lilmeow

This show is kind of inconsistent. The tone and pacing seem to change a lot; the beginning feels muddled, but by the end it does resemble a proper show. I wish I could say that salvaged it for me... but no, yet another one that I’m simply glad to be done with.

This show is FL-centric, so naturally she’s a strong and capable character. But at the beginning, she really is quite unlikeable. She’s beyond ice queen- arrogant and rude, just treats the people around her like trash, frankly kind of scary. Supposedly she is a merge of two personalities, and this is pretty unique and interesting, but unfortunately the show doesn’t really lean into this idea or even make it clear.

By the teens of episodes, she softens into the kind of FL I’m more used to- a smart and in-control character who still has some empathy. She continues to get nicer as the show goes on (not particularly explained), so really you just have to grit your teeth through the beginning.

The ML might have been interesting enough if his main defining feature were not how obsessively in love he is with the FL, and how shamelessly he pursues her. A few times we get hints of something deeper- a dying man with a flippant façade and decent schemes- but mostly he just hits on her.

I think their romance dynamic is where most of the show’s humor lies, at least based on the musical cues. Haha! Look how shamelessly in love he is! Look how cleverly she refutes him! It’s not really my style, though I did laugh a few times at her comebacks.

For the first 2/3 or so, the plot moves fast in small mini-arcs, with lots of formidable-seeming villains taken care of surprisingly quickly. Above average suspension of disbelief is required as we watch the FL sort (or sniff?) things out. It’s still vaguely interesting, but feels too messy to be enjoyable- these smaller story arcs are simply not taken seriously. Unfortunately the only main, consistent plotline is the harem of men who are obsessively in love with the FL.

It’s partly my personal preference, but I just have never been into watching a bunch of people (hot princes or not) figure out their love polygon. It’s not that interesting, plus I feel sorry for them. But it’s extra annoying here because these men are exceptionally delusional and obsessive, way beyond rationality... which honestly is just frustrating to watch. And kind of stressful too- who knows what stupid things they will do in the name of love.

So for the longest time, the only reason I kept watching was for Bu Shulin. I love her! She is really likeable and has great expressions, and her romance is the most I’ve cared about any pairing- main or otherwise- in a really long time. But she only gets maybe 1 scene per episode, so I was basically racing through most of the show at accelerated speed, just for the trickle of her scenes. It’s too bad there aren’t more- apparently some got censored for looking too much like BL (...which it isn’t even...lol. But yes, her cross-dressing is really well-done).

Luckily by the time Bu Shulin and her boytoy move out of the story (somewhere in the 20s of episodes), the show has become more independently watchable. The focus of the main plot has finally started shifting away from romantic entanglements; the FL and ML have become likeable enough that I could root for them; and the story has calmed down, with more cohesive and properly developed story arcs, and antagonists with proper motivation. I still didn’t really care enough about the leads to be that invested in their story, but it was watchable enough to finish.

Actually, I ended up quite liking the final arc. I saw comments where some people didn’t buy the final villain, but personally I liked where they went with it, and I was also very satisfied with the reveals at the end.

For the acting, I thought it was fine- I believed all the characters. Meng Ziyi always gets so much criticism for her acting, but I thought it was fine, I saw expressions. Fan Shuaiqi as Bu Shulin is great- maybe partly saying this because I like her character, but some of her expressions are just really hilarious.

For production stuff, no comment on fight choreo as I sped through it all. There are some really cute cats near the beginning- the cat budget was probably decent but I think it should have still been higher because they later all disappear for no reason. The styling and costumes are alright. I know it’s just a general idol show thing, but at one point the ML helps the FL out with her morning makeup by making a few perfunctory gestures that change nothing on her already heavily made up face... like, come on?

For the music, I thought the OST is decent, and sounds pretty good at 1.5X! But I especially like the BGM. I particularly love the tension-building orchestral strings piece, though there are several other nice ones that I also noticed.

Overall... well. This show had enough going for it at different points to string me along and keep me watching, but I can’t say I was that interested or invested. I might have given this a 5-6 (show I don’t really care for) if not for Bu Shulin and the nice final reveal.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





This show has a happy ending. Even among the side characters, there aren’t any big sacrifices. There is a nice 4-years-later block (featuring an adorable child actor) to show us the leads settled down, that is long enough to actually get a good picture of the situation. But I was disappointed that it didn’t address the characters I actually care about (like Bu Shulin and her boytoy, Prince Lie, the FL’s sister, their subordinates, etc). And whatever happened to her cat?

MORE MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD





I can’t decide if I like the ending or not. The final villain comes very close to being one of my least favorite tropes (SML gone evil), so I personally am glad they add a little twist to it. I also thought it’s very brave to kill off the ML several episodes from the end, leaving the FL to handle the final villains by herself- how unique and realistic! (Well, also my friend just died in a car accident so personally I appreciated seeing somebody deal with loss but learn to move forward).

...but nope, the ML is brought back in the last few minutes. I wouldn’t even call it deus ex machina- there’s no machina. He just shows up. A 10-min extra gives us half an explanation by flashing briefly to his extremely haggard-looking doctor friend, whom nobody in the show seems to care about. I guess he saved him at the cost of his own health, or something.

I really like getting extended scenes that show how they’re living a happy life together, but I still think the ending fails to deliver on many things like explanations and side character follow-up.