songdou

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DRAMAS in 2024: 25 | Blossom 九重紫 (2024) — dir. Zeng Qing Jie   

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BLOSSOM 九重紫 (2024) dir. Zeng Qing Jie @kdramaspace 2024 Year in Review: Under the Mistletoe | best kiss scenes, best chemistry, best couple of 2024 .

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staying sober is a hundred times more painful than madness. abandoning justice for the family. you’ve done this more than once.

why should i still endure this?

why should i still have hope in you?

— song mo to the emperor, blossom (2024)

[songdou]

my father said i was born with a closed heart, indifferent to feelings. i’ve never shed a single tear since i was little. when i was four, he fell gravely ill. he gave me this telescope and told me he would become a star. so every night i used it to watch the stars. but i knew i wouldn’t find him because when people die, they just turn to dust.

everyone dies. living is but a path to death, and death is the beginning of life anew.

that’s right. what matters is how we live our lives. so, little dreamer, how do you want to live?

— dou zhao & ji yong, blossom (2024)

[songdou]

family background cannot change one’s wishes but it can traps a person’s way of living. li yishan once said that washing feet in the spring and sipping tea while admiring flowers are indecent actions that ruin the scenery. but i do that every day. i feel happy and comfortable. but this happiness is not allowed by those prestigious families. the infinite glory from the prestigious families is a prison for me. love, marriage, and fame are a burden. 

i don’t want to be a virtuous woman; i only wish to breeze with the wind, hold the wine, and enjoy it.

— dou zhao, blossom (2024)

[songdou]

do you remember anything from your past life? who could possibly remember that? when i read the stars, i can only see the present. i don’t claim to know everything. is everything in life destined? will what’s meant to happen, happen? have you heard of planetary movements? as the stars shift, so do people. if everything were truly fated, why would you be worrying here? it’s because life is full of uncertainty that it’s so fascinating.

— dou zhao & ji yong, blossom (2024)

[songdou]

the juxtaposition of dou zhao and the empress in blossom (2024), and the identity of women in ancient china

throughout the last few episodes, we get to see more of the empress' backstory and what had lead her to commit treason; we see that she is clearly the backbone of the emperor, spending late nights working behind the scenes when the emperor was sick. and on one evening as she brings medicine for the emperor, she overhears him say that she is to be buried when he passes, in order to prevent her future involvement in politics. i find this interesting because we are presented with a main character, dou zhao, who is a strong and capable woman and has been able to make her own choices throughout her life despite consequences, solely because she has been able to prove herself time after time that she is as capable as a man. in the end, we are presented the empress as a “villain” behind the grand scheme, but she, too, is a woman who has been long suppressed by the misogynist standards towards women during that period. of course, that is no excuse for her actions, but makes you think about the stark contrast between these two characters, and how they deal with the challenges they face.

when dou zhao is waiting outside for song mo's decree after they set off explosives, her and the empress briefly converse:

you’ve done more than enough as a wife. you should consider yourself. divorce song mo and return to the dou family. your fifth uncle can keep your family safe, and i’ll keep a position for you. becoming the wife of a guilty official or a noble lady is an easy choice.

who i choose to be isn’t about whose wife i am or daughter i am. it depends on who i am. a person with integrity walks their own path. i’ll be waiting here until song mo comes out.

in a sense, the empress is suppressed by the same societal shackles and gender norms that dou zhao was confined in during her first life as the wife of wei ting yu, having to take on responsibilities common for wives of large households during that period such as serving her husband, looking after the concubines and their children, managing servants, estates, and businesses, etc. she still ends up being disrespected by her husband, cheated on, and her name slandered until the very end of her first life. during dou zhao and song mo's first meeting in that same first life, song mo even says:

a man can leave a woman easily, while it's harder for a woman to leave a man.

dou zhao is given the chance of a second life, where she challenges gender norms time and time again, and even finds someone who allows her to grow and have her own identity as a woman. i wonder, if the empress was given a chance of a second life, would she too, have the chance to be in charge of her own destiny?

p.s. in the end, perhaps the empress' punishment to be renounced of her title and reduced to a commoner is indeed not a punishment, but a reawakening; her second chance to a second life.

[songdou]

Blossom 九重紫 (2024)

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Ah, so that's Dou Zhao.

Blossom 九重紫 (2024)

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Blossom 九重紫 (2024) Dir. Zeng Qing Jie – Ep. 24

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Blossom 九重紫 (2024) Dir. Zeng Qing Jie – Ep. 20

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Blossom 九重紫 (2024) Dir. Zeng Qing Jie – Ep. 19

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SAINTSHIN + ‘LOVE’

HIGH SCHOOL FRENEMY (2024)

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Shin, come with me.

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Wait for me, I’m all soaked. No.

HIGH SCHOOL FRENEMY | EP16

[songdou]

I'm glad though. I got to see you when I woke up. It's what I've wanted all my life.

[songdou]

I'll stay just like this until you agree to be my friend.

HIGH SCHOOL FRENEMY | EP6