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Brilliant but unnecessary ending + Needs better scene arrangement & sequencing.
Just to give a quick insight about this story, I wanna say that It was wonderful yet sorrowful. They did so well in making the plot well-balanced despite their straightforward takes of its unexpected turn of events... however, still managed to make the whole narative look manipulated and misarranged.First of, I wanna commend this production for consistently staying away from clichė plot till the very end. That was very unexpected and satisfying! Just the thought of not having to bear through such ridiculous scenes already made this experience more delightful and light to me. Not to mention how we were given such spectacular and highly intelligent protagonists who were capable of taking absolute control of any situation they were thrown into and overcoming them with outstanding wits and teamwork. Made this drama even more amazing for me.
But!! we must bear in mind that no matter how good something is, It can never be imperfect. This story, in spite of executing most of the scenes in a viewer-friendly manner can never escape some questionable plot holes and glitches that can be found at the most crucial places. The way they dealt with the antagonists felt so wrong... Like you knew it was a bad decision but refused to judge it since you're not even half through the story yet. But as it progresses the more you find your opinions right and reasonable.
After finishing this show, my opinion still stands firm about how Lu Yuan deserves to be the final antagonist. I honestly think that everything went weak and bland right after they've dealt with him. Like he is the truest antagonist there is! so right after he passed away, the other major conflicts on the story has immediately become a child's play. Xie Hao is simply an overconfident official who thought highly of himself by pulling some grand scheme he can never control. While Wang Mian is an old man who's planned on his revenge for more than 2 decades only for it to be trampled right in front of his eyes. No matter how and where I look at it both of these guys just doesn't have it. They have aspiration, will and is bold enough, unfortunately, they're both incapable of pulling it off successfully. And, Oh, Please! Do not let me start with Grand Consort Sun and Shen Leqing! These two deserves to die even before Lu Yuan but they never did and I will never understand why no matter how much anyone try to explain it to me. Cause they may have been useful to create some discords and conflicts but they were never relevant enough to last that long! God, gracious! An utterly bad decision to keep them till the last 10 or so episode of the story.
Lastly, "It's all in the past" is my most hated phrase in this drama. The way they use it as a means to move on from the death of Shen Tingzhang and Shen Zhi gives me so much grief. I know it was wrong to keep yourself caged in the past but I also stand firm that we need to occasionally look back at those events to realize how some people deserves the worst from us.— Never forgive those who're unforgiveable.
P.S. Evil is hard to extinguish. Once an Evil, Always an Evil.
Story - 9.0, Would have given it a 0.5 rating higher only if they gave us a happier ending. I can never accept the fact that they went over tons of clichė plots all throughout the story yet still pull this kind of ending. I have long accepted that they misjudged their plot arrangements and all but I never predicted them to do it once again. Overall, the drama is good. They just tend to eliminate the wrong characters at the wrong time and keep some for longer time for nothing.
Acting/Cast - 9.5, Main CP is good. Although, it took me few episodes to fully absorb their chemistry but right after that it worked out magically. Lu Yuan and Xue Hao have been exemplery all throughout and I've got little to no complain about the side characters. The only thing that probably stood out to me the most is the inconsistency and awkward acting from Herman Li and Deng Ying at times. Specially during the first half of the drama. P.S. Ren Yun Jie is one of my fave character in this drama and hello, there Tian Xi Wei!
Music - 10, I love how it sounded natural and authentic which is very suitable to the time/era the drama's set. + Excellent and I'd say even perfect control and choice of music. I vibed so much on how laid back and comforting it sounded all at the appropriate and accurate moments.
Rewatch Value - 8.0, The overall story is good. Good pacing and character progression but watching it over again will be tough for me. Considering how displeased I am with its ending and the way they eliminate their characters in a wrong time really left a bitter taste in my mouth. I'll forever complain on how they misarranged those events and characters which impacted the story so much. This drama could've honestly been better with proper arrangement and sequencing.
Overall - 9.0, After intensive deliberation and consideration... and even after all my rants and complains. I feel like this drama and production still delivered a good story that can be enjoyed by different types of people. It just that I have my own conclusion and expectation for this story thus it made me feel so many things. All I can say is that bear my words in mind and watch this cautiously with expectation.
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
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Series revolves around a female who is fighting for good and a male lead who was misunderstood, though not too long.
What I like: it’s consistently eventful, the plot develops well, their is some great character development reveals, the relationship between the leads was nice and the fight scenes are great.
What I didn’t like: after a while it got tiring, the leads had a good relationship but lacked chemistry. Bad guys seems to have the upper hand most of the time. The relationship between the leads felt more like close friends than lovers or a married couple. In truth it just felt like it was missing sincerity. Although the acting was good, it just felt like a well rehearsed script verse the person embodying the script.
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I don’t know why a lot of people rate this 5.5 but this drama is good!
At first when I saw this drama, I saw a lot of bad reviews. Some people said this drama was boring and stupid. To see if it was actually that bad, I started watching this drama. It was not bad at all.Shen Li Ge is an assassin and tries to kill Lu Yuan with her martial arts brothers and sisters. They were unsuccessful and were killed. Only three of them survived, including Shen Li Ge. They escaped and formed a medicine shop to hide their identities.
She went back to her orphanage and meets her mother.
When Shen Li Ge’s sister died, she gave Li Ge a bracelet. That bracelet was the evidence that, that person was her mother. Shen Li Ge pretended as her sister, and took the identity.
Shen Li Ge sought revenge and that is when she meets Liu Yi Kang.
They both are on the same boat investigating Lu Yuan.
Shen Li Ge tries to kill Lu Yuan, but fails again.
Shen Li Ge goes back home and that’s where more problems appeared.
Shen Le Qing gets jealous because her foster (Just call them foster for now) parents (Shen Li Ge’s parents) liked Shen Li Ge better and the guy she fancied like Shen Li Ge. She hates Shen Li Ge and starts to scheme.
Another problem is Lu Yuan. He caused Li Ge’s family and herself to go to prison a lot of times. A lot of people say girls like scheme a lot, but this guy schemes a lot too.
There’s more but I’m too lazy to write everything.
This story had a lot of twists and turns, but there were never any misunderstandings. Even if Li Ge tried to kill Liu Yi Kang, she regretted it and tried to save him, while Yi Kang forgive her. Shen Li Ge never gets jealous, which I love a lot in a person.
If you want to cry then you can watch this drama because a lot of sad things occur, like how her mother forgets that Shen Li Ge is her daughter.
I saw a lot of reviews that the ending was horrible. Well it wasn’t. I mean like at least there was a happy ending! I don’t want the story to have the goodbye my princess ending.
I usually don’t like dramas that occur in dark places, but this drama literally caused me to devote into it.
You might not understand some of the scenes, so you shouldn’t skip the scenes like what the other people did. They skipped so they didn’t like the drama. So don’t be like them!
Also the ones with bad reviews to this drama probably don’t understand Chinese, so they don’t get the story. They said that the scriptwriter was bad. It’s not like they can write any better.
Hope you like this review and the drama!
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Frustrating, but fun ride!
I don't really have that much to write after binge watching it over 3 days. I watched this for Li Qin as Lige and she delivered!The villains were villainy. To the point of being ridicilous, but hey, that's what you can expect from most chinese dramas with lots chess back and forth. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy it, but I dislike it when villains get away from things, despite the amount of evidence. There were some inconsistencies here and there, but I've seen far worse so I let it slip.
The Shen family was great, the royal brothers were great too. In fact, most of the characters had a purpose and were acted well. The fighting scenes were usually fun, albeit a bit unbalanced here and there. The one thing which always dissapoints me in these dramas, is when they try to depict a large scale war. Yes, I understand that it is costly to produce something which shows a grand scale. But showing maybe 100 people marching, then saying that it is a detachment of 10.000 ... ? It breaks immersion and believability. This series is not the only sinner to do this, so I'll give it some slack.
Episode 1-25 - Great.
25-45 - Decent
46 - 52 - Poor. (I ended up fast forwarding here and there)
53 - Great. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised.
All in all: It had its fun moments, frustrating ones and the ridicilous ones. What you can expect and probably what you're also looking for.
Recommended.
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Not finishig storyline perfectly and don' t like too much flying scence
I don't know what happend to Lu Wan ( girl), do they execute her? I think she did not use poison. she was in the trap and also the sixthe prince did not help her. The Emperor got injured with the knife with lover and there is a forgivness for the poor girl does not have nobody help her. Sorry no justice and fair. I think Six brother is not true love, he is dumb, and I think the doctor ( the senior) is true love for her, he came and save her took her in trees. I wish they continued the story for her. The edning is always is puzzle, and I don't like. The Actors and Actresses played awesom job, but the director should bring Kevin Yan and Wallace Hue and there is another Wallace from Hong Knong these 3 Actors play awesom jobs as a role of Emperor. I think their face and their voice is good for historical, coustme and drama movie. I wished they brought Wallace Hue as a Emperor of Wei, we could have more drama part with that swordwoman. The Lu Wan's brother played awesom job in this film. Everybody played awesome job. Is there possiblity they make song of glory number 2? I don't know why at the end Fourth brother hand something on branches of tree. It means that she is alive or Fourth brother killed himself because he knows that sixth brother follow his rule and law. That is why I don' t like the end it likes puzzle.Was this review helpful to you?
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A Pretty Good Historical drama that doesn't really drag much... BUT....
I went into this drama researching a bit because its an average 50+ episode story. When there's that many episode, of course you would hesitate watching it if it doesn't turn out good, you wasting your time watching part of it and may drop it down the line. Let me tell you this, royal politics is not new and the repeated similar plot that has always been use to drag the story line out as much as the show intended to become. This show still holds its very much interest til the very end once the main OTP knows and devoted themselve to each other. One thing I never liked in a drama is the miss opportunity that the leads find out about and misunderstood each other, almost reveal their identity but got interrupted, or got somehow coincidently miss the right moment to see and know each other. This drama gave me the angst to all those moments and there were a LOT of those moments til they find out about each other. Although it took some episodes, it eventually reach there and after that, the show smoothly ride out til the end non stop. I for one watch it over 2 nights and completed on the 3rd morning due to work, otherwise I would probably finished it on the second day. Don't get me wrong, but I did skip some parts that doesn't show much progress with no lead in them but you can still comfortable watch it without skipping. Ending has been miss interpreted but non the less, I truly believe it's a happy ending. I recommend watching this for the character fun chemistry. It is rewatchable for me, I may probably rewatch it again down the line. Plot line has been used, don't expect much beside thinking who is the culprit to all of this. Every evildoers get what they deserved.Was this review helpful to you?
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I'm sorry, another Chinese Drama that beautifies a suicide. The first one was "Goodbye My Princess". This would've been a 10 for me if not for that. During COVID-19 a lot of people are dying from this virus some people are committing suicide across the world. Suicide should not be glorified in any way shape or form. I became very emotional with the ending of this drama. All but that the storyline was intriguing. Li Qin who played Shen Li Ge was really good. Another actress who can play a strong woman. Qin Hao who played Liu Yi Kang / Prince Peng Cheng, my first time watching in a CDrama... will be watching another one of his. Jason Koo who played Liu Yi Xuan / Prince Jing Ling is not my first time seeing this actor but always seen him play mean/evil parts. Watching him play someone that is good was a treat for me. Lu Zhan Xiang who played Kong Cheng was my favorite in this storyline, he is young but his acting abilities are spot on. All the other actors did great also. I didn't expect the leader of all the trauma happening in this CDrama. The storyline kept me focused on the plot. The music score was smooth. The visuals were awesome. The martial arts were okay.
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Masterpiece and Emmy worthy!!!
This was one of the best dramas I watched.Everything is good, the acting, the soundtrack, the story...
It gives us action and intrigue in equal and healthy doses and even in it's most slow and calm moments it keeps us enthralled in the story.
The actors are brilliant and convey their emotions as if we were there with them and the soundtrak wraps everything perfectly...
That being said, I know many watchers got confused by that ending, BUT:
The script writer left for the audience to think about what happened...
Now, I personally think they had to be apart for 3 years by Emperor's decree in order for her to be redeemed and for him to fully focus on his task, and in the end, three years later, when both had done what they had to do, they were allowed, as a reward, to reunite and to live their lives together...
And the coup of poison was in order to fake her death like she did during her execution in early episodes...
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Starts off really great but trails off and has disappointing ending
This is the first historical c-drama I've watched to the end. At the start I was really hooked, due to the sets, costumes, thrilling story, plot twists, music and some great characters. However as the show went on, particularly in the second half, I became less enthused.The series is 53 episodes but this kind of breaks down into 6 or 7 sub stories which are only loosely related. For example, one story is about an illegal weapons factory, another is about fighting a war with a rival northern state. I felt like I was watching multiple seasons of a show rather than one complete story.
The characters are generally good, but there are some characters I dislike to varying degrees. One of the FL's maids is particularly annoying and is clearly meant to add comic effect but it just falls flat. Also, two of the major villains of the show are presented in a way that they are, for the most part, completely emotionless, and keep a constant facial expression and tone. This does make them seem more "evil", but on the other hand leads to them being more two-dimensional characters.
Characters I particularly liked were the ML's brother (Prince Jingling), and FL's parents, siblings and siblings in law. They are fleshed out a lot more, and also have some really happy moments and touching moments.
The OST is really good but it does end up getting quite repetitive by the end of the show. Some musical score seems to be repeated in almost every episode, which leads to it having much less effect than when it was first heard.
As mentioned above I love the sets and costumes, but again, by the end I felt they were too repetitive. The majority of the show takes place in two or three locations. Also, the costumes worn are pretty much the same every episode (with the exception of FL). I felt like this show was produced on a low budget in the second half.
In terms of the story arcs mentioned above, they are mostly good, but some of the story towards the end is less interesting or not satisfying.
The ending was also really disappointing to me - it felt like it was just "tacked on" and involved a plot that didn't have much relation to the storylines throughout the series. It also left a lot open to interpretation and so was quite confusing without providing proper closure. I think the show would have been much better if the final episode was never made.
Overall I still don't regret watching the show as most of it I really enjoyed. But the show could have been a lot better and ultimately left me feeling disappointed, but with still some great moments to remember. If I ever do rewatch it, I might split into two or more parts to keep it more fresh, and also skip the final episode (and the last scene of the penultimate episode) entirely.
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23 episodes I invested to this drama
This is a long series and I skipped, paused, jumped between episodes. Apparently I am not a big fan of Li Qin, every drama she was in I am not fond of, and this is one of them. She is a great actress, beautiful, great acting skill but I think she picked the wrong roles. I was hoping she'd better in 'the Wolf' but early episode as a young girl - she's faked childish girl in a her adult body. This drama, She's given an identity as Shen LiGe who had married into royalty. Her step sister Shen LeQing jealous because she wasn't selected, because of it she gave all hell and troubles to Shen LiGe. I think I admire her driven determination to ruin Shen LiGe, she's a tough cookie survived from all retributions even when fallen into the cliff. After alot people died at the end of drama, she still survived to send the last attack to this couple. I don't understand it, why a gentle young woman who knew nothing about martial art or strategy could survive in whole long 53 episodes just from hatred. Although this drama adapted from true story but the actors didn't deliver memorable acting. Too much go around the bushes, the queen was a very powerful woman there and people just sucked up on her. So, nothing's new...nothing interesting...nothing memorable...I gave it up after investing my time for 23 episodes (1,035 minutes of my life).Was this review helpful to you?
I just hope it has a happy ending right now i'm serioul,y waiting for ep 25,The lead boy is okay I'm not saying he is bad at acting I think he did I quite good job ,i like the character and personality of the main male lead And For me is worth to watch.
This drama is airing so you can't know if is worth to watch the whole drama I just hope the rest episodes get interesting and doesn't go down the hill, So YH
edit:
I think this drama started pretty good but through the episoded went abit down I can't really tell exact what I didn't like because I watch it airing and I had to wait for the episodes which somrtimed I didn't really remeber what happened last time ,the ending was abit dissapontibg but realistic but could of been better but at least it is a happy ending From what I remember I will not rewatch it again but don't regret wathcing I still thunk that the FL dad and brother didn't had to die:(
I'm kind of disappointed in this drama started pretty good but it went down the heel
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