Eleison

It's also SO good!

It's a generation removed from NIF, Season 1. In NIF there's a young slave boy at the beginning who does the sword dance/fight. Have you seen that part? His name is TingSheng, and he gets adopted by Prince Jing (NIF in fire teases his real identity, but I won't say more since I don't know how much you've seen).

Season 2 is about TingSheng (now probably in his 50s or so?) and his two sons and their growth (but particularly the youngest brother, PingJing) as they navigate having immense power and influence in the army and court. All three characters are wonderful, and TingSheng (the father) and PingZhang (the oldest son) are just the best. I LOVED them. PingJing is the younger brother and the baby. He kind of got to play around and have fun, while letting his older brother shoulder the heavier responsibilities with their dad. But soon PingJing's youth gets ripped from him because their family (they're called "ChangLin"--the end of NIF explains where this name comes from) and the military power they lead start to get mistrusted by powerful officials in the royal court (and someone with a vendetta against them who wants to bring them down). These suspicious officials start trying to frame ChangLin as a threat to the Emperor's power, ultimately seeking to dismantle Changlin's influence (despite the Emperor being Prince Jing's son, and a close friend of TingSheng as they grew up together).

So it's about what happens to Ting Sheng's family/ChangLin years after NIF. And like what happened with the Lin family in flashbacks in NIF, you see something similar repeated in real time with this family. It's more heartbreaking (but it's BEAUTIFUL), and more about family, brotherhood, coming into one's own and standing up for what is good and virtuous even when it comes at a personal cost. It still has a lot of strategizing and intelligent planning, but it has more fighting, some romance, and expands to more settings and scenarios. It's less contemplative, has more action and has lots of things happening (and more growth for our leads). The villains are kind of the weakest part, but it's still amazing.

I was a blubbery mess several times in Season 2, more because it was beautiful than because it was sad (though, it is both 😅). It has a happy ending (in some ways happier than NIF), but PingJing goes through a lot to get there.

NIF's ML (Mei Chang Su/Lin Shu) is already a fully formed and accomplished strategist. He forces everyone around him in NIF to grow, but the suffering and growth that shaped who he is all happened before we meet him in NIF. Season 2 is getting to watch someone (PingJing) become a kind of Chang Su. What would it look like if we watched a version of Shin Lu's growth arc into Chang Su? That's essentially Season 2. 😉

Hopefully I didn't say too much.

Reviews can be helpful if people who write them share my taste (e.g. I love @PeachBlossomGoddess's reviews, but that's the only reviewer I consistently look for; I also liked @coolforthesummer's reviews till she got embroiled in a weird dispute on a drama that was a controversially censored BL and she got her account removed by mods 😬 ), but I find ratings super helpful when taken together with the number of watchers, comments, seeing how long ago it aired/maintained it's score, and the popularity ranking. Unless it's a currently airing drama, all these indicators have really helped me find dramas I like. I rarely land on a miss when I use these tools, though it does happen from time to time. 😉

But there is very little below a 7 on MDL, so, I'm not sure saying "anything above a 7" means a whole lot necessarily?

Haha, good to know!

Oh, that's saying a lot. There are some pretty bad Kdrama moms... 😅

It IS get annoyingly pervasive these days!

I noticed everyone who worked at the airport at Incheon in Korea was stunning. It seems they only hired beautiful people to be the face of their country at the airport (I also discovered that resumes always have your picture on them in SK, too. The U.S. has its own share of flawed systems, but at least we don't have to have our picture on our resume). 😬 Incheon has been one of my favorite airports to fly into/out of, but this aspect of it made me sad.

I never realized how strongly people feel about intros until drama-makers started dabbling with AI. I never watch them, so I have no feelings about them. 😅 But apparently way more people watch them than I realized!

And isn't Hae In in both?

Came back just to say how much I loved the BGMs (and even some of the OST) in this drama. Roc Chen really completed the epic scale of the drama, like John Williams completed Star Wars.

The ML is a charming jerk (I loved AND hated him 😅), but the fight scenes, music and support characters are FANTASTIC.

Consort Jing! Nihuang! 🥰

I had to do some careful work the first 1/3 as I watched, but it pays off down the road, never fear. Season 2 does a much better job introducing characters. It doesn't have a Mei Chang Su, but it has other excellent qualities that make it worth a watch.

Ha! So true.😅

I love another scene in Episode 30, and some very good ones near the end that are just heart-rending in the best way possible. 😭

🥳🥳🥳

Meet Yourself (Cdrama, very mellow and cute, somewhat by the sea)

Hometown Cha Cha Cha

Family By Choice (ish)

I think When Life Gives You Tangerines is on Jeju as well?

There were a lot of comments about this when it was airing. It really is excessive. 😬 It would make sense if the beer was product placement, but even so... still too much.

I still think the scene of the ML drunk on the playground being an adorable dork will remain with me for a long time. 😅

Whenever I explore a potential new Cdrama I look to see if you wrote a review; I find them very helpful! No pressure or anything, but I've been missing your reviews for more recent Cdramas. 😏