#its one od my favorite show ost's ever.

[shenmeizhuang-blog]

current standing + more rambles

Confession time: I haven’t touched a single episode of anything since binge-watching the final 16 episodes of Glory of Tang in one sitting because the ending shook me that much of my busy busy life. I’m likely not going to make much progress watching shows in the coming months. (Yes, the one summer there are like 10 long-form cdramas I’m really anticipating is the one summer I have multiple programs and internships, some even without any wifi.)

Completed 

Candle In The Tomb (鬼灯吹之精绝古城): Produced under Daylight Entertainment (Nirvana in Fire, Ode To Joy, Battle of Changsha), naturally this show has high production values, allowing for passable and even visually appealing CGI when dealing with supernatural elements. The acting in this show is definitely solid, and the post- Cultural Revolution 80s context created a strong background resulting in Hu Bayi’s leadership, Pang Zi’s greed, as well as cultural differences when meeting Chinese-American Shirley Yang. However, the surrounding characters aside from our main trio ultimately felt rather disconnected. 

One of the most frustrating aspects of the show is its...sheer nothingness. Sometimes I watch an episode of the team traversing the desert, and I wonder to myself, wait, what actually happened this episode? Supposedly you have this entire elaborate set-up, as well as the cliffhanger ending Season 1, along with supernatural elements like the zombie, 火瓢虫, Shirley’s identity/bloodline, but along with the bursts of slowness, build-up, and anticipation leading sometimes to intense reveals is ultimately lots of frustration and an urge to fast-forward through everything. 

I can’t say this was a bad show because it seemed that nothing occurred in this to qualify as “bad”, and the production values are very high, but ultimately it’s not something I would recommend for others to watch. What can I say? Jin Dong is attractive ^o^

The Glory Of Tang Dynasty (大唐荣耀): If you’ve been following my Tumblr, you would know that I’ve been raving about this show for the longest time. 

At a whopping length of 92 episodes, beating out the 80-ep My Own Swordsman as the longest show I’ve ever seen to date, Glory managed to remain well-paced -- even fast-paced -- taking the detailed narrative throughout many twists and turns as we watched the turmoil of the Anshi Rebellion, conflict in Uyghur, Empress Zhang’s ambition, and finally Li Chu’s ascension. The ending, albeit tragic, ultimately provided a very touching and appropriate closure to the long journey of watching this show throughout nearly 3 months (!). 

However, despite my praises, let me acknowledge this -- ultimately, Glory is a flawed and problematic show. Initially, discussions on this blog led me to think that it was solely just genre expectations, but having thought things through, I’ve come to this conclusion: the show doesn’t know what it wants to be, or -- the show wants to be too many things.

Given the historical context, admittedly there are so many things to cover: you have our OTP, Emperor Daizong and Consort Shen, whose capture by the enemy rebellion forces and mysterious disappearance creates the perfect formula for angst. You also have Daizong’s intriguing ascension to the throne, as well as Empress Zhang’s ambition to become something akin to the next Wu Zetian. In addition, you have Prince Li Tan’s tragic story. Then there’s the Anshi Rebellion itself, with an entirely new cast of characters. What should the show focus on? From where should we place a focus or perspective? These are difficult questions to answer, which is why I’m not a drama scriptwriter. 

Given these 92 episodes, overall everything is nicely developed and fleshed out. Don’t know what to do? How about we incorporate . . . everything? Overall, the writers did do a great job to mash all these elements into a cohesive plotline, but ultimately, this show still lacks a focus. Is it about Zhenzhu? Li Chu? Zhenzhu and Li Chu? What about the surrounding political set-up? 

By principle, I always feel that a story should stem from a single idea -- the 76-episode Legend of Zhen Huan was ultimately a character study, with surrounding arcs paralleling and contrasting to Zhen Huan’s story. 

Which is not to discredit this show -- I still loved it for its gorgeous costuming, solid acting, piercing and fun dialogue, multifaceted characterization, and the OSTs are things I feel on a spiritual level. (I’m running out of time here, I’ll probably write something more cohesive later.) So I can still confidently say this was still one of my favorite period dramas that I would still strongly recommend. Alas, subs!

Watching

Medical Examiner Dr. Qin (法医秦明): After the sheer goriness of episode 2, it gets less gory, with cases involving intact bodies. Loving the trio’s dynamic and adoring the show. It’s also what I’ve been watching while eating Lunch ;)

On-hold

Q Series: Life Plan A & B (荼蘼)

Considering

Fox’s summer (狐狸的夏天): Tan Song Yun!!! (but when do I have the time~)

Surgeons (外科风云): Technically I watched the first 10 minutes of Ep 1 raw, only to realize -- I don’t know anything about Chinese medical terms. It’s subbed on DramaFever, so I will check it out at one point.