#the message cdrama

[sandalwoodbox]

Gu Xiaomeng / Li Ningyu - birthday flirting. The Message (2020) episode 28.

[nemainofthewater]

Haven't we always wanted to see an adaptation of a novel we love? Cast actors in our heads, wondered how impressive action scenes can be translated from page to screen…

(…complained when the adaptation inevitably messed things up…)

There are 4 polls looking at adaptations from (web)novel to drama:

-Animated (already complete and found here),

-Danmei (live action) (link to poll here)

-BG/het (Live action) (link to poll here)

-Other/Ensemble (Live Action) (the poll that you're reading!!)

There is not a baihe category because as of yet there have been no Baihe adaptations.

These polls are using the novel’s category, so something that is seen as a BL tv series might have been adapted from a non-BL novel, for example, and therefore will be in ‘Other’ instead of ‘Danmei’

Best can mean what you want, either most faithful or most able to translate the feel of the novel even if elements have been changed.

NB: A series of polls looking at best Jin Yong novel adaptation has already taken place

[michyeosseo]

Do you know why she is honored as goddess? Bedridden for a long time due to her incomplete celestial roots... a deity everyone thought could not be saved... Lord Xingzhi came to take to the Extranatural Heaven. And cured her. Therefore, the Divine Realm's Heavenly Lord gave her a title: Luotian Goddess – blessings from the sky. The girl blessed by the [ancient] gods.

Li Jia Qi as YOULAN

THE LEGEND OF SHEN LI (2024) 1.17-1.19

[xiakeponz]

the shenanigans in our cdrama disc. ft. @llonkrebboj and co

tag urself im czgws lmao

additional contribution from @lu-luna-lunatic

[sarah-yyy]

drive-by rec post for warm on a cold night which just finished airing last night!!

super quick “no time to listen to sarah yell over cdramas now” overview and links first before we get into it as usual:

what: period cdrama // 36 eps, roughly 45 mins each where: iqiyi // viki (usual disclaimer that i do not use eng subs so i don’t speak to the quality of subs) why: fun period cdrama werewolf romance with a sprinkle of crime-solving and uh hand-holding for Plot Reasons

my sweet girl su jiu’er of the qian kingdom! she is the only female constable in the city, but mostly does chores that none of the constables do because she’s had this condition since she was young where her body temperature drops rapidly out of nowhere and she faints randomly so no-one really lets her out to investigate cases even though she’s got the brains for it :(

this loser (affectionate) is han zheng, prince of the qi kingdom - the people of qi are all shapeshifters (think werewolves, though the actual shifting is never really explored too much so idk if they all shift into wolves or if this is specific to han zheng and his branch) who have superior physical abilities. han zheng starts out aloof, arrogant, and low-key anti-qian, but goes through a whole series of character growth because of jiu’er.

these two meet when han zheng sneaks into the qian kingdom to investigate the disappearance of his old friend (who has been branded a traitor of the qi kingdom; hz does not believe this). 

jiu’er finds out that touching han zheng alleviates her condition, like he literally warms her up whenever she touches him, so she keeps trying to do that (sometimes with adorable please save me i’m dying begging, sometimes with buddy you are literally an illegal immigrant here i call the shots blackmail, my girl has range) to han zheng’s initial distaste :))) the two of them team up to first solve recent mysteries in the city targeting the qi people, and then later investigate han zheng’s bff’s disappearance and jiu’er father’s death.

this show is so funny!! jiu’er persistently tries to get han zheng to try new things and make friends (even with his love rival!!!!!), and the banter between them at the start is so funny! their rivals to friends to lovers transition is also so smooth, and there is A LOT of gratuitous hand-holding scenes thank you scriptwriter for feeding me so well

ANYWAY the setting is fun, the cases move really quickly and most of them are quite interesting. i think it’s meant to be more a romcom than it is a crime-solving drama, so i went in with lower expectations re: the cases etc which helped! most of them are not that complicated, but still fun to watch unfold! the fight scenes are done really well

the side characters are also a+++

sleepy boy in the middle is wen jun (prince of the qian kingdom), who has had a crush on jiu’er since they were little and she took care of him when he was banished to this temple with his sickly mother by the emperor. they lost contact with each other when he was taken back to the palace after his mother passed. he is THE SWEETEST BOY!!! he doesn’t really have a mind for politics (that’s all left to his elder brother), so his fam just lets him enjoy life writing plays and spending money. he helps out with their investigation and follows han zheng and jiu’er around like a puppy :’) major ot3 vibes but ALAS

HELLO DA-DIANXIA MY LOVE :’) i am a sucker for a smart, well put together man, so can y’all really blame me for imprinting upon wen ying like this??? he is SUSPICIOUS af from the get-go, but also he’s so good and so kind to wen jun that i keep thinking the show is just trying to bait me into thinking he’s the bad guy :( ANYWAY in the later eps, he’s got this Thing going on with chi lan (badass general of the yi kingdom who is also han zheng’s other bff) that just makes me go !!! because of the potential

moustache man is jiu’er’s godfather! also one of my favourite characters with a+++ comedic timing tbh!!! can’t say more about him because spoilers but I LOVE HIM OKAY

if y’all are looking for a nice, low-stakes watch, this is probably the show for you! it’s mostly light-hearted, nothing too complex that requires full attention, and really easy to binge - i probably could’ve done this whole show in one weekend if i weren’t also battling jetlag :D

[noona-is-afk]

spoilery thoughts under the cut on The Double cuz I’m obsessed

When Li gave Tong the house and gifts, I was like immediately “oh no this girl defs gonna die I’m not ready”

but even knowing it was happening, you best believe I still cried my goddamn heart out

I love how this show’s whole thing is like the tragedy of the female experience, but man is it such a gut punch every time another one of my fave girlies meets a tragic end

imma need some fanfiction writers to do the world a service and write happy endings for all these amazing women okay thank you

[kaserolly]

🩵💙💜 Lewis Hamilton X Stay Close by Bawo 💜💙🩵

Keep it a hundred and not one less

Woke up in a mess, that don't mean that the love can rest

Bro got dreams, let's flee this nest

All for the team, it's really a quest

[x][x][x][x]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICO @captainson 🩵

[lostinadrama]

𝐄𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 / 𝐙𝐢 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐚𝐧 (2024)

[baifengxis]

lighter and princess is literally one of the best tv shows i've ever watched and i cannot believe it's perfection, from the love story to the amazingly written characters to the messages and the plot and the best betrayal storyline ever done that hurts so much and it's so well done and the cinematography and the directing and the music..... literally best drama of 2022 hands down and forever one of my fave shows

[ohmuqueen]

You could try watching general and i, the protagonists are on two opposite sides of a war, happy ending after many separations and reunions

Thank you kind anon! I looked it up and I will definitely give it a try! I’ve never watched a historical cdrama, this looks like a great one for me to start with ~ I’m excited, thank you! ^^

[sandalwoodbox]

Gu Xiaomeng / Li Ningyu & beds

The Message (2020) eps 3-27

[petrichoraline]

you know the "where? who? you been where? with who?" tt audio? that's me trying to figure out politics in period dramas

[lurkingshan]

Fangs of Fortune: Hell Yeah, You Should Watch it

I am not going to write a long and detailed review of this drama that many people on here have already so lovingly documented and analyzed before I managed to get to it, but I will say this: it's easily my favorite cdrama of the year, and if you're on the fence about it, you should absolutely watch and have a great time.

Does it have flaws? Yes, definitely. I can't say that I was ever more than 70% sure what was going on with the plot, the overuse of macguffins and deus ex machinas got comically ridiculous by the end, and the female lead is one of the weakest I have seen in a minute. But I barely cared about any of that, because of a few things:

It's absolutely gorgeous, 11/10 visual feast for the eyes at all times.

The characters were almost uniformly excellent, and most of them had fantastic arcs that felt true to where they started and where they needed to go.

The relationship dynamics (with the exception of the awkwardly shoehorned in het romance) were fascinating and very well executed, with lots of depth and nuance to explore.

Despite the plot writing being an entire mess, the thematic work was on point and I loved the overarching messages of the drama.

It's queer as hell, and the subtext is really quite plainly text by the end. The censors got fully bamboozled on this one.

I advise you to just turn it on, enjoy the visual splendor, and let the story wash over you, and you will have such a fun and fantastic time.

[dangermousie]

Something I really love that Taiwanese dramas convey so well (only Japanese dramas do it as well imo) is darkness, not dramatic operatic darkness costume cdramas are capable of and not darkness with a message in darker kdramas but this ignoble, grinding, scrounging darkness.

Nothing glamorous or larger than life or pointed just "this is how it is." Older kdramas used to be able to do it too (and I mean 2010 or older) but they lost it and modern cdramas always feel sunshine-sanitized to me. American and British (and various other European) shows always feel hard-boiled about it in a shallow way and Turkish shows can do it well in glimpses but often descend into operatic excess. Thai shows I've seen mostly feel too slick.

But oh, twdramas (and jdramas) - they do it SO well.

I don't even know if I am coherent tbh.

[mejomonster]

If you never saw qi hun (cdrama adaptation of hikaru no go made by iqiyi, free on youtube sometimes) then u did not yet witness the fact that. Shi guang and yu liang are in a slow burn enemy/friends to lovers, including the WALL in between trope, the cell phone call looking through the window with leaves blowing in the wind as they lock eyes for the first time in years, the WATCH gift and breakup, the Went Missing with his ghost bestie on the Mountain so was rescued, the playing pair go, the staying in the temple together and bonding as they do chores, the spying on each other and asking if the other mentioned him nonstop, the trying to get to each other again, and of course moving in together. (Along with, you know, the angst and heartwarming and very gneuinely lovely story about friends, growing up, and having passions for things you care about even if you arent the best, which hikaru no go always has).

I am never going to be over the watch scenes. I cant even express how much the Bad Buddy watch thing just reminds me of the Qi Hun scenes gifting the watch and giving it back during the break up. Just. I mean i dunno how shippy the original was. But qi hun shipped shi guang and yu liang and fully commited to their vision, and gave them a happy ending.

Also it is. The only competition hobby story ive been able to finish. Because it recognizes many people can love things (like go) and never be the best, will fail or trip on the way to dreams, may even need to give them up. But the simple act of doing what you loved, even badly, was worth it. The friends you enjoyed your time with, that threaded into your life, care about you regardless. Not everything is about winning or losing. In a way its like chu ying learning, like yu liang. Its about being with the people we care about, and doing things we like. Win or lose, its worth our time. The montage of yu liang and shi guang at the end playing many pairs is one of the send offs of that message, of the people in all kinds of places in life, who are all kinds of people, with their simple enjoyment and importance as people.

[linghxr]

5 years of linghxr 🎂

Today marks 5 years of linghxr! Well, technically Tumblr notified me of my blog’s anniversary 2 days ago. But I didn’t make my first post until July 12th, so I’ve decided to celebrate today instead.

I started learning Mandarin Chinese as a little kid attending weekend Chinese school, and I also took it in high school. I got 认真 about it in college after realizing my Chinese wasn’t even good enough to test out of the 1st year Chinese course. I spent all my free time studying the Chinese Grammar Wiki and successfully placed into 2nd year Chinese!

I started this blog the following summer as I tried not to forget everything before the 3rd year Chinese course, while also studying Russian. Over the past 5-6 years, I have…

…read 3 webnovels and 1 book

…watched 17 cdramas and 25 seasons of variety/reality shows

…posted 282 times on this blog

…made 8313 flashcards in Anki

07/20/24 The contest is closed, and I have contacted the winner.

To give back to the langblr community, I am gifting winner’s choice of prize from two resources/platforms I have used myself. They are both digital to make this more accessible.

Prizes

The lucky winner can pick one of these options:

Option 1 - iTalki gift card for $60 of iTalki credits

Option 2 - Pleco Pro Bundle worth $59.99 (see under the cut for bundle content)

Requirements to enter

To enter, all you need to do is like, reblog, or comment on this post. You can do more than one if you like, but please don’t spam the post. Feel free to vote in the poll too, but that’s just for fun 😄

You have one week (until next Friday, July 19th) to enter. Shortly after, I will select a winner at random and message them to coordinate details (make sure your Tumblr settings allow me to message you). If there is no response after 48 hours, I will select someone else. If you are under 18, please get parent or guardian permission.

Thank you for 5 wonderful years of blogging!

Via Pleco, the pro bundle includes:

Our more expensive bundle includes almost every "feature" add-on plus 6 different dictionaries; two English-to-Chinese ones (one smaller one with Pinyin and one larger one without), the massive ABC Chinese-to-English, the bidirectional Oxford Chinese Dictionary, the small-but-example-rich Tuttle Chinese-English, and (to stretch your reading skills a bit) the Chinese-to-Chinese Guifan dictionary.

Bundle contents:

ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary ($19.99)

ABC English-Chinese Dictionary ($9.99)

Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian ($29.99)

New Century English-Chinese Dictionary ($29.99)

Oxford Chinese Dictionary ($19.99)

Tuttle Learner's Chinese-English Dictionary ($9.99)

Enhanced Handwriting Recognizer ($9.99)

Optical Character Recognizer ($9.99)

"Qiang" Mandarin Male Text-to-Speech ($9.99)

Mandarin Audio (male) ($4.99)

Mandarin Audio (female) ($4.99)

Flashcard System ($9.99)

Document Reader ($9.99)