I love chinese and korean historical love story drama. As of now apart from Eternal Love this will my second favorite historical drama. Although the actors portraying the roles are still young they somehow didn't disappoint me. I love the music, political plot/strategies and costume although the hairstyle is kinda distracting as I imagine it might be heavy wearing those hair accessories.
Song Wei Long (Rong Zhi) maybe young but I think the role suit him well and he did a great job. I checked his profile and he is learning Kung Fu since he's a child so I gave him credit for the sword dance. Guan Gabrielle (Chu Yu) also did well on her acting. I really feel the emotions they wanted to portray. I was somehow disappointed after reaching episode 17 and Chu Yu was send for marriage alliance because they didn't remember each other and I thought Rong Zhi love Concubine Ma but as the stories goes on though they didn't remember their past memories but they still rekindle they love. Hence, I want see more of their intimate moments and express their love for each other. Though ending was too short in the last 2 episodes. But I am still glad that its a happy ending for them.
If you like Eternal Love, you will most likely enjoy this drama too.
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This review may contain spoilers
A Chaotic Mess
This is gonna be hard to review. This drama had so many big names I'm not sure how it turned out to be the hot mess it is.Also, I tried to watch this twice: once earlier on, near when it was first broadcasted, and then again more recently (late 2023) because I couldn't finish the 1st time and thought I'd try again--and I STILL could not force myself to watch it all (and I really did want to like it, I really tried...more on this later)
Story - Admittedly, I enjoyed the story in the earlier episodes for the most part. Enough to watch consecutive episodes and wonder what will happen next. And then suddenly there was some strange plot twist and I still can't clearly wrap my head around what exactly happened but the story was very jarring and confusing between 2 apparently very different arcs. There are dramas with multiple time skips and alternate universes that are far less confusing. From there it just goes downhill, I'm trying to relearn the characters. I'm trying to understand new characters. I'm trying to understand how this ties into earlier episodes and where the hell this drama is going. I will give up before figuring it out since I never finished, whether it was my first watch attempt or second. Perhaps if all the actors and specifically the main leads were stellar, their performances might've been able to carry but no, there were issues there for me as well.
Acting/Cast - Mixed bag here. I will start with the positives.
Bai Lu. She had a supporting role here in this drama. I am her fan now but I was not at the time I first watched this drama. Her portrayal of the female general really stuck with me. She convincingly portrays a female who is at times a strong bad-ass, at times vulnerable, someone who has her flaws and was focused on an old flame but also holds strongly to her moral integrity even when it put her at odds with loved ones. This role put Bai Lu on my radar and for that at least, I do have to thank this drama. I've seen complaints that Bai Lu as 2FL got too much screen time. In my opinion this was partially due to the discrepancy in acting caliber between FL and 2FL. After I gave up watching this drama, I did at least seek out Bai Lu's scenes in remaining episodes just to see more of her portrayal.
Song Weilong. He did alright as ML. Did not make as much of an impression as Bai Lu but I didn't really have major issues with his acting--perhaps a bit wooden at times but got the job done IMO. As a side note, I'm currently watching a 2023 drama of Song Weilong's and I do think his acting has improved over the years.
Also, I did overall like the Dr. Gu/Tianji Pavilion master--on a few occasions I felt the acting was a just a tad overdone but generally a commendable job.
And then there are the problems:
Guan Xiao Tong. The FL seemed alright in the beginning, although her acting was somehow jarring for me in that it couldn't really pull me into the story. I can't quite put my finger on what--maybe expressions were a bit forced or unconvincing, or maybe there was not enough breadth in conveying her different emotions and mental states (I felt like she had much the same expression and tone of voice all the time) but she was unable to evoke emotions from me as a viewer. Her cry scenes did not make me feel sympathetic or want to cry with/for her. It made me cringe, I felt it was unconvincing. But when the story in the beginning was still decently compelling, I could somewhat overlook it as passable and press on (the acting is not SO off that it can't be somewhat salvaged by a decent plot). Once the story itself took a nosedive, having a lead who I felt could not carry and contribute to viewer immersion was hugely detrimental and even more noticeable when she is right there in comparison-distance to Bai Lu's acting chops. Were there complaints about too much screen time for 2FL vs FL? Well then, perhaps FL should work on making her scenes more compelling.
Music - Did not make an impression on me but did not find it distracting either so I figure its good enough.
Rewatch - Well as someone who actually TRIED to rewatch it and still failed to force myself through the whole thing, I'd say no. I had tried to rewatch recently since I'm now a Bai Lu fan and thought I should go back and try and finish this. Still couldn't do it, and best I could do was skip to General Huo Xuan's scenes and call it a day.
Overall - I really don't want to rate any of the dramas that Bai Lu is in low, but gotta be honest. I couldn't even force myself to finish this drama, how could I possibly rate it highly. =\ I suppose maybe if breaks in story arc continuity and a disappointing performance from a main actor is not a deal breaker for you, you might still be able to find something to enjoy.
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Main actor is too bad and uncaring to the women he claims to love and care for, with no remorse,yet doesn't suffer the consequences for his actions,
Every one manipulates everyone for personal gain even their loved ones, except for two lead females,
Second lead seamed to have a better ending but was all a lie ,she didn't deserve that terrible ending,
Finished with a cliffhanger, ending of a lot of casts not explained, the evil people had very good ending.
I don't recommended watching this drama, wastage of time.
From now you better review the ending and other comments before wasting your time to watch such a drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
Major spoiler, read at your own risk.Gosh, I just finish this drama and I got a lot to say. I'm so angry at the writer, I mean is it really the intention to write it this way or is there some kind of accident happen in the middle of writing or maybe its somehow a mistake? Lmao, pardon my rage, I kinda have a huge expectation for this drama but they slapped me with a disappointment instead.
First of all, TOO MANY PLOT TWISTS. I love plot twist, really, I would cheer in happiness for a good plot twist whether its bad or happy ending, but this drama really take it to another level. It really feels like this writer took every plot twist exists in dramaland and crammed it in this one. The first part of the story was fine then they just decided the leads need a new life to show that a mere human act really can't bring down a couple who are match made in heaven, but that's where it all started going wrong.
I wouldn't bother to explain the actors and actresses acting, they were not great but they were not bad either. The female lead acting is pretty good, her character and her acting didn't really have the awkward moment, and especially her facial expression, I kinda impress with her though the male lead is a one dissappointing act but it's kinda acceptable, he is not one who express feeling anyway so I don't really expect great acting from him. And personally I think, there are too many unnecessary characters. Like the evil character who didn't really do his job or a good character who have bad ending or stupid plot twist in the end. So unnecessary.
And finally, TOO MANY LOOSE ENDS. Like I said, there are some characters that here before gone without any explanation just because the leads got new life. And in the end where the leads can 'finally' be together they just decided it will good for them to start where they 'actually' meet for the first time without even bothering to return their old memories, like how could Rong Zhi know about that place, why he choose to hide there and why Chuyu just decided to visit her house secretly in the end (AND WHY THE HELL THERE ARE NO ONE KNOW RONG ZHI LIVE THERE THAT'S THE PRINCESS'S HOUSE FORGODSAKE). I'm trying to make sense every weird things that happen in this drama, for example that problematic ending. Like, maybe since they're in the middle of the war, so guards wouldn't bother to protect the empty house anyway. Or why the 'caretakers' didn't know about Rong Zhi, well he is Wei's so maybe Song's people don't know about him even though Wei almost take over Song(and the fact he used to live there). But then my logic step in and yelling, WELL PRECISELY ITS BECAUSE THEY'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WAR, IF SONG'S HAVE BEEN TAKEN OVER, SHOULDN'T THE ROYAL HOUSE THAT GOT SECURE FIRST? AND THEY ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WAR, WHY THE HELL CHUYU WOULD RETURN TO HER HOUSE RISKING TO GET CAUGHT EITHER BY SONG'S OR WEI'S PEOPLE? lmao this drama making me crazy I'm sorry.
Not just they didn't return the leads memory, they didn't have many skinship. I mean I don't even expect any kiss, but they are the leads forgodsake, and they are married AND they love each other. If they want to show an innocent love, they should've execute it better than this. I just couldn't feel their innocent love. All I can feel is their love life are so wasted I wish they just never meet again after they forget each other and live their own life.
Good thing about this drama? Maybe OST? I like the opening and the ending songs. When I watch drama I usually skipped the opening and ending, but I actually enjoy the songs that I stopped ff-ing to watch the ending and the opening just to hear the songs.
Rewatch? Not a rewatch material, but if someday I miss them, I'll probably just watch their cute moments together and end with it.
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kudos to the cast.. the actor are really great at acting that the evil muddled emperor will actually make you curse like hell infront of your laptop ! the setting, and wardrobe are superb but i accidentally saw a tear cloth at armpit area wore by main male lead.. ahahhaha
the 1st ep until 20ep mybe was okay.. the story was good.. but the suddenly the whole story just turn into new story.. the main lead doesn't recognise each other anymore ! and the romance just dead ! for whole 50 ep, NO KISS at all.. romance between lead is only about 2% of whole drama.. other than that it's all lied, misunderstanding, fighting, power struggle in palace, and bla bla blaaa..
rewatch ?? nope.. sorry.. i felt depressed watching it..
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This review may contain spoilers
Writer with dementia or indecisiveness?
Have to be last resort to finish this drama. Storyline has 2 arcs with no continuity. Song arc had an interesting beginning but finished with a vague ending. The FL has twin characters as a cold princess dies replaced by assassin twin who is not as cold blooded but actually has compassion. In the Wei arc, FL becomes a weak childlike princess. The ML is a superb martial artist with high intelligence who was robbed of his memories that ended the Song arc. In the Wei arc, he plays a scumbag who seduced two women for their worth to his ambition. At the beginning he promises to marry one by proclaiming to her father that he would rather live an ordinary life with her than lose her to political power; but later in the story out of nowhere, the two suddenly had a mutual agreement that the marriage was contractual and she broke it by falling in love with him (probably to make the ML less of a scumbag.) If that is so, scumbag consummated the contractual marriage by getting her pregnant. With other character discrepancies, it was difficult to convince myself to finish the story pretending it's two different dramas rather than one bad drama with 2 arcs and making excuses for some of the blind spots. The cast consists of many actors who now famous celebrities. This is what kept me going to episode 34. Most reviews are spot on so I am a bit wary about the ending and wonder if I want to go through the rest of the 20 or so episodes for another vague ending. Most likely not, so I marked it as dropped.Was this review helpful to you?
Flummoxed
After several attempts to finish this Drama, I finally made it to the last episode. For want of a better word. dazed or confused, that's how I felt. Nothing made sense and nothing seemed to flow and as if I was watching several different short stories with the same leads and setting. So who was Rhong Zhi? If the writer wanted us to guess and interpret for ourselves, then she has failed with me. Then there's the princess, who was supposed to be really smart, but then turns out....... The ending, what was that all about??? Was it a dream? I thought I have seen a lot of bad dramas but this one left me flummoxed!I was determined to finish this drama only because I thought the two young ML and FL were great! I am looking forward to their dramas in the future. But the script just let the entire drama down. I am wondering if the script is written by a team and then put together without editing it, or written by a writer with multiple split personalities?
A time waster... if you want to watch it.. by all means, prepare to use your fast forward button....
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Too bad for a nice script
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Addictive at some point though as from episode 17 it feels like a new story completely can;t relate to the previous 16 episodes.
The ending is a bit weird (at some point Rong Zhi was dead, then alive but blind, then alive and healthy since he fooled everyone)
Not one of the best for sure though the scenes were done with nice effects.
Some parts of the drama seem like not connected or after episode 17 the focus is solely on the Wei state (before it was Song state).
Too bad there are some weird aspects else it is a popular drama which could have been an all-time hit had the scenario been made much better.
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Wow... this drama got me so confused I don't even know if I liked it or hated it...
It left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth, but somehow I binge watched almost the entire show. There are 3 things that are essential to be able to do it, though:
- Trust NOBODY!!!
Seriously, this show made me almost lose falth in humanity. It is the first time I watch a drama where EVERYONE is either crazy, scary, manipulative, greedy, disloyal or all those things at once ( ok, the maid was adorable ????????)...
The writers probably meant to add depth to the characters and show how power corrupt people, but they did it in such a formulaic way, that it had the opposite effect - the character was either common villains that would do anything to destroy the leads for one reason or another, or someone that looked nice at first but actually had a hidden agenda and would become worse as they became more powerful.
-Make full use of the skip button.
This drama is inconstant, some parts are really boring and others are quite enjoyable. The only constant thing was I had to use the skip button in all the episodes. There are too many unnecessary or overlong scenes that add nothing to the story..
-Don't think too much, really...
The writing/directing is really bipolar, there were some great parts with amazing lines, and then suddenly it is so ridiculous that
one can only think “What is wrong with everyone???"
There are a lot of random plot twist that actually feels like someone decided to add to the script 5 minutes before filming, and the most important episodes are usually the most messy. It seems like the writer does well writing ordinary episodes, but mess up when he has to write important scenes that will take the plot somewhere.
As for the ratings:
STORY - 4.0
I didn't hate the plot changes that happened around ep 16, but I wish they had made more effort to connect the two parts of the drama... As it is, it actually felt like two completely different unrelated stories. Coupled with the reasons above, I can't really say I liked the story.
ACTING/CAST - 8.0
The best part of the drama, but there are two black holes: The main characters. Chuyu isn't great, just ok, but Rong Zhi is almost painful to watch sometimes. He didn't overact , though, and actually fit the character, so it didn't bother me too much. I believe he will improve with time.
Everyone else was really good, still more impressive if we think they had to portray crazy people...
MUSIC - 8.0
The BGM fit really well with the mood of the scenes, was not too loud or distracting, and the opening/closing songs are really nice.
Rewatch Value - 2.0
I usually rewatch dramas for the character, since the plot is all revealed after the first watch.
But since, as I said, everyone here is crazy scary and the romance was lukewarm, I doubt I will rewatch it (maybe only the cute scenes with the maid).
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Not the Romance I was expecting
This was drab and sad from the start. I only picked it up because I love Xu Kai and Zhao Lusi but their characters are not very present and Lusi's character is so pitiful my heart couldn't take it. I'm used to feeling good when I watch dramas with them in and that are this long but no luck this time. I have to keep writing lol needs to be 500 letters so I will say again I love XK and ZL sooo much and I don't think this was their best work. I will if course still support, and I know people want to stretch and grow, not be typecasted but when your great at something just stick with it!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Messy but anyways I am going to complete it
Well I am on ep 10, having watched all first ten episodes in a day -Firstly the story didn't keep it a secret at first like the Princess is fake and rong zi is a spy (it's all there in the summary) I would have liked if audience could just not know this before the story tells then itself! Even though it seems a mess and complex story, it still is drawing me in creating much little suspense.
Secondly the FL, who wrote her? I mean she gets on my nerves. With the first impression of Zhu Que, I expected her to be a fierce, clever assassin but she is just too naive! She fails to cover up herself and shows her compassion when she is pretending to be someone who is cruel and vicious - this just don't make sense I mean! She even tries to change that emperor by love and kindness? Bro? She should have at least tried to cover up her kindness with a little bit viciousness. She makes it so obvious that she is not the real princess.
And about the chemistry between the fl and ml - it's terrible. The ml is actually ruining the fl's plans. And she doesn't know and even trusts him, takes advice from him and was even ready to die with him. Seriously? like she knows he is dangerous and suspicious but she stills doesn't make a distance from him and makes herself so obvious. Ml too cares for her a little but there chemistry is no chemistry until now feels like political science.
The actor who plays the emperor acts good enough to make my blood boil.
I haven't been able to figure out who the second ml is bit it seems to be huang yuan! And Fen Dai, that girl sacrificed her life but I think she clearly knew that she doesn't stand a chance killing the emperor in his own chamber. I liked her - her friendship with the fl and with her crush Mo xiang. Her death was clearly a loss for the drama.
I thought it to be a female centered drama with a perfect ml but it is not. The fl makes me cringe most of the time. Rong zhi (ml) would have been the perfect fl of my dream historical drama.. He is clever and foresighted but doesn't have much chemistry with the fl but I would love to see his character as a women in a female centered drama.
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