Nepeta 22

Thanks for letting me know. I have not watched it, so I was only repeating what someone I know once told me about NGCS. Let's hope this drama can be similar to that one. So far I'm enjoying it.

Glad someone sort of agrees. I had watched her in other dramas, and never thought so, but in this drama, she suddenly reminds me of an older version of Song Zuer.

Interestingly, in China, they call her little Cecilia Cheung, so they think she resembles another older Hong Kong actress!

I felt the same as you in the beginning. I also thought it was more lighter (based on the posters) and admit that I had this drama on watch from the day it was listed because I wanted to watch Wang Ying Lu & Zheng He Hui Zi's work. Although it was pretty violent and stressy, I grew to like it for what it was.

I think it may be because I watch a lot of similar dramas, so I didn't feel uncomfortable. It is true, the letters do not matter in the end, but it's there to keep us hanging and longing/hoping. This type of engagement is probably the drama's selling point from my point of view. Otherwise, we'd be watching a drama of poverty and no hope.

The fantasy element offered a life-line, if not the reality would be even more devastating. So this drama sort of in a way is the second chance fantasy. The pay-off is lowkey and to some, a bit disappointing. But I think this is in respect of the tone of the drama and the subjects it touches on. To suddenly make everything so overly happy and perfect would be out of place with the whole drama. I guess, we all want different things from dramas.

OK thanks for clearing that up. I'm enjoying it so far. FL reminds me of an older version of Song Zuer.

Do you mean NGCS or this drama. If it's this drama, I am enjoying it so far.

Yes, someone else told me the story looks a lot like Nothing Gold Can Stay which I haven't seen but know roughly what the story is about. That's not good because it's a really outdated type of storyline where we have a Mary Sue doing the rounds whilst men just flock to her and help her out because they love her.

I was told NGCS was based loosely on a real story, but the drama made it seem like the woman couldn't have made it without men simply falling in love with her and opening up avenues for her rather than see her get the merit herself independent of men having a soft spot for her and then allowing her to gain in business. It just sends a basic message of someone getting pretty privileges and over shadows the FL's talents.

I suggest you put it in a spoiler🤣!

I'm behind so don't know too much, but can see the inkling of what you wrote. I cannot stand those dated storylines where leads just have everyone endlessly dropping at their feet. So unrealistic and cringey.

But it is addictive to watch because of her smart aleck type character. I agree, it's not Tony Yang's finest hour in the acting department. The costumes in the first half was beautiful, and I also like the hairstyles of the ladies in that era. Not when they went to Shanghai though.

Yes the story was strong enough without the time line stuff. I guess the letterbox story is the "love" element making it look more like a sweet romance. I must admit, when I saw the original posters, I was not expecting it to be this gritty and violent. But, I'm happy to have watched it. It's exceeded my expectations as a drama.

Of course there are gay people in China. Have you even been on Weibo or Chinese social media? There are numerous openly gay people posting daily? There is a difference between intolerance and illegal.

I do agree that that Yu Meng Long's case shouldn't be closed that soon, but we live in an age of AI, doxxing and altering imaging. Anything seen now, we should keep an open mind.

I don't think it's about how many other actresses that could do the role and I agree on that. It's pretty obvious from the start they wanted someone young. Plus An Mi is hot property, if not this drama, it will be another one pretty much now.

The industry had been waiting for her for at least 2 years. Don't forget, Guo Jing Ming made it acceptable by casting her with an adult love interest when she was not even 16 years old. In the past, some of the top actresses started very young too. In China they don't see this as too much of an issue, whilst age gap, in particular male actors too old is more their bug-bear.

These so-called ancient puppet stories are often about very young people and some book fans do take it literal and more often than not, older actors and actresses tend to play these parts and you get more up in arms about actors/actresses past 30 years old than someone like An Mi taking on these roles. They will see her as a perfect age to play the roles. Neo Hou also has a very youthful look so it's not about age but more about visual pairing.

Finally, in China, their dramas appeal more for their domestic audience and the international side is very small for them to re-consider changes.

Of course the letters are there to keep the interest going. There are other methods to these types of mystery dramas. In this drama, it's through this mysterious letter box and the letters. It's a form of bread crumbing to keep you hooked. Each time releasing just the right amount to keep you guessing/hoping. The letters could be bland or hold very little or enough info inside them, but I guess this is also part of the mystery for us as well as a viewer.

It's nothing to do with the actors. It's just a section of fandom "using" the actors as an excuse to project their inner insecurities. Very often you will see these so-called fans bossing their stars around, and even cursing them like some tiger mum.

They ride off their chosen star's success and sometimes (not all) partake in dubious activities to sabotage those they deem to threaten their chosen star which is really denting their own personal ego and not the star's ego.

In some cases, they ironically ruin the star's image without even realising because they're so consumed with rage and fear. In other words, they see the star as their project.

It is showing as airing on my watch list. I think it stays like this (N/A) until enough rating has happened. I reckon no ratings is due to the very low viewers to this drama. I believe they need a percentage of viewers to rate per episode to get a decent average to work on. I also think many are not rating until the drama has ended. Rating per episode tends to be more popular with idol-style dramas.

I think there is not enough people watching the drama to make the ratings come up. I'm assuming there needs to be a level to pass for averages. Plus many might not be rating until the end.

Yes, Originally I disagreed with your comment on propaganda on this drama because I don't see it that way. The communists worked on the hearts and minds of the rural areas, making changes to land reform. This portrayal looks authentic and realistic. Sorry if you decide otherwise. We agree to disagree.

They couldn't have won without the support of the common people. That does not mean they cannot make mistakes later. My post is to state that people like you try to peg China's communism into one era when we don't do that with other countries. A portion may have left then but today those that leave China are for studying but they are not claiming asylum or classed as economic migration. In ratio to China's population, statistic wise, no one would claim Chinese people are fleeing China's communism. BTW, Russia has not been communists for a long time.

Also, your term "leftist" shows your simplistic view of categorising individuals into neat boxes when life is just not like that. I didn't know LGBT is leftish. Basing it on China's form of communism, wouldn't their stance be now classed as right wing? Anyway, I'll leave it here like this. We will have to disagree with each other.

I don't know where we are going with this. It does look like you have not seen CPC portrayal in A Love Never Lost, the recent Footprint of Change or Three-Body to name a few. Even China's most popular drama The Knock Out or The Long Night. There are numerous dramas showing the uglier side of their party.

But, as I said earlier, the period between 1960 to 1980s is the least shown because it is a very difficult subject to make into a drama. If you've watched Romance In the Alley, I would say it's a light brush into how bleak it was for those that had to ration and where it was rife where dubious people dobbed on others just for personal grudges.

You are honing on that era and there seems to be only specific to China that their whole existence is pegged to those 3 decades. We don't do that with other countries. It's almost like some cannot accept that parties move with the times and change with the times. China is a perfect example of learning from past mistakes. Unlike many other countries from what I am witnessing right now.

The "propaganda" you talked about in the drama is not unrealistic though. They had a civil war and both sides at the time were vying for others' hearts and minds. In the cities, KMT had the strong hold. It is not secret that the communists won through the farmers and smaller villages in rural areas. In War of Faith, it's probably closest to how it would have been living during that time. Communists did not win from thin air, they needed volunteers and you need to sell it to them first. This drama showed that.

Douban rating of 7.1 from around 5K of raters.

More tired than triggered. I feel compelled to start a conversation every time I see the word used. Especially since I have watched this drama and cannot see any of it at all. But, some seem to see it even though it could just be national pride and something that cannot be ignored. It's almost as if some wished no drama mentions the communist party or allow it show how it rose.

That's a personal bias, not a drama with 'propaganda' as you say. It would be better to just say, it's so rose tinted and you don't buy how nice these so-called soldiers marched in and helped others. But remember, this is adapted from a novel. It's that person's vision. You can say only nice things get published. But then again, censorship also happens in other countries. Love to see how many dramas and films and books will make a living out of making Hitler seem like he's the right side of history.

Some posters should ask themselves why the word propaganda is always assigned to China. That in itself is interesting. For instance we seldom see this for any other country, but only exclusive to China. That is not an accident. That ironically is the product of prolonged subtle propaganda via mainstream media and film.

No one sits there stating Rambo, Black Hawk Down or Avatar is brainwashing propaganda. No one says 12 Years a Slave is the classic white knight trying to paint over past embarrassing history. Just saying...

As I mentioned in my last post, history is told by the victors. Whether it was portrayed accurately or realistically that will always be contested and argued for ever. Even today, we see this happening the world over.

My point is, some of the very recent history is still very raw for some in China. Whether that is collective trauma or how some are not ready to tell that story, I don't know how this relates to this village drama. In fact I can't really see what is termed propaganda. But I do see a bit of national pride. If you want to see a more realistic portrayal of CPC, look at 3-Body or the recently aired Footprint of Change. This drama is more about the old system before the land reforms.

It's not as if communism didn't exist. It is also not secret they made inroads in its early days through the peasant class that made up over 90% of the population at the time. In fact, this drama upheld a lot of the old feudal systems and even rose tinted some. The original novel is not even close to what's been adapted. But you are finding more interest in fringe parts of this drama, tells me some are coming here with their own biases. Just my observation.

I don't understand why 'propaganda' keeps getting mentioned. Maybe through the eyes of an international viewer, but this is made for domestic consumption. National pride is still high because new China is still young. Also, history is always written through the victor. This is not specific to just China.

Sometimes, we should try to view another country's drama through their lens rather than our own form of internalized propagandised mind.