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Okay as filler drama
This is just an OKAY drama. The political stuff was not interesting. The sets and costumes were very nice. Visually appealing. The ending was happy and it reflected the nature of the romance in the show which is the main reason I was able to finish this show.The ML falls first and hard and remains loyal to the end. It is a matter of fact kind of romance. He stays by her side through everything but not in a white knight complex kind of way. He just stands by and is there if she needs him. In fact there was a whole scene dedicated to him literally waiting for her and her just taking it all in stride as is the nature of their relationship.
The FL is smart. Has a life goal and states more than once that romance is great but she must complete her goals. I like that messaging and the strength of the character.
This drama has over ones of Romeo and Juliet. Watch for those themes and how they portray them.
Other thing I enjoyed was the sword play and wire work. There was enough for those of us who enjoy these scenes. The beauty of the swordplay without the gory violence.
The ending almost feels Perfect for a sequel or a series with each episode showing the intrepid couple solving mysteries. I would watch them.
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classical historical palace drama
Story/production: I'd say this drama is a very classic historical palace drama, without super plottwists. And those are absolutely not needed at all, since the production is doing a good job with it's story telling about seeking revenge and harem fights. It could hold the quality till the end with exception of the last episode, which felt really rushed and sudden. I really didn't expect the end. The drama reminded me a little bit of Yanxi palace, with a more comedic, but at the same time less exaggerated approach (The main heroine would be having more funny moments with male lead and other less high powered characters imo).Acting/Cast/Characters: I think the whole cast is doing a good job, either support or main leads. I personally liked both lead characters, especially the female lead, who is entertaining and being able to protect herself. You got enough with those naive crying female leads? Then this drama got the perfect female lead for you.
Overall: A nice drama with a very classical approach and being successful with it, except the last episode.
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I absolutely adore the female leads personality, She is hecka quirky, loud, proud and stands up for herself , takes no sh*t from nobody. She was the main reason why this drama was enjoyable because it was full of laughter lol. Female lead background comes from a family of doctors. When she was young her whole family gets massacred and she remains alive. She grows up with a family that takes her in. She has a not related by blood sister. The sister ends up going to the palace in place for her benefactor's daughter. ( who eloped with her loved one) Female lead follows and works in the kitchen as a maid. The sister became a concubine of the emperor. The male lead is an imperial guard. They have a bickering relationship. Because of thee female lead identity, she gets in danger a lot. There are some people who want to get rid of her, and of course the main lead saves her. They gradually fall in love. Her personality is seriously so funny. As a maid you will get punished for doing something wrong. She ends up hitting the people who want to hit her. Dang she has the guts to do so !! Due to evil people scheming, she and her concubine sister gets banished to work on a royal burial site. The female lead learns about medicine and helps the village get through a pandemic.
Romance; Their romance is pretty cute. I like how the main lead always protects her. He's alway the one to initiate the kisses. Their kisses are sweet and with believeable chemistry :)
I didnt like the end as much... maybe because I had to wait like a whole week for the last ep lol. didnt like the fact that her sister turned evil.... but still the female leads saves her. It was sad that she found out the person who killed her family was the male lead's dad. After saving her sister, then it ended abruptly without any explanation. That is why its 9 /10. but overall a good watch !
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She is strong heroine and determination, has a influential boyfriend in the palace and well...some family secret later on
Is actually a light hearted comedy drama like a a fanfiction with a strong heroine in my opinion.
There is nothing deep, political intrigue is shallow.
If you are hoping for Yanxi style drama not here, much better to go see Winter Begonia for that melancholy,
this drama is just a modern comedy set in the Qing dynasty ( the characters behave in quite modern way, if this was Yanxi they would have been beheaded or sent to the prison)
Wu Jiayi is always willing to play the comical character
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Luke warm drama
What to say about this drama...... HMMM . It didn't stand out much. It was an IDOL DRAMA that did not leave much impression. Everything was luke-warm water. It wasn't cold enough to cool someone down or hot enough to heat someone up.So the story starts out with two sister who enter the palace one becoming a cook and one sister who take the identity of another woman and become the Emperor's Concubine.
Each sister faces their own tragedy and it slowly begins to change their relationship with one another.
Our FL is the sister who enters the palace as the cook, who fall in love with a talented lord, who is also sword man/investigator. With her loud and outspoken character our ML fall madly in love with her. Their relationship is put to the test when people of the court and palace attempted to separate them through small and dumb schemes. Their relationship is put to the ultimate test right before their marriage when our FL discovers that her parents were killed by the ML father. (typical plot twist)
The other sister who become the Emperor's Concubine is torn when she reunited with her first love after becoming the Emperor's woman. When sent into exile she attempts to escape with him to a far away palace but fail to do so when he comes down with cold feet after suffering from an injury he received from saving her life. Their relationship becomes dangerous with their back and forth interaction is question by the people in the palace and eventually the Emperor himself.
ML is a boring and uninteresting character who is just used a filler to assist the FL when she is unable to solve her own problem. Don't get me wrong, the actor did a wonderful job playing his character, whoever the character himself was bland.
The Emperor was dumb.
The female Concubine that always trying to discredit the FL and her sister was also bland/boring and very stupid. She accomplished nothing.
The FL rival for the ML was extremely childish and stupid. I could not understand the purpose of her character and her ability to get away with all the BS that she pulled when her uncle was only a small time official. DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.
The revenge element was poorly written and developed and delivered. The scheming was short and very simplistic and so dumb, I don't even understand how or why the character fell for those traps. The use of politics was not for a lack of better words urm.... very poorly executed and used in plot development. The Romance was also very strange, I felt like all of a suddenly this cold hearten man feel in love with this foolish woman. Strange. It did not fit my bill of a good romances. And the behavior of the FL is outrageously over the top. In a serious historical drama, I honesty doubt she could get away with her outrageous behavior and attitude, she would have been killed if she had that behavior in Yanxi Palace.
Honesty don't waste your time. It is very disappointing.
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I Tried Hard to Like This Drama
Loved the ML, but was underwhelmed by the FL. I kept hoping for more chemistry between them. Some of the other characters were ok too, but something was just off with the whole lot of them. I found myself fast-forwarding through parts of the episodes too. I really wanted to like this drama, but it was just so-so for me. I couldn't figure out that Emperor too - he was likeable enough, but is that what emperors did? Loved on everybody and punished the people they loved with no proof? And what happened in the end? Did he keep the concubines?The sound editing was awful - kept cutting in and out, and sometimes sounded like it was coming from the bottom of a well, so the dialogue was distorted a lot. Thank goodness for the captioning.
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Camera work
I watched this film and the costumes were great, visually it hit the mark. The actors appeared to do their job but somethink was just off. I had a hard time identifing with the characters. The ear ring of the emperor was very distracting gave him a pirate feelng rather than an emporer feel. Then i finally figured it out.. no close ups the camera is always far away like they are taking a photograph. This causes the viewer to be disconnected. The close up scences need to be so close that you feel like your kissing the character. Shame everything was in place for a mega hit.Was this review helpful to you?
Light and enjoyable
I often like to watch dramas that aren’t too heavy on crying and tragedy, unless I’m mentally prepared for it. This drama is more light and filled with several humorous parts.The costumes and sets were very nice. I have to agree with another reviewer, though. The emperor’s earring was a little distracting.
Battle scenes were fairly simple and didn’t require the constant blood spitting as in some dramas. A few moves seemed funny, but that didn’t bother me since it’s within the tone of the drama.
I enjoyed watching the ML and FL lead together. She did well making the character so likable, smart, brave and honest. And he the handsome, skilled hero.
The OST is lovely. After a few episodes, I was looking forward to hearing the opening music each time.
In all, it’s a mediocre level drama but fun to watch. Give it a go.
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