Nat

Engaging Romance with Draggy Pacing in the Second Half

This is the kind of C-drama I love.

It’s got all the favorite tropes I enjoy. Hidden identity. Amnesia. Enemies to lovers. Male lead of everyone’s dream. And just enough fantasy elements to make it feel mysterious but not as overly complicated as some of the xianxias out there.

The leads had great chemistry. The romance was awesome.

Of course it’s not a perfect drama. And I think for the first 20 episodes it was a perfect 10. It was all about the main couple and the pace was great. I don’t think I skipped a single secon. Then the pacing of the show slowed down a lot and I started skipping some of scenes just to get through the lengthy unnecessary dialogues. If they kept the editing in the second part of the drama the way they kept it in the first part of the show, mostly concentrating on the leads and with little attention on the rest of the supporting characters, it would have been perfect. Or they should have given that time to our lead couple on the later end of the show because the amnesia plot in my opinion should have been resolved midpoint.
I don’t know what kind of budget this drama had, but some CGI backgrounds were not that great and you can totally see it. However, the overall story was still very good. And I am glad they didn’t end the drama the way Till the End of the Moon ended or some other of my favorites with fantasy elements. Shadow Love had a perfect happy ending.

I liked most character arcs and the way everyone’s story ended. I would have probably rewatched it again if not for the really draggy second part. Maybe I’ll come back and rewatch my favorite parts later on.

Side note: Ryan Chen should have stayed in Prince Annan’s headspace more. Guy had some aura. This is what I meant by removing some of the unnecessary dialogues or simply cutting those scenes in giving that screen time to lead couple so we could see them reconciling and reconnecting for a slightly longer period of time because I think that would have been very satisfying, considering how much history they had. But I obviously understand the direction of the story was completely different. And we didn’t get much of Prince Annan because he was never going to last.

Overall, I recommend this to those looking for solid romance and loves historical dramas with not so heavy xianxia elements. And just keep the unnecessary scenes when you get to the second half and you will enjoy it. I think as far as 2025 goals this is probably in my top five.

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Great Character Development

I'll start by prefacing this by the fact that I live in the west and I'm not a 23-year old. My kids could be in college now, so I understand the complexity of human emotions and why things were the way they were in this drama.

For me, this drama was perfect. First part gave us the foundation to build upon. Second part allowed us to see Ming's character development. I adored the chemistry between the lead actors. And Up's acting skills are superb here. If you watch him in Lovely Writer, you'll get what I'm saying. That man is great playing a bottom, but playing a top he is unbelievable. He is not what you would call classically handsome, but with the quality of acting he gave us in this drama, you absolutely do not care about his looks. If you hate his character, it means as an actor he’s done his job well.

I'll probably rewatch in the future. Because I had way too many feels after I finished.

If you're into simple BLs with flat, green flag love interest, then this is not for you. If you're looking for a serious drama with complex, a little morally gray characters with their own faults and want to see proper character ARCs and don't get your panties twisted in a bunch, then this is for you.

I appreciated the writing. One of the better BL's out there. I do think they could have done better job with some of the intimate scenes. But obviously they did not really want to concentrate on that and the chemistry was there regardless.

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Surprisingly Good Palace Intrigue Drama with Great Characters

I must be honest: I do not like palace-intrigue historical C-dramas unless there is a decent amount of fantasy elements or romance takes up over 60% of the plot. That’s my baseline.

I started The Princess Royal several times but couldn’t get past episode 1. Now that I have finally finished it, I don’t understand why I couldn’t continue earlier. Maybe it’s because I went into it after watching xianxia—xianxias and historicals have a very different vibe. So perhaps the switch from one subgenre to another did not work at a time.

But this drama actually surprised me in a good way.

Production values and action

- Very high budget production. Everything from the costumes to the fight choreography felt top notch.
- I particularly liked the action scene in the first episode and there was a stunning sequence in the last episode.

There were additional strong action beats in between, but those two stood out.

Plot (brief, non-spoilery recap)

I’m not the kind of person to recap the plot — most people reading reviews already know the premise. They basically want to know if the drama is worth watching. But for anyone who doesn’t: it’s a story about a married couple (who die) traveling back in time to the period before they got married. They get a second chance at life and must decide whether to repeat the same path or choose something else.

Pacing and storytelling

If you like palace intrigue, it’s absolutely worth watching — one of the better ones I’ve seen. The story moves pretty fast in terms of development. Yes, there are long dialogue-heavy scenes, but they don’t drag the plot. Most of them are fairly meaningful and easy to watch. There were only a handful of draggy scenes toward the end, but not nearly as many as in other historical dramas I’ve seen.

Acting and characters

The acting is superb. I particularly liked Zhao Jin Mai in this role. I didn’t like her in Shine on Me — she wasn’t convincing in that one for some reason (maybe direction). In The Princess Royal she was perfect.

There’s a love-triangle situation that settles halfway through. The tension between Pei Wen Xuan and Su Rong Qing is amazing and holds up until the end. This is one of those rare dramas where the tension between male characters vying for one woman is convincing and the second male lead doesn’t just exist for a trope — he has meaningful presence and development and actually is a worthy opponent.

A lot of characters were interesting and had good storylines. That’s rare for me in historical dramas; I usually skip a lot when it comes to supporting characters, but I didn’t here.

Lead couple: Li Rong and Pei Wen Xuan

Their relationship is complicated because they lived as half-enemies in the previous life—existing on opposite edges of the same circle. In their second life they get a chance to change things. The dynamic is enemies-to-lovers at first: they bicker, scheme against each other, and then marry again because despite their animosity they love each other deep down. Even if they don’t understand it just yet. Their relationship gets crazy and toxic, and very sweet eventually.

I liked the power dynamics a lot. Li Rong is a princess who’s a force to be reckoned with and is the dominant one in the relationship from the beginning and throughout.

Pei Wen Xuan isn’t always the guy to save the girl. She saves him plenty of times too. He’s shown vulnerable in many scenes (the punishment scene at his family’s place, fainting in the court session), though he still saves her too and gets injured doing so.

The best part I liked about his character is that he has learned his past life mistakes. He lets Li Rong take the lead often; he saves her but also allows her agency. I liked that balance.

Palace intrigue and supporting arcs

Reason why I said that this drama surprised me a lot being the palace intrigue drama is because romance is not as prevalent in here as I would like. It seems to be woven evenly into the main story arc which involves the struggle between the noble families and people who are opposing them. Despite my occasional dislike of palace intrigue, I liked the way it was handled here.

Many supporting characters and their storylines were compelling — a rare win for a historical for me.

Around episode 30 the emperor’s character/background comes in heavily, which is where many C-dramas suffer with long torturing scenes that could be trimmed. This drama does have some of that, but it isn’t as bad as usual.

Episode 33 has pretty sick plot twists that help keep the pace going.

Favorite scenes/episodes

Episode 20: the sequence where Pei Wen Xuan catches Li Rong in the flower field — I watched that sequence and the minutes before it several times. The cinematography and the execution and direction are amazing.

Episode 23: the banquet hall performance between the royal siblings, Su Rong Qing and Pei Wen Xuan — stunning.

First episode action and the stunning sequence in the last episode (already mentioned) are also standouts.

Specific dislikes/emotional beats

I hate how Su Rong Qing’s confession affected Li Rong after the cliff fall. It’s understandable Li Rong reacted that way after learning who truly killed her, but it was disheartening to watch her determination to care for her little brother disappear. I’m glad that in the end she allowed herself to believe in humanity again.

Ending and final impressions

The last three episodes were pretty good, with the exception of a couple of draggy scenes — but those dragged scenes made sense because they focused on major characters.

Bonus: it’s a happy ending. Characters who had tragic or sad outcomes in the previous life get good lives and good endings this time. Everyone gets what they want and what they deserve.

If you like historical female-centric dramas, palace intrigue, and are a fan of the actors, this is a pretty good watch.

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Amazing Soundtrack and Graphics

Bai Lu is one of my favorite C-drama actresses. Her acting is mature and emotional, and any drama she's in, I'm always adding it to the list. Moonlight Mystique is no exception.

First of all, I was very impressed with CGI quality. It was off only in a couple of places toward the end but otherwise very even throughout all the episodes. The sets were also beautiful along with costumes and makeup.

The music was amazing. It added an extra layer to an already very emotional story.

As far as characters go, I loved that each one had a backstory, and all of the stories were interesting. In a long drama, it's almost inevitable for me to skip scenes, many times bogged down with long dialogues and random characters, but in this drama everyone's scenes were beautiful and meaningful. I appreciated that.

I also liked that we didn't have too many exposition episodes and got right down to business.

ROMANCE (mild spoilers below)

I think for the first time in history of watching C-drama I actually liked a second CP and was just invested as into the lead couple. Also toward the end of the series, I started to guess what the true purpose of Fu Ling's character was. Honestly, when my guess came true, I was heartbroken.

Main couple had a very healthy relationship, if not a little boring. I think what really made them shine was obvious chemistry and the things they would do for each other. I enjoyed watching that. They had a lot of beautiful scenes together. I do think that Fan Yue's character started strong but became too soft. Still, the actor was made for this role. He needs more roles in xianxias and wuxias. He rocked all those outfits. Plus, his development aligned with his character's arc.

I also think Chang Hua Sen needs proper lead roles moving forward. I really liked him in Journey to Love. He was a little unhinged there. And here too, at the end. But the man can act.

I do think that it was a little unfair to the second couple for them to end up the way they did. I think they deserved a better ending. However, if that's the source material, I won't argue. Let's put this way-I've seen better fantasy, but I also was very impressed with the quality of music, sets, costumes, story, and acting in this one, so I am not going to take off any rating. As far as watching for pleasure to relax (and that's why I watch), this was one of the better ones I've seen this year.

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I appload everyone involved for pulling this off

Is this show perfect? No. Is this one of the best BLs out there? Also, no. But despite all this, I applaud to everyone involved, especially lead actors for taking the risk to get this project done. And trust me when I say it's risky, I mean. I'm from the country with the same views on queer content as China. So, I'm not going to b**ch on here why the drama lacked. I'm an older viewer and writer of queer content and even the west hasn't dared to adapt decent queer literature for TV, let alone an omegaverse source material. And we don't lack the material. Trust me. Tons of books to choose from to adapt.

So, I simply will say this, just watch it, enjoy the chemistry between actors and the magic and stop looking for things to neatpick. I don't know if there rumours are true and we'll see more projects from the sisters or the CPs, but I do hope so.

I've never been this happy to watch a queer C-drama sinceThe Untamed. And even then, they really did us dirty with the adaptation by turning it into something it was not.

P.S. I will probably rewatch this in the future. And I do not rewatch the shows or re-read the books with rare exceptions.

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