Brocade Odyssey (2024)

The acting of all casts is 100!!!

A slow burn love story , from friends to lovers. I like the chemistry between main couple ; their micro movements make the scenes more beautiful. The fact that ML is really natural at his fighting scenes and horse riding makes the scenes really enjoyable. And also the interactions betwen SML and FL are noteworthy, waiting to see how the story unfolds later . It is amazing to see how the FL go through ups and downs yet grow as a business woman, fyi she is sharp which i really liked . I like the bonding between Ji siblings as well ; one weaves the silk another one dyes it, got all that knowledge passed down to them from their father. I love all the details that are shown here on how Dyeing Workshops are operated , very vibrant. Apart from all these, i am enjoying the series , not skipping a scene as supporting characters are also good at portraying their roles. But The AI face 3rd ML just feels weird sometimes as it doesn't match well with the scenes. Overall good !

Read More

One of the better dramas of 2024

There are some dramas that I shelved after watching several episodes only to go back to when I have nothing to watch but this is not one of them. I look forward to every next episode. The later episodes are angsty and I wanted to get over them faster.

This story is of several young people from the Merchant class of varying degrees of wealth during the 9th century Tang dynasty. We don’t often have a storyline solely of the merchant class though there is the inclusion of the 2nd male lead, a Prince Bai who is fashioned after a real Prince/King of that era. Both male and female leads and secondary leads performed excellently. I really liked the character Zheng Ye Cheng played and with his excellent performance here, I’ll look forward to his other dramas. As for Seven Tan, she did not disappoint. As usual, Brocade Odyssey is full of drama, romance, fight scenes, humor and Steven Tan feistiness and charm. It also has a good ending in case that’s important to you as it is to me,

The costumes, hairdos and jewelry were stunning but some hairdos and makeup did not do Seven Tan justice. In some episodes where her makeup was more subdued, she looked gorgeous as her natural looks are already flamboyant. Cinematography was also good so I enjoyed this drama very much.

There is also much to know about the Silk and brocade manufacture during the Tang dynasty which I had not known about. Silk was prized all over the world = remember the silk route? An inch of Shu brocade is said to be equivalent to an inch of gold even during that time. There is a wonderful Brocade Odyssey Campanion piece that a fellow contributor, Frost_Edelweiss, had posted. It is below this review section, under ‘ recommendations’ . . It’s a weath of information about the drama, the silk brocade industry and the Tang dynasty as it relates to this drama. After reading her postings, I realized how much rich culture was presented in the drama. I encourage everyone to take a look. Here is the link
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/shu-jin-ren-jia/132940-brocade-odyssey-companion-piece

Read More

It is not an idol drama. 10/10

This historical drama is top-noch!! Great actors/actresses from leads to support characters, very interesting historical details, solid art direction, rich dialogues, and good balance between love story, action scenes (I will never forget how Yang Jing Lan rushed back to Yizhou to marry Ji Ying Ying) and brocade industry history makes it a treasure among this year dramas . Tang Dinasty border conflicts, the difficulties in establishing Silk Road, focus on working class and slavery , warlords and rich families rebellion against central power, instead of court conspiracies contribute to create very unique environment and story line . It is slow paced but there is no pad out episodes, no skip because it is not just one more drama about revenge. Also sadistic and smart villains (Jing Chao acting skills specially shinned on ep.39) makes it very fun and entertaining to watch. Last, it is a delight to see the mutual understanding between Yang Jing Lan and Ji Ying Ying, how they clearly communicate and evolve from allies to lovers without loosing the respect and trust they have for each other. It was not a boring and predictable love story. It is a beautiful love, family, friendship and social story. 10/10!!

Read More

Worth watching, ignore the comments on the main page

This story isn't bad at all. What you are seeing is a bunch of people upset because it wasn't purely a romance story which the show never promised to be in the first place. Are there issues with some plot lines? Yes. But it's not as bad as some of the commenters / reviewers are making it to be. Plus it's very in line with what happened in the novel that this show is based off of so bashing the scriptwriter does not make much sense in this case.

Spoiler Alert:

JYY is a woman and who is of a low status. There is only so much she can do. JYL, while much higher in status, was up against a general and a prince. Given all of that, the ending wasn't that bad. Plus they end up together in the end. As for the fl feeling sad for Bai Prince, who is one of the main villains, it's not that surprising given what we saw in the show so far. Anyways, that's just my take. Don't decide not to watch this due to a few comments on MDL or a low rating. This show is decent.

If you go into it with reasonable expectations and not just expecting a show solely focused on romance, you will enjoy it. So in short, this isn't your typical idol costume drama. The leads aren't always going to win simply because they are the leads but it's a happy ending.

Read More

Zhao Xiu Yuan [Face via AI] made it!

Zhao Xiu Yuan [Face via AI] : HAHAHAHA AI Face passes idol drama level acting! Although, I am not sure if Zhang Hao Wei didn't get cancelled that he could do any better with this boring EX character.

Drama is watchable if you enjoy SPECIFIC actors. However put this next to Blossom 九重紫 that's airing right now, it won't compete. From a script, storytelling, characters, couple CP, cinematography, etc etc all fell short. However, if you watch it because you are fan of ML/FL then its enjoyable.

I am big fan of Zheng Ye Cheng. His Peking Opera background makes him a solid choice for these Heroic characters in costume dramas. He doesn't need constant doubles for horseback riding scenes, fight scenes, wire works, walking scenes, kneeling on the ground scenes.... (ahahaha like that 流光引 dude)
So I watch most of his dramas just for him, but he has zero CP w/ all the FLs thus far (expect for the Sleepless Princess).
As great as Tan Song Yun is, the pair just didn't work for me. Again, personal opinion.

Story is typical as is the dialogue. The evil character is always that actor.... Kind of lost count of how many times he played that type of character. It definitely did not need to be 40 episodes.

Read More

Everything I love

This drama has exceeded my initial expectations! The details in the costumes and brocades are so delicate and beautiful. The romance between the ml and fl is so sweet. Instead of one childhood romance, there were two. Ji Ying Ying is brave, smart, clever and a born leader and business woman. She leads with wit and heart. She is so blessed with so many good friends who are willing to support her all the way. During that period of time, it is difficult for a woman to be successful in being a businesswoman. But yet, she manages it with grace and with a smile. A big thank you to the cast and everyone involved! I highly recommend this drama. It's not overboard. It's not underboard. It's just nice. And this drama shows the good and ugly side of humanity. How a person, whom you once trusted, can change from being good to being downright weird & nasty. How delulu some people can get. How some people are just out to grab the best for themselves and not bother about who they knock down or who they betray. I hope that you will enjoy this drama as much as I am enjoying it.

Read More

Shu Brocade Family

Rating after 25 episodes:

Story: 10

Although it's not a perfect drama, it has a storyline framed around historical Shu silk, fighting for justice, and weaving love and friendship. I enjoy watching it. I generally don't like every drama. This year, I liked only a few dramas that were released. This drama is better than all of them. The story is so good that besides war and intrigue, there are also funny scenes. The main couple constantly argues with each other and finally unites to fight for justice.

Acting: 10

Ji Ying Ying (Tan Song Yun) has a cunning, cute, businesswoman, strong woman character. Due to the events in her childhood, she took all her family's responsibilities upon herself. So, love and marriage were secondary for her. Her life continued to get more difficult. After her first fiancé left her, a romance began to develop between her and Yang Jing Lan. And finally, they got married in the 25th episode.
Tan Song Yun does justice to this role. She is a very talented actress.

Yang Jing Lan (Zheng Ye Cheng) has a funny, just, and somewhat carefree nature. He is both a warrior and a government official.
After this series, I fell in love with ZYC's acting skills once again.

Music: 10

I really liked the OSTs. They were performed by Liu Yunning and Tan Song Yun. Both of them have very beautiful voices.

Rewatch Value:

In your free time, you can watch Ji Ying Ying and Yang Jing Lan's arguments to relax.

Overall: 10

Both the story, acting, and music are very beautiful. It's a drama worth watching.

Read More

Gotta Love The Horse

This drama had a slow start and hard to see FL not looking her usual glam self. Her costumes are horrible IMO, but it is every day people. It has a slow build and my attention gets sidetracked because it drags on instead of moving on. I have enjoyed watching parts like in Episode 23 when the male lead is surrounded, fighting for his life. His trusty horse comes out of nowhere and takes down a couple of bad guys. It was so unexpected and I LMAO and re watched the scene several times. I'm not use to watching this particular FL playing such a weak woman. There are times she isn't weak. Her character has too many flaws for my taste. Overall it's a pretty good drama.

Read More

Refreshing story, great chemistry ad Strong Natural acting performance from main leads

I was so looking forward to this movie when it was first announced few months ago and it did not disappoint.
every movie that Seven Tan appeared, She became the character as she portrayed it so well and naturally.
I love this drama as it started slowly to develop the background stories, introduced us the cultural history of the Shu brocade and how much process it had to go through to produce one and how they are being treasured by the country. I love this story how Seven Tan and YeCheng interact with each other so well and naturally. They have such a great chemistry and comfortable with each other. Ji Ying Ying portrayed by Seven Tan showed how resilient and persistent she is to protect her mother and brother and also to avenge the death and misjudgment to her father. the story has lots of twist and it also showed the challenges and trials that Ji YingYing had to go through and Ye Cheng was there to protect her even from the start when he knew YingYing was already engaged. the original boyfriend made a big mistake of giving up on Ji YingYing thinking this is his way of protecting her. It was so refreshing to see how the main leads love each other and support each other. there were so many touching scenes that hit us and we couldn't help but feel their pain and cried with them. Seven Tan is so good in her acting that you cried along with her when her tears keep flowing down on her cheeks on those tear-jerking scenes. I have rewatched so many episodes so many times because they are really good and refreshing..

Read More

Consistent and Lovely

Cannot really review this drama from a objective point of view, but for sure I love this drama because of:

1. It retains chinese culture (brocade, silk) and eastern style wisdoms, Beautiful.
2. I love the main lead actors TSY and ZYC (oh, this is so biased, lol).
3. Ji Yingying and Yang Jinglan both characters in this drama are very good, can be said emotionally stable, not trying to be cute, spoiled or domineering, just be themselves while also considering others.
4. The highlight of the story is easy to predict, but some details are interesting enough to watch, enjoyable.
I mean, this is not the elaborate story of Ming Lan or Nirvana In Fire... come on.
5. So far (ep 23) I think it's safe to watch all ages (there are killing scenes but not sadist or brutal, and kissing/romance scenes also so far still ... safe.).
6. Novel version is good, happy ending.

The only minus is no OST of ZYC and TSY singing together while we know both could sing ...

---

The Story:

JYY: (female lead)
- Talented girl, helpful, brave, has a knack of trading and negotiation skills too
1. inherited her father's skill of dying silk
2. clean her father's name from false accusation
3. clean the silk business from corrupted officials
4, sell her dyed silks to all over the world

YJL: (male lead)
- High martial skils, love JYY as she is.
1. Justice for his master that had been killed by corrupted officials
2. Clean the silk business from corrupted officials
3. Support and protect his loved on JYY

Other villains:
1. very corrupted offiicials Niu Jin
2. psycho ex-lover Zhao Xiuyuan
3. a-bit-good-but-quite-evil Prince Bai from enemy state.

Conclusions:
I have no complaints so far, because this drama is enjoyable, the judgements made by the main leads to overcome situations are all OK, pretty much a good example for all.

Read More