UnaSpenser

I've definitely heard his voice a few times. Its quite iconic. I can't think of where and don't have the inclination to go searching, but the very first line in this drama I was thrown into, "wait. why does this voice sound familiar?"

I'm not enough of a fan to remember what I've watched or be able to name actors and characters. I am a musician and very sensitive to sound. So, I know when a sound is familiar.

thank you

will you point me to a drama where he uses his own voice. I'd like to hear it, for reference. It might help me change what I hear in this dubbing.

That's too bad. But could they, then use a voice actor who hasn't been dubbed over so many lead characters before? It pulls me right out of the story.

I'm really enjoying the complexity of the story and how nuanced the characters are. Thoroughly thrilled at seeing Jeremy Tsui be villainous. He soooo good at it.

Is it just me, though? Ren Jia Lun is a good actor. Why did they dub his voice? and with that all too familiar voice actor? I find it jarring. The voice doesn't match him. I end up wanting him to speak less, because when he has bits where he has several lines, it sounds so fake. Its a shame to do that in such an otherwise high quality production.

Like catnip. 😹

The whole flower thing is confusing me. How are they the source of Zhang longevity, if you can't do anything with them? You can't pluck the flowers for use. Just by existing? Did something get lost in translation?

thank you

thank you

ok. I'm just starting this. In episode 1 and I'm already confused.

I thought Ziling was wandering by himself in the mountains and ended up in his family's shrine? Why are the flashback showing a group of people with him. Did I miss something?

thank you for recommending this. He's been though so much. Its lovely to see him emerging from a cocoon that he never wanted to get wrapped up in.

Moral of the story: beware men with an inferiority complex. They are the most deranged and dangerous.

You find it cute? I'm at episode 6 and don't think I can continue.

The way she treats him is not cute. Its toxic as hell. I stopped at the scene where she's framing him for her crime. She and the other woman collude to harass him, constantly. She never appreciates what he does for her. From claiming that he owes her something for taking the entry pass that she stole from a criminal, to being boundaryless and threatening to throw out his personal possessions if he doesn't do what she demands, to framing him for crimes. She's not at all appreciative that he is providing her a home, for free, when he has no reason to. She's constantly taking his money, that she has no right to. In framing him, she publicly accuses him of abusing her. She's totally accepting the other woman's sympathy about that. When she watches him get dragged off to prison for her crime, she turns and surreptitiously smiles at him. She's perfectly happy to see him persecuted.

What is cute about this?

Tan Jian Ci is a really gifted actor. But, I don't think I'll make it through this one.

I cannot stand the way they wrote the female characters and how mean they are to the person who is always the one helping them out. Why is it ok for them to treat someone the way they do? And why is presented as comedy, when it is not funny at all. It unwatchable.

I mean, nothing about it is believable. Either go with it, for whatever fun you can find or don't.

So much fun seeing him do comedy and be a relaxed character in My Sweet Mobster. What a lovely surprise.

Hi there! So nice to see you, too!

I just never could grasp onto any of them, because their goals were so despicable. Chenrong deserved better. (I felt it even more so after knowing what the previous novel was about.)

Xiang Liu deserved so much more. I wish they'd only had him lose one life, let him escape to somewhere far away and follow his other 8 lives as he struggles to heal from all that trauma, find some peace and self-worth, and even some joy in the world.

That would be 8 novels I would totally read, if the author knew how to navigate a healing path, rather than a war path.

I agree. Though, I also think that he may have felt that there was no place for him in the world. That he had such a tormented life, in a world that demonized him, that he may have just felt done.

Still, I'd like to see a story, where he just lost one life here and we see where he goes from there. With 8 more lives, he could go through a lot of struggles finding any amount of peace, joy, or contentment in the world. A long story of the bumpy road toward healing from all that trauma.

This story is so painful to watch. Well executed on so many levels.

That said, one of the core pieces of the story, driving so much of the plot is about Xiyan conquering other states. Can you say, "imperialism"?

It was impossible for me to empathize or cheer for that. So what if it was his grandfather's wish? Leave people in peace.

This political ambition was behind all the tragedy in the story and, not once does anyone say, "hey, we all would have suffered less if we'd not been at war. Let's stop doing that!"

We're supposed to empathize with Cang Xuan, but he's an imperialist. I know this idea of "uniting the lands" is a Chinese notion that we're supposed to see as noble, but all I see is the willingness to slaughter people so you can rule over them.

Chenrong didn't deserve to be annihilated. Xiyan bascially committed genocide. Why would I want to see that?

Though Xiang Liu is not a member of the Chenrong clans, his fate ends up representing the fate of Chenrong: forced to become fierce and die at the hands of the ones who tormented him into that, just because they wanted to rule over him.

So, while watching, I couldn't really care too much about many of the characters. Sure, I could empathize with that Jing was put through. I could empathize with the losses that Xiao Yao and Cang Xuan faced as children. Xiao Yao running off on her own and then getting into serious trouble, made that aspect of her life experience complex.

But, once they're all in their powerful/wealthy family situations and fighting for rule of all the land, I just didn't care. They had so much privilege. (At least Jing and Xiao Yao just wanted to get away from all that.)

In the end, the only one my heart was breaking for was Xiang Liu. He had the most cruel and undeserved fate. I wish the story had been about his life, the political action from his point of view, and an ending where he was allowed to finally go wander, without fear of being persecuted, and live in peace.

Season 2!

But, I'm not sure I can handle the tragedy.