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

[tendrilsofwind]

I found these gifs on tumblr from belladonna2018. I need a fainting couch every time I watch this scene. 

The sexual tension is palpable!!

 

 

[Pollen Ainne]

17 hours ago, ElleSor said:

 

Don't get me wrong...I really love the OTP and I think the acting is very fitting for the character of a deceptive prince. I can't just help but smile sometimes especially when his left eyebrow gets a life of its own.  or when he fake cries.

I especially found his overacting quite charming in the episode where FZW bandages him up  after he got hurt from saving her in Epi 7.

 

I agree. I love those parts! 

12 hours ago, skibbies said:

@Pollen Ainne Nah, the story about his mum is pretty different. The only thing they sort of retained is the emperor adored her and forcibly married her (the book  is more infatuated by her beauty).. I mostly remember the emperor as a creepy pervert.

 

@ElleSor Yeah I think he over acts at times, definitely can feel like stage acting. but his most notacble over the top acting is Ning Yi's, Ning Yi just likes to play around. I mean there are scenes where he's lot more restrained but still layered. The eyebrow thing is one of Chen Kun's quirks, I find it hilarious, I don't think he can help it.

 

I havnt actually seen Chen Kun in anything else but I remember his over the top portrayal of the prince against the restrained awesome actors around him and it hooked  me right away. I think even without the romance I would have loved the character. But with the romance it gets so much better that I am obsessing on it. lol

[tamaharuchan]

Hellooo, 

I'm a long time silent lurkers on this thread. Currently I'm diligently following the drama thru Netflix (even though I have spoiled myself with RAW - LOL).

 

Just wanna share some clips that I did (amateurish - first time I did for a drama). That includes the scene  that I love in drama. 

 

https://dai.ly/x6v3pd8

 

 

*I think I'm too old. I can't embedded the video sorry 

 

[aisama]

This drama is brilliant. The cast is brilliant. This is my first time see Chen Kun and I have to say I absolutely love how he portrait the complexity of Ning Yi character and personality. Definitely became a fan of him now.

 

Talking about his over acting, that's exactly what caught my interest and sold me to his acting as well as the character. It was fun to watch him act the carefree fool to a smart strategist. And, see how he switch between these personality and expressions during crucial scene where he struggle to find the best solution to a problem he's suddenly found himself in.

 

That aside. I'm currently watching this religiously on Netflix. And now that I've already finish the latest batch of released episode up to 60. I can see why people say is rushed at the end. I feel like everything being resolved in the next 10 episodes is just too quick. I wouldn't mind if it was 80 episodes just to time and flesh out more of what's to come.

[tzupi]

As many others here have said, this drama is indeed exceptional. I got into it because of Chen Kun's performance, which, after 25 episodes (that's where I'm after starting watching it last week) is still amazing to watch. The main actress is also excellent and I find the character she plays very compelling.

 

The story might be slow for some in the beginning. Personally, I did not mind it at all because everything is so gorgeous to watch and the acting is very good. 

 

Some people have complained that the plot is too linear, because one can identify the arcs easily. I liked this because there is so much to pay attention in the double meaning dialogue, that were the plot more convoluted, it would have been very difficult to watch.

 

 

https://decider.com/2018/10/08/the-rise-of-phoenixes-on-netflix-stream-it-or-skip-it/

 

[Pollen Ainne]

On 10/9/2018 at 2:43 PM, tamaharuchan said:

Hellooo, 

I'm a long time silent lurkers on this thread. Currently I'm diligently following the drama thru Netflix (even though I have spoiled myself with RAW - LOL).

 

Just wanna share some clips that I did (amateurish - first time I did for a drama). That includes the scene  that I love in drama. 

 

https://dai.ly/x6v3pd8

 

 

*I think I'm too old. I can't embedded the video sorry 

 

I't just so cute, the comparison of Ning Yi playing around and him being serious. And I didn't even find him (the actor) remotely cute at all. The character just really appealed to me that he became cute in everything.

 

On 10/10/2018 at 3:49 AM, aisama said:

This drama is brilliant. The cast is brilliant. This is my first time see Chen Kun and I have to say I absolutely love how he portrait the complexity of Ning Yi character and personality. Definitely became a fan of him now.

 

Talking about his over acting, that's exactly what caught my interest and sold me to his acting as well as the character. It was fun to watch him act the carefree fool to a smart strategist. And, see how he switch between these personality and expressions during crucial scene where he struggle to find the best solution to a problem he's suddenly found himself in.

 

That aside. I'm currently watching this religiously on Netflix. And now that I've already finish the latest batch of released episode up to 60. I can see why people say is rushed at the end. I feel like everything being resolved in the next 10 episodes is just too quick. I wouldn't mind if it was 80 episodes just to time and flesh out more of what's to come.

 

I agree. 80 episodes would probably be better, so we can actually have a better war between Ning Yi and Zhiwei. A serious and all out war. What we got felt like a lovers spat to me. It seemed like misunderstandings on top of another. Would have been great had Zhiwei have time to make real decisions out of something real. Would have loved to see multiple episodes wherein they both understood that they loved each other, but unfortunately for rulers, love cannot be enough...

[ForgottenSoulx]

i was hyped for this show but cant invest so many hours in this ending. 

[Pollen Ainne]

22 minutes ago, Wotad said:

i was hyped for this show but cant invest so many hours in this ending. 

 

Actually, I had the same thoughts. But each episode is so much fun and the characters are awesome that the ending seems just a minor failure to me instead of the be all end all that it usually is.

[tamaharuchan]

I never thought Ning Yi as someone who desired the throne or someone who really want to be a king. His aims first and foremost  are to prove his late brother is innocence and then uncover the truth about his mother..Of course he want a clean state government, unite the country etc.2 but if it will cost innocent lives he would definitely step out of the game (He keep on telling Zhi Yan about this). In the synopsis and the trailer emphasize like Ning Yi is some sort of someone who desired the throne (in my language we called it 'gila kuasa') but actually he's none of that.. and to think about he never 'disturb' or 'touch' the princes or concubines, unless they tried to 'stir' him first. Can't wait for him to make a plan against Prince Wei.

 

ps: I even thought he can took over the throne anytime he wants, if he wanted too.. but since he's so filial to his father, he never did that. All of this make the novel ending much more sense to me.. IDK.

[Pollen Ainne]

4 hours ago, tamaharuchan said:

I never thought Ning Yi as someone who desired the throne or someone who really wants to be a king. His aims first and foremost is proven his late brother is innocent and then uncover the truth about his mother..Of course he want a clean state government, unite the country etc.2 but if it will cost innocent lives he would definitely step out of the game (He keep on telling Zhi Yan about this). In the synopsis and the trailer emphasize like Ning Yi is some sort of someone who desired the throne (in my language we called it 'gila kuasa') but actually he's none of that.. and to think about he never 'disturb' or 'touch' the princes or concubines, unless they tried to 'stir' him first. Can't wait for him to make a plan against Prince Wei.

 

ps: I even thought he can took over the throne anytime he wants, if he wanted too.. but since he's so filial to his father, he never did that. All of this make the novel ending much more sense to me.. IDK.

Actually, he does desire the throne. He is ambitious, and he wants to unite the kingdoms as you said, and the only way to do it is to have a King on the throne who desires to do so, namely himself. That already is a desire for the throne. There are of course things he is not willing to do to accomplish his ambitions, which means he is a person with a conscience and not someone who is swallowed by greed and power like most of his brothers. This does not lessen his ambitions. 

 

As for taking the throne from the emperor, none of the princes had wanted to do so until they were driven into a corner. They were all "filial" although that affection swings back and forth from love and fear/hate (including Ning Yi).

 

I remember the crown prince was shocked at the thought of letting his father die of the poison. It never crossed his mind until his uncle stated it. The moment he knew his father was being poisoned, his first instinct was to stop it.

 

Ning Sheng never thought about it as well until the emperor backed him into the corner by implying that Ning Yi will be getting the throne. Ning Yi on the throne did not only mean the end of his dreams of glory but it meant his and his family's end, period. He believed that with Ning Yi as emperor they were all good as dead. Which is most probably true. I love Ning Yi, but he is not some model of forgiveness. In the end, his father did entrap Ning Sheng into treason, although the choice to step into it was of course his own.

 

Ning Yan as well only thought of cursing the crowned prince and Ning Yi had to use Zhiwei to change the wooden carving to include the Emperor in it. The prince of Zhao never thought of eliminating the emperor.

 

Ning Yi also threatened his father of commanding the armies of Minhai if the emperor kills Zhiwei. He was threatening rebellion. It really just depends on how desperate the princes becomes. None of them wanted to harm the emperor until they become desperate. In the end, they all craved their father's love.

 

After saying all that, I do believe the novel ending did make sense. Once Ning Yi manages to accomplish his goals, he doesn't have to stay Emperor. There was a reason the 10th prince existed in the first place. While all the other princes were power hungry (including Ning Yi to some degree) he was the only one who seemed innocent and kind. He was obviously a character created to take the throne.

[yunmo19]

5 hours ago, Pollen Ainne said:

Actually, he does desire the throne. He is ambitious, and he wants to unite the kingdoms as you said, and the only way to do it is to have a King on the throne who desires to do so, namely himself. That already is a desire for the throne. There are of course things he is not willing to do to accomplish his ambitions, which means he is a person with a conscience and not someone who is swallowed by greed and power like most of his brothers. This does not lessen his ambitions. 

 

Funnily enough I never get from Ning Yi the vibe that he seriously wants the throne or, at least, as much as his brother. The most telling fact is that he willingly takes the position of the Censorate chief, which is equivalent to putting himself as far from the throne as it can get (due to the sensitive nature of that position). 

[tzupi]

3 hours ago, yunmo19 said:

 

Funnily enough I never get from Ning Yi the vibe that he seriously wants the throne or, at least, as much as his brother. The most telling fact is that he willingly takes the position of the Censorate chief, which is equivalent to putting himself as far from the throne as it can get (due to the sensitive nature of that position). 

I also agree with @Pollen Ainne. He desires the throne, in fact he once explained to the headmaster that his ultimate plan is to restore the empire to the glory of the previous one. That does not mean yet that he is willing to kill the emperor, but he wants to become the prince who will be chosen as an emperor.

 

The convoluted actions he takes to get there are because he is also strategic: he said several times that he does not have much of support, that's why the headmaster suggested that he marries.

He also thinks that he cannot do anything until he destroys the Chang family, something that the headmaster did not quite agree with. The prince took the Censorate position to destroy the head of the Chang family, which serves multiple purposes when it will be done.

 

Other important motives for his actions are his feelings for FZW as well as his principle not to harm the innocents. These two motives make him sometimes to choose a more difficult path to attain his goals

 

I have a question for people who are familiar with both the show and the novel: Does the series cover novel until the end, but not the ending? or the ending is something that happens in the book at some point, but the book continues after that point?

[Pollen Ainne]

2 hours ago, yunmo19 said:

 

Funnily enough I never get from Ning Yi the vibe that he seriously wants the throne or, at least, as much as his brother. The most telling fact is that he willingly takes the position of the Censorate chief, which is equivalent to putting himself as far from the throne as it can get (due to the sensitive nature of that position). 

From the many arguments he has with Headmaster Xin, it is made pretty obvious that he wants the throne. Ning Yi is a person who is almost constantly putting on an act, hence the "over-acting" stuff that some people complain about. The only times we know he is 100% serious is when he is arguing with the Headmaster who he trusts, and in the later parts when he was with Zhiwei (yes, at the beginning, he toyed with her a lot, he stops over-acting at some point around her). There are some other instances too but those are the major ones. 

 

However, Ning Yi has his priorities. His final goal is to become emperor, but first he wanted to clear the names of his brother, the 3rd prince, as well as his mother. And he wanted to punish the Changs for what they did to his mother.

 

But his ultimate goal was to become Emperor. In his heart, he wanted to be an Emperor who can unite the kingdoms together. He was eight when he blackmailed Gu Yan and used his wife and son to control him. Headmaster Xin was attracted to him because they shared the same dream of a united Kingdom. And if you don't believe all that, Zhiwei, the person who loves him, can see clearly through his ambitions and told him to his face, that he was one of the rabid dogs fighting for the bone. There is no denying his ambitions.

 

BUT will he be willing to give up dreams for love? Sure. He was already willing to give it up for his mother. Had he believed that running away with Zhiwei would be best for her and keep her safe, he probably would have done that too. For someone so smart, Ning Yi isn't ruled by logic at all, he is ruled by his heart. He twists logic to fit his emotional needs which frustrates Headmaster Xin to no end. Good thing he is really smart, he gets away with it.

 

So yes he desires the throne, but that doesn't mean an ending where he gives it up would not make sense.

[aisama]

1 hour ago, Pollen Ainne said:

BUT will he be willing to give up dreams for love? Sure. He was already willing to give it up for his mother. Had he believed that running away with Zhiwei would be best for her and keep her safe, he probably would have done that too. For someone so smart, Ning Yi isn't ruled by logic at all, he is ruled by his heart. He twists logic to fit his emotional needs which frustrates Headmaster Xin to no end. Good thing he is really smart, he gets away with it.
 

That's exactly what I feel about Ning Yi. He's willing to give up his ambitions for love. He had said it multiple times throughout the drama amidst all his strategizing for justice and betterment of their country and dreams.

 

And unlike his brothers who are eagerly trying to prove their greatness, willingness, and candidacy to their father, Ning Yi on the other hand is a little rebellious in the sense that he'll do what his father wants, but at the same time threatens him at times.

 

[tamaharuchan]

17 hours ago, Pollen Ainne said:

Actually, he does desire the throne. He is ambitious, and he wants to unite the kingdoms as you said, and the only way to do it is to have a King on the throne who desires to do so, namely himself. 

Sorry to cut your post. I do agree with some of your point, but I still think Ning Yi is much more of a planner/strategist type of person. He just layout the foundation, prepare everything out and give it to another person. He is ambitious but like in your another post, if he's a ruler, he will be a ruler who ruled by his heart. 

 

As for the prince, never want to revolt until being 'cornered' to..I guess most of their action are mostly because of the people around them? Like Crown Prince that person is his uncle and Ning Sheng, that person is his mom and Peng Pei. But among the Prince, aside from Ning Yi. I think Ning Sheng is the second in term of being calculative and intelligent.

 

I like that Ning Yi is a complex character. Still in the drama I guess no one can really 'read' Ning Yi and he keep a lot of things from Zhi Wei (that is why the misunderstanding is piling up). Even his initial intention is to protect her. Ning is no saint person either. He's calculative, manipulative and cunning. But I guess his charms makes me blind sided. LOL.

 

Thank you for your input guys!

 

PS: I like that in one of subbed interview by Chen Kun. He said that when Zhi Wei and Ning Yi together, there is always interruption. He says that if the fans doesn't satisfy with it just send a razor (like a threat) to the scripwriter. LOL. He also admit Ning Yi have a dark heart (probably because of the revenge). So today the last week guys. I probably need a drama rehab or drama withdrawal group theraphy after this. LOL. 

 

[Pollen Ainne]

2 hours ago, tamaharuchan said:

Sorry to cut your post. I do agree with some of your point, but I still think Ning Yi is much more of a planner/strategist type of person. He just layout the foundation, prepare everything out and give it to another person. He is ambitious but like in your another post, if he's a ruler, he will be a ruler who ruled by his heart. 

 

As for the prince, never want to revolt until being 'cornered' to..I guess most of their action are mostly because of the people around them? Like Crown Prince that person is his uncle and Ning Sheng, that person is his mom and Peng Pei. But among the Prince, aside from Ning Yi. I think Ning Sheng is the second in term of being calculative and intelligent.

 

I like that Ning Yi is a complex character. Still in the drama I guess no one can really 'read' Ning Yi and he keep a lot of things from Zhi Wei (that is why the misunderstanding is piling up). Even his initial intention is to protect her. Ning is no saint person either. He's calculative, manipulative and cunning. But I guess his charms makes me blind sided. LOL.

 

Thank you for your input guys!

 

PS: I like that in one of subbed interview by Chen Kun. He said that when Zhi Wei and Ning Yi together, there is always interruption. He says that if the fans doesn't satisfy with it just send a razor (like a threat) to the scripwriter. LOL. He also admit Ning Yi have a dark heart (probably because of the revenge). So today the last week guys. I probably need a drama rehab or drama withdrawal group theraphy after this. LOL. 

 

Agreed. Agreed. And totally with you.I'm going to have to undergo rehab to get over this show. Which is weird because this show didn't seem to capture a lot of hearts, so why am I so in love with it??!! Will probably have to write some fanfics to get myself out of it. There was only one other drama that did the same thing to me.

[aisama]

I'm going to need rehab too. Lol. It's been a while since I was able to find a drama I enjoy very much. The fact that I have just finished Ashes of Love last week and Rises of the Phoenixes is ending this week. Double the blues to my heart since I have no other drama lined up after. <\3

[yunmo19]

Just one question. Does anyone using Netflix (international ver.) know how and when Netflix announces the series it's gonna take off ? Does it even notify us at all when a series is taken off our watch list? I've used Netflix not for long and I just notice some series on my list getting deleted without warning. I don't want the same to happen when I want to rewatch this series. 

[MikiRei]

They don't warn you. I tend to find news articles stating what they'll delete but yeah. It deletes without warning. REALLY annoying. 

[Pollen Ainne]

Just finished episode 65 with subs and I am more convinced than ever that Ning Yi desires the throne. Even his mother who advised him to find happiness away from royalty could see it. And the way he was acting overly happy felt really unnatural. There is a huge difference from when he was genuinely happy with Zhiwei while they were in Minhai. He looked contented and satisfied, as if he owned the world. Those episodes were the best, but unfortuntaly short lived.

 

The commoner Ning Yi I believe, is also happy to finally be with his mother, however, he seems to be forcing too much happiness out, as if to cover the emptiness he is feeling from loosing his dreams. But he seems desperate to keep his mother safe.

 

And now I understand why he had to turn his back on Zhiwei, I didn't really get it before, when Helian Zheng was ready to give her up. But I guess at that time he knew he was giving up his status, and Zhiwei needed someone with power to protect her, something he will no longer have. Ugh, sorry, but I wish his mother had just died from when he was eight.

 

And I don't really understand why Dahua lost her child. Did the guards do something to her as well? Or did she see her sister dead and got frightened? Why was Gu Nanyi in Tiansheng and why was he going inside Ning Yi's residence? I thought I would understand this with dialogue but unfortunately I am more confused than ever. I never once had any problems following this drama until now.