This review may contain spoilers
Editors Chopped This Sh*t Up! And Youku Gave The Final KO.
I honestly feel that all the other fantasy dramas of 2022 have got to thank the editors of this drama for giving them a chance. For those that don’t know and are just reading the editing is bad, the show lost 11 episodes to pass the censorship review that all cdramas must undergo; taking it from 36 episodes to 25.
That’s a lot of content lost. Most of the first part of the story is gone as well as the last part. This means the setup is awkward and so is the end, and only a severely edited middle is left.
The usual answer to this usually to re-edit but a re-edit seems to require another review and in the current precarious climate, it’s possible a show already on thin-ice due to a scandal and some of the show’s content didn’t want to risk potentially not passing the review at all and decided to air as-is, which gives us the current version of SJFY.
So what’s wrong?
It’s obvious from the start there’s been more than one editor. Scene quality is random - some scenes/sequences are high quality and some no better than home video. Post production is also high and low suggesting that the scandal may have affected post production as well, especially if the later editor had to use raw footage.
The biggest loss with the edits, however, seems to be to the characters themselves. Very few of the main characters have full storylines. Only the vice couple seems to have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Ye Lingshuang/Bai Lu and Yu Xiuming originally had an enemy to lovers storyline but 95% of the revenge angle has been cut. To make this work, many of PXR’s scenes were either cut, rearranged out of order, or redubbed. This has led to a character with fragmented motivations and to some viewers, a mediocre performance. However, the fault in this also seems to lay with the editor/post production as the BTS videos have several powerful scenes of PXR’s acting and yet those scenes either didn’t make into the drama or the post production doesn’t keep up.
Yi Wuyou has it even worse. His scenes have been cut to the point that he is more of a cameo role rather than the lover who turns into an enemy like marketing suggests. When he does appear, he has also been redubbed and his appearance is so small in the drama that it feels unfair to judge him because there isn’t much to judge.
These cuts heavily damaged the interrelationship between the two and greatly weakens the love triangle Youku sold. Viewers might have gotten by on the main leads love line which is very good but most of the more passionate moments between the leads have been cut down or deleted as well to a point that has led to complaints throughout the show.
So what works?
The main leads chemistry is the key driver for the story. They may not seem a match at first glance, but their acting makes it easy to fall for their relationship which despite the cuts, is very well done. Its step by step and slow burn nature may not appeal to an audience used to hot and heavy sensuality but the gradual process of the leads love story feels the most realistic out of the many Cdramas I’ve watched over the years and as a viewer, there is a sense for why they fall for each other and that the years between them are quiet. They’re quite addicting and the lack of scenes between them makes every interaction feel precious and I’ve actually rewatched their scenes together several times.
It’s also a relatively healthy relationship considering the trope and in comparison to other dramas. Yu Xiuming, the male lead, is emotionally intelligent and values the female lead for her intelligence. From the beginning, there’s a constant sense of him guiding Yezi to be a better version of herself. Yu Xiuming also walks the talk as Yezi’s protector and actually protects/saves Yezi throughout the show. And, Yezi challenges Yu Xiuming and while some viewers may not like her decisions or opinions, it shows that she’s got a mind of her own within the relationship.
The other thing that works is the acting. Feng Shaofeng’s veteran acting skills bring Yu Xiuming to life with a delicacy not often seen in fantasy Cdramas. And PXR, when her scenes, haven’t been butchered, is able to keep up. They both bring characters who are as interesting to watch alone as they are together. The older cast members such as Minister Fan and Minister Jie also deliver stable performances. The actor who plays Cheng Wu is also a delight.
The music although not profound is very good and suitable for the show. The opening song is especially pretty.
The costumes and sets are also nice, although some of PXR’s most beautiful sets, the empress sets, did not make it into the show. But the costumes and sets that did make it, have their own flavour and fit the star theme threaded throughout the show. In my opinion many of the complaints about the quality of them actually seem to be filter issues.
Finally, in the scenes/sequences that seem to be the original cut (One way to check is the filter. The better scenes usually have a blue or golden filter), the cinematography, shots, and acting are really well done. Hence my early comment about the other shows of 2022. Just from these few shots, the quality feels high. You have great acting, good chemistry, good cinematography, decent script and plot, novel pairing, interesting concepts, and a good flow. It feels like a properly thought out grown folks fantasy in those moments and those moments, despite its cuts, make it the only fantasy drama I’ve felt excited to watch this year. Based off these few good scenes, it really feels like if the show maintained the same level of quality throughout, then SJFY would have definitely have been a heavyweight contender this year. Believing this, I can only hope that the audience will one day get to see a more complete version.
Giving this a 9.5 cause they did cut down on Yebei towards the end and that deserves a star on its own.?
Was this review helpful to you?
Not happy with this one!
What can I say? Not a big hit for me. Both ML and FL are great performers but their acting couldn’t pull this off no matter how good they were. The story wasn’t consistent, had many plot holes and ultimately a rushed ending. The leads fell in love but I couldn’t understand when. The FL had powers but you never really see them. Powers were sealed but no one knows why! They were unsealed, no one knows when. I’m really not sure what the story was about. Really!!!Not a rewatch for me.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Drama with a mainly positive tone
Just finished this drama and would like to leave a review. I liked the idea, kind of different than other C-dramas plots. The tone which is set by creators is a positive one, as well. This way, it also differs from other dramas massively fighting for revenge.Genre is fantasy mixed with costume and wuxia. Can well be classified as romance with comedy elements, phischological (FL falls in heavy obsession for a some episodes), political, military stategies, occult.
The drama has attracted seasoned actors and actresses that have done a very good jobs portraying complex layers in their charachters.
I read that this drama has been cut by editors. Well, can you agree with me that 25 episodes are better for the audience compared to 65, for example? As written in the Bible: "When words are many, transgression is not lacking".
I also read that the deleted parts refer to FL hating ML for the end of her best friend Princess Rui. However, from the final version, Princes Rui's death was not caused by the Emperor, so it may be the FL BayLu's perception of the situation.
In this, revenge would be out of the logic of the story tale and would appear as something just to cause additional tension between the main leads and to be a reason of dragging of the story forever.
Apart from the occult scenes, it can be said that this drama employs beautiful scenes, costumes, scenery. The drama has attracted very beautiful/handsome actors and actresses acting in the series. The chemistry between the main leads is undesputable. Feng Shao Feng and Peng Xiao Ran have really presented a very realistic couple inter-actions. One more thing I would like to note regarding Peng Xiao Ran. This is the second drama I watch with this actress and cannot skip saying she is very suitable in roles of a noble girl from nomadic tribes. She also looks beautiful on a horse-back and the tribal costume fits her very well. Also, her appeareance and constumes bring to me certain resemblence with Eva Green from the epic Sir Ridley Scott's movie Kingdom of Heaven https://screenrant.com/eva-green-kingdom-of-heaven-directors-cut-improves-character/
The quality of SJFY production is mainly good.
Though The Director of SJFY may not have done the best job - or can it be that production was started by one Director and finished by a different person with completely different idea of the overall story.
Overall, it can be true that the drama is underrated. There is something I do not understand - what is the reason behind the so many episodes in the c-dramas? Are actors and all production staff paid for quantity or for quality? Please comment if you know, as in my view this concise version can actually be better than something draggy.
Was this review helpful to you?
Lost on Poor execution !
The core idea was great. Production was amazing except the VFX/effects, which btw s**ks. They dubbed for the ML! Why ??ML is an amazing actor but I felt bad for his voice double. Many area had editing issues like scene direction fell odd. Some times the flow broke and the drama end 10 min was like mash up of 3 - 4 episodes. Overall satisfaction is very low.
I gave 7.5 because of the production and casting. It is still amazing that with such a cast, production and story they did such a sub par job. The most poor aspect was the VFX which was so bad that I wanted to drop this series in the beginning. You will feel such amazing potential in the first few episodes and with each episode they systematically destroy that presumption. The whole story could be done in a few episodes. In the climax, they complied few episodes to the last 10 min.
What could have been ended up like this.
Was this review helpful to you?
Wish it was better
I was excited to see this show with these expectations:- The FL is the same one from Goodbye My Princess and she is a pretty good actress and beautiful.
- It seemed to have the initial vibes of Goodbye My Princess and as some of the discussion postings had mentioned, she kinda wears the same sort of outfits and the tribe/kingdom she belongs to gives off the same vibes YAAASSSSS!!!
- Morally grey emperor ML with complex motivations and dysfunctional love for the FL
- It seems to have a compelling SML that one could root for and while I'm not fond of love tris, a good well told and well done angsty love tri is enjoyable.
The costumes and sets are excellent; the FL is lovely but she is underutilized in this drama. It seems to have missed the mark, some of the reasons so far:
- Cheesy Special Effects and Action sequences, the Wolf King scene was extra corny.
- Sismance between FL and Princess was two dimensional and could have been developed better instead of just a plot device to lead up to FL being held hostage by the ML.
- The pairing of the FL to the emperor was mismatched, the chemistry between them was lacking and it was hard to feel vested in the development of the relationship between them.
- The acting is kinda off and not that great. Several of the actors and actresses seem to be just reading their lines and going through the motions, they were stiff.
- The SML has good visuals, his character wasn't written well and as a viewer you can't quite connect with his character. Nothing on the actor himself, the script itself could do with some improvement.
-The editing and the way the scenes transitioned were kind of abrupt, it didn't have a smooth quality to it.
Did not want to give up on this too early but after 17 episodes I decided I couldn't go on with it and dropped it.
Was this review helpful to you?
The Leads Made the Show
Oh boy. This show was by no means the worst I’ve ever seen but I only kept watching because I LOVED the ML and FL. They were so so so much fun to watch. There were other fun characters and really enjoyable moments in general. But the leads made it a good show.The very end was kind of anticlimactic but I think it’s because I did not realize the whole point of the show was about this one thing (until the end). But now it makes sense. Lol!
I liked the costumes and the music.
Ps there was a whole plot they totally forgot to go back to.
Was this review helpful to you?
The more you watched,the more confusing it gets??
A perfect example of good actors cant save a drama, or story ,they really did their best but... It just didnt help the drama all.Never watched a drama that was so incompete,it was butchered to bits with plenty parts removes from it? ,as in every hole you can think of loop hole,pot hole,shallow and deep hole all in one drama .... Bai liu's celestial powers was sealed,did she unseal it,when? Dont get me started about the ending,haba nau! What was that??
On a better note,the ML and FL chemistry was good,saw the hate to love from the FL and the mature show of affection from MlL,their bickering was not long and annoying but fun to watch,the flow was good,2nd lead Couple was also good, they had a better plot/end than the main lead Couple,they also did welll,Minster Fan also tried his best ?,he was one the reasons i watched to the end,would have dropped a long time ago,all the actors did well
Drama setting was nicely done ,i loved those dragon pillars ,they were very imposing, was expecting them to come to life when the emperor was fighting,like protect the king ?,then the office of astrology ,was beautiful
Costume was colourful and beautiful from yebei to tianqi,nothing too heavy for the army.
This would have been a good drama with 30episodes ,but instead gave us 25 scattered episodes,a waste of good acting.?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
What is this?!
I actually really enjoyed this drama but the last few episodes killed it for me. The storyline and plot was pretty ok- nothing too deep or crazy but it wasn’t bad. But for 25 episodes it was lacking MAJOR character backstories/storylines.The main leads chemistry is the only thing they got right. I saw a lot of complaints about the “age gap” between FL and ML but I mean it actually makes sense! Obviously the ML was older by quit a bit- it took him 10 years to unite all of the 9 lands- not counting the time it took him to go from commoner to general so he was at least 30+ when the storyline started, most likely closer to 40+. The FL was obviously MUCH younger- especially considering that she was older then Rui by 4 years and Rui was still considered a child- barely stepping into adulthood. Which was the norm back in the ancient world, especially when it came to royalty. They balance each other and push each other to grow.
For me the music- or lack thereof ruined so much ruined so much. There were a few scenes that were meant to be impactful and powerful but they fell soooo short! Music is what often gives the perception of the seriousness or the importance of the scene. Instead the moments that were supposed to be most memorable were memorably disappointing. For example: Yu Wuyou gathering the clans together and uniting them or the final battle- they’re supposed to be such a powerful moment but the music is literally at the level equivalent to a kid playing a recorder- annoying, irritating, ill fitted and ill played.
I already mentioned at the beginning the plot was actually pretty good, so what was the problem with it later on? In the last few episode, there is a portion about time travel where the ML travels back in time to save Rui. When both her and the emperor travel back, they both managed to change the outcome. She becomes the chosen bride for the emperor and sets off with him. Rui doesn’t leave her tribe/home. But due to infighting, she still dies, and so do a lot of her tribesman. But there is no confrontation between Chao and Yerebe, the ML actually goes out to save them because he knows how important Rui is to the FL. That means that there is no conflict between the ML and the people of the FL, he never banished them or enslaves them instead he’s offering protection to those left. That would also mean that the FL become the empress shortly after they arrive at the city, she does not enter the astrology department and that changes the whole plot. Instead they build it up to this and then forget all about it. Which makes absolutely no sense and feels like a total waste of time.
Now let’s talk about the other 2 issues: FL celestial power and Yu Wuyou.
According to the plot the FL has her celestial powers locked at 10 due to seeing visions of the future, they’re usually negative. So she has her powers sealed and gets the reputation of being “cursed” in her tribe. Help me make sense of this- her father is a deer as well and is more or less a magician, meaning he has similar gifts since he was able to foretell her destiny and some of the other events. Yet he encourages the hate of her tribe against her? It’s makes no sense! If she was the only one like that in her tribe, that would make sense but she’s not and her own father hold a high position so all of her powers should be nurtured instead by him. Even with that aside she later unlocks her powers and they make it pretty clear that prior to that when her powers were sealed she couldn’t use them at all, yet they also make a point that she only made it into the astrology department due to them- while they were still sealed? And all of a sudden once they’re unsealed she just doesn’t use them and lets events occur that are pointless or which for she has no anticipation for?
Now my biggest bone to pick- Yu Wuyuo. He’s actually the most interesting character- he has the background, history and goals to have been one of the most memorable. He is the only prince left of the Winged Clan that meet the FL after the fall of his clan and spends significant time in her tribe and with her. The backstory of him and the Winged Clan alone could have carried this drama if they writers did a good job- they didn’t. It’s based in a fantasy world where they have the Winged Clan and other unique clans. They could have shown the backstory of Yu Wuyou and build it up to why he hates the emperor and build up the love story between him and the FL- they didn’t. That made the storyline pretty empty, especially considering that he’s the only one going against the ML! He falls in love with her during his stay- he falls in love with a “cursed girl” (FL) , him and Rui are the only 2 people that are actually the FL friends and that even interact with her. She obviously got bullied badly by the members of her tribe so it would have made sense to show maybe how he protected or stood up for her, in general more interactions between the two of them. It would have even made sense if she was in love with him or had a huge crush on him or even if they were engaged and when the whole marriage selection happened he was away and that’s what spurred his hatred towards the ML and the start of his rebellion. Instead we get TWO flashbacks, all with Rui. Yes she’s important for the whole while she’s there but she doesn’t FIT the narrative in what they use the flashbacks for.
Now the issue with how much they missed with the Winged Clan- they have WINGS. It would make sense if their cities were build on mountain peaks- it would have been really incredible to see. They would have also had mages/arrays protecting it since magic and arrays exist and YW is clearly knowledgeable. So how did they lose the war with the ML? What if the other Winged tribes? Was the spear damaged during that war? Also how in the world are there members of the winged clan serving as the ML captain of the secret guard and yet have no restrictions- like the moon spell that is suppose to affect anyone that’s not loyal to the clan?
Now the most disappointing part- THE FINAL BATTLE. It’s so badly written!! YW partners with FN to kill the emperor. Their biggest advantage is aireal battle due to their wings and the spear. So an attack would have made sense if they attacked from the sky directly where the ML was. Instead they WALK in and trudge all over the palace. And THEN YW and ML fight INSIDE. YW has to be an idiot to do that! His biggest advantage is his wings so why in the world would he take up fighting in the throne room that has a bunch of giant pillars and limit his mobility? Or why would he have his wings opened if he’s not using them during the fight and ends up clipping them against the pillars? Or better yet why does he receive a critical hit on his left shoulder/upper chest- whats critical there- nothing for a normal human but is there something critical for the winged tribe????? At worst it’s a bad injury but it kills him-what????
How badly YW character was written was honestly the biggest loss- he was hands down one of my most favorite characters in through the whole 23/24 episodes and they ruined him at the end.
Was this review helpful to you?
Just bad directing and bad story-line and treatment.
I watched this because of Peng Xiaoran. Glad that I discovered Zhu Zhengting. My star goes to the costume, OST, and good looking cast.However story and directing wise not much of an impact. The story lack of emotional grasp on audience. Story-line can be draggy and repeating the same cycle and here and there it's tiring. Lack of intuitive detail in the drama but too much boasting ego of ML it's eye rolling. and then emotion sprung from out of nowhere for supporting characters who we didn't even have the chance to get close before or have emotional empathy how are we going to feel for that character.
2nd half of the drama is just trash. Weak personality from characters and they are hard to relate to. Not to mention the lack of chemistry between actors. The age gap between the ML and FL he could be her father it is so cringe to watch their romance.
I'm glad it's only 25 episodes.
Just bad directing and bad story-line and treatment.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
its one the best C drama in this November
the show is very entertaining and the chemistry for THE ML and the FL is so lovely and cute. though the show is a bit wavy as some episodes are very dull and boring but it picks up eventually. I am in episode 8 now and cant wait for the Eng. sub of the next episodes to watch. i want to know what the king would do about the FL betrayal and how the situation would be handled. i love how smart she is and how ruthless the king is which is what made him so successful. i also love how she understands her boundaries and hardly oversteps them. I cant wait for them to fully express their feelings to each other and also to find out what really happened to her best friend as well.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I feel like I have wasted my time watching these 7 episodes, I have suffered enough pain. There is no structure to this drama at all. The drama is honestly just crashing on Peng Xiaoran’s popularity after “Goodbye my Princess”. You can see the costumes are very similar yet even the base of the story is similar to Dong Gong.The biggest complaint I have is the cast. Now I think it’s the age gap between the two leads that male it very hard to continue to keep watching. Um like 12 years, really, I don’t know what’s going on in Chinese dramaland nowadays. I would have shipped Peng Xiaoran with the second male lead.
This is just a no for me, I wish I didn’t continue to watch this drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
