This review may contain spoilers
This drama was a hot mess for a lot of reasons...
This drama was a hot mess for a lot of reasons, but the most glaring being the FL's "character". She was a hardened last-man-standing against an entire army GENERAL who is going back in time to STOP a devastating WAR. And from episode 2 on... she's only a frail little girl who speaks softly, worries about trivial crap, and never does anything outstanding as a LEAD. Nothing outstanding as a GENERAL. Nothing even remotely resembling someone on a MISSION to save the future. She isn't badass. She doesn't fight much. She doesn't scheme at all. She doesn't even come up with ANY real plans of her own. Disappointment is an understatement. & let's not even start on the messy storyline and absolutely incomprehensible time travel element... because this drama just uses it as a ploy and doesn't follow any type of rules of engagement. We have WAY more questions "What happens if..." now that when we even started. The only good thing in this drama was the FL's beauty & the ML's flawless acting. Seriously HATE him in Princess Agents... like wanted him to die a slow and painful death hate, but there is no doubt he's an epic antihero! He's a FABULOUS actor!BUT... even as an antihero, he had MAJOR flaws. Ones in the script, not in his acting.
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The ML is supposed to be an antihero, I'm guessing. A TRUE ML antihero who isn't afraid to do a LOT of bad things to make "right" or get revenge on some bad guys. HOWEVER... that means (in this drama at least) that he is willing to USE, HURT, & MANIPULATE the FL to further his agenda. I *get* that he knows she can't DIE, however... him whipping her and hurting her physically (she feels PAIN, DUDE!) just to shrug it off, like "well you'll heal anyway & that's the only way I could think to get you out" EW.
Not only that, but he is CONSTANTLY manipulating her, using her, putting her in danger JUST for his own benefit. These traits are NOT attractive EVEN in an ANTI-HERO ML.
The ONLY way the episodes that have aired so far would work with the ML KILLING her, hurting her, using her, etc... is IF they wrote it to where he is willing to do all this because he doesn't REALIZE YET that he loves her. THEN (maybe) we could understand/connect with the ML later when he figures out his feelings and then REGRETS his past actions. This drama has left NO room for that and completely cut out the opportunity for character growth in that regard.
I WILL say that he gets better (later) in the drama, but it's like a switch flipped and weird. Not a natural transition of falling in love and regretting past actions and moving forward to love & protect. Instead, it's like... use/abuse/all for the greater good then POOF like it never happened, I'm the perfect slightly damaged ML who is just misunderstood. Such an unnatural shift that you NOTICE the shift as it happens.
Sad about this drama. Such epic potential.
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NEED SEASON 2
If youre into those ‘it doesnt make any sense’ type then this is not for you.This is not just a plain time travel story. To understand the story better, its also best to know that this is one of those story with timeloops & alternate timelines. Similar to that of Oriental Odyssey.. & yes it can be very confusing. Lemme try to elaborate...
1st timeline.. Adult FengXi dies. His hateful spirit was born, Eryu. And met an orphan WenXin on a war. (explained in the later part of the story when FengXi met Eryu) Timeloop..
2nd timeline.. youngWenXin grewup with Eryu became a general who fought against LuYuantong. In that timeline, both WenXin & FengXi died at Zhuming ( ayear after he reached the highest post) ( 1st episode) Timgeloop & time travel..
WenXin went back to a timeline where she was a kid, FengXi was an adult and Eryu hasnt been born yet. Here we can see that after assuming identity of DongYue, she was still connected to young WenXin but adult DongYue is not at all related to young WenXin. DongYue could get hurt but young WenXin remains unaffected, while DongYue feels whatever WenXin feels. In the drama, Eryu met young WenXin after a war where we can conclude FengXi also died around that time. With that, it can be concluded that DongYue & Eryu’s mission was never to stop the war but to keep FengXi alive. Both of their existence depended on FengXi’s existence. FengXi didnt die, Eryu wont be born & wudnt meet young WenXi. WenXi wouldnt re exist as DongYue. When they succeeded in keeping FengXi alive, the original timeline was restored, fate was changed. Just back to Adult FengXi & young WenXi. No Eryu. No DongYue.
FengXi & DongYue being not recorded in the journals kinda seals off the loop. It was just confusing as to why everyone remembered her, in oriental odyssey they lose their memory. But yeah.. novelty
Young WenXin stayed by the 3rd prince / king side & was already studying martial arts. So it could be preparation of her being the general. Open ended
Undisclosed period of time after, a lady, similar to DongYue’s figure appears. Can be the grown up WenXin or can be DongYue herself, we’ll never know
I fell in love with the Male Lead. Im disappointed with the FL being so distrustful towards the ML. Her only redeeming point is that she’s pretty, strong and good with martial arts. Just the same i love the story. Every character was relevant & played well
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wasted potential
Story/Plot: One of the more rare serious time travel c-dramas. I think this is actually the segment, where the drama could have shine. It had an interesting and mysterious start, but unfortunately couldn't maintain it.Acting/Cast: The cast was kinda average and bland acting wise. Especially the female lead was lacking with face expressions.
OP: For time travel or historical drama fans, it might be worth to have a look into it. The drama really had some potential, but too many weaknesses either in production or cast. So you might drop it after few episodes.
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Mainleads with strong characters&good chems... Beautiful cinematography... I like it!
What I like/kinda like:1. Interesting characters... FL is smart n super skilled in martial arts, she is a war general after all... I like strong n tough FL... ML is an anti hero, he is misunderstood by most people coz he always shows his fierce n arrogant side while helping people in needs in secret... this kind of looks evil kinda guy but actually not is a rare character IMO... I like how his goods keep unfolding throughout the drama...
2. Luving the casts for ML & FL... they suit their roles... n their chems is good!
3. I like the cinematography n the CG, though not that much but it’s beautiful... The actions r ok, there were some moments, u could tell it’s not the cheap kinda drama... I like their costumes, some look really lux...
4. Plotwise is ok... some draggy (mostly political) parts, but not too much...
5. Music is ok, but not exactly rememberable...
Not my fave parts:
1. Character wise... FL is just too judgy n doesn’t trust ML, she always thinks the worst of him.. I get it at first, coz ML lies like a lot... but after a while n after everything he’s done for her, she should know him already n be able to see that ML is just misunderstood... he is the kinda person who doesn’t care if people see him bad, as long as he can protect the people he wants in secret... she should trust him more or why even bother being with him?
2. Also character related... 1 thing I hate about ML is he doesn’t explain to FL about his actions... he lets her minds run wild everytime n doesn’t bother to explain... why couldn’t he just tell FL that they share a common enemy instead of making her misunderstood that they r on the different sides?
3. The amnesia part... I get that they need to create a drama n this is a typical plot... it’s just a sad n angsty part... I’m just not a fan of amnesia plot...
4. Second couple gets a cute story, but their on screen romance time is a bit too much IMO...
5. I wish the last scene is a bit clearer n happier... Smile/hug/kiss is preferred after their complicated journey...
Overall I like the drama... it’s about a kickass FL time traveling to prevent a war happening while falling in luv with an anti hero (not so likeable n arrogant guy who looks like a bad person but actually is not)... their relationship is full of misunderstandings thanks to their characters, but u’ll like them eventually... the main leads chems is good, so even with the repeated “I luv u but I don’t trust u” plots & some angsty amnesia parts in the middle, I still like how their story unfolds n glad to know that after everything they’ve been through, they get their happy ending...
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Too long and repetitive
Started off promising but dragged on for too long and female lead repeatedly didn't trust the male lead despite him proving his character over and over again which made it a very frustrating watch. Her character didn't develop at all. The male lead played his role well. He was clever, strong and romantic! The side character's romance was cute but they had too much screen time. I skipped a lot trying to get to the end as was keen to see how it concludes. The story idea was good but was let down by the script.Was this review helpful to you?
It's a good drama you should give it a trie
I'm watching this drama ans I want to say thatstory-The story is not bad but I think is not well developed.The first ep were good mostly because the writers presented the FL as strong ,which for me it's my favourite "topic" because the ML doesn't always have to protect the FL because she can defend herself,I also really like that the FL is abit cold,clever and smart now lets talk about the ML I think I really like him because In the first few ep he felt attracted to the FL so he started flirting with her which u know how it ends, the ML trying to flirt with the cold FL which for me it was really cute to see.But for me at the beggining of the story for me it was hard to see if the ML hated or loved the Fl like fr I wasn't even sure about his feelings sbout the FL
acting-Even though they are new actors for me I think they acted really good, every actor potrayed their role properly and good.In a summary I had no issue with the acting.
Plot-As I said the plot is good but it taked quite alot to developed (this is my own opinion) they kind of made thestory focus on the romance and how will the FL prevent the war which forme it was a great mix mostly because every time in the whole drama I was worried about their romance and about the war which I really liked how the writer did this.
Negative comments-I think even though I did like things their is also things I didn't like:
1.The trust okay first I understand that the plans of the ML are secret and if he tells someone it could damage all the whole plan but the thing is that the FL asks him about his plans which he says he can't tell her so then she needs to try to imagine and think what he is doing by her self which obiusly it can create prblems
2.The ML alwasy does things behind the Fl which the FL think he is the villain which makes the ML like the victim and this role that in every ancient chinese has which is "don't tell her I'm doing this to protect her" which I mean if he does it once I undertand it but he does it quite alot which made me annyoed by his action coz then after he think that the FL will trust which if I WAS ME I WOULD NEVER BELIEVE HIM .
3.Even though the FL did the same she told him after, I would say an example but I don't really want to spoil it but the thing is that she tries to do it by herself and then the ML tries to ask her and force her to say it so then the FL tells him so they don't have a misundistanding and because she trust him (compare to him , you can tell the difference) but after the drama continues he strats to tell more things to the FL (whcih made me keep watching)
4.The Fl even thoguh I really like her the problem which I had is that she trusted the ML okay so for example when the prince (second lead boy he loves the FL) when he tells her that the ML is doing some fraud or like saying that he is trying to revolt towards the king she doesn't believe him but becaus she trust the ML but the thing is that the ML does things without telling the FL which makes the FL to doubt about him being honest so this makes the FL to strat believing in the prince (which I also undertand the FL because I would recat the same way which for me this is not the charcaters fault mostly In my opinion its the writer fault.
5.Tbh I think some things were really repeating which made me even think thatif I was in the correct ep.
6.The amnesia thing was not bad but coz their were finally together and about married and then this amnesia comes like It was so annoying
things I did like-
1.even though the ML is married he only married her for politic (I think it was coz of politics can't remeber) but the thing is that he doesn't love her he treats her like a sister,so when the FL comes he tells eveyrone that the FL is his "wife" and the perosn he loves he even says it to his "wife" which showed he really love the FL.
2.The ML always protects the Fl also the FL protect the ML which I really like because normally in historic chinese drama the ML is always the one who protect the FL.
3.OMGGGG fr their chemsitry is amazing, their scenes are so cute, eveyr ep is good and I really enjoy watchinng.
overall-even though I haven't watch this whole drama coz its still airing I think that is going pretty good I'm really liking it, if you doubt to watch it just give it a try and see if you like it for me the story goes quite slow(in how the FL tires to prevent the war ) but the romance starts quite quickly and it's stable and good,TBH FOR ME ITS' WORTH TO WATCH , but I also undrtsand that not eveyrone likes this drma but for me just give it a try, aswell it does have boring, and draggy scene sbut just skipped them (coz for me every drama has draggy and boring scenes
Tbh I would of give it a 7.5 but because at the beginning it was quite good and the cast was good I think it deserves a 8/10
spoiler
it has a happy ending
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A lovely romance story
This fantasy drama appeared on my YouTube recommendation, likely because I watched a lot of Chinese dramas. Initially I was not quite sure I wanted to start on this. In this era where names like Xiao Zhan, Wang Yibo, Luo Yunxi, Dilraba, Zhao Lusi, Bai Lu etc dominate the drama scenes, it was difficult to envisage that the lesser known actors and actresses like Sun Yi, Jin Han and Tan Jian Ci would lead any top tier dramas. But I was pleasantly surprised. Once I started on episode 1, I was captivated. However, don't watch the version on YouTube - it mute whenever the music is playing and you will miss a lot - search for a website with the music and opening theme song intact.The story started with WenXin as the sole survivor of a brutal rebellion started by General Lu YuanTong, that lasted 7 years. When she was finally killed, she met a mysterious spirit Er Yu who sent her back to 8 years ago as she wanted to stop the rebellion and prevent the deaths and destructions she had seen. Back to the past, the first person she met was Feng Xi, a charming mandarin who was smitten by her and gave her the name DongYue as she could not recall who she was. When she regained her memory, she warned him that his subordinate and himself would be killed by the General.
Unwilling to be associated with a corrupt mandarin, she left Feng Xi to strike out on her own and walked into the third prince Pang Yu. As she retained the memories of her previous life, she told him that a snow storm was coming which would stop the drought in the capital. He did not believe her initially as it was middle of summer until she was proven right. DongYue built for herself a reputation of a half-deity as she was not only able to tell the 'future'; she could heal herself when injured by dipping in water. The story got complicated as FengXi and Prince Pang Yu were linked by a secret of the past, FengXi was not what he appeared to be, and both of them fell in love with her. Times and again, it looked like DongYue was unable to stop some events from happening. So would she succeed in preventing the rebellion that lasted 7 years and prevent FengXi from being killed?
What I like about this drama?
- the romantic setting: it was a combination of the on-screen chemistry between the male and female leads, the endearing looks between them, the backdrop, the verbal exchanges, the cinematography and the music that conjured up this romantic feeling.
- there were very few music pieces in the drama, but they were all very good, especially the opening theme song and the flute - I love them.
- the on-screen between the female lead and the two male leads were fantastic. It was difficult to tell initially who she would choose.
- the male leads are handsome. Jin Han (Feng Xi) is a bit unusual in his look with his slitty eyes and a high nose bridge - not the typical look of a Chinese actor. And Tan Jian Ci (third prince) has this innocent but sad look about him which fitted the character very well. And of course, the actresses are very pretty.
What I do not like about this drama? There are very little I do not like the drama except for the following:
- Like a lot of Chinese drama, the ending was always a bit disappointing - it was open-ended leaving the audience to guess whether the woman waiting for the hero in his garden was the heroine. And if it was, why did she return and how?
- If DongYue continued to exist and WenXin was still a young girl, so there were actually two WenXin co-existing? In a way, it was clever, now both male lead characters would end up with the woman they loved, as the young girl had chosen the other 'side'.
- I do not like that the capable ended up not working for the emperor - wasted talent.
I think this drama is underrated on mydramalist.com. But reading some of the reviews, I guess you may end up either loving or hating this drama. Nevertheless I highly recommend it.
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Could have been better
This is a show that could have been better. Concept was interesting, a female warrior, I cannot say if she had a military rank cause I already forgot, goes back in time to prevent a revolution from happening that ruins the country and hurts a lot of people. She tries to assassinate the General that causes the future revolution but is stopped by Feng Xi, a minister on the government,Cool concept but then it fails to deliver anything interesting. As I have stated in other reviews there are 2 things that always annoy me: Stupid and silly female leads, and stupid and silly misunderstandings. This drama has both. Having come back in time you would think Dong Yue the female lead would be intelligent and have a plan. Instead she is really stupid and has no concept of anything. She totally misunderstands Feng Xi. At first that is alright cause we manipulates and lies so people think he is power hungry and a bad person. The issue is after she failed the first time and Feng Xi dies, she comes back to fix the problem again. The second time she comes back she still doesn't trust him and makes a bunch of really stupid decisions. Plus half way through it felt like the story was more about her falling in love than actually stopping the revolt,
I lost interest after like episode 10 and only half paid attention. I did start to get more interested again in the last 10 or so episodes, when female lead came back a third time and had a portion of a brain.
As for acting the ML is the true star of the show. I had an initial reaction of I do not like him, so kudos to him for his work in Princess Agents, that I had to get over. He was great at the moral grayness of the character, who is not evil but is certainly not pristine or perfect. The second male lead plays the third prince. He was a little on the slow side, but was a generally good character and when faced with his father's moral imperfection he stayed true to himself and doing the right thing, Every time I thought he would move into the gray area he stayed true., which was exactly what Feng Xi wanted was him to stay good. The FL was mediocre at best and did nothing to impress, Second couple was cute, almost too much so.
The one distracting thing was the music. It was generally ok, but there was one part where the music was the exact music used in The Untamed. I mean not like the music but the exact music. Not sure if that is normal, but seemed strange to me.
Overall, it was an interesting concept but the story never followed through on the premise. So the story which could have been interesting back the same old story in a ton of c dramas. It did get better but it was hard to watch and pay attention to episodes. Plus the ML acting was great, while the FL was not and it was more obvious with how good he was.
This falls into the what could have been category.
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Messy story of a girl who transports back into time to save people from war?
First of all I really like the leads but this drama was a no bueno for me! too many plotholes and question marks.... this drama incorporates time traveling and some what deity/ powers?Story summary : Too Confusing, left me with a lot of question marks...
Female lead is from the future and she time travels back to 8 years ago to try to stop the war and destruction. She goes back and tries to kill Lu Ming Yuan , who 's the evil character and an official of the king. The interesting part is that the female lead cannot died. She had a body that doesnt get hurt, when she goes into water her scars and wounds heal. The first scene she is seen getting out of water and she doesnt remember who she is. Coincidentally the male lead is taking a bath there but its actually something that he has set up. This is because there are people who want to kill him. This is the first encounter between the leads. She warns him about his brother not related by blood will die soon by Lu Ming Yuan. Of course he doesnt believe her and "kills" her ( after that she finds out about how she can heal herself) Through a series of encounters she works under the male lead who is like a official of some sort. The male lead's background is also complicated and he seems like he is a bad guy but that's his disguise. He's trying to take down all the back people. But due to his " bad boy nature" the female lead has a hard time trusting in him, not knowing if he is good or bad ( in the sense he is on Lu Ming Yuan's side or not) I forgot to add that the female lead has a flute, that flute only she and the male lead can hear. The flute also helped her to time travel. When someone dies/she cries it takes her back. She goes back like three times, but each time the flute will have this blood mark, and she will also become weaker each time.
So usually when its a take two, it brings a refresher for the storyline but in this case it failed! not long after she transported back to 8 years ago a second time the male lead suddenly loses his memory and it is really not explained well, i mean it would make more sense if some poisoned him ? He only forgets the memories of the female lead and him. Then after that the storyline progress weirdly, and becomes a train-wreck...
I would have given it a 5.5 but bumped it up to a six for the romance. To be honest tho I wasnt feeling the chemistry between the leads. I mean there was a little something but not enough... ( just in my opinion) I think I liked the second pairing's relationship more, it was more chemistry and passion there. Dont get me wrong I love the two leads but something was just lacking.
I didnt like the fact that the male lead always used the female lead.I mean if you love her you should tell her what your plans are and not for her to be the last one to know. She always ends up misinterpreting him on what he does, thinking he is evil.
I 'm disappointed by this drama., hopefully sun yi's other drama is better.
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the story got boring
In the beginning it had a decent start enough for me to continue to watch it but its so dragged and its the same thing going on over and over again It had the same events going on over and over again and the main female leads acting could have been better her facial expressions were really bland tbh if I were to recommend a Chinese drama honestly it wouldn't be this one.I felt like I wasted my time on this drama there wasn't any thing interesting and honestly I felt like they should have added more to the story.If I am being honest this drama wasn't horrible but it was the worst Chinese historical drama that I have seen.I can see why the rating was kinda low and why everyone else also agreed that it wasn't that great.They had a good story idea with the whole saving the past from war type thing but they didn't execute it well and overall this drama felt off and empty like it was missing something.Was this review helpful to you?
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This is a nice travel fantasy romance drama set within a historical time period. The drama is very well done in matters of cinematography, music, costumes, filming locations, and action scenes. The plot develops within three travel times and, although the female and male lead are insufferable creating misunderstandings as they maneuver to find a way to make the malefactors pay for their crime, the drama sticks to the evolution of their twisted fate love story. There are some parts that drag a bit due to some unnecessary plot twists, but overall, the drama manages to stay entertaining. The leading and supporting actors did a good job bringing their characters to life and, although the female lead could’ve done better with her facial expressions, her love and care for the main lead grows stronger with every time she travels back and forth. The leading actor is the antihero that, ultimately, saves the day and, although he comes out as a cold manipulative strategist in order to avenge the decimation of his family, he comes to love and understand the female lead as time goes by. The leading couple has good chemistry and the second lead couple is really enjoyable to watch. The climatic fight between the last antagonist and the heroes is short but very well done and justice is served! Although there are some clichés like amnesia, obsessed second leads, and a foolish last minute separation, the drama has an insipid happy ending. Overall, the drama is not perfect but it is very entertaining, enjoy it! Was this review helpful to you?
A Historical romance for eternity
I was very impressed with the series because I felt I was actually in this time era. The story line, acting , costumes, are very excellent. The creativity to bring history into a romance and make it beautiful. it is really a great credit to the directors. This one should in my opinion make the academy awards on a global note. All the actors were excellent and really played their parts well. The martial arts, the backdrop and areas of china are extremely beautiful and a wonderful presentation of the time period in ancient china. The government should be proud of their people who present their culture to the world.Was this review helpful to you?
