Dominion and Devotion

A Classic Midway Shift

I’m sorry, folks, but this just wasn’t my cup of tea. I really wanted to love it — especially since I’m a big fan of Li Geyang and Huang Haoyue. I thought their performances were fantastic and well-executed, and the beginning of the drama really pulled me into the story. However, about a third to halfway through, the narrative started to change for me. Developments felt predictable, and the drama didn’t seem to explore them in compelling ways. I also found some of the character shifts unconvincing. It felt like a once-strong character suddenly made decisions that felt totally out of line with how they were introduced at the beginning. This was somewhat jolting, and didn’t engage or entertain me.

I understand what the narrative was aiming for, but for me, it just didn't work.

Overall, the direction didn’t quite land. So, I was disappointed to see that kind of inconsistency given how promising the story was at the start.

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Bored

Dominion and Devotion" was a story about two reigns. The king of one reign took over the reign of another king by deceit. The one who lost the reign , his wife exchanged her daughter with the one who took over the reign. In this way, the defeated king's daughter entered the conquering king's reign disguised as a prince. So, it had an interesting storyline. I had high expectations for the ending, but sad ending spoil the mood. Anyway, until the 15th episode, it was a bland story. After the 15th episode, I just hoped to see how the truth would be disclosed, and you would be excited and curious to know that. But the tragic end spoiled the mood.

Flaws: The direction was poor, and the choice of the female protagonist was wrong. Only because of the male lead did I continue watching the drama, but I think this role wasn’t right for him. He deserved more than that.

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Pretty good but not for me

Overall this is a strong short drama. It is better than most short dramas both in production value and the care with which the story is crafted.

Side note: I came here for Wang Xue Xi but she is not a large part of this drama.

The best parts of this drama are sidequests showing women living in this world. It is handled with nuance and heart. While this drama is pretty feminist, the characters are not just flat caricatures used to make a point; they are more realistic and vibrantly living their lives regardless of the struggles that are also being portrayed. Keeping that element -- people finding joy in the little things -- while also portraying an unjust system, is a level of nuance that even larger productions fail to explore.

However, I ended up skimming the remaining episodes and dropping this mainly because the main romance fails to distinguish itself from being enemies to lovers tropes. In general I don't like that trope, and this very much portrays a jerk ML who is supposedly "not that bad" but actually he is, yall just horny for jerkheads :( I mean, enjoy if that is your thing, but this is not for me.

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I would lovve a whole 40 ep long form version of this

Sooo usually when getting into a short drama you would expect less.... but for this drama, the expectations should be high! The story and the way its shot makes me want a whole long form 40 ep drama. I am honestly dreading the moment it will finish. I am just so disappointed that this drama didnt have a huge budget bcs if it did than it would be POJ quality. I love the leads, especially the male lead. If this drama would ever be recreated to become a full length drama, they should def keep the lead cast (or maybe change the female lead). The best part is its not low quality cringey vibes. Anyways its a really good one and i really dont want it to end so soon

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