The slower paced longer arcs of 70minute episodes...I just dont think are my thing anymore. The suspense is drawn out for extremely long periods of time(or it feels like it) I like almost everything about the show, but the pacing in the back is just...dragging and not concluding. For example, what do you mean you find your girlfriend drugged and locked in a building and you dont even take her to a doctor or file a report with the police or inform her agent or anyone else around her that she was targeted and DRUGGED. Your cousin is actively trying to harm your girlfriend and your grandfather...I realize that some of the plot needs to happen off screen...but having THIS much with that much time makes characters look too stupid to live, and causes me nothing but frustration. Is it the edit? Was it like this on the page to begin with? Something just isnt connecting.
This is a production and post production rant. This is not about story or performance. Youku and I have actual beef now. Why this aspect ratio, and what is with the excessive heavy filter? It's making it so the faces look like they have no dimension and the lighting looks bad...but I can't tell if that was an on set issue or a post production editing issue. Like was the set over lit to filth or is the filter so heavy that any lighting work done on set went down the drain? I'm having a hard time with spotting any subtle facial expressions because the filter/lighting has removed all lines from faces so only the over the top ones are getting through. I thought the filter laws/rules had going into place like the name order, but I guess it's still not rolled out yet.
Is Princess Ling Yun actually dead? We didnt really get to see her body and everyone is just telling us that she died. With Qin Cang being stabbed in the same spot and being alive(as of ep27) it makes me question. As Ye Li's maid was 100% killed(slit throat) and Su Zhi Die, feigning a faint, it was just the Princess's men(presumably loyal men) present. We normally get a coroner scene if the death is real. so im wondering if there is a possibility that she's alive.
so....you're telling me a piece of metal forcefully taken from a woman you know and trust and were sent to protect is enough to order you around and do the bidding of the one who took it from her and is choking her in front of you?! soldiers in this show dumb as hell. like dude is poisoned. she is not. he will eventually die and you dont think she can remeber her own soilders. way to sign your and your family's death warrant. had to pause halfway into the last episode to crash out. about the writer's logic.
finally got to 36 minutes into the episode 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡 im still mad at the writers though.
Are the FL and ML dubbing themselves? I actually can't tell if that's Bai Lu's voice.
Looked into this a bit earlier in the week. Short answer, yes it's the screen actors real voices. Longer answer below. This director prefers the actors voices being used over dubbing actors coming in to over dub the work the actor has done. It's definitely their voices. I didn't fully clock it until Ryan yelled and I was like "OH OH OH THAT'S HIS VOICE". Sometimes the voice actors sound very similar to the actor they are dubbing and are just coming in because time wasn't available for the on screen actor to dub themselves/complete ADR(additional dialog recording). For this production, audio recorded on set is used as well as the screen actors doing ADR when dialog wasn't able to be captured properly. As they are on the large studio and depending on time constraints might not get the best audio every take. My first excite though, was when I heard his voice on one the OSTs. All the shows I'm currently watching have a duet with the lead actors singing their love theme.
Okay wtf is with the ratings? Such a fucking good drama and it’s only an 8? Wasn’t it 8.4 before? Some people…
To me an 8 is on the higher end of ratings. That's a one or two things not vibing fully. I haven't started this one yet, but an 8 seems more positive than negative. Don't feel discouraged for the show. I believe it will find it's audience.
I can't wait for more of the eps cuz that whole family should be on our girl hit list 😤
im curious if they'll explain how the step-mother was "possessed"...was she in on it too? drugs? only Lil bro can stay...maybe hot unc, but jury is still out on him.
so many characters are so short sighted in this. I know people like this exist...but my goodness. So, another thing that's been on my mind while watching. Xie Yan Fang and Deng Yi are both in their 20s and the heads of their households and yet BOTH of them are unmarried. not even a concubine to be seen or heard of. They would already have 2 to 3 kids by their age. Trying to align themselves with powerful families etc. i know this is a shorter show so we arent getting the full scope of their worlds outside of court, but the lack women is noticed. Did all of the previous Emperor's women get shipped off? What of the Crown Prince's concubines? The royal harem is normally at least like 30 women deep with two grown generations above. FL's cousin has had more interactions with women of the court than the FL has. A LOT of politics happen within the inner court, and the fact we havent gotten a single speck of it is...strange. Did they complete wipeout the harem during the coup? like is everyone motherless now? Deng Yi's mom is sweet but literally blind to what her son is up to and doesn't really interact with anyone outside. We had just like 3ish interactions with daughters in the capital through the cousin's POV and no one is making moves...idk for a show with a female lead im just a bit disappointed by the lack of female characters with agency/storyline.(specifically in the capital setting) Again i realize this is a much shorter drama, but it was a glaring missing piece for me.
With 24 episodes, 3-4 released on opening day and normally the last 6 episodes being express released, this show should have already concluded. But they have been doing a 1 episode drop for the majority of the airing so we are only on 17/18...idk the pace seems thrown off since about episode 11.
it's sooooooo good. had to save episode 7 for later cause I needed sleep and to go to work. so now I have something to watch when I get home in the morning.
Thank you. I guess that would also explain the look her maid gave her when Ye Li mentioned Qing Shuang. I mean Qing Shuang would have had to have been like 5 years old if she had been sent to the mountain with Ye Li. Aka she's frozen in time in Ye Li's mind. Always showing up when Ye Li is scared and/or feeling alone. So either she died early in her time on the mountain or Qing Shuang is a fracture of Ye Li herself. Has it been explained in a later episode or is this in the novel/source material?
is he currently playing the Emperor in The First Jasmine? The character isn't listed in the drama, and I THINK it's him, but I'm not 100% sure as because he's a teenager every time I see him these days he looks slightly different and I'm not sure if it's him or another actor who looks similar to him.
Is Qing Shuang a ghost/figment of her imagination? Ye Li is the only one to even speak to her, much less look at her. She has yet to interact with another actor on screen as of half way through episode 2.
2 
Is it the edit? Was it like this on the page to begin with? Something just isnt connecting.
Youku and I have actual beef now. Why this aspect ratio, and what is with the excessive heavy filter? It's making it so the faces look like they have no dimension and the lighting looks bad...but I can't tell if that was an on set issue or a post production editing issue. Like was the set over lit to filth or is the filter so heavy that any lighting work done on set went down the drain?
I'm having a hard time with spotting any subtle facial expressions because the filter/lighting has removed all lines from faces so only the over the top ones are getting through.
I thought the filter laws/rules had going into place like the name order, but I guess it's still not rolled out yet.
finally got to 36 minutes into the episode 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡 im still mad at the writers though.
Longer answer below.
This director prefers the actors voices being used over dubbing actors coming in to over dub the work the actor has done. It's definitely their voices. I didn't fully clock it until Ryan yelled and I was like "OH OH OH THAT'S HIS VOICE". Sometimes the voice actors sound very similar to the actor they are dubbing and are just coming in because time wasn't available for the on screen actor to dub themselves/complete ADR(additional dialog recording). For this production, audio recorded on set is used as well as the screen actors doing ADR when dialog wasn't able to be captured properly. As they are on the large studio and depending on time constraints might not get the best audio every take.
My first excite though, was when I heard his voice on one the OSTs. All the shows I'm currently watching have a duet with the lead actors singing their love theme.
So, another thing that's been on my mind while watching. Xie Yan Fang and Deng Yi are both in their 20s and the heads of their households and yet BOTH of them are unmarried. not even a concubine to be seen or heard of. They would already have 2 to 3 kids by their age. Trying to align themselves with powerful families etc. i know this is a shorter show so we arent getting the full scope of their worlds outside of court, but the lack women is noticed. Did all of the previous Emperor's women get shipped off? What of the Crown Prince's concubines? The royal harem is normally at least like 30 women deep with two grown generations above. FL's cousin has had more interactions with women of the court than the FL has. A LOT of politics happen within the inner court, and the fact we havent gotten a single speck of it is...strange. Did they complete wipeout the harem during the coup? like is everyone motherless now? Deng Yi's mom is sweet but literally blind to what her son is up to and doesn't really interact with anyone outside. We had just like 3ish interactions with daughters in the capital through the cousin's POV and no one is making moves...idk for a show with a female lead im just a bit disappointed by the lack of female characters with agency/storyline.(specifically in the capital setting) Again i realize this is a much shorter drama, but it was a glaring missing piece for me.
I mean Qing Shuang would have had to have been like 5 years old if she had been sent to the mountain with Ye Li. Aka she's frozen in time in Ye Li's mind. Always showing up when Ye Li is scared and/or feeling alone.
So either she died early in her time on the mountain or Qing Shuang is a fracture of Ye Li herself. Has it been explained in a later episode or is this in the novel/source material?