Ye Li from The First Jasmine also cooks, but it's historical. Still, it should be noted we have 3 heroines in…
Now you've raised a tricky question: do historical dramas count or not? I'd say they have to. After all, the very commercial drama you mentioned is probably going to inspire quite a few clichés in future dramas. 😄
and if she knows how to apologize it would be legendary change in cdrama writing style 😅😂🙃 not just make…
She didn't apologize, but she expressed thanks!!!!!! and said "I love you"!!!!!—we're on the right track... The creators have surely read our previous comments on the other projects lol ... we're making slow progress.
Just that alone deserves 8 points. ! at long last, we finally have a female lead who can actually cook.
and also "Love Has Fireworks" that now makes "two". Two. Let me repeat: "two" drama heroines who can do more than make instant noodles and stare helplessly into a fridge. Future TV historians will surely mark this as a revolutionary era.
Episode 14 was a very strong start! I really love the emotions, and Yi Ran’s silent yet deeply emotional support. It also has to be said that the directors seem to love seeing him tortured and miserable in the series
Episode 12: The ending was particularly moving, thanks to Yi Ran and the beautiful soundtrack accompanying the scene. Y Ning's voice added a genuine emotional depth that elevated the moment. While the composition itself wasn't original, it was used effectively and perfectly.
Episode 13: A very dynamic episode, and at times even grandiose. The action sequences were ambitious, and several scenes were good. Unfortunately, the editing suffered from quite a few flaws, which undermined the overall flow and impact. My biggest issue, however, remains the Princess!! . Her character reaches its paroxysm here: she is seemingly capable of everything and excels at absolutely everything, to the point where it becomes difficult to believe. Her presence dominates so much of the episode that it distracts from other scenes that could have been fantastic on their own without her oresence. For example, her mother was far more convincing, and her scenes were among the highlights of the episode. The battle itself was beautifully staged and felt surprisingly credible. Sadly, the Princess's presence weakened much of that impact for me. I can easily accept her abilities as a strategist, but portraying her as an exceptional general and unstoppable warrior is a step too far. Watching her stride through a battlefield in a magnificent hanfu with long flowing sleeves, right in the middle of a massacre, requires a level of suspension of disbelief that my brain simply isn't ready to grant... even for Yi Ran! Haha.
Yun Rui: absolutely adorable!! As a solo actor, he's becoming more and more confident, and his screen presence has grown noticeably. Compared to where he was three years ago, the improvement is genuinely impressive. And let's be honest, he's getting more handsome by the day, lol.
The drama itself is enjoyable, although in my opinion it's a bit too stretched out. Not a whole lot happens, and despite its simplicity, it lacks the poetic quality that dramas like *Meet Yourself* had. The dialogues there were beautiful, and the characters were much more thoughtfully developed.
Here, everything remains rather superficial. Help 😆, but I find the mother character quite unlikeable. I can't tell whether it's the writing or the performance, but I constantly get the feeling that she herself doesn't know what she's supposed to do or how she's supposed to behave (and she's only a cameo 😆).
I feel the same way about the female lead. The transition between her "before" and "after" selves is not very convincing, and her personality before and after the change never feels fully developed.
That said, the young cast keeps the drama charming. Guan Xiaotong does a ok job in her role. Tian Yang is very charming too, but he's basically playing the exact same character he played in *When I Fly Towards You*. Overall, it feels like the director was trying to capture the vibe of that drama, except the problem is that *When I Fly Towards You* was already a very successful and well-rounded project on its own.
So... overall, it's a mixed bag ❤️💔 and I'm still watching. But honestly, I can't wait for these characters to finally be allowed to grow up. I've officially had an overdose of high-school romances. 😂
why does popularity ranking even matter lolthere is no need for an actor to be big to play a warrior, but the…
As for commercial success, I agree that business plays a crucial role. After all, we're talking about an industry—and that word itself implies commerce, investment, financial returns, and profitability. Studios and investors need returns on their investments if they want to fund future projects.
However, commercial success is not necessarily a measure of artistic quality. As Martin Scorsese has often pointed out, one of the major problems today is that investors are increasingly unwilling to take risks because so much money is at stake. As a result, they tend to favor safe, proven formulas rather than original ideas. This often leads to a flood of derivative content built around familiar clichés rather than genuine creative experimentation.
Scorsese also noted that, in the past, the industry operated differently. A studio might have one or two massive box-office successes that generated enough profit to cover the losses of several less successful films. That model gave filmmakers more freedom to experiment, take creative risks, and develop new artistic voices. In other words, commercial hits helped finance innovation rather than replace it.
why does popularity ranking even matter lolthere is no need for an actor to be big to play a warrior, but the…
I agree with you overall. I think it's perfectly possible to love a work while still recognizing and criticizing some of its flaws. Appreciating something doesn't mean believing it's perfect. After all, art isn't an exact science. It can't be reduced to formulas, checklists, or purely technical measurements. There's always a subjective element that makes the idea of a completely objective 10/10 difficult to defend.
A film can deserve a 10/10 not because it's flawless—because almost no film truly is—but because it resonates deeply with us. It can evoke emotions, memories, ideas, or connect with our personal experiences, cultural background, and sensitivity at a particular moment in our lives. Sometimes a work earns a perfect score because it teaches us something, changes our perspective, or simply stays with us long after it's over.
And conversely, afilm can be incredibly polished from a technical standpoint and still leave us emotionally untouched.... It may be brilliantly designed, expertly written, and exceptionally crafted, yet fail to create any meaningful connection. Technical excellence and emotional impact are not always the same thing.
That said, I think there's an important distinction to make between evaluating the quality of a work and evaluating what it means to us personally. Technical criteria can help us discuss a work in a more objective way, while emotional resonance is inevitably subjective.
In other words, a film might be an 8/10 if we're judging its filmmaking, writing, pacing, or execution, but still be a 10/10 for us personally because of the impact it had on us. Likewise, there are works I can recognize as masterpieces without necessarily loving them.
I think the value of art comes from both sides: what the work objectively achieves, and what it awakens in the person experiencing it. Neither perspective is wrong—they're just measuring different things.
Bravo, excellent comment! Yiran is one of the best young Chinese actors today. His performance is remarkably nuanced,…
In any case, he really carried the project on his shoulders, with harisma. Their chemistry was indeed sparkling and refreshing. Here, the chemistry is different—more nuanced and deeper.
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and also "Love Has Fireworks" that now makes "two". Two. Let me repeat: "two" drama heroines who can do more than make instant noodles and stare helplessly into a fridge. Future TV historians will surely mark this as a revolutionary era.
His best performance remains *12 Letters*, even though I really like him as a young, rather subtle actor in all dramas...
:((
and Yi Ran’s silent yet deeply emotional support.
It also has to be said that the directors seem to love seeing him tortured and miserable in the series
Episode 13: A very dynamic episode, and at times even grandiose. The action sequences were ambitious, and several scenes were good. Unfortunately, the editing suffered from quite a few flaws, which undermined the overall flow and impact.
My biggest issue, however, remains the Princess!! . Her character reaches its paroxysm here: she is seemingly capable of everything and excels at absolutely everything, to the point where it becomes difficult to believe. Her presence dominates so much of the episode that it distracts from other scenes that could have been fantastic on their own without her oresence. For example, her mother was far more convincing, and her scenes were among the highlights of the episode. The battle itself was beautifully staged and felt surprisingly credible.
Sadly, the Princess's presence weakened much of that impact for me. I can easily accept her abilities as a strategist, but portraying her as an exceptional general and unstoppable warrior is a step too far. Watching her stride through a battlefield in a magnificent hanfu with long flowing sleeves, right in the middle of a massacre, requires a level of suspension of disbelief that my brain simply isn't ready to grant... even for Yi Ran! Haha.
The drama itself is enjoyable, although in my opinion it's a bit too stretched out. Not a whole lot happens, and despite its simplicity, it lacks the poetic quality that dramas like *Meet Yourself* had. The dialogues there were beautiful, and the characters were much more thoughtfully developed.
Here, everything remains rather superficial. Help 😆, but I find the mother character quite unlikeable. I can't tell whether it's the writing or the performance, but I constantly get the feeling that she herself doesn't know what she's supposed to do or how she's supposed to behave (and she's only a cameo 😆).
I feel the same way about the female lead. The transition between her "before" and "after" selves is not very convincing, and her personality before and after the change never feels fully developed.
That said, the young cast keeps the drama charming. Guan Xiaotong does a ok job in her role. Tian Yang is very charming too, but he's basically playing the exact same character he played in *When I Fly Towards You*. Overall, it feels like the director was trying to capture the vibe of that drama, except the problem is that *When I Fly Towards You* was already a very successful and well-rounded project on its own.
So... overall, it's a mixed bag ❤️💔 and I'm still watching. But honestly, I can't wait for these characters to finally be allowed to grow up. I've officially had an overdose of high-school romances. 😂
However, commercial success is not necessarily a measure of artistic quality. As Martin Scorsese has often pointed out, one of the major problems today is that investors are increasingly unwilling to take risks because so much money is at stake. As a result, they tend to favor safe, proven formulas rather than original ideas. This often leads to a flood of derivative content built around familiar clichés rather than genuine creative experimentation.
Scorsese also noted that, in the past, the industry operated differently. A studio might have one or two massive box-office successes that generated enough profit to cover the losses of several less successful films. That model gave filmmakers more freedom to experiment, take creative risks, and develop new artistic voices. In other words, commercial hits helped finance innovation rather than replace it.
I think it's perfectly possible to love a work while still recognizing and criticizing some of its flaws.
Appreciating something doesn't mean believing it's perfect. After all, art isn't an exact science. It can't be reduced to formulas, checklists, or purely technical measurements. There's always a subjective element that makes the idea of a completely objective 10/10 difficult to defend.
A film can deserve a 10/10 not because it's flawless—because almost no film truly is—but because it resonates deeply with us. It can evoke emotions, memories, ideas, or connect with our personal experiences, cultural background, and sensitivity at a particular moment in our lives. Sometimes a work earns a perfect score because it teaches us something, changes our perspective, or simply stays with us long after it's over.
And conversely, afilm can be incredibly polished from a technical standpoint and still leave us emotionally untouched.... It may be brilliantly designed, expertly written, and exceptionally crafted, yet fail to create any meaningful connection. Technical excellence and emotional impact are not always the same thing.
That said, I think there's an important distinction to make between evaluating the quality of a work and evaluating what it means to us personally. Technical criteria can help us discuss a work in a more objective way, while emotional resonance is inevitably subjective.
In other words, a film might be an 8/10 if we're judging its filmmaking, writing, pacing, or execution, but still be a 10/10 for us personally because of the impact it had on us. Likewise, there are works I can recognize as masterpieces without necessarily loving them.
I think the value of art comes from both sides: what the work objectively achieves, and what it awakens in the person experiencing it. Neither perspective is wrong—they're just measuring different things.