I hope Allen Ren will choose a better project with a female lead of his calibre, this fl here is just not it,…
Wang He Run's awful performance caused me to drop my rating on the drama from a 10 to an 8. She destroys almost every scene she's in. Throw in that the FL is one of the weakest and most annoying FL's in a C-drama in a long time (after the first 4 episodes she never becomes strong again without collapsing in a bleeding heap and requiring 6 months in bed to recuperate), the entire character could have been gotten rid of to zero detriment.
Especially as there is NO chemistry between her and Allen Ren.
Allen Ren DID have an FL at his caliber in The Demon Hunter's Romance, though. Song Zu Er was exceptionally good, especially in her scenes that required extreme emotion as you could see she actually felt those emotions she was portraying. (Wasn't a particular fan of hers one way or the other until her performances in that and in The Prisoner of Beauty, and she killed it with both of them - her crying scene in TDHR when she realizes her father has died is spectacular).
In almost every scene in this, Wang He Run has nothing going on behind her eyes, so her performance is vacuous. it's just her pretending to feel whatever the character is supposed to feel, with emoting being a skill she does not possess.
And yep, the weak FL to some extent, like you said, makes the plot messier than it needed to be.
Still enjoying the drama immensely, as the writing is good and the other characters are fascinating. Some of the supporting actors have also turned in superb performances, especially the other women (now a big fan of Huang Yi), Xiao Shun Yao and Sun Ze Yuan.
how was this compared to Love beyond the grave... general comparison?
Liked both of them very much. If I had to choose, I would probably choose Love Beyond the Grave, but only by a teeny tiny margin, and that's because Arthur and Dilraba's chemistry was off the charts whereas there is no chemistry between the FL and Allen Ren in this one. (He's amazing, she's not).
EDIT: I haven't watched the last 4 episodes of this one yet, so I may feel differently when I do. But I doubt it. The FL has been the big problem for me throughout every episode since Episode 5.
On Viki -- https://www.viki.com/tv/41529c-zhan-zhao-adventures#about At least here in Europe.
It will change as I have it on very good authority from a Chinese source that production companies are beginning to realize there is a MASSIVE amount of money to be made from western audiences and other non-Chinese licensing.
And when it does, IMO, we will suddenly see non-Chinese audiences being kowtowed to like never before :)
And yep, I'm with you on the horrible international licensing we often get right now. I subscribe to every platform, but I permanently cancelled my iQIYI subscription when 4 out of 5 major dramas I wanted to watch were NOT available on the platform here in Europe late last year, but WERE available on iQIYI's YouTube channel FOR AN ADDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTION. - Bite me! :)
Their dramas are now the only ones I watch on bootleg sites, as I refuse to pay a subscription with a company that's scamming me. Especially as their subscription is the most expensive of all of them.
On Viki -- https://www.viki.com/tv/41529c-zhan-zhao-adventures#about At least here in Europe.
Don't worry it will pop up somewhere in your region before/as it airs. Yang Yang's last drama The Immortal Ascension was massively successful, so there's no way this isn't getting a proper international release.
It's one of the few things that piss me off about Chinese dramas. They are often not announced as where they will be streaming internationally until a day or two before. Or they drop on some YouTube channel the day of. And sometimes we don't even get the English title until they actually release.
Case in point this week's The Lead, which got its English title when it started streaming. Super annoying if you write about C-dramas like I do, as I waste so much time trying to find basic information that, it turns out, hasn't even been released. One of these days Chinese production companies/streaming services will take their international viewers as seriously as they take their Chinese viewers.
What’s Bai Zongying still doing in that sect. He should have left a long time ago. 2 episodes wasted on bullying…
I personally don't care. I'm just happy Xiao Shun Yao is still in the drama, and they haven't killed him off yet :) He's getting even more screen time than some of the so-called "main characters", and I am ecstatic about that as, initially, I saw him listed as a supporting character and had hardened my heart to have him be gone in a couple of days.
I've now been able to luxuriate in his godly presence for the better part of about 25 episodes. NO complaints :)
Ignore everything I've said before -- this is one of the stupidest detective-themed dramas I've watched. I should have dropped it when I first had the impetus at Episode 9 but, sadly, no, I was told it would get better. Now at Episode 30 and, no, other than a handful of episodes, it doesn't. And now so easy to see why Chinese viewers rated it quite a bit lower than MDL viewers (6.4), as they were apparently even more incensed by the stupidity than I am.
Poorly written with convoluted scenarios that drag on forever and make little sense, idiotic characters who do foolish, life-threatening things for unrealistic and unfathomable goals, an arrogant ML with no personality (Wang Xing Yue does the best he can playing a dullard), an obnoxious badly-written, even-worse acted FL who is an idiot from Episode 1 and who ruins almost every scene she's in, and a plot that, from Episode 24, drags worse than a snow-sled laden with 179 people that's pulled by a cat.
And yes, the original Haiya orphans premise the screenwriter had is somewhat interesting. The problem is, he didn't know what to do with it.
By Episode 26, when the ML willingly "poisons" himself again after just being cured of his first poisoning as the plot just goes round and round and round, and, f&ck, this thing is horrible.
And by Episode 29, we're in a tomb raider drama. LMAO at how bad the writing turned out to be.
Other than the FL, the entire cast is superb, but even they can't save this.
I will finish it, as I've wasted so much time on it already, but I will make sure I avoid anything written by the same screenwriter from now on, and will likely add Julia Xiang to my current list of the one Chinese actress (now two) whose dramas I will avoid.
With the plot, it could have been amazing if written by someone with solid critical thinking skills who knew how to write a mystery thriller using clues/scenarios that were believable and made some semblance of sense, and with a better actress for the FL. Sadly, it wasn't.
Episode 33 -- very well done scene between the ML and the Emperor. Relatively decently written, nicely acted.
Cinematography is beautiful throughout. Sound design is exceptionally well done.
EDIT -- hahahahaha - that final episode. Holy Sheeyut that's some bad writing. Done. Thank the Lord.
Veil of Shadows I started after and was pretty good for me. After pick up love beyond the grave. Decent so far.…
I haven't watched a K-drama in about seven or eight months, and the few that I did I have yet to finish. Meanwhile, I'm watching C-dramas like they're the food I need to survive :)
Sure, some aren't great, but a huge percentage are. Plus, IMO, you cannot beat the set designs and costume designs in C-dramas, as Chinese set/costume designers really know their stuff, especially when it comes to period dramas.
1,000% agree (and isn't that block button great!!). Years ago, I used to have a lot of respect for Islam and Muslims, just like I did for any other religion I don't adhere to, but the overwhelming bullying we are now seeing from Muslims around the world who DEMAND we respect their religious beliefs while having ZERO respect for anyone else's has meant I have lost any respect I had for any of it. As have hundreds of millions of other people around the world.
Thankfully, the Chinese are the last people on the planet who will accept any kind of bullying when it comes to what they choose to create. So obnoxious people like this are just wasting their time. Especially, like you said, on MDL. :)
Yes, I have the same feeling. He is much more interesting. The character of the lotus guy feels quite flat.
It's odd, isn't it? I always enjoy Riley Wang's performances (his mischievous portrayal of Shangguan He in A Dream Within a Dream was one of my favorites of all last year) but, like you said, in this one Jin Lun has turned out to be a bit flat and bland. Don't think it's his fault, but more likely what the director wants, but it's made his character a bit dull so far.
Hopefully, we still might see some character growth though? (BTW, I'm only in the middle of Ep 29 so far, so no idea how he seems in Eps 30 or 31).
so lin mu han transform from a clown to one of my favorite characters ...
Sun Ze Yuan has done a brilliant job with his portrayal of Lin Mu Han. He's taken him from a character who was super annoying and kinda shady at the beginning :), to one who's funny, but cool, and that you really want to survive :)
Ren Jia Lun is so good at picking scripts .How is that every drama I watch of his is interesting . One episode…
I've watched most of his dramas and there isn't one I haven't enjoyed. You're correct. He really does have a talent for spotting an excellent script :)
Been putting it off forever, as I am not a Yang Zi fan (she's one-dimensional in every drama she appears in, basically…
I actually just watched The Oath of Love (well, I dropped it at Episode 20 as it's a terrible drama - and both her and Xiao Zhan deserved a better script and less annoying support characters :), but, while her character was a bit of an idiot in that one, she portrayed her very very well. Will have to give Lost You Forever a bit more attention when I have time because of that performance, as she definitely surprised me :)
1 
Especially as there is NO chemistry between her and Allen Ren.
Allen Ren DID have an FL at his caliber in The Demon Hunter's Romance, though. Song Zu Er was exceptionally good, especially in her scenes that required extreme emotion as you could see she actually felt those emotions she was portraying. (Wasn't a particular fan of hers one way or the other until her performances in that and in The Prisoner of Beauty, and she killed it with both of them - her crying scene in TDHR when she realizes her father has died is spectacular).
In almost every scene in this, Wang He Run has nothing going on behind her eyes, so her performance is vacuous. it's just her pretending to feel whatever the character is supposed to feel, with emoting being a skill she does not possess.
And yep, the weak FL to some extent, like you said, makes the plot messier than it needed to be.
Still enjoying the drama immensely, as the writing is good and the other characters are fascinating. Some of the supporting actors have also turned in superb performances, especially the other women (now a big fan of Huang Yi), Xiao Shun Yao and Sun Ze Yuan.
EDIT: I haven't watched the last 4 episodes of this one yet, so I may feel differently when I do. But I doubt it. The FL has been the big problem for me throughout every episode since Episode 5.
And when it does, IMO, we will suddenly see non-Chinese audiences being kowtowed to like never before :)
And yep, I'm with you on the horrible international licensing we often get right now. I subscribe to every platform, but I permanently cancelled my iQIYI subscription when 4 out of 5 major dramas I wanted to watch were NOT available on the platform here in Europe late last year, but WERE available on iQIYI's YouTube channel FOR AN ADDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTION. - Bite me! :)
Their dramas are now the only ones I watch on bootleg sites, as I refuse to pay a subscription with a company that's scamming me. Especially as their subscription is the most expensive of all of them.
It's one of the few things that piss me off about Chinese dramas. They are often not announced as where they will be streaming internationally until a day or two before. Or they drop on some YouTube channel the day of. And sometimes we don't even get the English title until they actually release.
Case in point this week's The Lead, which got its English title when it started streaming. Super annoying if you write about C-dramas like I do, as I waste so much time trying to find basic information that, it turns out, hasn't even been released. One of these days Chinese production companies/streaming services will take their international viewers as seriously as they take their Chinese viewers.
At least here in Europe.
Will likely also show up on a legal YouTube channel from one of the streaming companies. Most shows usually do.
You wouldn't have seen it when you posted as it hadn't been released then.
I've now been able to luxuriate in his godly presence for the better part of about 25 episodes. NO complaints :)
Poorly written with convoluted scenarios that drag on forever and make little sense, idiotic characters who do foolish, life-threatening things for unrealistic and unfathomable goals, an arrogant ML with no personality (Wang Xing Yue does the best he can playing a dullard), an obnoxious badly-written, even-worse acted FL who is an idiot from Episode 1 and who ruins almost every scene she's in, and a plot that, from Episode 24, drags worse than a snow-sled laden with 179 people that's pulled by a cat.
And yes, the original Haiya orphans premise the screenwriter had is somewhat interesting. The problem is, he didn't know what to do with it.
By Episode 26, when the ML willingly "poisons" himself again after just being cured of his first poisoning as the plot just goes round and round and round, and, f&ck, this thing is horrible.
And by Episode 29, we're in a tomb raider drama. LMAO at how bad the writing turned out to be.
Other than the FL, the entire cast is superb, but even they can't save this.
I will finish it, as I've wasted so much time on it already, but I will make sure I avoid anything written by the same screenwriter from now on, and will likely add Julia Xiang to my current list of the one Chinese actress (now two) whose dramas I will avoid.
With the plot, it could have been amazing if written by someone with solid critical thinking skills who knew how to write a mystery thriller using clues/scenarios that were believable and made some semblance of sense, and with a better actress for the FL. Sadly, it wasn't.
Episode 33 -- very well done scene between the ML and the Emperor. Relatively decently written, nicely acted.
Cinematography is beautiful throughout. Sound design is exceptionally well done.
EDIT -- hahahahaha - that final episode. Holy Sheeyut that's some bad writing. Done. Thank the Lord.
Sure, some aren't great, but a huge percentage are. Plus, IMO, you cannot beat the set designs and costume designs in C-dramas, as Chinese set/costume designers really know their stuff, especially when it comes to period dramas.
Thankfully, the Chinese are the last people on the planet who will accept any kind of bullying when it comes to what they choose to create. So obnoxious people like this are just wasting their time. Especially, like you said, on MDL. :)
Hopefully, we still might see some character growth though? (BTW, I'm only in the middle of Ep 29 so far, so no idea how he seems in Eps 30 or 31).