This review may contain spoilers
What an amazing story we’ve got… almost. This drama has as many beautiful characters and storylines as problems with writing and development. And by the end, it left me completely confused.Let’s start with the perfection that was the female lead. Dare I say one of the best I have ever seen in a drama? Yes. She was so strong and so amazingly flawed, it was hard not to love her, even when, at times, her decisions made my blood boil. She was fanatically loyal to people she cared about, even when faced with a moral dilemma. At times she ignored the wrongdoings of people around her, finding excuses for them and trying to justify their actions. When Yuan Song told Xing Er he cannot look at her confident and self righteous face, I couldn't agree more. At that moment I agreed with him and his reaction made perfect sense. But that’s the charm of Xing Er. She is just a human. She makes mistakes, her convictions are not always good and her decisions are not always correct.
Another character that caught my attention was Yuan Chun. The transformation she went through was amazing, yet so tragic. How she was driven into madness and self destructing. She was the true victim of the whole scenario presented to us. She was so innocent, and how these pure intentions she had were used by all the people she trusted and loved, broke her.
I must say, I quite enjoy the whole cast. Some characters deserving a bit of attention were: Xiao Ce - the charming prince with a good heart, Yuan Song - the cute prince with a bright smile, Yue Qi - the loyal bodyguard and the true MVP, He Xiao - the only one that truly deserves Yanbei.
That said, I was quite disappointed with both male lead characters. While Yu Wen Yue was painfully, boringly perfect, Yun Xun by the end of the drama was a dumb, easily manipulated villain without any true plan nor motivation behind his actions. Pushing him towards the dark side was a good idea and it worked for the most part, but the closer to the end we’ve got, the less sense I saw in anything and everything he was doing. I had no sympathy for him even though his character build up was based on the idea that we are supposed to feel empathy towards him, taking into consideration his past. For me, he could burn in hell and I couldn't care less.
And here we have the problems with the plot. For the most part it was perfect. I was truly amazed with the pacing. I was never bored, the plotlines were nicely entangled as we smoothly moved from one story to another. The problem is, at times we did not come back to some plotlines, and they were left unsolved. What happened to Xing Er’s sisters? We saw them meet when she was rescued, and then they were gone. Not even one line telling us where they are and what happened to them.
And it happened to the majority of the characters. We’ve got amazing setups, promising us more than we’ve got. The payoffs were simply weak. Xing Er’s core ability… nothing. It was mentioned here and there, the dramatic opening eyes and awaking her true potential at the end… and what next?
We know Xiao Ce is not just this dumb, playboy prince and he has so much more going on for him, why not show that? Why not show more of his duality? Cheng Yuan’s motivations were far better and deeper than we were led to believe for the majority of the run time. He wasn’t just a cruel and evil person. His decisions could have been logically explained as any other character. His ways of dealing with the problems were wrong, but it was not any worse from what we have seen from the majority of the other characters.
The romance… oh boi the romance. From day one we knew who the end game was, and I did not mind that. I wasn’t expecting some deep love triangles since the drama did not need it. Not even for a moment I thought Xing Er might romantically love Yan Xun. As much as he was obsessed with her, she was obsessed with the dream he created for her. For me it was just an unhealthy obsession she had for the better future and, later on, the need to save him from his own demons. Her heart was always with Yu Wen Yue. I loved their chemistry, their fighting scenes were beautiful and I've rewatched many of them quite a few times. I didn’t need more from it, just the longing, stolen glances, the lovers that should never happen. So why did we get that accidental kiss I am asking? Why did this happen when it was one of the most ridiculous and out of place scenes I have ever seen. The hug that followed a few episodes later had far more impact and conveyed greater emotions than any kiss they ever had. They were simply unnecessary.
The overall production value was beautiful yet questionable. The set design, costumes - perfection. The tragic CGI - painful. The scenes that made me laugh the most were the horse riding close ups when many times it did not look like people riding horses, the movement was wrong. What's more, often the sounds did not match the movement. For the OST though, I could not ask for more.
Truth to be told, I am surprised that with that ending (I don’t even want to talk about it) and the problems I had with the drama, I’m giving it 8/10 rating, but at the same time it makes perfect sense to rate it so high. The outstanding acting we’ve got probably helped a lot, so the frustrating parts of the plot were easily covered by the brilliant performance of the cast. I enjoyed it quite a lot, and watched it in 3 and half days. That's how invested in the plot I was. The ending ruined me. I needed a drink.
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This review may contain spoilers
It’s weird I still don’t understand why nobody proved that YX father wasn’t a rebel he was framed by that YH and that Liang princess Xiao yu..??As for YX I do understand his suffering as his country yanbei suffered the massacre, so much bloodshed and his whole family was killed brutally....then in that jiu-you platform how YH was playing with his fathers head they didn’t even buried his family properly ....and even after he was saved from death but they still tried to kill him with all means possible ....further he always introduced himself as the son of a traitor or sinner YX for all those yrs of imprisonment, so much humiliation not only to him but also to his deceased family, it’s really hard to overcome something like that...bcoz no child can endure humiliation of his family..
As for YY I somewhere felt that he could have avoid YX family being framed. Becoz he was ordered by the king to find proof against yin shicheng, but he could used that opportunity to prove him innocent or could have done something else, since he have that “eye of god” org running which provides so much intel on many things. Also whenever a’chu was in trouble he leaves all that hesitation behind of being the heir of yuwen household and his grandfather expectations but YX was his frnd for 10 yrs and still he didn’t gave his best to prove YX family innocent...
As for CQ I can’t really tell whether she loves YY or YX, becoz in case of YY she was guilty of not being able to repay for what he has done for her and in case of YX she share the same dream of him, wanted to protect him from any harm which she explained in the end.....but I really want her to end up with YX so that she can save him. Since only she can make him give up on his revenge and hatred and start realising him of his mistakes and repent on it before it’s too late...i deeply respect her bcoz even after YX changed she never backed off....since it’s easy to run away from things when they get messy but hard to face it ....and one more thing I really want is ....detailed confrontation between CQ and YX about the dreams and hopes he gave her, about people of yanbei and about what bai sheng told YX before dying.....
Looking forward to
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My most favorite cast wasted over a bad story. The drama had a great cast with a promising start but goes downhill afterwards. It was the drama I waited every week for and I loved it a lot but after that ending this drama is on my list of bad dramas. The romance was all over the place and there seemed to be no real chemistry between the two leads. The FL had more scenes with the second lead, this really threw me off. The drama focused too much on the side characters and on Yanxuan's story that they neglected Yuwen Yue WHO IS OUR ML! The ending is the worst to ever exist. And till this day I'm still waiting for a season 2 to heal my broken heart. Was this review helpful to you?
Messy plotline
It started good and picture quality is superb but the story is.. meh. Very messy. Especially the end. I think the writers dont even know how to end the story. Also there are times that the story is illogical, almost all males fall for the female lead. I regret trying to finish the series thinking I like how there might be some surprise at the end because of high ratings. Bruhh the ending actually gets worse. This drama must have receive high ratings because of the cast. Honestly they all did well. Strong chemistry between FL and ML. Li Qin is very commendable in this drama. Character development is evident.To sum up, I find that my time is wasted on this drama.
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The start of this series was very thrilling, a martially adept, witty, and brave girl brought into a hostile kingdom with internal chaos. The first episode was a thriller. Then there's a cold man who is also a skilled fighter secretly caring for her and also charming prince protecting and chasing after the female lead. What made me want to drop this is that there's too much unnecessary scenes. And the plotting of the maids seem to be endless each episode.
There's no connection between the male and female leads...
And her sisters too annoying.
I'm getting tired of of it ....=( Hope it gets better...
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Actually one of the better Chinese dramas, but still in my eyes not one of best of its best.
Story/Plotline: The first half of the storyline was kinda slow to draggy, while the second half was much more interesting and fast paced IMO. Personally I'm positively surprised about the holding back of romance in background, while there's the focus more on the political intrigues, revenge, struggles and war. Also loyalty and ideals seems to be more significant than love (feeling wise of the whole series).Characters/actors:
Chu Qiao/A Chu/ Xing'er is finally a heroine, which is not naive and helpless and fighting for her ideals either physically or mentally- Personally the actress did a solid job but looked kinda fragile that I wonder if it's suitable to portrait a female fighter (problem lies by the director though).
Yuwen Yue: Couldn't understand this calculating character and the actor couldn't shine because the lack of character development in comparison to the 2nd male lead.
Yan Xuan: The most outstanding actor because of the tragic of his character. I think one of the most interesting char because the the drama is showing a gradually change of Yan Xun to fall into the depth revenge step by step.
I couldn't feel the chemistry of all main cast neither between YWY with CQ or YX with QC (but I might be the only one ,who thinks like that).
The supporting cast was fine as well, I really liked the Prince of Liang, who was actually a great comedy relieving char.
All actors did a solid performance but not outstanding enough for me though.
editing/directing: was kinda average for such a high-budget production if I had to compare it with some recent dramas on the same segment.
All in all a good average drama on international terms, one of the better chinese ones. 7/10 to me.
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The good:
It’s completely addictive. I binge-watched it and I almost never got bored, with the exception of some episodes between the 12 and 19 (too much training for me. Everybody knew she was training… why would we need so many episodes with this?)
Even if some people say it is too violent (yeah, it is, no doubt), I liked the first episode. Violent, hard and brutal, but so much action!
The interactions among the main leads are really good. Since the beginning you are going to enjoy them between Yun Wen and Xinh’er, and she and Yan Xun.
I loved the female lead and all the fights, wars and combats she was in. They were amazing. It’s a pleasure to see a female lead that is brave, courageous, honest with her goals and that will do everything in her power to protect what she believes.
The so-so:
The romance. It wasn’t my main interest, so, I wasn’t completely disappointed by the lack of it. But, in my opinion, if you are going to shoot 58 episodes of this, at least the screenwriters could have done their job better. Chu Qiao was with Wen Yue for some time, and she spent three years in isolation with Yan Xun (eight in the novel!). How is it possible we couldn’t be sure she had something with any of them? Or at least, I didn’t get it if she was in love with one or the other. I had the feeling that first she was more in a survival kind of way, and after that, she was following a dream that wasn’t hers but she didn’t know at the moment.
Some of the side storylines were nonsense. The screenwriters started to develop them and they got anywhere. What happened with the concubine who had helped Chu Qiao when she was a kid? In an episode she swore to protect Chu Qiao with her life and almost the next episode, the same concubine suffered a misfortune and although Chu Qiao didn’t do it, she put the blame on her and swore to kill her. And then… we don’t know anything else from here. And unfortunately this is not the only side storyline who goes anywhere…
The “really, the direction and the script should think these things over (and over and over…) and improve them for next time”.
The CGI is deplorable. I think it is the worst I’ve seen since I’ve started watching Chinese dramas. Besides, I saw that there were a lot of scenes from Zanilia Zhao where it was easy to see they were “studio made”. They are not difficult scenes or anything, some of them were just dialogues. For example the FL is in the forest with someone else and Zanilia Zhao is supposed to be talking with this person but you can see the person who is answering back is really in “the nature” instead of Zanilia Zhao, that has the same awful quality as when the characters are flying or riding a horse. I still don’t know why it was like this, if she was sick, or if she is a maniac and could act in front of others… but it is pathetic.
The ending: no spoilers, but the only way I could have stood this ending was looking for the novel online and reading all of it. And that is what I did. So, right now I have a peaceful mind because I could read the book until the end, to know what happened later. In fact, the ending episode was the 194 chapter or so, and the book has 292 chapters… it’s not in the middle but kind of, and there are a lot of things that are still to happen.
What else? I didn’t pay attention to the music, and I’m not sure about the rewatching value, because I loved it very much but there are flaws everywhere. So, even if 58 episodes seem really long, you will be addicted to it in a moment. Try it and don’t get disappointed at the end… there’s a book to finish the job the show didn’t do.
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Low Emotional Payoff
This show was honestly one of the most anxiety-inducing and frustrating things to watch for me. While I enjoyed Chu Qiao's general badassery, the storyline was all over the place and the rage I felt towards the main couple (CQ & YWY) was almost unbearable.The main couple's chemistry was lacklustre and at times, very corny. To add to that, YWY always felt like he was morally superior to everyone else and power imbalance between YWY and CQ always felt ... not right to me, and not once did I think they were on equal footing. YWY always seemed intent on lowering and reminding CQ of her past position, namely NOT EVEN CALLING HER BY HER REAL NAME, and instead constantly insisting on calling her by the name he gave HER, while she was still a slave under him - as if reminding us that she was still his possession.
I'll be honest, the main thing that kept me watching was Yan Xun, whose whole character arc I was compelled to (and also, FYI, excellent acting by Shawn Dou) and who my heart definitely bled for. Unfortunately, as is common, they tried to push YX to be the main antagonist by throwing in YWY with his moral high ground, and ignored everything that YX went through. I also felt CQ had more chemistry with YX than YWY which is a damn shame, since we all know what happens to second male leads.
By the end of this cliffhanger drama, I just felt emotionally empty and vaguely insulted that this was the ending that I was left with after watching this many episodes. Only YX left an emotional impact on me, and this is definitely not one of the dramas I would rewatch - but hey, at least the OST was good!
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This is summary of what happens after the drama according to the novel. ( season 2 of the novel.)
This is not a review for this drama but a summary of what happens after the drama according to the novel. ( season 2 of the novel.) After the cliffhanger ending I badly wanted to know what happened after the frozen lake so I look the luxury of readingthe novel and just noted down the important parts of the story. The novel never mentions any jianghu related stuff unlike in the drama.
After the frozen lake incident Chu Qiao is saved by Yan Xun but she cut ties with him. Yuwen Yue too survived the frozen lake incident and later become the King of Qinghai.
The real fall out between yan xun and chu xiao hapened when YX killed lady Yu and Master Wu and becomes a full out tyrant king. CQ's xiuli army and YX's imperial army engaged in battle and CQ leaves. She gets trapped between yanbei border and the wei borders and saved by Xiao Ce and Yuwen Yue.
Xiao ce now the emperor of Liang take CQ back to his kingdom. From there onwards CQ travels around the world.
During this time CQ meets YY and they professed their love to each other but soon parted promising to meet each other again.
Years later CQ comes back to Liang after XC managed to defect a coup against his reign. But soon after XC is assassinated and Liang state falls into chaos. ( XC dies in the arms of CQ and entrust the state in her hands before his death ). CQ saves both Liang state and XC's 2 sons and help stabilize the Liang state under the rule of XC's son.
After that CQ and YY gets married. (XC had already prepared a dowry for CQ way before his death ) .Soon after that Wei emperor dies and Wei empire falls into its chaos. Taking this opportunity YX attacks Wei and captures it. This is the start of Empire of Yan Bei. The Wei emperor's son Yuan Che establishes a new Wei state in the norther regions.
CQ and YY now has 2 sons and 1 daughters. ( they are such a lovey dovey couple.)
Finally Yan Bei, Wei , Liang and Qinghai is faced with a common enemy and so all the 4 states joined forces under the one leadership of CQ and defeated the barbarians. Later the 4 states entered into a peace treaty and everyone lived happily ever after. Oh and Qinghai become the Qing empire with YY as it's emperor and CQ as the queen.
(YX love for CQ never dies but he choose to be the a**hole he is ).
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BUT LEMME TELL YOU. THIS IS THE FIRST AND ONLY DRAMA I WILL EVER WATCH. i originally wasn't going to watch it because i was like omg it looks dumb as heck but my friend made me watch the first episode with her AND IM SO GLAD THAT SHE DID. THE PLOT IS SO UNIQUE AND I LOVE HOW THE MAIN CHARACTER IS A GIRL THAT CAN KICK SERIOUS ASS. EACH EPISODE NEVER FAILS TO END WITH A SUSPENSEFUL CLIFFHANGER THAT JUST MAKES YOU WANT TO BINGE WATCH THE ENTIRE SERIES IN A DAY. (which i did lmao)
i can't believe the ratings on this tv show are so low, but then again i'm not an experienced drama watcher so i wouldn't know. BUT JUST WATCH IT ITS FUNNY AND ACTION PACKED AND ROMANCE AND I CANT WAIT FOR THE SECOND SEASON AND JUST KJDFSHEUOFB:WNOFHWEBFO
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I cannot wait for season 2!
I am really surprised by the recent low reviews. Amongst historical/period C-dramas produced over the last 5 years, this is in the top 10. The beginning is a bit cruel but besides that the storyline, and acting is phenomenal. For those who hate the ending, please understand that there is a season 2. Thus, there will always be a cliffhanger when a drama or series has additional seasons. I actually thought the ending was phenomenal, I am glad that I watched this drama instead of listening to the reviews. The last episode had me in suspense and tears.I almost forgot to mention that the love story between the female and male lead characters is nothing short of amazing. Like the C-drama, Legend of Fu Yao, the male lead actor knows how to bring chemistry into the relationship. I don't like overly sexualized relationships in dramas but at the same time I don't like the shy romantic cutesy type of relationships in historical dramas. This drama is a perfect blend!
The only con is the actual princess (not the female lead). I don't like the princess character nor do I like the actress acting (respectfully). The actress tends to play a lot of similar roles (e.g. Joy of Life); the damsel in distress types of roles. The good thing is, I was able to skip over most of the scenes with her in it and still understand the storyline.
I am excited about watching season 2. I think season 2 will start airing sometime this week!
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