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Dropped: Sound of the Desert (風中奇緣) (2014)
Though I was excited to start this drama, I think unfortunately it doesn't have what it takes to keep me interested. This drama definitely showed traits that we see in more dated Cdramas, specifically Mary Sue characters and dragging story lines.
Spoilers up until episode 8.
Story
The story focused on our protagonist, Xin Yue. She grew up in the desert with little interaction with humans. Her best friend and brother was a wolf, Lang-xiong.
At the beginning of the drama, Xin Yue saved two men in the desert, one was Mo Xun, aka Jiuye. The other was Wei Wuji. After establishing these relationships, Xin Yue decided to go to the city.
In a series of happy accidents, Xin Yue was captured by a courtesan house, saved from the courtesan house, and then became the manager of the courtesan house and basically an independent business owner.
Where I stopped in the story, Xin Yue and Hong Gu, the madame at the courtesan house, were getting one of their courtesans an audience with the Emperor, which would then help the reputation of the courtesan house.
In general, the story was a bit draggy. But that wouldn't have turned me off from the show if I was captivated by the story. What turned me off was that Xin Yue's character exhibited Mary Sue traits. Despite being portrayed as a wolf-child who didn't know too much about human society, she managed to find her footing relatively fast. Every time she got into trouble, she was either saved from it, or it ended up being a good thing. She kind of teetered between understanding propriety and being daring and it kind of made it hard for me to really pinpoint her character, which was a problem for this story specifically because it was so character-centric. I can handle characters not being too defined if the story around them was still functional, but the story in this show revolved around Xin Yue.
Admittedly I haven't really been a fan of Liu Shishi as an actress, so that didn't really help the character of Xin Yue being likeable to me.
There were romantic parts of the show that also seemed to come out of nowhere. Wei Wuji was shown to be someone who was more flirtatious, but it came out of nowhere. He was just a friend and all of a sudden, he was making sex jokes? Jiuye was supposed to be the kind but stern one, but it felt like his only one stern act was cutting off the courtesan house from his business because of Xin Yue's risky business moves. And yet he continued to look after her.
I could have accepted such a fast success story if there was more intrigue in it, but the story has felt a bit all over the place. I wanted to give this show a chance because the cast did impress me, but I fear that the story will unwind even further as it goes on.
Production
The sound mixing was yikes for this drama. It might have just been the version I was watching. At times the music was too loud and couldn't be heard over the speaking, sometimes the music only came from one side.
Clearly this was meant to be a high production value drama. At least the costumes reflected that I guess.
Characters
Xin Yue
As you can tell, I was not a fan of Xin Yue. She was portrayed as a desert girl who very quickly adapted to life in the city. She was portrayed as a more fun-loving girl, but I think the point would have been better made if she had gotten into trouble because of the fun. She did at the beginning when she used up all the money. But after she joined the courtesan house and became the head, it felt like she already knew that her troubles would be saved one way or another.
Admittedly I thought it was interesting and different that Xin Yue decided to accept her fate in the courtesan house rather than fighting Hong-gu about it, she figured that it would be easier to give in and to instead enjoy life at the house.
But what was unbelievable to me was that Xin Yue adapted to the politicking incredibly fast. She was saved by Jiuye, but since she wanted something to do, she was put in charge of the courtesan house. From then on, she already became the mastermind of the business. Perhaps that could be chalked up to her being more risk-taking compared to Hong-gu who would normally be more wary of propriety and aristocracy. But I thought it would make more sense if there was a sense of ignorance, rather than a sense of knowing even more than Hong-gu.
The idea of Xin Yue letting Ding Li leave and come back to the courtesan house on her own also didn't really sit right with me. In the sense that it involved a knowledge of human relations that she wouldn't have gained overnight.
Other
Mo Xun and Wei Wuji were whatever. They were portrayed as the romantic male leads, Mo Xun the more stoic one and Wei Wuji the more lively one. I didn't really have any particular feelings towards them.
Hong-gu was Xin Yue's main partner in crime at the courtesan house, and basically the audience's vessel to hear about Xin Yue's thoughts. I appreciate the idea of Hong-gu, being someone who didn't always work on the right side of ethics, but after Xin Yue assumed leadership of the courtesan house, I felt like Hong-gu's previous expertise was kind of completely dismissed. When Xin Yue was first taken to Jiuye's and no one knew why that was, I thought it was cringe that Hong-gu knelt in front of her, as it wasn't really her fault that Xin Yue was being sent away? I think implying a close relationship would have been fine, but to the extent of kneeling for forgiveness seemed a bit much.
Qin Xiang and her brothers was so weird to me. I just had no idea what was going on with them. Basically they wanted an audience with the royals and by the time I dropped the drama, they had gotten it. There was meant to be a sort of mind game battle between Xin Yue and Qin Xiang, resulting in them becoming friends. But their story had such a disconnect. I just didn't have a good enough grasp on what Qin Xiang and her brothers wanted. She wanted revenge, and she would get it by gaining an audience with the Emperor, and she would get that by going to a reputable courtesan house. It just seemed like...she had her mind made up so what's Xin Yue's role here? Either she will help or she won't. So Xin Yue decided to help, but why? I couldn't really feel any chemistry between Xin Yue and Qin Xiang, I guess.
Overall
I'm sure there's potential for a good drama here, but frankly I think what's putting me off the most is Liu Shishi. Something about her acting just doesn't work for me. And given that this is a drama that's very much centered around the main character, I don't know that I could sit through more episodes of this.
I might pick it up again later, when I've run out of things to watch, but this just isn't grabbing my attention.
Spoilers up until episode 8.
Story
The story focused on our protagonist, Xin Yue. She grew up in the desert with little interaction with humans. Her best friend and brother was a wolf, Lang-xiong.
At the beginning of the drama, Xin Yue saved two men in the desert, one was Mo Xun, aka Jiuye. The other was Wei Wuji. After establishing these relationships, Xin Yue decided to go to the city.
In a series of happy accidents, Xin Yue was captured by a courtesan house, saved from the courtesan house, and then became the manager of the courtesan house and basically an independent business owner.
Where I stopped in the story, Xin Yue and Hong Gu, the madame at the courtesan house, were getting one of their courtesans an audience with the Emperor, which would then help the reputation of the courtesan house.
In general, the story was a bit draggy. But that wouldn't have turned me off from the show if I was captivated by the story. What turned me off was that Xin Yue's character exhibited Mary Sue traits. Despite being portrayed as a wolf-child who didn't know too much about human society, she managed to find her footing relatively fast. Every time she got into trouble, she was either saved from it, or it ended up being a good thing. She kind of teetered between understanding propriety and being daring and it kind of made it hard for me to really pinpoint her character, which was a problem for this story specifically because it was so character-centric. I can handle characters not being too defined if the story around them was still functional, but the story in this show revolved around Xin Yue.
Admittedly I haven't really been a fan of Liu Shishi as an actress, so that didn't really help the character of Xin Yue being likeable to me.
There were romantic parts of the show that also seemed to come out of nowhere. Wei Wuji was shown to be someone who was more flirtatious, but it came out of nowhere. He was just a friend and all of a sudden, he was making sex jokes? Jiuye was supposed to be the kind but stern one, but it felt like his only one stern act was cutting off the courtesan house from his business because of Xin Yue's risky business moves. And yet he continued to look after her.
I could have accepted such a fast success story if there was more intrigue in it, but the story has felt a bit all over the place. I wanted to give this show a chance because the cast did impress me, but I fear that the story will unwind even further as it goes on.
Production
The sound mixing was yikes for this drama. It might have just been the version I was watching. At times the music was too loud and couldn't be heard over the speaking, sometimes the music only came from one side.
Clearly this was meant to be a high production value drama. At least the costumes reflected that I guess.
Characters
Xin Yue
As you can tell, I was not a fan of Xin Yue. She was portrayed as a desert girl who very quickly adapted to life in the city. She was portrayed as a more fun-loving girl, but I think the point would have been better made if she had gotten into trouble because of the fun. She did at the beginning when she used up all the money. But after she joined the courtesan house and became the head, it felt like she already knew that her troubles would be saved one way or another.
Admittedly I thought it was interesting and different that Xin Yue decided to accept her fate in the courtesan house rather than fighting Hong-gu about it, she figured that it would be easier to give in and to instead enjoy life at the house.
But what was unbelievable to me was that Xin Yue adapted to the politicking incredibly fast. She was saved by Jiuye, but since she wanted something to do, she was put in charge of the courtesan house. From then on, she already became the mastermind of the business. Perhaps that could be chalked up to her being more risk-taking compared to Hong-gu who would normally be more wary of propriety and aristocracy. But I thought it would make more sense if there was a sense of ignorance, rather than a sense of knowing even more than Hong-gu.
The idea of Xin Yue letting Ding Li leave and come back to the courtesan house on her own also didn't really sit right with me. In the sense that it involved a knowledge of human relations that she wouldn't have gained overnight.
Other
Mo Xun and Wei Wuji were whatever. They were portrayed as the romantic male leads, Mo Xun the more stoic one and Wei Wuji the more lively one. I didn't really have any particular feelings towards them.
Hong-gu was Xin Yue's main partner in crime at the courtesan house, and basically the audience's vessel to hear about Xin Yue's thoughts. I appreciate the idea of Hong-gu, being someone who didn't always work on the right side of ethics, but after Xin Yue assumed leadership of the courtesan house, I felt like Hong-gu's previous expertise was kind of completely dismissed. When Xin Yue was first taken to Jiuye's and no one knew why that was, I thought it was cringe that Hong-gu knelt in front of her, as it wasn't really her fault that Xin Yue was being sent away? I think implying a close relationship would have been fine, but to the extent of kneeling for forgiveness seemed a bit much.
Qin Xiang and her brothers was so weird to me. I just had no idea what was going on with them. Basically they wanted an audience with the royals and by the time I dropped the drama, they had gotten it. There was meant to be a sort of mind game battle between Xin Yue and Qin Xiang, resulting in them becoming friends. But their story had such a disconnect. I just didn't have a good enough grasp on what Qin Xiang and her brothers wanted. She wanted revenge, and she would get it by gaining an audience with the Emperor, and she would get that by going to a reputable courtesan house. It just seemed like...she had her mind made up so what's Xin Yue's role here? Either she will help or she won't. So Xin Yue decided to help, but why? I couldn't really feel any chemistry between Xin Yue and Qin Xiang, I guess.
Overall
I'm sure there's potential for a good drama here, but frankly I think what's putting me off the most is Liu Shishi. Something about her acting just doesn't work for me. And given that this is a drama that's very much centered around the main character, I don't know that I could sit through more episodes of this.
I might pick it up again later, when I've run out of things to watch, but this just isn't grabbing my attention.