Legend of Yun Xi

A great cast, a good plot, but wasted by a production that tried to do too much!

PLOT: The FL, doctor and expert in poisons, is the disfigured and abused daughter of an imperial doctor. The Dowager Empress imposes an arranged marriage between the FL and the Qin Prince, the Emperor's feared brother (Emperor is cruel and paranoid). This imposed union, filled with distrust at first, will allow the couple to appreciate each other little by little. They will have to overcome conflicts, conspiracies, intrigues within the Court, and discover their true identities.

PROS:
+ A talented CL, (obviously, there is Zhang Zhe Han ლ(꒪ヮ꒪)ლ), with great chemistry.
+ An excellent ML2, Merxat Yalkun, who shines in this series (but no SLS for me) and many other talented actors.
+ A high budget, which is visible in the costumes, sets, action scenes.
+ Excellent OSTs.

BUT :
- The storyline has too many twists and secondary stories. It’s dragging on!! 48 episodes could have been cleverly shortened to 35 or 40.
- I know that power makes you crazy and paranoid, but some characters are excessive. Plus, it's all about the poison! It's illogical, even for Fantasy. The FL, skillful and clever, becomes a "damsel in distress" in the last third of the show :( Why???
- The production leaves something to be desired: too many flashbacks, unnecessary scenes and characters,... You have to hang on to get to the end (personally in speed X 1.5 or 2)
- The ending is too abrupt and unexplained.

=> A great cast, a good plot, but wasted by a production that tried to do too much!
*********************************************************************
PLOT : La FL, médecin et spécialiste en poisons, est la fille défigurée et maltraitée d'1 médecin impérial. L'impératrice douairière impose un mariage arrangé entre la FL et le 3e prince, frère redouté de l'empereur (cruel et parano). Cette union imposée, remplie de méfiance dans un 1e temps, va permettre au couple de s'apprécier peu à peu. Ils devront surmonter les conflits, conspirations, intrigues au sein de la Cour, et découvrir leur véritable identité.

PROS:
+ Un CL de talent, (évidemment, il y a Zhang Zhe Han ლ(꒪ヮ꒪)ლ), avec une belle alchimie.
+ Un excellent ML2, Merxat Yalkun, qui brille dans cette série (mais pas de SLS for me) et beaucoup d'autres acteurs de talent.
+ Un gros budget, ce qui se voit au niveau des costumes, des décors, des scènes d'action.
+ D'excellents OST.

MAIS :
- La storyline comporte trop de twists, d'histoires secondaires. ça traine en longueur !! 48 épisodes auraient pu être raccourcis astucieusement à 35 ou 40.
- Je sais que le pouvoir rend fou et parano, mais certains personnages sont excessifs. De plus, tout tourne autour du poison ! C'est illogique, même pour de la Fantasy. La FL, habile et astucieuse, devient une "damsel in distress" dans le dernier tiers :( Why ???
- La réalisation laisse à désirer : trop de flash-backs, de scènes et de personnages inutiles,... Il faut s'accrocher pour aller au bout (personnellement en speed X 1,5 ou 2)
- La ending est trop brusque et inexpliquée.

=> Un super cast, un bon plot, mais gâchée par une réalisation qui a voulu en faire trop !

Read More

Interesting drama with lovely characters

Having watched so many modern dramas, I have to admit that the plot of the Legend of Yunxi seemed somewhat refreshing. It's about poisons and how they not only kill people but also can cure them. It's also about powerplay, palace concubines plotting against each other, an insecure tyrant Emperor, and a Prince who wants to do good for his people and in the process finds that there's more to life than just revenge and duty.

Actually, despite the slightly draggy plot and lack of romance scenes (FL and ML really deserved to get more happy moments, but the ones that are there are very cute), I enjoyed watching the drama. The acting was top-notch - from the Emperor to the elder actresses playing Long Feiye's mother and Emperor's mother - those women just took my breath away with their beauty and grace, and the way they portrayed their characters.

☆Zhang Zhehan☆ was amazing as Long Feiye/Prince Qin, but his character is reserved and not very emotional - so you have to look for those tiny little signs of affection. They do build up and eventually, he starts smiling more and shows his love for FL in different ways. His character is just like that and as you watch the show it's explained nicely. He's incredibly handsome in this role and his acting is intricate (and no, that's not his butt they show in the series, it's a stunt double XD)

☆Ju Jingyi is☆ cute and sweet, I actually liked her acting, - her character is kind, sweet, and bubbly, the kind of a breath of fresh air Long Feiye needed to start feeling alive again. As his mother pointed out, he started looking more like a real man feeling actual feelings when Han Yunxi entered their household. By the way, Yunxi and her mother-in-law - their interactions were too good! Loved them both.

So, relationship-wise, I don't have any complaints, although the two of them do tend to sacrifice a lot for each other instead of talking things through, but that's kind of their style. The other couple, Tang Li and Ningjing are the two cutest bickering devils you'll ever see, I loved watching their relationship develop. Chu Xifeng, Long Feiye's general, is the cdrama's ultimate shipper, helping everyone with their relationships, while Dr. Gu was a kind of relationship counselor, it was very funny. So, there are many loveable characters that I really enjoyed getting to know. Oh, and let's not forget the gorgeous evil Emperor - probably the most handsome emperor I've ever seen in all Cdrama Land XD Like, he's that good. And his love story with a concubine also becomes very touching in the end.

The production is quite beautiful with lovely locations and building designs, as well as the looks of the characters. Even in 2024 this drama still looked good. So, I'd say it's a 7/10 for the plot, and 10/10 for acting. Beautiful OSTs by the way.

Read More

Watch for CP and romance!!

It’s a typical historical romance drama with court politics. In terms of the plot, there is nothing special. I think the later half dragged unnecessarily and especially the last 8 episodes were angsty and draggy at the same time. The ending is indeed confusing - they should have given us a more straightforward happy ending..
Characters:
I loved both male lead and female lead. They are both smart although there are moments where FL did stupid things that are so out of her character. Their CP worked really well.
At first, I had some prejudice against Ju Jingyi because the vibe she gives out and her voice are usually not my cup of tea. But, surprisingly it worked well for this character. Her acting is also good enough.
LFY really loves HYX and protected her since the beginning even when he knew she could be a spy. But, also too protective sometimes. I really want more of the CP working together against their enemies, instead of LFY hiding everything from HYX. Zhang Zhehan really has that domineering charisma as a general or a king.
Gu Qishao is a bit of a grey character. He did use her in the beginning to get the information although he never really hurt her. He redeemed himself in the later episodes when he got freedom to do what he wants to do.

Read More

Absolutely amazing drama... the story and acting were almost perfect, am saying almost because of the editing style that seems to cut at weird places as well as not explaining certain points plus the some what not completed ending , it just felt short... so am hoping for a season 2 to explain the rest of the story.
As for the cast, let's just say that Ju Jingyi has gained a fan, cause this girl is just too precious not to fall in love with.... looking forward to watching more of her work.
Zhang Zhehan also managed to capture my eyes, his character Long Feiye was your typical male with a heart breaking story that forced him to close his heart off in order to protect everyone till Yunxi came along and breaks all of his walls..... Zhehan acting was really good and convincing even though i kinda wished he smiled more and that the couple had more sweet moments than sad ones... but that also made these moments really sweet and precious * always end up giggling while watching them*
can't wait for his next work which is "Zhaoge" as well as for Ju jingyi "Mr. Swimmer" and i do hope they get to film another drama together.

Read More

Poison-harmful and harmless

Han Yunxi,played by Ju Jingyi,is a talented doctor,who is well versed in poisons but has an ugly carbuncle on her face.Unexpectedly,she gets married to Long Fei Ye,played by Zhang Zhehan,on the insistence of the emperor of Tian ning,who is highly suspicious of his brother,the male lead.
The plot has good twists and turns to keep one engaged throughout the drama.
Especially,Han Yunxi uses poison to deal with many diseases and problems and wins the admiration of Long Fei ye in the process and falls in love with him.
The pace of the drama is also very good.
All the scenes were well written, especially the cat and mouse games played by both the emperor and Long Fei Ye.
The fights,sets,costumes,and acting of the actors were nice.
I specially liked the role of Gu Qishao,played my Merxat.He is very sincere,helpful,caring, clear headed.His acting is too good and his characterisation is very good.
The chemistry of lead actors was also good.
Everything about this drama is good.A good watch.

Read More

The story could have been shorter...

I did enjoy watching the story, and loved the acting of the cast.

At the beginning it was more interesting and intriguing, and towards the end it was like overdoing it with the sacrifices. I don’t mind having that part in the story, but too much sacrifice is overkill in the end of the story. I don’t mind sad ending stories, or being creative on how the ending goes, but here, it is just an overdoing it ending.

I did like the acting of the main characters, Han Yunxi, Long Fei Ye, and Gu Qi Shao, and the other cast actors. Long Fei Ye stone face look is great, and Yunxi strong female role was great as well. Gu Qi Shao well he is quite an interesting character in the story and loved how the story progressed around him, and it was touching how he truly loved Yunxi.

I did enjoy how the story progressed, but I think the story could have been shorter and continued to be better without the extra additional events that kept the story to be dragging its feet.

The rewatch value for me is a maybe for some of my favourite episodes that are at the beginning and the middle.

Overall, I did enjoy watching the story.

Read More

To make it clear, the story line is nothing new and quite predictable. In this drama, it was really the characters that added spice and their unique traits which added flavour to the mix.

1. PLOT
It is quite a typical plot if you have watched a lot of historical dramas and in particular, fantasy ones involving different dimensions. So if you are just venturing into this genre of dramas, I do believe it will mostly be interesting and likeable for you guys. However, if you are not new to the scene, this drama might bore you as you would be able to generally gauge how the whole series will play out. Personally, I watched the first few episodes and it started to get bland for me because all the scheming, trickery and relationships could be guessed easily. For some reason, I just gritted my teeth and continued. Eventually, with the support of the wonderful OSTs, I managed to weather through the next few episodes. It got better mainly because of the characters and I encourage you to continue watching if you can tolerate repetition because it does get interesting. Furthermore, the world building is quite unique with the Gu-abetted men and that was a plus point for me to keep watching because it was a different angle to take in these dramas.

2. CHARACTERS
It was the characters which made the story interesting. Each and every one of them all became so loveable to me. With Long Feiye, I adore how he is so stoic for the first half or so but I could see the progress of his relationship with Han Yunxi evident in him becoming more open with is display of outward affection. I like how he is so steady and sharp with every calculation. He really cares for his friends and family, going out of his way to help them. Yunxi is so persistent, resolute in her decisions, honest and also unknowingly cruel. I respect how she makes clear her affections for Feiye especially towards Gu Qishao but also the part in the end where she forced Qishao's hand. Overall, I believe the characters made the drama so lively and eventually lead me to feel so attached to this dimension.

3. EMOTIONS
Since I grew attached to the characters, undoubtedly the emotions would be overwhelming for me. The one that struck me the most was how painful Gu Qishao's journey through this story was. H efaced so many adversities and nothing was easy for him. The part where Yunxi forced Qishao's hand n a certain matter was acutely painful No one was there to support him and he was the lone wolf to contend with the whole process, the event prior to, the aftermath and the visuals. I realised what a cruel hand the story dealt him and I felt deep sympathy for him. The relationship between Consort Dowager Yi and Yunxi was a deeply satisfying one for me. I truly enjoyed their relationship progress and that was a true enemies to lovers trope right there. Their progress invoked so many emotions because you can see every single stepping stone they took was a wonderful one which makes me miss the drama so much more as I am writing this review a few days later. Of course, we cannot miss out the main leads of the story. Unlike the rest, Theirs was a love that is normal and beautiful in its own way but it did not make me yearn for the story not to end. In fact, it was their chemistry that made it memorable for me. They were so good working together, one person healing with poison, the other toiling tirelessly for his people. i loved that ultimately they supported each other out in the open and behind the scenes, they did even more to hold each other up, be it consciously or unconsciously.

There were no jarring plot holes and their acting was also good but not memorable. I did find the first few episodes confusing as well with how it was structured to go from the present then to the past to a flashback and then replay that present scene all over again.
Overall, the characters and their resulting relationships made the drama impactful for me and I urge you to endure the first quarter at least in order to enjoy the drama.

Read More

The story has a very interesting premise, I was hooked from the start since there was a colorful cast of characters, a constantly evolving plot, and a central conflict at play. The characters are very dynamic, since they are constantly forced to make difficult decisions. One minor flaw is the lack of new scenes, since I was constantly going to the same places over and over again, just with different events taking place. But this is where the drama exceeds, since there was always something there to hook my interest.

My major criticism is in the last few episodes. There were a lot of repetitions throughout the drama, but the ending was very rushed, especially since they could of fleshed out the events in more detail. The plot really starts to fall apart during these episodes, since what was going on in them didn't make a lot of sense. Finally, the ending should make sense if you paid attention to earlier details, which is why it's worth rewatching.

Read More