After posting about Bu Bu Jing Xin last night, I ended up kissing sleep goodbye and marathoning all the available episodes (10 out of 35 estimated episodes). I look like a very hideous raccoon this morning, but it was worth it. I haven’t loved a C-drama this much since LOCH2008, which surprise surprise, is also a Tangren production directed by Lee Kwak Lap. Not only am I done with 10 episodes, I’ve started rewatching this sucker. It’s THAT good.
I’ve found the 30-minute extended trailer fully English-subbed, which watches like a fluid short movie because it’s so expertly edited. You can watch it and fully feel the emotions even if the story is revealed in snippets. So if you’re curious about the drama, or just have 30 minutes to spend watching a gorgeous and riveting period love story, I cannot recommend this trailer enough.
Before we get started, have a detailed character chart to put faces to names, and get a general overview. The succession battle is split squarely between the 4th and 8th Princes, with the other brothers falling in line behind one of these two. Both are the brightest of the bunch, and the most calculating. Yet both have genuine decency, and the unwavering loyalty of 13th Prince towards 4th Prince and 14th Prince towards 8th Prince shows us how much they are loved and respected. But fate means they have to be on opposite sides of the battle lines, and BBJX posits what would raise the stakes even more if a woman was also added to the tug-of-war.
Extended trailer part 1 (Eng Sub):
Extended trailer part 2 (Eng Sub):
Extended trailer part 3 (Eng Sub):
As for the ending of this drama, I know what the ending of the novel is, but have heard and seen spoilers through the grapevine and indicate the drama will be tacking on an additional epilogue. Of which one picture in particular made me start screaming like a banshee in happiness and then jumping up and down like a trained monkey. Yes, I’m addicted, and no, it’s not a pretty sight.
[Credits: Videos uploaded by yangsanniang, translator is mangoberrie, and timer and encoder is luv_shi shi]
Egads… Another must watch? Oh, for Heaven’s sake,*throws hands up in the air* why not?! I have nothing better to do… Family? Work? You mean I’m supposed to pay attention to them when such delicious dramas are to be had?
You’re a devil Ms. Koala. I’m thinking of driving up the coast and well, I don’t know what I’d do to you when I found you, but, but… Just know that my husband is NOT happy with this laptop permanently glued to my lap! Hmph!
(yes, I know I have no will power, and I’d probably just hug you to death if I could find you… *sigh* I’ll go throw a load of dishes in the dishwasher and pretend that I actually accomplished something today other than marathoning a C-drama.)
I gave up sleep to watch this sucker. You can give up some dignity and accept some husbandly scorn and/or annoyance. It’s worth it.
Bring on the husbandly scorn and lack of dignity! I’m hooked…
“My name is Tammie and I’m a dramaholic…..” *sigh*
shh, you’re not alone. After watching the previews, I decided to try an episode last night and ended up watching up to 2 am. Had to stop because I have work the next day. Now my mind’s fried and I can’t focus. Ah, the things we have to do to get our drama fix!
Glad to find another addict!! And what this show does so well for me is that I can’t stand on one side firmly. When 4th is on screen, I love him like crazy, when 8th is on screen, I feel all fluttery and jittery like Ruoxi. I finished the novel like a crazy person and watched all 10 episodes in one go last night and like you said…it was not pretty…especially this morning 🙂
Do you know where to download an HQ version of this series (that’s preferably not rmvb)? I’ve been looking everywhere, but I’ve just seen rmvb episodes….
Thanks! 🙂
where did you watch 7-10? 😀
Ohhh that does look really good. Having seen JDLH, it will be interesting to see another take on the book. Whilst I understand it was quite polarising, I did love the relationship between the 8th Prince and the heroine a lot and from what I’ve seen, I think I might be on the side of the 8th Prince in this one as well. On the whole I do not like dubbed drama but this one seems to be OK (it is dubbed right? It feels like it’s been dubbed).
I have also come to the conclusion, I don’t like Qing male/female fashion at all.
@ Hannah
JPLH was NOT based on the book Bu Bu Jing Xin. What you saw in JPLH in terms of the characters and personalities of the Princes are very different than in BBJX, which aligns more with how history described the men.
BBJX the drama is the only adaptaion of BBJX the novel. JPLH was Yi Zheng’s “original” plagerism of the BBJX concept with details changed.
Thank you for recommending this drama, I love it to peices… Although I dont understand a word they were talking about I still watched all 6 episodes that I found. Do you mind telling me where you watch 7-10?
“As for the ending of this drama, I know what the ending of the novel is, but have heard and seen spoilers through the grapevine and indicate the drama will be tacking on an additional epilogue. Of which one picture in particular made me start screaming like a banshee in happiness and then jumping up and down like a trained monkey.”
What’s the picture, if I may ask? 😀
I’m really enjoying it too! I did watch JPLH and of course, the story was very ‘meh’ but like “Lie to Me,” it was the OTP’s chemistry that kept me until the very end.
I love the 4th Prince and I’m totally shipping the OTP. Nicky Wu and LSS are good together!
MsKoala, can you share the spoiler pic that made you scream like a banshee?? Now I’m dying to know!
i know this is too much to ask, but are you going to be doing recap for this drama?
It’s been years since i’ve watched a chinese drama but watching the previews, i was hooked!
OMG….ms koala! it’s so good! how i wish drama are this quick yet am yearning for the details!! this is a must!! better and less annoying as the BBXW one.
thanks … pls recap or provide your thoughts.
Waaaa.. i love chinese drama coz of LOCH and Huan Zhu Gege.. the casts here are all familiar from those series i’ve watched before.. so i’m excited.. especially after u recommend it.. haha! i trust your opinion captain.. coz i think we do have the same taste.. ^_^
i want to watch it toooo.. >v<
The visuals are certainly stunning, although I have to admit I like my men with all their hair, and I’m not digging that mustache on 4th prince when he becomes emperor. But the colors! And the costumes! And the sets! And the lighting! I go gaga over good lighting. So gorgeous. Maybe I’ll wait until it’s all over and marathon it later over Thanksgiving or something so, you know, I can do school work and all that.
I’m with you, I was (still am reading the book) to get my fix of this. All it took was the trailer to get me glued to this. I have high hopes for this drama I haven’t watch a c-drama since MRXJ I hope it can be as good if not better.
Thank you for the recommendations. After reading your post yesterday, I got curious and watched my first episode of BBJX. OMG… I am addicted… in a bad way… This is definitely my drama crack. It has been a long time since I watched a chinese period drama. I glad this is my comeback. Thanks again. Your site is superd!!!
I am so on this bandwagon and am so hooked that am also reading the internet novel, which is a taint different but should give us more understanding as to the historic background and the characters. I learned that Maertai Ruoxi’s “jie-jie” never really loved the eighth prince (A’Ge) which helps me understand why he falls in love with Ruoxi.
Please, let’s send a little love Ms. Koala’s way by donating to her site. You just have to go the lower right hand corner of her page and show her how grateful we are for all her hard work, especially those of us who refresh her page 10-20 times a day and depend on
her recaps and information about dramas to make choices as to what we want to watch.
Thanks Ms. Koala, and keep up the good work. I would be marathoning, but it gives me angst to have to wait so many weeks ’til the finale. I will be rewatching the first few chapters (’cause the guys are too fine for words) as I read the novel.
The trailers flow like a movie. OMG, I’ve never seen anything so beautifully
orchestrated to spark the viewer’s interest. Kudos to the production team.
Reverse Harem!
Aaah I’m a sucker for these things. 1 girl and 2+guys. I’ve read like almost every manga in this genre , and watched nearly all animes as well xD.
I hope there’s a sub version D= or else I might switch my Japanese class for a Chinese one….Wait no. I’ll just take both language courses at once. Crazy. Yea I am. T___T why do girls in dramas have all the luck? I want to be a princess with princes fighting for me ;(
Lol. If getting into a car accident is like getting a paper cut I would get into a car accident right now.
I was a bit tired of KR drama lately & there was nothing from HK drama which I want to watch & am waiting for TW – Ariel Lin’s drama to start next week. So your recommendation came very timely. I watch 4 eps immediately after i saw your review. Woohoo, very nice. Am curious, where did you find the other 6 eps? The site I watch from has only been updated to 4.
Do you understand chinese? If you do, there’s 10 episodes up on youtube.
Thanks! I do understand chinese so will do a search on Youtube then.
You guys want the spoiler pic? Ooookay.
Spoilers about the possible ending for BBJX below
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Looks like a certain Emperor may have a modern incarnation and our adorable Ruo Xi finds her true love again. This time without a dynasty on their backs. I need this ending SO BAD. And Nicky? Damn fine in modern garb. But the way he looks at her is pure 4th Prince, the piercing intensity of his gaze transcends time. Shit, this drama is making me wax poetic.
Hip, hip hooray! It’s Christmas in September!
Agghh he is SO HOT in this pic. Thanks for sharing!
Wah! I speed-read through the novel thse 2 days and wasn’t planning on watching the drama (mainly cos of the ending of the novel), but after seeing this pic…
I might watch it now.
OMG Ms Koala someone over at viki told me the ending.But now now…your photo.Oh wow and wow some more.
Sigh.Your recommendations are so good.Oh man…we all don’t have the time but the shots are so good and the romance in the beginning….argh.
Yay! When I read that you were excited by a spoiler pic, I guessed that it may be that they reunited again in the present. And even so, I’m still excited that that is indeed the possibility.
Watched the trailer, and it seems like it’s pretty much the summary of the entire series? Yeeee, it looks good! The last time I watched a Chinese period drama was years and years ago, and whenever I watched, I’ve always been curious and never knew where to ask… until now.
So for the men’s half-bald hairstyle, how does that work? Do they shave off their entire head and wear a wig in the shape of a braided hair, or do they just shave off half of their hair and grow out the rest?
As for historical Korean hairstyle, I was surprised when I first learned that the braided headpiece wrapped around women’s head was not really their real hair, but really a wig. And since then, I’ve been curious about the truth of the hairstyle of the Chinese in the past. Of course, I know that the actors are wearing a wig, but how did the historical people really achieve the style? Thanks in advance!
The male actors all have to shave off their entire head bald and then stick on the hair pieces. Apparently this drama is Nicky’s first ever drama of this period as he had always declined to act in dramas of this era due to the need to shave the head bald. But he was very much drawn to the strong script and the strong production team.
Hi blue! Excuse me while I squeal with the possibility you’ll watch BBJX with me. XD
rubics already explained how the actors achieve the Qing dynasty hairstyle, what is called the “queue” in English.
This was a hairstyle that the male Manchus in Manchuria wore, and was forcibly shoved on the Han Chinese in the 16th century after Nurhaci conquered Han China and the Ming dynasty fell. One of the first orders of the new Qing dynasty of the Manchu government (led by the royal family Aisingoro) was to decree that every male in Han China had 10 days to adopt the queue.
The queue is achieved by tying all the hair in a braid, which was easy to do since Han Chinese men and women never cut their hair since birth, as it was their belief that hair is part of the body that our parents bestowed on us, but then shaving up the forehead and upper cranium region every ten days.
It’s the weirdest hairstyle on the planet, and I don’t know what crack the Manchus were smoking to create it. Suffice to say, the men hated it for both ugly reasons (I hope) and as a political rebellion since the fall of the Ming (a Han dynasty) was replaced by the Qing (a foreign Manchu ruled dynasty) so there was a lot of bitterness. Took about 10 years into the reign before most men in China adopted the queue.
Ahh, thanks Captain K! Wow, I did not realize that the actors all shave off their head too.
By the way, I finally decided to board the ship that you’re maneuvering and watched the first episode last night. I’ve been bored with the kdrama offerings lately, and BBJX is the perfect drama to tie me over. Ahh, so much fun and pretty! I’m not looking forward to waiting around for subs, though. *Eeeek*
I started watching the first episode last night and ending up watching 4 in a row! ^^;;;; It’s seriously addicting, I can’t even really set my finger on why exactly. It’s just this perfect mix of everything; the story and che aracters, the cast and acting, the costume and directing. Simply awesome.
Thanks for the spoiler pic! Yay! That’s precisely the epilogue I was hoping for and what I sorely missed in the korean drama “The Legend/Four Gods” XD
Ohhh thank you for this spoiler pic!!!
I’m very much intrigued when I watch the 3 parts trailer.. but when I got to the 3rd part, I start to wonder if the whole 38 episodes are worth to watch.. until I see this spoiler pic… YES, I’m unto it now… off to google for the episodes…. ^^
oh man.. the director leaked too detailed details of the ending in an interview,spoiling half the fun for me. But at least I’m happy that it’s not all dire. The ending is supposedly left opened, leaving audience to inteprete as they wish but it is quite definite that Ruo xi does return to the present.
wuahhh >.< Thanks Ms Koala for the trailers. It inspired me to watch this drama.. I would do just the same like you ("start screaming like a banshee in happiness and then jumping up and down like a trained monkey"), unfortunately I'm in office right now, so I can't do it ^.^V
I love Nicky Wu's acting here.. He has the charisma to be a king
At first, I think the ending will be like JPLH (with 8th prince), so i don't really like it (I already fall in love with 4th prince from the beginning bcoz of Nicky Wu 😛 )
and now after watching this trailer and the outcome is different, I even been more urge to watch this.. yahooooo \(^^)/
Mrs Ockoala,
@_@. Thank you for the spoiler pix!!! I was rendered speechless for quite awhile… m(_ _)m
I didn’t expect the 4th Prince to travel thru time to meet Ruoxi. Thank you very, very much… Now I can watch the rest of the episodes with a happier heart. Gosh… I was almost ripped apart by all the anticipated angst…
hi koala, can you share the link where liu shi shi and yuan hong sing the song together? 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x5wiVjJBkE
woo hoo thanks 🙂
HONGSHI!
HongShi!
I can’t watch this video without spazzing like a loon, and I’ve seen it a billion times already.
I love 13th Prince, what an awesome character for Lao Hong to play, but the fact that he’s not OTP with his ShiShi keeeeels me. Next time my precious cuties. *goes back to watching LoCH2008 make out scenes*
Woaaaah…. I wasn’t gonna watch the movie though your description of it was soooooo tempting …. then I watch the so-called extended trailer, extended alright! I felt like i have watched the whole stories (love stories mainly in mind – who cares abt the throne, eh?) and then found out Ruo Xi (goodness me – I remembered her name already) died – I was like ‘WHAT?” then …phew .. thank goodness you gave us the ‘peek’ of ahem .. a happy ending .. ok girlfriend – will watch it! Thanks a million ……. haven’t seen period drama since Jumong! Chinese? can’t even remember …..
If you haven’t watched this yet you should all go! It is soo good.. I watched the first 2 ep and got me hooked..(I’m pretty much waiting for new episodes after 10) I am wanting more!! Nicky as 4th price is so memorizing.. and can you believe he’s actually 40???? So hard to tell… sigh.. I wish more episodes would come out.
The wait is terrible but what I love about this the story is so complex and deep.. Ruo xi has such a strong impact and impression on the princes. They all love her for a different reason and the way they return her love is also sooo different.. its intriguing and interesting.
XHZGG and Gong doesnt have what this drama has.. I’m kinda mad at myself for wasting my time on the 2nd half of New My fair princess but waiting and watching for this was worth the wait I guess.. Thanks for posting Koala and please more episodes soon!! 🙂
Omg. You peaked. Haha.
I’m going to hold in, so I’m still up to episode 6. I’m not going to watch the leaked version. But yeah.. I’m loving it.. it’s getting even better once she entered the palace! Intense.
I want to watch the leaked version. Where can I find it? 😀
And may I say that this feels more “idol” than Gong? There are too many good-looking people man.. Shishi is pretty and her sister Ruolan (Annie Liu) is just beautiful..
This is like a camp of cute guys. Seriously. 4th is sexy, 8th is gentle, 10 is absolutely hilarious, 14 is adorable (Lin Gengxin is a cutie pie), and 13… Yuan Hong is just irresistible.
I love the costumes. There are not overly colorful.. really matches the atmosphere of the story.
Dude. Dude. I think I hate you.
I watched the first two eps raw. I think I legit understood maybe 5%, but I got totally sucked in anyway. I can only imagine how amazing it is when you understand everything. (Are there subs anywhere but viki? I hate watching things streaming..) I’m trying very, very hard not to marathon the other 8 eps today.
Right now I’m on the 8RX ship, but I totally see 4RX and I have a feeling I’m going to board that ship soon. Probably in ep 3. And I love love love the 10th prince, he is made of cuteness and sunshine.
What have you done to me?? I’m leaving for Korea next Thursday, I don’t have time for thissssssssssssss~
No, there are no subs (yet) anywhere but on Viki. The dialogue is ahhhhmazing, so beautiful without sounding stupid or stilted. Great snappy conversation with RX and many of the princes, esp. 4 and 13 (the wry and sardonic ones).
The way 8 stares at RX just twists my knickers into knots. Though once you hear about 8 and RL (RX’s sister) backstory, you’ll ship 8/RL until the cows come home. But is sad I’m totally shipping whichever Prince is with RX at any given moment. 10 is made of puppy tails and rainbows and sunshine and RX would eat him alive if she ever married him.
But as you watch…..it’s 14 that gradually emerges as maybe the most decent and upstanding one of the lot. And he’s totally the dark horse.
Get on the 4/RX ship nooooowwwww.
This scene in ep8 had me flailing and making incoherent noises around the room.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WI_hMAUiLU
You. Are. Not. Helping. Enabler. ENABLER.
I don’t want RX to marry 10, but I adore their friendship. They’re like puppies and kittens and unicorns frolicking in a field of rainbows and daisies. And I love RX to pieces, she’s adorable and seems to bring out the best in all the princes.
Question, since I know absolutely none of the history: How many princes are there total? Someone on the last post said there were 9 (it may well have been you haha), but then there are the 10th and 13th and 14th princes and I’m just getting confused. Are there only 9 princes involved in the fighting, or did the others die? Or are they counting sisters that I haven’t seen or something? (Sorry if it’s covered in the dialogue, but you know me and my fail Chinese. I’m amazed I pick up what little I do.)
Tell me not to watch the 3rd ep right now. I’m supposed to be packing, not watching Cdramas I barely understand..
Oh, and I have to tell you that the simplified Chinese is totally throwing me off. I learned traditional characters, and I really kind of rely on the subs when watching C/Twdramas so this all really weird for me. (It’s not impossible for me to adjust, it’s just taking me some time haha.)
Emperor Kangxi was THE longest serving Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (though no one would know that until the dynasty ended hundreds of years later since he was the third emperor on the throne) and had 24 sons and 12 daughters.
Each son born was given a chronological number based on his birth order. The reason there are gaps (like where the heck is 5, 6, 7? when 4 and 8 keep fighting) is that a handful didn’t survive into adulthood. Most of his sons were not born of the same wife, except 4 and 14 have the same mom as well. But 14 pledges his allegiance to 8 instead of his full brother 4 because 14 grew up alongside 8.
You can watch one more….just one more…..
I’ll do a post about the story in a bit, to give more color to the history and the conflict. SO. GOOD.
RX’s friendship for life is actually with 13, which you’ll see in episodes 3-4 why they are platonic BFFs. 10 is adorable but not someone RX can converse intellectually with. 13 is like her alter-ego if she was a man born in the Qing.
In the novel, RX gains a nickname akin to 13’s.
Dear Mrs. Koala, please, please do not be offended if I respectfully disagree with certain of your statements. 🙂 Those children of the emperor that made it past infancy retained their “number” title (e.g., 4th prince, 8th prince, etc). That doesn’t mean all of the “numbered” princes made it to adulthood, though. For example, the 6th, 11th, and 18th princes all died in childhood. The 5th, 7th, and 17th princes (and numerous others) did survive to adulthood, but the reason you don’t hear about them is because they did not participate in the fight for the throne, or if they did, they were never prominent players.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkkk!
Ah, I peeked at the first few episodes of BBJX but decided to stop watching until the drama finishes airing so that I can marathon through the angst. Angst and I, we don’t go well together. I don’t know how I even got through the novel. At least there’s a happy (?) ending to look forward to in the drama.
My one major gripe with BBJX is that, whether because of lack of budget or sheer laziness, they recycled much if not all of the background music from Legend of the Condor Heroes 2008. It’s really jarring to be watching BBJX and then suddenly flashing back to LOCH, not because they’re anything alike but simply because of that damn background music.
It’s amusing how the younger the princes are, the taller they are. 14th prince positively towers over 4th.
I think most if not all of the major characters are well-cast (some haven’t had that much screen time yet, so I’m still reserving judgment). The lesser characters, though … For example, the 12th prince could pass for the Crown Prince’s age. Really, really miscast there, for all that his role is exceedingly minor/pretty much nonexistent.
It’s the budget I think. They spent A LOT on the costumes (handmade), accessoires of real material etc. They hired a well-known professor in Chinese history at People’s University to be their consultant. And they had to take a loan in order to finance all the stuff..
Furthermore.. according to what I have read in other forums such as Cfensi, Tangren holds the highest salaries for staff, including extra’s, in Hengdian. So yea.. support worthy!
I like the background music used in LOCH08 and although they recycled it in this drama, I think it works quite well for the scene. But I do agree with you, I identify so much of the background music with LOCH that I keep getting reminded of LOCH when I hear the familiar music in this drama.
However, this is not the first Tangren Production that I heard the same background music that was used for both LOCH and BBJX. They also used some of the same music in their other drama, Tian Xia Zhi Nu.
Ahaha, I heard music from Strange Heroes too. They even recycled “Meimei”. Hee ^^
Thanks to your earlier post about your 1st impression of these series, I got hooked almost immediately. Watched all 10 episodes in 2 days! Can’t wait for more episodes after the 10th. Anyone knows when they will be aired?
Aahhhh I got exams in a week!!! >.<"
Imma marathon this during winter break *if- IF I manage to restrain myself… (highly improbable)
I watched Gong – it was good but I didn't really catch on the fan train, but BBJX looks so awesome!! 😀 I didn't read the novel, but I hope it ends well ^^
i’m usually a lurker, but after watching the extended trailer, i couldn’t help myself.
ms. koala – you’re killing me!!! i can’t afford to watch this since i have a thesis to write, but goodness knows, i’m probably going to anyway. i really don’t need the crack with this on top of ariel lin’s new drama. stop being such an enabler. T_T
thanks for the spoiler pic, btw. i’m such a sucker for happy endings & this will give me hope to power through all the angst, when i get around to it. 🙂
even though the trailer has told us 90% of the story… i’m still hooked!
i’m in severe need of my bbjs iv drip! haven’t been this intrigued by a c-drama in a long time, thank you ms. koala!
wow, indeed evryone here is having the same feelings as i am.
1st, i get to noe by gong in early of de year, i watched few epi n got bored,
i oli watched coz of yang mi,
eventually in 20th of oct i bumped into tis drama in internet.
i usually dun watch tis kind of drama especially china one, is so hard to understand.
but i got hooked, awesome story,
make me feel so attached,
been thinking bout de drama even wen i m working,
catch up wit the drama til late at nite..
i do hope i can travel bac at time..
the story is so intense,
we will neva get to find tis kind of relationship (hate-love, die for you) in this modern days as well as the friendship among each other
each of the character develops alot, grown up..
totally adored rui xi r/ship wit 4th prince
rui xi friendship with the 13th prince and 14th prince
and how 8th prince is so caring towards rui xi..
jux dont really adored it wen 10th prince eventually forgt rui xi and there wasnt any scene of 10th prince is sad coz of rui xi’s death..
well, it all ended.