gmat6594

Julia Xiang (Hanzi) was very good in a cute romcom. Love in Time. I would check that out. It's a remake of the grittier Taiwanese drama Meet Me @ 10:06 (2018)

Sorry, wrong drama? This is Till the End of the Moon (2023)

Almost always, the proximity of the female and male leads in the cast & crew section shows who the main couple will be and who who will be an also ran. Have you reached ep. 17 and 18? The paths for Qi Menglin and Han Muzhi, in retrospect become clearer. Luo Shu becomes haunted by the certainty in that all happiness no matter how great is ephemeral. Too many betrayals in her life. So the road for Menglin is still rocky until maybe ep. 31. She remains friends Han and he still cares deeply for her as we see ep. 35.

Thank you. I've finished the Google translation of the Hanzi lyrics for Bright Moon and Please Moonlight Take Her Home and the youtube eng sub lyrics for Bright Moon, but it's stalled there for now. Should get off my duff and finish it up before I procrastinate it to heck. I should look at the English subs from the drama as most viewers should see the lyrics that way. Thank you for the tip. Translations can vary for the same song so it is interesting to read them. Thank you.

If you look at the profile for He Peng, who played Han Muzhi, this was probably intended to be his breakout role as this was his first 2ML role and in his succeeding dramas, he is listed as the main role. So he had a better character and he had screen time until the last episode. By contrast, Zai Zilu has a number of main role dramas and also has more in the future. So I guess that is why his character is written to be grating and his romance under played. I think that Ryan Ren's annoying character Li Ying Liang in Snowfall with his large screen time may be similar to this.

In episode 1 the wooden replica of the biplane is supposed to be the Curtiss Hawk IiI. 102 examples were constructed in China by the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation, set up by Curtiss Wright and used by the Republic of China Air Force.

And where is the source of the flash bulb? Wondering minds can't help but think. lol

I've since been transcribing the lyrics. Using Google translate for the Chinese lyrics and transcribing the youtube OSTs with English subs. Will post in your Link to full OSTs.

Very good points.
I think at the end, Liu Wan remained uncertain about where she was in Han's heart. So even if he came looking for her, was it a sense of obligation or from his heart. We see for most of the drama his inability to place her above Luo Shu. Why show him rushing to break open the door to save Luo Shu from the burning Mengke House? Why not have him protesting when Liu Wan confronted her Father in court? Or a conversation where she comforts Han while he was in prison awaiting his trial. He was certainly aware of what would happen to her if either Gov Liu was brought down or if she testified against her Father. It is telling that the writers left Menglin out of the trial. We see Han and Luo Shu and then Liu Wan. The two women were fighting the man? the men that they love?
I think that Liu Wan and Magistrate Han's open ending was karma for her orchestrating Luo Shu's humiliation in the yamen's inner courtyard and Han's inability to step up to save her.
And I think that helping/impressing Luo Shu by embezzling and delivering the grain was a bit more important in his heart than helping the starving people of Linfen.

Thank you.

HE. Everyone got their moments at the end. But... Wish the CP's romance could have gotten a bit more storytime. Ethan's Mom and her friends could have been squeezed in last episode and the Cafe owner could have really met someone. I guess the sister take over paying for the condo while Song-yi moves in with Heon-yu. Nice watch. The intro song is so cute. Should the story have been more fast paced to match its beat?

More bluster than childish. Sheltered rather than spoiled. Not a diamond in the rough, but a warm sun hidden behind the clouds. Luo Shu could flourish as her heart had a home. By comparison Han is like the moon. Reflects our desires, but a flower does not blossom under the moonlight.

Royal Rumor is pretty good, but the playing field between the FL and ML is less even. But she is very scheming and is a warrior's daughter. The old soldier that protects the FL is very endearing. Uncanny Destiny is also good. The FL is a born leader. The men around her are funny and endearing.

Good points. Yet she was instrumental in getting her Father to admit his guilt. Just like Menglin embezzled the grain with good intentions. I think that the writers side lined both but the purpose it not made clear. Luo Shu moves up in life on her own merits so Menglin is must be side lined? Magistrate Han moves up on his own merits without a patron. At the cost of both loves? Does punishment for crimes need to be made clear? Does it fall in line with current moral standards or censor standards? Was the ending for the censors, the audience or the scriptwriter and director's whim?

I hope that people read your comments are are moved to watch or finish watching this drama. Thank you.
I think that Qin Yi prevented the team that burned Luo Shu's house from killing her along with her parents was what he meant by saving her.
The elder Qin used Qin Yi's plan to silence the father as a means to curry the favor of Gov Qi. So Gov Qi was complicit in her parent's death. That's why Qi Yanjin tells Menglin in ep. 25 "That she is destined not to be with us." Some salami slicing going on here.

Have you seen the beginning of ep. 18? He acted when Han dared not. That is when Menglin in increments stretched over until ep. 32 prompted Luo Shu's admission that she gave her heart to him. He is really more blustery than childish. And in ep. 23 watch how the Qi Mansion maids treat him. As a beloved younger brother. Finally in ep. 33, trying to escape Qin's rogues, Lian Shu leads the three to his late parent's abandoned house. He had been sold to the Qi Mansion as his family didn't have enough to eat. Menglin looks at how poor their house was and thanks Lian for sticking with him. Then he says in the next life, you be the master and I'll be the servant. Luo Shu smiled at that. Not so much growth as hidden reserves of courage and empathy emerges when appropriate. I often come back to re-watch the scenes with Luo Shu and Qi Menglin as they are often touching. I don't rewatch the parts with other characters.

Considering that the lead screenwriter and the 10 other screenwriters were women, it seems strange that Qi Menglin wasn't written to be more endearing to watchers. Unless you liked his character, viewers who shipped Han and skipped Menglin's scenes missed much. He deserved her love. From ep. 1, her playing style and choice of which song to play attracted his attention. Not that she was a beauty nor that it was an auction to win the right to deflower her. Her playing the pipa was bold and heroic. Not coy nor gentle. He wonders who would deserve such beauty. Whereas Luo Shu's attraction to Han was more obvious, her appreciation of Menglin was more subtle and in increments or in fits. When he asks her to guide him in Linfen and has her carry all of the goods, she turns the table by having him donate it to the poor. But he isn't angry and then the boy cries and says that he hasn't eaten. When he offers his snacks, the camera switches to Luo Shu looking at him. It isn't the only time that they show her thoughtful look after he has done something good or unexpected. The childish outside hold a kind and giving heart.
Luo Shu's journey to reach her goal in life should have been given a more prominent part of the story. The trial of Gov. Liu and the showdown with Qin Yi should have ended a couple of episodes earlier. We should have seen Luo Shu establishing herself as a businesswoman .
Also unfortunately the writers and the director seems to have wanted to make the contrast between Magistrate Han and Qi Menglin as opposite as possible. It wasn't helped that Menglin was the butt of jokes by his servant and his wealth and class caused friction and resentment from Luo Shu.
MDL shows only one screenwriter, but if you look at the baidu page, it lists the other 10 screenwriters.
Luo Shu could not be happy with Menglin as long as his Family was rich and powerful. And his Father had Qin Yi burn her house and kill her parents. Menglin had to lose his wealth and the Father punished. At the end he is happy to wait for her at home. When he went to help his Father at the risk of his life, he asked Han to take care of Luo Shu as he knew Han loved her and was worthy of her. The two prison scenes in ep. 32 and 36 are very touching. He is not willing to have her face death by his side and he doesn't want her to become the widow of an executed criminal. Whew Wrote too much Sorry.

Agree. Watched it many times. A Familiar Stranger might be the best of the dramas that I mentioned, but Deng Kai isn't in it and the ML starts cold but is not toxic, It's a great love story.

Butterflied Lover is the better of the two but he is the second lead but with his own romance. Some thought his ship was more interesting than the CP. Not me, though. The director and screenwriter have done some well regarded mini dramas. A Familiar Stranger, Provoke and The Killer is Also Romantic are good. the director moved up and recently did Blossom. Governor’s Secret Love has him as the ML. The director or screenwriter needed to tighten up the story.

Governor’s Secret Love if you haven’t seen it might do. If you haven’t seen it already. Butterflied Lover is another.

Why not to the end?
Only peeked at the end.
The second ending was such a downer that I will get to it when it won't feel so painful.
He comes across as becoming a pawn once he become the Emperor. That's why two two old men gleefully gave a hand bump. None of his friends stayed with him and the FL chose to travel with her Father. None showed any remorse. It is one thing to be a lonely ruthless Emperor but it is another to be kept in a gilded cage.