This review may contain spoilers
A Vengeful Princess' Guide to a Happily Ever After
A troubled vengeful princess defying fate, achieving her goals, and taking her happy ending one way or another.TL;DR: Overall, a very, very solid vertical with some interesting and refreshing takes (and lots of role reversal), but also a bit more melodrama than was probably needed.
The Good:
• The FL - Absolutely phenomenally sadistic, cruel, obsessive, and possessive yet sympathetic, pitiful, and troubled. She was a thorough red flag and some might even debate she was a black flag with how intense and unhinged she was, but I simply loved her complexity and how her backstory played into her present character and how she was cunning as a devil, always one step ahead, and unafraid to get her hands filthy. She was a great combination of ruthless and cruel, yet playful, spoiled, and flirty. The duality she showed while scheming against her family vs when handling ML was a TREAT for my role reversal eyes. Such an interesting FL!
• Romantic Dynamic and Role Reversal - I was shocked to see such unusual but committed RR. I loved how ML was almost like this religious figure that FL admired like a god yet was extremely possessive of him. He both outranked her and somehow ranked below her, and it was glorious. Her obsessive possessiveness of him was INSANELY good, and his reluctance but also obedience towards her, letting her have her way with him when he could easily stop her, and how he had this gentleness towards her that he had for no one else? Mhmmmm. And the heavy douse of enemies-to-lovers who fight all the time only to end up kissing and then crying about it? Amazing! So angsty and emotional and fun!
• Feminism - Now, maybe it's a bit generous to call this drama feminist, but at its core... it is. The story is about a mistreated, damaged princess fighting against her brothers, father, and even heaven itself to inherit the throne and have her claim in a patriarchal world hellbent on ruining her life and making her as miserable as possible. Though there aren't really any prominent female characters other than FL, there is one supporting female character near the end who was actually her ally and was also bloodthirsty for revenge, so double points for no female antagonism and for both getting to pursue their ambitions over anything else! It's so rare to see a FL get to not only vie for the throne, but actually successfully get it, get her man, AND get her happy ending (even after all the horrors she committed. Talk about women's rights and women's wrongs!)
• Tone - Consistently dark and moody, which makes sense for the angst-filled melodrama that it was. The bits of comedy added in were few and tasteful, making it a consistent and coherent watch in this regard.
• Plot - Surprisingly better than I expected. Was it well written? Eh, here and there, but it was far more coherent, interesting, and thought-out than a lot of verticals I've seen. I also liked the unusual approach to the "princess vying for the throne" plot and the atypical positions of the leads.
• Commitment - The drama really commits to everything it sets up. Unhinged batshit crazy red-flag FL? Check! Battle against fate and oppression? Check! Multi-layered fence-sitter ML? Check! Enemies with benefits? Check! Feminism? Check! Like, it really commits, and in this world of bait and switch and wishy washy plots, this is refreshing. There is literally never a moment where FL becomes weak and pathetic and ML gets to "man up and save her". The dynamic they establish in the beginning is the one that remains all throughout until the *very* end!
The Okay:
• The ML - Okay, so I liked him for the most part and thought he was compelling as a higher being (an immortal advisor that's considered like a deity, tbh) who has an unusual soft spot for the princess and her only, yet at the same time must put his personal feelings aside because his divination tells him she's evil. It was interesting; I just don't think it was executed in the *best* way. Very often he seemed more fickle than uncertain, and his actions were consistently contradictory without enough focus on him to really get to understand his why. His switch up by the end also feels... unusually shallow. It's like they needed the drama to end, so he suddenly lets go of all antagonism towards FL- like, idk... he was okay, but he could've been better. Maybe if the drama were more 50/50 as opposed to mostly focused on the FL?
• Villains - Now, I didn't really think any villain was bad. They were quite alright for a vertical cdrama baddie. Some might even consider them interesting and complex for these standards, unfortunately... they were a bit repetitive for me. All three of her brothers were evil and hated her, and it got a bit tiring. Also, her father was a piece of crap, and she also had to often fight against ML, and it was a bit much. Too many men, too many bad guys, too repetitive.
• Supporting Characters - Extension of the previous point: Aside from the bad guys, FL has a guard; ML has a servant that barely shows up; and near the end FL has her almost-sister-in-law. Neither show up enough to be considered real supporting characters, and only the last one has any semblance of a character arc. A shame, because the drama is also not as romance-focused as one would think, which means it's more plot-focused, which... for a vertical... is a bummer.
• Acting - Not Zhang Chi's best acting, tbh, but he still did the aloof, uptight scholarly type very well. Wu Jialu absolutely DEVOURED the unhinged, complex princess role! Her eyes were so intense yet soft when need-be. All supporting roles did pretty good given their characters.
• Ending - I liked the ending for the most part, but I did feel it was a bit sudden and rushed. I feel like they could've added another 10-15 minutes and fully fleshed out the leads' relationship and twist so that it made more sense... But FL inherits the throne and makes ML her consort, so like, I'm not mad either. xD
Notable scenes:
- Red bondage scene (Steamy scene after a ceremony gone wrong)
- Blue bondage scene (Scene of ML and FL together while FL's scheme unravels in the meantime~)
- Ending scene.
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