The Legend of Anle (2023)

Three top actors, three childhood friends, one cliche angsty romance

I came looking for an epic revenge plot since political intrigue is actually my preferred genre. Although I wasn't expecting Langya Bang level, it turns out this is not a plot driven drama, or a mystery, but above all a love triangle romance. The way that everything happens requires suspension of disbelief because the plot is clearly there to facilitate the romance and make the characters look cool. So to summarize in one sentence: this drama is very similar to 'Who Rules the World' i.e. the infamous "Double bking drama", but the leads have a bit more personality.

The setting requires patience. Pirate Ren Anle/Di Ziyuan enters the palace with 30 000 soldiers she collected in order to carry out her revenge plan, developed over ten years: to find the truth of her family's crime... using the strategy of acting like she's stupid and in love with the prince to infiltrate. And it works. The Emperor knows she has no experience but appoints her, a woman who doesn't know the basic articles of law, to vice minister of judicial review. OK, money opens doors... so the emperor basically shrugs and invites his enemy into his home.

Seems promising for Anle to now show her ability and carry out her grand revenge plot. Anle and Han Ye are meant to exchange blows, using but also competing with each other. However the big difference from revenge drama like Langya Bang is that the leads are simply put, not smart! So the plots are not clever or exciting; it's not an epic face off between Han and Di forces, but just a mid off, and a slow one. Ten hours in and we haven't made a speck of progress on figuring out why her family was killed off.

Take the first case Anle solves for the kingdom. The Prince does nothing except hang around her all day so they can make sizzling eye contact when he could have basically solved the case himself in an hour. Unfortunately she is isn't the brightest either. Her way of solving the case is basically to convince the evil sidekick not to be loyal which for some reason takes 3 full days and gets some innocent ministers flogged in the process when she could have betrayed the rich young master the very first day. By the way the Prince also takes credit for the case and gives a flowery speech about justice though he did nothing and arguably even delayed things.

Then Han Ye, who as we've mentioned is a bit slow, begins to find Anle's origins suspicious. To distract him, Anle has the incredible idea of bringing forth "fake Di Ziyuan". This makes the love triangle spicier, but how does this stop him from investigating her backstory? Well conveniently, in this drama, it just works. You get the idea-- plots are so basic that you wonder why everyone can't see through the "10 year revenge plot" from the beginning. By the way if it was this easy to come down the mountain Ziyuan could have just changed her name temporarily in order to investigate her parents' murder years ago, and avoided all this angst. Speaking of which if Han Ye really cared why didn't he look into it himself?

I do think Dilraba is very suitable for this flirty role and Gong Jun is not bad. Anle actually has a lot of chemistry with Luo Mingxi (Liu Yuning) who unfortunately doesn't do much, besides lurking charismatically in the background and occasionally popping out to remind Anle to do the revenge. So the acting is not bad, and there's plenty of flirting, fan service and pretty sword fighting, but there's little plot to speak of. Good for fans of romance I guess.

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Boring script with no on-screen chemistry between the main CP. Don't waste your time.

"The Legend of AnLe" is a Wuxia drama about revenge starring Dilraba Dilmurat as Ren An Le/Di Zi Yuan and Gong Jun as the crown Prince Han Ye.

Synopsis: Di Zi Yuan seeks revenge after her family was falsely accused of treason ten years ago and beheaded according to the emperor's edict. As the sole survivor, she changes her name to Ren An Le and schemes her way into the court. She admires Crown Prince Han Ye's concern for his people's welfare. While slowly developing feelings for him, she remains haunted by her past, unable to dismiss the enmity between their two families. The crown prince, Han Ye, driven by his deep love for Di Zi Yuan, vows to resolve their differences at any cost.

Review: I have watched 11 episodes, and the pace of the drama is very slow. It did not lure or engage me, and I found it quite boring. In addition, the onscreen chemistry between Gong Jun and Dilraba was not great. When Dilraba's character tries to flirt with him, Gong Jun seems quite stiff.

The acting of the main CP was so awkward and bad that I lost interest in continuing with this drama, and nothing special about the story either. Especially many other WuXia and/or Xian Xia dramas are more interesting, like Lost You Forever and Mysterious Lotus Casebook, making this one a loser.

I give it a 5.0, and I am dropping this drama. I liked Gong Jun in Begin Again with Zhou Yu Tong (Together, they have great chemistry.) I am disappointed with his acting in other dramas post-Begin Again, similar to Dilraba; last year, I could not pass episode 1 of Blue Whisper: part 1, and I didn't bother with part 2.

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SINISTER BEHIND HIS BACK

I am watching this up to ep 10 and doesn't have a good impression of the drama, the story of Di Ziyuan ( Dilraba) and Crown Prince Han Ye (Gong Jun). Ten years ago, Di Ziyuan family was wiped out and she was the sole survivor. For the peace of the nation and to uncover the truth of how had the current imperial family ascended to the throne, she enters the imperial court under the name of Ren Anle. Ziyuan reacquainted with the Crown Prince and they began to work together to investigate cases of foreign aggression against the nation. But all done in sinister plan with the help of Luo Ming Xi (Liu YuNing) the minister of Justice with the purpose to take down royal family as Ziyuan'spay back . Anle proposed marriage to Han Yu with 30,000 pirates/naval as her dowry with that they put her in charge as assistant ministry - as well as they put her into consideration for selection of crown princess although her background was a chief pirate. All her sweetness and adoration toward Crown Prince was just a facade - as soon she turned around her impression was sinister and plan more conspiracy against the royal family. While Luo MingXi monitored the development of the relationship and further planning for their next moves, although he was the behind the scene conspirator, both AnLe & Han Ye trusted him in different purposes.

Flattery and cajoling to gain some access and trust, but behind Han Ye's back they were conspired against him. Not a good sign and I don't know how love starts to blossom between the two? Besides they both were promised to each other by previous Emperor (Han Ye's grandfather) in their childhood and he insisted to honor that engagement. Would the enmity between their families over the Di family massacre puts a tension on the relationship once they adult?. When Gong Jun smile, I could see him as Wen KeXing. I decided to drop this drama, it happens about 3 other historical dramas out, this one does not make the cut.

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Savoury at first and then, like chewing plain hard bread.

As a fan of the FL, I decided to watch Legend of An Le when I found out about this show. I have also watched other dramas starring the ML and he is quite handsome and quite decent as an actor. I had pretty high hopes. At first, the drama started off roaringly. There were shenanigans and the FL was feisty as well as funny. As the drama progressed, things started to water down...

What I Liked:
- The FL and the ML. I think they could have done a better job because I have seen their other dramas which were great. However, I think it's not their fault but more the fault of the scriptwriters.
- The cast was earnest. I could see their efforts in acting out their roles as well as they could.
- Lin Lang turned out to be endearing. She respected and adored Luo Ming Xi but never crossed the line. She was an honorable and dignified woman from start to end. I was sad when she was killed.
- Luo Ming Xi stole my heart in this drama. I saw him in Chang Ge Xing but he did not leave a very strong impression on me. He was good then as Hao Du, but not great IMO. In this drama, the actor who portrayed Luo Ming Xi was awesome. He stole the show and I watched for him. He loved Di Zi Yuan deeply and sincerely but he would not do anything that would hurt or harm her in the name of his love for her. What a charming and devoted man he was!

What I Didn't Like:
- I really couldn't like Princess An Ning. She didn't have much expression through out the drama. She was just anal and exasperating to watch.
- Leng Bei was a traitor and I hate traitors to the core.
- The drama was as exciting as chewing plain hard bread half-way through. I wanted to drop the drama but my partner wanted to complete it and so, we did. The ending was a happy one (more or less), but it wasn't exciting or amazing in anyway. I felt relieved that it was all over.

I'd still rate this as a 7/10 but my partner thinks that 6.5/10 is more appropriate. However, if you have better options out there, you may want to go for those before embarking on this fairly painful and dry journey.

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IMO

Dilraba Dilmurat has already won my heart, and I find myself drawn to almost every drama she graces. The white hair look on her is simply enchanting. I must applaud the hairdresser responsible for those historical wigs – the styles are so timeless that they could easily fit into the present day. Their craftsmanship never fails to amaze me.

Gong Jun, portraying Crown Prince Han Ye, delivered an excellent performance. This marks my second time watching him, and even though I don't recall the first instance, he left a lasting impression in this drama. I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for his future projects.

Now, let's talk about Liu Yuning. The more I watch this actor, the more he captivates my spirit. His eyes are beautifully crafted, almost like windows to his soul. As an actor, he is exceptional, and his singing vocals elevate his talent to another level. What an outstanding performer!

Despite the tiny flaw in the costumes, set, and storyline – something I won't spoil here – the writers nearly had a perfect score from me, still earning a solid 10. Overall, the drama left a lasting impression, thanks to the stellar cast, engaging plot, and meticulous attention to detail in various aspects.

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"I once loved a woman named Ren Anle, but in this life I'll protect Di Ziyuan."

Cast:
Dilraba Dilmurat ❤️
Gong Jun ❤️

Story:
Ren Anle returns to seek revenge on behalf of her clan and her family's army.

My take:
The story was really good, and could have been wraped in less episodes. There were various revelations, and they could have been revealed more elegantly. It was as if they were revealed in sequences. The dialogues were not too catchy. I loved the start where Ren Anle was flirty and playful. I also loved Wen Shou's character development. But I certainly did not root for Lou Mingxi. Though the character of Di Cheng'en was not likeable, but she received a proper closure.

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Just a little strange, with a lot of nostalgia

The drama is very pretty in terms of visuals and the scenery, though it feels like the directors are relying rekindling visual nostalgia of another one of their drama that aired a few years back. The story is not anything new - it's the same genre of the long ballad and any other story with the same narrative. Gong Jun's acting need a lot of work - his line delivery ain't great, but the VA dubbing is alright. But he just looks uncomfortable and annoyed, and awkward - which if that's suppose to be the crown prince's vibe then fine - but it feels like I'm watching Gong Jun play a role. I've seen him be better than this.

Dilraba is fine for playing the overly sugary sweet good at everything type of gal - but the childish ways her character behaves with the crown prince is just..it feels weird... and the VA has such a high pitched voice that makes her sound like a child which is super jarring - it just doesn't fit her face and makes it difficult to listen to. I don't get why directors put her in such positions - it feels like the same historical romance roles she has played many times before just with a different hair style and clothes.

Liu Yuning is pretty decent - he's very controlled and intriguing in his performance and scenes so far.

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Just a gender change for Nirvana in Fire ... can not watch beyond a few episodes

Just a gender change for Nirvana in Fire ...
But its boring -
1. Emperor is better and nicer by allowing the crown princess to live when all except her 9 nine generations are killed. Due to this reason alone -the fight is not on solid grounds - its not on par with Nirvana in Fire
2. Poor intelligence or supporting community for Emperor / Crown Prince and this is unacceptable
3. .. I totally support women empowerment but power does not come by suppressing opposite gender .... Put the villain equally intelligent and make crown prince and emperor intelligent and show me how the Dilraba does it well

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Didn't hold my attention or give joy

I'm a fan of all three main actors so started this drama out of curiosity to see how it was.
First thing I disliked was the voice they dubbed Dilraba with, also the over the top flirting or at least how it was portrayed. It would've been nice to have a bit more suspense with the mains meeting again too.
The logic of some of the stunts took me right out of it, as did the flat vibe i got.
I like Liu yuning and after seeing the vibe of the two male leads i got second lead syndrome. Not to say i don't like Gong jun but his charecter didn't feel unique or anything.
Even with Anle flirting and constantly going on about wanting to marry Han ye i didn't find myself shipping them at all.
I don't feel like I'm enjoying it so I'm calling it a day.
I can't say for sure that it's an awful drama, could be it's just not for me.

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