At the end of the day, the core of any good drama remains the Story, it has to grip the viewers to give it tens of episodes to unfold and take us on a journey. The Story of Pearl Girl even has story in the title but sadly it had a very uninteresting story. Coupled with choppy directing it just couldn’t gain any traction despite coming in with tons of buzz and promotions. The acting was solid IMO, the chemistry was still there with leads Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning, and you can see the budget spent on all the jewelry and outfits and making the visuals looks rich but it wasn’t enough to overcome a story about one girl’s transformation into jewelry magnate and along the way having a side romance that didn’t develop enough sizzle before the fizzle was put out midway and now just sits in the corner occasionally peeking its head out to remind viewers it’s still alive. The opening Douban ratings are here and at 6.3 it feels apropos. After the push early last week to transform the drama from girl power to CP shipping trotting out the OTP for couples stuff, all the promos have since stopped and Youku is basically letting this just finish airing before moving on.
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"a side romance that didn’t develop enough sizzle before the fizzle..."
Koala, that was just too funny. That whole paragraph in which you described the romance in "Pearl Girl" is comedic gold.
I laughed when I saw Koala's comment on the side romance. Absolutely correct. I was just having a rant on MDL about how we got 2 episodes of actual romance wayyy back in ep 17&18, and now we're on ep 35 and they're 'friends' except when that romance "sits in the corner occasionally peaking its head out to remind viewers it's alive". I love this description! And the actors have really good chemistry. What a waste of the main leads story. I'm still watching, I want to know what happens in the story - also, if he dies. Looking likely now. At least there are only 5 eps left now.
Haha, I love your elegant way of saying that the best way about how the makers chose to develop that "romance" is that there's only 5 episodes of suffering through it left. And the "mystery" of whether he dies. Cheers for a quick resolution to that!
I would say the rating is fair for the drama. I'm still following it because I want to know what happens at the end of the story, but I confess to zipping through the latest episodes with my fast forward button, it's a good in putting me to sleep. I like Lusi, but I think her strengths are comedy and light dramas. There are some scenes in this drama where I find her performance kind of 'flat', as in I'm expecting more from her, but there's no emotion, just a blank, false smile.
I'm at episode 35 and am rating this drama on its own merits, not comparing it to any other drama. I agree with Koala's assessment on the choppy editing, and someone should let the writer know that the characters drive the plot, if the characters are flat and their growth trajectory is uninteresting, it would be hard to find viewers to empathize with the drama.
Agreed. I dropped this drama at episode 18 though. And yes, that kind of "flat" performances were why I had said ZLS and LYN's acting are weak, but some people here foamed at their mouths over it.
It's actually Youku not Tencent (who is still promoting Love Game in Eastern Fantasy ;))
I agree. As much as I Love watching Lusi but this one is just lacking compare to Love Like the Galaxy, that one will keep you on the edge on every episodes. The Pearl Girl I just got bored tbh. A bit disappointed too since I've been waiting like forever for Lusi and LYN reunion since The Long Ballad.
I've been and still am enjoying it. Not just the acting, but the plot. I think I only fast forwarded two episodes out of the 30 plus so far and I'm, for once, not sure whether it's going to be a SE or HE (been trying to figure out how they're going to save the ML) so I'm on the edge of my seat :). I think this drama is so different from the others I've watched this year; it stayed focus on the protag's goals and didn't end up playing a "who I'm choosing for my groom" mess. It's unromantic when it's supposed to be and romantic when it's the time for it. Maybe the Brocade will be similar--I'll have to catch that to compare.
Same, will it be a SE or HE? so I'm on the edge of my seat too, though I do wish the romance was better (see my comment above to AJ). I like that the drama does have a focus on her, but not at the expense of character development for LYN's character. It should be both growing. I'm enjoying the 2ML very much too - he's getting all the justice for them. Overall the first half was really good and I ended up dropping LGIEF for now so I could keep up with TSOPG.
These last episodes have been fast paced and crazy good! I’m rarely anxious of endings (I always sort of guessed right) but this one is making me antsy!
I'm at ep 5 and enjoying it immensely. On the other hand I couldn't enjoy that eastern fantasy series because it's just too kiddie for me.
Liu yuning's height is imposing, his best asset.
Sounds about right, it might drop a little lower depending on the ending. There is very little talk about this drama now that the whole hype about who helped promote it has passed. In fact, that was the biggest hype it had, totally unrelated to the plot.
Youku has indeed stopped bothering and I can't help but wonder if they realised they had a dud on their hands from the start and simply didn't want to spend more money than necessary. Wouldn't surprise me.
Overall not the best situation for Lusi considering her next drama is in very weak territory.
It's romance the next drama will thrive. Perhaps that's her forte.
@Enjoy
She is very good at it but she also needs a good partner. Unfortunately it's very questionable because WC is polarising and the little trailer that we saw really wasn't that. It didn't work at all. Can't change it now, it's all done and dusted so maybe the one after that.
Oh no! Allegedly people are calling Zhao lusi ju jingyi 2.0 ie trying to look pretty in every scene.are they blind lusi at best only looks cute,and adorable.and she doesn't wear that much make up.in every scene in pearl girl she looks naturally cute and wholesome girl next door.
What a waste of ZLS' talent! She can handle dramas with dark themes IMO besides light comedy and romance. Unfortunately as I've reiterated several times, the writing and the directing in particular aren't brilliant. Pearl Girl in some way is similar to The Longest Promise in terms of story delivering. I just don't see much talent in these writers and PDs. Sorry to say that. I'm like forever stuck at ep 11 of PG without much desire to move on LOL. I have since been hooked to a cheesy, noisy, illogical, chaotically nonsensical, nonetheless addictive Kdrama, the Penthouse series. I intend to finish PG for ZLS' sake but have no idea when I can make it because it's just lackluster. LOL.
If you will notice, all the "big" dramas here lately (Game of Eastern Fantasy, Fangs of Fortune, The Story of Pearl Girl) have no real kissing scenes. Zhao Lusi had one scene of kissing and one scene of putting her thumb between their lips. Fangs had zero kissing scenes, but I truly enjoyed the drama. I am up to 30+ episodes on GofEF and no kissing yet except on second couple leads. I guess when you hit a certain acting status, you can decline the romantic scenes. I find it takes away from the drama to not engage in real romance and not just gazing lovingly at their partner. I actually enjoy the lesser known actresses/actors that give their all in creating a beautiful love story. Who doesn't like a good smooch on the lips to fantasize that you find yourself replacing the person on screen. Lol, If the actors don't get along well enough to fully act out the story, don't pair them.
Ahem. Richard Li Fei. Good Lawdy. Don't ever let that man get too famous, then.
As a newbie into C-drama i'd say this such a good drama. For the first time in my life i keep checking the latest episode they released everynight and I kinda sad that we are already its near end episode. I enjoyed watching and I think many people, even casual viewers, will be hooked to its storyline. Not to mention the Actors' visuals and great acting performances.
@Janet
I did notice the thumb-between-the-lips-scene and it came across as very awkward. Why bother doing the scene then if you're not going to deliver on it? Especially when Lusi has never shied away from doing kiss scenes in her previous dramas. She should realize that it is her talent and comfort with romantic scenes that made her what she is today.
I kind of wonder at it though, because Yang Zi with all her talents and popularity still does kissing scenes and Dilraba as well - depending on the drama. I'm thinking it may be more about censorship not allowing kissing in recent dramas, than an actor or actress preference. But what do I know?
I do know that since the first couple's skinship was so lackluster in Pearl Girl, they let the second couple do all the heavy lifting in term of skinship. I didn't mind that, though. I kind of bought the second couple, it's just that the story made me dislike them both intensely.
Actually it has nothing to do with actors and actress but the script and the director choices we have seen them do kiss scenes be4 and after these shows