any good TV series recently?

[xinoxanu]

38 minutes ago, StChris said:

I still have my Iqiyi subscription, but don't know if I can use it now that I'm back in the UK.

 

If it's still active yes, you can, but you'll need a proxy or a VPN for most shows that are locked to the mainland. Free ones like "Unblock Youku"  only work half of the time though. 

 

I dropped IQIYI a few weeks back and now I have an ongoing subscription to Youku. At the moment I only need to connect via a VPN into China once every 10 days or so, because they think I am travelling abroad and they allow that leeway like Spotify does as well. 

 

And yes, Chinese media on YouTube is a big thing and they definitely do it to bring the diaspora closer to home (and welcome renegade provinces into the fold as well). What a time to be Chinese or a Chinese enthusiast, uh?

[Jan Finster]

On 9/29/2020 at 5:50 PM, StChris said:

There is another short series (12 episodes) that is currently earning plaudits in China,《 沉默的真相》. It's a crime thriller and it currently has a 9.1 rating on 豆瓣. You can watch a quick review of the series here (I only watched the first couple of minutes as I want to avoid any spoilers). 

 

Starting watching this. Looks promising. ? I wonder if you guys can understand the conversations without subtitles. I struggle quite a bit, especially with the "chief detective"... If you understand them well, what level is your Chinese at?

 

I am also intrigued by   以家人之名   (Go Ahead): https://mydramalist.com/40911-go-ahead

It is going to be the next on my list.

[Jan Finster]

On 9/29/2020 at 10:00 PM, xinoxanu said:

IQIYI seems to be producing this with Netflix vibes on mind, and they have even made the episodes available for free via Youtube, so we can't complain too much: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqODiKTH8a4

 

It seems they only released the first 2 episodes on Youtube as "bait". Now I am hooked after Ep02... ?

[xinoxanu]

36 minutes ago, Jan Finster said:

Now I am hooked after Ep02

 

@roddy didn't answer a question I made regarding posting links that could be classified as "piracy"... but still: if you google for the name of this TV show + 免费 the first few results will help you finish the season without need for VPNs or a credit card, if you are into that.

 

1 hour ago, Jan Finster said:

I wonder if you guys can understand the conversations without subtitles.

 

No, not really. With my HSK5-HSK6 I'd say my comprehension with subtitles was about 60% for the first few minutes, going a little bit higher once I got used to the accents and the pace. Without subtitles I'd probably understand 20-30% of this TV show in particular, because the sound is not great and accents/slurred speech are all over the place. Anyway, this is a situation I always experience with media from the Mainland and in part it's because I am too spoiled by Taiwanese stuff and their higher production values ?

[roddy]

18 minutes ago, xinoxanu said:

 

@roddy didn't answer a question I made regarding posting links that could be classified as "piracy".

Roddy didn't see it. But generally: If it's mass market Chinese stuff, and there's no simple way to get hold of it legitimately, we're unlikely to be too worried. 

[amytheorangutan]

Anyone here into trashy romance drama with impossible plots and characters? I live for these stuff. Recently finished watching 完美先生和差不多小姐 have such a huge girl crush on the female lead. Hope to see her in more drama. 

[amytheorangutan]

Anyone here watched 《長安十二時辰》？I just watched 2 episodes and think the production value is high. Amazing set and costume, probably the best I've seen in Chinese TV so far. Hopefully the story live up to it. 

[EnergyReaper]

On 10/24/2020 at 12:12 AM, amytheorangutan said:

Anyone here into trashy romance drama with impossible plots and characters?

Maybe you'll also like

《如此可爱的我们》https://movie.douban.com/subject/34801099/

《我，喜欢你 》 https://movie.douban.com/subject/34908020/

《拾光里的我们》 https://movie.douban.com/subject/27135493/

《我才不要和你做朋友呢》https://movie.douban.com/subject/34863327/

《我的刺猬女孩》https://movie.douban.com/subject/34950406/

 

On 10/24/2020 at 12:12 AM, amytheorangutan said:

Hope to see her in more drama

She's also on a Jackie Chan movie 《急先锋》

[amytheorangutan]

@EnergyReaper Thanks so much for the tips. I’ve started watching 我喜歡你 but the other ones I haven’t seen. 

[Luxi]

15 hours ago, amytheorangutan said:

Anyone here watched 《長安十二時辰》？

 

I did, and enjoyed most of it. Especially the settings and props, so much detail, and so carefully done! I also liked the female characters, they all have backbones. Didn't like the end much, but would watch it again just to immerse myself in old Chang'An. I tried to read the novel but found it too hard to follow with so much action full of new-to-me vocabulary.

 

It is available in You Tube, Viki and Amazon Prime, with English subtitles.

 

 

[amytheorangutan]

49 minutes ago, Luxi said:

I also liked the female characters, they all have backbones. Didn't like the end much, but would watch it again just to immerse myself in old Chang'An. I tried to read the novel but found it too hard to follow with so much action full of new-to-me vocabulary.

 That's good to hear, someone said that the plot could be better so I was a bit unsure. I love strong female characters but they're very rare, the only ones I remember vividly in period/wuxia type drama is Huang Rong from Legend of The Condor Heroes probably my favourite female character ever and the women in Nirvana in Fire. Being able to read classic novels, historical novels and understand poetry is my ultimate ultimate goal of learning Chinese, though I might be 50 years old by the time I achieve it ???

[Luxi]

2 hours ago, amytheorangutan said:

though I might be 50 years old by the time I achieve it

 

I bet you could start right now.

Reading ancient Chinese novels in 百花, or modern historical novels in modern Mandarin, is not so difficult, and doesn't even require proficiency in modern Mandarin. It just needs a different vocabulary, and for it you can make use of electronic dictionaries without feeling too guilty. Once you're used to the sentence structure and grammar, some Ming or Qing dynasty novels become quite approachable, some short stories are even easier than many modern novels. Pure Classical novels need more work and more grammar background but much of the rest is based on oral story-telling.

Poetry is the hardest, but there is so much electronic help now, you can read each and every Tang poem alongside commentaries, notes and explanations in Baidu or similar. Unless you're a specialised academician, you always need the background explanation no matter how long you studied, there are all too many references and allusions that need explaining to understand ancient poetry - and you don't lose any of the pleasure or reading or listening poetry, quite the opposite. 

 

[ZhangKaiRong]

Bilibili is airing a new Chinese donghua 天官赐福. It is an adaptation of a xianxia light novel from 墨香铜臭. It's quite engaging, to be honest - never thought I would like this genre, but this is actually the second show I'm really addicted to after 魔道祖师. The animation is gorgeous, voice actors are great, and soundtrack is also a strong point - you always know that the budget is not tight on the show if they sign popular singers for the OP (Jeff Chang in this case).

 

For those living overseas: the episodes are also available on YouTube, in a mixed freemium mode - if you sign up for Bilibili, then you get access to the new episodes on release, otherwise there is a two-week lag in the release. So far, 4 full episodes have been released, and 2 of these is available to watch for free.

[feihong]

5 hours ago, ZhangKaiRong said:

For those living overseas: the episodes are also available on YouTube, in a mixed freemium mode - if you sign up for Bilibili, then you get access to the new episodes on release, otherwise there is a two-week lag in the release. So far, 4 full episodes have been released, and 2 of these is available to watch for free.

It’s easy to find the YouTube playlist for these free episodes, but it seems to be region blocked for those of us in the US.

 

That’s a shame, but I’ll take this opportunity to recommend Scissor Seven (刺客伍六七) on Netflix. It has great action choreography and it’s genuinely one of the funniest cartoons I’ve seen in recent years.

[kanumo]

隐秘的角落 - Bad Kids - for this 2 episodes are on youtube. I think it’s a Great Series so far.. hopefully more episodes are released..

 

also no hard subtitles - so of good use with the chrome language learning extension.

[Balthazar]

Decided to check out 沉默的真相 on account of the positive feedback here, and I'm not disappointed. Coming from a bunch of 50+ episode shows, it's really refreshing to see something kept within bounds. Engaging almost all the way through, my feelings about the end are a bit mixed but that's usually par for the course for me with shows of this genre.

 

As for the difficulty, I'd say this was a pretty easy show to follow in the sense that you can understand the main story line (and the who's who of the character gallery) even if you're not understanding all (or even most) of the dialogue.

[carlo]

Just watched the first episode of 大秦賦. It begins at the siege of Handan by Qin troops, and follows the escape of one Qin prince who has been kept hostage at the Zhao court. Back-stabbings and betrayals follow. 

 

The language is flowery, and there are a lot of characters, most of whom are double- or triple-faced, so I guess it's not for language beginners (though Youtube has English subtitles). The acting, cinematography, costumes etc look great (disclaimer: I'm no expert on Warring States). Fans of Game of Thrones will feel right at home.

Edit/ minor spoiler: it turns out the Qin prince is ...

Spoiler

Qin Shihuang's father

 

[roddy]

Watched a couple of episodes of 沉默的真相， like @Balthazar on the above recommendations, and enjoyed it. I'm going to try and finish it, although I'll generally be watching it at the gym and do not expect to pick up all the plot points along the way. Nicely done though, enjoyed the courtroom scene. 

 

Although, hang on, only the first two episodes are on Youtube? Do I need to reinstall iQiyi and see it'll let me watch it?

 

Edit: Meant to add, it's based on a book by 紫金陈, if anyone wants to give that a try.

[EnergyReaper]

棋魂 has a high mark in 豆瓣. Anyone who watched the Japanese cartoon 棋魂 has watched it?

[Balthazar]

On 12/7/2020 at 9:58 AM, roddy said:

Although, hang on, only the first two episodes are on Youtube? Do I need to reinstall iQiyi and see it'll let me watch it?

 

Besides torrenting, there's probably not that many other options.

 

I'm eight episodes into 以家人之名 (hat tip: @Jan Finster). Quite liked the first two episodes (I have a high tolerance for sappy stuff), but from episode 3 (the kids are now highschoolers, with all that entails) the obnoxiousness has been cranked up a couple of levels. The show definitely caters to a younger audience, but I think I'm going to stick with it as my lunchtime watching - the storyline is easy to follow, the language is fairly easy (relatively speaking) and the show overall is pretty well made. Available through Youtube is another plus.