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helpless
BAD EDITING skip alot of scene but always flashback a same scene for 3 4 times , disturbing background music moreover they don't do dubbing making the dialogue not clear what they said, very annoying ,, a bunch of stupid person do stupid things, useless problem!
the tradition of the song dynasty might be quite good, because I don't very understand , but I quite enjoy it , and feel the atmosphere of a song dynasty in it ,and just it can be appreciated
Between couples, can say that there is no long misunderstanding that becomes an obstacle but the problem in this story is absolutely unnecessary.
the problem is not clear how it happened and there is no clear explanation, does not have a good plot
from the start they searching for a painting but in these 40 episodes, NEVER EVEN SHOWED HOW THE PAINTING WAS, THIS IS DRAMA NOT RADIO! NOT STORYTELLING
SHOW! SHOW THIS TO WATCHER! EVEN ONCE!
the editing was very bad, they skipped a lot of scenes, the more eps I watched I even felt like there was a scene that was skipped, because the problem happened so suddenly and feel very absurd
To be honest, the acting of leads are sometimes really euhh,, when they romance scene i feel weird, compared to LEAD I prefer support couole, more natural, the plot atmosphere for FL is very natural but as an old artist, the standard of acting should not be like this ,i dont get any feeling from her acting with ML, the ML acting too,, the support cast more attractive
STUPID PERSON,DO STUPID THINGS
1. ouyangxu, being a scholar with his stupid brain? ,do alot of stupid thing, he report the queen but he dare to ask queen for help
2. queen,, she help ouyang but harming who that want to help her?!
3. king, he know the queen ambision,but he purposely not make a crownprince?! ,, ep 35 he ask leijing to investigate the truth about what zhao pan er said secretly and dont let 皇城司 know, but LEIJING ALSO THE PART OF 皇城司
## # a skip scene that why i said bad edititing
1. ep 14 , when yuzhongquan know about xiao and gu but not showing even once when and from where he know
2. ep 15, zhao pan er do many things bug nothing they show !
3. ep 17, from where gaohui nanny know about ouyang and zhao?!
4. ep 21,, nothing they show but shuddenly said ge zhaodi mistreated his mother at the port?
5. ep 23, 41:25,,, qimu and GU just had a secret meet, but while talking to chenlian, gu noticed an oddity that wasn't shown in the story, saying that it has a relationship with the duke An, should it be? even though only need to add a few seconds about that scene, should skip it?
###absurd thing
1. ep 3,, the ship has sailed for more than 1 day but sunsanniang who jumps into the river with a tree trunk can floating near the ship?
2. ep 4, open the iron-chained gate with just one pull, and not damage the door handle ring which is thinner than the chain, and the chain was broke?
### question
1. what happen with yinzhang's sister? pan er always said she death because of her,, but not explain why
2. This drama begins with an investigation of the painting, but until the end there is no conclusion regarding the mastermind
3. yu zhong guan have a grudge with gu but why? no was told what the problem was?
4. what happen with zifang? sun san niang's son? he is not an orphan, he has a father and stepmother, but only said that his money was cheated without saying what happened to his father and stepmother
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S'okay
Will someone please deliver C drama from the curse of useless misunderstandings between the leads?This is a woman who wants complete independence yet her business is largely funded by a man
She wants to expand her business and instead of saving up she expects the male lead to fork over a very large sum of money and when a mistake happens, she automatically writes him off and then turns to another man to dig her out of the mess she made all by herself.
I swear I wasn’t sure if the creators of this drama were poking fun at women’s independence or celebrating it cause all this series does is show that women could only have anything bc men allowed or funded it.
I did enjoy eps one through 16 but the FL stood too long on her soapbox and compounded that by making avoidable mistakes for no reason whatsoever.
Now, let’s talk about the male lead.
That the wind blew the mortgage receipt was all due to the idiocy of the ML. So fucking what if your father caused harm to the FL’s family? That was not a good reason or time to play the avoidance game when all he had to do was tell her the relationship was done. Avoiding her was a convenient plot device that allowed the producers drag the series by an additional fifteen episodes. It was all about the money otherwise A Dream of Splendor should have only had 20 episodes.
If you want a show with true female empowerment then watch “New Life Begins”. The women in that series truly support each other and funded their businesses themselves.
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Did I watch the same show as everyone else?
I had a lot of hope for this one, it started out strong, I really like Gu Qian Fan and I thought him and the FL had great chemistry. But as time wore on it got harder and harder to watch. I just didn't find most of the characters or storylines that interesting past about episode 8, when it really started to drag for me. It also started getting annoying that the main characters seemed to just be amazing at everything. Stories aren't very interesting when you're already at the top and there's no real growth to be had.I've seen numerous times the main couple being referred to as "adults" in a "mature" relationship. For me the reason I watch C-dramas is because they aren't like Western entertainment, which tries to tell people it is depicting love when it is really depicting a toxic and sometimes borderline abusive relationship, with mind games and emotionally manipulative behaviour. C-dramas can be hit or miss but I love their depiction of loyalty, honesty, and unconditional love. The West, by comparison, doesn't even know the meaning of love. Or chemistry. Or empathy. Personally, I watch C-dramas to help alleviate the pain of living in a culture that mimics its entertainment.
This show had a very Western flavour to how the leads were behaving towards each other. They were not acting like emotionally mature adults, who understand and respect differences of opinion. GQF would get angry at Pan'er for the smallest thing and make it out like she was the problem or there was something wrong with how she saw things. He seemed controlling and I was disturbed by how casually the topic of him torturing people was handled. At times they seemed to be belittling each others' perspectives and he blamed Pan'er for how he felt at times. There's a difference between banter and shaming someone, this was the latter and it left a sour taste in my mouth. There's also a difference between honest vulnerability, and using honesty as an excuse to be a jerk and then hiding behind it when it begins to erode the trust in the relationship.
Everyone has different preferences, to some this is a desirable dynamic, for me I've had enough of this kind of dynamic for a lifetime.
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Sweet mature Romance
Gorgeous Leads,Convincing love story,
Off the charts chemistry,
Beautiful female friendships,
Well, It has been a while since a drama captivated me. This story reminds me of good old days of genuine romance and heartaches. I have a major girl crush on the female Lead, Crystal Liu. She is living that character, effortlessly beautiful, elegant and strong. Such a treat to my eyes. The male lead is great as well, the way he steals glances at her is adorable but at the same time his expressions at few other scenes are a bit blank. Anyway there are some lovely, magical moments between the couple that looks like a gorgeous moving painting.
The progression of the story is good, it's exciting, no cliche tropes. Writers have done a wonderful job here, the characters show real human emotions, quite relatable unlike the recent dramas that mock viewers intelligence.
Loving it so far.
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A masterpiece created by women - There is great pride is sisterhood.
THIS DRAMA IS A MUST-WATCH.It's the first drama I've watched where I've seen female solidarity. It is as easy as it is unrealistic and selfish to make women bite each other's heads off because of a man as usually done in dramas. Where sisterhood is treated as a myth and women only exist to be evil to each other. This drama respected women, it didn't demean us. The drama showed that women have suffered for centuries at the hands of the patriarchy, and we are still suffering till now. It shows female solidarity at its finest.
When I started this drama, this statement is what came to mind, “In a world where we have no status, all we want to do is live in peace, can they not still offer us that?”
Halfway into the drama, the answer to my question was "no, they can't"
and at the end of the drama, my answer is, "there is hope for us. "
Story
The story of three strong independent women who suffered at the hands of men who were supposed to be their protectors. No matter the obstacle they faced, no matter the conflicts, they always remembered their sisterhood and their bond. Along the way, they meet good men and women who formed friendships and romantic relationships with them. They meet people who respect them and cherish them. And for everyone who stepped on their pride, they fought back tenfold without hesitation. they fought for justice, their reputations, and for their futures.
Characters,
Character development was impeccable. this is the first drama where i didn't see a single bit of conflict between women. people need to understand that women can exist in this world without hating each other because of men, and this was portrayed by the characters of Song Linzhang, Gao Hui, the empress, and the famous singer. They had so much potential to be the worst, but they weren't. they thought for themselves, and they developed beautifully.
Zhao Pan'er was a beautiful, strong, and talented woman who advanced bravely in every situation. though beaten down many times, with the help of her sisters and her lover, she always stood up again.
Sunsaniang is the epitome of motherly love. who cared so much about everyone around her. she was the string that tied their sisterhood together and despite her husband and son's betrayal, she never gave up on herself.
song lin zhang, the most complex of the three, who had the greatest potential to derail, showed us that making mistakes doesn't mean you cannot be redeemed. as the youngest of the three, she was naive and innocent. but after suffering at the hands of men, she realised that only her sisters can give her the love and respect she desperately craved. and she earned both not just from her sisters, but from the public, because of her impeccable talent.
Gu Qian Fan stood his ground, he loved unconditionally, he existed for her, and he loved her so much. He was a good man. he had his shortcomings and insecurities, and he was lost and in the dark. but a shining light came and brightened his path as he said to his father. Zhao Pan'er, his confidante and a woman he will always respect. he is a man who deserves respect.
all other characters including Zhao di, Chen Lian, Chi pan and his subordinates, Scholar du, the emperor, the empress, and Gao hui did amazing jobs. Ouyang xu was perfectly evil. actor did a great job.
the cinematography of this drama was impeccable. the art, the dancing, the music, and that performance in ep 32 was to die for.
a beautiful drama, with a beautiful ending and an important story. I've ranted so much because I love it too much. Truly a masterpiece and must watch for everyone.
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Starts off really great
Since i accidentally stumbled upon this one, i had no expectations or hopes of it. It was my first show of all the main characters. The first few eps really raised the bar so high being captivating and promising, that the later eps failed to keep up with it. The first 10 eps were amazing setting up the plot, ml and fl starting off on the wrong foot, getting the sisters together and everything, the next 10 eps focus on relation building and business, the next 10 eps focus highly on the business, setbacks but midway of these eps the drama starts going downhill, ep 27 onwards it was just pure depressing. The ml and fl get separated due to the cliche trope of i cant face her because my father caused her family's death, the ladies business falls apart, the sisters break apart, the cheater x fiance turns into a mad dog and causes menace by changing color like a freaking chameleon. Only towards the end do the happy vibes come back, and after ep 32 things start getting better plotwise. After ep 20 it did feel kinda draggy and slow till some 32 eps and the last 5 eps was again paced well. Why is pacing always an issue with cdramas!?The story is different from other cdramas, focuses greatly on women empowerment and social discrimination. 3 ladies, each of whom have suffered setbacks in life due to love, start their lives afresh and find love in the course. I really loved the character dynamics between Zhao Paner and Sun Sanniang. I did not like Song Yinzhang at all, she didn't deserve the selfless and generous treatment from the other two sisters, she was extremely proud, arrogant and jealous and greedy as well. Not everything can be pardoned because she was young, well she wasn't even that young considering she eloped TWICE, so she deserved whatever she got. She sort of did redeem herself in the last few eps. I rather liked Zhaodi. Gu Qianfan was very sweet, gentle and loving but he came off as rather weak willed and too kind and gullible to me. It was too easy to convince him and he even bother to verify things. The maturity in their relationship disappeared suddenly after ep 25. Zhao Paner was a consistent character, gu qianfan was not. Onto others, Chen lian was very cute, chi pan was a clown but i liked him very much, i didnt like Du Changfeng at first, later he grew on me. Ouyang Xu was trash throughout and he got what he deserved. And that son of Sanniang, was absolute piece of shit. For a change i expected to have a kind empress here because her bg is different from usual empresses, so I wanted her to get some kinda punishment after everything she did.
Ml and fl had really amazing chemistry. The acting of all the 4 mains was commendable, others did very well too.
Production was great, didn't really pay attention to the non existent music though.
I guess i would recommend watching it once. The first 15 eps can be addictive but then the effect wears off. The ending is satisfactory. Would've rated it 8.2 if possible.
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Romance done right
I loved the romance in this drama as it didn’t overdo the misunderstandings or have overly dramatic jealousy or other love interests. It was realistic, sweet and hit all the right notes with me.The conversations between them flowed so naturally, be it when they were lovey dovey, supporting each other or even taking potshots at each other. Watching them fall in love was the best part.
Costumes were top notch and I just loved the gorgeous flowy dresses that the FL wore. Sets were outstanding and I loved the aerial views and how the camera just pans down in one long take and follows the characters around - wonderful cinematography!
Storyline was good overall with some minor plot holes, some characters didn’t sit well with me but I easily overlooked this as everything else was done well. It has been a while since I’ve watched a Chinese costume drama which has good romance and this one delivered beautifully!
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Love love love the chemistry between the leads
Love love love the chemistry between the leads. Compared to other cdramas, their love is more mature. No need for fancy effects on scenes and unecessary slowmos to show chemistry because their banters and interactions are enough. Sweet gestures like looking into each others eyes, small touches, and body movements will make you question if they are still acting. They did so well in portraying a couple in love. The buildup to their romance is realistic compared to other cdramas where the leads already professed their undying love for each other after a few encounters. Also loved the supporting leads and how they've grown so much throughout the series.The setting of the drama, the costumes, the makeups, the cinematography, and the actors are so prettyyyy. This might be the prettiest drama I watched.
The reason why I gave this show 8.5 is because the plot got dragged on at the last part so I found myself skipping some scenes a few times. There are also so many misunderstandings that took a long time to get resolved. It was a bummer.
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Full of Splendor Indeed
Let's start with how beautiful Liu Yi Fei is in this drama. And the whole production basks in beauty and elegance that you'd want to visit this particular period of the Song Dynasty if you ever get a hold of a time machine. I've read that the original story was written by a person who used to live in the thriving capital before becoming a refugee. He then recalls in this memoir the splendor of the life in the capital and the drama show us that. The pipa and the tea are cultural details I enjoyed learning about from this drama.I didn't think Chen Xiao would measure up to Pan Er's beauty but it didn't take long for me to wait in anticipation for Gu Xian Fan to appear. I love the characters surrounding the leads, especially Chi Ya Nei and Chen Lian. Sun San Niang was strong and steady. Ou Yang Xu was the antagonist we didn't know we'd hate and pity. Son Yin Zhang, albeit the abrupt change in attitude towards the end, was pretty solid as well. Gu Xiao Fan's father could have been explored more, I thought he was a promising character.
The only thing I wasn't too happy about was the fact that Gu Xiao Fan was mostly side-lined in the last climactic moments. The drama started out with him so I thought they were setting up a predominantly romantic story but his role dissipated and the story tried to be grander than it started out to be. Anyway, I'll still rewatch this because it was simply delectable.
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It's important to fight for your right!
I really enjoyed watching this drama. I was curious because it was about three ladies that ran a teahouse and then upgraded to a restaurant in ancient times. This drama was about the three women's friendships, trust and determination to live their lives to the fullest by doing what they love. Ofc the emphasis was on FL and ML. How they were fated to fall in love with each other although it was their backgrounds that lead them to each other.ML, Gu Qianfan, was a skillful commander that devoted to his duty, smart, never lose his composure and ofc ruthless. We never saw his smiles unless it was to ridicule or when he looked at the woman he loved. He started to has feelings for FL bcs of her selflessness even though earlier he was being quite unpleasant to her. He loved teasing her bcs he knew she cld take it. Qianfan fell in love with FL after spending few times together, she was understanding of his pains and encouraged him when needed. He was so nice and affectionate with FL like taking her out to go on dates together. He was so supportive of her being a businesswoman and ready to help with anything.
FL, Zhao Pan'er was a clever, calm, generous and bold lady. She was also shrewd and resourceful for a businesswoman and skillful in Tea Art. Toward those who were closed to her, she had strong sense of loyalty, caring and very forgiving. Pan'er had a hard time growing up bcs of the circumstances that lead to her being reduced to lower class but luckily she was a bright kid that took advice by her friend's kind elder sister. At first, she was quite wary of ML hvg feelings for her bcs of their different social standings so she was straightforward with him about this to put him off but ML didn't care about all of that bcs he sincerely love her, to him, she was his light after all those dark years. Then, she decided to hv faith in him and love him with all her heart. After her journey of up and down being a teahouse owner and then a restaurant manager, she decided to fight for the right of ppl that had same circumstances as her to be given opportunity to be a normal civilian that is free.
I love that we got to see the life of other two best friends of Pan'er: Sun Sanniang and Song Yinzhang. Their character developments just amazing. Also the not so expected 2ndML :Head of important guilds but very childish-like Chi Pan. The other supporting characters such as ML's loyal amazing subordinate Chen Lian, the unexpected Changfeng and the determined Zhaodi.
I didn't expect to see palace struggles in this drama but I'm not surprised. Also shout out to helpful He Si, the loyal customers Mr Yuan and Mr Zhuoshi, they were so entertaining to watch.
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A Summer Romance Novel -- you will LIKE the story, LOVE the cast
My wife and I really enjoyed this series as a 'happy place' to visit twice a week. The sets and cinematography are gorgeous, the story arcs mostly gentle, and I guess what is the shortcoming of this story is really its strength: SPLENDOR is a place to chill.The story focuses upon 3 (and eventually 4) (and eventually 5) female leads who light up the screen with their humanity. Although a fantasy depiction of women in historic patriarchy, enough of it rings true today. Female viewers will enjoy how strong ladies can but, but compassionate male viewers will swoon for their beauty as much as their predicaments.
Most of this cast were new to me. Only Jenny Lin & Guan Yun Peng were familiar, because we knew them from the director's next project, the must see and incredible IMPERFECT VICTIM. I had heard that people felt Jenny was weak in this piece, but I thought she was fine... especially since her character was weak anyway.
The lead couple were interesting. I've left the series a Crystal Liu fan for lead performance as Pan'er. This is an actress of gentle nuance, and the more you watch her the more you want to watch her. They paired her with new to me Chen Xiao, who was good but perhaps not as riveting as a Wallace Huo or Huang Xuan type which I feel the roll demanded. The roll was nicknamed The Living Devil, so really a more macho offering (like Yuan Hong, the General from REBEL PRINCESS who stole the Princess from her Kingdom). As AvenueX points out on YouTube, though, the leads chemistry was quite real.
On this issue of 'gentle'men, this female written/directed production did a lot of that. We had three men who were constantly swooning over the ladies. Chi the Whiny Child, Du Chang Feng the 'substitute' teacher terrified by bullying boys, and Chen Lian who simply melts at each moment of romance. Normally I'd kinda frown at this Wimp Squadron but it was crazy charming. And Chi was hilarious. So funny I suspect they started giving him extra scenes towards the end.
Our lead ladies? Sigh. They were all terrific. San'Niang definitely grows on you as we roll along, all the imperial supporting actresses were solid, but I must confess our ZhaoDi (Daisy Li) was fantastic and eventually under-used.
Don't overthink this series. Go in and relax and it wraps up like a lovely summer sunset.
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