The Legend of Rosy Clouds, at first look, appears disappointing
Now, I can’t say I am as excited about the dropping-today Chinese drama The Legend of Rosy Clouds as I once was.
Not now that I have watched trailers featuring Li Yi Tong’s voice actress (WHY isn’t the brilliant Chinese actress dubbing her own voice?), a woman who has Yi Tong’s character, Fan Yun, sounding more like a child than a grown woman.
At least in the scenes I’ve seen.
Nor am I thrilled that the drama, which is based on the hit Japanese novel ”Saiunkoku Monogatari” (彩雲国物語) by Yukino Sai (雪乃紗衣), and its superb and somewhat classic 2006/2007 anime adaptation, has apparently changed the plot so much, in some sense, it’s barely recognizable.
As one person explained on MDL:
Yes they changed the SML and 3ML’s places. Sakujun is now SML and the SML in the novel is played by riley wang as 3ML and he has his own love line. The screen writer found Sakujun more interesting and decided to upgrade his role in story with more plot and impact. So… I think it is better to watch it separately from original work.
See. And can I just say “Aarrrgggghhhhhhh!”.
There is also apparently more emphasis on the love triangle (which most C-drama fans detest) than there ever was in the novel or the anime.
With the drama’s huge differences in plot, though, I have a feeling some of this mess also has something to do with the production company initially starting filming The Legend of Rosy Clouds without getting the appropriate licensing from the Japanese author.
(I mean, what legitimate production company does that?! And why did they think they wouldn’t get caught?)
That’s also one of the reasons why the C-drama, which was initially filmed back in 2023, has taken so long to premiere, as iQIYI/YOUKU had to sort out the licensing rights so they could actually release it.
Premiere, however, it is doing, at lunchtime today, and with iQIYI also dropping some quite pretty The Legend of Rosy Clouds character visuals to celebrate.
Those visuals are for Li Yi Tong, Joseph Zeng and Deng Wei, the drama’s three leads, along with Dai Lu Wa, Tian Jia Rui, Riley Wang, Cheng Hong Xin, Jian Yu Xi, Fan Jing Wen and Jerome Deng.
Enjoy, and I will be back to comment on the first couple of episodes of the Chinese comedy rom-com when I’ve watched them. (Pray with me that it isn’t as bad as it appears, and that Li Yi Tong’s voice actress isn’t about to cause me to put my fist through my laptop screen!!)
Update: June 20th, 2026
Well, I did try, but these are my thoughts after watching Episode 1 and around 25 minutes of Episode 2 and then deciding to drop it. I posted them in the MDL forums first, btw:
That was an easy drop after Episode 1 and half of Episode 2 (keep in mind I’m a huge fan of the anime).
They’ve made the FL, who is brilliant in the anime, into an airheaded-sounding idiot so far, Li Yi Tong’s voice actress is bad enough but the voice dubbing overall is poor (in some early scenes it’s not even close to fitting the mouth movement of some characters, the writing is trite (particularly the dialogue), and the whole thing is whizzing along at breakneck speed having created no solid foundation for the plot or its characters. It all feels empty, silly and incredibly meh. (cont. below)
Compare it to Yummy Yummy Yummy, a drama that has a similar slapstick comedy romance feel, but that is superb compared to this as that drama’s writer spent time building up the actual foundation of the story, while also properly introducing its characters and giving them believable backstories. His scenarios were funny as well.
Then again, I’m not surprised as screenwriter Yu Xiao Qian did write My Bargain Queen, and that was similarly awful.
The background OST is also silly and over-the-top, and it plays in every scene as if it’s trying to PROVE to us that the “comedy” is actually funny, so you had better laugh. It isn’t.
I will say the set designs and costume design are lovely.
Overall, I think it’s a real shame the Japanese haven’t adapted this into a live action, as any Japanese production company would have done a much better job.
All in all, a pity as I’m a huge fan of Li Yi Tong (although she’s over-acting in this, but then again, they all are, which I’m guessing is a result of the director?), I LOVE Deng Wai and Riley Wang, and I usually like Joseph Zeng’s performances well enough, but 35 more episodes of this? Noooooo 🙂 It’s a waste of a stellar cast, IMO.
Ah well, enjoy The Legend of Rosy Clouds if it’s your thing. Meanwhile, I have just freed up some of my time to catch up on the latest episodes of Archives: The Nanyang Mystery and The First Jasmine instead:)
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