Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

Here we go! Spazz page for your rant and rave!

Click To View My Spazz

=======> ♦ All About The Cast of Three Lives Three Worlds Ten Miles of Peach Blossom, BTS and goodies. Feel free to share your favorites! I think I have decided on a very safe route – watching cuts and behind-the-scene videos of this drama. Angst-free!

Little Zhang Yi Han is the star even though he didn’t swoop in for any kisses. So adorable.

Mark loves the kid.

Mark explaining how Ye Hua says some things that gives him chicken skin, lines that he can’t say out loud. He recalls this one line that he just couldn’t say but the director really hoped he would. After trying to say it one time, the crew couldn’t continue filming. It’s the bed scene and Ye Hua says to his wife, “Don’t be afraid, it will only hurt a little bit…” Mark starts to cringe at this point, “At that moment, I have a million feelings of pain…” LOL.

Poster Shooting and Some Awkward Dances. Watch to the very end to see Mark and Yang Mi going off the wall. heh.

A quick gif of Mark dancing.

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And this. PUHAHAHHAHAHHHHHHHHHH

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=======> ♦ Dilraba Dilmurat entrancing the audience with her smexy dancing and appeal on Happy Camp. She can be cute ans sexy at the same time. Amazing.

Alan and Peter doing the PPAP dance, slow and fast version. XD

Full Happy Camp show on 2/18/17.

=======> ♦ Any historical drama fan watching The Qin Empire 3? Tan Jing sings the opening song. Check Below.

=======> ♦ Jeff Chang sings a song for The Starry Night The Starry Sea. You watching the merman and human girl love story?

Zhou Shen also sings for the OST.

=======> ♦ BTS Video of Chusen package boys and girls having a blast behind scene. Shu Chang, Qin Jun Jie, and Allen Ren Jia Lun. They even danced PPAP dance at one point. Bromance!

Full Video of their BTS chatroom.

=======> ♦ The beautiful themesong of Detective Samoyeds (Righteous Ardour of Chang’An).

=======> ♦ Anybody interested in a drama about a real hero, Youth Huo Yuan Jia? [Wiki] Episode 1 below. The fight scenes look pretty good.

  1. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    So far only watching(ed) these dramas this season with JPN subs while timing them.

    – Chuushingura no Koi: Not one of the top dramas, but good if you like women in kimono.
    – Rakuen: Good drama. Nakama Yukie hunts a real creep.
    – Okaasan, Musume wo Yamete Ii Desu ka: Okay. Mother stalking her daughter.

  2. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    still watching Kluen Cheevit. last week episodes were so cute. the island scenes are very pretty and we can see mark’s character softening towards yaya. that moment when he smiled at her and she noticed was adorable.

    toey is so crazy, i can’t watch her with mario and both air the same period. T_____T

    the supposed R scene is coming next week….gahhhhh not looking forward to it mainly because i think he should be above that now but of course more misunderstanding and he took her V-card (he doesn’t know until after….) because he and her both think that is a way of revenge? which to me is always a flawed theory, would his dead GF want him to revenge by sleeping with the person who hit her…who is also stunning and gorgeous? lol.

    on the up side, weir and min’s drama is coming out today!!! yay!! my channel 7 OTP.

    • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

      Havent watched the new episode of KC… Oh, i heard about him sleeping our heroin. Bah, he’s really one of a kind. Haha… What kind of revenge he wants actually? Lmao.

      Im not interested in joey and mario’s drama. Weir and min again? Slap kiss?
      Btw did you finish weir’s drama which he fell for a teenager? I couldnt. Lols

      My current fave thai actors are nadech and sean jindachot. Cant wait for their next lakorns.

      And obviously i am a big fan of ten miles. I’ve watched it with or even without engsub.

      Btw guys, i recommend you to watch voice kdrama. So thrilled.

  3. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    I finally got into 3w3l this weekend and I got in deep. I finished all three novels and rewatched the episodes so far along with rereading the book. Didn’t know I was that shallow about hair, but I am; didn’t watch the drama due to Bai Qian’s hair for the past month. But I am over it now, sort of, like was it so hard to switch it up after she returned to her goddess status. I so hoped that they would change her hair when mortal self died. Like there is unintentional guffawing because during the smexy scenes in bed, the metal hair things are like evident and ugh it’s all about the hair. Finally got the hype about Ye Hua, the way Mark Chao plays him is EVERYTHING. the drama is pretty faithful to the book, something that i am grateful for towards the unsubbed eps. I can’t bear to watch Ye Hua take out Susu’s eyes in sub, so will wait till she gets back to being Bai Qian to watch the eps subbed. Bai Qian btw is like super savage and harsh sometimes which can be vindicating like towards Sujin but kinda off putting towards Ye Hua’s super angsty-always-on-the-verge-of-sobbing-eyes, like the man is in so much pain and EMOTIONS. The little dough is of course adorable and I am still super INVESTED in Donghua and his pet fox. Dilraba is def perf for the role.

    • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

      Mark Chao as Ye Hua is literally EVERYTHING. i can’t take my eyes off him.
      YangYang has huge shoes to fill

    • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

      I also took a while in getting into the drama and once I did, it was deep. I read the book twice already. Mark Zhao as Yehua is EVERYTHING. The drama adds so much to his character. He really gets Yehua. I thought Yang Yang fit the character better since he looked younger and fairy like, but nope Mark Zhao proved me wrong. It will be hard for YY to top it, but I am still looking forward to the movie. I became a Mark Zhao fan from this drama, he needs more dramas.
      I get the hair thing bc the teasers looked really meh. Mark Zhao looked a bit creepy with the super long hair and dressed all in black, but that was shallow of me as well. Now I see him with his long hair and I am like awww Yehua.

      • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

        Fellow Mark Chao fan here, 🙂 totally fall for him after seeing his YeHua. He’s hardcarrying the drama, he adds lots of emotion and feeling into his character. Like when you see him, you can tell how much he’s willing to give up for Bai Qian. It’s so heartbreaking when he realizes that Jie Po Deng has put out, he’s crying so much even trying to burn his soul since he doesn’t have anything to burn anymore.

        I wasn’t expecting much from Mark since Yang Yang is too perfect in terms of physical appearance, now Mark has totally won over a lot of fans with his acting only. And of course he’s no where being ugly. LOL

  4. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    Currently watching 3l3e. Obsessed with the drama. Mark and Yang Mi have good relationship & chemistry on and off screen. I love the way ye hua look at bq. Hes crazy in love with her after losing her ( su su) 300 years ago.

    Wish mark n ym could’ve dance better similar to ab and Wallace Chung. It must be awkward for mark to do love scene with ym.

  5. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    Still catching up to 3L3W, A Li is too adorbs.
    If I didn’t have deadlines coming up I would binge this drama to no end lol.
    The Qin Empire 3 opening sounds familiar to another song in the beginning portion (是我在做多情种)?
    Chusen packet so adorbs ^.^
    That dog pic. Such beautiful majestic fur lol.
    It’s okay Mark, I would cringe at that line as well lol.
    Waiting for Park Bo Young’s drama, wooo I’m hyping up myself too much ?
    I’m watching anime to relief stressss lolol

  6. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    Watching 3L3W with a good degree of detachment. The villains and what happen to them are too standard and predictable.

    Till Death Tear Us Apart/Love is in a Blaze is ok. Whatever was done to satisfy the censors made this less interesting.

    Ardor of Chang’an is kind of fun. At least not draggy due to its episodic format.

  7. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    Currently watching 3L3W!! One word, Mark is exceptional as Ye Hua. He’s totally owning Ye Hua character with so much emotion, pain and love for Susu, it’s so sad when he realizes that Bai Qian is Susu and that she already forgot about him. YangMi and Mark have great chemistry, hope to see them in a modern romance drama. I am in hope that Mark can win Best Actor award for this drama, he totally deserves it. Pretty sure he will get more work in the future after 3L3W success, he’s not that popular in mainland before this drama, so hopefully this drama brings his career in mainland to a new height. Meanwhile, I am faithfully following new eps everyday. All the OSTs in the drama are perfect for the drama, making it even more melancholic.
    I saw a clip on weibo of Mark reading a poem in both english and chinese, his voice is so deep and so memorable. I can’t wait for Mark next project.

    On a side note, it would be nice if Kappy would include Mark news corner like Zhao Li Ying in the future, I am sure there are a handful of Mark’s fan after 3L3W. 😛

  8. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    This might be a weird feeling from me. I get their separation and love but I don’t feel Mark and Yang Mi’s chemistry. I feel like he’s emoting alone. And all the hot kisses, the passion really only comes from him.

    Like I get their story on an intellectual level but feeling wise, I don’t think their chemistry is superb. Mark has more chemistry with Little Ali. Lol. In Black & White, he also had more chemistry with the assassin girl than with Ivy. That bed scene still smothers many minds….

    • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

      YM and Mark’s chemistry is passable but not to the level where I would want them to pair up again. I only wish during the kiss scenes, she would life her head up a little… it’s really awkward seeing Mark exert so much effort trying to reach her lips.

      “General and I” may have fail in all areas in comparison to “Eternal Love,”but I’m going to have to give to General for having the better chemistry and those really passionate kiss scenes.

    • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

      I do think it mainly comes from him. I just have such low standards for female actresses during kiss scenes that as long as they dont visually flinch or act like walls, I give it a thumbs up.

    • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

      To me they have great chemistry. It showed more during YM was Susu because she was in love with him
      Right now there was some disconnection and mostly came from him because she is pretty still confused
      I hate that people only give credit to the actors and ignore the actress
      YM isn’t the best and she is lacking in some emotional scene but she is doing a good job for filling up 3 different characters and having good chemistry Mark. You can feel their chemistry off cam too.
      I’d ship them if they were both single lol

      • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

        Sweetie, I’m just saying as I feel, is something wrong? You feel they, I feel they don’t, or not as much as they are supposed to have.

        And no I don’t just blame the actress, because Yang Mi had fabulous chemistry with huang xuan in that ridiculous interpreter drama.

  9. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    Currently lost in the black hole that is 3l3w. Loving Mark Zhao as YeHua, I am a fan after this drama.
    lol at him cringing and being unable to say that line. I cringed when I read it. It feels like such a fanfiction line. I love watching their bts bc everyone seems in such a good mood and always joking around.
    Ali is so adorable. They found the cutest kid to play the role.

    Chusen was not a good drama but I think a lot of cast members became close friends and it did gives us a great OTP in YangZi and Qin Junjie <3

  10. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    lol like everyone else, watching and liking 3L3W. Tbh I can’t even say WHY I like it so much. Mark Zhao as Ye Hua is definitely killing it, and YM is above my expectations for her as all her roles except SuSu. But tbh, the chemistry and story itself is definitely nothing special or spectacular. I’m really invested in FJ/DH storyline, but tbh, I’m also getting kind of tired of them too cuz I really just want human-emperor-DH to revert back to our beloved DiJun. Overall, I love the setting, the xianxia feel and the details of the world-building and all the most. The plot itself is definitely cliched and the love-stories, when examined in depth, are really quite shallow and stereotypical. Nonetheless, I am unable to explain but it’s really really addicting. Maybe it’s like O2O for me, …O2O was really addicting the first time and for the days after it ended cuz I was really in the mood. But recently when I went back to try to rewatch, it just seems over-cheesy now and I don’t remember WHY I loved it. These things…so unexplainable.

    Other than that…I’m technically still watching LoCH, but with the sporadic updates and the hype (and very very fast updates) of 3L3W, I definitely keep forgetting about it. Eh.

    I’m more in the mood for fantasy/xianxia/wuxia now versus the more serious, angsty, and realistic historical dramas (albeit love stories or not), so while I hear generally VERY good things about Glory of Tang (and loving the first 7 eps myself), I’m REALLY not in the mood for it and will prob not start it until I hit a slump sometime later.

    Lol in the meantime I also rewatched Boss&Me aka ShanShanComeEat. Tbh with the trip down memory lane from AVV, I might also rewatch Meteor Garden.

    Nothing else from me.

    I think partially why it’s easy to get sucked into 3L3W is because after the daily update, you wanna watch more, except instead of letting you bring yourself out of the hole and move on with life for the day, they release like 500 teasers for the next eps + bts promos and other related stuff. It’s definitely a good strategy, even tho I find it time consuming and generally not good for my productivity.

    • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

      You are on point with 3L3W releasing tons of teasers and bts everyday, so unknowingly, I keep going back to tencent daily to watch new clips. The addicting factor for me is YeHua, Mark totally owned it. LOL XD. I have seen up to ep 44, and will be following faithfully until the end.

      Spoiler: The book ends with YeHua saying “Come here Qian Qian”, so i hope we have some closure for the drama and not just hanging there with Ye Hua calling Qian Qian. We need some sweet reunion after him coming back alive.

      LoveO2O is good bcoz no jealous second female lead, it’s all sweet romance story in college setting. So many scenes are cheesy but I really enjoy watching it too. I mean we have Yang Yang as Da Shen who is handsome, smart and charming and on top of it, he falls for her first. Tbh, Zhang Shuang is too skinny, should have preferred someone else as Wei Wei.

      • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

        So fast. I go by the online youtube updates, so I’m only up to ep 42 right now. Ye Hua’s definitely owning it; but for me what makes the fact that it’s addicting strange is that while Mark’s great, the overall plot and just in general it’s not spectacular or amazing. So for me it’s definitely more the setting and world building and xianxia-ness.

        On O2O, it was good the first time. But because it’s so cheesy and because the plot basically has no conflict or up-downs, it gets old really quickly afterwards and really isn’t suitable (for me) to be rewatched. YY was great as Da Shen, but while I enjoyed him, I feel like for me at least it doesn’t really showcase YY’s skills cuz Da Shen was too perfect and 2D and unrealistic as a character; once I cooled down after finishing the drama, it was hard to get back into it because his character really wasn’t memorable or very complex. I mean, I’m not trying to tear down O2O; the first time I watched it, I was definitely definitely addicted. I just feel like, for ME at least, 3L3W might be like O2O after the fact where once the entertainment value and obsession dies down, I’ll realize that while good and fun, it wasn’t particularly amazing or worth rewatching. That’s why I find them both really good and hitting all the IT factors, but also addicting in a really unexplainable, illogical, and strange way for me.

    • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

      Please do you know how it’s rating in China?
      Both with audience and online views?
      Have netizens become a fan of Mark Zhao now?
      Thank you

  11. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    Wow, I’m probably the only one here who’s not currently watching 3L3W. (The same when everyone else was watching Weiyoung and I was only happily reading the recaps and the comments LOL). At the moment I’m only following LOCH, but quite far behind due to work loads. I read the discussion on SPCnet, and feel like kicking myself coz I can’t actively take part in the conversation :D. I really enjoy the series, and it hits almost all the right notes for me, except TBH Li Yitong’s Huang Rong. I’m quite impressed with Chen Xingxu who plays Yang Kang — and it seems like Ou Yangke has become everyone’s favorite in this version (like it did in the 2008 — so kudos to both actors for making a despicable character beloved LOL).

    I’ve wanted to check The Qin Empire 3. I thought the trailer was very nice, it has the subdued coloring fit for a period piece, and it would be nice to see Zhang Bo again (loved him in Three Kingdoms 2010). Anyone knows where I can read the synopsis? It’s mostly likely never gonna get subbed, so I need something to guide me through episodes.

    Another one that I’d like to start is the Righteous Ardor of Chang An! Joe Xu is my main motivator, but Juli’s chatbox comments are the trigger, LOL. Let’s see if I can keep my interest in that.

    BTW, I recently watched Your Name, and I’m floored! I don’t typically watch animes (except a few works from Ghibli), and I was checking this one on an overseas flight, but it hooked me left and right! I even rewatched it on my returning flight and am planning to get the DVD to watch with my niece and nephew.

    • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

      Same boat as you, lenje. Not watching 3Lives. Lol.

  12. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    I don’t plan to reiterate what’s been said about Mark and 3L3W but he has been such a joy to watch, and the hype about his acting is well deserved. As for chemistry with Yang Mi, I think it’s there – but it’s mostly Mark pouring his all that makes you feel for him and this couple. It’s not electrifying, but they do look together. However, I believe this to be contributed partly by her character as written in novel and part directing, whereas Ye Hua is the opposite when in love. Though I personally find the chemistry between Su Su and Ye Hua more endearing than as Bai Qian-Ye Hua. To be fair, I think any actress would’ve had good chemistry with Mark because the man is just so good with his expressions, and he’s so easy to get along with in real life it looks like. Maybe they should’ve gotten Gao Yuanyuan instead!

  13. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    Currently watching 3L3W. As everyone has said before – Mark Zhao is carrying the entire show with his “Plastic surgery acting skills”. You can see all Ye Hua’s emotions in his eyes and small facial expressions even though the character is not supposed to show any emotions on his face (due to him being raised as a prince – read the Ye Hua POV chapter in the book to get what I mean). Chemistry wise its not as amazing, mainly because Yang Mi’s acting is no where close to Mark and also because her character is written like that in the book.

    I love A Li – that kid is so cute!!!

  14. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    While everyone is binging on 3Lives, I am still watching Glory of the Tang Dynasty. It’s getting better and better, and you can see the irony in calling this series “Glory of the Tang Dynasty” as it’s more of the start of the period’s downfall. But it’s finally great to have a series focused on this!

    • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

      I skipped the middle episodes of GOTD from episode 18 onward because the female protagonist’s quest for revenge and refusal to communicate with her husband veered dangerously close to illogicality. I have picked it up again from episode 36 when the An Lushan rebellion starts and the plot thickens, let’s hope the series finishes on a high!

      • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

        I’m in this same camp. I haven’t watched any 3l3w and watching GOTD instead. The part of GOTD I don’t like is the lead girl suffering from common Cdrama Mary Sue ailments. Like a number of Cdramas where the lead guy is a lot more accomplished, objective, intelligent, generous and with unparalleled physical stamina compared to the lead girl. The GOTD time period is fascinating. The power struggle among the various groups is a lot more interesting than the Mary Sue part. It did seem off to me to call it “Glory of…” too.

        The main minus is there is too much Mary Sue point of view story telling. Disproportionately lead-girl-centric.
        But at least this lead girl doesn’t stab the lead guy like Angelababy in General.

        As far as Mary Sue stories and dramas are concerned, Love 020 has a better plot. But Jing Tian’s acting is usually more pleasant to watch than Zheng Shuang’s.

        • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

          ***spoiler*** The female protagonist did attempt to poison her husband but failed due to the intervention of her best friend, a plotline that is worse than noble idiocy. ***spoiler***

          GOTD is not a drama for serious history enthusiasts and that is a pity, because the rebellion, the Huihe (are they Ugyhurs?) intervention and the scheming of An Lushan, An Qingxu and Shi Shiming is more interesting and worthy of a drama adaptation than a plotline centred around 珍珠’s fictionalized romance. There are many annoying palace intrigue scenes with shrill 王妃s, but the drama disappointingly skimmed over 楊貴妃 (who was apparently An Lushan’s paramour whilst enjoying the emperor’s favour, hence a key character in the rebellion). As a toddler I recall watching a HK series with Anne Heung as Consort Yang but rebellion plotline barely registered too. There needs to be a better dramatization of this historical period!

        • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

          Re: spoiler. Given how they set up so much of this era to revolve around Shen ZZ from ep 1, I had a feeling SZZ would be a major Mary Sue. I didn’t take her love life and her various activities so seriously. I wasn’t watching every minute of it. So the 2 minutes I saw of her poisoning effort wasn’t so bothersome to me.

          Huihe in Wiki is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_Khaganate

          This series is certainly not a good source to learn details. The CGI part of the palace used in Ep 1 and a few later episodes does not fit the Tang era architecture. The palace scene when Yang Guifei was twirling sleeves was of Qing or Ming style architecture. Present day Chang An is Xi’an. All reconstructed buildings from Tang in and near Xi An 华清池, 兴庆宫公园, etc do not look like either Ming or Qing style. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogao_Caves Only Tang structures that were rebuilt during Ming or Qing have that architectural styles that look Ming or Qing, like the White Horse Temple Baimasi outside of modern Luoyang.

          While SZZ was very educated, noble, … for her era, she wasn’t so outstanding compared to the cream of the crop of historical ladies. Like Lady Fu Hao of the much earlier Shang era. The latter commanded over 10k troops.

          Early Tang Women Shangguan Wan Er, Empress Wu were very powerful. In the process of creating this Mary Sue, the writers take a lot of liberty to create a sensationalized story that fits the currently highly commercial MS formula. I can’t help finding fictitious SZZ is falling short from the 3 real, historical women. The writers bend over backwards a bit much to fit it all under the Mary Sue mold. idk how many more high-budget cdramas will still be affected by the (still) currently raging MS fever. There had been too many of these: Angelababy, Tang Yan / Princess WY, every Tornado Girl, Pretty Li Huizhen, Imperial Doctress, BBJX, Mei Ren Xin Ji, most recent C dramas whose title has “Princess” in it.

          GOTD’s MS fever is doing wonders for Ren Jialun’s career. In line with what Palace aka Gong did for Yang Mi and FSF.

          I wonder if the Shangguan Wan Er cdrama with Hou Meng Yao is or will be any good.

        • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

          i think the drama was based on a book written in the 80s, the Legend of SZZ, but I’m not very sure how much liberty the scriptwriters took with the adaptation, so SZZ is actually the pivot character of the story (i.e. Anshi Rebellion is meant to take a back seat).. I won’t discount the possibility of the scriptwriters completely rewriting the character to fit the Mary Sue mold though *shrugs*

          although not a true historical story to begin with, the historical period that it was set in is really intriguing and I’d love to see another drama giving a better depiction of the events which happened then.. though a drama centered on power struggle may not be as popular as one centered on romance, i guess..

          are dramas for Tang dynasty relatively fewer as compared to Qing and Ming?

        • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

          Past period drama money makers were Zhen Huan legend, BBJX, Princess Returning Pearl. Those were Qing dramas. There were a lot of Me Too’s Qing dramas. Cdrama flies will swarm whichever era that makes the most money. If Tang dramas keep making loads of money, I’m sure there will be more Tang dramas.

          I figured they picked SZZ bc she was the consort that was sought after by multiple emperors after she went missing. SZZ is sort of the Chen Yuanyuan of Ming era. Pivotal in historical progression, but not one with a spectacular personal accomplishment is what I meant. What the men did bc of them is more influential than what the women themselves did.

          I had to take a Humanities class for General Education called something like Great Books of the World at Large as a teen. According to that class, there were very few books and diaries written by women in the 18th century and prior. In Asia, the major palace novel was by a Japanese lady in waiting. It may have been the Tokugawa or post Tokugawa period. A lot of female palace stories are mostly based on folk stories with minimal facts. Occasionally they can make a good drama. There were few diaries written by women in the West too. I vaguely remember Madame Sevigne’s letters and a British lady. I didn’t enjoy reading their work for classes. Very mundane and gossipy. I’d rather read about the biography of the PRC lady Tu Youyou who won the Nobel prize for medicine this decade. But alas, if she didn’t have a handsome hubby, I don’t see how she could be made into a Cdrama. *Wink wink. But maybe Angelababy or Fan Bingbing can change the story and produce that series. *chuckles.

        • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

          There aren’t that many novels or dramas/movies on SZZ. There was a drama in the 80s and then there was a book from a few years back iirc which this drama based on.

          SZZ was mostly sought by Li Chu and their son Li Kuo. Li Chu, despite being portrayed as being very in love with SZZ in the drama, pretty much moved his interest to Dugu. Also, after Shi Siming’s second attack on the Tang, Li Chu did have the option of bringing SZZ with him. Instead she was left behind for a second time and basically disappeared from history books. There was an impostor but of course that didn’t end well.

          Re: Japanese palace novels
          It’s either Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book or the very famous Genji Monogatari by Murasaki. Both were in the Heian period so way, way before Tokugawa’s time. But you’re right, books written by women from that time were scarce.

          Trying to think if Shangguan Wan’er had written anything similar. I would like to read her experiences during Wu Zetian’s time.

        • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

          Thank you chasingpolaris. I have forgotten which Japanese p novel I read. It’s probably the Murasaki one. This is a digression if you don’t mind. Do Japanese write their full name with last name first and then first name like the Chinese and Korean. For example, like Li Huizhen? Or do they write in the Western order like John Smith. I’m not sure the media reverse the order when they spell out the J names in Romaji, versus when they write in Kanji for the Japanese reader. idk which traditions got changed after the Meiji restoration when they switched to Western ways, switched to celebrating the Roman / Julian / solar new year instead. When I read Shinzo Abe in the news, idk which Kanji is for Shinzo, which is for Abe. I need to google or wiki more.

          Thank you also for your nice SZZ synopsis. i did read that from wiki too. It’s a pity classical C women didn’t write much prose or novel for posterity. Even with just one or two palace novel diaries (as in the j case?), I would still have doubts on the reliability of the described ancient period. A lady in waiting would get a very different point of view, but still, it’s just one person’s perspective and without any fact checkers.

          I heard from semi-documentary that SG W’er ‘s family was declared guilty by the court, so she and her mom ended up serving in the palace. A lot of SGW’er is also on wiki.

          Often times, when Cdrama lead girl is concerned, while history was reported as X in wiki, yet it comes out as story Y in Cdrama. This becomes an amusing exercise for me for SZZ. See what the cdrama Mary Sue cookie-cutting work does to the historical SZZ. I wonder, if they were to move to a different cookie-cutter than the current MS one, which will it be?

        • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

          It is Abe Shinzo. In Japan they always introduce their surnames first, given names last. So it’s basically the same as China and Korea. Western media will always reverse the order to fit the Western custom.

          I agree with you on the lack of classical Chinese women writing prose. The only two I can think of are Li Qingzhao and Zhuo Wenjun. Pretty sure there must be more but probably not as recognized as their male counterparts.

          There is often a certain formula that Cdramas follow. The leading lady must be a Mary Sue, her family must be poor or killed off, she has to have a best friend or a trusted maid, and no matter what happens she will always choose to forgive the people who have hurt her.

        • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

          Thank you, chasingpolaris. Baike Baidu’s entry under 中国古代四大才女 is worth checking out.

          I finally looked up Abe S’ wiki page. I didn’t realize his name is an easy case to remember. Similar to the Hiragana ‘A’ sound for the C character for An. I forget countless times which Kanji’s are for Takeshi vs Kaneshiro.

          I’m a peacemaker and do not believe in revenge. One should improve oneself instead of envying others. Avoid hateful, backstabbing characters ASAP. But I do hate dramas that have door mat leading ladies, door mat M Sue’s. Cough.. Li Huizhen … cough..

          By sticking to standard MS formulas, they make many Mary Sue leads appear schizophrenic. On 1 hand, every M Sue has a heart of gold as the basic building block. Then there are several required contrived situations that lead to major misunderstanding. Then they often do something very extreme to the OTP guy or backup guy, like stabbing (Zheng Shuang in Chronicle of Life, Angelababy. Or “poisoning” in SZZ’s case. I forgot what Weiyoung did). Some parts just end up being complete nonsense. The male OTP often has to go thru long “needless” suffering. I hope that’s not what young ladies are hoping for their OTP guys these days. Then the contemporary dramas sometimes aspire to compete writing the most comprehensive manual for “Horrible Parenting 101”, like the Interpreters. There are also too many cases where MS’ need rescued by Gary Stu’s. Some of the nice things about Love020 is Weiwei can hold her own just fine. And there are no poster “boys” for horrible parenting. Weiwei is still a great deal of a goody two shoes. But many other MS can’t even hold their own until all the stars in heaven are aligned.

          Another trouble is, from recorded history, powerful Tang women in palaces were a lot more like the ruthless Bill Gates type rather than the MS with a heart of gold type. So using the MS cookie cutter on them will just turn them into schizophrenic characters.

          They also exaggerate OTP guy and 2nd lead guy too much. I suspect the real life Ming doctress Tan Yunxian didn’t “mess around” with the emperor and his brother?? But it’s not good either if they replace Mary Sueism with Asian Miserabilism instead. The nobly long-suffering characters.

      • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

        I can’t say I blame you but I can’t say I blame Zhenzhu either. All the evidence she gathered was pointing to her husband and she was clearly too blinded by revenge to see beyond that. I do think that whole arc was way too long and they spent too much time dumbing down Zhenzhu’s intelligence while raising Li Chu’s. Her intelligence lies somewhere else, just not in crime solving. Haha.

        • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

          It seems rather ill conceived to plot to murder your own husband in that era, especially when he is a member of the royal family. She would have implicated her bff and her husband’s brother(and bff’s husband) Li Tan in some power-grabbing murder scheme if the poison worked successfully on Li Chu. The only winner would be the evil stepmother 王妃.

        • 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

          You are right about that but nobody knew the Crown Princess’s evil schemes at that point. Or if they did know, like her best friend did, they couldn’t figure it out that it was all part of a bigger evil plot.

          As much as I like her best friend, our little Lin Zhi could also use some common sense. With SZZ, at least I could understand why she attempted to poison Li Chu. Lin Zhi though. She could have saved herself from being tormented by just walking away after washing up from the stream. Instead, she chose to eavesdrop on the Crown Princess and Shi Siming even before seeing the CP’s face. <_< Why would you want to eavesdrop on somebody’s else business? That alone is just calling for trouble.

          I just never got that part.

  15. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    Another minority of those not watching 3L3W. I didn’t really see the appeal of the book that much so no point for me watching the drama (also the main couple didn’t really fit my aesthetic). Watching Glory of the Tang in the background because of the lack of time but enjoying it anyway. I usually really hate the Bai Lian Hua type but I guess ZhenZhu is passable for me because she is not too annoying. Right now for some reason I am watching the Chinese cartoon Fights Break Sphere and enjoying the pretty visual even though they cut out lots of the storyline and only release 1 episode a week. I don’t know how they will plan to finish the series with such a slow production because the novel is pretty long (more than 1600 chapters). Anyway, most of my time are spent listening to the soundtrack instead of actually watching anything….Hopefully, I will have more time soon.

  16. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    Just finished the murder mystery drama Close Your Eyes Before It’s Dark (TW drama). Most of the cast are newbies but their acting was pretty good. The final reveal wasn’t surprising, which I liked because it made sense T_T

    Missing 9 (K-drama): Only watched a few episodes so far. Curious to find out what happened to the survivors on the island.

    I am having trouble getting into Glory of Tang Dynasty (been skip-watching, planning to resume watching from the 2nd half of the drama). Probably not going to watch 3L3W (I know what’s happening anyway thanks to this site and weibo haha)

    Dropped Behind Your Smile because it was kinda draggy and boring. The english synopsis I read on MyAsianTV was wrong – the main guy is not immortal and the plot has nothing to do with the Faust legend >_> I like Marcus Chang though.

    Kinda watching Tiger Mum Blues (HK drama) – likable cast. Venus and Hayden are cute! XP

    I am in need of a short (under 30 eps) C-drama to watch LOL.

  17. 47 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (3)

    I’m obsessed with #3310 and I need help lol.
    I can’t remember the last cdrama I love this much

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