I had very little expectations from this drama. You could say that it was mostly on my radar because I tend to keep track on any drama that combines action and Yang Yang (the dude can move and I am a big fan of movement). That is why I only started to watch it when more than 15 episodes were out, partially because I ran out of dramas to watch. But the very first minutes made me hooked - the camera, the film speech, the overal vibe… Like when the three Tang sect members in straw hats approach the table in the inn… I felt like a kid returning to the favourite magical show. It is very rare for me to consistently keep attention when watching dramas, usually I end up skipping or fast-forwarding at least during some scenes. ZZA? No skipping, no fast-forwarding. I was glued to the screen from the beginning to the end. Imagine my shock when I saw so many people getting bored. Usually, I can at least understand why people drop something - even if I am entertained, I can somehow see what is missing there or what people may dislike. In this case, I am lost. But then I realised it - it’s not about quality, it’s about what the viewers want. For me, this show is both something I waited for (I always hoped to see Yang Yang in this type of fight scenes, that is exactly why I keep track of his work) and what I needed (the main theme of justice and the show’s arguments for adhering to the law - you may disagree with what the show claims, but it is absolutely vital to talk about this topic). It reminds me of some older martial arts movies, classic anime and works that I saw when I was younger and it includes many topics that I personally appreciate. Besides, my most favourite show is Korean drama Taxi Driver which deals with the same topic from a different angle (and offers the vigilante path). So I guess, the only thing I can say to anyone who plans to watch it: this show IS quality work. But it is also somewhat specific and clearly, not exactly universally appealing.
I’m listening the bgm from back to back and I can’t seem to find that epic kinda glam music that plays during many big scenes - like when Hong Ye awakens in the first episode and they fall together. Was it not released? Or am I tripping?
As I think about it more one may think puppet Ji Ling is a puppet, but tbh, I could never come to terms to him…
It seems to me that discussion on what is identity is a big topic of this series. I recall someone here mentioning Buddhism and no-self in relation to puppet Ji Ling and honestly, as it develops, it is something I wonder about. I find the typical Buddhist topics - such as attachment, karma, and self - being very crucial in this story. It’s not just that the identities of some characters are confusing to the viewer, they seem to be equally confusing to the characters themselves. And source of pain. Are puppet Ji Ling and deity Ji Ling the same person? What about Lu Wuyi and her existence, is she a person? Is there even one answer? I would say that so far this drama says that the way we conventionally frame an identity is not just disputable but altogether irrelevant to the experience itself. I know cdramas, especially this genre, are full of Buddhist and/or Taoist symbolisms and ideas but I don’t remember the last time I found it so integral to the story. Usually, it’s more like the folk part of it - the tradition and myths and cultivation. This feels more contemplative (behind all the tragedy of it).
The beggar (Real Bai Lou ) appearing just before the wedding is really suspicious. The way Shanbao is ten steps…
Oooh - it would make sense that she’s been cooking something since she’s been unto the fake one for quite some time. But … the beggar was brought over by that miss Xu. And that’s a character which I think was outside RSB's radar before. But she also said she would give LJL an explanation after the case is over and I understood that part as - more is coming. Fake YBL is probably the last puzzle piece?
Recent trope that really keeps bugging me is the treatment of love interests of both ML and FL.ML at the first…
I actually thought it was staged for the maid behind them. I think that maid is spying. Later on, when RSB agrees to marry YBL, her cousin seems unhappy. So I read the scene as either the cousin trying to make RSB confront LJL to find truth about it or the cousin being in cahoots with RSB to make a scene so the maid thinks RSB lost interest in LJL. Although I also think the cousin is prejudiced against men because of her childhood experiences. I’m not really fond of romances as the one in this show (it was clear from the trailer what kind of romance it would be) because it's not emotionally rewarding to me. But after thinking about recent episodes, I do suspect that RSB does not believe the rumours regarding LJL but sees it as a good opportunity to use his jealousy to bring him to her. As in - she agrees to marry YBL, pretending in front of the maid that she lost interest in LJL after seeing him with another woman. But at the same time, she knows that once LJL learns about the wedding, he will go to her demanding explanation. And it might be easier to hide their meeting if he’s the one coming, not the other way around (he has sneaked into her rooms undetected before). Then they can device a plan how to stop the wedding or coordinate if she already has one. So I’m waiting for the next episodes to see if I was right or not, I have been wrong many times when watching this show. But I don’t believe RSB is buying the story about LJL's marriage.
I have to say to say, I started this drama only because of tea and HMH and didn’t expect to get so invested…
The list of tea topics covered in epilogues
Ep 1: Zisun Tea (“Purple Bamboo Shoots” Tea) Ep 2: Tea tax Ep 3: The Classic of Tea Ep 8: Tea King Tree Sacrifice Ep 10: Herbal tea Ep 11: Milk tea Ep 12: Making friends through tea and treating people with courtesy Ep 14: Purple Clay Teapot Ep 18: West Lake Longjing Tea Ep 19: Lu Yu, the Sage of Tea Ep 20: Landscape and Tea in Zhejiang Ep 21: Tea and Health Ep 24: Grandmaster of Tea Ep 25: Tea Brick Ep 26: Tea Refreshments
Episodes with no epilogue: 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 22, 23 Episodes with different topics (Chinese tradition without relation to tea): 13 (Five Posions and Fortune Pattern), 17 (Mugwort)
I have to say to say, I started this drama only because of tea and HMH and didn’t expect to get so invested in the story beyond that. But it got me almost addicted now. So much that it even made me create account over here.
Anyway, I saw that some people are interested in the epilogues. I actually waited for a drama that would revolve around tea like this since like forever and so I often rewatch it with a pen and paper in hand. I made a list of which episode covers what topic in epilogue for future reference so I thought perhaps someone else would find it useful too? I’ve been also noting various things from the drama itself but that’s actually much slower process as I have to actually research things, so I can put some notes on that too…
1
But the very first minutes made me hooked - the camera, the film speech, the overal vibe… Like when the three Tang sect members in straw hats approach the table in the inn… I felt like a kid returning to the favourite magical show. It is very rare for me to consistently keep attention when watching dramas, usually I end up skipping or fast-forwarding at least during some scenes. ZZA? No skipping, no fast-forwarding. I was glued to the screen from the beginning to the end.
Imagine my shock when I saw so many people getting bored. Usually, I can at least understand why people drop something - even if I am entertained, I can somehow see what is missing there or what people may dislike. In this case, I am lost.
But then I realised it - it’s not about quality, it’s about what the viewers want. For me, this show is both something I waited for (I always hoped to see Yang Yang in this type of fight scenes, that is exactly why I keep track of his work) and what I needed (the main theme of justice and the show’s arguments for adhering to the law - you may disagree with what the show claims, but it is absolutely vital to talk about this topic). It reminds me of some older martial arts movies, classic anime and works that I saw when I was younger and it includes many topics that I personally appreciate. Besides, my most favourite show is Korean drama Taxi Driver which deals with the same topic from a different angle (and offers the vigilante path).
So I guess, the only thing I can say to anyone who plans to watch it: this show IS quality work. But it is also somewhat specific and clearly, not exactly universally appealing.
I find the typical Buddhist topics - such as attachment, karma, and self - being very crucial in this story. It’s not just that the identities of some characters are confusing to the viewer, they seem to be equally confusing to the characters themselves. And source of pain. Are puppet Ji Ling and deity Ji Ling the same person? What about Lu Wuyi and her existence, is she a person? Is there even one answer? I would say that so far this drama says that the way we conventionally frame an identity is not just disputable but altogether irrelevant to the experience itself.
I know cdramas, especially this genre, are full of Buddhist and/or Taoist symbolisms and ideas but I don’t remember the last time I found it so integral to the story. Usually, it’s more like the folk part of it - the tradition and myths and cultivation.
This feels more contemplative (behind all the tragedy of it).
Although I also think the cousin is prejudiced against men because of her childhood experiences.
I’m not really fond of romances as the one in this show (it was clear from the trailer what kind of romance it would be) because it's not emotionally rewarding to me. But after thinking about recent episodes, I do suspect that RSB does not believe the rumours regarding LJL but sees it as a good opportunity to use his jealousy to bring him to her. As in - she agrees to marry YBL, pretending in front of the maid that she lost interest in LJL after seeing him with another woman. But at the same time, she knows that once LJL learns about the wedding, he will go to her demanding explanation. And it might be easier to hide their meeting if he’s the one coming, not the other way around (he has sneaked into her rooms undetected before). Then they can device a plan how to stop the wedding or coordinate if she already has one.
So I’m waiting for the next episodes to see if I was right or not, I have been wrong many times when watching this show. But I don’t believe RSB is buying the story about LJL's marriage.
Ep 1: Zisun Tea (“Purple Bamboo Shoots” Tea)
Ep 2: Tea tax
Ep 3: The Classic of Tea
Ep 8: Tea King Tree Sacrifice
Ep 10: Herbal tea
Ep 11: Milk tea
Ep 12: Making friends through tea and treating people with courtesy
Ep 14: Purple Clay Teapot
Ep 18: West Lake Longjing Tea
Ep 19: Lu Yu, the Sage of Tea
Ep 20: Landscape and Tea in Zhejiang
Ep 21: Tea and Health
Ep 24: Grandmaster of Tea
Ep 25: Tea Brick
Ep 26: Tea Refreshments
Episodes with no epilogue: 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 22, 23
Episodes with different topics (Chinese tradition without relation to tea): 13 (Five Posions and Fortune Pattern), 17 (Mugwort)
Anyway, I saw that some people are interested in the epilogues. I actually waited for a drama that would revolve around tea like this since like forever and so I often rewatch it with a pen and paper in hand. I made a list of which episode covers what topic in epilogue for future reference so I thought perhaps someone else would find it useful too?
I’ve been also noting various things from the drama itself but that’s actually much slower process as I have to actually research things, so I can put some notes on that too…