I have to temporarily (hopefully, it’s only temporary) halt my viewing of “The Princess Royal” to watch this vampire fantasy cdrama set during the Republican phase of China (1912 to 1949).
The Republic period follows the collapse of imperial rule but precedes the communism era. The set design appears decadent, Westernized, and very stylized. By stylized, I mean unnatural and fabricated. But I don’t mind since the surreal ambiance is appropriate for a vampire-themed show.
The show’s 24 episodes are out on Viki.
Here are the pros and cons of watching this series.
1. Con: It’s about vampires.
Even before the popularity of that “Twilight” series, we should be well-versed in the vampire tropes. A vampire must be brooding, solitary, cursed and gifted with supernatural strength. He sucks blood from the necks of nubile young ladies. He wears a cape. He’s a creature of the dark, and sunlight is his kryptonite. He dies in the end because he’s a monster.
Though this cdrama doesn’t stray far from these tropes, I like the little distinct features that set our vampire Mr. Shen apart. For example, he wears a single braided ponytail – or Manchu queue. It’s funny how he’s very sensitive about his hairdo. He doesn’t like it touched.
He also rocks his formal outfits which consist mainly of long coats over a robe with a Mandarin collar. He reminds me of Matrix. Just more flamboyant. Lol.
Also, Mr. Shen doesn’t slink in the shadows. As a media tycoon, he’s out and about, creating a buzz everywhere he goes. He doesn’t preach gloom and doom. He wants the young MiLan to explore the world because it’s full of beauty and hope.
2. Con: Expect a sad ending.
This show isn’t produced by Hollywood, so the ending won’t be packaged as a happily-ever-after for everybody. Or will it? I read somewhere that the screenwriter posted the epilogue on Weibo.
Mr. Shen and MiLan are up against the military, some unknown supernatural gods, and fate. So far, I’ve been skipping many of the fight scenes with the military.
3. Pro: the lead actors are gorgeous to look at.
Remember their names: Ouyang Nana and Gao WeiGuang (aka Vengo Gau). For sure, I’ll keep an eye on their future projects.
a. Ouyang Nana
She’s only 24 years old.
Here’s what I researched about her.
She’s Taiwanese but I heard that she sparked a backlash from her Taiwanese fans when she (allegedly) said that she supported that “One-China Policy.”
She’s a daughter of veteran Taiwanese actors. She’s what people call a “nepo baby.”
She graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, this year. (The school is second only to Juilliard.) Rumor has it that after 6 years of studies, she didn’t finish with a degree. Just a diploma.
She plays the cello, and she can sing. She has a singing career in China. In fact, she sang one of the OSTs in the show. The English song was released last year. And I’m guessing that the song was adapted and re-worded for the cdrama.
This is the English song, “Bedtime Story.”
The OST for the drama is called “Fly, Moonlight.”
When it comes to cuteness, her face can go head-to-head any day with my fave, Zhao Lusi (“Hidden Love”). Zhao Lusi is turning 26 this year.
Acting-wise, however, Zhao Lusi has an advantage over Ouyang Nana given her years of practice in acting. I’ll root for both of them.
b. Gao WeiGuang (aka Vengo Gau)
Hurray! I finally found an Asian replacement for Richard Armitage!
Remember that actor who played Mr. John Thornton in that BBC hit, “North and South” (2004)?
Well, Gao WeiGuang is just as swoonworthy as RA in this show.
He was in that hit “Eternal Love of Dreams” (2020) with Dilraba Dilmuhat but I didn’t get to see his awesomeness because that drama didn’t enter my radar. (Are you kidding? It had 50 episodes! Where will I have all that time?)
4. Con: the age difference in both real and reel lives
Nana is 24; Vengo is 41. That’s a 17-year difference in real life.
In the story, she’s an 18-year-old human, and he’s lived for at least a century. Viewers of “Goblin” (2016) would be reminded of the age discrepancy between EunTak and Mr. Kim Shin. But unlike EunTak who grew over time in that kdrama, Ouyang Nana’s character MiLan remains the same age from start to finish. This cdrama doesn’t even time travel. Hence, while EunTak considered the Goblin her peer in age towards the end of the show, MiLan always hero-worships Mr. Shen.
5. Pro: the age difference of the characters
Look here. In today’s world, there are legitimate and understandable reasons for looking at the big age gap with opprobrium. To give a short list, we worry about grooming, power imbalance, emotional immaturity, psychological manipulation, daddy issues, predatory issues, etc.
However, as long as viewers are cognizant of these unromantic and less-than-ideal aspects of a cross-generational relationship in REAL life, I don’t see why they can’t enjoy a bit of fantasy once in a while.
Personally, I like the age gap in this cdrama.
When I read a comment on Viki that went like, “Eww. Can you imagine them in bed together?” I thought that it showed a preconceived mindset. To me, the poster made a mistake of a) reducing deep emotions to sex and b) confusing a charged atmosphere to sexual tension. Tsk tsk tsk. Not everything has to be about sex. Resist that Hollywood gutter mindset!
I like the age gap because it allows me to ELEVATE the attraction between the young Mulan and the vampire Mr. Shen to something other than a prelude to intercourse. To me, they’re attracted to each other because of a connection – a spiritual and emotional attachment – not because of a physical desire to mate.
For one thing, Mulan is blind so she can’t see how sexy he is. She regards him as a person she needs to save.
For another, given that he needs blood for survival, yet abstains from it out of moral principles, I trust that he can similarly curb his sexual appetite. He only hires male workers at his mansion. And he surrounds himself with male confidantes. If he had been lusting for women all along, he wouldn’t live like a monk.
But most of all, I like the age gap in the show because it realistically shows the appeal of an older man to a young girl and vice versa.
Look here. Not all young girls who date older men are in search of a sugar daddy. Some may actually value the company of a man who knows who he is, and knows what he wants. In this cdrama, MiLan is understandably drawn to Mr. Shen because she needs a mentor after she escapes her cloistered world, and a role model to pattern her values after. She knows that Mr. Shen is one of the good guys.
Spoiler alert: In Episode 1, she surprises Mr. Shen when she calls him by name as he hadn’t introduced himself. She recognizes him by voice because she was listening in to his conversation with the party guests while she was locked in the attic. Likewise, she recognizes the bad guy, Li YingLiang, because of his voice. She had been listening to him when he was talking to himself in his car and rehearsing his formal greetings to Mr. Shen. She’s aware that Li YingLiang intends to kill Mr. Shen so she puts up a wall between them. She insists on addressing Li YingLiang with the honorific “uncle” despite his request to drop formalities as they are close in age. This brief scene tells us that, right off the bat, she feels an affinity with Mr. Shen and aligns herself with him, and not Li YingLiang.
End of spoiler.
As for Mr. Shen, it’s easy to see what attracts him to MiLan. One poster in Viki joked that men love an obedient girl like MiLan. To me, that comment smacks of sexism. Who in the world doesn’t want obedience? I want an obedient man, too, especially when I know my reasons are fair and right, and his are wrong.
Mr. Shen falls in love with her because she brings freshness, novelty and energy to his century-old life. If he’s her moral compass, then she’s his new spectacles with which he can see the world anew.
Spoiler alert: In Episode 3, Mr. Shen searches for a wood block for the Chinese character for the word, “nuo” or “promise.” As the name indicates, a wood block is a block of wood with a letter, character, or drawing etched on one surface. Ink is rubbed on the etched surface then the wood block stamp it on paper or fabric. This is how people used to print a long time ago. Anyway…to Mr. Shen, “a promise is like a thousand pieces of gold, solid as mountains.”
He gives this wood block to MiLan, saying that they were fated to meet; she helped him during his most desperate time, and he promises to return the favor. He then asks her if she trusts him, and she replies yes.
To me, this is one concrete example of how he re-creates his new world with her now in it. He repurposes an old wood block and uses it like a promise ring, a wedding ring. The wood block becomes a symbol of their bonds.
This wood block comes in handy when she wants him to promise her to stay by her side.
Take note. There’s nothing remotely erotic, carnal, or sexual about this moment.
End of spoiler.
That’s whyI don’t mind their age gap.
6. Con: Only one kiss
I believe the couple only share one kiss, and it isn’t even a romantic kiss. It’s more like a “Hail Mary” play that MiLan performs to rescue for rescue Mr. Shen from trouble. She prays that her unconventional and desperate move gets him out of jail. And it does.
Note, however, that I haven’t completed watching the show.
7. Pros: Many tender moments that don’t involve a kiss
Like, this scene when she runs to him like a homing pigeon. She’s blind but she knows where he is and he comes to meet her halfway.
Or this scene when she rushes to get him home.
I like how she exuberantly wraps her arms around him. He’s lived for so long without a warm human touch. His hands are always in gloves.
Also, if you want moving scenes between the couple, this drama offers plenty. Unlike in that kdrama “Serendipity’s Embrace” where the interactions between the two leads are contrived (e.g., the trip to the amusement park, the accidental close encounter inside the car, the tumble in the sand), the encounters in this cdrama build up on each other.
For example…
Spoiler alert!
a. In Episode 5, he coaches her to pretend that he scolded her and cry. He’s very impressed that she can cry on the spot. Later, however, he’s duped by her great acting. She goes to the jail to save him, and she sobs in front of the police and Mr. Shen that she was “violated.” Everybody is aghast, and Mr. Shen rattles his cage in fury. Like everybody, he falls for her crocodile tears.
b. In Episode 1, he saves her from a beating from her mother. But later, when it’s her turn to save him from getting beat-up by a woman on the street, he scolds her for losing her temper and hitting another woman. She argues that she doesn’t want to see him injured.
MiLan: I thought she injured you.
Shen: I’m not afraid of getting injured.
MiLan: But you’ll still the pain.
Shen: So what? Do you think you’re very capable now? Is that you’re fearless?
MiLan: That’s not it.
Shen: How dare you talk back to me?
MiLan: By hitting you, she’s also hitting me. (pause) You are me.
Shen: (speechless)
MiLan: I’ve been abused for many years. I don’t want to get beaten up again.
He feels sorry for her so he treats her to a new hat she lost in the scuffle with the woman.
c. Then, there are the flowers. We see flowers in a few episodes.
When they first meet, she wraps him up in her coat with the embroidered flowers. She tells him to wait for her while she looks for help. In Episode 2, he gives her a pot of red camellia. He promises that when the flowers bloom, he’ll come to visit her again. When she’s confined in the hospital, he waits for her to recuperate by reading to her at her bedside and cheering her up with a bouquet of flowers. Later, when he waits for her to wake up from the dead, he tends to a trellis of roses.
The flowers are important in this drama. They signify waiting and trusting that the other person will reappear.
8. Con: the tiresome one-sided love between the 2nd male and female leads
Yes, they both serve to push the story forward but often I wish the director trimmed the scenes with the 2nd female lead. Not only is she unattractive to look at, but I don’t get her obsession with the bad guy Li YingLiang. Same with the Doctor Situ. How often does he have to debase himself to get her attention?
I’ve been skipping their scenes.
9. Pro: All 24 episodes are out already.
It shouldn’t be a hassle to go watch only the episodes you want. The plot is fairly easy to digest. What you see is what you get. No hidden/deeper message.
That’s it. Gotta run. It’s up to you to decide whether to watch this or not.
Thanks for investigating this, @packmule3. I remember the actor from the Love of Dream series as the white haired deity, but I wouldn’t have recognised him from the poster for the drama. I’ll have a look.
@Fern,
The actor is a welcome change from the pretty young boys my eyes have been feasting on these past months. I want somebody who looks seasoned. 🙂
I forgot to mention two things — these are spoilers but oh well, I’m writing them down because if I don’t, I’ll forget again…. My blog functions as my aide-memoire, too.
a) One thing that bugged me about this show:
Who helped the blind girl MiLan dressed up whenever she stayed in Vampire’s mansion, especially after the Vampire gave her an ice bath? 😂😂
b) One thing that made me laugh:
He asked her to pretend to have a big fight with him to detract their spies, and she began listing the things he did wrong, like he was so stingy that he fed her bread during her stay at his mansion, and that he didn’t provide her with a heater so she froze at night. He was flabbergasted; he couldn’t think of a comeback.
Her tirade so scared him that he reminded himself afterwards never to get in a real argument with her because he wouldn’t be able to get a word in.
The funny thing here is that he wasn’t stingy at all. When she returned to her own home, he gave her money to run her household and buy her provisions. This tells me that she was pretty good at ad-libbing, too.
@pkm3: thank you for this! I’m just two more episodes from finishing The Princess Royal, and considering what next, so this maybe on the watchlist. I’ve not had the chance to watch a c-drama vampire series before so I am keen!
I recently watched Vengo Gao in The Legend of Heroes (an adaption of the Legend of the Condor Heroes) where he played the villain Ouyang Feng. I couldn’t recognise him from his Eternal Love days (in a good way). He played quite a complicated character, abit tortured abit pitiful, basically unboring.
@swiss_postscripts,
I believe vampires are a European construct (Slavic, to be precise) and not Chinese. The Chinese monster that would most resemble a vampire would be the hopping zombie which sucks the life/soul/spirit of a human being.
That’s why I was intrigued to find out how this story was going to pan out, and what would eventually cause Mr Shen’s death. If this was a Western show, then the customary stake through the heart would do him in. But as this was a Cdrama, I’m guessing that it would have something to do with his life/soul/spirit being depleted or sucked out of him.
@packmule3, speaking of seasoned, how did you like Um Tae Goo from ‘My Sweet Mobster?’ I keep getting info about him in my YouTube feed. He is almost pathologically shy in RL and I read that he is 41 and very religious. He doesn’t look 41 to me.
I have just started episode 2. How odd to see Win Win (Dr. Situ) as an actor and quite charming (at this point)! Like Yang Yang, he began as a classically trained dancer and then was recruited by SM to be in the Korean boy group NCT and was in sub-groups there for a long time. I’m glad to see him succeeding in acting.
Regarding flowers, because you mentioned them, I started to notice them as well.
Mi Lan’s clothing often has a flower pattern, even the white dress she wore in the first scenes has flowers on the yoke, but they are pale and not very visible. What seem to be reddish flowers on the skirt could also be blood stains; they match the cuts and bruises on her face. I can’t tell on my screen. With her, we overhear that Shen waters his flowers with blood. The backdrop for the entertainment at the 1 month ceremony has flowers.
In episode 2 at 17.42 the Haidong Army Superintendent’s office has a large metal plaque with a 5 petalled flower like a cherry blossom/sakura. Could it be a clue for the future as in, will he be a collaborator? The windows as well have a slight floral design.
The 2nd FL who invites (forces) Li Lingyiang to go to the ball wears a sexy tight black dress embroidered with red roses. It is such a contrast with Mi Lan’s child-like white dress. I was almost enjoying seeing him suffer at her hands – it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, right?
When they met, I think it was above all Shen seeking help from Mi Lan that begins their journey together. He says he needs her; would she put off dying for a while? Such a contrast to her mother who shouted that Mi Lan is a useless burden whom she would kill. Until he hears her name, he doesn’t realise that Mi Lan is the disabled daughter he saved from a beating or worse at the party. Mi Lan can help him when he is far from his supporters and in return he can help her whose only supporters are constrained (the nanny and house staff).
sadly, snowfall seems exclusive to viki (for which I don’t have a subscription). Shall queue this when it appears hopefully on Netflix or Viu!
@swiss_postscripts,
It’s currently on YouTube, too. TenCents Video released it. You better hurry, though. I notice that they remove the entire series (or take down a few episodes) after a while. Worse case scenario: you watch it on dramacool and other sites.
@Fern, @pkml3
I decided to pick this up. I always did like Goblin and there’s a tiny bit of Goblin vibe in the fact that the long-living ‘monster’ and the ill-treated young girl end up needing each other’s help.
I appreciate that thought has been put into the set design, the lighting, the mise en scene, the camerawork, … It’s a beautiful watch.
I was not until the spoilt brat, Jin Jing Xue turned up in her bright and happy colours that I realised the colours around Shen Zhi Heng (ZH) and even Mi Lan were so ‘heavy’. Between them there is a stark difference and a great deal of contrast. Something sinister with something innocent. With the tiresome Jin Xue there is lightness and normalcy. I rather like her, although she’s such a pest. I hope she does not get hurt in the process of pursuing the wicked Li.
Jin Xue is a pest and I feel for Li YingLiang. He doesn’t want to be patronized and she does come across as stalkerish.
Li YingLiang is an interesting character. There’s a reason why he’s so servile in the opening scene, e.g., rushing to light Mr Shin’s cigar, watching his every move, practicing the right phrasing when he introduces himself to him. You’ll find out later.
The snow is symbolic, too, but I haven’t thought it through yet.
I heard the original title of this cdrama was “The Shadow.”
thanks @packmule3 for the heads up!
Good morning, All. I’m about to begin episode 8.
@Growing Beautifully, I didn’t like Jin Xue at first; her character seemed selfish, cruel and scheming, but now I think she’s a very loyal friend to Li YingLiang. -A bit of a Jessica Rabbit. Her character lets us understand his humanity which he, in his desire for advancement, is forgetting. The jail scene, in which he uses a dying death row prisoner as bait, shows his descent compared to the real ‘monster’. I think Li avoids her in part because he doesn’t feel her equal yet and in part because Jin Xue’s love for him will soften him. I agree that he doesn’t want to be patronised. He wants to be self-made.
@packmule3, the snow is both beautiful and oppressive, isn’t it? Never a sunny day in between, no real accumulation, just steady light snow and it seems to have gone on for a while. I noticed that Mi Lan’s mother took better care of her garden hedges than of her daughter in one episode, covering them and worrying about their roots. I sort of laughed when Mi Lan ate some of the snow, but I think she was experimenting to see if there was an effect, like when she rinsed her face in the blood-tinged water.
@packmule3, the bad guys are all in black; for a while Mi Lan dressed only in white, child-like dresses – only her coats had colour; Dr Situ dresses in light colours; Shen dresses in black, white or dark red, the crow is black and white.
What do you all think of Dr. Situ’s character?
@Fern,
I’ve watched a bit further on than you and so must word my reply carefully in order not to give out spoilers.
I normally find these bratty types who refuse to take no for an answer, terribly annoying. I still find Jin Jing Xue her annoying (and pathetic) when she’s so into someone who is obviously trying to stay away from her. He did give his reasons, and they are sound as far as they go. As for Jing Xue, she expects that Li has nowhere else to go but to her. She still behaves like she ‘owns’ him. She did say he should not marry anyone but stay with her.
However, she does have sympathy and is not entirely selfish.
I find Li’s character also pathetic. He’s imprisoned himself at home, wears a bullet proof vest to bed, knows that he’s done heinous things, but thinks he’s trapped in that job/position. If he won’t stop working for the corrupt military or return to the Jin family, he surely has other options.
As you say, he does not see that he’s the monster now. It’s ludicrous that Shen has to point it out to him, and he still does not see how he has degraded himself. Yes, with Jing Xue, we get brief flashes of humanity, so we have some hope in him.
Li will never feel equal to the Jins, and the Jins will also not let him forget it. However, he does have regard for the poor and he still respects at least Jing Xue.
I was wondering if with the snow fall, there isn’t a lot of frost on the ground. Everyone was walking without fear of slipping. The frequent snow fall is both pretty and oppressive and a great cover for many things that remain hidden. The smooth blankets of snow have the rough and the rocky underneath. The way things keep happening to Shen, might also be like the unrelenting snow. It seems that there’s just one thing after another befalling him starting from one article in the news.
The time that Mi Lan ate the snow, it was to make herself sick again because she did not want to go home. With the water mixed with Shen’s blood, I was under the impression that she just wanted to wash up and didn’t realise what it was to be able to suddenly see. She did not link the blood to her sight at that time.
Dr Situ is a strange character too. He is not affected by many things that should alarm or frighten most people. He’s too calm, always in good spirits, and a spendthrift. He seems to be quite sincere about courting Jing Xue, but she still has the hots only for Li.
At the moment, I’m more captivated by the look of the scenes and am curious about the unfolding of the plot. The characters, while ingeniously conceived and well-acted, do not seem to have as much a hold on me as in other shows. Perhaps there were many scenes pushing the plot and less with characters interacting, or their back-stories, which do unfold, might have been better edited in earlier.
After a while some of this seemed a little familiar, perhaps a bit like Tale of the Nine-tailed.
You analyzed their characters well, @GB. Thank you!
I think all of them have an obsession and their obsession is making them act weird.
Jing Xue, the 2nd female lead, is obsessed about her oppa, Li YingLiang.
Li YingLiang is obsessed about Mr. Shen. They do have a backstory that Mr. Shen doesn’t recall a single bit, but Li has embedded into his psyche. They wouldn’t have crossed path though if Li’s boss, the Superintendent Chi, hadn’t been accused of corruption by Mr. Shen’s newspaper. Chi ordered Li to “take care” of Mr. Shen — or dispose off as he saw fit.
I think because of their past history, Li originally intended to spare Mr. Shen and just deliver a warning. But when Mr. Shen snubbed him at the party, Li decided to go ahead with the assassination.
Li is Superintendent Chi’s thug. He rose through the ranks because he was willing to do all of Superintendent’s dirty work (except kill poor people, as Mr. Shen liked to point out).
Mr. Shen is obsessed about finding his younger brother (half-brother?). He wants to know what happened on that fateful night he was transformed into a vampire.
Dr. Situ is primarily obsessed about money and then, Jing Xue.
What’s MiLan’s obsession?
*****
By the way, the actor who played the white-haired fortune teller, Mr. Mu or Mr. Mo, also directed this drama.
Moving @Fern’s comment from WAWW thread here. — pm3
**********
@agdr03, I just started Snow Fall and got drawn right in. There’s something about certain Chinese dramas that is atmospheric and subtle. As much as I love K-dramas, I don’t find it there as much these days. (Maybe it’s me.)
Moving my comment from WAWW thread here. — pm3
*******
Ditto, @Fern. Unlike with that “Serendipity’s Embrace”, I was totally riveted from the moment Mr Shin entered the scene.
Just remember now. MiLan can hear conversations from meters away. She heard Mr Shin so she knew it was him by his voice in the temple.
Her other senses are heightened because she’s blind. I’m guessing that when she waved her walking cane around in that busy intersection, she was focusing — or fine-tuning — her sense of hearing to locate a quiet section of the town. She planned to die of hypothermia. Pretty dramatic of her.
Moving @Fern’s reply here. — pm3
*******
Spoilers below for episodes 1 and 2.
Yes, Mi Lan can eavesdrop so easily and the way she sniffs people like a dog or cat so she can recognise them is almost funny, but useful.
I actually laughed when Dr Situ assured her that he didn’t need to rush to Shen’s side because he wouldn’t die. Then when he did, he just dragged him along by the (broken) legs to his car and stuffed him inside. It was a foreshadowing of the scene later when a detainee jumped to his death and the bad guys dragged his body off the same way.
I hope we see how the Dr. and Mr Shen met.
I liked the scene when Mr Shen greets Mi Lan at her window with a thank you present that she must promise to care for as he will return when it blooms (will keep her alive until then). His description of the colour red was apt.
@pkml3, thanks and you’re welcome!
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
I did check the cast list under MDL and noticed that the Director is also a bit part actor whom I’ve watched before. I liked his character, Mo. He’s lost his stone but is not het up about it (as far as I know). I’m at Ep 16 now. I know he will appear in Ep 24, so we’ll see then.
He’s someone who should be obsessed about getting his Profound Stone back but he’s so chill. He gives Shen the crow and help when it’s needed. I suppose it helps that the Chronicles say he just has to overcome ordeals and thus he does not go out seeking anything but will let things come as they will. Ultimately, he should gain the strongest power of all.
I agree about Jing Xue’s and Li’s obsessions. I saw the backstory, but still if he just came out and told Shen who he was, Shen might then have remembered the boy he saved and understand why Li was so hellbent on getting back at him. I never saw a bad guy make so many mistakes in his decisions as Li has done. He has chosen a life without peace.
We know that Mu Li Hua is obsessed with surviving past 30, so she wants the Blood Amber Stone, to get all the stones together. The Fantasy Stone ring that she wears is supposed to give her power to control minds, but I didn’t notice her able to do anything without her shadow warriors.
Now that Shen has found his brother and has a good idea about what happened 100 years ago, his new obsession might be to just keep Mi Lan company for as long as he can. He has to stick with her because he gave her the Blood Amber Stone. If they are parted, he’d slowly die.
I feel Mi Lan’s obsession aligns with Shen’s. She just wants to be with him forever, no longer unwanted or ill-treated. She did say that she just wanted a peaceful life with warmth and enough to eat.
Now she has to learn to handle her new powers. I was waiting to see if she would eat normal food. She’ll have strength and speed, so perhaps a bit of self-defense training would be good for her to have as well. Being able to see means that she can take better care of herself, and be of greater help to Shen as well.
@Fern,
Your comment about his description of the color red reminded me of other things…
Here are the memorable scenes in Episode 2 for me.
1. Mr. Shen is informed that Mi Lan visited Dr. Situ at the hospital in person, rather than just calling him up on the phone as Mr. Shen ordered her to. He’s moved by her action because she went through considerable trouble to keep her PROMISE to him. This is when the theme of promises crops up. He’ll give the “promise” wood block as a token.
Oh, he also calls her a “person of integrity.” That’s important to him. He surrounds himself with people he can trust, can expect to be loyal.
2. After that, he pays Mi Lan a visit. (Lol. I’m reminded of “Twilight” when Edward Cullen watched Bella sleeping.) He wakes her up by banging open the windows. During their conversation, she tells him that half of his life is hers, so he must take care of his injuries. He agrees and repeats that half of his belongs to her. Remember that, she says. And he answers that he will.
This repetition of words sounds like a vow.
The concept of owning-half-of-his-life is introduced here. Later, he’ll save her life so half of her life is his, too. Two halves make a whole.
3. He offers her the pot of red camellia.
SZ: It’s a flower that blooms even in winter.
ML: Is it a gift for me?
SZ: Mi Lan. Take good care of it, okay?
ML: Me? I can’t even—
SZ: When the flowers bloom, I’ll come visit you.
ML: Okay, I’ll wait for you.
This is their principal promise. He promises to come when the flowers bloom, and she promises to wait.
The camellia symbolizes a lot of things. It signifies a promise to wait. It represents hope even when things are looking bleak like winter. It means courage during adversity; she has to continue living well (or tolerably well) even when he isn’t around.
4. She asks him what red looks like.
SZ: Red is the passionate fire, warm light, impassioned blood, desire, hope, and the color of growth.
ML: No one has ever described a color to me like this. I seem to be able to feel it.
Note: in the beginning of the story, she wears girly, lacy, ruffle-y, frilly Western clothes in white, baby blue, pastels. Later on, when they’re living together in his mansion, she wears minimalist Chinese traditional outfits, in black and red. She favors red because red is passion, fire, “desire, hope, and a color of growth.”
Then, he reminds her one last time.
SZ: Remember. I owe you half my life. I’ll pay off my debt. Make sure to live well.
ML: I’ll remember.
This is a foreshadowing. Even when he leaves, she still should strive to live well and not worry about his absence. He’ll come back to her when the camellias bloom.
Give me a dialogue like this one, instead of a montage of carousel rides, roller coaster rides, and ice cream at an amusement park (still get over those filler scenes in “Serendipity’s Embrace”)
@packmule3, I love their dialogues; they are so well written. I feel like this drama doesn’t insult our intelligence, nor is it unintelligible. There’s a progression and a shape that doesn’t need to be spelt out. It’s so refreshing.
I haveWatched the first two episodes And i’m drawn into the atmosphere and the story. I will come back to read the comments when I am a little further along.
Episode 9 spoiler:
I’m amused in episode 9, Shen ruefully thinks he didn’t expect Mi Lan to be so good at arguing, even if it was a ruse. He was taken aback by some things she said, which probably were true. “Even though you’re rich, you only feed me buns…At night it’s as cold as an ice cellar. You’re so stingy. You didn’t even provide me with a heater.” After seeing him in the ice bath, I can imagine that’s the temperature he likes, but he may not have considered her.😒 There aren’t many humorous moments in this drama.
Yes, @Fern, I like how he made a mental note never to cross her or get on her wrong side because she has a fiery temper. 😂 A petite young girl out-shouted and intimidated a towering vampire. So he could be hen-pecked after all.
@swiss_postscripts,
FYI. If the subs on YouTube become garbled and unintelligible, they may be computer generated. Just ask one of us here to give you the Viki sub for clarity.
Hi @MM, @Fern@pkml3, @Swiss_postscripts
I’m glad you decided to try this Show @MM
I laughed the most at that scene where Shen had to go frighten the horrid mother of Mi Lan. He was so embarrassed, I had 2nd-hand embarrassment for him as well.
Other than that, and the few asides we get, there is little humour. Things like the cat fight changed the tension from a heavy brooding type to something more entertaining, but there was still tension. The overall tone is darkish and serious with splashes of colour, with characters like Situ and Jing Xue.
I find the choice of wardrobe quite riveting. They seem to wear a great mix of styles, lengths, fabrics, and while scenes constantly are white and cold with snow, they hardly seem to bundle up like in contemporary dramas!
@Growing Beautifully, I was going to say the same thing about the wardrobe and styling choices. This script must have been a dream for the wardrobe department. I know it’s fiction, but it seems to have been set in pre- or immediately post-WW2 era, judging by the cars and styles. I think that China, like Korea, was a mix of Western styles and traditional. The elite seemed to favour Western styles, if the parties and balls can be believed here.
Shen, being so old, had a very conservative style compared to the mobsters. Although he doesn’t shave the front of his head in true Qing style, this is what Wikipedia says about the braided style in use when he was young: “After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, the Chinese no longer had to wear the Manchu queue. While some, such as Zhang Xun, still did so as a tradition, most of them abandoned it after the last Emperor of China, Puyi, cut his queue in 1922.”
I have been wondering about the time setting of this drama and how it influences the story and the viewers in China. How important is that in the context of history – or is it meant to mirror China now as well? It is a similar time setting to the Japanese fantasy film, My Happy Marriage and the ML there had a long hairstyle as well and favoured traditional home and styles. I’m at episode 12.
@Fern, yes, the 1912-1949 period of the ‘republic’ which spanned the post First World War and included the Second World War.
I loved the flounces and laces as well as the slimmer gowns with those high splits. Most difficult to sit in and remain elegantly covered!
The Chinese silks were lovely too and so many fur-lined pieces. I was surprised that I seldom saw the cloudy breaths of actors speaking. Perhaps it was not that cold.
I believe that the ‘winner’ in the wars determined the popularity of the fashion, hence there was a lot of Western influence from after the First World War.
I felt that this drama could have been set in any time where the telephone was commonly to be had (for the sake of the plot) but I’m not sure if it reflects any event in the history of China at that time. It was probably more convenient to use this era where there were many soldiers at the ready, motorised vehicles and wide-scale printing of newspapers to help the plot along. The people had to be informed of corruption and fake news also starts to appear.
I feel that it quietly makes a comment about our time without pointing fingers. We also have so much evil that is being done and covered up by fake news. We have groups that point fingers at others claiming that they do inhumane things when these very groups themselves are perpetrators of the same. Addressing the questions of what makes for true human decency and what makes a monster, continues to be relevant at all times.
I’ve completed Ep 24.
NO SPOILER REVIEW
Unlike other dramas, this one could have done with another half an hour or another episode to end off less abruptly. Too much had to be squeezed into the last 30 minutes or so. I had to rewind and slow down the speed to try and catch what was happening. The editing became choppy, and continuity was no longer clear. I extrapolated what happened because it was edited. There was at least 1 instance of the need to use coincidence to move the plot a different direction.
I found it an interesting watch and very beautiful. The main cast was very good indeed and the music, lighting, sets served to support the story well. The only thing was that what would have made it a most compelling watch which gripped my heart was missing. There were instances of humour but too few and they could not alleviate the imbalance between the dark and serious scenes which were too many. Between Goblin and this show, Goblin did a better job of giving us camaraderie, warmth and humour, and it gave us OSTs that we wanted to listen to for a long time.
The events in this show were supposed to have spanned a year. However, there was snow fall throughout the series which is confusing. I might make some wild guess as to why, now at the end of the series.
I’d rate Snow Fall at B or B-.
Thank you for your observations, @Growing Beautifully. My only knowledge of Chinese history comes from what I have seen in dramas and internet research, which may be biased or incomplete. I know that each episode starts with a disclaimer that it is entirely fictional, but even so some bits must reflect on the era it seems to be set in as well as current times.
I will keep watching. How disappointing that the ending was rushed!
I finished episode 12 last night of Snowfall. This was the first time in a long time I have watched too late at night in a long time. Other than Lost you forever.
On the theme of who is really monsterish,President? Li is so monomaniacally obsessed in his pursuit of Mr Shen that he does not seem to be aware of the deaths and casualities he is leaving in his wake.
I understood Mr Shen’s tears when he is first captured in the jail pit to be for all the men he killed trying to escape. It seemed it was a set up for him to escape so they could see his monsterish side.
These scenes were good though difficult to watch. Mr Shen maintains his dignity despite the humiliating treatment he receives- he politely insists on being given his clothes(dignity) and we see other soldiers seeming to be aware of Li’s and Mu’s mistreatment of him. I really wonder (am scared) what the new medical assessment will involve.
Yes the sets and costumes are wonderful to watch. The street scenes remind me of Mr Sunshine and Chicage Typewriter, set in similar times, although in the US and in Korea. Neither of them had good endings.
I think the drama protests too much with the “purely fictional” statement. I too would like to understand the historical references better.
While this does not give us the ‘on-the-ground’ economic-cultural history, it does give us the broad picture of what was happening in terms of the power struggles of the Republican era.
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/euro-hist/china-early-1900s/v/overview-of-chinese-history-1911-1949#:~:text=China's%20history%20between%201911%20and,and%20the%20Sino%2DJapanese%20War.
Thank you, @Growing Beautifully.
It explains the regional army and divisions between areas, which fits in with some of the happenings in the drama, as well as the ongoing civil war from the 1930s through 1949.
I have yet to read your link above GB. I just googled eugenics in republican era china and got some hits. I wonder if this may be a theme here.
Hi @MM, that’s an interesting take you have there. I just figured that any country that knows of extra strong and fast ‘monsters’ will want to dissect them to find out how to make their own super warriors. That’s the same-old, same-old human trait. Competition, one-upmanship and the desire to win/have power at any cost. It makes many lose their humanity.
I don’t find eugenics itself a theme, however it gives the reason/excuse for how the corrupt Chi brings in the desperate, ruthless Mu Li Hua and keeps giving her what she asks for even when she’s being unreasonable.
I did not phrase that well. I was rushing. Eugenics ideas may be the context for li’s rabid Pursuit of the hero, Along with his more personal reason. NoT so much a theme
Maybe more an underlying theme.If one looks at different comments that are made through the show.
I HAVE 2 episodes left. The characters have not drawn me in enough to really care about them, other than the 2 leads. Also the plot regarding the 3 families and the stones does not seem developed enough or clear. I have been meaning to go back and watch the beginning of episode one but never have.
I am prepared for a less than stellar finish.
I skipped the story about the stones and didn’t realize that they were relevant until Ep 15? 16?
As for Dr Situ and the heiress, I only paid attention when she called Mi Lan to ask to speak to Mr Shen and when they had that cat fight out in public.
Mr Li’s backstory intrigued me because it explained why he was fixated with lighting Mr Shen’s cigarette. Had things turned out differently, had Mr Shen helped his little sister, and had Mr Shen not been scared of losing self-control and turning into a vampire, Mr. Li would have turned out differently. He was fighting his own demons, but his demons weren’t entirely of his own making. I think he’s a tragic figure.
FYI. The actor is very young, I read somewhere. He’s the youngest of the bunch while Vengo Gao is the oldest.
I just finished the last episode. The music, Cinematography,so emotional in the final scene Of the two of them together. Beautiful!
@packmule3. I also skipped many of the scenes of the second couple And other supporting actors
I found the acting by the actor who played liang To be uneven. When the scenes were just him with his demons, his acting pulled me in. In the scenes where he was interacting with others, There was something missing.
I thought that The scene between Milan and her mother, With the doll, was touching But did not communicate the kind of depth it should have.
My review is that it was worth watching.
But that it was a frustrating watch and I still do not know what it was Really about. Some shows Do not need to be about anything more than the story, but a drama like this Would seem to be about something more profound Thematically. Did I miss something?
I Have been reading that this drama was heavily re-edited for censorship. Makes me wonder even more what We missed.
Does anyone understand what was going on in the streets in the last episode And how that was supposed to fit into the plot?
Also.
All the fight scenes with the main leads at the almost end of the show just did not seem to fit the show. The scenes were difficult to follow and went on for too long.
@packmule
I do not know much about Vampires but I struggled during the show to see him as one? There is the scene where he is found by his brother while drinking the blood of a chicken- Typical vampire behavior. I don’t think we ever see his fangs. Were they edited out? In the end he does die because his life Is being sucked out of him because he shared the amber stone with the female lead. He gave his life for hers,not very monsterish.
I need to take a look at what a hopping zombie is.
@packmule I don’t think I would have found the ending scene so beautiful if I had not known he would die, As you pointed out initially. I thought he would be killed Dramatically or languish in bed as his life essence was taken from him.
@MM, my feeling is that the last episode was about the weakest one, or rather, that it tried to do too much in that space of time and made what could have been a great ending to a messy, sort of okay one. The strange, choppy edits are mainly at fault. We could have had another half an hour to smoothen out the scenes and give us more continuity.
So we have Mi Lan finally forgiving her mum, but obviously Mu Li Hua has been keeping tabs on her so that she can get hold of Mi Lan, and the Blood Amber Stone. Li Hua uses the Fantasy Stone and mind control to kidnap Mi Lan.
Out of the blue, Mi Lan’s Blood Amber Stone which had been carefully hidden, pops up (I don’t like this kind of coincidence/unexplainable thing. It’s just to move the plot along faster.) when she’s defending herself against a mind-controlled Li. (It makes no sense who attacks her, why did it have to be Li?)
The meeting of the Fantasy Stone and Blood Amber Stone causes an energy impulse that cures Li Hua and with her augmented power from 2 stones, she gets the soldiers mind warped/manipulated to attack people in a zombie-like fest. I’m only guessing that it’s to confuse the whole of Haidong and just because she can.
Li Hua gets Mi Lan onto a ship bound for her home (wherever that is) and to lure Shen to her. (I don’t know why when she has Mi Lan, she still wants to kidnap Shen. I guess again that it’s an ego thing.)
Meanwhile, Mo locates Shen and Situ and the 3 of them join forces to get to the volcano cave outside the city where Li Hua is waiting for them. Situ frees the people who had been kidnapped (again why? We can’t see any reason!)
Unnecessarily, on top of the rest of the chaos, the volcano is also about to erupt. (A totally surplus event, except that perhaps the Writer wanted fire to get into the picture).
So we get Shen and Situ having a fight against Li Hua, while the volcano spews hot stuff into the air or lava flows. Out of the blue, Li who is no longer mind-controlled emerges from the cave and starts to remember how good Shen had been to him (the fire triggered a memory of how he liked to light the cigar for Shen. I find this all very unlikely and try-hard). In the last moment of redemption for Li, he pushes Shen aside to save him from being burned by molten lava and perishes.
The brothers finally manage to finish off Li Hua, with Mo’s help and again with the help from the volcano, but with her destruction, I guess the Fantasy Stone and the Blood Amber Stone are also lost.
Meanwhile Mi Lan is put into a box on a junk/boat. Shen who is supposed to be very weak now, manages to still get onto that boat to kill the shadow warriors on it and save Mi Lan. A surviving shadow warrior detonates the boat so that Mi Lan and Shen have to haul themselves out of the sea onto a handy raft and wait to be rescued.
You know the rest. Shen claims to be dying, so we assume that Mi Lan alone was saved. The spring rains came but we see no one at Shen’s Mansion. Only the camilla bloomed signifying continued life and hope.
It was a surprisingly weak ending, considering how great many other scenes had looked. More time should have been allocated earlier to people interactions so that we could feel more for Mi Lan and her mum, for Mi Lan and Jing Xue. Surprisingly, enough time was given to Li Ying Liang and Jing Xue so that I could appreciate their strained, upper-lower class relationship well.
It was a good attempt at creating a larger-than-life, moody and darkish series, but it was lacking in some of the execution or because it had to be edited too much, too late. Some of the slower, earlier scenes should have been the part cut out instead of the dense ending.
The overall theme still seems to be a comment on who or what makes us human or monsters. The common, underlying theme (in most Chinese dramas) is that corruption/crime will not pay, decency will outweigh inhumanity, the right thing is to always put the good of the country/majority first, to live and let live and to be united as one people regardless of differences.
Thank you for your summary of the ending. I really was totally confused.
I did wonder how there was.This.Volcanic eruption happenand I certainly noticed how that bloodstone suddenly appeared around her neck. I had wondered what coincidence she were referring to in a previous Comment.
It is better to think of the ending as rushed rather than crazy.
We know that he dies, but perhaps she does As well Because she no longer has the bloodstone?
@MM, extrapolating from Shen’s ability to live 100 years when he didn’t have the stone near him at all, I’m under the impression that the stone was no longer needed by the person to whom it had joined its ‘energy’.
One funny thing that this Show gave me was an idea of how many prison cells were needed. I was amused that Show had to keep coming up with another means to imprison someone. There must have been some 5 different jails. 1) Police station 2) Interrogation underground room 3)in a mine 4) under a lighthouse 5) under an active volcano in a cave.
The real prison, we assume show is telling us, is in our minds. Li Ying Liang was the best example. Even with ‘power’ he was not free. Mi Lan while imprisoned in her room retained her freedom to choose.
@MM, I believe what I saw was that the two stones activated each other but not that the Amber stone poured its energy into anyone. Mi Lan seemed to have been more affected by the mind control of the Fantasy Stone than by the loss of her own powers, but it’s not really clear. In any case we did not get to see her being fast or strong again after being captured, hence we do not know for sure.
Whenever a show has such potential and fail so miserably, I am very curious about what happened behind the scenes and in your censorship office.
I also need to remember my own rule to approach a live Watch that is based on a novel or a webtoon, with caution. Better perhaps to wait until the Drama is over so I can judge for myself whether I want to watch it or not. On the other hand there were many things about this drama that I did appreciate and might not have watched if I had waited.
I do not know if anyone else watched RatTan or tried to. Same writer and director I believe. It was a show.I thought I should have liked but could not watch.
I thought the reason that Situ’s Mother died was because she had shared the stone with mister shen Which weakened her over time. And that the male lead was dying because he had shared this stone with the female lead. I thought it was the sharing of the stone and not necessarily that the stone was still around.
This should have been clearer. Or perhaps I did not watch closely enough.
I found something on line about the book’s ending. It seems to end the first time they are in the mines and escape. The writer of this comment says how the events of the last episode are not even in the book. And they get their HE.
Who knows? I never will and I will leave it at that so I can get o with my day!
I would read the novel if there were a good translation.
Also there are no power stones in the novel-maybe why they had to add on the ending in episode 24?
@monmor and @Growing Beautifully, yes, Situ’s mother dies after a couple of months because she shared the stone with Shen. She ‘gave’ Shen to Situ because Situ couldn’t bear for Shen to die. I think Mr Mo figured out the progression: the stone could only be used by one person at a time. Because the mother gave its power to Shen, she died. Similarly, Shen gave the power of the stone to Mi Lan to save her, knowing that his life would end. This is one reason he is so insistent on her having a good future, getting education, learning to read and play music, because he knows he won’t be around for long.
The question I had then is how Dr. Situ could also maintain his power? He also is over 100 years old, being only several years younger than Shen and he has super powers. Did the stone not affect him as well? And if Shen became a vampire, was Dr. Situ one as well? I may not have reached any episode that explains or shows it.
Your question does get answered.But I guess you have not reached that episode yet. I realized now I have charged ahead of you and I have not been saying what episode I am on at the beginning of my comment.
Please keep your comments and questions coming
because I am still trying to clarify this show for myself.
@Fern and @MM
@MM thanks for info about the novel. That explains why so much extra has been wedged in for the end willy-nilly.
@Fern yes about what you say about preparing Mi Lan for her future without Shen, because the power was given to her.
About Situ… it seems that because his birth mum was from the Wei Family who had the power of the Amber Stone, he inherited the power. It’s not clear if her surname is taken from her husband or whether it’s her own. Show never does clarify if Situ needs blood. He seems fine with normal food. Whether the stone exists for him or not does not seem to matter. Either the logic is faulty, or it seems like a child born into the Wei Family will just have the power that cannot be drained away. If Situ did not need the Stone for his powers, then he won’t lose them.
From that guess, I conclude that his mother might not originally have been a ‘Wei’ since she only had the power because she held the Stone.
@MM about Rattan. I tried a few episodes but it did not draw me in. I vaguely recall that the FL was not human and so was rather cold and distant. My husband seemed to like it though.
So it was by the same Director and Writer? No wonder there’s that atmosphere there!!! I recall it looked very good too… but still failed to reach me.
@Growing Beautifully, because I’m reliant on the skills of the translators and they often simply don’t have enough time and space to include all nuances, I feel that I miss some things.
I had thought that Situ was a half-brother and not a step-brother, so what you say makes sense if he has a different father (a Wei) than Shen. I was confused because Shen was calling his character a ‘brother’ from the beginning, but I guess it’s similar to Li Ling Yiang being called Brother by Jin Jing Xue.
Many of the questions we have.I think stem from a poor adaptation from the novel. Of course I am extrapolating here.
If there were no stones in the novel, Perhaps the characters were more like traditional(western)vampires.
So everything about how they inherited their powers would have Had to have been made clear in the drama adaptation and was not.So murky!
I had forgotten whatever thinking I had done before in my life about vampires.So I enjoyed reading about vampires again. It is interesting that it has been hypothesized that The myth developed because of individuals who had a blood disorder called porphyria. The protein that binds iron is genetically missing or deformed or something.
So the hemaglobin which carries oxygen Does not function well. So drinking chickens blood was actually a treatment for this disorder in earlier times. And probably would have given a big surge of energy To the “vampire”. Because part of the disorder is a skin disease, Ill people would only go out at night and hence the idea that they were hunting to blood suck from people developed.
This disease exists in both the east and the west.
@PM, Fern and GB
This is my introduction to GWG. Once I like an actor It is easier to convince myself To watch certain shows. “Eternal love of dream” has been on my to watch list for a long time. The other show with this actor that appeals to me is “operation special warfare”
Thank you everyone for Such an interesting watch and discussion.
@monmor, I watched most of Eternal Love of Dream simply because it came up on my YouTube feed at a certain time. I didn’t see all of it and because it has so many episodes it goes all over the place. But the characters are so interesting. It was my first Chinese fantasy drama with layers of deities and semi-deities. I enjoyed it.
@Fern I am just starting to watch more chinese fantasy. Lost you forever Was my gateway Chinese fantasy. I had tried a few before but was never able to engage. Thank you for your input around eternal love of dream
@Fern, actually I no longer know if I’m right or not. It’s more likely that they were half-brothers! Situ’s mum got pregnant later, so we assume that they shared the same father???
Yes, it’s tough to know what the actual relationship is when every known older male who may or may not be related is gege (younger is didi). An older female is chieh chieh, (younger is mei mei).
They could have been cousins or distantly related or the neighbour’s child!
I read the subs that said Situ’s mum’s name had Wei in it. She came into the Shen family and then got pregnant with Situ. But Shen Zhi Heng was already a biggish child, hence I knew that she was his stepmother and Situ, likely his half-brother. I was toying with the idea that if she lost power because she poured its energy into Shen Zhi Heng, then she might not originally have been a Wei. But I might be wrong!
Just don’t know how to explain to myself why Situ remains fine throughout.
@Fern,
From what little I’ve skimmed…
I think that Situ is the half-brother. He and Mr. Shen share the same father, but not mother. He could have taken his mother’s surname to hide from Shen or to erase that part of him. After all, the Shen matriarch decided to kill him and his mother.
— but I must rewatch the episode when Shen and Mi Lan went to the cemetery to dig up the grave. That’s when Shen learned about his past, right? I can’t remember anymore.
I also think Si’tus a full-fledged vampire; that is, he drinks human blood so he can keep his strength up. Unlike Shen.
Remember Shen’s newspaper has been reporting on the instances of suspicious deaths of human with inconsiderable blood loss? Shen suspects that it was his brother’s doing (aka Situ). I don’t think he’s wrong.
That’s the reason Situ has that surgery room/secret room built in his closet in his apartment. He was most likely “operating” on his victims there.
Correct me if I’m wrong, @GB. Didn’t Jin Jing Xue flee from the apartment in horror after she discovered the hidden room in the closet because she realized that Situ was a vampire?
Also, as a surgeon in the hospital, he has access to blood.
@GB Yes same scriptwriter and director. Both based on novels, different authors, though.
@pkml3, the story is confusing. While I believe Situ should have been a vampire, it’s never something confirmed. Did he ever say to Shen that unlike him he drank blood? I do not recall any reports of missing blood from the hospital, either. Sorry, I’m not more help.
The newspaper articles, I thought, were ‘created’ by Shen to flush out his brother, hence I’m not even sure they reported the truth.
As for that scary room with bloody weapons, although Jing Xue ran away from it once, the next thing I see is that she’s in that room pretending to seduce Situ. Of course, she didn’t succeed in tying him up.
However what you say explains why he had that secret room in the first place. So while it’s likely that he is a vampire, the show just never confirms it, or I missed that part. 😬 😔
@MM, thanks for the confirmation. Maybe I should stay away from this duo.
My thoughts exactly!
Did he have the secret room for treating mister Shen?
I think I would have freaked out if my boyfriend had a secret room that looked like a Room for operating on people.
I am Still puzzling about the title snowfall.
I forget-why do vampires need ice cube baths?
@GB Part of creating a cold atmosphere may be part of the reason why it snows all the time andis titled snowfall. Still rather opaque though.
Not the first newspaper report, @GB.
The ones about the 2 mountain hikers were real. One was found dead while the other stayed alive long enough to talk about the attack.
That wasn’t fake news imbedded by Shen to draw Situ/his brother’s attention. In fact, Shen knew nothing about it hence he called his editor-in-chief to his office to explain. He wanted to find more about the incident.
Afterwards, he did fake a report that another body was found. That was a ruse. Since Situ didn’t do the crime himself, he went to the morgue personally to check it out, out of curiosity. Shen was there waiting for him.
Also, Situ wasn’t shocked and scared when he first saw Shen while Shen was — I don’t know, drinking blood? — in the dark alley. In fact, Shen wondered about Situ’s nonchalant reaction and asked him why he didn’t run away. (Darn it. I hate it when I forget the episode number! I should have made notes…but got too lazy.) I assumed it was because he knew there was a vampire like Shen around because he was the one who “created” the monster. It was just a manner of when and where he would meet Shen.
I think this is why Situ doesn’t feel embarrassed mooching off Shen non-stop. He thinks that the family wealth is partly his too because he’s the younger brother.
I haven’t watched the entire show and just skimmed through the “boring” scenes.
@PM3
I don’t really recall what I thought about the bodies that were discovered in the mountains.
I do remember though that Situ Came across Shen drinking chickens’s blood.And I think said something about the chickens belonging to the hospital.
He was always sanguine about these things because he too was a vampire. That is why I suspected quite early on that Situ was the lost brother. Patting myself on the back here😁
In keeping with some of the information above on vampires It was at Night and shen was in a dark corner drinking this blood.
There is an american show called I zombie Where the protagonist is a coroner and that is how she survives. Gross and funny!
I just discovered soompi forums.
From comments I read there.I am wondering if The 3 Stones beginning and the chaotic ending were added because It is not okay to make a Chinese drama about a vampire.
Someone else commented on how she bites her lips and has a mouthful of blood When she kisses him in jail. I had not realized that but I did notice his mouth was open as though he was going to eat something.
So this is my working theory as to why this show turned out this way. Not a working theory because I’ll never be able to find the evidence to confirm it Without driving myself crazy browsing on the internet And still probably without results.
Apparently an earlier title was ballad of ice and snow.
I still have to look up why vampires are not an accepted idea in china.
https://independent-magazine.org/2021/10/21/no-ghost-land-chinese-horror-growing-under-strict-censorship/
An article about the history of censorship of horror movies in china and the rationale for that.
Yes, she bit her lips to give him the blood he needed. Remember? She was talking to herself, reminding herself that according to Situ, Shen would be alright if he had blood, that is, had drunk/ingested/taken blood.
That’s her excuse for telling the lie. As she was blind, she planned to approach the jail cell where Shen was located by pretending a need to “feel” his face in order to identify him.
😂😂 It wasn’t just a torrid kiss because they longed each other.
Shen figured out what she was doing when she whispered under her breath that she was going to rescue him out of there. He couldn’t have walked out on his own if it weren’t for that extra boost of blood from Mi Lan. As it was, he collapsed when they got home.
That’s also why Shen, when he was captured and taken on the train ride, was wearing that face mask. It was a precaution. The bad guys wisened up and this time around, Mi Lan wasn’t going to get an opportunity to donate blood again.
And by the way, please try not to transfer comments from soompi over to this blog unless they’re salient. Don’t get me wrong: some posts are indeed cogent. But I ran away from soompi for a reason….
I did not even consider transferring a post from elsewhere.
I thought twice before I copied and pasted the link to an article. I am not clear on what is ok
So it’s not okay to have a drama about vampires.Nor to have a drama about a huge age gap.But it is okay to have one kiss in the whole drama where she transfers blood to the supposed vampire🤣🤣🤣
Yes, they are half-brothers. Same father, different mothers.
Situ Wei Lian’s real name is SHEN Zhi Qian.
Source: From Ep 4.
He was talking to Mr Mo who asked him who he was looking for. Shen answered, “My brother, Shen Zhi Qian.” Situ Wei Lian must be his alias, either because he wanted to hide from Shen or because he had to regularly get a new identity or else people would figure out that he wasn’t dying.
Shen was turned into a “vampire” by Situ’s mother, WEI Qui.
Wei Qui is from one of the 3 powerful families possessing a meteorite fragment.
a. Profound Yang Stone
b. Illusion Stone, owned by the Mu family. They have mind-controlling power, but the downside is they’re cursed with an expiry date. They expire before reaching 30 years old.
c. Blood Amber Stone, in the Wei family’s possession
Since the Blood Amber stone “represents lives in outer space” aka aliens, she had non-human powers. The downside of this power was whenever she used them, she wore out her body quickly. To maintain the normal functions of her body, she needed blood urgently.
I add more details about this power as I go along. For now, we can glean from this episode that since Shen isn’t technically a Wei, he only began exhibiting these superhuman strengths after he was transformed by Situ’s mother (aka his stepmother and his dad’s concubine). Situ, on other hand, always had this power.
Now, the Mu family believed that they can avoid early death if they gathered all 3 fragments. They fought with Situ’s mother to get the Blood Amber stone but of course, Wei Qui managed to fend them off because of her nonhuman strengths. The Mu decided to leave the country after their failed attempt to steal the Blood Amber stone. I bet they were just regrouping.
Mr Mo was curious to know why Shen was so patient and just didn’t use his immense power to get what he wanted done. His response indicated that he strove to be human.
He said, “As a human you can cultivate or help others. You can be like water….”
He was quoting this from the Tao Te Ching: “Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield.”
I think he was saying that he didn’t want fight, and use violence. He could lead a more rewarding and HUMAN life by helping others. Examples: raising awareness through his newspapers, spreading his wealth around (he was generous to his workers), encouraging Mi Lan to take up music and cultivate herself.
Mr Mo then reminded him, “Keeping your goodness in the darkness abyss and you won’t be blamed.”
This meant that Mr Mo was aware that Shen wanted to do his good deeds anonymously. Shen didn’t want to call attention to his works to avoid scrutiny. And this made perfect sense because he was an immortal. People would notice that he wasn’t getting older like the rest of them, and that he was different from them.
Mr Mo also remarked that Shen chose a lonely and difficult path. If he could have somebody by his side, the lonely, immortal life wouldn’t be so bad.
Mr Mo offered him tea. This was special tea that allowed him to have visions. He saw his step-mother, and the crow. Mr Mo had given him the crow.
Also, in this Episode, Shen ordered his editor to add an article in the news about a “beast” that bites humans and sucks blood. This is the fake news @GB remembered. This time around Shen wanted it published that the body was in the morgue, awaiting an autopsy. Shen did it to get his brother out and about.
Sure enough, when Situ heard about it, he worried that Shen had succumbed to his vampire tendencies and killed somebody.
As I told @GB, to me, this was a giveaway that Situ had done the biting, sucking and killing in the previously reported incidents. Otherwise, he wouldn’t suspect Shen just now. He should have suspected him of killing the two mountain climbers, too.
Shen had a street fight with his brother, who conveniently had a face mask on to avoid detection. His brother escaped.
He encountered Situ not far away. He revealed to Situ that he was so furious with his brother because after all he’d done for him, his ungrateful brother turned him into a non-human/vampire.
When Situ tried to appease him and (guiltily?) point out that Shen’s life wasn’t all that bad, Shen just growled back that he was like a living dead. He obviously hated this life. No ifs or buts.
Later in this episode, we’re shown Shen praying in front of his ancestors’ memorial. lol. Now, I get now why he hated being the only one alive. The crypt with all the lighted candles must be a pain to maintain, and a depressing sight to see on a daily basis. He and his brother were the last of the family line.
He’d carved a wooden statue (a headstone? for the cremation?) for Shen Zhi Qian.
That’s my recap for Ep 4.
Thanks, @packmule3. You have clarified some things I wasn’t sure about, particularly the relationship between Shen and Situ.
@MMM thanks for the link to the article on censorship in China. I never bothered to find out the reasons why although I’ve known it exists. It is the reason that Joy of Life begins with a story within a story… ie the background of the ‘mother’ (a futuristic being) is attributed to the imaginative writing of a student in contemporary times. This one scene appears in the beginning and that’s it. Nowhere else in the whole series do we get a scene with the student again. 😆😂 That’s what it took to pass censorship and it worked.
@GB Thank you for the recap of the jailbar kiss.
I started “operation special warfare” With GWG last night. He is my kind of handsome.
This drama is another one of many that highlight the special efforts of the military And special rescue operations in china. I prefer some others more and they do become formulaic. This one Is a little different in that they are battling a group of Terrorists who are intent on stealing clean Energy technology so they can have a monopoly. Also the female lead is not a doctor.
I am not sure if I will stick it out. I thought it was twenty four episodes , but it’s thirty five.
His character is very different and this highlights his acting skill. I actually do not
Like his character very much yet. He comes across At first as very chauvinistic.
I don’t think this drama, Like Similar ones,would have had much trouble with the censorship board. Just the opposite.
I may not be right about the censorship board. Perhaps they look at these dramas even more closely because the reputation of their armed forces is at risk. Anyway what i’m trying to say is that it is propagandish if that is a word.
What’s wrong with me working for the Japanese? Don’t you dare to talk nonsense in the newspapers because of the power of Britain, the United States and France?
Quote from first chapter. LIANG.
@monmor,
I’ll transfer this post of yours under the Vampire and Jiangshi thread.