Peyton place of a Porcelain town

For those who are old enough to remember the TV series, Peyton Place, this drama reminds me of that soap opera. - the toxic relationships, family secrets, shady business deals. scandals, greed, love, loss. This story is set in a famous porcelain producing town in China and the female protaganist is an orphan from a famous family of ceramic makers. She was almost cheated out of her family legacy by a domineering and self serving aunt and a good intentioned but weak willed and tradition bound uncle who is the creative force of the family business. The male protagonist is a wiz investor who was double crossed by a trusted friend and business partner and almost realized too late that there is more to life than making money. The story is not just about the romance and the trials and tribulations that the 2 protagonists experienced but is also about how people with centuries old Chinese traditions and mindsets are pulled unwillingly and painfully into the 21st century business environment and what happens if you trust the wrong people and are too naive in business dealings.

Those who enjoy learning more about porcelain and porcelain manufacture will enjoy this drama as I did. I was very interested when they showed and talked, though on a very basic level, about how famille rose porcelain is made. I have a new appreciation of how much sweat and tears goes into the making of good hand painted porcelain. The countryside backdrop is very scenic and the cinematography is excellent. I find myself looking forward to every episode and visiting Jingdezhen (Porcelain Capital of China) in the future.

Those who do not like business/financial dramas may find this drama slow because there is a lot of it especially in the first several episodes. Part of the theme is also about the revitalization and modernization of ancient towns in China and how these endeavors are financed - probably a big concern in many parts of China.

I think Victoria Song and Vic Chou played the leads convincingly and the chemistry between the 2 was good though both their hair styles (especially Vic’s disheveled countryside hair style)could be better at times ：） Victoria Song is so beautiful and young looking, she could easily pass for a woman in her mid or late 20’s.

Read More

Twisted tale of politics and love

This tale involves a paronoid emperor who ends up killing his son with the crown prince eventually killing his sister amidst palace political intrigue and tragedy.

The main story is about the politically savvy eldest princess, the Princess Royal Li Rong and her consort, Pei Wenxuan, who were stuck for 20 years in a loveless marriage. They both were killed and were ‘reborn’ to when she is 18 and he, 20. This gives them a 2nd chance to change their outcome in life and politics. But no matter how much they tried to right things, life seems inevitable to repeat itself. However, their relationship improves as past misunderstandings are resolved revealing their love for each other. It wasn’t until later that they discovered another person, the Princess Royal’s trusted childhood friend, Su Ron Qing, was also ‘reborn’. Su loves Li Rong but not enough to prioritize her over his family’s interest, Su also tried his best to change his and his family’s tragic destiny with his schemes running counter to that of Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan, thus undoing much of what the couple tried to achieve. Su is out for revenge for what happened to him in his previous life and scuttles many of Li Rong’s schemes by rationalizing he’s just protecting her. All this happening in a court where the powerful and corrupt nobles are colluding for selfish interests and an emperor who has a deep distrust of his own children and empress. A wrong step in the emperor’s eyes could mean death for his children. I find myself looking forward to every episode to see how LiRong and Pei Wenxuan would deal with the deadly situations dished out.

Because of all the palace political shenanigans, this drama needs good English subtitles to be enjoyed fully. Both male and female leads as well as the SML did a good job with their performances. The costumes and accessories are beautiful with great cinematography. This is a female centric drama and it is interesting to see how the Princess Royal dresses as an official in court. She is portrayed as a strong, intelligent and capable courtier, more suitable to rule than her brother, the crown prince.

Read More

Another of my all time favorites

This drama is so interesting because each episode has the expected and the storyline is so good. Both the ML and FL were well matched in their roles and did a great job. This drama has the mix I like- Wuxia, romance ( though not much), funny moments, intrigue, politics, scheming, great cinematography, great acting.

I enjoyed the interaction and the relationship between the male protagonist (XFN) and his father and the female protagonist (JN). JN has a secret identify that unfolds as the story progresses. She grows up as a maid of XFN who is protective of her but gives her space. It is known that she tries to kill him with sneak attacks but there is a reson why and it came in handy later on. The story shows how XFN grows, improve his martial arts skills, his schemes as he travels to retrieve a cherished sword while seeking the truth about his mother’s death.

It’s unfortunate that this is only season 1 but the good news is that this series did not end in a cliff hanger and can be viewed as a stand-alone even if it takes a while for season 2 to be filmed which I hope not.

Read More

Amazing Drama

I just love this drama. It’s one of my all time favorites. I rewatched it soon after I finished all 40 episodes, fast forwarding through some of the secondary leads’ lives. The cast did a great job especially the 3 young kids in ep 1&2. I was hooked from the get go. I love Seven Tan. She is so cute and funny and plays a character with a bigger than life personality. She is beautiful as the grown up LJJ. Her acting is spot on. Song Wei Long is so good looking and his acting is good and credible as LX. I read that netizens criticized him but in my opinion, it’s unwarranted. He was only 20 years old when this drama was produced. Stephen Zhang is endearing as HZQ and completes the trio parented by 2 men, Li Pa and Ling Pa. Hats off to Tu Song Yan who’s portrayal of Li Pa, a loving, wise and kind father was very touching and with LJJ’s take charge personality, just what 2 traumatized young boys needed. Li Pa’s thoughtful handing of his daughter was funny and wonderful to watch. Yang Tong Shu also did a great job as LX’s mother. We hate her so much and it’s also due to her good acting skills.

I laughed so much and cried at the many tender and poignant moments and binge watched till late at night because I was obsessed with the story and the main characters. The story touches on family and parenting issues, childhood tragedy and abandonment, continuing trauma and mental health ( though not in depth), school, career challenges and love life. The story focuses on the children when LJJ was 6 and the boys were 8, then at 16 and 18 and again at 25 and 27. I also love the romance between LJJ and XL. Though some people expressed discomfort about their romance because they’re ‘siblings’, it’s similar to great childhood friends becoming romantically involved years later when they grow up. LJJ and XL always had a special relationship. It was LJJ who used to chase after this big brother (Oppa) who lived upstairs. She misses him tremendously when he’s gone for a few days. In LX’s mind, he always had the notion of marrying her as they accidentally performed the ancient rite of engagement (LOL) when he rescued her from kidnappers when they were young kids. It should also come as no surprise to viewers as the opening and ending video clips showed them kissing.

I usually fast forward through the video clips during the beginning and ending credits but for this drama, I watched them all for every episode. They were so compelling. The characters look so happy in some and it’s a pleasure to watch them grow up through the clips. The music is poignant and moving if you read the lyrics. Definitely a drama that must be watched with English subtitles if your Mandarin, like mine, is not so good.

Best of all, this drama has a happy ending. I can’t bear to feel sad after investing hours of watching a drama and I especially wanted good endings for these characters. I wanted to be entertained and I was.

Read More

Much underrated drama

Initially, I was hesitant to watch this from the reviews and the rating of 7.5 here. I’m glad I watched it. I’m a fan of Olivia Wang and of all of her dramas that I’ve watched, she looked the most beautiful here and I’ve always liked her acting. I’ve only seen Peter Sheng in ‘Oh My General’ which I enjoyed very much but Sheng looks more handsome here. Kudos to both their stylists. I feel he’s a good actor as well. What I didn’t like is how long this drama is. Consequently, too much airtime was given to the secondary leads and side characters. The secondary lead couple is not like-able for the drama to spend so much time on them especially in the 2nd half which dragged for me.

SpoilerAlert
The first 30 seconds of the drama sets the stage for the rest of the story. The true identities of the 2 protagonists unfold as the drama progresses and I had to rewind several times to rewatch the first 30 seconds to understand who’s who. Qin Wen Tian is the successor of Diety/emperor Cang who, along with ‘Huang’, sacrificed themselves to save the world. Deity Xi is Huang’s husband and swore enmity with the rest of the world after Huang’s death. Mo Qing Cheng is the daughter of Huang and Xi though few knew it and not even Mo and Xi until much later. The story is about the 2 protagonists, QWT and MQC, 500 years after Cang and Huang’s death, their background, how they met, their adventures with other side characters, evil court politics and what they were ultimately destined for.

Bai Qiu Xue is the fiancée of Qin Wen Tian from childhood. She and her family publicly broke off their engagement and humiliated the Qin family all for riches, reputation and power. Such an annoying character and her excuses for her bad deeds seem to be jealousy and ‘I have no choice’ . She got engaged to the handsome villain, Ye Wu Que, after dumping QWT but regretted it after he got super martial arts power from receiving the heavenly ‘ soul stone’ as Cang’s successor. I felt the drama focused too much on this secondary couple and the younger, tragic Bai sister.

I enjoyed the music but I believe there were only 3 songs. Thankfully, after 52 episodes, it’s a good ending for the main couple. You could say I’m a sucker for good endings.

Read More

A girl like none other- another one of my favorites

Love the pairing of Guan Xiao Tong and Neo Hou. Both are gorgeous though in a few episodes, NH’s makeup is too strong (e,g. Red lipstick?). That said, I just love this drama. I would say it’s a romantic comedy featuring 2 beautiful people without the sap, mix in some martial arts which the FL is good at, comic relief, drama, political intrigue, angst, great cinematography, beautiful sets and costumes… need I say more?

Ban Hua, the female protagonist, is a woman before her time. She is brash, strong willed, beautiful, fearless with good martial arts skills, not as educated as some of her peers who are jealous of her beauty and look down on her. Her character is likeable because she is straight forward, street smart, loves her family and is kind to the unfortunate. She has an undeserved bad reputation because 3 of her engagements were dissolved. She meets the good looking Rong Xia, the “number 1 scholar” and favorite courtier of the emperor, under 2 very embarrassing circumstances. She calls him a dull goose to his face when he wouldn’t go along with her white lie.

The rest of the story is a process of the 2 getting to know each other, their difficult courtship, trials and tribulations as he tries to unravel the mystery behind the tragedy of his family. XFS, the hypocritical #1 Talented woman, is Ban Hua’s love rival as she likes RX and schemes to do Ban Hua in, but RX has eyes only for BH once he falls for her. There are funny moments when BH tries to win RX over to help her brother, the # 1 wastrel. She uses the wrong volcabulary, forgets her lines, fakes gentleness because she thinks RX likes the SFX type.

BH has an unconventional family which also provides comic relief. Her father is a pushover, loves her and is afraid of his wife but is an honest courtier and loyal.

This is a light hearted drama which I will watch again and again for entertainment. The BH RX couple is too cute. But those who don’t like romance may not like it.

Read More

One of my favorites

I enjoyed this drama very much though I thought the 1st eposide had bad cinematography and wondered if this was just a heavy Wuxia story as I had never read any of the author’s novels nor seen any of the prequels or older regions of this drama. Once I got through the first episode, which actually sets the stage for the rest of the story, I was hooked. This drama has Wuxia, romance, intrigue, politics, and fantasy. It helps to know that the drama took place at the end of the Yuan dynasty.

Spoiler:
I was particularly excited when Yukee Chen, as Zhao Min, literally bust onto the scene wearing red. Wow. She appears only in the middle but what a strong female character with good fighting skills, ruthless with her enemies but kind to the down trodden and willing to sacrifice for love. Yukee has grown much as an actress since Princess Weiyoung. Joseph Zheng is so handsome. He did a great job as the lead but I though his character was too kind and compassionate to the point of waffling and indecisiveness but I guess that’s how his character was written.

There are a couple of songs in the drama that I liked - beautiful with a touch of melancholy . I liked the drama so much I decided to watch older versions because some reviewers said they were good but the cinematography of the two I tried watching was so bad I dropped them. Yes, the CGI here could be better but overall, it’s not bad at all compared to poor cinematography and poor acting.

I will rewatch after a while when I have nothing else to watch using the fast forward button ?

Read More

Enjoyed the characters portrayed

Really enjoyed this drama. Kudos to the FL’s stylist for more convincingly styling her as a man. Perhaps it’s her height, minimal makeup and clothing. Love her elegant and beautiful ‘manly’ clothes. So flamboyant yet suitable. I like her strong yet plucky character. She had accepted her fate to live her entire life as a man to provide her family with continuity and safety. In the beginning, her father told her to act the playboy, never to take sides and never to reveal her female identity. The 5th prince is a strong character and resolute in his love for her. Told Han Shiyi if he can’t marry her, he won’t marry. He is portrayed as someone who will do what he promised. He was also smart enough to see through his Chu cousin’s scheming so there was little of the angst associated with him believing his vicious cousin. The 5th prince also learned good cooking skills in military camp - how cute. Both FL and ML are good looking and have good chemistry together.

I choose to believe that, in ep 24, they did see each other when the carriage passed. If even they didn’t, he’d find her since he knows she’s in the capital as he’s been able to locate her many times in the past. Based on her reaction when the children called out to the emperor, she looked forward to seeing him again.

The pacing was good as there are only 24 episodes.

Read More

Riveting but sad

This review is for parts 1 &2. While I found this drama riveting, the middle dragged a bit for me. I also had to stop in the middle for a couple of weeks and watch another lighter drama because I found the treatment of Yun He and the Lin Hao Qing sadistic and tragic. The first 1/3 of part 2 was also depressing because Yun He was dying and Chang Yi was so mean to her. I felt they dragged this out too long. However, I really liked the episodes starting from where Yun He meets Chang Yi again. Their wedding was so romantic. Although their wedding outfits were in red, the bride did not have her face covered.

I loved the acting of the main leads and the secondary leads. The costumes were beautiful and the cinematography was good. Dilraba is as beautiful as ever and Allen Ren looks just gorgeous. I first saw him in Under the Power and liked him, but he is even more good looking here. He is a good actor.

This drama is worth watching but a bit depressing. After 42 episodes, thank goodness the ending was good though a bit choppy. I had to rewatch the last few minutes to figure out that they were showing the future when Yun He was free.

Read More