This review may contain spoilers
Good.......but one small annoyance.
I have been binge watching this show for a few days and have enjoyed it so far. Those who say the ML isn't good looking enough for the part only have to look at the chemistry between the ML and FL to see why they got paired together, it's fantastic. The 'Villain' of the four main guys Lu Yun Qi is played very well, as in you constantly want to smack the character very hard with something heavy. Also the two brothers of Zhu Zan are hilarious and they make up a perfect kind of comedy/action trio as the story progresses.One thing I am beginning to get a little annoyed with though and hope that they solve soon is the Jui Ling/Zhu Zan dynamic. I don't know how long the writers are going to keep up with the whole 'lying' thing but it's wearing thin and honestly sending the character of Zhu Zan a little mad at times. It is also making the character of Jui Ling look a little heartless and part of me is not wanting her to end up with the ML at all. She has seen him breaking down infront of the memorial, heard him calling her name when he was in pain and seen him quite a few times saving her life......yet she still doesn't tell him the truth.
Other than that annoyance though the acting is great, the costumes are fantastic and the music is spot on. I will defiantly be watching this to the conclusion when I will update my review
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This review may contain spoilers
Too late to the party but oh well i waited out the torturous release phase
A well executed revenge plot drama some politics, lots of cute and funny moments, a harem of nice mls, a really amazing fl- overall a perfect mix of romance, politics and revenge. Though must say that although it is primarily revenge plot, it is not suffocatingly angsty . It focuses on family and romance a lot.It is honestly not at all as awful as some reviews and comments say. I really liked it very much. Some people don't like the show for the ml because he played villains in some other popular shows, but it's my first time watching him and he is fine to me.
Let me start by saying that the only thing that sticks out like a sore thumb here is the production. Though it's not disastrous, it's watchable, but just doesn't match the level of the acting and story, which are its best ingredients to hold someone's attention.
Now onto what I love the most- it's the FL's character.. I've been watching cdramas for almost 2 yrs now, and I've been used to the typical airhead FLs that always cause trouble and need saving. But here the FL is incredibly intelligent, mature and calculating, which is very rare for cdramas to have. She is far from a reckless, impulsive, dumb and stupid girl, she is cautious, always analysing everything around and carefully planning her next actions, which is very appealing to me.
Next, it is her harem- 4 very different men are interested in her romantically. Her primary love interest general Zhu Zan, a duke's son and her childhood sweetheart, is investigating his lover's death, unbeknownst to him that Dr Jun is indeed her. However, he stays around her because she intrigues him with some of her actions that are similar to his lost lover, and gradually starts liking her. They have a nice chemistry and their scenes are sometimes very funny with his hilarious actions. Needless to say they are very free around each other. Next is Ning Yun Zhao, a noble scholar, as smart and able as the fl, was engaged to Jun Zhenzhen before birth. He falls in love with Jiuling as Zhenzhen primarily due to her wits and such qualities. They are too formal and courteous to each other, and treat each other with respect, because firstly she has long been in love with Zhu Zan, and secondly, she can't steal Zhenzhen's fiance. Their scenes are somewhat painful to watch because his heart breaks repeatedly. Next up is Lu Yun Qi, a creepy palace guard head obsessed with princess Jiuling who had saved him once in childhood, and her ex husband and currently married to her sister. His scenes really gave me the creeps with his disgusting actions. I don't like him at all. Now onto the sweetest kid, Fang Cheng Yu, Zhenzhen's cousin, who Jiuling marries to cure his illness and also to root out the evils in the Fang family and then divorces. Jiuling clearly saw him as her brother, but it was his first time liking someone and it was sweet watching a sick young man irritated by everything, gradually warming up and falling in love as he regained his health.
Story: The story is very interesting though the plot isn't exactly very uncommon- the fl wants to avenge her father's death and I've watched quite a few similar dramas, but this has to be the one of the best. Chu Jiuling's father was killed by her uncle and she failed in her revenge for the first time and averted death at the cost of her co-disciple Zhenzhen and teacher's life. She came back with her face to survive and pave her path towards the murderer, the greedy and evil emperor, for revenge. From eliminating the evils in Zhenzhen's maternal family to uncovering the old conspiracies involved in her father's death to facing the enemies on the battlefield and saving people as a talented doctor, and in the process reuniting with her loved one, the main plot has several subplots that drive the story without once being draggy and hold the viewer's attention.
Also it has a nice satisfying happy ending, so that just makes it all the more fun.
Characters and acting: I've already described the main characters above, so now I'll say about some side characters. That damn maid didn't know her place, kept making trouble for the fl, and was terrible at her job, she got on my nerves every freaking time. She was the definition of useless. Why the hell didn't Jiuling get rid of her? I loved Zhenzhen's family, they were so good. ZZ's parents made a very nice family, just opposite to the mother and sister of NYZ, who were just as irritating as other small time villains. Chu Rang, the emperor and his prime minister were very evil. Even being the emperor couldn't satiate his greed.
PXR's acting was on point, she did amazing with the various sides of her character, JH did really very well too in his character, his emotions were very well portrayed. WYS gave off tranquil vibes for his noble character, he was just as good as a gentle and heartbroken lover. DYF really made my skin crawl with his crazy behavior sometimes, so his acting fit his character well. Both Ning and Yunqi were pitiful characters when it came to love. ZZ also played the "arrogant teen in love for first time so now im all sweet and caring" part well. Others did a good job too.
Production: The makeup and costumes were just not good enough for the backgrounds of the characters. The makeup team did a really bad job. Almost all of them were rich and nobility, but the costumes felt kind of cheap and not good. Especially PXR's makeup.. they could've done it a lot better. No offense, but her makeup made her look much older and her hairstlye made her forehead look bigger. She is very beautiful, but they found a way to pull her beauty down.
Overall, I've loved it watching once, I'd definitely come back to rewatch it once i get time. I admit it isn't totally perfect, has some flaws and plot holes, some things weren't quite explained, but what even is perfect? Also i obviously recommend watching it. (I actually made my friend start cdrama with this and he actually really liked it so I'm extra glad).
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Pretty Nice Drama
When I watch ep 1 I immediately thought this drama was a nice drama, but I'm wrong... This is a pretty nice drama. I love the storyline, all the characters, costume, and all. Oh, one thing I dislike maybe the ML style. The ML is fine but his style comparing to SML style looks so bad. I love FL characters. She's strong, bold, rely on herself, willing to help everyone.Was this review helpful to you?
Best until the 22nd Episodes
Summary: enjoy about the first 20 episodes. The plot has unique fresh take on face-change type of story. After that, it’s really the same predictable plot as before. Honestly, I prefer the antagonist passion with main lead. Overall, politics of the same old plot is on the last part.Pro:
-some cool Fresh plots in the first few episodes.
Cons:
- the pairing is with a guy with a funny smirk with less passion in his eyes.
-main lady acts like a robot especially in the first 30 episodes. Someone must have told her not to tilt her head like a robot so I didn’t see anymore after some episodes.
- one of the drama that I wish the build up pf romance is with main actress and antagonist. Antagonist has more expression of passion. Then again, the main actress has a good poker face. She has less passion coming out of her so she is a good with an equally lukewarm guy.
-many fillers later on
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Could have written more mature characters.
Peng Xiao Ran is lovely as always but this story could have done with a better ML and the FL to have better people around her. The ML and his gang are arrogant pricks, her maid is an annoying tw*t, her cousin and her lover nag all the time. I can get through with one or 2 annoying people but when most of the so called protagonists are irritating as hell then watching it becomes a chore. She basically left all the good people in her hometown. Her sister is at least a sane and realistic woman. Her ex husband plays the anti-hero to the hilt and has more nuance and character growth than the stale and annoying ML. Her cousin she had a sham married with is far more likeable than the ML. I don't understand why they made Ning Gongzi look like a dead end from the start. I wonder what drove the writer to consider the ML as the unquestionable choice when there is literally zero chemistry between the two and their back story is a big yawner in the first place. A totally pointless pairing.Was this review helpful to you?
Start isnt great for me but it does get better so I am glad I stayed watching.
The male lead actor here did good. Having seen him playing different roles, to me he is best suited in antagonistic roles that he had done many of.
This is a good one to binge watch. This is very light on humor, but balanced drama, action and romance. It could have been done with less episodes tho. Lots of fillers to extend episodes.
Production did well with set scenes, props and wardrobe.
My opinion is that it is not worth paying to watch it but good one to add to your list to watch for free. Most likely it is available to watch for free in other apps like Bilibili, Youku, DailyMotion, etc. I think it may be free to watch in Viki app now too.
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I don't know why they encourage this type of character, this not empower the woman nor built man.
Which made me drop Lots of the dramas.
This drama I like the character of the FL, The character was not annoying, childish and stupid The ML was not irrational to leave important matters for one person (FL Which usual unworthy).
Also although FL was loved by Four people, al of them was for the characteristic character not the beauty.
FL maid character sometime cross the line of the maid role. She was maid replies rude to people above her leave in historical era.
I am not happy with the ending.
In general I like this drama I lots.
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君九龄 - Jun Jiu Ling
A well written drama and well performed by all the actors and actresses, especially the main characters, but also the others have made this drama a complete success.The director and the screenwriters should be proud for having be able to create such story, in fact the story is so realistic and beautiful. The dialogues are refined and everything is done with passion, love and dedication. The watchers cannot make any expectations about what will happen.
The composer has written instrumental musics and songs that are the best that i ever heard. It seems that they have done this romatic drama series beginning from the songs.
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Entertaining but dubious
This drama is entertaining with an excellent cast including Peng Xiao Ran and Jin Han as leads and 4 handsome leading actors. Costume is beautiful; cinematography is good. It scored well on all the technical aspects. The story is well paced and has a well developed ending.The story centred around Princess Chu Jiu Ling who discovered that her emperor father was murdered by her uncle, the current emperor. Her attempt to assassinate her uncle at her wedding failed. She was tortured but was rescued by her physician teacher and his daughter Jun ZhenZhen who swapped identity with her. ZhenZhen started a fire in the prison and killed herself. Subsequently the teacher died in a fall while collecting herbs. Jiu Ling then took on ZhenZhen's identity and went to the rich Fang family and took refuge with her 'maternal grandmother'. She then went on to discover further sinister secrets involving the Fang family. Along the way, she won the hearts of 4 different men, went through 2 weddings and broke off an engagement with one of them.
The drama ended well and we did not end up with some ridiculous child emperor. But there were several questionable unrealistic scenes:
1. It was inconceivable that a rookie in medicine could cure diseases that baffled well-known experienced physicians even if she was well taught - ask any medical interns if they could do that. Conversely, it could be explained that in the old days physicians were generally badly trained as there were no medical certifications required.
2. In those days, I do not think they had the plastic surgery skills to transform Jiu Ling's look into ZhenZhen's no matter how skilful the physician was.
3. In one episode, Jiu Ling threw the enemy's camp into chaos by throwing 3 'soldiers' into a camp of 10,000 soldiers, faking infection with smallpox. It was more likely they would throw the 3 soldiers into fire or quarantine instead of being frightened into chaos - these were people who had fought and killed in battles. I expected the writer to come up with something more convincing and on a larger scale.
4. Chu Jiu Ling insisted on keeping the heritage of her teacher's medical clinic retaining the name Jiu Ling for her medical clinic, which was coincidentally also her name. What a convenient coincidence. Since she wanted to keep her real identity a secret, it was rather stupid for a clever girl like her to want to use this name and of course invited a lot of trouble thereafter.
These were stretching imagination. I accept deviation from reality in fantasy dramas. But for period or historical dramas, I expect something more intelligent. The music was melodious and some of the theme songs were really nice but a couple somehow sound quite familiar in some parts. So I say, overall the drama lacked originality and realism.
However, the drama was entertaining. So if you are not too discerning about these, you could still enjoy this drama a lot.
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Jun Jiuling!!!
The female protagonist,Jun Jiuling is very individual,confident,daring,responsible and brave woman.She has the courage and self confidence to face any situations and problems that occur in her life.What I liked the most about her is her responsibility as a princess.This is my second drama of Peng Xiaoran after Goodbye My princess,so I already how good she acts.She was perfectly cast.My most favourite role in this drama is Zhu Zhan,the male lead,played by Jin Han.He is a very excellent actor and he instantly became one of my favourite Chinese actors.He was excellent in emoting every expression on screen.
Zhou Zhan,Wang Youshuo as the other male leads were respectively good.
The last male lead,Du Yafei played a role with negative shades and acted well.
This drama mainly focuses on Jiuling and her revenge on her uncle for her father's death.
What i liked here is the unconditional support of the male protagonist towards the female lead and how he was always there for her in her troubled times and his unconditional love towards her.
A hidden gem which really needs to be explored indeed!!
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Logical errors
I finished the series, even though it was hard. I liked the plot. But there were mistakes, errors, whatever you call them, in every episode of the series. They made things happen that didn't exist, they made things happen that shouldn't have been done. They got stuck as they wanted. The series of mistakes continued from beginning to end. I look for logic in events. I look for their conformity to reality. I am careful not to make a mockery of them. But it is still a story of success and revenge. It was interesting. That's all. Especially the male lead (ML) is not a suitable lead actor. I would ask where you found this actor and gave him the lead role. Because he is not romantic, he looks like he is going to beat you, he curls his lips like a bad guy. He doesn't have a star face. But he plays. He did. Good or bad. I can't say that he got along with the female actor. They had a hard time in some places. It was obvious. But then they probably got used to it. They seemed compatible in some places. The female lead (FML) looked a little better and dragged the series. I think it was better. He could be given female general roles. Instead of giving these roles to weak and feeble girls and moving away from reality, these roles should be given to people like Xiao Ran who are more upright and look like they can pull off whatever they want. Although Jin Han was successful in the action scenes, he was successful. I think he should play the bad guy, he should play comedy. He seems more inclined to these. Roles with romance in them are not for this guy. He looks very repulsive as a type. I didn't like it. There is no star type in my opinion. Apart from that, I really liked Du Ya Fei, Zhou Zan, especially Wang You Shou. I said he should be the leading star actor. Here you go, STAR TYPE. It's a shame for this actor. I also liked Chen Fang Tong, Gao Fei, Hai Ling. He Hong Shen was successful as a guest actor. The child actors were very good. Well done. Would I watch it again? Probably not.Was this review helpful to you?
At times the storyline is unrealistic and loopy.
I actually found out about this drama via AvenueX's YouTube channel. While I disagree with most of her negative comments about this drama, I can understand why this drama doesn't have a rating over a 8.5.Characters:
The female lead was married as a princess (episode 1), but engaged as the physician's daughter around episode 3; she broke off the engagement, but then got married to her sickly cousin just to treat him, solely because he was too shy to allow her to treat him without clothes on; but again, she broke that off too by getting divorced. The only one she liked was her childhood friend, who was a prince. While the characters don't drive me crazy, I still don't understand why she hated her husband so much, the one who she married when she was a princess in episode 1. Granted, she didn't ask for the marriage but as a princess, this is what came with the title, the fortune, and comfortable life. Her husband, at least in the first 19 episodes actually loved her, and did her a favor by marrying her sister, in order to protect her from their uncle. So, I would have liked for the scriptwriter to have either made his character totally evil (referencing the character the female lead married during episode 1), or given a better reason why the female lead didn't like her husband.
Directing:
The female lead actress, is a great actress. I know this because I've watched Good Bye, My Princess. However, in this drama, she acted with a, 'I don't really give a f,' kind of attitude throughout the whole drama. I don't like the fact that the director directed her to act this way. I believe the director should have directed her to act as a princess would have acted (e.g. a bit arrogant & privileged but strong willed), instead of a princess who is aloof most of the time.
Storyline:
The storyline is actually good, although not great. The reason why I gave this drama a rating of a 8.5, instead of a 10 for the story is because some of the scenes were not well crafted, and there are loopholes in the story. For example, somewhere around episode 2 the princess gets surgery and is turned into looking like the physician's daughter. I thought to myself, this is super unrealistic, and the scriptwriter and editor didn't even bother to come up with a logical explanation to why a ancient physician would be able to change the face of the princess, while in a cave. All she had around her head when she woke up were bandages, which btw, were loosely wrapped around her head... SIGH.
Editing:
Overall, I am enjoying this period drama thus far. I am currently on episode 19, but I did take a break to watch other dramas! For some reason the faces of both the female lead (same actress from Good Bye, My Princess) and the male lead (same actor from The Princess Weiyoung) look strange. I know that these dramas are often edited (e.g. lightening the actors skin to make it appear closer to the color white). However, the editing this time, in terms of changing their facial shape, was not done well. At one point, I even thought that they both may have had plastic surgery, which honestly there's nothing wrong with, but I concluded that it was just bad editing.
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