A Female Student Arrives at the Imperial College (2021)

The most annoying second leads ever ahah but this drama was pretty good to me

I found this drama funny and entertaining. I also like the love story between the leads and they had a good relationship. They fought for it and did not break up even with all the obstacles and annoying people. It also have a good happy ending.

The second leads were so annoying and crazy that I almost stop watching. Both of them were told many times that they don’t love them and that they would never be together, but they weren’t taking no for an answer and they tried to force the leads to marry them. That was aggravating and so annoying, they were the worst.
I only continue when I found out that the leads were staying strong against them and they weren’t breaking up.

At first I thought it was a cute romcom, but there was in facts many problems and obstacles.

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The Dean who's novice & child-like in terms of Love + The worst 2nd Male lead transformation ever!

There's no such thing as who came first in love - Sang Qi.

I badly wanna talk about how magical and amazing the love story in this drama is, but my eagerness to talk about the moral lessons of this story is much stronger. So let me start this review on how I find this narrative as something very influential and purposeful.

This drama stood out to me not only for its beautiful love story but because of how good they deliver the moral lessons, struggles and challenges they all went through to achieve it. That women rights and equality wasn't achieved in a blink of an eye and it was a cultivation of someone's collective hardwork, bravery and boldness to face and accept the countless indifferent, judgemental and discriminating gazes to prove that she deserves what she's yearning for and achieve whatever she's been working hard on. Although there are flaws in this dramas historical facts, I just admire their guts and proud of them for still making this possible. To see the progress of how women gradually received better treatment and broader opportunities made me ecstatic and warm.

I'm so excited to write my take on the romance side of this story and I'm literally overflowing with admiration and passion for the Main leads. Definitely! the best CP I've watched after a long while. This couple not only made each and every scene extremely fun and colorful but also made sure that we're not gonna suffer any unnecessary clichė drama plots we are all exhausted of. Their unconditional trust, loyalty and love for each other has been challenged and proven multiple times through adversities and I'm just amused that not even once they got affected by it nor submit to any scheming and oppression. Instead, they're always hiding something up their sleeves ready to retaliate and fight back. That's some sturdy foundation right there! Something very difficult to find and see from couples right now because of shallow jealousy, lack of trust and poor communication.

Main Leads - They're just the perfect fit. Yan Yunzhi being the snobbish, intelligent and highly respected deputy chief while Sang Qi as the willful, bold and cheerful maiden who will do everything to achieve whatever she wants. I mean, Opposite do attracts! and what I really adore about Sang Qi is how she never let the circumstances decide for whatever her decision's going to be and will always find logic to resolve and get away from any obstacles infront of her. Yan Yunzhi on the other hand is a smiling-gummy-ball. He's so precious specially when sulking and acting jealous.

2nd Male Lead - Or should I say, the Worst evolution for 2nd ML ever? I swear, I'm utterly disappointed and disgusted on how Zhou Wenyuan has become. I was rooting for him from the very start not until he showed his true motive and color. He's very unexpected all throughout and most of the things he does is something I never imagined coming from him. Like, how did my charming and lovely lover boy turn out be this cruel and hideous asshole? Nonetheless, I still love his character and hate it as well.

P.S. Wanna mention Lian Pian & Yan Yan as well for being one of the most entertaining Supporting pair of this story. They made this drama extra fun and vibrant.

Story - 9.5, It was smooth sailing and I'm really satisfied on how they never added unnecessary drama to this story. + The fact that it has strong women empowering message and overall effective and inspiring moral lesson made this production even more worthy and admireable. P.S. Just watch out for some fictional historical facts and superficial problem solving cases.

Acting/Cast - 10, The glow ZLS brought to any drama she's in is exceptionally blinding—She's so vibrant! and Xu Kaicheng!! I wasn't expecting so much from him but he delivered above and beyond! His every expression is flawless. Like he was carved and molded for this role. He embodied it! Also... Zhang Yue, this is my 3rd drama of her and she's been very consistent and versatile in all of it. Ao Rui Peng & Ren Hao did extremely well to. So satisfied of their acting.

Music - 10, I'm very happy with the choice Music for this drama. Correct and proper placement of songs + They're just beautiful and fits this drama as a whole.

Rewatch Value - 9.5, It worth all the watch it could get and I'm really satisfied about this drama. But something about it just felt rather ordinary/lacking for me. Most probably with how they deal with the antagonists and the investigation segments/cases.

Overall - 9.5, To sum it all up... I really enjoyed this production a lot and would surely recommend it. The only thing that made me feel a bit off about this drama is mainly because of how shallow and abrupt they treat the cases... Like they didn't give much depth to it resulting to it feeling half-assed specially during the 1st half of the story. It lacks the fundamentals to make the investigation scenes plausible and have a proper go-through process . Phasing is overall fine but they kinda neglect lots of the important investigatory crumbs behind.

IF you find review helpful please let me know.

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Typical plot but good

Title is weird that it doesn’t even catch interest. It’s the typical love triangle story of a woman wanting to be given same opportunity as a man. I find the second lead man’s performance and acting superior than that of the male lead. Slapstick humor but still entertaining. You can predict the storyline but most times it’s hard to be interested when you already know what will happen. This broke that rule. I don’t personally find any chemistry between the lead male and lead female. At the end, I was rooting more for the villain second male lead. His acting and portrayal of the role is that good. It is worth the time to watch.

I believed there are two other series with same concept - female in period school full of men. Only exception in this story, Zhao Lusi didn’t pretend to be a man and entered as the first female student in an all male school. She pioneered being the first female student in an all male school.
One thing about Zhao Lusi is her excellence in portraying the core essentials of the role. She can adapt her personality to whatever role she is playing.
Although I like the male lead, I was hoping she ends with Ren Hao in this story. I know he is the villain somewhat but he played his character so well, I couldn’t help rooting for his character to get the FL.
Anyways, if you like period drama like I do, this is an awesome watch and you won’t be disappointed.
Love the Martial arts choreography. I love the wardrobes used by all characters.
One of the actress who played second lead is same actress in Love in the Galaxy that played the role of Niao friend that became her sister in law.

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Watch it for Zhao Lu Si

This show suffered from being too long and shifting gears midway through the episodes. I'll address each separately.

The first part of the show was so funny! Zhao Lu Si has absolutely the best comedic timing and a smile that would light up a town. I liked the character of the FL. She wasn't portrayed as stupid or clumsy or stalkerish (except when she was trying to win a bet). She didn't put up with stuff from anyone, including the multiple annoying females. Really, was every female in love with ML? I was thinking that this would be a different type of historical drama. I don't care for palace intrigues so much.

ML and FL were absolutely precious together. One of the obvious plusses of this show was the healthy relationship between the ML and FL. They were evenly matched. She didn't shy away from physical affection. That said, the kisses were pretty bad, and I didn't actually feel the chemistry between them, though they were fun to watch.

The second couple was cute to watch, though initially I found him very irritating.

HOWEVER, the second half of the drama became a palace intrigue-fest, with a would-be suitor that wouldn't take no for an answer "I'll save your father if you marry me", multiple bad guys, framing people for crimes, killing off people, dungeons, etc.

I would say, watch it for Zhao Lu Si. She never disappoints. The women's clothes and intricate hairstyles were nice too. Personally, I don't find the men with the long hair and weird sideburns attractive, but that's just me.

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Fine

Start was good ,entery of leads increase the interesting level ,the male lead show the attitude while listened her name and then came out if the carriage and the way he talked to her ,I thought there some story in between them because the way he react when listened her name . Then the male lead' parent fixed his marriage ,so very start of the drama introduced his fiancee . All these increase the interest that we were going to have some secrets ,some love rivalry and from female lead side also she had one male best friend who loved her but she saw him as just friend. So all these were little intersting . But story didn't go well ,little disappointed with it . Because after few episodes the male lead fall for her ,I expect more from the story and his character was tough and discipline one but when he fall for her and after confessed his love for her ,he attitude become soft which I don't like. I want his arrogant type of attitude . Starting half way was good ,there were some funny scenes also but second half of the story was bored .

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It is not as shi.tty as many writes

Firstly, Zhao Lu Si series..... alot of humorous, cheeky and adorable scenes. I do have fondness of watching both Zhao Lu Si and Xu Kai Cheng's series but somehow, both of them together as a couple doesn't really sit right for me (personal opinion). They do not really match as a pair - compared to all the other series I watched of the both of them individually. Nonetheless, they did a good job together in this series. One is all seriousness, no nonsense and sometimes abit aloof while the other is constantly bubbly, cheeky and lively. Watching both of them together in this series can be quite amusing.

The other casts all did a very good job. Including Ren Hao as Zhao Lu Si's childhood bestie and "sweetheart". Yes, there are many talks about how his possessiveness sort of ruined the show, however not every show / series are meant to be a rose garden. Some reflects on real life too. His character's possessiveness isn't something new in real life either. There are some crazies, both male and female, that do not know the borderline whatsoever when in love with another person. I do not think that it is a reason for people to shoot down the series. Yes, the drama of it in this series is quite tiring and annoying ... heck you would also be tired out and annoyed if it happens to you in real life. I wouldn't just shelf something over a tiny detail.

I find that this series, excluding the "drama" is actually quite good. All the casts did a very good job acting in this series. And this series is good because being a first female in school during ancient times is very very hard to come by. Many can really just dream about it or learn in secrecy. Therefore, to be given a chance to enter school to study and go thru the examinations is no small feat. So I find this series a good 1st watch. Whether you find fit to rewatch, well that is entirely up to you personally.

Not all the music paired with this show is to my liking but there is some really nice tracks for this series.

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Historical story promoting equality for women

This is the first Chinese drama where I see where equality for women is being pursued and supported. Liked (1) the way one needs to think of solutions to overcome problems by the ML and FL. (2) the many funny scenes (3) shows how one can feels growing up not being loved by a family (4) nice costumes (5) a nice story with everything .. fun, great friendship, suspense, love and a lot of forgiveness. The acting by ALL were good too (1) FL was feisty (2) ML was cool but indulgent to his loved one (3) 2ML obsession with the FL and his behavior towards life due to his upbringing. It was a happy experience watching this light comedy plus the BTS were hilarious.

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I felt bad for the first one!

Rosy Zhao who plays Sang Qi is a very good actress, but her best performance for me is the "Long Ballad".
Xu Kai Cheng who plays Yan Yun Zhi was okay, I really don't have an honest opinion on him as I haven't seen any of his acting skills except one other and I was not really that impressed with the storyline.

Ren Hao whose character is Zhuo Wen Yuan, I kind of felt sorry for him, the character that is. I don't think he was evil in the beginning but became extremely bad when Sang Qi fell in love with Yan Zhi. He honestly loved Sang Qi. I don't like how the storyline took this character.

The visuals were good, and the martial art was excellent... didn't care too much for the storyline but it did keep my focus because of Ren Hao and Rosy Zhao. Thanking all the support and quest cast. I loved the children in the beginning. I did love the red/black historic costumes. Please, don't make the horses look too fake.

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I gave this drama a try for Zhao Lusi. I loved the leads but story was bad! Too much focus on the second male lead aka the bad guy... The development of the story is way too slow!

I also thought it was going to be a cute lighthearted drama about their academic adventure between the leads but dont let that fool you. There is more... female lead wants to fulfill her brother's last wish of going to the academy. There she meets the male lead who is like the dean/teacher there. Her brother and the male lead were good friends and he wanted to find out the reason behind his death. Basically from the start of the drama to the end of the drama they are solving this mystery as who is the evil mastermind/people group who does illegal things like sell salt etc.

Too much limelight is given to the second male lead. He is revealed as the bad guy who has an evil aunt as the emperor's concubine, Like they portray him very innocent and having a crush on the female lead... and suddenly they introduce the aunt and he becomes evil . What piss me off is that he tried to sacrifice her. Like if she doesnt like me then nobody can have her. I would hope he would change and give up his ways for her but he didn't. He got a lot of the time and i didnt like that.

The leads figured out the second lead was evil towards the end ( which in my opinion was kinda late)

The cute parts between the leads is in the beginning half. Zhao Lu si has chemistry with all her co star! She is seriously so cute! They are a cute couple, wish they had more time together...

I skipped a lot of parts, I made it to the end. It doesnt develop well. If you are a fan of Zhao Lusi I dont think you'll mind this drama!

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Plot Twist after Plot Twist after Plot Twist but Predictable

I love how light this drama was but I got tired with its endless “predictable plot twists” towards the end.

The story was okay but got dragged towards the end. The plot could’ve been done better. I hope they just do it with 24 episodes.

The special effects were bad in some parts especially that one scene in the last episode. If you finished the drama, you know what I’m talking about. It’s so obvious! Epic fail.

I love the casting. I’m a big fan of Zhao Lusi so I enjoyed her performance here. I have no complaint. Sang Qi is so dumb but I loved it!

I liked Xu Kaicheng in Well Intended Love but honestly, at some parts I can’t sense the chemistry between them. I perceive him as a big brother for Zhao Lusi lol. I mean, I’ve seen other dramas where the ML was a teacher but still the chemistry was okay, here was kinda off. And at times, I hate it when Xu Kaicheng was making strange expressions. I can’t describe it. I just cringe everytime he does that. Going back to the chemistry, to be fair, some of their scenes had spark but still, not okay to me overall.

I’m so happy to see Ao Rui Peng here! I love him in Poisoned Love! I hope he will have a drama with Zhao Lusi in the future! They really have good chemistry!

Other cast was okay but didn’t focus on them that much.

The best thing about this the drama are the OSTs! Omg! I can’t describe how addicted I am with the OSTs especially the one in the opening credits. I usually skipped opening credits in other dramas, but this is the first time I didn’t skip the opening credits in a drama.

Overall, it was good. Nothing really special about it and it’s okay for one-time watch.

If you’re into light dramas with cute cast and happy ending and didn’t care much with its predictable storyline then it’s for you.

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A very easy, low angst historical drama rom-com.

I only picked up this drama because of Zhao Lu Si, she’s one of my top favorite C drama actresses, she’s best in A love Like Galaxy and Who Rules the world. I really love her bubbly personality and how she truly eats on camera (it makes a difference!).

The ML, Xu Kai was really good in Novoland, Pearl Eclipse and Well Intended Love 2, but for some reason, I thought he was just okay in A Female Student Arrives at the Imperial College. I do like that the ML was comical and had array of emotions (not the typical stoic cold face) but I didn’t feel any chemistry between him and the FL.

I thought the drama was very easy to watch. The angst was low and it’s 100% comical from start to finish. Usually I’m not too fond of funny historical dramas, but this one really puts a smile on your face. I didn’t binge watch the series though because at times I did find the pacing a little slow or I didn’t care for the storyline.

I liked the first portion of the drama best, where the FL was attending school and she was getting into school antics. Eventually they do graduate and the plot is focused more on the main storyline, which to be honest, I wasn’t truly interested in.

Towards the end, in very C drama fashion, it gets a little over-the-top and crazy, but it did pump up the angst if you were looking for that.

Overall, if you like historical drama rom-coms or love the actors, then this one is an easy one to watch.

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Funny .... & Comedy

So this drama was really funny and comedic ... I watched this because of the mean leads ...

The plot is rather simple and straightforward, the villain is revealed to the viewers very early in the story, Zhao Lusi is still Zhao Lusi – silly and cute, and the story is non-original with the-hero-gets-the-girl-and-the-bad-guy-vanquishes. In other words, it’s cliché and tropey. Nonetheless, I find Zhao Lusi’s cuteness irresistible. ... Having said that I do feel the pairing up between Lusi and Xu Kai cheng were not compatible to say the least ... for me I found him a bit more mature for the whole Lusi role, and I just could not get the two of them together.

The drama itself was comical, and story line was good. the acting was okay ... It is one of those easy watch drama with zero expectations of what is really gone, the villain is known really early in it so you can just watch for the sake of it.

Overall: Its not a bad watch just don't have to much of an expectation with it.

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