Love Like the Galaxy: Part 1 (2022)

what it means to love and be loved

while watching part 1 I kept thinking how much it reminded me of the story of minglan. lo and behold I come to find the author of the novel this drama is based on is the same as that of the story of minglan. so so if you liked that, you'll like this and vice versa.

that being said, this drama is a slice of life with a government plot line in a romance story. I say slice of life because its a really good view on what it meant to walk through life in the period the story takes place. as such it takes on a thicker overall tone compared to many other Chinese dramas.

this is only the first half of the drama, and it beautifully shows you these characters who - even if they aren't shown frequently - all clearly have a rich history in their life that have contributed to how they become as individuals. the overall theme is essentially love. both having it and the lack thereof; both giving it and withholding it.

the characters develope with every anecdote, every family crisis, and every national event and the changes are subtle but of have weight. what I appreciate is that even though the characters change and grow, they don't feel as though they have become different people - they are still very much themselves.

while our main character is "not like other girls" she is still clearly flawed. and no, not flawed because she's uneducated and basically illiterate. even with an education she would probably still be a trouble maker, as its clear she has a perfect blend of both her parents traits. it's a good contrast to minglan, who was docile and secretly a genius at scheming. niao niao is quite intelligent herself, but extremely outspoken and quite ill mannered.

yall just gotta watch this drama.

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Really good

Season 1 (episodes 1-27) had slow start. It took a whopping six episodes for Shaoshang and Ling Buyi to finally meet face to face. Before that, nothing was happening aside from Shaoshang showing absolute disdain towards everything and acting like a spoiled brat. She was supposed to be a neglected and abused teenager who was left as a baby with her relatives while her parents served in a war. The writers didn't do a really good job flushing her out her character at the beginning. She stumbled between being portrayed as a neglected teen to acting very whiny and entitled. In every scene she would go out of her way to act out and complain about everything, instead of trying to reconnect with her parents. Fortunately, the writers didn't let her fester into an unlikable shrew and her character development picked up nicely. It turned out she loved to learn about how things worked. She was very sympathetic to other people problems. And she was a great problem solver.

Her mother's actions were very confusing. For someone who was a seasoned general, mom showed extreme shortsightedness when it came to parenting. She knew very well about her daughter's accomplishments, but instead of looking at the big picture and appreciating the fact that Shaoshang did not grow up to be shallow and spoiled, mom always fixated on her daughter's smaller problems - a lack of education and etiquette. Mom's inconsistency showed even more during Shaoshang's engagement. She did not want the marriage with Lou Yao because he was unintelligent, weak, and wasn't able to protect Shaoshang. Mom also picked up on the fact that Ling Buyi liked her daughter. However, when Ling Buyi proposed, mom immediately put her daughter down to be some awful and unintelligent simpleton who was unworthy of anything. It was no wonder Shaoshang wanted to get away from that house. The icing on the cake was mom's favoritism towards the cousin, instead of trying to reconnect with her daughter.

I really wanted to see the mom and daughter's relationship grow where Shaoshang realized that her mom wanted to prepare her for the adult life and teach her how to navigate society. In return, mom would realize that Shaoshang was a very special and beautiful person and finally got over her fixation on Shaoshang's upbringing. There were some very good moments where I thought mom and daughter would finally grow close - the one where mom slapped one of the ladies at Lou Yao's house. But then there was the scene with Lin Buyi's proposal where mom was a total let down.

The way the Cheng family was portrayed as a "military" family was odd. General Cheng was a general, just like Ling Buyi. But General Cheng didn't seem to have any kind of influence or power at all. At 21, Ling Buyi had an awful lot of power and influence, and even an army to command. General Cheng was nowhere on that level even thought he spent his entire life fighting and was at least twice as old as Ling Buyi. The only person who seemed to have any kind of military discipline in the Cheng family was mom. The two brothers, who were with the parents when they were away, acted like spoiled and pampered aristocrats, instead of military children. They also looked like they never handled a weapon in their lives.

Some storylines needed serious cropping, like the very long engagement to Lou Yao that wasn't going to work out anyway. Shaoshang and Ling Buyi playing catch up with each other could've been sped up a little bit too. I wanted to see more of them hang off the roof together instead of watching Lou Yao bringing her snacks.

There were also some very great scenes showing the build-up of Shaoshang and Ling Buyi relationship. The scene where she pulled an arrow out of his chest was hot and very intimate.

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zhao Lusi slays once again

Came for Zhao Lusi's wonderful acting.
Stayed for the romance.
It's quite a riveting story.


Cons:
The fourth consort's daughter's husband's nephew's wife, prince of X, and cousin on the maternal side, who is the assistant to the Marquis. That's pretty much one character out of the 50 they reference. Could NOT keep them straight. ERgo, couldn't follow the mystery and deep secret part. Like it anyway but it was exhausting trying to pay attention, stop to google the character names only to come up empty handed. Still enjoyed it.

Note;
These are not discreet war scenes. there is quite a bit of gore. Be prepared if you don't like that stuff.

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Most underwhelming series, after The Story of Minglan

This one and The Story of Minglan, of 2018, have the same original author. However, what a huge difference screenwriters and directors make ... The Story of Minglan was a rich tapestry of characters and story lines that put that production in a class of its own. Superb! 'while this Love like the Galaxy, of 2022, was one is a pain to watch. Other than superb acting, everything was underwhelming. Soooo, so lacking. Sooo, so schematic that it was painful to watch the poor actors delivering so well on skinny characters which had nothing to deliver other than cheesy monologues; horibile sound track, with tunes which sounded like free downloads from the Internet, and the list can go on. I give a ten for perfect make up. And a 20, again, to the wonderful Chinese actos. But other than that: a pain to watch and see what botched job poor screenwriters and directors can do from work originally created by a very good writer.

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Masterpiece. Period.

I could write so many things about this Cdrama, acting, costumes, sceneries, the amazing storytelling. It make your heart beat like crazy in every single episode, to the point I don't get that its not rated with a 10 ⭐ with white flags already.!!! The only negative is the release of the episodes... so slow, not enough. Leading actors absolutely mesmerising and with a huge chemistry between them. I'm currently in episode 12 and I can tell that my heart will break with this love story before we witness the happy ending of their story. Overall I think its a masterpiece of its kind.

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Update: It gets better starting with episode 6. At first, it was bad!

Although, I genuinely like the male lead actor, I was disappointed to see him play the male lead character. To be honest, as of episode 3 I don't think he is doing as good of a job as he did in his prior historical dramas. Not bad, but not great either. I believe this drama would have been better if they casted an actor between the ages of 30-45 (this doesn't mean the character has to be the same age), with phenomenal acting experience in political based historical dramas.

While the storyline is good, the script and production is lacking. What I mean is, in episode 1 the male lead and the army won a war and the first thing he does after returning home (well, waiting outside of the gate) was to leave and investigate a case. The political plot in the first 10 episodes, felt rushed, and unrealistic; it was as if they were looking for a way to find a quick way for the female and male lead to link up with one another. Also, there was no significant moment shown to us to explain why the male lead character liked the female lead character.

Next, the female lead characters mom, hadn't seen her daughter since she was a baby, and instead of embracing her with love, she embraced her with rules that could have waited until she started spending good quality time with her daughter. For goodness sake, she heard that her daughter often was starved by her grandmother and aunt. Additionally, at one point, she was left to die outside of their town. The mother's behavior is not endearing but it seems very cold, and harsh. Her character is enough to make me want to drop this drama. I'm hoping that the writer allow her character to develop.

If the script, acting, and mothers' character doesn't improve by episode 6, I'm going to drop this drama! Note: The mom's character doesn't become tolerable until episode 20.

Update:
You will start to like this drama by episode 6. Things definitely make a turn for the better. However, I still don't like the male lead character storyline. It seems unrealistic. Additionally, the actor is overacting.

My favorite episode was episode 15. I hate the political plot because it's not logical nor is it well written. However, the female lead character storyline is pretty good. Additionally, the female lead actress did a phenomenal job acting, as well as the actor who plays Yao. Kudos!

I'm currently watching episode 21, and when I see the male lead character, I sigh due to disappointment. UGHHHHH WHYYYYY I don't know if it is because of his character, or the actor, or both! Btw, who else is sobbing after watching episode 21? Where's my tissue? Also, episode 24 (towards the end) is the only time that I liked the male lead actor and character in this drama. Unfortunately, the mom in this drama reminds me of the relationship that I had with my mom. My mom has narcissistic personality disorder, and used to belittle me in front of others. So the end of episode 24, definitely was a trigger.

After watching episode 25, I realized that part 1 was focused on the female leads family and part 2 will be focused on the male leads family, and their marriage. I LOVE how the male lead rides (supports) the female lead at Yao's wedding (the end of episode 25). By episode 26, I finally start liking the male lead character (although, I think the actor could have done a better job acting).

The flashbacks at the end of episode 27 was much needed (I forgot how much the leads interacted with one another), and was a perfect way to end season 1. After watching episode 27, I raised my rating from 8.0 to 8.5.

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This is the best drama I have watched in a while!

I am only on episode 12 and will allow that I am checking two or three times daily for previews or further episodes. It is that good. It has everything. A very good story line, a female lead who is more than 2 dimensional and men who are also more sensitive than usual. It has humor, which makes some of the harder themes bearable. The secondary women are also interesting. The mother is a hard ass, not lambastic at all. (The Grandmother and one aunt fill that role..neither will appear in any further episodes as their roles where filling in the backstory. ) The cousin is a wet noodle but good hearted, I think it is the third aunt who plays the role of a kind hearted mother figure to the MF. So, I guess what I am trying to say is that all the main women in this show dominate the screen and is worth watching if for no other reason than that. I am not good at writing reviews, but this show is so good it is a shame no one has done so as yet.

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Family rivalry

I was very excited to start a new ZLS drama since I really liked WRTW, but this one was different... It starts off really slow with the romance. I mean like I'm half way throughout the first part of the drama and I do not see any feelings between the leads. I also do not get how the male lead has feelings for the female lead without interactions. It just seems a bit unrealistic. The drama is actually more focused on family matters than actual romance or at least for what I can see. I feel like there is a lack of suspense as there is any major plot change yet. Despite watching through half of the first part of the drama, I felt like there was not much going on besides family problems. After all the wait, it was a bit of a dissapointment for me. Overall, not the most interesting!

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just gets better

story - to sum it up, the female lead was neglected throughout her child and became rebellious as a result. she loves to play tricks on the people she dislike, but she still has a heart of gold. from what I’ve seen so far, she begins to quickly adapt to a series of tragedies relating to death and war, which is obviously quite shocking and difficult for a young girl. general ling, the male lead, is a stoic character who shows small hints of emotions but never truly opens up (yet). less than 25% of the show has aired but im sure this story has immersed many viewers.

acting/cast - zhao lusi and wulei are young but talented actors. from past films and shows, they’ve displayed a wide range of characters, which is why i knew the acting was going to be top notch. you can quickly sympathize with shaoshang, the female lead, because lusi portrays her sheltered but adventurous character well. since the show hasn’t reached the climax yet, we’ve seen only hints of general ling’s character. however, it becomes apparent that he is slowly opening up to be more than just the cold faced general he’s seen as. many of the comedic moments are carried by the side characters, the expressions in this show just add an entire level of comedy. maybe im sensitive but some of the scenes where the side characters cause misunderstandings and hurt everyone really brings me to tears as well. only 12 episodes in and im attached to all the characters <3

music - i would honestly rate the music a 10/10 but at the moment the show hasn’t reached the climax yet, meaning how the rest of the ost fits the show is unknown. music changes the mood of the show really fast. for a show that has a twist of comedy but also some heart-wrenching scenes, the music is really well-made. i know this show will make me bawl like a baby bc the ending song is so beautifully tragic. looking forward to the rest of the ost as the drama continues airing!

rewatch value - this rating is quite random and technically incorrect since the show is still airing, but it’s based off a prediction. the comedic and lighthearted scenes make you easily attached to the story and the cast, but never forget the first rule of historical cdramas: “if it has over 40 episodes, it will rip your heart to shreds”. you can tell that this show isn’t going to be 100% comedic and the cast has carried out each genre very well. 10/10 for rewatching plot and cute interactions but points deducted bc this drama will most likely make me cry for days straight.

overall - my rating numbers: “10 10 8 8” seem quite simplistic mainly because I’ve never been able to use numbers well to measure a show’s greatness. words do the trick! 12 episodes and im hooked. i usually drop shows not even past the first episode because after watching masterpieces like love and redemption, ashes of love, not many dramas can build up angst properly while still being entertaining. i have great expectations for this drama and so far, they haven’t been let down. to those who can’t stand slowburns: with a great cast and plot, all pain and waiting is worth it! 10/10 recommend. my review after the dramas finished airing is most likely gonna be mainly me sobbing and crying over the tragic moments (56 episode drama definitely means there’s gonna be angst)

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So-so Big Budget Historical Soap Opera with 大木头

It's a so -so story with a big focus on slice of life and family dynamics. It isn't very plot driven, mostly revolves around family issues and romance. The FL has been neglected by her parents due to their responsibilities for the kingdom as military officials which required them to leave their home. The FL is treated poorly by her grandmother and extended family while her parents are away. She is smart and has a strong personality which is great especially when it comes to standing up against people who are bullies. At times I found it to be too impulsive, abrasive, and overdone. I understand it is a part of the story and the novel as the FL is supposed to be fairly young but it was too much at times and it was grating. Her parents played their roles beautifully. The general is stuck between his daughter, wife, and mother; it makes a man want to run and hide from all the drama but the general handles it deftly and with humor. The wife has also been a part of the military campaigns with her husband so she is strong willed and feisty. She clashes with the FL repeatedly and at times is pretty harsh with her treatment of her daughter to rein in her behavior.

The ML was pretty wooden and stiff in his acting abilities, not sure who takes the Big Wooden (大木头) Acting Award for 2022 but he's a top runner for it. His role is to be the good looking stiff cold general ML who keeps saving the FL and has lovey dovey puppy eyes only for her. He was slightly better in his acting in The Long Ballad but he had more chemistry with this FL than the FL in The Long Ballad.

The FL acting is good and she plays the character well. There were repeated references to the FL's extraordinary beauty in the show, from a male perspective I would say she's cute girl next door in terms of looks but not an extraordinary beauty. When the series pushes that narrative to tell you versus to show you, it demonstrates a lack of proper story telling and heavy handed tactics.

Didn't really like the instalove thing with the male suitors, it was too quick with how the ML falls in love with her. Even the SMLs had this instalove thing going with the FL. They meet her for the first time, she solves some puzzle, and BIM BAM BOOM I'm so in love with her and ready to devote myself wholeheartedly? There is a love triangle and reverse harem with her three suitors, it isn't over the top which is good, not big on the love tri and quad thing.

At times it was slow and tested my patience but its watchable for most of the characters. Its a big budget series so the settings, historical costumes, production, editing, and cinematography are excellent.

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