I did like the characters even though The Epoch of Miyu plot was incredibly frustrating to watch
Now that the Chinese “mature romance’ drama The Epoch of Miyu has finished its 38-episode run on WeTV, Tencent Video has dropped new character visuals for most of the main and lead supporting actors — as a way of saying a nice goodbye to them, I suppose.
(I am sulking that we didn’t get a visual of Na Jia Wei as Xue Rui, though, as he was one of the best characters in the drama for me).
Now, even though I thought the ensemble cast did a superb job in the roles they were given, and I liked most of their characters, the plot of The Epoch of Miyu was a disappointment, and ultimately not what I expected or had hoped for when it began.
After all, not only did it become increasingly frustrating to watch as Mi Yu was the object of just about everyone’s abuse throughout most of the drama, and it took her forever to stand up to any of them, but the so-called romance in the drama didn’t hit at all until close to Episode 30.
When it did, the chemistry between Mi Yu (wonderfully played by the stunningly beautiful Zhu Zhu) and her boss Ji Feng (Wallace Chung) was non-existent, and I mean NON-existent, but that didn’t stop the writer then giving them an annoying on-again-off-again relationship for the remaining eight episodes of the drama.
Meanwhile, throughout all 38 episodes, the plot became repetitive quickly as Mi Yu divorced her husband, started working at the Purong Hotel in the housekeeping department, was abused by her co-workers, was then eventually promoted to a new department where she was abused by a whole new group of people, promoted again and… rinse/repeat, rinse/repeat, rinse/repeat.
As one wit in the My Drama List comments about the Chinese drama said, with the ridiculously fast way Zhu Zhu was promoted, it was likely she would become the General Manager of Purong Hotel, and the boss of Ji Feng himself, by the end of it.
Mi Yu’s character developed was sloooooooooow
Mi Yu herself seemed to have a huge problem standing up for herself at all, choosing to deal with every ugly situation by smiling sweetly and avoiding confrontation.
Sure, I could understand her doing that the first couple of times when she was new to the hotel, had nowhere else to live except the hotel dorm, and desperately needed the job so she could pay off a loan she had taken out in her parents’ name. So, for abusive situation 1, 2 and possibly 3, it didn’t bother me at first.
Months later, though, and with the same or similar abusive relationships still ongoing, and with Mi Yu choosing to deal with it in the exact same way, I have never wanted to slap the abusee rather than the abuser more than I did her.
As for Ji Feng, that man was as wishy-washy as they come, constantly blaming Mi Yu for all of her problems but then simping after her in the background as he finally fell in love, but allowing her to be wooed by Kevin Tan, a more romantically aggressive man, instead because he didn’t have the balls to tell her.
All of this is why it is odd to me, almost a week after I finished watching The Epoch of Miyu, I still liked the characters in it far more than in many contemporary romance dramas, and they have stayed with me longer than I would have expected considering many of their behaviors were so exasperating to watch.
So, yes, irritated with the drama beyond reason, and eventually only awarding it a 5.5 out of 10 as the writing became so sloppy and nonsensical even Zhu Zhu and Wallace Chung couldn’t save it, I am still happy to get new character visuals.
Enjoy them, whether you feel like me or enjoyed the plot far more.
And who knows, my irritation was so almost-scream-inducing, maybe I did like the drama more than I thought as its events definitely hit a nerve, and maybe I will head back to WeTV at some point to watch it again. (I have done crazier things in my years of Chinese drama viewing, after all).
You can watch all 38 episodes of The Epoch of Miyu on WeTV, where the first two are watchable without a VIP subscription.
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