In the theatre style of comedies of old, we have bodily gags, cross dressing, evil cackling villains, and the actors look like they will burst out laughing in every scene. It's a lot of fun for the first 10 episodes, but it drags more and more as all plot points are met with the same delivery.
The gender dynamics kept me from dropping it. The main female lead is bold, a great strategist, and is insightful into the motivations of people. The show makes valid points about the 'woman behind the man' just means that there's tons of talented women adviser and strategists out there that never get their recognition. The male lead recognizes her strengths quickly and finds them intriguing and endearing.
Is it enough? It wasn't for me, I started fastforwarding through scenes or watching out of the corner of my eye. But, to be fair to the show, this is a show that is meant to be watched as you do errands around the house, chat with your family, scroll on your phone. If that's something you need, this could be the show for you.
Was this review helpful to you?
Outrageously Over The Top but the fan service is giving
There's a lot of bathing scenes and General Jin Fu for some reasons really likes to go topless. And by god the kisses are hot.The story itself is actually quite interesting. I was quite invested in the beginning but now kind of looking forward for the charade to be over. It is so satisfying to see the FL being a powerful personality and doesn't hesitate to kill.
The acting is not the best and the script can be cringey. Plotholes so big they are more like plotcaves, but this show is kind of addictive. I'll be watching it till the end.
Was this review helpful to you?
It’s refreshing to see Physical comedy in a RomCom genre
My Uncanny Destiny is a surprising and fun RomCom. I have not seen many good physical comedy-drama from China, so it is refreshing to see one.My first time watching Yan Zi Xian and Zhang Yue Nan in leading roles. They both did a decent job in this drama. The supporting cast was fun too. There are quite a few kissing scenes for the main CP and two supporting CPs.
I find it enjoyable, and there are a few laughable moments. I can't wait to see how Liu Xuan Ming feels when he discovers that Ye Zhao Nan is his enemy and is a woman.
I have watched 16 episodes already and can't wait to see how it reveals in the end. The production quality is not bad either.
I am changing my rating from 7.5 to 7,0 because I did not like the last two episodes.
Was this review helpful to you?
hilarious, fantastic
favourite c-drama of all time. i’m still trying to fill that void now. spunky fl, brooding ml who is distant but is so in love once it happens. undeniable chemistry. Humour was really good, and didn’t feel cliche and almost killed me from suffocation. i love how it didn’t have episodes going into 40s like lots of c-dramas so it didn’t drag out which is why i’m often wary of c-dramas because i don’t know if i’ll be able to finish. i love the dynamic between the two and i usually don’t like misunderstandings drawn out but the drama did it well so it was really for comedic effect mostly, not just poorwriting meant lengthen series.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
It's ok
This show should really be taken with a grain of salt. It is funny and it doesn't take itself seriously. That's why it is so ridiculous.One thing that I didn't like about it was that it didn't stay consistent with the genre. It's a romantic comedy. Therefore, it should be light and upbeat. General Jin Fu's sister dying was completely unexpected and unnecessary. There should've been another way to find out that the wedding dress was poisoned without breaking out of the genre. Unfortunately, this happens a lot in Asian dramas. They often mix comedy, tragedy, and drama into a muddy mess.
Was this review helpful to you?
What am I watching and why do I like it?
This is my first "short" drama. I usually go for ones with at least a 45 min run time per episode at a total of too many episodes and then I wonder why I drop half of them. Thanks to Zogitt's review, I decided to give this drama a chance. I normally do not like cheesy, over the top dramas but for some reason, this one works. Some scenes, I was laughing so hard that my family asked what the heck I was watching. The ML and FL had good chemistry and you can tell sometimes they were trying hard not to laugh while filming, that's how serious this drama is. Thought the FL played her role really well alternating between a male and female characters. I liked the messaging behind the drama in terms of gender equality.This is the drama where I discovered ML, Yan Zi Xian and I might go on a binge watch of all his dramas now. I want to believe I am not that shallow but damn, he is fine and maybe it's his kiss scenes that I appreciate. It's not boring. Like the one where he kisses the FL going up the stairs. He made it adorable and HOT at the same time!
Someone else reviewed this drama negatively and compared it to not living up to The Romance of Tiger and Rose. I love Zhao Lusi and watched TROTAR when it first came out and loved it, thought it was funny, fresh and different. However, I recently tried to rewatch it and was bored out of my mind. I don't think it's fair to compare the two dramas as they are really different. I certainly didn't regret giving this drama a try. Plus the bloopers at the end of the drama made it even more enjoyable.
Was this review helpful to you?
A tale of two city lords.
!! Content/trigger warning for mention of sexual assault: At the end of episode 17 and beginning of episode 18, there is an attempted sexual assault on one of the female characters, which fails, and the perpetrator is punished in a later episode.I thought this was excellent. I went in not really knowing what to expect and had meant to just watch the first episode to decide whether or not I liked it, as I usually do, and got hooked immediately.
No huge plot holes and no inane story or character slips that didn't make any sense, which is usually the main issue in Chinese dramas. The pacing was good, and the length of the episodes and series length felt appropriate and just about right, and nothing really felt like filler. Some things do happen very quickly, like the two leads falling in love, and there are some things that go against usual historical drama rule convention without much consequence, like there being no objection from people around the male lead for wanting to marry a non-noble, but for the most part these are peripheral enough to the main story and fleshing them out would only have dragged out the story for no reason other than to add unnecessary drama, so I don't really have complaints about that. Normally these omissions would annoy me very much, but in this case they didn't really bother me other than the occasional note of 'Huh, why is this random bucket-scrubbing maid allowed to just walk around the inner city/palace and command so much way-giving? Oh well *shrug*', which I attribute to the fact that it's a low-stakes rom-com that doesn't take itself too seriously with a 30min-per-episode runtime; and the level of (in)formality fits the format. The one thing that did trip me up the most was when, near the end, a character makes a pivotal choice to defend their city against another city's army based on their identity as a Muxi citizen specifically, and this is talked about by the female lead as 'sometimes your cultural/national identity is more important than your life', but shortly afterwards the three cities are then united into one, which is sort-of-but-not-really painted as the FL's goal to some extent as well. That whole 'sometimes people defend their identity before their own life and we call them heroes' speech was a bit 'Huh, propagandy' to me, but perhaps that was the trade-off with the censors or something to keep all the kissing scenes in, who knows.
I thought the comedy in this was great, including the 'What!' reaction sounds and occasional use of music that were English songs to emphasise certain moments. The first time I heard an English song during a Moment I had to check that I wasn't watching it on YouTube and they had replaced the music for copyright reasons, but I was watching it on a random Chinese streaming site, so that seems unlikely. Maybe it still was an insert, but either way, that was my experience of watching the drama and I found it very funny. I found this drama very funny and almost Douyin skit-esque in its humour. There was a lot of toilet humour, including someone falling in love because someone gave them clean toilet paper, and also a lot of fart jokes, which sort of really ties in with the Douyin-esque vibe of 'What!' reaction sounds and musical emphasis moments. The animal roaring sounds were a bit silly at times, and felt like perhaps were used a bit too often with the FL, but overall sort of fell into the general sense of comedy.
The kissing scenes are almost all early on and I have to say, they are very active kissing scenes with locked lips and not just faces pressed together, which I really liked about this drama. They actually like each other! They're actually kissing each other and kissing back! I usually look away during kissing scenes but in the case of this drama I actually really enjoyed them because they seemed genuine - not overdone so they were tearing at each other's clothes, but also not uncomfortably close-up of just the lips that sort of sensationalise it like so many other dramas tend to do. I also really liked the romance between the two leads - it's established early on that they're equals, and the FL very actively stabilises and backs up the ML in his role as city lord. There are no nonsense misunderstandings and the ML is very supportive of the FL throughout, especially once he realises that he really does like her. The one main argument that they have is resolved almost immediately - one might even argue too quickly - but even that is set-up beforehand with a lot of 'what-if ... would you forgive me?' probing and prepping, as well as the ML repeatedly noting that he likes the FL for her.
The romance between Yun Luo and Tan Rang was a little more '???' for me, but again, I wasn't particularly annoyed by it, although I did think Tan Rang was a bit too forgiving (I personally am unsure if I would be so okay with some random tricking me and doing the things Yun Luo does to him with the consequences they result in, even if the last consequence wasn't on purpose). Zhao Jing also had a bit of a weird situation happen for him with Zhi Lan and then Ke Qian Yue, and I do feel bad for him; it was very much not the usual clean-cut pairing up that normally happens, though I did also appreciate the 'random non-lead is a ladykiller' vibe that it gave off. I really didn't expect Zhi Lan's story to go in that direction and didn't quite believe it, and kept expecting that there would be some kind of 'Surprise! We tricked you' moment, but apparently they were serious about it, which I also found unusual given the genre - I kept thinking 'Ah, it's a rom-com, that won't happen', but apparently not. It was a shame, and she and Zhao Jing deserved better.
The second male lead was one of the nicest second male leads I've ever seen, and knows when to step back and when to exit. I never felt like he pushes the FL, although he does make it clear he likes her and tries for his chance. He also develops a friendship with the ML despite their love rivalry and is never bitter or entitled towards anything, including when dealing with Princesses Qi Meng and Hui Rou and their machinations. One of the most good-natured SMLs I've seen in a drama, and was supportive all the way, even solving multiple problems for the leads.
I've never seen either the female or male leads in anything before and was completely new to them, but I really liked them both, as I did most of the actors in this drama. The female lead especially is not your average FL-dressed-in-men's-clothes, but actually felt believable as somebody who grew up disguised as a boy. Even dressed in women's clothes she doesn't lose any of her ferocity, and she is always believable in each moment in her capacity of the City Lord of Muxi. When she is dressed as the 'male' Ye Zhao Nan her manner and demeanor genuinely swaggers, and even her voice seems to be deeper. Count me impressed. The ML on the other hand does a great cold and serious City Lord - and then you see him warm up and smile. Towards the end it was ridiculous, I was pausing the screen and yelling because he is So Pretty when he smiles. Who is this guy??? And why haven't I seen him in other things before??? He's also really good at the comedy and very quick with it too, especially with his facial expressions.
The other actors are also nothing to sniff at. From Zhao Jing to Lao Guan, the supporting cast also uniformly did a great job. The only one I found something to pick at about was Princess Qi Meng/Hui Rou, who seemed a little over-acted, especially with the sudden laughing, although I understand that it was meant to convey that she was unhinged.
The opening theme was light and cute, even catchy, and the ending theme was sweet. While the music didn't really stand out to me during the show, upon listening properly to the OST (I tend to skip the opening and endings of dramas when bingeing...), it is actually very nice. Okay, actually now I'm listening to the full version of the ending theme and the rest of the OST, honestly they could have made this drama a serious romance (which is not to say that the romance is a joke in this show but like. A Serious Romance with much less comedy) just based on the strengths of the ballads alone. I think I'm going to keep this OST to just pull out and listen to every now and then, actually.
I rate this very rewatchable, because I already want to rewatch it right now immediately. I binged this in less than two days, and the episode and series length adds to how easy it is to rewatch.
Was this review helpful to you?
While I was impressed with both aforementioned titles, My Uncanny Destiny perhaps has a less intricate plot and less developed secondary characters. I would say that though the comedic timing of the show is on–point, I believe this is due to the lead actress’ delivery and performance. Zhang Yue Nan’s solid portrayal as the formidable Lord of Mu Xi City is very convincing. This made me enjoy the character more, especially when she switches between Zhao Nan and San Mei, and yet still displays that same wiliness in her demeanor. The amazing dialogue helps a lot too. It looked like the writers sure invested a lot of thought into the FL’s lines that they perhaps forgot everyone else’s.
Although adorable, Yan Zi Xian was disserviced by a FL so strong, that his character paled in comparison. Though he tries to hold on his own, he could not catch up. The rest of the characters were not as memorable as Qi Meng/Hui Rou, and it is for the wrong reasons. She’s just like a nasty bug that wouldn’t die, no matter how many times you try to kill it.
Otherwise, if you have time for some light drama, this may be a decent show to watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
good visuals, inconsistent whatever ahh scripwriting
the good: the setting, the clothing, the chemistrythe bad: the depth, the plot, the depth of the plot
> the screenplay gets more and more template and predictable towards the end;
> ends up indesicive between being a cold-toned or happy go lucky show;
> makes me feel like they did the characters injustice because of inconsistency;
> could've made better a story anyway with the same message they wanted to convey (gender equality)
> please stop making relationships on the foundation of nothing
> please stop flashbacking
Was this review helpful to you?
It's ok
Honestly I do like it even though it's a bit silly and something's are REALLY silly. However I don't feel any of the males or females are attractive in this show. It could be how they are dressed or how their hair is done. Idk what exactly it is but it doesn't make me swoon for anyone. If anything the assassin is the only one that is semi attractive and the princess he's with. Honestly I wish they had bigger parts because their love would have been interesting to watch. I can't say if I will watch the whole thing yet. I'll wait until I'm halfway through it and decide.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Has potential but fatally flawed
Plenty of funny moments and the FL is a rare example of a brash and intelligent woman. That said, I was frustrated by the way we only got an episode of her being in power and passing as a man before she's back in female clothes and sent to her rival's hard labour camp. Why did they feel the need to default back to the old powerful man-servant girl dynamic? I wanted to see more of her swaggering around in a hilarious charade of acting like a man and barking orders at everyone.I ended up dropping this series, struggling to reconcile what we got with what was promised...
Was this review helpful to you?
A Comedy of Errors....... And Bathroom Humour
I really wanted to like this one. The production quality is very low (even the sound fades in and out like a cheap production), yet there is an overall spirit behind this drama that feels like a passion project.It's a comedy of errors, like any other. Misunderstanding after misunderstanding creates the basis of this drama. It's cute, but it's also tiresome. The FL was excellent, and the only reason I forced myself to watch 6 whole episodes and gave this drama a considerably high rating, but I am not a nine year old, so fart joke after fart joke bathroom humour makes me cringe rather than laugh. Actually, nine year olds would probably enjoy this drama better than I did, and intentionally or not, that's the age range this comedy would appeal to most.
A mediocre story concept with exceptionally good acting by the FL. I suggest you watch it.... If you have the sense of humour of a nine year old.
I'm giving this 5.5 fart jokes out of 10.
Was this review helpful to you?
