Yang Mi

[mango_cake]

Only 183??! Well, I know that's tall, but that's less than HG's listed height! Maybe he is understating his height (though I don't know why he would)--he looks way taller than that onscreen! YM is pretty tall herself so she generally has a normal height difference compared with her costars (since her male costars typically are also very tall), but this guy manages to make YM look positively tiny! O_o

[Ren Ying Ying]

Only 183??! Well, I know that's tall, but that's less than HG's listed height! Maybe he is understating his height (though I don't know why he would)--he looks way taller than that onscreen! YM is pretty tall herself so she generally has a normal height difference compared with her costars (since her male costars typically are also very tall), but this guy manages to make YM look positively tiny! O_o

I think one or two centimeters difference is very difficult to gauge, especially if people are wearing different shoes or hunching or whatevers

Maybe we should pull up a pick from Young Yang Warriors and see if there is a difference

[mango_cake]

Doesn't look like just 1 or 2cm though...I just looked up the other actor in DMXN who is listed at 177, which seems about right to me. But the height difference between him and Li Dong Xue definitely looks way more than 6cm...oh well, I'll stop wondering about that!

On another note, I just noticed that YM's voice actress in DMXN is the same girl that does virtually all of LSS' roles! XD Kudos to her because her voice work here gives me a totally different feel than when I watched LSS' MNC and Long Kui, but it really suits both girls despite how different they are. (She also did CtW, GXYZM, and BBJX for LSS, but I haven't watched those yet.) For a moment I thought it was the same voice actress that did QC or Xue Jian (also Ariel's Huang Rong)...guess that's just YM's similar character-type/acting influencing me.

[mango_cake]

Maybe we should pull up a pick from Young Yang Warriors and see if there is a difference

Omg! I totally didn't realize he was in SNYJJ!! (AKA one of my top favourite series of all time.) O_o (But the 3 older brothers did have minimal screentime...however this is definitely making me want to go back and check SNYJJ. )

I heard somewhere (maybe here?) that DQZD is supposedly being broadcast in Japan or something? So hopefully it shouldn't be too long before it comes out in China as well. Seriously though, what is with so many of YM's films/TV series being so delayed in their release?! It's been happening since her first film! >_<

[ChineseChik525]

Omg! I totally didn't realize he was in SNYJJ!! (AKA one of my top favourite series of all time.) O_o (But the 3 older brothers did have minimal screentime...however this is definitely making me want to go back and check SNYJJ. )

lol yeah, i was just gonna ask if anyone else noticed that he played the eldest brother in SNYJJ XD
i've always thought he was pretty good looking (all 7 were, actually ), so this kinda makes me wanna watch diao man xin niang. is it any good? how many eps?

[xiaolong]

Doesn't look like just 1 or 2cm though...I just looked up the other actor in DMXN who is listed at 177, which seems about right to me. But the height difference between him and Li Dong Xue definitely looks way more than 6cm...oh well, I'll stop wondering about that!

Now I feel like watching Diao Man Xin Niang though it looks like one of her low budget post-CP3 projects shown on some small provincial channel. How is it so far? I always noticed Yang Da Lang in Young Warriors although he has very minimal scenes. I think he had more prominent scenes in the beginning when they were looking for Yang Ba Mei and Yelu Xie kept hook winking him in the busy streets. His profile also doesn't state the year his born, just 198?.

Side note: I've worked for a short stint at Singapore's Mediacorp (TV drama) section before. For actors whose real height is comfortably above 1.8m, they will just put their real height. For actresses comfortably 1.7m and above, they will also put their real height or sometimes even try to minimise it. The height considered ideal for actors/actresses (for models, height requirements are a lot more), it's 1.65m to 1.68m for actresses, 1.77m to 1.8m for actors. So agents will kinda try to add an inch or so if their artistes fall short. Also, many of them often wear high heels (for men, it's padded sports shoes). Unfortunately, our poor darling Nicky Wu is rather short in reality, so it'd be stretching it to put him at 1.77m (he's listed as 1.73m I think), so I guess he has to wear padded shoes - even then, Lin Gengxin The Hulk towered way over him at the Shanghai Film Fest.

[sunnysnow]

mango_cake, your review makes me wanna persist watching DMXN. I actually glimpsed through the 1st epi quite some time ago (think was January earlier this yr) but the episode seemed rather cheesy/dull & I really dislike the 2nd brother who has an annoying face and overacts to the max. so I didn't continue to the 2nd episode and went on to watch some other drama instead.

[munianci]

Oh no, Gong 2 is starting to film in August. What a bummer!


And it looks that stupid YZ is going ahead without any idea what he's going to write about.

Actually, I don't get why people are saying FengMi are pairing up too often. Haven't they only paired up in ONE single drama that has been aired - Gong? In MRXJ, their characters didn't even meet or interact. The other FengMi collaborations don't have any news on airing dates or TV stations yet!

If it seems "too much" that FengMi is pairing up, it's because of their off-screen interactions and budding romance. Seriously, they've effectively only been seen as a couple in ONE drama. Frankly FSF has been paired up with Myolie Wu and Ady An a lot more often, and yet no one complains it's "too much". Why grudge FengMi?

For all those FengMi BTS stuff which makes it seem that their pairing is "too much", isn't it something that can't be prevented? If two people hit it off naturally, it will just happen. Can't stop two people from falling in love right?

[munianci]

This is an amusing pic from the Ming Yun press conf:


The fan who posted this photo observed it was one of the investors hugging YM from behind. She looks a bit surprised, but nevertheless returning the hug. FSF looks kinda amused.

[sunnysnow]

Actually when I first saw that pic sometime ago, I thought YM was being molested because she seemed somewhat squirmy and uncomfortable with that hug imo, and I couldn't tell whether the hugger is a male or female. But then, I saw this (http://tieba.baidu.com/f/tupian/pic/...01c70e95ee374b) and was relieved.

[munianci]

Wow, what a relief! Don't mind if I repost that photo in that thread here?



I was wondering how come FSF didn't come to his darling YM's rescue and instead looked amused

[patricia n]

Am watching cp3 right now...really wish ym and huge can collaborate together in any future remake of xajh as ryy and lhc. Hu ge can easily play lhc...and I'm very much convinced ym can potray ryy to the tee. Of course I will be happy if they pair up in any series, ESP if it's wuxi a. I just want to see more of them since they haven't had a happy ending in any of their series. Even though I really adore fengmi (fsf seems really sweet and classy) offscreen, huge and ym have great onscreen chemistry. Now my favorite pairings are
1 ym and huge tied with Noel Leung and Louis koo
3 Barbara yung and miu kiu wai

[mango_cake]

Yeah I saw that picture too awhile back attached to an article about "FSF looking helplessly on and doing nothing while YM gets molested". Lol. it's ridiculous how the media tries to spin things. I remember when FSF was costarring with LYF in the new Hong Meng Yan movie, I actually read an article that pulled up movie stills of LYF's "Qian Nu You Hun" (you know, with her kissing/sexier scenes etc) plus some sexy photoshoot pics that YM posted on her weibo. The topic of that article was something about YM being jealous and using the pictures to compete with LYF/get attention from FSF. >_< I wanted to smack that writer!! (Especially since YM and LYF are good friends in real life anyways and according to FSF, YM told him good things about LYF when she found out they were going to collaborate.)

munianci, it's funny that I was getting so sick of FengMi collaborations a month ago and now I can't get enough...I'm getting so impatient for their next series together since like you said, we've only seen them together onscreen once! I don't know what's taking HFCQ so long to come out (again, something that a lot of YM's series seems to suffer from, unfortunately).

Diao Man Xin Niang: it does get better after the first 2 episodes, which I found EXTREMELY cheesy (I got second-hand embarrassment at that one part where they used this super cheesy special effects during the staredown between the two wives. >_< That part almost made me stop watching, felt like it lasted a good 5 minutes. Also, several characters suffer from overacting: YM's mom, the head police guy, and the 2nd brother. Fortunately, the story does get going soon and you do warm up to the 2nd brother after his initial few episodes (he still has bouts of overacting but his I find his antics generally cute now). The police guy has become tolerable as well (partly because he has much less screentime later on). Unfortunately YM's mom is still as annoying as ever, and there are still the occasional "cheesy effects". However, I've decided to try to laugh at these cringe-worthy parts instead of facepalming. It makes the series a lot more enjoyable.

You definitely can't compare this series to the popular TR and YZ series that I've been watching a lot of lately in terms of overall production. However, the costumes and styling, while probably "cheaper" than those series, fit everyone wonderfully (especially YM, I still can't get over how good she looks in Min Guo clothes and her cute braids hairstyle). Also, I find that lower-budget series do tend to focus on characterization more, which is I why I like all the main characters a lot more than the recent TR/YZ dramas (where typically, I find myself only watching for certain characters...although actually, the older TR series, probably when they did not have as much money, did have fantastic characterization). Even the "evil" wife has her good moments so I don't completely hate her. There are still a few lame storylines and minor plotholes here and there but nothing glaring (I can typically ignore the minor things).

Overall, it's certainly not a top-quality production that will make my list of favourites, but it's a cute series that I'm actually enjoying more than the few I've watched recently! (Though admittedly, this drama probably comes off as way better due to the fact I watched it right after Gong. Lol. Anything would have a better storyline compared to that...) I'm really enjoying the fact that I like YM with both brothers (generally doesn't happen for me with love triangles). Plus as I mentioned before, it's so great to finally see YM act out a likable feisty character (instead of how annoying Xue Jian and Qing Chuan were scripted to be). You really want to root for Xiao Man here and see her get a happy ending (whereas I just couldn't get invested that much in the fate of XJ/QC...perhaps because you get the feeling that nothing really bad will actually happen to XJ/QC).

And after watching a few more scenes I guess LDX's height could make sense relative to the other actors...I just haven't seen such a big height difference between YM and her other costars (even HG) so it's puzzling.

Edit: Oops, sorry ChineseChik, forgot to mention, it is 34 eps in total. So far the pacing is not bad. A very good light-hearted filler while I'm waiting for some other series! (Not to say there aren't serious scenes too! But it's not like those super serious dramas that make me feel depressed from the serious scenes.)

[sunnysnow]

Thanks for the review mango_cake. DMXN is now added to my list of watches when i find the time.

Am watching cp3 right now...really wish ym and huge can collaborate together in any future remake of xajh as ryy and lhc. Hu ge can easily play lhc...and I'm very much convinced ym can potray ryy to the tee. Of course I will be happy if they pair up in any series, ESP if it's wuxi a. I just want to see more of them since they haven't had a happy ending in any of their series. Even though I really adore fengmi (fsf seems really sweet and classy) offscreen, huge and ym have great onscreen chemistry. Now my favorite pairings are
1 ym and huge tied with Noel Leung and Louis koo
3 Barbara yung and miu kiu wai

I know! When TR first announced that Hu Ge was participating in "Xuan Yuan Jian" (an upcoming RPG screen adaptation) and that YM was rumoured to be part of the cast, I was keeping my fingers crossed & hoping for a miracle to happen. But alas! Anyhow, there's some comfort in hearing that Tang Yan (which I rather like as an actress) will be playing one of the leads and paired with Hu Ge though it would have been a dream come true if YM was the one cast instead.

Actually, I'm looking forward to "Ru Yi" because I think from the picture stills, YM & Hawick Lau look pretty good together!

[ByTmE]

That actor, Li Dong Xue or something, also has a great body lol I'd wager that he has quite a physical presence [on screen and in real life] because of his height and build...if you hadn't noticed that face. My brother saw him in Yang Warriors and remarked, "the oldest brother is the most handsome," haha...and He Jian Ze the actor who played Pan Bao.

Though Yang Mi is quite tall, but she also looks between the medium [more] to small [less/some] range in frame size. You know who is really tiny? Her bosom buddy, Liu Shi Shi...dang she looked so tiny hiding behind Hu Ge in CP3 And that actress Li Qian who is also in the same series about 4 brother...what a kiddish actress!

[mango_cake]

Li Qian definitely is very cute and short! LSS is more average height I'd say--in her pics with YM she looks a bit shorter but not by a huge amount. HG is just really tall so he makes most actresses look shorter, lol!

Watching DMXN makes me look forward to YM's other Min Guo dramas like "Ru Yi" even more! She and Hawick make a pretty good-looking couple, and it sounds like a much higher-budget and higher-profile project than DMXN so it probably won't suffer from the cheesiness, lol! sunnysnow did you ever watch more of JCSS--did the editing improve after the first bit? (I think I'm going to watch that one next.) YM was also in another Min Guo drama a while back ("Xiang Feng He Bi Zeng Xiang Shi"). I remember the trailer seemed promising (it seemed to revolve more around WWII time period) but I don't know if it was another one of YM's dramas that never got released? There certainly doesn't seem to be much info about it...

They must've filmed DMXN in the dead of winter--in all the outside scenes you can clearly see their breaths! Must've had subzero temperatures almost all the time, and the actresses only wear one layer it seems like. O_o At least the actors have their thicker suits. YM (and other actors/actresses in general) really have to suffer a lot for filming...the scorching heat in Gong, then the cold winter temperatures during HFQC/DMXN, now she's getting bitten to death by the mosquitoes for Ru Yi filming. I think the worst was for BJAQGS--there was a scene where YM had to wade through freezing ice-water in the dead of night. The crew apparently had to bring in a crane and use metal/brick blocks to break the thick ice for several hours before they could film her scene--in the BTS vid I saw they were trying to wrap YM up with plastic wrap or something to prevent the ice water from seeping in!

[ByTmE]

^^OMG! ...that sounds like a form of abuse. .....couldn't they just have used the money to hire the crane that break up the ice towards building a fake set instead? Good lord...you suffer for your craft.

[mango_cake]

Lol...it probably still costs more for a fake set. They probably didn't expect temps to be that cold and the lake (or whatever) to completely freeze over.

I went to find the BTS vid of it: http://video.sina.com.cn/p/ent/v/m/2...361290945.html

This was around Christmas-time last year. Looking at how huge those blocks of ice it's pretty crazy. O_o (All the kids were having fun playing with them though, haha.) YM also demonstrates her crying skills in the vid but I bet she didn't need much of her acting skills for that scene...if it were me I'd be bawling my eyes out just at the thought of going in that lake. Rewatching that it seems they actually wrapped duct tape over the layers of plastic wrap...must've been a nightmare to get out of that! YM still seems remarkably cheerful though, she must be putting on a brave face.

[sunnysnow]

Though Yang Mi is quite tall, but she also looks between the medium [more] to small [less/some] range in frame size. You know who is really tiny? Her bosom buddy, Liu Shi Shi...dang she looked so tiny hiding behind Hu Ge in CP3 And that actress Li Qian who is also in the same series about 4 brother...what a kiddish actress!

I think it's because YM's so thin that she looks deceptively small despite being pretty tall in real life. I don't find LSS tiny; in fact, I would place her in the same size group as YM. Li Qian is definitely tiny, along with other petites like Ariel Lin & Zhou Xun.

sunnysnow did you ever watch more of JCSS--did the editing improve after the first bit? (I think I'm going to watch that one next.) YM was also in another Min Guo drama a while back ("Xiang Feng He Bi Zeng Xiang Shi"). I remember the trailer seemed promising (it seemed to revolve more around WWII time period) but I don't know if it was another one of YM's dramas that never got released? There certainly doesn't seem to be much info about it...

I never got pass the 1st episode, mainly because of my current lack of time for leisure & the fact that the 1st ep wasn't interesting enough to make me wanna continue watching and finish the series straight. "Xiang Feng He Bi Ceng Xiang Shi" is an antique which never got round to being released...and I wonder why because it seemed to receive quite a bit of hype when it started filming, which was around 5 years (or more) ago. Poor YM, several of her past works either don't get round to being released or are released years later after filming/production such that the hype has already long passed (e.g. "Da Qin Zhi Dao", "Shang Shu Fang").

[mango_cake]

I never got pass the 1st episode, mainly because of my current lack of time for leisure & the fact that the 1st ep wasn't interesting enough to make me wanna continue watching and finish the series straight. "Xiang Feng He Bi Ceng Xiang Shi" is an antique which never got round to being released...and I wonder why because it seemed to receive quite a bit of hype when it started filming, which was around 5 years (or more) ago. Poor YM, several of her past works either don't get round to being released or are released years later after filming/production such that the hype has already long passed (e.g. "Da Qin Zhi Dao", "Shang Shu Fang").

Ah, I see, yeah I'm just catching up on all these dramas now after a long time without watching anything because I was so busy. Thanks for the info about XFHBCXS--it's too bad because it's been awhile since I watched a WWII time period drama and I kind of miss it. It's weird because they even released a trailer for it, did no TV station pick it up or something? I swear no other actor/actress has such a large proportion of projects with so many release problems--it feels like half of YM's dramas/movies are problematic post-production. Actually DMXN was released quite late too, I think--wasn't it filmed shortly after CP3, but didn't get broadcasted tilll much much later? Maybe that's another reason why YM's been working so hard and taking on so many roles, she never knows which ones will actually come through.


I really like YM's new pic she just put up on her weibo (at some event in Guangzhou I believe)--she looks very elegant and grown-up. It's a different look from her usual cute look (curled hair with bangs). She's been looking a bit too thin again though lately.