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Thread: Princess Returning Pearl 2011 《新还珠格格》 - Li Sheng, Hai Lu, Zhang Rui, Li Jia Hang

  1. #361
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    Quote Originally Posted by xiaolong View Post
    I read somewhere that Qiong Yao met the Benjamin actor at some function and was so astounded by his native-level command of Mandarin that she wrote in the character in New HZGG. I wished she checked her history. Wasn't Qianlong kind of xenophobic? He wouldn't have allowed a Westerner to run riot around the palace. I also wonder if Qiong Yao is determined to ruin YQ & XYZ by writing in this Benjamin guy and that Xin Rong Ge Ge character. Sure, this is called "New HZGG" and it's expected Qiong Yao will change the plot, but she should have left the original relationship dynamics of one of the most beloved couples in Chinese TV history alone.
    Totally agree with you about Benjamin and Qianlong!! Qiong Yao overdid herself in trying to change the classic relationship between the characters! My poor YQ and XYZ...don't know where to even start to vent my grievances in their lack of screen time.

    Yep, Qianlong was definitely xenophobic! I remember reading some history text that Qianlong absolutely DEMANDED a British ambassador to perform the official "kow-tow" if they wanted to seek an official audience with him to negotiate any trade deals. Of course, the British ambassador had a big fit and refused cuz he didn't "kow-tow" to his own monarch. Qianlong then kicked his entire envoy out of China for his insolence. So the importance of Benjamin's character in this new HGZZ really annoys the heck out of me and he sticks out like a soar thumb despite the genuine kindness of his character. All three famous Qing emperors kept a really watchful eyes of foreigners living in China. When I see Benji run free around the Forbidden City, doing his Western salute thing, and his close interactions with XYZ even in the middle of night make the story really less believable for me. For goodness sake, Qiong Yao, XYZ is a royal Qing princess and this is the 18th century not modern times! what happened to basic gender etiquette?! If it was YQ visiting and closely interacting with XYZ in the palace, at least that would be more believable since they are under the protection of the fake "sibling" title.

    P.S. I don't have many complaints against the cast, just the how the characters are written and how the plot is progressing. Actually, I'm growing quite fond of the new cast and feel bad they are being attacked ferociously online for this remake. Benji has the potential to be a great character, but instead QY's over obsession with this character ruined him. Now he's the target of frustration for a lot of YongYan lovers.
    Last edited by JoleCole; 08-07-11 at 02:10 PM.
    Need to stop being lazy...

  2. #362
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    Quote Originally Posted by happyswallow View Post
    It seems like Benji has a bit more conflicts to deal with in the second season. He's definitely really sweet...always thinking of XYZ, never bitter and very eager to help. Seeing how he's the 'second guy who'll never get the girl', i thinking that maybe QY has been watching too many kdramas...
    Yeah and he's also really far away from home and being called a ghost/evil spirit all the time and even his friends makes fun of him. In season 1, really early on XYZ even gave him a nickname Ban Jiu, luckily he doesnt know what it really means but im guessing the audience does.

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    Senior Member happyswallow's Avatar
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    I also heard that Qianlong was xenophobic, so I was kind of surprised when I learned that he did have westerners in his court. O.o anyone know why?

    is the cast being attacked online? netizens can be so cruel...i feel really bad for them because they are trying hard and working to meet all the expectations. =/

    Quote Originally Posted by sakhee View Post
    Yeah and he's also really far away from home and being called a ghost/evil spirit all the time and even his friends makes fun of him. In season 1, really early on XYZ even gave him a nickname Ban Jiu, luckily he doesnt know what it really means but im guessing the audience does.
    I've been watching this drama with my really limited Mandarin. I think I'm like Benji here...don't really quite understand what Ban Jiu means. Can you explain? Thanks! ^^

    BTW, did anyone see the episodes aired yesterday? Benji is RIPPED. O.O He looks really, really good without that stupid Disney hair with the curls and stuff. Also, I read on Cfensi forum that he is actually half African-American.

  4. #364
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    Quote Originally Posted by happyswallow View Post
    I also heard that Qianlong was xenophobic, so I was kind of surprised when I learned that he did have westerners in his court. O.o anyone know why?
    It wasn't just Qianlong who was xenophobic. China became very xenophobic ever since Yongle reign during the Ming Dynasty.

    The westerners Qianlong had at court were mostly Jesuits acting as court painters and imperial architects designing the new summer palace (Yuan Ming Yuan). Since his great-grandfather's reign (Shunzi), Jesuits were present at court. I think the ShunZi Emperor was actually quite fond of a Jesuit who told him about Christianity, etc. While the ever scholastic Kangxi was fascinated by astronomy, arts, and western science from Europe's Enlightenment period that the Jesuits introduced to him . What I found very odd about Benji's character is the fact that he's a normal British nobleman while most westerners at Qing court in history were very strict celibate Jesuit MONKS!
    Last edited by JoleCole; 08-07-11 at 04:42 PM.
    Need to stop being lazy...

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    You all have confirmed what I suspected about Benji... that he was picked because of his command of the language not for his thespian ability. Yeah, he's sweet, endearing etc etc but honestly, he's pretty bland. Not helped by the fact that the character is impossibly good.

    Personally, I have no problems if the author wants to write an anachronistic tale set in the Qing dynasty but she might want to call it something else so as not to confuse her audience. Also, they might want to emphasize his "foreigness" a bit more rather than just add him in because he is a good-looking foreign-looking boy that speaks Chinese. What's the point of having a real foreigner, when you don't use him properly and actually write him into the story?
    He could've just been another courtier with a pigtail... vying with Yong Qi for Xiao Yanzi's affections.
    Last edited by Easter Lily; 08-07-11 at 07:57 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by happyswallow View Post
    Also, I read on Cfensi forum that he is actually half African-American.
    This is quite unbelievable. He's so fair and he does not have African-American feature. Maybe he's 1/4 African American. Usually, 1/2 African-American will have darker skin.
    什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟

    和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩

  7. #367
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    Quote Originally Posted by Easter Lily View Post
    You all have confirmed what I suspected about Benji... that he was picked because of his command of the language not for his thespian ability.
    I had the good heart (believe me, my heart is never this good) to pass off Benjamin's existence as Qiong Yao taking artistic license/liberty with history and suspending my belief, BUT her blog entry that revealed she wrote in Benjamin character all because she got bowled over by a Mandarin-speaking gweilo totally ruined it! Such a stupid reason! (and believe me, I have immense respect for the old woman, BUT!!! )

    Anyway, I'm with everyone here mourning over our beloved YQ & XYZ and what was the best onscreen romance/chemistry ever on TV. It's not just because of Benjamin, but why did she have to invent that Ge Ge character out of no where to get engaged to YQ? What is the POINT of creating this love polygon? To me, YQ gunning for XYZ while knowing all along that he's engaged makes him somewhat out-of-character. and when he gets together with XYZ and omits mentioning his engagement makes him a bigger a$$-hole and XYZ, the type of girl she is, would dump him in a second. YQ & XYZ really have enough obstacles their way without this pointless love polygon getting in the way. I don't need needless third-parties to prove YQ & XYZ's love is real and touching. Does Qiong Yao realize that YQ & XYZ by themselves already charmed millions of fans all over the world so much to the point that we still care and feel for them more than a decade later?
    My avatar is a tribute to the world's hottest stallions - Peter Ho, Kevin Cheng, Nic Tse.

  8. #368
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sakuya View Post
    I contacted VNMelody, she said the DVD version will be on Viki while the Hunan version will be on DailyMotion and they'll still be updated. But I find that DailyMotion takes longer to stream unlike YouTube. So I cannot skim...
    VNMelody is my channel and I removed all the NHZGG episodes due to copyright issues I saw with other channels.
    You can still search up BTS & Previews for it on my playlist: playlist?list=PL1E99C5EB25EA498A
    and news, along with variety shows about them: playlist?list=PLAA73E6EDF9669449

    If you all are interested in the DVD version, I believe : v.qq.com is not restricted for outside viewers. =) Cheers!~

  9. #369
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    Quote Originally Posted by munianci View Post
    I had the good heart (believe me, my heart is never this good) to pass off Benjamin's existence as Qiong Yao taking artistic license/liberty with history and suspending my belief, BUT her blog entry that revealed she wrote in Benjamin character all because she got bowled over by a Mandarin-speaking gweilo totally ruined it! Such a stupid reason! (and believe me, I have immense respect for the old woman, BUT!!! )

    Anyway, I'm with everyone here mourning over our beloved YQ & XYZ and what was the best onscreen romance/chemistry ever on TV. It's not just because of Benjamin, but why did she have to invent that Ge Ge character out of no where to get engaged to YQ? What is the POINT of creating this love polygon? To me, YQ gunning for XYZ while knowing all along that he's engaged makes him somewhat out-of-character. and when he gets together with XYZ and omits mentioning his engagement makes him a bigger a$$-hole and XYZ, the type of girl she is, would dump him in a second. YQ & XYZ really have enough obstacles their way without this pointless love polygon getting in the way. I don't need needless third-parties to prove YQ & XYZ's love is real and touching. Does Qiong Yao realize that YQ & XYZ by themselves already charmed millions of fans all over the world so much to the point that we still care and feel for them more than a decade later?
    So, I guess the lesson here is simple is better.
    什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟

    和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩

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    For lack of reason, I have come to the conclusion that during her time off from writing over the past 10 years, QY has watched way too many Korean dramas. And not even the good Korean dramas to be inspired from, but the worst of the worst. >=/

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    Senior Member happyswallow's Avatar
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    i did a bit of snooping around in google trying to find out more about Benjamin the actor...not sure where I found this information but apparently he was the only actor who didn't have to go through an audition? i guess that reaffirms everything you guys are saying.

    YQ's love confession seemed a bit...scary. Not sure how to describe it...but Alec's YQ was frustrated when confessing but still soft and full of love, but Zhang Rui's YQ was very angst. To give an example, say if a guy in this time period confessed to a girl with the same mannerisms and words, I'd be scared he'll turn into an abusive boyfriend. From the preview for the next two episodes, it seems like XYZ will be jealous of Cai Lian (the girl who sold herself to bury her dad) and then she runs to Benji saying 'I'm really mad at YQ. This is your chance.' WTF? I actually hated this part back in the original series because it seemed like XYZ 'suddenly' liked YQ because she was jealous, while you can tell YQ really loved XYZ. Now, with the addition of Benji, it just makes me feel like XYZ has no freakin idea what love is. I was hoping for more...It also doesn't help that to me XYZ has more chemistry with Benji and she shows more emotions around him (i.e. crying when she thought she pushed him off the cliff, tearing up because she saw the kids picking on him).

    on a positive note, I like the sequence where they came up with the song Dang. Not necessary to the storyline, but it was nicely done, scenery was very pretty, and the cast had great chemistry together.

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    Quote Originally Posted by merrygocow View Post
    @LoveLee: It's a tactic most Mary Sue (or should I say Gary Stu in this case) writers like to use--ruining a character to make another shine in comparison. It's a sign of bad writing and QY is a terrible writer.
    Quote Originally Posted by munianci View Post
    I had the good heart (believe me, my heart is never this good) to pass off Benjamin's existence as Qiong Yao taking artistic license/liberty with history and suspending my belief, BUT her blog entry that revealed she wrote in Benjamin character all because she got bowled over by a Mandarin-speaking gweilo totally ruined it! Such a stupid reason! (and believe me, I have immense respect for the old woman, BUT!!! )

    Anyway, I'm with everyone here mourning over our beloved YQ & XYZ and what was the best onscreen romance/chemistry ever on TV. It's not just because of Benjamin, but why did she have to invent that Ge Ge character out of no where to get engaged to YQ? What is the POINT of creating this love polygon? To me, YQ gunning for XYZ while knowing all along that he's engaged makes him somewhat out-of-character. and when he gets together with XYZ and omits mentioning his engagement makes him a bigger a$$-hole and XYZ, the type of girl she is, would dump him in a second. YQ & XYZ really have enough obstacles their way without this pointless love polygon getting in the way. I don't need needless third-parties to prove YQ & XYZ's love is real and touching. Does Qiong Yao realize that YQ & XYZ by themselves already charmed millions of fans all over the world so much to the point that we still care and feel for them more than a decade later?
    Quote Originally Posted by Easter Lily View Post
    You all have confirmed what I suspected about Benji... that he was picked because of his command of the language not for his thespian ability. Yeah, he's sweet, endearing etc etc but honestly, he's pretty bland. Not helped by the fact that the character is impossibly good.

    Personally, I have no problems if the author wants to write an anachronistic tale set in the Qing dynasty but she might want to call it something else so as not to confuse her audience. Also, they might want to emphasize his "foreigness" a bit more rather than just add him in because he is a good-looking foreign-looking boy that speaks Chinese. What's the point of having a real foreigner, when you don't use him properly and actually write him into the story?
    He could've just been another courtier with a pigtail... vying with Yong Qi for Xiao Yanzi's affections.
    Quote Originally Posted by happyswallow View Post
    i did a bit of snooping around in google trying to find out more about Benjamin the actor...not sure where I found this information but apparently he was the only actor who didn't have to go through an audition? i guess that reaffirms everything you guys are saying.


    SO this is WHY she damaged all of the other characters that we so love? To help build Benjamin's character?

    Even with such a PERFECT character,....you would think he's the Dahli Lama. ....And Yet I still can't stand him! shooo! SHOO! I want my Xiao Yanzi/Yongqi love story back!!!

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    Maybe Xiao Yan Zi will end up with Benjamin and have lots of Eurasian kids.
    什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟

    和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩

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    I have a lot of respect for QY . I think she's very talented, loyal to her work, and very serious as a writer. I may not agree with the decisions she's made with this drama, but ....well...maybe other people will enjoy and see the good in this drama more than me. I wouldn't go as far as calling her a bad writer or even anything below average, because she did, after all, wrote one of the most beautiful and touching love story between lovers, father and daughter, friendship and sisterhood ...all in one, 10 years ago.

    Maybe this drama is just not my taste. .... I may just watch a few more episodes and then stop all together. I just saw the new preview of a half naked Yong Qi on top of.....

    I think i'll watch up to that scene and pray that it's one of those "imagination" scenes of Zi Wei or Xiao Yanzi imagining the ridiculous, and in reality , no temptation or pressure is able to come between Yong Qi and his love for Xiao Yanzi. *fingers crossed* please please please....give you all my halloween candy and xmas presents this year. plssssss....!
    Last edited by LoveLee; 08-07-11 at 11:14 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by kidd View Post
    Maybe Xiao Yan Zi will end up with Benjamin and have lots of Eurasian kids.
    if this happens, their kids will be really, really good looking.


    i like li sheng...i hope she gets paired up with zhang rui again in another drama. without the YQ/XYZ footsteps to fill and without the horrible script, i think it'll be much more enjoyable to watch.

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    Maybe we can visit this website.http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kw=%D0%C2%B...9%B8%F1%B8%F1#
    Chinese audiences talk about NHZGG there.

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    Quote Originally Posted by LoveLee View Post
    Maybe this drama is just not my taste. .... I may just watch a few more episodes and then stop all together. I just saw the new preview of a half naked Yong Qi on top of.....

    I think i'll watch up to that scene and pray that it's one of those "imagination" scenes of Zi Wei or Xiao Yanzi imagining the ridiculous, and in reality , no temptation or pressure is able to come between Yong Qi and his love for Xiao Yanzi. *fingers crossed* please please please....give you all my halloween candy and xmas presents this year. plssssss....!
    Gawd! That Xin Rong Ge Ge b*tch gets to marry YQ before XYZ Why WHY WHY!!! is Qiong Yao determined to ruin YQ & XYZ?!!! I DO NOT need YQ to prove that he loves XYZ by giving up Xin Rong b*tch! My poor YQ-XYZ already have to overcome a myriad of obstacles to more than prove their enduring love-that-shakes-heaven-and-earth, e.g. difference in social standing, upbringing, the Romeo-Juliet angst of XYZ's dad executed by the emperor for treason. No thanks to you Aunty Qiong Yao, for murdering the most wonderful onscreen romance and chemistry to ever happen in TV history and my poor Alec Su's honoured legacy.
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    Senior Member xiaolong's Avatar
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    I'm still behind on the episodes as I was distracted by the two Nics (Nicky Wu & Nic Tse) series. Has Benji faded into the background for good?

    But yeah, understand all your grievances here. YQ & XYZ love story had such an impact that people still talk and reminisce fondly about them years later while the rest of Qiong Yao's works have faded off. So what's going on in her mind to destroy poor YQ & XYZ?

    Sina reported there's been a deluge of outraged reviews about this series mainly because of YQ & XYZ's butchered romance. But looks to me that lots of people in China are still tuning in whether they like it or not. Isn't it continuing to be No. 1 week after week?

    http://ent.sina.com.cn/v/m/2011-08-04/12073377465.shtml
    Last edited by xiaolong; 08-08-11 at 12:47 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by xiaolong View Post
    I'm still behind on the episodes as I was distracted by the two Nics (Nicky Wu & Nic Tse) series. Has Benji faded into the background for good?

    But yeah, understand all your grievances here. YQ & XYZ love story had such an impact that people still talk and reminisce fondly about them years later while the rest of Qiong Yao's works have faded off. So what's going on in her mind to destroy poor YQ & XYZ?

    Sina reported there's been a deluge of outraged reviews about this series mainly because of YQ & XYZ's butchered romance. But looks to me that lots of people in China are still tuning in whether they like it or not. Isn't it continuing to be No. 1 week after week?

    http://ent.sina.com.cn/v/m/2011-08-04/12073377465.shtml
    nope Benji is still around. He was actually being emo-Benji for the last few episodes.

    i think we're all tuning in everyday to see how much further this story can get butchered.

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    What are the Chinese people's review of this drama? YAY? Neh?! I read some of the other forums, people are really enjoying this series and the love between Xiao Yanzi and Yongqi. IS there another remake? I don't know what they're watching, but the one I AM watching is driving me crazy.

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