The Rise of Phoenixes (2018)

I am really disappointed in Netflix for how they handled the ending of this story. I don’t understand why directors with great material that is the novel change it to suit their own sadistic needs. Yes, those of us who are fans of historical Chinese dramas know that tragedy and angst is a common of this genre of dramas. BUT if the author writes a happy ending, don’t change it to a sad one when you know it will upset your real target audience. We always read the novels and we always are mad at you. Maybe in China they have to give them sad endings because they are communists but if you’re producing a show for Netflix and it is going to reach American consumers, make us happy. I don’t know if they were trying to pull out another season but it is so hard to get all the actors to come back.

Other than that I think whoever selected these characters did an amazing job. The leads were all unconventionally beautiful, I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with Ning Yi’s actor but I did. He is very talented and he played his part well. I loved his character and he made me feel attached to the drama. The chemistry between he and Zhi Wei was amazing and that’s why I’m still bitter about the ending that was drummed up by a sadist. My other favorite actor was the one who played Gu Nanyi. First, he is gorgeous. I want to marry him, please make him the lead of another drama. Second my favorite relationship in the entire season was the one between him and Zhi Wei. He was so devoted to her and all they ever had was each other. They were their own family. Their relationship wasn’t romantic but it touched me a lot. Gu Nanyi is the definition of a best friend becoming family.

If you want to see for like the first time ever what a historical Chinese drama looks like when it has well-done American cinematic effects and elements, you should definitely watch this. If you don’t like sad endings, don’t watch.

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Must watch period drama

One of the top c dramas there is to watch. It has great characters, with great writing,(til final stretch of episodes) supported by great actors. If you love period pieces this ranks as a must watch. This show was my first introduction to Chinese dramas and because it was so great it made 99% of c dramas unwatchable as they are lacking in every way in comparison.

I find most c dramas have male leads with very little to them besides being 1 tone throughout entire show. Either being complete puppy dogs or total jerks. Only SSS and Joy of Life S1 compare to this show with such diverse personas and well written characters.

Most c dramas struggle from the midpoint on, this show was amazing until the final stretch of episodes. Which in itself is impressive for the number of episodes. But i have to rate based on the entirety, 9.5 stars and with a stronger close it would've been a ten for me

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If you want a straight forward romance with easy to understand uncomplicated leads, this is not the show for you. As happens in real life the leads were flawed humans who have motivations that sometimes conflicts with one another and who don't always understand their own feelings as soon as the audience does. This is not a smooth tale. People are not perfect.

I adored this show. It was gorgeous... sets, costumes, hair... all better than any other Chinese or Korean "historical" I've seen. Just absolutely stunning to watch. Chen Kun was brilliant, he was often "hammy" because his character is acting throughout big sections of the drama. He's not a man who shares his true self easily. NiNi was a perfect foil for him.

There was minimal dubbing in the drama which makes a massive difference to me. Voices had volume levels, whispers were actually whispers and not absurd stage "whispers". Children sounded like children. Women didn't sound like five year olds on a helium binge. I cannot for the life of me understand why dubbing is a thing anywhere outside of necessary production 'fixes' and if you're going to insist on dubbing so much why can't you do it in a reasonable natural manner? Ugh, anyway... minimal dubbing thank goodness.

I seriously wish there were more dramas of this caliber.

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I was conflicted the whole time I watched this show. I really liked the acting and the characters. I even liked the plot except when it got crazy and inconsistent. Inconsistency is probably the biggest challenge for this drama (and the fact that I really don't enjoy shows that try to convince me that a stunningly beautiful girl can pass for a boy for years). It gets bogged down by insignificant things (at least I couldn't see their significance) and seemed to draaaaagggg oooonnn for eeevverrrrr in places. But I couldn't stop watching because there was something about it that kept me interested. I honestly am not sure what it was except for the chemistry between the actors (all of them...not just the main leads). The ending sucked for me, personally, and made me actually angry that I didn't get the end I wanted. I'm selfish, what can I say. I waited 70+ hours for that ending, dangit! I would say it was worth watching but I can't honestly quantify why.

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Watched on Netflix by chance. Visually compelling LONG story of power, justice, and love that can never fulfill.
Story: timeless and ever told saga of power for the BIG chair - no man, woman or child or LOVE will hinder that drive. Costuming & scenes were amazing and vivid.
Actors: the main leads had sizzling chemistry (wishing for a fulfillment) with all the actors cast perfectly for their roles - each and everyone. The emperor was one of my most favorite characters. Love mature actors!
Music: fit the mood and time and not overbearing.
Summary: was this perfect drama? No, it sagged in some spots, technically jumpy, storytelling seemed overly convoluted - confusing at times. YET, the main actor -KC introduction into the drama portrayed a deeply complex and tormented man in search. Thus I was hooked. This is a long drama, and well worth the time . "With smart people, you must be strategic." This drama was one heck of a go - chess game.

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Palace-drama done right, beautiful and well acted

First of all, this drama looks amazing. The sets, the costumes and the acting are awesome. There is no evil psycho-jealous-type character in 70 episodes and that is really rare for a palace-drama which has quite a focus on romance. This drama will have a special place in my heart because it jump-started my interest in Chinese dramas.

Story
It starts phenomenal as the storyline gets unravelled and you get sucked into the story. The characters are very interesting, especially the 6th prince Ning Yi. The scheming and the intrigues in the palace are very entertaining because of Ning Yi who adjusts to the situation at hand and controls how people see him and the emperor who is not an idiot (which is very rare in my opinion lol).
The ending was not bad, but I guess after all the episodes I just started to expect way too much.

Acting/Cast
The cast did an amazing job, especially Chen Kun as Ning Yi (6th prince) and Ni Da Hong as Ning Shi Zhen (emperor). I loved their interactions with each other the most. The rest of the cast also did an amazing job, but these 2 just stood out for me.

Music
I personally don’t pay much attention to music/OST so I can’t really judge but I certainly can’t complain about it.

Rewatch Value
I don’t really rewatch dramas. But looking at 70 episodes à 45 min, the drama being an eye candy and the amazing acting, I guess it’s worth a rewatch because you will probably miss a few things and you get to enjoy a fantastic show.

Overall
This drama has sweet and mature romance, cross-dressing, hidden identity, revenge plot, power struggle and palace/political intrigue. For me its basically a palace drama done right without the annoying psycho-jealous-evil-mastermind-character and the female-lead character being thrown into the cold-palace/hard-labour-department because of a misunderstanding.
I would suggest to at least watch the first few episodes to get a feeling for the drama and of course to be amazed by the costumes and the acting.

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Firstly the cons. I was at first put off by the fact that it was 70 episodes, I wouldn't have tried to watch it if I wasn't trying to get over a drama I just finished watching. Secondly I didn't like some of ning yi's expressions especially when he is trying to fake sadness it feels so fake,too fake, probably it's the plot but I didn't feel it at all. Now for the prosssss????. I WAS HOOKED FROM THE START!!!. The story flowed smoothly, The romance was gradually built, The timing for each event was right, it brought out various moods, anger, sadness, tears of joy and sadness, heartache. It was beautiful. The scenes were also beautifully timed. I wasn't sad that I watched it. Even tho I wished it ended differently but I understood why it had to happen that way so I had some sort-of peace with it tho I still wish. I really recommend it especially if you have the time because it's not a drama you can really fast forward or skip some episodes.

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Great Acting, Great Politics!

Highly recommended series for those looking for great acting and politics scheme. Not as dry as Three kingdom series, there's still "love" story in this series. There's some flaws, especially on the last 10 episode, like rushing to end the series.
When Ning Qi want to take the throne, there's a lot of chance for him to just kill everyone, why everyone just stand there and wait for the opponent to talk and walk? it just doesn't make sense.

I love how all of them having those poker face, especially Ning Yi who can act pitiful while actually he's pretending, it's just hilarious seeing he act dumb and crying while actually he is scheming behind. Their poker face always amaze me

I don't really like Feng Zhi Wei character. This Zhi Wei character, she's just busy body "smart" but not that "smart" lady who just can't make up her mind. If she can just decide to stay with Ning Yi, not giving hope here and there so other guy swaying plus not busy body want to save princess shao ning, want to know why people in the academy so skillfull, etc, all the troubles will not be there. Too emotional for that so call "smart" title. But only blinded by emotion for the mother and people that she barely know, like her brother who just show up. She just can forget all the things Ning Yi has done for her, while actually all the troubles are she bring into herself.
And I wonder why there's so many men want to protect her haha...

Overall the series is good, supported with very good acting from all the actor and actress.

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The Best Drama Ever!

This is my #1 favorite Drama! Yes it is lengthy but it is so very good! Ni Ni and Aloys Chen (Chen Kun) instantly became my favorite actress and actor. Believe it or not I have watched this more than once. Tiny spoiler alert.........I'm telling you now if you are a must have a happy ending kinda person, this is not for you. If you like omg what the heck just happened kind of endings this one is definitely the one! This entire series had me on my toes. I literally lost hours and hours of sleep. I even went to work a couple of times with no sleep at all. I have never done that before or since. The entire cast were phenomenal! The writers, producers, designers, make up artists, camera and set crew, the entire team did an amazing job with this one. I'm sure I will watch it several more times. There are only two other Dramas that I have watched more than once and now this is the 3rd. <3

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this is a story about abstraction

tiansheng is a country, but its name is repeated so often that it becomes more of a symbol, and then nothing at all. and so does dacheng, bloody pagoda, the title of emperor, the fight for the throne. it’s a 70 episode long journey with the sole purpose of telling us that every step we watch our characters take is meaningless.

as a result you kind of feel the length once the show touches the 55 mark, and various characters who played fairly significant roles get little more than 4 seconds for their death scene and then forgotten shortly after. otherwise i feel like it’s really self-aware? there’s plotholes and details overlooked but the overall story doesn’t get lost. it’s stunningly consistent in tone, in its writing, in its cinematography.

the best part of this production is, in my opinion, feng zhiwei. every character is doomed to a sort of inevitable and cyclical doom, and she’s not any exception, but there are parts of her character arc where she is instead a source of clarity. she knows how everything will end, and she wants no part. she is so surprising and complex…i don’t think we’ll have another feng zhiwei for a long time. anyway yes! it was a worthwhile watch but for certain things more than others.

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a Masterpiece of beauty and elegance

I score 8 on Story just because it doesn't end the way I wanted, which is how the majority of C-dramas ends: there is this willingness to sacrifice ( either something important to you or your own life!)- after watching nearly hundreds of C-dramas, i get it, Chinese audience seems to love the drama/sad ending- I normally read how a c-drama ends to avoid disappointment, and i knew i wouldn't have like the rise of phoenixes's end, so I fast forwarded the last few episodes just because i wanted to finish it.
regardless of this, I would definitely recommend it to everybody, especially to c-dramas beginners because it was my first c-drama , the first that got me hooked to the point that since then i have been watching c-dramas only, paying for Asian streaming channels/app, and only watching costume/historical c-dramas....!!
i have appreciated the beauty of costumes, the elegance of body movements, the slow scenes, the subtle romance going on between the 2 main leads, the fact that for once the wigs worn by the actors didn't look ridiculous nor fake ( a weakness in historical/costume c-dramas!!) . c-dramas are known to have hell lot of episodes; with its 70 episodes, this drama didn't make an exception to this trend; but at any point, it never get boring or too slow but , the many episodes were simply taking you deep down into the character development.... you get very deep into the story, you understand it better, and you don't want it to finish.... but then of course the finale might, to some viewer, leave you unsatisfied and wanting for more...

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