sakie

Something about Wang Deng Cheng reminds me of Gollum. Is it his hunching posture? His sometimes buggy eyes? His expressions? A combination of all those?! I don’t know, but the vibes scream Gollum.

Ohhh, interesting point, and I totally see the potential there. That would be a big twist and I love having another bad-a$$ female playing a strong role, villain or not.

Di Renjie is probably ill or still demoted in the country at this point of Empress Wu’s life. I estimate Luoyang’s setting is circa 695AD-700AD. If it’s beyond 700AD, then Di would have been below ground already. :)

I also agree that the magic of the series is more character driven than plot driven. At least for me, I’m able to remain patient with the show because our main leads are all multilayered, magnetic, smart, and just. Had the characters not been this colorful and versatile, the convoluted plot would fall flat instead.

Just finished viewing episodes 13 & 14.

While we have closures to Wang Deng Cheng and Song Liang, we’re nowhere close to finding out who is the ultimate mastermind. If anything, two new and important characters are introduced, Liu Shi (Liu Ran’s dad) and Wu Shenxing (the former Minister of War and unofficial Mr. Chu’s replacer). Additionally, more mysteries are circling around Huan’er (the Empress’s close aide) and Wu You Jue (YueHua’s brother). The premise now causes viewers to pretty much label everyone other than the main leads as prime suspects. It’s convoluted and I’m sure the writer/director intentionally do this so the viewers have a hard time pin-pointing the mastermind. So thus, the plot thickens and no one is spared.

I have my top 2 primary candidates as the mastermind. Who is yours?

Luoyang is slated for 39 episodes, and 35% has aired. I’m wondering whether it will take the remaining 65% to solve ONE problem, finding out who the mastermind is and wiping out the Autumn Fall Divine; or, is the drama designed to have multiple stories and sub-arcs?

The hook is still here. I’m still chasing the bait. Can Thursday come faster, please?

Thanks for the detailed explanation. It makes sense that the feature wouldn’t work as well with the Romance language alphabets. I remember the opacity setting. Surprised that majority of cnetizens prefer to have this on when watching shows.

Only less than 12 hours 'til new episodes are released! So excited because it's the only drama I'm chasing now. So happy to have something to look forward to the next few days!!!

What new surprises await us? I only know from a trailer that Liu Ran ran away, so, yes, I'm rooting for Er Lang to go find her and bring her home. =)

Since a few bad seeds are dead/written off, we can almost bet that new characters will be introduced this week. Good or bad, we will find out.

Oh yes, I’ve seen the text on-top section in Viki, but not over the video. I agree it would be too distracting. The barrage feature is more about capturing viewers’ sentiments and flow rate, rather than the essence of the comments.

Thanks for the info. I saw the term barrage before on bilibili but had no clue what it means. I just looked up this term now in reference to Chinese internet slang.

"Barrage, referring to the viewer comments that fly over the video screen. This Internet phenomenon originated from Japan’s video sharing site Niconico and is now widely seen on China’s websites such as AcFun, bilibili, tucao, and dilili."

I suppose "barrage" isn't widely used in the US because I never saw this feature before here. There is live chat, but the text doesn't fly over the video screen, just in a side text box.

Thanks again...

I didn’t like the change in translation also. However, one positive thing I got out of it was Liu Ran’s uncle being called “Duke.” This makes so much more sense to me because prior to the change, I wondered what his relation and status was to court. He obviously was more than just a wealthy merchant because he was invited to the princess’s birthday party and asked to see the Empress. Now, I know his level is duke, which is pretty high up.

This means more movies/dramas opportunities for Wang Yibo. People in the C-entertainment industry probably know that the off the roof rating/new record of any kind for the drama is greatly attributed to Wang Yibo.

I’m glad because he’s so talented. I just want to see him in more dramas.

What is considered a social interaction? It’s not number of views, right? Because 10 millions views in 5 days IS A LOT for cdrama. I guess things such as “like, comments, shares, repost, relink” are all social interaction?

The brothel scene was hilarious. We take that as an indication that Baili won’t ever be cheating on Liu Ran. 😜

There are legit martial arts scenes and swords fights that are well choreographed; but I wouldn’t categorize this drama as classical wuxia.

I wish Luoyang had better musical scores. It’s just lacking in that department. Some parts have incredible sound effects though.

This is closely related to Tang Dynasty. Wu Zhou dynasty was a brief period during the Tang when Wu Zetian reigned. When she abdicated, it went back to Tang.

Not sure what episode you’re at, but his identity is revealed in one of this week’s episodes.

Just finished episodes 11 & 12.

One of my favorite scenes is Baili smiling when he looks at the sour and spicy soup. It reminds him of Liu Ran. Our little guy is softening up toward his wife. How sweet! Even sweeter is that he’s protective of her by telling his assistant not to mistreat Liu Ran for her uncle’s misdeeds.

With all the craziness going on in the series, I’m enjoying every little bit of romance the writer/director serve us.

Then there’s nothing better than watching smart leads working together to save each other at the last minute. Once again, just when you thought there’s a wedge amongst them, they brilliantly come through and save the day! I just have to smile because even though more unexpected villains are exposed and our heroes got the upper hand, you know they will be facing bigger challenges ahead next week; but fear not because after episode 12, these three are tighter than ever and reach a new level of respect and trust.

I actually appreciate them both equally.

As of the end of ep 10, GBZ hasn’t disclosed to the other two that he’s working with Master Chu. However, all three agreed together to seek assistance from the Joint Corps and even met with a member in each other’s presence. The 3 musketeers also sort of had a mutual agreement that they help each other out in achieving their own goal, yet not intentionally impeding one another at the same time.

Master Chu is a guy. He’s from the Li family, and addresses the Empress as grandmother. The three musketeers are still working together.