The low reviews are straight-up lying to you!
Ashes to Crown is officially one of the best dramas I have watched this year so far, and everyone should stop sleeping on it.
In a nutshell, it is a second chance rebirth story that follows a general’s daughter Chu Zhao who gets brutally betrayed, poisoned, and killed by her trash husband, Prince Xiao Xun. But then she mysteriously wakes up reborn right before her wedding with all her past memories intact. Only this time, she is not playing a sacrificial pawn. She is determined to rewrite history. Literally. She teams up with Xie Yan Lai—a brooding, half low-born warrior who she helps rise to become a general while he stands by her side against everyone else.
Honestly, I’m baffled at the lower rating on MDL because this drama totally slays if you ask me. It should be above 8.
If you go into this with the wrong expectations, you might not get it. It is first and foremost a revenge and palace intrigue drama with a good serving of romance, not a fluffy rom-com. But it is a little different from a typical court intrigue C-drama. And I will explain later. Additionally, there is no comedic relief in the drama. It actually gets super gruesome because there are a ton of battle scenes and military fighting. Honestly? I preferred that so much because it completely broke up the usually monotonous pace of the court sessions. Only in Ashes to Crown Everything was balanced so well.
Let’s talk about the production value because I am obsessed. I found myself squealing at my TV quite a lot of times. The acting is absolute perfection. The character growth—especially watching Chu Zhao go from a victim to a calculated revenge machine and Xie Yan Lai rise through the ranks and figuring out that he doesn’t need the Xie last name to be his own person—is handled so well even in such a tight frame.
I have seen both the main lead actor and actress in other dramas, and I know Chen Duling can always deliver such great, heavy emotions; she completely proves here why she deserves a main role. As for Zhou Yiran, he is still young, but he is incredibly convincing. I’ve seen him in Twelve Letters and Generation to Generation and I can tell for a fact he is extremely talented. Costume dramas are absolutely his thing—I can't wait to see what else he's gonna be playing. Even though Chen Duling is seven years older than Zhou Yiran in real life, their dynamic in the drama is seamless because he still carries this effortlessly mature aura on screen. Also, can we talk about the visual team? I absolutely adore whoever styled Zhou Yiran for the role of Xie Yan Lai and the rest of the cast. The costumes were really good, and the makeup was perfect because it wasn't overly done or over-the-top. Except for the Grand Princess of course where it was necessary.
And oh my god, the villains?! I need to expand on them because the antagonists in this drama were stunning. Prince Xiao Xun is such a menacing, power-hungry and absolutely disgusting antagonist, but Xie Yan Fang, the absolute main villain of the show, was genuinely terrifying but brilliant to watch. The way he moves his pieces behind the scenes makes the whole political web feel so dangerous, and honestly, the performance from Tang Xiao Tian was just top-tier. He looked extra sharp here. Along with the rest of the secondary antagonists, they set the stakes so high that you genuinely fear for the leads. And because this drama has no comedy, you are not certain that the leads will even get a happily ever after due to the overall slightly sober and melancholic and serious tone of the drama.
The cinematography and directing style are literally breathtaking. The color grading? Stunning. All the reds in this drama look amazing! And the CGI is actually so even and high-quality, which is rare.
The music score was also a massive addition that completely elevated every single scene. Music in this show is so important and it was clearly there for a reason, acting as a perfect bridge to help carry one scene over into the next. It’s fast-paced where it absolutely needs to be to match the high stakes, and then it gets beautifully brooding in some of the slower, heavier scenes. In general, it just added so many layers and so much texture to what was happening on screen. I truly appreciated it a lot because the score perfectly helped the show maintain its momentum.
Also, the pacing is a massive win for me. The drama is only 24 episodes, which is rare for court intrigue drama but this means the court intrigue and plotting are so fast-paced and tightly written that you don’t even have time to get bored. I don’t know if this is the reason why some viewers who are used to loan winded court dramas maybe didn’t enjoy this as much but it’s chef’s kiss for me. There is zero extra exposition, zero useless monologues, and no filler episodes dragging it down. We get exactly enough info to understand the plot without getting bogged down in endless talking.
The dialogue is so crisp. I recommend the writers. They only put the lines that needed to convey the essential information. Did I think the pacing felt a tiny bit too fast at points? Yeah, I would’ve loved to dive deeper into some backstories. But keeping it at a tight 24 episodes was infinitely better than dragging it out to 30+ episodes just for the sake of it. The thing with the court politics dramas is that eventually you get tired of all the talking. And I think Ashes to Crown had just the perfect amount of episodes and perfect amount of talking.
Now, for my favorite part: THE ROMANCE. It is so, so good! If you love female-centric revenge stories but still want romance, you will literally scream. I see a lot of people call it a slow burn, but I think it just develops incredibly organically. Chu Zhao and Xie Yan Lai already know what they mean to each other by episode 10 where they first kiss. Some dramas take 20 or even 25 episodes to get characters to that point. So I enjoyed the pacing for the romantic storyline immensely. True, Chu Zhao and Xie Yan Lai don't have twenty romantic scenes an episode because romance isn't the main driving plot—it's woven into the revenge story. It's just two people with tragic backstories trying to survive, mutually respecting each other, and finding solace together.
But when they are romantic? The chemistry between Chen Duling and Zhou Yiran is insane. They have several kiss scenes and they are just serving face and emotions on screen. The directing of their intimate moments and the scene compositions spoke to my soul—I literally rewatched multiple scenes several times because the shooting and editing were that gorgeous. Plus, the soundtrack fits perfectly. The vocal tracks during those slower moments added so much depth and kept the vibe going.
Overall, a 10/10 for me. Don't listen to the haters, just go watch it!
To wrap it all up, I highly recommend this drama for so many reasons:
* The Acting: It features really good acting across the entire cast, and Chen Duling and Zhou Yiran have incredible chemistry that makes their romantic storyline so great to watch.
* The Music: It has a fantastic soundtrack that perfectly elevates every single scene and helps maintain the show's momentum.
* The Production Value: The cinematography itself is amazing, and it is beautifully shot with some truly stunning scene compositions that add so much to the overall look, feel, and story.
* The Elite Pacing: If you are like me and skip a lot when watching very long, 35+ episode dramas about court politics, Ashes to Crown is the winner. It moves very fast and does not have any fillers.
* The Crisp Writing: Every single dialogue line only contains enough information to convey the essentials. You do need to be able to read between the lines for character development while everything moves quickly, but it keeps things so engaging.
I loved it a lot!
In a nutshell, it is a second chance rebirth story that follows a general’s daughter Chu Zhao who gets brutally betrayed, poisoned, and killed by her trash husband, Prince Xiao Xun. But then she mysteriously wakes up reborn right before her wedding with all her past memories intact. Only this time, she is not playing a sacrificial pawn. She is determined to rewrite history. Literally. She teams up with Xie Yan Lai—a brooding, half low-born warrior who she helps rise to become a general while he stands by her side against everyone else.
Honestly, I’m baffled at the lower rating on MDL because this drama totally slays if you ask me. It should be above 8.
If you go into this with the wrong expectations, you might not get it. It is first and foremost a revenge and palace intrigue drama with a good serving of romance, not a fluffy rom-com. But it is a little different from a typical court intrigue C-drama. And I will explain later. Additionally, there is no comedic relief in the drama. It actually gets super gruesome because there are a ton of battle scenes and military fighting. Honestly? I preferred that so much because it completely broke up the usually monotonous pace of the court sessions. Only in Ashes to Crown Everything was balanced so well.
Let’s talk about the production value because I am obsessed. I found myself squealing at my TV quite a lot of times. The acting is absolute perfection. The character growth—especially watching Chu Zhao go from a victim to a calculated revenge machine and Xie Yan Lai rise through the ranks and figuring out that he doesn’t need the Xie last name to be his own person—is handled so well even in such a tight frame.
I have seen both the main lead actor and actress in other dramas, and I know Chen Duling can always deliver such great, heavy emotions; she completely proves here why she deserves a main role. As for Zhou Yiran, he is still young, but he is incredibly convincing. I’ve seen him in Twelve Letters and Generation to Generation and I can tell for a fact he is extremely talented. Costume dramas are absolutely his thing—I can't wait to see what else he's gonna be playing. Even though Chen Duling is seven years older than Zhou Yiran in real life, their dynamic in the drama is seamless because he still carries this effortlessly mature aura on screen. Also, can we talk about the visual team? I absolutely adore whoever styled Zhou Yiran for the role of Xie Yan Lai and the rest of the cast. The costumes were really good, and the makeup was perfect because it wasn't overly done or over-the-top. Except for the Grand Princess of course where it was necessary.
And oh my god, the villains?! I need to expand on them because the antagonists in this drama were stunning. Prince Xiao Xun is such a menacing, power-hungry and absolutely disgusting antagonist, but Xie Yan Fang, the absolute main villain of the show, was genuinely terrifying but brilliant to watch. The way he moves his pieces behind the scenes makes the whole political web feel so dangerous, and honestly, the performance from Tang Xiao Tian was just top-tier. He looked extra sharp here. Along with the rest of the secondary antagonists, they set the stakes so high that you genuinely fear for the leads. And because this drama has no comedy, you are not certain that the leads will even get a happily ever after due to the overall slightly sober and melancholic and serious tone of the drama.
The cinematography and directing style are literally breathtaking. The color grading? Stunning. All the reds in this drama look amazing! And the CGI is actually so even and high-quality, which is rare.
The music score was also a massive addition that completely elevated every single scene. Music in this show is so important and it was clearly there for a reason, acting as a perfect bridge to help carry one scene over into the next. It’s fast-paced where it absolutely needs to be to match the high stakes, and then it gets beautifully brooding in some of the slower, heavier scenes. In general, it just added so many layers and so much texture to what was happening on screen. I truly appreciated it a lot because the score perfectly helped the show maintain its momentum.
Also, the pacing is a massive win for me. The drama is only 24 episodes, which is rare for court intrigue drama but this means the court intrigue and plotting are so fast-paced and tightly written that you don’t even have time to get bored. I don’t know if this is the reason why some viewers who are used to loan winded court dramas maybe didn’t enjoy this as much but it’s chef’s kiss for me. There is zero extra exposition, zero useless monologues, and no filler episodes dragging it down. We get exactly enough info to understand the plot without getting bogged down in endless talking.
The dialogue is so crisp. I recommend the writers. They only put the lines that needed to convey the essential information. Did I think the pacing felt a tiny bit too fast at points? Yeah, I would’ve loved to dive deeper into some backstories. But keeping it at a tight 24 episodes was infinitely better than dragging it out to 30+ episodes just for the sake of it. The thing with the court politics dramas is that eventually you get tired of all the talking. And I think Ashes to Crown had just the perfect amount of episodes and perfect amount of talking.
Now, for my favorite part: THE ROMANCE. It is so, so good! If you love female-centric revenge stories but still want romance, you will literally scream. I see a lot of people call it a slow burn, but I think it just develops incredibly organically. Chu Zhao and Xie Yan Lai already know what they mean to each other by episode 10 where they first kiss. Some dramas take 20 or even 25 episodes to get characters to that point. So I enjoyed the pacing for the romantic storyline immensely. True, Chu Zhao and Xie Yan Lai don't have twenty romantic scenes an episode because romance isn't the main driving plot—it's woven into the revenge story. It's just two people with tragic backstories trying to survive, mutually respecting each other, and finding solace together.
But when they are romantic? The chemistry between Chen Duling and Zhou Yiran is insane. They have several kiss scenes and they are just serving face and emotions on screen. The directing of their intimate moments and the scene compositions spoke to my soul—I literally rewatched multiple scenes several times because the shooting and editing were that gorgeous. Plus, the soundtrack fits perfectly. The vocal tracks during those slower moments added so much depth and kept the vibe going.
Overall, a 10/10 for me. Don't listen to the haters, just go watch it!
To wrap it all up, I highly recommend this drama for so many reasons:
* The Acting: It features really good acting across the entire cast, and Chen Duling and Zhou Yiran have incredible chemistry that makes their romantic storyline so great to watch.
* The Music: It has a fantastic soundtrack that perfectly elevates every single scene and helps maintain the show's momentum.
* The Production Value: The cinematography itself is amazing, and it is beautifully shot with some truly stunning scene compositions that add so much to the overall look, feel, and story.
* The Elite Pacing: If you are like me and skip a lot when watching very long, 35+ episode dramas about court politics, Ashes to Crown is the winner. It moves very fast and does not have any fillers.
* The Crisp Writing: Every single dialogue line only contains enough information to convey the essentials. You do need to be able to read between the lines for character development while everything moves quickly, but it keeps things so engaging.
I loved it a lot!
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