Review: Novoland: Pearl Eclipse (2021) 斛珠夫人

Posted on December 13, 2021April 25, 2022 by Karen and Cathy

Novoland: Pearl Eclipse (2021) 斛珠夫人

Summary: The young girl Hai Shi (Yang Mi) was set as bait to procure naga pearls which set off a chain of events that changed her life.

Following the death of her father and her escape from soldiers threatening her family, she is taken by Fang Zhu (William Chan) to train in the capital as a man and his student.

As Hai Shi grows up, she must balance her love for Fang Zhu and the threats to the Empire.

Overall rating: 6.5/10

An engaging mystical setting, strong visual effects, high quality production value and a relatively strong secondary cast makes for a fun show that unfortunately is set back by a lackluster script and cliched, often forced conflict.

As a fan of Yang Mi for more than a decade, I gave this drama a shot immediately because, well, it’s Yang Mi. I’ve watched every historical drama of hers in the last 10 years and am always rooting for her to do well. This drama only has a 5.2 rating on DouBan which I personally think is a little low but that does not mean it is not popular. On Teng Xun or QQ which has sole airing rights to the drama, the show hit 300million+ hits by the series finale. On Weibo, every day the show aired and even in the days immediately after its finale, there were plenty of top posts trending from the drama.

Yang Mi and Chen Wei Ting/William Chan participated in a couple rounds of marketing where they did photo shoots together and live streamed to promote the show which was fun to view as Yang Mi and William Chan worked together years before in Gu Jian Qi Tan (Sword of Legends).

The biggest surprise actually came in the relationship between secondary characters Emperor Xu and his concubine, Ti Lan.

Story: Set in a mythical land, the young girl Ye Hai Shi (Yang Mi) was set as bait by her father to procure naga pearls, tears of Chinese mermaids. Young Hai Shi was saved by the mermaid after her father tried to kill her for those pearls which led to Hai Shi being bestowed a special connection to the mermaid.

Upon returning to her village, she sees the village threatened by soldiers seeking the naga pearls. In trying to escape the attack, she is saved by a passing Fang Zhu who takes her to the capital. There, she grew up as a boy and trained with her adoptive brother, Fang Zhuo Ying, to become a bodyguard for the Emperor Xu.

As Hai Shi and her brother grow up, they help their teacher, Fang Zhu, who in reality is Fang Jian Ming, the Duke of Qing Hai and the Emperor’s best friend, complete missions to protect the Emperor and the Zheng Empire.

Main characters:

Fang Hai Shi (played by Yang Mi) – Originally from a pearl harvesting village, she became the student of Fang Zhu after her village was threatened by soldiers. In the capital, she trained to become an elite bodyguard for the Emperor as a man but also slowly developed feelings for Fang Zhu.

Fang Zhu/Fang Jian Ming (played by William Chan) – The Emperor’s most trusted advisor and best friend, Fang Zhu is the Duke of Qing Hai and responsible for the safety of the Emperor. Due to previous tragedy, Fang Zhu and the Emperor are linked by an ancient bond to keep the Emperor’s line safe.

Emperor Xu (played by Xu Kai Cheng) – The Emperor of the Zheng empire who lost his beloved wife, Zi Zan, during a coup that also killed two of his brothers. Post the tragedy, Emperor Xu became easy to angry as his grief could only manifest inwardly.

Ti Lan (played by Chen Xiao Yun) – Princess from Zhu Nian sent to the Zheng Empire to marry, she is the spitting image of her sister Zi Zan. This triggered the Emperor’s grief and therefore suffered heavily at his hands.

Fang Zhuo Ying (played Wang Sen ) – Another student of Fang Zhu and adopted older brother to Fang Hai Shi, he also grew up in the Capital to serve the Emperor. In reality, he is royalty from a northern clan.

Zhi Liu (played by Yuan Yu Xuan) – A young woman in charge of palace embroidery, she and Fang Zhuo Ying developed feelings for each other. But before they could express their affections, Zhi Liu suffered a devastating blow due to an attack in the palace.

What I liked:

Emperor Xu’s realistic portrayal of inwardly manifested grief.

Di Xu to me is one of the most interesting characters in the drama. He is the centerpiece which all of the other characters revolve around. As a young prince, he had a best friend in Fang Jian Ming and a doting wife in Zi Zan, a princess from the neighboring nation of Zhu Nian. There was not a whole lot more he wanted.

But all of that changed during the Coup of Prince Yi which caused the death of Fang Jian Ming’s entire family and the death of Zi Zan who was pregnant at the time. Emperor Xu was also gravely injured which forced Fang Jian Ming to enact the Bai Xi ritual in order to save his life, thereby connecting the two lives forever.

Stricken with grief over the death of his beloved wife and unborn child, Di Xu, who ascended the throne after the death of his two brothers involved in the coup, became suicidal and explosive with anger. He was snide and condescending to pretty much everyone around him. In essence, he is a man who lost his entire family and is a burden to his best friend but must take on the role of Emperor.

This all came to a head when Zhu Nian, the nation where Zi Zan came from, sent her younger sister to marry him to continue this alliance between the two empires. But, this younger sister, Ti Lan, is a spitting image of Zi Zan.

In any other drama, I could see Di Xu suddenly fall in love with this sister, Ti Lan, simply because she looks like his lost love and then be manipulated because the nation of Zhu Nian must have known what the were doing sending Ti Lan. Instead, in Pearl Eclipse, the Emperor fully knows that the two are not the same. So instead, he is extremely explosive towards her and punishes her often times without her knowing why. It’s simply because she reminded him of his tortured past.

Now, in absolutely NO WAY should any woman EVER accept a man who puts his hands on her so that portrayal by the Emperor is NOT to be condoned. A lot of what he did would be enough to put him in jail by today’s standards but I appreciate that the Emperor is extremely clear headed knowing these two are entirely different people. This is also a portrayal of a man who clearly never processed his grief and let it manifest inwardly which led to his explosiveness. This paved the way for the Emperor to develop his feelings for Ti Lan that may have been influenced by Zi Zan but is still independent of her. That’s actually more respectful of Ti Lan than if he pretended she was someone else.

The Emperor is further complicated by the fact that while he does want to die to be with his wife, he feels a sense of responsibility to his people to be at least, a decent Emperor who provides for the people. It’s difficult to see at first because the earlier episodes are all about him being abusive towards Ti Lan but when it comes to court and his job, he takes it very seriously.

After realizing that he’s grievously hurt Ti Lan as a direct result of his grief, he learns that his anger stems from wanting to feel again but also not wanting to feel because of memories of the past. Once he moves past his grief and accepts that he must walk out of the past, he becomes a doting and loving husband once more, this time to Ti Lan.

Supportive Friendships – (1) Emperor Xu/Fang Jian Ming, (2) Fang Hai Shi and Fang Zhuo Ying, (3) Fang Hai Shi and Ti Lan

Fans and marketing focused too much on the couples of this drama but I don’t think emphasized the extremely supportive friendships showcased in Pearl Eclipse. And by friendships, I think they’re more like brotherhoods and sisterhoods. These relationships stayed true throughout the drama which was incredibly refreshing and heartfelt.

Emperor and Fang Jian Ming – these two grew up together and went through hell and back. Sure, Fang Jian Ming always felt a level of guilt for his actions that led to Zi Zan’s death and therefore dedicated his life to the Emperor, but the two often only need a glance or a motion towards one another to signal that something is afoot and either action or inaction is needed. This level of understanding is what makes the Emperor so complicated. He needed anger management but trusted Fang Jian Ming with his life.

Fang Hang Shi and Fang Zhuo Ying – These two were both adopted by Fang Jian Ming to train together as teens. I personally loved their sibling interactions with each other. Zhuo Ying always looked out for his younger sister who the world thought was a man but only he and Fang Jian Ming knew the truth. Their sibling banter were some of the funniest dialogue in the drama and it seemed so natural. Who doesn’t want to have a big brother like Zhuo Ying?

Ti Lan and Hai Shi – Ti Lan knew from the very beginning that Hai Shi was a woman after ill placed hands on Hai Shi during a harrowing escape revealed the truth to Ti Lan. Though their stations were quite different, Hai Shi tried to look out for Ti Lan while she could and Ti Lan did the same. When the two ended up in the imperial harem together, their open conversations as sisters were incredibly satisfying as there was no hidden agenda between the two of them, just sisters looking out for each other and wanting the best for each other.

What I didn’t like:

Fang Hai Shi/Fang Jian Ming’s back-and-forth relationship

Ok. Yang Mi, I love you, but the chick you portrayed needs to just CHILL. Hai Shi has the hots for her teacher, which fine, but she is refused by him multiple times and she STILL does not relent. Every time she DOES give up, Fang Jian Ming does something that makes her think he actually does have feelings for her and returns to him. This level of stubbornness is generally not attractive.

He also needs to be more heartless in his refusal of Fang Hai Shi. Maybe I paid too much attention to Di Xu and Ti Lan’s relationship that I never felt the love Fang Jian Ming felt for Hai Shi was as natural. Is it just because they spent a ton of time together?

In any case, I thought the relationship was rather forced, or at least the drama was rather forced. There have been plenty of dramas where communication was the antidote to all problems and so the miscommunication and secrets in this drama seemed like it was too cliche.

It did seem like there was tension for tension’s sake because that’s what tugs at heartstrings.

Acting –

I’m probably going to be pummeled over the head with this but I thought that out of everyone in the drama, Yang Mi’s acting was the most problematic. Perhaps it’s because she didn’t use a voice actress this time which is commendable but for most of the drama, I just felt that I was watching Yang Mi say her lines. There were several instances throughout the drama where this was abundantly clear and a perfect example is when Hai Shi has a conversation with Ti Lan towards the end of the drama. The two women are chatting as good friends but when Hai Shi gets up to leave, everything she says is like she’s saying memorized lines. There’s not a whole lot of emotion.

I don’t know, I feel like everyone else’s acting I could get into but Yang Mi, for the most part, I just saw Yang Mi. Not Fang Hai Shi. Her previous roles were much better in this regard.

Summary: Overall, I at least “chased” this drama to the end and still watched the drama through its entirety. That’s more than can be said about a few other dramas this year where I tried to watch it and gave up. You can tell the cast and crew put effort into trying to make this drama look good and the script was also changed from the storylines from the book that this drama was based on to be more palatable to current audiences. However, I did still think this drama was lacking in perhaps heart, primarily from the main leads. I would say give this drama a go since it does feature Yang Mi whom I love though do not be hesitant to recognize that there are areas of improvement that would have made this drama into an even better one.

You Are My Glory (2021) 你是我的荣耀

Posted on September 11, 2021December 20, 2021 by Karen and Cathy

你是我的荣耀》发海报，感谢潘粤明题字剧名_迪丽热巴

You Are My Glory (2021) 你是我的荣耀

Summary: A superstar celebrity Qiao Jing Jing (Dilraba Dilmurat) encounters her old high school crush Yu Tu (Yang Yang) while playing the mobile game Honor of Kings. What happens when they finally meet?

Based on the book, You are my Glory from the author Gu Man (顾漫), the drama began airing in China on July 26, 2021.

Let us know your thoughts!

-Cathy

Overall rating: ~ 9/10

If you want to enjoy a great rom-com drama without contrived plots, this the drama for you!

Key Highlights:

A great and very faithful adaptation of the source material
Amazing chemistry between the two leads 迪丽热巴 (Dilraba Dilmurat) and 杨洋 (Yang Yang)
Great supporting cast with well known actors and actress from the Chinese entertainment industry
Healthy and cute love story that doesn’t shy away from adult responsibilities and personal goals
Unique inclusion of the Honor of Kings CGI
On location filming for the China’s Air and Space program in the Gobi Desert and Hai Nan

Spoilers below!

Story: Superstar celebrity Qiao Jing Jing 乔晶晶 is the brand spokesperson for the megahit game Honor of Kings. While practicing the game, she reconnects with her old high school crush and aerospace engineer Yu Tu (于途). The drama follows the two as they fall in love and overcome professional and personal struggles to finally become each other’s glory.

The drama begins with someone leaking a video of Qiao Jing Jing playing rather poorly in the game Hong of Glory. As the spokesperson, she needs to play the game during the Hong of Kings Awards Ceremony to redeem herself and keep the sponsorship. Unfortunately, Qiao Jing Jing is pretty bad at the game. While practicing at home, she is mistakenly added into a game by Yu Tu, her old high school crush, to play with his friends.

Yu Tu doesn’t know it’s Qiao Jing Jing and the group continues to play a couple of matches together. Yu Tu is surprisingly very good at the game and Qiao Jing Jing decides to asks Yu Tu to become her personal coach for the game to prepare for the Awards Ceremony. Qiao Jing Jing invites Yu Tu to meet in person and the two begin a relatively professional coach / student relationship.

The story progresses as the two get to know each other better. Qiao Jing Jing’s feelings for Yu Tu resurface and Yu Tu, surprisingly, begins to have feelings towards Qiao Jing Jing too.

During this time, Yu Tu is taking a break from his job as an aerospace engineer at China Aerospace Science and Technology. He’s reevaluating his professional aspirations as he has to face the reality that his career would not allow him to support his loved ones financially or even have time to spend with them. He turns his sights towards Investment Banking.

Yu Tu decides to return to his job but in doing so, believes that he cannot take care of Jing Jing and rejects her. Shortly after, he regrets his decision and spends some time trying to win her back.

The two finally decide to together and we see their cute and loving relationship blossom into one in which both Qiao Jing Jing and Yu Tu support each other to achieve their goals. Not gonna lie, I did tear up in certain parts of this drama. The drama ends with a very inspiring launch of the satellite that Yu Tu leads at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan, China

Thoughts:

Pros: This is a great drama that gets a lot right!

Plot The drama rightfully focuses the attention to the two main leads Qiao Jing Jing and Yu Tu. Qiao Jing Jing is a superstar actress but she is willing to put in the hard work to prove to the naysayers and to her fans that she is deserving of their praise. She is extremely intelligent and has a very positive outlook on life. She is like a sun that shines brightly and gives warmth to those around her. Yu Tu is the brilliant ambitious aerospace engineer that is somehow good at everything but in the face of real life woes a.k.a. money, he still has to make difficult choices.

It’s refreshing to see a drama that doesn’t belittle anyone’s profession and actually shows that jobs require effort. Qiao Jing Jing is a professional actress and makes sure she is always ready for her roles. She also takes her sponsorships seriously. Yu Tu is an aerospace engineer that works overtime with his teammates to solve problems. How many dramas have I seen where the main leads are CEOs of a company but somehow are never in the office? I can actually clearly see that these two people got to where they are in life because they worked for it. There’s also no contrived plots with ex-boyfriends / girlfriends. Everyone behaves as adults and solves issues as adults. There are some really great friendships in the drama too and we see people actually supporting each other.

This is one of the first shows to really showcase China’s aerospace capabilities and it is clear that the drama did their research on the subject of aerospace. The author Gu Man is also the screenwriter of the drama. She made several trips on location and requested reviews of the script with senior aerospace engineers to make sure the story made sense. It’s rare that a show does this level of homework and I’m glad it did.

Casting: This is probably one of the best casted Chinese dramas in years. Why do I say this? The drama cast some very well known actors and actresses that are leads in their own respective dramas so the fact that Tencent was able to assemble this cast is very impressive! I don’t think there’s a bad apple of the bunch!

Let’s start with 乔晶晶 Qiao Jing Jing. When I read the book, the person in my head to play Qiao Jing Jing was Dilraba 迪丽热巴 and I was not the only one. She was by far and away the fan favorite to play this part when the book was completed. I couldn’t believe my eyes when it was announced that she would play this part! I’m very happy with her performance here as I believe she really brought the character of Qiao Jing Jing to life. I’m a huge fan of Dilraba and I’m grateful that she played this role. This is the 3rd time she played an actress in her career but it’s clear that Qiao Jing JIng is not like the other roles and indeed it’s not like her own self. Dilraba has really grown as an actress over the years and I’m excited to see her next roles.

Next up 于途 or Yu Tu. 杨洋 is a favored actor of from the author 顾漫 (Gu Man). He portrayed Xiao Nai in the megahit Love O2O back in 2016. I initially was somewhat skeptical that he could separate this role from his role in Love O2O but he does a great job here. In the earlier episodes, he was able to portray the internal struggles that Yu Tu faced surrounding his job pretty well. Once the two characters get together, woo, Yu Tu turns up the notch and is a Grade A boyfriend! Overall the chemistry between the two is great! I mean two beautiful people acting as a couple? Sign me up please!

The rest of the cast includes a lot of very famous people that I actually watched dramas of growing up. Shout out to 高露, who plays the wife of Guan Zai, Yu Tu’s mentor. She is of course 林小娘 or Mistress Lin in The Story of Ming Lan. I’ve loved her work for ages and it was like a dream come true when her character and Qiao Jing Jing finally meet in the drama.

CGI: Since this drama was produced by Tencent and Tencent also makes the Honor My Kings games, Tencent was willing to go all in on the CGI for this drama. The CGI renderings of the game characters are really good and I believe even game fans are quite happy with it.

On Location Filming: I’m very happy that the drama decided to film on location in Shanghai, the Gobi Desert, and Hainan. These places are heavily implied in the book so it’s great to have these regions showcased in the drama.

Faithfulness to Source Material: A+ here. Probably like 90% retention of the source material. This isn’t surprising as the author was the screenwriter for the drama. Keep this coming please!

Cons: No major cons! My main nitpick is that Yu Tu – you are an idiot for rejecting Qiao Jing Jing not once but TWICE! She should have made him work for their relationship a bit more.

Final Rambles:

I’m so happy that this drama came out this summer with the cast that it did. I’ve mentioned before but it definitely is a dream come true. It fulfilled all the requirements I had on the cast, the story, and faithfulness to the source material. I doubt we’ll actually see anything like this in the near future so enjoy this drama if you can!

Funnily enough, this whole entire drama is also quite meta. Dilraba and Yang Yang are actually the global spokespeople for WeTv and Tencent Video. Dilraba is the game spokesperson for 和平精英 or Game for Peace, another Tencent game. Dilraba is also a superstar celebrity in China with a growing name recognition worldwide. That’s partially why she was such a fan favorite. Who else should play Qiao Jing Jing other than an actual superstar actress? You’ll notice that a lot of the photos of Qiao Jing Jing in the drama are of Dilraba’s actual other media campaigns.

I’ll be happy to ramble on about this drama for many many more posts. Until next time!

-Cathy

The Long Ballad (2021) 长歌行 – Review In Progress

Posted on July 3, 2021December 20, 2021 by Karen and Cathy

《长歌行》中的永宁公主李长歌历史上真有这个人吗?

The Long Ballad (2021) 长歌行

Summary: Li Chang Ge 李长歌 (Dilireba 迪丽热巴) is the daughter of the Crown Prince 李建成。Following the famous Xuan Wu Gate Coup, her father was killed by her beloved uncle, Li Shi Min or Emperor TaiZong. Vowing for revenge, she crosses paths with a young prince from the AshiLe clan, A-Shi-Le Sun 阿诗勒隼 (Wu Lei 吴磊).

On her path to revenge, Li Chang Ge recognizes the suffering the people face in this period of war and uncertainty. Recognizing that her uncle strives for peace, she, along with AShiLeSun turn their attention towards bigger threats to their respective peoples.

Overall rating: 8/10

Initial thoughts: Solid performance by Dilireba where we witness her growth as a young woman seeking personal revenge to a true princess focused on the stability and peace for her people.

長歌行》新路透：迪麗熱巴終於出女裝，失去美顏的臉引熱議- 人人焦點

Full review to come!

-Cathy

The Imperial Coroner 御赐小仵作 (2021) Review

Posted on July 3, 2021August 11, 2021 by Karen and Cathy

小成本制作也有春天？《御赐小仵作》热度好评双丰收！ –

御赐小仵作》楚楚的身份是什么楚楚的爹是谁- 历史剧- 史文斋

The Imperial Coroner (2021) 御赐小仵作

Summary: In the late Tang Dynasty, the aspiring coroner Chu Chu 楚楚 (Su Xiao Tong 苏晓彤）heads to Chang’An to take the Imperial Coroner’s exam. In the city, she meets the young but powerful Xiao Jing Yu 萧景瑜 (Wang Zi Qi 王子奇），Prince of An Jun who currently oversees the Judiciary Branch. Intrigued by Chu Chu’s attention to detail, the two work together to solve crimes and uncover threats to the Tang empire with their group of trusted friends and family.

Overall rating: 9/10

Initial thoughts: Binge-worthy drama that does not insult the audience’s intelligence. Mysteries are thoughtful and challenges understandable. A small production that has been met with rave reviews in the first half of 2021. You’ll be surprised by this show.

This rather unknown drama premiered quietly in April 2021 but quickly garnered interest by viewers. Both leads are early in their careers and the funny story is that they didn’t do much marketing for this drama as it was airing because both Su Xiao Tong and Wang Zi Qi are both in school! I remember a trending weibo post from the female lead saying she still has to write essays, no time to pay attention to much else! How adorable.

In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed the drama. Only 36 episodes, it wastes no time in getting to the conflict and it doesn’t drag out plot points unnecessarily. The story progresses organically and plot holes I would say are kept to a minimum. You can tell the production quality of the drama is on a much smaller scale than other historical dramas but that does not mean this is a low quality drama. The story, the characters and the intrigue are all top caliber.

The drama reminds me of the US show Bones quite a bit. Had absolutely no expectation going into this show and ended up loving it. The drama is not bloody or gory which may turn people away as the topic is about evaluating dead bodies but the drama cleverly uses drawings to depict the examination scenes which I thought were done quite well.

御赐小仵作百度云资源「高清中字」更新了| 滴答网盘电影

Story:

Set in the late Tang dynasty under the rule of Tang Xuan Zong (唐宣宗) named Li Chen 李忱 who ruled between April 25, 846 – September 7, 859, this drama focuses on the partnership between a righteous and justice seeking Prince Xiao Jing Yu, and a talented female coroner from a faraway village, Chu Chu in helping uncover plots against the empire. They are aided by the Prince’s childhood friends, Jing Yi, son of a powerful court official and Leng Yue, daughter of a renowned general, as well as the Prince’s own older brother.

The drama begins with the imperial coroner examination taking place in the Tang capital of Chang’An where Chu Chu dresses as a man to take the exam. Her dream is to be an imperial coroner and is discovered by Jing Yi who recommends her to the prince, Xiao Jing Yu. Xiao Jing Yu heads the Judiciary Branch which pretty much means he oversees various crimes. Through the imperial examination, he sees that Chu Chu is highly talented in her skills and hires her to help him solve murders that are tied to larger plots including one against the throne (typical), fake currency, the death of Xiao Jing Yu’s father, among several others.

History: The reign of this Tang Xuan Zong is an interesting time to set this drama. It’s what one calls the late Tang dynasty and there are certainly cracks to the foundation of this once venerated empire. This emperor is probably one of the best in the the late Tang dynasty as he tried to correct levels of corruption that had seeped through his imperial court. One of the biggest challenges during this time, and is something the drama touches upon, is the rise in power of eunuchs. Emperors relied too heavily on eunuchs in a variety of areas which helped them to a league of their own and led to the demise of the Tang dynasty. In this drama, Qin Luan is the head eunuch that conspires to amass as much power as possible which made for a worthy adversary.

御赐小仵作》：又糊又穷的国产剧，就靠长相平平的女主逆袭了？【七猫影视】

Why I liked the show:

The main character Chu Chu is naive but not stupid. She was raised in a family of coroners which means she was looked down upon all her life for their craft. She doesn’t have many friends but is kind hearted and loving towards her family. She is dedicated to her profession and never let her gender stop her from achieving her dreams but she keeps a pure heart. The entire drama, her primary focus is to be a good coroner. This is quite a refreshing take on the female lead.
The main male lead, Xiao Jing Yu, is a young but powerful prince with astonishing deduction abilities. He solves cases with sharp insights and is extremely learned. The most important quality trait that he possesses though, is that he respects and trusts Chu Chu fully. Even though their upbringings are backgrounds are disparate, that does not stop him from treating her as an equal.
This drama made me read up on another period of history I haven’t really paid attention to. Dramas may be set in the late Tang dynasty but did not pique my interest.
Everyone operates rationally. The drama avoids a lot of cliches and where there are areas of mistrust, it’s very logically and easily explained soon after. There is no overarching miscommunication that is not resolved in a convincing manner.
The relationships between characters are very heartwarming. The two main female characters don’t fight and be jealous of each other but rather help support each other. That is the type of female empowerment we need. Xiao Jing You and his brother also do not fight against each other for meaningless squabbles and avoid the regular fights over titles. The older brother actually lets his younger brother take title of Prince. Even though the group is solving mysteries and fighting crime, there’s a warm fuzzy feeling to the interactions between characters.
I learned what Wu Zuo meant. I never read those words in my life and now I learned that there is a specific term for Coroner in Chinese.

Overall this drama was a fun and breezy one to watch. It may not be something I return to all the time like I do The Story of Ming Lan or Empresses in the Palace but I’m so glad I watched it and highly recommend it. The writers are working on a sequel and I am eager to see the next adventure for these characters.

-Karen

My Dear Guardian (2021) 爱上特种兵: Review

Posted on July 3, 2021July 5, 2021 by Karen and Cathy

My Dear Guardian (2021) 爱上特种兵 Review

Summary: Liang Mu Ze 梁牧泽 (Huang Jing Yu 黄景瑜) is a special forces captain who meets the young military doctor Xia Chu 夏初 (Li Qin 李沁) while both were abroad. Their initial meeting was unpleasant but fate places them together. Sparks fly as each does not back down but soon learn to respect each other’s passion for their chosen career.

Overall rating: 7.5/10

View this drama primarily for the cute romance between Li Qin and Johnny Huang and their dedication to their career. Take this as a light-hearted drama only, not to be taken too seriously.

Premiering in June of 2021, I’ve been chasing this drama the last month and have been struck by how sweet Li Qin and Johnny Huang are both in the drama and outside of it. The show released soooo many behind the scenes/blooper clips many of which are on Youtube and it’s just too cute to watch the two interact.

DouBan, the popular Chinese drama ratings system, rates this drama rather poorly at only 4.4. I can see why people rate it this way but one cannot deny that this drama was incredibly popular this summer. It trended multiple times on Weibo (Chinese Twitter) and the stars, Li Qin and Johnny Huang also enjoyed a surge in popularity. The primary reason is because of the chemistry between Li Qin and Johnny Huang.

I’m a huge fan of Li Qin as I think she is gorgeous but Johnny Huang does a great job portraying a military captain. He is one of the few actors who is actually quite strong and does many of his own stunts. That adds to the believability of his role even though many of the conflicts that happen seem rather contrived. That does not detract from the fact that Li Qin and Johnny are great casting for these roles.

Story: This is a rather classic story of two incredibly attractive people starting off hating each other, and then somehow ending up roommates, then pretending to be dating, and then actually falling in love.

Episode 1 shows the resident military doctor Xia Chu getting experience abroad at a fictional place called Isaia. There, she runs into Liang Mu Ze and they get into a fight over something rather trivial. Once she returns to her hospital though, she is caught up in a terrorist attack and has to try to remain calm in this hostage situation. None other than Liang Mu Ze’s team comes into save the hostages but his good friend Tian Yong is injured. After this experience, the two develop disgust for each other as Liang Mu Ze does not think Xia Chu is a good soldier or a good doctor.

Once back in China, it just so happens that Xia Chu is stationed at a hospital and looking for a place to stay. Her mother says she has a friend who has an apartment she can stay at. Xia Chu happily agrees but once she walks into the apartment, bumps into none other than a shirtless Liang Mu Ze. They of course bicker but given Xia Chu has to head to the hospital, they let it go for the time being. Oh and Xia Chu randomly picked up a cute cat on the street so she’s moved in with her cat.

On Xia Chu’s side, she is focused on becoming an accomplished cardiothoracic surgeon but the sudden reappearance of a childhood friend, Zhuo Ran, starts creating tension in the drama.

On Liang Mu Ze’s side, he is a highly trained special ops soldier and spends most of his time at base but suffers from guilt over the death of his good friend 8 years ago. He and his team participate in uncovering the cause of the terrorist attack in Isaia as well as stopping a drug crime lord.

Thoughts:

Pros: This drama shines when it’s focused on the interactions between Xia Chu and Liang Mu Ze. Xia Chu is a hard working and intelligent doctor doing residency. She does not back down from a challenge particularly when it comes to her patients. She also is not afraid to tease Liang Mu Ze. Probably one of the funniest scenes in the show is when Liang Mu Ze bullies Xia Chu into helping him change his bedsheets and Xia Chu provides him with a full Sailor Moon set! HAHAHAHAHA.

As a Sailor Moon fan, I absolutely loved this and am quietly wondering where I can get this set for myself. Hehehe.

As the two spend more time together, they slowly develop more respect towards each other. Each is passionate about their careers as a doctor and a soldier in the Chinese military. Liang Mu Ze, in particular, trusts Xia Chu unconditionally and is always there to support her. This is probably every young woman’s dream boyfriend/husband material. Of course, though, they don’t shy away from the realities of what it means to date a soldier -lots of moving, uncertainty and even death. The first 12 episodes of this drama in particular are so sweet watching these two change their attitudes towards each other.

It is impressive to see the actors physically fit and doing real stunts in the show. It’s a different type of action compared to kungfu dramas I’ve watched and this military subject is not one I’m usually keen on viewing so it was a nice change of pace.

Cons: The show falls short in executing the conflict beyond the romance storylines between Xia Chu and Liang Mu Ze. Xia Chu’s childhood friend Zhuo Ran’s return to her life causes all sorts of issues as he is not simply a childhood friend anymore, but is involved in the criminal ring of a violent drug and crime lord. The show threads this story line into the show to try to create challenges that Liang Mu Ze’s team must face. Certainly, it gives a lot of rather cool scenes where Liang Mu Ze is a badass fighter but to me, that whole story line was annoying and a drag. There are incredibly heavy topics in this show which were quite odd to balance out with the super cute and bubbly interactions between Xia Chu and Liang Mu Ze.

I could not care less about Zhuo Ran’s relationship with Mi Gu, Xia Chu’s best friend. The entire time I was thinking to Mi Gu, girl, get some self respect. Same thing with the story line of Xiao Xue, Liang Mu Ze’s cousin. The drama tried to take itself too seriously which I understand. It’s a great way to showcase the sacrifices people make as doctors and military soldiers which is admirable no doubt, but because these storylines moved beyond what was available in the book, the drama fell short in landing the impact on viewers.

Book differences and thoughts:

So when the drama first aired the first 8 or so episodes, I was like, OK, this drama seems super cute, let me read the book the drama was based on so I binged that. The book is actually much simpler than the story lines in the drama and it’s primarily focused on the romance between Liang Mu Ze and Xia Chu. The book I felt was a romanticized view of what a military doctor and a special force’s romance would be like.

While I just commented on how I think the added conflict in the drama could have been done better, I do think it was needed to round out the characters. In the book, I couldn’t tell why Xia Chu was a particularly good doctor which the drama actually emphasizes through her actions. I’m actually glad they gave Xia Chu more independence and the ability to hold her own, rather than being primarily focused on her relationship with Liang Mu Ze. The book also I don’t think did enough to highlight some of the true conflicts involved in being a military doctor and solider which the drama helped supplement.

Some last thoughts – watch this drama if you want something super cute between two very attractive people where the man is actually fit enough to pick up his girlfriend. Sometimes you know it’s cliche but you just like it and that’s how I feel about this drama. There are WAY too many coincidences for this drama to work in real life but Xia Chu and Liang Mu Ze are adorable together.

-Karen

The Wolf 狼殿下 (2020) Review

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Karen and Cathy

The Wolf (2020) 狼殿下 Review

The Wolf premiered in late 2020 staring Wang Da Lu 王大陆 as Prince Bo 渤王, Li Qin 李沁 as Ma Zhai Xing 马摘星 and Xiao Zhan 肖战 as Ji Chong 疾冲.

Summary: The story revolves around a young boy raised by wolves who befriends the young girl, Ma Zhai Xing, in the mountains. The two promise to trust and care for each other but a false murder accusation leads to the two young friends to separate.

Eight years later, the young wolf boy emerges as the powerful Prince Bo, adopted son of the Emperor. The Prince and Ma Zhai Xing meet once again and try to capture magic of their childhood but kingdom rivalries and family allegiances complicate this reunion.

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Exceeded non-existent expectations by Wang DaLu and his chemistry with Li Qin. The soundtrack is an added bonus but be prepared with tissues and for some cliches.

There was actually quite a lot of drama surrounding this drama as it was filmed in 2017 with the now astronomically popular Xiao Zhan as the secondary love interest for Li Qin. Due to an event in early 2020 where Xiao Zhan was essentially blacklisted for a while, this drama captured its opportunity to air in late 2020 and instead of airing episode by episode as we are used to, all 49 episodes dropped at once on QQ.

Many people watched this drama because they were fans of Xiao Zhan thanks to his performance in The Untamed. I personally watched The Untamed after this drama so was not fully aware of his immense fan following and watched The Wolf because I’m a fan of Li Qin.

I would say most people agree with me that though they watched this drama for other people, they became pleasantly surprised by Wang Da Lu’s performance as Prince Bo or Bo Wang. Ratings were mixed but viewership was quite high for the show. Wang Da Lu became an instant darling and garnered many invitations to performances and reality shows. This was certainly a highlight of his career.

Why you should watch this:

Chemistry between Wang Da Lu’s Prince Bo and Li Qin’s Ma Zhai Xing.
- Wang Da Lu in particular does a phenomenal job portraying a harden young man with the wild side of being raised by wolves but softens when he’s with his love, Ma Zhai Xing
You’re into cute romance tropes with a sprinkle of betrayal and country allegiances
- The episodes where Ma Zhai Xing and Prince Bo spend time together as a couple are incredibly sweet. But then that also means when truths are revealed, it can be devastating. There’s lots of tears shed by Ma Zhai Xing.
Prince Bo, the Wolf Prince, is powerful in every sense of the word and leads a loyal team. It’s a pleasure watching him go to battle for his team and adopted siblings.
Great secondary character in Xiao Zhan’s Ji Chong
- First introduced in ep 11, Ji Chong soon becomes fast friends with Ma Zhai Xing and is attracted to her resolute nature. He does his best to protect Ma Zhai Xing and truly respects her.
The Soundtrack is a banger. THE Jolin Tsai offers her voice for the drama’s opening theme, This is quite rare but the moment I heard this song, I knew it was Jolin. It adds a rather wild flair to the atmosphere which pairs well with the wolf prince.
High production value

Why You May Want to Pass

I’ll be the first to admit, there are many idol drama tropes in this drama. Of course, you have a powerful Prince in Prince Bo in love with the female lead, and they just so happen to meet another capable young man, Ji Chong, who then falls in love with the female lead as well.
- But, I’m a sucker for this type of drama especially with this intriguing lead.
The drama tries to portray the female lead as strong and independent, but she ultimately still has to rely on her male love interests.
You also can’t think too hard about some of the conflicts that happen. As with many dramas of this nature, I feel like many conflicts could have resolved themselves if people just talked to each other.
Lots of tears are shed after the brief moments of sweetness.

Overall, I personally adored this drama and was really glad I decided to take a shot. It was my drama obsession at the end of 2020. If you can get past some of the basic tropes and not think too hard about the history of the show, it’s a fun and emotional ride. It tugs at your heartstrings in all the right places but perhaps be ready with a box of tissues.

Li Qin and Wang Da Lu were on Happy Camp and Day Day Up at the end of 2020/beginning of 2021 and you can tell they’ve become good friends. Their weibo interactions were also super cute while promoting the drama. Li Qin and Xiao Zhan have worked together on many projects and it shows as they’re very comfortable together in the drama as well. I’d say, give it a shot.

-Karen

Song of Glory 锦绣南歌 (2020) Review

Posted on June 30, 2021July 1, 2021 by Karen and Cathy

Song Of Glory (2020) 锦绣南歌 Review

Republishing my review of The Song of Glory or 锦绣南歌. I was excited to see this drama as I am quite fond of 李沁 Li Qin. She is one of the younger actresses that I follow and enjoy seeing on screen. She was gorgeous in both 楚乔传 Princess Agents and 如懿传 RuYi’s Royal Love in the Palace. Her performances on reality tv shows such as Running Man reflect that she is a thoughtful and funny person. Here are my main thoughts on the drama.

Pros for this drama:

1. Main leads – The story revolves around Li Qin’s character, Shen3 Li2 Ge1 沈骊歌 and Liu2 Yi4 Kang1 刘义康. She is an orphan, raised as an assassin to kill Liu Yi Kang, who is the 4th prince during the Liu Song Dynasty. While many viewers say they don’t particularly like the male lead, Qin Hao, I thought he was more than adequate. He has more maturity that fits his role well. He is a bit on the older side so perhaps people think he and Li Qin don’t pair as well but I thought it was fine. These two had passable chemistry and were the highlights of each episode.

2. Historical setting – The setting doesn’t matter a WHOLE lot here other than the fact that it made me do research on what this dynasty is. This is not the well known Song dynasty that reigned from 960-1279AD ruled by the Zhao 赵 family. Instead, this Song dynasty reigned for a rather short period from 420-479AD ruled by the Liu 刘 family. This dynasty is part of the Northern and Southern Dynasties era of Chinese history. Not many dramas are set in this period because it’s messy and short. The various dynasties didn’t last very long and their stories not as notable as some of the other dynasties. Though, it seems, that after researching Liu Yi Kang’s life, he was not as benevolent as this drama portrays him to be.

3. Setting and Costumes – The sets and costumes for this drama were high quality. Li Qin’s assassin and dance outfits in particular are form fitting and well made.

(Some additional Pros in the Spoiler section below)

Cons:

1. Story/Plot can drag – the first couple of episodes start off well enough. There’s suspense and intrigue into why or how this one official is enacting corrupt activities. The 2 main characters Shen Li Ge and Liu Yi Kang work together to solve mysteries albeit never knowing each other’s true identities. But after around episode 25, the story becomes convoluted and drags to watch.

2. Female hairstyles – when women are married in this drama, their hairstyles are…not as ideal. I’m watching them and thinking “was this historically accurate? If not, why make these styles? They are not attractive!”.

3. Plot holes and miracles that unfairly benefit the antagonist – essentially there were many scenes that I wanted to say “how is that possible!?”. How can a bad guy show up where she does without anyone noticing? She’s the daughter of a general. Shouldn’t she have restrictions?

4. Plot holes and miracles that allow the main characters to survive life threatening wounds – the main female lead gets injured numerous times throughout the drama. Unless it is to drive a sad farewell between her love, she generally gets saved by her friends and is bouncing around killing people or doing reconnaissance like her life threatening wounds never happened. Injuries that should have killed her or at least put her out of action for months are healed in, what seems to be, 24 hours.

Final thoughts: I thought this drama was…fine. It started off strong and ended on a weak note. The main leads were cute and there was never an issue with their faithfulness in the relationship which was refreshing but there were plentiful plot holes and inconsistencies that just make you want to bang your head against the wall. Some story lines dragged on or else didn’t make sense. Bad guys kept on coming back or stayed alive to add difficulty to the story. However, the high production value and quality acting from the acting team make this a passable drama to watch in the background.

PSA – DO NOT WATCH THE LAST EPISODE. Pretend the drama ends at episode 52 and that episode 53 doesn’t exist. You’ll thank me.

Overall Rating; 6/10

[Spoiler discussion! – Don’t read if you don’t want parts of the drama spoiled!]

Pros – Sibling Relationships – With most dramas where there is a throne at stake, brothers tend to turn against each other. This drama stayed away from that cliche and allowed the 2 main brothers, the 4th prince and the 6th prince, to trust each other. They worked together to bring about a change in government policies throughout the empire. It was heartwarming to see these two succeed.

Pro – the main wife of the 4th prince – She actually stays pretty pure throughout the drama. She cares for her husband and genuinely enjoys spending time with the main female lead, even though both of the share the same man and it’s clear he loves the main female lead, not her. She doesn’t display too much jealousy. She’s a saint for that.

Cons – Constant miscommunication – This drama is filled with instances where so many heartaches or issues could have been resolved if the people just talked to each other. In the beginning where the main female lead didn’t know the identity of the male lead, the male lead tried multiple times to tell her. Each time, she stopped him. The result? She stabs him not knowing his true identity… And that ending. Oh my gosh. This ending made my blood boil. The drama added unnecessary “drama” at the end of this show where the main couple could have just lived happily ever after. But no. The show writers just had to add a ridiculous star crossed lovers plot point. The main couple didn’t talk to each other whatsoever about what’s really happening in an effort to keep the other person happy and paid the price.

Cons – Unfair expectations of women’s roles – The main couple get together. She is a female assassin with limited decorum or training on how to behave at court. He is a prince. She marries him as a concubine and they are in love. That’s all well and good. But after they get married, he tells her she needs to stop being the woman who goes out fighting. She needs to stop being so course. She instead needs to stay at home, become a refined woman at court and be a good wife. While overall, he let’s her be, accepting that she isn’t a great cook and sees the immense value she add to his life by being a smart woman with insane martial arts skills, he was initially insistent. I know this is just a drama set in a historical time period, but it irks me nonetheless. He tried to change everything about her. Other dramas such as Nirvana in Fire or The Story of MingLan don’t portray relationships in this way. Perhaps just one of the reasons why those dramas are superior to this one.

Rattan 司藤 (2021) Review

Posted on June 30, 2021February 8, 2022 by Karen and Cathy

Rattan (2021) 司藤 Review

It’s been a while but we’re back with reviews and recommendations of Chinese dramas we’ve recently binged and first up is the fantasy drama: Rattan!

Rattan, or Si Teng (司藤）stars Jing Tian 景甜 and Zhang Bin Bin/Vin Zhang 张彬彬. The story begins where Zhang Bin Bin’s Qin Fang visits a faraway place called Dhana with his girlfriend to find a family to express gratitude for helping his family many years ago.

Once there though, an accident causes Qin Fang to crash into a forest. The crash kills him but as his blood drips onto the grass beneath him, an alien being Si Teng, of the Yi Tribe, is brought back to life and Qin Fang is revived along with her.

The story revolves around uncovering the truth behind the mysterious and powerful Si Teng’s past as she wakes up from an 80+ year slumber. Si Teng is a member of the Yi Tribe (though technically, in the book, she’s a part demon but the Chinese government banned mention of demons so she’s an alien). Many mysteries are uncovered as Si Teng and Qin Fang trace clues back to why Si Teng was “killed” in the first place and how she was able to wake up after almost a century.

Rating: 8.5/10

I personally HIGHLY recommend watching this drama. It was one of the first dramas I’ve chased in 2021 and it did not disappoint. Jing Tian has not had a great track record of strong performances but she knocked it out of the park in her role as Si Teng. Si Teng is a powerful alien with magical powers and brains to boot. Her reputation precedes her as a bloodthirsty alien and she plays the part very well but in reality, she has a cute and dopey side. It’s fantastic seeing her be an absolute QUEEN since she is THE most powerful person in the drama while also having a softer side.

Not only does Jing Tian’s acting surprise viewers, the costume design and makeup is a breath of fresh air. Si Teng went to sleep in 1930s China and therefore is used to wearing Qi Pao, the traditional dress for women during that time. In modern day, her wardrobe retains many of those elements which translates into many iconic looks. The drama is a feast for the eyes due to her many costume changes. Since the drama’s airing, many women are now following Si Teng’s make up style, particularly how she shapes her eyebrows.

The other main viewing point for this drama is the chemistry between Si Teng/Jing Tian and Qin Fang/Zhang Bin Bin. Zhang Bin Bin has been in several dramas with Yang Mi and Dilireba but has failed to reach the A-list. This drama has propelled both him and Jing Tian to the forefront of popularity with lots more resources coming their way. The main driving factor is their chemistry which is off the charts for this drama. You can’t help but feel at ease watching these two act off each other but it’s even funnier when tall, handsome Zhang Bin Bin is relegated to the damsel-in-distress mode for most of the drama and Jing Tian has to go save him. Certainly a reversal of common cliches and its done surprisingly well. Many interviews between these two leads have left fans clamoring for their relationship to translate off-screen and it’s easy to see why.

Rattan is a quick and breezy 30 ep and is available on Youtube in the US with English subtitles. Like I said, I highly recommend the show. I thought the topic was so interesting that at 15 ep in while I was waiting for updates, I went and binged read the book the drama was based on. The drama does a relatively good job reviving most parts of the drama and removes quite a bit of the gory/bloody portions of the book. Let’s just say I couldn’t sleep after binge reading the book because I was scared and thankfully the drama is much more palatable.

Let us know your thoughts on this drama if you’ve watched it already!

-Karen