ShortCircuit

Because some people (myself included) don't enjoy slapstick but would like a more subtle comedy. That's why I couldn't get past the first half of the first ep. I'll wait it out and decide then.

I couldn't watch MMH the SK version (because the first ep was so cringey, though YMMV), but I'll probably try this one for Takeru Satoh's sake.

LOL, I assumed the Emperor died because Zhao poisoned the Seal or the bronze fish hahaha~ (because that would have caused certain death even if it took a bit longer.) And it would have made sense for him to give up the Seal and fish key in order to put his choice Emperor in place.

Which brings me back to the new Emperor - he's a master chess player yet he looks so naive when talking to Zang Hai. That sure brings in some question of future dealings. (I mean I just finished a book where the MC puts on a whole weiqi table where every piece is a human or a human army, and the ML is given the challenge to solve it - the players being the kings and the peoples. It eventually ends in a draw, which also has meaning to the actual story of the book.) The idea is that - weiqi/go players, particularly if they're good, are shrewd thinkers and planners. And Zhao picked THIS GUY. He CANNOT be that naive. (It might be another aborted plotline.)

The FL's mood change doesn't actually make a lot of sense. So she was animated as she was gallivanting around with her BFF, but once she got locked up for a few weeks she suddenly turned into a passive doormat. She loves her mom, she loves the ML (if he had locked ME up for weeks, and I had her personality... I would've brought up the whip. OH and they never even revisit the childhood whip scars, either! I bet they did but it got cut...) That talks to me about either the actress' acting range or the lack of script or directing cues for her. Though I still tend to blame her, TBH, since all the others did way better even with a less important part (and presumably the same directing, too).

In an alternate 'verse, the Dongxia queen is the third villain and the daughter dies in that maze, and so the ML becomes a tragic character and despite taking revenge, he's destroyed himself too, the end.

It feels like when they started they planned for a lot more episodes - maybe around or over the 50 eps mark. The pace is on par with NiF, until about ep30 or so, and NiF had 54 eps. So maybe they ran out of screen time, had to remove the last third or change it so that it made sense with the first two thirds, and thus we got the kind of rushed Dongxia development - until then, except for the CGI ghosts, everything was practical and on-location, you can see there's very little if any green screen. But in the Dongxia part, there are a few, and they're kind of obvious. IMHO they might be reshoots to bring it all to an acceptable ending.

And/or maybe there was some pressure from people with money to make some insertions or add more screen time for certain actors (I've no inside melons, but it sure looks like something in the wind changed in the last part).

Just think about it - the Emperor suddenly died - NOBODY made a fuss, nobody ever explained HOW (since they changed the way the Seal worked... the Dongxia queen who used it was forced into wearing a mask for the rest of her short life after using it, but the Emperor - who didn't even use it - just... dies?!) The Zhen palace plot was abandoned. The border Army looks kind of sparse. (And Zang Hai out of the blue knows where exactly in the world Zhixiang is?!)

It's clear there were a lot of cuts and they made do with whatever was left that was usable and patched it with reshoots. At least the first - 38 eps or thereabouts - were a whole block, and that's what I'm basing my rating on. The last two eps are the changed/shortened ending that is rethought from the initial one, IMHO.

Given the way the Chinese censorship was acting around the time this drama was being made... I think they intended for two seasons (like a lot of dramas at the time tried) but then the censorship inserted the "at least six months in-between seasons" new rule and they decided to just make it all at once and had to edit around whatever couldn't be included any more.

Glad they kept the good parts in, though!

ETA Now that I think about it... what if the initial third killer WAS the Dongxia queen?! She actually had the wherewithal and interest to get the Seal back, since she knows what it is and what it can do. But they might have changed from her being the third villain into her being a good mom because they wanted to get the happy ending in after all - and with the mom being his parents' killer he and AnTu would have been doomed.

I think I would've liked that a whole lot better, TBH, but then I don't mind BEs myself...

So google translate says this means:

She was a hostage! How could she not be married to a prince to maintain a peace alliance? It doesn't make sense! And if there was no romantic plot but rather a sisterhood (together for the same goal) it would be better, because Zang shouldn't have emotions

(I don't speak Portuguese, I hope google translate got it right.)

She had been a hostage to the SOVEREIGN Empire, but also she wasn't a princess of Dongxia anymore when her queen sister decided to marry her off to some 60 year old tribesman... king? And said (king or whatever kind of chieftain he was after all) was NOT in the picture for alliance reasons, he was there as a plot point to allow the queen to be bitchy and get rid of her - politically useless - sister. Which point was even made by AnTu herself, by the way.

But also let's pretend there WAS a political point to be made by marrying her off the second she's in her kingdom again - what is the need for threatening her with her lover's life?! I mean, we can all try to pretend AnTu was politically savvy, too, and she WANTED to help her sister create and maintain an alliance - for plot progression reasons you don't throw that at the wall in the last 3 episodes of a 40 eps drama, LOL. Or generally you don't if your FL actually had some things to really do that develop said plot, BEFORE you create another twist that leads nowhere before the general climax of the drama - and that leads us back to the initial point.

The twist was created precisely because the FL has almost zero importance to the actual plot and it gave her something to do after all.

Re: Zang shouldn't have any emotions part (which is intended to show sarcasm probably, but again, Portuguese, so maybe it got lost in TL)... Zang Hai is basically the only one showing actual human emotions in this pairing. And most of them aren't related to the romance, also. She's not needed for him to get emotional, LOL. And it would really really help if SHE too could show some emotions from time to time (different from the usual RBF she ALWAYS has on...)

The romance subplot simply doesn't work when just one side does the heavy lifting.

At least don't upvote your own comment, troll, like who the f even does that?!

So... now they're going to Disneyland :D

(No but it has that feeling.)

This has to have been the most useless and meaningless FL in a serious drama. They might've put it in because otherwise there'd have been a clamour about the lack of romance, but TBH, (and I'm actually sorry to say it), they didn't have a lot of chemistry and she doesn't have a lot of range. Or at least didn't show it in this drama. I've seen her in Lighter&Princess and there that expression she always has on was kind of warranted, but here, it didn't work at all. I've also seen her trying hard, but I guess it wasn't to be.

So I truly think the drama would've worked way better without the romance, or the same romance with a different FL. Even Tong'er was more animated than AnTu. (And now that I've mentioned her... LOL, what, is Tong'er now going to be a crossdressing teacher at that Academy for the rest of her life, or are they making it open for female teachers too? :D) It would've worked even with a hostage prince, actually, and no romance, but I guess we won't ever see anything hinting at actual bromance with XZ, just in case. *sad* Anyway, moving on.

When the drama hits those emotional moments, you feel it throughout. (I've said it before, XZ really out-acts himself, emotionally, in this one). But when the plot starts skipping scenes and/or makes moves that aren't logical... it also shows. This would've profited from more eps, in which to move a bit beyond Zang Hai's radius, and show us what the rest of them were doing, counter-plotting.

Logically, the story kind of makes sense. After all, who better to know their weaknesses than their childhood friend, who just happens to teach everything he'd need to know to the kid who will actually take revenge on them? But he waited all his life for his best moment then got impatient?! Why? The queen sister also didn't need to be so catty. The queen mother had all the gravitas she needed without once raising her voice or threatening anyone. IMHO the sister needed a better character trait chart, if she were to impress. And a tribal wedding out of the blue, where she needs to threaten AnTu with Zang Hai's life?! What in the weekend makjang is that?! (And that's what I mean by useless FL - that sequence was introduced PRECISELY to give the FL a reason to exist).

So, PROs:
1. Xiao Zhan's emotional performance. I liked Zang Hai in most of his scenes. (Yup, including the paper drowning one, eeeesh that was scary).
2. The first villain AND the second were pretty good. Particularly with how fast they were catching on (I wonder if they didn't subconsiously recognised something their "friend" was preparing for them. Or maybe that's why Zang Hai had almost complete freedom for a while - in order to not make the same mistakes his "benefactor" would have.
3. Cinematography. Aside those few green screen scenes right at the end, most of it looked like it was shot on location, with actual props and no CGI (except the LOTR Moria and People Under the Mountain scenes in the beginning, LOL). Also, the music, particularly that drum theme and the ED song.

CONs:
1. Useless FL, wasted plot (what about the Zhen palace? I thought it was burning in the ED sequence, but nothing seemed to happen to it after all.) She was there because the ML needed something to make him do a double take before getting involved with a presumed villain, and that's about it. TBH, I again blame the actress, sorry. Even the Lu assassins (Yan, the woman, and also all her "brothers") had more personality, with a lot less screen time. The younger bro who died last - sorry, I don't remember his name ATM - was clearly a psycho, I remember him even if the name didn't stick. As for the FL? I'll probably remember her female bodyguard for longer, LOL. No screen presence. (Don't come at me, fans of the actress, she's pretty... but if she and the actress for Tong'er were switched around, this drama would've been better, IMHO.)
2. No backstory, almost, of the Masters. We don't know who the first one was (the one who burned himself to death because of - we don't know why), or who the Mistress ever was (she's not even close enough to Zhao to know his secrets, like Gao Ming). The only one almost known is Gao Ming, but even him is given a very sketchy depiction, and he taught Zang Hai all he knows and was like a father to him... but by the end he's relegated to the role of cook and self-sacrificing character (because we need some important character deaths in this one). Helloooo!! Kuai Duo died, the whole family died - and need I say it, we know a whole lot more about THEM, with a lot less scenes, than about the Masters!!
3. Almost careless ending. I've seen that new Emperor actor somewhere, I can't remember where right now, and can't locate him in the cast (was he the young guy with the lung illness who falls for the FL then is exiled, in Blossom? I think that's him but I'm not certain). But all was walked through - Zang Hai decides to take the Seal and study it (DESTROY IT!!! CAST IT INTO THE FIRE!!! ISILDUR!!!!!!!!!!), they go away with NOTHING but a horse (like... what?!), the friends get ghosted, Zhixiang gets back the family home (no closure on his mom issues though because there's no time left), the Emperor - whom Zhao PICKED because he had all the power - is an unknown quantity...

So yeah, while the drama has great moments (I seriously WANTED to see more about astronomy and geomancy and BUILDING stuff!!!!), there were some shortcomings. It was almost too careful not to overstep some red line they had, so it feels a bit calculated.

I really enjoyed it though, in spite of those shortcomings. If I ignore the romance plot, the rest of it feels pretty well-centered, the pacing is slow enough yet not boring, the emotions are all there (IMHO XZ carried this part all on himself), the music is good. I'm happy with it.

Oh and the FIGHTING scenes - yes. They were all great.

You know what, this was one drama that would've been even better without the romance subplot.

Zang Hai, totally convinced: There are NO ghost soldiers or spirits in the world.

A few moments later...

:D I don't know if they intended it as a comedic moment, but it made me giggle. His FACE :D

LOL @ep39....

He's not aggressive at all (or enough) IMHO. His anger and need for revenge needs refueling - the first time he falls in love with the FL, he's about to decide he doesn't need to get revenge actually, so Gao Ming makes arrangements to remind him and stoke it all up, for reasons revealed in later eps. He's aware he's causing loss of life and at least distress for lots of people, and he regrets involving Zhixing in it - but seriously, if it were MYSELF... and I'd seen my parents' SKINS hanging on Zhixing's father's secret room for TEN FREAKING YEARS, I would torch the whole city and not need reminders on why I should have to get revenge.

He has a lot of strong selfless impulses - his first action with the not-really-geomancers is to try and arrange them so they could survive (but cannon fodder is cannon fodder after all), and then with the beggars, and so on, and so forth. He is his father's son.

But he DID go through a most traumatic experience and had to go from precious son and friend and brother to plastic-surgery-altered face imposter in order to go and get his family's killers. He was programmed to do this one thing (there's even a discussion about what's after, and he has no idea what would he have to live for).

TBH, he should take a few pages from some revenge webnovels LOL. Look at The Governor's Sickness ML - he planned the whole revenge as a CHILD of not even ten years, and he executed skilfully, no remorse present, til he got reunited with the MC and THEN some. (As an extra, he didn't even like the persons he was taking revenge for, he was just PISSED OFF). Or copy some of Shen ZeChuan's actions in Qiang Jin Jiu - he could care LESS who got hurt, as long as it's not the ML (who can take care of himself just fine, anyway), and he starts off with a whole lot less power than Zang Hai. And there are a whole lot of more examples.

Anyway, what's bothering me the most at this point - almost to the end - is the freaking music, where's the BGM OST, because I need it. For science. There's a good theme there that got fixed in my head and I have to play it for a few (hundreds) times in repeat before I can let go of the obsession LOL.

In all fairness though, this Emperor actually IS an idiot. You'll see later why.

What is it with the afterlife scene, with the little kid and his little smirk and the little sister who didn't recognise him at first and his mom forever at her spinning, and his dad forever making him toys!!

DAMMIT I don't need tearjerker scenes right now LOL

Also, Gao Ming, I don't even care you managed to get him out, it was YOU and the rest of the Masters who put him in, in the first place!! He should eat humble pie for the rest of his life, he KNEW this kid that he raised and primed as a tactical weapon for most of his life, they ALL decided together he didn't need self-defense lessons but threw him to the wolves so he'd be double-exposed to anything the third killer wanted!!

PS And I KNEW who the third killer is because I've already seen Tian XiaoJie in Be Reborn doing basically the same stunt role, LOL. I wanted to see if it would change, but nope, so far it's 2 out of 2 roles he's been a swindling villain that I've watched. What can one say... he might be typecast.

Also, f@ck the Emperor, I hope he dies in agony and good riddance. Come ghosts and zombies, come and get them both!

Mid 38th, this drama is doing me dirty, WTH!!!!!!

I can't believe I have to write this for a drama character - did the freaking MARQUIS have to get the army involved and get all his soldiers killed?! I mean, he could've just ordered them out and stayed there and take the loss if he cared.

And he didn't. He wanted to win. All those deaths - and his own - are on him. Let's not twist into pretzels here trying to claim the moral high ground on a story.

All the revenge - and basically ALL the stories - involve innocent bystander victims. I guess we need to invent some other standard by which to judge this drama, then, so that we don't get it mixed up with all the rest of its kind in the genre.

Yeah, modern optics on ancient revenge motivation always clash. What else is new. TBH I'd kind of want to let them have it raw - yes, this revenge killed half the population. Yes it's not ethical by the standards of the 21st century. Should the hero be tormented by it? Who cares, he has anger management issues and needs to vent. And I don't want to add the /s, people should learn to interpret words in writing too and not need prompts.

PS As for people not accepting collateral damage for revenge plots or stuff - people gobble up all the superhero trash movies where Batman or any one of the ~good~ guys destroy half the city - repeatedly - and still don't get the villain in the end.

...Yet. They haven't made a second season YET. Or at least that's my lasting hope...

To me they looked pretty similar to the "Demon" tribe's in Till the End of the Moon, and AFAIK, most of the costumes in that drama are based somewhat in Western regions of China (around the Mogao or Dunhuang Caves area).

Like here, (ep3, not a lot of spoilers in case you want to watch it: https://youtu.be/4l4L7nu2K3I?t=2993 )

Thank you!! I'm all in for heroic deeds (or at least heroic intentions), but seriously didn't expect toilet humour :(

Watched the first half of the first ep, do they ever move out of the silly slapstick-with-not-so-witty-dialogue area? I was really waiting for this one, started watching last week, felt off to me, now in its second week, how is it? (Please give me spoilers, particularly on style/dialogue and overall feeling. I am not looking for police comedy TBH...)