5
1
ChineseDramaFan
USA
Humorous, Lovable Characters, Coherent Storyline
Delicacies Destiny is my third drama on culinary arts in a row. This drama is rather similar to Royal Feast which finished airing recently. Both dramas are set in the period of Ming Dynasty, hence similar costumes and decorum. But most of all, one of the supporting actors in the earlier drama is now the main lead (He Ruixian) in this drama. Though both dramas involve romance and cuisines, there is a marked difference in the characters and mood.
Based on fictional characters, the storyline is rather straight forward. A talented chef (He Ruixian) gets herself recruited to the palace to cook for the picky Crown Prince (Wang Xingyue). Then the prince falls in love with her and wants her to be his crown prince consort. But she is given an ultimatum by the Emperor: if she wants to be the Crown Prince Consort, she has to give up her passion as a chef; or she can continue to be a chef but she has to stay away from the Crown Prince. Either decision tears her apart.
He Ruixian’s acting, demeanor and styling in this drama is almost exactly the same as she was in Royal Feast. But I like her character Ling Xiaoxiao here a lot better than the previous one. I have no complain with He Ruixian’s acting and find her quite convincing. Wang Xingyue’s great acting here as the Crown Prince Zhu Shoukui is commendable. At only 20, this young actor continues to surprise me with his fine acting. He has captured his character very well: the character’s happiness when he is in love, his disappointment when he doesn’t get his way, and his despair when he’s being rejected – every minute emotion is well acted without overacting.
My Verdict
This is a delightful drama with only 16 episodes. It starts out as a slapstick comedy. There are no villains, no complicated plot, no outrageous twists, no love triangles, no tiring romance. In fact, the romance is rather cute. Compared with Royal Feast, Delicacies Destiny’s costumes are not as exquisite and its cuisine arts not as elaborate, but its characters are a lot more lovable and the logic of the story is better. A lot of the jokes seem unintentional, making the story flow very naturally. It is unusual to see an Empress that allows her son to marry his cook as she (the Empress) places his (the son's) happiness above everything; she even allows him to abdicate himself as the Crown Prince so that he can pursue his love (rather unthinkable, but anyway …). There’s only one kissing scene towards the end which is quite well done with actual kissing.
Despite the easy and light watching, the last 2 episodes did draw some tears from me seeing the struggle of the characters. After the final episode 16, there is an epilogue which is an alternative ending. Make sure you don’t miss it.
There are times we need to make very hard choices in life. From the story, our FL character needs to choose between love or passion, likewise for our ML character who has to choose between love or duty. Either choice, the consequence is very different. This drama shows us the possibility of each choice, and ends with a note that, if we compromise slightly, maybe we can get the best out of all choices. How would you choose? Love, passion or duty?
Fun watch! Great for in-between releases of new episodes for other dramas.
Based on fictional characters, the storyline is rather straight forward. A talented chef (He Ruixian) gets herself recruited to the palace to cook for the picky Crown Prince (Wang Xingyue). Then the prince falls in love with her and wants her to be his crown prince consort. But she is given an ultimatum by the Emperor: if she wants to be the Crown Prince Consort, she has to give up her passion as a chef; or she can continue to be a chef but she has to stay away from the Crown Prince. Either decision tears her apart.
He Ruixian’s acting, demeanor and styling in this drama is almost exactly the same as she was in Royal Feast. But I like her character Ling Xiaoxiao here a lot better than the previous one. I have no complain with He Ruixian’s acting and find her quite convincing. Wang Xingyue’s great acting here as the Crown Prince Zhu Shoukui is commendable. At only 20, this young actor continues to surprise me with his fine acting. He has captured his character very well: the character’s happiness when he is in love, his disappointment when he doesn’t get his way, and his despair when he’s being rejected – every minute emotion is well acted without overacting.
My Verdict
This is a delightful drama with only 16 episodes. It starts out as a slapstick comedy. There are no villains, no complicated plot, no outrageous twists, no love triangles, no tiring romance. In fact, the romance is rather cute. Compared with Royal Feast, Delicacies Destiny’s costumes are not as exquisite and its cuisine arts not as elaborate, but its characters are a lot more lovable and the logic of the story is better. A lot of the jokes seem unintentional, making the story flow very naturally. It is unusual to see an Empress that allows her son to marry his cook as she (the Empress) places his (the son's) happiness above everything; she even allows him to abdicate himself as the Crown Prince so that he can pursue his love (rather unthinkable, but anyway …). There’s only one kissing scene towards the end which is quite well done with actual kissing.
Despite the easy and light watching, the last 2 episodes did draw some tears from me seeing the struggle of the characters. After the final episode 16, there is an epilogue which is an alternative ending. Make sure you don’t miss it.
There are times we need to make very hard choices in life. From the story, our FL character needs to choose between love or passion, likewise for our ML character who has to choose between love or duty. Either choice, the consequence is very different. This drama shows us the possibility of each choice, and ends with a note that, if we compromise slightly, maybe we can get the best out of all choices. How would you choose? Love, passion or duty?
Fun watch! Great for in-between releases of new episodes for other dramas.
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