Final review/rating: Brocade Odyssey (2024) - Shu Silk, sincerity, and a swoonworthy hero shine, but patchy pacing and unnecessary plot threads mar the finish
This is 8/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼
Overall rating: 8 Stars Plot: 7 Stars Acting/cast: 8.5 Stars Couple chemistry: 8 stars Music: 7 Stars Re-watch value: 7.5 Stars Enjoyment factor: 7.5 Stars |
Such dramas are a dime a dozen, but what makes this one stand out for me is the way it showcases the beauty of Shu silk and weaves the beauty of Chinese poetry into the narrative. When I was a kid, I used to tell my parents that my c-drama watching was educational to their general amusement and scepticism, but this drama would have fit that bill in how it works in the poetry of Li Bai, Du Fu and other great poets with a light touch (more on that later).
Tan Song Yun is in her element as the plucky Ji Ying Ying, but the MVP has to be Zheng Ye Cheng's swoonworthy Yang Jing Lan. The man is the greenest of green flags, has some of the most romantic lines ever, and also fights like poetry in motion. This drama definitely took the opportunity to showcase Zheng Ye Cheng's martial arts and Chinese opera training.
Alas, although the first half of this drama is strongly written, the pacing is patchy thereafter, with the plot seesawing between the mundane and the melodramatic. There were some arcs that could easily have been edited out to keep the threads from unravelling. By the final arc, I gave the drama a hall pass for logic and tedium because I was just there to enjoy Zheng Ye Cheng's gorgeous fight scenes which, along with the threads of poetry throughout and the strength of the first half of the drama, lifted this drama to a 8 for me.
SPOILERS AHEADS
Plot: Girl power + brocade business
For a spoiler free synopsis, see mine 👉here.
The drama is set in the late Tang dynasty in Yi Zhou (in modern day Sichuan), where Shu brocade was renown for its beauty and value - "寸锦寸金"/"an inch of brocade; an inch of gold". In particular, the Ji family's Shu red silk is the most beautiful of all, widely praised as "蜀紅一出千紅枯"/ "when Shu red emerges, a thousand other reds fade".
But fame leads to misfortune and the Ji family is framed in a fake brocade scandal, which results in the unjust killing of brocade master Ji Gui Nan and the Ji family's fall from grace. His daughter, Ji Ying Ying (played by Tan Song Yun) grows up to be resourceful, talented, and passionate about dyeing silks, and hopes to one day restore the Ji family's reputation. She also forms the 'Flying Flower Corp'飛花會 with likeminded brocade artisans and friends, as she forges a hard fought fight to re-enter the brocade business.
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| Zhao Xiu Yuan: an AI combo of Zhao Hua Wei+Zhang Hao Wei |
As Ji Ying Ying faces a number of obstacles, she overcomes these, with more than a little help from her friends and family, and a lot of help from the new Brocade Officer Yang Jing Lan (played by Zheng Ye Cheng), whose martial arts skills and incisive intelligence makes him a useful ally.
They strike sparks off each other right from the get go and when Ji Ying Ying's childhood sweetheart Zhao Xiu Yuan* marries another, Yang Jing Lan and Ji Ying Ying fall in love.
(* 👆Incidentally, Zhao Xiu Yuan as played by an AI combo of Zhao Hua Wei's face super imposed on to Zhang Hao Wei's face and body was definitely not as bad as I thought it would be, though there are a few uncanny valley moments😅). When Ji Ying Ying makes her name by inventing a new shade of Shu blush pink red and by reproducing her father's famous Shu red, she attracts the attention of the mysterious Mr Bai (played by Jing Chao), who is actually Cheng Feng Ze, Prince Bai of the Nan Zhou kingdom. His motives are nefarious - he wants to destroy the Shu brocade trade and take Ji Ying Ying for his own. Meanwhile, Yang Jing Lan and Ji Ying Ying uncover the decades long Nan Zhou-Shu brocade black market ring run by the powerful General Niu Jin (played by Hai Yi Tian), who murdered Ji Ying Ying's father and previous brocade officials to cover up his crimes. The stakes mount when General Niu takes over Yi Zhou in a violent coup, while Prince Bai abducts Ji Ying Ying and her fellow brocade artisans to Nan Zhou. Everything comes to a head as Ji Ying Ying must risk everything to save the lives of her friends and ensure the survival of the Shu brocade industry and Yang Jing Lan must end General Niu's treachery once and for all.
What worked: Strong start, strong characters...
The first half of the drama starts strong, with an engaging plot surrounding the relatable struggles of Ji Ying Ying, who is trying to keep a precarious foothold on the brocade industry while keeping her family afloat.
The drama keep Ji Ying Ying's struggles real in that every victory is hard fought and often won by the skin of her teeth, and not without great professional and personal cost given the huge power imbalance between her and her enemies. This, even when assisted by ally and later love interest, Yang Jing Lan.
Accordingly, the various feel good moments of triumph in the first half of the drama (eg when Ji Ying Ying is able to tear up all the IOUs her family has been held hostage by, her overcoming her PTSD to create a new shade of red silk, the establishment of the 'Flying Flower Corp'飛花會 with her friends and fellow artisans, her recreation of her father's Shu red silk) are counterbalanced with dark moments where her enemies are ascendent and she is in grave peril or suffers substantial losses (eg her kidnapping at the hands of Niu Wu Niang, the personal and professional betrayal of her childhood sweetheart Zhao Xiu Yuan, and the narrow escape from death she, Yang Jing Lan, and the Flying Flower Corp experience at the hands of General Niu Jin).
The drama certainly picked the right ensemble cast. Tan Song Yun is in her element as the plucky Ji Ying Ying, whose sincerity to others, resourcefulness, and respect for brocade lore makes her easy to root for. The character is somewhat Mary Sue in her all round goodness, but Tan Song Yun makes Ji Ying Ying believably good - she may be ambitious, but it is the kind embodied in her family's motto of "錦為首，人在錦之上"/"brocade is paramount, but people are above brocade".
While Tan Song Yun is fantastic, for me the MVP of the drama is definitely Zheng Ye Cheng's swoonworthy Yang Jing Lan. Devastatingly handsome, flirtatious, and also the greenest of green flags of a hero, Yang Jing Lan is clearly a massive upgrade from Zhao Xiu Yuan.
He also has the most romantic lines ever. My favourites include his gentle wooing of Ji Ying Ying:“你若愿意，我便慢慢走向你；你若不愿意，我便等到你愿意”/"If you are willing, I will slowly draw nearer to you; if you are not, I will wait until you are willing"💕, and his declaration of love before Ji Ying Ying's family: "我會陪著她，愛護她，理解她，尊重她.即便她已經嫁給了我，季英英都先是季英英再是我楊靜瀾的妻子”/ "I will accompany her, love and protect her, understand her, respect her. Even though she has married me, Ji Ying Ying will be Ji Ying Ying first, and then Yang Jing Lan's wife."💞 As a 文武雙全/allrounder trained in martial arts and Chinese opera, Zheng Ye Cheng's action scenes are also breathtakingly good. I re-watched many of the action scenes because they are just that awesome: fast, furious, and with minimal special effects. They need to cast Zheng Ye Cheng in a true blue wuxia drama ASAP - I would watch the heck out of that. But in the meantime, for those keen to relive the magic, notable re-watch actions scenes from this drama include:
- Yang Jing Lan's sword dance to the poetry of Li Bai (in episode 11);
- Yang Jing Lan's one man take down of an entire cavalry while racing ventre à terre to snatch the bride (in episodes 23 and 24);
- Yang Jing Lan fighting off wave after wave of assassins (in episode 36); and
- Yang Jing Lan's final show down with General Niu (in episode 40).
Aside from the main CP, I also fell for many of the secondary characters. Aide-de-camp Zhu Ge Hong (played by Li Xin Ze) has the most irreverent rapport with Yang Jing Lan and their interactions are a delight to watch. The close knit Ji family also inspire empathy. While Mrs Ji's strategy of getting her children to keep a low profile will never work and leads to many clashes between her and Ji Ying Ying, it is clear that it comes from a place of love. And sensitive elder brother Ji Yao Ting (played by He Lei) may not be as capable as Ji Ying Ying, but he has her back in all the ways that matter. I also liked his crush, the kickass Yu Ling Long (played by Chen Xiao Yun)
, and many of the Flying Flower Corp members.
Clearly, behind every successful woman, there is often a supportive and loving family and a crew of ride-or-die friends 💛
...And a script interwoven with threads of poetry
Another strength of Brocade Odyssey (2024) is the way the script seamlessly weaves Chinese poetry into the fabric of the drama. It is deftly done, and frequently interspersed with the culture and lore of Shu silk making, and against the majestic backdrop of Sichuan's natural scenery.
Thus, the Huan Hua creek/浣花溪 where Shu silk threads are washed is accompanied by a charming line referencing the area from Du Fu杜甫's poem《卜居》/Divining an Abode: ("浣花流水水西頭，主人為卜林塘幽"/"The Huanhua's flowing waters flow from the far west, the Master divines a secluded bank"), and Ji Ying Ying names her new shade of red silk thread 朱颜酡/'blushing red' from a line in Qu Yuan屈原's poem《招魂》/Summoning the Soul: ("美人既醉，朱顏酡些"/ "Now that the beauty is drunk, her rosy blush increases").
The other shades of red robes designed by the Flying Flower Corp also borrow their names from lines from various poems:
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| 山花漫/'Mountain flower romance' |
山花漫/'Mountain flower romance' from a line in Li Bai李白's poem《山中與幽人對酌》/In the mountains, drinking with a recluse: ("兩人對酌山花開，一杯一杯復一杯。我醉欲眠卿且去，明朝有意抱琴來"/ "Two drink and speak as mountain flowers bloom, one cup, and another, and yet another. I am drunk and sleepy and you have left, tomorrow if you wish, carry your zither here.")
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| 九霞/'Nine Coloured Clouds' |
九霞/'Nine Coloured Clouds' from poetess Xue Tao薛涛's poem《試新服裁製初成三首》/Trying on New Robes; Three Poems:("九氣分九色霞，五靈仙駕五雲車。春風因過東君舍，偷樣人間染百花"/ "The nine qi divide into nine coloured clouds, the five immortals ride a five clouded chariot. Because the spring breeze passed through Dong Jun's abode stealing patterns, a hundred flowers are dyed in the human realm.")
In other poetic references, Yang Jing Lan paraphrases a line from the poem《王風·黍離》/ Wang Fang·Shu Li:("知我者，謂我心憂；不知我者，謂我何求"/ "One who knows me, sorrows for me; one who does not know me, knows not what I seek") to indicate his empathy for the heartbroken Ji Ying Ying when she is ditched by her ex, switching 我/me/I for 她/her/she.
There is also my favourite poetry-in-motion scenes in episode 10, when Yang Jing Lan performs a sword dance, while reciting Li Bai's famous poem《蜀道難》/The Difficult Road to Shu: ("噫吁戲，危乎高哉！蜀道之難，難於上青天！..."/ "Oh! How dangerous, how high! The difficulty of the Shu road is as hard as ascending the heavens!...") He does this to encourage (and court😅💗) Ji Ying Ying, noting that despite the difficulties, her determination will see her through. Aptly, he concludes with a Chinese blessing for a prosperous future, "前程似锦", which literally translates to may your "future journeys be like silk."
In the same vein, the vital clue from Ji Gui Nan to his children on pomegranates being the secret ingredient that perfects Shu red dye is encapsulated in a line from yet another poem, Li Bai's《詠鄰女東窗海石榴》/Ode to the Neighbouring Lady's Eastern Window and the Sea Pomegranate. The line is ("願爲東南枝，低舉拂羅衣"/"Willing to be the south eastern branch, lowered to lift up the one in the embroidered dress"), expressing the poet's willingness to be an accommodating branch that helps a lady to reach up to the precious pomegranate.
Ah, I really appreciated how the drama wove poetry into the script!
What didn't worked: patchy pacing and unravelling threads
Unfortunately, Brocade Odyssey (2024) does not keep up the momentum of the well written first half, and thereafter veers between the melodramatic and the mundane.
Mrs Ji being accused of murdering her sister and Ji Ying Ying and her brother landing in terrible straits at the midway point (circa episodes 21, 22) notches up the melodrama. No complaints from me on that score, as this sets us up for the glorious perfection of Yang Jing Lan's one man take down of an entire cavalry while racing to snatch the bride (in episodes 23 and 24) and thereafter the most romantic parts in the drama.
But from episodes 25 to 33, the switch in focus to the Yang family's internal strife and the development of a new Tibetan silk trade route did not add much to the overall narrative and felt like mundane filler material. Especially the episodes on the changing of the Yang family rules and other brocade industry wide rules.
The final Nan Zhao arc, from episodes 34 to the end, again notches up the melodrama but is rather exhausting to watch. The threads of the drama really unravel in this arc, and by this stage I was giving the drama a hall pass for logic and tedium. 
It is yet another enemy in Jing Chao's Cheng Feng Ze/Prince Bai (whose unhinged passion for Ji Ying Ying seems OOC in contrast to his earlier self possession) and yet another kidnapping (this time not only of Ji Ying Ying but an entire group of Shu brocade artisans).
While there are some fantastic fight scenes leading up to and including the final showdown, the gratuitous deaths of a number of characters (Mr Yu, Zhu Ge Hong, and Yu Ling Long) left a damper on the ending. The final whitewashing of both Zhao Xiu Yuan and Cheng Feng Ze also felt a bit off.
The leads have a wonderful HEA (though we don't get to see their second wedding ceremony) and Ji Ying Ying ends up at the top of her profession. But I must confess that I only finished the drama because Zheng Ye Cheng's gorgeous fight scenes are just too damn good to miss.
Final Thoughts
🐼: Brocade Odyssey (2024) starts strong, but the second half is not as good as the first. The latter falls victim to patchy pacing and a few too many unnecessary arcs, which caused the threads of the narrative to unravel. Disappointing really, given how great the first half was. While it is not a perfect drama, there are some things that it does particularly well, such as the way it deftly weaves threads of Chinese poetry into the script to showcase the beauty and culture of Shu brocade.
The casting of Tan Song Yan as Ji Ying Ying and Zheng Ye Cheng as Yang Jing Lan also cannot be faulted. I for one, really hope Zheng Ye Cheng gets more lead roles in which he can impress us further with his martial arts prowess and leading man acting chops (and looks!😆)
8/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮
The drama is set in the late Tang dynasty in Yi Zhou (in modern day Sichuan), where Shu brocade was renown for its beauty and value - "寸锦寸金"/"an inch of brocade; an inch of gold". In particular, the Ji family's Shu red silk is the most beautiful of all, widely praised as "蜀紅一出千紅枯"/ "when Shu red emerges, a thousand other reds fade". 
It is yet another enemy in Jing Chao's Cheng Feng Ze/Prince Bai (whose unhinged passion for Ji Ying Ying seems OOC in contrast to his earlier self possession) and yet another kidnapping (this time not only of Ji Ying Ying but an entire group of Shu brocade artisans). 
