A Hou Ming Hao Show All The Way
Positive Points
1. ML and FL's acting was good. Hou Ming Hao absolutely nailed his role. FL, though, was miscast; she performed her role well.
2. The action scenes were good, and the overall screenplay and direction were also good. The comic timing was good and felt natural.
3. Except for the childish FL's character and her weak A'mao and his meek sister, I liked how the female characters in this drama were written. All of them had their own purpose and goals in life.
Negative Points
1. FL's character is absolutely childish and silly. No one can take her seriously. She feels more like a comic relief instead of being an independent character. She plans to run off to her lover by boarding a boat alone, along with trunks filled with gold, while she does not know proper self-defense except for some petty tricks. She does things on impulse and needs the ML to come to her rescue. As soon as the ML comes to her rescue, she gives the ML her 2 cents on how she understood the schemes, but still is willing to get herself caught in it, but did not plan how to get out of it. Moreover, her character was inconsistent. She was so attached to her maid but didnot gave much reaction when she got killed. Her father gave her such a shock, but she turned absolutely normal within a few hours. Should she not be a little bit upset at least? Also, how old is she exactly, as she was saying she built her reputation of being miraculus weapon creator for the past 16 years. Was it a sloppily written dialogue or a wrong translation? The FL all day thinks about the trinklets she made and her A'mao. No idea about the political situation and politics, but loves to insert herself into it in the name of rescue. No sense of self-protection, as how in real she went to the peace negotiation team without telling anyone. If anything had happened to her, what would she have done then? Later, I thought when she would get a bit older she will not do such foolish things and she failed to prove me right. At the last episode, she herself comes to the enemy territory in the name of love, but only manages to be used as leverage against her husband. Wasn't she given a deadly poison to keep her husband in check? How come nothing happened to her? All in all it was an absolutely poorly written FL. The ML liking her itself was a wonder to me.
2. The political scheming seems a bit weak. The initial palace coup ends just like that? Why would Empress Cui want the only military commander (ML) to die, as this will lead to a border invasion by the enemy troops? How did the mutiny get resolved that easily? None of the antagonists hardly feels like antagonists except for the Empress Cui. That Li Mao was not an antagonist at all. I don't know what the writer was trying to portray by trying to redeem everyone towards the end. I understand it was partially to portray complex human nature but it reduced the impact of the ending for me. I was just watching Xiao Wu Yi scheming and making big plans while rest of the characters were watching. I prefer a proper, equally powerful antagonist who can match the level of the protagonist.
3. The relationship between the leads does not make any sense. Its typical cliche romance with a misunderstood heartless ML and a bubbly love-brained kind FL. Moreover, it does not help that both actors have 0 chemistry and give off a more sibling vibe. Aimi is good in her acting, but she is absolutely miscast with Hou Ming Hao. None of them communicates with each other at all. None of them tells the other what they are planning. Moreover, it was a serious turn-off for me seeing a minor actress with an adult actor who is a decade older than her. Aimi should do roles suitable for her age, along with actors who are closer to her age. Heavy makeup was not enough to hide how young she is compared to the ML. She will get her turn in the future. Impatience is never a good trait.
Overall, if you are a fan of Hou Ming Hao, you can watch it as he gave a stunning performance but story-wise it was nothing special (certainly not bad but not that excellent either) and I certainly hope Aimi will take the hint and stay away from romance drama for now (especially with actors a decade older than her).
1. ML and FL's acting was good. Hou Ming Hao absolutely nailed his role. FL, though, was miscast; she performed her role well.
2. The action scenes were good, and the overall screenplay and direction were also good. The comic timing was good and felt natural.
3. Except for the childish FL's character and her weak A'mao and his meek sister, I liked how the female characters in this drama were written. All of them had their own purpose and goals in life.
Negative Points
1. FL's character is absolutely childish and silly. No one can take her seriously. She feels more like a comic relief instead of being an independent character. She plans to run off to her lover by boarding a boat alone, along with trunks filled with gold, while she does not know proper self-defense except for some petty tricks. She does things on impulse and needs the ML to come to her rescue. As soon as the ML comes to her rescue, she gives the ML her 2 cents on how she understood the schemes, but still is willing to get herself caught in it, but did not plan how to get out of it. Moreover, her character was inconsistent. She was so attached to her maid but didnot gave much reaction when she got killed. Her father gave her such a shock, but she turned absolutely normal within a few hours. Should she not be a little bit upset at least? Also, how old is she exactly, as she was saying she built her reputation of being miraculus weapon creator for the past 16 years. Was it a sloppily written dialogue or a wrong translation? The FL all day thinks about the trinklets she made and her A'mao. No idea about the political situation and politics, but loves to insert herself into it in the name of rescue. No sense of self-protection, as how in real she went to the peace negotiation team without telling anyone. If anything had happened to her, what would she have done then? Later, I thought when she would get a bit older she will not do such foolish things and she failed to prove me right. At the last episode, she herself comes to the enemy territory in the name of love, but only manages to be used as leverage against her husband. Wasn't she given a deadly poison to keep her husband in check? How come nothing happened to her? All in all it was an absolutely poorly written FL. The ML liking her itself was a wonder to me.
2. The political scheming seems a bit weak. The initial palace coup ends just like that? Why would Empress Cui want the only military commander (ML) to die, as this will lead to a border invasion by the enemy troops? How did the mutiny get resolved that easily? None of the antagonists hardly feels like antagonists except for the Empress Cui. That Li Mao was not an antagonist at all. I don't know what the writer was trying to portray by trying to redeem everyone towards the end. I understand it was partially to portray complex human nature but it reduced the impact of the ending for me. I was just watching Xiao Wu Yi scheming and making big plans while rest of the characters were watching. I prefer a proper, equally powerful antagonist who can match the level of the protagonist.
3. The relationship between the leads does not make any sense. Its typical cliche romance with a misunderstood heartless ML and a bubbly love-brained kind FL. Moreover, it does not help that both actors have 0 chemistry and give off a more sibling vibe. Aimi is good in her acting, but she is absolutely miscast with Hou Ming Hao. None of them communicates with each other at all. None of them tells the other what they are planning. Moreover, it was a serious turn-off for me seeing a minor actress with an adult actor who is a decade older than her. Aimi should do roles suitable for her age, along with actors who are closer to her age. Heavy makeup was not enough to hide how young she is compared to the ML. She will get her turn in the future. Impatience is never a good trait.
Overall, if you are a fan of Hou Ming Hao, you can watch it as he gave a stunning performance but story-wise it was nothing special (certainly not bad but not that excellent either) and I certainly hope Aimi will take the hint and stay away from romance drama for now (especially with actors a decade older than her).
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