Tencent Confirms October 23rd Premiere of Period Drama Tigers Sniff the Rose with Li Yun Rui and Meng Zi Yi
Looks like October will end with a splash in C-drama land with Tencent announcing that it will premiere big budget period drama Tigers Sniff the Rose (尚公主 Shang Gong Ju) this Friday October 23rd. Starring Meng Zi Yi and Li Yun Rui, the drama has gotten more attention that usual by being the reunion of the two leads after their big hit pairing in Blossom two years ago. I have no interest in that drama and have even less interest in this one but remain curious to see if viewers will tune in just for them even if the story line and execution of this drama is or isn’t as good as Blossom. Neither have had any hits or strong showings in subsequent dramas and reportedly a lot hinges on Tigers doing well. With recent dramas having more red flag male lead characters it’s refreshing to see the genders swapped and she seems like the crazy(ier) one here.
Preview for Tigers Sniff the Rose:
After this can we pls take a break from these two? I don’t know why everyone was raving about their chemistry in that show. That show was appealing bec LYR character was an amazing character and he brought charisma. Otherwise that show started out well and just lost steam for me halfway.
Blossom’s novel was slow and almost slice of life-ish (it takes a lot of patience but I loved it). Drama ramped it up by that haunting first episode (which was only alluded to in the novel). Production changed several things but the essence of the two main characters were retained.
The drama was beautifully, lovingly shot. It got me into the novel. And my eventual love for the novel makes the “slower” second half of the drama still lovely for me. Li Yun Rui is a perfect fit for Song Mo and Meng Zi Yi is okay as Dou Zhao.
Incidentally, the novel’s ending came out of nowhere, like the author can add more chapters if she changed her mind (but didn’t).
Together, will these two rekindle the magic of Blossom? I think it will depend on the strength of the writing and the production.