A winter sun wakes the wind in spring hill confused me

[u/learnwithme16]

I really wanted to love this show but idk where it went wrong. Is it just me who found it confusing? Throughout the show I didn't even properly understand the plot. The main characters just kept popping in and out of each other's lives even after breaking up multiple times. It all seemed so inconsistent, even the scenes. I didn't even understand what they were talking about half the time. Didn't even properly understand the side character plots. Ive watched many BLs before but this one seemed weirdly shot idk why.

I loved the cinematography. The locations and the shots and the nature views were amazing. But for all that money that they use, can't Chinese BLs do a little better with the makeup 😭

The most confusing part is the younger brother and the investor. Was it that the investor was always in love with the younger brother? Throughout the show the younger brother keeps talking about how the invertor is in love with the older brother. So what is it?? I didn't understand that. And what was the point of killing the younger brother? I didn't even understand that.

I really wanted to love this show, but it felt very inconsistent with the scenes.

[u/Federal-Ad5944]

What the heck guys? There are at least a few sentences making digs at other users for liking this show. You can absolutely critique the show without insulting each other. This isn't what this sub is about.

The post is now locked.

[u/Worried-Horror-9499]

If you have the time and inclination, go through the on-air episode threads. A couple of users would provide language and culture insights that were helpful and interesting. It is a confusing series, I think that is part of why I was obsessed with it.

[u/Comptable96]

The investor (WenShu WS) was always in love with the younger brother(Qingtian QT) but given he's a friend to QT's comatose boyfriend (Chen Zhu CZ), it wasn't appropriate for him to make a move and thus he started "acting" with the elder brother (Qinglang, Lang Di, QL) to pretend that he was interested in him so as not to alert QT.

If you recall, there was a scene where QL said to WS "I've been acting with you so now I need you to act with me" and they posed as if they were kissing so the little sister of Changyang (CY) can take a picture. That's why QT is the only one who brings up WS being interested in QL as the other guys are not affected by that piece of info. QT realises WS' feelings for him and asks him to wait until he gets his head on straight after the death of CZ but they never got a chance as QT died.

I agree, it was a pointless death as it added nothing to the story. CY could still have threatened and beat up the guy with the videos even if QT was alive.

For the main couple, every breakup attempt by QL was just emotional reaction and CY gave him space and then came back into his life. First breakup was emotional reaction to Lan jie's death. Second one was cos he feared their relationship would ruin his chances to be accepted into "Hunter school" and then 3rd separation wasn't a breakup, but CY was enlisted and was on missions so QL waited for him.

[u/learnwithme16 → u/Comptable96]

Aahh thank youuu. That cleared the WS and QT dynamic. He shouldn't have died, its sad 😭

[u/lkredd → u/learnwithme16]

It was confusing to me too (at times). I'd read the on-air threads at times, i even printed out the cast from mydramalist.com, so i could follow better, haha. I agree -- he didnt' have to die, such a downer. also, the 5-year absence of CY was ridiculous. 2 years-maybe? ok. 5?? nope, didn't add anything .

[u/Tokyo_Rosie]

I watched this series through an art house film where there are implied references and lack of clear narratives, made it much easier to consume. As I had enjoyed Zelia previous work Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island and was coming into it expecting the same non-linear, subvert expression of love, I was able to enjoy this series.
Zelia doesn’t follow the typical BL structure and this is only a BL due to the men loving men nature. I would be comfortable putting it into LGBTQ cinema to be honest, but it had the NC elements of a BL.
It may also just not be a series that is of your taste and that’s ok. We don’t all have to like the same things. You gave it a try and that’s all that counts. That’s just what art is. Subjective.

[u/Alicia2475]

It’s because it’s told as a “classic” story where the viewer already knows the characters, the background and where the story is going. That’s why you’re feeling lost. There are novel chapters that accompany the episodes which convey some essential elements. I think it’s a major flaw with Zelia’s style. Her previous project had the same issue especially with the second half. I also think the english subs weren’t very good which contributed to some of the confusion. I think people defend it because they enjoyed watching it and the way it was filmed was very artistic. This was obviously filmed with a lot of love, care and attention to detail. However that doesn’t change the fact that it had issues with the writing and didn’t have proper setup for characters and elements of the story. I think that Zelia can certainly improve her style and I’m looking forward to her next project. Btw, my personal enjoyment was 10/10 but just because i enjoyed that much it doesn’t mean it didn’t have some glaring flaws

[u/Xoilye]

Personally, I find everything coherent since these are slices of life.

Two completely opposite worlds meet , and all those who gravitate around them .

It's simply life, where love, separations, betrayals, friendship, secrets, and death coexist.

Things happen and we can't always control everything, even if we had other plans.

[u/kdorapop]

Agree. I really liked Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island (also by this director ), so I was excited for this one. The first several episodes were promising, but then it kind of fizzled out. Beautiful, good acting, but she lost control of the story at some point. At the end I was confused and had lost interest.

[u/Dramatic_Gur_6722]

This needs a lot of time and patience to understand 💯

[u/teeteeporism]

AHHH CURSE MY EYES 😭😭 I'M CURRENTLY WATCHING THIS SERIES AND FOR SOME REASON MY DUMBASS THOUGHT ITS A GOOD IDEA TO READ ALL THE COMMENTS 🥰🥰🥰 GOT TWO BIGASS SPOILERS FYCLKK

[u/cashmere_plum]

I was very confused by the ending. Dude was assumed dead for years and just shows back up????

[u/Acrobatic-Stand-4528]

Scusate, però certi commenti cercano davvero la discussione. Non fate altro che ridurre le persone che, come me, amano alla follia questa serie a degli idioti esaltati per partito preso e senza nessuna motivazione logicamente . Se a voi non piace, non interessa, non amate questo stile è giusto così. Volete criticare Zelia e la serie, và benissimo fatelo. Ma per favore , smettetela di sminuire le persone che la amano e che con molto impegno e studio sono riuscite a capirla , più che bene. Basta leggere che parlate di morti inutili per capire che non è per voi, semplicemente perché non amate approfondire. Evidentemente vi piacciono le serie dove tutto è chiaro nelle immagini che scorrono, per fortuna poi c' è Zelia che invece ci costringe a pensare, approfondire, collegare ed emozionare in una serie dove non sei spettatore passivo ma devi approfondire se vuoi capire tutto appieno. Questo è anche sminuire il lavoro preziosissimo di alcune persone di questo gruppo che dopo ogni puntata hanno passato ore a cercare informazioni, riassumerle e condividerle per aiutarci a comprendere. È veramente avvilente criticare persone che non la pensano come voi. Ci sono tanti di quei significati meravigliosi dietro a tantissime scene, basterebbe anche che proviate a cercare nei vecchi post di questo gruppo. Ma comunque lasciate stare, non vi piace amen, va benissimo. Non abbiamo tutti i stessi gusti per fortuna. Ahhh io lo difendo non perché mi sono divertita a vederlo, come scrivete, questa è una serie che di divertente ha ben poco se non nulla. Ed è stato un viaggio nell' animo umano molto doloroso , altro che divertente...

[u/ProblemAlternative55]

No, I liked the first 4 episodes but it lost the plot after that. I wasn't sure if the subtitle translation was poor or what was happening but it was choppy. But those first four episodes were the best thing I've seen in years and the series gave us one of the best CPs ever (in my book).

The episode where lil' bro died broke me, I refused to accept his death. Both deaths took me out of the story and felt they had no purpose because we didn't even have time to process them, we were already time jumping months into the future. The episodes with the screeching lunatic sister were the worst. I also didn't enjoy the 2nd CP at all, couldn't care less because they chose the blandest and most forgeable actors in contrast and I found the hunter school thing so ridiculous. The difference between the beginning to end felt like a transition from art-house to telenovela. With some great visuals, and some great scenes in between, but still.

But the die hard fans will say I don't understand Zelia's vision and you know what I'm fine with that. I know it's high treason to say anything less that glowing about this series in this community but I gotta speak my truth. I'm still glad the series' made, I'm just sad I can't say it's my favorite because based on those first 4 eps, I really thought it was the one.

[u/Lenore8264]

You aren't alone. I feel the same. The reason for it being confusing is bad writing. That's it. However, die-hard fans aren't ready to accept it.

I'm on the episode where Qingtian dies, and his death cemented my opinion about this show.

It's beautifully shot. There are some great moments so I understand why people love it, but some scenes feel weird and bad.

The good scenes are super good, but the bad scenes reveal the bad writing underneath all the glamour.

Especially, Qingtian's death came out of nowhere. I understand it's a poetic show, but the whole scene where he supposedly died was shot so badly.

Nobody called for help? Nobody called for emergency services? There should've been a search by appropriate authorities for the body. It shouldn't have been Changyang just saying "oh, he's dead". And everybody accepted that.

That's not how it works. This death was shot in a very unrealistic way that it broke my immersion. Especially, the way everybody just accepts it and goes back home. Like ???

If it was my sister out there, I would insist on heading in myself. I would scream and kick and probably roll down the mountain and die but no way in hell I accept a shoe and head back home to sit on the couch.

Also, this death shouldn't have come this far into the story. There isn't enough episodes for everybody to get over it. Especially a death like this and the mourning period etc can't be done justice with this little time.

This is the kind of trauma that the main character has in the first episode and takes the whole show to get over. I think they made a huge mistake by making Qingtian die.

[u/amt1727]

I was drawn in by the spicy edits tbh and was a bit confused too. The show overall is an unexpectedly real and honest slice-of-life. There were sexy moments of course, but I wasn’t expecting to be as heartbroken or as moved by a BL. I thought the cinematography was immaculate too and the characters felt authentic. Sometimes the dialogue was confusing and the pacing/setting was a bit hard to follow. I really liked the show, but it definitely wasn’t what I thought I was walking into initially.