Skibbies

oh yeah chen rui was kinda uhh too, it's so sad watching kids blow up their own future as a way to fight back against their parents, they hurt themselves way more than their parents tbh. Oh I wasn't fan of that twist, I feel like the story was trying to redeem dad for me, but it didn't work and I just felt like there was random dogblood thrown in my face (like siyi's brother).

I don't have much issue with Haikuo's mum in the sense, that couple's conflict made sense to me, although she *was* a super shitty mum even though she think otherwise, there's just far better ways to handle the situation. but I guess it's nice that it's the mum screwing up and not dad LOL. I feel like if siyi was around, the story would focus on her more? I think her disappearance was meant to make everyone grow up, but the story didn't really show *how* that happened. I would have been ok if she disappeared for like 2 or 3 years, but more than 4 without a beep is outrageous, at least have the courage to say happy new years and say you are safe = =

oh i forgot to mention, i was so stuck how very early 90s the drama's 2007 jiangsu was, i was super bothered for several episodes. I compared it with youth dramas, she and her girls and some actual 90s drama, and it feels far closer to the bond than mid-00s lol.

I got really frustrated watching this. I only felt the community bits with the mums and grandparents, I found the dad's really annoying and frustrating, the kids were impulsive and reckless. I was oddly forgiving of huazi, but not so much of wanghe and xingchi. With the timeskip, I felt like they skipped the pretty interesting bits of huazi's development, they sorta delved into xingchi's change, but it felt forced at times. I did like the business bits LOL, but I definitely expected more/better reason to return home? (like meet yourself or will love in spring) I'm def disappointed there wasn't more of siyi in second half, since she's my fav character of the younger gen.

I think they originally wanted to make him older? casting a boy that's taller than everyone else, and him being natural leader of the pact. but then they might have changed their mind while filming, thus the inconsistency.

fenghua graduating in 2008 is normal for her age. if wanghe was 89, it'd also be normal (kids have to be 7 when they start year 1, so if you are september baby like wanghe, you are generally oldest of your class. this is not strictly enforced till fairly recently so it varies) c-netizens assumed that he might have stayed behind a year due to him breaking his leg and such LOL.

oh yeah more tan jianci is good! his dramas aren't comedy though so I didn't rec those. thanks for giving tdoby a good try!!

ahh i think the humour is fairly clear by ep 4, maybe it's just not for you? it's mostly ep 1 that people don't really like I think. I find the romance pretty heartwarming, shame. Hope Les Belle will work for you if you get around to it!

hi i'm super late, but basically she's just using the boy as a negotiation tool. the ancestral plot of land are being bought by government or companies for development projects, they get lump sum of money out of it (and sometimes a house too, depends on the regional rules/time period). dad basically said he'd give up the money, and grandma and aunt can have all of it.

generally speaking, traditionally, only sons own parts of the land. some parts will compensate based on how many people are on your hukou (household registration) so daughters might count too, but it's relatively rare i think?

she does want a boy on the family record, but clearly money was priority since she left happily after dad negotiated.

go further back for romcom? one of my fav romcom is the day of becoming you, not sure if that's your thing. Recent fav, I think Les Belle? Decent character devlopment, but dont' hope for much for romance, Later I laughed.

I'm on ep 21 so i haven't finished the drama but I think I like both? they have different focus for the main theme, I wrote about some of the differences in comment below, the leads' dynamic is pretty much the same though, just more push and pull I think. If they didn't cut out stuff, it might be more annoying for general audience, and the leads vanity are played up for laughs, which downplay the cringe I think.

I really loved Imperfect Victim, but it's very tough and kinda enraging to watch, and it shows lot of more angles than just survivor's, so you might feel there's whitewashing too (as it's clearly how some people think and try to shirk off responsibilities).

I liked her alright in Dream of Splendour, but the character was more typical and have some annoying moments, I was ambivalent towards the story as a whole. For Back for you, the story is almost episodic, so she's just a supporting character in one of the arcs (i'm half way through and haven't seen her yet I think?)

I've watched her in Symphony Romance, the remake of jdrama/anime/manga Nodame Cantabile. I think she was asked to do very over the top acting, and it's somewhat out of place in cdrama (as is her character in general, even though they toned it down already). The story is alright if classical music romcom sound ok to you, her character development comes fairly late in the drama though, due to following timeline of the original story + they added more scenes/char dev for other characters as it's kinda ensemble.

ah jiao is a girly sounding name, it can mean delicate and tender, which is opposite of how he is. chang yi's nickname ah man is more what he is like, fierce and reckless.

They changed the dynasty this is based on, the novel is based on jin, pre-sui dynasty, so it was before commoners could become gov officials. The big aristocratic families controlled the court, they stick around for generations, while emperors might come and go. The drama's costume is tang, but they sorta purposely left it vague, and downplayed the class difference.

The drama's focus is bit more on women becoming whoever they want (there is that in the novel too, but it's played up more in the drama) + everyone helping to defeat "final boss". The novel's sml is second bro I think, his scenes have been cut and downplayed significantly for the side couple + sml (which exists in novel but drama added more scenes for them)

the first ep is drama original, fan shows up 1/3 or 1/2 way through the book.

in the novel, she just wanted to get married, i guess in drama, they wanted to give her smdige more reason than wanting to escape from crazy guy.

oh i thought it was better than i imagined, it's light makeup and not super noticeable lipstick, maybe i have low expectations. I agree that crossdressing can be better, but they come about once a year if not two. i'm mostly glad they kept it cos crossdressing is important part of zhou yangling's characterisation, it's not just for romance.

matrilocal husband is drama original but it's explained fairly well early on in the drama, and as far as fl goes, her ways to secure a husband/get herself out of sticky situations are pretty smart and relatively realistic. As for the crossdressing, she has her reasons and ambitions, it's not just a gimmick.

I liked her alright in dream of splendour, her character wasn't great but she worked pretty well. She played a really flawed character in the modern drama Imperfect Victim and did a great job in it! (not a fun drama though)

the start of s1 is very much a manhua start problem, web manhua struggled to gain a footing when it starts, so it needed something super different to hook, and there's more problematic humour/plot points for the same reason (it's more apparently in donghua/manhua).

Baobao's flashback was when the story really sold itself to me for donghua too (it's end of s1 for donghua, the drama rearranged events a bit), before that I just liked the premise, but not really the story. Manhua fans are quick to admit the start is rough too, and lot of fans think biyou village is epitome of what the story is about.

in the plans, haven't been filmed yet. this season is just one arc, you can watch it and stop it here tbh, so I don't think you have to wait.

The drama is about multiple couples so they aren't side characters lol. I do think they intro'ed them bit too late though.

director li mo directed this drama and fake it, he also rides bike, so i'm pretty sure he just incorporated the bit. for this drama, racing is one of the things that can be considered attraction in macau, so it's why it's here.

knockout is propoganda probably cos the police won XD china not being the villain? propoganda. china having positive sides? propoganda.

anti-corruption dramas is literally a sub-genre, but they almost never get watched internationally and are waved off as propoganda.