I watched the first episode of The Epoch of Miyu — my first impression

I decided to check out the first episode of this series after hesitating for a couple of days since its release, thinking about whether to watch it while it's still ongoing or after all the episodes have dropped. I'm leaning more towards the former for now since I don't think I can handle binge-watching a drama of this genre. I mentioned in a previous post that modern romance drama is just not my cup of tea due to how the local dramas of the same genre in my country turned out —  filled with toxic family and relationships, poor character development, non-stop arguing and misunderstandings, etc. So I thought watching around 2 episodes a day is manageable for someone like me who's genuinely not a fan of this genre.  Why do I even bother watching this drama though? Well, I came here for the guest actors and also to see more of Zhu Zhu's performance (she was good in Why Is He Still Single but mostly got outshined by Wallace Huo, so I hope to see her killing it in this drama.)

Honestly speaking, based on the clips that I watched so far before watching the first episode, this drama does have the makings of what we call in my country as drama pukul 7 (7pm drama). For context, drama pukul 7 are dramas that are aired during our TV3's prime time slot, and it's almost always a modern romance drama that fills this slot — hence the term drama pukul 7 being synonymous with these modern romance dramas filled with all the recycled plots and tropes — which is again I must mention, filled with toxic family and relationships, exaggerated lifestyle, poor character development, non-stop arguing, jealousy and misunderstandings, ends  with someone dying, etc. 

With that being said, you can see why I hesitated to start watching this drama. However, after finishing the first episode, I sort of enjoy watching it, though I'd probably enjoyed it because I was laughing at some parts which I felt were pretty soapy and tropey (something that I also did while I was watching My Destined Consort back then.) I'll probably be laughing and roasting this series as I continue watching it in the future but I guess that's just how I cope and go through this kind of genre. That's not to say that I'm mocking their work though — the cast's performance is amazing so far —  it's just that I find some of the execution amusing.

But back to the matter at hand, looking at the first episode objectively, I'd say that this is a good episode as it does pretty well at setting up the main characters (mostly in regards to both Ji Feng and Xu Miyu.) Barely a few minutes into the first episode,  we're already shown that Nie Yucheng ( Xu Miyu's husband) is cheating on his wife from the get-go (though the synopsis has already provided this info too, so that's not a surprise.)  It's pretty much a classic set-up for this genre, but it's a clear starting line for both Nie Yucheng and his lover as characters for now.

"I closed the deal, hit the KPI, and secured the Chinese partnership. You know better than anyone that you shouldn't push me out. Some doors stay closed from the beginning, regardless of the outcome. I thought this time would be different. I thought you would recognize what I've brought to the table."  — Ji Feng to Phil (his superior).                                                                                                                            — Ji Feng is an acting general manager of the Svelto Hotel Group in Ubstan. He is shown as an adaptable, efficient and perceptive person in his work, proven by his actions throughout this whole episode. Ji Feng has worked abroad in the hotel industry for 10 years, working diligently to reach greater heights in his career. He is confident that he would be promoted from acting general manager to general manager of Svelto Hotel Group, only to find out that the higher-ups has decided to nominate him for candidacy for said position yet again, despite his accomplishments, experience and hard work for the past 10 years.

Feeling dejected, he uttered the quote above to his superior. To me, this shows that Ji Feng is very assured of his own worth as a person. He knows that all his accomplishments, efforts and experience bring value to the hotel as well as make him qualified to be promoted. Ji Feng's story in this episode ends with him contemplating his career — possibly deciding whether to remain in that hotel which doesn't acknowledge his value or to find a new place where he can advance in this industry.        

"I don't work. I carefully guard my family relationships and marriage. Sometimes I focus on one thing at the expense of another, but I'm trying to maintain balance. As long as I have my husband's and my family's approval, even if I feel wronged sometimes, I still feel happy. Someone asked me if it's worth it. I said, it's a fair exchange." — Xu Miyu                                                                                                             —  Honestly, I find Xu Miyu's character relatable through this quote because it's something that I did a lot as a child and well into my young adulthood. This quote alone is pretty much self-explanatory to what kind of person Xu Miyu is as a person for now. Xu Miyu is a full-time housewife, so naturally, she considers herself the homemaker, which is largely the reason why she focuses mostly on trying to keep all sides happy in order to maintain a peaceful life. This makes her character seen as pretty much a doormat, evident by how her stepsister's family took advantage of her well off life with her husband and how her husband managed to fool her about his secret love affair. 

I feel like Xu Miyu acts as a direct contrast to Ji Feng's personality for now because while Ji Feng is well aware of his own worth, it seems like Xu Miyu doesn't think highly of herself and thus doesn't realize her own value. In my opinion, the quote above shows how her mindset works — the fact that she could only feel happy after all the people who she thinks mattered to her are happy shows her need to please others in order for them to truly appreciate her, to make her feel worthy as a person.  This kind of thinking is dangerous because you will usually end up with disappointment after realizing that not everyone cares about you the same way you care about them. I believe that her current personality will also be used as an excuse by her husband for his cheating on her. However, I think Xu Miyu's family and the way she was raised also played a part in her current personality, though only future episodes will tell us, if they care to elaborate more about Miyu's family. But with the way she is set-up in this episode, it seems that she will have a lot of character development to go through and that actually makes me interested to see how she will progress from here on out. 

Other things that I like to note about are the opening and ending theme. I love both of them! (though not to the point that they become earworms...yet). 

Oh, and also Ji Feng helping out Nie Yucheng to hide his secret love affair from Xu Miyu at the hotel irks me a bit but it's also not exactly his place to do anything about it as it is a rather personal matter of theirs. As Ji Feng said to his subordinates "We're here to serve, not to judge." Which is a very valid point, so even though it makes him look like a terrible person for having done such a thing, it is ultimately not his business. 

All in all, I enjoyed the first episode quite a bit and I am interested to follow Xu Miyu's story in the future. So I think I will continue watching for now, though I am still deciding between watching it while it airs or wait for all episodes to drop. That's all from me, see you in the next entry!

PS : I started writing this entry on 15/4/2026, which is when episodes 7 and 8 dropped. Took the chance to skip right to these 2 episodes to watch a bit of both because this is where Xu Haiqiao makes his appearance as Duan Aoxiang and I like his scenes in these 2 episodes and was pleased to see him already sharing a scene with Guo Xiaoting (who plays Li Qiaoqi in this). These 2 are my favourites for their acting chops and from the looks of it, it seems like the drama is setting up a possible romance side plot for them, and I'm all here for it. Looking forward to these two characters and more of their story in future episodes (so that I can feed my mind with the headcanon that these 2 are basically Ronghao and Chidi reunited in the modern world). 😂