international audience here. I actually loved Cheng Yi's voice, his speech style really suited his character. The lazy sexy nonchalant drawl. I was slightly disappointed when I wastched his earlier movies after, because they were dubbed by voice actors and not his real voice. The fight scene was a standout, graceful esp Li Lianhua's final fight with his ex senior.
No comment on the choreography of sword fights? One of the most beautiful sequences I've ever seen in any martial art drama are in Mysterious Lotus. Choreographer and all the actors deserve praise for these.👏👏
Why this drama is so good despite all the negative points AvX mentioned(which largely isn’t exclusively MLC’s problems) is what she said at the beginning, that everyone in this production is harmonious! The cast is lovely to each other, no crazy fandom fights, everyone enjoys each other which greatly enhanced the chemistry of the 3 leads. That’s what’s fun to watch in MLC.
This drama was 10/10 for me. Cheng Yi's delivery, wit, and nonchalant approach sold the character of a guy who doesn't want to be involved in anything, but is at the center of everything. Then there's the action, which was beautifully shot and choreographed. The speed and accuracy of each sequence was icing on an already very sweet cake. The only other drama that was on this level was The Ingenious One. Watch, judge and enjoy for yourself. 😊❤ AvenueX is still one of my favorite CDrama reviewer. 😊
Maybe no drama can be perfect, but I love MLC so much that I have re-watched it many times since August. I also loved the way it taught you about lessons in life. Like" let it go放下".. "There is no if... ", and many other lines from this drama. I loved the martial arts scenes. Cheng Yi's performance. and so much, so much more...
Actually, Cheng Yi fully understood his character. He said in an interview that people should learn to decompress themselves to be better. Everybody in their 20s feel anxious about their life, not being able to reach their goals, fulfill their dream and it makes them unable to sleep well. Cheng Yi and Li Xiang Yi were the same, but then they realize what they really want, what they can do, they learn to decompress and not feel guilty anymore, and they become Li LianHua.
The reason I love MLC so much is the main character and his change from the young, highly idealistic and uncompromising number one of the martial art world everybody admired, to his current self - Li Lianhua - who is the master of twisting the truth, adept at manipulating others and who has no qualms whatsoever to use the fact he can by far outsmart everyone else in the room to achieve his goals. He cares nothing about reputation or about making friends with others and he has no need or desire for relying on others. His arc is about becoming older and letting go of things a young person would consider important - he is super relatable and the actor was just so civil and believable in both roles - I haven't known Chang Yi before and haven't seen any of his previous dramas but I have checked them since watching MLC. Can't comment on the line delivery as I have zero Chinese of any dialect🤣. The other characters in the story are also interesting. For some, the 40 episodes were too long but for myself some themes were underdeveloped and I wish they were given more attention - like the whole Nanjing kingdom mystery or the mystery of Di Feishang's past. Jiao Liqiao's character was also pretty interesting but not properly developed. As for the ending, I didn't take the 'bonus episode' seriously but I did like that in episode 40, Li Lianhua almost surely dies but it is not 100% certain. This is the world where everything is possible, there are mysterious poisons, miraculous cures, mind control bugs etc and sure, LLH's whole story is headed toward the death he has accepted, but life can always bring the absolutely unexpected and so ambiguous ending with no certainty was exactly right for this drama IMO.
Sorry but I don't agree, This drama was fun, advanced quicky, no boring overused romance, no predictable case or story, I've watched a lot of detective stuff I sometime It can get boring quickly but this time I couldn't guess none of the 10 cases, A lot of twist. I don't know the Mandarin standard or drama standard overall in China but I found this drama pretty refreshing and Still the best cdrama of this year in my opinion.
To be honest, I think Chengyi's line delivery style is made on purpose to fit his character's personality and outlook on life. At that point in time, he is already jaded and doesn't even care much about anything, so he doesn't even care about what he is portraying to other people.
Now, speaking of your review. If someone gets mad about your rating, it's not your problem, it's theirs. I give it more than 1, at least 2 on your scale (8/10 on mine) because I really loved the script: smart, no plot holes, and that made it very enjoyable to watch, at least for me (actually, I only forwarded two episodes - the first two about the girls and the dancer - because they bored me). As for the ending, I don't see a problem with it. It's clear that he died, and he died in a very poetic way. He died in a way that was true to his character. The minutes of the "Easter egg" are just a journey of the other two looking for him without finding him. They just look at the seashore, their faces are unimpressed: there's no one there. LLH is beyond, on "the other shore". (That's my interpretation, of course, everyone can have a different one, and that's perfectly fine.)
More than agree on everything you said. For me also it's obvious that Li Lianghua is "on the other shore", and when he smiles it's not because he recognizes his friends but because he feels free at last and he isn't afraid of death.
"MLC is being a coward for not showing Li Lianhua died." That's a fair opinion. But I personally think the ending is beautiful in a poetic way. It is about Li Lianhua choosing how to spend the rest of his life and how to die. In the beginning, Li Xiangyi came on a boat to the sea and then "died" in the sea. In the end, Li Lianhua returned to the sea. A line on one of the OSTs ("Outside Mountains") says, "All our fame in the martial arts world are swept away with the ocean." I feel like that's the ending Li Lianhua wants. Now that he is being swept away by the ocean, the other characters (Fang Duobing, Di Feisheng) would never really know if Li Lianhua died. They might know in their mind that Li Lianhua died, but they would never really see it physically, and that would give them a glimmer of hope (or despair) that Li Lianhua was actually alive. The closure and 'open' ending of the series actually send the audiences into the same state of mind/ feelings as these characters. We know Li Lianhua will die, but we never see it, and thus, there's a part of us that hopes Li Lianhua is out there somewhere. Meanwhile, Li Lianhua is truly free as the series says, "Lotus flowers bloom all around." And I think it's a beautiful and poetic way to end his story.
You explained it so really well!! i too had a lot to say but forgive my incompetence of expressing my feelings in words. But after reading your comment u said everything that came to my mind after watching the ending.
@@annniex17 Nice to know there are people who feel the same way :) There’s definitely a lot to say about the series for its story and weight (AND the ending)
*Spoiler* . . . . . If you read the original novel, Li Lianhua didn't die too, the poison makes his brain break and lost his mind, so he became a happy fool man who still has many friends around to look after him. What I like about the original is the sarcasm of wu xia world. I called it anti-cliche wu xia novel. 😂 The series brings back a lot of cliche into it, change the heart of the whole concept. Still, I somehow enjoy watching it cos I have bias for Cheng Yi. 😂
@@akaNaz1 I read it in Mandarin, and yes, that's the ending given by the author AFTER being pressed by fans. Lol. But idk what happen to English version? Mind to elaborate?
MLC are my favorites drama this year literally the best drama that ever came out in 2023, and cheng yi's performance are just crazy. He even did his own stunt
Love the drama! Fall in love with Cheng Yi 😆. The story line, the chemistry between the actors are so good! Not to mention the action choreography and also the costumes omg. Someone in bilibili posted about Li Lian Hua's costumes. The details of the belts and hairties omg! 😍 maybe next time you can talk about chinese belts? Would love to know more about them
MLC is one of the best wuxia drama I have ever seen...what a stellar performance from whole crew. From actors, directors to the makeup artists. love the chemistry of trios. Actors lived the character❤
As english speaking audience, the problems regarding line delivery and lips movement are not the main issues of mine. Because, I most of the time read the subtittles, and enjoy the overall performance by relying more on ears (the background music, emotional expression in voice and intonation, etc) and understanding the storyline. To enjoy the visual, I just repeat the scenes to watch better. As long as the plot and storyline are intact without holes, useless information, and confusions, everything is fine. The critics about language, line delivery, actors' life background, and other related things are applicable only for Chinese audiences. I don't quite understand, why it is even an issue. International audiences don't give a damn about it, IMO. For a drama that goes international so well, I think you should shift your focus of criticism to other aspects of the drama, which are universal enough for us to understand about a good drama making and overall Chinese culture.
looking fantastic today! I am halfway through the show and i have lost my heart to AFei. I did not see enough of him and his backstory could have been the most interesting. Many tropes, but in a fun way. I agree that i gravitated to this because I didn't find much to catch my interest this last two months. I already notice that Cheng Yi and Xiao ShunYao are already signed up as the main leads in another costume drama, "Ying Xiong Zhi' english title Hero Legends.
I thoroughly enjoyed MLC, however, I do get what you say about the ending. In my mind he died. That said, as someone who has written a lot of fanfic in the past (not based on Chinese series) I can tell you that there are many, many people out there who refuse to watch or read anything where the main character dies. It doesn't matter how good the story is. (I've encountered folk who won't watch Nirvana in Fire for that very reason.) Now magnify that by a hundred fold and you will get a flavour of the response they would get if they filmed a death scene, or even if they mentioned it off screen. It would be fandom carnage. Sometimes you have to pander to the fans.
Gotta admit Im one of them because in my point of view theres no point watching or reading a novel if the main character gonna be dead or have bad ending. I watch, read to leave real world for meantime and forget all the problems and stress why would I watch something that have bad ending or MC die it makes me more sad that in real life 😢. I invested my time just to see MC dead in the end will be just waste of my time just my opinion.
I'm one of those people who skip endings I don't like. I tend to invest in a character and not the journey. I did all that journey thing in college reading those Important Novels. I want my happy character ending now that I'm older and enjoying my fiction world more :).
I did enjoy Nirvana in Fire (it made sense that he died), it would have weird and writers would have had to explain how he survived without sounding fantastical . I enjoyed MLC too. Loved how the ending was left open to viewers
@@foivechan Nirvana in Fire is good, and I don't mind the ending. Probably since it was not shown. Of course, if I see my fav character dies, it won't be pleasing for whatever reason they need to die. But what kills it in nirvana in fire was Wang Kai's character. Idky, but I found him to be boring. Also Nie Huang, I feel like she was not needed in the entire story. Just a lover role which was a must in every wuxia story? I mean, how many wuxia you see don't have a lover or ex-lover for the MC? I myself can count those I watched with one hand. Lol
I love MLC! Definitely one of the rare good ones of this year and couldn’t stop rewatching after I finished. It actually got me into Cheng Yi (didn’t get his hype before).
I honestly don't see a lot of people trying to argue that Li Lianhua is still alive. The ending was pretty clear and the extra perhaps was just a coping mechanism for us😭 But I agree with your point, cos imagine how stupid Nirvana in Fire would be had they decided to give Mei Changsu a happy ever after ending😂
Some fans' wishful thinking has little to do with what actually shows in the finale, imo. If one wants to interpret it their own way, let them, but for the unbiassed viewers the scene on the shore is clear and tragic. Probably people just don't want to say goodbye to the characters.
About the line delivery, there's someone's explanation that interests me; Li Lianhua is a very calm person. He doesn't seem to have interest in other things than his mission. Thus, the way he speaks is calm and not bother much. I think this also makes sense, well depends on anyone. Don't comment at me :)
All the detective/case dramas you've listed in this video I've tried watching them but dropped them ALL. Even Under the Skin, which was supposed to be very good, I couldn't finish it. I guess detective drama is not my thing, however I love Mysterious Lotus Casebook and I even clicked pause so many times just so I didn't miss anything important.
This was one of the few Wuxia dramas that I very much enjoyed this year. First reason is the 3 leads: I'm in love with all of them and am currently checking out their other dramas. Romance on the Farm in particular is a lot of fun. I think the case involving the "brothel" was the best. The rest I endured only to look for snippets about the main characters' individual stories. I agree about the ending. I had prepared myself for the fact the main lead was going to die. It was a shock to discover that he had given the antidote for the poison to the king, but that made sense even though it was heartbreaking. After that his death was expected, so to end it in such an ambiguous manner didn't make sense to me at all. However, I did enjoy the drama very much, and I loved the concert. It made me fall even in more love with the three ML's.
My special thanks for your thoughts on ambiguous endings. I have been putting up with this bizarre tradition for years now, both in Chinese and Korean dramas. I've come to consider them as pure fan service, designed to pacify the rabid followers of the star actors. However, I find this a disservice to the integrity of the storytelling and to the actor`s sincere commitment to his role.
It may be true that other dramas depict open endings just for the sake of it, but I hope you could see it differently in MLC. In this drama, the ending is by no way superficial. It consistently represents the drama's takeaway philosophy of "letting go", which I explained in the comment I just posted above (because I'm a late viewer who just recently finished watching 😅). But I do respect if in the end your opinion remains the same. As mentioned several times in the drama that "people's faiths are different", so it's totally understandable if we do not reach the same conclusions :)
I mostly agree with your analysis except the Ending part. To see the perfect beauty of this ending, one may need to slowly digest Li Lianhua's actions throughtout the show, rewatch a few times, or even listen carefully to the theme songs. In Cheng Yi's cover version of the song, "The world is too hasty", there is the part that says 🎵🎵 “The boat drifts and drifts. The wave shakes and shakes. When came to the martial world, I took up a pen and shared a journey with you. When it’s time to bid farewell, wave your sleeve, do not try to hold me.” 🎵🎵 (I don't know Mandarin so pardon me for the translation flaws) To understand and appreciate Li Lianhua's final decision, we have to first accept that he has indeed gone. He clearly bid farewell to his friends in his letter. He DID NOT leave anyone hanging. If we doubt it, it's simply because we still cannot let go of him (i.e., in denial). On a contrary, LLH wanted us to let him go. His choices from the first episode showed that he was gradually reducing his significance to the world. He was slowly letting go of all attachments (dreams, fame, revenge, love, friendship, etc.), partly intentional and partly forced. The scene he let his horse leave with his belongings and broke his sword was the most symbolic in my view. He didn't plan to do so at the beginning, but because of his compassion toward a friend who had been wary of his legacy, LLH could give up his beloved sword (which was supposed to be his only last-breath companion) just to free that friend from worries. This scene reminds me of a Buddhist notion, "When we came to this world, we brought nothing with us. When we leave this world, nothing follows us. What's there to be obsessed about?" Letting go is much easier said than done. LLH shows us that an ordinary person, not a monk, too can reach that level of enlightenment. The ending may seem heartbreaking for Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng (and all of us who love LLH) at first. But as time passed, perhaps the 2 of them would be able to understand LLH's choice and accept it with peace (and move on with their lives as LLH wished). I feel that Mysterious Lotus Casebook requires a lot more pondering and repeated watching than other dramas. This is not the plot/production weakness, but it is because its takeaway message (the philosophy of "letting go") is not something most of us are familiar with so it takes more time and reflections to really appreciate it. We're often inspired by deeply in-love couples and heroes pursuing their dreams; but how often are we inspired by a character who is letting go of everything? Perhaps that happens when I read religious books, not fictions. Mysterious Lotus Casebook is an exception and it's phenomenal. I idolise many fictional characters (e.g. Mei Changsu from Nirvana in Fire, Wei Wuxian from The Untamed), but Li Lianhua is the one I will remember till my last day in this world. And just because of him, I'm willing to overlook all other flaws in the production and rank it as the #1 series in my heart.
This is a wonderful take on it!! He had made his peace but he was so captivating it was hard for others to let him go!!! I think this level of writing was truly masterful!!! It is something we can all think about!! I can understand how it would be hard to let go of such an endearing, legendary person!!! Although i wished he left his sword to duobing, but duobing might cry everytime he holds it!!
Thanks! I too find it really hard to let him go so I can totally empathize with other viewers who looked for all the reasons to keep him alive. I've never watched any drama that required as much internalization as Mysterious Lotus Casebook. Even though I said his departure was the most beautiful ending and it's what he wanted the most, my heart still sobs when thinking about him 😔
I highly enjoyed this drama. Actually it might be one of my favourites but I do agree It could've been better. Especially the second half. I felt it might have been cut a bit too much to fit in 40 episodes. Also I would love to see more of the 'bad guy' and the three characters bonding. I would also love if the ex-lover part were less of a nuisance. When it comes to ending... I researched it a little and apparently it's similar to the book ending. I'm not happy about it but I kind of get why they chose it. Overall I had so much fun watching this drama and I would recommend to check it out.
Hmm I don’t have any problems with the mandarin pronunciation either and yes maybe it’s because I’m not a native speaker. For me the naturally spoken lines made the people feel more real to me and it’s actually one of the factors that pulled me in. I was so surprised, I was like are they using their real voices! I was intrigued and surprised in a positive way. I actually find it distracting when a person from one drama sounds like a totally different person in another drama. …But I was wondering why are mainland audience so hung up with perfect mandarin pronunciation in period dramas? Instead of seeing it as a sign that drama standards are falling, I just think it’s refreshing to hear real voices and I can match a person’s real voice to a face. I used to watch shows where I can hear a person’s voice and know who the person is but with Chinese drama, I’d have to wonder if the person was dubbed. And was the drama promoted in China? From what I heard I thought this drama was not promoted during its broadcast.. Just a few things I disagree on in the 11 min I watched but everything else I pretty much agree on 🤔🤔 will finish later! Edit: I also agree on what she said about the ambiguous ending.
I agree with you. One of the reasons I like this drama because the main actors use their own voice, especially Cheng-Yi’s voice. I didn’t like his previous dramas because the acting sound fake with someone’s voice and was just ok acting. But this MLC drama, Cheng-Yi’s voice was a positive factor.
Can't agree with you more... actors and actresses using their own voice is far more valuable and authentic than having perfectly spoken mandarin, this is a pointless elitist view in my humble opinion, completely out of touch with reality, in real life, are individuals suppose to keep their mouth shut if they do not possess a 'perfect pitch' in spoken mandarin??? Are difference in pronunciations a fact of life, particularly a vast country like China, are only people born and bred in Beijing with PERFECT pitch in mandarin can be allow to 'ACT', this elitist view is complete utter ignorance ... what absolute rubbish
me too, i can see how this style may be problematic for other characters, but I do think it suits li lianhua here. I dont quite understand why actors to have to speak in a "proper" way, i think its good as long as it suits the character, and i feel i can understand perfectly fine.
As an English speaker viewer I must admit I find the insight into the language issue fascinating. For me, I really loved this. Mainly for Cheng Yi, I find him such a natural believable actor. He doesn't neatly fall into the idol category either which I really like. I thought he was classically trained as well so the speech pattern and mumbling I don't know about. Maybe he is like Stallone who can't speak properly? Never impacted on his popularity I guess. I agree with other comments that there was a lot of natural chemistry which really worked. Agree, there are plot holes. I hated Mian Mian in particular and the Saintess' OTT acting was hilarious. She stood out to me on that regard but I found her so hilarious she was one of my fave characters. I agree the main lead needed to die but I felt it ended that way to potentially have a sequel. Again, thanks for this interview!
Your review really nailed it. I did adore this drama, but that's because I am a sucker for the trope this drama did so well - the poisoned and dying martial arts hero who has attained an almost Buddhist state of detachment. So much so that I could ignore the silliness when it came to the cases. And the cartoon villainess. Couldn't agree more about the ending.
I think its unfair to not give credit to the choreographed fight scenes and sword plays performed by Cheng Yi. I will forever ship this trio CP despite what anyone says. The push/pull between Fang Duobing and Li Lianhua, and the squabbling/begrudging brotherhood and fighting over chicken leg of Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng will be forever etched in my memory. This show is a wuxia genre but it's also intertwined with case solving, revenge and self-actualisation. So while your opinion is yours to make, I think you've somewhat projected your own frustrations and cynicism of the Chinese drama industry onto this series. Majority of your review ruminates on what the industry was like pre-2014, and how its since deteriorated. We have to move with the times. In 5, 10, 20 years time, will the viewers who are today's Gen A still like the style of 2000s production which is elite in your mind? To me, i think a testament of a good drama is how its able to connect with its viewers, and technicalities such as line delivery is something that perhaps industry people care about but not lay viewers. Ps. Im a 41 year old millenial who greatly enjoyed this show despite its flaws, because it brought me hours of entertainment and in fact im going to rewatch it now 😅
Agree. I am a naive Chinese speaker and I promise the main leads' line deliveries are pretty good. Their tone and intonation fit the characters so well. Their pronunciation sounds a bit like southern accent, but it is too slight to notice and never should be the reason the whole drama got rated low.
In the ending of the novel LLH did not die as yet FDB finds him in a seaside town but he is blind and half paralysed!!! Duobing arranged his lodgings, food, medicine etc. and visits him often!!! But i think it would have been too heartbreaking for LLH to be seen in this state in the cdrama!!! But i'd rather this ending than the one we got in the cdrama!!
The OSTs in this drama is just impeccable. And I’m personally such a sucker for the back-in-the-day elusive no 1 fighter all powerful type trope so this was right up my ally 😂 I definitely agree that I wasn’t really interested in the detective cases int he drama, more so just in the characters relationships and personal stories. If it were condensed down to 25 eps or so with less cases, would’ve been so much better. but overall chengyi as li lianhua was just too good
I agree with what you said about the general decline of c-drama lately that perhaps make this drama stand out even more. Personally, I enjoyed MLC a great deal, love the trios and their fight scenes. The earlier episodes are really nice with the three working together and bickering nonstop. Wish we could have more of those...
Yeah... I think the being overly polite about media these days boils down to a lot of people taking it as a personal attack if you don't like the same things that they do, which goes hand-in-hand with a lot of folks needing to feel validated by external forces that they have the "right" view of something. The number of people who pop up in comments of reviews claiming that the person is "biased" (like duh it's a personal review and there's no objective assessment of something) or that someone is being disingenuous by simply stating their opinion (as if it's crazy to believe someone could genuinely have a different a opinion) is out of this world. Anyway, haven't watched this drama yet and not sure if I will, but the last bit of the video there totally resonated with me.
I totally agree w/ AvenueX on Lotus case book. That ending is so ambiguous. I thought he’s dead already then they put that extra scene. I literally went “oh no now iQiyi do Youku’s crappy ending”. It is the exact thing that you would see at the end of a youku drama that got sad ending. They’d put in an alternative ending that simply either confuse audience or please certain demographic. I, for one, am certainly very confused.
Does this mean if Nirvana in Fire was made today that they would have the ambiguous ending episode? (I know that some fans have used outtakes to make unofficial ones)
1 gold mine, couldn’t agree more! 🙂 At first I wasn’t going to watch the drama because I wasn’t a fan of the main lead guy, Chen Yi, works. BUT oh did I become a fan afterwards!!! And the main reason why I’ve finished watching the drama was because of Chen Yi, Zheng Shunxi, and Xiao Shunyao. Their performances and chemistry was the best part of the drama. But the rest of the drama and cast was well… meh 🫤. Also the cases that they had to solve were predictable. It was easy to figure out who the villain was. Therefore, making the cases easy to figure out way before the characters figures it out themselves. It made me feel like I spent most of the time waiting to be proven right long before each case is solved, and the only thing that kept me going was being able to see the main lead guy(s) on screen. Not as interesting or entertaining. But all in all, it was a good drama, and the choreography of some fight scenes is better than many drama I’ve seen in years! 👏👏 Cheerios to that! And once again, kudos to the three main lead guys! Total see them in a new light now!😊
I wasn’t a fan of Cheng Yi before this drama too. His previous works in Liu Li, Immortal Samsara, Stand by Me … were just ok. I didn’t like those dramas at all. But his acting in MLC was exceptional.
Today you look very pretty. I like your videos and especially the vlogs you have from your trip to China. They're great! Thank you for your reviews, they are always a guide.
for all the point you reviews I accepted 80% but for Cheng Yi use his own voice I think you got wrong for him it's not he didn't want to improve but he did try his best .as a fan of him I know he must be struggling alot because Lilianhua need to speak faster and lounder while Cheng Yi real voice is slower and silent and the ending of lotus is perfectly for me even he dead or he still alive because it's show us that life before 30 and life after 30 is different I really love this drama especially I love Cheng Yi as Lilianhua he made me think after you get old you don't want to participate in party or excited activities as Li Xiang Yi but you just want to stay at home playing with pet and growing vegetables❤
I've been so looking forward to your review of Lian hua lou! Cheng Yi speaking with water in his mouth, haha! Now that you mentioned it, I can't unthink it.
just discovered this drama. saw a few episodes on youtube, might have to sign up for iqiyi just to watch it. I would love have a DVD/CD version of it which I can watch repeatedly, now and then. I love cheng yi's acting. here this kakashi sensaei like character, he handled very well. glad to know it is his own voice. like all good detective series, it has just the right amount of unintentional comedy, most of which comes from lianghua's responses to the developments. right amount of long arc story, and right amount of angst. that it is not a romance, is good. not every drama needs to be a romance, we need a good break from romance sometimes. of course, like all dramas set in ancient china, that too the martial arts world, some of the story elements are bit too fantastical, like the various medicinal objects, but that is all acceptable. I feel grateful to the cast and the crew because they work very hard to provide us with these treats of entertainment. I wish them all well. lastly, i learnt the word for 'lotus' in chinese. it sounds very nice lianhua. and lilianhua is very alliterative. nice. for a change, the rather plain costumes on the main characters, lianhua not being the heavenly emperor of a rich aristocrat, still looked very elegant and pretty. very interesting hair pins he had in his hair...🙂
the best fighting scene ever which is the most important thing in wuxia drama,,,, I rewatch the first fighting scene like for 20 times before I continue to watch episode 1... come one chengyi does not deserve to be lilinhua??? welll luckily the industry does not agree..
regarding the ending, i think some people thought they filmed the ending in the book, where the ml did not die, but ended up quite mentally disorientated, crippled and almost blind. Although he was surrounded by friends who looked after him, it didnt sit quite right with me as I felt he was smbd who had his own pride, and i dont know if he would have liked living like that if he was conscious. I really like this character and was really sad at the ending too, but I agree he is definitely better off dead than alive
I would really like to know your opinion about "Stay With Me" for me they made a masterpiece, good acting, good lines, an excellent script, an impeccable adaptation as far as possible. Best BL of 2023.
I love your attire today. As always you give your opinions decisively and who ever has different one should not be mad but keep their own. As to me, I actually like your rant and dissatisfaction as that is more entertaining. Keep safe and happy drama watching to you too.
I haven't watched it yet, but I'm planning to. But I really like everything you've said about the state of the industry in general, it's really not just about Mysterious Lotus Casebook, but a general decline in quality.
I know im late but i just got around to finishing MLC and i have to say it was truly one of the best cdrama series i ever saw!!! I agree with her on li lianhua's death!! That is a fair statement to make!! It was coward of them because he deserved a grand send off and to be buried at sigu sect! Because everyone would have wanted to make their peace with him! But maybe the person he became after the 10 years he wanted his death to be less painful for the others to not dwell on it and he knew xiaobiao would make a big effort to save him if he stayed. He didnt want to be fussed over I would like to think he made arrangements for his body to be buried next his master's grave!! But of course this ambiguous open ending is a fan service. Because is there a season 2?? Even I am not ready to let li lianhua go. The character was truly a masterpiece one of the best written characters ever in cdramas, he was flawed and acknowledged it yet he was sassy, funny, gentle, serious, and laid back!! So complex yet endearing!!! I appreciate the plot was not a run of the mill scenario, for example li lianhua was confident enough to wear the scary wedding dress. As an english speaker the mandarin speaking doesnt bother me much because i depend on subtitles anyway. Personally i dont think anyone else but cheng yi could have played li lianhua!! He brought such a refreshing aura to the role!!! And the martial arts style they gave him was so perfect!! It was graceful and elegant but still powerful!! This show had some of the best martial arts style i have seen. Even fang xiaobiao's style was beautiful, they could have shown him fighting more!! I do think director di fensheng was underused. But the chemistry with the 3 main leads was great!!! I have said before cheng yi needs to be in wuxia only!! He makes martials arts look easy!! Now i need the mlc merch because this series is engraved in my heart!!
After watching this women's reviews for some years, i have finally come to a conclusion that she is very shallow in liking dramas and only like the one with her bias or cringe as fuck noona romance 😂😂😂😂 One of the best in wuxia genre, one of the best martial arts choreography in dramaland and all she talks about is what?ships and line delivery whom not that many people actually gives a fuck about cz it still fits the character 😭😭😭 The acting, chemistry, cases, plots, story flow, choreography are one of the best out there but she's too shallow to appreciate but okay go on sister knows it all.
i think it is a case of being hypercritical and dismissive about ones own culture. she does not value the service C drama does to the world of enetertainment. I can no longer watch my own indian content, it has become too crass and dark. same with all of the western content. too indoctrinating, too visually crass, and filled with empty adventures of empty lifestyles. shallow themes that somehow are passed off as being 'progressive' or 'intellectual'. I guess she subscribes to all that, and finds c dramas in comparision too naive , or 'cringe'. She is so intolerent of the xianxia genre, (as i have noticed in her other reviews) probably she has no appreciation of the daoist lore/folklore of china.......anyway, though i like her attempts sometimes, and she is engaging to listen to, i do not ever take her ratings seriously.....
First of all, you look sensational! Thanks so much for going through all the work and trouble( although I know you love doing it) to look so beautiful. In this f...edup world, it is so refreshing to go to a place where beauty, sanity, and decency, always can be found! Secondly, thanks for once again having the backbone to go against the crowd. Thirdly, thanks for giving an explanation as to why c-dramas have deteriorated so much in the last few years. You are indeed the Queen of drama reviewers and a treasure of dramaland.
I had to log in to tell you how I love you so much! 🤩. I look forward to to finding your latest reviews on the costume dramas because I love them so much and every thing you say is so honest and on point. Thank you for your service. 👍
Native Korean speakers have been very critical of some Korean actors pronunciation in period kdramas. I forgot the term - in period kdrama both pronunciations and vocabulary can be different from contemporary kdramas. The actors usually apologized and promised to do better to meet the industry standard and audience expectation for such dramas.
Aloha anevue. I am sad You Didnt like this drama as much as I did but Being no chinese native means that What bothers You couldnt reach me At all XD. But as You watched it till the end I guess it wasnt that bad After all haha. I wanted him to live but as You said it wouldnt make any sens xD
Coming very late to the "party" here, and I've been waiting for Ms X's review on this drama 😊 I think MLC is a good wuxia drama compared with others in 2023. I enjoyed the twist and turn of the story, although I agree that some of the cases are basic and not as exciting as a true detective drama. I can overlook this because this drama did not promote itself as a "detective drama" so I did not expect to see exciting and cool cases. I thought A-Fei and the young guy were hilarious at times, and I enjoyed the surprise true bad guy toward the end. I don't speak Mandarin, so the line delivery does not bother me :) I do think that this issue is not solely the actor's fault. Yes, there are actors who don't want to invest time and money in voice/line delivery training, but there is also the problem of c-dramas having a very fast turnaround time with low budget of c-dramas. It's difficult to find the perfect actor without spending so much time casting, which will cost money. A proper production company should either spend time and money casting the right actors, or spend time and money training the actors they want to cast but have poor line delivery. Neither of these hardly ever happens in c-dramas. I agreed that the few last shots of the ending are unnecessary, but I'm the rare breed of people who are completely fine with an ambiguous ending. Sometimes things are best left for the audience's interpretation (although MLC did not hit this tone perfectly), and it's actually quite fun seeing how people have different reaction/interpretation to an open ending.
Thanks for reviewing this! It was definitely my favorite wuxia/costume drama this year. You are right that it could absolutely have been better. I didn't think the "cases" were that great...some of the explanations/ solutions seemed a bit weird and over the top. I also found the villains to be exaggerated caricatures lacking in subtlety. That being said I enjoyed: the 3 male leads and their chemistry, the Lotus Tower and the dog, the fight choreography and wire work and the beautiful costumes and visuals.
Personally I think the ending it's well scripted, it was in fact the one that I enjoyed the most while watching this series. Physically every one knows that Li Lian Hua died, but he died in a very poetic, oriental-cultured and meaningful way. He's free, at last. Other that that, I agree that Chengyi needs more improvement in lines delivery. He in fact doesn't have problems with character expression by lines, somehow his delivery "fits" well for Li Lian Hua, but the pronounciation was not always good. Although he has done a really good job in tragic scenes, his lines in more "slice of life" scenes were a bit meh.
I agree with everything you said except the ending. For a start, I enjoyed this drama. I agree that this is a mellow and easy going drama (can be good or bad), doesn't tuck at your heart with emotional scenes, doesn't make you tear your hair out with all the bitchiness and backstabbings. Also agree with that Ancient Detective (which I adore so much) is more gripping making that drama more interesting. However, I am not qualified to comment on the actors' Mandarin. I don't mind the ending as it is, as I REALLY don't want ML Li Lian Hua to die, so maybe just maybe I may get lucky and get a Season 2.
I totally agree with you, I thought the drama was simply 'okay', buy not great, mainly because I just wasn't interested in the 'detective cases', which like you say just felt like 'filler'. The younger actor was annoying because of the way he said his lines, for sure. The ending would have had a bigger impact if they would have found him blind and an invalid, which is how he becomes in the novel, if I'm not wrong as I haven't read it. Or they just could have found his dead body on the beach. I guess they left an open ending because some people really hate sad endings. I wouldn't watch the drama again, unlike Word of Honor, The Untamed, Winter Begonia and some other dramas I've watched these last few months, however, I did continue watching, hence my 'okay' rating. 6.5/10
It's a two goldbar for me. Can't find too much at fault with this drama. All the characters were interesting and had a good storyline and motivation. Duo Bing was especially endearing. My favourite character though was Foxy. The ending was pretty clear to me as LIan Hua made sure there was someone to care for Foxy.
What you said about the disingenuous ending reminded me of a film I saw years ago called The Horse Whisperer, in which a cowboy rehabilitates a horse that was in an accident(having re-habbed a horse myself, I know the amount of love and patience it takes), then at the end of the film, the cowboy commits suicide by riding this horse off a cliff knowing they will both die. It ruined the whole meaning of the movie. It was a betrayal of the whole point of the character. No person who truly loved horses, and was considered a Whisperer, would do that. No sane person would do that to an animal.
I loved this show and 🪷 . Agree with your points (even the one with cheng yi speaking with water in his mouth haha even though I love him and am his fan I can’t unhear it hahahaha). Anyway it’s pretty good show and I enjoyed it so I’ll be rewatchingthis from time to time!
I havent been able to complete this drama - although like many cdrama fanatics people keeps saying this cdrama is the best or that has been pretty lack lusture but from the first few eps I've seen I agree with your rating so far its mediocre - not bad but not that oustanding either. I plan to finish this drama eventually but I can see recently cdrama ratings seem diluted with uncertified critics and more fanatics of a particular actor / fandom influence regardless if the script or acting was bad its a popularity contest which is a real pity when im after well executed stories and execution of cdrama. AvenueX I appreciated your reviews as you seem to be the very few who fearless rate credibility of cdramas unbiased celebrity influence but rather the script/acting or execution of what really makes a drama stand out and rewarding. Again this drama hasnt had any real major faults and just mediocre / good but nothing thats too gripping for my attention. You can't throw as many special effects or action scenes but if the plot is flimsy at best and the budget is all spent on costumes it means very little for me to watch but rather quiet shallow on aethestics. Referring to the other drama people bang on about which you also reviewed this year.... but yeh let people get angry theres some crazy fanatics of certain actors i know out there but at least as the voice of reason you dare to call it out if theres bad script / execution regardless of how popular the actor is.
Definitely agree with the investigation part of the story. There really weren't ANY interesting cases nor how they were investigated/ unfolded and exposed...and the ambiguous ending 😅 'God-knows-what shot' 😂 so true! But as an uninformed International audience Cheng Yi's voice and delivery was very soothing and pleasant on the ears. But of course, if to the native speaker it sounds like mumbling and strange articulation then I'm glad you pointed it out.
It Could be A LOT Better. i agree with this. im not mandarin speaker so its ok to me. i dunno if cantonese and mandarin is different. its suck that they now put trend open ending like this one
Every chinese native speaker will agree about the leads line delivery, and yeah i agree with you, i really like to watch a solving case drama, sadly the solving case part didn’t impress me much
I liked the drama a lot and I was also sorry it wasn't better. It's always a pity when you like a character but the actor is not good enough. You know, you do educate your audience! I'm really an average viewer, perceiving line delivery would never occur to me, but you have talked so much about line delivery that the other day while I was watching a Korean drama I noticed how bad the actor's line delivery was.😂
This drama is interesting. Mostly Chinese wuxia has the structure of a very wuxia style. As a trpg player I saw the structure of the story felt more of rpg campaign with each arc felt like sub quests that actually parts of the grand quest.
SPOILER I had such a problem with the female villain and almost gave up when it was revealed that her motivation behind poisoning LLH was that he wasn’t attracted to her
Well, something I always find interesting about the comments section is that, every time AvenueX gives any negative comments about actors, there will always be comments like: I know she doesn't like XXX, she is spreading hates. I followed her channel from the very beginning. It just became a habit of me looking for such comments purposely after I finished any of her video which contains certain ranting about the actors. The irony part is that actually people claiming, that she is spreading hates, are basically spreading their certain hates in such comments too. Never mind. Getting used to these things already. Anyway, all the best AvenueX! Hope to see more videos from you with sharp opinions.
I agree that it could be a lot better, like you said the cases could be written way better and they could have shown more bonding between the trio. But it's funny to me to learn about what a native mandarin speaker would say about Zeng Shunxi's mandarin. I cannot comment on the other actors since I do not speak mandarin despite all those Saturday Chinese classes (sorry mom). I totally forgot he spoke cantonese until this review reminded me that he was in TVB's Line Walker 3 so I had to look back on his cantonese and honestly... as an ABC who primarily speaks cantonese at home, LOL he speaks like one. You can obviously tell in interviews he's much more comfortable speaking mandarin and expresses himself better in mandarin which isn't surprising since I'm sure he did most of his schooling in mandarin even if he's from Shenzhen. Cantonese is a dying language in mainland china and many younger folks no longer can speak it even if they're from guangdong (which kinda makes me sad as my family is from HK). But alas, I guess this is the fate of bilingual (or more) folks; you'll never be considered fluent enough in either languages and you become BYElingual.
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international audience here. I actually loved Cheng Yi's voice, his speech style really suited his character. The lazy sexy nonchalant drawl. I was slightly disappointed when I wastched his earlier movies after, because they were dubbed by voice actors and not his real voice. The fight scene was a standout, graceful esp Li Lianhua's final fight with his ex senior.
True, his voice was perfect for his character.
And their fighting scenes were really well done!
No comment on the choreography of sword fights? One of the most beautiful sequences I've ever seen in any martial art drama are in Mysterious Lotus. Choreographer and all the actors deserve praise for these.👏👏
She don't give a damn.
yes so good compare to other crappy wuxia fighting scenes in 2023
Sono d'accordo anche in questo!!
I agree, the martial arts and fighting was THE best I've seen yet. It was so nicely choreographed and the actors did a great job on it!
Why this drama is so good despite all the negative points AvX mentioned(which largely isn’t exclusively MLC’s problems) is what she said at the beginning, that everyone in this production is harmonious! The cast is lovely to each other, no crazy fandom fights, everyone enjoys each other which greatly enhanced the chemistry of the 3 leads. That’s what’s fun to watch in MLC.
agreee, ughh dont get me started with crazy fandom fights! I AM TRAUMATIZED Lollll
@@furbabiessleepycat7222😂 I stay away from them like a plague.
This drama was 10/10 for me. Cheng Yi's delivery, wit, and nonchalant approach sold the character of a guy who doesn't want to be involved in anything, but is at the center of everything. Then there's the action, which was beautifully shot and choreographed. The speed and accuracy of each sequence was icing on an already very sweet cake. The only other drama that was on this level was The Ingenious One. Watch, judge and enjoy for yourself. 😊❤
AvenueX is still one of my favorite CDrama reviewer. 😊
Maybe no drama can be perfect, but I love MLC so much that I have re-watched it many times since August. I also loved the way it taught you about lessons in life. Like" let it go放下".. "There is no if... ", and many other lines from this drama. I loved the martial arts scenes. Cheng Yi's performance. and so much, so much more...
Actually, Cheng Yi fully understood his character. He said in an interview that people should learn to decompress themselves to be better. Everybody in their 20s feel anxious about their life, not being able to reach their goals, fulfill their dream and it makes them unable to sleep well. Cheng Yi and Li Xiang Yi were the same, but then they realize what they really want, what they can do, they learn to decompress and not feel guilty anymore, and they become Li LianHua.
The reason I love MLC so much is the main character and his change from the young, highly idealistic and uncompromising number one of the martial art world everybody admired, to his current self - Li Lianhua - who is the master of twisting the truth, adept at manipulating others and who has no qualms whatsoever to use the fact he can by far outsmart everyone else in the room to achieve his goals. He cares nothing about reputation or about making friends with others and he has no need or desire for relying on others. His arc is about becoming older and letting go of things a young person would consider important - he is super relatable and the actor was just so civil and believable in both roles - I haven't known Chang Yi before and haven't seen any of his previous dramas but I have checked them since watching MLC. Can't comment on the line delivery as I have zero Chinese of any dialect🤣. The other characters in the story are also interesting. For some, the 40 episodes were too long but for myself some themes were underdeveloped and I wish they were given more attention - like the whole Nanjing kingdom mystery or the mystery of Di Feishang's past. Jiao Liqiao's character was also pretty interesting but not properly developed. As for the ending, I didn't take the 'bonus episode' seriously but I did like that in episode 40, Li Lianhua almost surely dies but it is not 100% certain. This is the world where everything is possible, there are mysterious poisons, miraculous cures, mind control bugs etc and sure, LLH's whole story is headed toward the death he has accepted, but life can always bring the absolutely unexpected and so ambiguous ending with no certainty was exactly right for this drama IMO.
Reading this made me feel much better after watching the ending 🥺 Thank you! I feel the same.
Sorry but I don't agree, This drama was fun, advanced quicky, no boring overused romance, no predictable case or story, I've watched a lot of detective stuff I sometime It can get boring quickly but this time I couldn't guess none of the 10 cases, A lot of twist. I don't know the Mandarin standard or drama standard overall in China but I found this drama pretty refreshing and Still the best cdrama of this year in my opinion.
I am a native Chinese speaker. I promise the main leads' line delivery does not bother me at all, though with slight local accent.
@@hongli8170 Exactly what I thought, I was feeling the same, I thought it was a cool accent
@@hongli8170 I’ve only heard good things from Chinese fans!
I was totally amazed by the drama and replayed some scenes multiple times to see each actors emotions . Just mind blowing
To be honest, I think Chengyi's line delivery style is made on purpose to fit his character's personality and outlook on life. At that point in time, he is already jaded and doesn't even care much about anything, so he doesn't even care about what he is portraying to other people.
Now, speaking of your review. If someone gets mad about your rating, it's not your problem, it's theirs. I give it more than 1, at least 2 on your scale (8/10 on mine) because I really loved the script: smart, no plot holes, and that made it very enjoyable to watch, at least for me (actually, I only forwarded two episodes - the first two about the girls and the dancer - because they bored me).
As for the ending, I don't see a problem with it. It's clear that he died, and he died in a very poetic way. He died in a way that was true to his character.
The minutes of the "Easter egg" are just a journey of the other two looking for him without finding him. They just look at the seashore, their faces are unimpressed: there's no one there. LLH is beyond, on "the other shore". (That's my interpretation, of course, everyone can have a different one, and that's perfectly fine.)
More than agree on everything you said. For me also it's obvious that Li Lianghua is "on the other shore", and when he smiles it's not because he recognizes his friends but because he feels free at last and he isn't afraid of death.
"MLC is being a coward for not showing Li Lianhua died." That's a fair opinion.
But I personally think the ending is beautiful in a poetic way. It is about Li Lianhua choosing how to spend the rest of his life and how to die. In the beginning, Li Xiangyi came on a boat to the sea and then "died" in the sea. In the end, Li Lianhua returned to the sea. A line on one of the OSTs ("Outside Mountains") says, "All our fame in the martial arts world are swept away with the ocean." I feel like that's the ending Li Lianhua wants. Now that he is being swept away by the ocean, the other characters (Fang Duobing, Di Feisheng) would never really know if Li Lianhua died. They might know in their mind that Li Lianhua died, but they would never really see it physically, and that would give them a glimmer of hope (or despair) that Li Lianhua was actually alive. The closure and 'open' ending of the series actually send the audiences into the same state of mind/ feelings as these characters. We know Li Lianhua will die, but we never see it, and thus, there's a part of us that hopes Li Lianhua is out there somewhere. Meanwhile, Li Lianhua is truly free as the series says, "Lotus flowers bloom all around." And I think it's a beautiful and poetic way to end his story.
where is this scene, i dont rmb watching it, i thought final scene is them reading the letter while difeisheng stare out into the ocean??
@@alynce88 there''s a 5-min special episode after the last one
You explained it so really well!!
i too had a lot to say but forgive my incompetence of expressing my feelings in words. But after reading your comment u said everything that came to my mind after watching the ending.
@@annniex17 Nice to know there are people who feel the same way :) There’s definitely a lot to say about the series for its story and weight (AND the ending)
@@fsy76 and not to forget the weight even the tiniest characters held..
*Spoiler*
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If you read the original novel, Li Lianhua didn't die too, the poison makes his brain break and lost his mind, so he became a happy fool man who still has many friends around to look after him.
What I like about the original is the sarcasm of wu xia world. I called it anti-cliche wu xia novel. 😂 The series brings back a lot of cliche into it, change the heart of the whole concept. Still, I somehow enjoy watching it cos I have bias for Cheng Yi. 😂
Have you seen it in English?
@@akaNaz1 In Thai, I'm Thai.
@@nakiakuma5543 one of the languages I don't know 😭. Thanks for replying, I appreciate it.
@@akaNaz1 I read it in Mandarin, and yes, that's the ending given by the author AFTER being pressed by fans. Lol. But idk what happen to English version? Mind to elaborate?
@@shikumohayashi6990 I haven't read it yet. I haven't found it in English.
Chengyi’s delivery was on purpose that’s true to his character
MLC are my favorites drama this year literally the best drama that ever came out in 2023, and cheng yi's performance are just crazy. He even did his own stunt
Love the drama! Fall in love with Cheng Yi 😆. The story line, the chemistry between the actors are so good! Not to mention the action choreography and also the costumes omg. Someone in bilibili posted about Li Lian Hua's costumes. The details of the belts and hairties omg! 😍 maybe next time you can talk about chinese belts? Would love to know more about them
MLC is one of the best wuxia drama I have ever seen...what a stellar performance from whole crew. From actors, directors to the makeup artists. love the chemistry of trios. Actors lived the character❤
As english speaking audience, the problems regarding line delivery and lips movement are not the main issues of mine. Because, I most of the time read the subtittles, and enjoy the overall performance by relying more on ears (the background music, emotional expression in voice and intonation, etc) and understanding the storyline. To enjoy the visual, I just repeat the scenes to watch better. As long as the plot and storyline are intact without holes, useless information, and confusions, everything is fine.
The critics about language, line delivery, actors' life background, and other related things are applicable only for Chinese audiences. I don't quite understand, why it is even an issue. International audiences don't give a damn about it, IMO.
For a drama that goes international so well, I think you should shift your focus of criticism to other aspects of the drama, which are universal enough for us to understand about a good drama making and overall Chinese culture.
Mi complimento x l analisi. .sono completamente d' accordo👍👍
looking fantastic today! I am halfway through the show and i have lost my heart to AFei. I did not see enough of him and his backstory could have been the most interesting. Many tropes, but in a fun way. I agree that i gravitated to this because I didn't find much to catch my interest this last two months. I already notice that Cheng Yi and Xiao ShunYao are already signed up as the main leads in another costume drama, "Ying Xiong Zhi' english title Hero Legends.
I thoroughly enjoyed MLC, however, I do get what you say about the ending. In my mind he died. That said, as someone who has written a lot of fanfic in the past (not based on Chinese series) I can tell you that there are many, many people out there who refuse to watch or read anything where the main character dies. It doesn't matter how good the story is. (I've encountered folk who won't watch Nirvana in Fire for that very reason.) Now magnify that by a hundred fold and you will get a flavour of the response they would get if they filmed a death scene, or even if they mentioned it off screen. It would be fandom carnage. Sometimes you have to pander to the fans.
Gotta admit Im one of them because in my point of view theres no point watching or reading a novel if the main character gonna be dead or have bad ending.
I watch, read to leave real world for meantime and forget all the problems and stress why would I watch something that have bad ending or MC die it makes me more sad that in real life 😢. I invested my time just to see MC dead in the end will be just waste of my time just my opinion.
I'm one of those people who skip endings I don't like. I tend to invest in a character and not the journey. I did all that journey thing in college reading those Important Novels. I want my happy character ending now that I'm older and enjoying my fiction world more :).
I did enjoy Nirvana in Fire (it made sense that he died), it would have weird and writers would have had to explain how he survived without sounding fantastical . I enjoyed MLC too. Loved how the ending was left open to viewers
@@foivechan Nirvana in Fire is good, and I don't mind the ending. Probably since it was not shown. Of course, if I see my fav character dies, it won't be pleasing for whatever reason they need to die. But what kills it in nirvana in fire was Wang Kai's character. Idky, but I found him to be boring. Also Nie Huang, I feel like she was not needed in the entire story. Just a lover role which was a must in every wuxia story? I mean, how many wuxia you see don't have a lover or ex-lover for the MC? I myself can count those I watched with one hand. Lol
@@tashaonly That's a very valid point of view.
I love MLC! Definitely one of the rare good ones of this year and couldn’t stop rewatching after I finished. It actually got me into Cheng Yi (didn’t get his hype before).
I honestly don't see a lot of people trying to argue that Li Lianhua is still alive. The ending was pretty clear and the extra perhaps was just a coping mechanism for us😭 But I agree with your point, cos imagine how stupid Nirvana in Fire would be had they decided to give Mei Changsu a happy ever after ending😂
Some fans' wishful thinking has little to do with what actually shows in the finale, imo. If one wants to interpret it their own way, let them, but for the unbiassed viewers the scene on the shore is clear and tragic. Probably people just don't want to say goodbye to the characters.
About the line delivery, there's someone's explanation that interests me; Li Lianhua is a very calm person. He doesn't seem to have interest in other things than his mission. Thus, the way he speaks is calm and not bother much. I think this also makes sense, well depends on anyone.
Don't comment at me :)
All the detective/case dramas you've listed in this video I've tried watching them but dropped them ALL. Even Under the Skin, which was supposed to be very good, I couldn't finish it. I guess detective drama is not my thing, however I love Mysterious Lotus Casebook and I even clicked pause so many times just so I didn't miss anything important.
This was one of the few Wuxia dramas that I very much enjoyed this year. First reason is the 3 leads: I'm in love with all of them and am currently checking out their other dramas. Romance on the Farm in particular is a lot of fun. I think the case involving the "brothel" was the best. The rest I endured only to look for snippets about the main characters' individual stories. I agree about the ending. I had prepared myself for the fact the main lead was going to die. It was a shock to discover that he had given the antidote for the poison to the king, but that made sense even though it was heartbreaking. After that his death was expected, so to end it in such an ambiguous manner didn't make sense to me at all. However, I did enjoy the drama very much, and I loved the concert. It made me fall even in more love with the three ML's.
My special thanks for your thoughts on ambiguous endings. I have been putting up with this bizarre tradition for years now, both in Chinese and Korean dramas. I've come to consider them as pure fan service, designed to pacify the rabid followers of the star actors. However, I find this a disservice to the integrity of the storytelling and to the actor`s sincere commitment to his role.
It may be true that other dramas depict open endings just for the sake of it, but I hope you could see it differently in MLC. In this drama, the ending is by no way superficial. It consistently represents the drama's takeaway philosophy of "letting go", which I explained in the comment I just posted above (because I'm a late viewer who just recently finished watching 😅).
But I do respect if in the end your opinion remains the same. As mentioned several times in the drama that "people's faiths are different", so it's totally understandable if we do not reach the same conclusions :)
AVX....I miss your window view😭😭.... It relaxing seeing the window and the seasons changing outside while listening to your reviews and rants😅😂😂
I mostly agree with your analysis except the Ending part. To see the perfect beauty of this ending, one may need to slowly digest Li Lianhua's actions throughtout the show, rewatch a few times, or even listen carefully to the theme songs.
In Cheng Yi's cover version of the song, "The world is too hasty", there is the part that says 🎵🎵 “The boat drifts and drifts. The wave shakes and shakes. When came to the martial world, I took up a pen and shared a journey with you. When it’s time to bid farewell, wave your sleeve, do not try to hold me.” 🎵🎵 (I don't know Mandarin so pardon me for the translation flaws)
To understand and appreciate Li Lianhua's final decision, we have to first accept that he has indeed gone. He clearly bid farewell to his friends in his letter. He DID NOT leave anyone hanging. If we doubt it, it's simply because we still cannot let go of him (i.e., in denial).
On a contrary, LLH wanted us to let him go. His choices from the first episode showed that he was gradually reducing his significance to the world. He was slowly letting go of all attachments (dreams, fame, revenge, love, friendship, etc.), partly intentional and partly forced. The scene he let his horse leave with his belongings and broke his sword was the most symbolic in my view. He didn't plan to do so at the beginning, but because of his compassion toward a friend who had been wary of his legacy, LLH could give up his beloved sword (which was supposed to be his only last-breath companion) just to free that friend from worries.
This scene reminds me of a Buddhist notion, "When we came to this world, we brought nothing with us. When we leave this world, nothing follows us. What's there to be obsessed about?"
Letting go is much easier said than done. LLH shows us that an ordinary person, not a monk, too can reach that level of enlightenment.
The ending may seem heartbreaking for Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng (and all of us who love LLH) at first. But as time passed, perhaps the 2 of them would be able to understand LLH's choice and accept it with peace (and move on with their lives as LLH wished).
I feel that Mysterious Lotus Casebook requires a lot more pondering and repeated watching than other dramas. This is not the plot/production weakness, but it is because its takeaway message (the philosophy of "letting go") is not something most of us are familiar with so it takes more time and reflections to really appreciate it.
We're often inspired by deeply in-love couples and heroes pursuing their dreams; but how often are we inspired by a character who is letting go of everything? Perhaps that happens when I read religious books, not fictions. Mysterious Lotus Casebook is an exception and it's phenomenal.
I idolise many fictional characters (e.g. Mei Changsu from Nirvana in Fire, Wei Wuxian from The Untamed), but Li Lianhua is the one I will remember till my last day in this world.
And just because of him, I'm willing to overlook all other flaws in the production and rank it as the #1 series in my heart.
This is a wonderful take on it!! He had made his peace but he was so captivating it was hard for others to let him go!!! I think this level of writing was truly masterful!!! It is something we can all think about!! I can understand how it would be hard to let go of such an endearing, legendary person!!! Although i wished he left his sword to duobing, but duobing might cry everytime he holds it!!
Thanks! I too find it really hard to let him go so I can totally empathize with other viewers who looked for all the reasons to keep him alive. I've never watched any drama that required as much internalization as Mysterious Lotus Casebook. Even though I said his departure was the most beautiful ending and it's what he wanted the most, my heart still sobs when thinking about him 😔
I highly enjoyed this drama. Actually it might be one of my favourites but I do agree It could've been better. Especially the second half. I felt it might have been cut a bit too much to fit in 40 episodes. Also I would love to see more of the 'bad guy' and the three characters bonding. I would also love if the ex-lover part were less of a nuisance. When it comes to ending... I researched it a little and apparently it's similar to the book ending. I'm not happy about it but I kind of get why they chose it.
Overall I had so much fun watching this drama and I would recommend to check it out.
Hmm I don’t have any problems with the mandarin pronunciation either and yes maybe it’s because I’m not a native speaker. For me the naturally spoken lines made the people feel more real to me and it’s actually one of the factors that pulled me in. I was so surprised, I was like are they using their real voices! I was intrigued and surprised in a positive way. I actually find it distracting when a person from one drama sounds like a totally different person in another drama. …But I was wondering why are mainland audience so hung up with perfect mandarin pronunciation in period dramas? Instead of seeing it as a sign that drama standards are falling, I just think it’s refreshing to hear real voices and I can match a person’s real voice to a face. I used to watch shows where I can hear a person’s voice and know who the person is but with Chinese drama, I’d have to wonder if the person was dubbed.
And was the drama promoted in China? From what I heard I thought this drama was not promoted during its broadcast..
Just a few things I disagree on in the 11 min I watched but everything else I pretty much agree on 🤔🤔 will finish later!
Edit: I also agree on what she said about the ambiguous ending.
I agree with you. One of the reasons I like this drama because the main actors use their own voice, especially Cheng-Yi’s voice. I didn’t like his previous dramas because the acting sound fake with someone’s voice and was just ok acting. But this MLC drama, Cheng-Yi’s voice was a positive factor.
Can't agree with you more... actors and actresses using their own voice is far more valuable and authentic than having perfectly spoken mandarin, this is a pointless elitist view in my humble opinion, completely out of touch with reality, in real life, are individuals suppose to keep their mouth shut if they do not possess a 'perfect pitch' in spoken mandarin??? Are difference in pronunciations a fact of life, particularly a vast country like China, are only people born and bred in Beijing with PERFECT pitch in mandarin can be allow to 'ACT', this elitist view is complete utter ignorance ... what absolute rubbish
me too, i can see how this style may be problematic for other characters, but I do think it suits li lianhua here. I dont quite understand why actors to have to speak in a "proper" way, i think its good as long as it suits the character, and i feel i can understand perfectly fine.
As an English speaker viewer I must admit I find the insight into the language issue fascinating. For me, I really loved this. Mainly for Cheng Yi, I find him such a natural believable actor. He doesn't neatly fall into the idol category either which I really like. I thought he was classically trained as well so the speech pattern and mumbling I don't know about. Maybe he is like Stallone who can't speak properly? Never impacted on his popularity I guess. I agree with other comments that there was a lot of natural chemistry which really worked. Agree, there are plot holes. I hated Mian Mian in particular and the Saintess' OTT acting was hilarious. She stood out to me on that regard but I found her so hilarious she was one of my fave characters. I agree the main lead needed to die but I felt it ended that way to potentially have a sequel. Again, thanks for this interview!
Your review really nailed it. I did adore this drama, but that's because I am a sucker for the trope this drama did so well - the poisoned and dying martial arts hero who has attained an almost Buddhist state of detachment. So much so that I could ignore the silliness when it came to the cases. And the cartoon villainess.
Couldn't agree more about the ending.
Oh yes, the cartoon villainess, as you put it, wan't mentioned but my god was she over the top!
I think its unfair to not give credit to the choreographed fight scenes and sword plays performed by Cheng Yi. I will forever ship this trio CP despite what anyone says. The push/pull between Fang Duobing and Li Lianhua, and the squabbling/begrudging brotherhood and fighting over chicken leg of Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng will be forever etched in my memory. This show is a wuxia genre but it's also intertwined with case solving, revenge and self-actualisation. So while your opinion is yours to make, I think you've somewhat projected your own frustrations and cynicism of the Chinese drama industry onto this series. Majority of your review ruminates on what the industry was like pre-2014, and how its since deteriorated. We have to move with the times. In 5, 10, 20 years time, will the viewers who are today's Gen A still like the style of 2000s production which is elite in your mind? To me, i think a testament of a good drama is how its able to connect with its viewers, and technicalities such as line delivery is something that perhaps industry people care about but not lay viewers.
Ps. Im a 41 year old millenial who greatly enjoyed this show despite its flaws, because it brought me hours of entertainment and in fact im going to rewatch it now 😅
Agree. I am a naive Chinese speaker and I promise the main leads' line deliveries are pretty good. Their tone and intonation fit the characters so well. Their pronunciation sounds a bit like southern accent, but it is too slight to notice and never should be the reason the whole drama got rated low.
In the ending of the novel LLH did not die as yet FDB finds him in a seaside town but he is blind and half paralysed!!! Duobing arranged his lodgings, food, medicine etc. and visits him often!!! But i think it would have been too heartbreaking for LLH to be seen in this state in the cdrama!!! But i'd rather this ending than the one we got in the cdrama!!
The OSTs in this drama is just impeccable. And I’m personally such a sucker for the back-in-the-day elusive no 1 fighter all powerful type trope so this was right up my ally 😂 I definitely agree that I wasn’t really interested in the detective cases int he drama, more so just in the characters relationships and personal stories. If it were condensed down to 25 eps or so with less cases, would’ve been so much better. but overall chengyi as li lianhua was just too good
This is the first time I’m watching your reviews after I’ve finished the whole show.. this feels so surreal!
I always wait for your review before investing time in a drama, so thank you!
I agree with what you said about the general decline of c-drama lately that perhaps make this drama stand out even more. Personally, I enjoyed MLC a great deal, love the trios and their fight scenes. The earlier episodes are really nice with the three working together and bickering nonstop. Wish we could have more of those...
I learn something interesting with each of your videos. Thank you, Avenue X!
Yeah... I think the being overly polite about media these days boils down to a lot of people taking it as a personal attack if you don't like the same things that they do, which goes hand-in-hand with a lot of folks needing to feel validated by external forces that they have the "right" view of something. The number of people who pop up in comments of reviews claiming that the person is "biased" (like duh it's a personal review and there's no objective assessment of something) or that someone is being disingenuous by simply stating their opinion (as if it's crazy to believe someone could genuinely have a different a opinion) is out of this world.
Anyway, haven't watched this drama yet and not sure if I will, but the last bit of the video there totally resonated with me.
I totally agree w/ AvenueX on Lotus case book. That ending is so ambiguous. I thought he’s dead already then they put that extra scene. I literally went “oh no now iQiyi do Youku’s crappy ending”. It is the exact thing that you would see at the end of a youku drama that got sad ending. They’d put in an alternative ending that simply either confuse audience or please certain demographic. I, for one, am certainly very confused.
Does this mean if Nirvana in Fire was made today that they would have the ambiguous ending episode? (I know that some fans have used outtakes to make unofficial ones)
1 gold mine, couldn’t agree more! 🙂
At first I wasn’t going to watch the drama because I wasn’t a fan of the main lead guy, Chen Yi, works. BUT oh did I become a fan afterwards!!! And the main reason why I’ve finished watching the drama was because of Chen Yi, Zheng Shunxi, and Xiao Shunyao.
Their performances and chemistry was the best part of the drama. But the rest of the drama and cast was well… meh 🫤. Also the cases that they had to solve were predictable. It was easy to figure out who the villain was. Therefore, making the cases easy to figure out way before the characters figures it out themselves. It made me feel like I spent most of the time waiting to be proven right long before each case is solved, and the only thing that kept me going was being able to see the main lead guy(s) on screen. Not as interesting or entertaining.
But all in all, it was a good drama, and the choreography of some fight scenes is better than many drama I’ve seen in years! 👏👏 Cheerios to that!
And once again, kudos to the three main lead guys! Total see them in a new light now!😊
I wasn’t a fan of Cheng Yi before this drama too. His previous works in Liu Li, Immortal Samsara, Stand by Me … were just ok. I didn’t like those dramas at all. But his acting in MLC was exceptional.
Today you look very pretty. I like your videos and especially the vlogs you have from your trip to China. They're great! Thank you for your reviews, they are always a guide.
for all the point you reviews I accepted 80% but for Cheng Yi use his own voice I think you got wrong for him it's not he didn't want to improve but he did try his best .as a fan of him I know he must be struggling alot because Lilianhua need to speak faster and lounder while Cheng Yi real voice is slower and silent and the ending of lotus is perfectly for me even he dead or he still alive because it's show us that life before 30 and life after 30 is different I really love this drama especially I love Cheng Yi as Lilianhua he made me think after you get old you don't want to participate in party or excited activities as Li Xiang Yi but you just want to stay at home playing with pet and growing vegetables❤
For me, this drama is Best and cannot get any better.
I've been so looking forward to your review of Lian hua lou! Cheng Yi speaking with water in his mouth, haha! Now that you mentioned it, I can't unthink it.
Still the best wuxia of this year,
I don't agree with anything you say, but I respect.
I am so happy you made this review!!! I loveeeee this drama while agreeing with many points you made.
just discovered this drama. saw a few episodes on youtube, might have to sign up for iqiyi just to watch it. I would love have a DVD/CD version of it which I can watch repeatedly, now and then. I love cheng yi's acting. here this kakashi sensaei like character, he handled very well. glad to know it is his own voice. like all good detective series, it has just the right amount of unintentional comedy, most of which comes from lianghua's responses to the developments. right amount of long arc story, and right amount of angst. that it is not a romance, is good. not every drama needs to be a romance, we need a good break from romance sometimes. of course, like all dramas set in ancient china, that too the martial arts world, some of the story elements are bit too fantastical, like the various medicinal objects, but that is all acceptable. I feel grateful to the cast and the crew because they work very hard to provide us with these treats of entertainment. I wish them all well. lastly, i learnt the word for 'lotus' in chinese. it sounds very nice lianhua. and lilianhua is very alliterative. nice. for a change, the rather plain costumes on the main characters, lianhua not being the heavenly emperor of a rich aristocrat, still looked very elegant and pretty. very interesting hair pins he had in his hair...🙂
Your hair and make up looks really beautiful today!
Thanks for the review. Next we are all waiting for the ranting video on Only For Love 😊
You look fantastic AvenueX as always ! Have a great day
It’s been 4 months and people have been still looking for Li LianHua/ aka Li XiangYi
the best fighting scene ever which is the most important thing in wuxia drama,,,, I rewatch the first fighting scene like for 20 times before I continue to watch episode 1... come one chengyi does not deserve to be lilinhua??? welll luckily the industry does not agree..
quite convincing ...
thank you for the splendid hair design🌷🌼🌻🌺🥀🌹🏵💐💮🪴🪴🪴🍁
regarding the ending, i think some people thought they filmed the ending in the book, where the ml did not die, but ended up quite mentally disorientated, crippled and almost blind. Although he was surrounded by friends who looked after him, it didnt sit quite right with me as I felt he was smbd who had his own pride, and i dont know if he would have liked living like that if he was conscious. I really like this character and was really sad at the ending too, but I agree he is definitely better off dead than alive
I would really like to know your opinion about "Stay With Me" for me they made a masterpiece, good acting, good lines, an excellent script, an impeccable adaptation as far as possible. Best BL of 2023.
Your hair style looks really great today.
Mysterious Lotus Casebook is the best series this year as of today November!!!
I love your attire today.
As always you give your opinions decisively and who ever has different one should not be mad but keep their own. As to me, I actually like your rant and dissatisfaction as that is more entertaining. Keep safe and happy drama watching to you too.
I haven't watched it yet, but I'm planning to. But I really like everything you've said about the state of the industry in general, it's really not just about Mysterious Lotus Casebook, but a general decline in quality.
I know im late but i just got around to finishing MLC and i have to say it was truly one of the best cdrama series i ever saw!!! I agree with her on li lianhua's death!! That is a fair statement to make!! It was coward of them because he deserved a grand send off and to be buried at sigu sect! Because everyone would have wanted to make their peace with him! But maybe the person he became after the 10 years he wanted his death to be less painful for the others to not dwell on it and he knew xiaobiao would make a big effort to save him if he stayed. He didnt want to be fussed over I would like to think he made arrangements for his body to be buried next his master's grave!! But of course this ambiguous open ending is a fan service. Because is there a season 2?? Even I am not ready to let li lianhua go. The character was truly a masterpiece one of the best written characters ever in cdramas, he was flawed and acknowledged it yet he was sassy, funny, gentle, serious, and laid back!! So complex yet endearing!!! I appreciate the plot was not a run of the mill scenario, for example li lianhua was confident enough to wear the scary wedding dress. As an english speaker the mandarin speaking doesnt bother me much because i depend on subtitles anyway. Personally i dont think anyone else but cheng yi could have played li lianhua!! He brought such a refreshing aura to the role!!! And the martial arts style they gave him was so perfect!! It was graceful and elegant but still powerful!! This show had some of the best martial arts style i have seen. Even fang xiaobiao's style was beautiful, they could have shown him fighting more!! I do think director di fensheng was underused. But the chemistry with the 3 main leads was great!!! I have said before cheng yi needs to be in wuxia only!! He makes martials arts look easy!! Now i need the mlc merch because this series is engraved in my heart!!
After watching this women's reviews for some years, i have finally come to a conclusion that she is very shallow in liking dramas and only like the one with her bias or cringe as fuck noona romance 😂😂😂😂
One of the best in wuxia genre, one of the best martial arts choreography in dramaland and all she talks about is what?ships and line delivery whom not that many people actually gives a fuck about cz it still fits the character 😭😭😭
The acting, chemistry, cases, plots, story flow, choreography are one of the best out there but she's too shallow to appreciate but okay go on sister knows it all.
i think it is a case of being hypercritical and dismissive about ones own culture. she does not value the service C drama does to the world of enetertainment. I can no longer watch my own indian content, it has become too crass and dark. same with all of the western content. too indoctrinating, too visually crass, and filled with empty adventures of empty lifestyles. shallow themes that somehow are passed off as being 'progressive' or 'intellectual'. I guess she subscribes to all that, and finds c dramas in comparision too naive , or 'cringe'. She is so intolerent of the xianxia genre, (as i have noticed in her other reviews) probably she has no appreciation of the daoist lore/folklore of china.......anyway, though i like her attempts sometimes, and she is engaging to listen to, i do not ever take her ratings seriously.....
@@owl6218xianxia is nonsense!!
First of all, you look sensational! Thanks so much for going through all the work and trouble( although I know you love doing it) to look so beautiful. In this f...edup world, it is so refreshing to go to a place where beauty, sanity, and decency, always can be found! Secondly, thanks for once again having the backbone to go against the crowd. Thirdly, thanks for giving an explanation as to why c-dramas have deteriorated so much in the last few years. You are indeed the Queen of drama reviewers and a treasure of dramaland.
Wow! 👍
I had to log in to tell you how I love you so much! 🤩. I look forward to to finding your latest reviews on the costume dramas because I love them so much and every thing you say is so honest and on point. Thank you for your service. 👍
First drama that i really enjoyed for a long time every epis was interesting and well done ❤❤❤
Your emphasis is just on line delivery? That doesn't seem fair. Be wise old lady, here we're mostly international fans!
And she's Chinese, so it stands to reason she'll give reviews based on HER viewing experience.
Native Korean speakers have been very critical of some Korean actors pronunciation in period kdramas. I forgot the term - in period kdrama both pronunciations and vocabulary can be different from contemporary kdramas. The actors usually apologized and promised to do better to meet the industry standard and audience expectation for such dramas.
Aloha anevue. I am sad You Didnt like this drama as much as I did but Being no chinese native means that What bothers You couldnt reach me At all XD. But as You watched it till the end I guess it wasnt that bad After all haha. I wanted him to live but as You said it wouldnt make any sens xD
Coming very late to the "party" here, and I've been waiting for Ms X's review on this drama 😊 I think MLC is a good wuxia drama compared with others in 2023. I enjoyed the twist and turn of the story, although I agree that some of the cases are basic and not as exciting as a true detective drama. I can overlook this because this drama did not promote itself as a "detective drama" so I did not expect to see exciting and cool cases. I thought A-Fei and the young guy were hilarious at times, and I enjoyed the surprise true bad guy toward the end.
I don't speak Mandarin, so the line delivery does not bother me :) I do think that this issue is not solely the actor's fault. Yes, there are actors who don't want to invest time and money in voice/line delivery training, but there is also the problem of c-dramas having a very fast turnaround time with low budget of c-dramas. It's difficult to find the perfect actor without spending so much time casting, which will cost money. A proper production company should either spend time and money casting the right actors, or spend time and money training the actors they want to cast but have poor line delivery. Neither of these hardly ever happens in c-dramas.
I agreed that the few last shots of the ending are unnecessary, but I'm the rare breed of people who are completely fine with an ambiguous ending. Sometimes things are best left for the audience's interpretation (although MLC did not hit this tone perfectly), and it's actually quite fun seeing how people have different reaction/interpretation to an open ending.
Thanks for reviewing this! It was definitely my favorite wuxia/costume drama this year. You are right that it could absolutely have been better. I didn't think the "cases" were that great...some of the explanations/ solutions seemed a bit weird and over the top. I also found the villains to be exaggerated caricatures lacking in subtlety. That being said I enjoyed: the 3 male leads and their chemistry, the Lotus Tower and the dog, the fight choreography and wire work and the beautiful costumes and visuals.
Been waiting for this! This series snuck up on me, I just clicked a random ep while having lunch and ended up binding in 2 days.
Personally I think the ending it's well scripted, it was in fact the one that I enjoyed the most while watching this series. Physically every one knows that Li Lian Hua died, but he died in a very poetic, oriental-cultured and meaningful way. He's free, at last.
Other that that, I agree that Chengyi needs more improvement in lines delivery. He in fact doesn't have problems with character expression by lines, somehow his delivery "fits" well for Li Lian Hua, but the pronounciation was not always good. Although he has done a really good job in tragic scenes, his lines in more "slice of life" scenes were a bit meh.
Wow your artfully made hair! 🤯🤯
I agree with everything you said except the ending. For a start, I enjoyed this drama. I agree that this is a mellow and easy going drama (can be good or bad), doesn't tuck at your heart with emotional scenes, doesn't make you tear your hair out with all the bitchiness and backstabbings. Also agree with that Ancient Detective (which I adore so much) is more gripping making that drama more interesting. However, I am not qualified to comment on the actors' Mandarin.
I don't mind the ending as it is, as I REALLY don't want ML Li Lian Hua to die, so maybe just maybe I may get lucky and get a Season 2.
I may not understand Mandarin, but I totally agree with you about Cheng Yi's line delivery. It's like he can't even open his mouth while talking! 😂
Yes exactly. Also Li Hong Yi has the same problem. When they are talking in the drama their lips are not moving
It was really fun to watch for me and I loved the three male leads and the female antagonist too
Finally! I thought you were not gonna make a review on this drama 😅 Thank you!
I totally agree with you, I thought the drama was simply 'okay', buy not great, mainly because I just wasn't interested in the 'detective cases', which like you say just felt like 'filler'. The younger actor was annoying because of the way he said his lines, for sure. The ending would have had a bigger impact if they would have found him blind and an invalid, which is how he becomes in the novel, if I'm not wrong as I haven't read it. Or they just could have found his dead body on the beach. I guess they left an open ending because some people really hate sad endings. I wouldn't watch the drama again, unlike Word of Honor, The Untamed, Winter Begonia and some other dramas I've watched these last few months, however, I did continue watching, hence my 'okay' rating. 6.5/10
Your hair looks AMAZING ❤❤
It's a two goldbar for me. Can't find too much at fault with this drama. All the characters were interesting and had a good storyline and motivation. Duo Bing was especially endearing. My favourite character though was Foxy. The ending was pretty clear to me as LIan Hua made sure there was someone to care for Foxy.
What you said about the disingenuous ending reminded me of a film I saw years ago called The Horse Whisperer, in which a cowboy rehabilitates a horse that was in an accident(having re-habbed a horse myself, I know the amount of love and patience it takes), then at the end of the film, the cowboy commits suicide by riding this horse off a cliff knowing they will both die. It ruined the whole meaning of the movie. It was a betrayal of the whole point of the character. No person who truly loved horses, and was considered a Whisperer, would do that. No sane person would do that to an animal.
I loved this show and 🪷 . Agree with your points (even the one with cheng yi speaking with water in his mouth haha even though I love him and am his fan I can’t unhear it hahahaha). Anyway it’s pretty good show and I enjoyed it so I’ll be rewatchingthis from time to time!
“Where are you balls?”Hahahha we’ve all been there 😂
I havent been able to complete this drama - although like many cdrama fanatics people keeps saying this cdrama is the best or that has been pretty lack lusture but from the first few eps I've seen I agree with your rating so far its mediocre - not bad but not that oustanding either. I plan to finish this drama eventually but I can see recently cdrama ratings seem diluted with uncertified critics and more fanatics of a particular actor / fandom influence regardless if the script or acting was bad its a popularity contest which is a real pity when im after well executed stories and execution of cdrama. AvenueX I appreciated your reviews as you seem to be the very few who fearless rate credibility of cdramas unbiased celebrity influence but rather the script/acting or execution of what really makes a drama stand out and rewarding. Again this drama hasnt had any real major faults and just mediocre / good but nothing thats too gripping for my attention. You can't throw as many special effects or action scenes but if the plot is flimsy at best and the budget is all spent on costumes it means very little for me to watch but rather quiet shallow on aethestics. Referring to the other drama people bang on about which you also reviewed this year.... but yeh let people get angry theres some crazy fanatics of certain actors i know out there but at least as the voice of reason you dare to call it out if theres bad script / execution regardless of how popular the actor is.
Thanks, AveX! One gold mine a fair rating. I enjoyed it but with FF. It is very few Chinese dramas I watched these days.
My favorite 2023 summer C-drama was from the short drama world. Called “An ancient love song“
Have you seen it?
Definitely agree with the investigation part of the story. There really weren't ANY interesting cases nor how they were investigated/ unfolded and exposed...and the ambiguous ending 😅 'God-knows-what shot' 😂 so true!
But as an uninformed International audience Cheng Yi's voice and delivery was very soothing and pleasant on the ears. But of course, if to the native speaker it sounds like mumbling and strange articulation then I'm glad you pointed it out.
Just glad to see He Zhong Hua popping up from time to time.
It Could be A LOT Better.
i agree with this. im not mandarin speaker so its ok to me. i dunno if cantonese and mandarin is different. its suck that they now put trend open ending like this one
Every chinese native speaker will agree about the leads line delivery, and yeah i agree with you, i really like to watch a solving case drama, sadly the solving case part didn’t impress me much
Wym, you dont get to speak for us. You get to speak for the bilibili user population
Your turtle neck mixed Chinese Rob looks good.
I liked the drama a lot and I was also sorry it wasn't better. It's always a pity when you like a character but the actor is not good enough. You know, you do educate your audience! I'm really an average viewer, perceiving line delivery would never occur to me, but you have talked so much about line delivery that the other day while I was watching a Korean drama I noticed how bad the actor's line delivery was.😂
This drama is interesting. Mostly Chinese wuxia has the structure of a very wuxia style.
As a trpg player I saw the structure of the story felt more of rpg campaign with each arc felt like sub quests that actually parts of the grand quest.
SPOILER
I had such a problem with the female villain and almost gave up when it was revealed that her motivation behind poisoning LLH was that he wasn’t attracted to her
Well, something I always find interesting about the comments section is that, every time AvenueX gives any negative comments about actors, there will always be comments like: I know she doesn't like XXX, she is spreading hates. I followed her channel from the very beginning. It just became a habit of me looking for such comments purposely after I finished any of her video which contains certain ranting about the actors. The irony part is that actually people claiming, that she is spreading hates, are basically spreading their certain hates in such comments too. Never mind. Getting used to these things already. Anyway, all the best AvenueX! Hope to see more videos from you with sharp opinions.
This is my favourite drama right now
I agree that it could be a lot better, like you said the cases could be written way better and they could have shown more bonding between the trio. But it's funny to me to learn about what a native mandarin speaker would say about Zeng Shunxi's mandarin. I cannot comment on the other actors since I do not speak mandarin despite all those Saturday Chinese classes (sorry mom). I totally forgot he spoke cantonese until this review reminded me that he was in TVB's Line Walker 3 so I had to look back on his cantonese and honestly... as an ABC who primarily speaks cantonese at home, LOL he speaks like one. You can obviously tell in interviews he's much more comfortable speaking mandarin and expresses himself better in mandarin which isn't surprising since I'm sure he did most of his schooling in mandarin even if he's from Shenzhen. Cantonese is a dying language in mainland china and many younger folks no longer can speak it even if they're from guangdong (which kinda makes me sad as my family is from HK). But alas, I guess this is the fate of bilingual (or more) folks; you'll never be considered fluent enough in either languages and you become BYElingual.
I highly
Recommend that actors use their own voice please
I agree! the most part I'd enjoyed most was the relationship between the three male leads. The drama could be better.
LOL @ "Where are your balls?!"
Also, you look great.