Reviews

Tiring

At 13 yrs old, this drama was probably a novelty back then hence the high ratings. However, if compared with recent historicals that have similar themes, it falls far short of entertaining. The female lead character for one was a waste of space who had nothing going for her except her wide-eyed naïveté which grew annoying after a while. Likewise the male lead character who excelled at stoic and arrogant with no redeeming qualities. The actors were fine, it’s the writing that failed and as much as I tried, I simply couldn’t get through another episode of their shenanigans.

Dropped.

Read More

It is quite sad to see Zhang binbin and Dilireba in the drama, they clearly loved each other but cannot be together. Zhan Feng (Zhang binbin) turns cruel and cold towards Ruge but I hope to see them reconcile. This An Ye Luo villain guy... I cannot wait for him to appear and get the punishment he deserves.
I hope they follow the ending of the novel :) Since the novel ending was kind of open ended, I'm hoping the drama can do a bit better~
Yu Gongzi and Gongzi Xue are at the top of my bias list~ I really want Ruge with Zhan Feng but due to this conflict, she's better off with Yu and Xue~ at least Xue will protect the girl and Yu will also protect her~
Ruge- Dilireba- is sooo lucky surrounded by handsome guys <3
This drama deserves more viewing :D
If anyone is hesitating, don't! Watch it and you will not regret it!
I only watched a few episodes but this drama will get really good, I know it.
OST is killer as well, acting is superb. Dilireba improved a lot, you can see it yourself~
No matter who she ends up with, I'm cheering for her :D

Read More

A shell of a show

So, first I watched a show about the foundation of the Han dynasty, and then a show about the collapse of the Han dynasty. I figured, I should keep moving further along the chronology of Chinese history. Couldn't find a show about Sima-Jin, and then there's a period of instability and fragmentation in Chinese history. The next imperial dynasty of China was Sui, so I thought I'd pick a show about that. The two most accessible shows about its foundation turned out to be The Legend of Dugu and Queen Dugu. I decided to go with the latter, since I heard some people describe the former as having annoying one-dimensional characters and a lot of love-triangle melodrama. Now I'm confused because that turned out to be exactly the description of Queen Dugu.

Watching this was a torture. I liked the sets, costumes and the soundtrack, but other than that there's literally no redeeming qualities. The show tells the story of Dugu Jialuo, who is supposed to be 13 at the time, so naturally she is played by a 40-year-old. To make matters worse, they also feature a backstory of her romance with this other dude, whom she had studied with. They even show flashbacks from her school days, at which point she was what? 11? 10? Still played by a 40-year-old. I mean, this is ridiculous, but I'd be willing to overlook such trifle matters, if the story was any good. And it's not.

In the first episode they set up a story arc involving a confrontation between some courtiers . In any normal show, this arc would take maybe 3-4 episodes, and then move onto more important stuff. Here, though, by episode 8 the arc is still unresolved. Why? Because every episode has maybe 10-15 minutes of actual plot, and the rest is just people expressing love for each other or ending up in cliched awkward situations straight from a romcom. You know, stuff like "whoops, I accidentally fell on my crush, and now I'm lying on top of him as we would do if we were having sex, so let me blush and back away like an insecure teenager" - this particular trope was employed twice within the 8 episodes that I watched. In fact, the whole show seems like it was written by a teenager. Everyone is acting immature, there's no depth to any character, they barely resemble real people. One character constantly uses the threat of suicide as a way to manipulate people, and also performs the most fake crying I have ever seen in a TV show. She's acting like a spoiled teenager. Are we supposed to find that cute? Anyway, when the show does have actual plot twists, they're straight out of a soap opera. Stuff like somebody who had died returning to life and telling an incredible story of how they survived, even though it makes no sense.

The whole show is 50 episodes long, and it spends almost 1/5 of it going nowhere. When will there be time for military campaigns, economical and political issues, insights on the medieval feudal life and the course of history? What is the point of making a historical TV show if it's just going to be a pointless melodrama?

When some of the reviewers here mentioned that they've been fast-forwarding this show, I was baffled. How can you understand the story if you skip elements of it? But after watching a few episodes, I realized that there's nothing here to watch. Skipping forward is basically the only way to power through this slog of a show.

So, is this show terrible? Not really, no, I've seen worse. But is it worth watching? I'd say no, unless you don't have anything better to watch. I am dropping it, and do not recommend anybody to watch it, except for maybe someone who's looking for mere escapism and doesn't care about the story. But then again, for mere escapist there are plenty of other options.

Read More

Female Lead Plastic Acting

I tried to watch this drama because of the ratings and the hype of Ryan Ding. This is drama supposed is a romantic comedy , but the supposing funny scenes are not funny at all. The facial expression especially Zhang Yu Xi really very plastic and extravagating. At the end can't stand to see her act anymore, drop this series. Not haters of her, but seeing this drama, her acting really....
Zhang Yu Xi acting is like a copy from love and redemption, no different at all, only extravagating. Just pretty face, nothing more.
Aside to that the story is just... you can guess what is the ending like

Ep2: Zhang Yu Xi by right acting angry/irritated, but facial expression very obvious smiling or trying to hold back laughter kind of face (poor acting). The story jumping, thought it was just Bei Bei imagination, riding bicycle in a old style like Marylin Monroe, happen it's real not imagination. So fast recover? then what for an operation? Can go around the hospital so freely and yet still "sick" and stay in the hospital? is it hotel?
The fake hair very obvious
When acting "thinking" about the jealous type, the eyes is totally no expression, no soul, blank not expressive at all

Read More

I ...kinda hated it

I really dislike the main dude, his actions and motivations are really gross to me. Like he's mad at his friend because his friend chose his child over competition?

Also, one who is thirty (or even above 20) should * NOT be dating someone who is 18/19. They are kids and should not be seen in any sort of romantic way - the relationship just gave me the creeps not to mention how he always calls her child. The way her entire life revolves around him is really off putting too, like we constantly see her doing all this stuff for him and his job - where is he for her? It's been awhile since ive seen it - but i remember him never

I dropped it in the long run since it made me far too uncomfortable.

Read More

To begin with, and to drive home how much I loathe this drama, I began watching it mainly because it had traditional subtitles that I wanted to be able to study from. The fact that I've not only dropped the show, but went through my flashcard decks and purged most of the flashcards I created from the show should give you some idea idea of my feelings. The mere presence of those flashcards, reminders that this show and its characters exist, still annoy me to this day.

So what do I so loathe bout this show? Beyond the awful scriptwriting, bad editing, and inconsistent character behaviour, what really makes me LOATHE this show is the awful characters. Probably the only character I don't absolutely hate already is Su Nian Nian's father, and he's not much of a character, just being a lovely dad.

The two leads, Su Nian Nian And Gu Zi whatever he's called I forget, are both awful people. Su Nian Nian is a superior, neurotic, unlikeable bookworm and Gu Zi whatever is a spoilt rich kid that we seem to be supposed to like, but who's arrogance and general air make me want to beat him while vomiting violently.

The entire conflict between this pair of enemies, to later turn lovers, is so contrived that it is infuriating. It could be solved within 2 minutes, but the characters inexplicably take it almost as a point of pride to refuse to simply clear up a misunderstanding. And not in an understandable human way, in the way only a bad writer writing borderline insane-seeming characters could conceive.

These two characters seem to be stand-ins for the writers, who write from a combination of the two characters perspective on their fellow classmates. Both characters are misfits to the school they are attending. Su Nian Nian as a high achieving student, and Gu Zi whatever as a richboy who could probably have his way into a half decent school if his family wanted. Their combination of know-it-all and richkid contempt for the lower-classes seems to permeate the portrayal of all characters in the series. Those at the engineering college are not likeable working class ruffians but violent, shallow, unlikeable morons, who are there because they are self-evidently simply too stupid and/or lazy to be anywhere else. This series is straight up mean. It's portrayal of sections of society is gut churning, and its humour is based mostly in cruelt of one kind or another.

The idea that this series culminates in these two somehow forming a romance, and leading their school to some kind of group solidarity, I find sickening, and it's when I realised that this is where the series was going that I dropped it.

If this series culminate in anything less that the deaths of these two, and the entire writing team, at the hands of the working class, I cannot finish it.

Absolutely awful series, backed up by some of the worst editing and music choices I've seen yet.

AVOID!

Read More

Main Male Character

The story for his character to be a whimp, it's absolutely dumb. The events related to his past, makes him act like a total loser. He's afraid to fight because of what happened to his father, the reason his mother went away. All runs out on the least believable reasons. In martial arts, it is true that you must never use them to attack, only to defend yourself. But in martial arts competitions, the possibility of a hit killing you opponent are high. It depends on the strength and also you can hit or get hitten on a place that's really harmfull.
He's traumatised by the fact that a guy died on a fight competition with his dad. But all the time the make you think that his father killed him on purpose. And that's the part of the story I dislike. His mom is in fact selfish, cause she didn't try at all to help his husband understand that what happened was an accident.

Read More

Doesn't completely do away with gender stereotypes

I was watching this show with the expectation that it would not have traditional relationship dynamics. In many aspects, it meets my criteria: the FL is older, earns more money, and she's more of a go-getter type, while the ML is rather a reserved personality. However, the ML ends up to be the sexually dominant side in the relationship, just like 99% of other asian dramas. These stereotypes must be carved inside the writers' minds deeply, as they default to bridal carry scenes to bond the characters, or for fillers, even in series like this. It was pretty watchable if you enjoy/don't mind these omnipresent stereotypical dynamics though.

Read More

Please watch if you want to but -

Giving 5 for story because some of the things are just repetitive. Like for example, the negative characters plotting against the main leads, the court issues and etc. It is just going on and on .. when you think this might be the end, there's another scheme being played.
The chemistry is okay. Sometimes you wish to slap the shit out of FL but it is just how character is. Ending is let's say, justified enough.
Music is good, cast is pretty good. Talking about cast, the female negative has pulled it off extremely well.
It's pretty entertaining but i am not gonna lie i wanted to skip many episodes in the middle cause it bored me.
Well, every audience has their own preferences so many may really like it.
For me, it is just so so.

Read More

What a waste

Girls are cute, yes. That's the only thing good about this one.

Story is crap mostly in action scene.
Why are they all talkative before attacking others and get killed themself?
Why shooting from ambush with careful aim and close range didn't hit (they'll hit if story let them hit even from very long range, that's what I think crap)
I can't stand anymore and drop this.

May be ending may be interesting but with my common sense, I can't stand watching those crappy scene anymore.
Only reason I started watching is coz of Shiraishi Sei, main protagonist actress.

Read More

Photography and actors got me...

First of it I'm biased, as I know the actors for previous series and I like them a lot. I was also drawn to the photography and the editing and wanted to see more work if that team.
As a photographer, the photography in this series doesn't dissapoint, we start in the island so we had beautiful landscapes really well captured. The editing is really good on the eyes, beautifully done. The music helps to create the mood and the effects for the comedy parts are funny.
The actors really did a great job getting ready for this series, they learned scuba diving and also free diving. They had a crew for the diving scenes for security and help.
One of the actors also learned the suthern dialec of the area.
The range of both of them portraying motions are really good.
We had another characters that are developing another story, and had their fun moments as well, I'm looking forward to see them more.
So far we are 4 episodes in:
1, Meet the characters. And little bit of their dinamic. episode
2, Know more deeply one of our main characters, we already know both had hard moments in life. episode
3 The relationship between the main couple starts to develope and we know more of both of them
[SPOILER ALERT]
4 A transition where they go to Bangkok and we see how Rak change in his environment.
[END OF SPOILER]

Can't wait to see more!!

Read More