No expectations, it still managed to disappoint
The storyline is a string of absurdities, the characters keep taking illogical decisions and developing irrational hatred whose origins are left unexplained. Good people are killed just for shock value or to add tragic weight to the drama. Likewise evil ones get away without much of a punishment or die suddenly and painlessly. Loyal sworn brother turns treacherous for a ridiculously flimsy reason. A couple of scenes are replicated almost intact from Pursuit Of Jade.
Characters: Madam Yu is the one well written character, a powerful woman with many sides to her. Inconsistent development for ML Zhao Ling, who goes from a smart, thoughtful and sensitive young man to a 'blockhead', as if he'd left his neurones in the battlefield. Complete waste of Sen, he goes from an irritating perma-angry child who blames ZL for everything including his best friend's unexpected suicide, to a flat two dimensional young adult that virtually disappears in the second half of the drama. The Fu father's blind hatred toward his daughter (the FL) is neither logical nor explained. A character as important as Shen Congsi doesn't even get an actor to represent it, it just gets narrated instead. The emperor keeps treating ZL with perfunctory cruelty despite him being his right hand man, as well as using his grandmother as a go-to excuse for actions/decisions that are entirely unrelated to her.
Acting: Wen Zheng Rong gives us a superbly nuanced performance as Madam Yu, a smart and heartless villainess with good points to her too. Zero chemistry between the ML and FL. Ding Yu Xi as ML is ok in the first half, even though he failed to impress me in the scenes where he had to show deadly intent towards an enemy. In the second half he is over the top in the emotional moments and expressionless as a tough man. Ancy Deng and Fan Chi Ran deliver correct performances as Fu Ting Yun (FL) and Yake respectively. Bai Shu's casual interpretation of the emperor is in my opinion down to the writing rather than the actor.
Direction is ok, nothing to have fireworks about. Some camera work also copied from POJ. Editing is choppy at times, not all through the drama but there are enough incidences of it to deserve mentioning; this includes a couple of scenes that look like the editor was blindfolded while handling the scissors.
Rewatch value: Nil
Would recommend: No
Characters: Madam Yu is the one well written character, a powerful woman with many sides to her. Inconsistent development for ML Zhao Ling, who goes from a smart, thoughtful and sensitive young man to a 'blockhead', as if he'd left his neurones in the battlefield. Complete waste of Sen, he goes from an irritating perma-angry child who blames ZL for everything including his best friend's unexpected suicide, to a flat two dimensional young adult that virtually disappears in the second half of the drama. The Fu father's blind hatred toward his daughter (the FL) is neither logical nor explained. A character as important as Shen Congsi doesn't even get an actor to represent it, it just gets narrated instead. The emperor keeps treating ZL with perfunctory cruelty despite him being his right hand man, as well as using his grandmother as a go-to excuse for actions/decisions that are entirely unrelated to her.
Acting: Wen Zheng Rong gives us a superbly nuanced performance as Madam Yu, a smart and heartless villainess with good points to her too. Zero chemistry between the ML and FL. Ding Yu Xi as ML is ok in the first half, even though he failed to impress me in the scenes where he had to show deadly intent towards an enemy. In the second half he is over the top in the emotional moments and expressionless as a tough man. Ancy Deng and Fan Chi Ran deliver correct performances as Fu Ting Yun (FL) and Yake respectively. Bai Shu's casual interpretation of the emperor is in my opinion down to the writing rather than the actor.
Direction is ok, nothing to have fireworks about. Some camera work also copied from POJ. Editing is choppy at times, not all through the drama but there are enough incidences of it to deserve mentioning; this includes a couple of scenes that look like the editor was blindfolded while handling the scissors.
Rewatch value: Nil
Would recommend: No
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