Nepeta 22

Well, I did say that my last post was my final one to him, and I knew he would come back with another post, which would have gone on and on, so yes, on reading back, it does look like I'm talking against someone that is not likely to open their mind in anyway, but that's fine, he's entitled to his opinions.

I'll use this post to repeat the fact is history is written by the victors and that's normally universal, so what China's line is right now is not in anyway different to any other country.

This drama was for domestic consumption so the audience possibly want to see this. The audience are even more patriotic than the drama makers. This is something some international audience are trying to deny. They are as usual trying to take over the narrative as if their version of events are the correct one.

This over-bearing and entitled behaviour is classic propaganda from outside of China. They fail to even join up the dots that Google/Wikipedia etc are all connected to the media machine, which is why China has their independent media/searches that cuts away the skewed views on China. I absolutely don't blame, them.

The reason it is not working is the over-use of background music and in many cases laid over dialogue and you cannot feel anything with the dialogue. The tropey biting and pushing and tugging feels forced and only inserted because they can't find any other way to bring the relationship more intimate. It's never good when both look like they're just play acting for us and not within the drama and for their characters.

For me, the drama is very slow. You know what is happening, and you are waiting for it to happen, and it feels very dragged out.

The SFL's role is clearly just there to create forced tension and create a headache for her brother and his new love interest. There doesn't seem to be any twists and turns in the first 7 episodes, which is not a good sign.

This is the first time I have seen this actor and I feel his acting is way too theatrical with all that snarling Then at certain angles, it's like seeing a Chinese Michael Jackson. May it's just me.

But that's what makes this drama even more perfect. Ask yourself, why must this guy be less insufferable? The general feel of the drama is of poverty, luck and many ifs. Considering, we know nothing of his life the last 10 years, it would be quite predictable and boring if he had been exactly mild and understanding as his mother. He may have been spoilt, doted on and had a life away from poverty that may make him more self important and stand-offish. But, the small touches near the end was the makers of the drama showing us he made the biggest gesture of love for his mother. That message was more powerful than his general behaviour, in my opinion.

This is my first time watching Wang Ying Lu and Zhou Yi Ran, and I'm impressed too. I have been meaning to watch something with Wang Ying Lu, but none of her past works interested me. I'm so glad I chose this drama for her and Zeng He Hui Zi. I too hope some of them get recognised for some awards soon, they deserve it. No kisses or obvious intimate scenes, but as a viewer we really feel and are fully immersed in their situation. That's credit to the creators of this drama.

I agree, it's very addictive. Never a dull moment. That mother-in-law from hell is too memorable in a bad way! As someone else said here, it's a gem of a drama.

Well, I came here to see how Xia Meng is fairing in this drama. Ever since I saw here performance in Parallel World, I have been following her progress.

The drama has a slow start for me, but I will continue to see how it goes. These types of storylines get re-hashed a lot, but it's how they choose to edit, film and write the characters and of course the performance of mains and side characters that matters most. I'm hoping Chen He Yi's character is not going to turn into some snarling angry man that is pretty 2 dimensional. The background music is already 'guiding' us on how to think, but the question is, are viewers buying it or not.

😂

Well, this is the comments on the whole drama, good and bad 😋.

For me, the drama's story line has not kicked in much, so I am distracted with other things like hair and make up, excessive background music so loud, I ban barely hear some of the dialogue. Hopefully, the drama will pick up from episode 5.

The previous comments about biting was not really related to just Li Qin, and as you say, this has nothing to do with her performance. She is like a work horse. Give her a job, she gives the character 100% of her attention, even how contrived. Here, the character is just not as interesting as her character in Snowy Nights, Timeless Love. Fair enough you didn't like that drama, we will have to agree to disagree there.

But for me her stand out performance has to be in War of Faith.

Well, CZY has said in past interviews he wanted the make up artist here to make his eyebrows look more fierce and dominant! It looks like he got his wish, but judging from your opinion, not in the good way...

As for eye make up, I think this was done to make him look more masculine (ironically). Without it, he may look too boyish and unlike a commanding general type character. This is an issue with a fair few MLs that do idol style costume dramas. They end up with a lot of eye-shadow, more on the undersides of eyes than the lids. Here, they've gone for the extension at the ends of the eyes to try and create a phoenix style shape 😉.

But you know that in these dramas you always need contrast, so some characters are there to uplift the leads. Others are there for the leads to lift them up. The whole point is she either goes through the journey and learn or dies. We're just here to watch how that pans out. Yes, characters like this can be hard to watch. The drama will get extra points if she's not going to go through what I have listed. Since these storylines are very common in idol style dramas.

I don't think it's the make up here, it's the excessive smoothing filters they add on with specific lead characters.

Here, ML's upper lip is stiff and affecting his facial features when he needs to use his lips. I suspect that upper lip (it's taking over his face) has had temporary fillers which paralyse the skin around the area. If you watch properly, his upper lip does not move or flap much. I know some stars want to achieve duck-lips but if done wrong, you end up with the lip being on the protruding side.

I actually think her role in Snowy night Timeless Love is more commanding and better suited to her general demeanor. Here, it feels forced that she's doing all this biting stuff, flitting from deranged to helpful. Doesn't flow at all. In fact all the biting stuff feels forced and contrived when you look at the general storyline and the pacing/music. It doesn't fit.

It is available with kissasian if you can't see it through the normal routes. but I only recommend that if you have a pop-up blocker set up.

Well I'm on only episode 3 and cannot understand why there is so much music playing non-stop in the background. It's so loud, in some scenes I can barely hear any dialogue.

I also notice that everytime the camera is on ML, a wind machine is going on and it looks out of place in scenes when he's indoors where there is minimal wind to get those flyaway hairs to move. I get one or two scenes to indicate swashbuckling ML, but here, it's excessive and devalues his character. I'm thinking instead, does he need all the help he can get?

It doesn't work like that. She had a break-out role whether that is luck or not and the role suited her to the max. Guo Jing Ming has a knack of creating heat for new up-coming actors as seen with Tian Jia-Rui, Yan An & Cheng Lei. That role had opened doors for her. This is no different to other actors that may have been in the background and then thrust into the limelight like Gong Jun or others that suddenly got fame from a BL type role.

The rest is now to see how the public likes them (which seems to be going well so far) and whether they can gather more recognition for their acting.

This will be arguably her first main role if you discount Serendipity which showed her poor crying in the acting department. I have seen her in Romance In the Alley & Parallel World and she faded into the background in those roles. These new roles will hopefully see her grow more and branch out of her comfort zone of playing soft, quiet and meek characters. She has the package. it's whether her acting can be more varied. If so, she could have a good career.

I might be in the minority, but I loved the other 2 arcs too. It's true that each arc can almost be a stand alone drama in itself. I would try and see how you feel.

The first arc feels more moody and stylised which makes Cheng Lei smoulder in his role which is a bonus for Cheng Lei fans.

Second arc is more a mature relationship, but also very touching and emotional.

The third couple is more dramatic and like a soap opera. The FL is strong character and a bit insensitive. Brash if you want to be more direct and honest. ML is more meek and bookish. I liked the story but some didn't.

OK, maybe I have got too cynical over time.. I agree that some of these netizens and international fandom are going wild themselves. It's true that some of these elements are picked up on dramatic dramas!

But I find it interesting they don't make much noise when similar police statements are read out (almost every week) when they punish netizens that slander 'live' stars. The statement reads pretty much similar, only the subject is of live actors being talked about. A shame they can't see that it's just the same way of delivery and same way of naming and shaming.

Thanks for that. I missed that part of the conversation. It's good to know that part of the story is closed off. He was instrumental in the last arc in this drama. Plus, he saved her when she was much younger so it's nice to know he has been a silent protector in the background. It would be a shame if she was unable to see him again.