I haven’t been a fan of the Novoland series of dramas but this latest iteration has my interest because it stars Yang Mi rocking the period drama look HARD (i.e. gorgeously) and also because I’m hoping it saves this lackluster 2021 year in C-ent. Novoland: Pearl Eclipse was the shining positive news this week as it received official airing approval on September 8th. That means it can air anytime on television so it’ll be up the networks when to schedule it’s premiere. The drama stars Yang Mi with HK-actor William Chan, who thankfully does not seem to have any skeletons in the closet to upset the Chinese authorities and he’s far from a flower/pretty boy in looks so that line isn’t crossed either. The story is the usual multi-country politics with a smattering of fantasy thrown in, mermaids from the sound of it, but goodness is it P.R.E.T.T.Y. Like, the preview trailer is just a series of visually exquisite snapshots. Whether that binds together in a compelling story is yet to be seen but for the battered C-ent it’s good news that a big name drama just got approved and things seem to be normalizing a bit.