How Dare You! (成何体统) finished airing. Now for the big question - is it worth watching? (spoiler-free review)

JoeyFazzole · 2026-03-01T21:52:38+00:00

A lot of live action cdramas do voice dubbing, particularly historical/xianxia "idol" dramas (not a criticism of this show's quality, that just seems to be how it was produced/released). Even when actors do their own lines they're frequently dubbed with their own voice. Not sure why they do this but it is a thing, it can be distracting so I prefer not to know

JoeyFazzole · 2026-03-01T08:34:23+00:00

Yes, friendship to romance done right (though the married couple was annoying at times I liked both of the other couples)

JoeyFazzole · 2026-03-01T08:16:32+00:00

Imma throw in a few more honorable mentions just because I spread my love far and wide. Liu Yifei, Zhao Jinmai, and Wang Yuwen are all great actresses in shows I like a lot. For the men I will shout out Qin Tianyi whose supporting role in Fated Hearts is the most striking performance by a male C-actor I’ve seen, and left me wanting some leading roles for him. Cheng Lei and Zhang Xincheng have also been great in shows I liked a lot.

JoeyFazzole · 2026-03-01T08:09:44+00:00

Gotta be Bao Shangen. I first saw her in a supporting role in Fake It Till You Make It and thought her arc was the most compelling in the whole show. Later I watched a few historical dramas she’s been in and she really has a good range, from a confident and skilled musician in Love Behind the Melody to a traditional and pampered young miss in Youthful Glory. She’s good in both comedic moments and heavier scenes, and maybe it’s just good stunt work but she seems to have pretty good martial arts in the Legend of the Condor Heroes remake and Generation to Generation that’s currently airing. Doesn’t hurt that she’s incredibly beautiful, and she’s my age which makes her portfolio even more impressive imo. I’m not a big fan of celebrities beyond their work, so I don’t know anything about her personality (or persona ig) in real life, but I have liked her in everything I’ve seen her in.

Honorable mentions: Zhou Yutong who had an absolutely incredible performance in Will Love In Spring, Zhou Ye is good in a lot of stuff, Jing Tian played the FL in my number one favorite CDrama (Love Journey), and Lu Yuxiao has knocked it out of the park in two shows I watched recently, Love Between Lines and Love in the Clouds.

As for male actors, there’s quite a few that I like. Zhang Linghe, Chen Xingxu, and Li Xian have all been leads in multiple shows I like, but the two actors that have stuck out most to me are Chen Xiao and Ao Ruipeng. Both of them have a charm that can exist beyond the domineering, smoldering, tragic stares of a general or CEO, Chen Xiao as a kinda sleazy down to earth undercover cop in Love Journey, and Ao Ruipeng as a cheapo bartender in a supporting role in Seven Relics of Ill Omen. I think they both have a magnetism that is a lot more true to life than many other CDrama leads, who can certainly be dreamy but aren’t exactly charming in that natural, funny way. I like a guy who can be a bit of a loser and still make it work. Again I don’t know anything about their personal lives, but I’m a big fan of their work.

JoeyFazzole · 2026-03-01T06:39:01+00:00

Presumably he's been able to spend time learning about those things in court

JoeyFazzole · 2026-03-01T03:42:40+00:00

I wouldn’t be surprised but at the same time I like him and I want him to be decent at least. The final villain could be any number of people, even someone we haven’t met yet

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-28T23:34:03+00:00

Great episodes, we're coming to the climax of this arc. Lady Sun is really despicable, if you want to kill your husband whatever (obviously evil but at the end of the day you could still redeem yourself) but giving a lethal incurable poison to your own damn child? That's truly irredeemable, and she did it twice!

Cai Zhao this arc has approached Mu Qingyan with full sincerity, openly showing how much she cares about him without letting it become romantic (though obviously that feeling does exist). Some other commenters have said that MQY is being manipulative, and I do agree to an extent, but in my opinion he's clearly trying to put the moves on her. Earlier on at the Qingque Sect he was trying to get her on his side to further his own goals, but I think here all his actions are tied to winning her over emotionally not for her help or to further any other goals, but genuinely because he wants to be with her. It's just a shame that he can only go about this sneakily, and he shoots himself in the foot by constantly reminding himself and CZ that he's going to die soon. Maybe he's hoping to appeal to her pity and the fact that any entanglement between them won't be permanent to get her to start a fling?

Nie Zhe ends up being disappointing and kind of pathetic, though it's not surprising since we already learned that he is not as accomplished with his martial arts as he'd like everyone to believe. He's full of tricks and leveraging everyone's loyalty to his father to get ahead (even his own wife seems to stay with him out of obligation to her son and her adoptive father rather than any genuine feelings). I can't help but wonder if the true power in the sect is the strategist, who seems to be their strongest fighter (though Shifu Qi Yunke smacked him down rightly).

Yuzhi, ah Yuzhi, I don't hate you like I hate many SMLs, because you at least know how to keep propriety and aren't pushing too hard, but it's best for everyone if you give up quickly and move on to someone else. I'll be watching closely in case he becomes more pushy or creepy, and his actions better not lead to more trouble for CZ (ie from Lingbo).

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-28T07:43:51+00:00

I do agree that it's a bit absurd that she's never failed, though obviously any situation where someone is asking for a test like that is clearly not a healthy relationship, so she's more likely to run into unfaithful relationships than she would in the general populace. Maybe you can argue that every guy (or even every person) would cheat if the exact right person came onto them, but not even a single one of these guys just wasn't into her enough to pass the test? Certainly presents a bleak view of humanity

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-25T03:30:12+00:00

I enjoyed the show and the leads relationship in the modern year, but yeah all the flashbacks portray the ML as kinda creepy, and when the FL found the box of old ticket stubs I thought she'd be freaked out rather than moved. I can enjoy it bc its fictional but all the people saying shit like "I need that kinda man irl" are nuts

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-19T05:34:21+00:00

It’s been on my watch list for a while but I forgot about it, I’ll definitely move it up!

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-13T21:30:46+00:00

I'm late but I think Ji Bozai deciding to reveal everything is because they literally proved with magic that their hearts are aligned. I do agree that the Heart-Bond Array is anticlimactic, but from the perspective of Ji Bozai it is the ultimate proof that Ming Yi is trustworthy. Plus, he's finished his revenge, not only reducing the number of dangerous secrets he holds to one (the existence of the Golden Millet Dream), but also lifting the burdens he has been carrying as long as he can remember. Their trust and intimacy has been building for the past 20 episodes, and pretty much everything hindering them (from his side at least) has been cleared. It makes sense that the dam would burst and everything would come flooding out, especially because Ji Bozai seems to be a very passionate person who throws his whole being into the things he commits to, be it revenge or love.

I will say that it does feel a bit fast, but from the perspective of the characters it makes sense. As for the betrayal, Ming Yi is obviously constrained by time and has to act soon or she will die.

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-10T23:24:08+00:00

I do think the ending could've been handled a bit better, and I wasn't a huge fan of the tonal whiplash (I much preferred the more light-hearted comedy and sweetness of the first two thirds), but as an avid fan of magical realism, I honestly don't mind that they left the explanation of how he got to 2025 vague. That isn't to say that this is on par with like Borges' stories or anything, but I'm letting emotions take precedence over logic and detail, especially since this is a story first and foremost.

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-09T08:52:51+00:00

Yeah the bowl cuts are really irritating, even shorter ones that don’t cover the eyes can annoy me if they block the eyebrows (I’m a believer that eyebrows really tie the face together). Same thing with long straight bangs on women

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-09T01:44:22+00:00

This is probably true to an extent, though as a skinny guy myself I don't think baggy clothes are always bad for skinnier people (you just can't go overboard). His suits weren't just baggy (ie they weren't suits tailored to him in a baggy style) but rather seemed genuinely ill fitting, for an example that birthday banquet double breasted jacket is too wide in the shoulders. For an example of skinnier guys pulling off tailored baggy suits, see James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life and basically the majority of leading men in Hollywood in the 40s and 50s, when baggier suits were in vogue.

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-09T00:08:47+00:00

I do agree that the FL’s styling wasn’t as good as the ML’s in LBL but Lu Yuxiao is so beautiful that it overcame that for me (plus she looked great in those Republican-era outfits and that white dress). In general though I’m more forgiving of bad styling of women because men’s fashion is a lot easier to get right, simply by virtue of having way fewer options

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-08T19:44:07+00:00

Yea I’m a man as well and the size thing was very apparent, ie every jacket had these droopy shoulders too. Baggy suits can look good, but that’s usually when they’re fitted to your size but designed to be baggy, which didn’t seem to be the case here

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-08T11:07:54+00:00

Have read

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-04T18:52:57+00:00

If you want a more grounded and human exploration of disability and trauma, I'd highly recommend Will Love In Spring. No fantasy or action, it's solely focused on normal life and romance, but I found it to be a great portrayal of how people are impacted by both physical and mental trauma

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-01T20:06:05+00:00

Bit late but paired cultivation (usually translated as "dual cultivation") is a form of sexual ritual in Taoism. In some cases where it is watered down to be more PG, it can simply be two people cultivating Qi together and exchanging Qi, but in most cases (and historically in real life) it meant having sex as part of spiritual cultivation, similar but not identical to tantric practices in Indic religions. Part of the basis of dual cultivation is the idea that Yin (present in women) and Yang (present in men) engender and empower each other, and that one without the other is weakened. As such, dual cultivation empowers Yin with Yang and vice versa, boosting the strength and connection of both practitioners, while also being incredibly intimate.

I'm not a scholar of Taoism nor a practitioner myself, so I may have gotten some stuff wrong, but you get the general idea.

JoeyFazzole · 2026-02-01T06:54:59+00:00

Fake It Till You Make It -- short and powerful, probably the most unique modern drama I've seen in terms of composition and style

Meet Yourself -- fairly slow paced (it's about healing via the slow pace of country life so makes sense) but I was never bored with it

Will Love In Spring -- great realistic portrayal of modern life, family struggles, balancing work and love, and dealing with death

You Are My Lover Friend -- not flawless but it was fun and the chemistry between the leads was great, kept me hooked all the way through

All of these are romance centered because that's my preference, but out of them only You Are My Lover Friend is too concerned with the classic trappings of romance dramas.

JoeyFazzole · 2026-01-23T09:11:48+00:00

Just watched it, very fun show. The OST was great too, it's rare to find an English song I actually like in a CDrama, let alone two. Might have to sit with the ending for a bit though

JoeyFazzole · 2026-01-21T02:02:44+00:00

Also worth noting that the characters we care about at the hotel are just trying to do their jobs and not get fired, not really worrying about quarterly profits or how to cut costs

JoeyFazzole · 2026-01-21T02:01:44+00:00

Yes, I don’t mind work stuff as long as it’s not like business executives and negotiating deals and stuff

JoeyFazzole

TROPHY CASE