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

[sonosong]

Yeah, I'm still trying to search for a HQ photo of this scene. But it's not that easy. Also, so many great shots of Ning Yi on the internet that I'm getting distracted from work. 

[tendrilsofwind]

1 hour ago, sonosong said:

Because he looked absolutely gorgeous bathed in that swatch of sunlight? Kekeke. There should be an official photo of it somewhere. This was a beautiful shot, seriously. (But I should not be on Netflix at work lol oops.)

 

Yes! This is the one. It's so gloriously composed. I thought it was one of those scenes after he was inadvertently poisoned by the eunuch, but I may be wrong. I searched everywhere and couldn't find a hd photo. They really should have used this for promotion. 

[Pollen Ainne]

Gaaaaaah! I was trying to video capture some romantic moments in the show but I got to ep 63 with her and the Da Yue prince and it makes me want to cry in frustration. All the things she said, I wish she said it all to Ning Yi instead. It was all for him after all. She was confessing to the wrong guy, and she has never even been this honest with her feelings in front of Ning Yi. Did she really mean to die to save Ning Yi when Shaoning tried to blow him up? I thought she had a better plan. Ning Yi needed to hear all that! It's really painful. But I still love this kind of pain... especially when compared to the last conversation she had with Ning Yi at episode 70...

[sonosong]

@Pollen Ainne I remember watching that scene and being extremely uncomfortable because he wasn't Ning Yi. I was like, wth?! After Ep.45, I was dreaming up another intimate moment like this for them, but she ends up having to feel up on another man? Bah!

 

My takeaway from this scene is that I finally got to hear her true feelings said out loud. She wants to be with Ning Yi, wants to marry him, wants to hold him like this. There was so many layers to Zhiwei here. Yeah, I agree with you that it us knowing but Ning Yi not hearing the words himself was really painful to watch. But they understand each other so well. After the flood, wasn't she willing to leave with him? I think he knows her feelings already, but he doesn't want her to be with him at the expense of her own well being and happiness. I'm only on Ep. 29 with the fam. Have quite a while before we get to this scene. 

[Pollen Ainne]

2 hours ago, sonosong said:

@Pollen Ainne I remember watching that scene and being extremely uncomfortable because he wasn't Ning Yi. I was like, wth?! After Ep.45, I was dreaming up another intimate moment like this for them, but she ends up having to feel up on another man? Bah!

 

My takeaway from this scene is that I finally got to hear her true feelings said out loud. She wants to be with Ning Yi, wants to marry him, wants to hold him like this. There was so many layers to Zhiwei here. Yeah, I agree with you that it us knowing but Ning Yi not hearing the words himself was really painful to watch. But they understand each other so well. After the flood, wasn't she willing to leave with him? I think he knows her feelings already, but he doesn't want her to be with him at the expense of her own well being and happiness. I'm only on Ep. 29 with the fam. Have quite a while before we get to this scene. 

I know he knows she loves him. But I don't think he has gauged the depths of her feelings to this extent. If he had, he might have changed his mind about leaving her with Helian Zheng. He wanted Zhiwei to be happy but it seems to me she never will be happy unless she is with him. That scene makes it pretty obvious. The thing with Zhiwei is that she tries so hard to be strong. And thus, she is strong. She is always strong in front of Ning Yi even when she allowed her feelings to show. But that scene with Jin Siyu showed her real feelings underneath the strength that she always portray. Deep inside, she was just a girl who was desperately in love with Ning Yi. It was so sad. I hate Jin Siyu. Ima go and create a Jin Siyu doll and stab it. lol!

[Yinye]

I finally grew to like Gu Nanyi in the drama and he is just cool adorable. I am on episode 27 and am being side tracked by Ever Night, books and work.

[GiaGia]

OMG OMG OMG ep 47 has some cute moments between NY and ZW!! He finally confessed to her!!!! I wish they could just marry, and have the drama end at ep 47!! And awww this love triangle between NY, ZW and Prince Helieng is so cute, sorry PH, ZW and NY belongs together!!! So, it looks like ZW is going to get involved with another guy, besides NY and PH!! Jin Siyu, I wonder if I will like seeing ZW with Jin Siyu????!!! Love love the sweet moments between NY and ZW!!! They are truly meant for each other, they understand each other's actions, feelings and minds so well. They can read each other and mirror one another's, they are truly soulmate, made for each other. 

 

On a side note, personal guard Ning Cheng is cute and handsome!! He loves his master so much!!!

[morganian]

On 11/7/2018 at 9:28 PM, Pollen Ainne said:

Oh and btw, I saw this review on Youtube. 

I love this reviewer.  She is so on point!

Hehe, thanks for sharing @Pollen Ainne. That review summed things up well and made me laugh too.

 

It looks like a whole bunch of non-Mandarin-speaking Netflix viewers have been leaving positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes too, which is great. The audience score is now at 96% (as of yesterday). 

[Pollen Ainne]

5 hours ago, morganian said:

It looks like a whole bunch of non-Mandarin-speaking Netflix viewers have been leaving positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes too, which is great. The audience score is now at 96% (as of yesterday). 

Wow there are more reviewers already. I remember when I reviewed it there was very few reviews. And it also got a critic review which is positive. Problem is, I am not sure if the critic truly saw the series and understood it. I read his full review and I have huge doubts. lol

 

I was looking for the culprit why the score went down and this is the guy

I understand him. lol

[GiaGia]

Question, ZW's real identity is that she is the lost princess from the previous dynasty, what dynasty was it again?? So, she and Feng Hao are not twins. So, why is ZW's mother have her sworn to not marry Prince of Chu??

[Pollen Ainne]

39 minutes ago, rosierosie said:

Question, ZW's real identity is that she is the lost princess from the previous dynasty, what dynasty was it again?? So, she and Feng Hao are not twins. So, why is ZW's mother have her sworn to not marry Prince of Chu??

Zhiwei is the Princess of Dacheng Empire. It was the empire that was defeated by Ning Shizheng with the help of Chang Yuan, when he revolted against the Emperor of Dacheng. She is not the twin sister of Hao and Qui Mingying is not her true mother. The reason why Qui Mingying didn't want her to marry Ning Yi is because she is loyal to the Dacheng Empire and the Nings are their enemies. It had nothing to do with Ning Yi in particular. She wouldn't want Zhiwei to marry any of the Nings or Changs.

[GiaGia]

Is it going to be sadness from ep 50-ish on??!! :(....so sad for ZW and NY!!!! FH was just a kid, but towards the end of his death, he matured and saved his sister from death. S0, Mingying have twins, but her husband, Gu Heng took one and jump off a cliff with his twin, how sad!!!! ZW's funeral scene in the rain with NY and after she came out from volunteered herself to marry Prince Helieng, and she met NY's on the bridge, and the music played was just so nice!!! Their love is so bitter-sweet!!!!!! My heart is broken for them :(................

[morganian]

9 hours ago, rosierosie said:

Is it going to be sadness from ep 50-ish on??!! :(....so sad for ZW and NY!!!! Their love is so bitter-sweet!!!!!! My heart is broken for them :(................

It gets pretty brutal. There are some moments when FZW and NY work/scheme together like of old but for the most part the writers continue throwing obstacles between the two of them getting together as the series unfolds: the initial oath forced on by Qiu Míng Ying, the second oath by FZW, FZW’s involvement with HLZ, FZW or NY blaming each other for the deaths of loved ones or innocents, hurtful confessions, etc. 

 

There are also a few missed opportunities where the two of them just don’t commit. Minhai is the only time they are both on the same page when it comes to ‘double happiness’. So very cruel. As per Chen Kun’s interview, you really do feel like sending a razor blade in the mail to the writers (interview below). 

Aiyoooo. 

[whisper1]

Thanks for all the info on GO. I know what to get my brother for the holiday, he enjoys deep strategy  games.

12 hours ago, rosierosie said:

Is it going to be sadness from ep 50-ish on??!! :(....so sad for ZW and NY!!!! FH was just a kid, but towards the end of his death, he matured and saved his sister from death. S0, Mingying have twins, but her husband, Gu Heng took one and jump off a cliff with his twin, how sad!!!! ZW's funeral scene in the rain with NY and after she came out from volunteered herself to marry Prince Helieng, and she met NY's on the bridge, and the music played was just so nice!!! Their love is so bitter-sweet!!!!!! My heart is broken for them :(................

So who is FW? Hao is the 9th prince and the bloody pagoda brother is 4th prince of Dacheng, she was switched at birth from who? Sorry for being thick.

 

Very sad to watch FW being manipulated by her older brother for the sake of " the reflection of the moon in the river" NY mother offered some sage advice. I loved her scene with GN. He was so innocent. 

 

Wow NingQi ,the simple brother from the boarder, really turned out to be surprisingly evil.

 

For a while I considered GuNanyi might actually be FW brother, same mole by their eye.

 

 

[skibbies]

23 minutes ago, whisper1 said:

So who is FW? Hao is the 9th prince and the bloody pagoda brother is 4th prince of Dacheng, she was switched at birth from who? Sorry for being thick.

Zhiwei is the Dacheng princess. Feng Hao is one of Qiu Ming Ying's sons, he's a cover for Zhiwei, and technically Zhiwei is a cover for 4th prince. Qiu Ming Ying had twin sons, Zhiwei was switched with one of them and, that one presumbly died 18 years ago on the cliff.

[Yinye]

I just made it to episode 33 and some questions:

Spoiler

1.The blood curse was not in the novel right? I read half of the novels and don't recall it at all.

2. NY's mother's childhood love, the Ambassador, he really committed suicide - or was he killed or not? It wasn't shown so I wasn't sure I missed it or they are using it for staging a scheme.

 

Halfway observation for me is the Emperor is kinda stealing the show with Gu Nanyi lol. Ni Ni is doing well as FZW and I love her ladies outfits (the red and light blue dress when she meets that dorky thug Prince and the mint/burnt orange one during the marriage proposal especially ---- so beautiful). CK's acting is a bit up and down depending on the scenes. I know he's a very intense actor and an awesome one but how to say, his intensity level really stands out when overall other performers are at another level. So there's a slight unsync and it comes across as overacting. 

 

 

[Pollen Ainne]

3 hours ago, stella77 said:

I just made it to episode 33 and some questions:

  Hide contents

CK's acting is a bit up and down depending on the scenes. I know he's a very intense actor and an awesome one but how to say, his intensity level really stands out when overall other performers are at another level. So there's a slight unsync and it comes across as overacting. 

 

 

Actually, I always just took it that he was overacting on purpose. That Ning Yi himself (the character not the actor) was just acting overly dramatic. He basically pushed the limits to where people know he is lying and yet can't help but let him get away with it. It is very fun to watch. However, his character itself is also extremely emotional. He is not the boring cool-stoic-type. So sometimes people have to guess if he is being dramatic on purpose or just really being extremely emotional. It makes him so intriguing.

 

As for Zhanbi...

Spoiler

He committed suicide to protect Ning Yi as he completely believed Ning Sheng... ~sigh. He was so gullible. 

 

 

 

On 11/6/2018 at 6:01 AM, skibbies said:

Some of the trailer scenes never shows up or is edited heavily. There's a tiny bit of Zhiwei holding a sword against Ning Yi, but you don't see  her pulling the sword out. It appears in a flashback though, blink and you'll miss it.

Do you still remember what episode it was? I remember seeing it but for the life of me I can't remember where it was...

[skibbies]

6 hours ago, stella77 said:

 

  Hide contents

1.The blood curse was not in the novel right? I read half of the novels and don't recall it at all.

 

Spoiler

The blood curse is in there, it's in Da Yue arc, between Zhiwei and Prince An. So, completely different context. They ported it over to Ning Yi and emperor as a plot armour to protect Ning Yi in the early days and add a layer of conflict to why emperor won't simply make Ning Yi crown prince after Ning Chuan/crown prince died, oh and I guess to indicate complicated relationship between Emperor and Yanfei.

 

[GiaGia]

4 hours ago, stella77 said:

I just made it to episode 33 and some questions:

  Hide contents

1.The blood curse was not in the novel right? I read half of the novels and don't recall it at all.

2. NY's mother's childhood love, the Ambassador, he really committed suicide - or was he killed or not? It wasn't shown so I wasn't sure I missed it or they are using it for staging a scheme.

 

Halfway observation for me is the Emperor is kinda stealing the show with Gu Nanyi lol. Ni Ni is doing well as FZW and I love her ladies outfits (the red and light blue dress when she meets that dorky thug Prince and the mint/burnt orange one during the marriage proposal especially ---- so beautiful). CK's acting is a bit up and down depending on the scenes. I know he's a very intense actor and an awesome one but how to say, his intensity level really stands out when overall other performers are at another level. So there's a slight unsync and it comes across as overacting. 

 

 

Yes, Ning Yi's character is supposed to be overdramatic, so that people can never guess what his real intention is. 

 

The King is really dumb. Ning Qi is a peace of richard simmons for

Spoiler

killing

Shongning. I pity her, but she is so naive and just a child herself too. 

[Yinye]

Thanks for your answers and insights everyone! I am in the 40’s episodes now and am surprise that 

Spoiler

FZW and NQ are being so openly affectionate with each other; I guess since it is out that she is a woman. Awww the cave scenes are sweet.

 

My comment (and personal opinion) are  more on the actors acting than the characters’ personality and actions. I realize the character of NQ is intentionally overacting. In

Spoiler

my overall assessment of the drama, I think scriptwriters, direction and delivery focused too much on this aspect throughout the series. That aside, CK’s is a great actor - just too strong and good and in can come across as overacting (not the scenes when he is intentionally doing so as NQ).