Entry tags:
(no subject)
After more than a year of luxuriously slow viewing,
genarti and I have finally finished watching Nirvana in Fire!
For those unfamiliar: Nirvana in Fire is an astoundingly good Chinese drama which I've often seen people compare to Game of Thrones. I understand why people recommended it this way, especially in GoT's heyday -- Nirvana in Fire is also a sweeping, complex historical-political epic with beautiful outfits -- but I respectfully disagree with this comparison; unlike Game of Thrones, Nirvana in Fire is a.) meticulously plotted, b.) focuses far more on extremely sympathetic humans who are motivated by their own deep senses of ethics, loyalty, and justice, and c.) does not feature dragons or indeed any mythological creatures at all (except for a whole lot of nonsense medicines and poisons, and, possibly, a yeti.)
The plot: the court of Da Liang is locked in factional struggle between two putative heirs to the Emperor's throne; Mei Changsu, Our Hero, is a brilliant scholar and strategist who has come to the capital to graciously allow each of the Emperor's favored sons an opportunity to attempt to recruit him.
However, in fact, Mei Changsu has actually come to maneuver the rise of the Emperor's least favorite son, the extremely honest but congenitally un-strategic Jingyan ... because Mei Changsu, unbeknownst to almost anyone very much including Jingyan, is secretly Jingyan's dearest friend, who was presumed massacred along with his entire family twelve years ago in an Unfortunate Treason Incident, but managed to survive thanks to a rare affliction that causes you to be played by a different actor, and has now returned! for REVENGE! that incidentally involves reforming the entire court and replacing it with a more ethical version of itself!
HIJINKS, IDENTITY PORN, AND A TRULY INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF POLITICAL AND EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION ENSUE.
The cast? The cast!
Mei Changsu: a liar

Prince Jingyan: a perfectly balanced mix of honor, depression, and belligerently repressed intransigence


- Princess Nihuang, who was engaged to be married to Mei Changsu (original flavor) before the Unfortunate Treason Incident and has been effectively dodging other suitors by leading armies on the southern border ever since; righteous, forthright, and yet somehow still perfectly competent at effectively managing court intrigue (yes this is a Jingyan callout post)


- General Meng, Mei Changsu's ally on the inside; a bold and respected warrior who is also a constant source of workplace sitcom energy


- Fei Lu, the world's most skilled martial artist

- Consort Jing, Jingyan's mother, a doctor who came to the palace one day to treat a patient and regrettably was not thereafter allowed to leave; possessed of absolutely incredible levels of chill, even more subtlety than Mei Changsu, and a very useful talent for remembering all her son's friend's allergies

- Jingrui and Yujin, cluelessly genial young lads-about-townmanipulated by befriended by Mei Changsu for mysterious reasons of his own. We initially called them the interchangeable Woosters, until Jingrui began to develop a more significant role as a beloved, sheltered, ethical baby unfortunately doomed to discover that his inordinately complex and shady family was intertwined in a series of inordinately complex and shady plots. As a result this began to seem unfair to Jingrui and we switched to calling them Woost and Wooster.


- (Nihuang's baby brother Mu Qing eventually emerged as Woostest.)

- Xia Dong, a virtuous member of the secret police with a tragically dead husband, who is about to come face to face with the shocking fact that some secret police organizations are in fact problematic

- Prince Yu, the Emperor's favorite son and Jingyan's main opponent for most of the show; he tried so hard, and got so far

- Banruo, Prince Yu's chief strategist, absolute best smirk in the cast

- Gong Yu, the Haydée to Mei Changsu's Edmond Dantès but less romantically successful; occasionally gets more to do than pine after Mei Changsu but not as much as one might wish

- Lin Chen, an eccentric medical genius; absent most of the show but sweeps into the final arc with an ABSOLUTE vengeance


Favorite subplots include but are not limited to:
- Mei Changsu manipulates the court and sends an enemy into ruin by playing an enthusiastic round of House Hunters
- Mei Changsu manipulates the court and sends an enemy into ruin by raising a question about the seating charts at a holiday party
- Jingrui Has A Birthday Party
- strategist scavenger hunt!
- "Consort Jing is like a cotton ball that cannot be flattened or broken. There's no way to fight her."
- the stressful round of chicken involving a prison escape attempt
- the hilarious round of chicken involving a deadly poison
- everything related to the yeti
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
For those unfamiliar: Nirvana in Fire is an astoundingly good Chinese drama which I've often seen people compare to Game of Thrones. I understand why people recommended it this way, especially in GoT's heyday -- Nirvana in Fire is also a sweeping, complex historical-political epic with beautiful outfits -- but I respectfully disagree with this comparison; unlike Game of Thrones, Nirvana in Fire is a.) meticulously plotted, b.) focuses far more on extremely sympathetic humans who are motivated by their own deep senses of ethics, loyalty, and justice, and c.) does not feature dragons or indeed any mythological creatures at all (except for a whole lot of nonsense medicines and poisons, and, possibly, a yeti.)
The plot: the court of Da Liang is locked in factional struggle between two putative heirs to the Emperor's throne; Mei Changsu, Our Hero, is a brilliant scholar and strategist who has come to the capital to graciously allow each of the Emperor's favored sons an opportunity to attempt to recruit him.
However, in fact, Mei Changsu has actually come to maneuver the rise of the Emperor's least favorite son, the extremely honest but congenitally un-strategic Jingyan ... because Mei Changsu, unbeknownst to almost anyone very much including Jingyan, is secretly Jingyan's dearest friend, who was presumed massacred along with his entire family twelve years ago in an Unfortunate Treason Incident, but managed to survive thanks to a rare affliction that causes you to be played by a different actor, and has now returned! for REVENGE! that incidentally involves reforming the entire court and replacing it with a more ethical version of itself!
HIJINKS, IDENTITY PORN, AND A TRULY INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF POLITICAL AND EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION ENSUE.
The cast? The cast!
Mei Changsu: a liar

Prince Jingyan: a perfectly balanced mix of honor, depression, and belligerently repressed intransigence


- Princess Nihuang, who was engaged to be married to Mei Changsu (original flavor) before the Unfortunate Treason Incident and has been effectively dodging other suitors by leading armies on the southern border ever since; righteous, forthright, and yet somehow still perfectly competent at effectively managing court intrigue (yes this is a Jingyan callout post)


- General Meng, Mei Changsu's ally on the inside; a bold and respected warrior who is also a constant source of workplace sitcom energy


- Fei Lu, the world's most skilled martial artist

- Consort Jing, Jingyan's mother, a doctor who came to the palace one day to treat a patient and regrettably was not thereafter allowed to leave; possessed of absolutely incredible levels of chill, even more subtlety than Mei Changsu, and a very useful talent for remembering all her son's friend's allergies

- Jingrui and Yujin, cluelessly genial young lads-about-town


- (Nihuang's baby brother Mu Qing eventually emerged as Woostest.)

- Xia Dong, a virtuous member of the secret police with a tragically dead husband, who is about to come face to face with the shocking fact that some secret police organizations are in fact problematic

- Prince Yu, the Emperor's favorite son and Jingyan's main opponent for most of the show; he tried so hard, and got so far

- Banruo, Prince Yu's chief strategist, absolute best smirk in the cast

- Gong Yu, the Haydée to Mei Changsu's Edmond Dantès but less romantically successful; occasionally gets more to do than pine after Mei Changsu but not as much as one might wish

- Lin Chen, an eccentric medical genius; absent most of the show but sweeps into the final arc with an ABSOLUTE vengeance


Favorite subplots include but are not limited to:
- Mei Changsu manipulates the court and sends an enemy into ruin by playing an enthusiastic round of House Hunters
- Mei Changsu manipulates the court and sends an enemy into ruin by raising a question about the seating charts at a holiday party
- Jingrui Has A Birthday Party
- strategist scavenger hunt!
- "Consort Jing is like a cotton ball that cannot be flattened or broken. There's no way to fight her."
- the stressful round of chicken involving a prison escape attempt
- the hilarious round of chicken involving a deadly poison
- everything related to the yeti
no subject
Thank you for the recommendation and outline of enticing themes. I hope it does not end in the bitter tears of eternal despair?
no subject
uh ... define bitter tears of eternal despair. Honestly it's mostly fine! Everyone more or less gets most of what they want! Except for me, who wanted above all else to see Jingyan just once pop his best and most beloved friend right in his lying liar's nose.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
... on the other hand the episodes are only 40 minutes, so the actual time elapsed is not that much more than an epic 20-episode kdrama? >.> AND IT'S SO WORTH IT.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
Sold.
no subject
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
*bursts out laughing*
Jingyan learns maximum drama, it was so great :D
Or wait, is this in the prison instead? I love how there are many rounds of poison excellence to choose from.
no subject
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
...also Woost, Wooster, and Woostest might be the greatest thing I have ever seen.
The moral of NiF really comes down to this: Don't invite Mei Changsu to your birthday party unless you wish to regret everything.
no subject
(no subject)
no subject
yujin is the world's best wooster and he beats even jingrui's sweetness and mu qing's cuteness in my heart. and he's actually pretty smart! the prince ji kind of smart, the one that would've survived the very bad times.
no subject
I honestly can't pick a favorite among Jingrui, Yujin, and Mu Qing, all the Woosters are so good! but you are absolutely correct that Yujin's survival instincts are top tier and I would bet on him any day to be able to consistently wriggle his way out of serious trouble.
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
I WILL PAY, JUST GIVE ME MY FAVES WITH SUBTITLES!
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
Please come talk to me a lot about how pretty Mei Changsu is and how unfightable Consort Jing is and how fast Lin Chen steals the show when he appears onscreen! Also I have fanfic and fanart recs if you're interested in those!
no subject
I could not believe how fast Lin Chen became A Character, when he showed up I was like "we only have like five episodes left, why does everyone care about this one so much?" and by twenty minutes in I was like "oh ... I understand now."
I am absolutely interested in any fanfic and fanart recs you wish to distribute, PLEASE LAY 'EM ON ME.
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
You can watch it here. If you create an account, which is free, you can avoid the ads!
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
no subject
- the fact that for some reason our main character is played by two actors despite being, presumably, the same person the entire time? (vs another show I could name in which it would be reasonable to cast two actors for the same main character but the show refuses to do so; all of these choices are hilarious)
- the shocking fact that some secret police organizations are in fact problematic made me cackle in horror
- the yeti???
Does one watch this on Netflix, or elsewhere?
no subject
The problematic aspects of the secret police organisation are entertaining to watch unfold! First problem: the Emperor they answer to has the moral fibre of a worm. Second problem: the head of the organisation has the moral fibre of a scorpion. Third problem: Both of those people have offended Mei Changsu's sense of justice, and therefore are about to get their comeuppances in spectacularly painful fashion.
As for where... I watched it on Viki, and attempted to rewatch it on Youtube but kept running into blocked episodes. Curious to know where more recent viewers may have found it!
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
Consort Jing! The best.
no subject
Consort Jing is the absolute top-level opponent and no one can defeat her!!
no subject
For me, my favourite Mei Changsu manipulation moment was when Jingyan was organising the tents and blankets for the people affected by the factory explosion - and MCS tells him not to make a formal report about the military goods he requisitioned to see is the Crown Prince tries to pettily use it against him. And he does. And it makes Jingyan look GREAT.
no subject
Mei Changsu's manipulations are the best, because they're so clever and yet when explained you can see exactly why they work; it doesn't take any suspension of disbelief to think that they would be effective.
no subject
no subject
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
your character descriptions are very funny, I choked at Fei Liu
I, I, I am ded of quarantine and have no brain, thank you for this post ♥
no subject