Michelle Topham

Also available on WeTV here in the U.S.

Blocked. Just in case you decide to ruin another drama for everyone.

Just finished Episode 8 and this just gets better and better. Two leads are brilliant, performances are excellent, fight choreography is unique and very well done, the writing is pretty tight, and the plot moves quickly. Looks absolutely gorgeous too.

Haven't enjoyed a detective/mystery themed C-drama this much in a fair well. For me, it's even better than Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty, and I've loved all 3 seasons of that.

It's doing exceptionally well in China. It's often quite a few days in before a drama hits 9,500, but this one managed it on Day 2. Not surprised, it's exceptionally good. And I'm not a Bai Lu fan (can take her or leave her, honestly :)

Then find something you do like to watch instead of wasting your finite time on this planet badmouthing a drama. Most of us are loving it.

Same. I've always thought she's a bit bland, so could take her or leave her. But she's superb in this so far.

The drama is superb, and already becoming a big hit in China. What ARE you talking about?

Yep, and the BBC and ITV wouldn't hire any news announcer/reporter who couldn't speak with RP English. Even today, they require accents that are closer to RP English as, get a Scouse (Merseyside), Geordie (Newcastle), South Yorkshire (Sheffield/Doncaster) or strong Irish accent, and half their British audience wouldn't understand them. Let alone any non-Brit :)

And I grew up with a Lancashire accent (not anymore, I speak British English with an RP accent, but sound more American than British due to decades in the U.S. ;), but wouldn't recommend it for a TV announcer.

My grandad, for instance, spoke with a broad Lancashire accent (broad meaning 'strong') and would say things like "Put wood in't thoyle' (ie: Put the wood in the hole' - meaning 'Close the door'.) My grandparents visited us in the U.S. and my friends didn't understand a WORD he said. Even though he was speaking fluent English :)

Yep. That too. Which also makes sense and doesn't bother me as long as the actor dubs his/her own voice.

Disintegrates in the middle of Ep 22 when all of a sudden... what happened mid-episode at the lake made no sense as it popped up out of nowhere as if several scenes had been cut out, and then the ending feels rushed and unexplained.

That being said, still a fun watch and a deserved 9.5 out of 10. Removing .5 for the strangely written ending.

Well.... more reliable than from 7 people. Hahahaha. And yep, when I think of reliable ratings, I generally don't have MDL popping into my head immediately :)

She was excellent in The Longest Promise too, so I'm actually not surprised to see her performing well in this. (I'm not watching it after Ep 1 as I've seen the donghua twice, and so not interested in the story), but did notice how well she's doing in the 45 minutes or so that I watched.

Some do, but it's not common. And not likely to be common for a long time, as Chinese audiences don't enjoy watching dramas with actors whose accents they can't understand.

Dubbing though is also why it's not likely a Chinese actor would ever win an international acting award in the west for a role in a Chinese drama (at least the ones whose voices are dubbed by a voice actor), as how do you win an award if your character's voice was provided by somebody else? (shrug)

You obviously watched a different drama. The acting is superb in LBL, the chemistry between the leads is phenomenal, both characters are extremely likeable, and the plot is very well written. I'd guess that's why it's currently earning an 8.9 out of 10 on MDL.

This one, however, is over-the-top with quite fake acting. It fits with the story, but let's not call it 'good acting' as it's not.

BTW, I've already dropped this one as there's nothing different in it from the donghua, and I've already seen that twice. Cheng Lei is also only an average actor at best. Then again, he's known as an idol actor whose speciality is his looks, so I never expect much from him.

Because China has at least 100 different dialects/accents and the industry wants Standard Mandarin, as that's understandable by the vast majority of the population. Dubbing each actor's voice ensures every character has the same accent, and that way it's understandable to most viewers.

Personally, I hate Chinese actors being dubbed, but I can understand why it's thought to be necessary.

For instance, look at British dramas. I'm British, born and bred, and spent the first 21 years of my life in England, and I still have to have subtitles on many British dramas as I simply can't understand what characters are saying if they're from an area unfamiliar to me.

It likely doesn't trigger the rating until a certain number of people have rated a drama. That way it's more reliable.

Case in point, IMDB was showing a stupidly low 4.2 out of 10 for this drama yesterday. When I checked, that rating was from SEVEN people. Not remotely reliable :)

Yep, it's incredible what they've done with the production values. Every scene in the entire thing, even the most inconsequential, is gorgeously filmed, and the sets and costumes are stunning. And the CAST list!!!! Features half of my all-time favorite actors :)

Hahaha, I'm very old :) Remember watching my first C-drama in Bangkok in about 2003 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' bought on a dodgy DVD with even worse English subtitles. Never looked back :)

Oh I always do. Been watching C-dramas for over 20 years since I moved to Thailand in 2002 (they're huge there), and been writing about them for about 15 years. So I know you should NEVER make a decision to watch/not watch a drama based on comments. Besides, I often love dramas almost everybody else HATES. :)

You're welcome. :) And I'm absolutely SHOCKED at how good this one has turned out to be after reading all the not-so-complimentary comments on here and elsewhere yesterday. Over on IMDB yesterday, it had a rating of 4.2 -- how crazy is that?? It's gone up to a 7.0 today, but still....