Again the female lead forgets how to fight once she falls in love
I'm happy to see this drama on viki even if I watched already on youtube. I can say it's definitely worth watching. The chemistry between the main characters is very beautiful and strong and how he can melt her heart,to see how she change from a smart and strategic woman into a woman who will do everything for him and vice-versa. SPOILER!!!Everyone who will watch this drama need to know that a moment you will find yourself going over episodes until their reunion. In my opinion this drama could have ended in episode 28 after their wedding because everything seemed like a happy ending but what I know.Otherwise, it's even worth seeing and those who are afraid you'll get back with their heart broken because of the end do not worry, it has a happy ending. Also,sorry if I made some mistakes,english is not my first language.Was this review helpful to you?
On a Special Note:
Acting/Cast
Chung Wallace as Chu Bei Jie was great casting. Outside of the fact he literally carried the show, his actions scenes were also a treat to watch. There was plenty of eye candy from Angelababy as Bai Ping Ting, Sun Yi Zhou as He Xia, and Qi Hang as Ze YI - the casting directors did not disappoint.
More Please!
I would have loved to see more character development of Zou Yang as Zui Ju. She was an interesting character that the audience needed to understand her background and her motivations. Also, Wei Bing Hua as Chu Mo Ran killed it. Especially during his action scenes, he could certainly go toe-to- toe with Chu Bei Jie. Chang Xiao's cuteness overload was giving me life.
Honorable Mention
Gwei Fei for having no redeemable qualities. I love when antagonists are bad to the core.
Would I re-watch?
Only up to episode 32.
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This review may contain spoilers
How to end war? How to achieve peace?
"General and I" had a thrilling plot from the get go. As the invaders arrive, a mysterious woman plays the zither, calculating the weather, and giving prophecies to her army as to how to win. The cunning villain immediately sees that this woman is a threat and ends up kidnapping her. To the villain's surprise, even his cunning nature is no match for her wits. She escapes all of his traps, outsmarting him over and over. Yet, fates begin to shift as she realizes that this villain is the key to peace between nations. If she can persuade him to pursue peace, then great harmony might be possible. She decides that she is willing to sacrifice herself to a loveless marriage if this villain will promise to stop waging war on her people.Yet, as time goes on, the villain's true colors are revealed, and he proves himself to be an honorable patriot that would die for his people and his moral principles. As one can't judge a book by its cover, the female lead becomes impressed by his passionate character and falls in love. Yet, this love is cursed by her adopted family, the gods, and the spirits of the dead, as her lover is technically the murderer of those closest to her. She feels cursed as fate blocks the two from being together over and over.
When this most powerful general decides that love is more important than the state, he becomes a liability to his emperor. The emperor sets his sights on destroying their relationship at all costs. This general gives a passionate speech to his men about his priorities - “If a man can’t protect his own wife, how can he be worthy of protecting the state?” The men are rallied to his side as they empathize with his passion to not chose his wife over the state, but rather to protect both.
When he solidifies in his role as protector of both his wife and the state, enemies of the state realize that targeting his wife is the perfect way to destroy his battle-ready soul and weaken the emperor's right-hand man. Like a valuable chess piece, she sits and watches as countless pawns die to protect her. She can't bear the pain of causing countless suffering on those around her and desires to retreat from the political arena. Both her and her husband decide that love is more important than power and prestige. As the emperor's kingdom slowly collapses from his lack of wisdom and moral inadequacy, the emperor realizes that those who desire power the least are the most needed in positions of power. He makes it his dying mission to persuade this power couple to come out of retirement to not only save their nation, but to save all of China.
More reviews: https://transcendentphilos.wixsite.com/website/post/the-philosophy-of-chinese-dramas
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There were some parts changed compared to the novel, i found it reasonable as the drama needs to have some background story (you will know when you read the novel). I'm also half glad/half dissappointed with the mid-part. If you guys find it repetitive in the middle, that might be because they changed those part. Let me tell you that the middle part is actually the part when the female lead and the male lead really deepens their relationship in the novel. So my suggestion is to : Watch this -> Read the novel.
(FYI, i think Bai Ping Ting is little bit of masochist in the novel. That would explain in some comments why she would be willing to die so eagerly)
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This review may contain spoilers
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Like a puzzle or a rich tapestry, the individual pieces may not be exquisite when viewed individually. Put together, they create a stunning picture. General and I is one of these masterpieces where the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.Yes, it has flaws. Angelababy's acting, especially the opposite of Sun Yizhou's, is lackluster, and a dead fish could emit more EQ or facial expressions than Angelababy. When paired with Wallace Chung, she can shine like the luminous jade hairpin she wears. The production quality suffered for the CGI budget (which was mediocre at best). The story left something to be desired (especially when it comes to the female cast being suicidal or depressed over misunderstandings or that falling in love with someone you grew up with was the primary way to fall in love in this world). Weave all these imperfect pieces together, and the whole became greater than the sum of its parts.
Wallace Chung (Chu Beijie) shines in every scene he is in. The other actors around him become the scenery to complement him. His ability to shine the spotlight on the other actor or actress when needed makes him one of the acting gods of Chinese filmography.
The Story between Bai Pingting and He Xia at the beginning felt flat. He Xia's feelings for her felt insincere and fleeting at best. His refusal to let go of the past, accept change he doesn't like, and disregard for the feelings of others makes him a perfect villain to Chu Beijie. Add to that Bai Pingting's self-doubt and Beijie's willingness to accept blame for any event that goes wrong, and you have two people who love each other deeply but spend too much of the show separated.
The plots within plots within plots and one-sided love interest stories add to the misunderstandings between the two. The plot arc between Shisan (Thirteenth Lady) and Beijie/PingTing felt unnecessary, especially given that Beijie was more than upfront with her on many occasions, letting her know that she had no chance to weasel her way into his heart and that he would only ever see her as a colleague and friend. Her selfishness cost him several episodes of extra estrangement from the person he loved, and while she eventually rights her wrongs, the story arc could have been that of friendship, not only with Beijie but with PingTing as well. It would have made her actions in episode 61 more meaningful to the story.
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perfect
In a world ravaged by war, the four great nations, Jin, Yan, Liang and Qin, are ceaseless in their pursuit of power and ultimate domination. In the midst of this endless conflict, the nations of Jin and Yan clash, and the great house of Jin falls. Forced to flee, the Jin prince, He Xia, and his brilliant military strategist, Bai Ping Ting escape death. But fate is not on their side.Separated during their exodus, He Xia makes his way to the Kingdom of Bai Lan to pursue revenge against the Kingdom of Jin. Meanwhile, Bai Ping Ting finds herself at the mercy of Chu Bei Jie, the Jin army’s greatest general, and the nation’s most beloved prince. Immediately recognized by the prince as the girl he fell in love with years ago, Bai Ping Ting soon finds herself the object of her greatest enemy’s desire.
Eventually recognizing Chu Bei Jie as the boy she once loved, Bai Ping Ting gives in to the desires of her heart, setting into motion a complicated romance that pits the desires of the heart against the loyalties both have for their kingdoms.
(Source: Viki)
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I learned the charm of Chinese actors compare to Korean through Chung Wallace (and Chan William). Instead of pretty faces, charismatic portrayal of their characters & passion turned them into heartthrobs. Can't contribute good acting for Angelababy, but lucky for her Chinese drama often dubbed voices, and her perfect heroine character made up what she lacked.
Not many characters stood out to me, except for He Zia for his perseverance . Except for main couple, I found everyone kinda dumb and pathetic. But who cares? Finally found a happy ending that made sense, avoided plot holes, hero & heroine had passionate romance. It's was entertaining from beginning to end.
Drama was basically written to make Bei Jie seem awesome. He's strong, smart, possessive but passionately dedicated to the heroine, self-sacrificing & loyal to his emperor/step-brother, sympathetic to his enemies. He was called unbeatable, god of war, and most desired bachelor - possible future king. Over the top a bit? Writers tried to balance out the hero by giving heroine intelligence, courage and virtue but she was too vulnerable and delicate to fulfill that role. As the story progressed, heroine's intelligence seemed to strengthen and climb higher above everyone else, so there's that. Interactions and match of wit between the couple was a lot of fun.
It's better to not expect a masterpiece historical Chinese drama from GENERAL & I. It's just an entertaining romance story with satisfying ending where bad guys are punished and the couple end happily ever after. Political aspect is short sighted and forced, therefore okay to skip. ^^
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This review may contain spoilers
Non-spoiler portion of the review:Overall a well-rounded c-drama that I’d recommend. Watch this if you’re looking for very sweet, cute and hot romance with some military strategy and battles. Excellent leads, villain and supporting characters. The reason why I can’t give this a perfect 10 is because it has standard c-drama flaws - fillers were about 10 episodes long, over exaggerated fights and long stares.
I like Angelababy’s acting too. I think her negative reputation about being bad at acting isn’t justified here.
SPOILER AHEAD:
Pros:
- the romance! So hot. Beijie is just so so macho and Pingting is so demure and intelligent.
- Beijie and Pingting’s individual characters (chivalry, strategies, charm)
- well developed villain from start to end.
- good supporting characters.
Cons:
- Bai Pingting’s role as the other half. Biggest frustration is the way Pingting’s character was written with the typical cliche of trying to save her lover by leaving him 10x. If you do it once or twice, it’s fine. But repeat this formula every 3 episodes and it gets really unnecessary and frustrating. The worst filler was the 3 years separation and how they missed each other at every turn.
- CGI - not gonna elaborate on this. I think it’s clearly weird.
- Final battle - whilst it was filmed in an exciting and emotional way, it is also abit predictable and overdramatic.
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This review may contain spoilers
A Lot to Love About This Series
The episodes went by fast. Too fast. I didn't want it to end. I liked how so many of the stories tied up, but I wish there had been happy ending for everybody. Loved the characters - even the ones I hated. The villain was brilliantly played (Sean Sun) - even when you hated his actions you could see the sorrow in him. Loved the ML - Wallace Chung sealed the deal for me from Sword & Brocade. Loved the Liang men. There was a good balance of power between male/female. Loved all the love stories. I just loved this series. Sad it's over - but maybe I will watch it again.Was this review helpful to you?
Story
Since i don't know about the story at all, i find this drama has a promising story and it would become a hit if the story is developed well. But in fact, the story isn't well developed. There are several inconsistencies and plot hole within the drama. But fortunately i can grasp the whole big picture of the drama. It is draggy but i don't think it is as draggy as several reviews. The pace for 25 episodes (for me) is consistent and it become inconsistent afterwards. The ending is just good enough. It's is not that satisying or that dissapointing. With such a huge range of characters, this drama shouldn't just end that way.
Acting
All the cast must have done their best in the completion of the drama. But, i concern about the casts. The first male lead sometimes being inconsistent while the first female lead might have problem in expressing sorrow or pain. The casts selection is good already, but the execution of the characters isn't well done. The first female lead surely can act. But, she has problem when it comes to expressing sorrow or pain. I just don't get the feeling about it. A good point from her acting is a natural acting when it comes to calm ambiance. The chemistry is quiet good. The ace of this drama to me is the princess from the enemy's country.
Music
I'm no that fond with the songs from this drama. But it's okay
Conclusion: just watch if you have much time to kill.
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Firstly, the male and female are great in parts, inconsistency and follow through left this wonderful dramas langering for some early resolution of a good story/plot, which would have been great for a 30 Eps series instead of 66?
The more I watch these dramas the more I see - palace politics, canniving scheming bitches and pricks too but more women than men that I ponder are all chinese women like this in real I wonder????...the great romance and love relationships that come across the screen I must say are second to none - I sit there with my Hollywood indoctrinated thinking and nod my head that not even HWood could beat C-Dramas, the men actually cry and they actually dont mind looking ugly screaming and crying for their beloved lady. The same with the ladies too. The bitches in most of the series are great actresses and they stir up the juices for wanting to see them get their comeuppance or Yusss take that be-arch, but the most frustrating is the pace of the each of the dramas - there are only 3 to date that are up in my top 5 that have mastered the pace of romantic storyline - Eternal Love between Ye Hua and SuSu?Qianqian / Ashes for Love between Xaofeng & Jimni / Fuyao and Wuji in Legend of Fuyao....whoever directed those did a wonderful job of keeping ME waiting with abated breath and glued to each episode that I have had to watch them again to get the C-Drama fix and appreciation of good tv making.
In ending, The General and I had wonderful content that would have made it up there with my top 3 but the pace of the developing story was WAYYYYYY tooooooo slow......when it didn't need to be....
Rating - 6/10
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