The Crown Prince who Cared Too Much

===my review contains spoiler on the ending===

I am reminded of Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre-Dame as I was watching this drama. Quite a few parallels-- right from the start, we sense an air of tragedy; both have physical tortures and punishments aplenty; both are melancholically beautiful. I remember having the most difficult time reading Notre-Dame, on one hand I love the prose and writing style, on the other hand, the story was so awfully tragic. That is the same experience with Royal Nirvana.

I'm not sure if the production team was trying to be ironic when they gave the English title "Royal Nirvana", because there is nothing nirvana about the story. Its Chinese title makes more sense-- 鹤唳华亭 is a poetic expression that means recollection of the past, a past that was very unpredictable and treacherous. Yet the treacheries and scheming in this story isn't as good as in Nirvana in Fire, The Rise of Phoenixes, etc. It is however outstanding in its detailed characterizations of the main leads and supporting characters. And watching the characters 'face off' in tensed moments are very well done in Royal Nirvana! The scenes between Crown Prince and Emperor, between Crown Prince and Wenxi, are full of tensions and emotions. Their feelings that were at times suppressed and hidden behind their words and actions, and at times expressed so boldly that left me in shock. The attraction of Royal Nirvana is not in its story, but in the storytelling: the cinematography, the dialogues and the acting.

I love the cinematography, the wide-angled view and 180° camera panning helped to pull me into the story. At times I felt as if I was there, an invisible soul standing at a corner watching the story unfolds. And the dialogues....Royal Nirvana has some of the best lines I've ever heard in a historical cdrama. The writer is very clever (and creative) in the use of simple words, arranging them in such a manner that made some of the lines so meaningful and unforgettable. The acting, hmmm. I know most viewers complain on Luo Jin's portrayal of the Crown Prince. For me however, I think he was right. This Crown Prince cared a lot, he cared too much for those that he loved and even those that he hated. He could never make a strong and firm stand for himself, and in the midst of trying to protect everyone, his path and objectives got very unclear. For such a character, it is not enough to portray him with sad eyes and a frown, he needed to cry. The whole cast put in a phenomenal performance, special mention on the Emperor, it is such a 'joy' when he is on screen. Although he is the most hated character, his acting is so naunced, it is an enjoyment to watch him. Lu Wenxi... oh my, every time her tiny frame showed up, I almost stop breathing because most of the tragedy and tortures were focused on her. When Crown Prince was with Wenxi, the onscreen chemistry was sizzling. I'm not sure if it was the director's artistic direction or the acting (maybe both), when these 2 were on screen together in the later parts, the undercurrent desires and sexual tensions could have melted my screen...

In case you have not watched this drama and is hesitating because the ML sounds like such a kill-joy, FL is very strong. Lu Wenxi-- an innocent lass who had merely wanted to follow her heart and be with the man that she loved, how she had to grow up and be brave in a short period of time. And how she exacted her revenge plan deserved standing ovation. It was such a checkmate move! She had not only thought through how each of the characters would react, she planned and made sure which ever move that they made, they would eventually end up where she wanted them to be. In comparison, ML spent most of the time in a reactive state, only reacting to the events that happened and not taking a pro-active lead. To some extent, his teacher and mentor had to take some responsibility for this. ML had went on the dark side early on in the story, he did an underhanded move to entrap his enemies. However his plan was not fail-safe, and when his teacher was sacrificed to protect him (and lectured him on integrity before he died), he vowed never to resort to underhanded means and never to put others in danger... which was really quite foolish, sigh.

So why am I rating this drama only 9? I am usually very generous and often give 9.5 and 10. That 1 missing point is because I'm really not convinced that this story had to be so tragic (this is also the reason why Hunchback of Notre-Dame is less well-known)... Due to censorship issues, a great chunk of about 10+ episodes were edited off at the end. Since it was edited off, couldn't they have given this a happy ending? Stop the story at the point when Wenxi had completed her revenge and Crown Prince made her his concubine. But it didn't and instead gave us a confusing ending, hinting that "more stuffs happened" but we couldn't show you. Maybe the director had planned for the Special and wanted to give an abstract ending so that viewers would still be interested to continue with the story in the Special. But such an ending was quite anti-climax and shallow, spoiling the emotionally rich and intense drama.

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Masterpiece on workplace politics

I used to think that China can't portray the workplace realistically in dramas, until I saw Ideal City. Although some of the major events in the story felt unbelievable, the characters' reactions and character developments are quite on-point and very realistic. Finally a workplace drama that really focus on the workplace and tell it like it is.

This is set in the construction industry, our heroine is a cost engineer-- she does the budgeting, costing and oversee construction projects to ensure it does not exceed budget. I think it is brilliant to choose this industry, quite an unknown field and most viewers would not know how accurately the work is portrayed ? What makes the work settings believable in this drama is the dressing and make-up. Sun Li had on very light make-up and her clothes are standard office wear. There was this scene of Mark Chao changing footwear when he reached his home, he was wearing sports shoes with suit and tie-- realistic dress code as he had to visit construction site very often. And the office settings are not overly beautified or expensive, look like regular office.

The heroine, Su Xiao, is an independent and smart office worker. We watched how she did her best at work and was sabotaged, how idealistic she continued to be and relentless in keeping to her moral codes and work ethics, yet still managing to make a comeback and climbed up the ranks. She never gave up nor accept the toxic work culture, keep holding onto her own beliefs and refused to become "one of them".

The storytelling is fast-paced and have some really clever plotting and scheming, and plot twists!! It was quite an exhilarating watch for me. Although the romance is very little in this drama, that is alright for me, as the focus is on the work and politics. And wonderful acting by all the actors!! Even Yang Chao Yue whom I was worried for, they gave her a character that has YCY playing herself ? Her role was really cute and adorable in drama, brightens up the screen whenever she appears!!

I would have rated this 10/10 except for the last arc. It felt like a rushed ending or maybe that wasn't the original ending....? The events that happened in the last few eps were quite confusing, and overly idealistic. Su Xiao had a very grand, "all-for-one, one-for-all" theory but realistically speaking it is not possible to execute that. Her being able to convince the CEO to accept that proposal was really stretching the reality for me..... I was quite upset with her, wish she would have let Xia Ming did what he had planned, it was going well, and her proposal although is great for everyone, if it failed in the execution, would turn to bad situation for Xia Ming and his uncle. They wanted to have the freedom to run Tian Ke the way they envisioned, separating from HQ is the better alternative. But we'll never know if Su Xiao succeed in eradicating the toxic in the management system, if staying back was good for Xia Ming as drama left it at that.

And I think they cut too much of Hongmei's scenes ? Might as well not even include her scenes in the ending, rather then giving viewers a "why, what happen?" feeling.

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Enjoyable modern fairytale drama with plenty of laughs

Tbh this drama got on my watch list becos of Bai Yu (love him in Guardian). And I am glad to have watched this, thoroughly enjoyed Fairyland Lovers! The dynamics between the main leads are well played out, the scriptwriters did a good job writing in the conflicts and love between the main leads. In some dramas we are left clueless how X and Y went from strangers/enemies to friends/lovers, but here, the development of friendships and loves are well enacted and played out. We can feel the attractions growing between the characters! This is a strong point in the writing, however I still gave the story 7/10 becos of the writing and development of the sub plots... Initially the story focused on the spirit cases, on how they helped resolved their obsessions, but changed midway and story developed in a different direction. It gives the viewers a disoriented, messy watching experience. Such as the introduction of Shen Zui. I initially thought he would become a supporting character becos of his many scenes interacting with the main leads, and that he would be brought back in the final fight. But realize at the finale that his appearance was only as a "spirit case"? Another plot hole in writing is on Lin Xia. Her introduction was as a struggling actress in financial difficulties. But after Bai Qi moved into her house, she abandoned her acting aspirations and don't need to work anymore?! Her character is not the type to ask Bai Qi for money, so where did she get the money for living expenses? Especially when she broke up with Bai Qi, she spent months at home mopping over the breakup, doing household chores and grocery shopping... where did she get the money to pay utilities, buy groceries, etc?

The drama has an excellent cast and guest stars, acting is good. Possibly the cdrama with the most guest stars this year? It is a light-hearted fantasy drama with comedy. The OST is beautiful and the songs selection at key scenes are great choices too. Love Lin Xia's guitar strumming and accostic singing scenes. My only complain is the uneven writing and plot holes. There are so many plot holes....

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Court Lady -- a historical fiction drama that showed so much promise, but became a messy wrack

I watched Court Lady while it was airing, and initially had such high hopes. Saw the production documentary videos and they have spent 9 MONTHS to construct the palace setting. Probably another 3, 4 months to draw the design. Estimated of 1 year (and several millions cost) spent on architecture design, workmanship and construction, and costume design and tailor work went into the production for this drama..... It has 2 gorgeous and good actors in the leading roles, supported by a strong cast.... so why, why did it shoot itself in the feet with the poor scriptwriting and editing work?

The story showed a lot of promise too, scriptwriting was quite genius at some parts..... but it then 'set fire' to the good stuffs with poorly written character developments, overly-contrived schemes and sub-plots, and one of the WORST editing seen in cdrama history. There is a rumor that the drama was originally 69 episodes but due to China's recent guideline on too lengthy dramas, it was re-edited to 55 episodes. But this is still no excuse for the eventual product -_-" there are surely better ways to edit and compress a long drama into an acceptable length-- they could have taken out the scenes of some unnecessary supporting characters, or cut down on the regretful Emperor monologues, etc. but no, lo and behold, the editing team thinks it is alright to keep these fluff and EDIT OUT key transition scenes that affect the main plot! The ending scene in ep 46 and opening in ep 47 made a lot of viewers thought they are watching the wrong ep.... that edit was like: you were watching someone preparing to do a bungee jump, and the next scene cuts to the person undressing the safety gear. Jump was over and you didn't get to see it.

Should you watch Court Lady? Only if you are a fan of Li Yitong and/or Xu Kai, and/or Tan Jianci, else it is highly likely that you would drop the drama midway through.

There are some really good parts in the first half though. The crown prince friendship with Chen Ji, and that phoenix embroidery mystery..... the script was very well-written in these parts and quite clever, director did a good job maintaining the tempo and tension too (I was literally sitting at the edge of my chair when I was watching the phoenix embroidery part). Unfortunately the clever scriptwriting did not sustain in the 2nd half and the editing got more haphazard...

The only consistent elements in this drama are:- good cinematography, good acting (Xu Kai had some high tension and emo scenes), and the beautiful palace grounds and high quality costumes. If you can close an eye to the poor scriptwriting and editing.

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A Masterpiece in Suspense and Fear

MDL should have one more criteria-- cinematography. Because the cinematography (or directing) at this drama is 10/10, and this is where Danger Zone stood out from the typical murder mystery thrillers. It has quite an ordinary and easy to guess plot, nothing that we have not seen in other murder mysteries. What made it so suspenseful, intense and scary is the cinematography, the directors' and art designers' brilliant work.

My rating does not seem to correspond with the headline ^^" It is indeed a masterpiece in building suspense and fear in the viewers, but the script is weak and has quite a lot of plot holes and logic issues. This drama focused the storytelling on the art direction and some shocking images to build-up the tensions and suspenseful atmosphere. It use a no-holds-bar approach to tell the story, which gave a rarely seen realism in such murder mysteries (I mean, in most other dramas, it would not have shown some of these scenes, instead it would make references to those scenes in the dialogues or show us a character's reaction to what was supposedly seen)

Some might ask is it necessary to have so much gore in the storytelling? Well, it seems effective since this drama got me hugging cushions and pillows, something that I've not done watching other horror shows. And it is kinda "refreshing", most dramas don't do this, but it did here!

The cast performances are quite good in this, not the best though. Special mention on Vic Zhou, his eyes are haunted with the pain and feelings of hopelessness as he is stuck behind bars and unable to defend himself. Christopher Lee and the supporting characters are very natural in their scenes, and for the more emotional outbursts scenes, there are some phenomenal performances. Berent Zhu's Ren Fei isn't as good but director has cleverly cast him as a young hot-headed new police detective, and as his character gradually develops throughout the story, I grow to like him a lot. For me, the weakest is probably Teresa Daley's journalist, she didn't quite managed to make the character her own.... they could have put any other actress into this role and it wouldn't have made a difference.

The other thing that I dislike about the drama is the "superhuman" rate of recovery!! Lol.... the way Ren Fei jumped and crushed through that window, didn't even need a day of MC and back at work ? the most unbelievable was how fast that female detective (sorry, forgot character name) recovered from her head injury ? and finally the way police looked so stupid at their work.... but I guess this has to happen else there would be no drama (which is why I feel the script is actually quite weak, couldn't it have made police look smart and the murderers are just smarter?). Also, where the heck is Liang Yan Dong getting all the batteries and cigarettes from? I dunno how the prison store works in Taiwan but they would restrict the amount of batteries that a prisoner can purchase.... and there is no way it would be selling cigarettes! Liang Yan Dong don't seem to have family visiting him, so from who and where? Just a few annoying plot holes....

I'm rating this a 7.5 for now, let's see how S2 develop, might come back and re-edit this review.

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A tragic satire on the helpless, perverts and unfairness of society

The first few episodes really got me excited: it seems like such a good whodunit murder mystery, and I love the storytelling, the developments, the pacing and the dark-dark themes!! It is very rare that a Chinese drama would include in such social topics, and took quite a deep dive too. The social topics that are brought up in this drama and the depths it went into, are both shocking and disturbing.

Unfortunately, the scriptwriters and directors seem to be too focused on the storytelling and confusing the audience, that it neglected the whodunit element. Around 3/4 point, when the details and clues started connecting in my mind, I felt "cheated". Because it became clear that the detectives had made some glaring errors in the investigation and blatantly ignored the usual deduction process in a police investigation.... because [MAJOR SPOILER] if they have paid attention to the autopsy report, or talked to the pathologist who performed the autopsy, they would have reached the conclusion much faster! This is the first time I've seen a murder investigation whereby the detectives are not interested to know the cause of death, nor if the body had been moved.... -_-

I have not read the original novel that this is adapted from, so I do not know if the directors are merely following the novel or if they have changed certain elements to make it more exciting. But with what we eventually see in the drama, it might have worked better if the 2 detectives are private investigators hired by a mysterious client, because the police had concluded the death was a suicide. Without access to the autopsy report and police fact-finding at the crime scene, the manner in which they conduct the investigation through interviews would make sense. Sigh.

I am still giving this drama 9/10 because of the tight pacing (there is no lag or slowdown), excellent storytelling (every episode has a twist or surprise), the courage of discussing such ugly social ills (and doing it brilliantly), the great acting (except for Angelababy, her okay performance among such a great cast, kind of spoil it a bit) and for the tears that I shed. FYI, I have watched The Bad Kid and Long Night, and stayed dry-eye throughout both, but this drama had me crying like a baby... So I would still highly recommend this drama! But please watch it for the tragic stories, social ills and good acting.

Lastly, why oh why did they use an English song, and not a great song too, as the drama theme song??!! That irritated me quite a bit..... It would have been much better to use a melancholy Chinese song, or a piano piece (like the opening song at Fearless Whispers). That would be more suitable.

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A good coming-of-age movie about First Loves

I have really enjoyed this movie!! Read the other reviews and well, it really depends on what you are expecting from this? This movie is not going into depths on first loves, it is a coming-of-age story, about 3 young people, how they met each other, their lives and their first loves. It convincingly portrays the attractions that Ai has towards Miao Miao, and Miao Miao has towards Chen Fei. The story between Chen Fei and his friend is not clearly portrayed because Chen Fei isn't clear on what he wants to do with his life, he is still grieving.

Whether Ai is gay and really loves Miao Miao, that we do not know, and from Ai's perspective, I don't think she knows too. It is clear to see why she is attracted to Miao Miao-- Ai is interested in baking and Miao Miao is great at it, there is also the opposites attraction factor, and Miao Miao is from Japan and there for just 1 school semester, which adds an exotic element to Miao Miao. Ai is attracted to Chen Fei becos he has a moody look, a 'I don't belong to this world' air .... she is also influenced by her grandmother's daily calls about her teenage romance and wants a taste of it, a love of her own. These little thoughts and wishes of the girls are very clearly conveyed in this movie, and reminds me of my own teen years. The bromance between Chen Fei and his friend/partner isn't that clear, feel more like a friendship that developed deeper feelings as time went by. And how Chen Fei realized too late that he had loved him more than friends, and regret what happened between them.

Do not expect a great love story-- this movie is about that first attractions, that first love. Special commendations to Sandrine Pinna! Her portrayal of Ai is excellent!! Very natural and real. The other actors did a great job too, but as their characters are more quiet, we don't see much of their acting abilities. Overall, a great coming-of-age movie on first loves, very natural acting with simple camera work that effectively tells its simple story to the audience.

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The Masterpiece that is Joy of Life

First off I must say I gave this drama 10 stars rating at completion, but due to the score I gave for music at this review, overall rating got pulled down to 9....

There are already soooo many reviews praising this drama on its plot and script (well deserved praises!!!), so I thought I would go in a different direction, and talk on a few points that few would have talked on.

THE CAST
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There are some dramas where there is cast magic (eg: Guardian, Ashes of Love, Once Upon a Time in Ling Jian Mountain), even if the cast magic did not captivate you at first, it works into your heart by middle of drama (eg: Scarlet Heart, Untamed, Love & Destiny)-- Joy of Life is the rare cdrama masterpiece that lacks this. Other then Chen Dao Ming and Wu Gang, the rest including the leading actors felt replaceable.... I love Zhang Ruo Yun! First saw him in Novoland Sky Castle 1 and fell in love with his ice-cold portrayal of the prince. But.... although he performed much better here, and JOL is also a much better drama, I would be remembering him as Feng Tian Yi from Novoland. Maybe it is personal taste, but the cast magic failed to captivate me. Somehow Zhang Ruo Yun does not "own" Fan Xian as much as he did as Feng Tian Yi. Even Tian Yu who put up an excellent performance as Wang Qi Nian did not "own" his role too. For me, only Chen Dao Ming (Emperor of Qing) and Wu Gang (Director Chen Ping Ping) stood out.

Acting wise, everyone is at top game!! Just a few supporting actors who were a bit weak, but nothing that would spoil your enjoyment of the drama ;)

THE MUSIC
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The background music can be quite off-putting at the beginning, for about the first 10, 13 eps. I wish it could have been less... but I guess the production team wanted to emphasize on the fun and comedic moments. This was why I dropped JoL initially -_-" Was excited when I saw Zhang Ruo Yun is leading this, watched it and dropped around ep 4 ~ 6 because I couldn't stomach the bgm..... All the rave reviews and high praise brought me back to this, and I AM VERY GLAD I persisted.

This is an excellent drama: with dynasty politics and schemes that make sense and do not felt too exaggerated, and I especially admire the finale eps. Director and scriptwriter are too good-- after relaxing the pace in the 3rd and 2nd last ep, filling these with extra scenes that are entertaining but adds no value to plot development, they suddenly gear up and gave us a punch-in-guts finale ep! Some might hate this (lol) but I especially love it! The impact of what they want to leave us with, to look forward to Season 2, felt especially sharp by relaxing the pace to comedy and self-reflection (you will understand this when you watch the drama), then sudden "fireworks" at the ending. Not sure if I'm making sense here, not quite sure how to express that ending in words. Looking forward to Season 2 ^^

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A dark fairytale called Bloody Romance

Bloody Romance is one of the most beautiful wuxia fantasy dramas, and the most controversial. It is a drama which I have enjoyed a lot, but would hesitate to recommend to others. Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen is my favorite fairytale and Judy Budnitz's The Flying Leap is one of my favorite short stories collection. So, if you like these 2 stories/books, you would like Bloody Romance too...

This is a dark, gothic dynastic drama set in an imaginary world, post Wu Zetian-era. The story revolves around our main female protagonist who was sold by her father to a brothel, where they would cut her arm to drain out buckets of blood... It was a belief in those times that drinking virgin's blood can maintain youth and for longevity. SO HERE, let's pause a minute. Human consumption of incompatible blood type would cause blood poisoning. What does this tell us about the drama? That the story is not logical... In order to enjoy this drama, you need to close an eye to logic--

Bloody Romance is essentially a fairytale about a poor and broken female who got into an assassins group and had to kill in order to survive. However, she had a deep sense of morality and justice, instead of killing her targets, she used her smarts and heart to complete her assassination tasks. While her world was full of cruelty and sexual harassment, she kept her innocence and continued shining bright like a candle in the wind (cue Elton John's song). In her fight to survive and not lose her mind, she had the time to fall in love with a man and attracted the attention of another man.... Forget about the poor logic in the script, watch this drama for the beautiful cinematography, the dialogues and mini stories, and ooooh the excellent acting by Li Yitong (Wan Mei) and Wang Dao (Gongzi). The supporting cast performed very well in their roles too, except for Show Qu (Chang An) who is the ML. His inability to emote with his eyes, made his portrayal of Chang An quite flat.

AND THE OST ♥ the music keeps to the heavy and whimsical mood of the drama. I like that both leads sang a song each, and it sounds like music director did not autotune their voices. Especially Li Yitong's song, sounds very raw, which add a sincerity to the drama. All 3 main leads and most of the supporting cast spoke their own lines, not dubbed by voice actors. This makes the watch experience more heartfelt and sincere, easy on the ears too.

The plot revolves around the 3 main leads, the assassins group, political intrigues, and unrequited romances and family relations that were torn apart due to the dark circumstances. The director's vision reminds me of Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd, etc Tim Burton's movies. This is a drama worth your time to try out, personally I feel it is better than the more popular cdramas, such as Eternal Love and The Untamed.

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Almost perfection 美中不足

Excuse me having to use Chinese characters in the headline, but that is my first thought when I completed the drama. The correct translation for 美中不足 is "a blemish in an otherwise perfect thing" but that sounds kind of negative ? Almost perfection sounds nicer. I have really enjoyed this drama, although I'm rating it 8.5 it would still go on my list of Top 10 dramas for the year. Will come back on what are the 'blemishes' that could have made this a perfect story.

What are great and very well done in Dear Diary:
1) Actual/Real sets and training
Production and cast have travelled to Morocco and Paris for the scenes set in Babylonian times and for the scenes in final ep. Crew had really construct an ancient set for the shooting, the 3 actors that belong to Babylonian times had received training and been educated on how people in those times would behave, walked, fought....
2) The dialogues
There are really good lines in this that are reflective on life and love. It somehow reminded me of Il Mare, Bloody Romance but the dialogues in this are much more superior. I have watched this raw, no idea how the Eng subs would be like? Hopefully it managed to keep the same meanings... A lot of the dialogues could be used in our real life, quite similar to The Alchemist and Little Prince (it even quoted Little Prince in a scene).
3) The story
The premise of a 12 yo's fiction story that came alive, how she had wrote the story with love then hated it due to the public humiliation she suffered when her book was accidentally discovered and read out loud in class, how the experience changed her into an anti-social 24 yo woman with OCD..... her emotions and reactions when she first met the story characters (hilarious yet sad too) and realized her story had came alive..... And the friendships!! Especially between Meiru and Zhen Zhen.
4) The casting and acting
This is one of the best casting choices made in a cdrama! Everyone fits their characters so well ❤ And the actors did their best to understand their assigned characters and portrayed them very convincingly.
5) The cinematography
If you read my comments on this page you'd know how impressed I am with this director. Although the cast are perfection, when we look at these 3 couples, they don't give any CP feels at all, they don't look matching. But this director knows the right kind of scenes, angles, etc to make viewers believe in their love. 3 pairs of people who don't look like couples become believable as lovers with his directing.

The "blemishes":
1) Somewhere around the halfway point, story developments and scenes start to feel disjointed. The scenes are awesome! But when linked together felt like there's missing parts. We see the love, the fears and grief between the 3 couples, but there ain't that many scenes that show how they reached this point, this deep love. It gives me a somewhat empty feeling at times, like there's big gaps in-between-- great scenes and dialogues but it felt over-melodramatic because of the missing interactions and developments in the beginning arc. Cast revealed the whole shooting took about 4 months, yet this is only 24 eps of 30 mins each. Hopefully Youku would release the additional scenes that were not used in drama.
2) What is the story theme? I get the feeling this story has a theme and not just "a drama", that it is trying to make a point about something. But that point that it is trying to tell, did not come across clearly enough, end up with a few points that are conveyed quite weakly. About learning to love and live, letting go of the past, learning to forgive yourself.... etc are not conveyed as strongly as it might have intended.
3) Chen Meiru's uncle.... Who is he exactly? How did he know about their stories? It felt like he had been waiting all his life for it to happen.... If the storytelling was better, didn't have the above 2 issues I wouldn't mind not knowing the truth on Uncle, there have been other fantasy productions that had similar unknown characters who know everything but identity unknown.

If you are just starting on this drama and feel put off by the cringe and slapstick comedy, it is only in the initial eps. Hang on until ep 4 or 5 and you would understand why this drama is worth your time. It isn't the greatest in this genre but the heart and sincerity put into the set design, story and acting, are really quite something. Hopefully its original script can make be published into a novel, would like to see the original story prior to the many edits....

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Victory belongs to the brave and heartless

... and because he was brave but too much heart, he was destined to fail just like his brothers had predicted. Yet those who supported him either refused or couldn't see that he did not have what it takes to accomplish the objective of becoming king. And that is the tragedy in Royal Nirvana Special.

The excellent cinematography and stellar acting continues in this last installment of Royal Nirvana. Zheng Yecheng's surprising turn towards the dark side was an absorbing watch-- not just because he acted well, but I've never him in a negative role before. The greatest character development in the story is Gu Feng'en (Zheng Yecheng's character)-- how he went from a playful and protective man, with dreams of becoming a scholar and serving in court, to a seasoned general, bitter with the sacrifices made by his family and disillusioned with the regime.

The script and dialogues however... Although I am glad for the more factual and less angsty storytelling, the dialogues lack the elegance in Royal Nirvana. The flow is also a bit odd-- for eps 1 to 10 the story develops in a steady and factual manner, then it suddenly went into angst in eps 11 and 12. I appreciate the change in screenwriter, else I wouldn't have been able to finish this 12 eps in 2 days (the original screenwriter would probably have made this very angsty). But at the same time, somehow Royal Nirvana Special is not as gripping as Royal Nirvana. This is just my pov, as I see a lot like this as well as RN, but I prefer RN to the Special. Because the scenes of Zhang Shao Yun and the Emperor, felt unnecessary other then to add more emotional tragedy to the ending. And this is something that did not happen in the script in RN, every scene was just as it was required, nothing extra or unnecessary was added.

I'm left wondering if anything would have made a difference at the end? If the Emperor was less stubborn and could have talked to Xiao Dingquan much earlier, or if Lu Wenxi could have been more persistent to talk him out of suicide? When he removed the hairpiece, she had reacted as if to take it back, and the way she insisted to inform Xiao Dingquan of her pregnancy even when he wasn't interested. But she was aware of his decision, and ultimately chose to support him. I guess the pain and senseless deaths at Changzhou was the last straw for him, at which point he had given up on the throne and on himself.

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If you love me, don't think too much

I finished this drama some weeks back, but couldn't quite put into words how I feel about it. Before you proceed on to read, please take note this is totally my POV, my understanding on this drama after I completed it. If you do watch this, you might have a different perspective.

The story premise is really interesting. It attempts to explore the insecurities and doubts of true love from the man's perspective. ML is very rich and desires for true love (he has been hurt many times by women who loved him for his money); 2ML has been hurt in earlier relationships as well, and now wants a clearly defined dating process govern by contractual terms; 3ML is about to be married, but is hesitating because this is his first love and the passion is wearing off....

The characterizations on the female roles in this drama are quite weak. We don't really understand why are they attracted to these 3 men (like, there are better men out there, why these guys?). But the exploration into the love insecurities are quite well-written and fun to watch. I have enjoyed this drama, especially in the 2nd half, where there were no romcom cliches like in the 1st half. I only wish the theme of this drama could have been better explored and more deeply written.

The acting is very commendable-- Chen Jian Bin and Pan Yue Ming are veterans, and Li Yi Tong is very refreshing here.... she has never played such a good-hearted bitchy character before. If you are familiar with Jiang Xin, this role is 100% suitable for Jiang Xin (a role she has done many times). But Li Yi Tong made Xia Ke Ke comes alive-- kind-hearted and sassy, opinionated and understanding. It was a marvel to watch her Xia Ke Ke. Alright, I am a Li Yi Tong fan, so I am a bit biased here. Moving on to the really weird and odd stuffs about this drama.

If you look at the names in the production, the executive producers are the top cream of Chinese dramas-- these producers were involved in Nirvana in Fire, Longest Day in Chang'an, Min Ning Town, Nothing But 30, etc.. This is not base on an IP novel, but is an original screenplay, and the odd pairing of Chen Jian Bin with Li Yi Tong.... It gave me the impression that this would be a thought-provoking and groundbreaking drama. And it is, indeed, quite thought-provoking but didn't manage to reach the heights of its initial intentions (or the depths that the production team might have intended). You can see some good writing in the story, then odd chunks of idol rom-com cliches.

But most of all-- the costume design, set design and the songs. I find it quite unbelievable that this was shot in 2016, '17. The design gives the feeling that this story is set in 2000s.... Other then the title and ending songs, it keeps playing Zhang San's Song throughout the drama. Although this is a good song, choosing this song for a contemporary drama supposedly set in current times is very, very odd. Zhang San's Song is released in 1986, fyi ?

In conclusion, the drama left me dissatisfied. It showed some sparks but failed to deliver as a whole.

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Beautiful cinematography and gripping story, but difficult to watch

You need to set aside more time to watch this movie, it is difficult to watch it in 1 setting. That said, the rape scenes are less graphic than other war time movies that I've seen. The director cleverly deployed the girls' fear, struggles, running away from the enemy soldiers to convey the feelings of hopelessness and distress to us, the audience.

The movie starts with the convent girls running across a part of town in Nanjing, with the enemy soldiers in pursuit. An American mortician is also running, but towards a church. He was sent to the church due to the passing of the pastor, and had unexpectedly arrived in the midst of Japanese invasion. I love the war scenes here. The gun shooting choreography is clear, clean-cut, easy for audience to understand (there are war movies in attempt to be realistic, end up with very confusing shots and difficult to understand).

The american and some of the convent girls (a few would die) then arrived at the church. As they were settling in, a group of prostitutes from the town brothel attempt to seek refuge in the church....

Do note the story is told from the pov of 1 of the convent girls. Hence there is no proper closure to the story, as movie ended when she escaped out of Nanjing.

Usually when there is a foreigner (caucasian) in asian movies, the role is like an object, just there to faciliate the plot. But here, Christian Bale fully participate in the story events. And we get to see his character changes (can't say more, don't wanna spoil it for you) as the story develops. Excellent performance by all the actors. Ni Ni was stunning in her debut! It is unbelievable that she had no prior acting or modeling experience.

To keep to the authenticity, dialogues are in Nanjing dialect (not mandarin, i had to read the subtitles too...), English and Japanese. And all the actors spoke their own lines.

This movie is stunning in its cinematography and storytelling. It grips you right from the start, you would close your eyes at the intense scenes and sigh when they escaped. Another masterpiece by Zhang Yimou.

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Thought-provoking teenage bully story

This is a novel adaptation, but not strictly following the novel narration. Which I am thankful for, else movie might suffer from being too slow moving. The main plotline is maintained, just some edits to make it more interesting as a movie.

Initially i wasn't interested to watch it. I am past the young adult age group, and school theme movies are not my "cup of tea".... But there was something about the movie poster that caught my attention, so i decided to give it a watch and brought my niece along. We both love the film. It was also the last movie we watched in cinema before covid got more severe and cinemas were closed... So this review is about 10 months late.

Why i remember this movie now because I just saw iQiYi's The Long Night. I was reminded of this movie as I was watching The Long Night. But don't get me wrong! This story is not about fighting for justice, it is about bullying and how when pushed too far it can make a person snap and do something he/she would regret.

And here comes the 2nd theme of the movie:- when a good person did wrong, which was indirectly due to mental torture by the victim, should he/she take the punishment and lose his/her future?.... If you are looking for a movie to watch with a teenager, I highly recommend this. If not, well, you should still watch this movie. The movie is shot in natural (albeit a bit darker) colors, giving it a very realistic feel. The dialogues are simple and reflect real-life tones. It has a twist in the story although quite easy to guess early on. Its dark theme will haunt you for a while after you finish the movie, you would reflect on the ending. This is a movie where right and wrong is not clear-cut, not black and white but in shades of grey.

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Obsessed about truth and justice

The main message in this drama is on justice and obsession. What is justice: are police and law able to mat out adequate justice to the sinners? What if you have sinned because you tried to protect yourself and your family? What if fate has been dealing out the bad cards to you all your life, then one day, fate arranges you to cross paths with the people that has caused your tragedies? Could you let the past go, or use the opportunity to mat out the justice which you feel the sinners has escaped from? And obsession. Obsession is the core element of the story, without which, the story wouldn't even have existed.

The main characters are obsessed with knowing the truth, and some after knowing the truth, chose to make themselves the punisher and punish the sinners.... they plan and administer their own investigations and "punishments" on the sinners. There is also a character who wants to remain unbias and judge on facts and evidence. A character who walks the bright and open way, another character who walks in the dark and is constantly in hiding. Both go about finding out the truth in their own way.

At the end, in the last episode, you are left with lingering feelings of what is truly right and wrong? Everyone was born like a plain sheet of paper, and with kindness and gratitude in heart. But over time, due to life experiences and situations, they change...

The characters' obsessions actually lead to more injustices. That car crash, he was obsessed to capture the driver and find out the mastermind. But in his obsession, he caused a tragedy on someone else and that someone became obsessed with administering own plan of justice.... Don't fast forward and miss on the details, they are like a chain, one triggering another event, and another event...

This is quite a strong story, and the revelations caught me off guard too. Happy to watch a police investigation cdrama where the end is not obvious. Acting is very strong, solid actors!! Story is very sad and can be quite depressing to watch. 1 point off because of this. If you like mystery suspense investigation dramas, this is a good watch.

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