ShortCircuit

Okay... this was so freaking GOOD!!!! Whoever thought of that ED sequence needs to get a raise, LOL. (Also, nobody's going to know who worked on the team, LOL, when the cast is doing that :D)

So, first ep impressions - wow they really went the whole nine yards on the styling, colours, music, fight choreography and cinematography! I hope the plot kept up with all the glamour because WOW!

Finally I see Chen DuLing's true beauty (she always was a natural beauty, but her charas so far - that I've seen - were bad girls or powerless charas). I want to see her showing her skill while being all beautiful :D

Zhu Yan keeps being a hoot, LOL - I LOVE HMH in this. Is it just me or does his voice (or his VA's, though I see none credited, I guess it's his - and their - real voice?) sound a LOT like LYX's in TTEOM? So soft and naughty, like he's always laughing at whomever he's talking to. I loved that. Sounds like there's a new demon lord in town, hahaha~

Oh, I got my hopes up. We'll see in two weeks... (I'm just happy it's back).

I guess it'll always depend on which version you watched first and how it impacted you. Those feelings will colour everything coming after. Enjoy the drama!

We're all here. Just trying to find other dramas to watch in order to help with the continous withdrawal, LOL. Soon we'll all be channeling Rose - It's been 84 years... :D

Yes, well, as I've said - I went in with basically no expectations (both times), and it was the kids who won me over the cdrama side. The kids weren't in the kdrama for long enough and the relationships didn't have time to set in because most of the screen time was taken by the adults (who also weren't that instantly empathetic as the actors in the cdrama).

I could leave off after the first episode and wasn't interested in getting back in (though I like all the leads - the adult version). If this was an original I might've stayed with it, but since it wasn't, and it's hasn't caught me (particularly given it's about a third in length compared to its source material), they either move too fast for my taste, or the energy just isn't there.

That is not to say that it can't be enjoyed - it's just that it's not for me.

Shen ZeChuan is one of the MLs of the danmei novel Qiang Jing Jiu (Bring in the Wine / officially being TLed and published as Ballad of Sword and Wine) by Tang Jiu Qing.

He comes through as effortlessly sensual and seductive, and his partner is mad about him (so am I). He's also a little vengeful viper (with good reason) so HMH's styling and acting so far fits him perfectly. If EVER (won't happen soon enough if at all) they relax and make danmei adaptations again... HMH would make a perfect SZC, IMHO.

I mean - you saw that showdown, LOL. Nobody's going to even try to come close to it in the next year, at least :D

Okay, I'm in the first ten minutes of the first ep, I'm sold. The first freaking fight is so sensual, I'm voting for Hou MingHao for Shen ZeChuan this instant!! (*keeping fingers crossed they ever make QJJ).

I hope these first ten minutes are a solid promise for what's to come.

This is a found family heartwarming drama. I watched the first ep of the SK adaptation and (for me at least) the magic isn't really all there (the cdrama took its time with the kids, and they built a very strong base for the rest of it). The original is better (comparing the first eps only, obviously). I don't feel motivated to keep watching the SK version, but I inhaled the cdrama.

To each its own :D

Nah, he's just scum. I've left you time to see it - he's obssessed with getting recognition and doesn't care who he has to go over in order to get it. TBH I didn't quite like his character; in comparison, I've loved the Crown Prince and the Prince Yu characters in NiF, as despicable as they both were - they were amazing characters in spite of being deeply flawed. XYQ just resents everybody for not cosying up to him, recognising his abilities... he has the worst "pick me" attitude. I don't even like him enough to hate him, he's just annoying.

... And by this time, XPZ is gone already right? That middle part of the drama always depresses me :(

I posit Till the End of the Moon. That one broke LaR's record.

There's one in process of being turned, but you probably already noticed.

XPZ is a hero. *still hearbroken over that damned timing*

You know what... I kind of feel like that kid who keeps asking ”are we there yet”...

So they just talked about a possible S2 - WHEN?! ARE WE THERE YET?!!!!!!

Too many big names (did they all confirm?) for just an 8-ep drama. It feels a bit overkill.

Well, we'll see.

In the drama they made him much more of a good/shiny character than he is in the OG novel, but even so, his actions DO indirectly lead to the demise of his foster family and clan, and to YanLi's death.

He could always had swallowed that pride of his that made him show off and NOT provoke the Wens into coming to the Jiang Clan FIRST. They had a lot of other possible targets, it was WWX killing the XuanWu Tortoise and freeing all the other clans' kids that made the Wen send an army against the Jiangs ASAP. It was NOT intended, but it happened. Mme Yu couldn't have saved the clan once Wen ZhuLiu was there and she knew it (case in point, Jiang FengMian DID return as soon as he could and was defeated almost immediately. What could one more fighter do?) Once the wheels started turning, it was too late.

And yes, the Wens would have eventually come to the Jiangs too - but JFM had gone in search of a protective alliance and never had the chance to ask for help because there was no time... due to the Wens moving their plans ahead after being taunted by WWX. (A consequence he did not intend, but the Wens are crazy anyway).

Mme Yu's two helpers are much better than JC and they didn't stop WLJ from setting off the signal, so let's not put this on JC. It wouldn't have mattered anyway - given how fast the Wens came, they were already on the road, waiting for that signal or moving in in a set time.

YanLi wouldn't have been on that battlefield if her husband hadn't died by WWX's hand (yes he didn't do it himself, but he created Wen Ning as a Fierce Corpse and his method of controlling him did. not. work.) She was not in her right mind, but she came to save her brothers in desperation, and that got her killed. And the battle at the Nightless City wouldn't have happened if he hadn't saved the Wen clan remnants. YES he had good reason, YES it's very ethical, YES he, being who he is, couldn't have helped it, BUT the results remain - he saved the Wens and everything came from that act, after all. We're not discussing here if the rest of the ~orthodox~ sects were in the right or not (cause they weren't) BUT YanLi died because of WWX's actions.

I only watched him in TU, Gank Your Heart and tried to in Legend of Fei (couldn't keep up with the FL, sorry). Also started Being a Hero and Luoyang but other dramas got in the way :D

He is good, but he'll always be LWJ for me, so I can't see him as either XCY or SZC... (but particularly SZC, he lacks that hint of evil maliciousness that SZC has :))

They did work together very well in IAN, I didn't watch Dashing Youth yet (though I did see the first episode, just to get a feel about it - looks pretty well-made, will watch it sometime... soonish LOL). That's why I thought WLR would fit as a gong to HMH's shou :D

I don't know where you are in the drama, I don't dare spoil you on his roots - but he's not all that vengeful either, LOL. He's the strangest cult leader, hahaha, he doesn't even act according to his own wishes, that man's a whole asylum of lunatics in one person :D

I don't think even he knew WHY he did what he did right til the end, he just... plotted and kept plotting, it's a whole mess of a mad mind...

For all the fuss when it aired, I would've expected The Knockout to get more recognition...

But hey, Three-Body got a huge award :) (I haven't even read the book(s) or watched the drama, but Xue CheRan's soundtrack is a staple on my playlists LOL).

Just listen to this amazing song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9PnppAK5dM

Why are they awarding dramas of 2023 though, so late in 2024?