Love Like the Galaxy: Part 1

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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Key episodes review...

Spoilers ahead!!!

Episode 1-14: I hate Niaoniao's mother to the core. She hadn't raised her daughter but she always compares her to her cousin, distrustful of her, and resorts to iron discipline. I mean if you haven't raised your own kid, you will love and make up to her the best way possible. I am a mom of 4, 3 sons and my youngest is a daughter so I am crying for Niaoniao throughout her ordeal with her mother. Her mother always thinks she is right and that she sacrificed for the country without thinking the struggles her daughter went through for years in the hands of the people who hates her. She left her daughter because her in laws said so without fighting for it.

I love her brothers and father. They genuinely adore Niaoniao.

Episode 15: ML, 2nd ML and 3rd ML in one frame. Truth be told I am rooting for Mr. Yuan. The love(one-sided)-hate(mutual) relationship with him and FL is amusing. I adore Yao. He is a kid who admires a girl who is not ordinary. I love that he takes care of Niaoniao and do his best to be by her side. As of Ling Buyi, I am a fan of brooding and strong male lead but maybe because I am not a Wu Lei fan that I don't feel him. My bias is Li Yunrui in this drama. Yeah I watched Blossom before this.

Niaoniao liked the marriage proposal of Yao because he promised they will be equals and will work together in the future. Easier said than done since he is from a noble family. His family is a den of tigers with brutal women.

Third Aunt is my favorite from these episodes. She cares for Niaoniao and understands her which in a small way made up for Niaoniao's lack of motherly love.

Episode 17: Niaoniao finally met her in laws. Her mother, although I hate her did good with showing her the true face of what her marriage will look like in the future.

Episode 20: Shows that Niaoniao got her temper from her mother. They're like peas in a pod. If Niaoniao was raised by her mother, she would be like her mother and not carefree though. But they have the same fiery personality. Although her mother contains it. The last scene was brutal. I would do the same many times over if I am in lady He's shoes.

Episode 22: Yuan needs to change his strategy. He is a tsundere.

Episode 24: That was an intense marriage proposal. A big win to Ling Buyi. Yuan left behind again. Niaoniao's mother humiliating and degrading her in front of the royal family and nobles was harsh and below the belt. Although I understand where she was coming from, it was not necessary for her insults to go that far.

Episode 25: I am giving Ling Buyi 1000 points for defending his future wife. I love it!

Episode 29: The empress is my favorite character of all. Patient and kind. She is what Niaoniao needs. The Emperor is funny too in every scene from ep 1-29.

Episode 34: Another awesome episode. The royal family going to Niaoniao's residence to help her. I love the emperor, empress, and consort Yue. Consort Yue is as nice as the empress.

Episode 37: Shanjian's jealousy was sad. Seeing your love happy with another is heartbreaking. The fifth princess is arrogant but got what she deserves. I was wondering what will happen to her "aides" and was not shocked that they got the death penalty. I mean I was wondering why fifth princess act that way when she has advisors/aides so it's not surprising that they might be the reason why she acts that way.
Personally, I do not like the crown prince to be the emperor. He is weak bordering to cowardness. The third prince is more firm.

Episode 40: Shanjian's mother was perceptive. She knew his feelings for Shaoshang. His refusal to get married because of his parents was understandable. He hides his affection by bickering with her every time. I still root for him for FL.

Episode 41: The crown princess deserves her punishment. She is not fit to be a future empress. Her inferiority complex made her life miserable. She could have just cherished her marriage and improved it but she tormented crown prince former love that caused her and her children's abuse. Unacceptable.

Consort Yue is one tough woman. I like her. The Empress is a very kind and benevolent woman. I love her. The Emperor is funny as always. But out of all the cdramas I watched this was the nicest emperor.

Episode 42-43: Shanjian saving Shaoshang's family and assisting her is commendable. I just hope Shaoshang will treat him better. She always dismisses him.

Ling Buyi knows Shaoshang's thoughts and actions because he is observant of her. Proof of his love.

Episode 45: Wan Qiqi for the win! That was a heartwarming scene. So Shaoshang's twin brother Shaogong divination is accurate.

Episode 48-49: Putting your whole family's life on the line just for a man is dumb. I didn't like what Shaoshang did here. Ling Buyi isn't even worth it. Ling Buyi proposed marriage only to get revenge before the wedding. Double dumb. He just used Shaoshang as a cover in my eyes. I am in episode 49, almost done but I still can't like the ml. And they say Xie Wei from Story of Kunning Palace is red flag but Buyi or Wushang is crazier than him.

Episode 50: And now I am so right with my initial comment that third prince would be a better emperor than the crown prince. He is tough and decisive.

Episode 51: In my mind, Shaoshang called off her engagement with Buyi now Wushang and married Shanjian. -THE END- XD

Now Shaoshang's mother knows the pain of being abandoned and being set aside.

Episode 52: Now everyone is having a good life but Ling Buyi that bastard killed Shaoshang's light.

Episode 53: This was a heartbreaking episode. Empress Xuan was a wonderful woman who filled the mother role in Shaoshang's heart. Meanwhile Shaoshang's mother finally fully understood where Shaoshang felt when she was left for years. I still do not like Huo Buyi.

I've always expected Lady Luo to be a villain. Another fitting end to a villain.

Empress Heng is the toughest woman in this drama. She accepted Empress Xuan for the stabilization of their country. Not anyone can do that.

Episode 54: I cried of her mother and grandmother's regret and redemption. That was a nice scene with her mother.

Finale: My favorite scene was Niaoniao's whole family to the rescue.

Final thoughts:
-Still not a fan of Wu Lei. Chemistry is mid, at best for me. Maybe for others they have great chemistry but I watched a lot of Zhao Lusi drama and she only has in my opinion, great chemistry with her Hidden Love ml and Who Rules the World ml
-Lackluster ending. Too many episodes but where's the grand wedding?!?
-Rigid, almost robotic revenge-centric ML. Red flag all over. Everytime he saves FL, he has an agenda aside. He redeemed himself on the last few episodes but nah, still meh...
-Too many misunderstandings it became boring and repetitive
-I root for Shanjian throughout the drama

What I love about the drama:
-Empress Xuan becoming a foster mother to Shaoshang
-Empress Xuan and Empress Yue's peaceful co existence
-Shaoshang's family especially her brothers and father
-Shanjian
-Huo Buyi's bodyguards especially the talkative Fei
-The villains' fitting ends. That were so satisfying
-Series ending where Shaoshang's family saved her and the Guo villagers

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I feel super late to the party but I just finished part 1 of this! I love Zhao lusi but even then it won't be enough of a reason for me to watch a drama just because she's in it. This was one of those dramas where I didn't have time to watch it when it was airing, so I never ended up watching it and decided to just add it to the to watch list especially once it got really popular. but I felt like I needed to watch something people all praise about and this was definitely one of those dramas. It's been a hot minute since I've watched her actually, and she absolutely steals the show here. Her cleverness, stubbornness, and trouble-making characteristics as shaoshang truly shined through.

The drama definitely starts a little slow on the romance, and I mean truly slow, she was basically engaged to another man for half of the first part. the beginning episodes all start with her life as the uneducated daughter who had an unfortunate upbringing leading her to lack the manners and knowledge of other young ladies in the capital. her parents finally returned after 15 years from when the first abandoned her as a child and the mom seeing her child in this state really disappointed her. it was really heartbreaking to see the mistreatment whenever her mom compared her to her cousin, and it really wasn't her fault she ended up like this. somehow tho the mom decides to not leave an inch of empathy for what happened to shaoshang the first 15 years of her life and is the strictest with her, as if raising a daughter is the same as training a soldier. but where shaoshang lacks in knowledge of great philosophers, disciplines, basic etiquette, she makes up for with her bravery, resourcefulness, and her passion in craftsmanship. it doesn't take long to love shaoshang's character, I mean why else would she have 3 different men wanting to propose to her. the entire drama you're really just hoping she ends up happy and loved and protected. she eventually has her brothers and her father to protect her majority of the time, but what she really wants is for her mother to show her love as it seems the hardest to achieve at the moment. I understand it's hard for a child to understand their parents do what they do for their own good, but it gets to a point people!! she's 15 years old SHES JUST A BABYY.

one of the things I definitely didn't expect was for shaoshang to be engaged to Lou Yao. I really thought she would've kept firm with not reciprocating his feelings but after experiencing a tragedy together I guess that creates a strong bond. they were however in my mind definitely kindred spirits and should've stayed as platonic friends. shaoshang had mistaken their friendship and comfortability from that friendship for love, as she grew up without love and not knowing what it even meant to love someone as family, not to mention romantically. I feel bad he was still forced into a marriage he didn't want at the end, but I can see him and zhaojun eventually becoming a good couple, at least one that respects one another, though I hope their respect can grow into love, not sure if they'll still be mentioned in part 2. now for yuan shuanjian. this man is in love is totally going about it the wrong way. he belittles and makes fun of shaoshang for her character and upbringing - if this was an enemies to lovers and shaoshang was reciprocating that, hey im all for it but you can clearly see she's not having any of this. poor guy has so many ladies after him but has no clue what a lady wants. good thing this man gets his own popular drama later on (I love you li yunrui). MOVING ON to mr ling buyi. now if u asked me at the first half of this part why he's so deeply in love with our fl, I wouldn't know what to tell you. theres a big focus on shaoshang and general ling is a man of few words when it comes to his scenes. in fact I'll be honest, he was really boring to me, and you barely get any scenes of him and shaoshang together until her life is somehow in danger one way or another. it was definitely a bit of a jump between his short interactions with fl and then his sudden care for her. it only got more interesting near the end when he actually had more conversations with shaoshang, especially once she opened up to him. I will say tho it was definitely a red flag of him to ask the emperor to propose for him in front of everyone before even knowing whether or not shaoshang feels the same way towards him. he was basically trapping her in a marriage she didn't want, and it just proves his love for her was surface level and he didn't truly know her yet as a person. if he did he would know shaoshang would never want to be restrained this way, and now that she's involved in the palace, makes me even more worried for what she'll have to endure from this marriage. I do however, appreciate the character growth as he learned to respect shaoshang, showing her she's allowed to live the life she wants instead of having to follow rules. I do understand though, since he grew up in the military and he's always known to follow orders, so he's clearly a man of a strict routine with his life. that's how you get to know how much he likes shaoshang because of her defiance for rules. she's a bright start in his eyes and he truly lights up his life when he's around her. should've known better than to order her around in the beginning, amateur. he's so clueless with his social interactions with her family too, it was a little pathetic ngl, poor guy does not know how to act normal. I hope her family eventually accepts him and treats him like family too, I feel so bad he hasn't grown up in a proper family and I understand how hard it is to see the emperor as his father figure when he's well.. the emperor.

in terms of acing, ms lusi shines here. wu lei on the other hand was a little lacking. everyone else does their respective parts decently. mother was truly infuriating. good on her, I like this actress when she does the mother roles, that's her key thing now. in terms of the plot, I can't say im all that interested in whatever happened to gu city years ago, I think I'll remain more focused on the romance portion. it's definitely a decent drama and has some really funny moments - can't say it lives up to the hype it got though, but we'll see once I finish part two!

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This part of the story surrounds the relationship between mother and daughter.

This part of the story surrounds the relationship between mother and daughter.

Our FL, Niao Niao, is stubborn, rude, and reckless. However, she has an upright mindset that will not allow her or those around her to be mistreated. Her mother, Yuanyi, has a different mindset; she holds the idea of a gentle young woman's behaviour that was popular at the time, “bear with it”. Their different yet similar personalities continually clash, each refusing to relent and understand the perspective of the other. If you think critically while watching the show, you will understand the perspective of both Yuanyi and Niao Niao. Yuanyi has underlying guilt due to the abandonment of her daughter, which results in her being extra firm with her daughter when trying to teach her. It seems she believes that if she can teach Niao Niao to be an upright lady, then I can suppress some of the guilt that she feels for leaving her, which caused her to be uneducated to this degree. Although the show really only shows the perspective of the FL, you will be able to understand the reasoning behind the mother's behavior. However, both refuse to see where they’ve gone wrong. Yuanyi always chooses to see the worst in Niao Niao, leaving her daughter feeling isolated. Despite the continual warnings from almost all the people in her life whom she respects, the mother refuses to see how her behaviour is not benefiting her daughter at all. Niao Niao refuses to see that she is too narrow-minded in how she deals with conflict, often disregarding that her scheme almost always impacts more than just the intended target.

I find that the root cause of their misunderstandings lies in the fact that they do not actually know each other. The show does a good job of showing multiple different mother-daughter relationships, and some mother figures were just as strict as Yuanyi, but none of them are meeting their daughter for the first time in 15 years. Yuanyi’s desire to “fix” Niao Niao before they have even fostered a relationship makes it even harder for them to understand each other's perspectives and motives. However, as this part progresses, we see their walls slowly come down, and they begin to understand each other, without really changing who they are. We see them grow, which is nice to see. Niao Niao becomes more receptive to her mother’s advice, and Yuanyi becomes more willing to defend her daughter by the end of the first part. There is still far for them to go but they are coming along

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Really good

Season 1 (episodes 1-27) had a 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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A bundle of Joy

I liked that this one did not have backstabbing and betrayal by family members. I felt there might be the typical cousin lover fight but there wasn't and the Cheng Family were very good to each other and entertaining to watch. I was damn impressed with Old lady Cheng, she cracked me up each time :) and there was a lot of cunning schemes and revenge done by the FL which gave me story of minglan vibe and the ML quest to uncover the truth of his _____ death was a long journey of 15 yrs it reminded me of yanxi palace in which FL goes from simple servant in the palace to imperial consort with tons of scheming to finally avenge her sisters rape and murder. Overall it's a good watch the only thing I felt it missed was not seeing them having a family of their own. A scene of them living Shang's dream of simple village kinda life or maybe a scene of Qiqi and Song's kids playing around with their Uncle Zisheng (ML). Ah it would have been a perfect ending. We also missed out on their wedding and the rest of the siblings. Those scenes would have made this the best of the best drama IMO.

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Another gem

A good story catering to the taste of people who love a concoction of romance comedy alice of life with little action .. plot revolves around a girl who was abandoned by her parents when she was new born so she has her own deal with trust issues while the ML is struggling through the trauma of watching his entire clan massacred and now all he wants is revenge. Apart from that story touches upon a few aspects which are generally avoided by asian writers for example FL's mother denies to acknowledge her mistake of leaving her daughter behind she comes back after 15 years and yet tries to establish her authority on the daughter's life ..along with that writer is boldly discussing bad parenting how parents choose their who over the child's mental peace ( takes am even drastic turn on second season when FL leaves her house to stay with empress ). FL is temperamental ( in a good way) she chooses a simple and humble boy (not ML) who understands her right over any romance. Though the story stands out but there were a few things which felt lacking for example ...I wish the FL knew some fighting skills ... The chemistry between leads was there but not very strong may be because of the plot that kept them apart either way even in season two lusi seemed little reserved ( will discuss that in season 2 review) no kissing scene,lead couple's scenes were very less overall. The drama has a bulky cast ..so many characters to keep up with in fact there were a couple of characters that didn't appear but their references was given every now and then making things a little messy and confusing. But with all these things it was still a very enjoyable drama.. the consistent incoming of slice of life comic punch kept things lively plus ZLS's spontaneity did great justice to this script ... Overall this season is basically more of less about lead's character development as for their serious love story and dark secrets watching season 2 is compulsory

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Not what I expected (in a good way)

I've never read the original novel, so I thought it's going to be a romance drama between FL & ML with some palace politics here and there. I never imagine that in the 27 episodes, is more about family conflict, FL-ML close interaction (romance) is almost non existent LOL. But what surprised me more, is how much I enjoy this drama. I like how the story focused on the development of the FL and her interaction with her family, the mother-daughter conflict, surprisingly, quite realistic. I love all the elders character, the senior actors are all very good, especially the grandmother, LOL, the grandmother is really something, so funny. I like how the FL slowly learn about relationships and grow to be more mature. Nothing is rushed, just the right pace. The director really make good story flow. Can't wait for the second part of the series.

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Feeling cheerful? Stop it now!

I dropped this show after 3 eps because of the subject material ie child abuse/neglect, made into entertainment because the victim has wit and tenacity.
I picked it up again out of solidarity for Zhao Lusi.
She handles this difficult role with depth & credibility, bringing humour & sensitivity.
Sadly, the show is so full of stereotypical back-biting that I can hardly stand it. Not forgetting the usual tropes of spoilt girls expecting to marry whoever they want, and bullying going unpunished with victim blaming and shaming.
The final straw for me, dropping the show now at #22, is the mother. The actress is good & I have seen her in other shows; of course, not every character can be lovable. But it is too hard to believe that a woman who is 1. a capable and battle-hardened general; 2. a loving wife; and 3. a mother to two older boys, can be so flummoxed by raising her daughter as to resort to verbal cruelty every time. I don’t know why people praise this show so much. I can’t stand watching anymore.

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