[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Story of Ming Lan 庶女明兰传 / 知否？知否？应是绿肥红瘦

[jewelsc]

I like Ruyi, it's like NIF and Battle of Changsha, started out slow and then gradually build up to a point where u just can't wait for the next epi. to show already. I'm thinking Minglan will be somewhat similar, as @dito mentioned it is just a family drama which will be a bit slow for some viewers (which might affect the ratings), with storyline basically about infighting amongst the concubines and their children and how Minglan grew up learning how to stay strong and be smart and also i think they will mostly focus too on the relationship between her and her grandmother..i think if this drama does do well, i believe it is bcos of ZLY's fans and  ZYL's rising popularity may also contribute and also the older and mostly women and maybe some men who r into family dramas will give this one a go.

[dito]

8 hours ago, mrsyooknit said:

 

Good writers are so hard to find in every country   and then you have production changing scripts to please their sponsors and adding fillers . NIF you couldnt skip anything bc everything was essential to understanding the plot and for other dramas some side character parts are completely irrelevant to the story. I hope I am not jinxing it, but I really like the screenwriters for Minglan. I believe they only have another drama, Battle of Changsha, not sure if it was adapted from a book but I think it was. One of those rare dramas with really good character development. I do admit some parts were slow to me but I think it was due to it being a war drama. I am hoping since the original book has good reviews plus with these two screenwriters produced a great scrip before we will get something of quality. *crosses all fingers*

 

Hunan does try their best going after ratings. They usually get high ratings but this year has just been a big flop for them. Their main problem is their scissor fingers. I swear they do some of the worse editing. I was hoping Daylight wouldn't sell to them and they had never sold to them before so I am guessing the rumors that they paid a ridiculous amount for this drama are true. Zhao Liying is one of the actresses that gets Hunan good ratings so that along with Daylight made them go full force after this drama. I can only hope that Daylight got some reassurances about what Hunan would do with their final product. Looking at their lineup for this time slot, Minglan is their only big production drama left for this year so I think they are hoping it will do well. If it gets pushed back then it could be a long time before it airs.  

 

I have seen only a few episodes of Ruyi and I havent seen Yanxi. While Ruyi is not bad from what I have seen, I do think people were expecting a higher quality production but most of the money was probably used up on the main two actors. While Yanxi used up most of their money in production so it comes off more visually appealing. This and ROP should be a wake up call that paying a lot for popular celebs is not enough, you need a well rounded production. A lot of these dramas used up most of their money on two cast members. I do plan on checking ROP out when it starts airing on Netflix but not super excited for it just bc I am not in the mood for its genre. 
 

Overall, I liked HSALF but I am not at all happy with the script. It could have been so much better and you can really pinpoint where things started going bad. You can skip about ~15 episodes in the middle and miss nothing regarding the main storyline. So many fillers. I can rant about issues with this script forever. Really frustrating since a lot of bts drama came to light and you know production messed up a good story. 

I agree, a good drama shows how much effort the makers have taken on all fronts not just actors or sets and production values.

Yes I've read people saying Ruyi is not bad but when they've watched a better produced version of the same story....of course it will feel like a let down. I think since Yanxi aired first and was getting good ratings Ruyi should have been postponed to next year. Then at least the story and the characters wouldn't feel so repetitive...and won't be compared to Yanxi so much.

@jewelsc too

I agree with both of you about Battle Of Changsha....I remember forwarding scenes in the beginning of the show....but by the time I reached halfway I was watching almost every scene. And that drama did character development of its characters really well....I kind of disliked the brother in law in the beginning but by the end he became my favorite character....

[ForgottenSoulx]

Have not watched Battle of Changsha yet but you people are convincing me haha. 

[dito]

58 minutes ago, Wotad said:

Have not watched Battle of Changsha yet but you people are convincing me haha. 

 

Its not bad...but story telling is a bit slow. You'll need a lot of patience in the beginning. And lots of time it feels like nothing is happening. Some characters will make you want to pull your hair out sometimes....smh at that twin brother... But you will see the characters literally grow and change because of what they went through. Its a story of a normal family living and surviving through war....the father is an academic...a poet or something....not much help in earning money to run the household of 7-8 people...including a pair of trouble making twins. So the responsibility comes down on the shady brother in law who's not above cheating and thieving from the people he works for....the military. The moment I realized that thank God this family has this person looking after them otherwise they will all be dead by now was the moment I started liking his character.   

[mrsyooknit]

@jewelsc

Thanks for the info. I will give it a few episodes to built up since I really enjoyed those dramas. 

I do think the story has potential to be liked by many. When I was younger family dramas were really popular with the whole house while ZLY fans can bring in a younger audience.

@dito

Yeah pretty much. I found the first episodes a bit slow but didnt skip. The brother in law grew so much on me. He did some bad things but he had a good heart while the father was very honorable but didnt do anything for his family if was only up to him they would have died.

@Wotad

Great drama. Has very realistic characters that experience a lot of growth. It is a family drama during war times but it really captures the complexity of human beings. No one is really evil or good and everyone has character flaws. 

 

[icyphoenix]

 

[mrsyooknit]

Yay! That means that they are doing the main characters now. 

[skibbies]

NiF2 had low ratings not only because it aired late night, it was also released online first. tRoP required a fair bit of set up, and editing could be better, but lots of people just don't have patience for it, which is fair.

 

As for Minglan, these kind of family stories have always been popular I think? On TV and now in web novels, so there's plenty of potential for it to hit off in ratings. I'd smidge worry about the length (god pls stop making dramas so long), but TV watchers aren't too worried about them usually, it's people who binge/watch online (so younger viewers) that worry about them.

 

Can the drama pass SARFT in 2 months though? That seems like a super short time? It'd be good to set it to Jan-Feb though to draw in all the people on holidays.

[mrsyooknit]

1 hour ago, skibbies said:

NiF2 had low ratings not only because it aired late night, it was also released online first. tRoP required a fair bit of set up, and editing could be better, but lots of people just don't have patience for it, which is fair.

 

As for Minglan, these kind of family stories have always been popular I think? On TV and now in web novels, so there's plenty of potential for it to hit off in ratings. I'd smidge worry about the length (god pls stop making dramas so long), but TV watchers aren't too worried about them usually, it's people who binge/watch online (so younger viewers) that worry about them.

 

Can the drama pass SARFT in 2 months though? That seems like a super short time? It'd be good to set it to Jan-Feb though to draw in all the people on holidays.

 

yeah it does seem a short time to pass SARFT. Hunan will air a historical drama in December since they have like ~40 or so historical episodes left for the year and I doubt they would waste them. So if Minglan doesnt air in December this year then we are in for the long run  that is why I am hopping they finish up and pass SARFT already. 

[ForgottenSoulx]

On 9/15/2018 at 6:21 PM, skibbies said:

NiF2 had low ratings not only because it aired late night, it was also released online first. tRoP required a fair bit of set up, and editing could be better, but lots of people just don't have patience for it, which is fair.

 

As for Minglan, these kind of family stories have always been popular I think? On TV and now in web novels, so there's plenty of potential for it to hit off in ratings. I'd smidge worry about the length (god pls stop making dramas so long), but TV watchers aren't too worried about them usually, it's people who binge/watch online (so younger viewers) that worry about them.

 

Can the drama pass SARFT in 2 months though? That seems like a super short time? It'd be good to set it to Jan-Feb though to draw in all the people on holidays.

 

Length to me does not matter as long as the content is good aka Empresses in the Palace i was not bored at all. 

[minoku2209]

It's quite sometime I've been here, had to back read few pages, anyway thanks to all for the updates.

I can't wait for Minglan to be on air, hope we won't be waiting too long now.

 

 

 

[minoku2209]

An interview with The Story of MingLan director on dubbing The Story of MingLan.

[minoku2209]

Chow Tai Fook (zhōu dà fú) announced that the new jewellery collection is coming out for The Story of MingLan drama.

[TheRedPheonix]

.

[mrsyooknit]

7 hours ago, minoku2209 said:

Chow Tai Fook (zhōu dà fú) announced that the new jewellery collection is coming out for The Story of MingLan drama.

 

 

I just wish they werent so expensive. I always want to get jewelry from ancient dramas bc it looks simple yet classy but I know Chow Tai Fook is on the expensive side. At least their previous ZLY jewelry.  But this is still a good opportunity.

 

6 hours ago, TheRedDragon said:

Zhu Yilong, Zhao Liying, Feng Shaofeng, "知否知否应是绿肥红瘦" is tentatively scheduled to be broadcast in the first quarter of next year.  cr青春影视偶像

 

 

 

 

 

 

hmm I kind of feel that this is unlikely. If Minglan doesnt air in December, Hunan is just going to air another historical since they have ~40 episodes left of historical dramas for the year and they wont just throw them away. So if another historical drama starts airing then it will run into January, which would be part of the first quarter of 2019 dramas. For them to air another historical on the first quarter feels a bit unlikely. Not impossible just kind of worrisome that they are changing dates like that. If Minglan doesnt air in December I suspect it will be a while before it airs. 

 

Hunan owns two other historical dramas: The Gods, which they almost aired early this year but they have been putting it off for years and Queen Dugu. 

[icyphoenix]

 

[mrsyooknit]

I think we are probably done dubbing 

 

FSF

 

and Zhu Yi long did their roles 

 

 

I hope they finish with the details and send it off for SARFT approval this month. 

 

 

[mrsyooknit]

Chow Tai Fook jewelry for the drama

 

 

 



 



 



 

 

[dito]

 

Why only this one Buyao.....don't they used to wear them in that time period?

So glad the dubbing is about done. Hoping against hope this gets to air this year.

[dr4malala]

On 9/9/2018 at 1:09 AM, dito said:

I have a feeling they might air this drama next year. Hunan already has one drama with high production values not doing so well ratings wise. From the comments it seems Chinese viewers find Rise of Phoenixes too slow. If they think palace politics is slow then Minglan would feel even slower since most of it is about household fights and kids growing up.....not much wuxia elements...or even wars...in other words nothing exciting for an average viewer. 

 

Opps.. I'm not a fan of slice of life genre, or china's family drama.. too boring and too draggy for my taste. I dunno what appealing for household fights or family stories or kids growing up? And I'm not into slow pace drama.

 

But my 2 fav ZLY & FSF in this! 

 

I'm a fan of historical and fantasy Cdramas,, with war element, actions, politic, romance, revenge, scheming, heroism, self-sacrifice. Thats why I really loved Princess Agents, and Nirvana In Fire.

 

Minglan is a historical drama. But not much interesting elements on it for me. 

And I'm really worry with the long episodes.. OMG 70++ ep for an ancient family drama! (Oh China please stop making drama sooo long, I hope its true that SARFT make a restriction on the number of ep) Just scare the story of Minglan would be too draggy.

 

I loved some of Daylight Entertainment dramas such as NIF, Love Me If You Dare, and I haven't watch yet but I might be like The Disguiser too. 

But some I don't liked, mostly their modern dramas: Candle In the Tomb, Surgeons, When A Snail Fall In Love. The stories just too flat and too slow.

 

Honestly, I don't have much expectation for Minglan. But I hope they prove me wrong, and Minglan turns out good!

I hope they find a way to make the story interesting each episode to keep the viewers anticipation up.