Awkward and Poor Script
If not because of Zeng Shun Xi (aka Joseph Zeng), I don’t think I would have continued with this drama. The writing is weird, the dialogues are weird, the logic is weird, Liang Jie’s acting and character are weird, and the English title is even more weird. The only saving grace is Zeng Shun Xi’s acting and his character which I really like a lot. This drama is set in the Song Dynasty when often the emperors had no heirs of their own and were forced to adopt their nephews as their successors.Zhao Xiao Qian (Zeng Shun Xi) is the adopted son of the Emperor. He and his older brother were brought into the palace to be groomed as the heir to the throne. Then the Empress conceived, and the two brothers lost favor. When the Empress had a still-born, Zhao Xiao Qian’s brother died and Zhao Xiao Qian was banished to Wu Jiang Fu, a city far away from the palace. He is happy living his quiet life, until Xie Xiao Man (Liang Jie) shows up and he falls in love with her. Zhao Xiao Qian cannot marry her because of their difference in their social statuses – he’s a noble and she’s a commoner from the countryside.
Fundamentally, Zhao Xiao Qian is a good person. He's kind and caring, generous and protective towards all the people he cares about. However, he is also hot tempered, entitled, unreasonable, demanding, authoritative and abusive, all an act to cover his pain and anger. Zeng Shun Xi's acting as the explosive Zhao Xiao Qian with a lot of pend up anger is very convincing, and I empathize with this character, despite his initial verbally abusive behavior towards Xie Xiao Man, which I feel she totally deserves. For some reason, Liang Jie’s acting of the Xie Xiao Man character here is not very impressive; she feels awkward and unnatural. I don’t know if her voice is dubbed, but she sure sounds cringey.
This is a story about class struggle and the oligarchy system which imposes injustices in the society with rampant corruption and abuse of power. The writing seems childish, written for young viewers. The characters are very immature with very simple dialogues and logic. Though they later grow to become more responsible and to achieving their dreams, they remain naïve because their thinking is still simplistic. More than 80% of the drama is spent in an academic setting where the characters are acquiring their education. Initially, the theme of equality emerges - one mustn’t judge another by their birth, in particular in gender equality when girls are inspired to nourish themselves with education and contribute to the society. Then this theme fizzles out with nothing much to show.
The writer seems to be flip-flopping with the characters, in particular with the Xie Xiao Man character. On one hand, she is smart, but at the same time, her actions are pretty dumb. She is supposed to be strong and brave, and yet she is so muddle and girly, causing misunderstanding again and again, that she is frustrating to watch.
Overall
This is a youth school drama in a historical setting with a theme that says, “Education is the most powerful weapon” when the characters, boys and girls, are encouraged to value education. Then enters gender equality when girls are inspired to perform as well as the boys and contribute to society. All these fizzle out; the world is still unjust with birth statuses still being the determinant of what one can and cannot do with one's life though Zhao Xiao Qian manages to upgrade Xie Xiao Man’s status so that he could marry her; girls are still being treated as the belongings of men and cannot make their own decisions for their own lives though an independent female businesswoman is being highlighted here; the rich and powerful still rule the world though Zhao Xiao Qian manages to take down some. Flaws and plot holes everywhere, the dialogues are boring and bad. Many viewers find the OTP’s relationship toxic, and they grit their teeth watching the romance development and continuous misunderstandings one after another, and the annoying behavior of Xie Xiao Man that always angers Zhao Xiao Qian. For me, he loves and wants her, and the feelings are mutual (though she also feels insecure), that is good enough for me (boy! I have such low expectation).
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Typical misunderstandings......
I started off this series because i like the FL, but after awhile the ML kinda grew on me.This story had so many misunderstandings and backwardness and forwards between the charterers it was like watching a tennis match, they just couldn't seem to figure each other out.
I enjoyed the second couple, and the friendship between the 3 main guys, they loyalty and misunderstandings were never taken to heart and were always there for each other,
The story line was your typical Palace story greedy empress and her subjects a blind emperor who refused to see the wrong right till the end.
The only sad and disappointing part was the end when the ML lost his true friend.
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Another with great acting but falls down on the script
I saw the iffy reviews and didn't expect much, but from the beginning the cinematography caught my eye. The camera lingered on personal details that revealed character, for example in the very beginning, the insouciant heroine sitting on the back of a wagon, kicking her feet as she and her family are forced to leave their village and move in with their grander relatives.The family dynamics are one of the best parts of this drama, as are the ceremonies through the year. And the look, of course.
Where the story fell down, for me, was in the arc of the central romance: the writer kept going back to the irritating trope of having the two characters NOT TALK TO EACH other, creating the inevitable misunderstandings and dramatic emotional fallout, though I admit that each resolution was very sweet, and some of them quite clever. But too many times the confrontational scene would end with them glaring at each other, leaving me shouting the obvious next line that any human being would be quick to offer to someone they cared about, beginning with, "This is what really happened . . ."
So the climactic arc, which otherwise is very effective, wobbles because our hero, once again, doesn't tell the heroine why he's giving her the cold shoulder when he should know by now she's quite capable of faking right along with him. I kept thinking that if the writer had only had them communicate and then work together to solve all the outside difficulties, it would have been a very powerful drama with endless rewatch capability.
That said, the actors did the best they could, and all were terrific. Zhan Zhi's growth arc was particularly delightful, but the real heart of the drama, for me, was the utterly understated, but exquisitely acted love story on the part of Zhong Zi Yan. It's one-sided. Our prince only sees his devoted best buddy, but we know from the time Menggu tries to speak loving words to him and he listens with a calm patience that makes it clear that no woman is ever going to win him--and his eyes stray to Hanchen--that his devotion belongs solely to him. So his death was a huge heartbreak, and nearly overshadowed the (rushed) happy ending.
I think that this drama was best when the focus was not on the central couple with their constant bickering and lack of communication. The elder generation were all terrific, their stories involving. Hanchen's friends were great (and another standout short arc was the acting of the Shen pair: the growing up and final heroic stature of the brother, and the emotional fallout of defeat on the part of Princess Rong). Oh, and Congwen's quiet arc--that was another standout.
If I do rewatch it, for the marvelous cinematography, the music which suited the flow so well and underscored the complexity of the emotions, I would skim through all the stupid non-communicative arguments between hero and heroine, and watch for everybody else.
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A good story.
The negativity in the comments and reviews, put me off this drama. It is neither deserving of that criticism, nor gushed over with undo praise. To me; It is a good story, with good actors, and mains with brains, and chemistry.What, I liked the most about "Time Flies and You Are Here" - Where so many smart female leads become 'dumb as dirt', less than sassy, and regulated to harem scapegoat. As if, once you've got a man 'Mary Sue' becomes a damsel, slash doormat.
This hero, the male lead finds his love, and doesn't waver in that love. Likes her the way she is, and in the end, didn't expect her to change. And, the other half of this couple, the female lead; never wavered in her life goals, and when she decided on him. It was a choice for love.
Good story, multiple couples, and character growth happens. Over all a decent watch, with a couple, I wanted to see succeed. Recommended.
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Just another toxic ml and dumb fl, who mature a bit over 32 eps.
I found this one when i was looking for contract relationship tags. It truly is a DRAMA, like a melodrama.Story and characters: Surprisingly this had a lot of women empowerment vibes and that's pretty rare for a historical cdrama. I liked that.
Millions of meaningless misunderstandings. A childish, immature, inexpressive, awfully hot tempered and dumb ML with no control over his own emotions who mistreats, abuses, insults, embarrasses and hurts the FL in all possible ways. Granted that he likes her, and even sometimes does things for her out of good will but he is that obsessive kind of lover who wants to own the FL and never regards her happiness. They had a very toxic relationship. He was nowhere to be seen when his friends needed help. Altogether he was a horrible character. So from this initial situation to the ml growing mature and treating others well, it was a good change. Also his acting was on point.
The FL was quite a pitiful young girl. But she was strong willed and hardworking. She is not the typical damsel in distress FL in cdramaland. But she was dumb and had overly high limits of tolerance. Also i loved her sisterhood with Minggu. The only thing about her i didn't like is how could she fall for a guy like him? Like i know that the story is about them soooo but pretty sure that she liked Congwen earlier. And I'm probably the only person with such opinion but i really think that he suited her more in terms of everything. But oh well. She also grew mature. And they sure did a lot of PDA.
Minggu was my favourite, good that she and Boyang got together. I liked xingzhou and congwen too. There were many annoying evil entitled females that i lost count of. At one point there were so much bad things happening altogether that i honestly almost dropped it. But i also wanted to end it so i sat through.
Music and production: didn't really notice the music much, but the dramatic bg music that suddenly started playing in some scenes hurt my ears, so annoying! The silence was better. Production looked decent.
Overall it was okay, though I'd never rewatch it. It often felt quite draggy, there was nothing funny amd frustrating at times with lots of evil people getting their way. The happy ending was the only thing i looked forward to. I don't really recommend watching it though.
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The misunderstandings never stop
The overall of this drama is not that bad. But it will not make me wanna rewatch it again. The storyline of this drama is really light-hearted with no deep storyline or anything but the sweet moment between the ML is almost like the shortest moment ever before another misunderstandings occur. Although their sweet moments really short, but it never fails to make it romantic which I believe the casts acting are really good. But I still hope that the storyline should be more developed and there is kind of repetition of action taken by the leads. So its kinda expected at some point which makes the drama not that exciting. The music also not that bad.Was this review helpful to you?
Melodrama and tons of misunderstandings.
I started this drama for Liang Jie, she's adorable, I love her voice and she's really good at comedies. I feel like the best part of the drama were the actors, however that doesn't mean the relationship worked.To sum up the entire drama is by one word: MISUNDERSTANDINGS.
1.) In one episode, there is a misunderstanding between FL and ML.
This could be EASILY fixed by a CONVERSATION.
2.) They fight, bicker, do silly stuff, like say how much they hate each other and do selfish actions.
3.) One or two episodes later, it's all cleared up by **GASP** a conversation. And it's all lovely eyes again.
4.) And then it's back to one again, rinse and repeat this cycle for the ENTIRE drama. I think there is about a DOZEN misunderstandings the main leads goes through.
With that said, this trope can be for some folks. It's super angsty and the tension is mega high when you watch the drama. You can see early on when the misunderstandings will happen, so it's like watching a slow motion car crash that is about to impact.
Some people like this stuff, I, however do not.
On the bright side, I enjoyed Joseph Zeng's acting and even though his character was horrible in the beginning, you actually feel bad for the guy as you go on and he grows on you.
The last part of the drama is more politics and I kind of wanted that to be a little more in the middle. I just had a problem with the pacing and the overall plot.
The whole plot is driven by the couple misunderstanding each other, so they break up and get together throughout the drama and it's all to make the series .... well, dramatic.
Overall, I could have been fine passing on this drama, but the actors really made me want to complete the series. Just go into story watching a couple fight, break up and then makeup again.
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Do not watch this if you just wanted a lighthearted Cdrama
This Cdrama is frustrating at most. I just watched this at first because of the FL who is my fave actress but after watching her playing this kind of role, I totally don't want to watch her in any Cdramas again...Waste of time watching this.
If you want to watch lighthearted drama, try watching A Girl Like Me, Love Hypnotic, Love and Redemption.
I watched simultaneously with this drama, the Miss the Dragon. Nice at first but boring till the end.
I like the actors in this drama though, they totally nailed it. The storyline just killed it.
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A nice average story
I will start with all the good points about this drama. Firstly, the acting skills of the actors are really good. It could be better at some places , but still the acting made the story better. And I was soo dragged towards the friendships shown in the story. The relationships are nicely shown throughout the drama. Specially the relationship between the male lead and his learning partner is so brotherly. And another fact is that the kissing scenes in this drama couldn't be better. They were soo good!! The leads have very good CHEMISTRY.But the plot of the drama could be better according to my opinion. Even so, at the end you still get the satisfaction you need when you finish a story! The OST is not that good though. However in my opinion, this is an average nice story for anyone to watch.
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saved by Joseph Zeng
Quite agree with what Chinese Drama Fan wrote: 'If not because of Zeng Shun Xi (aka Joseph Zeng), I don’t think I would have continued with this drama. The writing is weird, the dialogues are weird, the logic is weird, Liang Jie’s acting and character are weird, and the English title is even more weird. The only saving grace is Zeng Shun Xi’s acting and his character which I really like a lot.' Yeah this drama u can said saved by Joseph Zeng. I heard a lot about the bad aspect of this drama, almost decided not to watch this, but since I watch Rebirth with you I quite like Joseph Zeng & I also love Liang Jie so still I decided to watch this. I quite like it actually but yeah so many plot holes.The plot holes:
- Isn't it Emperor decided to 'imprison' Zhao Xiao Qian (XQ) in the town when he downgrade him into duke. Why can he still go to war. Isn't that already against Emperor order...?
- When he XQ 'divorce' Xie Xiao Man (XM)...? Isn't when he go to war they just separated not 'divorce'...? Why she can still be remarried...?
- The weird story of the other couple... Ming Gu (MG) & Zhan Zhi (ZZ) quite adorable couple, but the story toward they become a couple quite weird & forced...
- The rush ending.... How fast since XQ back to capital city until he can investigate everything regarding the Prime Minister. & how the prime minister last 'resistance' feel really rush to complete the duration.
What I like:
+ The chemistry of our Main lead. Not as good as Liang Jie & Xing Zhao Lin, but also not bad.
+ MG & ZZ story even feel weird & forced but I quite like MG for not continue being stubborn & stupid girl who insist on her love for Xing Zhou, but she can see the goodness of ZZ & ZZ love for her.
Overall this just light love story to fill ur free time.
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Nominating Zeng Shun Xi as Best Actor for his amazing performance!
I love the acting of Zeng Shun Xi (aka Joseph Zeng). He is really good! from episode 1 until the final episode. His acting performance in episode 32 was explosive and admirable. Liang Jie was doing fine ... she is also good in her other dramas like "The Eternal Love" series but in this particular type of drama her acting needs to be polished, but yeah! i love her "slapping scene" on a certain episode. Tho the role of the female lead was quiet sometimes annoying but in general, I love the impact of the story... i love the role of the male lead of this story as a kind hearted, unselfish, brave, righteous and loving Commandery Prince of Julu".Was this review helpful to you?
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Unnecessity
Never fast forwarded a drama the way i did with this drama... Too much unnecessities,they made the ML too impulsive,they tried making the Fl smart and dull at the same time,like common?? unnecessary misunderstandings that dragged for too long,there were so many avoidable issues,plenty cliches,if they had made it a 16 episode drama it would have been just fine,eventhough there were so much holes and gaps ,i think the only time i did less fast forwarding was the last 3 episodes,what happened to Li Cogwen and the commendary princess Shen?Was this review helpful to you?
