[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

4 hours ago, Pollen Ainne said:

Btw, I tried to start NiF again to see if I could finish it this time, but I didn't realize the first time that it was dubbed. I don't usually watch Chinese movies so I wasn't so aware of it. But now, it bothers me so much. The voice acting takes me away from the film so bad...

Oh lord, don't remind me of NiF. I regret eating spicy ramyeon with the red soup base while watching Episode 1 of this the other day. Almost puked out my food due to the bloodshed. (I'm such a baby when it comes to Tarantino-esque violence.)

 

Prior to this, I saw Bu Bu Jing Xin, and I also tried watching a few other dramas as well, like Sound of the Desert and a recent one with Yang Mi, so I was aware the voices were dubbed. That doesn't take away from enjoying the drama, but it does make me question the actor's acting abilities. I'm going to hated for saying this, but if I had heard Yuan Hong's original voice in Bu Bu Jing Xin, I probably would not have liked him as much as I do now. The guy is good-looking and talented, but when I heard his voice in this drama, I didn't find him attractive at all. (Another one of my unpopular opinions due to my foolish voice fetish.) 

 

4 hours ago, Pollen Ainne said:

And his being nervous about getting married is a complete ruse. He just did it so the Emperor would rescind the order.

No, I knew that was a ruse. But the fact that the Emperor was laughing and bought into it meant that it really was believable that he would not be sexually experienced with women. Before he was locked away, wasn't he spending most of time doing other things?

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

On 11/4/2018 at 1:10 AM, mspilgrims said:

We don't actually know if he'd had other experiences with women, the series doesn't show anything in that regard but I would find it strange otherwise: he was imprisoned at 18, an age already considered suitable for marriage.

I don't know if you remember that scene with Qiu Yuluo throwing herself at him, but he seemed completely inexperienced at that time. The horrified expression on his face is absolutely priceless. I think House of Lanxiang was just a cover, and he's really good at pretending. But you can tell at the beginning that he wasn't used to females touching him. Even when Zhiwei held onto him, he kept telling her to take her hands off of him. Also, when he was explaining to the Emperor that he was feeling nervous and unwell after the marriage proposal and didn't want to go through with it, his father (man with a harem of women) laughed at him like it was the funniest thing on earth. Unless that was all a ruse...

But his expressions whenever he and Zhiwei get close seem rather innocent. I think there was only that time in the cave scene when she was tying the leg of the injured rabbit that he looked at her like he was going to devour her. Haha, not sure how to explain the look on his face. Just felt some sexual undertone there.

5 hours ago, morganian said:

the conversation between Official Zhao and Ning Yi after Ning Chuan’s death? Does the emperor know he was poisoned by an unwitting Zhao? Or are both NY and Zhao just filling in the gaps and feeling guilty about everything?

I just got to this episode last night with my family. I doubt the Emperor knows as Official Zhao chooses to punish himself in secrecy. We had a scene of him doing it before in secret after finding out as well. Now with the death of Ning Chuan, he punished himself one last time and laid his whip down. Ning Yi should have told the Emperor but he didn't either. I'm sure that's why he threw it into the cup, poured tea over it, and was about to drink it. I honestly think that this is a secret between them.

 

My question is, does Official Zhao stop him because he really cares for Ning Yi, or does he do it because he knows about the spell that binds the father and son together?

 

Also, if anyone remembers, in the trailers on the official Croton youtube channel, the scene where Zhiwei came with an edict to stop Ning Yi from killing Shaoning and Ning Chuan, they showed her pulling out her sword and holding it against Ning Yi's chest. But when I watched it on Netflix that scene was missing. Was that scene edited out? And I'm not 100% sure but it looked like they redubbed some lines as well because when Ning Yi and Ning Chuan were talking to each other their lips weren't matching at certain points? Is there a reason for this? 

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

4 hours ago, Pollen Ainne said:

Ning Yi said, "There are some things that only exist in the dark." I wonder if he was pertaining to "light can only shine when there is darkness" or that "some things can only be hidden." Was kinda confused about it.

He said that after Zhiwei wondered how come it's just now that she's seeing a "sliver of light in his heart." I took it to mean that he chose to keep his true and personal feelings hidden. I remember that, previously, Zhiwei didn't understand why he did certain things before and blamed him for it, even though Xin Ziyan tried convincing her otherwise. Ning Yi does things that may seem to be cruel to her (and to us), but he isn't a cruel person, and he wasn't hurting people because he was lusting after the throne either. He was defending himself, and letting people know that they can't keep undermining and humiliating him. This line of thought was supported by Chen Kun's interview in the BTS on how he chose to portray his character.

I'm not 100% on this either. I hope someone else has more thoughts on it because I'd like to know as well.

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

9 hours ago, Pollen Ainne said:

They definitely has those moments. Although the most favorite of mine is just them talking.

I love it whenever they're talking too! But I think the one scene that gave me so many feels was the one in Episode 30-something(?) where they're not even talking and it's OTHER people who felt uncomfortable around them LOL. After the guy pretending to be the leader of the Minhai pirates got shot in the heart with an arrow and Zhiwei grazed her arm?

At her residence, Gu Nanyi tried to make her clean up her wound first, but she was so determined to draw the notches on the arrow correctly because "Prince of Chu is on his way here." Oh my goodness. The way she said it was so full of tenderness. But that's not the part that got me. 

 

The exact moment was when Nanyi was wrapping up her wound, Zhiwei shyly peeked through the divider to observe Ning Yi, and then realized Nanyi had seen her. And on the other side, Huaishi noticed Ning Yi looking concerned over Zhiwei. The look on both of their faces was so precious.

 

And the icing on the cake was when they called for each other at the exact same time. Hnnngh.

 

I love the subtle scenes, and I don't mind that they aren't as "physical" with each other as characters in other dramas.

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

13 hours ago, tendrilsofwind said:

It's kind of hard to translate 狸猫 to english. For some reason everyone translates it as civet cat/raccoon cat, but in Chinese it just means a little cat or little leopard cat. There is a very popular Chinese legend where a consort substitutes the newborn son of a rival consort, who would be crown prince, for a skinned cat, causing the consort to be lose favor ad be locked up (kind of like Ning Yi's mother's situation). Ning Yi calls Zhiwei 狸猫 because in the beginning, she was an impostor in the sense that she was assuming the identity of her cousin. It must have been kind of weird for people watching the subtitles though. 

Thanks so much for the clarification. That makes a lot of sense. In Japanese the word 狸/tanuki means raccoon, but also someone sly and sneaky. So in that context, she was a bit of an imposter. But tbf Zhiwei really does resemble a civet cat. She's so long and slender! haha.

 

By the way, I started re-watching the series again on my own, but my sister caught a glimpse of the Princes' elaborate costumes and so I had to restart at Episode 1 (which I didn't mind.) And then her husband decided to join us as well, so we had to restart again at Episode 1 LOL. This is the first time her husband is actually sitting down to watch any costume drama with us and is actually invested in the characters. He usually prefers stuff on HBO or American TV. I think he even enjoys it a lot more than my sister does because he went to work in the evening but forced us to wait until he came home so we could all watch it together. We're now on Episode 15.

The even weirder thing is, my nephew (18) joined us last night too. He honestly couldn't tell whether Ni Ni was a girl or a guy. He guessed correctly that she was dressed as a man eventually. But what made me laugh so hard was that he was seriously confused about Bai Jingting's sexual identity as well. I was like, "You cannot be serious." Eventually when he heard Gu Nanyi speaking, he was like, "What! That's a dude!" 

 

Weirdest experience I'm having ever because none of the men in my family like watching Chinese costume dramas. They always thought it was "meant for women." Whatever that means. I'd like to think that  it's because Chen Kun has that knife-blade edge to him while acting. There's just a bit of dark and crazy in those eyes to make even men fall under his spell.

 

Also, the scene when Zhiwei meets up with Ning Yi after burying the wooden figure for Prince Yan and she kept cracking up even though Ning Yi's all serious and trying to shake some sense into her, like, "Woman! Do you realize you might die?" was adorable to them for some reason. My sister and I thought it was cute too, but we were preferred the one where they were in his carriage and he tells her she looks hideous when she cries lol. No, actually, what I loved was the subtle nuances of the characters in that scene. Ning Yi peeked and noticed she had packed the outer-garment he made, and Zhiwei realizes this and shyly thanks him for it before putting it on him. So we have our differences.

 

Also, my sister makes clothing, and she was so impressed by how detailed and ornate the costumes are. She loves how they don't shy away from decorating the other Princes as well. And now that I've seen these first 15 episodes more than three times, I just can't help but be in awe of the beautiful sets. I think Ning Yan, Prince of Zhao, had the prettiest room of them all. I'd live in it.

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

 

On 10/29/2018 at 8:47 AM, mspilgrims said:

One thing in particular made me wonder though: the translation of some dialogues. I mean, does it have a sense between adults the word "like" in a confession?  "I like you" is a bit childish or for a teenage first love, imho. In the adult world, I'd rather say "I'm in love with you", "I've fallen for you" or simply "I love you". What do you think?

 

I agree with @skibbies previous comment that, like in Japanese, it's a cultural thing. I don't speak Chinese, but I speak Japanese. It isn't really childish thing to say "I like you" because adults in these two cultures hardly use the word "love." It goes "unspoken" for the most part.

 

There were multiple translators for Netflix subs, but I don't find this to be a translation error like how "little civet cat/little racoon" was translated as "imposter" in the earlier episodes. (That was one of the cases where they should have translated literally but didn't.)

 

The fact that they are both "testing the waters" makes "like" appropriate at this point in time. Ning Yi barely recognized his feelings for her as romantic (guy was super in denial all this time although we sure as hell knew better) as he was too focused on everything else. Same goes for Zhiwei.

 

 

 

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

^I'd like to know too. I just assumed this was his nickname. 

 

Btw, I've been watching dailytofu's English subbed clips on youtube. I'm sure some of you have already seen it. This is a subbed video of the bts,  and there were other cute clips. I hope they do more! I honestly wish they'll include deleted scenes for us in a dvd release. 

 

 

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

Where I voted: https://vote.weibo.cn/poll/138871551

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

As of this morning he's leading right now at 58.5%. Wallace is at 29.4%. I'm international as well! (I go between Japan and US), but I was able to create a weibo account (with the help of some people on Instagram) and I voted for Chen Kun and Ni Ni.

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

12 hours ago, galea said:

To put it bluntly, I'm so used to side-characters being one dimensional wastes of budget that I was completely taken aback by the quality of the entire cast.

The series is immensely rich in character depth at 70 episodes, but I don't think people would complain about a little extra padding. I kind of wished they expanded more on the supporting cast on Feng Zhiwei's side. Not that they're not fleshed-out characters. (I love Gu Nanyi!) But his story with Master Zong was relegated to seconds-long flashbacks, so you barely feel the connection. It would have been nice to have them spend a little more time character-building these two, so that the events later on would have a much bigger impact. (Oh, my poor heart!) (Maybe this is masochistic side speaking.)

 

4 hours ago, Pollen Ainne said:

Noooooooooooo! Why not. Fuyao has one. Please let there be one or else, will have to do desperate measures!!!

Where do they sell the dvds/blu rays at and are the subtitles any good? I'd love to have it with Eng subs! But the Japanese editions are just so gorgeous, and I can at least follow along with the Japanese subs! Just take a look at this: 琅邪榜-ろうやぼう-麒麟の才子、風雲起こす-DVD-BOX1

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

21 hours ago, Pollen Ainne said:

He chose his duty over his family. Then killed an innocent for revenge.

You hit the bull's eye on a lot of great points. I'm actually rewatching it again and on Episode 9 now. (I would move along faster if I could just stop replaying every Ning Yi-Zhiwei scene a million times LOL). I can see that some of the things you pointed out makes sense. Also, I can wholeheartedly agree with this. Ultimately, he sacrificed his family in order to protect Ning Yi in his ascent to the throne, thus fulfilling his duties. 

16 hours ago, Pollen Ainne said:

If Ning Yi knew about the choice he was going to make, Ning Yi would have told him to prioritize his family. Prioritizing their dreams over his family was not something Ning Yi would have ever asked of him. Did he once ever understood Ning Yi's heart?

From my understanding, Ziyan doesn't know what we know about Ning Yi. He just sees a guy who gave up on his dreams and is trying to live his merry life with his mother while he (Ziyan) lost everything. I don't think he truly understood him either. They may have shared the same dreams, but they were definitely not on the same page.

 

The thing I can say is that it was never in his plans for

Spoiler

Erhua to be murdered nor for Dahua to lose her unborn child.

The threads of his meticulous planning were unraveling before the Emperor in Ning Yi's absence, and this was a terrible miscalculation on his part. 

 

I doubt there will be a US release with english subs, but I hope that they will have a Japanese release for me at least. Chinese TV series are popular in Japan and get really nice boxsets. I just purchased Nirvana in Fire on Blu Ray. I definitely think this show is replay-worthy, and I would shell out that 60,000+ ¥ for the entire series if I have to! 

 

 

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

21 hours ago, yang0837 said:

how to richard simmons viewers off to no end.

As a person new to C-drama, can anyone explain to me what this term means?

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

On 10/19/2018 at 11:54 PM, morganian said:

he was used to expecting paternal affection instead of fighting for it like everyone else in his family. In some ways, he is kind of like the male version of Shaoning, and would have been used to getting his own way if tragedy hadn't touched his mother, brother, and himself. 

Just wanted to reiterate that what you pointed out here is exactly why I love this drama so much. I would never have bought into Ning Yi's character if not for this tragedy. Just like it's more realistic for a son born into a wealthy household with a silver spoon in his mouth being unable to sympathize with his father who is a self-made man, and then eventually squanders his inheritance, Ning Yi probably would have never understood the plight of the downtrodden and poor if not for himself experiencing injustice and loss. 

 

On 10/20/2018 at 1:57 AM, Pollen Ainne said:

Ning Yi wanted to become emperor so he can change the Kingdom. He was more ambitious than any of them. Xin Ziyan also believes this and feeds Ning Yi's hunger for change. This is what made Xin Ziyan scary to me at the beginning. 

Ziyan was my second most favorite character after Ning Yi & Zhiwei, so unlike you I never feared him at the beginning. Why? Because he was unsettled by the bloodshed that happened at the beginning when Bloody Pagoda, under the Crown Prince's control, attacked Gu Yan and the Royal guards. He knew something was amiss and mused about the many lives being sacrificed in order for someone to ascend the throne. He finally asks the question, "Is it all worth it?" He's so human here that I related so much to his character. 

I don't feel that "change" is necessarily a bad thing when there is so much corruption around you. 

 

As for Ning Yi and this "change", I believe it's for the greater good. Gu Yan asked this question of Ning Yi about the remnant of Dacheng in the beginning episodes. Could the emperor really allow that remnant to live? We know the answer to that. What makes Ning Yi so different from his father, and why I think he will be a great ruler, is that he very well could. If he was anything like his father, he would have tried to

Spoiler

imprison Zhiwei when she refused to stay with him, and Ziyan would have never been able to turn him down at the end without his head rolling.

 

 

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

I have a question for you guys. I know reviews in China were not great. But what exactly are they expecting to happen if RoP does well on Netflix globally? For sure I've only been hearing positive things from people around the world, outside of China. People are drawn to the story-line and attached to the characters, and everyone seems impressed by the intense dedication that went into filming. I personally am impressed by the costumes and sets, and the cgi work was not jarring. They really immersed me in the story. Besides, I noticed that on the official Croton Media playlist on Youtube, there were even English subs done for a bts clip of the cast analyzing Ni Ni's character. So I feel it's gaining popularity globally. Why exactly is Netflix hoping it will though? Will that mean more high caliber shows like this being produced and going on Netflix from China?

 

 

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

1 hour ago, niniandkun said:

As for the bedazzling, I think both of them are too sophisticated to be impressed by regular people or superficial pleasantries. Their standards are much higher.  Even with each other, though they were intrigued and noticed the other person it wasn't "love at first sight".

NY didn't jump through hoops to impress FZW. Unlike some other people *cough* *Helian Zheng*.

And FZW didn't jump at the chance to marry a prince (NY) or stay with him after she was kicked out from home.

But that scene at the beginning where she was undressing, there were definitely sparks because I sure felt it. Was it just me? Maybe it was just me? LOL. I think there was some initial attraction between them because they were both so different from other people they've met, and that later developed into a strong and loyal friendship until love finally blossomed.  That scene where gently pulls her toward him to confess his feelings, and she roughly tugs him closer to say hers and his surprised look sums them up so well. Omg, these two are SO precious! 

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

4 hours ago, niniandkun said:

For sure he isn't without compassion and understands that morality isn't black and white, and that people can be manipulated or pressured into doing wrong things but would he have ever forgiven ning chuan even if he begged? I doubt it.

 

Zhiwei on the other hand detests hurting other people. Her sense of justice is more purehearted in that she doesn't take any pleasure in punishing wrong doers just wants to save those who suffer and get them out of that situation. Punishment is more a necessary evil in her world view.

 

Hmm, actually now that I think of it, this is true. Ning Yi would never have forgiven Ning Chuan. I'm sure that after being locked away for 18 years, ostracized by his brothers, manipulated by his own father, there is definitely something dark hidden underneath the surface. Whereas Zhiwei seems a bit more pure-hearted. If anything I wish he could have just stayed a carefree prince and she his little raccoon forever and never gone into the palace. 

 

Ugh, I seriously need to rewatch this again. I binged the whole series in a matter of 3 weeks and now that I'm reading everyone's posts I feel like I'm missing so much. 
 

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

1 hour ago, Pollen Ainne said:

So I have been trying to watch his movies, for some reason I find him more attractive now than in his older movies...

I COMPLETELY agree with you that the Chen Kun we see today is so much more attractive. He was cute before, but his features are more defined now in his forties. My first and only thing that I've seen him in before this is Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. I hardly watch C-series, so this is my first time seeing him on the small screen. Out of all the male Chinese actors I've seen so far, he is by far the most interesting to me.

 

42 minutes ago, Pollen Ainne said:

So although I believe in his ideals, I do not believe that his ideals is what caused him to give up. He wanted his mother back. That was the complete truth. And he was willing to do anything to get her back and keep her safe. Anything else is just bs excuses. 

Hey, you may be right. I'd have to watch the scenes over again to see if I still feel the same. I basically marathoned the last 7 episodes last night and may have missed some things.

 

One thing that I would like to say for the series is that I'm glad the characters are so well-developed that we can spend hours analyzing them like this. 

[[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Rise of Phoenixes 凰权·弈天下]

4 hours ago, niniandkun said:

NingYi sort of enjoys the crude act of personally killing someone to avenge his loved one.

I've been lurking, but made an account just so I could chip in my two cents about this haha. In particular, Ning Yi's character as portrayed by Chen Kun.

 

I personally don't think he enjoys killing people but strongly believes in meting out justice. He also believes in redemption. Remember when that one official tells Peng Pei that if he turns back to doing the right thing, there would be a way? Remember that beautiful speech Ning Yi gave to Ziyan near the beginning where he refused to fight for the throne if it meant lining the path with the blood of innocent people? And again near the end where he says he gave up the fight for the throne to be with his mother because so many people were dying? Ning Yi is essentially upright and honest in his motives, and I believe Gu Yan would not continue serving for him if he was any different. But I suppose stubbornly sticking to his beliefs is also his biggest flaw.

 

Honestly it was easy to get swept up by his raw energy, passion, and that fierce glint in his eye during his speeches that I wanted to believe it was possible. Pave a way to the throne without harming innocent people? Who wouldn't want that? But I, like Ziyan, knew since the beginning that there is no way for him to ascend the throne unblemished. In order for him to attain his goal, other people had to suffer. Ziyan was still willing to help Ning Yi despite losing Erhua and his unborn baby, and even though I know his judgement was clouded by recent events, Ning Yi really disappointed me when he couldn't see past the facade and cast Ziyan aside. 

 

He and Zhiwei are so alike in this respect, it was frustrating to watch.