*This post is a follow-up to Pearl Eclipse – Basically…
Pearl Eclipse is a 48-episode, half court-intrigue, half fantasy drama. And instead of dragons and phoenixes, you have mermaids most of the time.
Below is my assessment of the first few episodes.
WHAT’S GOOD
Neither a good nor a bad person, the emperor is the glue that holds this story together. He is the polar opposite of the cardboard indifferent male lead — complex, damaged, and potentially ruthless. All the mysteries of the drama seem to draw back to him. Xu Kaicheng is not the best actor ever, but if he keeps up what we see in the beginning, he should have no problem delivering this layered character in future episodes.
The love/hate bromance between the emperor and Fang Jianming, too, is what keeps the intrigue going. Work out your issues, male leads. I’m pretty sure you’ve attracted more attention than whatever Jianming and Haishi have to show.
Good production values. As most of the time with Yang Mi’s dramas, the costumes and fighting sequences are a visual treat. But you might want to lose those front hair strands, OK, Shifu? And soon.
The Mermaid-lore seems interesting. A few episodes in, mermaids don’t get a lot of mention except for the one scene in the beginning, but their interactions with the humans are engaging enough. Which is a good thing, considering the main theme of the drama is fish marine-related.
How adorable is little Haishi. She should have had more screentime is all I’m saying.
The court intrigue isn’t bad. At least when compared to the romance.
NOT SO GOOD
Heavy are the shoulders that bear the task of being an aloof male lead. *sighs*
There is just… something about Fang Jianming that I can’t quite explain.
Just kidding, of course I can. It’s his personality. Or his lack of a personality.
It sounds like I’m repeating myself a lot when it comes to this kind of male lead but here we are: the cold, indifferent teacher character has been done too many times before. Bai Zihua has set the bar pretty high in terms of character, and Mark Zhao has made an unreachable mark acting-wise with Moyuan.
At this point, any cold-and-aloof teacher would need to establish something unique (and stick with it) in order to impress. A hobby, some belief other than self-harm and protecting the world, for instance.
But let me clarify that even without Bai Zihua or Moyuan to make comparisons to, Fang Jianming — aside from the skills the drama insists he has — still falls short as a male lead, partly due to the material and partly because of the… well, acting. Constrained by the need to appear indifferent all the time, William Chan struggles to get his character’s emotions across. As a result, his every movement and expression looks painfully scripted.
It’s almost like he wants to laugh all the time but can’t.
The romance is kind of… unnecessary. Haishi and Jianming have little foundation to be together. In fact, it would have made for a shorter and more interesting story if they’d remained a pair of teacher and student who worked together to save the world.
The illogical scenarios kill the seriousness of a drama that begs to be taken seriously. The first meeting between Haishi and Jianming is an example of this flaw.
Haishi’s village is being burnt, her mother can literally be killed any moment, yet she stares at Jianming as he drops the pearls into her hand and waits QUIETLY for him to ask his questions. This may be an attempt from the drama to prove how she’s different and fearless, but what child responds to her family being in danger like this? At least grab the guy’s sleeve and yell for him to hurry up. Now, after Haishi climbed onto his carriage, Jianming explains to his other disciple how this girl has determined-looking eyes and SLOWLY gives instruction about saving those innocent people.
Erm… what?
With all these issues present, Yang Mi’s formulaic acting — though obvious — is not really a problem in this drama.
Does the drama get better as we move on? Does it not? Leave us your thoughts.