Emotional Experience
My friend actually suggested Princess Weiyoung to me and I wasn't sure if i was gonna like it, but I'm glad i got to finish it. It was really an emotional experience. If i were to rewatch, i probably would in a couple of months. Overall i really liked it but it was also very heart breaking. If you have time or you have nothing to watch i would really recommend watching Princess Weiyoung.After I starting watching the 1st episode of Princess Weiyoung I wasn't really into it but I decided why not and finish the show. So as I watched i starting being more focused on watching then doing other things. I managed to finish the show in 5 days. (thats when you know i was really focused on watching)
Overall I recommend!
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Good stuff: Great chemistry between the leads. Interesting and fun secondary characters. Some good twists on those characters. Lovely cinematography and good OST.
Some stuff that wasn’t quite as strong:
The male lead character is a little too idealized — he’s super noble and naive and somehow that doesn’t hinder him at court. It’s a little odd and sometimes I had to roll my eyes.
Weiyoung is the subject of so many plot conspiracies, she has to free herself by playing detective. That’s fine the first couple of times (despite some laughable solutions), but it gets old by the last third of the series.
Despite those flaws, I was emotionally involved with their story so this series definitely does a lot of things right, but the large number of episodes always magnifies anything that’s not working.
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Never read the novel, so nothing to compare to. It was nice to see a clever heroine, and Weiyoung's wit & intelligence was admirable, but frustrating to see writers trying to maintain her heroic aspect through being a pushover. For someone of her background and tragic past, she was too passive and too reactive to her enemies. Except for the heroine, all female characters were scheming, jealous, basket-case suffering from inferiority complex. The whole world was against Weiyoung for some unknown reason, where everyone's sad outcome, their flaws, tragedy was solely due to Weiyoung's existence. Most virtuous and loyal characters were servants to their masters. Repetitive and uninteresting battles between good and bad was tedious for long 54 episodes, but main couple's charming relationship made up for some of the annoyance.
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Stunning headdresses, beautiful wardrobe and sets. Power and love games where the women vie for love and power with plenty of intrigue and dastardly doings. Can get quite nasty not to mention downright fatal.
The first few episodes are a bit boring, going around and around, but the story and the acting pick up at the royal hunt.
Throughout, there's a collective obsession with this one woman, the surviving princess of a wronged kingdom who by accident or chance becomes a member of the enemy kingdom.
She seems to be another version of the unsinkable Molly Brown and a combination of Sherlock Holmes, Joan of Arc and Mother Theresa who attracts both loathing and affection especially the love of the two handsome main players - Prince Tuaba Jon, caring and honest, and Prince Tuaba Yu, devious and capable - two very different characters. Take your pick.
In the end even nasty characters are capable of sacrifice.
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Frustrating...but weirdly addictive?
OVERALLThis drama has action in excess, enough to make you (and the FL) gasp for air. Watch it if 1) you like fast-paced plots where the villains make the protagonists sweat buckets, 2) you like strong, mature female leads. Maybe reconsider if 1) you have no patience for clichés, repetitive plot devices and 2D characters, 2) you like dramas where the romance is central to the plot, 3) you prefer happy endings.
THE STORY
I've heard good things about this series, and since I was looking for a new historical drama with a super intelligent FL, like Yanxi Palace or Long Ballad, I decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, Princess Weiyoung doesn't come close to these two dramas (in my opinion). On the positive side, it is definitely watchable until the end. I easily drop dramas when I feel they're not worth it and it wasn't the case. The fact that there's always a new round of problems for the FL to overcome keeps you on the edge of your seat most of the time. Weiyoung is also a likeable character. She's mature and strong (unlike the childish FLs so common in C-dramas), and you definitely want to root for her. The main romance is nothing stellar but it's believeable and a little cute...at least in its beginning stages. But that's it.
The biggest issue with Princess Weiyoung is that it fails to deliver what it's promising. The drama is supposed to be about the quest for revenge of Weiyoung. She's hyped up as this extremely smart girl who can find her way out of any situation and can succeed in anything she wants to. However, Weiyoung doesn't accomplish much herself. Circumstances (or other people) take the lives of those she wants to punish, and whenever she's in trouble, 7/10 times she is saved by someone else. Then there's the plot. FL gets framed AGAIN and AGAIN, as if there's nothing else that can happen to her but getting framed. And not only does she never learn from her previous experience and manage to predict future attempts or protect herself, other characters also fail to learn from previous attempts to frame her and constantly fall into traps (including ML at some point!!!!). Another major issue with the drama is the overuse of the SAME clichés, not once but several times. Couple trouble caused by misunderstanding? Check. Disguise to frame FL? Check. Trying to kill FL by fire? Check. Overall, it just looks like the drama was written carelessly; like people combined common tropes and underdeveloped characters in one day to come up with the series. If all you need is lots of action in full speed though, you might not notice!
THE ACTING
It was fine, especially from the main leads. There isn't much chemistry between them, but it's more due to the plot than to the actors. I must say I'm growing a bit tired of the female villains in historical C-dramas though. I wasn't sure at first, but I'm starting to suspect that there is a kind of acting "cliché" for these characters that is very extra and cartoon-like. Villains don't have to be surreal, they can act like normal people. I hope I can see less obvious villains, with reasonable backstories and some depth, in future shows.
THE MUSIC
It was okay, though not memorable. I have a pet peeve with dramas that put instrumental/songs over characters who are supposed to be playing an instrument but are obviously not playing whatever music we hear. It just breaks your immersion in the show - reminds you that it's all fake.
REWATCH VALUE
Not high. It's not a bad drama, but I honestly don't think I would ever feel like watching it again. There're tons of better dramas to rewatch when I need to.
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This review may contain spoilers
It's all downhill
So I understand why people call it repetitive but honestly I don't mind that, it's like a game of chess. I like watching some navigate others dislike of them in an over the top way that only people with money and privilege can afford. It's a palace drama you get palace drama troupe, of one being evil and power hungry, someone obsessed to the point of wanting to ruin what they love, dealing with a epidemic, a school segment, someone be a hidden villain, yada yada.Honestly everything was perfect the writing was good the characters were amazing until they made Cousin Meek and Mild a hidden villain like what was her plan "drive the person you loves into another woman arms while trying to kill her" 🤔 like that's how you know it was wrong. It was unnecessary when they could have had Prince braids work with Sister Chihuahua.
Don't get me started with the emperor being a fish on how much his character flip flops, like how is he able to rule a country when he picks people to be a scapegoat instead of you know investing, also the time frame is absolutely impossible, 10 days, 3 days, like are they allowed to eat or sleep or wait the person out. Like seriously ain't no way..
Don't mention the. Cement that help them solve the case you know instead of the jewelry, or the fact that they have a skin walker as a maid. Like are you serious going to tell me that isn't a national security risk to have someone who can wear another person face.
Honestly the mother 8s goat. She was amazing so was cousin handsome I'm just glad he didn't die during all this. Actually I'm proud the show didn't kill off people who failed again weiyoung.
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This review may contain spoilers
Watching Princess Wei Young is like a rollercoaster ride of emotions. You can feel happy seeing cute romantic scenes between WeiYoung and Tuoba Jun but a few minutes later you feel so angry at the villains (oh there are so many villains in this drama) that you want to smash your TV screen (but I don't LoL), to feeling frustrated at WeiYoung for being so gullible at times. However, I think this rollercoaster of emotion is what glues me to this show and actually making it enjoyable. Story and Acting:
The premise of the story is nothing new. It's a story of betrayal, revenge, power struggle and rise to power. It's a bit melodramatic, that you need to prepare a few tissues. I think this is the first of Tiffany Tang's drama that I really enjoyed. I have watched a couple more of her dramas but she doesn't portray a strong female character, which annoys me. However, I really like her as WeiYoung, and her chemistry with Luo Jin's character. The cast that plays the villains did a good job too, at least in making me really really hate them and happy when bad things happen to them in the end. The costumes and color combinations are superb and really a feast for the eye. I thought they did excellent in that. The ending, although sad, is beautifully done. I cried my heart out watching the last episode during Tuoba Jun's last moments with WeiYoung.
Music:
I love love love the OST, especially the ending theme. I have put some of the OST on my Apple Music Playlist and have been on heavy rotation.
Rewatch value:
Definitely will re-watch this in the future, although i might skip and fast forward scenes (especially those containing Li Chang Ru and Li Chang Le; They are despicable!)
Overall:
Although there are parts in this drama that feels draggy, I really enjoyed watching this drama. Story, acting, costumes and setting combined make it worthwhile. I also like that there is some fighting scenes too.
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strong female lead
It didn't feel like 54 episodes to me. I typically don't have the patience for long dramas, but this one hit different. I adore the chemistry between the two leads. They did well with acting out the romantic scenes. Despite the romance involved, the title, The Princess Wei Young, and the plot proves that this is all about Wei Young.I enjoyed following Wei Young's journey. She has a different demeanor compared to the typical romance-related dramas that I usually go for. But I'm saying it as a good thing because it's nice seeing a strong female lead who isn't ditsy. The plot was well-thought out enough that it kept me watching until the end.
The ost is everything; I recommend you listening to it separate from the drama because it lets you appreciate it in its entirety. I also cried a lot and there are 54 whole episodes so get that tissue box and put it next to you lol.
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This review may contain spoilers
loved it - as usual have some nitpicks - but loved it
Sure I have nitpicks with this, but when I watch a series and start writing fanfic in my head, it's a sign that I liked it a lot.So glad this came out 4 years ago - it's very bingeable; in fact, took me about 4 days to get through all the episodes. I didn't skip any episodes - something rare for me - but this series does need a judicious application of the fast-forward button (icon? I guess it's an icon nowadays. Sorry, am old).
First let's start with the spoilers: no, I don't mean MY spoilers, those will come later. I mean the fact that the opening and closing credits (5 minutes in all) spoil the entirety of the ending. Like, all of it. WHY. Why do they do this?
If I see the title character wearing a fancy Empress headdress in the opening credits, I KNOW she's not gonna die in episode whatever. And if in the closing credits I see a little boy walking by her side in a tiny, tiny Emperor's outfit, complete with fancy jewel curtain crown, I KNOW that her true love isn't gonna live long (yes, some Emperors abdicated in favour of an heir, but not if that heir was a child).
For those of us who need English subtitles, I advise watching it on Viki. The subs there are miles better than the ones on youtube - I watched on YT up to episode 37/38 (I think) - in the following episode, the subs were mostly messed up and out of sync and stopped halfway.
Now, the spoilers:
Re. the show itself - I really enjoyed it. I liked the main character, even though I found her kind of annoying in the first episode. But then, through adversity, her character really shone through. Yes, her suffering bordered on torture porn in later episodes, and it was overdone. But it usually is in shows of this type, and I never stopped empathizing with her.
I liked all the main guys - I don't know if I had a favourite, though usually it would have been Touba Jun. But when I saw the closing credits and came here to spoil myself, I decided I wasn't going to get attached! Touba Yu was an interesting example of villain who was more of an antihero - towards the end he became really over-the-top, though his death was nicely understated. I liked how even at the end he didn't give ChangRu what she wanted - GOOD. Eat a dick, ChangRu.
Chiyun Nan made me lament that they choose the hottest guys to be the worst sociopathic villains - he ticks all the boxes for me, and then I realise in the first episode that he's a monster. Why, guys.
I found the whole marriage alliance plot to be really interesting, and gave me even more reasons to dislike the fathers on the show - specifically, Prime Minister Li, the Emperor, and even the Rouran Khan.
Like, at first the Emperor is like - sure, the woman we send to Song is gonna die, deffo. So, we can send your daughter, right, Minister Li?
Minister Li - Please, please take her.
Li Weyuong - My dearest love, I will love you forever. Forget about me. If I get raped on the way, I'll kill myself. BYEEEE.
I mean, WTF. And then, what she said actually happened! That was the plan all along! The Song people planned to rape and murder her before she even got to their country, and make it look like it was done by their own people, which is super-fucked up (also, makes me realise why with European royalty, they started insisting on marriages by proxy in the princess's own country - that way, she was already the Consort, and anyone who laid a hand on her would die horribly).
So, ok, fine. The Emperor knew about this likelihood, or that they'd kill Weiyoung as soon as they attacked, and so didn't want to send his own, still very babyish, daughter. But then he agrees to send Touba Di to Rouran??? To marry a man his age or older?? And maybe get raped and killed on the way??
The Khan of Rouran is another monstrous dad. He sends Anle off into the unknown, while also planning to invade. But what's even worse is what he does to Li MinDe - at first it's all: my first-born son, come back to us, yada yada. Then, when we find out what's become of him, it's clear that the intention was simply to use Li Minde to spy, steal a map etc, so they could attack. He literally didn't care about his son at all - instead of arranging a marriage for his son, he arranges one for himself! With a teenage girl whose attitude and behaviour is so childlike the thing borders on child abuse.
If I have something to complain about and agree with other complaints: yes, the ending is kind of a mess. Maybe it's based on the novel, maybe it isn't, but as a lot of things were changed anyway, why not change the Touba Jun ending ? It's a massive plot hole , to me, that all top doctors in Northern Wei, working for 5 years (or so) around the clock, could not replicate an antidote which had been put together by a power-hungry General (Chiyun Nan, you were a total smokeshow, but never struck me as the brightest bulb in the box).
The whole poison thing just bugged me. And why would you have only one antidote but two poisons. Just, whatever.
Still, its fun and enjoyable, has a host of interesting characters, and some episodes can be watched on 1.5 speed.
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Loved it!
Wei Young was my first historical C-drama and the longest drama I watched at the time. I took a break from it at about episode 30 because my studies kept me busy but besides that, I binge-watched through it. I especially enjoyed the first half of the drama because I was immediately captivated by the 'hidden identity/revenge' kind of plot.Despite the number of episodes, the drama didn't feel slow because Wei Young was a clever female lead who quickly saw through the antagonists' intrigues and took interesting actions. I think, what kept her from being an overpowered character was the one dilemma she couldn't resolve (I'm not going to go more into detail in order to avoid spoilers). As she already started out as a smart, competent character, there wasn't much room for "character development" but I didn't have a problem with that. I personally prefer a female lead who's badass from the beginning over a FL who's forced to act like an idiot for the first 20 episodes, just for the sake of character development. You could say that instead from within, Wei Young's character development could rather be found in the different social ranks she took throughout the drama, so it was still interesting to watch her growth and she definitely becomes even more of a badass in the end.
I really liked the male antagonists because they weren't purely evil; their actions were (at least to some extent) understandable. On the other hand, the female antagonists were quite bland and clichéd, their only motive being jealousy. But this is more or less the only thing I didn't like about this drama.
Overall, I dearly recommend this drama to anyone who wants to get into historical C-dramas or who's already familiar with them.
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i am an internationnel fan of cdrama and i really recommend this drama the actiong is amazing and aslo the story .
the story of this princess Weiyong that lost all her familly and WANT to revenge .
all the actor have a strong personality
There is a lot of action and drama
and i wont forget to talk about the clothings AAMAAAZING
its my second time to watch it and i dont feel bored
HIGHTLY recommended
( Sorry for the gramaticals faults )
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