100 Quick Reviews
In terms of plot structure, "Joy of Chang'an City" inherits the traditional route of "The Happy Affair of the Lan Boudoir", although its background framework seems to be old, but the stalks and routines used are not new, and many elements have long been commonplace on the Internet.
The story begins with a subversive twist. Xie Quanjia, a small town peasant girl looking for her father in Chang'an, realized the counterattack of the sparrow turning into a phoenix, and she was the only daughter of Li Tiandi, the richest man in Chang'an, but continued to live an ordinary life.
Unexpectedly, the plot that should have been the beginning of the tragedy ushered in a reversal - Li Tiandi spent all his family wealth to pay off his debts due to his daughter's influence, but decided to maintain the status quo, and the family relationship was as cold as ever.
After the arrival of the long-awaited dart cart, which was originally expected, it brought the expected dart silver, but returned to Li Tiandi's hands safe and sound with gold, silver and jewelry. As a result, Xie Quanjia fell into tens of millions of debts, but it seems that it is possible to get a windfall.
From this point on, the way the main characters of the series are gathered is not special - they collectively "drift", but each has its own plans and operates independently. The male protagonist played by Ma Tianyu originally planned to come to ask for debts and dissolve the marriage contract, but found that not only was the money still rich, but the marriage contract had not been dissolved, and he was still trapped in it and could not get out.
The rest of the characters, such as Fan Zhongju, a talented man who went to Beijing to take the exam but was extremely picky about his residence, Liu Lang, a young man from the Tang Sect who was ordered to come to ask for favor instead of repaying it, the princess and maid of the Western Regions who pursued freedom instead of escaping marriage, and Guo Dongli, the shopkeeper of the luxury inn opposite, gathered in the Li Mansion to work together, but each had their own selfish intentions, calculated each other, and staged a costume drama with hidden edges.
This drama can hardly be called a costume version of Love Apartment or a Changpiao version of Wulin Gaiden, it shows more like a serious drama full of contradictions and conflicts and the dark side of human nature. In the first four episodes, although there are also some comedy elements, it is more about creating tension through intrigue and deceit between the characters, rather than simple funny scenes.
For example, Li Tiandi, played by Fan Ming, did not choose to escape reality when faced with a crisis, but faced the problem head-on and dealt with it decisively. Fan Zhongju's character, on the other hand, is portrayed as overly neurotic, and his actions have a driving effect on the plot, but it is bothersome.
The irony is that "Happy Scroll Changle City" mirrors real life and exposes social chaos like "The Joy of the Orchid", where the problem of school district housing has become an unattainable luxury fantasy. Shangguan Furukawa had no interest in selling the house left behind by Li Tiandi, but wanted to keep the property so that he could enjoy the high-quality educational resources in Chang'an City.
The words and actions of the characters in the play are full of realism rather than light-hearted comedic expression. The audience follows this group of characters with different hearts, witnessing their struggles and hardships in the city of Changchou, rather than growing and laughing together. This kind of plot design makes the show have depth in narrative, but it loses the charm of making the audience laugh continuously.
As for the performance of the actors, director Wu Yuze was able to successfully guide them to get rid of the inherent image shackles, and the male protagonist Shangguan Furukawa played by Ma Tianyu showed the characteristics of being handsome and "stupid", but it gave people the impression of being an idol with a heavy burden, and failed to fully integrate into the comedy role, so that the audience could not devote themselves to it in the process and enjoy a relaxed and joyful viewing experience.