Lost in the Chamber of Love
Just finished my second TVB drama, "Lost in the chamber of Love." TVB dramas, as near as I can tell, are mostly another way way of saying "mainland China"(my first was "Seven Swordsmen."
I shall bewatching many more in the future, and likely do a post about them, as I suspect I'm the only person who actually watches them.
It's a romantic comedy set during China's Tang dynasty. There's some action, mostly at the beginning and end with a bit in the middle, but it's mostly comedy and romance. And since it involves people thinking they're in love with the wrong people and one of the main characters is a servent girl in a time where it what considered good to beat your servants, there is angst. (The fact that the actress who plays Hung Leung-the servant girl- is an extremely good crier didn't help lessen the angst any, either...)
Normally, I'd link the d-wiki entry here, but that reads like someoneone caught it around eps 5-8 or so and wrote up on it there or something(mind you, good accounting of what's going on plotwise there, but...)
The crux of it is that Ngun-Ngun, the prime minister's daughter, has grown up with her servant, Hung Leung. Because they're the same age and both are very nice, open girls, they grow up viewing each other almost as sisters(actually, the best allegory for them is Batman and Alfred...Alfred is Bruce Wayne's closest friend, father figure, mentor, etc...he's the most important person in Bruce Wayne's life and always will be. But at the same time, even though Alfred can cross lines no one else ever can, Batman is and always will be the master of the house, and Alfred the butler, and those class distinctions are permanently ingrained) Hung Leung is extremely cheerful and cute and clever, but also rather naive and innocent. Ngun-Ngun is also cheerful and is very kind, and has every nuance and trait of the daughter of a high class, important family down perfectly. But because her father worked his way up from being a common soldier to the prime minister, her family is a little too aware of their status, and she's very isolated. Meanwhile, even though Ngun-Ngun does everything she can to protect her, her mother's henchwoman, Evil Cousin(cuz I never really learned her name) bullies and beats Hung Leung everytime she can find an excuse.
Ngun-Ngun gets kidnapped by bandits(one of whom is the only main character to suffer from highly questionable hair, though he gets that fixed near the end, and is one of my favorites from the series) and a lantern maker and aspiring scholar Hung Leung has met a few times and developed a crush on, Kwan-Shui, rescues her. They do the normal high class lady rescued by noble commoner who can fight thing and fall in love, to Ngun-Ngun's parents disapproval. At the same time, the emperor, who goes by Wong for most of the series, is told by his mother that he has to find an acceptable wife, or she'll choose one for him. He disguises himself as a merchant named Wong and meets Ngun-Ngun and immediately falls in love and sets out to win her from Kwan-Shui.
For the first half of the series, it looks like it's about a likeable but rather dull OTP who don't seem quite suited trying to be able to be together and overcoming a lot of obstacles, while the 2 more interesting characters maneuver on the sidelines, with Wong doing everything he can to win Ngun-Ngun, no matter how underhanded, and Hyung Lung thwarting most of his attempts. However, like I said, they aren't quite suited, and eventually it fades to friendship and they realize, slowly, that they've actually been falling in love with someone else the whole time they were trying to be together.
Wong is somewhat like Si/Domyoji from Meteor Garden/Hana Yori Dango...only an ancient emperor whom only gods have authority over. He's scheming, mischevous, and immature but he really is devoted to Ngun-Ngun, as much as he can be(he keeps his wandering eyes, but that's all that wanders, which is pretty impressive for a guy that was raised to think he could have as many wives, concubines and dalliances as he wants and it's ok) He's also very nice, but has issues when it comes to valueing the opinions and feelings of others. He's devoted to the country and is always looking out for the peoples' welfare, but forgets to take egos into consideration. For example, because Ngun-Ngun's father is getting older and has served him for so long, he starts giving her fewer and easier tasks, and just assumes that he and others understand why. Of course, it comes across as a lack of faith in the prime minister, and when he asks Wong to give him more and harder tasks, Wong tells him to get off his knees, and when he does so, tells him, in front of the entire court, that he won't give him more tasks, he was just worried about him kneeling for so long. Sweet, but stupid and inconsiderate. But when he meets Ngun-Ngun, he knows she's "it" and sets out on a full scale campaign to win her, no holds barred. But he also wants to do it honorably...One of the bandits, Mountain Cat, is bribed to say that Kwan-Shui was actually a member of the band and it wasall a plot to get Kwan-Shui into the prime minister's house, and the official is bought off so Kwan-Shui is convicted, even though Fei-Fu(bad hair guy, who is half of my favorite OTP and doesn't want an innocent man to go to jail when he can stop it) insists he wasn't. Wong can tell there's something wrong just by an accounting of the case, and files an appeal. He knows that Kwan-Shui is Ngun-Ngun's fiance, but he wants to win herfrom him in a fair competition, not stand by and take advantage of his rival being hauled off over a crime he didn't commit. Of course, his idea of a fair competition is anything and everything he can throw at them. If it wasn't for Hung Leung, Ngun-Ngun and Kwan-Shui wouldn't have lasted five minutes against him.
Fortunately, though, because of her upbringing, Hung Leung is as educated and clever as Ngun-Ngun, but has also spent herentire life maneuvering and surviving the heirarchy of the servants, so she's able to thwart and/or expose most attempts, even though she like Kwan-Shui herself. As far as she's concerned, Ngun-Ngun's happiness comes first, so she hides her crush from both of them and does everything she can to help them(incidentally, if Ngun-Ngun had known Hung Leung already had a crush on Kwan-Shui when they met, or after, itwould have been the opposite, and the series would have been a lot shorter) Incidentally, like I said...that actress is just WAAAAAYYYYY too good at the crying scenes, though there's one scene where you can almost see her mind go "tears now" and there they are. So, naturally, she gets the most angst piled on her. If you watch it and don't adore her before the end of the first episode, then there's just something wrong with you.
In contrast, Kwan-Shui and Ngun-Ngun, while perfectly decent and good matches for their OTPs, are a bit dull. Actually, Kwan-Shui is pretty and the actor does earnest intentions and fight scenes well, but that's about all that can be said for him. Ngun-Ngun fares better, and the actress is one of the few young women to come close to being able to look natural in the really ornate fashion of chinese historicals, but like all the others, still looks more natural in the simpler clothes( think it's a breeding/nurture thing...fake or not, those just aren't clothes you'll feel natural in unless you're actually raised to wear them, no matter how good an actress you are )
There are two other OTPs involving Kwan-Shui's sister. His older sister(who's name I never learned because 19 times out of twenty, she's Big Sis or Miss Cheung) and Wong's attendant, who looks just like her lover who disappeared 10 years earlier(but isn't him) They're very funny...crochety arrogant guy and iron willed, micromanaging woman.
The other is Fei-fu and Kwan-Shui's younger sister, Nim-Wai...it's a somewhat standard rogue who falls forthe girl who treats his injuries and hides him thing, but it's incredibly cute and fun, as he's never actually been around girls in normal circumstances before, and has no idea how to act. He also has no idea how to put that sword down or how to court a girl, leading to constant bickering and drunken begging for Kwan-Shui to reassure him that yes, she really does love him and won't leave him, even if he is an idiot when it comes to her. He's also probably the most honorable guy in a series about people with far too much honor and willingness towards self-ascrifice fortheir own good(the number of times Fei-Fu, Hung Leung and Kwan-Shui needed a good shake...)
I shall bewatching many more in the future, and likely do a post about them, as I suspect I'm the only person who actually watches them.
It's a romantic comedy set during China's Tang dynasty. There's some action, mostly at the beginning and end with a bit in the middle, but it's mostly comedy and romance. And since it involves people thinking they're in love with the wrong people and one of the main characters is a servent girl in a time where it what considered good to beat your servants, there is angst. (The fact that the actress who plays Hung Leung-the servant girl- is an extremely good crier didn't help lessen the angst any, either...)
Normally, I'd link the d-wiki entry here, but that reads like someoneone caught it around eps 5-8 or so and wrote up on it there or something(mind you, good accounting of what's going on plotwise there, but...)
The crux of it is that Ngun-Ngun, the prime minister's daughter, has grown up with her servant, Hung Leung. Because they're the same age and both are very nice, open girls, they grow up viewing each other almost as sisters(actually, the best allegory for them is Batman and Alfred...Alfred is Bruce Wayne's closest friend, father figure, mentor, etc...he's the most important person in Bruce Wayne's life and always will be. But at the same time, even though Alfred can cross lines no one else ever can, Batman is and always will be the master of the house, and Alfred the butler, and those class distinctions are permanently ingrained) Hung Leung is extremely cheerful and cute and clever, but also rather naive and innocent. Ngun-Ngun is also cheerful and is very kind, and has every nuance and trait of the daughter of a high class, important family down perfectly. But because her father worked his way up from being a common soldier to the prime minister, her family is a little too aware of their status, and she's very isolated. Meanwhile, even though Ngun-Ngun does everything she can to protect her, her mother's henchwoman, Evil Cousin(cuz I never really learned her name) bullies and beats Hung Leung everytime she can find an excuse.
Ngun-Ngun gets kidnapped by bandits(one of whom is the only main character to suffer from highly questionable hair, though he gets that fixed near the end, and is one of my favorites from the series) and a lantern maker and aspiring scholar Hung Leung has met a few times and developed a crush on, Kwan-Shui, rescues her. They do the normal high class lady rescued by noble commoner who can fight thing and fall in love, to Ngun-Ngun's parents disapproval. At the same time, the emperor, who goes by Wong for most of the series, is told by his mother that he has to find an acceptable wife, or she'll choose one for him. He disguises himself as a merchant named Wong and meets Ngun-Ngun and immediately falls in love and sets out to win her from Kwan-Shui.
For the first half of the series, it looks like it's about a likeable but rather dull OTP who don't seem quite suited trying to be able to be together and overcoming a lot of obstacles, while the 2 more interesting characters maneuver on the sidelines, with Wong doing everything he can to win Ngun-Ngun, no matter how underhanded, and Hyung Lung thwarting most of his attempts. However, like I said, they aren't quite suited, and eventually it fades to friendship and they realize, slowly, that they've actually been falling in love with someone else the whole time they were trying to be together.
Wong is somewhat like Si/Domyoji from Meteor Garden/Hana Yori Dango...only an ancient emperor whom only gods have authority over. He's scheming, mischevous, and immature but he really is devoted to Ngun-Ngun, as much as he can be(he keeps his wandering eyes, but that's all that wanders, which is pretty impressive for a guy that was raised to think he could have as many wives, concubines and dalliances as he wants and it's ok) He's also very nice, but has issues when it comes to valueing the opinions and feelings of others. He's devoted to the country and is always looking out for the peoples' welfare, but forgets to take egos into consideration. For example, because Ngun-Ngun's father is getting older and has served him for so long, he starts giving her fewer and easier tasks, and just assumes that he and others understand why. Of course, it comes across as a lack of faith in the prime minister, and when he asks Wong to give him more and harder tasks, Wong tells him to get off his knees, and when he does so, tells him, in front of the entire court, that he won't give him more tasks, he was just worried about him kneeling for so long. Sweet, but stupid and inconsiderate. But when he meets Ngun-Ngun, he knows she's "it" and sets out on a full scale campaign to win her, no holds barred. But he also wants to do it honorably...One of the bandits, Mountain Cat, is bribed to say that Kwan-Shui was actually a member of the band and it wasall a plot to get Kwan-Shui into the prime minister's house, and the official is bought off so Kwan-Shui is convicted, even though Fei-Fu(bad hair guy, who is half of my favorite OTP and doesn't want an innocent man to go to jail when he can stop it) insists he wasn't. Wong can tell there's something wrong just by an accounting of the case, and files an appeal. He knows that Kwan-Shui is Ngun-Ngun's fiance, but he wants to win herfrom him in a fair competition, not stand by and take advantage of his rival being hauled off over a crime he didn't commit. Of course, his idea of a fair competition is anything and everything he can throw at them. If it wasn't for Hung Leung, Ngun-Ngun and Kwan-Shui wouldn't have lasted five minutes against him.
Fortunately, though, because of her upbringing, Hung Leung is as educated and clever as Ngun-Ngun, but has also spent herentire life maneuvering and surviving the heirarchy of the servants, so she's able to thwart and/or expose most attempts, even though she like Kwan-Shui herself. As far as she's concerned, Ngun-Ngun's happiness comes first, so she hides her crush from both of them and does everything she can to help them(incidentally, if Ngun-Ngun had known Hung Leung already had a crush on Kwan-Shui when they met, or after, itwould have been the opposite, and the series would have been a lot shorter) Incidentally, like I said...that actress is just WAAAAAYYYYY too good at the crying scenes, though there's one scene where you can almost see her mind go "tears now" and there they are. So, naturally, she gets the most angst piled on her. If you watch it and don't adore her before the end of the first episode, then there's just something wrong with you.
In contrast, Kwan-Shui and Ngun-Ngun, while perfectly decent and good matches for their OTPs, are a bit dull. Actually, Kwan-Shui is pretty and the actor does earnest intentions and fight scenes well, but that's about all that can be said for him. Ngun-Ngun fares better, and the actress is one of the few young women to come close to being able to look natural in the really ornate fashion of chinese historicals, but like all the others, still looks more natural in the simpler clothes( think it's a breeding/nurture thing...fake or not, those just aren't clothes you'll feel natural in unless you're actually raised to wear them, no matter how good an actress you are )
There are two other OTPs involving Kwan-Shui's sister. His older sister(who's name I never learned because 19 times out of twenty, she's Big Sis or Miss Cheung) and Wong's attendant, who looks just like her lover who disappeared 10 years earlier(but isn't him) They're very funny...crochety arrogant guy and iron willed, micromanaging woman.
The other is Fei-fu and Kwan-Shui's younger sister, Nim-Wai...it's a somewhat standard rogue who falls forthe girl who treats his injuries and hides him thing, but it's incredibly cute and fun, as he's never actually been around girls in normal circumstances before, and has no idea how to act. He also has no idea how to put that sword down or how to court a girl, leading to constant bickering and drunken begging for Kwan-Shui to reassure him that yes, she really does love him and won't leave him, even if he is an idiot when it comes to her. He's also probably the most honorable guy in a series about people with far too much honor and willingness towards self-ascrifice fortheir own good(the number of times Fei-Fu, Hung Leung and Kwan-Shui needed a good shake...)