Woxin random impressions (spoilerish)
Bahaha I finished it in one shot. Quite an experience. :D
We keep going on about Fu Chai/Gou Jian or Gou Jian/Fan Li or whatever, but I think the Gou Jian/Ya Yu dynamic is terrific. And also conveniently canon. I don't think Gou Jian has gotten any in twenty years but it's okay, because that's how terrific they are.
I have real trouble telling the passage of time in this show. I know it's retarded and possibly insulting to the viewer's intelligence to keep sticking in "3 months later" or "2 days later" or whatever reminders, but it'd be nice if the script was a little more obvious as to time frame. Oh, they do make passing references for really important things but it's generally not enough for me to date the other events (cuz i r dumb.) Could also be that I suck at picking up seasonal indicators, having, you know, no seasons here.
Xi Shi does improve considerably on reaching Wu I must say. Frigid magnificence/sorrow suits her better than wide-eyed confusion. Fu Chai is terribly predictable in this regard, he seems to like the mysterious aloof beauties. Am relieved to find that Mother's assessment of smitten Fu Chai being "like monkey" is vastly exaggerated.
Wu Zi Xu's supposed to be a nasty guy and he did some really unpleasant things in this show but I do somehow like him and was sorry when he died. His death scene was way, way over the top though. The Chinese have this streak of melodrama a mile wide but even by those standards Zi Xu's death was ridiculous. Lightning and thunder? Check. Banners streaming in the wind? Check. Weeping acolytes? Check. Dramatic invocation of important person who died earlier? Check. I mean, seriously.
I have to whine about the editing, just one last time. It's really bad. Within a scene it's generally okay, although there are some egregious exceptions. Like in episode 40 or 41, when Bo Pi is asking Gou Jian for surrender, there's this cut to a long shot of the entire Yue delegation; and it's a short clip, just a second or two, but it's in an entirely different hue than the rest of the scene. Which is just whaaat. And the scene transitions are pretty weird. Come on, when a layman starts noticing the editing of all things there's got to be something wrong.
My DVDs are not that much better than VCD quality which is shame because visually the show is very strong. I like their use of lighting; especially in the beginning you could really see the difference in the two courts. The Yue court was always gloomy and shadowed even in daytime, the Wu court blazing with light deep into the night. And the costume designs really reflected the characters of the wearers; even before his defeat Gou Jian dressed very soberly and tastefully while Fu Chai as king tended to be more opulent and flashy.
Now that it's finally over I feel this great void in my life. Clearly then I must scour the net for pr0ny fic to read. :D
We keep going on about Fu Chai/Gou Jian or Gou Jian/Fan Li or whatever, but I think the Gou Jian/Ya Yu dynamic is terrific. And also conveniently canon. I don't think Gou Jian has gotten any in twenty years but it's okay, because that's how terrific they are.
I have real trouble telling the passage of time in this show. I know it's retarded and possibly insulting to the viewer's intelligence to keep sticking in "3 months later" or "2 days later" or whatever reminders, but it'd be nice if the script was a little more obvious as to time frame. Oh, they do make passing references for really important things but it's generally not enough for me to date the other events (cuz i r dumb.) Could also be that I suck at picking up seasonal indicators, having, you know, no seasons here.
Xi Shi does improve considerably on reaching Wu I must say. Frigid magnificence/sorrow suits her better than wide-eyed confusion. Fu Chai is terribly predictable in this regard, he seems to like the mysterious aloof beauties. Am relieved to find that Mother's assessment of smitten Fu Chai being "like monkey" is vastly exaggerated.
Wu Zi Xu's supposed to be a nasty guy and he did some really unpleasant things in this show but I do somehow like him and was sorry when he died. His death scene was way, way over the top though. The Chinese have this streak of melodrama a mile wide but even by those standards Zi Xu's death was ridiculous. Lightning and thunder? Check. Banners streaming in the wind? Check. Weeping acolytes? Check. Dramatic invocation of important person who died earlier? Check. I mean, seriously.
I have to whine about the editing, just one last time. It's really bad. Within a scene it's generally okay, although there are some egregious exceptions. Like in episode 40 or 41, when Bo Pi is asking Gou Jian for surrender, there's this cut to a long shot of the entire Yue delegation; and it's a short clip, just a second or two, but it's in an entirely different hue than the rest of the scene. Which is just whaaat. And the scene transitions are pretty weird. Come on, when a layman starts noticing the editing of all things there's got to be something wrong.
My DVDs are not that much better than VCD quality which is shame because visually the show is very strong. I like their use of lighting; especially in the beginning you could really see the difference in the two courts. The Yue court was always gloomy and shadowed even in daytime, the Wu court blazing with light deep into the night. And the costume designs really reflected the characters of the wearers; even before his defeat Gou Jian dressed very soberly and tastefully while Fu Chai as king tended to be more opulent and flashy.
Now that it's finally over I feel this great void in my life. Clearly then I must scour the net for pr0ny fic to read. :D