This review may contain spoilers
It's a good drama overall, but not the best and most productive use of time
So at the beginning of this drama, I'm talking the first 15 or so episodes, it was certainly a drama that any historical-drama lovers would want to binge. The plot, romance and setting was fresh in its own little way which made it easy to watch. With the addition of an amazing cast, it really incited the "butterflies in stomach" feel.The reason as to why I am rating this show as only 4 stars is simply because of the noticeable discrepancies within the series. The biggest one of note is the inconsistency of the romantic relationship between the leads and their sudden change in personalities after the city setting switched from Song to Wei. After the setting was switched, it felt like the series was split into 2 separate storylines and the memories of the both the male and female lead were wiped or something even though there were no signs of such a thing ever happening. Whatever romance occurred between the two leads seemed to have disappeared entirely, making the second part of the drama difficult to comprehend since they had to rebuild their romantic interest for each other from rock bottom.
Furthermore, the series was dragged on for a tad bit too long. Stopping the series around the 30 episode mark would have been perfectly fine because everything from there onwards was repetitive scheming formed from greed and political power struggles from the antagonist and male lead.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this drama if you're looking for one that's worth your time and if you're looking for a fluffy, romance-fileld drama, because unfortunately, this drama won't be able to provide that. However if you're still interested in this drama even after reading this review and other reviews, I suggest watching the episodes before the setting changes from Song to Wei (you'll understand what I mean when you get there 😉) coz those were really good.
Happy Binging!!
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This review may contain spoilers
I finally finished this after like 2 years and I have to say WTF did I watch?So the story is split into two parts. 1-17 and then 17-54. In 1-17 we follow the story of the princess in her home country in the latter her life in a diplomatic marriage to the neighbouring Wei. The story didn't make sense. This was based on a time travel novel so that part was changed and censored. It seemed like the adaption team didn't know what to do or that they went for something complex that got chopped on the editing floor. There were parts where the writing was great - the story of the second female lead was excellent, the last episodes were pretty good as were the first 17. So it's not that the writers were bad writers.
What they failed to do was to link the two stories together. Until the second last episode I was under the impression that the second segment was a "what if these two characters met in an alternate timeline". I'm actually still not sure that it wasn't the case. For me there's no way to link the Chuyu and the Rong Zhi of the first story to the later one. Basic stuff like if he's the regent or even just the brother in law of the Emperor of Wei there's no way he's going to hang out in the Princess' mansion in Liu Song just in the hopes of influencing the government there (esepcially not as a "concubine" lol). As for Chuyu - she went through a lot of shit in the first section there's no way she can be so clueless in the second. Anyway not linking those two or explaining it made it confusing and left the viewer spending a lot of their time trying to work out if the previous episodes had happened or not in the "new" environment. This made it difficult to focus on what was actually going on.
Pacing wise the story was fine for the first 17 and the last 4-5 episodes but everything else inbetween was filler and not very interesting (mainly because it was so confusing).
The second part of the problem was the acting. Rong Zhi is supposed to be this genius level schemer. Some people say the whole blank face that the male lead had for most of the drama was an example of his great acting skills and that it was in character. I say that's a load of ****. If you watch political/intrigue dramas you'll see that there can be cunning political operators who have the blank face. However always the viewer will be given an insight into them when nobody else is around (for example you'll see micro-expressions of them being worried/happy/etc). Sometimes this will carry over when they're with other characters they'll turn to pour the tea and they'll have some expression. The ML had nothing. Right until the very end nothing. At one point he cried and still had a blank face. They could have put a cardboard cutout there and it would have been the same. What makes it worse is that the actor can act, even back then. I don't want to get into spoilers but there's a part where he isn't Mr Blank so he does have skills. That said for me he failed to carry the role well enough (I think part of it too is age - he's the Prince Regent and he looks likes he's about 16 years old for most of it).
That was the other issue I had - casting. Especially for the second half. The cast is great don't get me wrong, however this drama suffered from a case of everyone should be young and good looking. The Prince Regent looks 16. The empress dowager looks like she's in her 20s tops. The emperor looks like he's in his early teens except his favourite consort looks like she's older than the empress dowager. They didn't try to add some grey or some fine lines or anything so it made things very confusing, especially when it came down to the interactions. If the emperor is just a teenager that's fine (obviously because he has a regent and that kind of thing happened historically) but why does his favourite consort look the same age as his mother? Why does he still have a regent if he's making most of the decisions and getting people pregnant? (At least there should be talk of - oh the regent will hand over at this time or when you reach your majority blah blah) Esepcially because there is tension in that area there should be some discussion of removing the regent from his post? (I wouldn't consider this a spoiler every regent/emperor is going to have some tension so don't read into it too much)
Now that I have the negatives out of the way...
Wow the props and costumes. Chuyu's clothes and accessories were gorgeous as was the open minimalist throne rooms/props. Not historically accurate but it was restful on the eyes and it was nice for a change. Kind of like they shot everything in a really fancy IKEA (those pale floorboards lol). I really love historical accuracy but it was clear that this drama wasn't going for that, so I liked that they changed things up and tried a minimalist aesthetic and made good use of the lighting crew.
The music was good, nothing jarring or out of place. Although personally there was nothing that drew me to listening to the OST again.
I would not like to rewatch again because it was confusing and mangled but at the same time I kind of want to rewatch again so I can try and work out what the hell was going on and if the stories were supposed to be connected or if they were a "if the two characters met in an alternate universe" thing. Luckily I don't have to rewatch as apparently there is a novel. Hopefully I'll understand what they were trying to do by reading that lol.
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This review may contain spoilers
Side characters stole the show
StoryThe drama starts off with a simple premise but the execution is a BIG OL MESS. There are two stories within one and even though I did not like the first 16 eps that much I wish I could have known that. Don't get attached to anyone in the first quarter of the drama because you will probably never see them again. Once the leads suffer memory loss, the story reboots and takes place in Northern Wei and boy oh boy does it feel so much less claustrophobic. There are better actors and better characters to make us all forget about that limp toxic romance that began in the first 16 eps. But no, that only lasts for a while because SURPRISE they get married to each other super fast. Faster than you can say Fashi. Then suddenly the pace of the drama becomes painful as it's harem schemes after harem schemes topped with court schemes and people saying the words "wild ambition" a million times just to remind you of what a womanizer and leech Rong Zi is. This drama should have been renamed as Schemeception because literally everyone and their grandma has a secret agenda here. Don't trust anyone lest they be some conveniently placed spy just to be activated for plot purposes ten episodes down the line. It gets tiring so quickly and you kind of just want Fashi to rise from the grave and kill everyone for being such two faced bishes. I watched this until the bitter end just to see what mental gymnastics the writers wanted me to perform to understand the overall plot of this huge bloated pile of plot carcass. I can't say I didn't see it coming but once again my favorite characters get the short end of the stick and a big FU for being true to themselves throughout the entire story. Evil wins, the end. The main leads get a happy end but it wasn't earned in the least and yes I actually admit to rooting for evil once my faves died because the MC's are so insufferable and whiny I just can't.
Characters
Rong Zi
Hands down the absolute worst character and male lead I've seen. He gives Yuwen Yue a run for his money. The main difference is that Kenny Lin can act while this guy uses one facial expression for the two emotions he can conjure: anger and apathy. I know the actor was only 19 when they filmed this but I feel like he was picked only for his looks. Rong Zi is probably the most despicable character out of them all. A protagonist that is low key the antagonist the entire time. A user and abuser. Everything happens because of him. From the Emperor to the Empress down to court ministers and lowly servants, they react to his actions and cause chaos and suffering to the people around him because they're afraid of him and his "wild ambitions" *roll eyes*. Makes you wonder why they even gave him so much power to begin with? He has no redeeming qualities and even his "love" for Chuyu is just to use her as a pawn until he finally loses at the end. I don't understand how every woman in this drama fell for his cheap tricks and promises. This guy couldn't even woo a turtle out of its shell and yet he's got Huo Xuan, Chuyu and Ma Xueyun churning fire for him. Why? IT MAKES NO SENSE. None of the women who loves him even have a good end. And poor Chuyu has to spend her life with him deluding herself that she's happy until he fakes his death for nth time to make her grieve him and deepen her love. Like WTF how is any of that normal? Oh and let's not mention the ten ton pound of plot armor around this guy. In every scheme and every situation the enemies plot against him he somehow always manages to come out on top and foil their plans because he has the superhuman ability to foresee every single outcome possible. I swear he's enlisted nearly everyone in Pingcheng to join his spy army. Even the almighty Pavilion Master who seems to be pulling everyone's strings in BOTH KINGDOMS somehow loses to him. Ridiculous!
Chuyu
Chuyu starts off with probably 50 IQ points and gradually loses all of them by the end of the drama. Strong female lead she is not. The first couple of eps might have tried to fool you into believing she knew what she was doing but as time went on she quickly started to show all of her flaws. Whiny, stubborn, and indecisive, she's surrounded by much more intelligent people around her and woefully outplayed by nearly everyone, even the palace maids. As an assassin, she's even worse than the one in Bloody Romance. She has no martial arts skills and no smarts, making her short-sighted and falling into every trap left and right. I've lost count the number of times the good characters in this drama have had to scramble to save her worthless life. The actress does an adequate job in portraying Chuyu's playful side but it always comes hand in hand with whining afterwards because Rong Zi won't admit that he loves her. If you watched this drama just for her character growth please reconsider. She's static from beginning to end. They've written her character to simply be the love interest. She is constantly being used by both sides of the chess board and has no agency of her own. It's a disappointing blow to female leads everywhere.
Huo Xuan/Le Yun
Badass General Huo Xuan was my main reason to watch this and I was heartbroken in the end for what they did to her. Here is a character that is everything opposite of Chuyu. Strong, smart, clever and capable. She's main lead material and she steals every scene that she's in and yet they still downgrade her to be a lovestruck woman pining for useless boring ass Rong Zi. The most ridiculous thing they could have done was pit her and Chuyu into a competition to see who will be homeboy's official wife even though he's legally already married to Chuyu like????? In what dynasty would they even renege on a diplomatic marriage all for the sake of a competition? This is when the drama started to lose me and I ended up watching it as a comedy. The one GOOD thing they did for her was give her a new love interest but alas in a drama where there are schemes within schemes it ends up in a disaster and my girl pays for it. Screw you writers and your obsession with tragedy. Nevertheless, her chemistry with Gu Huan the doctor was just out of this world and their scenes together is like Titanic vs main lead actors' CW Riverdale. There's just no comparing. Huo Xuan and Gu Huan emote with their eyes. In fact, they use all the facial muscles they have while the main leads act by screaming, yelling and whining.
The second character she plays, Le Yun, is the antithesis to Huo Xuan. She's a mysterious and ruthless woman, a spy placed by Rong Zi to monitor Prince Kang, and much like every character Bai Lu plays I loved her as well. The way she can easily transition from brave, courageous Huo Xuan to sneaky Le Yun one scene after the other is a testament to the skill differential between her and the main leads. Her ability to have chemistry with any actor onscreen continues to amaze me and it's no different here with Prince Kang than it was with Gu Huan. Even though Huo Xuan and Le Yun were physically identical in looks, I could easily tell which character I was watching just by the subtle ways Bai Lu acted. Le Yun miraculously is one of the few female characters in the show that didn't fall in love with worthless Rong Zi but she was still used by him and didn't get a good end either. Seriously they should just wrap caution tape around this dude.
Other notable characters
Prince Kang is a pretty slimey dude who is kind of like that dumb kid who keeps running into a wall and keeps convincing himself that each time he won't hit his damn head. As a schemer he is pretty weak in the game and he loses constantly but the guy is never discouraged and smiles through defeat. It's a gift really to be this optimistic. One of his major weak points is that he loves Huo Xuan but since she won't give him the time of day he gets the discount version of her through her doppelganger Le Yun. The funny thing is that Le Yun actually falls in love with him and their twisted scenes together are actually some of my favorites. Honestly this drama should have been Prince Kang and Le Yun vs Huo Xuan and Gu Huan. The biggest fail was that Huo Xuan never met her doppelganger and no character on the show EVER MENTIONS HOW MUCH THEY LOOK ALIKE.
Empress Dowager
I recognize the actress from Yanxi Palace and Haolan but unlike those characters I absolutely LOVE the Empress Dowager here. There is something regal but deadly about her. She's more than she looks on the surface and it shows when sad little Rong Zi has to play dead every time she shows her cards. She is the only character on the show that can defeat him and it's so satisfying when she does even though the little weasel manages to walk away unscathed unlike all the people he's used.
Closing
To say this drama is a trainwreck is an understatement. Characters and motivations changed wildly. Suddenly one character emerges as a spy out of nowhere. You get a scheme and you get a scheme! They be cooking this up like it's an apple pie recipe because everybody is evil and nobody is good and you lose all sense of trust when you watch this show and end up becoming as paranoid as that crazy Emperor.
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Main actor is too bad and uncaring to the women he claims to love and care for, with no remorse,yet doesn't suffer the consequences for his actions,
Every one manipulates everyone for personal gain even their loved ones, except for two lead females,
Second lead seamed to have a better ending but was all a lie ,she didn't deserve that terrible ending,
Finished with a cliffhanger, ending of a lot of casts not explained, the evil people had very good ending.
I don't recommended watching this drama, wastage of time.
From now you better review the ending and other comments before wasting your time to watch such a drama.
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Thank you, this is the worst series I've ever watched
I will be extremely honest (And I will try my best not to give spoilers, I promise):To begin with, this series presents us with 2 different stories. This series is actually a story that is being told by a man in the square. From episode 1 to 16 it is a story about a spy who is the princess's look-alike and switches places with her to spy on the palace.
For some reason in episode 17, the people who are listening to the story get angry, and say that the story "didn't end well!", so the man who is telling the story decides to start all over again, and tell a new story TOTALLY changing the story. origin and personality of the characters. It's no joke, LITERALLY THIS happens.
They completely ignore the story of episodes 1 to 16. There were people who died, there were moments when we felt distressed, but they simply said "That didn't happen, forget it, let's start over" and excluded these characters. In the new story they only kept about 4 characters (along with the protagonists), and the rest they threw away and changed the cast.
Now let’s get to the specific points:
* The main couple is only a couple out of pure convenience, as there is practically no romantic development for them.
*All the other couples in the series are better than the protagonists! It's no joke, any other romantic story within the series is better. Actress Bai Lu plays 2 characters with 2 romantic stories, and the 2 romances are better than the main romance. Actress Zhao Lu Si's romance story is also better, and the emperor's lover's romance story is also better... Anyway, even the TRAGIC romantic stories that happen in the series are more beautiful than the main couple's romance.
*The female protagonist is only intelligent when it suits her, she is completely stupid for most of the series, acting like a child, then when something goes wrong she becomes the reincarnation of Sherlock Holmes.
*Everyone in the series hates her and wants her to die or go back to her palace, even the protagonist acts as if "it doesn't matter" to him.
* The secondary plots are attractive, but the main plot is this nonsense from the protagonists and it's very boring. If the story were about General Feifang's story, I believe it would be incredible, but it's not. I only felt relieved when these other characters appeared on the scene. I might have been angry with them (since some of them were bad), but at least I felt something.
*GOOD SIDE OF WATCHING Untouchable Lovers:
- I managed to watch Zhao Lu Si playing the villain;
- Now I have a series to put on the podium as "Worst series I've ever watched". So, whenever I watch something bad, I can say: "This show may be bad, but nothing beats the HORROR that was Untouchable Lovers."
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This review may contain spoilers
Major spoiler, read at your own risk.Gosh, I just finish this drama and I got a lot to say. I'm so angry at the writer, I mean is it really the intention to write it this way or is there some kind of accident happen in the middle of writing or maybe its somehow a mistake? Lmao, pardon my rage, I kinda have a huge expectation for this drama but they slapped me with a disappointment instead.
First of all, TOO MANY PLOT TWISTS. I love plot twist, really, I would cheer in happiness for a good plot twist whether its bad or happy ending, but this drama really take it to another level. It really feels like this writer took every plot twist exists in dramaland and crammed it in this one. The first part of the story was fine then they just decided the leads need a new life to show that a mere human act really can't bring down a couple who are match made in heaven, but that's where it all started going wrong.
I wouldn't bother to explain the actors and actresses acting, they were not great but they were not bad either. The female lead acting is pretty good, her character and her acting didn't really have the awkward moment, and especially her facial expression, I kinda impress with her though the male lead is a one dissappointing act but it's kinda acceptable, he is not one who express feeling anyway so I don't really expect great acting from him. And personally I think, there are too many unnecessary characters. Like the evil character who didn't really do his job or a good character who have bad ending or stupid plot twist in the end. So unnecessary.
And finally, TOO MANY LOOSE ENDS. Like I said, there are some characters that here before gone without any explanation just because the leads got new life. And in the end where the leads can 'finally' be together they just decided it will good for them to start where they 'actually' meet for the first time without even bothering to return their old memories, like how could Rong Zhi know about that place, why he choose to hide there and why Chuyu just decided to visit her house secretly in the end (AND WHY THE HELL THERE ARE NO ONE KNOW RONG ZHI LIVE THERE THAT'S THE PRINCESS'S HOUSE FORGODSAKE). I'm trying to make sense every weird things that happen in this drama, for example that problematic ending. Like, maybe since they're in the middle of the war, so guards wouldn't bother to protect the empty house anyway. Or why the 'caretakers' didn't know about Rong Zhi, well he is Wei's so maybe Song's people don't know about him even though Wei almost take over Song(and the fact he used to live there). But then my logic step in and yelling, WELL PRECISELY ITS BECAUSE THEY'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WAR, IF SONG'S HAVE BEEN TAKEN OVER, SHOULDN'T THE ROYAL HOUSE THAT GOT SECURE FIRST? AND THEY ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WAR, WHY THE HELL CHUYU WOULD RETURN TO HER HOUSE RISKING TO GET CAUGHT EITHER BY SONG'S OR WEI'S PEOPLE? lmao this drama making me crazy I'm sorry.
Not just they didn't return the leads memory, they didn't have many skinship. I mean I don't even expect any kiss, but they are the leads forgodsake, and they are married AND they love each other. If they want to show an innocent love, they should've execute it better than this. I just couldn't feel their innocent love. All I can feel is their love life are so wasted I wish they just never meet again after they forget each other and live their own life.
Good thing about this drama? Maybe OST? I like the opening and the ending songs. When I watch drama I usually skipped the opening and ending, but I actually enjoy the songs that I stopped ff-ing to watch the ending and the opening just to hear the songs.
Rewatch? Not a rewatch material, but if someday I miss them, I'll probably just watch their cute moments together and end with it.
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This review may contain spoilers
I honestly don't know where to begin... (Also this is a bit long/rambling because I JUST finished the last episode, so I have a lot of emotions)STORY:
The first 16 episodes were great - so much going on, but it was all so entertaining. But then come episode 17 and it was a completely different story with somewhat different people - even though it was all the same people. Even so, I kept going. Episodes 17-53 though not as great as the first chunk of the drama were still decently entertaining to watch. Especially between the first two parts of the drama, there were just so many discrepancies about what was going on that they never resolved because it really felt like two completely different stories at times. And then somehow the final episode, ep 54 - my mind just went blank and I'm still not sure what I was watching... So I'm gonna rate this as 3 different parts.
A) Ep 1-16
B) Ep 17-53
C) Final ep 54
A) 9/10 - The first few episodes were so great. There was plotting and manipulation but it felt somewhat new and refreshing. Rong Zhi and Chu Yu's relationship was angsty but amazingly enticing to watch. The other characters at the Princess' manor were equally entertaining. It was a constant - what's going to happen next? What is Tian Ji Pavilion going to do? What is Chu Yu going to do? What is Rong Zhi going to do? Really fun to watch and definitely the best part of the drama.
B) 7/10 - the main core of the drama. The majority of the drama was focused on this part of the story - though it really makes viewers question why the drama was written to essentially be 2 different stories. Aside from the two main characters being the same people - though arguably their personalities were a bit warped - the rest of the drama was completely different. The setting moves out of Liu Song and into the kingdom of Wei (where Rong Zhi is now the Prince Regent leading the government for his nephew, the emperor) and Chu Yu is sent from Liu Song with the intention of peace through marriage. While this was the main core of the drama, it was definitely outshined by the first section of the drama, but nonetheless it was still an interesting watch.
There was a lot of framing and manipulation, which comes standard with these types of dramas, but honestly it was made a bit worse because there were SO MANY different people scheming that by the end it just feels like everyone was against everyone. Really it was hard to root for anyone just because of how much manipulation was going on.
Secondly, while miscommunication between the main pair is always a given, it was just a bit much sometimes. You have two very stubborn personalities, with one also constantly scheming to obtain power, but of course neither of them were willing to talk things out and would just essentially give up when the other was upset. It made it really hard to ship the main pair sometimes because it seemed like they were never going to be able to communicate well and understand the other person's feelings.
Lastly, between the second female lead actually playing two different characters there was WAY too much screen time attributed to her (specifically as General Huo Xuan) and honestly it got way too overbearing and annoying that I (and as I've read many others) pretty much skipped through all of her scenes. The writing really made it seem as if they wanted the second lead actress to be the main actress. Between the war zone story lines, to her story lines with Rong Zhi, to her story lines with Gu Huan - it was just way too much time focused on her and not enough on the main actors.
C) 5/10 - The final episode. There are literally very few dramas that have me honestly lost about what the hell happened by the end. Even this drama, everything seemingly went together up until the final episode. Maybe it was because they rushed the ending? Which is ridiculous because they had 54 episodes to work out this whole story, but the last episode was just super weirdly paced and there was so much going on. I honestly don't know if it was a happy or sad ending just because it depends on how you look at it, I suppose. By the end of it, I really just want to know who the writers were supporting this whole time because the way this ended - unless they're planning a sequel - just didn't make sense to me. In 40 minutes time, they crammed in so much stuff with no explanation and they were just like "Welp, that's it." Such a let down.
ACTING/CAST:
Song Wei Long (Rong Zhi) - As the male lead, I feel like SWL did a pretty decent job carrying such a weighty drama. He is definitely a young actor, so hopefully he will progress over the next few years, but even so I think he did a good job. Many people criticize him for not showing emotion very well, which I agree with to an extent. If it was any other character, I'd wholeheartedly agree that he was bad in that regard, but for this drama and this character, I think it still worked out well. Rong Zhi from the beginning was a very complex character who was very reserved, meticulous, and brilliant. For someone who is a genius at manipulation and scheming, I appreciated the fact that he was terrible at expressing himself and his feelings because it showed some kind of weakness in his personality. If he was great at everything, it would have made me dislike him honestly because no one can be perfect at everything.
Guan Xiao Tong (Liu Chu Yu) - A lot of my feelings about her probably come down more to script than it does to her actual acting, so it's hard to give her a fair review. In the first part of the drama, she was portraying Zhu Que of Tian Ji pavilion who took over the life of Liu Chu Yu to complete a mission. This character was smart and cunning, but had compassion and morals. Her character and acting were very entertaining as she portrayed the cunning Zhu Que but also the murderous/lustful Liu Chu Yu.
In the second half, it gets more confusing because you have the real (but not real) Liu Chu Yu and Zhu Que completely disappears (though it's the actually the same character). By now she's just a fairly basic female character. She's still smart (or just really lucky) as she gets herself out of trouble (with tons of help, of course), but she now harbors this idealized sense of morality - even though she is also a part of an imperial family and should be used to the scheming by now. And yet at every turn, she criticizes Rong Zhi and the others for fighting for power, even though it is something to be expected of people in power.
Again, these are all issues I have more with the writing for the character, more so than with Guan Xiao Tong's acting abilities. I think for what she was given, she did a good job - but nothing mind blowing.
Bai Lu (Huo Xuan) - I'm giving her a shout out mostly because I actually REALLY enjoyed General Huo at the very beginning and thought she was really entertaining, but eventually I just stopped watching most of her scenes because there was just way too much focus on her and it got annoying. She honestly did a really good job though (from what I didn't skip xD)
REWATCH/OVERALL:
I'll honestly probably watch this drama again some time in the future because even though there was a lot of stuff I didn't like about it, overall I still enjoyed it as a drama (aside from that last episode). It was nothing groundbreaking or particularly memorable, but for some reason, I was still really intrigued watching it and still felt it was fairly entertaining.
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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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Flummoxed
After several attempts to finish this Drama, I finally made it to the last episode. For want of a better word. dazed or confused, that's how I felt. Nothing made sense and nothing seemed to flow and as if I was watching several different short stories with the same leads and setting. So who was Rhong Zhi? If the writer wanted us to guess and interpret for ourselves, then she has failed with me. Then there's the princess, who was supposed to be really smart, but then turns out....... The ending, what was that all about??? Was it a dream? I thought I have seen a lot of bad dramas but this one left me flummoxed!I was determined to finish this drama only because I thought the two young ML and FL were great! I am looking forward to their dramas in the future. But the script just let the entire drama down. I am wondering if the script is written by a team and then put together without editing it, or written by a writer with multiple split personalities?
A time waster... if you want to watch it.. by all means, prepare to use your fast forward button....
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This review may contain spoilers
I really need to write this review.. In a drama there should be conrinuity of the story. Like waater in a stream.. first few episodes are really great and it entertains me one.. thunbs up with that.. but when the story flipped and then all the characters act differentlly I just dont get it.. I waited for the part that they will regain their memories but no they dont.. the remaining episodes up to the end are all doomed.. whatever cuteness they will show I dont feel it because as a whole I DONT UNDERSTAND IT ALL..NO CONTINUITY LIKE A TOTAL SHUT DOWN.. this is the first time I waatched a compleete disorganize film..and it has so many episodes!!are u kidding me!! Sorry I just caught up with my feelings.. I dont recommend this to my friends.. it sucks!! Was this review helpful to you?
With only six episodes to go, weeks ago, this thought entered my mind: Do I really have so much life left in me that I can waste it watching a show I hated. But in reality, I didn't hate the show. I liked the plot, all the twists, and especially the handsome cast. I only hated one character and unfortunately, she is the lead. I liked the murderous evil scheming secondary ones more.
So, I feel compelled to ask writers, why is so much importance placed on a character who is so selfish, immature and blind? Why make her unbearable?
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This review may contain spoilers
Loved it. Chinese Game of Thrones
I usually don't pay attention to reviews before I watch a shows because it's just opinions. Everyone's tastes are different. I'm usually drawn to shows that have low ratings. Most people just watch for their favs not really the plot or story anyway so I'd rather watch for myself. The show was very entertaining. It showed how ruthless people are for power. Everyone had evil intentions that's what made it so entertaining. You didn't know who was really good or bad. They all had villain tendacys. The plot twists were everything. I know people didn't understand the first half but just look at it showing how Song lived, their version of the situation and the rest was Wei's story. It was like Game of thrones so to speak. I loved it. I'd watch it again.Was this review helpful to you?
