling for the role of FJ & DH to be played by other actors, the production team were finally able to buy the copyrights from liu yu xin and she took the role of ji heng instead.

last but not least, i will not “empty [my] brain off everything about TMOPB” as i watch ELOD. just to put it out there also, i would not consider myself a “great fan” of TMOPB considering i only gave it a rating of 7.5/10. whether my views on ELOD and TMOPB were biased or not, it was still very rude of you to ask me to empty my brain. yes, i’m offended and i believe i have every right to be offended of such infuriating comment.

the ending was such a disappointment?? :’(

like, it was satisfying but not very satisfying?

i have nothing to do rn and it's a thurs so i'm excited about the new episodes. thought i'll give my ten cents on what i think about the drama so far because why not haha :')

the thing with ELOD is that i think it is most likely enjoyable for those who have shipped the leads since TMOPB, but if you're new to the series and looking for something refreshing then i think there's not much to enjoy in ELOD because the overall plot/story does not bring a wow-factor like its predecessors (aka TMOPB & LAD). in fact, i can imagine how boring this drama would be if i did not ship the leads before the production was even aired —its the fanservice from our leads that's keeping this drama entertaining imo and i thank the production team for that.

personally, i'm enjoying this drama a lot more than TMOPB despite CGI and storyline not on par with its predecessors. this could be because i've invested a lot of my time on the leads ever since TMOPB. but if TMOPB did not exist then i would defs have a different opinion on ELOD ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i guess it also depends on what sort of genres/themes you prefer to watch (e.g. ELOD is more light-hearted than TMOPB).