You're the best, NuDaFu! I especially like what you did with the second line. Chinese is my native language (I grew up in China until I was 8) and though I don't use it often now/have a solid grasp on it, I've always felt that it expresses particular emotions and situations better than English can.
Originally Posted by
memory86
I think by now we can say LLW is just another idol drama. And a very good one. That's a good point about it. Most idol dramas I've seen are always silly, full of impossible situations and totally cheesy*cough*Frog Prince*cough*. Idol dramas are not meant to be taken too seriously. Its only job is to satisfy the audience's imagination and fantasy. And LLW does it just way too well. Who doesn't like seeing two hot guys - and not just any guys, a infamous, influential king and a legendary warrior in the history - fight over one beautiful girl? Beautiful scenes, dreamy landscape and luxurious, eye-catching costumes. And actually good and effective CGI. Bravo! However, I think the only problem with LLW is somehow it's taking itself too seriously trying to become a historical drama, which it is not (I realize none of us question about the historical inaccuracy of the drama. I googled the situation surrounding Yu Wen Ho's death and it's not at all like in the show).
I wonder if there's an official term for the genre of dramas like Lan Ling Wang. Idol drama definitely fits because of who the main three actors are (there are "idols" who can act and ones who really can't, so good thing these ones can), but it's also a huuuge genre that covers dramas like Frog Prince and Material Queen, which feel very different from Lan Ling Wang. It's funny, I actually love the historical element of this drama. More accurately, I like the "very loosely based on one or two facts pulled from history" element. Something about setting a drama in the ancient times and centering it around infamous figures whose fates we know from the history books but whose inner lives are shrouded in mystery is such a good hook for me. My problem with a lot of modern day idol dramas is that I can't get invested in the issues at stake (i.e. I don't care that Protagonist A's fashion shoot is delayed and she might get in trouble with her boss). With historical-idol dramas, the romance immediately becomes more epic because characters are choosing between love and power and duty, and entire nations' fates are intertwined with that of the protagonists'. Ups the ante in a jiffy.
I'm using the term "historical" loosely, though. There's really a spectrum in the dramaverse when it comes to period dramas. I can't stand shows on either end of the spectrum; the video-game based fantasy dramas with tons of CGI feels silly to me (Chinese Paladin being the only exception) and the well-produced, impressively detailed historical drama makes me fall asleep (total lack of pretty boy eye candy or swoony romances). Lan Ling Wang happens to hit the sweet spot for me. Bu Bu Jing Xin is further along on the historical spectrum, Wang De Nu Ren is closer to the fantasy end, but you could probably group Lan Ling Wang with Mei Ren Xin Ji. Both frothy idol dramas at heart, elevated only by the substantial emotion/pathos the actors supply and a few fully-realized characters who stick with you.
Originally Posted by
memory86
And please, I'm begging you, don't die because of heartbreak when you learn that the girl you love has got away with another man/committed suicide because her lover died.
Hahaha, does that happen in Daughter of the Nile? That Prince Ishmu character sounds like such a shoujo-manga trope. (Tangent, but shoujo mangas were definitely my guilty pleasure pastime during high school. It was only because I had read Hana Yori Dango and Itazura na Kiss that I started watching the Taiwanese drama versions of them, Meteor Garden and It Started with a Kiss. And that second drama got me hooked on Ariel! Man, she's grown a lot since then.) I have faith that Yu Wen Yong is going to rock it in the last 1/3 of this show. Instead of LLW and Xue Wu working together against the crown prince, it'll be Yu Wen Yong and Xue Wu plotting to get revenge/conquer Qi. I'll also be surprised if Yu Wen Yong doesn't use any tricks to win Xue Wu's heart.. we've all seen that he's not above manipulating her when he needs to.
You can sort of see the return of Yu Wen Yong's crazy eyes in the quick 3 minutes we have with him in episode 31:
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YWY learns that the king of Qi has died and the crown prince has succeeded the throne. He tells his second-in-command that it's time to end the peace treaty with Qi. We're going to battle again, yay!
Episode 31 will be fun for you if you're a George Hu fan. He get to show us indignant An De Wang, sad An De Wang and of course, prankster An De Wang. Start at the 30 minute mark to see him hit on Xiao Cui and then get Lan Ling Wang all flustered by implying that Lan Ling Wang was kind of a playboy before he met Xue Wu
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An De Wang, learning that the king has passed away and seeing the crown prince break down. His eyebrows are all, "I'm not buying it mister, you have something to do with this."
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Lan Ling Wang's no match for this guy when it comes to wisecracks. Xiao Cui's going to have to be careful or she'll become An De Wang's 1243th concubine..
Did anyone else feel bad for the crown prince when he realized he killed his father with his own hands for nothing? I know I'm going to regret wasting my feelings on this character down the road, but the actor did a nice job conveying the horror, shame, regret, and self-loathing the crown prince must have felt when he saw that the king named him as the successor and not Lan Ling Wang.
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