Less romance than healing drama about rather serious issues

I liked that drama for its tackling a lot of serious issues such as PTSD, OCD, harassment, behavioral issues, and ways of healing.
It had some good conversations between the quartet of FL, ML, SFL and SML, that shed light on how young people can be triggered into reacting positively as well as negatively to some traumatizing situations, with some suggestions for coping and healing those traumas.
Many on that sharpshooting team, and other ones, seemed to have serious issues, which made me wonder if the management and recruiting of athletes there could avoid spotting some personal traits potentially negative to be included in a team. Even if the bullets were not deadly, it was shown that they could hurt, and the requirement of a necessary stable psychological conditions to allow these young people to wield arms was tackled. First through the routines to disregard sudden noise or taunts, later in the coach having doubts about the champion, because of his lingering amnesia and the moments when he isolated himself. But I had the feeling that this stability requirement was put on the same level as their just following rules (such as forbidding athletes to leave the training camp).
Could being (apparently) a high functioning Asperger's slightly sociopathic loner and a mild obsessive (like the weird sleeping under beds) be tolerated and diregarded if the athlete kept peforming to an impressive points result?
Could the almost manic smile of the hyperactive livestreamer be viewed as an asset for her profession? Her coping mechanism of singing/rapping to overcome stuttering is not as outlandish as it could seem: singing has indeed been included in some recognized ways of calming stressed people. Running is another one.
Some of these attempts were funny, but the humor was not frequent in this drama. One of the more funny moments was when SML cross dressed in skirts to seek forgiveness from his love interest.
The psychologist herself was not very credible to me, with her own set of problems that dragged on through the drama.
I suppose the co-cure she advocated was more for the dramatic effect of having the two leads get closer on screen (with some of the more humorous effects), instead of an actual realistic way of healing. So o this was a stretch that may annoy those who work in the field of clinical psychology. But it was interesting to see that psychological support was highlighted together with the athletic skills, as necessary to prepare a competition. The importance of courteous, rational and calm communication was also something that was emphasized, which is not so frequent in romance dramas I' have watched.
Using a pet for emotional focus has indeed been advocated from what I read and saw about autism or PTSD sufferers. That they chose a hedgehog was cute. Was it the same one as in Lie to Love? C dramas seem to like to repeat some scenes from other ones, like carrying the female on the back of the taller lead: such cross references or tropes becomes almost expected. The physical touching scenes were limited. The point seemed to be that some behavior that is usually common in older dramas, like grabbing females to forcibly kiss them "romantically" is, in fact, questionable. Such resraint in the script certainly left the actors with less leeway to express a tender budding romance.
Nevertheless, my opinion is that they performed quite well to handle both romance, healing and healthy reaction to new potential traumas encountered by their characters.
Not knowing anything about this sport, I found the technical details woven in quite interesting. It was a bonus point for novelty for me and I was pleased to be introduced to it this way. There was a moment when the livestreamer was assigned to try shooting in a friendly pairing, which puzzled me, but maybe it was only exceptional, to give some variety to the shooting sessions and make the sport look less removed from audience. Does it happen realistically in this sport is another question.
But watching dramas is an exercise in suspension of disbelief to find entertainment or food for thought. This was done thanks to the good to excellent quartet of actors (Xing Fei, Hu Yitian, Kido Ma and Wenfy Luo) who carried the drama. Therefore, despite the objections raised before, I still decided not to rate this one as harshly as some did.
I also liked the songs from the OST some of which had tunes that I found different from run of the mill romance dramas.

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A very important movie in the Zhang Yimou-Gong Li filmography

This was a groundbreaking movie of Zhang Yimou, with a formidable Gong Li starring as the peasant heroine of the late 1980s. It was spot on. So many things I could compare to real life back then, and yet a good story.
Qiu Ju goes to court had both comedy and tragedy, together with being a mirror to the bygone era of teeming masses.
The music is almost exclusively folk tunes and Chinese opera excerpt, and the sounds are real life, so it is very realistic.

With the new drama "The Story of Xing Fu" translating the story into the 21st century, this movie is worth rewatching again for comparison. In the new story, the countryside is more tame, despite the lingering rural-urban divide, which was poignant in the movie.

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A bowl of luosifen quarantine dish, accompanying tiny mint candy to keep teeth shining

The very short episodes make watching this drama feel like getting a box of tiny candies in too much individual wrapping, since it is unlikely that a first taster will lead to just patiently waiting hours, days, or more to see where it is going. Either you fling the box away in disgust about all that waste, or you go on unwrapping, even when you don't expect to find a surprise or a gold nugget.
On YouTube, the first and last 15 episodes have been cojoined in 2 episodes and that's quite sufficient. On WeTV you'll have to skip a lot of intro and end credits for each of the micro episodes, which are cutting off rather abruptly.
The acting of FL brought up in my mind memories of old time cutesy and feisty "cunning" females in outdated old movies or cartoons from the 1920-1940s. The ML looks helpless like a puppet. The weird BFF of FL, the neighborhood watcher, and the weirder mother of ML sometimes made me think that the story was skidding off track, perhaps veering to ghosts and fantasy, but no, it did not venture into those interesting fields where flamboyant vampires, shape shifting snakes and foxes, or drawings on windows coming to life, wreak havoc in human realms... Sigh. The supporting ML act is at best that of a papercut.
But this drama is clearly just a small sugar dish for those who want uncomplicated screen fluff, in time for (if you can get it despite confinements) high tea with scones and marmelade. As long as the oven does not set fire to the house !
The story is not leading anywhere, it just goes back and forth between the two adjoined houses and high terrace of the necessary office, in an eternal see-saw movement which could be spinned sappily on and on after present day end credits, with space for a lot of soup, soap and skincare commercials.
Also, what is it with those recent dramas that keep hyping the evil smelling luosifen noodles ? Has it to do with having preserved river snails become “most popular (cheap & fast) food item during quarantine” ?--- okay, take another helping of mints to combat the boggy smells !
It is a no way memorable drama, just a small innocuous and guilty pleasure that does not even need to be hid from parents, teachers and preachers. And since it is short, the waste of time is not critical. For those who are bored, it could even be construed as a homeopathic pill, not toxic anyway, to while away the hours.

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Warnings of triggers for certain audience. Zhao LuSi shines with Wu Lei in this masterpiece.

2nd edit : Now that I watched it to completion, I agree that THIS IS A MASTERPIECE and that the cast did (all) perform outstandingly.
Nevertheless, coming in as the "naive viewer", it took me some time to warm to it : Ep1 is okay. Ep. 2-4 are literally painful. Even on to ep.10 there's harsh beatings and mental triggers. Still the story seemed to change slowly for the better. The humor especially, black humor, buffoon humor, jokes, etc, peppered even the "painful start" to the story, which indeed was necessary to understand the dysfunctional military family, where the mom thought love had to come with taunts, constant belittling and beatings (though careful not to damage the goods, but at first sight, well....)
So I think this drama should come with strong trigger and PG warnings... It is not suited to everyone's taste, especially if one got lured in by the starry title, not knowing the story beforehand or at least some background. Some reviewers helpfully provided minute details and explanations which may help keep up patience. For once, let's thank the spoilers!
Once this is understood , one can get more easily into the story, admiring the superb acting, the spectacular cinematography, the excellent directing by Fei Zhen Xiang who worked skillfully with the cast and technicians, the humor and the slow burn volcano of sentimenys expressed through gazes and swift protecting moves on the part of general Ling Buyi (played by the godly fit Wu Lei, master of every martial art and riding, and literal Superman at times - though there are no fantasy elements and flying around on rooftops. Well, maybe one rooftop but when you'll get there you'll wow and chuckle along with glee !
I was watching on because despite her dire "education" at the hands of the feared mom, even bruised and battered, Zhao LuSi still shined. And not just a little. She is the superstar here !

So as I wrote I might about my initial review of the first episodes, I did progressively upgrade my opinion on the story (the initial painful part supposedly condensed the 20 first chapters of the novel). It did take me some time to get more wholeheartedly into the relationships.
But from ep 8 to episode 11, everything began to feel like a rollercoaster with addictive feel.
Despite the horrors of war the unfairness of treatment and the jealous girls taking every opportunity to pick on the undaunted girl, I began to laugh and tear up wholeheartedly for Cheng Shaoshang nicknamed NiaoNiao i.e. 'slender and beautiful" (played by Zhao Lusi), her innocent would-be betrothed Lou Yao and of course, the mysterious and dangerous general Ling Buyi, courtesy name Zisheng, nickname Shiyilang ( 11th son of the emperor, unofficially, because although he was treasured by the emperor, he was not from his blood family : he only had been raised in court together with the imperial brats because he was the surviving member of the emperor's deceased blood brother).

The emperor, his empress and his consort, are also important figures in this drama. They were modeled on the real historical emperor Guangwu of Eastern Han dynasty and his two wives and successive empresses: historical Guo and Yin. The unusual transition of having their first sons named crown prince without a great struggle is also interpreted. The emperor in this drama is benevolent as are his wives, but the children are unruly and sometimes vicious, used as pawns by elders who have their own agenda. Lin Buyi stands out impartially, as a "pillar of the state" resolving treasonous plots and old painful mysteries touching his own family.

Cheng Shaoshang is naive, but strong and unusual, so when Ling Buyi repeatedly catches sight of her and her shenanigans, the general (21 years old in the story) warms up to protect her and convince her of his love. It is not sappy romance. Shaoshang is perfect in his eyes only, but as his future wife, she will of course need instruction in a variety of matters and customs to negotiate the real dangers of living in the imperial court. And that is not easy since she had been left behind for over ten years in the deficient "care" of a grandmother who viewed her as expendable and an aunt who viciously mistreated her and made her into an unruly, semi illiterate wretch, only able to react with fights when picked upon. In this first part, she is only 14-15 years old, so of course she has trouble wrapping her head around what she could do, and what would be best.

I started to understand somewhat better the rigid warrior mom, although without warming to her, and to admire the young lady's resourcefulness and cold-blooded resolve. Of course, she'd be the perfect partner to the general, although she still did not realize it. His respect and care was wonderful. The other young men who chased her all had different agendas and personalities.

To sum it up : LLTG is a complex story, a dive into a distant but lesser known part of ancient China through a wonderful and engaging story of a woman's struggle in an age where freedom had other meanings than today, but where upbringing and social awareness are likewise crucial. The hilarious parts provided a well-needed balance. The first images were a bit baffling and it took a while before the drama at last gave some clues about why general Ling's suddenly turned to focus on general Cheng's wild daughter . Slowly, clues were added, the story got more and more interesting. and I had to alter my initial too lukewarm assessment.
The climb to the extraordinary episodes 24 and 27 was a surprisingly quick one. Once rolling, this drama takes away the audience like an avalanche, and both young (not too young as per warning) and older viewers fall into its thrall.

Following the ardent wish of the hundreds of millions who gathered for this drama as it was being released, part 2 started seamlessly after the end credits of part 1 : it ought to have been a 56 episodes one but for administrative reasons, a "part 2" label was slapped on, midways. It would be inconceivable to leave after part 1 or view the parts independently. The drama stays at time of writing on top of the charts in China and I wholeheartedly agree.
This might be the best one for 2022, in its fictional & historical genre.

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Love and danger, pristine snow and downy willows in spring, triumph of persistence

Ep30 was a sweet coda to this very wholesome composition, which deserves full marks for acting, choice of shooting locations, no nonsense or over-sugary dialogues and plot. I also liked the realism and the messages of hope, endurance, faithfulness and mature understanding and support to partners. I actually liked the slow pace which showed how intuition and almost telepathic getting vibes and staying "in tune"without need for long conversation is one form of beautiful love.
For those who don't get or get impatient with first episodes, it could be viewed first, since it is the chronological reason for what happens in first episode, and an explanation of the "baffling" reply by ML to FL in the beginning.

The two separated "because they were too young", because Gui Xiao thought she needed comforting words to overcome the pain of her family turmoil, but these could not be conveyed over the phone, and because her great love was prevented from rushing back to hug and comfort her. Both felt hurt and regret but years went by and, not wanting to be intrusive, neither of them managed to make the needed step forward to get back in tune. Until they did, and this is the sweet and realistic story that unfolds in the drama. The radiance of their love not only make them stand out, but also touches those around them: their friends and "complicated families", and the little boy that Gui Xiao spontaneously agrees to foster to allow him get a more stable environment with trusted people and better schooling. Unconsciously or not, this first act of kindness and love brings her friend (and other foster "aunt" for the boy) together with Lu Chen's friend and Qin Xiaonan's dad.
LuChen and Xiao Nan are quickly aware of Captain Qin and Duan Rou's compatibility, which culminates in Ep22 where both couples radiantly and almost literally "walk on air". For once, we would not have minded seeing more about this secondary couple!
It also helps that Jing Boran has a special type of northern handsomeness, impervious to the cold weather, maybe due to his part-Russian ancestry. Sichuanese Seven Tan Songyun is delightfully petite and with an infectious warm smile that brought perfect balance to this "fire and ice" story where the apparently cold and detached ML was just yearning for spring to be back and enough fulfillment in a life half or more devoted to dangerous missions.
As for OST, it is nice, although as I mentioned in an earlier comment, what stood out for me was the old Zheng Jun Cinderella song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xVtrob8Rto). Lyrics here : https://www.chinese-tools.com/songs/song/12/cinderella.html

I watched quite a few of Seven Tan's dramas before; always very satisfied. I had not watched much of Jing Boran's filmography, he seems to have been mostly involved with light movies, when I was following more heavyweight directors' filmography. Perhaps, if I have time, I will go back to check more of Jing Boran's filmography now, and perhaps even re-watch Road Home which despite its slow pace, was as enjoyable as a famous director's movie. Ah, spotting 2018 "Us And Them" in JB's filmography, which I think I must watch since I love Rene Liu's music and her acting in "A World Without Thieves".

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A modern day romance inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe

“I cannot, for my soul, remember how, when, or even precisely where, I first became acquainted with the lady Ligeia.”

But 白晓宇 Bái Xiǎo Yǔ, the Edgar Allan Poe fan and graphic designer, certainly could remember the day and date (2010, June 8) he knocked over 王斤斤 Wáng Jīn Jīn ’s desk. Her face and name stuck in his memory, not only because of the strange meaning of her name (a “catty”, 斤, is a traditional Chinese unit of mass used across East and Southeast Asia, notably for weighing food and other groceries) but also because of her unusual Gothic hairpin.

Bai Xiao Yu (his own name meaning “white”, “dawn” and “universe”), having failed to follow her all the way home on his bicycle when she took a taxi, immediately drew a portrait of her.

He came across her again after college and following her, overheard her mentioning Poe in a Beijing bar on Liangmahe bar street (an area which existed, north of Sanlitun, but which has undergone lots of changes and demolitions in the early 2020s ; the Seven bar looks fictional - I know none of that name thereabouts). When Xiao Yu ordered two newly invented cocktails (I liked the recipes!) with titles from Poe’s stories, JinJin turned to face him, and they went home together after a long night's intellectual communing reintroducing themselves at dawn, and next, traveling on a dare, all the way to their hometown, hooking up and living as a married couple for a year.

But Jin Jin feared routine and the “mundane” life. She was insecure about her talent as a writer, despite Xiao Yu’s comforting words. She drifted from tourism to script assistant, with her job taking her away for months on film sets.
Xiao Yu had also experienced setbacks at work, and changed his job to set up a business of escape rooms and refurbishing the hometown horror theme park. His eyesight worsened and he was wistful when he described to a fellow sufferer the beauty of the sunset seen from the hospital window.

It was thrilling to hear the budding couple, at the dawn of their relationship, excitedly recite the excerpt “I mean to say that, subsequently to the period when Ligeia's beauty passed into my spirit, there dwelling as in a shrine, I derived, from many existences in the material world, a sentiment such as I felt always aroused within me by her large and luminous orbs.” Although Wang Jin Jin was not like the fictional heroine, from a “decaying city on the Rhine in Germany”, sporting dark curly tresses, she was in a way like Ligeia, fascinated by literature and yearning for more learning. But unlike Ligeia, she did not die and come back taking possession of a corpse. The last images of the movie, where the horror theme park was revamped with a secret room designed specially for Xiao Yu, provided an esthetic and welcome surprise.
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The movie is adapted from the novel 《被我弄丢的你》 ("You Whom I Lost") by Zheng Zhi (郑执) also screenwriter for it ; the director was Han Yan (韩琰). Filmed between February and May 2023, it was announced to be airing for the anniversary of filming wrap, on Women’s Day March 8, 2024.

On February 20, the film released a trailer with the theme song “You Whom I Lost” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQG-t0nmFiU ; MV with pinyin & English translation here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u4Zm9S5MkM), composed by Jia Wang & Chen Wenhua, lyrics by Guo Dongnan, sung by Chinese diva Karen Mok (Mok Wenwei).

The movie was widely anticipated with over 20 million pre-sale tickets and breaking 100 million at the box office on March 11.

Zhang Jingyi played the free spirited but finally regretful JinJin, who missed her love repeatedly, figuratively, and physically when the train and the truck went in opposing directions. Some will be shocked by the fringe and hair style JinJin kept (although attenuated in the end): whatever, nothing can really make her ugly.

Tan Jianci played the young man cursed by upcoming blindness, with delicate movements of his eyes and posture as the lights dimmed for him. Xiao Yu wanted to treasure his happy past and the moments with JinJin whom he could never totally read the mind of, but whom he never totally lost the memory of, despite she had broken up with him.
The mention on screen in the end of the movie is 你就是我的想要生活 (you are my life’s yearning).

For those who would like to read “Ligeia” or more of Poe’s work, here is a link : https://poestories.com/read/ligeia

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A packaged deal for Fotile kitchen equipment, standardized cooking included.

No superpower heroine. Story is basically another variation on Cinderella, poor girl/rich prince who needs to take over as king of the business - she, JingJing (played by Ling Meishi), is a shy designer trained girl who did not get a job in her specialty, has bad luck and low IQ but a pretty face.
He, Gu Rong (LiuTe) is supposedly well educated abroad, but looks as diffident as if he was kept under a glass globe at home from which he wanted to escape but became overwhelmed by the outside world. Because he would prefer to be an artist but has no real talent, although he does have haphephobia, so the triangle eyed girl that was his intended is likely not going to get the old king (granddad) the 5 grandkids he wishes for (umm, I know the one child policy has been abolished and 2 or 3 kids are encouraged to help with the aging gap, but 5? That was the standard in Mao times and granted it is a "lucky number". But again, all this for that while the Congress closes and gender equality is promoted in words but not in deed at the highest level, according to news reports).

A quaint old village is showcasing outdated ways of living in a big city. Neighbors want to make more money but are clueless in front of Internet and new ways of selling their stuff. Not that they are from the countryside: they are encrusted and fossilized in their picturesque ways., waiting like the Sleeping Beauty to have someone wake them up and show them something else, cautiously. Of course, that's where the bulk of the story takes place, in an old (well, only 10 year old so rather not ancient) martial arts school. The rest takes place in shopping malls (spend, spend, spend!), a company and a minimalist model apartment for yuppies, plus the bedroom of the old patriarch in his mansion guarded by same lone guard who must be a scarecrow like statue. Mansion has a garden which will prove convenient for a kiss.

Lots of fluff and luosifen, some demo of haoyue dragon halberd by Su JingJing's dad, and sword demo of taijijian moves, except the FL, if she needs to be a master at kungfu fighting to impress a foreigner investor, also has to be afraid of a few traces of blood to the point of fainting. She cannot balance on high heels except if it's combat boots, and is a weak drinker of alcohol. We get "tricks" to attract the stray bird : false fever twice, spoon-feeding, piggyback carrying and everything in the romcom catalogue.

Although it's only 24 episodes and there's a villain who sells secrets, there are no surprises, we suspected from the start who and what had been cooking, so I can understand those who get annoyed.
There's little "chemistry": the couple looks most of the time like clueless children playing at "dad and mom", dressing up as newlyweds to be so conspicuous that they won't be noticed ("Look, I close my eyes and you can't see me", like 3 years old do,, lol!) making food and clay clownish figures, needing models for behavior and reassurance and boundaries.

This drama is to be consumed with and like a pack of Doritos or a box of licorice candies (with little to no licorice, replaced by anise oil) : no real food value, "mildly harmful to health" waste of time, Yet, I watched till the end, slightly surprised that the end came earlier than announced ; but surely this was a "filler" forgettable drama to pave the way before more interesting and long awaited c-dramas.

Lots of use of, demonstrating, advertising for Fotile top kitchen appliances. Some for motorcycling instead of Rolls Royce cars that are comfortable but have a risk of getting flat tires (!) Maybe that was the real point? Advertising some brands ?
My take : it is not really awful, so I don't hate it. I had some time to kill before serious teeth cleaning, so therefore used it viciously to binge on a big dose of saccharine before a restful sleep to face real life pain and bloodshed next. I was watching Love in Time/secret roommate too, so that was food enough for thoughts and speculation about the value of escaping 2022 to get back to 2021.

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A business romance around Z.Tao

Some parts feel like a travelogue about Hawaii, Suzhou, Shanghai, New York Manhattan...

Z.Tao played impeccably as the Xie Xiaofei spoiled heir of an unlikely America based Chinese group, pushed almost to destitution by internecine business and family strife, who emerged from the ordeal as a more powerful business leader.
His love interest was the negotiator Tong Wei played by Yang Mi (overdubbed here as she usually is, whereas the rest of the cast is not). She let herself be seduced by the uninhibited young man, and went on to help him regain his footing in the company.
But Xiaofei's dad wanted his son to marry heiress Chen Xi, and the father of this other woman always sporting a well oiled head with "elegant" short hair also wanted to pressure his daughter into a marriage for business alliance; she loved Xiaofei since she noticed his selflesness on a plane while they were both flying to Shanghai, but Xiaofei was very clear about his heart already being taken. He still accepted to help her as a friend, and was even tempted to finally marry her because of his falling out with the negotiator. It could have been an unhappy ending but with a last half of episode twist, things got back on track.

But I can't help feeling that Yang Mi often played perfunctorily in this drama and did not feel that much connection to her character and her partner. The tragic death of the negotiator's friend was also unneeded and even made that part feel like the scriptwriters had an agenda to show karmic punishment for those who don't conform to the established forms of relationships in courting leading to marriage and only then, to having children. The fairy tale of the selling and recovering of the town house and the hysterical aunt, the annoying cousins on both sides, many tropes etc and the plot holes were detrimental.

Z.Tao did his best and because of him, the drama was still enjoyable. I read somewhere that this was his very first drama acting, released after another one, for some reason. If so, it is even more impressive : he shows lots of expressions, and spontaneity which redeem the older Yang Mi's competent but not really charismatic acting here. The age difference between the two is not stressed in the drama, instead it is more the class difference and the different ways of leading a large business, which were at the center, with clan leaders clashing and mysterious mentors influencing outcomes.

The music in the OST has nothing to do with Z.Tao. Although the drama is not a musical, and he does not play a singer (though he does perform an impressive flip as a street performer, at one moment, which will remind audiences about his real life martial arts youth training) I regretted that his distinctive take on music and rap were not used here, too.

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Sequel to same

I was often bored while I watched this one. The story did not get very interesting and in my opinion, it often dragged. The villains were not very villainous, the good guys did unreasonably not get along and if there was an investigation, and jalousy. it stayed below heating up to burn. The music was nice but too bland.
The rich and powerful were a bit lacking in both, much of what happened could be expected and even cooking became a subject for hit-or-miss experiments.
The last part was pleasant, but leaves with the menace of a Season 3. While I don't dislike the three couples, I think it is best if the story stopped here.

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Lovely winter sports and romance drama

This was a lovely winter sports and romance story even with the expected elements, beautiful pictures, nice showcase of the ice sports. The actors are very good looking and act well, so despite the 33 episode length, the drama goes by smoothly. Both leads : Wang Anyu (as Shao Beisheng, the "Prince" of pair and figure skating) and Song Zuer (as Shen Zhengyi the budding speed skater who joins a team belatedly at age 18), and supporting characters were pleasingly portrayed. The shy college romance, ebullience and naiveté of some might make them look younger than their age group, but this makes for a "forever young" atmosphere. The older adults, teachers, coaches, parents, doctors are present too.
The brief appearance of real life speed skating legend Wang Meng 王濛 in episode 31 was a nice surprise.

The optimistic mindset, breaking down of mental barriers to overcome challenges and past or present traumas, emphasis on trust, friendship and team spirit in practical demonstration, importance of food and family, and learning something about the figure skating, speed skating and some more in present day college life in China, are some of what can be remembered.

This was a nice drama to watch before Winter Olympics and even after.

Winter sports have come to be popular in China, with ski domes and skating rinks in many cities (even tropical weather ones), bringing them to new and young players who may or may not also have enjoyed skating on natural ice in the north where winter freezes lakes and rivers. Those who want to embrace these sports professionally look further than inter college contests, having ambitions to be better and win honors even abroad with the teams they'd join. But it is clear that this is a physically and mentally demanding short career, where retirement comes very early, sometimes as early as graduation from the university where they joined teams (Wang Meng in real life retired in 2014 after an injury and converted to business after earning a diploma in Business administration from Renmin Daxue). The drama shows realistically the hurdles, jealousies and joys of training in sports beyond the amateur level, and what such players may expect for their future.

When hopes are dashed, converting the energy to look away from the closed and locked door, and find the open window to move forward again, is pleasingly shown in this drama. I may go to rewatch some parts or episodes that I liked, not only for the sweet romance or comedic moments.

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A good start and hot scenes, but a disappointing end

Although I liked the drama until ep.19-20 or so, and especially the very hot office kissing scene, I grew very disappointed and bored in the last third of the drama, when the conundrums took over with the SFL psycho step sister (daughter of ML's adoptive father) and the "best friend" of FL (step brother of SFL with same father, still wanting to possess FL when she had made clear she loved ML only). ML "CEO", who lacked acumen to see through the jealousy of his "secretary" cum "amnesic hidden sister", became increasingly boring, despite a few randomly thrown in kissing scenes, break ups and make ups.

The over repeated "I can do everything for you" bgm song grew on my nerves, so I almost slammed computer shut. But being a completionist, I stayed to watch the drag and chore of last episodes. They were not worth purchasing into express package : it was a tedium for me to stay until the "happy ending" with SFL standing in a field of flowers facing the ex hostile scion of the antagonist family, to accept his proposal! while a drone brought a white head veil to be plucked from the sky by ML to accompany his proposal, said drone operated by "best friend" who had taken over the role of CEO at ML's company, to push it into merging with the once hostile competitor.

This "business romance" drama, which was filmed last year, April 1 to May 28, 2023. had won attention to be in the top 10 web dramas previous week, and was still #5 in the top ten ratings for last week ending 2024.04.14. But I doubt it will get a high Douban rating, now. The unraveling of the unnecessarily convoluted knots of the story ended up voiding it of any meaning, so, I can't leave a high rating.

The ML Zhao Zhiwei and FL Lu Yangyang had good chemistry, and SML Brian Chang, looked good, that's all. I hope the leads will get better roles in the future

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A different time travel romance

I was really taken by this thrilling drama which took us high in the Ferris wheel and low in the hidden haunts of modern criminals, and back and forth in space and time to sweep away the misunderstandings that pushed Qian Wei into her first 2022 predicaments.
This story was very satisfying for me and I enjoyed the mix of modern real life, "long gone" past of 2011, and a dash of mystery, even magic with the destiny changing ring, "seeing" the future and use the warnings to avoid disasters despite events sometimes being unavoidable.
Song Zu'er, playing the shrewd staccato fire talking lawyer's paralegal and Z.Tao the star lawyer of the firm, with his unmistakable deep voice, are very good actors; the rest of the cast did not put their work to shame.
It was not a mere love story, though, and it was interesting to learn about the evolution of some laws and regulations in China from 2011 to present day, and Chinese college of law life where the students competed for first place, debated, participated in community work, amateur theater, were hired by law firms, worked on intellectual property cases and less obvious ones; and also how justice was served and how criminals were sentenced.
There were a lot of twists in the sub plots that ,ever strayed too far from the main story. The aspirations of the characters were varied, in the field of law but also business, music, media producing... There was food for thought including about food!
The OST is of course very good, with songs penned by Z.Tao.
So even though it was 33 episodes long, it was not boring and the end could even have been spinned further for the ones who, well hooked on this drama, were relunctant to see it come to an end after having been kept on tenterhooks for the best part of the last few episodes until today.
Now, I'll move to rewatch for the small details that were unavoidably missed!

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Sweet realistic romance

The story is indeed slow burn, and I admit there were moments when I felt slightly bored, but I still think the actors were excellent, both Yang Zi and Xiao Zhan and the supporting cast of younger and older actors. Special mention to the nice little boy who played the role of Cupid in the hospital ward.
I was not drawn in immediately, found the bar scene a bit hysterical and Yang Zi despite her dimples looked too old at first (she is 29) to play the role of a supposed 23 year old behaving like a rash and rebellious adolescent in the first episodes. But turning out to be a rather repressed girl afraid of going all the way with her partner despite being able to enter his apartment almost at all times and getting a sterling occasion when she could share a room for a weekend. She was hiding their relationship from the terminally ill father and the mother who might also be opposed to her dating a doctor with a big age difference.
Xiao Zhan was quite well cast here, as the serious and attentive bachelor doctor wrapped up in his profession, who still had not found a love interest before his attraction to the ebullient girl. His talks with her were very reasonable, and the chemistry was rather natural, although I am not fond of lengthy deep inscrutable stares, to express his character's difficulty when he was in a quandary because of nasty news or events. Nor did I like the plot device of having him suffer from a psychological trauma because of a previously unsuccessful operation.
It got better on the way. The story is very simple. It carried some lessons about interpersonal relations, touched on the present world dangers to some professionals when they get in the cross hairs of social media rumors and disputes.
The ending was very satisfactory, romance wise.
I don't know if the difference between the TV version (which was unavailable to me) and the other version (DVD or international online 29 episode release) is only a question of cutting to size for ads or if there was more in the 32 episode TV version. I found the 29 episode version sufficient to my taste, but I don't think I will go back to rewatch it soon.
I am not that fond of the OST songs either: one makes me feel like it is a sort of lullaby, too sugary for me. But the whole story being steeped in honey brew, I cannot be too critical there. It is a "nice" story, very clean, very respectful of current social rules, and it deals with problems that anybody can expect (age, illness, protecting one's reputation) and hopes that everyone may have (the oath of love in the end is very sweet). It certainly is worth watching once at least.

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Let's go on holidays !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCVAqlybDwc&t=287s (episode 1) 19.50 minutes full screen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU3e6PssdY4 (episode 2) 19.08 minutes, mobile phone screen format in the beginning, to get in the mood of the mobility
both subtitled or double subtitled Hanzi + English.

It feels like a while now since episode 1 was out, I was almost despairing to get to see episode 2. At last, it dropped on screen today :-)

I love this feeling of traveling by proxy with a smiling and humorous travel companion ! Islands, markets, volcanoes, and now underwater : exhilarating! I too used to collect postcards to send souvenirs including to self, and visited some unusual post offices, that had unusual stamps, but did not know about this one which makes the trip particularly interesting.

And a beautiful sunrise on June 29 (2023, presumably), after the time stamp 5 am on the phone's screen,, so we know when that was filmed : did "post production" take that long that we only got to see it now?

That episode 2 outing to discover another island in the archipelago felt like best of holiday making : dream like accommodation with a pier, dancing on old music, night sky illuminated by fire eaters to remind us of the previous episode where the Earth itself blew fire.

Wu Lei stated in another video (the one about Xiamen in the Marvelous City series), that he had a fear of the sea ; yet, he pushed his limits and overcame it, even diving under potentially dangerous rocks or hard coral : he admitted he was a little scared, but curiosity drove him to do it anyway. He got a reward from the lofty sky down to azure stellar life of those clear waters.

Short episodes but so nice to share his view of the world he travels to!
"best supporting actor goes to the mouse" :-D

There was not much music there. Since this is French speaking islands, I would have suggested Polnareff's "Holidays" song, an oldie but goldie : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oTIf6AvsaY (especially the hook and riff with the last chorus)

That will be my review, then, in waiting for further micro adventures.

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Food for thought, Dear spiky mommy, darling daughter who doesn't lose her aims in life

As most audience noticing in headlines Yang Zi and Xu Kai, I had got sold on an office romance when indeed it is a family drama about, at center, the conflicted relationship between a mom and daughter. But there's more than just that, it's a dark cuisine take on sustenance and food for thought

That mom was to start with extremely grating on the nerves : a character one loves to hate ? As episodes went by, it looked like it, but of course, lack of reason and shrewish behavior had to run their course until spent.

From the moment the mom realized how important it was for all to be more appeased, she became what everyone hopes for, a caring and doting person, who wraps the worst heartaches in warmth and nourishment. Could she get the same when she needed it? It was not easy: she did not wish to have roles reversed. What she was faced with is ultimately what many women fear, not divorce, not sudden death...

Redemption does not always bring sweet rewards as we also saw. Although it was rather expected, it was very well performed and logical.

It was a roller coaster of an emotional journey. "Liu Wan Yu", the alley queen mom, will certainly be a memorable role for He Saifei, who showed so many sides of what moms can be. She indeed should have been billed among the main roles.

Yang Zi and Xu Kai were, as expected, good leads, in an almost too reasonable adult relationship (so those who crave hot fire will be disappointed, but those who like it more down to earth will feel the warmth of realistic human touch). Their Huan Huan and Ming Ming were sometimes very funny, scaling walls and catching all sorts of fish although the returnee initially preferred raw sashimi (and raw treatment of peccadilloes) and the "alley princess" looked less for pearls and fairy tale frogs, more to the fabled crucian carp white soup with tofu. One image of simply, lovingly held in hand, half peeled soft skinned immaculate hard boiled egg struck me. Breakfasts should never be skipped...

Most of the other actors and actresses are good in their supporting roles. The father, who can shout but prefers to play the role of peace maker. The son, who looks to find his own way with the best friend, helping her and himself ultimately. The ironic but faithful male secretary. The insufferable in law hicks with their fat bully offspring. The scheming colleagues and bosses, those who care more for money than for honesty. The queen bee grandmother who provided the fairy honeyed glue to bind the leads. The repentant father who strayed like a cat craving for a family. They formed a rich dark cuisine of varied tastes, some disgusting, some wholesome, and some surprising in their changeability.

The music score and songs was very appropriate, especially the episode end song sung by the two stars, Yang Zi and He Saifei: "It’s mother, it’s daughter" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcljQOCYmg4 with translation and pinyin). This is a simple, but gripping song that resonates for all who are or have been mothers... It also embodies well the struggles of the generational gap the characters faced.

The last handful episodes were very good and healing --ok, I know : as expected, but so well performed, with beautiful cinematography, and a snippet of performance of a favorite Huangmei opera (The Female Consort), that Zhou Shen a few years back included in one of his endearing songs titled Huangmei Opera, where he weaves in his song the nostalgy of attending those performances and a short snippet, that is easy to recognize for those who reach episode 37 of BCE, warts and all. Here is the link to the Zhou Shen song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z325SnsDIU

By the way, the dishes featured in BCE are not bad either, I was relishing the gamut from raw fish sashimi to crucian carp white soup with tofu, and of course that mandarin fish dish which gave me a literal craving to up and storm the stores to get ingredients and start cooking!! These were some of my best take away from the roller coaster of emotions that audience were subjected to, in the mother-daughter relentless sparring. Now why do I come back to that... Just finished it, so digesting.

Don't look down on that drama because of its tepid Douban opening rating; it is worth much more, in the end.

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