Fell Flat For Me
Story: the story was pretty one note for me, and fell flat a lot of times. it seemed repetitive, and there was way more flashbacks then i think we needed, esp of scenes we already saw before. i do not watch romance dramas, so i knew going into it i would dislike the romance story, and it felt also pushed into the plot rather then a large plot point. i think the show would have been successful without any romance at all, and just political drama. it had a good backdrop of the drama when it came the palace and the harem, but they were not given the same attention as the main CP. I was even intrigued by YaoGui valley a lot, but that was also not given the same attention as the Qin Household.Acting/Cast: I knew going into this that ZZH and MR are good actors. I am an MR (Mi Re) fan so I knew that I would be rooting for him, but I expected ZZH to have something else in this role. While Prince Qin was a flat role it left me not caring for his end goal and for his romance. He had some scenes where he showed emotion but to have that has the main lead is weird since its hard for the audience to connect. Now I did not like JJY's acting. She at times felt one-demonsional. I was not sure why, but she did not feel natural to me when she acted. While she is a pretty face I do not believe her acting was amazing, but she did what she needed to do. Now for Merxat I can go on and on, since I am one of his fans. But I can say that I really enjoyed his acting. I can be critical of persons acting even if I stan them, but I do believe he stole every scene he was in and his emotions were portrayed with so much raw power, and naturalness that I felt the pain he was in. He created a character that completely fleshed out in mannerisms, quirks, and microexpressions that I felt Qishao was one of the most well-rounded characters in the show.
I do think the supporting cast did a good job (I liked the actor for Tang Li and for Concubine QIng).
Music: I can only remember two of the OST's for this show so it is not memorable for me.
Rewatch Value: I would not watch it fully again. I may watch some scenes again because of the emotional power they had (mainly Qishao's scenes) but this is not a drama I would enjoy watching again.
Overall, I think the show was too many episodes and it needed more closure. I appreciate the costumes and the ambiance the show created. I think if you are a fan of the actors you are more likely to watch the show since it drags on and gets too repetitive. I caught myself dozing off or fighting to continue an episode. Thank being said, I do believe that Merxat did an amazing job in this role, and if it was not for him playing the role of Qishao and carrying the emotion through emotionally charged scenes it would not have succeeded. The show needed some editing but it was not the worst show I have watched,
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I can recommend this drama, as a good drama
There are some positives and negatives about this drama:Positive:
-I really dig in with the cast. All of them did a very great job within this drama, some scenes are very memorable and quite amazing as well.
-FL and ML are very charisma with each other. They have a very up and down relationship from stranger to crash to lover and then to stranger to lover
-This drama has amazing OST both opening and ending songs. I also download them for myself as well.
Negative:
-The story did have some flaws regarding FL that describe as genius. Even though she is very good with poison but most of many main plot she use her magical bracelet to help find many major clue that help her solve the cast; which make it quite easy from each plot to each plot, and somehow discredit her as a genius poison master.
-This drama has a question ending regarding FL since the drama has both sad and happy ending version. And the happy ending version make me curious about how FL comeback to life, and the origin of the magical bracelet; as well as the reason to have a sad ending version since the FL have that magical bracelet anyway.
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Since I've loved historical Chinese dramas so far, I tried to look for other high rated or underrated dramas and I came across this one. The reviews were good so I gave it a try and boy, I wasn't disappointed. This drama for me is a gem.STORY:
The story follows Han Yun Xi (Jung Jin Yi), a poison doctor who suddenly had to marry the king's subordinate Long Fei Ye (Zhang Zhe Han, I think he was a duke in the story) just because the king distrusts him and he thinks that him marrying someone ugly would distract him from any political aspirations. She is then given the title of royal consort and even hired by the empress dowager to spy on Fei Ye so basically they didn't like him to be powerful. The story starts from there and sometimes it makes me laugh on how the duke's character is kind of too serious? And like all leads, when the male lead is serious, the female lead usually is optimistic and animated. The start cohabiting and live as a married couple in name and eventually they start to fall for each other. I liked all the other side characters in the story. Sometimes quite annoyed at the 2nd male lead Gu Qi Shao (Yalkun Merxat) though. He was the kind of second lead that I wouldn't ship with the female lead. He played his character so convincingly that I hated the character, good job. The thing with these kinds of dramas is that politics will always be a major part of a historical drama and that's a fact. The way it's executed however is the most important thing and would be and advantage if executed well. There was a good amount of politics, drama, romance, and comedy in the story and I liked it. I think this fantasy/historical drama did just that. The ending though is a bit confusing. Though there had 2 endings, kind of a choose your own adventure series. The ending raised so many questions after me being sad at what I thought was their fate.
ACTING/CAST:
I had no problems with the cast because they carried out their characters well. I hated who I need to be hated and empathized who I need to empathize. But ohmygod. The leads. Jung Jin Yi and Zhang Zhe Han are OOZING WITH CHEMISTRY. I'm not sure if this was an underrated drama but if it were, please do watch this. They look so good together! Zhang Zhe Han looks like he was made to wear historical costumes. He looks so good in it. I cannot stress enough how great their chemistry was. It really was.
MUSIC:
One of those Chinese dramas where I appreciated the OST. This may be a low budget drama but they definitely did it right. There was recall with the song and I even added the songs in my playlist.
REWATCH VALUE:
Definitely yes. For their chemistry, yes. And especially for the pretty, pretty Zhang Zhe Han. Love him.
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ah just finished this!!! what a rollercoaster drama !!!! so many plot twists and characters which made the story a bit draggy around 30 something but main cast was so good !!! made me continue !! shout out to zhou madam and ningjing for giving happy endings to romance in drama :D no but i loved loved them!!! Yunxi and feiye were SOOO good!!!!!! like especially at start and midway their chemistry understanding is insane and i get why people love this couple this much 💗 gu qishao my favourite sapphic protector deserved so much better but still his character maintained that starting spark despite going through so much 💔 tang li poor baby had to carry this new responsibility for his ge but he's still the same 💗 but he's still it took a bit longer to complete bc of so many plots etc but aye glad i started it!! the happy ending deserved more elaboration but i take what i get !!!! Was this review helpful to you?
Nice drama to watch
I love JJY and ZZH in this drama, this is the first drama i watch which is played by this couple. Entertaining and the story is quite unique and different from other historical chinese drama. I already rewatched this drama few times and still felt entertained. Worth to watch because the casts overall play their part well. The background, props are also good. Recommended to watch for those who is looking for a historical chinese drama which has a story differently from other historical chinese dramaWas this review helpful to you?
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No illusions about the ending
I was prepared not to rate this drama because of the hype I read about the ending. It was pretty clear to me, and it told the story how it should have been told. Not everybody has a happy ending, but it was gratifying to see the various relationships built and grow.Some of the characters were annoying (without redemption) - and that Emperor was evil (as was his mother). It's amazing how conniving and vicious people were in those times, and yet the society was built on honor and reverence of elders and ancestors.
The story was well-told and well-acted. Despite the validity of the ending, I would have liked to see them get some happiness, but that's why I watch these dramas - for the things that don't happen in real life. Still, I think it's worth watching, and I enjoyed the series.
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You can watch this for Zhang Zhe Han. It is a decent drama.
I would say first half of the drama is good and interesting, but loses its charm in the latter half.There are many loop-holes. But after finishing this drama, I watched two other dramas immediately.
After completing other dramas when I came back to write this review, all I can remember is how handsome Zhang Zhe Han was and I couldn't remember anything else. This proves that this is an average drama which is good (not excellent) in each area such as romance, comedy, fights, storyline etc.,
Compared to other rom-coms, other excellent plots in c-drama world, in my opinion , this drama is average. It is neither shitty nor an awesomely mind-blowing one that lasts an impression.
Will I recommend you to watch? yes, give it a go.
BTW, I fell in love with Zhang Zhe Han and became his fan after this drama.
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It has a great plot, great build up and the ending,, whilst trying not to reveal too much I can say that the ending can be interpreted in two ways. So everyone is somewhat satisfied at least.
But overall, just an amazing drama. Definitely worth watching if you're looking for a period drama with political conflicts, healing/martial arts, romance and some cute scenes!
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Very good
I'm like 5 years late to the party, but anyways, here we go. I really liked this drama. The storyline was paced well, it was interesting, funny, goofy, dramatic. I didn't even mind the endings of the characters too much, I usually dislike when there are too many deaths. I think that only one (1) of the characters didn't have to die. I always have a soft spot for the third wheel characters, would definitely give my hand in marriage to Qi Shao lol. I appreciate that the producers made two endings although I expected a little bit more from both of the endings (like for example a truly happy happy ending with all the characters being shown getting married, having kids or simply having a good life and a true, sadder ending). Overall, I really don't have much to complain about here. Maybe the CGI and some of the music wasn't fitting, but that's really not the end of the world there. If you're a "always thinks about how to make plot more logical, why the characters acted like that and why the writers wrote this action contrary to the character's storyline, I hate the punch in the gut with completely turning the tides of the storyline" type of person, this drama is definitely a must watch.Was this review helpful to you?
Awesome
This is clearly the most underrated chinese wuxia series. I would say it lies in the league of tge untamed and word of honor. Definitely no less than these. The story is so out of the box . All the games along the poisons and how they try to cure them. The lead couple is adorable. I have fallen in love with zhang zhehan. He is my favorite chinese male lead so far . The other characters are also written exceptionally well. The vfx and the act when zhang zhehan turns into a gu abetted man is a treat to watch . I was just not contented with the ending . I wanted the fl and ml to spend more time together , coz they are just loveWas this review helpful to you?
