It largely follows the life of the main couple, almost exactly the same as the wiki history on Empress Dugu. The biggest different from other historical dramas is that Dugu Jialuo's personality and values never change throughout the show. There's no turning ruthless or cold hearted. She is always as she started: well-meaning and smart. She never does anything out of hatred or revenge, and she puts the people and the country before all else - except her marriage with her husband. The side characters are all the ones who change, which sets a contrast to the leads. I think this is appropriate and showcases how history views them. They were known to be good rulers, both frugal, loyal and innovative.
To some viewers, this might mean the story isn't 'exciting' or 'dramatic' enough, but it sort of reflects life. There's quite a few time jumps with historical narration since life isn't always that exciting. I personally think that the drama achieved what they were going for which is to showcase the loyal love of this couple and their sacrifices to their country. Though they may have been a near perfect couple, others around them can't be as perfect in the face of power and greed. Some of these other characters truly frustrate you when you compare their life choices with those of the perfect couple. This was a well made comparison. I also think the main actresses' reactions to situations are pretty realistic. She can easily be hurt and feels remorse but still smart enough to calm down and think clearly.
Overall, watch if you like history, want some good life lessons and wish you had a husband/wife like that. Not really recommended for those seeking intense action and a fast pace.
Also what music? Not memorable during the episodes really... You really only notice it during the opening/ending.
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If you are in the mood for a drama about the founding of a dynasty I recommend Six Flying Dragons.
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This review may contain spoilers
History thrown out for showing couple's perfection...
I am about to start the Legend of Dugu to compare with this series.All in all, the whole series could have been reduced to 40 episodes and still tell the same story.
Also, I have a pet peeve as to dramas changing history:
First , oldest son did not go mad; his mother didn't like the fact that he had so many concubines, and had second son appointed Crown Prince (who, by the way, destroyed their dynasty!).
The maid that slept with the emperor did not kill herself as portrayed by this series; historically, Queen Dugu had it done for her!
There are several other places where it replaced history with drama, but I am not going to list them all here.
I don't care how "good" the couple were, they could not have been as PERFECT as this series suggests...
I agree with the comments by other reviewers on the overall series: couple too perfect; historical facts were replaced with drama; and it was too long!
It started out good until the death of the corrupt Prime Minister; afterward, it relied on a boring story coupled with inaccurate history in an attempt to save itself!
The main cast all worked well together, with the male and female lead \making you think that they were a couple; the 'competition' between them was hilarious and there were enough scenes for you to be reminded that they still cared about each otehr until the end, and most of the kisd also made you fdeel that they were an intact family (If you watch it, you know which one is the 'exception' to this rule!).
The support cast did an excellent job in their roles and supporting Dugu and her husband; below are some kudos to teh individual support cast:
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A heartwarming and realistic depiction of queen dugu
this drama bring so much happiness to me. i was glad to come across a drama that i can watch to lift my mood and just let me enjoy all the warmth of the yang jian and dugu jialou's family. i loveee the gorgeously handsome chen xiao as yang jian. he really did a great job. joe chen as dugu jialou is also a great choice. they both matched each other on emotional level as both of them are powerful and well known actors/actress. this version of queen dugu depicts the couple life's in a realistic and hearwarming way. the four yang brothers loves each other and stay loyal to their oldest brother(yang jian) even when he ascend the throne. their brotherhood is a very atractive point for me.and i really enjoyed the amazing way that they tell the story of how yang jian became the emperor. in this version, he never covet the throne. he served his country faithfully and care for its people even when he is just a normal soldier. he is loyal to the emperors(yes plural lol) no matter how terrible they treated his family in return. its just idk... so beautiful of him to do that. and of course dugu jialou is the backbone in all of her husband's achievement. she support him everytime and lend him strength to get through all of the hardships. she is a smart person and always act with reason. they are a very loyal and loving couple from the beginning till the end. dugu jialou chose to live on even after the execution of her whole family and a failed attempt of revenge, all thanks to yang jian's persistence love and sincerity. it took some time for her to realise that, but boy when she decided to fully reciprocrate his feelings, she really loves him with her whole heart. for me, this kind of realistic and subtle story is really my cup of tea. in a nutshell, i ignored whatever that happen in the last few episodes and just enjoy the story where good people win over bad people and ascend the throne lol.
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A History lesson, probably quite realistic, but 2/3 are long, long, long.
Lesson of this story: power drives crazy all the people who possess it (or almost)!Very good history, quite consistent with the life of Queen Dugu, with Chen Xiao (ML) and Joe Chen (FL).
3 main periods:
- young adult with conspiracy against her family and marriage. This part is the most dynamic, we get caught up in the game.
### certain points are deeply annoying: the obsessive love of the 2nd prince, no one kills the Great Villain even though it is the simplest solution, etc.
- After the death of the Villain, departure and life outside Chang'an: too much too long, the series becomes boring
=> kept watching in dotted lines.
- Access to the throne (episode 40): The change of heart of the daughter (ex empress) is not credible. It is in this moment that we see that power erodes everyone.
=> This is not a series I will watch again, although I am a fan of Chen Xiao.
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Leçon de cette story : le pouvoir rend fou tous les gens qui le possèdent (ou presque) !
Très bon historique, assez conforme à la vie de la reine Dugu, avec Chen Xiao (ML) et Joe Chen (FL).
3 grandes périodes :
- jeune adulte avec complot contre sa famille et mariage. Cette partie est la plus dynamique, on se laisse prendre au jeu.
### certains points sont profondément agaçants : l'amour obsessionnel du 2e prince, personne ne tue le Great Villain alors que c'est quand même la solution la + simple, etc.
- Après la mort du Villain, départ et vie hors de Chang'an : trop trop long, la série devient ennuyeuse => suite vue en pointillés.
- Accès au trône (épisode 40) : Le revirement de la fille (impératrice) n'est pas crédible. C'est dans cette période qu'on voit que le pouvoir érode tout le monde.
=> Leçon d'histoire, sans doute assez réaliste, mais les 2/3 sont longs, longs, longs.
Ce n'est pas une série que je regarderai à nouveau, bien que je sois fan de Chen Xiao.
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snatch a one side love ,so many incidents had occurred then everything was alright, so enemy built inside from the families member and finally they achieve everything but loosing each other .
It is based on really story so have to accept the way it shown . If it is friction then not satisfied with some parts of story that is
1.where was the first king son,why he had not shown till end ,why Jieluo did not look for him once.
2.there is very little romance between them . Why there is a story of first child ,
They did not shown how she gave birth to two other child.
3.what had happened to theirs mad son at last.
I found little boring story ,many times I thought to drop this drama but want to know that what had happened to first king's son but they did not showed.
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For me this drama instead of boring it's more like you can see a lifetime of someone & how everything changes in lifetime. So, no I'm not so bored watch this drama. But funny thing toward the end I find myself a little bit bored with all the drama in this drama, maybe it's just too political for me.
In my opinion this drama divided into 3 part. First part, of course where they falling in love & made the family, but apart of that this part also about how to revenge & overthrow the prime minister. Second part, the peaceful time. The last part is about when they already became king & queen & also about the political time of the royal family.
Is this drama too long...? Maybe. Sometimes I think they actually can shorten this drama in the middle part. But sometimes I think this drama just fit the way they are.
But of course there is some part that i don't understand:
1. Why Yang Li Hua must hate her mother [Du Gu Jia Luo (JL)]
2. Why Yuchi Rong must make JL into the bad guy in her mind about what happen to her family. What happen to her father & brother is because the stupidity of themselves.
3. Why Yu Wen Hu still insist he wanna be prime minister instead king when the first king dead. This doesn't mean he didn't have the ambition to became king, because we can see in the end of his life, he indeed have the ambition...
Overall: Good drama where we can see everyone develop their own way in this drama. But doesn't really need to be include in list of watch drama. Must compare it with dugu legend ^_^.
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This review may contain spoilers
History doesn't give you the happy ending you want
Despite the valiant job the actors did, I know how history played out, so there was no happy ending for this lot. I think the most tragic thing for me personally was that 'true love' does not necessarily endure every hardship. When I invest myself for 50 episodes, I'd like at least a happy ending - and so I quit while I was ahead. (Thank you reviews!)Unfortunately (though I am a Chen Xiao fan) there was no chemistry between the ML & FL - none of the couples, in fact. I couldn't get invested in any of them. Perhaps because I knew what was coming down the road, I didn't get attached. There were a lot of holes and hanging plots too - so very little closure to storylines and characters. (What happened to the second Queen? What happened to the Emperor's first son? What happened between the brother and his wife who had her childhood sweetheart in the house? Just to name a few loose ends... or did I stop watching too soon?)
I tried to stick it out, but the reason I watch CD is to escape from 'real life' - so once I realized where this was going, I stuck it out till the bad guy got his Karma (great episode btw) and then gave up.
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Slow to no progress, incredibly stupid decisions, so boring you HAVE to skip
Here is why I don't recommend;1. FL has little depth to her acting, not horrible but I never believed her once.
2. The only convincing actors are ML and the bad guy, Yuwen Hu.
3. extremely boring in-between time.
4. No depth of romance.
5. FL seems to be older than the ML.
6. The Emperor is an idiot that had a million chances to kill the bad guy but the writers want us to empathize with his death.
7. The Second Queen was killed because she was foolish and should have simply casually taken the poisoned food as if to serve the emperor herself, this would have avoided suspicion but she bogarted the food and the spy killed her.
8. the Emperor couldn't even stand up for his first Queen and did nothing after she killed herself.
9. Pointless side drama with the main characters not "trusting" each other and suspecting the other of affairs, which did not tie in with the story whatsoever.
10. Main jealous female villain subsided unnaturally thus leaving the main female lead with no rival.
11. Bad guy is not defeated for a VERY long time even though there's a ridiculous amount of reasonable doubt and evidence.
12. FL has no motivation, gives up on her revenge immediately and becomes docile.
13. Emperor killshis enemies son but doesn't kill the main bad guy and what the eff for I couldn't tell you.
14. this is one of those dramas that only need 24 episodes but drags out so ridiculously slow that it's impossible to watch without skipping.
15. dropping this drama because I suspect their rise to power won't be until the very end and I started watching to see them rule not to watch them make outrageous oversights and bad decisions.
16. FL was trusted to save the seal (to call the army when bad guy rebels) secretly but gets caught because she's too stupid to hide it behind her back and has to trade the seal for her life.
17. no real excitement at all, just cliff hangers every 30 minutes.
18. WAYYYYYYYY too much talk about nothing and no action.
19. when there is action and war/fighting it usually ended up to be for no progress and scenes switch back to peaceful times as if war wasn't ensuing. bizarre.
20. Too many stupid decisions, I understand it's inspired by a true story but why write about something this disappointing?
21. Will never watch again and don't recommend to anyone.
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The costumes, OMG were beautifully designed. The visuals, the martial arts, and the music all were excellent. Thanking the other two main leads and supporting actresses, I applaud all of you. The rest of the team, I also applaud you, this story became alive in our thoughts once again.
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A shell of a show
So, first I watched a show about the foundation of the Han dynasty, and then a show about the collapse of the Han dynasty. I figured, I should keep moving further along the chronology of Chinese history. Couldn't find a show about Sima-Jin, and then there's a period of instability and fragmentation in Chinese history. The next imperial dynasty of China was Sui, so I thought I'd pick a show about that. The two most accessible shows about its foundation turned out to be The Legend of Dugu and Queen Dugu. I decided to go with the latter, since I heard some people describe the former as having annoying one-dimensional characters and a lot of love-triangle melodrama. Now I'm confused because that turned out to be exactly the description of Queen Dugu.Watching this was a torture. I liked the sets, costumes and the soundtrack, but other than that there's literally no redeeming qualities. The show tells the story of Dugu Jialuo, who is supposed to be 13 at the time, so naturally she is played by a 40-year-old. To make matters worse, they also feature a backstory of her romance with this other dude, whom she had studied with. They even show flashbacks from her school days, at which point she was what? 11? 10? Still played by a 40-year-old. I mean, this is ridiculous, but I'd be willing to overlook such trifle matters, if the story was any good. And it's not.
In the first episode they set up a story arc involving a confrontation between some courtiers . In any normal show, this arc would take maybe 3-4 episodes, and then move onto more important stuff. Here, though, by episode 8 the arc is still unresolved. Why? Because every episode has maybe 10-15 minutes of actual plot, and the rest is just people expressing love for each other or ending up in cliched awkward situations straight from a romcom. You know, stuff like "whoops, I accidentally fell on my crush, and now I'm lying on top of him as we would do if we were having sex, so let me blush and back away like an insecure teenager" - this particular trope was employed twice within the 8 episodes that I watched. In fact, the whole show seems like it was written by a teenager. Everyone is acting immature, there's no depth to any character, they barely resemble real people. One character constantly uses the threat of suicide as a way to manipulate people, and also performs the most fake crying I have ever seen in a TV show. She's acting like a spoiled teenager. Are we supposed to find that cute? Anyway, when the show does have actual plot twists, they're straight out of a soap opera. Stuff like somebody who had died returning to life and telling an incredible story of how they survived, even though it makes no sense.
The whole show is 50 episodes long, and it spends almost 1/5 of it going nowhere. When will there be time for military campaigns, economical and political issues, insights on the medieval feudal life and the course of history? What is the point of making a historical TV show if it's just going to be a pointless melodrama?
When some of the reviewers here mentioned that they've been fast-forwarding this show, I was baffled. How can you understand the story if you skip elements of it? But after watching a few episodes, I realized that there's nothing here to watch. Skipping forward is basically the only way to power through this slog of a show.
So, is this show terrible? Not really, no, I've seen worse. But is it worth watching? I'd say no, unless you don't have anything better to watch. I am dropping it, and do not recommend anybody to watch it, except for maybe someone who's looking for mere escapism and doesn't care about the story. But then again, for mere escapist there are plenty of other options.
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