Charlie C

I'd much appreciate if they could give some explanations to how the heck they keep the bodies after days without decaying; how they exhume a skeleton after years and still find traces and evidences; how they could keep a body for tens or twenties of years looking mummified instead of decaying in an ice room; or how they could test if a dead person was poison by dropping blood on the bone; and how the damn-hell did was said bone able to absorb that droplet of blood???

Who consulted this show? =.= I need the author of the novel (series?) to share some of the some of the cool cases they found and based their writing on too...

Good shows also educate and resolve potential questions from viewers, which can turn into nitpicking if left unsatisfactorily solved.

The overpowered/OP characters, I sigh when I write this. But it's inevitable because it's a fantasy. However, I'll be rational with this too.

For ML, please, if you're about to complain, go watch some "Pursuit of Jade", "Love Beyond the Grave" or "Ashes to Crown". That's only in 2026. I don't look at them and think: For pretty's sake? Coolness? Over-the-top much... But I see actual efforts, pain and forces. I also remember highly skilled characters like Zhan Zhao and the likes from "Justice Bao".

For FL, I roll my eyes until I actually google, find information and remember "polymaths" exist. I find doctors and surgeons who were also artists, painters, sculptors too. Besides, this is not a story about someone of the ordinary. I can live with that. But I need to find real life examples who are female. Exhausted of the patriarchy havoc-wrecking for both women and men and all alike.

The supporting cast is a joy to watch with both fun and depth. I was over the moon seeing Bai Feng thinking: What do you mean A Bai from "How Dare You?!" is also A Bai (Feng) here. Not just a comedic relief, he also adds depth and drama. His chemistry with ML is also a treat. And in that same line, I found Yue Ning. I'll be on the look out for Shen Yu Jie and Cheng Hong Xin.

But, the guest cast is the one that impresses me the most. My highlight has to be Li Yu's convicted fortune teller in the Tian Dao Cult case, episode 25-29. He has so much freedom and fun with his creativity, I'm overjoyed whenever he graces the screen. He even matches with his junior lead actors. Just a wonderful actor.

I also like Zhou Yuan as the inn owner; Sun Xue Ning as the Qin maidservant (Yin Dao, what are you doing over here?); Mei Bao Lai as the trafficked concubine of FL's 3rd uncle (Wei Fei, what are your beautifulness doing here?); Otto Chan as the capital prefect; Liu Yi Hong as the 4th prince.

I especially like Yang Shi Ye as the 3rd prince. He immediately captures my interest the moment he appears on screen.

I notice Jerry Gong right away haha. Chen Tian Yu shows a lot of promises as 9th prince.

I find it amusing, and nice at the same time, how Dai Chung Rong now plays benevolent empress dowager roles (also in "Blossoms of Power") when she used to play probably one of the most hateful empress in "Princess Returning Pearl" haha.

Anyway, the casting was great.

This has one of the best-looking set designs I've seen. I gasp, replay and pause the scene where the Qin's third family's grandma and madam are introduced several times just to admire how they set up the interior and lightning. I chuckle to myself: Is this ancient China's neoclassical style? It's so well-made with so much helter-skelter and an appropriate scale. This is neoclassical when it's done right, not many tacky modern houses I've seen LOL.

Some of the set designs I've liked included ones from "A Splendid Match" and "Flourished Peony". These three shows have good set designs throughout their runs.

Even though, I didn't enjoy this series as much as (many of) the others, I must say Meng jie and Li Yun Rui has good chemistry and look (really) good together.

I'm sorry, I've been bombarded with all the Qixi materials on social media...

Thank you very much for translating it!

I didn't really watch (as in I watched a bit of) "Meteor Garden" because I couldn't stand the story. But I did read "Hana yori Dango". Thinking back, throughout all the dramas and angst, I still find it a good, memorable and outstanding (as in standing out from the rest) manga series. I liked how flawed the characters are, the tensions and certain progress.

In a way, I'm somehow contented with the opposing thoughts between the actor and the director(s). It's somewhat relatable, their age gaps of 8-12 years with their views being both different and critical. It also made me feel thankful towards Barbie Hsu for being open-minded and trying to make a character work, in her own way. May she rest in peace.

Still, I'm sure there were people who thought Shan Cai as a "green tea" back then too hahaha. It's just the series got a lot more popular and was a lot more endearing to most.

I do. I'm so guilty. After talking with you about it, I even thought of rewatching it (the main storyline and lead characters). I was almost a lost cause for "The Long Ballad" when suddenly... "The Odyssey" happened and (thankfully) completely occupied my interest for more than 2 weeks!

Yes, please, don't read the manhua, don't go down the rabbit hole. Because it's not even completed.

Oh, don't worry about FL dressing like a man. I hardly registered that in my system after watching the drama for (shamefully) 3 times. Mostly because of how unbelievably conventionally pretty Dilireba is.
I don't think "The Long Ballad" has the most outstanding or extravagant costumes in the land of Chinese films. (Right now, I can think of "Flourished Peonies", that Fan Bing Bing's Wu Ze Tian drama, "Curse of the Golden Flower" or "House of Flying Daggers".) But I think your preference for pretty clothes and things on female leads will definitely be met.
And angsty plot be popping...

"A Witch in Mongolia" is on my to-read list. I liked "The Apothecary Diaries" at first, but dropped it already because it got draggy...

I look forward to when you finish watching and share about "Legend of Xiao Chuo" and "Novoland Eagle Flag" :D

I also didn't like "Nirvana in Fire" lol. It got drawn out, too long. I stopped caring around 40-ish episode.

Watching all of Ja'mie in one go is hard core hahaha (I have to add that apostrophe imagining how Ja'mie would fuss about it otherwise. Am I too invested in this character LOL)

Can I come back after I finish it? I'm also around 10 episodes behind the finishing line. When I finish, I'll come back, re-read your review and maybe we can discuss a bit further?
Doesn't help that right now I'm... preoccupied with "The Odyssey" after watching it last week. And then, there's "Spider-man" coming out too ;_;

I was intrigued by the beginning but couldn't sustain my interest. It's a long drama. So, I dropped.

What do you like about this drama?

I agree with some of your points here.

But I see that you wrote this 9 days ago. Any changes occured? Given all the episodes are just out today. Or maybe you made edits to your review?

Why, how, that's so Aussie! I consider it to be one of the OGs, if not the OG. I think, Ja'mie can be problematic, but still funny, ridiculous and reflective of society.
I thought of mentioning it but went against my better judgement thinking you might not know haha.

When it comes to younger kids watching Australian mockumentary series, I highly enjoy "Little Lunch" and "Inbestigators". (Watched with my relatives' kids again. I recommended them because I wanted them to have good taste haha).

I finished "The Long Ballad" twice.
First watch, I skipped the hell out of it towards the end. Because I was getting impatient with the last part (around 2/3 or 3/4 of the series).
Second watch, I tried my best to stay until the very end. Just to finish it properly.
Third watch, I did after a long time after the first two watch because I missed the manhua. I completely disassociated the live-action from the source materials. I focused mainly on the lead couple, instead of getting more entertained by the second couple (it's distracting). After which, it still didn't sit well with me. So, I re-read the entire manhua series and lamented even more.

It's a love-hate relationship, really. It's funny how I complain about it but it still sucks me in. I think the chemistry is there. The political intrigue is there. Non-manhua readers and drama lovers might like it a whole lot.
The manhua is just superb. Another big reason why I love the manhua, not just the characterisation and development or political intrigue but also, it addresses and handles so well intricate and sensitive subjects of identity, nationality, political tools and agenda.

Oh, I saw "Otoyometagari" on your profile. I adore that manga also. I put it on hold for a couple of years now because of the slow release. People who like "Otoyometagari" also like and recommend "Chang Ge Xi", and vice versa. If you read comics, please check it out :D
I think you might have read or heard of "Emma"? Also from Kaoru Mori, the author of "Otoyometagari". Her art style is gorgeous and her story-telling is heart-achingly lush. I had a feeling it'd be of your taste!

I haven't seen "Legend of Xiao Chuo" or "Novoland Eagle Flag". Have you? I can only guess from the looks of these, they might not be similar.

Okay, I'm half-way into "The Double" now. I think, if you enjoyed "The Double", "The Long Ballad" might really interest you. I kept thinking: I need to watch "The Long Ballad" again while watching "The Double". I think these two are different. But maybe, even though "The Long Ballad" was getting on my nerves and making me cringe, "The Double" kinda doubles (or tripples) that hahahahaha. Wang Xing Yue and Wu Lei have this weirdly similar vibes too, imo.

Again, please take some of my comments on "The Long Ballad" for a grain of salt because I'm very much influenced by the manhua. I'm just being honest. Try it for yourself. Don't miss out a potentially good series for you. And if after you watch it and some of it aren't to your liking, please share with me. It'll be my absolute pleasure :D

Hahaha, your comparision is both funny and imaginative! I'll try to give it another (quick and skip-forward and selective) go :D

I meant the "face culture" applied to all, not just the actors or the production but the series itself. They want to sell this product, right. So, better make it look good. Professionalism and industry relations can sometimes be part of it, imo. The nitpicking might be attributed to these things, but can be the mismatching of the participant and/or the production or something behind-the-scene, viewers like us don't know about, generally speaking. Interestingly, I read up on Li Meng (the princess in "The Double") and she was/has been labeled as difficult too. Some people are justified. But some can be victims.

I followed the link and got it google translated but didn't find Barbie Hsu complaining about Shan Cai in her 20s. But the translation wasn't applied to the pictures or screen shots. Maybe I missed that. Thank you for sharing!
"Hana Yori Dango" is full of dramas and problems since the get-go (OG manga). But it has always been popular. I think, if done well, it can served as good case study.

It also doesn't help with the tradwife... spiral. Even though, progress has been made, I think, deep down, there have always been underlying issues, predicaments, and things that will surface or dive in due time. Our ideologies and systems work, allow and thrive on those.

I'd never know about Barbie Hsu's complaint or Wu Jin Yan, if it weren't for you. Thank you for sharing. I'm impressed how aware they were and still they delivered their roles! (I'm not sure at which age did Barbie Hsu make that comment. But Wu Jin Yan in her 30s makes sense.)

I get the "face" concept across Asian cultures. (And who are we kidding, it's a world culture, it's everywhere if we look at it.) I still hope, it's less restrictive and agenda-driven. For example, US actors can talk about how a terrible character is terrible, even if it's the main character, don't idolise them, etc.

I also feel icky with how they must make "perfect", OP characters. It feels like the bare definition of "propaganda" (there are layers). Or how they must always win. As a kid, I liked that kind of simplistic story-telling. But as a grew older, I like my characters flawed, making mistakes, learning from them, grow and imperfect. It's rare in Cdramas.

Hey, we both didn't like/enjoy "The Rise of Phoenixes" (that much) but still thought highly of its production value :D

I watched "The Double", saw that biting scene and remembered your list!

Quite an interesting choice of... body part: the web area between the thumb and the index finger. It looked excruciatingly... imaginative for me. Since the FL was experiencing torturous level of hallucination and pain, I doubt that the bite was anything less than vicious for the ML. I suspect it would have been pretty bloody and mushy in real life.
Could have used, maybe, the arm with the sleeve, in my humble opinion.

"What We Do in the Shadows" IS super funny. The Kiwi humour and quirkiness are chef's kiss! It even got a TV series in the US, which I am meant to check out... some time... in the near future...