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Besides, looks like her BF and good friend will be cheating behind Pipi's back as they have lots in common and banter left and right. Maybe those 8 episodes are for VIP subscribers? I read that four episodes will air weekly, 2 episodes a day on Wed and Thurs respectively. I had no expectations for this drama, in fact it wasn't even on my radar but I've liked what I watched from the first two episodes. As for Johnny Huang, his character seems like a fish out of water and is trying to adjust to his new surroundings and reconcile with the fact that Victoria's character didn't fall in love with him at first sight as she did before.
The novel this drama is adapted from seems to be liked well enough on Douban and the two directors have some acclaimed work between the two of them which suggests they have some decent material to work with and some talent behind the camera. So based on the synopsis, knowing making her falling in love with him will cause her death, he still persistent to make her fall in love with him -. Am I the only one feel wrong about this??? Probably 8 a week. I saw on wiki that there's 24 eps total. Probably 8 every Wednesday for those members who has VIP status with the Chinese platform which is airing it.
I read the synopsis that says his father placed a curse on them. When and if Victoria's character falls in love with him, she dies. So she's died several times since the beginning. Unless, there is something he can do to break the curse. I don't know why his father placed this curse or maybe I just missed it in one of the flash back scenes.
Yes, 8 eps a week is for VIP subscribers. However, I'm really enjoying the fact that it's only 24 episodes. But I also hope that there's a happy ending.
Does anyone know where we can find the original novel online? Victoria's acting does improve episode by episode. Perhaps, she's finally found the right acting project or the right co-star. She either was so wooden or awkward in her acting plus she's done more than a few acting projects. Maybe this is the role to show her improvements. Also, isn't one of the main reason he seeks her out is because she's suppose to be the cure to his blindness during the day?
The drama mentioned that this incarnation of her didn't fall in love with him at first sight like her previous incarnations did so maybe this means her "fate" will change and they'll find a way so that they both can live on. Aish why is there a trend in many C-Dramas lately where long time lovers get separated by some unforeseen circumstances, only to be reunited years later LoL!? It's just overdone is all, no hate. Because they run out of ideas lol! Btw is black knight any good? Regardless of whether she can cure his blindness or not, and after many times, maybe he should get a hint?
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment. Sign up for a new account in our community. Already have an account? By 0ly40 Started May By Stephanie Lim Started July 9. The whole dinner conversation between Pipi and Helan is played for comedy, with him giving her wild-sounding answers to her questions, while wearing a deadpan expression. The scene is backed by sound effects that indicate that I ought to find this scene funny. I found all the 4S stuff.. And quite childish, to be honest. Here are a quick handful of examples, just for the record. At one point, Helan says to Qianhua that the person he is saving is Pipi, not Huiyan.
The continuity in this show is problematic. The script is problematic. The turnaround from stubborn noble idiocy to open communication between Pipi and Helan is sudden and very unconvincing. While that is all fine and good, I feel like Show took too long to allow these fragments to come together in a cohesive way. Show makes it very clear that Qianhua is crushed by the event. The fact that Qianhua gets raped is bad enough, but Show makes little effort to acknowledge the violation, except for a scene of a tearful and disheveled Qianhua, post-assault.
The worst thing of all, is that Zhao Song never admits that he did anything wrong, and even proceeds to do all kinds of terrible things to subsequently harm her and Helan. By now, you must be wondering why I watched this show to the very end, given how problematic I found it, right?
I asked myself the same question, ha. Even though I found myself not all that interested in the development of the OTP, I found that the mysterious bits of the drama worked quite well, to keep me watching. All the fragments of information about the fox clan intrigued me, and I wondered how everything fit together. The flashbacks to our young lead s. Show opens most of its episodes with flashbacks, and many of those flashbacks are of the past timeline of when Helan and Pipi first met, when Helan was a youth and Pipi was Huiyan.
I found myself very drawn to the scenes from this timeline. Both of the young actors who play young Helan and young Huiyan Victor Liu and He Haha are very good, and I found them consistently expressive, engaging and believable. They made the young love in that timeline feel wistful and pure, and I always found myself wanting to see more, from this timeline.
These better moments were like little highlights, for me. That scene where Xiaoju, Kuanyong and Xiuxian stepped up and put the user boy and his girlfriend in their places was very satisfying. The little bromantic arc between Xiuxian and Kuanyong is sweet. I mean, to lie about being vegetarian, just to protect your friend, and then keep it up for the next several hundred years , is so quietly loving and loyal. I rather like the voiceovers that we get regularly from Pipi. It lends a thoughtful touch to the show, and also ties the episode together in a thematic way.
While I was in the earlier stretch of my watch, I fell sick, and found that this show was easy to consume in large servings. But, because I was curious to see how Show would resolve everything at the end, I kept on going, even when the going got a lot less fun. Our leads got less and less screen time, and we got more and more filler with secondary characters. The episodes started to feel distinctly draggy, and I found myself quickly becoming bored and disengaged.
Additionally, episode 24 felt strangely shoved in, even though the backstory was rather endearing. Even though I rather like the idea of this backstory deepening our understanding of the current-day relationships, the placing of the episode in the overall scheme of things, does feel like Show is stalling for time.
Like, here, watch this, while we figure out what to do with the finale. It just felt weird. The central conflict that Show sets up is a conundrum that is very hard to solve. Bear in mind, though, that I had very, very low expectations of this ending. In principle, I rather liked the idea of flipping the equation.
We start the show with Helan loving Pipi, even though she had no memory of him from her previous lives, and therefore, ending the show with Pipi loving Helan, even though he has no memory of her, feels rather apt. There is a bittersweet quality to this ending, but at the same time, Show paints a picture of hope for the future — and for a possible sequel. It sometimes felt like Show was cycling in place to use up screen time, like when Pipi went off on her apple analogy during her interview. That analogy was really stretching it.
Also, all four interviewers seemed not at all shocked, when she started talking about meeting her prince, who just happened to be an alien whose heart beat only 3 times a minute. That was kinda bizarre. At other times, it felt like secondary characters got additional screen time, in order to create filler, also for the purpose of using up screen time.
And yet, they had time to pick up Xiaoju, and take a bus ride out into the countryside, and have some time for chit chat, hugs and assurances, before finally setting off to save Helan. The boys thereafter hanging out at the cafe in fox form is a cute thought, but it did seem problematic to me that a cafe that serves food would be allowed to keep foxes on its premises. This bit bugged me the most. First of all, how did Qianhua know to use the mirror to light the fire on the sacred wood? Second of all, I am so angry that even after Zhao Song raped her, and did all kinds of terrible things, and hurt Helan to the point of almost-death, Qianhua is tearfully declaring her love for him.
And then, to have her destroy herself, while tearfully gazing at her rapist with love in her eyes, that just bugged me no end. I mean, sure, Zhao Song was destroyed too, and he did have a moment of regret, but I say that was too little, too late. He never apologized for raping her either. Do I regret hanging on to the end, with this show? Depending on whether the videos are blocked in your region, you might be able to check out the show on YouTube.
Once I decided it was terrible, I stuck around to enjoy just how bad it was. And so when it took a detour to awful, I poured myself a drink and enjoyed myself a lot. Just ignoring for a moment that they never established any mythology but instead kept throwing random bits of information at us in ways that made it seem they were just making it up as they went along, the rape was the worst thing they did.
Like Liked by 1 person. There ARE at least some big-picture similarities between this and Goblin! Really old supernatural creature, searching for his human bride, and the whole impossibility of it all. I giggled at how you found a way to laugh at the awful!
That made my blood boil so bad. Like Liked by 2 people. You are BUSY, woman!!! Three reviews in almost as many days! Although I have a spat with you over Fated to Love You. Before she met Daniel, female lead made me cringe internally and externally. Someone like daniel could help treat it, but bombastic Jang Hyuk would have been terrible for her until he told the truth.
I do recommend Chicago Typewriter!!! Or, you might be living in a very different time zone? Sorry there was that gap which allowed the DSM to fall through. I only know from extensive experience with the DSM. Her best friend is super annoying, and the second female lead is devious as ever. Her character was Soooooo weak. I suggest it if you want something light: I liked how the plot was not so complicated during the first episodes then halfway through the series, it felt like everything was rushed.
Let alone the last episode! There were a lot of loopholes and some of the scenes were not properly established by the previous eps. Yes, the initial episodes were definitely better than the later ones. It was weird; everything did sorta feel rushed, but at the same time, Show felt like it was cycling in place a lot. I was even waiting for a redeeming episode only to be slapped in the face with a rather disappointing ending. Like they originally had a different main lead actress who dropped out after they started filming. Supposedly Victoria Song was a godsend savior who agreed to help out and act the role last minute.
I literally lived to watch the beginning clips of teen Huiyan and Helan…they were so adorable and believable! I had read about the change and how that caused a mad scramble with re-writes and re-filming, but I had no idea she was participating in a variety show! She definitely was this show's savior, in more ways than one.
To me the highlight was the flashbacks and they were done right. She either was so wooden or awkward in her acting plus she's done more than a few acting projects. However, I'm really enjoying the fact that it's only 24 episodes. A3kings July 1, at 1: All the fragments of information about the fox clan intrigued me, and I wondered how everything fit together.
Her acting was more convincing than Johnny Huang's, imo, so she was pulling a lot of weight to make the OTP work as much as possible. Very haphazard-feeling watch — and now we know just how haphazard it was, behind-the-scenes! I would've watched an entire drama with just the teen characters, to be honest. They were so cute, and they acted so well! So expressive and believable, whatever immersion I had in the OTP connection can be credited to those two young cuties, I swear.
I wish we'd seen more of them! I love your review. I agree with everything you wrote about his show. Johnny just killed me from the beginning. Victoria did better that he did but they had no chemistry and the secondary characters were better. Qi Lin was actually the best actor in this drama. He did such a great job portraying his characters feelings of hurt, betrayal, unrequited love, and frustration. I was so mad at the show for the raped scene.
When I watched I was in shock because it seemed to come out of nowhere and it was so unnecessary. And then they just kept making it worse and worse. Just like you and other commentators I hated their ending, she did not deserve that. Thanks for enjoying the review!
And OMG yes that rape scene really felt like it came out of nowhere. I feel for any show that deals with a lot of behind the scenes drama so I get it, but the criticism you mention that resonates with me most was about shows coming up with a great idea and then apparently not putting any thought into how to resolve things in a satisfactory manner. I was, like you, fine with the leads being in opposite situations with her knowing him and him not knowing her, but the road to getting there was a mess.
So, yeah, basically what you said and I was enjoying the first half. I started skipping with the ex in America. I am still thankful that I knew about it going in but it was even worse than I imagined. Anyway, Arang and the Magistrate still tops my list and I would quit the genre if I could but I tend to like it when done well. I should just accept my fate. I feel like a lot of shows do that these days.. Fantasy genre with its own world-building. Thanks for the warning about About Time. I found him unlikable and uninteresting, and I found her a little flat and candy-ish as well. I watched Arang early on in my k-drama viewing and gave it a second viewing last year and think I appreciated it more.
Still one of the best endings ever. It did portray a lovely relationship between the lead gal and an older lady that ended up being a highlight for me. It was lovely but not worth slogging through 16 hours. Now that I got my drama groove back, I need to get back to it. Currently, Everyone seems obsessed with 10 miles of peach blossoms, I think the sequel? I immediately tune out. But you know me.. After reading your review around a bonfire last night, I put my thinking cap on.
This was a show that I really enjoyed to start with — Sci-Fi elements happening with Fantasy thrown in along with a mystery that spanned the ages. Then, as others have said, by episodes , I had my fingers crossed and checked out a few things such as the author just the most amazing person of the original books.
So, three books so far and this series was based on book one and the ending was different. To me the highlight was the flashbacks and they were done right. In fact I was quite happy to see their storylines regularly.