[Mainland Chinese Drama 2017] General And I 孤芳不自赏

[dramalover1]

On 2/5/2017 at 4:57 AM, purpledoll22 said:

Im reading the novel at the part where they separate. I dont really understand PT's reasoning for leaving. Did she not think there may be other reasons why he didnt come back in time to save her? (He could have been injured, fell off a cliff...) And she still ran away from him despite knowing he is at war to get her back!

In the drama the reason was more understandable. She left with HX because she thought BJ was dead. Then ran away because she was always putting him in danger, which is totally true. It just makes more sense to me about PT's reasoning in the drama. Both reasons for leaving is still stupid in my opinion because shes taking away his chance at fatherhood. She never personally told him about it which was really selfish of her.

 

The novel wasn't very well translated and mentions her logic in passing. (I'm only answering because I started watching the drama then read the novel recently)

 

in the book BJ chooses to stay in the palace rather than keep his promise to PT. (There's no annoying villain guifei in the book) PT knows he didn't come back for the greater cause aka stuff he feels he has to do for his kingdom. She realizes she'll always come after his greater priorities. And that's not the kind of love she wants. She sacrificed everything for the greater cause too (working for HX and so on) and only ended up with betrayal and disappointments. She has forsaken everything for her love with BJ (no more HX or loyalty to her kingdom or past military friends). So she is angry that BJ will sacrifice her to uphold his greater cause and she hates herself for having fallen for him, even tho she knew this would happen, and feels bone deep despair for the impossibility of having the love she's always wanted. 

[snowflake]

On 11/16/2017 at 12:17 PM, dramalover1 said:

 

I'm late to this thread (I just read the novel and watched the drama), but its' b/c their love story subplot goes like this in the novel.

 

The whole motivation for him not letting her go wasn't explained well in the drama, but basically, he was a military spy loyal to the councilor, who opposed Hexia, and the councilor wanted him to kill BPT before CBJ or HX could find her. The councilor told FL that BPT always wore the white jade hairstick, so that was why FL thought ZJ was BPT at first, but later he realized that it wasn't the case. But because he'd already told the councilor he killed BPT (that's why he was given the castle to rule) and he didn't want his lies to come out, he kept ZJ. (And also because he was attracted to her as well)

 

(He didn't kill ZJ even though he was instructed to do so because he thought she was pretty, so he left the hairpin w/ a dead body eaten by wolves so that everyone would assume BPT died. And it's this trickery that caused a lot of heartache, but it also made BPT's enemies stop searching for her.)

 

This drama explanation is done well enough but just that some viewers sometimes skip or fast forward some scenes and missed out on the finer points that complete the whole story.  I do agreed that sometimes this drama pace is a bit slow but this is a beautiful story being unraveled.  I got addicted to it again when I rewatch the show. 

[dramalover1]

1 hour ago, dejun said:

 

This drama explanation is done well enough but just that some viewers sometimes skip or fast forward some scenes and missed out on the finer points that complete the whole story.  I do agreed that sometimes this drama pace is a bit slow but this is a beautiful story being unraveled.  I got addicted to it again when I rewatch the show. 

 

I think a lot of people fast forward a lot of Chinese dramas because of their excessive screen time devoted to so many secondary characters. I've seen episodes where the main couple is featured for like 10 mins out of 40, which is frustrating. 

 

The only cdrama that I'm not skipping ahead is Fire in Nirvana. 

 

(If I really liked the drama I sometimes go back and watch the whole thing but I rarely get better understanding of the main plot thread for having seen all the secondary plot scenes.)

[snowflake]

21 hours ago, dramalover1 said:

in the book BJ chooses to stay in the palace rather than keep his promise to PT. (There's no annoying villain guifei in the book) PT knows he didn't come back for the greater cause aka stuff he feels he has to do for his kingdom. She realizes she'll always come after his greater priorities. And that's not the kind of love she wants. She sacrificed everything for the greater cause too (working for HX and so on) and only ended up with betrayal and disappointments. She has forsaken everything for her love with BJ (no more HX or loyalty to her kingdom or past military friends). So she is angry that BJ will sacrifice her to uphold his greater cause and she hates herself for having fallen for him, even tho she knew this would happen, and feels bone deep despair for the impossibility of having the love she's always wanted. 

 

Which is why I find that the drama is more superior than the novel.  I can't endear to like the two main characters in the novel but really loved the 2 lead characters in the drama.  The actors and actresses in the drama made the characters multi dimensional.  Although I like the ending part of the novel but it won't work well in drama. Mainly that is due to the actor who portrayed well liked Mo Ran so well.

 

10 hours ago, dramalover1 said:

 

I think a lot of people fast forward a lot of Chinese dramas because of their excessive screen time devoted to so many secondary characters. I've seen episodes where the main couple is featured for like 10 mins out of 40, which is frustrating. 

 

The only cdrama that I'm not skipping ahead is Fire in Nirvana. 

 

(If I really liked the drama I sometimes go back and watch the whole thing but I rarely get better understanding of the main plot thread for having seen all the secondary plot scenes.)

 

I usually like to watch every episode of any drama.  If the drama couldn't engage my interest, I will eventually drop it and skipping episodes means the show isn't interesting enough or are poorly produced or acted.  2017 is a really good year as many Chinese dramas that came out were really of good quality production.  General and I is one.  To me, Nirvana in Fire is one of the best drama produced of all times in plot, quality and overall production.  It's really a top notch drama.  For General and I, I not only enjoyed the Ping Ting and Chu Bei Ji's character portrayals but also the secondary characters like Mo Ran, Sima Hong, Zui Ju, Ze Yin,  Bei Ji's cute son and others.  In fact, after watching such high quality dramas, I tend to find it tough to watch other dramas as it pale in comparison. 

 

Another thing about General and I is how the dialogues was written truly earned my full respect.  The subbers for this drama did a very good job in translating especially when it comes to the king's decrees.  It's how in writing it was written in Chinese poetic language in paper and it's awesome.

[dramalover1]

40 minutes ago, dejun said:

 

Which is why I find that the drama is more superior than the novel.  I can't endear to like the two main characters in the novel but really loved the 2 lead characters in the drama.  The actors and actresses in the drama made the characters multi dimensional.  Although I like the ending part of the novel but it won't work well in drama. Mainly that is due to the actor who portrayed well liked Mo Ran so well.

 

 

I usually like to watch every episode of any drama.  If the drama couldn't engage my interest, I will eventually drop it and skipping episodes means the show isn't interesting enough or are poorly produced or acted.  2017 is a really good year as many Chinese dramas that came out were really of good quality production.  General and I is one.  To me, Nirvana in Fire is one of the best drama produced of all times in plot, quality and overall production.  It's really a top notch drama.  For General and I, I not only enjoyed the Ping Ting and Chu Bei Ji's character portrayals but also the secondary characters like Mo Ran, Sima Hong, Zui Ju, Ze Yin,  Bei Ji's cute son and others.  In fact, after watching such high quality dramas, I tend to find it tough to watch other dramas as it pale in comparison. 

 

I liked BJ in novel better than the drama (but only a little bit). I found the way he became infatuated with PT better in the novel because I'm getting a bit tired of "we met when we were little kids, and I fell in love even tho you don't even remember me now, and I decided to marry you" plot device used so often in so many Asian dramas. It's such a cop-out because I don't know anybody who marries / falls in love that way. I also liked the novel set up of PT that she's not that beautiful (just slightly above average in looks at the most), so BJ didn't fall for her looks, but her talent and intelligence, and he finds her beautiful for her inner beauty / talent.

 

PT is much more direct and firm and decisive in the novel, and some people really dislike that about romantic leads. In the drama, she's softer and more wishy-washy. CBJ is much more devoted in the drama, which makes him more swoon-worthy to many. (He's less so in the book b/c he doesn't become totally devoted / crazy for her until the half way mark in the novel)  In some ways, the drama writers made him very romantic, but in some ways, they did not -- because how blind can he be to not realize his brother the king was involved in the ridiculous plot to give PT to HX? (In the book, he puts it together very quickly. And being unable to reason out something that simple makes a guy unattractive unless he's supposed to be slow.) I think the big flaw that the drama writers had was that they wanted to make BJ totally loyal / patriotic but also super romantic / devoted to TP without him sacrificing either or making a very difficult choice (when he turns his back on his royal brother and state for forsaking the love of his life, like in the book), which sort of weakened his character arc and the intense romanticism in the book when OTP reunite.

 

2017 has been a good year for C-drama. K-dramas were pretty good too (Goblin and Strong Woman were great and good, respectively, altho the ones after were sort of just okay I thought, but then I'm very picky now, and most K-historical dramas bore me to tears these days b/c I know exactly where things are going so they become too predictable for me to feel involved). I rank  Eternal Love - 10 Miles of Peach Blossoms above General and I because I think the adaptation was superior, production superior (less fake-y pasted-on looks for a lot of scenes despite 10 Miles being totally fantasy, more on-site filming, lesser use of stunt/body doubles), and it didn't have annoying secondary characters added to the drama. (I REALLY hated the guifei subplot and the 13 Girl subplot in General and I because they were not only unnecessary, but totally ridiculous and dragged on for far too long. And I'm still bitter that the General and I production team ruined one of the most poignant moments in all Asian dramas by breaking it up with the pointless secondary character reaction shots in Ep 20... I was so mad I started yelling at my TV... ugh.)  But I do find both BJ and MY/YH super awesome heroes, and I hope to see Mark Cao in more dramas, altho I doubt that based on his interviews. (He seems very picky about projects and aren't that interested in making as much money as possible by filming tons of dramas and films even tho I read that he's getting tons of offers now.)

 

Nirvana in Fire (I keep calling it Fire in Nirvana, and not sure why I keep messing it up) is brilliant and very cerebral. Very different from General and I or 10 Miles of Peach Blossoms because the latter are all about the feels. But I find the tension and pace in NIF to be superior b/c you can't skip anything in that drama b/c you won't be able to follow anything b/c the plots and scheming are very sophisticated and intricate. (10 Miles and G&I are sort of not as subtle and intricately plotted, so I didn't have to watch all the subplot scenes for me to figure out exactly what's going on w/ villains. And this isnt' just the fault of 10 Miles or G&I. I can do the same with almost all K-dramas too, including the Princess's Man and Moon Embracing the Sun. (Moon Embracing the Sun is 100 times more intricate and sophisticated in its novel form. I was very disappointed with the drama adaptation.)

[ForgottenSoulx]

 

this makes me want to watch this show but i read reviews and douban score and its not liked.. 

[40somethingahjumma]

@Wotad -- It's not that bad although flawed. As like many other C dramas, the ending is very rushed with a number of questions unanswered which always annoys me. There's a period where the lead couple gets separated for a long time and things drag unnecessarily.

I watched it mainly for the romance. The war stuff is okay (the male and female lead are military strategists) and the palace machinations is pretty typical for the genre. Corrupt politicians, backstabbing consorts... etc etc... that sort of thing. But there's no doubting the chemistry of the leads.

[ForgottenSoulx]

6 hours ago, 40somethingahjumma said:

@Wotad -- It's not that bad although flawed. As like many other C dramas, the ending is very rushed with a number of questions unanswered which always annoys me. There's a period where the lead couple gets separated for a long time and things drag unnecessarily.

I watched it mainly for the romance. The war stuff is okay (the male and female lead are military strategists) and the palace machinations is pretty typical for the genre. Corrupt politicians, backstabbing consorts... etc etc... that sort of thing. But there's no doubting the chemistry of the leads.

maybe ill check it out i hate chinese endings for the most part . 

[snowflake]

On 1/24/2018 at 3:21 AM, Wotad said:

maybe ill check it out i hate chinese endings for the most part . 

 

Don't miss this drama.  My dad watched this and ranked it no 1 and I love the romance between the 2 main leads.  Currently there isn't any period dramas out there this year that is better anyway.

[Guest]

Juz flying past

[Issabella]

I've seen the first 5 episodes last night (to be honest, the ending, too) and i love it! It's a pity i didn't see this while being aired. I really like the story and the actors are very good.

[Issabella]

I didn't sleep last night to finish this series. I did fast forward some scenes but i watched all the episodes. I do not want to comment on the plot of the story because i don't want to think. Lame and silly but true. I want to say a bit though regarding the acting of the actors. WC as CB is very good. To be honest he could have given more, i felt that he restrained himself and that he did it to match Angelababy's acting. The latter is good, too, but she can't fully express thru her eyes and facial reactions the emotions in a scene yet. Please do not crucify me, i am saying these after watching them in this series only. But the two of them together is great! Considering they both have real life partners already. They're really professional. I want to mention WC's voice, he is one of the few soft spoken actors that i know. I really like his voice. 

 

Overall, General and I is a very good drama. No doubt about that.