Eleison

Yes, very true! I loved all this, too! It humanized the characters in such a way, even with some of the caricatured men here and there (who also had arcs, to be fair), that was really beautiful to watch. And sometimes when I think about the caricatured men in more recent media, and see guys get ruffled by it, I also try to kindly point out that women have been caricatured in most stories for most of history, never being allowed to shine or be shown for all they are truly capable of. If you can't handle a few shows with caricature male characters in contrast to fleshed-out female characters, then I think it shows something about your perspective of self and the world that might be worth examining. 😉

Yes, he was the best the king had amongst his sons until the Sixth Lord started showing his true colors. 😅 (Ouch 😬; though I don't know why the First Lord was so overlooked; he seemed capable enough).

And yes, the girls are so adorable and wonderful!

My only minor gripe with female-centric stories like this one is they do often tend to make most of the men in the story look like clowns, and I think showing women's true abilities and capabilities, which they very much have in equal supply to men, isn't best showcased by dumbing down male characters to make women shine. They can shine next to capable men, too (something some writers seem yet to discover). The best stories will write both with dignity (by giving them weaknesses and strengths (as any normal human would have bits of both, and of course some will have more of one or the other 😉). But I think they made it work well enough (Sixth Lord is obviously wonderful) and there are enough male characters that improve to not make it feel super overt (like Fifth Lord and Third Lord-ish (though I still think he's kind of awful)), but it was fun to see them portray the main leads' adorable romance budding and the way they learn to support one another, and all Li Wei's sweet friends and her partnership with the other women in the palace. There are never this many sweet people all in one place, especially in a royal court, haha, but because it's beautifully done and so well-written, I can suspend disbelief.

I understand this drama is trying to do soft social commentary (sometimes not so soft!), and trying to make some important points about society and dynamics between men and women, so it was kind of intentional that the men were written this way to show just how ridiculous their expectations if women can be; I felt it keenly, for instance, when the Second Lord was fawning over Hao Jia and only looking at her as the bearer of his "son." How dehumanizing! Or when they talked of sending women to marry random strangers for marriage alliances to serve the "bigger picture."

Overall, though, it's just like a cozy, warm hug!

There is kind of a slower bit in the middle because they focus more on the girls' business and Hao Jia's terrible plight (I found that part kind of hard to watch, and the part with the business was a bit draggy, I'll admit (I wasn't bored, I just found a bit less engaging than the parts focused more on the leads)), but the focus moves back to the main leads and their story in the last third of the drama. They're just so cute and their interactions are written so well that I find them delightful to watch. 😅 And I think you start to see the payoff of all the characters' hard work and efforts later, too, so I'd give it a shot and try a bit more. Maybe skim through some of the middle portions until you get past the business and Hao Jia's story. It ends very satisfyingly.

I think by poor they also mean those who lack prominence or power. And by comparison, they are "poor," right?

Oh yeah, he's very icky. Definitely the worst character. The Emperor/King/Lord isn't great either. He's kind of an awful dad and while he has a good eye for talent he just thinks about his sons like pawns or tools to use "for the bigger picture." I don't like him one bit either.

The show does a good job of critiquing the way the way people can see those around them as a means to end. Even if the end seems worth it, using people in that way is never okay no matter what the ends are. (i.e. the way Yin Song only sees Hao Jia because she's carrying his "son"; they overemphasize his focus on the baby to show how demeaning his treatment of her is. He's so awful).

Enjoy!

I'm judging Netflix based on what they've done historically and making predictions. Obviously I don't know for sure what they'll do, but I have a pretty good idea. 😏

If it's piloted by Netflix and not an airing network in SK, I think you can expect some explicit and/or off-color content (or "off-color" compared to what most are used to from traditional Kdramas). I've been very disappointed with recent Netflix-made "Kdramas." I feel like we need a new name for them: AKdramas ("American Korean Dramas") or NCKdramas ("Not Censored Korean Dramas") or NDAKDramas ("Netflix/Disney/Amazon Korean Dramas")? 😅

I know Kmovies are much different than Kdramas, which is why I don't watch many, but it seems their dramas are now trending in that direction, too. I've personally been migrating to Cdramas recently because the Kdramas have been disappointing me of late... Like Agatha Christie novels, I used to feel like I could start a Kdrama and know what I wouldn't see or hear no matter what it was about because of the tried-and-true formula and content boundaries, but those days seem to be behind us now. *sigh* 😭 And, coincidentally (or not so coincidentally?) the stories have gotten more boring, too. Ugh. 😖

I've been reading comments on MDL this year about Kdramas going downhill and Cdramas getting better, and I have to admit, I'm starting to agree with them. Annnywaaaay, I'll stop my rant here.

Gosh, I love Zhao Lusi, but I think I'll pass on this one... 😅

I think you'll like New Life Begins; it feels kind of slice of life in a costume drama, and also has social commentary on the mistreatment of women and even the dynamics within marriage where both spouses learn to support one another (while set in contrast to other couples and marriages). It's not super historical (it's a "fictional China"), and isn't full of fighting and dark, dramatic angst but it is VERY heartwarming and lovely. It's the sort of drama with villains thin on the ground (it still has engaging beats and arcs for characters, though), and many sweet characters or characters becoming sweeter/improving as the series progresses. 😉 And it ends happily. 👍

100% agree, that's a no-brainer--why change a happy ending even the novelist wrote in?

Have you seen New Life Begins? It's all things cozy and feels like a warm hug. It's a few years old, so maybe you've already seen it, but it's a great Cdrama and might assuage some of the SE pain from this. 😅

I recently had a convo with another user about SEs in Cdramas. She seemed to hint it's apparently the exposure to Disney and the optimistic American in me that thinks everything should come out all right. 😅 But I still don't think it's too much to ask for a costume drama, even if it's set in a pseudo-historical setting, to end happily. If you're doing a biopic or historical fiction based on a true story, by all means, end it "accurately" or "realistically." But what is the point of entertainment? There are different types of entertainment, to be sure, but when I watch stuff that's so removed from reality already, attempts at being "grounded" or "realistic" in them annoy me. Though teasing the ML's death from the beginning seems like the most responsible way to prepare the audience, at least (like NIV). I can respect that approach as I don't like things sprung on me. 😂

Is Park Sung Hoon going to be a villain again? 🤔😅

Oh... so the leads don't end up together? Those endings are indeed a bummer. I wish it ended better because I love Zhao Lusi and I would like to watch another drama with her. 😔

Extremely rewatchable, for sure!!

Why is that? Trying to see if I should add it to my watchlist.

Question! In Episode 4, why does the 3rd Brother not want to return to the palace and why did he leave it to begin with? Why are they trying so hard to get him back? I'm struggling to grasp what is happening. 😅

😅😅😅 That, too!

True! I agree with you. I continue to be dissatisfied with Korean media's partnerships with Netflix; I know some love it, but that's exactly why I gave up on Western TV to watch Korean content, but there's becoming less and less of a difference and I'm so bummed. 😣 I typically like Korean Drama output minus artistic involvement from Netflix (or any other Western streaming platform (e.g. Disney, Hulu, Amazon, etc.)) better.

I mean, it had skinship, too, but it was an agonizing scene because at that point he was dying and he knew it (and WE knew it), but she didn't. It was awful! 😭

I think their point was the emphasis was a bit heavier on the misery and suffering than the healing (particularly for the ML).