PeachBlossomGoddess

Yes she is Wu Tzetian the only female emperor in Chinese history. I am only on ep 2 you are probably ahead and know more about the factions. Since they use the real names of the reign I don't think they will distort history so I guess you may be able google who the bad guys were.

I watch quite a few modern urban dramas I just prefer the Western ones. I only watch the Chinese ones like The Hope and Ordinary Greatness occasionally when I really like the production team. Xianxia is just not a genre I like, I usually only watch them in absence of anything better airing.

Well I don't need subtitles I just listen to the dialogue so how the lines are written and delivered are really important to me. I dropped LBFAD bc I found Yu Shuxin's baby doll voice unbearable. A 30 year old woman should not talk like that or act like a child, it is just not normal. She is on my NO list unless she speaks like an normal adult, which she did in MJTY so she is perfectly capable of it. Similarly Wang Hedi's line delivery and Mandarin if you can even call it that is truly atrocious beyond his Sichuan accent, which happens to be a dialect I normally quite like. I couldn't even last 1 episode of Dafeng. I think non-Mandarin speakers may not care/notice these things but unfortunately I do and I don't have all the time in the world to watch dramas so stuff like that makes it a no brainer for me to just skip those dramas. I am usually sympathetic to Douban's criticisms bc they often focus on aspects of the drama that are lost in translation for international viewers but super off-putting for native speakers.

She's a pretty good actress, she carries both roles well. She is a villain in FP and her role in BL is kind of archetypal.

The Li family was the ruling imperial family until Wu Tzetian (the Empress) seized the throne, forcing her own son Ruizong emperor and a Li to abdicate in her favor. During her reign, there was a lot of fighting between her own family the Wus and the Lis. But ultimately she was succeeded by her son and the Li family regained ascendency. In this kind of story its hard to say who is good or bad bc they are all just fighting for power.

"There was barely any muscle moving on her face. "
Probably Botox. Surprised you watched this.😅

👍Sounds like we will both be later watchers.

I thought the cases in Under the Moonlight were pretty good but the romance/triangle was pointless. I'd have preferred they all stayed just friends bc all 3 roles were miscast for romance. I dropped it mostly bc I have no time but I should have put it on my list anyway, I just forgot. Thx for letting me know, I will add it.

Sure but I am buried with work at moment and am likely to be lagging everyone else in watching this one.

Mystery thriller with no romance! You made my day!

No it’s not that similar outside of one arc but its plot is quite interesting.

Yeah I am buried with a rush work project I don't have time to write it yet. Blossoming Love is quite good but I also haven't had time to finish watching it.

That was my exact same thought. And if this director got great fight scenes out of Yang Xuwen in STOTD, he should really kill it with Zheng Yecheng (and Liu Shishi)!!! I am really not a fan of Dou Xiao though - I always distrust people who can show all their teeth and smile while they are talking and that is my pet peeve with the guy. Ugh! Hopefully the story doesn't need his character to smile much.

Thanks for this review - I planned to watch this but for some reason forgot about it.

Not that crazy about either lead but this director is terrific. Going to check it out for sure.

Wow - ep 7 was so scary omg.

Everything with the exception of Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty and JOL2.

That is not a bad thing!😅😃

Thanks for your kind thoughts. I think there must have been more than one screenwriter bc some arcs were notably better than others.
And LOL... I am like that with Wang Xingyue - I just don't forgive him for One and Only!

Yes, My ratings across the board for 2024 dramas were on the low side bc most of them crashed in the final arc.