what it means to love and be loved

while watching part 1 I kept thinking how much it reminded me of the story of minglan. lo and behold I come to find the author of the novel this drama is based on is the same as that of the story of minglan. so so if you liked that, you'll like this and vice versa.

that being said, this drama is a slice of life with a government plot line in a romance story. I say slice of life because its a really good view on what it meant to walk through life in the period the story takes place. as such it takes on a thicker overall tone compared to many other Chinese dramas.

this is only the first half of the drama, and it beautifully shows you these characters who - even if they aren't shown frequently - all clearly have a rich history in their life that have contributed to how they become as individuals. the overall theme is essentially love. both having it and the lack thereof; both giving it and withholding it.

the characters develope with every anecdote, every family crisis, and every national event and the changes are subtle but of have weight. what I appreciate is that even though the characters change and grow, they don't feel as though they have become different people - they are still very much themselves.

while our main character is "not like other girls" she is still clearly flawed. and no, not flawed because she's uneducated and basically illiterate. even with an education she would probably still be a trouble maker, as its clear she has a perfect blend of both her parents traits. it's a good contrast to minglan, who was docile and secretly a genius at scheming. niao niao is quite intelligent herself, but extremely outspoken and quite ill mannered.

yall just gotta watch this drama.

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cursed with a meh ending

let me just say, I was super amped after watching part 1. I was so invested and though I could predict thw events happening it was written in ways that I enjoyed and felt all tied well. part 2 started out swimmingly... and then fell to ruins.

unfortunately it fell victim to one of the worst curses in c-dramas I've seen: it had such a lame ass ending that was too slow in the wrong places, and too fast everywhere else. the last 5 episodes take place 5 years later in an attempt to quickly resolve all remaining drama and push that last bit of character development.

the drama slowly matures shaoshang, different crises throughout teaching her different lessons that serve to correct each one of her "flaws". she's an entirely different person by the end. I understand the last lesson she learned was that of forgiveness, and I understand all characters had five years of thinking that we didn't get to see, but God dammit seeing that would have been better than serving life threatening drama up to the last minute. in a drama thats dialogue heavy that rush of action they force at the end is always gonna feel excessive.

I will say I absolutely, positively LOVE the emperor. he is by far my favourite character. he made me laugh so much along with buyi's two attendants. their comic relief was the best.

I wish, oh how I wish, that we could have more slice of life at the end than absolute depression. show healing that doesn't involve explosives and voluntary confinement.

that being said, though the last 10 episodes were dissapointing, it was otherwise a very pleasing drama and I would recommend it to anyone willing to trudge thru. the story of minglan, a drama based on a book authored by the same as that of love like the galaxy, fell victim to a similar muddled up ending.

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all the right elements but no execution

my first review! here goes...

I went into this drama wanting to watch cheesy plot, tbh. so I wasn't super dissappointed by the weird moving romance that actually didn't make much sense considering it went from nothing to "I'll die without you" so fast. even web dramas have more slow-burn than the main couple.

what upsets me about this show is the best and most interesting part about it. the whole time travelling between dimensions thing is absolutely fascinating I was so ready for the actual government conspiracy plot to start moving along and then IT CRASHED AND BURNED AND LEFT ME FOR DEAD.

I cannot even begin to write the essay that is my dissapointment in the ending developments. like oh they go back in time to save themselves? and alter the timeline that was already predetermined? okay, that's cool, I get that, kinda dig it, but that made all of the character development that was there almost for nothing. like the prime minister.

and the absolute tragedy that is the use of complex doppelganger relationships I was so ready for and in the end it failed me too.

I've learned my lesson, you can't expect a complex plot in a cheesy romance. and this kinda was the cheesiest of romances I've seen. its worth a watch if you like that kind of thing, just don't set high expectations.

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