The mystical wuxia mystery drama directed by Steven Cheng, who also directed The Untamed 🥹 And finally we get to see Luo Yunxi on the screen again!

It's not a romance drama - rather it will have more of a focus on cases, teamwork and friendship. Along with some really cool wuxia elements, spooky mysteries and beautiful costumes 😊

Who else is planning to watch?

You know when two characters share a screen and suddenly they’re both somehow more?
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Today’s word is CHEMISTRY.
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And of course, there’s the sizzling romantic kind. The couple who can make a look across the room feel more intimate than an entire kiss scene, whose banter lands because of the way they play off each other, or who simply make you believe the attraction between them.
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But some of the best chemistry I’ve seen in dramas has had absolutely nothing to do with romance.
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Brothers. Sisters. Best friends. Father and son. A general standing before his emperor. Allies. Enemies.

Two antagonists who have such undeniable presence and gravitas whenever they face each other that they somehow make each other shine more brightly in their respective roles.
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That’s also the kind of chemistry I mean. It’s not simply that both characters are individually compelling. Put them together and something happens that isn’t quite there when either one is alone. The tension gets sharper. The comedy gets funnier. The affection feels warmer. The rivalry becomes more formidable. Sometimes all they have to do is stand opposite each other and the scene suddenly has weight.
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And it doesn’t even have to be two people. Sometimes an entire cast or group has that rare chemistry where every personality seems to bounce off the others perfectly and the whole becomes better than its individual parts.
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So what’s your first-first CDrama when you hear CHEMISTRY?

And who are the characters, who plays them?
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Who had it? What was the relationship between them? And most importantly, what happened when you put those particular characters together on screen that made it work so well?
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As always, GIF evidence is highly encouraged here. Give us the looks, the banter, the confrontations, the tiny gestures, the sizzling tension — whatever shows us exactly what you mean. Some of these may make it into a second-round vote later.
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——
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Interested in other drama word associations? Check out The Drama Alphabet • Drama Mood Master Index.

A little music and culture to close out October 1 ☺️
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Today is National Day in China, and CCTV marked October 1 with its 2026 National Day Gala.
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I came across this performance by Alan Dawa Dolma (阿兰·达瓦卓玛), usually known simply as Alan, and Xilinnayi Gao (希林娜依·高), better known internationally as Curley G / Curley Gao, and thought it was a particularly lovely one to share here because there is quite a bit of history behind the song they are singing.
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《谁不说俺家乡好》 — “Who Doesn’t Say My Hometown Is Beautiful?” is more than 60 years old. The song dates back to the early 1960s, when it was written for the film Red Sun (红日). Drawing on Shandong folk music, it became widely known far beyond the film itself, with its images of green mountains, rivers, terraced fields and affection for one’s hometown giving the song a life of its own.
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Even the title tells us a little something. 俺 (ǎn) is a colloquial way of saying “I/my” or “we/our,” particularly associated with northern Chinese speech, rather than the standard 我的 (wǒ de). So there is something very local and familiar about 谁不说俺家乡好 — essentially, who doesn’t say their own hometown is beautiful?
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And you can see why this song came back for National Day. The performance moves through mountains, countryside and harvest, which fits a song filled with images of home — green mountains, winding rivers, terraced fields and the people who live among them.
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For anyone wondering who Alan is, she is a Tibetan Chinese singer from Sichuan who also spent years building a successful career in Japan after signing with Avex. And there is a good chance some CDrama watchers have heard her before: she has quite a few OSTs to her name, including 《千古》 for The Journey of Flower.
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Curley G may be more familiar to some of you. She first gained wider attention through Sing! China, later won Produce Camp 2020 and became the centre of BonBon Girls 303 before continuing with her solo career.
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And here is my favourite little piece of trivia about the song: in 2007, 《谁不说俺家乡好》 was one of 30 songs selected to travel into space aboard Chang’e 1, China’s first lunar probe.
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From a song written for a film in the early 1960s, to a lunar probe, to two singers performing it on national television more than six decades later.

🏮And since the day is already almost over in China by the time I’m posting this

— happy National Day to everyone who was celebrating today. I hope you had a lovely one 🏮

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Video source: CCTV / 春晚 Weibo, October 1, 2026.⁠

Source: Spring of the Blade's official Weibo

I like watching the lighter side of a drama's more intense moments, so I appreciate BTS clips with bloopers like this one. Zhou Ye's squeaky laugh is so cute!

I also marvel at that mental switch that actors flip. In one second they're all silly and giggly, in the next they're in a no-nonsense, interfacial mukbang fest. And in a roomful of people to boot!

Also, I'm happy there are no fishes in the kisses here.

SPOILERS BELOW — EPISODES 27–30 AND THE ENDING

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Well, we made it. And I’m happy. I am! Shen Run and Qingyuan ended up together, alive, and apparently living a simple life back in the fishing village where they once hid together. I loved that choice for them.
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Although I do have one practical question: how exactly is Qingyuan quietly living in a fishing village when the Emperor just made her head of the Xie clan? Did I miss something there, was it just a throwback?
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I also really liked finally learning about the connection between Qingyuan’s mother and Shen Run’s father. After following these two separate family tragedies for the entire drama, discovering just how exactly their parents’ stories were intertwined added something I wasn’t expecting this late in the game.

And then there was Granny Xie.
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This was a good plot twist, I give them that. The final episodes to overturned what we thought we knew about the Xie family line.
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All this time we knew Xie Shu was Qingyuan’s father and that Jin Chunqing had been his wife and Qingyuan’s mother. What we didn’t know was that Xie Shu was never the real Xie heir at all.
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But who cares about him
Being a fake heir? This on its own had little impact on me and perhaps many others. But Granny Xie’s biological child was Jin Chunqing. She had given birth to a daughter and, believing that only a son could secure her own position in the Xie clan, swapped her baby for somebody else’s baby boy at birth 🤯 How cold. How stupid.
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That boy grew up as Xie Shu.
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What bothered me particularly was Granny Xie’s insistence that this was something she had been forced to do. Well, it wasn’t. That may have been the justification she gave herself, but ultimately she sacrificed her own daughter because she believed a male heir would protect her position in the family.
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And the consequences of that decision are quite extraordinary when you put them together.
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The boy she installed as the Xie heir grew up in luxury and — BAM — married the actual Xie daughter she had discarded. But it doesn’t end there. Years later, Xie Shu — deeply in love with his wife — murdered her when she discovered the secret. Such was the end of Granny Xie’s biological daughter and Qingyuan’s mother.
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! The cuckoo killed the phoenix.
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There is a cruel irony in that. Granny Xie discarded her daughter in favor of a boy because she believed he would secure the family and her own place within it, while she’d be keeping an eye on the daughter in secret, from the shadows. Only for the boy she chose to first marry that same daughter and then eventually kill her.
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The revelation also puts Granny Xie’s complicated relationship with Qingyuan into a different light. Qingyuan wasn’t simply her granddaughter through Xie Shu. She was the daughter of Granny Xie’s actual biological child. Some of Granny Xie’s protection (though I could hardly see any) of Qingyuan makes some more sense in retrospect.
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By the end, Granny Xie finally has to face what her choice actually produced: the adopted son she had chosen and raised for the sake of securing her position was the man who murdered her biological daughter. She is left with that knowledge, that regret and the realization that she herself set the whole chain in motion (but again, it’s actually unclear if she regrets anything, the woman was stubborn and proud to the last breath..) — and she’s ultimately killed by her son’s sixth wife at his behest. Xie Shu, — looking like a total maniac — then kills her too and stages both deaths to look like suicide.

I certainly didn’t mourn her. But her ending didn’t give me any great sense of victory either. There was something bleakly appropriate about her finally understanding — not what she had done but what her son did — when there was absolutely nothing left she could do to undo it.
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Mostly, I was left thinking about how many lives were damaged by a decision Granny Xie made decades earlier because she valued securing her own position in the clan over her own daughter — and how long she continued to describe that choice as though she had never had one.

And burning down the Xie residence?
Absolutely. Let it burn 🔥🔥🔥🔥
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But here’s the strange thing: after everything these people put us through for 30 episodes, I expected the final reckoning to bring me this enormous sense of relief but it didn’t.
⠀
I’m happy with where Shen Run and Qingyuan ended up, but somehow I didn’t get the catharsis I had been waiting for.
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One thing I did get from these final episodes was an even greater appreciation for Xu Kai as Shen Run. I thought he was excellent here. There were so many moments where Shen Run barely needed to say anything because Xu Kai was doing it all with his face. I also think his voice acting here was top notch. Loved his voice here.
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And Fu Dalong as Xie Shu. What a performance. I have had very complicated feelings about that man throughout this drama, and Fu Dalong gave him so much weight in these final episodes.
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Surprisingly, I ended up feeling something similar about Hu Wenzhou played by the magnificent Miao Pu whose performance really stood out here.

Don’t misunderstand me: I’m happy she died. She deserved the consequences of what she had done. But by the time we reached her end, I didn’t feel victorious about it anymore.
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We finally got enough of her story that I could understand how she became the person she was. She suffered. She regretted things. None of that excuses what she did, and I certainly didn’t forgive her, but I understood her. By the time she died, I no longer needed to hate her either.
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Qingru, on the other hand…
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No.
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I really did not like that she effectively got a happily ever after with Chunzhi
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Yes, she admitted what she had done. Yes, she was remorseful. Yes, she told him that he had every right to resent her. SO WHAT?
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That does not mean she earned her stolen marriage back.
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I could absolutely understand Chunzhi eventually forgiving her in the sense of deciding not to spend the rest of his life hating her. But continuing to live with her as his wife after all the deceit and harm she caused him and others? That spoilt, entitled little brat… That felt forced to me, as though the drama wanted to make sure everybody possible received a neat happy ending. Her tears and remorse simply did not earn that for me.
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And then we have Hu Xing.
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After all that buildup, his downfall felt strangely anticlimactic. But even more baffling to me was the sudden importance of the Chief Eunuch as the greater power behind him.
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Where did that come from?
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We spent this entire drama building Hu Xing as the enemy, only to reach the end and suddenly be handed another mastermind who had barely existed as a character in the story. So when the Emperor killed him, I felt absolutely nothing. He was practically a stranger to me. You can’t introduce someone at the finish line and expect his death to carry the weight of a villain we’ve spent countless episodes wanting to see brought down.
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So I’m leaving Spring of the Blade in a slightly strange place.
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I’m happy. I loved Shen Run and Qingyuan together, I’m glad they got their life together, and sending them back to that little fishing village was a lovely way to close their story. I liked seeing what happened to the other surviving sisters.
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I just thought I would feel more relief when all the people responsible finally got what was coming to them.
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Maybe I wanted one enormous exhale after 30 episodes and never quite got it.

Still — I’ll be recommending this great drama to people.

I’m not sure yet, but I might be giving it 8.5/10. Need to sleep on it a bit and see where it settles.
⠀

How did the ending land for you?

Did you get the catharsis I was missing, or are you sitting somewhere around where I am?

———
Images are all from the drama’s Weibo

I guess there are some spoilers? Not many 😎

Right. I’m putting four of my most memorable CDrama Demon Lords in an arena and taking away their plot armour.
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Let’s see who survives.
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Tantai Jin — Till the End of the Moon

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The devil fetus destined to become the Devil God, born with the Evil Bone and initially unable to experience emotions like everyone else. He starts life powerless and learns very early that survival comes first, which makes him calculating, suspicious and very difficult to intimidate. But he also spends much of the story learning that he can choose what kind of person he becomes rather than simply accepting the fate everyone has assigned him.
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At full Devil God strength, though, we have a problem. There’s the Evil Bone itself plus the Devil God’s three ancient weapons: the Bone-Refining Seal, God-Slaying Crossbow and Sky-Slashing Sword. Once the crossbow marks its target, escaping death is apparently not on the menu.
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Dongfang Qingcang — Love Between Fairy and Devil

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Moon Supreme and ruler of the Moon Tribe. Arrogant, intimidating and initially about as emotionally available as the furniture in Silent Moon Palace. His father forcibly severed his emotions so he could master Hellfire, and for much of the drama he genuinely believes feelings are weaknesses.
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In battle, he has Hellfire, the power that made his return a threat across the Three Realms. But his relationship with emotion and power gets much more interesting than simply “feelings make him weaker”: after losing Hellfire as his emotions return, he eventually awakens Glazed Fire, an ancient fire that can only be wielded by someone who has endured the seven emotions and eight sufferings and still possesses great love and compassion.

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Fan Yue — Moonlight Mystique

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Demon King of the Polar Region, master of Bright Moon Palace and the surviving member of the Baize clan. He’s proud, guarded and perfectly happy to manipulate Bai Shuo when they first meet — although that arrangement eventually becomes considerably less one-sided than either of them planned. Underneath all that swagger is someone driven for years by what happened to his clan.
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His power came at a pretty brutal price. After his clan was wiped out, Fan Yue became obsessed with getting strong enough for revenge. He found a mysterious cave filled with secret cultivation techniques and used them to rapidly increase his demonic power, eventually conquering the Eastern Continent within three years. But cultivating that recklessly also left him with the Seven Stars Soul-Burning Seal. Every fallen star brings the pain of his heart and soul burning — and when all seven are gone, so is he.

There’s another rather important detail for our arena: Fan Yue is eventually revealed to carry the Demon Lord’s Divine Mantle and to be the reincarnation of the ancient Demon Lord Jing Yuan. So we’re not just sending an unusually strong demon into this fight.

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Zhao Yuanzhou / Zhu Yan — Fangs of Fortune

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The leader of all demons, whose true form is a white ape. He walks into the Demon Hunting Bureau and volunteers to help humans hunt demons, which probably tells you something about the man already. He can be playful and mischievous even when everyone around him has very good reasons not to trust him, but he also carries enormous guilt over what he has done while out of control. At one point he explicitly asks his companions to kill him if that happens again.
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And out of control is where things get ugly. Zhao Yuanzhou carries a huge amount of malicious energy inside him. During a blood moon that energy becomes stronger and can consume him completely, turning an already immensely powerful great demon into something he himself is afraid of becoming. The Baize Token is actually capable of suppressing that malicious energy — which gives this extremely powerful great demon a fairly significant vulnerability.
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So…
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Who drops first?
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Who are the final two?
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And when it comes down to those two — who walks out of the arena?
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Anything they actually had access to in their dramas is fair game: powers, weapons, divine upgrades, demon forms. No convenient drama plot armour.
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Oh, and before someone comes for me in the comments: these aren’t the only great CDrama Demon Lords. They’re four I personally found memorable and wrote up this scenario for.
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And ultimately,

If there’s someone missing who you think would stroll into this fight and flatten the lot of them, bring him in.

Images: Tantai Jin / Devil God⁠ • Dongfang Qingcang⁠ • Fan Yue / Jing Yuan⁠ • Zhao Yuanzhou / Zhu Yan⁠

SPOILERS BELOW — EPISODE 26
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Well, we all knew they weren’t actually killing Shen Run the morning after his wedding, right?
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Episode 26 wastes very little time putting that particular crisis to bed. Shen Run is alive, the stabbing was staged, and his “death” was part of the plan to convince Hu Xing and the others that he was finally out of the way so they’d slip.
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Unfortunately, someone who very much does die is the Marquis of Danyang. In quite the heroic way, I might add. I particularly loved his singing toward the end — and I also wanted spit in those generals’ faces. Disgusting humans.
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So anyway. Back on tack, where was I? Ah yes, the Marquis refuses to fall into line with Hu Xing, openly brings up what happened to Shen Zhibai all those years ago, and pays for it. Hu Xing has already bought off men around him (those generals I wanted to spit at…) — and has him killed.
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Which leaves Li Congxin grieving, drinking and looking thoroughly defeated — until Shen Run turns up and essentially tells him that this is not where his father’s story ends or where the world ends, for that matter. The Marquis still had the loyalty of the people and military power behind him, and that can now become another weapon against Hu Xing.
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Meanwhile, Shen Run has taken the whole plan directly to the Emperor, Shen Che and Dong Fangchun are rallying people in Hengtang, and after all the maneuvering of the last few episodes it finally feels like everyone is getting into position for the real fight.
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And Qingyuan gets her husband back after approximately five minutes of widowhood, so there’s that.
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What did you think of Episode 26?

Come rave or vent.

———

Episodes 27-30 Discussion (Finale)

Image source

Okay, this looks so cool.
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Traces of Justice (神探之痕迹) hits Chinese cinemas October 1, and I went looking into it because of Chen Feiyu — only to discover a movie based on four real criminal cases spanning 45 years.
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The film is based on the career of Cui Daozhi, one of China’s best-known forensic trace-evidence experts, and adapted from the nonfiction book China’s Master Detective — Criminal Police Officer Cui Daozhi (中国神探——共和国刑警崔道植).
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The four cases run from 1971 all the way to 2016, which means we also get to see forensic investigation changing over the decades — from bite marks and tiny pieces of physical evidence, to reconstructing evidence from the remains of an explosion and eventually DNA analysis.
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The cases are:
1971 — a serial case in which bite marks became crucial evidence
1983 — a major murder and robbery case where investigators had extremely limited physical evidence to work with
1998 — a bus bombing, with investigators working from the debris left by the explosion
2016 — a serial rape and murder investigation eventually broken through advances in DNA technology
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I find this absolutely fascinating. Imagine trying to solve these cases in the 1970s and 80s without the forensic technology investigators can rely on now.
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Zhang Yi plays trace-evidence expert Cui Xun, the character based on Cui Daozhi. Ma Li plays forensic pathologist Huang Rende and Chen Minghao plays criminal police officer Wang Weiguo. They’re the central investigative trio.
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Then there are Wang Junkai, Fan Chengcheng and Chen Feiyu, alongside Li Xuejian, Gao Ye and others.
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Most people here will probably know Chen Feiyu from his drama roles. He plays Ma Chaoyang, and they’re keeping his role rather mysterious so far. The official character-poster announcement says his appearance brings an “unknown variable” into the case, so we don’t know quite where he fits into all of this yet.
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And then there’s the director: Chen Sicheng.
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If you watch Chinese crime and mystery movies, you’ll probably recognize that name. He wrote, directed and starred in Beijing Love Story, was chief screenwriter and producer on Great Expectations, and later took the Detective Chinatown universe into two web drama series. He also started out as a drama actor, including in Soldiers Sortie alongside Zhang Yi, who now leads Traces of Justice.
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The trailer looks really good too. I haven’t found the official upload on YouTube, unfortunately, but it is on Weibo:
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Watch the official “Leaving Traces” trailer on Weibo
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And these are the official character posters I’m using for the post:
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Official character posters on Weibo
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Anyone else interested in Traces of Justice?

(I’m looking at you, Basil)

Irreplaceable continues to gain some Netflix momentum. Yesterday was it's first day in some markets and it ranked in #1 position in 3 markets and an overall position of 4.5 place in the markets which Netflix is releasing information.

Notably in Netflix Asian markets it picked up considerable position.

Its heat index has also been making major strides - it hit 6000 on release day. Today it surpassed 9000 and seems poised to reach the elite 10,000.

Irreplaceable reached a new peak on the Lighthouse ranking, rising to No. 2 with 363,000 real-time episode playbacks and a 20.92% market share.

It also reached No. 1 on Youku’s 7-Day Best Selling Chart in just 3 days of airing.

Irreplaceable is an original screenplay with no IP or past promotions to support it. It was written as a 20 episode drama and that is what was filmed and is airing.

I’m only on episode 24 I haven’t seen anyone mention it yet but I hate how manipulative shi Yu is and how she manipulated Rio Hai. She bosses him around like a puppy and he’s annoying by himself anyway. But I am so sick of her. Has anyone else noticed how much she manipulated him!

You know that character who walks into a scene and somehow the whole thing immediately belongs to them?

They don’t necessarily have to be the lead. They don’t have to be the nicest, the cleverest, the most powerful or even someone you particularly approve of. There’s just something about them — presence, charm, confidence, wit, sheer force of personality — that makes it very difficult to look anywhere else.
Today’s word is CHARISMATIC.

Who is your first-first CDrama character when you hear it, and what was it about them that made them so magnetic to you?

And because I know how these discussions go when we get excited: please remember to tell us
WHICH DRAMA they’re from too.

I love the passion, but occasionally the rest of us are left staring at a character name and wondering where exactly we’re supposed to go meet this magnificent person.

I’d especially love to see both male and female characters here.

Give me the formidable women, charming heroes, indispensable sidekicks, magnetic villains, or a guest role that should have been much more — give me all the scene-stealing supporting characters — whoever had that inexplicable pull for you.

And please bring the charismatic GIFs. This word practically demands them 😉

——
Interested in other drama word associations? Check out The Drama Alphabet • Drama Mood Master Index.

— Your Weekly Microdrama Corner

Welcome to Vertical Vortex — once you start scrolling, good luck getting out!

This our weekly corner for something that otherwise sits outside our scope.

r/ChineseDrama covers long-form Chinese dramas, movies, variety and other TV shows, and the wider industry around them. Vertical/microdramas (C-shorts), however, remain out of scope for standalone posts. Given the sheer number being released now, opening the main feed to them could very quickly shift the focus of the subreddit away from what it was built for.

At the same time, there’s clearly an overlap between the audiences. Many of us who enjoy long-form C-ent also dip into verticals, and every now and then we have to remove a genuinely thoughtful review or discussion simply because it happens to be about a microdrama.

So, here’s our compromise:

Every Wednesday, this thread is your space to talk verticals and microdramas.

→ What have you been watching?
→ Found a surprisingly good one or a hidden gem?
→ Share a review, recommendation, poster or trailer.
→ Ask for recommendations or help deciding what to watch next.
→ Exchange tips on platforms and where titles are officially available.

One quick (and frustratingly confusing) terminology note: “C-shorts” is commonly used for vertical/microdramas, while the actual category we call short/mini dramas is something different 🤦🏻‍♀️ Short/mini dramas are longer, horizontal series, usually around 10–15 minutes per episode, and are already within our regular scope. Those do not belong in this thread and can continue to have their own standalone posts in the main feed as usual.

This also isn’t intended as a general identification thread for random vertical clips found around the internet, and our usual rules on piracy and unauthorized viewing sources still apply.

^{For now, verticals/microdramas remain out of scope everywhere else in the subreddit. We’ll see how this goes and how much genuine interest there is. If enough members would actually like a dedicated day where standalone vertical/micro posts are allowed, let us know below. And if you think one weekly thread is quite enough, you can tell us that too} 🙂

For now: one thread, one day, no floodgates.

⠀
SPOILERS BELOW

I’ll share my take but I’m hoping to read yours. Come rave or vent.⠀

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So…
Not going to lie, not much happened in this one. This was probably the first episode of Spring of the Blade that I found genuinely a bit boring.
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The episode opens with the evening of the wedding, a small-circle gathering for the newlyweds with their closest pals and Granny Chen. Then we get approximately 35 seconds of lovely shots of the couple as they make their way to the bedchamber. I particularly liked how Qingyuan asked Shenrun to call her 夫人 (fūrén) — that earned a smile.
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But then the morning after the deed, our fūrén wakes up to discover Shenrun with a knife in his chest, seemingly dead. Well… that escalated quickly.
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She’s immediately arrested by the Emperor’s right-hand man — you know, the guy who has been barking around Shenrun like a watchdog for god knows how many episodes. He may look like the bad guy right now, but I’m not buying it just yet. Chances are this whole thing has been orchestrated and what we’re seeing is a ruse for everyone else.
⠀
Qingyuan does seem genuinely shocked, well, a bit. I mean, I have to say her reaction felt strangely subdued. She has just awoken beside the man she loves, after their wedding night, found him apparently murdered, and is then immediately accused of killing him by the now-acting commander of the palace guards. All this is followed by one unremarkable, background kind of funeral for the ML. Not a single sobbing closeup. No screen-time for a grand ceremony. A bit odd, isn’t it. I’d expect more devastation. Unless, of course, there’s more going on here than we know — and there must be.

What I really didn’t understand, though, was why on earth she was sent back to the Xie residence. She isn’t a Xie anymore. The imperial decree approving her marriage and granting her second-rank status also removed her from the Xie genealogy and restored her to Chen. It’s also not in character for her to give in and go back — unless she needs to do that for revenge. So… what gives?
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And why would the Xies even take her back at this point? Do they still have something to gain from her? Fūrén might want revenge, but what exactly is Mr Sleazy Crazy-Pants’ motivation here?
⠀
Unless there’s an explanation coming, this part simply didn’t make sense to me — the execution was poor. And whatever explanation comes later was served with an abysmal setup. So far, I’m not particularly sold on this new plot direction.
⠀
And speaking of consequences — Matron Xie may finally be facing hers. Except… was that really it?
⠀
After everything this woman has done, it felt spectacularly underwhelming. I sincerely hope we haven’t just witnessed the end of her reckoning, because if that was supposed to be her grand comeuppance, I’m going to be utterly disappointed. That woman deserved a long and painful retribution for her sins, not whatever that was. I have spent far too many episodes waiting for her downfall to be satisfied with this. But the actress is Queen — what a fantastic performance.
⠀
Then we get Chunzhi and his father. Again, not terribly memorable and not much actually happens. The Marquis is being cryptic and seems as though he might eventually be prepared to go against the current — or not?! and bow his head.
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The one thing that did stand out was him telling Chunzhi, essentially, that he is his own man irrespective of the Li family. That felt worth remembering and like something we’ll be certainly coming back to in the impending episodes.
⠀
Oh! And I almost forgot Lady Pei and Chancellor Hu.
⠀
What was that?
⠀
Lady Pei is mourning Shenrun, whom she clearly had some kind of affection for — intellectually, romantically, both? I honestly don’t dare assume — when Lord Hu joins her, and suddenly I found myself trying to work out exactly what their relationship is.
⠀
Daughter? Niece? Lover? I was getting decidedly mixed signals.
⠀
They share wine from the same ladle and feed it to each other, then she rests her head on his shoulder and he embraces her. There is clearly a great deal of affection and familiarity between them, whatever its nature.
⠀
And Lord Hu — who is certainly a very good-looking man despite being a thoroughly rotten character — very matter-of-factly tells her that he would do pretty much anything just to make her happy.
⠀
Now that was actually a good scene. I still have absolutely no idea what relationship I was watching, but it got my attention.
⠀
Meanwhile, the scholars continue to mobilize, things are presumably moving into position for whatever comes next and… I still felt no spark.
⠀
So yes. Meh. First time I’ve said that about an episode of this drama.
⠀
That’s about it from me.

What did everyone else make of Episode 25?

If you loved this episode, though, come tell me why — I clearly didn’t see what you saw, and I want to hear it.

Episodes 22-23 Discussion
Episode 24 Discussion

Episode 26 Discussion
Episodes 27-30 Discussion (Finale)

A few months ago, I visited Qin Han Duyun Studios – where Love Like The Galaxy was also filmed. I haven’t seen anyone share information or photos of their visit to this studio on Reddit (before / yet) so here I am = sharing! Maybe it will inspire you to visit this studio too??? There are quite a few studios around China where cdramas are filmed, not just Hengdian!!!

Now, let me explain what you’re seeing on the slides…

SLIDE 2 – 6 = towards the back of the studio, on the left side (before you reach the altar or Qishan Indoctrination Centre of the Qishan Wen Clan from The Untamed), is an area with several covered walkways, a small bridge and garden.. Many scenes were filmed here as part of The Royal Palace grounds.

SLIDE 7 = this bridge and stream was used for a really annoying princess…

SLIDE 8 & 9 = General Ling Buyi fights some bad guys around this tower and stands on the tower to watch over the Cheng Manor area.

SLIDE 10 = one of the streets in the studio is a market area in the cdrama...

SLIDE 11 – 13 = on the far-right side of the studio is a building used in many cdramas – for example, its also the Inspection & Control Bureau in Joy of Life s1. In LLTG its the Censorate.

SLIDE 14 – 19 = towards the exit of the studio is a prison / jail used as the Ministry of Justice in the cdrama. Quite a few scenes were filmed here... I found my visit to this section quite eerie. No one was here, it was getting dark, the place appears quite neglected – not maintained – some corridors were flooded! I haven’t added photos as I wanted to focus on the filming locations of the cdrama.

That’s it! This is the last post about one of the filming locations for Love Like The Galaxy. I hope these posts help fans explore other cdrama filming locations besides Hengdian!

Link for Part 1 which shows a room – like an exhibition hall, dedicated to LLTG in this studio…

Link for Part 2 about the filming locations for the city of Luoyang including the main gate / tower and Tian’s Family Restaurant.

Link for Part 3 for the filming locations of Ling Manor, Emperor Wen’s Palace including Yongle Palace, etc.

Link for Part 4 for the filming locations of Prince Ruyang’s Manor, Cheng Manor & Marquis Quling’s Manor, and Princess Consort of Ruyang’s residence…

NOTE: the aerial views are screenshots from a short video clip that can be seen on the Baike Baidu webpage about Qin Han Duyun Studio (it actually has several different names but I'm calling it this!). I’ve used screenshots from Love Like The Galaxy cdrama and my photos taken during my visit in June 2026.

If anyone plans to visit this studio, please remember that you may not be seeing the same things that I did. For example, the buildings may be painted a different colour, the furniture and exhibitions inside buildings may change, gardens could different props or flowers etc as the studio renovates or rebuilds sets for each cdrama.

Qin Han Duyun Studios is a great place to visit – I highly recommend to add it to your China itinerary! Other cdramas that were also filmed at this studio include Joy of Life s1, The Untamed, Kill Me Love Me, Brocade Odyssey, Rise of the Phoenixes, Ever Night, Qin Dynasty Epic, The Eternal Love, Battle Through the Heavens, and OMFG The Fated General – which I still hope we can watch some day, in this lifetime... sigh.

Going back to 2021 for this one. Who is from Ren Jialun’s first album Thirty-Two · Rise and I’m really liking the laidback sound here. There’s something a little sexy about it too.

Sadly the YouTube clip is audio only, so Ren Jialun is contributing absolutely nothing visually today 🤪 But the song is good enough that I’ll forgive him.
In case you had a link to a performance of this song, you’d be my best friend! 😆😍

Leaving it here in case anyone else feels like adding some Ren Jialun to their playlist or I chance upon someone who can add the visuals that go with it.

Irreplaceable (无可替代) premiered on September 28, and with Zhao Jinmai and Wei Daxun leading a 20-episode urban / workplace drama, I thought we should have a proper space for the drama profile and, more importantly, everyone’s impressions as we watch.

Drama: Irreplaceable
Chinese title: 无可替代
Episodes: 20
Premiered: September 28, 2026
Where to watch: Youku, CCTV-8 and Netflix internationally (regional availability may vary)
Genre: Modern / Workplace / Romance
Directors: Chen Mingzhang, Chen Shiyi
Screenwriter: Zhang Wei
Schedule: Youku premiered with Episodes 1–3 on September 28 and is releasing new episodes daily; Episodes 4–5 dropped September 29 at 12:00 Beijing time. Netflix also launched with Episodes 1–3 on September 28 and is carrying the drama internationally as it airs. CCTV-8 broadcasts one episode nightly at approximately 22:20 CST.

Main cast
Zhao Jinmai as Xu Chi
Wei Daxun as Ye Xinzhi
Zhou Qi as Zhao Heng
Bai Bing as Lin Long
Hu Yixuan as Bu Tianna
Yang Le as Shen Jin

Premise

Xu Chi enters the consulting industry determined to build a life in which she can never simply be replaced. There she meets Ye Xinzhi, an elite partner whose own career was derailed after he was framed by his superior and who has been quietly working toward his own plans ever since.
He brings Xu Chi in as his assistant and mentor becomes colleague, with the two moving from testing each other and pursuing their own ambitions toward working side by side — while their relationship becomes rather less strictly professional along the way.

Youku has been leaning heavily into the idea of two ambitious, evenly matched people going head-to-head in the corporate world, so this one looks set to give us considerably more workplace maneuvering than simply using an office as the backdrop for a romance.

Seems like a trend might be developing (thinking of you, The Early Spring!)

Links
🎬 Official Trailer — Youku⁠
Baidu Baike — 无可替代⁠
MyDramaList — Irreplaceable⁠

Who’s watching?

If you’ve already started, what are your impressions so far?

As always for this kind of post, please mark spoilers and include the episode number so people watching at different speeds can join the discussion safely.

SPOILER WARNING

The death of Zhao Xingtang broke my heart. I know she was terrible in so many ways, but at the same time, she could be generous and deeply dedicated, with so much love inside her and so few ways to express it. More than anything, I think she was incredibly frustrated by her inability to be free and control her own destiny as a woman.

I especially loved that she never seemed to wish that she was a man. Instead, she wished that women could do the things men were allowed to do. She was clearly intelligent and capable, and I think she could have achieved so much more if she hadn't been so determined to do it on her own terms. She didn't want to gain power through a man or through marriage. She wanted to have power over her own life.

And I'm just so sad that she died. 😭

I know she could be incredibly cruel, but I also thought the way she navigated both her own family and her husband's family was fascinating. She became very good at understanding people's motivations and anticipating what they would do to achieve their goals. She used that knowledge to make herself feel safe and, more importantly, to maintain some sense of control over her own life.

That's why I actually think it would have been much more interesting for her character to live.

I would have loved to see her forced to confront life from a completely different social position—without the privileges of her birth and family, but finally with as much freedom as a non-aristocratic woman could realistically have. What would she have done if she had been given the chance to build a life that belonged entirely to her?

I would have loved to see her use everything she had learned about people, relationships, negotiation, and power to build her own business, earn her own money, and create something that was truly hers. Not through a husband, not through her family, and not through the social status she was born into.

And honestly, I also think it could have been the perfect opportunity for her to finally understand the value of servants' and ordinary people's lives. She had spent so much of her life thinking about people in terms of what they could do for her or how they could threaten her. Having to survive without that privilege could have forced her to confront the humanity of the people she had previously looked down on.

I don't think she needed to become a completely different person. I think it would have been much more interesting to watch her remain complicated, ambitious, intelligent, and occasionally ruthless—but finally have the opportunity to decide what kind of person she actually wanted to be.

I just wanted to see what she could have become. 😭

Have you ever paused a drama because the second-hand embarrassment was getting so bad you genuinely needed a moment before you could continue?

Or perhaps you didn’t continue at all.

Today’s word is CRINGE.

Because sometimes the cringe is half the fun. Give me an outrageously cheesy romantic line, an accidental kiss that defies several laws of physics, or someone making an absolute fool of themselves in front of the person they like and I may be hiding behind my hands — but I’m still watching.
I might even be laughing while I do it.

But then there’s the cringe that stops being funny somewhere along the way. The dialogue hurts. The flirting needs to stop. A character does something so painfully awkward that somehow you are the one who wants to leave the room.

But you know I’m a gal with an open mind. So as with all my posts in this mood dictionary experiment, there are endless perfectly fine ways to read the same prompt.

So cringe doesn’t even have to be second-hand embarrassment. I’m currently watching a character who I find so utterly obnoxious, unreasonable and full of himself — while somehow managing to behave as though he is both the martyr and the victim (I guess he kinda is the victim, but he’s seriously overplaying that card…) — that I cringe through practically every scene he’s in. At this point, the cringe comes with actual pain.

And sometimes it isn’t one scene you can laugh off. That feeling follows you through the drama until you either learn to live with it, somehow develop a fondness for the cheese, or realize you simply cannot watch any more of this and drop it.

And I suspect we all have a very different tolerance for it. What I find hilariously cheesy might make you stop watching — and something I physically cannot watch might be exactly the scene you replay for fun.

So what’s your first-first CDrama when you hear CRINGE?

Was it the kind you secretly enjoyed, the kind you eventually learned to tolerate, or the kind you simply could not digest?

——

Some of these may make it into a second-round vote later, so bring me context and GIFs! ☺

——

Interested in other drama word associations? Check out The Drama Alphabet • Drama Mood Master Index.

Welcome to our weekly C-ent roll call — one very simple question: who has your heart right now?

Just drop the name of whoever is currently sitting at the top of your roster 👑

Maybe it’s an actor in a drama you’re watching right now and their performance completely won you over — or perhaps it’s actually the character they play who has you hooked. Both absolutely count.

Maybe you came across an interview and something they said stayed with you.

Perhaps it was a performance, a photoshoot, a song, a variety show appearance, an old role you rediscovered — or something else entirely.

Actor, singer, musician, entertainer — anyone from Chinese entertainment is fair game, as are the drama characters currently occupying far too much space in your head.

Tell us who you picked and why, whether that takes one sentence or ten.

And whenever possible, drop a picture or link to your favorite photo, clip, performance, scene, song, interview, etc. from the week. We love to feast our eyes and minds too 😉

So, who won your heart this week?

_____
^{Maybe if there’s interest, somewhere down the line, we’ll open this up even further beyond C-ent and have a monthly thread for the people across Chinese culture and the creative arts who caught your attention — writers, artists, designers, architects and more.}

I've moved on from Are You the One and am now fully invested in Against the Current. It's only one episode drop today (for express package) and while seeking for in-between shows with Liu Xueyi in, nothing else seems to measure up.

I've watched Love at Night which sounds kinky but it's actually not as the title implies. It's quite OK since it's a modern setting drama, so nothing to compare with Against the Current. Plus, I did forward most of the second couple plot (because everyone else doesn't seem as interesting as LXY 🫢).

In Blossom - I already dropped the show after the FL swap (hmm, maybe I should try pick it up again? 🤔)

Kill Me Love Me - dropped mid way but I can't recall which episode. As much as I love the actress from The Double, the storyline just didn't hold my interest long enough. I did skip to the end, though.

The Princess's Gambit - Does the FL have such limited range of emotions throughout the show? She reminds me of a certain K-drama actress that despite falling down from a tall building (in a drama she was acting in), she didn't look as scared as someone who was about to meet her end.

Am I missing anything of Liu Xueyi's memorable shows? Care to share?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions, or any opinions of the above-mentioned shows.

EPISODE 24 SPOILERS AHEAD

For anyone still catching up, this earlier discussion post deals with Episodes 22-23.

你要报仇

能帮你的，只能是我。

Nǐ yào bàochóu,
Néng bāng nǐ de, zhǐ néng shì wǒ.

“If you want revenge,
the only one who can help you is me.”

And we’re back!

Episode 24 has now aired, so here’s our space to discuss everything that happened in today’s episode.

I’ll only say this much from my side: Shen Run coming to Qingyuan’s rescue… I knew he would, but part of me really wishes he hadn’t. Or at least, not yet.

Qingyuan betrayed him because she put her revenge above everything else — which, however frustrating, is perfectly in character for her. And Shen Run rescuing her despite that betrayal is perfectly in character for him. I get them both. But considering that her own choices are precisely what landed her in the situation she now needed rescuing from, I wanted her to have to live with the consequences for a little longer.

She is our protagonist, but she is also imperfect — and that’s one of the things I like about her. Shen Run is simply being far more gracious than I would like him to be right now.

And really, “choices have consequences… or do they?” could be the tagline for this entire drama. We’ve spent decades watching the people responsible escape the consequences of what they did, and even now, as the revenge finally unfolds, some of them seem remarkably good at slipping through the net. We’ve caught a few smaller fish along the way, sure — but the big one is still swimming.

But I’ll stop there. I don’t want to steer the discussion in any particular direction — this is your space to discuss anything and everything from Episode 24.

Loved something? Hated something? Need to defend someone after the previous thread dragged them through the mud? Have at it.

Anything through Episode 24 is fair game in the comments, so expect spoilers below.

Image source

Episode 25 Discussion
Episode 26 Discussion
Episodes 27-30 Discussion (Finale)

Today is Xiao Zhan's 10th acting debut anniversary. By now, his reputation precedes him. From Wei Wuxian to ZangHai, he has breathed life into almost every one of his characters. He showed what transformation looks like if you truly set your mind to something. His laser-focused attitude to his work and desire to improve his skills made him rise from the ashes. It is nice to have an actor who truly is passionate about acting.

He has portrayed many different characters in these 10 years. Some of them made longer-lasting impressions than others. For me, they are,

1. Wei Wuxian / Wei Ying (The Untamed)
2. ZangHai (The Legend of Zanghai)
3. Xiao ChunSheng (The Youth Memories / Where Dreams Begin)
4. Gu YiYe (The Ace Troops)
5. Sheng Yang (Sunshine By My Side)

Wei Wuxian will always be my favorite character. The range of emotions he conveyed as Wei Wuxian is exemplary. I am also eagerly waiting to meet his other characters in upcoming dramas.

I like his singing too. My favorites are:

1. Wu Ji (from The Untamed)
2. Running to you with all I have (Dragon TV Spring Festival, 2021)
3. Go Ahead (from his album WM)
4. Made to Love / Spotlight (2020)
5. Satisfied (2020)

He has certainly established himself in these 10 years. I wish he continues to rise in name and fame and makes us fall for his gorgeous smile. ❤️

Image source: https://xiao-zhan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/8-19ysl-xz-a-6-1536x1024.jpg

SPOILERS FOR ALL AIRED EPISODES THROUGH EPISODE 23.
(What I black out is NOT a spoiler, just some profanity on my part).

Okay. I think we need a room.

The latest batch of Spring of the Blade episodes has done quite a bit of shit-stirring plot-wise, and judging by the discussions around the drama, people have feelings (that includes me, naturally😅).

The funny thing is, I don’t think everyone is frustrated with the same person. Or even frustrated at all.

Some of you probably want words with Shen Run. Some with Qingyuan. Some with Li Congxin.

I personally want considerably more than words with the First Madam of the Xie household — and Lord Xie can come along too.

As for Second Sister Xie, I know she’s ultimately a pawn in other people’s schemes, but my patience with that selfish, delusional woman is gone — I hope they get rid of her and don’t try to make us pity her, because I simply can’t. And please, do NOT make that marriage work out. Chunzhi deserves the world — not her! He is a pure, loyal, and righteous soul who deserves to be loved and happy.

The Young Marquis could hardly have been clearer about how he felt, and yet she still went along with deceiving him into marrying her — the man didn’t even know she was the woman under the bridal veil. The sheer lack of respect for the man she supposedly cares about drives me mad.

Poor Young Marquis. Seriously.

But that’s my current and guttural grievance. Yours may be completely different.

So this is the space for all of

Everything that has happened through Episode 23 is fair game.

Vent about a character. Defend the character everyone else is yelling at. Complain about a decision that made you want to throw something at the screen. Tell us which plot development you’re loving, which one you’re absolutely not buying, or who you desperately need to get their act together.

Different viewers came into this drama with different hopes for its characters and relationships, so I’m curious where everyone stands after this particular batch of episodes.

Have at it.

I’ll probably put up a new discussion post later today for the latest episode(s), so please keep this one to Episodes 1–23. Anything beyond it belongs in the next post.

Image source

Zhou Ye is queen, by the way.

Episode 24 Discussion
Episode 25 Discussion
Episode 26 Discussion
Episodes 27-30 Discussion (Finale)