UnaSpenser

I was actually enjoying the low-key nature of it. And that it wasn't so melodramatic. It definitely builds to more action and I'm enjoying that as, well.

Is there a video game? It totally feels like it could be to that format and be fun.

only up to ep 4, but really enjoying the tone and production quality of this.

Up to 17, now. I don't know. A lot of this is falling flat for me. So much is formulaic. And then, this king just blithely ordering one of sons to cut out the heart of his other son and them both acting as if this is totally normal. I think I'll come back to this later.

agreed. it's about the whole package. if, in every other way, she felt like the "fierce general" they're telling us she is, the voice might not bother me as much, in terms of portrayal. (It would still be hard on my ears.) I also like her as an actress and simply feel this isn't a good fit.

Agreed about that ML. (Yes, I meant Fighting For Love) And they didn't end up together, which felt like the right ending.

Shuang can be feminine and still feel like she's also an active general fighting on the front lines. They want her to be in fight scenes, supposedly so fierce that she can fight off an entire battalion by herself, but she doesn't have the presence of a fighter, at all. What would have been great was if she had the ability to fight and look truly fierce (as she calls herself) and then for us to see an almost transformation as she softens into her more vulnerable feminine self when she's around the ML and feels safe enough to do so. We don't really see a juxtaposition, because she's not able to pull off the "fierce fighter" feeling.

It's too bad. I like this actress. I just think this role is not a great fit. (I wonder if they even gave her any martial arts training so that she would know what it feels like to execute a powerful punch or kick of sword movement.)

Anyway, the story is interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing how they resolve what will be the conflict of the leads being from enemy camps. And what her paranoid emperor and his malevolent son will do as this plays out.

It's just a nitpick about her voice, due my disability and that I'm a vocalist, so I'm more tuned into voices than some might be.

I think that someone who has been fighting all their life on the battlefield would speak with a lot of strength with the air being pushed from their gut and not speaking with a head voice. As a vocalist, I can do both and I can tell when someone is using a chest voice vs a head voice. For some reason, in the Chinese drama industry, they prefer their actresses to use head voices. They seem to think it's a requirement of being feminine. Those head voices are often consciously done and are not what they naturally would sound like as adults. Esther Yu is a good example. It was so awesome to hear a more natural voice from her in Journey To Love. She then publicly explained that directors are requiring her to use a higher pitched voice in most dramas. I don't know many adult women in real life who speak with the high-pitched voices we keep hearing in these dramas. They are definitely affected.

Anyone who has been very athletic with their body is likely to have activated their chest voice, as their abdominal muscles are more engaged. So, yes, I would expect a military person to have that voice. It doesn't have to be gruff. I'm not sure where you got that from. And it doesn't have to sound as deep as a man. But, it would be a stronger, richer sound that what we're hearing.

While generals are chosen for their intelligence, in this drama, she's also portrayed as someone who fights on the front lines. So, she should be physically strong as well as intelligent. Her fight scenes are very unconvincing. She doesn't know how to conjure up the energy to make it look real. There is one scene where she's supposedly pushing back multiple men as they attack her. She displays absolutely no signs of physical efforts and looks completely fragile.

I like her as an actress. Have enjoyed her in other things. This was not a good match for her. I'm trying to ignore that and just enjoy the story.

I'm familiar with her and have liked her in other things. Her voice is hard on my ears each time. This time, I think it's exasperated by my sense that she doesn't at all feel like the military leader she's portraying. So, along with the sound is the dissonance with the character.

oh. I missed that. thanks.

I want to love this and am interested in seeing where the overall story goes. But, I the line delivery of the FL is hard on my ears. There is an older Korean actor who has a similar style of line delivery, like a gatling gun. Just firing out words rat-a-tat-tat-tat in a rapid fire. Because I have something called hyperacusis, it literally hurts to listen to it. It's exhausting. I may, for the first time, switch the spoken word to a language other than Mandarin, just so I don't have to hear it.

I gather that they are trying to make her sound commanding. But, this isn't the way. They could have worked on having her speak more from her gut than her head. It would naturally lower the tone and give her voice more strength.

I do wish that Chinese drama directors/producers/whomever makes these choices would consider whether the actresses they are choosing can actually pull off a feeling a being a "fierce general." When they have the physique of a pipe cleaner and a high-pitched voice, there is no way that they can seem like someone who would overpower people built like tanks on a battlefield.

There are definitely women who can pull it off. Sandra Ma did it pretty well. In Fight For Love, the actress did a good job of having a posture and walk that felt commanding, even though she was still petite compared to the men. Any woman who has been training a fighting all her life would be quite muscular and would carry herself differently than women who are not. It is hard to hold onto willing suspension of disbelief when the actress doesn't feel like a fighter at all.

Anyway..... like the story. Wish they had pushed for a better portrayal of a female battle-hardened soldier.

I think because he's trying to foster good will between the two realms and he knows that Feng Qi was being controlled by someone else and isn't fully responsible.

what I like about Sima Jiao is that he learns from his mistakes. When he forces her to kill and sees her reaction, he comes to understand that forcing someone is bad for their psyche.

So far, with Jin An, I'm seeing that he is compelled to loyalty because of the transformation he was forced into. (I'm only at ep 6.) He's lovely in his appreciation of her, but its a whole different trajectory. He had a background as a beloved general and bonds with his army mates. Sima Jiao started out as someone who has had no real people contact or bonding for 500 years and had to learn to connect and care. So, with him, we get to see a lot of growth.

I'm enjoying it so far. Though, I wish that they'd quit casting actresses who have the body type of a pipe cleaner as "fierce" generals.

There is no way that that person is overpowering people the size of tanks on the battlefield. And they could, at least, have the actress (or voice actress) learn how to have a commanding voice.

Some of it is kind of silly - like the brother who grew up in a military family but still acts like some posh brat who has zero understanding of military decorum.

The main story, though, is entertaining. ML is a prince from the "enemy" and has been turned into something, causing a loss of memory. Seeing how this plays out: is it a "enemies become allies in face of a greater enemy" story, or a "her paranoid king can't see the real enemy" kind of story?

Yeah. I never understand these character tropes where someone saving them means there is a romantic expectation. If this were the case, there would be no EMTs., lol.

It's mind-numbingly stupid and really downgrades the storytelling.

Sima Jiao is maybe the most green flag male character ever.

oh sheesh. that's so boring. I guess we could see that coming, but it seems anticlimactic.

Help! I think I must be completely forgetting part of the story. Just finished ep 33 and I can't figure out what is left to fill 3 episodes with?

she's not a little girl. she's a grown woman.

Lin Shuang He?

Seeing the water poisoning of the remnants and then figuring that it could happen again is not exactly genius level work. The average person would think, "Oh, that villain who uses that poison might try to spread it through water."

It's a big stretch to call this an example of the villain just being MORE genius than the protagonists.