A Girl Like Me (2021)

Not one of those typical Wuxia

My 10 Year old daughter calls me "nuts" watching this show. I laugh out loud so often, she ended up watching with me to the end.

We began to rewatch again. Its not one of those Wuxia that Princess needs to pay utmost respect to Kings and Queens etc etc..... The FL argues and fights a lot which makes it interesting. There is not much show around that shows tom boyish attitude. ML is a honest, strategic, gentle soul.

If you need a good laugh, this movie is as good as Heroic Husband. Both brings a smile to you with no disappointment.

Too bad the sound track could be better.

Read More

Many unsual

Looking for costume drama decide to watch this after seeing many funny trailer scene. Turn out this drama so not ordinary drama.

I think this is my first time watch a women in ancient china that is this free & have many privileges, especially if she is from royal family like Ban Hua (HH).

HH is really one free spirit that don't afraid of anything, especially with all the love & privileges she gets from the emperor. But what I really like is she never abused that privileges & make her over bearing childish & spoiled. She's still one very tough women with her own mind & freedom. Many woman envy & hate her because of this.

While Rong Xia (RX) himself is very calm man that at first have grudge & plan that not so good. But in here we can see how a man never blind by revenge & clouded his own judgement. Like when he decided to let his grudge against emperor due to all the other feeling he has toward emperor himself; father figure, gratitude, etc.

Really like Shi Jin. He is one gentlement to the core. Even with all his family problem he still can choose the right choice.

Really like the interaction between HH & RX. I don't think their relationship is a lovely-dovey kind, even though we can see many scene that make us awwww so romantic kinda feeling, but for me their relationship more like friendship & one very deep trush with each other. Really like how RX respect & protect HH all the way to the end.

What i don't really like, but doesn't effect my feeling toward this drama is only one actually. All the man here, except several man, is quite stupid. Like ban heng & HH dad. How a man in a royal family so free & easy going toward every thing. All the emperor's son kinda dull in one way or other, Jiang Luo [the 2nd Prince] (JL) actually stupid but with all the ambition & Jiang Zhang [Crown Prince] so coward & kind without all the ambition. All that stupid man sometimes really make the scene so hilarious.

Several thing that kinda bothered me actually.
- All the war fighting is kinda stupid & very fast forward. Yeah i know this is not one war / fighting drama. But stil...
- Everybody else, except Ban family & friend, seems missing from the picture. Like the queen mother, or even Shi Su Yue [Crown Princess]. If after the fued end with the JL she said no one can obstruct her from queen posisition where is she when Xie Wan Yu became queen...?

Here we can see many unsual that make this drama kinda different than many traditional costume drama. For examples: when the wedding they don't cover the woman face with vail or fan, the one open the house of royal family household can be the owner (I know that maybe because of badget etc), very free spirit woman that respect by many people, all the stupid man that actually kinda depend on the woman. And many other.

Overall this one refreshing traditional costume drama that can cheer your day. Very recomended drama. Re-watch...? Maybe some cute & funny scene

Read More

Probably the best strong female lead I've seen

I make some references to certain parts of the show, but I try to keep it vague so as to keep it from completely spoiling the show.

Ban Hua has a horrible reputation, but she doesn't care one bit. She is a skilled martial artist that has an independent, straightforward, honest personality; she does what she wants, and doesn't allow anyone to look down on her. Her temper can get the best of her, but even then she's smart about it and will take full responsibility for her actions. Even so, she helps people whenever she can. She's righteous and encouraging, even when she's mean about it. Her random acts of kindness causes so many men to fall in love with her. She's the hero that saves the beauty and then the beauty falls in love with the hero. I would say she's not book smart, but she's street smart. Sometimes she knows something's wrong, she's just too lazy to think about it. Ban Hua's dreams can also predict the future, so this helps her out a lot. She's from a ridiculously rich and influential family. Her family spends money like crazy and does what they want, so people think they are bad, but they are actually really nice. I love her family interactions. They are silly and not very smart, but they care for and love each other.

Rong Xia is a scholar that is unbiased and neutral, but he comes to Ban Hua's aide multiple times, mostly to get close to her for ulterior motives. Although he gets close to her, he doesn't hurt her or her family. What he wants most is to figure out the truth behind his family's death and get revenge. He's calculative, but also looks at the overall picture as to not cause a big disturbance unless needed. He also knows martial arts, but isn't as skilled as Ban Hua. He's a gentleman with many admirers, but he's lonely because he grew up without a family. I like the contrast with Ban Hua. Ban Hua is outgoing and rarely shy, Rong Xia is more reserved and sticks to etiquette. Rong Xia grew up without family, but Ban Hua did. I like their interactions, and their chemistry is good. Even when there's misunderstandings, they either figure it out together, or they are smart enough to understand why the other person did what they did. They make a perfect couple that is unstoppable.

I'd say there's 3 arcs:
eps 1-16: Rong Xia starts to investigate his family's death. Ban Hua and Rong Xia fall in love and break up.
eps 17-30: Ban Hua and Rong Xia clear the air and get back together. Rong Xia finds out the truth.
eps 31-40: Bad guy arc. Rong Xia and Ban Hua break up and make up...two more times? And the ending.
The plot is pretty straightforward, and it did start to drag out towards the second half, but I still couldn't wait to see what would happen next. I absolutely love how humorous this show is, I laughed out loud so many times! It's pretty light-hearted, really funny, romantic, serious and sad at certain times. I loved the acting and the music was perfect. I say this show has the best strong female lead because she often encourages other women, and many women follow her, thus this is definitely a female positive show. I highly recommend this show, and I will definitely be re-watching it over and over, especially all the funny parts.

Random characters/thoughts:
-Eldest Princess Dening (Ban Hua's Grandmother) is the smartest of the family. She protected her family after the death of her husband. The Ban's rely on her status and relationship with the Emperor. I love her, she cares for and loves her family and they love her so much, it shows. I just love how loving this family is.
-Ban Hua's mother is probably tied for second with Ban Hua for the next smartest in the family. I just love how both of them know that they can't trust the men to do important things in the family.
-Ban Hua's maids are also good at martial arts and are strong like her. This is definitely a woman empowering show.
-Xie Wan Yu is probably one of my favorite characters, outside the main people. She accepted her fate, but then realized she could change it upon seeing what the Ban family is really like. All she wants is to have a family like theirs, who just wants each other to be happy and support each other. She stays firm and keeps trying and trying to change her fate. She also loves cooking, and I totally want to eat whatever she makes. I also like her love story.
-Xie Qi Lin is Xie Wan Yu's 2nd brother. Oh man...I just feel bad for him. He's actually a really nice guy and kind of funny despite first impressions. I feel like he's a lot like his sister.
-Shi Jin is the second male lead that is a general and is also skilled in martial arts. He doesn't fight for power, unlike his family. I also feel bad for him; he's such a good guy and helps out when he can, but he gets his hopes up so many times.
-poor Shi Fei Xian. Her jealousy, rejection, and abandonment leads her to becoming someone that never wants to feel that way again. It's a nice contrast to how Ban Hua deals with all these problems compared to her. Ban Hua helps refugees to help them, Shi Fei Xian does it to get attention and compete with Ban Hua. When Shi Fei Xian gets jealous, she tries to stir up conflicts and get even, while Ban Hua just gets mad.
-Ban Huai (Ban Hua's dad) and the Xie family's dad are frenemies, and watching their rivalry and them bicker is comedic relief. I love these two characters.
-Prince A Ke Qi's appearance was one of the funniest misunderstandings. After that, he just so happened to appear (like don't you need to go back to your own country?) But he was a great supportive character that was always there for Ban Hua whenever she needed help.
-I like how the crowds comment/gossip, it's hilarious. They also lean towards the woman's side; unlike in other historical dramas, it's the woman's fault because they must've done something wrong.
-At the end of the day, the morale of the story is that the happiest people aren't those that don't vie for power, but just live to the fullest and love.

Read More

A girl like none other- another one of my favorites

Love the pairing of Guan Xiao Tong and Neo Hou. Both are gorgeous though in a few episodes, NH’s makeup is too strong (e,g. Red lipstick?). That said, I just love this drama. I would say it’s a romantic comedy featuring 2 beautiful people without the sap, mix in some martial arts which the FL is good at, comic relief, drama, political intrigue, angst, great cinematography, beautiful sets and costumes… need I say more?

Ban Hua, the female protagonist, is a woman before her time. She is brash, strong willed, beautiful, fearless with good martial arts skills, not as educated as some of her peers who are jealous of her beauty and look down on her. Her character is likeable because she is straight forward, street smart, loves her family and is kind to the unfortunate. She has an undeserved bad reputation because 3 of her engagements were dissolved. She meets the good looking Rong Xia, the “number 1 scholar” and favorite courtier of the emperor, under 2 very embarrassing circumstances. She calls him a dull goose to his face when he wouldn’t go along with her white lie.

The rest of the story is a process of the 2 getting to know each other, their difficult courtship, trials and tribulations as he tries to unravel the mystery behind the tragedy of his family. XFS, the hypocritical #1 Talented woman, is Ban Hua’s love rival as she likes RX and schemes to do Ban Hua in, but RX has eyes only for BH once he falls for her. There are funny moments when BH tries to win RX over to help her brother, the # 1 wastrel. She uses the wrong volcabulary, forgets her lines, fakes gentleness because she thinks RX likes the SFX type.

BH has an unconventional family which also provides comic relief. Her father is a pushover, loves her and is afraid of his wife but is an honest courtier and loyal.

This is a light hearted drama which I will watch again and again for entertainment. The BH RX couple is too cute. But those who don’t like romance may not like it.

Read More

Would I rewatch this? Yea I probably would.

Just a disclaimer, this review is based on my views through focusing from episode 1 to 20+ But the rest would be skimmed through. Regardless, I think more or less, this might be worth a read.

The female leads character at first kind annoyed me however I admired her alot. At first people would think she’s narcissistic and arrogant but she has a big soft heart for the people that she loves. Plus the fact that she’s skilled in kicking butt, sassy and strong these are definitely a deal breaker.

The fact that she became general and the first female prime minister like ??. Also the love of her family and the love she has for them is adorable and very heartwarming.

Family, romance, mystery, betrayal and love. These keywords stands out for me the most. The plot can be complicated for some, I kinda had to focused on it since it is 40 episodes the fact that the story might be a little difficult to understand is not ideal. Because for those with short attention span such as I would be very easy to lose interest and either move on or fast forward which is wat i did.

Regardless, the story from a glimpse of it and a little of what I learnt. Is well though through and a good story. But maybe making a little easier to understand and manageable being that it has a a lot of episodes.

The sacrifice and protection of the leads because of their love for each other is of course very sweet and make you aww and pull at their little heart strings.

But I am disappointed at the lack of passion and chemistry once passionate scenes are enacted. The kisses are like stamps instead of a kiss. The chemistry and passion isn’t quite there as I hoped that would go well with the love they portrayed in the story.

So I likely would rewatch it, more in detailed and focused. Not now, but later. Got to get over the Lim minor disappointment first.

Read More

Enjoyable watch that fulls of plot twists

I don't think I'm exaggerating. Anyway, it's my fault that at the start I watched this drama without stopping until 37th episode. Then, life intruded. About more than a month later only I got to finish this drama. Now I don't hv that same drive or feeling to write a review when I was fresh finishing a drama in one go. I will try to do my best though. I might rewatch this in the future and edit back the review so who knows.

ML, Rongxia, was an intelligent scholar and a righteous man. When he finally fell in love, he became affectionate man and a fierce protector.

FL, Ban Hua, quite arrogant woman at the start, I mean, I get it, her family was a wealthy noble and related to the royal family too so ofc she lived in luxuries so that shaped her in a way. She was also not that smart in literatures and classics I think? since she was not quite interested in reading all that. BUT she was quite skilled in martial arts bcs of her grandfather. She got a character development throughout the drama when she tried her best to save her family but still fell in the trap by the villain and villainess. As she was the one closed to her fearsome legendary General grandfather, so she inherited his talent for fighting and strategizing in wars too.

I definitely enjoy other couples story, Ban Heng with Xie Wanyu and Softy with ML's assistant (I don't remember his name I'm sorry.

I was quite happy that they gave us happy ending, my kind of HEA when we got closure knowing what happened to everyone in the end. Well although I do wish to know what happened to the "new" Emperor's relationship with his "Empress".

Read More

Ini aku kasih bocoran sedikit jadi cerita drama ini bagus banget masalahnya cepat terselesaikan kan terus semua yang di mimpikan sama si Putri ban Hua semuanya nya bisa diselesaikan dengan sebaik-baik mungkin , dan dalam kisah percintaan nya juga bagus banget ban hua dan rong xia saling mendukung dan saling melindungi

DAN ternyata kluarga YAN HUI yang membunuh ( memberi racun ) pada keluarga besar RONG , dan SUAMI NYA PUTRI AGUNG agar bisa mendapatkan plakat militer...

Dari episode 1 sampai episode ke 30 itu berjalan mulus bagus banget dari dan di episode ke-31 ( pangeran ke dua naik tahta dengan bantuan fexian yg menjadi licik karena masa lalu yang dia derita ) sampai ke 37 ini penuh dengan kekacauan kalau aku pribadi aku enggak nonton aku skip terus karena saking ngebetein nya, aku lanjut lagi ke episode 38 sampai selesai, daan bagus bagus-bagus happy ending guys


Jadi untuk kalian Selamat menonton dan ini aku rekomendasi banget banget

Read More

A girl like her

Found this drama while browsing YouTube, and was really positively impressed. While a bit reluctant at first, I got to like the heroine for her no nonsense approach to love and life, for bravely admitting who she is and what she likes, for not submitting to those who tried to make her sumissive.
Her choice in courting is direct and open, she speaks her mind always.
He family brings the comic relief in s pleasant way, no half/ fake smiles here..
Male lead is scholarly, handsome, cunning, much alike the character of Hei Fenxi from Who rules the world..and also gets smitten with the female lead. However his dark past will get in the way of their happiness for a while, until finally reunited in a happy ending.

Read More

Really like this show

I have been looking for a show that had a strong female lead that isn’t always helpless, and doesn’t need to be protected by others the whole time. And this really did the trick for me.

The story line was interesting for the most part not to many dull moments. And there was a good mix of drama and romance. Wish they had given the fml more fights scene to show off her strength.

I would definitely recommend to others who is looking for a good show with comedy, drama, and romance. But not to someone who likes super intense drama shows, this is a more lighthearted.

Read More

My First Drama w/ the Two Leads ^_^

I had never watched a drama with these two leads, Gabrielle Guan and Neo Hou, before but afterwards I became a fan of them both and definitely recommend this drama to people who are on the fence. It has great messages about familial loyalty and female empowerment.

In terms of aesthetics, there was eye candy galore. And, the costumes were beautiful. In my opinion, the female lead's in particular were different than the same recycled stuff I see all the time in other dramas. She had a somewhat unique sense of fashion.

As for the relationships within, I liked both couples. The secondary couple was cute and strong in their own way--overcoming their individual obstacles to be together. And the leads... ^_^ Well, what I truly enjoyed the most about them was that they weren't blinded by love. They both had their own motivations and ideals and while they fell for each other eventually and became loyal, they never lost themselves. Too often in dramas, I see a character that when he/she falls in love, they lose everything that made them unique and devolve into just another simpering puppet couple. Such was not the case here, thankfully.

Continuing with the relationship theme, the Ban family was a highlight for sure. They stuck up for each other and had such loyalty amongst them even when they lost everything. How many families depicted in dramas do that? Unconditional support is something we need to see more of as far as I'm concerned.

There's one thing in particular that I want to address. Before I watched this, I saw a lot of mixed opinions about the female lead. Here's my take. In the beginning, she was spoiled for sure (par for the course since she was part of the royal family) but even so, she was still a representation of strong female paving her own path. She wasn't cruel. Unlike the others in her circle, who smiled sweetly and were very polite to your face but were hideous once you turned around. The lead was different. Her only fault was that she was young and inexperienced. She was still likeable though and I didn't find her annoying at all. Then, as the events unfolded in the drama, she grew and became stronger. It was her character journey and it was a great message of female strength for younger girls to watch.

Overall, I liked it so much and will probably rewatch it in the future.

Read More

Strong FL lead, lots of comedy and Family Love!

I picked up the drama because of the high reviews. Even though this was a 40 episode drama, it really didn't feel like it to me. I really enjoyed the pacing, it was slightly slow, but a lot of character development.

I don't have any experience with the actors, but if you like pretty and a young cast, then there's plenty of that. The FL is beautiful and I really enjoyed her dubbed voice (not sure if it's her real voice). My favorite part was watching all of her costumes. I really enjoyed her outfits the best, it was bright, beautiful and very elegant.

The ML in my opinion is handsome, but I really didn't like the long wig they picked for him. It just looked so second male lead to me. I do like it when he wears his formal wig and all of his hair is out of face, it just frames his face better. I also wasn't 100% convinced on his dubbed voice. It was kind of breathy and sounded a little unnatural. I do like that more C drama male actors are going away from that stone-icy face to someone with more expressions.

I really enjoyed the first 30 episodes of the drama. I enjoyed watching the FL get engaged after engaged after engaged. So many guys fell in love with her and it was so entertaining watching her trying to figure out a way out of it. Of course the best part was her character and she was a strong lady and I loved that she knew martial arts (even though her body double was obviously a guy, I wished they got a girl for those parts).

The banter between the main leads is pretty good and the slow burn romance is fun to watch. I enjoyed the side stories as well and it's refreshing to see the FL centered around a positive family! No more over bearing parents to deal with.

The comic relief was great to have because it never made things too serious, but the comedy was never over the top, which I enjoyed.

Overall, it was an entertaining historical drama to watch. It's not a mainstream drama, but I love the strong characters and watching the FL get engaged so many times was too hilarious.

Read More