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Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

HeadInTheClouds
 liddi:
Presenting Xiang Liu the White, joining the ranks of Saruman and Gandalf the White. Now all we need is a snake-shaped staff....

Not the goatee!!!! Got to say, your daughter is very creative with him. She seems to be having a lot of fun dressing him up. Did she manage to finish the drama/novel?


 liddi:
The indignity of being dunked in a noodle soup bowl as opposed to a wine bowl. Poor Mao Qiu! My girl suggested he lost weight..........

Your daughter's suggestion reminded me of the Xiang Liu's Mini Theatre clip that TJC's studio released after Season 1 where TJC suggested to XL to put MQ on a diet so he can fly faster. Poor MQ was not pleased about his food being cut :-)


 liddi:
I love that case and was close to tears for the first time at the end when the residents of Ju County lined up to see Lu Lingfeng off.

This case showed the shift in Lu Lingfeng. He's rightgeous and honourable but previously they were cold principles, lacking the human aspect. After this case, his drive to uphold what is right and just now is about protecting the people.

 I enjoyed that it's an ensemble rather focused on a couple. Kinda like Go East in this aspect.


 liddi:
There seems to be an escalation of mentions of Under the Skin S2 these days, so perhaps it is coming soon. Really hope so.

The melon at the moment is December this year. Apparently, it's on the list of shows that is tentatively slated for December. It still needs to be confirmed, of course. 

I haven't seen The Three Body, sounds like a high-quality production. It would be great to see him in something dramatic and serious again.

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liddi
 HeadInTheClouds:
Not the goatee!!!! Got to say, your daughter is very creative with him. She seems to be having a lot of fun dressing him up. Did she manage to finish the drama/novel?

She was peering over my shoulder when I read your message and she said "Nope, and don't intend to!" LOL. I would ask her every now and again, since I pointed out characters die in other shows or animes she watches as well. However, she told me that Xiang Liu hits differently, and she could not bear to continue reading past Qing Shui town post-wedding robbery, and has not advanced past S2Ep4, because every step brought her closer to his death, which she could not bear.

 

 HeadInTheClouds:
Your daughter's suggestion reminded me of the Xiang Liu's Mini Theatre clip that TJC's studio released after Season 1 where TJC suggested to XL to put MQ on a diet so he can fly faster. Poor MQ was not pleased about his food being cut :-)

YES! I was thinking of that too when she mentioned it. I showed my girl the video you shared, and she was going "Poor Mao Qiu, told to stop eating even though it's such a small piece." I guess with her sympathy for her overweight bird, do you think oversized flower pots might do the job too?


 HeadInTheClouds:
This case showed the shift in Lu Lingfeng. He's rightgeous and honourable but previously they were cold principles, lacking the human aspect. After this case, his drive to uphold what is right and just now is about protecting the people.

 I enjoyed that it's an ensemble rather focused on a couple. Kinda like Go East in this aspect.

Exactly. It is in this case that he finally found his humanity, rather than just sticking rigidly to  principles. Now that you mention it, it's true that their teamwork is reminiscent of Go East. Though I think this team is far more efficient.


 HeadInTheClouds:
The melon at the moment is December this year. Apparently, it's on the list of shows that is tentatively slated for December. It still needs to be confirmed, of course. 

I really really hope so. And am keeping fingers and toes crossed that it would be as good as, or even better than S1. I loved S1, but it was not without its faults, something I hope S2 would improve on.


 HeadInTheClouds:
I haven't seen The Three Body, sounds like a high-quality production. It would be great to see him in something dramatic and serious again.

Three-Body is excellent, but can be very bleak, though it ends on a note of hope in the most unexpected of places. I definitely would love to see him in a Three-Body production. Was trying to guess who he would play in S2 The Dark Forest, but the character I had in mind feels a little older from what I gather (haven't read the book yet!) so I am not as certain he would be the right fit for it. Either way, it's all wild guesses and pipe dreams so far.

Am watching the donghua Link Click S2 with my daughter. I really love S1, and S2 continues to be excellent, but can be very triggering. One of the most painful scenes to watch is the extended portrayal of domestic violence on both the wife and the children, which triggered my daughter's outburst multiple times that the man was scum that was a waste of space. 3 more episodes to go, but knowing the series, it is very likely going to end on yet another cliffhanger. We shall see. I started the live action drama as well which is adapted from S1, and was surprised that I really enjoyed it thus far as I did not have much faith in live action remakes. Jin Shijia plays a scumbag CEO of a gaming company who exploits his employees. Definitely a departure from UTS's Du Cheng! And the earthquake case made me cry again, just as it did in the original donghua.


 AH :
I’m watching Love Game in Eastern Fantasy and it’s giving me so much joy, comfort and catharsis.
 Kokuto:
I'm watching that too, and loving it!  I'm only on episode 6 though -- hope to catch up this weekend.  I loved ... the consequences for Esther's character when she 'fails' the game's goals.  I have to admit, I LOL in that first episode when it just kept happening over and over again.  But it also has heart, like the stuff with her dad.  And Ding Yu Xi is awesome, plus has great chemistry with Esther.  I LOL several times at their interactions.  I'm glad to hear Esther's character is ... strong enough to fight for love -- though I'm sure the game would make her.  lol

I am very late, only just having started watching up to Ep9 but truly loving it for exactly the reasons both of you mentioned. I am just sorry I didn't watch earlier, because I didn't really enjoy the leads in their previous roles. However Yu Shuxin is such a revelation here, succeeding in making Lin Miaomiao so funny, resourceful and adorable. Love her interactions with everyone, and I teared up more than once in scenes with her game father, especially when she thinks she would have to lose him all over again. And Ding Yuxi is brilliant here and such a joy to watch too - his petty jealousy, suspicious nature, gruffness and his involuntary growing affection for her (the affection percentage angle is such a riot!). 

I presume both of you have finished the drama by now. Does it stay good all the way to the end? I really hope so. Have any of you read the book? How faithful is the adaptation?

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AH
 liddi:
I presume both of you have finished the drama by now. Does it stay good all the way to the end? I really hope so.

Episodes 6 - 17 had me thinking that LGiEF might be my favourite drama of the year, but I felt like the later episodes didn't live up to the potential of the earlier episodes. 

I loved the leads and the development of their relationship (and their relationships with the FL's father, Mu Yao and Cui Cui) when the story actually focused on them and it felt like things were progressing, but the rest of the time I was bored or annoyed. The second half of the drama continued to deliver bits and pieces that kept me watching all the way through the finale, but not enough for me to feel satisfied, especially after so much screen time was dedicated to lingering on plot lines that didn't interest me, that had choppy momentum and contradictory themes, and that sorely lacked communication and progress between the leads. I wanted the leads to communicate more and I wanted their relationship to have more focus / screen time than it ended up getting.

I felt like the drama had fantastic visuals, a great premise, a good OST, and loads of chemistry between its leads and all of that built up this huge potential that wasn't fulfilled. Ironically, I probably would have been less disappointed in the second half if the first half hadn't been so good / hadn't built up all that potential. 

I also think the way the writers handled the final battle and the way everything played out between the story of the game characters and the real-world characters in the last two episodes was divisive. Some viewers loved it and thought it was brilliant. Some viewers hated it and thought it was a complete miss. IMO, it was... consistent. The writers' approach had huge potential and there were some good moments, but overall I found it disappointing / I felt like that huge potential wasn't fulfilled. 

 liddi:
Have any of you read the book? How faithful is the adaptation?

I have not read the novel. Based on comments from other viewers who have read it, it sounds like they made some pretty big changes and most fans seem to think that at least some of the changes were for the better.

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liddi
 AH :
Episodes 6 - 17 had me thinking that LGiEF might be my favourite drama of the year, but I felt like the later episodes didn't live up to the potential of the earlier episodes. 
 AH :
The second half of the drama continued to deliver bits and pieces that kept me watching all the way through the finale, but not enough for me to feel satisfied, especially after so much screen time was dedicated to lingering on plot lines that didn't interest me, that had choppy momentum and contradictory themes, and that sorely lacked communication and progress between the leads. I wanted the leads to communicate more and I wanted their relationship to have more focus / screen time than it ended up getting.

I'm really sorry to hear that the second half of the drama failed to follow through with the standard of the first half, as I have been harbouring very high hopes that it would continue to impress all the way to the end. Did the drama fall into well-worn tropes like misunderstandings keeping the couple apart, lack of communication caused by noble idiocy? What kind of contradictory themes are you referring to? Were the characters inconsistent? Or did the narrative lose its glitter from rehashing the same themes over and over again? Ahh... I really should find out for myself.


 AH :
I have not read the novel. Based on comments from other viewers who have read it, it sounds like they made some pretty big changes and most fans seem to think that at least some of the changes were for the better.

It's good to know that fans approve of the changes in the adaptation, which is more than I can say for other adaptations where book fans were upset and horrified at the author over deviations from the source material e.g. Novoland Eagle Flag (and in some ways, LYF too). 

Are you still in LYF universe? I have made a concerted point to stay away for now. Am overwhelmed by a sudden deluge of viewing fare - surprisingly enjoying Link Click the live action drama, and am planning to start Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty S2. Meanwhile, am also reading "The Lonely Plough" by Constance Holme and want to move on to "Three Body:The Dark Forest" after that. I get the distinct feeling I am biting off way more than I can chew. Gah.

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AH
 liddi:
I'm really sorry to hear that the second half of the drama failed to follow through with the standard of the first half, as I have been harbouring very high hopes that it would continue to impress all the way to the end.

Although I'm definitely not the only viewer who felt this way (based on MDL comments), plenty of viewers seemed to love the whole drama and weren't disappointed with the second half. So YMMV and perhaps you'll end up enjoying the second half as much as the first. 

And don't get me wrong, there were still things I enjoyed in the second half. Just less than I hoped for. 

 liddi:
Did the drama fall into well-worn tropes like misunderstandings keeping the couple apart, lack of communication caused by noble idiocy?

Hmm.  A plot device is used to keep the leads apart between episode 18 and 20, but for the most part there weren't major misunderstandings or moments of noble idiocy between them. It was just that, for a romance drama where they are the romantic leads, the narrative spent a strangely small amount of time focusing on Ziqi and LMM's relationship. After the situation in episodes 18 - 20, they should have had a conversation about what happened... but never did. The ML even complains at one point about how they hadn't had a proper conversation in a long time. And, to make it worse, the FL has to make a sacrifice in order to obtain power to save her friends. The sacrifice turns out to be that she begins to forget the real world, her true identity, and the original plot of the novel that she is trying to re-write. Which results in her no longer playing as active and intentional a role in re-writing the ending. 

Although the leads do get closer over the second half of the drama despite the lack of communication, the writers or director seemed super reluctant to show it. There are moments when the two finally are able to spend some time alone together, but they use an invisibility talisman so that no one (including the viewers) can see them. Apart from a magic-induced hallucination kiss in their imaginations, a forehead kiss, and a kiss-but-we-only-see-the back-of-their-heads after the finale credits, the leads never kiss. Whereas the drama spends a significant amount of time on the second couple (the main couple of Fu Zhou's novel). They get multiple kisses, all wooden and boring. They also get married. Put all of those things together and, for me, it adds up to a fair amount of dissatisfaction. ^^"

 liddi:
What kind of contradictory themes are you referring to?

As one example, the female lead knows that Fu Zhou's novel had a tragic ending because the lead characters kept secrets from each other and didn't trust each other, which led to Mu Yao feeling betrayed by everyone in the end. So she spends a lot of time convincing the lead characters to trust each other, to be honest and not hide their secrets, and to stick together. But in the final battle, Mu Yao hides her intentions and acts alone in order to sacrifice herself. When the group works to save her, they leave Cui Cui behind at one stage and then leave Liu Fuyi behind at another stage. The very last thing that Ziqi and LMM do to try and stop the catastrophe of heaven is to ascend a magic stairway created by the efforts of all the cultivators and demons of the world. But this ends with Ziqi abandoning LMM on the staircase without a word to her. He falls and then flies away, determined to live and to meet her in the real world. But his last thought in the game is, "I should depend on myself." Which seems like the exact opposite of the drama's theme that the leads should work together, stick together, be open with each other, trust each other, and be willing to lean on each other. 

 liddi:
Are you still in LYF universe?

Not really. I check in on the MDL page occasionally, but that's about it. 

 liddi:
I have made a concerted point to stay away for now. Am overwhelmed by a sudden deluge of viewing fare - surprisingly enjoying Link Click the live action drama, and am planning to start Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty S2. Meanwhile, am also reading "The Lonely Plough" by Constance Holme and want to move on to Three Body:The Dark Forest" after that. I get the distinct feeling I am biting off way more than I can chew. Gah.

I'm glad you've found lots of content that you're enjoying. ^^

I'll probably be watching Fangs of Fortune next. 

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H19279
 liddi:
Are you still in LYF universe?

Hi everyone, so far I have no eager or motivation to watch the 2nd seasons of LYF. I watched only the first eps and S2 and some clips that I came across on my facebook. Not so many.
I turned my interest back to my kind of all time favourite - Ancient Love Poetry. I have watched that series so many times and found something new each time. I now use the knowledge in Chinese language (with help from various translation tool such as google translate, dictionary and Chat GPT) to figure out some mystery, hints in the TV version. I like this kind of literature, TV detective work. I also find out that the OSTs of the series tell a lot of the main lead's story and they match well with the original narrative. It changed some of my previous impression about the songs. 

Therefore, it's very useful and I cherish our conversation here since i can learn from other and have motivation to learn sth else. Haha, I even learnt to use Canva and capcut to make paper illustration or subtitles for clips.

Lately I don't watch any new series. Looking forwards to Under the Skin S2. Rumor is that it will be on air in December. Hope it's true

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