Reviews

One of the best in 2023

Drama started very solid, good paced, good script... It's very rare CDrama to have so many characters written properly. I love the development of the characters, especially the growth of little naive princess, so so good, the actress also very good. I also love Alen Fang's character, I think this is his best performance to date. FL is also very good, stay true to it's character although out the series, (unlike every other ones that turned into a confused little damsel once the romance started, I really hate those). But it's still not as good as I hoped. I'm a very disappointed on the progress of the last 8 episodes, the drama kind of lost it's pace. Instead focusing to built a climax to the story, it felt like they're lost. I mean, couples that happily joked and tease each other and being lovey dovey in the midst of impending invasion/war, without a care, not even mourning the death their love ones , really?? Another ridiculous scene is when ML able to forged a new sword in a blink of an eye, what magic did he use ?

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It's a great drama if you actually watch it

This is more of a response to all of the other reviews talking about how AOL has such a bad plot or like it's "illogical." The entirety of this drama was based around Jinmi's love pill which prevented her from being able to feel and express romantic feelings like that of "normal people". That's why in the first half of the drama, you don't get the normal love chemistry that you typically see in other films. It was many of the little things and events that the main leads experienced together that developed their relationship. And apparently there are people saying how Xufeng was a "manipulator" for Jinmi's feelings like wtf are you talking about? Yes, he wasn't aware of the pill that Jinmi had but she made it clear during her time with Xufeng in the moral realm that she truly loved him. So xufeng wasn't wrong about that when he. tried to explain to everyone that Jinmi did love her. Runyu actually found out about the pill that Jinmi had later and went as far as to "fixing" it when she was sleeping to prevent her from developing feelings since it was already breaking apart. "Fixing" that love pill basically set Jinmi back to square 1 and so in a sense she "lost her feelings for xufeng." That's why she married runyu and had trouble affirming her feelings for xufeng. After Jinmi spit out her love pill, she realized that Xufeng was the person she loved all along and whom she innocently killed. All of that guilt washed over her and shaped her into the character she was in the second part of the drama. Like, if you were to put yourself in Jinmi's shoes there, you would've likely acted the same too. There was even a person who went as far as to saying that Xufeng couldn't see past all of the cruel things his parents have done and how he has stood by what they've done because of the swiftful life he lived. Like, to understand this, you just need to be human. Nothing else. Xufeng was very much aware of the atrocious things that her mother was committing, but at the end of the day she was still his mother. HE confronted her about it but his mother never listened. If your mother committed a crime, you obviously may not agree with what she did. However, you're not just gonna say that she deserves to die. Same logic applies here in the drama. Almost everything you see in the drama either has an explanation for it if you actually watched it and paid attention to the little details or just requires you to have the basic ability of empathizing with the characters. At the end of the day, humans are emotional creatures that are driven by emotions. When we are overwhelmed with feelings of anger, jealousy, happiness, or whatever it is, we don't always act in the most rational way ever and that was very nicely conveyed in this drama. Xufeng was never really able to empathize with how runyu felt (his tough past and parents being killed) because of how blinded he was from his love for jinmi. Yet, runyu wasn't any better. He let his feelings of hate and jealousy to take ahold of him. IN a sense, he justified his entitlement to Jinmi because of his tough childhood past, parents' death, and the buildup of resentment he had towards xufeng since when they were young. Runyu couldn't let go of JInmi and was being extremely delusional about it. Jinmi for the most part was falling victim to Runyu and Xufeng fighting for her and most of the poor decisions she made was still ultimately driven by the love pill.

IF you prefer the very logical dramas where everything that the characters do "make sense" then I'm afraid that fanatical romance dramas are not right for you and perhaps you're better off with dramas that are based in real life. Love isn't based on rational and logical decisions, ITS DRIVEN BY EMOTIONS. That's why I love this film so much because it's driven by the chemistry of the characters and not the rationality of their decisions (jinmi still falling for xufeng despite the love pill). Everyone prefers different kinds of romances so if this ain't the type for you, then I respect that. But please don't make irresponsible and misguided reviews of the film if you never truly watched it fully or understood the plot well enough to begin with.

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Side splittingly funny with perfect cast

This is by far the best written, best acted, best cast, and the funniest comedy I have seen anywhere in a very very long time.

It is hilarious almost every scene. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's knee slapping funny. I cried tears and my stomach cramped up from laughing so hard.

Lee Yi Kyung is born for physical comedy, and his facial expressions are the absolute highlight of the hilarity. Honestly.

The entire cast did such an incredible job that it seems they truly had been friends for years. They played so well off of each other, it was so natural. It made the show what it is, which is as close to perfection as it gets.

You'll watch it a lot.

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Realistic intelligent serious historical drama, with a great villain and great hero(in)es

With over a millennium long history of imperial age and profound philosophical tradition, China is blessed with literarily abundant source for inspiration for Game of Throne like historical drama. Among the best is this drama, Dream of Chang'an/ Stand by Me. "Stand by Me" draws inspiration from historical elements and the cultural backdrop of ancient China, particularly focusing on the Tang Dynasty. It tells the story of short-lived puppet emperor, Qi Yan (ML), and his struggle to end the tyranny of the corrupt eunuch party.

"Stand by Me" is a highly strategic, political, historical drama and takes realistic approach of storytelling. There isn't any use of superhuman ability to fight and combat as usually seen in Chinese wuxia. All conflicting parties use human ability i.e. their intelligence, before physical/ military forces. Their fights is symbolized as a chess game with real people as the pawns. On the board, eunuch party is on its height and led by a formidable psychopathic old eunuch Qiu. His defense is so solid as he control the army and build a strong fortress, The Chess Battalion. His aides are all powerful in intelligent and combat. His spies are everywhere. However, he has a weakness. His right hand and his confidante secretly have ulterior motive to revenge against him. In the brink of falling, imperial family of Qi is struggling to just live under the control of eunuch Qiu. After the rebellion to topple down the eunuch failed, the current emperor, Qi Yan, becomes a puppet. His life is controlled with poison and injury, his movement is limited and monitored, his brothers are all hostage, his friends are faraway, and he can be replace/ killed anytime. However, all of those are just an act. Unknown by many people, except two trusted allies, he plan everything to defeat his enemy. He must be perfect and patient in every step he takes. No room for mistake and weakness or the dynasty will meet the end and all sacrifice that had been made would be vain. Interestingly, besides Qi Yan, there are two other people who are plotting, the Qui foster daughter, and the Third Unknown Party.

The strongest aspect of "Stand by Me" is the story itself. The stakes are already so high since the beginning. All good people are in jeopardized situation. The position of the emperor is very unique. In the chess game, the King must be protected, but Qi Yan is exposed. From various angles, he is already check-mate. He is purposefully kept alive only for the eunuch to maintain supremacy and control over the land. He is humiliated and forced to wear "useless emperor" mask. Nobody believes in him, and all people in the country ridicule him as the dog of eunuch and accuse him as the throne usurper. The situation changes the day he got a female bodyguard (FL, Chen Ruoyu), who is initially sent by her master as a "honey trap" to kill him. Ruoyu saw him with sincere eyes and found the kind heart of emperor. She is the first outsider that trusts him fully and eases his emotional burden. They love and protect to each other dearly. Their relationship is so strong and there is no single day they misunderstood one another. Even though they were lacking in communication, they have faith to one another. This drama does not emphasis heavy romance between ML FL because love is never their issue.

Other things, the story is interestingly very plot-driven and not exploring the characters development. "Stand by Me" doesn't show typical character transformations e.g. villain turning into good people through redemption arc, or the good one becoming better after trials. The episode 1 to 49, the villain is villain, the good people are good ones. Instead, this drama presents a deep exploration about how far a villain can be, and how far good people can be.

The main villain, eunuch Qiu is not a typical villain. He climbed the ladder of power from bellow to the top, mastered high martial arts, gained supporter among eunuchs and corrupt ministers, and build military power. This vertical mobilization is made possible by imperial family itself which is knows as ruthless and killing each other to get the throne. So, he join the game and gain victory for himself. From the outside, he looks like a funny man, sometimes acts childishly, and intelligent. But, he is vicious, ambitious, and psychopathic. He punish and kill people like having fun. He rules with terror and fear, but people are gravitated and dependent to him. Every time he makes his moves, we instantly feel, "Oh, no. They will be doomed," toward the good ones, because he is above the cloud.

The main hero, the emperor, ML, is not like other emperor hero which is often depicted as powerful, handsome, and revered. He is powerless, sickly, and despised by his people. But, he has a big golden heart. For years, he keeps the truth, emotional torment, and suffering to himself, while tries his best to do his duty, to crack the cage slowly, patiently and selflessly. He play along the scheme of eunuch, but nothing fears him. He is ready to die anytime, but refuse to die easily. His moves are silent rebellion and he uses his Uncle Prince to use people to serve his cause unknowingly. In the end of the story, he has many people that stand by him. The second hero is the Uncle Prince who although has a dream to be a king, he still maintain his dignity and loyalty. He is a grateful person and never change his heart to become a greedy person. The third heroine is the FL. She changes from naively righteous and compassionate girl to more mature and powerful without losing her trademark. She has no trust issue and can see people clearly as trustworthy or not and love them unconditionally. The fourth heroin is the FL's sister. She is a good girl in disguise, a sheep in a wolf's clothing. She plays like a villain, but actually carefully plan everything to defeat her enemy without exposing her true self and mission. She is physically weak, but strong at heart.

Another thing worth to mention is, the characters in this drama are not emotionally explosive during emotional scenes. They are all calm, calculative, and careful. Their sad tears are flowing in repressed manner. In anger, the tension is never overboard and their voices are kept low. There are many moments of silence, when they are thinking and calming themselves. They are full control of themselves, and never do anything by the force of circumstances alone. Every move is based on calculation and hypothesis. Like playing chess, they are all future oriented.

"Stand by Me" has a beautiful ending that can be interpreted in two ways. One, the emperor is finally died peacefully in the shoulder of his beloved and trusted uncle. The state is stabilized and secure. His name is cleared and his wish fulfilled. His beloved woman is free of duty and now living a civilian life. Two, the emperor is finally died peacefully, as stated in historical record. But, he is not really died. Not explicitly showed, the last scenes of episode 49 tell a possibility that he comes back to FL. First, FL don't accept his death when the bell ringing in the city, announcing the emperor has gone. Second, the music is beautiful and the smile of FL is wide, teary, and beautiful after surprised on a man visiting her shop. That kind of smile is full of happiness, like a smile for a lover long not see. It is like the ending of The Untamed.

"Stand by Me" maybe is too heavy for audience who refuse to think and follow the talks, events, and moves. So indeed, it is not everyone cup of coffee. Many scenes of this drama cannot be skipped, or the tracks will be lost and you don't know what is happening. Gratefully, the story is so engaging intellectually and emotionally, and ML FL both have great visual and characterization. This drama is almost zero plot hole, every question is answered, and the ending is full-round. It is worth to re-watch.

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rushed ending but overall good drama

This is my first review..

From episode 1, we can see powerful ML and FL and a bunch of other characters who are friends of the ML. I liked the way they wrote the ML and FL characters; the audience can understand their love and respect for each other without too much speech. Initially, this was okay. After that, it felt repetitive. I was like, "Stop with these dialogs. I want the plot to move forward." However, these episodes didn't seem like fillers, for that I have to praise the screenwriter; otherwise, I would have dropped this drama long ago.

Now, coming to this shipper squad, what's with all this eavesdropping? I couldn't help but wonder if anyone would feel comfortable with someone listening to their private conversations. Here, the screenwriter made it look like comedy.

One of the best character developments is YY. I like her very much. Still, I have another question mark: when did YL and YY fall in love? All the episodes we have seen, they were acting like siblings. I can understand from YL's perspective; maybe he had secret admiration or a crush on her but did not dare to say. Coming to YY, she loved another guy from the start, and knowing he betrayed her, she was left heartbroken. But when did she fall in love with YL to the extent that she can't forget him her whole lifetime? Just a few minutes of talk on the rooftop – no, their conversation felt childish. Here, the plot is lacking. The same goes for Yu Shi San and Chu Yu. I hoped their love story was given more screen time.

And what's with LTG? This is the only character I hated, loved, felt sad about, and had mixed emotions. In fact, I really cared about him. His character is creepy from the start, and I really hoped his character would have proper development by the end. I just want him to get over his obsession with his shifu. This guy won't even realize that what he has for her is respect and admiration, but not romantic love. We viewers can't see romantic love in his face. And the romantic love aspect was missing between YY and YL as well. The unresolved aspects of LTG's character, coupled with the rushed explanations, left me extremely disappointed. What's with that impulsive nature at the end?

And the wedding arc... Stop, man. I am tired of NYZ teaching LTG.

coming to the deaths of the remaining squad members . Why they wanted to kill each and every character??.

I hold the belief that a loveless marriage requires time to develop genuine love. I hope that eventually, LTG and YY can develop feelings for each other and build a happy family. Life should not come to a standstill because of one person; we must continue to move forward.

The ending, it makes sense that Chu Yu died after 10 years and reunites with other people.

My only problem is they rushed these last 6 episodes. The plot is moving very fast, difficult to catch up.

Overall, it is an enjoyable ride.
My score: 6/10.
Sorry, it has a lot of flaws. What I appreciate is it has good fighting scenes, and I literally enjoyed Strong FL here.

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Overall the story was nice.
Some parts were rushed especially towards the end but it was not terrible.

The romance would have been more entrancing if it hadn't started so late. IDK why the authors decided to spend more than half the story dwelling on the "love" story between Ning'er and Zhang Zhe.
Also, Zhang Zhe was soooooo boring to me OMG!!!, I wondered why she was so infatuated with him. He was stiff like a wood half the time they interacted.

Back to the ML and FL, I am not one for toxic portrayals of love in any shape or form but something about Zhang Linghe /Xie Wei made me close my eyes every time he was rough with her.

I am very impressed by Zhang Linghe and his portrayal of Xie Wei. I found him to be such an emotive actor, leaving the audience immersed in his character's trials and tribulations. Although he is relatively new and young, I see him achieving great things in the future.

This was my first time watching Bai Liu and I am not going to lie, I expected a lot more from her because of her reputation as a solid actress. I found her acting to be mediocre at best. She is not terrible but she needs to master her emotional scenes. Her character annoyed me a little (dwelling on Zhang Zhe) but Ning'er was ok overall. I liked her spunky and daredevil attitude.

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Destiny & Fate - Pope & Bella are just meant to be (on screen)

I enjoyed this drama but it was not as engaging or absorbing as Season 1. They did not pay a lot of attention to events and even skipped over major scenes that would have made the viewers very happy. Everything was just skimmed over and it felt like the story was spread too thin. At least they did not omit the love scenes.

Rid the ML in Phrom Likit was not as charismatic as Por Dech in Bhuppae Sunniwat. To be honest, I found all three characters played by Pope in season 2 to be somewhat disappointing. Por Dech despite being married to Karaked (Kedsurang) for so long, felt to be stuck in the old ages still, Rueang was not featured much and when featured, was sort of boring and finally Rid, despite given all the right prompts was way too passive for someone so in love.

I liked all the other characters especially the ones in the court and the Khun Luang. It was a bunch of good-looking men. Great was just so handsome as the King and despite being annoying at times, he turned out to be such a decent, fair character. He's got a fun scene in the last episode that he just stood out.

The final episode almost redeemed the show for being draggy towards the end but I don't know why it had to include certain events. It would still have been a memorable show if it ended on the best note ever but it seems nowadays, writers seem to think that they have to include something unpleasant in order to make an impression on the viewers. Still one could assume that the ending was meant to show how destiny and fate come into play in the cycle of life.

That said, I did enjoy this show and looked forward to each episode. I ship Pope and Bella a lot and I was imagining that what Rid was saying to Phuttarn could be applied to Pope finally confessing to Bella now that she's single - haha! The chemistry was undeniably good and I love that they still show the older couple as being all lovey dovey.

Also, I love the outfits - the way they matched the couples' clothing in color and style was so well done! All the guest stars were also a nice addition to the show.

The OST included songs that I liked from Season 1 and the ones introduced in Season 2 were also pleasant.

Overall, I would recommend this show. It would be difficult not to compare this to Season 1 but it is still a very entertaining watch.

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you'll fall in love with the characters!

I absolutely loved this drama but the thing I liked the most was that every single character was likeable, even with their flaws (and believe me, all of them had a lot; but that's the fun part, they didn't tried to hide it). Gang Nam-soon it's the best and she's also amazingly interpreted by the actress. BTW, every main actor/actress here is great!
But if you are looking for something policial/suspense/too much action, you'll get disappointed. It's part of the plot (and it's well done) but it's not the main focus. It's much more fun, light-hearted and many times, just straight up silly.
I completely recommend it but you must watch with an open heart, to fall in love with nam soon, hee sik and ryi o. it will bring you good laughs, heart warming moments and, just sometimes, a good policial suspense. Recommend it!

(English is not my first language)

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Best drama to end 2023 with - make sure you have a tissue box watching the last 5 episodes!

I was so excited to watch this series as Liu Shi Shi is finally coming back after her last drama in Lost Love in Times. Finally watching Liu Yu Ning as a ML was super exciting as well. I first saw him in The Long Ballad as a second ML. He's known for his songs in OST so finally watching him as a ML made me love him more.

This series has so many actors/actresses that you have seen in other dramas so it's really nice seeing everything in another drama together.

Alen Feng and Liu Yu Ning was in The Long Ballad together and they acting was so good in that series, but this series, their acting definitely blew my mind. I honestly fell in love with Yu Ning throughout the whole series and Alen character just made you laugh so much.

Maggie Huang - Jin Mei Niang, you should know her from Eternal Love and also in Princess Agents and Lost Love in Times.

Chen Du Ling - Xiao Yan [Empress of Wu State] who is also in Till the End of the Moon along with Zhang Zhi Xi - Jia Ling [Scarlet Guard Right Emissary]. She was the Phoenix Goddess.

Ye Xiao Wei - Li Shou Ji / Prince He Dong [An State] & Chen Xiao Yun - Noble Consort Chu both from Novoland: Pearl Eclipse

It was really nice to see so many actors/actresses from previous dramas all together.

When I started watching episodes 1 to 34 ,I couldn't believe how good the whole drama has been, whether it's the romance, the plot, or the character dynamics. The cast and martial arts was just phenomenal and shocked my mind that I knew this was the drama I wanted to end 2023 with.

They released the express package for episodes 35-40 today and I watched it in one sitting (make sure you have a tissue box by your side). Last time I cried this hard was in One and Only and holy that was only last 3 of me crying in that drama.

But I'm pretty disappointed on how it was so rushed, it was just one dead after another. We foresaw what would happen to Yu Shi San has it was in the opening with his eyes covered but I didn't think he was going to die. When Qian Zhao and Sun Lang died in the war, I just couldn't stop crying in episode 35.

When episode 36 started when Yuan Lu was going to An and he pasted by where Ru Yi and Yuan Zhou was, I was so sad that Yuan Zhou didn't go out to see if it was Yuan Lu or not. But then Yuan Lu decide to go back and check if it was Yuan Zhou and decided to not go inside to check made me so sad and mad! It would have been Yuan Zhou last time to see Yuan Lu.

In episode 37 where Ru Yi and Yuan Zhou got married and 3 butterflies showed up, I believe it was Qian Zhao, Yuan Lu, and Sun Lang congratulating them on their wedding as at that time Ru Yi and Yuan Zhou didn't know they past yet until later on in the episode.

Fast forwarding to episode 39 and 40, in 39, we see Yu Shi San fighting so bravely but didn't see his death, like didn't even show his body. Then in 40 we see Yuan Zhou stabbed like crazy and then "died" and Ru Yi goes on a suicide mission and then boom 10 years later. -- way to rushed in the last 2 episodes. We see Chu Yue in the field and then a male in a white horse coming towards her. We later find out it's a boy and his name is Ning Shi San and he has a sister name Ren Lu, meaning Yuan Zhou and Ru Yi didn't die.

Ning Shi San also mention the horse was a gift from Uncle Ding, Ding Hui is from Liu Dao Tang and we didn't see him die. Qian Zhao gave Ning Yuan Zhou the life preserving pill earlier, it’s very likely he could have taken it after his stab wounds, either by his own memory or saved by Ding Hui.

In the start of the show both of Ru Yi and Yuan Zhou faked their own deaths as they wanted to live peacefully/Ru Yi wanted to find out the murder of Queen An. It's a fitting end for them to end the show with fake deaths to have their Happily Ever After.

Ning Shi San took his father's surname while his sister, Ren Lu took his mother's surname. Ruyi mentioned she wanted a girl not a boy at the start of the series. It's so cute they name their kids after Yu Shi San and Yuan Lu.

Ning Shi San mention his mother likes swordsmanship while his father is good at making wine. There was a conversation between Ru Yi and Yuan Zhou when they were discussing what they wanted to do after the mission. Ru Yi mentioned how they can go to a small island for a break when Yuan Zhou tire of the world and Ru Yi can practice swordsmanship while Yuan Zhou farm and hunt. Since Yuan Zhou can't farm or hunt while living in town, he turned to making wine instead.

Honestly they should have made done 42 or 43 episodes for this drama or one or two specials to make the fans happy. It was way to rushed in the last 2 and it would have been nice to have a better ending.

Still a drama I would highly recommend!

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Well i think is still worth it

I loved this drama from the first episode. while it has some plot flaws like the ltg plot that was just bad, better storytelling could have emerged if they hadn't focused so much on his obsession with ruyi. overall, it's a very good drama, and i adore the dynamics of the characters and has a very good storytelling

My disappointment comes from the last episodes, not because of the deaths – i genuinely enjoy angst – but because of how it was executed. using the impact of sadness seemed like an overused trope in such a short time. up until episode 34, the pacing was excellent, but it felt rushed with the deaths. i'm fine with deaths in historical dramas, but wiping out all of them? it saddens me because there seems to be no point in doing this to the characters. it would be much better if they were better paced it reached a point that it lost momentum for it.
These were characters i truly loved and cared about, and it had the potential to be much better ending if we compare to the beginning, despite everything i will trully miss this drama :(

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Glad it was 4 episodes

After about half way through the second episode I thought “it’s a good thing it’s only 4 episodes” because I almost stopped watching.

In saying that I can see how hopeless life must felt to this poor kid ever since her Dad died.

I liked how the writers were able to portray how a little bit of kindness can go a long way. I’m glad the ending was so heartwarming.

I was so impressed with Kim Hwan Hee’s performance as Lee So Hyun. The emotions going from indifference to others plight, her anger towards her mother to being kind and thoughtful to Cho Yoon Ho’s grandmother was compelling. She had me in tears on several occasions as well as making me dislike her when she thought it was okay to use these people.

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Not that bad, but it could have been better

I enjoyed this drama at the beginning. I even thought this will be in one of my fave dramas list. But in the latter part, some scenes just don't make sense.

The part of the old man who wants to buy the restaurant doesn't make sense. In the beginning, he was there to show the love and conflict between the brothers/family but at the end, his role just didn't make sense.

The acting of ML at the end is a bit forced. Maybe he's just not used to act romantically in front of the camera, as his acting was ok in the prior scenes. I had also watched him in Alice in Borderland and he's also good in it.

Overall, it's not that bad, but it could have been better.

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