The Problematic of the Unproblematic

SakiVI: In which our gang faces dragon's breath and weasel wee to get to the Cave of Eyes. kakashi: If only I'd had some weasel wee, then my eyes would probably have stayed open.  Trotwood: After they stopped flying, I kept falling asleep. JoAnne: I just finished watching and I already don't remember what happened. They did a lot of walking and a little flying. Right?  

SakiVI: In which there is a birth secret and conflicting missions. It's almost like there is a plot! kakashi: Indeed, now that we're halfway (!!!!!) into this drama - it seems to go on forever - something interesting happened. Trotwood: Pfft. JoAnne:  I guess we'll see.  At the moment I can't even remember what happened.

SakiVI: In which we find everyone knows everyone. kakashi: In which we celebrate the weather, the true star of this show.  Trotwood: In which we learn that being seen in long underwear is the same as being seen in regular underwear. JoAnne:  In which we learn these grassland dwellings have enviable closet space.

SakiVI: In which our teenage Scooby Gang members show a remarkable lack of knowledge about things like first nights. Seriously, people, you should know what can and can't happen under what circumstances, even without the internet! Trotwood: I never understood this. I mean you can physically feel if you had sex or not. But that wasn't the worst of it. No one dies. How can we have a show with the word "grave" in the title and not have more deaths? The plot meanders with so much random, I feel we deserve at least one death per episode. kakashi: This episode was clearly on drugs and maybe I was too because I kind of liked it? Huh, I'm strange. JoAnne: I laughed my ass off when Hu Bayi tried to delicately hint around how Yanzi could tell if she'd had sex. Come on people....folks from the country know how things work. Always have.

SakiVI: In which Bayi gets up close and personal with at least three different people. Trotwood: This is true, so why weren't any of them more exciting? There was even nudity! Also, I'm disappointed. Where were the promised pancakes? JoAnne: How can you think of pancakes at a time like this? We had death AND nudity! kakashi: I am so tired. I read "why aren't any of them expecting?" That, plus nudity, made sense to me. Not sure about how to fit in the dead bodies though.  

SakiVI: In which we finally get some tomb raiding activity and spooky stuff, even though it's not technically in a tomb. kakashi: The first good episode. I wasn't even bored. Trotwood: Finally, we get some adventure. Look, Ma! We can fly! JoAnne: And then there's Fatty, the dumbass.

SakiVI: In which one character dies. SorryNotSorry about that. And in which we learn Bayi has been withholding information about himself, but that he's going to let loose now. kakashi: Much too much of those three doltheads who act as if it were comedy, which clearly doesn't work. JoAnne: Well, maybe they'll be gone soon. Trotwood: I hope so, too. Not enough people have died. We are on episode 6 already. Where is my body count?!?!?!

SakiVI: In which people talk a lot, there's a mysterious map, woooooo, and the man-bear changes hands. kakashi: Maybe it's because it's been ages, but I really liked this episode!  Trotwood: Pfft. it's been ages. Life happened. Sorry. I didn't mean you. I meant that the only reason Kakashi would like this episode is because it's been ages. It was slow. You are NOT slow. JoAnne: Well she is slow, but no one minds at all.

SakiVI: In which we meet the man bear and find out one of our bad guys isn’t as dumb as when he first appeared. Trotwood: Where I wonder if it's that cold out, why Hu Bayi isn't wearing a hat or earmuffs or something on his head. So much heat escapes from the head. kakashi: Where I get really annoyed at this drama's "hahaha, look, this is funny"-humor.   JoAnne: Where I think, 'You know, the scenery is really pretty in this, and the light, too.'

SakiVI: In which our group forms a Scooby Gang. Trotwood: I know I was warned, but did we really need to watch so much pooping? Also, everyone was waiting for my comments about their cold weather prep, and they look pretty prepped to me. Lots of good thick layers, little hand coverings though. kakashi: A very intriguing episode. Group-poop and weasel-pee that makes you see monsters . JoAnne: I found it difficult to pee in shared bathrooms until I was out of school, and only poop away from home in desperation, so... I am trying to block all this out because the next episode (or maybe it's the one after that) is a lot of fun.

SakiVI: In which I get rather angry at our selfish Educated Youths and their Quest for Sugar at the expense of a little animal getting tortured to death.   Trotwood: Where I wished I had paid more attention to the fart jokes in middle school, so I'd remember one here. kakashi: And here I am waiting for Trotwood to start raging about snow equipment, what to do when there's a fire, etc . JoAnne: She is suspiciously relaxed about their weather preparation, what's going on?

SakiVI: Yes, I’m recapping again. No, it’s not Ice Fantasy Destiny. Sorry, but I lost the momentum on that other series. On the other hand, I’m rather smitten by this latest tomb raiding drama involving a teenage 81, aka Hu Bayi, and his skinny friend Fatty, and a village girl, Yanzi, who likes Hu Bayi (I didn’t understand why at first since Ethan Ruan does nothing for me, and then I saw the state of the other men in her village), and some forest wardens, and, believe it or not, some rather intelligent weasels. kakashi: First time I'm seeing Ethan Ruan, but I can't say he does nothing for me.  Trotwood: I was actually surprised because I knew nothing about the cast and then there was Ethan Ruan spitting on me! 

SakiVI: Finally, a finale! And a surprisingly funny ending, too. Trotwood: I didn't get what they were trying to do with this ending--not the plot questions nor the tone. But then again, I gave up understanding anything about any of the choices when we were at the glacier episodes. kakashi: Back when I watched this - that was when blogging was not yet dominated by 3310 - I really liked the ending. It gave me a good feeling. And even though it's very open ended, it gave me closure. JoAnne: Wow, it feels like a lifetime ago. Three lifetimes. No Peach Blossoms in the desert. But maybe in our dessert?  

SakiVI: Crazy Chen is annoying. Fatty gets some things right - others wrong. Bayi is handsome. Shirley is smart and practical. Go figure. kakashi: I loved Crazy Chen. In fact, it basically made this episode for me. He is so funny! I laughed all the time he was on screen .  Trotwood: I loved him, too. He was hilarious up until the moment he wasn't. I got whiplash from the opening. More stuff happens in the first 3 minutes here than happened in the last 3 eps combined. Or at least it felt like it. JoAnne: Perhaps they're all dead and travelling through Hell, like a Chinese version of Tales from the Crypt. Or maybe we are. Episode 20 They are back to wondering if one of the five in that tomb is not human . The candles flicker, which, if our crew were paying attention, they would either wonder about there being air, or there being a ghost. Come on, people, either option is good! I did get very excited, it's true. I did as well, but also wondered why they weren't p...

SakiVI: The spooky is back! kakashi: The first of the final three! I loved them. Well, maybe not loved. But liked them! There is some good stuff coming up. FINALLY.  JoAnne:  It's hilarious to me that when it finally gets good (so I hear) I slept through all the episodes no matter how many times I tried.  I look forward to finding out what happened. Trotwood: I just finished watching this and though we finally got some excitement, I'm kind of bitter that it was packed into this episode and not spread out more (like in any one of the episodes where nothing  happened)

SakiVI: Two people seem on the verge of madness in this episode: Professor Chen and Fatty. Read on. kakashi: All things considered, mad Professor Chen is probably my favorite part about this show. But I do not want to anticipate too much.   JoAnne: Oooh, maybe CHEN is the hidden monster. I would love that. There has to be a hidden monster, since there haven't been any out-in-plain-sight monsters. I wonder if Chinese horror movies are like this? ...are there Chinese horror movies? Trotwood: Clearly, it's been to long since someone has died.  

SakiVI: Finally we are in the Ancient City of Jingjue and in a temple, woohoo! Maybe something will actually happen. JoAnne: I've almost given up hope . kakashi: It's an excellent episode. Well, I don't remember the details, but I'm confident it is . Trotwood: I just watched it. Excellent is not the adjective I would have used.