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Brocade Odyssey: Dropped Drama Diaries

Aug 17
2 min read

Updated: Sep 18


Brocade Odyssey Trailer with Tan Songyun and Zheng Yecheng dressed in Tang Dynasty outfits

Title:

Brocade Odyssey (2024)

Platform:

Youku, Viki, Youtube (free)

MDL & Douban Rating:

7.8 & 6.2

Genre:

Period (Tang) Idol Romance/ Business

Episode Count:

40

Last Episode Watched:

15

Parental Guidance Rating:

PG-13: Blood and Violence

Starring:

Tang Song Yun (Under the Power)

Zheng Ye Cheng (Sleepless Princess)

Jing Chao (Princess Silver)

Chen Xiao Yun (New life Begins)



Synopsis:

During the Tang Dynasty, Ji Ying Ying from the Huanhua Dyeing Workshop and Zhao Xiu Yuan, her childhood sweetheart, are separated when Zhao is forced to marry another. Ji later meets Yang Jing Lan, a nobleman's son who falls for her, and despite a rocky start, their bond deepens. When the White King of Nanzhao attempts to steal Ji’s dyeing secrets and kidnaps her, Yang Jing Lan leads a defense of Yizhou, defeats the enemy, and reunites with Ji and their families. @MDL



Non-Spoiler Thoughts:

This was frustratingly bad. The trailers and promotional material wove a web of exaggeration that portrayed the drama as an authentic, grounded Period Romance that was trying to do more than the age old tropes. But it was just Gollum leading me to Shelob; I fell for it and was so disappointed. The cinematography was of a lesser quality than the trailer showed, the acting wasn't great, the story felt like a soap opera, and there wasn't much chemistry. Between anyone.


The ML felt more like a 2ML, and the 2ML looked too old for the role. And to top it off, we got some uncanny valley faceswapping that took me out of the story. Zhang Hao Wei originally played the role of the FL's childhood sweetheart, Zhao Xiu Yuan, but was cancelled in China shortly before the drama aired, so the production used AI to deepfake Zhao Hua Wei's onto Zhang's body. And as it turns out the poor guy was falsely accused to begin with, so it was all for naught anyways. It just made the character look like an airbrushed serial killer.


Zhao Xiuyuan and Zhao Huawei

I was so excited for Brocade Odyssey, but the quality, acting, and story were so poor it felt like a money laundering production lol. I swear, I caught a split second shot of one the extras literally wearing jeans/tennis shoes under her dress.


Tang dynasty man and woman. Tang Songyun and Zheng YeCheng in a still from Brocade Odyssey

Why I dropped:

  • Creepy AI Man

  • Didn't like the ML

  • No chemistry between leads

  • Poor production



Trailer:


Director: #LiuHaiBo (Born With Luck, How Dare You!?, The Rise of the Phoenixes)

Screenwriter: #WangHong (Les Belles, Snowfall, Rattan, The Fight for Love, Royal Rumors)


Chinese woman wearing a gold mask in a purple tang dynasty dress in a still from Brocade Odyessey
Obligatory Period Idol Mask Pic
Tan Song Yun as Ji Yingying wearing a wedding dress with Jing Chao in a still from Brocade Odyessey
I see this man and all I can think about is Princess Silver

*Disclaimer: I do not own any of the images used on this blog. All images belong to their respective copyright holders and are used for commentary and review purposes. All reviews, opinions, and statements expressed on this blog are my own and are intended for entertainment and informational purposes only. They reflect my personal thoughts and interpretations and should not be considered as factual.




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