Legend of Xiangxi/ 血色湘西

I have contemplated whether or not to do a synopsis of this as I'm not sure if anyone subbed this yet. This is a Chinese drama that was really touching but bloody at the same time. This takes place during the Japanese invasion. But they aren't affected by it till towards the very end. This drama mostly just dealt with love, family problems, tradition, and also the fear of the Japanese invasion. The actors had a lot of chemistry together and that is the main reason I thought this would be a good drama to write about.

Also RIP Bai Jing, the girl who acted as Tian Sui Sui. She had passed away in 2012. She was murdered by her husband who committed suicide afterwards. Rest in peace.

Synopsis:
         The girl's name is Tian Sui Sui. She's an only child raised by her father. Her mother had passed away when she was born. When she's finally old enough, during a Chinese festival, she wears their traditional clothes and goes out to have her fate read. It was tradition for the girls that when they turn a certain age to go and do so. It also shows that they are allowed to be courted. The boys, there, wear an earring on one side of their ear to show that they are of age to date also. That day, Sui Sui catches the eye of the young master of the Long family (a well-esteemed family there). His name was Long Yao Wu. She also catches the eye of Shi San Nu who goes to the extremes to know her name and to meet her. At her cousin's house, she meets the second master of the Long family, Long Yao Wen, and also catches his eye. The second master likes to read and is more about literature, whereas his older brother, liked to fight and was much more tougher.
          Sui Sui didn't have any feelings for the Long family masters. Instead, she found herself thinking of Shi San Nu. At the dragon boat race, he promised her that he would win and give the prize (which was a knife in this leather case) to her. He won the race, steadily, and gave the knife to Sui Sui. Little did these two lovers know that they would not be able to be together, due to their families. They were sort of like Romeo and Juliet where they could not be together.
          They went through several separations though the two were awfully depressed without one another. Though Sui Sui began to move on, Shi San Nu never forgot about her nor loved another girl. The Long family was also experiencing family problems of their own. Long Yao Wu, the older brother, was given an arranged marriage with Sui Sui's cousin, Yue Yue. Yue Yue always liked Long Yao Wu. However, when he tried to kill Shi San Nu for his younger brother to have a chance with Sui Sui, he got shot by San Nu's father and ended up being paralyzed for life (below his waist).
          Yue Yue still cared for him. However, he began to suffer emotionally. He used to be the head of the household with everyone taking care of him and respecting him. Now he was paralyzed and basically useless. The little brother takes over the original job that the paralyzed brother once had. Yao Wu began to feel more and more upset with himself and ended up letting out that anger and frustration on Yue Yue.  He felt useless and because he can no longer have kids, he yelled at Yue Yue saying she couldn't have kids. To prove him wrong, she got pregnant with the second master when Long Yao Wen was drunk. Long Yao Wen thought of her as Sui Sui and this incident happened. Little did she expect to actually get pregnant and deal with the consequences. She only did that to prove him wrong but she still loved Long Yao Wu. They went through a lot. Thankfully, the young master still cared for the boy that was born. They lied to the kid saying that Long Yao Wu was his father. Meanwhile, Long Yao Wen became a soldier. He was always a good-natured, easily scared kind of kid but became a hero overtime.  Yue Yue was locked away in the house, not allowed to be near her son, but she was thankful to know that Yao Wu loved her son.
         
Then the Japanese invasion began. Sui Sui is a nurse and Shi San Nu helped in delivering the medicine upon knowing she was there. They already had no hope with one another as their parents died due to the family feud.  However, their love was still strong. When the Japanese invaded their hometown, Sui Sui and Shi San  Nu and many others fought on the battlefield (which resulted in a lot of tragedies). Yue Yue went to go find Long Yao Wu immediately when Japanese soldiers began to run around in the streets. She saw him being played around by the Japanese soldiers in the manor because he was paralyzed. Together, Long Yao Wu and Yue Yue fought many Japanese soldiers before dying together. They died happily and had a sweet ending. It was a tragic ending for most though. This was a great series that showed tradition, love, and also with some history. I liked analyzing the relationships that Sui Sui had. It was fascinating. It also left you feeling emotionally attached to some of the characters.

However, there were some scenes in this drama that I thought should have been different. I felt that the relationship between Sui Sui and San Nu were too deep for them to really keep a distance, even towards the end. I also felt that the war scene should've been more detailed. I know they were trying to incorporate some tradition as they used some weapons that their ancestors left behind, but I still felt it could've been improved in many ways.