You don't come by something like this everyday❤

Binged it within 2days, and now I'm a whole mood.🥹 The drama got me exactly where it wanted me to be, from the opening sequence to the ending, it has been such a visceral, bittersweet experience and a celebration about the soft underbelly of humans, about basic desire, about life. It was naive and simple most of the time, and was deep for the exact same reason. I really applaud the entire cast and crew for doing this project.
It didn't always make sense, but it didn't have to, either. Such is life. Sometimes you realise when you are overly critical of stories and character dynamics it is actually your own prejudice speaking, that you think only your moral standards are valid and noone else's. It is not easy to unlearn that, and to just lie back and listen to the story that the other side has so generously decided to share with you, faults, fragmented and all. It is very freeing and that's what this drama was to me~ it broadened my scope in lots of ways than not.
It was 99% vibes, 1% plot story with tenderhornysad feelings and with amazing kaleidoscopic camera language, don’t miss it!

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Applaud the show for what it did right, and this won't be a dissapointing watch.

In my personal opinion, the latter half of the show fell victim to haphazard pacing and overuse of deux ex machinas. There were too much "gotcha!" moments to the point the tension lost its purpose because the viewer was reaffirmed that things will turn out well no matter what. In a fluffy romcom this kind of reassurance is exactly what you need, but I felt like it didn't fit right with the initial vibe of *this* show.
Also it had little bit too many characters (at least 2 concubine characters could've easily been cut off) and as much as I love our Queen, I felt like her demeanour was over-dramatized so the credibility of her character leaned a lil bit much to the wrong side. And the villains were quite one-dimensional.
BUT

From beginning to the end, Under the Queen's Umbrella had its heart at the right place.
It did a number of things a lot of sageuks failed at doing for literally ages after the end of the proper long sageuk era about 10 years ago. Such as;
1. Not portraying the palace women as helpless flowers waiting for the king in their rooms all day long. They had STUFF to do. They were capable and intelligent individuals of their own right. They were constricted in lots of ways than not, yes. But it did not mean they always kept their heads down and laid low.
2. Making the harem ladies care about things other than being jealous with each other all the time. Women aren't so narrow minded, yknow? In a society where polygamy was the norm, I'd believe a majority of them had other priorities than hating on another woman who is no less of a victim of circumstances than they are.
3. Not pretending like the King was monogamous with one true love even though the guy literally had a harem, AND not pretending like he'd be an evil person otherwise.
The King of Under the Queen's Umbrella was refreshing in the sense he had a harem, yes. But also he was a nice and fair guy. He and the Queen had deep mutual understanding and respect towards each other. I do wish that the drama showed more scenes of him with other concubines as well tho.
4. Not repeating the trope of overbearing mistrustful Royal Father and the Crown Prince who is always under too much pressure + other Princes feeling neglected. This King (and also the Queen) cared for their children first and foremost, and would listen and give them benefit of the doubt before blindly believing what outsiders have to say. This drama had some of the most wholesome parent-child scenes in Sageuk history in my opinion. Regardless the child was a legitimate Prince or not, their treatment was all the same.

So yeah, if you think you'd love seeing the above 4 points in a Sageuk, Under the Queen's Umbrella is a must watch in many ways than not. Do give it a chance!

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Based on a true story, a puzzling but a decent watch

This drama special was based on https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deposed_Crown_Princess_Bong , who supposedly forced herself on her maids, was found, and was deposed for that reason. Now, I know that this does not paint a very appealing picture for a mainstream drama. In a country that still has conservative views towards LGBTQIA+, portraying such a story as-is could be disastrous, even. Stories get retold/reimagined all the time.
I do get the appeal of reframing this story as "Crown Princess and her girlfriend intentionally out themselves so they can be kicked out of the prison-like-palace so they can live their own story".
This is where my mixed feelings about this drama and the choices it made, kicks in.
Important: Whitewashing queer stories so they become more "palatable" for certain demographics is not something I condone. It is just another, disguised form of censorship. But like I already said, I do see why this can be the only option left in certain countries, so I would've grudgingly accepted the fairytale-fied plot I mentioned above.
But is that truly what this drama did? From what I felt like, it completely removed the queer part and reduced them to just "best friends". I would never complain about implicitness born out of necessity/circumstances (which many dramas made in conservative countries have already done and BEAUTIFULLY so, included SK), but I felt like there was even that, here. Nothing. It felt like the dramamakers truly believed that "being gay is bad, the two main characters themselves think so!" and not "they loved each other but the society they lived in made them feel terrible about it".

In simpler, harsher words: this is queer erasure. This was no delicate, heartfelt attempt at portraying a subtextual feel-good queer romance.
And this short got awards for it, and I don't know what to feel about it.
Sure, you can say "but you don't know what exactly happened in history, maybe she wasn't really gay and it was just a rumor!". Maybe. But imagine what would happen if you go around invalidating every historical queer story with "No solid proofs! Therefore can be discarded as a rumor!"🥲
No thank you.
I came here after reading the historical anecdote, all excited to see what the drama would do with that premise, and left quite dissapointed.

But I will allow that if you take it as an independent story, with no knowledge about the background, it's a cute watch? So there's something at least.

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I think little kids might love this movie, actually! Very little kids, like 7-8 ?

The plot and behaviors of the characters are SO lacking it's almost funny, it's like a middle school kid's creative writing essay.
BUT, for the same reason, it's actually quite adorable? If you put away your unforgiving critical lens for a bit and watch this with the lens you'd use to read a child's earnest attempt at a fantasy story, you might like it!
Oh and, go into it expecting bad CGI and all the characters being (very obviously) dubbed.
Clearly not much refinement went into making this. But it does have heart and I think they tried their best. So I think watching it with the same mindset would help.

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Never did I expect to absolutely LOVE a high school entrance exam-centered story.

Though not Chinese, as a fellow Asian who has went through the very similar, absolutely gruelling exam system, watching Asian high school dramas are next to impossible for me, it's almost like ptsd haha
If not for the cast members whom I absolutely love, and the premise of "how China held the exam in the midst of the pandemic" that intrigued me, I wouldn’t have pressed play. And I'm so glad I did.
IT'S SO RELATABLE IN THE BESTEST WAY POSSIBLE!!!!!

I laughed and cried with all the characters. I loved all of them. Even the flawed ones. The acting and character writing is so nuanced and realistic, the adults love for the children was almost palpable through the screen, though some of them might not have chosen the best way to show it, it was so obvious how much they were trying, and how much they cared. Which made me as a viewer care for them too and cheer wholeheartedly for their growth.
Gosh, the drama drew humor from the most mundane, everyday things, was highly empathetic and non judgemental, and was inspiring. It made me nostalgic about that era of my life, it made revisit and reassess my family values.
"This is how much my parents love me", I thought as I watched it. "My teachers were dedicated to us just like this".
It is a drama that actively made me proud to be an Asian.

So watch it, everyone! I know the subs are bad, but they are not impossible to get through with some context based guesswork. It's worth it, if you are interested in any of the things I mentioned above! ❤

P.s.-

**Mild spoiler for the last "challenge" in the story which happened in the final 4 eps**
This drama took the relatability to a new level when they did that last arc (flood), since that happened in my country as well, and under exact same context. I was bamboozled lol

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Why aren't there more dramas like this these days??

Two middle aged prodigies in porcelain making. Rivals and constantly at each other's throats, but having mutual caring and admiration deep down. Their families~ a beloved wife and two sons on one side, and motherless two daughters on the other side.
And every single one of them, I repeat, every single one of them, deeply love and care for everyone else and protect each other at any given crisis and would gladly take knives to save the other.
I have never seen a more nuanced and heartrending portrayal of interpersonal relationships in a drama. Who need romance when you can have a marriage between two households? It was ~chef's kiss. I even ship the brick walls of these two houses.
This drama, with its beautiful script and acting, took my heart through a wringer and I gladly allowed it to.
Highly highly recommend. Do not miss this gem when it's free and subbed on YouTube. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJPEbKQEnORO13UHtBOPHT5Oi_g7qv_Hh

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Absolutely adorbs, well paced, well written, on-point humor. A must watch.

I found it when I first went down the food dramas/movies/documentaries spiral. Predictably the first thing I did was looking up "Chinese dramas about food" and this one was suggested multiple times as an iconic movie. I added it to my list among many others, and this was the only one I couldn't find subs for~ until today.
And I'm very glad I kept looking for it.
It was a pleasant surprise that in addition to food (to be precise, Hainanese Chicken Rice) it was about a family with three queer boys. And their mom's acceptance-but-not-really situation, which was addressed in a very sweet and humane way without degrading any party involved. It was heartwarming to see.

Perfection from the start to the end. There was not a single second I was bored, dissapointed or wasn't smiling. Highly recommend.

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Case heavy but full of heartwarming mundane moments.

Based on the story of Father of Forensic Medicine: Song Ci, it was an amazing drama that doesn't fool around. Every case intriguing, and dealt with logically all the while showing the multitude facets of human psyche involved in crimes. And I love the show for its portrayal of women: they weren't subjected to some entry-level comparison game (oh look back then society was so backwards/I'm the pioneer on white horse who treated women well), rather it was *normalised* in the drama's universe to have a balanced and realistic depiction where there were both good men and bad men, AND good women and bad women where no one were unreasonably victimised or put on a pedestal.
It had some of the most 3D portryals of mutual respect, love and equality in historical dramas I've ever seen. A rare gem.
Give it a try. It's not a fluffy romance, it's a serious investigative drama, it could be tedious to watch in one sitting since it's one case after the other....I watched it in between other dramas. But I assure you that you won't regret it if you give it a try. Don't let the fact it's an old drama hold you back.

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Loved the amazing capable cops in Reset? Well then, you'd want to check this out.

In ep 1 my reaction was: Wow ok, that's some tightly written and paced plot and character design. And it never loses the intrigue and keep you on your toes ALL the time. That's rare gem right here, for now I'll give it 8/10.

In ep 2: It's really really good but it doesn’t pull me in/doesn’t hold me tethered to anything so I'd keep watching like Reset did, so I might drop it? Since it seems to be a case-by-case drama, I'll drop it after this first case is done.

In ep 4: I'm in love with this cop. He's so nice and amazing and look at all those fond small smiles like a proud dad awww. Forget all I said above, this is a 9.5/10 now and GIMME MORE!

By ep 10: Yes, the same quality is maintained. Show is witty, and manages to fit in tiny moments of mundane humor and heart into any given opportunity as well.

Plus, a good crime thriller would have reasonably matched Criminal/Police sides, and here sometimes the thieves are SO good I almost wanted them to win.🥲 That was quite the polarising but entertaining viewing experience for me.

So everyone, give this a try. Especially if you appreciated the police aspect of Reset. (If you don't know what Reset is, well now you know to check it out. Two birds one stone.)

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It's a whopping 200/100 for me.

I haven't been this satisfied with a drama in a long long time.
I was initially held back after seeing trailers of the dramas, for months. Because I really hate dust and even hate watching dust because it makes me feel second hand dusty. But I'm glad I made the exception.
I rarely go around heavy-reccing dramas like this, but if you've got time and mood, even if it's years after, do check out Minning Town. It's a rare excellent piece of work. Well researched, detailed, grounded, relatable and extremely REALISTIC. A well paced plot, great acting, characters and interpersonal relationships, and also quite inspiring and humbling.

I see some people thinking China making a drama about their hardworking people=propaganda which makes me sigh because if someone thinks this is Propagandaic, it's highly likely they haven't lived even close to or even seen what the most lower level of commoners like farmers live like.
Unless you REALLY look into it with a microscope, there's no propaganda.
If anything, Minning Town is about how common people worked hard to have a better life for themselves and also because the government ordered them to do stuff while sitting inside their glass houses so the poor farmers were beaten from all sides while the politicians had little clue about what the real situation is.
If anything, it's probably anti-propagandaic.
I've heard and seen some things that those people experience in the drama happen and it's 💯 perfection.
Sometimes I felt like Minning Town is like a Chinese Little House in The Prairie (which I also really loved).
The difficulties in mass relocation and very mundane and humane people, very realistic and moving acting, incredibly strong FL.....it might not be necessarily cute and fluffy but it's still very much heartwarming, and the joy lies in all those little daily mundane moments, you can't help but smile, laugh and cry with the characters. What more can you ask for?

PS: Oh and make sure to watch the dialect version! There are two versions on Youtube and the dialect version is super interesting to hear, it's a whole another viewing experience!

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An unexpected, pleasant surprise. Progressive, even.

This was my first ever Justice Bao drama. When I saw in the first episode that Bao Zheng was shunned when he was born due to unusually dark skin (probably due to some genetic reason) and people were calling him a "monster", I was worried about colorism.
Especially as a South Asian with a brown skin this made me unsettled. But only minutes after my worries went away when I saw how well-treated, loved and cared for he was by his guardians. Who did it for no obligation but simply because they were good, non-discriminative people.
And the story continues on like that. There are people who are initially shocked by/make comments on his skin color, but this doesn't upset me much because in the past it's no wonder, as people didn't know better/that varieties of skin colors existed. In my country too, it was the White people who were always gawked upon back then🙃. Now, it WOULD have been a bad thing if the drama made it into a running joke/made demeaning fun out of it but it never did! Those who bullied Bao Zheng due to his color were the bad people, and the good ones didn't even blink or if they used to before, they would soon realise they are wrong and turn around.
The original legend, stories and dramas based on it are actually a CELEBRATION of this "different" person and his intellect, how everyone loved and respected and admired him for his integrity and sense of justice.
It's actually ANTI-Colorism. And I cannot be happier about it.

If I am to talk about the rest of the characters- well, they are quite 3D. Some might not be likeable and frankly messed up, but NEVER because the "scriptwriter said so" but because it made sense for their circumstances. All in all, a really good drama. I wish there were more like this these days too.

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Only worth your time if you want to see Ji Li doing a fantastic job of crossdressing.

Never have I ever seen a movie I wanted to give 10 stars for the actor for willing to do all that, and minus stars (if it was possible) for everything else. As a movie it was absolute crap, terribly made, horrible characters, crude storytelling..... it maybe had a little bit of heart, which made it possible for me to sit throughout it all, in addition to Ji Li. That's about it.
It opened up the discussion about at least 5 social issues but never really followed through with any or provided satisfying conclusions. Heck, it didn’t even have a proper ending.
It was simply a cheap movie made with intention of getting some views via some bad gender jokes and other nonsense, so do not go into it expecting anything further.

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Very genuine, heartwarming story that will leave a lasting impression in your mind.

Very simple story with simple characters and simple dynamics but holds so much weight. Sometimes, it's when things aren't overly complex do the rawest, most honest emotions come out.
This movie is like an ode to film screening. It showcased how important was getting to watch a movie for people back then, a simple activity we take for granted today. All the characters had different reasons and different ways how movies impacted their lives, and their dynamics are told in a very natural (and sometimes even funny in its irony) way.
It speaks right to your heart.
I would've personally liked if the pacing was bit faster, other than that no complaints. Amazing acting. I hot to learn about how old film reels work too. 100% recommend.

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Had the potential to be an interesting story with a unique approach, but failed.

The movie follows 3 couples in 3 consecutive eras, and the "premarital examination" that was apparently a thing back then to check physical compatibility. But the thing is, except the last arc, the previous two had largely half-baked, one dimensional plotlines. And the premarital examination itself didn't really play a huge role in any of them nor the arcs were really woven around it and the people's thoughts about it(despite it being the title of the movie), more like it was added in last moment for each arc for some additional drama and to remind the viewer this is (supposedly) what the story is about. It was quite unsatisfying to watch. Therefore I don't necessarily rec this movie.

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