Reviews

Great Acting, Pacing with Unexpected Twists

Completed - 5/19/2022 - 8.75

When it's announced that Chen Kun and Bai Yu were going to be in a drama together, one could assume you don't have to worry about the quality of acting in "The Wind Blows From Longxi". This is a very heavy, political drama involving spies and schemes. If you had a bad experience with boring and dragged out political dramas in the past, and are still interested in this genre, DO NOT miss out on this drama.

Plot - I would not classify myself as a huge fan of this genre, as I often get bored in the middle of such politics heavy drama, e.g. "The Longest Day in Chang'an". However, with only 24 episodes, we have a very tight plot with amazing twists and turns. The pacing is the best I've seen in a historical political drama. There are schemes over schemes, lies after lies, spies everywhere trying to outsmart each other. The whole drama is very dark and serious, as it should be during war times. However, I did think to myself wishing there were a few more lighter moments (not comedy). I wanted to see more flashbacks of Chen Gong, Xun Xu and Di Yue, before they became spies. Those were the times when we saw smiles on their faces. On the other hand, yes, there are legitimate criticisms about the introduction of so many characters in the first few episodes. And yes, the summary at the end of each episode does help viewers in understanding what exactly happened. However, my biggest criticism of the drama is that, if the writing of the drama is better, do we really need to have the episode-end summary in the first place? Can't the story be written in a way that's less confusing for the audience, who has no prior knowledge of those historic times, and not be confused by the barrage of characters?

Acting - As I mentioned earlier, you really don't need to question the quality of acting in this drama. Not just because of Chen Kun and Bai Yu, but also all of the supporting cast. No matter how small or big the part is, everyone was excellent. And yes, Angelbaby wasn't bad either, though her part is small. In the last episode when Cheng Gong (Chen Kun) and Xun Xu (Bai Yu) had the confrontation heart-to-heart talk, I couldn't help but cry with Xun Xu.

Friendships/Relationships - The friendship between Cheng Gong and Xun Xu is on a different level. They understand and trust each other. There are many times in this drama where each could have questioned the motive and sincerity of actions. They could not be honest due to the nature of the business, but deep down they trust each other and use their brains to arrive at the correct conclusion. I wish we have more scenes with the two of them together. On the other hand, even though General Li and Prime Minister Zhuge seem like enemies, they are both loyal servants to the emperor. They just have different ideologies, motivations and strategies on what's best for the kingdom.

Production Quality - This is not a palace drama so we don't have beautiful set designs and costumes. These are turbulent times and everything felt so realistic. The lighting, sets, props, houses - everything looks so real. Others commented that this drama is very dark (not enough lighting), but I personally enjoy the use of natural light from candles and lanterns. They could probably use an extra candle or two here and there. This drama may not have the beautiful cinematography as in "Luoyang" or "The Longest Day in Chang'an", but it just feels right. I also greatly enjoy the gritty fight scene towards the end between Chen Gong and Huang Yu. That was very physical but with a lot of emotions. I would have loved to see more.

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I love this show. Love it. Wholeheartedly love it. This is a family drama centering on the Byeon family. The titular father in this case is Byeon Han Soo, father of four children: ne'er do well oldest child, Byeon Joon Yeong (who is on his third attempt at passing the civil servants exam), oldest daughter Byeon Hye Yeong (a hyper competent, over achieving, tough as nails lawyer), middle girl child Byeon Mi Yeong (an insecure job seeker who was a former judo athlete and then also a former fat girl in high school), and youngest daughter Byeon Ra Yeong (a yoga instructor and Pretty Girl (tm)). Coming into this mix is actor Ahn Jung Hee - who is notorious for being a bad actor and whose father is Byeon Han Soo - but the Byeon Han Soo we know has a secret he's been hiding for 35 years. Jung Hee comes looking for his father, as he takes to heart criticism of his acting and he wants to find out for himself the feelings that he's struggling so hard to portray in his acting. Partnered with Byeon Han Soo is his wife Na Yeong Shil, who is a party to his secrets, and has stood by him faithfully for more than 35 years.

Being a family drama, this story also centers around the love interests of the main family members, and the trials and tribulations of the extended family as well (such as the brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and mother of Na Yeong Shil). The story lines in this one definitely have twists and turns, but lack the absolutely soul crushing series of bad events that some family dramas seem to get bogged down in. All of the various romances are delightful to watch, and each episode (even ones that end in sad or suspenseful cliff-hangers) left me with warm fuzzy feelings that made me eager to go to the next episode. I highly recommend this one. And man am I in love with Lee Joon as Ahn Jung Hee in this show.

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A passable rom-com that got swamped by a tsunami of relationship disasters

Let me be frank, the ML was a horrible person for a good 1/3 of the Show. He is rude, arrogant and a bully. Thankfully, the growth in the FL offset this and gave the Show a positive momentum. For the first half of the drama, it was very rewarding to watch the FL overcome challenges and strike out on her own. The business aspect of this chapter was also engaging and interesting unlike many c-drama which is supposedly based on the business world. Not surprisingly, the ML changed for the better over time, but it was a slow journey and he continued to be taciturn and awkward for the bulk of the show. It was hard to ship the OTP initially. Nevertheless, everything was heading in the right direction and there are solid hints that the OTP is on the verge of going official when the ML suddenly has an attack of the vapours and told the FL not to have any silly idea about liking him. OMG! That is the smackdown of the century and of course the FL took it badly. This is where the wheels begin to fall off this cart.

I know push-pulls and misunderstanding are the cornerstones of a rom-com, but our dear writer double down on the relationship nightmares thus flipping the narrative on its head. It went from a positive, sunny outlook to a total disaster area within a couple of episodes. The doom and gloom went on for a good 8-9 episodes before the FL finally broke up with the SML. Suddenly, it is as if a curse has been lifted and the sun came out again. Upon reflection, there was little to gain from all this pain while making the Show feel stilted.

Speaking of the SML, there is no chemistry between him and the FL. Forget fish lip kisses, they were dead fish swimming. The body language of the FL made it clear that she wanted out, but it still dragged on for too long. Ditto parachuting the ML’s crush into the mix at the same time. All it served was to throw fuel onto the flaming wreak of our OTP “romance”. If that is not enough, the seemingly perfect relationship of her BFF and her partner became a complete train wreck.

This brings us to a related issue. While the first half of the Show was focused on the OTP with some side plots, the latter half became a free-for-all with all the side stories taking over the bulk of the screen time. The leads became the supporting act. So not only was there no progress in their relationship, but they were also caught up with everyone else’s problems.

In this sea of gloom, there was an odd spark. Oddly, it was a death, but the story was integral to the plot. It was poignant and well acted. It marked the turning point when the Show pivot back on course.

The last few episodes are used to dispel the gloom and put things right. More time and effort are spent on side characters while the leads are stuck in the dreaded friend zone. The pacing is languid to say the least. The ending is cute and predictable but more appropriate for a movie. The confession did not happen until the literal dying moments of the last episode! Why can’t we have more sweet CP moments? I believe the Show followed closely the book which it is based but after 30+ episodes a bit more fan service is not unreasonable. So much time is wasted, . . . so much.

Acting wise, the FL was very good while the ML struggles with his delivery. I have not watched any of his show which I can say his acting was outstanding. Most of the support cast earned their keeps. There were some one-dimensional characters and some overacting but not too bad.

OST is good. I can rewatch bits of it, but I would skip a lot as well. It started well and promised much but in the end, it failed to reach new heights and came down to a soft landing.

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Aesthetically pleasing with slow burn storytelling

This was one of the most anticipated films on my list. Ever since the release of the trailer, the ost and visuals really caught my attention. Judging by the trailer, it seemed pretty appealing in terms of its supernatural story concept and not your typical slice of life bl.

Delving into the film, it started off strong with its visuals and character introductions, but the story pacing wasn't quite there.
I found myself pausing a few times throughout the film which was a bit concerning. It indicates the story wasn't engaging in the early stages (first 10 mins mark) especially when it came to the bond between the two main leads.

Story structure

The story went from point A to point B. There wasn't much breathing room to let the audience become invested in the characters. Of course, there were conversations made between main leads including Takito's character, Hanzawa (Cop). However, it took so long for a scene to show a genuine connection and emotion between the characters. The first half of the film felt absent, but its absence was not entirely bad. I replayed some scenes and noticed the silent pain the actors conveyed in their expressions which I appreciated.

I believe the film tried to appeal to a wider audience therefore the relationship between Hiyakawa and Mikado came across as a bit hollow. From a marketing perspective, it seems ideal to want to create a story structure that appeals to and invites both original fans of the source and supernatural enthusiasts. Based on watching the film it seems the film director and producers was struggling to build a gradual bond between the two main leads. It bothered me how everything was resolved at the last minute, but I loved how the threads started to connect together.

Acting

The casting choice was solid. From the beginning, middle to end, Hirate-sans performance kept me engaged and more intrigued with her character. I believe she is one of the idol actresses who does not overact. Okada and Shison-san's performance started to shine just after the 30-minute mark. In the climax scene, I believe everybody performed pretty well.

Music

A few osts caught my interest including when Shison's character has a moment of courage. The trailer song is a banger which I'm pretty sure it relates to one or two of the perspective of the main lead.

Production and Visuals

The CGI and colour gradient reminded me of the Bleach live-action. I appreciated the opening montage and ost. It made me realise the trailer didn't give away everything in the film which was a good sign from my perspective.

Overall, I would have liked to see more of the three main leads. I believe when exploring a manga adaptation especially with three main leads, it would have been great as a drama series or film trilogy. Hopefully, the anime adaptation brings more from the source material.

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Wow, this movie was a roller coaster! The first part was really cute and funny. The second part nervewracking for sure. May I add here a huge SPOIL ALERT and say to anyone who might be wondering, that this movie does not have insest in it. It just a major twist in the movie, but they just played with it for a while, having you wonder why the hell this one wasn't under the drama-tragic ending category.
On the other hand, the first part was really adorable, manga like movie. The love story was cute and the family matter, confusing, but funny. The movie is well made as well and the performances very good.

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Popularity Contest With Racial Biases and Inconsistent Editing

I know every single person for the most part will be salty to some degree with the ending, but there is no denying the production company had a hand at why the results went the way they did. There was often extreme amounts of focus on certain contestants and almost nothing to showcase the others. My biggest confusion is probably contestants with very low levels of talent made it week after week, even one or two made it to the top 9.

I can't tell if this is what the industry is about or if this is just a fluke (RIP Fluke from Alpha Project XD) because the decisions were made by fans. I feel like one of the most talented contestants was racially profiled, we all know which one. It's something I've seen before, especially as someone who is a fan of Isbanky, a Thai actor who is mixed.

Giving Koreans an unbalanced advantage didn't seem like a big deal to me at first, but then I realized real fast their criteria for stars was vastly different from my own (US Fan). I think Korean fans will be quite happy with the results, but globally, I'm wildly curious how others feel about the deficit from some of the winners, versus the final pool of losers. There was at least three people in the losers group who could out sing, dance and perform four of the top nine. But maybe that's not the goal?

I possibly misunderstood the intentions of the show and I am getting it all wrong. Admittedly, I am not super deep in the K-Pop world. I think I also didn't realize there isn't much importance on singing well, I figured for most of these guys, that would be the base criteria and you'd get kicked out in the first weeks for not carrying a tune. I want to give this show another chance if it came back around, but for now it doesn't really fit my style.

Congrats to the winners either way, there is no denying that EVERYONE worked so incredibly hard. It's just many of the performers with natural gifts or talents were left behind, with only a few "They deserved top 9 for sure! Congrats" in the final ranking.

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Nabi is the toxic one

Before I started this drama, I was bombarded with TikToks about how park Jae eon was toxic and how Nabi kept missing or ignoring the “red flags” but after watching, idk if those people are willfully dense or if they watched a completely different show because NABI WAS THE TOXIC ONE.

The comments, reviews, and online posts will have you thinking that this drama is about a girl who falls for a player that repeatedly treats her poorly yet she fails to see it and find a better man but that is not the case.

Park Jae eon and Nabi met in a bar, and they lost their chance at a hookup. The next time they meet after that is when her friends invite her out for drinks. They had no relationship-he found her attractive and flirted with her and she reciprocated yet her perspective will try to trick you into thinking it was more. They were two college aged adults who were into each other, they owed nothing to each other, and they promised nothing to each other, but Nabi behaved as though he not only promised her monogamy and fidelity but that he was breaking said promise every time he so much as looked at a member of the opposite sex.

I realized halfway through the drama that her behavior was pathological. Nabi’s insecurities in her “relationship” with Jae eon did not stem from him, his actions-or lack thereof. Rather, they were most likely caused by her childhood where she witnessed/lived through her mother being openly cheated on and mistreated by a string of boyfriends. This coupled with the fact that her first boyfriend was a professor who spent their entire relationship manipulating and gaslighting her only to also cheat on her did not make for a very emotionally healthy and secure person (relationship wise). Nabi’s insecurities and mistrust were not Jae eon’s fault nor his responsibility. She needed help but instead of processing her issues in a healthy way, she clung to Jae eon and projected it all on him-making him the villain of her story and as the viewers saw it from her perspective, he became the villain to them too. Note her instinctual reaction to potato boy and his cousin on the pier for the first time (this exactly mirrors her reaction to every interaction she’d witnessed between Jae eon and another girl even if it was innocent)-this was not due to “scars” caused by Jae Eon but ones she’s been carrying around for most of her life.

Also, important to point out: they both agreed to enter a sex only relationship, but she wanted more, and she never expressly told him this. She just punished him for not behaving as though they were in an exclusive and romantic relationship when nothing about their original agreement had changed.

Also, Also important to point out(sorry): most of her ideas/opinions about Jae Eon stemmed from third party rumors. Neither she nor us actually witnessed Jae eon behaving that way-we were just told by people who also barely knew him. The messed-up part is that she, as someone who chose to get close to him only saw him as the person the rumors depicted-she never got out of her head once. What’s worse was she believed the man who cheated on her over him-like why are you even listening to anything he has to say…especially about your “relationship”.

I don’t know what story the writer was trying to tell but I felt that they spent too much time on Nabi’s uncertainties about a relationship that she had exerted zero effort on and less on why Nabi thought and behaved the way she did. I also understand that a lot of the opinions of and animosity towards Jae Eon might have been transferred from the WEBTOON version of the story and I never read the WEBTOON so idk how they portrayed their story there but this is what I got from the show and if it's not how it's meant to be, fault the writers/directors but realize that the stories differ and you can’t hold drama Jae eon accountable for things that WEBTOON Jae eon did.

I honestly think that Oh Bit Na is who everyone thinks Park Jae Eon is.

Park Jae Eon deserved better. He spent the majority of the show trying to figure out what he did wrong, what was wrong with himself and trying to fix it when he was perfectly ok. Dating or sleeping around with consenting partners-especially in college/at their age does not make you a bad person or someone in need of fixing. If he were ready for a relationship, he would’ve been in one, but he chose to have sex-only partnerships and was content. She gaslit and forced him into one because while she wanted him, she wasn’t satisfied with having the part of him that he was willing to give, she wanted her idealistic relationship with her idealistic partner and in the end, that is what she got.

Also, potato boy was annoying.

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I had high hopes for this drama since many have recommended it, but it left me feeling disappointed by how great it could have been.

First, the female lead could have been a strong woman, but ended up being weak, immature, and too reliant on others around her. Seeing how the whole drama mainly surrounded her life, seeing her rise from her trials strongly would have been satisfying, but she ended up being a weak female, crying at almost every episode, being chased around by guys. I saw no growth in her character for the entire 16 episodes.

Second, there was no chemistry at all between the main couple. It felt like their “love story” felt too rushed. They reminded me more of a “sunbae” relationship, where distance should have been kept because no warmth arose between them.

Next, the second lead had the most character development, from an immature, spoiled kid, to a mature one who started caring for someone before himself. It would have made more sense had he ended up with the female lead, but ya, the drama decided to do another Barney Stinson - the one who had the most satisfying character change because of love, but ended up being left behind and going back to being his immature old self. Sigh.

If there’s one thing that made me stay, it’s definitely the use of poetry as a central theme of how each episode would go. The stories of the minor (very minor) characters in each episode made me tear up from time to time, alongside with the poems which were the main focus of the whole drama.

The side stories were more captivating than the main story plot, that should say something about this drama.

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Oh look, it's review time!

I don't usually watch dramas like this anymore, but I found myself without an internet connection for a few days and this lingered on my external harddrive. Guess that's how life works, eyh?

I plowed through this in three days. It's a really light watch. There's no rocket science involved in any way, and to be quite honest - the story line is rather predictable. However, it did have some good points.

The story is decent enough. It's nothing extremely original, but it gets away with being charming and light hearted. The title would give you the impression (or at least it did to me) that this is gonna be hardcore ramen cooking from start to finish. I was surprised to see exactly how little focus there was on the actual ramen. I'd like to throw in a comparison to emphasize my point; In Baker King Kim Tak Goo, which is a drama about baking bread, you get to learn a bit about the process of making bread and how one should proceed. As for this one, we learned nothing about the ramen, which is a rather complex skill. I guess I was a little disappointed by that.
I know some of you are gonna go "Yeah but this is a romantic comedy, it's supposed to be about relationships and silly acting". I get that, and Baker King is a completely different genre.

I'm just saying.

Moving on!
I have the impression that romantic comedy is a very "silly" genre in Korea. It's all about overacting in front of the camera in what is supposed to come across as cute and funny (apart from the boy meets girl part of course).
Weeeell this drama, for me, takes it to a whole other level. The camera closeups on Yang Eun Bis face and the awkward hand movements, which were topped off with sound effects, were just extremely hit and miss. They could have gotten away with way less and made it easier on the eyes in the process. However, for it's genre it does hold some comedic value. I just don't feel like it served it's purpose the way it could have.
Other than that, I don't really have any complaints. Some rookie actors made their characters rather bland (*cough* Yoon So Yi *cough* Woo Hyun Woo *cough*) but what can one really expect. The main leads did their job fairly, and all in all it was an enjoyable watch.

The music is rather bland in my opinion. It never really stuck. If someone played a song from the soundtrack for me right now, I wouldn't have been able to tell where it was from. I don't feel like it emphasised the drama the way it should have.

I'm not one to re-watch dramas often. In fact, with a few exceptions, I never do it. However, 6 is a rather high rewatch score for me. This is because the drama, despite my concerns above, is a lighthearted and silly (but not ridiculous) drama.

The good things about this that I would like to underline, is that it's fast paced. The episodes are short for a korean drama (45 minutes), and time really flies by while watching . The episodes are never really dull, and never at any point did it become a hassle or a duty to keep watching. However, it really depends on what mood you're in while watching. Don't expect a life changing drama. If you're after a drama where you can turn your brain off and just lay back and enjoy, this is the drama for you.

And for that reason, I rate this a 8/10.

PS: For those who are interested, you are welcome to join my "We who want to high five Yoon So Yo in the face with a hammer" club. We meet every wednesday at 6pm. I bring cake every two weeks.

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"Just go to the police," it's easier when you're just saying it

"The Leaked" is not a drama and as such, I will not be criticizing it the same way as I would a drama since the acting, plot, and cinematography are not what should be the main concern. It's a three-episode PSA produced by Thailand Internet Crime Against Children (TICAC), an initiative by the Thai government and police specialized in dealing with child abuse, prostitution, and trafficking.

The core message of this PSA is, of course, commendable. It's targeted at young girls and women who are or were victims of sexual abuse and encourages them to reach out for help. The PSA follows two girls from the same high school to illustrate different ways teenagers might end up in abusive situations. The first girl got catfished by someone posing as her crush online and said person collected compromising clips of her to later blackmail her with them to receive more sexually explicit content. The second girl at first voluntarily took up a shady hostess job to afford her lavish lifestyle and keep up with the latest trends as to not get left behind by her friends but later gets forced into prostitution by her employer. The story also addresses how victims of sexual abuse often get typecast as "whores" or "sluts," which is particularly relevant in the cultural context this PSA is set in as the stigma surrounding SA victims in Thailand is still more pronounced than in some other countries.

I can understand why the producers decided to overly simplify and exaggerate certain aspects of the story. However, I feel like it was still lacking in certain areas, especially considering that this was released in 2020. The amount of depth it goes into and the cautionary, yet very lightweight and easy-to-digest narrative this PSA follows is more something I would've expected to see in the 2010s when conversations about sexual abuse were just slowly starting to enter the public's consciousness more and more. As such, this PSA brings very little new to the table and just very shallowly discusses the topic.

I would've appreciated this more if it went more into depth with the process victims have to go through to file a police report to hold their predators accountable, which questions they should expect to be asked, which evidence or information they might need to provide, and what they should mentally prepare for during and after the legal proceedings. They also could've shown where and how to find local police stations and child protective services and how to approach staff there and what options victims have, such as whether they can request a female police officer to talk to if desired.

Furthermore, it is shown that the second girl, Daw, relies on her friend Tor for emotional support so she has an easier time opening up to the police about her abuse. I would have liked it if they focused more on her thoughts when choosing Tor as a confidant over, let's say, her female friends who were shown earlier in the episode as well or her family. I believe it's also important to show young girls that might be watching that boys are not the enemy and an equally viable option to seek support from as long as you trust them and feel comfortable around them. It would have been nice for them to contrast Daw's story, where she confides in Tor, with the first girl, Linlin, maybe choosing a woman to confide in, might that be a friend, teacher, or family member, to show just how many choices there are for emotional support in your social circle.

I was also personally not quite convinced with the ending, where everything suddenly turns out well and people all around the country suddenly change their stance on SA victims after hearing Daw speak. The overall framing of the situation was too simplified for me and neglected important parts of aftercare for victims, such as maybe citing resources for trauma counseling, therapy, or support groups, especially if you have to deal with the after-effects of your abuse story being publicly shared. It is important to show victims take back their voice and regain control of their life but the work they have to put into it to heal should not be glossed over.

That being said, I did like how it showed how vile people can be towards victims of sexual assault and appealed to the common sense of the viewers to think before they share their opinion on such a sensitive topic on social media and that they should always take the victim's emotions into account. I also liked how they showed that sometimes predators might even be people close to you with Linlin's abuser being, for example, her fellow classmate. The fact that they showed that even if you're completely confident in yourself at first like Daw was, predators will still find ways to harm you if they so choose to, was also important and I am happy they included that.

All in all, this was a very basic PSA but still one with a message that should always be repeated over and over again to always stay in people's minds. To be honest, I think they only cast Nanon so they could put him on the thumbnail and bait his fans into watching it because they are primarily exactly the target audience this PSA is directed at (young and female), which is a very smart move to be fair and as long as it did its job and got people watching it, I support that. It's also always refreshing to see male celebrities lend their faces to such projects to spread awareness. Still, if you have ever been exposed to any sexual assault and cyber crime PSAs in your lifetime, this will be nothing new to you but it's definitely something that you can show your friends and family if they aren't well-versed in the topic at all and need a good starting point. It's also not too explicit, so it would also be appropriate to show to older kids and young teens for a first exposure to the topic.

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A manga adaptation that was ruined by the manga.

I was super excited about this movie because of the cast -- our #BestCP from I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (Kitamura Takumi and Hamabe Minami), plus Akaso Eiji (will admit that I don't know the other female lead).
However as the story got on I realized it was so full of typical shoujo manga/drama tropes that I would like jokingly name the most "tropey" plot development possibility and it would friggin' come true. Like it became a hilarious meme that I was predicting the characters' next line or the next camera scene. And the story did get really WTF as it went on...

However the directing is AMAZING. The way the story slowly unfolded and we started to see hints of what each character was thinking based on subtle facial expression hints, or hints in what they said, or random zoom ins of the camera... I really liked the whole process of trying to guess what would happen next. I looked up the director and found he was the same one who did Tomorrow I will Date with Yesterday's You, as well as Girl in the Sunny Place. I loved *both* movies when they came out, and I can see how they were done by the same director -- all movies featured a lot of foreshadowing and shocking (but predictable if you were tracking earlier scenes) plot twists.

Official theme song is by Higedan. I know the song from my Spotify playlist because I love their work for Confidenceman JP. The other BGM were also very nicely chosen and fit the theme. I would totes put the whole OST on repeat.

TL;DR: Watch it not for the ridiculous plot, but for the way the story is told to you. And extra points if you like the actors/actresses, because they really get to show off their skills in this one.

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Better than many other rom com released in 2024

disclaimer: thank God I dint know about the webtoon version.

The storyline - not bad at all. unraveling the curse and lifting it they kept the story intact. mountain God (gumiho) holding a grudge has definitely gave me a vibe of tale of nine tailed but it's not exactly copy.

the cast was good. the kisses were fire!
the supporting charecters got their own story which I liked.

what I don't like is it could be finished in 12 episodes. they dragged a bit. else it's alright.
if someone can buy the plot of kind the land (like the most common 3rd gen chaebol guy with childhood trauma) then I don't know why the same audience did dirty to this show.

ignore the reviews, go watch. I know you will feel it's dragged somewhere, so just fast forward those parts. but just watch. it's not as bad as the reviews are saying!

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Star-studded drama

This is a star-studded drama. Aside from the leads, the attractive Guan Xiao Tong and the handsome Song Wei Long, you will see a lot of familiar popular faces, including Xu Kai, Bai Lu, Wu Jin Yan (Wei Ying Luo from Yanxi Palace) and the handsome Merxat Yalkun (Mi Re Xia Ti).

Unfortunately, this drama does have some glaring flaws. Episodes 1 to 16 are fantastic as the story is original and different from most Chinese dramas I had watched. Guan Xiao Tong acts the arrogant, promiscuous Princess ChuYu who is the emperor's favourite sister as well as Zhu Que, a look-alike assassin trained by the Tianji Sect. Engaged by the princes who are unhappy with the Emperor Liu Ziye of the Liu Song country, a cruel and psychopathic youngster, she is assigned the task of assassinating the emperor. The Tianji Sect plots to let Zhu Que impersonate ChuYu. ChuYu has a harem of male attendants which Zhu Que has to deal with; one of them is the shrewd, perceptive and mysterious Rong Zhi. These episodes are full of suspense as Zhu Que attempts to get close to the emperor while avoiding discovery that she is an impersonate, as well as hilarious as she returns to her palace to be surrounded by men trying to serve her.

The only complaint I have in these episodes is ChuYu's weird hairstyle which looks like an oversize sweet potato sticking on her head - the only competition is Medusa's hair of snakes. ChuYu's hairdo would have been more appropriate in some fairytale stories for the fairy godmother and not quite fit for a period drama.

From episode 17, the story suddenly takes a turn. From this point onwards, the story changes its setting in Liu Song to Wei, a rival country which is often at war with Liu Song. Here, ChuYu (Zhu Que) arrives as the princess sent as the bride to forge a marriage alliance and brings about peace between the two countries. As it turns out Rong Zhi is the Prince Regent in Wei and he marries both Prince ChuYu and Ma XueYun acted by Zhao LuSi on the same day. Neither Rong Zhi nor ChuYu seems to remember their past encounters. This has prompted comments on YouTube that it is a repeat of the Goodbye My Princess story. Also, ChuYu (actually Zhu Que) seems to have suffered a setback in intelligence and a personality change from a trained assassin to a clueless princess.

The only link between the first 16 episodes and the rest of the story is the lame appearance of a story-teller who says he is going to send ChuYu to Wei as his audience are unhappy on how he ends the first part of the story. This transition is very awkward. The cast is almost entirely swapped and from this point onwards, the popular stars appear: Xu Kai, Bai Lu, Wu Jin Yan, Merxat. All the momentum build up during the first 16 episodes are lost and the story starts anew. It is almost like there are two separate stories with some very loose links between the two, and ChuYu's harem of male attendants have all disappeared except for Rong Zhi.

There should have at least been some explanations why ChuYu and RongZhi do not remember the past but it is lightly glossed over. The drama seems to have been written by two different writers. Other than this awkward turn in the story, both stories are quite interesting. And the second part is quite unlike Goodbye My Princess although the theme is similar and therefore lacks originality.

The chemistry between the leads is great. Song WeiLong looked very mature for his age in this drama - I was surprised how young he was when this drama was produced. And you have Wu Jin Yan as the cunning Empress Dowager befitting her previous role as Wei Ying Luo in YanXi Palace. Of course, the star-studded cast does outstandingly well. Zhao LuSi acts a psychopathic woman driven by jealousy, a departure from her usual characters.

Additionally, the Wei costumes for the ladies are pretty but rather monotonous - they are all the same with a stiff shawl and wide skirts. It is almost like the production budget has all been spent on the stars and they have to save on the costume design budget.

So if you overlook these awkward points, this drama is quite interesting to watch. I have given this drama a 8.5 for its star-studded cast, excellent acting and an interesting part 1 - higher than its current rating on mydramalist.com.

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