The Long Ballad (2021)

A strong plot with impeccable performances from the leads make it worth the watch

Li Changge originally, or The Long Ballad was one drama I wasn't sure about upon watching the trailer the very first time. It seemed like battles and bloodshed and I wasn't too sure about wanting to watch something like that. I literally went in with 0 expectations and knowledge about the manhua and yet, it managed to impress me and keep me hooked. I have to say the credit mostly goes to Dilraba and Leo Wu for making this such an enjoyable ride.

PLOT:
Honestly, this drama was quite bloody and at times melodramatic for me. The story moved about very quickly and remained engaging for the most part. The revenge aspect and the slow burn romance were the best things about it. The main pull throughout the plot are the intelligent leads, especially Li Changge and Ashile Sun. I loved the battle talk, scheming until it became slightly dragged and dull towards the end. A lot of people called it a masterpiece, but I think it's just an amazing drama with flaws.

CHARACTERS:
Li Changge is a great heroine, but also a bit frustrating at times. She was cunning but also headstrong at times which let her make mistakes, which was okay for most part. Ashile Sun seemed conniving but he had a heart of gold. Le Yan's journey was also great as she falls and picks herself over and over. Hao Du was also fun for me as he we see his softer side over time- he made me go from hate to genuinely finding him cute (although flawed). I couldn't care that much about rest of the characters but there were a lot of cool supporting ones.

CAST & ROMANNCE:
No surprise here but of course Dilraba and Leo steal the show. The others did a good job as well but let's be honest that people loved this dram due to their visuals and acting. Both are extremely good-looking and had amazing chemistry. I really didn't know about their age gap at all but they played it very respectfully without any cringey skinship between the two. I personally wouldn't have minded it, but maybe the actors wanted it that way. The same goes for Zhao Lu Si and the guys who played her love interests. The chemistry was cute with long stares and warm hugs. For once I am not complaining due to the lack of kisses.

OTHER ASPECTS + ENDING :
After ep 30-something the focus on revenge sort of waned. There were some subplots with the Great Khan, his wife, Sher, the plague, etc. that I didn't care about and skipped a few scenes. I wanted more romance but it was mostly through dialogues. I'm glad we got what we got else they could have just made it a boring war drama too. The ending was sort of unsatisfactory and I thought that they could have had 2-3 more to wrap it up nicely. It's fine I guess as I heard the manhua itself isn't finished yet? Lot of people complained about the animated battle scenes and Dilraba's hair and none of that bothered me. Any more bloodshed and I would have been out.

OVERALL:
A very nice drama and definitely one of the best historical ones I've watched till now. It had its flaws but the journey was great and I will definitely consider the lead pairing as one of the best I've seen till date. It's amazing how Dilraba has great chemistry with all of her male co-stars and just improves every time. She was so convincing as a boy and looked like she worked very hard for this role.

Lowkey excited to check out You Are My Glory after this as I definitely want to watch more of Dilraba. She just improves and surprises me every time.

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its ok

its a really okay drama. theres a reason why it received the mixed ratings it did on douban and i agree with a lot of them (reba’s stiff acting, very strange choices for the animation inserts, predictable story). tho i do think dilireba has improved a lot since she first began her acting career, ive still yet to be taken by her. she’s beautiful, i think that goes without saying, but it was hard for me to feel moved for changge at all. zhao lusi and liu yuning were surprisingly incredible. like...wow, her expressions? her character arc? i wasn’t moved by the story, but i def teared up when leyan suffered. i didn’t know who either of them were before and in the end i skipped most of the drama just to see what would happen with their characters. their love story is also a predictable one but they carried it out with ease. otherwise ur enjoyability of this drama generally weighs upon how much you like dilireba and wu lei, and i think its safe to say that if you love them, then the drama’s a pretty huge win for you.

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One of the Best Feminist Drama

Reasons why this will probably go into my rare 10/10 (I'm very picky):

1. I hate weak FLs and this one is by far one of the bravest if not strongest of them. Yes she had a few poor decisions but this will in the latter episodes be superceded by better actions.

2. We can clearly see how highly respected FL is by the ML and she him. They equate one another. Too often do we see male power trips and dominance in these dramas so LB really takes the cake as a feminist drama.

3. They have the best character development of all of the characters. Don't wanna go into detail as this may come as a spoiler but everyone of them is critical to the story and you can see them growing as a person by their actions.

4. Side characters are as important as the MLs. I liked that they were not just an addition to make the story longer, or to make it to 49 episodes. I see some dramas adding side characters just to make the drama longer. But in here they were critical to the story.

5. If you liked skinship, you probably won't like this. They didn't have a visible kissing scene here and only a silhouette was shown. However, you probably won't feel that it's less romanticized 'cause that's what made it special. All the forehead kisses and longing eyes were felt by the audience, at least for me. I was literally kicking my wall because I felt that they really loved each other on screen.

It's sad to see comments saying they didn't finish this masterpiece because of personal reasons but I respect that. I just hope more people see past the FX and understand the lessons and character development this series has shown.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

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Pretty promising...It's genuinely an ok show so far :] edit: This show is worth your time.

old review made as of ep 12:

I like it! After reading the reviews, I have been enlightened that since I don't typically watch "princess revenge" dramas, I'm not the most experienced to talk about this. But want a fresh opinion...? I like this show so far :]

1. Complaints were made that Dilraba looks like Leo's older sis next to him, and to that I say go off? To me they look fine, and honestly, I dont think making complaints about the actor's appearance is ever really a valid argument, especially the kind I saw...? such as "she seems to have gained weight" or "makeup makes her look old" Maybe it might bother you when you watch, but I didn't really find any issues with it! If anything, I think it just has to do with the fact that while Leo is handsome, he does still look a little boyish in the face department, and does still register as being like....young XD I have to cover my eyes for the shirtless scenes. he's older than me but it feels like I'm doing something wrong, lmao.

That aside, dilraba looking "old(???)" has literally never bothered me. That's way harsh, and im a little sus abt comments like that :eye: I kind of focus on the characters and what they ARE in their role, (because the actors have done a good job of portraying it so I forget) and less so on the actors themselves, but I guess not everyone is as good at giving the benefit of the doubt? Not that it really needs to be given, but help yourself? Dilraba looks fine *shrugs* Watch for yourself and see how you feel about it?

2. Good acting. The actors can only do so much as they're given with the role. As for Lu Si's role in this as Princess Yongan, I think the performance became a little one-note, but maybe that's the fault of the role, and also Lu Si needing to find the right footing? The overall cast is pretty good I would say, not STELLAR OMFG AWARDS ACROSS THE BOARD, but good :)

3. Idk bout yall but I like the score. Maybe it's the normal siren-like sounds that literally any drama has, but I think the music in this is very good, and sets the stakes very well. 10/10 for that (except I don't ever give 10s, lmao).

4. I'm kind of neutral to the constant use of manhua drawings at key points of the story. Many viewers seem to find it jarring, and I agree to some extent. I would like to see more intense scenes that aren't interrupted by comic drawings. But I can also accept that it's just what production decided, and there's no helping it. I can only hope as the series goes on we can get to see more scenes that are actually filmed and done with cgi. It does break immersion. whenever an animation scenes comes on im kinda just like "ah shit here we go again" TT but what can we do :/

tl;dr this is a good show so far, and I'm hoping it doesnt go downhill. Hopefully, I will come back and edit this once i've either finished it, or dropped it altogether.

If you don't see an edit from me, know what the latter happened 👀

[after finishing]:


Edit: I've watched all 49 episodes now. overall, the long ballad, as a standalone, and ignoring any external, real world factors that may have affected minor things like more romance scenes and a more satisfying ending, ignoring all of that which we cannot change now, is a good drama.

It's not flawless or a masterpiece, but, I would most definitely recommend it to others, because it is a GOOD DRAMA! It has its own short-comings, times when the drama seems to flatline, times it picks up tempo, times of absolutely amazing cinematography, a consistently amazing OST (omg its so good), and varying levels of satisfaction with the romance, times it drags, times its just regualr, times its a little dumb in the logic, but nothing that detracts greatly from the show, and nothing I want to deliberately fault it, or the actors for, either. (wu lei at the time of filming this, had just turned 19, i read from a comment, so stop complaining abt no kiss scenes lol)

i'm genuinely using the mere fact that i have completed all 49, episodes, all at around 42 minutes long, WHILE airing. That is a testament alone to how addicting this drama is, (especially in comparison to the dramas that have been airing rn).

the opening episodes for the long ballad are stellar, and while I can understand why not every single episode could have been held to the same quality (they very obviously went all out on those first 3 or so eps), the episodes that follow are well choreographed for fight scenes, (for the ones that are not left to aniimations- :side eyes:) and there are always stakes, even if sometimes things are predictable or drawn out.

this show overall has been a fun experience for me. I have definitely found actors to keep on my radar going forward, such as Liu Yu Ning, and im definitely gonna go watch Ultimate Note since it has him AND wu lei 😳:flushed:

Anyways, that's my two cents. This show isn;t perfect, it has faults, but it's worth your time. I hope you can enjoy it as i have.

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It will remind you of the people around you especially your friends, family and lover- Leo Wu

This show is essentially about the bonds you make throughout your life, the importance of it and certainly about peace with oneself and the world. The synopsis might tell you it's about Li Changge's journey on foot and in mind, but it does not tell you that the show also covers a similar journey for many other characters. The depiction of all the characters growing day by day is beautiful, clear through their words and your eyes. The two major characters, A'Sun and Li Changge meet amid the ugliest situation and how they stood by each other from then on is something you'll remember for life. The other two principal characters have their own growth journey as well. Each supporting and minor character only adds to the layer of the story, all of them are important. The show is complex, including the plot and the characters. Most of them are human closer to reality because the world does not exist in binaries but in the grey area between them. It's useless to bind things in simpler terms such as good-bad, black-white, right- wrong. Emotions are complex here. You have too many characters to root for here.


People learn from their circumstances and experiences but in degrees and it's clear here too. You might love a character or not but you definitely empathize with them, you understand where they are coming from. The plot is spine chilling with twists at every turn, it's gripping. Action and Romance are in an equal amount enough to hold you at your seats. It's hard to skip even a few seconds. The fights and the game are well-choreographed, they suck you in. The animated scenes in between is a great idea too as they are there to pay homage to the manhua writer. I certainly love them as they add another layer of beauty playing on my screen. The toxicity that usually exists in drama relationships and male characters are nowhere to be seen here. You have one of the healthiest relationships between leads making you soft for them. There are plenty of memorable characters. Female characters are well done and are strong with brains! Too intelligent and emphatic people all around. There are no loose ends either. The ending is perfectly apt.


ACTING

My first time with almost every actor except Zhao Lusi and I'm impressed! They have played their characters so well; I was scared for them, felt for them. More than words, this show depends on actions and they delivered. I'll be looking forward to more of their dramas in the future. They have impacted me, especially Leo Wu and Dilraba. This show has a stellar cast.


MUSIC

The soundtrack is beyond amazing, goosebumps all over you feel every time they play it in between the scenes. I'm glad they translated the lyrics too, they add another layer to the scene going on. You ought to add them all to your Spotify and feel the chills, sadness, warmth, goosebumps to the core. It's just not about the soundtracks, only the background score is so on point! I paid attention to bgm for the first time; they are hard to ignore. Your ears will bless you while watching TLB.


REWATCH VALUE

I'm already re-watching it and not skipping to my favourite scenes at all. A lot of first times happened with this show. How can you feel the same emotions when you are aware of everything? A lot is happening in every scene and re-watching makes you link things even better. You see details which shouldn't be missed.


To summarize,


PROS-

Strong FL and ML

Great supporting characters

Strong plot

gripping action scenes

Immense character growth

Healthy relationships

Music at its best

The show is pleasing to the eyes at every point



CONS-

None for me but some people think the ending is unsatisfactory which would not be the case if you have watched all 49 episodes with eyes. It's certainly a happy ending. There is a discussion below on ending read it once you are finished.


The review above does not capture the actual heart and soul of mine, words are just not enough. Try it so that your heart and soul can thank you. Indeed, family, friends and love are important, irreplaceable they are. These characters learnt it a hard way but you definitely can learn it softly by just watching it.

It's a GEM in every area!

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It's really good lol

Honestly, I don't see why people are saying its really overrated when its a solid 9 for me. And that's actually a pretty high rating from me, since I never give films or TV Shows a 10/10. Heck, I don't even give a 10/10 for Marvel movies or shows even though I'm a big fan.

Plot: The beginning was very cliche, and because of that cliche beginning, I almost dropped it after like 2 episodes. Anyway, it gets better-trust me- throughout the story. Even though the "meeting Ashile Sun all the time" was painfully cliche, I still liked it. I also, really liked Chang Ge, and she is one of my favorite characters of all the films and shows i've watched.
I love badass main female characters and we (obviously) love a character that can win a battle with her wits lmao

The pacing was perfect. It didn't drag or rush. It was fast and just right. It didn't rush and the story developed very well.
I'm also gonna say it out loud: I don't really like romance chinese dramas. I don't like mostly romance and stuff, but I'm not gonna lie, this one was really really well done. I love this cdrama!

Cast/Acting: I used to think Reba was just okay and good for this role, not perfect though. But after watching 30 episodes, I really like her and I feel like she is perfect as Chang Ge. Same ethnicity and look as the comic, but most of all same vibes.

I'm not gonna lie, for the first about 10(?) episodes, I didn't really like Wu Lei as A'Sun, but anyway I really like him now. It was solely his acting that made me change my mind. His chemistry with Reba is also really awesome.

My unpopular opinion about Lusi is that I liked her acting. I really liked her character arc and I really liked her as Leyan.

And the best cast character goes too Yu Ning!

He was best for the cold hearted Hao Du. He is literally so well casted. And it's so ironic because he's completely different from cold and emotionless in real life hahaha

Honorary Mention for Best Cast Character: Da Qian/Mu Jin

Music/OST: It was awesome. I don't usually listen or care about the music, because frankly it's just music to me. I've never actually cared that much. When I started this drama I didn't care for the music, until I heard it. It was so good. I'm serious, because I never pay attention to the OSTs in cdramas. This one really caught my attention. Literally every. single. soundtrack. is worth it. All the OSTs are soo good and soo wonderful. Definitely 1000/10 stars!

Rewatch Value: Okay, honestly I don't like rewatching movies or shows, unless it's Marvel, and even if it is Marvel, I barely rewatch it lol. So it's not uncommon for me to always put rewatch value on zero or one star. In fact, it would be really rare if I put 3 or up stars for rewatch rate haha, hence why i gave it only 1 star for rewatch value here.

Overall: It was really good, and I completely recommend it to you. I just finished the whole drama and of all the chinese dramas I've ever watched, this is one of my favorites! I love it so much and I've grown a little too attached to it lol. You should definitely try it!

Edit 5/13: Ok so I know I said i hate rewatching shows or movies, but honestly this is so good, I rewatched so many episodes already. I swear I literally tried not to rewatch it, but I'm currently rewatching it and setting the rewatch value up to 8 stars. It's completely irresitable because this series is so good!

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It's really good story and worth to watching!!

Overall about this drama get me so excited want to finish and then keep watching after that..
Everyday I keep playing and hear all the OSTs music from TLB before sleep. Especially from sa dinding and vaneesa. Its haunt my live. So crazy..
I'm so thankful to production team, actors and actress for the hardwork to make this drama become very successful in the domestic and international.
The cgi, costumes is really good, even scenery is super beautiful. The character is great both of main leads and support cast. Its so adorable and awesome drama. Highly recommend!!

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Sweet romance and heroics, great stress-reliever

This is not hard historical fiction, it is a cross between a manhua and a fairy tale, turned into a tv-series, just to help set the right expectations. If going in, expecting something remotely historical, then they you be disappointed, and that would be a disservice to an excellent story.

If you're wondering if you should watch it, as it is so long, just watch the first one or two episodes, it gives a good feel of what to expect. This is mostly a fun-series. There will be some tears, people do die, but their is no angst here, it's mostly sweet romance and heroics.

Production: The Long Ballad is based on Xia Da's manhua Chang Ge Xing, which was published from 2011 to 2016. The manhua has received numerous awards such as the Golden Dragon Award for Best Girls' comic and the Newcomer Award at the first Sino-Japanese Youth Exchange Cartoon Festival. [1] I haven't read the manhua (yet), but it as been translated and the parts I did read are fantastic. The story is good enough that I want to read the manhua, despite it (also) being terribly long. 9/10

Story: I hate spoilers, so I won't be adding any here. This is your basic fairy tale. Princess gets into trouble. Princess meets handsome prince. It takes them a while to figure things out. Plenty of people die... The story is not exceptional, but told well. The characters are believable, and make sense. Chinese series like to red-wedding endings, but this one had a (reasonably) good ending. Not too many open loops. But as said before, maybe the manhua is a bit deeper. But well... books vs movies is an eternal dispute, TLB is no exception. 8/10

Acting: Dilraba Dilmurat (the main reason I started to watch) is a beautiful woman, maybe one day she'll learn to be a great actress as well. The acting in TLB is only so-so, for most of the actors. Honestly, I found Rosy Zhao and Liu Yu Ning the best characters, they would score an 8.5/10, they showed real personal growth, many of the others a bit less. This is a long story with many characters, although nobody really shows deep character development, many acted really well and made the episodes fly by. I would say it is not disturbingly bad, but not great either. 7/10

Visual FX: As the story is based on a manhua, they decided to combine images and video together to tell the story. It was done really well. It made the story easier to watch, there are no bloody battles, those are replaced with images, and left to the imagination of the viewer. It kept the story light and fit well with the overall feel. The costumes and sets looked real enough, just a bit manhua-ish, but not distractedly so. Overall, I really liked it: 9/10

OST: The title song is very good, the tone of the song and the lyrics fit very well with the story, and even though it played a gazillion times, it did not get boring, a testament to a really well made song. There was a surprisingly large amount of songs in the series, which was a bit weird, but strangely I didn't hate it. I personally prefer an OST that stays in the background, highlighting the visuals, here the songs really were a goal in themselves. Not my thing, but it was still done with good taste and style: 8/10

Rewatch value: There are so many series to watch, that something must be truly exceptional or somehow personally resonate with you to watch it again. This series is way too long to just sit and watch again on a lazy Sunday afternoon, so I'll just skip grading this one. I probably won't watch it again (completely), but that's more because it's length then any other reason.

Conclusion: Just watch it. It is a light and happy story, with beautiful people and swords and costumes, what more do you want?!

References:

- [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Ballad

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Definitely needs to be watched

I love, first and foremost, a really good storyline. If a lead couple has amazing and sizzling chemistry, sometimes they can over come the plot to make it highly watchable, but those dramas are rare. This is a very richly textured drama from episode 1 to episode 49 and I've enjoyed every minute.
Because it's not a perfect 10, there are minute flaws and the one I'd like to point out is the lack of love scenes between the main couple. They are very, very good actors in their characters but, for some odd reason, have very little passionate scenes. At one point, a pair of parrots simulates their climatic kiss moment and I found this truly bizarre.
Other than this one small detail, this is a phenomenal story, acted with finesse by all and a production that allowed me, as the viewer, to be immersed. Definitely worth every episode of time (minus the parrots).

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Very good costume drama

This was my first major costume C-drama for 2021 that I looked forward to, weekly. The subbed episodes could not come, fast enough.

The casting of Dilraba, Wu Lei, Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning in the four main roles was an excellent decision. I knew Dilraba and Wu Lei previously, but watched Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning for the first time. The LeYan and Hao Du storyline was more interesting than Changge and Ashile Sun’s.

I was very impressed with Wu Lei’s acting in this drama. At 21, he has proved with this acting job, that he can out-act the seasoned actors who might be in their 20s and 30s. This may be Wu Lei’s best acting performance to-date. This could also be Dilraba’s best acting performance to-date. I also loved Liu Yu Ning's acting, and went searching for his other dramas while Long Ballad was airing. I also enjoyed Zhao Lu Si's acting. She was a tiny fireball. Le Yan went from timid to self-assertive over the forty-nine episodes.

The story flow was well done. There were some draggy parts with Khan, Khatun and their underlings, as well as the Tang palace personnel. The ending was a bit vague. The anime scenes overcompensated for story telling action. We know there are talented graphic artists in China, but many scenes could have been live action, or just recounted via dialog.

A lot of beautiful people in this drama! The OST was very good.

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I want to start by saying that I was looking forward to this series. The amazing cast and the hype around this series were the two things that made me add the series to my watchlist. From the OST clips I’ve seen, I thought the series was a full-on romance with a little bit of politics with the royal family. I was extremely disappointed to find out it was the exact opposite – more politics and very light on the romance.

What I like about the series:

Liu Yu Ning’s character of Hao Du, I was rooting for him the entire time. I couldn't help but notice the way he looked at the Princess the first time. I am so glad there was one thing from the series that did not disappoint me.

The storyline was very well thought out, there were a lot of side characters that were added each time FL faced a trial that developed her character growth.

The OST. Lately, I have this tendency to listen to OST before watching the series. I love fan-made clips of the series, sneak peeks always get me excited and I look forward to these scenes. I also love how Sa Dinding’s If you come back was used in a lot of “dramatic” scenes. It was probably one of the songs I had to look up right away.

Did I mention Hao Du? My favorite scene of his was when Hao Du jumped in fighting off the She Er to win the princess's hand in marriage.

The cinematography did not disappoint, the one thing I really enjoyed was how some scenes transition from live-action to manga. I found this to be very refreshing. I prefer having this transition rather than an overload of CG.
The cast, I am familiar with some of these actors and actresses so I was super excited to watch this. The last I’ve seen any of Dilraba work was in Ten Miles of Peach Blossom and the spin-off Eternal Love of Dream. Zhao Lu Si has been one of the actresses I’ve been following this past year. A lot of her series was light and romantic, thus I was looking forward to seeing her in this role. Other familiar cast played minor roles but it was enjoyable to see them.

The bad:

This is more personal, and I think most folks will either hate or like this. I skipped a lot mainly because I’m not into politics and the military strategy and the scheme. I was bored out of my mind as I kept skipping these sections, which was a good chunk of the series. I probably grasped onto enough to understand what was happening and didn’t care for the minute details.

They're probably more that I didn’t like but I am not going to list them all. I don’t have a long list to make a case and to justify that it made the series bad, it was more of my personal preference.

Personally, my rating is 6.5/10. I think the second lead made the series enjoyable, I looked forward to seeing how Hao Du slowly changed from this cold heartless man to someone dear and loving. But they only play a small role, the entire series was on Sun and Chang ge, and simply I just didn’t like the politics. As much as I love the second leads, I know I won’t re-watch this series.

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It's impossible to hate ANY character

Breaking my silence and extreme laziness to lift my fingers and write my first ever review after being a MDL user for 2 years.

First and my FAVOURITEEE part of this entire drama is the CHARACTERS. It's like every character was custom made and designed for the actors. Their style and appearance really suit who they portrayed. Particularly the secondary characters, the character development makes it IMPOSSIBLE to even hate the villains. There's so many interesting diverse characters that surface as the drama progress, all very unique and serve an importance purpose to the storyline. The small little details attributed to them make them all so LIKEABLE. For example, the Emperor is the most enjoyable and distinct king i've seen. Emperors in historical dramas would refer themselves as 朕 or 孤 (a first person pronounce used exclusively by emperors). However, he simply uses 我 (a first person pronounce used by everybody such as you and me) in front of his ministers.

Secondly, the plot is very well written as a historical-romance drama, with the former having more weightage than the latter. The dialogues utilise plenty of 成语 (idiomatic expression) but isn't too fancy that ordinary folks like us cant handle. Oh did i mentioned how it isn't draggy?? I'm quite lazy to watch drama that has more than 30 episodes as I'll usually burn out by then. But the numerous suspense and exciting gameplays kept me going.

Thirdly, stock up on kleenex as you'll be bawling so much that no concealer can cover the puffy eyes and red nose. It was truly an emotional rollercoaster and the soundtrack complimented it so well. Only con is that they should have played it MOREEE.

The only downsides in this drama are (minor spoiler alert):
1. Poor stylist for the female lead. She practically only have 1 hairstyle throughout, even when she was playing a male in disguise.
2. Blurring of kiss scenes. I really don't get why though?? -RAGEEE-

Nevertheless, kudos to the entire production team and cast. I started watching this drama without any expectation and left with multiple takeaways. Thank you for the magical journey~

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