Announcement: Autumn’s Concerto Group Watch!

Remember how we voted for our group watches months ago, you guys?

Well, time has flown by, and we’re now done with our Queen In-hyun’s Man group watch!

Gosh, that was so much fun, to rewatch a show that I loved – and which I still love! Thanks for joining me for the group watch, y’all. 🥰

We’re now in the middle of our group watch of Heard It Through The Grapevine, so do join us for that, if you haven’t already!

AND.. it’s also time to announce the start of our Autumn’s Concerto group watch, which was my third Editor’s Choice pick.

Here are all the details you might need!

EDITOR’S CHOICE 3: Autumn’s Concerto [Taiwan]

Schedule: Saturdays, starting 25 June 2022. Posts will go live at 8:00am, my time (GMT+8).

Romance: Yes.

Commitment: 34 episodes of 40 minutes each. 3 eps a week = 11 weeks.

In other words: We will discuss E1-3 on Saturday, 25 June 2022.

Availability: Available on Netflix and Viki.

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An article on why it’s not illegal to use a VPN to access legal streaming content can be found here.

Why you should watch:

In the spirit of adding some retro flavor to the mix, and also, because Ele had expressed that a Taiwanese show would be nice to have, I’m adding 2009 Taiwanese drama Autumn’s Concerto to the mix.

It’s a much loved classic for Taiwanese drama fans, much like how Coffee Prince is a much loved classic among kdrama fans. I haven’t seen this one myself, but have been curious to check it out, because it’s considered so iconic.

Plus, it’s actually quite hard to find good, subbed Taiwanese dramas on our various legal streaming platforms, so this feels quite serendipitous, that it’s available on both Netflix and Viki.

Lens adjustments:

I haven’t actually seen this show, so these are just my best guesses.

1. I think we’d need to adjust our lens for retro production values, since this show is a classic, from 2009.

2. Based on the little that I know of the show, I think that we need to be prepared for a male lead who starts out showing arrogant / jerk behavior. This might be a bit hard, since our last male lead, in Queen In-hyun’s Man, was the total opposite of the jerk male lead.

I think the trajectory is for him to start out as a jerk and be reformed over the course of the story.

If you’ve seen the show, and can offer other tips for lens adjustments, please do share in the comments!

Trailer:

Autumn’s Concerto Open Threads:

I’ll be linking the Open Threads here, for easy reference. You’ll also be able to find the Open Thread links on my Full List page and on my Group Watches page.

E1-3 | E4-6 | E7-9 | E10-12 | E13-15 | E16-18 | E19-21 | E22-24 | E25-27 | E28-30 | E31-34

In closing

..That’s about it, really! Please go forth and enjoy your first couple of episodes – and remember to tune in for the Open Thread posts, going live next Saturday! ❤️

Also, don’t worry if you can’t make it to join the discussion on Saturday itself; these aren’t live watch parties. Often the discussions go on all week, and sometimes beyond!

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Pam

1 month ago

watched this at least 4 times and a major fan of mr wu. I have seen Princess Weiyoung and meteor garden. Hard to believe this is the same guy as in IP Man 4, Undercover: Punch and Gun, Dragon Squad, Monk who Came Down the Mountain. Kung fu chefs was funny and also saw him in three kingdoms. Waiting to find copies of Material Queen and Girls. I have 6 albums. His acting is as versatile as his music and his hairstyles. My playlist of his music videos has over 40 songs. Can’t put this man in a box. As much as I love his music, movies and dancing it’s his faith that keeps me accountable. The only thing that bothered me about the series was the back ground music. After listening to his pod cast he mentioned that at first the cast had trouble getting along put he prayed thru it and by the end they became a family. P. S. I love Yang Yang too in rules the world and the gaming movie kings aviator. He is a classy guy with a great posture

Ele Nash

3 months ago

I just watched the first three episodes and thank goodness for your heads up, kfangurl, and others in the comments about the male lead – yikes! I actually had terrible dreams because of the truly terrifying stepdad 😟 Yet, I can see potential. It reminds me a little of Boys Over Flowers so I’ll do a similar thing as I did watching that and suspend my horror for the good bits. xx

eda harris

3 months ago

Reply to Ele Nash

ele, did you realize that the ML (vanness wu) in autumn is the same actor in princess weiyoung, he’s prince tuoba yu, the ucle of tuoba jun (luo jin). i contemplated to name him the best actor in this drama, i thought he was phenomenal, vacillating so convincingly between the good and the evil. so it is interesting to see a much younger vanness wu, being a prince of a different kind and different time period. with all his evil in PW, i somehow got attached to this character, with all the bad and the good.

but back to autumn’s concerto, i am rewatcing it right now in preparation for the group watch, and i must confess i am already on ep.12, racing ahead. but i already know the “how” and the “what”, so i guess it does not matter much. but i have to tell you, i find it sorta kinda even more enjoyable on this second watch, even that i am finding more imperfections, but we’ll discuss it when the time will come.
one thing i can tell you, this ML will end up not at all what you would expect. i believe you’ll enjoy it.

in general, like you, i sometimes crave spoilers especially in cracky dramas. so i might read future ep’s recaps.
somehow, when you know where it will go, or when you rewatch a favorite drama, it adds another dimension not just to your understanding, but also to your pleasure. at least that is what it does to me. it seems that with the tension and stress created by many cracky dramas gone, it is easier to concentrate on details, dialogues, scenery, costumes, poetry and so on. and so it really enriches the entire experience. in the past, i never rewatched anything… until i discovered the world of chinese/korean dramas. and at first everybody around me thought that i lost my mind, i could not understand it myself, but was not able to give up rewathching multiple times princess weiyoung, the rise of the phoenixes and nif. and healer. these were the major “criminals’ for me.
by the way, since you like the same chinese historical dramas as i do, i would suggest for you to watch the rebel princess, if you have not seen it yet. this is the latest chinese historical that i recently finished, and i enjoyed it quite a lot. also, i just remembered, the korean drama the empress ki, (based on true history), and the ML is ji chang wook (healer). and the costumes in this one are surprisingly elaborate, colorful and artsy, nothing like i saw in other korean historical dramas. you might find those interesting.

Ele Nash

3 months ago

Reply to eda harris

Ah, I did not recognise him at all 😅 I find that happens a lot with me… Either that and I recognise them but can’t place from where. I noticed Wikipedia is very poor on cdrama info!

As a newbie to this drama, and only the first three episodes in so I watch in pace with kfangurl, I actually did already have the urge to play the next one! It is nice to relax into a drama, knowing what’s going to happen.

I have indeed watched Empress Ki and enjoyed many things about it – not least the scenery and costumes! It wasn’t cracky for me as I didn’t buy into either romances. Convincing swoony romance is my measure of cracky 😊 This was my first Ji Chang-wook drama and I thought he was shaky, at best. Goes to show how some characters just don’t work for me, regardless of who they’re played by. I went on to watch Healer and only then was like, ohhhh, he’s lovely!

eda harris

3 months ago

Reply to Ele Nash

yes, wikipedia is not a very good source. i mostly consult it to check out the awards for a drama. do you know “mydramalist”? that’s the one i use always, it’ll give you most important info on the drama, all actors (including their role in the drama) and others involved in the production, and if you click on the name of an actor you want to check out, it will open a new page with all the dramas this actor or director or writer did. this way you can know where else you saw this person. it also has reviews of many people, extensive. you do not need to sign up, so that’s a plus. and you can leave a review also, if you so desire. i personally do not read the reviews prior to watching, as i do not want to be influenced, i want to have my own independant take on any drama. i do read reviews after i get to the end of the drama, sometimes.

eda harris

3 months ago

Reply to eda harris

ele,
It is nice to relax into a drama, knowing what’s going to happen.
i can always help you out with spoilers, if you ask for it and if i saw a certain drama. i can put it of course in “spoilers”, as not everybody feels this way.

i feel the same about empress ki, and mostly it was not that cracky for me either, but i did enjoy it. and just like you i did not buy into the young prince’s/ later emperor and empress ki romance either. although i had my feels for the king of goryeo, (joo jin mo) is one of my absolute top korean actors. in addition, i did not like the actress (unlike many others) ha ji won -empress ki.

and i would again mention rebel princes, it does have a swoony romance, and incredible acting by the ML.

Ele Nash

3 months ago

Ooh, I just finished the rather splendid Who Rules the World (yes, I did binge watch 😅) so this is perfect timing for me! Thank you, kfangurl. Always enjoy the group watches! xx

seankfletcher

3 months ago

Reply to Ele Nash

Ele – Who Rules the World was well and truly worth the watch!

Elaine Phua

3 months ago

Reply to seankfletcher

Oh I am intrigued that you find it worth watching! Avenue X, who is my usual go-to for Cdrama reviews, really didn’t like it, think she cited poor logic and not great wuxia fight scenes. But if you guys liked it I might check it out! Yang Yang and Zhao Lusi!

seankfletcher

3 months ago

Reply to Elaine Phua

Elaine – AvenueX is wonderful and always worth a watch because she is so insightful, but I often don’t agree with her. The fight scenes and action scenes in the first part are some of the best I have seen. Yang Yang and Zhao Lusi were fabulous – especially Rosy – she is only 23 and in this show – knocked it out of the park. Was it logical? I had no issues with how it all played out. Very bingeworthy as Phl, JJ and Reaper will attest 😊

Ele Nash

3 months ago

Reply to Elaine Phua

I really liked it, Elaine. I’m the first to pick apart a plot if it’s like glaringly annoying, but there wasn’t anything terrible there. It was moreish and romantic and I thought the OTP was believable and heartfelt and well acted 😊

eda harris

3 months ago

Reply to seankfletcher

sean and all, did anybody see the chinese movie 1921 with nini and chen kun? i can not find it anywhere. any ideas?

phl1rxd

3 months ago

Reply to eda harris

@Eda – so sorry, I just realized I never answered you on the other post. The only place I could find it was over n the dark side (the site which must not be named).

eda harris

3 months ago

Reply to phl1rxd

thank you phl. that is so annoying. why wouldn’t it be available, it seems like a production with nini and chen kun should be of interest to many. could that be that it will be released later?

phl1rxd

3 months ago

Reply to eda harris

@Eda – It is on iQiyi but not for the US. You could try from your area. I hope it works for you!

phl1rxd

3 months ago

Reply to seankfletcher

Sean – I heartily second that. Rosie really worked hard and I was here for it.

Kim

3 months ago

It has been a while since I watched this one. I do remember that I liked it and I ended up liking the ML in the end. He does take a few episodes to not be such a jerk though. I don’t remember in what episode though. So those who find it hard to like him, just give him a little bit of time.
Excited to give this one another watch.

manukajoe

3 months ago

I’ve tried to get into this a couple of times in the past, I find the beginning cringey and unwatchable, how long before it gets good?

eda harris

3 months ago

Reply to manukajoe

i do not remember when exactly it gets better, but it does. i have seen it a while ago so can not tell you the exact time, but it’s worth being patient with it (many dramas you have to wait). it’s not on top of my favorites, but it has it’s moments. at the end, i did enjoy it.

The Fangirl Verdict

Completely biased reviews and fangirling

EDITOR’S CHOICE 3: Autumn’s Concerto [Taiwan]

In closing

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