Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

When you’re not watching anything, this feature can slip by for weeks and months. Lol. I have been in the longest drama slump since Princess Agents. I really need a thrilling adventure drama or an epic sweeping romance right now. So what are you guys watching these days? This dry squid would like to know. 😭

  1. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    I have been rewatching whole episodes of The Untamed. If I’m not doing that, I’m watching behind the scenes stuff. Basically, don’t get hooked onto this series. It’s not healthy. =P

    I’m slowly working my way through Love and Destiny. I want to love it, but I mostly turn it on for background noise.

    • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

      Ha! Me too! It’s seriously unhealthy. Had no idea what a black hole Untamed turned out to be… I can’t get out! Constantly watching BTS and interviews and FMVs. Need my daily fix!

      Currently trying to watch Longest Day in Chang An but it’s actually kinda underwhelming… just so slow and self-indulgent.

      • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

        Me three! I’m watching the anime and reading fanfics to help with the withdrawal syndrome. Epic adventure and sweeping romance sound a lot like The Untamed. It’s basically everything I ever want in a love story. Silent pining, lost and grief, hurt & comfort, protectiveness, eyes only for each other, faithful waiting, us against the world, character development, organic confessions. Like, straight couples have a lot of catching up to reach this couple’s level.

    • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

      Also re-watching The Untamed with my mom – she demanded to re-watch it cuz she can’t get over it (LOL)

      I watched a little bit of Love & Destiny and the acting is really good and the designs, etc. is beautiful, but the story’s pace is a bit slow… Haven’t finished it yet (will do that after finish re-watching Untamed)

    • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

      Omg, I’m the same. I have fallen into the deep abyss of XIao Zhan and Wang Yibo… I just watch their videos on Bilibili all the time.

      Would want to watch Xiao Zhan’s previous dramas but I’m not ready to get out of WangXian CP yet, huhu.

    • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

      Same! I am stuck around episode 20 for Longest Day in Chang’an and have no motivation to finish Eagle Flag after Episode 22. But “The Untamed” is like crack – I am still hunting for BTS videos I have not seen yet and waiting for the second season of the donghua after finishing everything else (translated novel and manhua).

      Never thought “The Untamed” would be so addicting. I mean, a webdrama with two idol actors?
      The first two episodes almost turned me off from watching. No explanations whatsoever about the rules of reincarnation (same face?), weird fake-ass set designs (lava rocks in Nevernight), overacting (Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian as Mo Xuanyu – I get that he is pretending to be crazy, but he is also making funny faces when nobody is looking, e.g. hiding behind pillars), whistling on a leaf sounds like a flute song etc. etc.

      Yet, people who had seen beyond episode 12 were raving about the drama so I stuck with it.
      Turns out, it became better – sure, there are a lot of technical aspects that leave a lot to be desired
      * the lighting is inconsistent
      * the fight scenes are laughable (people clearly missing the target of their hits in the background)
      * the pacing can be awful (case in point – the Guanyi temple scene felt slowwwwww)
      * the low budget shows in some of the set designs and special effects ( I still do not understand why they had to make it obvious sometimes – there is one scene in the vegetable fields of Nevernight, Wen Chao is having his men capture Wei Wuxian – but instead of simply wrapping the whips around his body, they have to hoist him up with wire fu – looks so bad)
      * some of the plot changes do not work in favor of the story (replacing the dismembered boy of Nie MingJue by a sword ghost, absolving Wei Wuxian of all guilt by making Jin GuangYao the culprit of Wen Ning killing Jin Jixuan and the zombies’ rampage)
      * overacting (Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, Wei Wuxian in “dog trauma scenes” and to some degree Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling…)

      But still, what really resonated with me were the relationships, the characters (no true black and white at least if you include details from the novel) and the story itself.
      I prefer the way the drama handled the BL elements (not subtle at all, but no physicality) because I simply cannot handle smut – ohmygawd those later novel chapters…

      The Untamed had elements of fantasy, detective stories, action, romance and so much tragedy tempered by humor – it never got boring. Was pleasantly surprised by the acting of the two idol leads – chemistry, microexpressions, check.

      All in all, a really welcome exception to my usual viewing patterns. Rewatch value: OTT.

    • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

      Love seeing all the comments on The Untamed and how we’re stuck in this loop of watching it or related videos!

  2. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    I was obsessed with both the Longest Day in Chang An and Mr. Fighting, finished them triumphantly. Sadly it’s not the case with Novoland Eagle Flag — am still stuck at ep 21 or 22. Instead of finishing it, I rewatch some episodes of Chang An and Mr Fighting, the latter more frequently. While Chang An is unquestionably the best drama this year (it’s just ahead of others in terms of production values, plot, writing, and acting), I’m more emotionally invested in Mr. Fighting. I love that the main characters are ordinary people and the story revolves around their struggling in life. This is the first time I’m obsessed with a modern C-drama. Also the first time I’m watching Deng Lun in an entire drama (since I didn’t watch Ashes of Love) and boy, I’m impressed!

  3. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    I started FLIPPED after I finished The King’s Avatar cuz glass boy aka team leader of Lan Yu, Yu Wenzhou really impressed me!! 😂

    Finished Longest Day in Ch’angan but the ending leave me wanting more so I ended up googling the history of some of the historical figures the characters were based on… And damn!!! 😔

    I have yet to finish the Untamed… only have about 5 or so episodes to finish but I’m not in any mood to complete it… nor compelled myself enough to just do it.

    Also have yet to finish Mr. Fighting… I feel like I need to prepare my heart for the tears… and I’m just not ready!! 😔

  4. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    I just finished Healer (kdrama) even though its an old drama, haven’t watched it before. Surprisingly good! Really love it, now I am swooning so badly over Ji Chang Wook, he is so damn good looking

  5. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    Omg hiii Aunt Kap! It’s been a while, and I’ve gone MIA for so long, I feel so bad. I’ve been keeping up with your posts though! Just haven’t had time to sit down to comment till now :)) Hope all is going well for you~

    I’ve recently finished some dramas, and all of them seemed ok, not too bad, but I wouldn’t highly recommend unless you were very bored ahaha. I watched Gank Your Heart, Before We Get Married, Go Go Squid. Gank Your Heart was interesting, and seemed to follow the trend of the summer: aka e-sports/gaming. Wang Yi Bo’s acting seems alright and lots of people do recommend his other drama The Untamed more. Before We Get Married (Taiwanese) was very wack, and really highlighted the flaws of living together before marriage, falling out of love, and following a organized life plan. I have to say, certain aspects of the drama really surprised me ahaha due to how stupid the second male lead was and how stupid the female lead sometimes got..kinda angsty and I don’t really recommend :(( Go Go Squid was the best out of the three, and I actually really enjoyed it. Although there were many parts of the drama where flashbacks/replays got extremely excessive and annoying, I couldn’t help but fall for Li Xian’s charms ahaha. As usual, Yang Zi’s acting was on point, and I absolutely loved her acting. It was such a cute drama overall, and kinda makes me want to read the original novel just to witness all the fluff again!!

    I’ve recently started watching Hotel Del Luna with Grace Jie Jie, and that’s been extremely fun hehe

    • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

      LOL I’ve been mentioned. Yeah Hotel Del Luna is pretty interesting lmao. What episode are you on now (if you watched after lol)?

      • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

        Hehehe hiii
        I haven’t watched any episodes since lol
        Been busy with school and college apps, but I really really wanna watch :((

  6. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    Y’all are missing a great drama right now! If you guys like cutesy, romantic, sweet and idol-y fun dramas, My Girlfriend is an Alien is your calling! I didn’t have high hopes for this drama from the start and only watched out of sheer boredom, but it’s actually REALLY cute! The female lead is very likable and adorable while the male lead is hawt! The first two episodes are slightly hard to get through if only because the tropes are so predictable, but tropes are addictive! Definitely give it a watch (try getting through the first two episodes first before making any judgment.)

  7. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    Just finished King’s Avatar. I went in with super low expectations after seeing the first trailer. Seemed too much like an idol drama. However, I was super impressed by the CG and later enjoyed the whole show overall. I’ve always liked Yang Yang but have never really seen his acting capabilities. After watching this drama, I found that his portrayal of Ye Xiu stood out (even if sometimes a bit too OP). It was clearly Ye Xiu and not the same male lead from Love O2O. Finally saw Yang Yang’s acting chops. It was the little things like his facial expressions (although the dubbed voice also made it distinct too. ^_^;;). I’m impressed and would totally be open to more seasons of King’s Avatar. Eventually, all actors won me over and have a soft spot in my heart (like all the other suave team captains.) Will reward myself by checking out the anime and later the novel. 😀

    • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

      You won’t be disappointed with the anime & novel haha! I read the novel after watching the drama, and realised the drama could have been soooo much better in terms of the plot at certain parts. They edited a bit of the story which didn’t make sense after you read the novel. The drama has so much potential with the good CGI and cast, so I hope they can have a 2nd season with a plot that follows the novel entirely.

  8. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    I think I spent the entire summer watching dramas lol. Let’s start with I think my favourite so far:

    The King’s Avatar – I’ve read beginning of the novel, watched the donghua, I play games so this was on my radar regardless, had low expectation since there were so many ways this could have gone wrong. I was SO pleasantly surprised. They definitely spent money on the CG, even if the models are a bit ugly, especially if you compared to filtered pretty boys. It’s largely due to them modelling after the actors, and they mo-cap it, for a web drama, damn tencent you are rich. The actual animation is fairly fluid, the maps are all pretty nice looking, the set is actually way fancier than I expected (I’m never getting over how bright and huge that internet cafe is). The fights are fairly dynamic, and the music definitely grew on me, it seems non gamers and non fans finds it pretty exciting to watch too. IT ALSO HAS NO ROMANCE, HOLY CRAP, we got through a cdrama (a non-serious historical), and technically an idol-y drama at that without romance, can we get a round of applause please?

    Yang Yang does feel too pretty to play Ye Xiu but I came to like him in the role over time. His dubbed voice (they used the donghua dubbing to cross-media ingrate) doesn’t quite fit his face, but it’s fine, the dub voice fits the character. He came across cuter initially and clumsier, but it’s okay and it does humanise an overpowered character. He had flaws in novel/donghua too, but he still felt little too perfect, so I think it works for the drama. They kept the core storyline, cutting out a lot of grinding, dungeon clearing, guild drama to make way for real life scenes, which is much more friendly to new audience. You still get to know the characters since they make up other scenes to show you their story and personality.

    The drama excelled in camaraderie, and rival teams are friendly rivalry usually, even antagonists are more fleshed out than expected, the novel was just filled to the brim with amazing characterisation, but the drama also fused some minor characters and made changes when needed. I’m not always happy with the changes, there are at least four or five points where I think it’s iffy, largely due to the fact sometimes it feels like drama for the sake of drama, or they spent too much or too little time on it, I think it could have been smooth out bit more. But, they also added in more vital flashbacks and family scenes that I think humanised Ye Xiu more, and they were introduced earlier than the novel too, so you could empathise with him more. The drama also continues to legitimise e-sport as an actual sport and career, there’s fair few ex-players doing cameos. Overall, it’s a decent and genuinely exciting, thrilling ride, and it’s the best drama to just ship everybody XD

    Gank Your Heart – the other esport/romance that sort of faded into oblivion cos it went on and off so quickly, but that’s okay, Wang Yibo’s other drama was a hit, so some people might watch this! It has actually become one of my favourite contemporary romance, even though I don’t watch many of those lol. It actually starts with pile of misunderstanding that I’m not fond of, but I think it’s all pretty understandable why it happened. The otp does end up getting pass it and become friends and there’s pretty cute scenes. However, I mostly like it because female lead GETS TO HAVE HER OWN CAREER. The leads actually suffer a fair bit, since netizens is fairly bias against them (for pretty good reasons too), but they have a supportive relationship, which is very refreshing. More over, there’s what looks like second male lead, but he’s mostly just adorable and quirky and supportive for unexpected reason. There is a second female lead, and she was refreshingly not annoying either. The antagonists are a little flatter than what I’d like (they have a bit of depth, but not a lot) and last longer than what I like. But I love the supporting cast and their mini arcs! There’s a very annoying last minute plot twist arc I’m not a fan of, but I’m still too in love with refreshing main cast and their dynamic. Acting-wise, I think female lead Wang Zixuan might be the weakest link, but I think she worked okay for her role, never pulled me out anyways.

    Go Go Squid – I think I mostly covered it last time. I liked the parts everyone else didn’t care for, the flashback and backstory, family and camaraderie, basically everything BUT the romance. the cut fps competition scenes were too bad, I did wish they could have shove in replacement ctf scenes for the LATER episodes because those matches were SO important, oh well, whatever.

    Untamed – haven’t read the novel, watched the donghua, finished the second season while I was almost done with the drama. It’s surprisingly entertaining adaptation. Xiao Zhan did an excellent job as Wei Wuxian. I can’t really talk about how well it adapts, since I haven’t read the source, and they clearly rearranged all the flashbacks in a linear fashion, probably to make it friendlier to newer audience.Damn the story is one tragedy after another, and everyone just keeps suffering. Not that it’s bad, since it’s pretty effective emotional story. I did also appreciate that there were hetero couples (both happy and sad) in a technically BL story, it makes the story much more believable. The glances and stares and lots of gestures are fantastic for conveying the otp’s bond, I actually like it more than straight “i love you”s (although I wouldn’t say no to more body contact, not necessarily kiss, just hug or something, but oh well). I think the major supporting characters all did pretty good job, especially Jiang Cheng! I actually also like Xue Yang, even though he was very over the top, but I think the cartoony evil front made some scenes sadder.

    Longest Day of Chang’an – This is such a gorgeous drama to just LOOK AT. I definitely watched it for cinematography, the sets, and little details like make up or the street vendors in the background, or learning times of the day and the subtitle that goes after the time. It’s also THE drama that makes me fall asleep. It’s a thriller and a mystery and a historical set in Tang with so many different culture of people and parties with different goals and priorities, it really really should have kept me at the edge of my seat, but it didn’t. My brother liked it more than me, and he also thinks it’s oddly sleep inducing. It honestly feels like a food documentary or something you watch one episode at a time every now and then? It does end on cliffhanger, and I’ll click on next episode, but 5 minutes in, I’m tempted to pause it, lol. The pacing could have been better, first shi chen was an hour/episode, then started half an hour/episode, with occasional additional one or two episodes when it got really hectic. Now the problem is, when it got to 子时, you got 10 episodes, I’m not kidding! I know a lot of things happened, but come on. There’s a full episode dedicated to flashback, but it’s vital for plot reason, too bad I still don’t care about it. Then I think it’s 5 or 6 episode, and it starts to go high speed towards the end.

    I was mildly intrigued by the plot in the beginning, I never came to like the protagonist, which might have hinder my investment, I liked and cared about the major antagonists more than the protag, which is….weird. I’m more of a plot person than a character person, and I know this drama’s characterisation is on the simple side due to the different parties and allegiance. I did like the female characters were fairly unusual for cdramas, but two (out of four) were annoying and I didn’t really like any of them. My favourite characters were two minor characters, one who keeps finding vital clues even though he really shouldn’t, and the other is literally there to run like he’s in Assassin’s Creed, I WILL PLAY THAT GAME, make it pls ubisoft. There were fair amount of plot twists, some I think were too forced and didn’t make sense, some I quite liked. The ending was definitely underwhelming, and felt rather rushed, I think it might have been changed (dialogue changes) and so the reasoning isn’t as sound. I really would have said the second half isn’t super worth it, but it has a lot of cool action scenes, and it’s weird to not find out what the ending to thriller mystery is.

    Novoland – OH BOY. idk where to begin. I haven’t read the books, but I’ve heard lots of things about it and I liked LHR so I was looking forward to it. The first two episodes rushed through things so Asule could get to Eastern Land, which is fine by me since I don’t care about Northern Lands, but it’s meant to establish our protagonist. First 20 episodes, everyone else were busy plotting and stirring up shit, and our three protags are in an entirely different drama having fun. It’s really fine if I didn’t know this was a fantasy epic. I liked a side couple in during this and I had hope. Then Asule went to a different city, I liked two more supporting characters here, emperor and technically an antagonist, because they were charming, had clear goals and tried to attain it. We got an addition to the protag group, and I actually quite liked her in the beginning.

    Then everything sort of crashed in episode 30, all logic and plot and characters sort of just collapse. (it’s drama original 🙂 what the fuck) There’s some cute scenes but why would you come in to this drama for romance? No really, did no one get the feeling that it’s going for epic, and romances end in tragedies in epics, because political marriage and responsibility and yadda yadda? Anyways I stopped caring, and suddenly our protagonists were actually fulfilling their desiny! (as in the role the story clearly had in mind for them, not necessarily what they wanted) Except it was still badly written. Asule eventually gets back to Northern Lands and I guess they are okay scenes, I stopped caring. SPOILER, it ends with an open end, JUST LIKE THE BOOK. yeah Jiang Nan wrote six books, and ended it with open end because it’s technically beginning of long epics, he wrote few more short stories and there’s a timeline for their latter destinies. But I don’t care anymore. Our protagonists keep getting stagnant for prolonged episodes, and even their character developments (if they have them) are bullshit. They could have gone so many ways with this story, but no, let’s change it and make it the worst way possible. I am so so mad that they wasted such a good production team and fairly decent actors. Messy plot, messy characterisation, messy writing, clearly can’t juggle an ensemble cast but they are going for an epic, L O L.

    A Love So Beautiful – I regret opening this after finishing Gank Your Heart. It was for my brother while he was doing homework (so he wouldn’t game or play on his phone and get distracted). It’s mostly a cute school drama, I just don’t really like innocent cute girl chasing after smart stoic guy. It did make a better impression on me thank It Started with A Kiss (which took me multiple tries and I still came out disliking it), because the girl was less dumb, and the stoic guy is less cold and slightly more tsun. But it also have prolonged forever waiting second lead scenes and miscommunication. I did like the secondary couple (not together, individually) It’s also slice of life and made up of small cute segments rather than more coherent story, it sort of feels like someone telling you a cute story on weibo, it’s awww when you encounter it that way, sort of bland if you read it as a book or watch it as a drama. I still wish it had stopped at high school segments, instead it blitz through university, then they started working, and had to insert a separation trope too. DO NOT WANT. Not only does the otp’s acting not quite hold up as adults (they aren’t necessarily good in high school, but they fit their roles well), the whole set up just feels like play acting.

    Put Your Head on My Shoulders – Now this one, I like lot more. Female lead that’s competent and has a job, yes please. Male lead as dorky geek who’s not very good at dating is so goddamn adorable ahhhhhhh. I really like his professor and lab mates, oh and I guess the parents and dormmates. It’s also less segment-y, and flows more like everyday life of two people just living together. I really don’t like Fu Pei, it’s one thing to be a playboy, quite another to be flirty playboy, and still be all “no but I actually like you, but for some reason won’t go out with you”, and be mad when someone else likes Momo. Excuse me, dude? I dislike him so much that he sort of dampens my liking of the drama a bit. Even if this is low stress low drama fluff drama. I liked the book more where Momo doesn’t actually like him since she has long given up, but I get they need bit more low key drama. There’s actually bit more drama in the book since the long distance relationship last longer, and Xu Jie’er play a bigger role (she’s not a bad person, or even a proper love rival, but there’s drama). I actually like the drama more, since they added a lot more cute scenes, especially towards the beginning (most of the supporting characters are drama original).

    Ever Night – i’ve been watching this drama for so long…. I actually really like it, best male lead fantasy/xuan huan drama! There were other sects and different goals, but the drama never lost focus on Ning Que, and he grew a lot over time. The special effects were excellent, I quite like the world building and characters. Didn’t really like the pseudo-harem hints that much, since while I like Ning Que, I don’t think he’s THAT awesome, but it’s probably from the novel so it’s fine. Such a shame Chen Feiyu isn’t coming back, hope his replacement do decent too, since I’ll probably watch the sequel too.

    To Be Hero – Not sure if anyone watched the 2016 donghua, this is the live action adaptation that just came out last month on bilibili. 8 episodes of 24 minutes, just under 3 hours. Low budget webdrama, so keep your expectations in check! It looks like a cracktastic comedy but it’s actually pretty heartwarming story about family. It didn’t have the nice animation donghua has, but the cast all acted well and they adapted the story pretty well, even though it’s pretty over the top anime-y. There were even little bit of additional scenes to flesh out interactions between characters bit more, and link to the psuedo sequel To Be Heroine, and they cut out some of the low brow humour that I didn’t care for.

    Qin Empire – It took a while to get into, but it’s pretty interesting once it gets going, I definitely feel like I need a rundown on history of the time first lol, but I didn’t actually look it up and still follow fine. The few major female characters were interesting and I liked their initial characterisations, but they were used to serve a purpose/make a point and end up not feeling like people, which is a shame. Shang Yang, the main character end up being bit too perfect, but it’s a serious historical drama on Qin, why not! I started Qin Empire 2, the one on netflix, omg the directing is so different? The acting feels bit over the top (kind of play-like?) and the filter is brighter but somehow looks older (like early 00s), it just confuses me. The starting plot is also very dramatic, I’ll just need to get used to this.

    ……god why did I watch so much?? I started Young Blood (well I watched half an episode ages ago too), and it’s very fun honestly.

    • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

      Gank Your Heart has also become one of my favorites. I love that Qiu Ying has her career path carved out for herself and still gets back into it despite taking a short detour in the middle. Also love that Ji Xiang Kong is encouraging and supportive.

      • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

        I was going to ask you what you thought of it! but then I sort of forgot, rip. Their mutual supporting and encouraging relationship where they grow together is definitely a big reason why it ahs become my favourite. More dramas like this please!

        I also belatedly realised I totally skipped out on Love & Destiny oops. Initital impression, I definitely was not a fan of Chang Chen’s hair in that, and Ni Ni’s makeup was definitely too pale, so I get the bad first impression. I actually wasn’t too interested in the main otp because their setup didn’t really interest me, I liked the supporting cast a lot though, they were all very distinctive and entertaining. My favourite actually end up being the second arc, I think the family angle and how independent she could be was very well done, and Ni Ni did an excellent job! The last arc was bit rushed and I think needed more smoothing out. I did like the values the drama occasionally touch upon, so it’s not just all about romance. I never got super invested in the otp though.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          Yes, more couples like Ji Xiang Kong and Qiu Ying please! The twist in their relationship at the end was kind of lame, but I can see why she chose to leave and why he didn’t chase after her. Again, a testament to their mutually supportive relationship.

          I might rewatch it if I can’t find another drama with a balanced relationship like this. Already watched Put Your Head On My Shoulder too, so my options are limited.

          I was really looking forward to L&D and it was fine at first but then I realized I wasn’t fully invested in any of the characters. Chang Chen and Ni Ni both deliver on the acting but something is just missing for me, so I’m really watching it to have some background noise.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          I’m always looking forward to read what you two are watching. I correlate so much with you two, it saves me a lot of time searching for dramas to watch. 😀

          Skibbies, How can you watch so many dramas and still write so much about them. lol.
          How many Qin empire dramas have you watched? You’re in the middle of S2? One reason why I watched some historical dramas is because I’ve had C cab drivers quizzing me on C history. A cab driver drove past a HanWuDi’s statue and asked me about the statue and the emperor. Will you watch Gao Xixi’s 江山纪?

          I’m glad to see several of chasingpolaris, lenje, Maymay & your drama reviews. I was wondering if I want to watch LD ChangAn, Novo, Love&D. It was very laborious for me to finish NIF2. I’m afraid of a repeat experience with these 3. They seem like dramas where it can get hard to relate to some characters. You want to like the drama and yet somehow it feels harder than it should be. Does look like these 3 dramas are not all around crowd-pleasers.

          I finished Put Your Head on My Shoulders. By ep 18, I played it at 50% faster speed. Just find it a bit slow near the end. I wouldn’t mind seeing more plot.

          I like the OTP in Gank Your Heart, but I’m allergic to Jerry Yan Yuhao after seeing him in Story of Souls from Endless Books.

          Are you guys watching Xiao Zhan’s new movie, Chusen aka Jade Dynasty? I’m not sure Chusen will show in North America. I prefer to see a movie where I haven’t watched the drama adaptation.

          Half-watching Young Blood up to ep 6. I like most of the leads plus Zhou Yutong & Zhang Xincheng. It’s similar to The Four. I’m not liking the part where they are starting out at the organization as much but they have enviable friendship & sister/brotherhood.

          Arsenal is my occasional background drama. The 8 major actors’ acting is mostly ok for background. Most of the OSTs are also ok.

          My drama buddy needs Eng sub, so I end up watching My Dear Ancestors to kill time. Chen Zheyuan is a decent young actor. I wish he gets better dramas though. I’m skimming some web novel chapters of The Untamed, so I’m going through that drama more slowly while I skim the book chapters.

          The young actors in A Little Reunion seem quite good, but it’s not my kind of drama.

          In the non-dramas world, I recently read Richard Rothstein’s Color of Law book excerpts at the SmithsonianMag website. ~1 hour YT vid on UC Berkeley website. A lot of things that I thought were coincidences were not. Policies dating as far back as 1950s-1960s are still visible and have enormous lasting impacts today. This is related to Justin P Steil’s pdf on the NIH website, “The Social Structure of Mortgage Discrimination”. Pages 12-13, 19 are particularly surprising. Some unfortunate groups were hit multiple times. A reminder of how it’s not wrong to approach consumerism with caution. And how firms can make use of consumer data for their own benefits.

          Kaiser Health News: khn dot org news india-burgeoning-chronic-pain-market-us-drugmakers-stand-to-profit/
          I feel too naive for this world. I’m always shocked when I read news. I was surprised to see a couple of huge firm names who are long-established household names are involved in the things above.

          Thank you both very much for your kind words last time!

          My friends don’t watch C dramas and they are super busy. So I’m hesitant to chat with them much. I get bolder with you two when you’re chatting here. Plus we have things in common in travels too. I can’t use what I read from TrpAdv 到到网 for Asia. I don’t overlap with their C recommendations at all. When I visited Shanghai, their top recommendation was 鼎泰丰. 鼎泰丰 is getting abundantly available in multiple countries. And there’s a wait just to get a table. Not a good use of travel time for widely available food.

          Skibbies, you’re right about rising C household debt. C household debt is rising faster than the rise in personal income. K went through that phase too and now they are among the highest in the world, causing them a lot of stress. Forgot to mention before, Chef Fang is quite mediocre. I finished watching it. It’s ironic how with social media, people are more polarized than ever. One can get into so much trouble for stating one’s personal opinion if it’s not a popular one. It’s a headache. And they have shown in the past that fake news can be a lot more popular than real news.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          @chasingpolaris: oof, balanced romance is definitely hard to find. We are getting there though I guess, few years ago I really couldn’t give you any contemporary dramas I like. Does Le Coup de Fondre (?) have a balanced relationship? mhm. (I just started it)

          @an: hahaha, I get what you mean, most regulars here have watched enough dramas to glean what’s good and such. I told you I basically spent last two month watching dramas XD and then I need to find a place to ramble about them, so here I come. Instead of writing real reviews about them, since that requires me cover more aspects than I care to. It’s not my fault they dumped all these dramas I would watch regardless all at once. I can’t believe I followed multiple dramas from initial broadcast.

          I’m on S2 of Qin Empire, there’s 3 I think? 4 is slated to air? They seem to come out every 4 years, idk why they take so long but they do. It’s based on a set of books, but apparently 2 is pretty different from the book? C cab drivers sounds scary lol! I’m not sure I actually would recognise HanWuDi….. I don’t think I’ve heard of 江山纪, oh it’s slated to come out. ummm FSF, I’ll wait and see how the reviews end up being I guess. I still have 大明王朝1566,汉武大帝,雍正王朝,康熙王朝,少年天子,大汉天子etc lined up.

          Oh yeah I totally get you on struggling to finish dramas. NIF2’s second half dragged a bit for me. Not in love with Chang’an or L&D, but I can see why someone would like it. I think Cao Dun have gotten better with pacing (or the book have a very strong base), but I haven’t seen T&E so I can’t really vouch for him, that and I don’t like Chang’an enough to XD IDK why I followed Novoland along broadcast, I should have just dropped it (: It was kind of hilarious reading everyone else being hella confused and angry along with me though.

          PYHOMS is definitely a wind down chill drama, good for when you don’t want to use your brain, the lack of plot is by design I think. I binged it, the lack of plot + second lead is definitely minus points for it, but everything else was sort of perfect I think. The characters were interesting and flawed rather than usual archetypes helped a lot. Glad you like GYH too, I think there’s more flaws with it too (mhmm I seem to be really good at picking out negative bits with dramas I like LOL). Too bad about Yan Yuhao, I’ve never seen him before lol, his character is pretty interesting in GYH though.

          Probably won’t watch Chusen, I don’t know anything about the story, and I have strong doubts with adapting a massive beloved web novel into a movie. I’ll probably pass on Arsenal too, for Xu Kai, I’ll probably watch The Legends when I run out of dramas. Dear My Ancestors’ plot looks kind of cute. Little Reunion doesn’t look like my kind of drama either, it’s about the parents more than the kids? I think I might be more interested in the previous drama 小别离?Shame to hear about Chef Fang being mediocre. Oh well, douban’s high rating doesn’t always work, only its low rating is almost always right.

          You are always very educational XD I need to go look these up sometimes.

          lol idk why Din Tai Fung is highly recommended in Shanghai, come on, it doesn’t even do Shanghai or surrounding area’s cuisines. The current Chinese (and Korean) generation have mostly given up on buying a place in bigger cities. More people have been going back to their home city (inland) because it’s cheaper to live and buy properties. With social media, there’s far more of an echo chamber, making everyone think their ideas are supported and reinforced, causing more radicalisation. The internet can be so terrifying in just how one sided it can get.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          Please let me know how much you like Le Coup if you watch it. I’m afraid it’ll be too much like Shen Yue’s ALSB. My drama buddy was super annoyed (complained for hours. lol) at LinYiChen in ISWAK. So I didn’t watch ALSB.

          Still find it tricky to find drama with the right mix of balance. I don’t like Love is Above Everything dramas. But it’s hard to find a reasonable, logical male-centric drama too.

          I have watched 少年天子. It was fine. Hao Lei is a pretty good actress. Deng Chao is fine. Some of those historical dramas have overbearing Empress Dowagers I find unbearable though. There was some of that in some of the Han Dynasty ones. Back then I could still finish the dramas. Would be hard to do now. / Yes, I have no hope of recognizing any emperor’s statues or paintings. Especially driving past in a cab.

          I wish I don’t develop sudden or quick allergies with some actors. Some actors I can only watch a few hours of, or only last for 1 drama. I seem to have more problems with male idols: Xu Kaicheng, Thassapak(?) Hsu, YYH.
          Like you, I’m not a super-fan of the lead actress for GYH too.

          I mostly play Arsenal in the background for the comedic parts only. When the characters are goofing off. I sometimes skip whole episodes when they use guns. The only thing that’s obvious is this director is better than the director who did Zhu Yilong – An Yuexi’s Floating Your Dream drama. That director was hard to take.

          For Ancestor drama, you need to not focus on the logic. lol. It’s not a definite crowd-pleaser either.

          After reading your comments, I’ll move all 3 dramas LDChangAn, Novo, L&D low on my list. Seems like dramas I get sluggish in watching like these 3, you tend to find them not too fun to watch too. Also true for Day & Night.

          I didn’t plan on reading so much news, but there are just so many firms, firm employees & executives who engage in widespread unethical or immoral practices. Exploiting consumer vulnerabilities. I end up reading these things to avoid falling face first into the pits.
          Once you’re in the pits, they hit you with even more underhanded tactics. There are repeated patterns. Once they do it in country X, they tend to do that in other countries too until they get caught. The penalties are light and often shouldered by shareholders instead of executives. I now understand wealth inequality better. Peddling opioid products is one of the things they like doing in other regions. Or other more benign things like targeted adverts with variable pricing for different neighborhoods or states or provinces, or even races. Sometimes they use the so-called black box algorithms to identify their targeted groups. Many execs are always looking for a larger market to victimize. One evil bank fired 5200 employees for signing up unsuspecting (millions of, I think) customers for 60+ types of financial products without customer consent. No one has spent a day in jail yet. There are firms who target veterinarians. Hospitals and others who detain patients longer to maximize insurance payout money. It’s weird how their creativity in using machine learning and AI for consumer exploitation hasn’t even begun to show in cdramas.

          Some of those articles I mentioned last time actually reminded me a bit of Untamed. idk why but there are always groups who want to pick on other people based on some random variables like skin color, religion, wealth, educational level, cultural background, height, weight, etc and marginalize them. It’s actually a lose-lose situation. It doesn’t help anyone when the marginalized groups end up on the dole and suffering.

          For real estate, some of the well-heeled ones find it cheaper to own properties overseas than to do the same in Asia. But there are several places that restrict non-residents from owning properties. It helps to be well-informed of an industry. It helps you locate the better deals around the world. This is also true for tourism, research, etc.

          DaoDao Wang recs for Asian restaurants and attractions are often inexplicable to me. And DDW users are quite DTF-obsessed for some reason.

          Sometimes we can learn a LOT from friendships with people who are very different from us. Agewise or in other ways. Gives us a whole new perspective in how we see things. But when it comes to dramas, food/travel preferences, it’s easier to find our favorites with people with whom we have more things in common.

          Yikes. My e-device is going berserk the last 2 days after this week’s software updates.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          @skibbies: I’ve only seen clips of the secondary couple from Le Coup de Fondre. The main pair doesn’t seem to interest me, which is weird because I liked them in the book or at least from the chapters that I read.

          I hope it’s not too long before we have another drama with well-balanced relationship.

          @an: Was Jerry Yan Yuhao terrible in the drama that you watched him in? GYH is my intro to him and his character is one of my favorite supporting roles, but I’m not inclined to seek out his other work yet. Speaking of actor “allergies”, I also feel this way toward Vengo Gao, which is why I will probably never watch his upcoming 3lives drama with Dilireba.

          I never watched Chusen but I have been watching some promotions/interviews from Xiao Zhan. Not sure I understand the styling for the cast. They are wearing linen outfits and even XZ said it was an interesting choice of material. The hairstyles for the ladies are also puzzling. For a movie with the character 仙, the costuming is anything but.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          @chasingpolaris: ahh yeah I think the secondary couple is more interesting too? I’ll definitely read the book afterwards to see how well they adapt, usually the book is better. (PYHOMS is an exception mhm) What other dramas have you watched that have balanced relationship? You know…I wouldn’t mind these female leads do terribly at school if they get paired up with male lead that also do terribly, but they both study hard and grow together, I guess that ruins the fantasy of smart hot rich guy that loves everyday plain girl though.

          @an: I like ALSB’s female lead more than ISWAK lolol (they played up female lead’s dumb way too much in ISWAK), but ISWAK had better acting and probably better plot. Le Coup so far is not too bad? It starts when they are both adults, where they meet again, then it flashes back. Later the episodes would start with them married and doing interview or something, and flashback, and each episode sort of have a theme. It’s also about growing up and all the issues that come with it. Feels less like just a school drama that capitalise on nostalgia. Female lead doesn’t do well in school, but she’s not super dumb or incompetent from what I’ve seen. Their dynamic isn’t anything new but it’s decent. I like it more than ALSB because you see them study, and she has a life outside of pining for the male lead. It super helps that second male lead is her twin brother, so there’s no love triangle so far.

          I think it’s far easier to find a decent male centric dramas, although can’t promise on the logical bit. I’ve watched some of the historical I’ve mentioned, but all when I was very young. I think overbearing Empress Dowager are sort of like overbearing mother-in-law, it’s basically a trope. Some of it might be from history but more of it is just perpetuating toxic stereotypes while creating conflicts, blah.

          I have pretty high tolerance for bad/one note acting, as long as they don’t take me out of the drama, they are mostly okay for me. Haven’t seen the first two actor you mentioned mhm. I like Wang Zixuan in GYH more than I like Zheng Shuang in Love O2O, there were scenes where it was very noticeable ZS was stiff, I somehow still liked her character and the drama despite that. I actually watched the movie version recently, even though Angelababy’s character is quite different from the novel, she was much more likeable (and her bad acting isn’t noticeable, maybe the character is more like herself?) WZX’s character helped in the drama too.

          For Ancestors drama seem like the kind you don’t take seriously so yeah I’d definitely turn my brain off for it. Hey, I liked Day & Night, and I binged it too. I just totally get why it wouldn’t work because I can find fair amount of issues with it.

          Oh damn, capitalism at its finest, screwing over the customers, especially the poorest while the rich & powerful are fine. It’s a terrifying world we live in. As for marginalising people based on random variable, idk, people always seem to find some reason and they always think it’s logical. It’s really bizzare.

          I follow someone on weibo who lives in Japan, she keeps looking at houses in Osaka and surrounding areas, damn it’s so cheap. I’m not adamant about owning property, it just feels very far away for me lol.

          I’m interested in chatting with people very different from me, but usually for friends, I still have to share something in common with them or I’ll be at a loss when striking up conversations. I think travelling is when you meet most people that’s different from you? I suppose because you go to an unfamiliar place so that’s when you are out of your bubble the most. Hope your e-devices calms down!

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          Hope you’ll have a great Mid-Autumn!

          Did you guys watch the HK film, 家和万事惊? Anita Yuen, Francis Ng, Louis K. Despite its middling Douban score, the trailer and some reviews are ok. It’s always a pain to find a cinema that shows Asian movies I want to see here. By the time I notice them, they have disappeared. I can watch Nezha if I drive farther, but they seem to have Disney-fied that into a super-hero like movie.

          I haven’t gone to the cinema in a couple of years. I consider watching Chusen the movie just to see a costume film on the big screen. Too lazy to make a trip to the cinema just for a regular film.

          @chasingpolaris, YYH wasn’t that bad in that drama, but the female lead (who didn’t seem spectacular but not bad)’s acting was better. He was a bit stiff. Unnatural at times. (Stiffer than W Yibo in early episodes of Untamed. Surprising how many complaints WYB got.) Due to the slow release schedule, I only ended up only watching 60% of that drama. Some of the premise had some appeal, but some of the supporting cast were …

          It’s the same YYH problem I had with Thassapak Hsu too. The female lead Zhu Danni(?) looked more natural. TH appeared next to another stiff actor in Cinderella Chef. Those were slow drama months last year. I ended up browsing a few idol dramas. Niu Junfeng (after his drama w XingFei) & Huang Zitao are hovering near my allergy zone. I usually avoid watching Lu Han, Lay, Zhang Han, DLRB, ZS, TY, Merxat, some of the SNH48 ladies, Vengo Gao, Jiro Wang, several actors from Go Princess Go. I’m iffy with LSS, YM, ZLY, Ying Er, FSF, Zhang TianAi. I’m mixed on Wu Qian these days. Saw some WQ in Brightest Star. Very tropey. Hardworking poor girl with rich guy living in big house again. (I liked WQ in NIF). Surprisingly I’m ok w Zheng Yecheng. I didn’t even get to the half point for any of these idol dramas. I may be able to handle Vengo Gao in a non-lead role in a movie.
          I’m a bit surprised at the high the Douban score for Vengo Gao’s Tomb Raiding drama. I’m not sure I can watch another Tomb-raiding drama.
          I’m not good at watching so many of similarly-themed dramas, like the variations on 3l3w. But I’m even more scared of dramas with a lot of kingdoms. That can mean that Princess Mary Sue will be pursued by a lot of princes.

          It’s good & convenient to not develop allergies. Leaves you with more flexibility. 🙂 A drama blessing. I’m curious about the new aviation idol drama, x Miles of Love. But Riley Wang Yilun’s acting there looks OTT. It looks worse than his earlier idol drama with Zhou Yutong, which wasn’t a great drama.

          ZYL and AYX were working for years without getting much attention. Finally both got some attention last year with their dramas, but that Floating Dream drama really didn’t help either one’s career that month.

          Skibbies, That earlier sister-drama to “A Little Reunion”, A Little Separation(?). I hear ppl liked the beginning, but many ppl didn’t finish watching. Found the middle part unbearable.

          ALR has that young actress who was the child actress who was Li Landi’s BFF in Never Gone. idk how much screen time she has though.

          I didn’t dare watch GMP, so it was surprising for me to hear some of the OSTs on avv. The big budget C drama idol OSTs are generally better than the old TVB ones.

          It’s weird but based on current data it looks as if mature capitalistic economies tend to need a lot of coddling in the form of numerous Quantitative Easings and endless economic stimulus packages. And many end up deeply tangled in debts. The folks on top have a tight grip and thrive. Hard for the average person to do well without doing some pre-thinking or planning. Those who are used to working in old industries see shrinking margins and then panic. One has to up one’s game and update one’s skills. It’s hard live well being too complacent in modern times.
          One thing I notice is it can take me a 6-week wait to see a dermatologist with an office closest to me. It’s probably a lot faster to see the fraudulent docs near me peddling non-approved stem cell “treatments”. The irony renders me speechless. I drive past some of these nice-looking offices a few times a week while getting to the freeways. If I didn’t read the news, I wouldn’t have known for sure that they are frauds. Supposedly they are exploiting a loophole in the law. There’s no law governing that specific type of treatment that uses patient’s own blood part. I’ve seen the map of these alleged fraudulent offices. There are quite a few of them around the country. It’s sad to see how some of the trained docs end up doing this for a living.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          @skibbies: Have you watched Perfect Wedding with Qiao Zhenyu and Yang Zi? QZY’s character is definitely well-off as a plastic surgeon but Yang Zi has her own career as a wedding planner. I remember her character being loud and spunky. I can’t say it’s a perfectly balanced relationship but it’s close.

          @an: I have watched 家和万事惊 either on Netflix or Amazon, one of those platforms. It resonated with my family and me because some parts reminded me of our living situation, like our upstairs neighbor who also loves to make banging noises.

          I tried watching Cinderella Chef but couldn’t get past the first 10 minutes.

          I can watch certain actors from your list of “allergies” if the plot is reasonable. I think the only actress who will make me skip without second thoughts is Angelababy. Vengo Gao is just unwatchable regardless of what role he’s in for me.

          Floating Dream was a mess. I felt sorry for ZYL for having that drama following Guardian.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          @Chasingpolaris, Thanks for your feedback & info on the film. It’s one of the few 2019 HK films I read & hear that sound promising. Herman Yau has made some good films in the past.

          Some idol dramas don’t focus so much on whether the FL gets a boost from ML, like Let’s Shake It. Or Wang Ziwen- Huang Xuan’s Love is Not for Sale, Remembering LiChuan, and some crime dramas. Thinking back, actually Wang Ou’s bad@ss chars are often quite strong, but audiences get so turned off by the villainous nature of her characters. I remember Chasingpolaris cannot take too much WZW.

          The first couple of episodes of CinderChef are among the drama’s horrible parts. Many dramas have messy starts. Very little is lost by skipping CinderChef. The first 3 male leads are all not strong in the acting department.
          I didn’t want to, but couldn’t help finding the various vids that complained about AB in My True Friend, Entrepreneurial Age kind of funny. They showed a lot of clips of AB wrinkled her eyebrows very hard. From those vids, her acting in both dramas looked very similar.

          @Skibbies, My DB (drama buddy) has low tolerance for slower-witted ladies. Tan Songyun in With You already got MDB ticked off. lol. So I have to set my drama setting at a higher setting than yours when it comes to S-WL. / Home ownership can come with a lot of headaches. My ex-officemate joked how homeownership sometimes gave her overwhelming joy when she had to renovate and do maintenance. / Getting other perspectives sometimes comes more easily by hanging out with a high number of international students while going to school. You can get some of that while traveling, but if you travel with partner(s) and sit next to travelers who also travel in pairs or groups. Then there’s a limited chance for chats. Working or studying in a multicultural environment helps. I also hear that people chat with single travelers more. That’s probably true if I were to think back and tally things up. I often travel with at least another person from another race group. So that may make more people talk to me than otherwise.
          I liked hanging out with people who had read books, news & publications from different countries when I had the chance. Different countries have different weights on which countries are presented the most in their international news.
          When I was in elementary school, lots of my classmates read Herge’s Tintin series. That series had some international aspect to it. In some countries, very few have heard of Herge or Tintin. People read more of their domestic authors.
          Also, when you live in a cluster of smaller countries, sometimes there’s less of that “having a single country dominating a large region” syndrome, so that can also lead to more colorful discussions. Similarly, I’ve read how males from affluent families are more successful partly bc they are used to dominate conversations and have a more willing, faithful, and larger audience. (You see this at the country level too. There are more economic forums for wealthier countries than poorer ones.) So that gives these dominant males additional opportunities to advance. If you hang out near such a character, sometimes it gives you less opportunities to learn. This is one of the reasons why I’m less enthused by dramas with Prince or Princess. (I wasn’t even completely in love with Changlin in NIF2). Too much hogging of the spotlight. You two understand better how I appreciate getting to know ppl beyond my family-inherited social circles. My parents only had interactions with ppl who were very much like themselves. It was clear that arrangement lacked some things. lol. /
          Many dramas cater to the widest group of audience. If you’re not much like them, you can easily find a lot of spots where you disagree with a drama. I’m much worse than you when it comes to that. I wish it’s not that way, but I can’t help it. It’s not that I can get a brain transplant.
          Oh. Apparently the main stem cell law loophole was patched in late 2017. But there are still 700+ such clinics this year.
          To clarify, I like some of the GMP instrumentals. I’m allergic to some of their singers’ singing style.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          I’m so late oops! My mid-autumn festival was pretty fun, hope you had a good holiday too!

          @chasingpolaris: Never heard of that drama o: Thanks for the rec. I’ve hard passed on Angelababy too, but I actually recent saw Love O2O’s movie version, and she was better than Zheng Shuang. Her character didn’t fit Weiwei either, but either her personality was close to the movie Weiwei or I just like it more, I find her pretty good in it. I’ve been told she can also be okay in certain supporting roles in movies (probably ones that don’t require her to do much), but I haven’t seen them so can’t say.

          @an: Haven’t seen the movie since I’m severely lacking on the asian cinema front. I was watching classic 80s and 90s HK films earlier the year but I’ve since forgotten all about it.

          I just realised I’ve seen Vengo Gao in Legend of Fuyao, he was alright I think. I mean he was in a drama with Yang Mi and Ethan Ruan, both in roles that don’t quite fit them so LOL. His tomb raiding drama might be 7+ due to how close it sticks to book, oh and it has Pan Yueming who is pretty popular with the audience, it actually started around 8.5 or so, I think its ending or whatever got lackluster.

          For A Little Separation, I guess I might just set it to background if it comes to that? It’s not really high priority anyways. How come you didn’t dare to watch Goodbye My Princess? XD I’m actually intrigued because the book is pretty well known, I think the book is actually short so I thought I’d read it or something. It sounded like the drama did a good adaptation of it. Haven’t heard the OST though.

          Yikes about the fraudulent doctors, that’s really terrifying! The real world is really depressing sometimes. and you are right that for mature capitalist economies, the different class are basically set, so you struggle to climb out of your class, everything just further entrench you where you are.

          Omg haha. Wait, if With You didn’t work, how does PYHOMS work, they go out like 2/3 way through the drama, or is it due to the fact she’s mostly competent? Le Coup’s female lead starts as fairly competent, in flashback, I think she’s better With You’s, I don’t know why I have this impression but I do.

          Very true regarding travelling with partners. Studying and working in multicultural environment definitely helps. I’ve mostly fallen back to talking to different people online, but it’s more I ended up making friends while doing other stuff, and they happen to live in different countries, it’s definitely refreshing and provides good perspective. OMG you are so right on rich men who dominate conversations, it’s just a thing. Similarly my dad and uncles have very dominating personality, and while I do try to speak up when I feel strongly enough, a lot of times I just disengage or like, leave because it’s not worth arguing.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          Hope everyone enjoyed their Mid-Autumn festival!

          @an:
          The film is a glimpse of the housing problem in Hong Kong and how people resort to extreme measures when their home life is threatened. Let me know what you think if you watch it.

          I did watch Love Is Not For Sale and liked it. Wang Ziwen was tolerable in that. I just couldn’t stand her voice and character from Ode to Joy. I have only watched Wang Ou in Disguiser and Nirvana in Fire and liked her in both. Just haven’t found another drama of hers that I would watch.

          I have started to watch Moonshine and Valentine with Victoria Song and Johnny Huang. I like the story so far and I have a soft spot for foxes. I’ve heard the writing isn’t that great though. Have you watched this?

          AB is cute in Running Man. I would rather watch her in that than in any drama/movie.

          @skibbies:
          You’re welcome. Let me know if you do end up checking it out. It was one of those dramas that aired in regional satellite stations. Whenever I see people complain about Yang Zi always picking up the cutesy girl roles, I feel like throwing this one out there but there are no subs. Ah, I did hear from a friend of mine that Angelababy was not too bad in the movie version of Love O2O but I don’t feel that inclined to watch it. Do you have other actors/actresses on your hard pass list?

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          @Skibbies, Well, with PYHOMS, I did have to play it on 1.5 or 1.25 the usual speed by ep 18.
          I saw MV for Le Coup today. Wu Qian seemed charming. ALSB’s Shen Yue looks to me like it may induce my allergy.
          One thing that ppl mentioned that I think is true. Ppl are set in their ways, esp seniors. So sometimes it’s more peaceful to just agree to disagree. But that’d be tough to do with spouse. I’ve read how some ppl want to know their significant other’s credit score. That’s supposed to be a decent predictor of a potential spouse’s character. Compared to other variables that are available. A lot of ppl are also not able to change their credit score for the better. That said though, it’s still very good to be able to let go of all those things whenever possible. But I do see how some of those things are applicable in a few people I meet. I do find it hard to be close friends with such characters.

          @Chasingpolaris, I didn’t realize you saw Love Is Not FS. / I’m a super-lazy consumer. I had a number of bosses who are like “potus” or Jack Ma. So for years, I was super busy and never had time for consumerism. And when I was on my parents’ payroll (that was what it felt like living w parents), I was afraid to spend their money beyond what was ~absolutely necessary. So I end up this way. I’ve never subscribed to Netflix, Amz. It may be hard to watch that movie./ I saw MoonshineV. By ~75-80% of the way, Song Qian got sick and the writers had to improvise. They later apologized for their writing. The drama became plotless ~80% in. That’s the drama that got me allergic to Xu Kaicheng later. He’s the backup guy. I dislike the older actor who plays Huang Jingyu’s dad more. He portrays Leon Lai’s traitorous brother in Ever Night. I disliked both of his roles quite a bit and disliked his acting equally much, unfortunately. He has had a few years of acting experience.
          / Song Qian’s latest drama with Ou Hao is watchable if you can stand dramas that don’t seem to have spectacular events. But Ou Hao’s stepmom (w her niece) seem like characters that will turn annoying later. I have this drama playing in the background when I’m doing things. This drama isn’t so unwatchable, for a drama that seemed to be intended to be a propaganda or purposely uplifting drama(?).

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          @an I watched LSNFS a long time ago. Can’t recall most of the cast now.

          In a way, maybe you are better at determining what’s necessary and what isn’t. I’m terrible at managing my finances and I like to shop, so that’s never a great combo.

          Moonshine had so much potential. I read that both leads were signed on for 90 days of filming but the director somehow managed to go over that allotted time, so they had to put in fillers. I’m only a few episodes from completing it. Hmmm, I’ve read many comments about Xu Kaicheng’s attractiveness but I think he’s only average looking. His character in Moonshine doesn’t help.

          Thanks for the rec. I’m also trying to finish Love & Destiny. Really wish there were shorter dramas out there.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          @chasingpolaris, You like flashy dramas (plots w princes or CEOs) equally often as slice of life or other dramas? Conceptually I prefer SOL dramas, but I don’t like it too mundane or have chars who are often loud. I often like better-balanced drama told from non-singular perspective. Beyond dramas, w friends I actually just like ppl to whom I connect easily. Irregardless of credit scores, international aspects etc. Open-mindedness is a great plus. I have never asked for anyone’s credit scores. I prefer to wait for ppl to tell me what they want to say instead of prying for info anyway. Looking back, I’m glad I never knew ppl do these things. Now I feel I’m naive 😀

          Song Qian’s Love Under the Moon drama features hard-working poor girl quite a bit but it feels a bit more natural than some other dramas. By ep ~15, Ou Hao’s char is devoted to SQ almost obsessively (SPOILER*****: and not being rational, stealing exam paper for SQ****). This drama’s early eps look like it was shot in Anhui or something similar. Anhui is where Ang Lee shot some of the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon village scenes.

          I’m ~ep 15 of Young Blood. Nice relationships between characters. Some subplots are a bit illogical. The latest is “YaNei”, one of the main chars, has a dad who’s a high ranking official, TaiWei. SPOILER***** TaiWei sacrificed his fame, reputation, wealth for the country to entrap a competing country’s spies. This doesn’t make that much sense. Lose your loyal, high-ranking officer for the potential to bring down your enemy. TaiWei is more or less exiled for life. TaiWei submits a “false” Leonardo DaVinci type sketch that are useful for wars. Supposedly these devices are expensive to make and will only work 3 times. But the enemy camp can potentially make refinements and make them work. The logic is a bit problematic. The drama is still above average. I still like it.

          Everyone has consumerism weaknesses. I was wasteful too. I bought some work clothes that I only liked 75-80% (or 15% off from well-fitting). In the long run, it’s wasteful but I just don’t have much patience to shop. I’m more wasteful still w stuff I got as gifts from in-laws. / You probably should be more mindful w consumerism going forward. Marketing strategies are getting more creative and all-encompassing. Some products are designed with bigger holes so that you’ll run out of the products faster. Some stores get paid slotting fees so that the higher-profit margin items are placed at eye level. Some stores move things around so you’ll walk around; shop more. There are all kinds of tricks to make you spend more. Websites w ecosystem tries to hog your time & dollars /

          I happened to check avv today after a few days.

          @Skibbies, Sorry. I always forget to answer some of your questions every time. No strong reasons why I avoid GMP, but I’m wary of FeiWoSiCun. Also a bit wary of Peng Xiaoran’s wide-eyed acting.
          And I’m half-allergic to a few drama princesses.
          I’m nerdy. I’m waiting to find the time to read about one of the cancer success stories on a Chemistry (CEN) site. Scientists are conquering the notorious KRAS cancer that had eluded medical researchers the last 30 years. There had been additional progress the last few months. Science can be used to improve lives when done well.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          @chasingpolaris: I don’t have any other hard pass I think, it’s the plot that’s more important for me. If I really like the plot, I’ll still stick with it even if I think the acting isn’t that good.

          I love Wang Ou! She was bright spot in Novoland: Eagle Flag, she had the only ship I shipped. But lol still not worth watching Novoland for. She was ok in The Rise of Phoenixes, but everyone else did a better job and she put out better performances in other dramas + her character was cut so ehhh (also tRoP have problems by itself too so mhm). I super loved her character in The Disguiser even though she had lots of issues LOL.

          @an: With credit score, I’ve seen people suggest (usually women) to check their spouse’s credit score because it could cause a lot of problem, especially they chose to conceal it. I can see the logic in that? It’s not absolute of course, I just hear/read a lot of stories about shitty people. It’s good thing you are nerdy because I don’t think I’d find out about lot of stuff unless it hits regular news.

          Oh I totally understand being wary of FWSC, she’s well known for melo after all. About Love Under the Moon, I’ve never actually watched the drama. But yeah it should be shot in Anhui, the book is partially set in Wu Yuan 婺源 iirc. The book is by Xin Yiwu 辛夷坞, who’s well known for source novel of Zhao Wei’s 致我们终将逝去的青春 (I don’t like the book OR the movie for different reasons lol), and last year’s Never Gone. The characters are sort of related to each other too (the secondary couple in Love Under the Moon are secondary couple in Never Gone….). But anyways, I’ve never read the book because the synopsis sounded like it would make me throw things at my TV. They’ve change the plot a LOT for the drama though, so let me know if you think it’s recommended. It’s still not on my to watch because I started too many dramas. XD I’ve been catching up on anime and fallen into webnovel hell since I went to read Gank Your Heart’s novel, rip.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          @Skibbies, Thanks for the info on the Love Under the Moon author. iirc, Wuyuan (I forget the C characters. But it looks like the same Wuyuan) is slightly more in the Jiangxi side than Anhui, but villages of the 2 provinces look very alike. I didn’t visit Wuyuan or Jiangxi though. There are so many museums, historical sites in C to visit. After I get back every trip, I often feel I should have visited a couple more of the nearby attractions.

          I think I have to limit myself to 1-2 dramas with prince or princess a year. I can’t take too many.

          If you guys know web novels with dark colored background, please let me know. One main reason I read Eng Untamed novel is bc it has a very dark background, so I can read it on my e-device before bed when I have insomnia. lol. Bright backgrounds keep me awake too much. I’m super slow in reading this Untamed novel. It will probably take me a few months even just skimming selected chapters.

          I’m not even 1% as crooked as all the unscrupulous bizmen, hospitals out there. So I read a lot to minimize trouble. Whenever I read the stunts they pull, I always think, “Geez, how do they even come up with this? How do they even get the idea?” Reading the stuff they do makes us all feel like saints. lol. Healthcare costs here are super high, so be careful if you’re visiting. Emergency Room costs are very high and unpredictable. Some ppl who visit ER get sent an expensive bill even if they didn’t get treated for anything. Some weird hospitals charge “facility fee” once a patient put his/her name on the waiting list. Fees for the same procedure or simple pill can range from low hundreds to thousands+.

          Wang Ou seems to get pretty good roles, but it’s still very hard to find her watchable dramas. Thanks for the warning and risk-benefit analyses on Novoland! Yep, NIF & Disguiser are probably her 2 most watchable ones.

          @Chasingpolaris, I don’t find Xu Kaicheng that great looking. I find there are huge number of pretty actresses. Not as many in men. For current actors’ looks, not necessarily wowed by their acting, I think I favor Xu Kai, Peng Guan Ying, Xiao Zhan, Godfrey Gao. I like GGao’s acting the least of these 4. Not enough data for PGY. Among older ones, I liked Wallace Huo, Joe Cheng for looks a few years ago.
          When it’s hard to find great dramas with these actors, I end up liking them less: ZYL, Han Dongjun, Ma Tianyu.
          Conversely, I end up liking some actors after liking their acting, screen presence or dramas. It doesn’t matter much what they look like: Huang Xuan, Zhu Yawen, Qin Junjie, Wang Yibo. A number of middle-aged actors. I’m not saying WYB’s acting is super though. Some actors’ smile are joy-inducing. Like Kappy’s Shawn Dou. I like that in WYB. I’m not sure yet with Tan Jianci.
          Some actors, I like their production work, like Wu Xiubo for Advisors’ Alliance.
          There are a lot of actors I like but are hard to categorize in my random boxes above. But except for Xu Kai, WYB, XZ, QJJ, I like very few popular idols. Sometimes I can like them less after I see their next drama. I’m undecided or neutral on a dozen or so.
          You guys don’t have soft spots for certain actors?

          I think there are a lot more actresses I like than actors.

          I admire Kappy’s restraint. I don’t see her watching too many Shawn Dou dramas despite liking SD.

          LUTM’s recent plot looks potentially frustrating. Ou Hao’s character may be going south. I’ll let you know how it goes later when I get back to it.

          Oh, what did you guys like best about Untamed? I didn’t hear anything so specific from you two. I’m still ~ep 20.

          The thing that bugged me the most about some Cdramas is that they often try too hard to be special or outstanding. FL often has to get the best available bachelor. Audiences like it that way. The main OTP has to outshine others by a huge margin. Making the supporting characters a lot less interesting than they need to be. Whereas I’m ecstatic when my friends are doing really well. There’s no fixed amount of happiness or successes in the world. Just bc our friends are happy and succeessful, it doesn’t mean that there’s less left for the rest of us. I don’t know why the world has to get stingy over other ppl getting their joy.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          Yeah it’s near the border, I passed by it when I went on a group tour with my mum. We flew to Jingde 景德镇 in Jiangxi first, and then headed to Huangshan. The architecture is totally Anhui though, it’s called that anyways 徽派建筑. I always feel there’s more places I could go to after coming back from trips hahaha.

          Ahh. I use a huawei phone, and the reader just comes with a dark background. To my knowledge, most chinese android phones have similar reader? I don’t remember what the Samsung reader was like since I never used it, no idea about iphone though. Most Chinese sites (legit or not) offer dark mode, the legit sites might need you to login though, and the other have questionable ads that might be intrusive. Tencent have a reading app, Wechat Read? WeRead? 微信读书 which starts you with a free trial also have a dark mode. I’ve been using it to read Gank Your Heart’s sequel because it was published without ever serialising online, so it’s hard to find. GYH is hilariously not on there (I guess they’ll add them eventually), but it’s on the Huawei Reading app.

          Oh yeah thanks for the tip about healthcare/emergency care, I’ve heard a number of US friends complain about it, so I definitely try to be careful. US healthcare is utterly insane, honestly.

          I think I like lot more actress compared to actors too, partially I tend to have super good feels towards a half decent written female character, and that sort of transfer to the actress sometime, Wait no, I like a lot of actors, but I’m sort of less invested in them? At the moment, Ni ni is probably the only one whose dramas I’ll slot into will probably peek regardless if I care about the story or not, even then I still haven’t watched majority of her films (tbf, she’s mostly ok in them, and some of the films are outright terrible so…..lol. Her best work is her debut role, but it’s a super depressing movie so uh)

          I actually like princes/princesses hahaha, though generally not just romance, I will take cracktastic comedy though. But I can’t really take CEOs, I don’t think I’ve watched any…? I totally get what you mean about cdrama always having the male lead to be best bachelor, I think it comes down to a lot of it is female fantasy, even if you are average, the rich handsome and knows everything guy is somehow in love with you. Kind of like male fantasy is often overpowered hero saving the world, it’s just their drama adaptations haven’t been well recieved, some cos they butchered it, some cos the the source is long and difficult to adapt, some just usual production/acting issue. There’s also the fact that men watch less dramas in general, less cdramas too, and they don’t stick around after the drama ends, it’s far easier, quicker and safer to just target women. I’m all for best available bachelor male lead, but I prefer my female lead to be on the same level. But noooo, the traditional formula sells….!

          Untamed, mhmm. I like that it’s low “magic” xianxia so that most of the time, it’s functionally like wuxia? It’s so hard to find a decent wuxia, especially one that’s not based on Jin Yong or Gu Long? I’ve always liked historical for wuxia and political intrigue. The donghua drew me in with gorgeous backgrounds, and I think the drama largely succeeded in replicating the atmosphere of each clan. I love any drama that show off traditional Chinese culture, honestly. The fact that they fight with a flute (?) and a Guqing is very cool, it’s not unique to the series, but it’s rarely seen in cdramas.

          The core conflict is very much about how much double standards the “good guys” are and a lot of grey morality, which is always interesting (It’s less grey than the book due to NRTA, but it’s lot more grey than most drama, so I’ll definitely take it). The supporting characters are for the most part multifaceted, and fair number of them get character developments. Wei Wuxian goes through a LOT, honestly most of the main cast goes through a lot too, but it never feels melodramatic? Since conflicts are generally clashing of ideals, or very big things so it feels justifiable, rather than trite and tiring (although I suppose it can be emotionally draining). The otp are polar opposites, and it’s always interesting to see how relationships like that change over time, even though I’m not super invested in the otp. I’ve heard the drama actually add in more cute/sweet scenes (I assume it’s small gestures, glances and small scenes), it’s a wonder that they got pass NRTA.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          @Skibbies, I’m down to reading AVV twice a week but still manage to catch your comment within hours. 😀

          I guess it’s not a coincidence that many reading websites I run into have light backgrounds. Dark ones take work to find. C vs Western websites are living in nearly mutually exclusive ecosystem. That’s one of the things that makes it a headache to travel between the C & W spheres. Huawei phones are banned here to various degrees. I didn’t even realize Hilary Clinton’s brother already had some entanglements with Huawei years ago. I only came across that recently.

          I share some of your sentiments. I can’t tell what firms will do with the growing amount of data they collect from apps. So I practically have no apps installed right now. tbh, I’m glad I was not born post-2000. Our parents’ generation, things change a lot more slowly than ours. Future generations are much faster-changing still. Huge groups of ppl are doing a lot of same things before half of the consequences play out. My intuition tells me some of these things will have negative surprises. There are tons of firms doing health-tech now. Fortunately for now, 80% of their CEOs still admit they don’t know what to do with their data. So there’s still time before they monetize it. I’m not the type who sits and plots how I can benefit the most from my acquaintances. It makes me uncomfortable to hear so many ppl are doing that these days. Once the CEOs have figured out how to monetize data really well, I suspect it won’t be good for the consumers.

          There’s some power in your demographic group if your demog group consumes a lot of products. But it is also potentially problematic as consumerism is addictive to many. Few ppl can really control it well. Hence you see ballooning debts both at the household and country level. This problem tends to only get obvious whenever we have major financial crises. Suddenly you see a lot of homes etc getting foreclosed. Households and firms declaring bankruptcy. A lot of ppl get carried away in the absence of crises. Looks to me it’s good to watch your finances. You want to be sure you’re on the production side sometimes. Not 100% on the consumption sides only. Ppl tend to only notice the obvious. But in truth, the producers behind the scene typically are a lot more filthy rich than the glamorous faces on glossy magazines. CEO of media firms & luxury brands are typically a lot more well off, and well into their 70s even, than any super model you can think of. Watch one’s approximate income level and make sure consumption is also comparable.
          It’s a great plus to understand enough to be able to manage one’s own investment. Not all sources of income are created equal. Tax rates are different for fixed salaries vs others. In the West, the latter is typically more beneficial. So it helps to get more skilled at investing in areas with lower tax rates. If one doesn’t even have savings, or got carried away with consumerism, one will miss out on the more lucrative areas of investment. In the long run, that can be a bit painful. Every one has different levels of skills in investing. Some can get better at it with time and experience. If not, then one has to consult financial planners.

        • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

          Sorry for the late replies!
          @an
          I like slice of dramas. One of my favorites, if you ever need a Japanese drama to watch, is Tsubaki Bunguten. I also like Midnight Diner. Didn’t get a chance to watch the C-version of it, but heard it wasn’t good.

          I really hope China focuses more on these dramas rather than the flashy dramas with rich men and poor ladies.

          I feel like if I’m comfortable with people, I will ask for information but I don’t force anyone. I only ask once and if they’re hesitant then I just wait patiently. Agree that open-mindedness is a great plus.
          Finished Moonshine and Valentine. It started off great and it became underwhelming during the middle and the end. I liked the concept though. It turns out that they filmed the drama mostly (perhaps entirely) in Bangkok, which I thought it was unusual for a Cdrama. After finishing it, I dived right into The Untamed again, rewatching a few episodes here and there. Now I’m watching Lucky’s First Love. It’s short and fluffy, which is what I am craving for these days. Pretty soon though, I’ll start my annual Battle of Changsha marathon.
          Seems like Young Blood is well-received by certain Taiwanese viewers based from a site I frequent. It’s mentioned in a few recommendation threads. Sounds like an intriguing plot even if I’m not familiar with any of the cast.
          Thanks for the information on consumerism. I’m trying to cut down on my spending on frivolous things since I need to save up to buy a house.

          @skibbies: You are better than me when it comes to choosing dramas. These days, though, I feel like even the plot is not enough to keep me entertained especially if the drama is too long. Do you tend to fast forward in drama with 50+ episodes?
          Wang Ou in Disguisers was so hard to dislike even though she had so many issues. I still cringe whenever I remember how she tortured Hu Ge’s character. Sadly I haven’t watched any of her other dramas, but am looking forward to seeing her with Wang Kai in their crime (?) drama.

  9. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    I’m done watching the untamed, the king’s avatar, prince of tennis 2019,Novoland: Eagle flag.

    I’m thinking of going back to watching a few kdrama that caught my interest :
    Dr.John, Graceful Family and Welcome2Life.

  10. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    I just started watching Hotel del Luna after seeing some behind the scenes clips. I wanted to watch C-dramas, but they’re just so long. I figured 16 episodes, though longer than the average C-drama episode, is much more manageable than 40+ episodes. So far, I like it.

  11. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    Just finished The Untamed and Novoland Eagle Flag recently. The Untamed was GREAT. Lots of humor, but lots of angst too!!! However, Xiao Zhan totally won my heart the entire time, but Wang Yi Bo also did a good job.

    Novoland Eagle Flag was a bit disappointing, especially for Liu Hao Ran’s character. Not much development and was always being pulled into the spotlight and gaining different titles left and right, despite not really doing anything for it. It would’ve been fine if they actually show his character having some sort of development or growth, but Asule remained the SAME and it didn’t help that they made him lose his memories and revert back to being a timid boy. And, then suddenly he was able to defeat Lei Bi Cheng despite not even remembering anything. That part could’ve been done well if they written it better, but there were lots of loopholes during those episodes.

    I also finished K-drama Hotel del Luna. It was great! I haven’t been into K-dramas in a while, but this drama blew me away
    IU and Yeo Jin Goo had great chemistry!!!

    As of now, I’m not really watching anything. Other than skipping through a few scenes here and there in My Mowgli Boy, nothing has really been interesting to watch.

  12. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    I think I’ve mentioned in the chat box that I’ve finished and loved The King’s avatar (awesome underdog sporty kind of story) , my neighbour cannot sleep (sweet and fluffy), longest day in ChangAn (addicting beginning, beautiful to look at at, but not really rootable characters, and an underwhelming ending) and now speeding through The Untamed.

    Let me just say this I am not a fan of BL no matter how we’ll it’s done so I’m glad they toned it down from all accounts and had no physicality. I still cringed whenever Wei Wu Xian does his thing but I’m glad to say I still find the whole story very very watchable and addictive. The general plot works even in a normal story…and there are a lot of scenes that made me cry and tugged my heart. I still have eleven episodes to go as of now but I can see why it is such a hit and I think I love it a lot even though not with the fervour of the super fans.

    • 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

      Finished The Untamed. Loved it very very much…not so much for the pairing as many seem to be but on a general the story is just so good. I love all the characters – good or evil, main or minor – and I loved that most characters (especially the ones I cared for) had a proper closure or at least were given proper screen time. I love that there were no fillers and each minor character had a purpose or a proper mini arc of their own. And I love the big reveal (this was what I expected from ChangAn because ChangAn had a better mystery set up but The Untamed ended up surprising me more). It’s like a xianxia with a wuxia feel. I wish we have more of these please. Xiaozhan and Wang YiBo are both pretty impressive for me especially since they are relative newbies. I think the casting was done really well…the actors all suited the characters. I love the batch of the younger generations (Jin Lin, Zhui Si etc) as well and wouldn’t mind seeing a season two.

  13. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    Currently watching My Mowgli Boy and its surprisingly entertaining. Yang Zi is hilarious as always and the side characters are pretty interesting.

  14. 46 thoughts on “Drama-Binging: What Are You Watching? (24)

    I finally made it to ep 55 of Novoland EF today. What a convoluted story! It was far better than Novoland T&E, but they could have condensed many of the subplots, to make the drama seamless and intriguing. Poor Asule slept most of the time.

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