A Gem Under the Radar
To me, a good drama doesn’t depend on the big names of the actors nor how esteemed the directors are, not even how complicated a story needs be. As long as the story is coherent, the logic makes sense, the actors immerse themselves in their roles, the costumes not garish nor gaudy, the main characters are lovable, and the overall struggles and conflicts of the characters capture my heart and my emotions, this is considered a good drama. The Letter from the Cloud is one such drama.I don’t know the relevancy of the title to the story, which to me is still a mystery after completing the drama. Nonetheless, this is a story about power struggle for the throne that involves a girl whose whole family was wrongly executed by the Emperor, and a royal prince who tries to find his missing mother. They meet and fall in love with each other even though the girl has just got married to one of the prince's cousins who turns out to be a girl disguises as a man from birth. I love all the relationships between the characters here, including the second couple. The villains are in the open from the start, and all evil schemes are planted by the antagonists from start to finish.
Qi Zhang (Xie Binbin) inherited the title Prince Jing upon the untimely demise of his father. He is stationed in the north-west country guarding the border. Intelligent and a great swordman, he is lonesome and distrustful, determined to find his missing mother, so he comes back to the capital to his maternal grandmother’s home to track news of her. Here, he falls in love with a girl whom he initially recruits to work as his spy in his grandmother’s household.
I have liked Xie Binbin since the first time I saw him in Qing Qing Zi Jin. He exudes a clean, innocent and yet authentic aura that attracts viewers. Here as the impeccable Prince Jing, Xie Binbin aces the role. His styling and demeanor are perfect and lovable. His uncertainty, dismay, jealousy, joy, determination and more, are all acted out very appropriately without overacting and yet can stir emotions within the viewers. Excellent acting here.
After the persecution of her whole family, Gu Yi (Wu Jiayi) was adopted by a “Jianghu” doctor and changed her name to Shen Yu. Because of her horrifying childhood experience, Shen Yu becomes obsessed with money and will do anything for a buck. For money, she marries into the Zhou household and crosses path with Qi Zhang and gets hired as a spy for him in finding secrets that concern him in the Zhou household. Shen Yu is intelligent, fast witted and streetwise. With her amazing skills in medicine which she puts to good use later in saving lives and in her investigations.
I really love the Shen Yu character here and Wu Jiayi has given an excellent performance. Her Shen Yu is authentic and human, cheeky and yet relatable, and not too proud to admit to her mistakes and to show her vulnerability to her trusted. How she continually gains an upper hand with Qi Zhang is funny and well executed, and how she makes him jealous is fun to watch. Wu Jiayi is very natural. With her watery large eyes, pouting lips, and extremely contagious smile, she captures hearts. Viewers can empathize with her zeal for finding justice for her family, and her resignation when justice is not being served. Wu Jiayi has carried out her role with full marks.
I also want to applaud the whole cast including the actors who play the antagonists. The villains are being acted so realistically that viewers want to rip the villains' hearts out for the heinous crimes they commit. The cross-dressing is believable as actor Fu Jing (Zhou Yue) gives the viewers a sickly looking man with a raspy voice. A great performance here by all.
My Verdict
This series is said to have been adapted from a web novel. Upon my brief scan, I believe that the original novel involves a character with a name called 锦书 (Jin Shu), literally means “letter” in English. Though the script writing has been diverted from the original novel, the title has not, hence results in a confusing title here. I stand to be corrected.
Though with some details not further explained to clarify some confusions for viewers, the overall story here is rather intact with not that many plot holes. Some tropes, like falling off cliff, are used here and there which doesn’t seem distasteful. The ending is concluded appropriately with every character receiving its deserving ending, and without massive killing off the characters like many Chinese dramas fond to do. For the main couple, a three-year separation spurs their individual growth, and deepens their love and devotion for each other. The background music is cartoonish and helps in accentuating the funny moments and blunders the characters make.
Overall, a drama well done. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and strongly recommend it to new viewers. Great watch! Don’t miss it.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is a simple and short show to watch if you don't know what Chinese drama to watch or if your are bored. This drama is also super under rated and needs more attention.The story line doesn't exactly impress me, but isn't bad. The chemistry between the two leads are really deep and they do a great job acting their roles out.
I love the relationship between Shen Yu and Zhou Yue. I've seen many of Wu Jiayi's drama, and the character she plays as in all of her shows make her a lovable character and makes the show much more interesting. This is the first appearance Xie Binbin had made to me and I gotta say, I’m left shocked and will check out some of his other dramas. The male leads expressions and acting skills really make it the cherry on top of this show.
As for Zhou Yue, the female dressing as male looks really good. Especially in other dramas, when the female lead dresses as a male but doesn’t look like a ale at all, Zhou Yue was able to pull that off. She looks good in both female and male appearance.
I only have an issue with the costuming, um I feel like this show didn't have a high budget, because the hairstyle, costuming, props, and background doesn't impress me and I've honestly seen better.
The ost is awesome, the song is god and sad, and the background music is also great. There was a couple of confusing parts, that I didn't understand but it wasn't that big of a problem. 10/10, a sweet and simple drama.
SPOILER:
The biggest thing that made me mad is the wedding between Zhou Yihui and Qi Zhang. Why was her wedding dress blue? Because when it comes to traditional weddings, they're either white, green, or red. And the bride and groom always have a matching outfit and style. Why was Zhou Yihui's dress completely blue and Qi Zhang's was red? That made no sense to me at all.
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Beautiful, heartwrenching and a happy ending
This is my first time writing a review, I usually left some comments here and there, but never a review. But this time I'm so tempted because I love this drama so much but yet this drama is not getting recognition it deserves because of the bad subs ?.I'm a fan of Wu JiaYi, and I love the character she played here. ShenYu was a brave and passionate girl, had clear state about her goal but yet she could let go if she was needed to choose between revenge and love..it took her some time, but she finally could let go the hatred and chose to love.
As of QiZhang, I love how Xie BinBin portrayed his longing for ShenYu. His micro expression when he was jealous, worried and heartbroken whenever he saw ShenYu was sad or in trouble is so priceless. Just like his mom said, QiZhang was a sensitive person but slow in words. Many times he tried to say his feelings to ShenYu, but he was either bound to ShenYu earlier status as his cousin's wife, or he didn't want to give her false hope later on. His actions spoke louder than his words, and eventhough I wish I could see more romantic scenes between them, but I'm glad they have their happy ending nevertheless.
ZhouYue, her appearence as man was quite decent compared to many other cross-dressing drama. She was beautiful as man and woman. And her character was a perfect match for ShenYu.
I personally didn't like GaoMo since I think he was a narrow-minded and stubborn person. But he got character development and became better. I tolerate him since he loved ZhouYue so much.
The justice was not throughly served at the end, but nevertheless, bad people got their punishments, and the emperor also had his karma. He died without getting recognition from QiZhang as a father.
I love the chemistry between the leads, it was out of the chart. And I surely will rewatch this ??
PS: If anyone can give me the video files or the srt files that can be translated, kindly dm me. I'll do the translation for the sake of the actors ??
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Cute and fluffy rom-com
The 1st thing that catches my attention is the 2FL (Zhao Yue). She is beautiful both as male and female that makes total sense when she can play the role of the 5th young master for years. I wish she could have more screen time, especially with Gao Mo - the 2nd ML - More cute scene for them please!!!! I love how Gao Mo always annoys our 2FL even when he doesn't know she's a girl ?The ML and FL are also very cute. I'm not a big fan of Xie Bin Bin but think he does a good job. Wu Jia Yi's character is cute yet still smart and scheming enough to deal with difficult situations.
What I like about the series is the all main characters are depicted distinctively. Even their loves grow in a different way. The story focuses on both couples without letting one story line sabotaging the other. The main couple, of course, gets more screen time. But I'm always excited to see Zhao Yue and Gao Mo on screen.
The story is very straightforward and logical. It does have some twists here and there but not too dramatic. This is how a series should be. It doesn't need to be too complicated to get loves from the audience.
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Don't miss the Epilogues
Starting ep 2 there's mini epilogues at the end for about ~10 ep.Underrated cute drama ruined by no subs but if you can understand Chinese and enjoys costume rom coms, this is a great pick.
Loved great cast & characters:
FL Shen Yu is super cute without over acting (which a lot of dramas tend to do). Her character is cute, witty & smart! I loved her expressions.
ML (Old Male Chicken) is a great looking actor and the young actor they picked is a perfect match too!
The back and forth dialogue between the leads is written pretty well. Of course with any rom com there will be the standard "catch & fall" moments but if its cutely done, its very enjoyable.
Zhou Yue - one of few females that can pass off as a male at least in a drama.
Gao Mo - Funny supporting character
If you enjoy dramas like:
Dr. Cutie
A love so Romantic
Chances are you'll like this one too but personally I thought the pairing & dialogue was better in this one.
The only down side is that like many C-drama ending's kind of a mess starting ep 20. There are also a few one dimensional bad characters that you can skip through.
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Was going to wait for proper subtitles, but I just couldn't wait!
After finishing the first 5 episodes, I tell myself that I will wait for proper subtitles first, because I didn't want to ruin my experience of this drama, but I just couldn't hold back and ended up watching the whole drama. I was hooked to the story and the characters, that despite the choppy subtitles, the show was still awesome!.The characters were nicely written. Both our main and 2nd main characters were strong, enduring, and virtuous. I really enjoy a drama with good, strong, and smart female leads and this one has it. The male lead was your typical prince, super good at fighting, smart and quick wited, but he won my heart easily, because he's handsome (of course!) and played the character perfectly. Our second male lead definitely sold me on his character, cute, goofy, but loyal. I usually skip second couple scenes, but this one I couldn't. I enjoyed the interactions between Zhou Yue and Gao Mo as much as Shen Yu and Qi Zhang.
If one day, proper subtitles come out for this drama, I would definitely rewatch it! Despite that, the storyline was pretty logical and solid to where I can enjoy and understand it with enough sense. It took me a while to get over the fact that A' Yu was forever going to be 'A fish' and Gao Mo will forever be 'Tall Ink'. At least I didn't have to bear with 'Occipital cloud' (General Han's subbed name) for too long, lol XD!
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A painful story of an exiled woman & her heart wrenching journey of falling in love.
The Letter From the Cloud (2022)Personal Rating: 8.5/10
It tells about the story of an exiled woman, her life's struggles towards finding justice for her deceased loved ones & her heart wrenching journey of falling in love.
Storyline 8.5
Direct. Coherent. Concise
If you're finding something with a vivid combination of light and at the same time heart clenching pain in the chest, then this one is absolutely for you. The plot is surprisingly good and it will made you feel all the things in a very sensational way. I love how they directly build the herione's pitiful life wherein her whole family has to suffer and be killed. Just for a reason of being wrongly accused.
Due to this, Shen Yu, a daughter of a high respected official, has to hide behind the curtains and seek for her family's justice all alone. The transition of her journey in thriving towards living a life up to knowing the truth is very well-written. Her sudden encounter with Qi Zhang added a spice in her life & made her someone extraordinary.
She's already an extraordinary but with him, she's more complete.
Acting/Cast 8
A promising drama doesn't need any big names behind it. It doesn't necessarily have to be complicated as it should be, or have an extravagant casts just for people to tell that it did great. The Letter from the Cloud is one of the example.
The casts gave their best just like what most actors do, but what makes them so special is that, they embodied their roles perfectly as they effortlessly connect to people. I have to address Wu Jiayi for giving a meaningful soul to Shen Yu, because Shen Yu will never be the same old her without her. Xie Binbin's micro expressions had my heart dropped on the floor. Overall, if I'm going to look at it generally, all of them blended so well & none of them is really irrelevant.
The chemistry is so electrifying and kudos to the main leads who made me feel the realest butterflies. Xie Binbin, I must say, he's just effortlessly sexy when he's Qi Zhang.
Ost 8
Ost is particularly nostalgic especially that one ost sang by Fu Jing. Listen to it and silently hum to the song then you'll be in tears.
Overall 8.5
Long story short, this drama is a dark horse of the year. Because they did not just exceptionally made me feel a rollercoaster, but brought me bucket of tears & heart wrenching scenes as whole. If you want to feel that electrifying pain in your palm for the first time again, give this drama a go. You'll surely love it.
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Had all the makings of a good series and then the sub-titling ruined it!
The storyline was interesting - although there were a few holes in the plot, story arcs that could have done with a little more development and closure - but overall, there were very few draggy points, and I didn't have to fast-forward through very much.The chemistry between the lead couples was believable and I found myself rooting for the second couple even more that the main couple, just because I liked their story better. The villains were really evil, and all I wanted was decent Karma for them (which I guess we got, albeit a bit rushed in the end) They could have spread the wrapping up of all the stories over the last two episodes.
I really want to recommend this drama, however if you don't speak or read fluent Chinese and rely on English sub-titles, be warned. This is a MangoTV production, and this company is known for its lousy (and I mean supremely AWFUL) subtitling. I have seen complaints in every review and discussion group I looked at for alternative platforms to watch this drama at, but there were none. A lot of the story was lost on me (thankfully the actors' expressions, actions, and interactions made it possible to guess a lot of what was happening especially when there were backstories or explanations happening).
Re-watch? Only if there is different subtitling. Otherwise, I would just be repeating the frustration I had with this one. It's a real pity, because the story isn't bad, and the characters were interesting as well.
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Such a delightful drama with the right mix of romance and plot
I don't know if these are spoilers but these are my general thoughts of the drama.(I'm currently watching it for the second time. ^^)
Want a smart male lead and his daring female lead?
Want an equally charming second couple?
Want a sisterly bond that transcends beyond limit?
Want a comprehensive plot but not to the point it's too complicated?
Want fun and heartwarming drama?
This drama got it all!
Personally, I like the female character's attitude. She got her fair share of cliché optimism but she was a refreshing soul who had the courage to deal with her own inner conflicts. Also, the male lead is charmingly smart. You won't get bored as he looked like playing chess with the antagonists., thinking a lot of steps ahead to get the advantage. Moreover, I find the second couple lovely. It's like a pairing of a shy white cat and a good puppy. You'll know it when you watch. ;)
And! I must say this! The bond between the sisters is just chef's kiss! It's almost enviable.
As for the villains, you may find them annoying but they were smart and were actually on par with the leads (oh, and vicious too).
PS. I hope one day I watch it again for nth time, the English subtitles are organized and neatly translated.
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Boring
Story started with a good note that is a family got allegations to kill the princess so whole family had been order to executed. . somehow a girl had saved .then the girl had married to a prince so that she could clear her family name from those allegations and give them justice .The prince was actually a girl but when she married at that time she didn't know.. Till 6th episode his true identity was not revealed I can't bear the story so dropping it. It was getting bored.
I liked first female lead ,her acting was good but it was nota fault of other actors they were doing their best . Script and direction was not good.
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