This review may contain spoilers
Emotionally charged historical journey
The first few episodes were a bit of hit and miss for me as the sets did not look realistic enough and the acting was a bit stiff. Stick with it and you’ll soon be rewarded with nicer looking sets, mesmerising costumes and an engaging storyline as the romance starts building up.It was interesting to see that most of the villains were not totally evil and had their own reasons for their actions and that they too had their own suffering. Because the drama is set over many decades, you could also see some characters going through many different changes, some for the better and some for the worst. While I hated Princess Ya, her heart-to-heart talk with Hao Lan and her love realisation in the end touched me.
I also enjoyed the many reveals throughout showed which gave an insight into how clever some of the characters were especially Lv Buwei, Hao Lan and Prince Yiren. They not only worked together towards a common goal but also did their fair share of baiting each other for different purposes (eg putting a hole in the Queen’s bedroom so she would have to stay at the King’s palace and she leaving the palace knowing he would come after her to bring her back). Even villains like the evil Zhao Queen was captivating as she understood so much more than the Zhao King and executed so many smart moves.
It’s a man’s world… such a sad underlying theme that many of female characters lamented. Although noble by birth or living as a princess, consort or queen, it was heart breaking to see how they were not happy primarily because of the many restrictions they faced and how their destiny was controlled by men in power.
The more I got pulled into this drama, the more emotional I got whenever I heard the opening theme song. Despite not understanding the lyrics, I teared up every time I heard the sad melody and haunting vocals.
One of the best writing in this drama was when Lv Buwei had his final conversation with the King of Qin. One of the most memorable (and frustrating) moment for me is how the King of Qin settled things on his own leading to Hao Lan misunderstanding him. I felt so sad for her as she was not able to get proper closure.
When the drama continued on with Hao Lan’s son ascending the throne, it became less engaging for me but still ok as I was curious to see how closely the story would follow the historical records.
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AMAZING DRAMA!I have seen so many political and historical dramas but this has got to be my most favourite one. It was somewhat dark but showcases the harsh reality of royal families. Jealousy, backstabbing, scheming, revenge etc are conducted by the people in such a way that you cannot but feel angry and sorry at the same time for those people.
In my opinion it should be rated higher. The plot, acting, visual everything was absolutely top notch. Some people may dislike the drama because of the scheming and double sided characters. But in my opinion this is what makes the drama good. It doesn't make the audience believe that the lead characters are saints rather shows them as people who struggle to survive and use desperate methods for self survival. Not necessarily bad people but not also saint like and these are real characteristics of royals, power seeking, struggling people.
Another important factor is how the women are showcased. They are shown as evil, attention seeking people. At the beginning every single scheming woman makes you boil with rage. But eventually they have the same ending and the only reason is because they are born as women, they lack power and have no choice but to listen to their willful husbands throughout their lives. You cannot but feel sorry for them.
The character of Haolan is so inspirational. Even though she was born as a woman she refused to yield to her fate and refused to be controlled by other people. Exempted from family, sold as slave, being misunderstood by people as traitor, as a cheater,losing loved ones and ultimately was misunderstood by her own son. Even after encountering so many hardships she doesn't lose faith, nor does she lose herself.
I absolutely loved loved the drama. I highly recommend it to everyone.
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Depressing
I was reluctant to let go of the characters from Story of Yanxi Palace and was hoping The Legend of Haolan would sate said longing. WRONG!I understand this was an adaptation of true events which meant the writers and creators were restricted in what could be changed, however, the plot was needlessly dragged out with each episode seemingly a reoccurrence of the previous one. Li Hao Lan, the titular character, was played by one of the best Chinese actresses yet even she couldn't breathe life into such a mundane character who was 1-D and completely inept at palace schemes. Time and time again, she's framed for some crime and is saved by either of the two male leads and obviously, this got old very quickly. The actors were hampered by the bad script and nothing could save the series from being average.
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So much potential but ruined
The most unsatisfying ending ever!!!!!!!To commit 62 episodes to get to this end is deeply unsatisfying. I really felt betrayed by the scriptwriters for ending it this way. There were so many ways to tie this up with a bow even if they did not want a happy ending. But they didn't even bother to.
I can totally understand why this show was so heavily criticized. Yes, this is not Yanxi Palace - that is hard to live up to.
But this ending ... omg - What a waste of my time!
Also, structurally way too long in the first two thirds. It takes 40 episodes for Hao Lan to get to Qin. That could've been cut in half - too much repetition on the same plot. Each episode, someone somewhere in the palace tries to kill Hao Lan. The trio (Hao Lan, Lu Buwei, Yiren) finds a way out. Next episode - rinse and repeat.
Ok, perhaps I have been overly critical ... so here is what I loved about the show:
It was really about the triangle between the trio of Hao Lan, Lu Bu Wei and Yiren - complex relationship that was just 10/10 each time any of the three interacted with each other. All were equals. I loved all three of them.
However, I felt there was way too much time spent on developing the supporting characters, many of whom were just increasingly annoying - Princess Ya for example. Awful!
The title is called the Legend of Hao Lan, and we did not get enough of Hao Lan. The last 20 episodes was her tucked away somewhere.
So overall, the potential was there with this cast and plotline, but the balance of the structure and build up, as well as an absolutely unsatisfying ending left me feeling betrayed and angry.
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My opinion
I decided to watch this because there is the actress Wu JinYan that I especially love and I really haven't been disappointed.I loved the characters a lot and their developements whether they are kind or nasty.
The characters I loved the most are :
- Haolan, an heroine with a strong personnality who don't let people walk all over her
- Yiren/Zichu, he is a very complex and interesting character
- the princess Ya, a very complex chatacter too that I couldn't destest because she touched me so much
- Yin Xiaochun who despite all the ordeals stay med loyal to Haolan and stand up with her until the end
I informed myself a bit and discovered that some characters had really existed (Yiren/Zichu, Haolan, Lu Buwei, the lord Anguo, Lao Ai, Zheng'er ...) and that some moments of the drama are from true events that really happened.
The story is really interesting, full of unforeseen developements and well tied. However you have to have a good memory to watch this drama because there are a lot of characters (when I say a lot it's really a lot !!!).
About the characters, some of them had big ego or mental problems ... people of sound mind would never do things like that. I've just been a little bit disappointed by the end (the star less) which wasn't really understandable and which, in my opinion, has been a bit botched but it's still a correct ending.
In conclusion this is a good drama where the characters are never pure as the driven snow and with an interesting scenario. I would say it's a drama to see for those who are fond of historical c-dramas and who have already seen some of them, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who has never watched any historical c-dramas. However this a classic to watch a day ;)
(Spoiler : If you want to watch the "sequel" of this drama go watch King's Woman which relate the story of Zheng'er, Haolan and Yiren/Zichu's son, and 1st emperor of unified China)
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Superb Drama
This is a superb drama by far in terms of Chinese series' standards. Fantastic storytelling though how I wish the end was extended a little bit for another two or three episodes. Great choice of cast and the hair and make-up were not bad. Normally I complain how the Chinese stylists do the hairdos of the actors specifically. I did't notice a lot of white pasty looking faces which is always a common faux pas of Chinese make-up artists. I understand the East Asians obsession of having fair complexion but if the face is too pale than the arms, neck and ears then for me it's fake. I'd rather watch a drama with the artists' real skin color that also reflect in their make-up. I know it's cultural but it bothers and distract me from focusing on the drama.Indeed it's a story of "try and try until you succeed." To which I refer to Lu Buwei, Yiren and Haolan's many unsuccessful attempts to escape. I like Lu Buwei's character of nonchalant's attitude towards impossibility. Nothing's impossible if you really work on it. And I love his life's motto. Of course this series doesn't really depict the actual events because god knows what really happened during those periods. Without proper historical records and there's always two sides of the story so one can only depend on the creators' mind in romanticizing this series. I would have like them to explore a little about Haolan's affair with Lao 'Ai. But China's censorship is very strict to the point of limiting the creativity of the artists. In my understanding Haolan was unapologetic about it and I like it. There's always double standard for women who behave this way but men are regarded otherwise.
I love history that's why I love watching historical shows. It's only last year that I started watching Chinese tv series. They have a lot of great plots in their dramas but I can say there's only really few that are executed well. And The Legend of Haolan is one of those. I wonder if this one was created in Hollywood or by the Brits it would definitely have some juicy scenes between Yiren & Haolan, Haolan & Lu Buwei, Haolan & Lao'Ai. They would have explored the darker side of the story which would have been extremely interesting. Alas! Chinese censorship overrules everything.
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Unusual story
Many reviews already gave this series a well deserved praise for acting, plot, and many more and I agree with them. So I have to point to something else, which I haven't seen discussed yet - the series' themes. This show is absolutely devoid of typical c-drama's flaws: empty promise of violence, lack of consequences, perfect lovebirds, etc. The setting is the most violent period of China's history and in this series it lives up to its name. There are no "good" characters, everyone, including main leads, are truly psychopathic in unimaginable ways. People destroy each other just because, slaves - because it's easy, equals - because it's a good challenge. Everyone kills without remorse. Women destroy men they claim to love, men betray women they claim to love. Desire (which is sold under the name of "love") changes people for worse. Any sentimentality is meaningless and will be outweighed by what really moves characters - greed, revenge, ambition. I've never seen characters this devoid of gratitude and this cold to any traditional human values. They won't spare anyone, a game is a game. This show also breaks the illusion that a virtuous and good woman will raise a good son. One woman, regardless of her personal virtues, cannot change society and her son will grow up to be unruly, brutal and misogynistic man. That said, no woman in Legend of Haolan is virtuous, it's an impressive assemble of awful female characters, each is poisonous in her own way. From cruel bullies to manic cutthroats, from homicidal lunatics to vile liars, this show has it all.It's unusual story with beguiling characters. I recommend those of you who dislikes bland historical fiction to watch it!
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I liked the premise. One ambitious woman (Li Hao Lan) and two men who love her - one older merchant (Lu Bu Wei) who has shifty morals and will sacrifice anything to win, and a prince (Ying Yi Ren) who tries his best to act with decency and honor. Which path will she choose?
By Episode 15, however, I had lost patience. Lu Bu Wei had attempted the same scheme numerous times, claimed that he was going to betray and ditch her multiple times, DID leave her behind, and then she still had to help rescue him and appears to be attracted to him.
Ying Yi Ren always protests about Lu Bu Wei 's morals, but always goes along for the good of his kingdom - and the pattern repeats.
As a result, I rapidly got fed up with all of them - and the tension no longer held my interest.
I have other criteria I score by:
Complex Themes - 8
(The themes are introduced regarding ambition, loyalty to romantic love vs. kingdom and family, revenge, betrayal etc. but it never moves forward)
Character Growth -3
(It felt like it was never going anywhere)
Nuanced Women -5
(There were plenty of women in significant roles, but they tended to be all typical dramatic stereotypes)
Cinematography/Production Values - 7
(A lot of money was spent, but it doesn't have the creative beauty of Yanxi Palace or the sweeping outdoor shots of Nirvana in Fire 2. The costumes are all a boring cream/white/gold up through Episode 15 )
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Let me save you hours of watching
Just a waste of everyone’s time.Petty plots and scheming are drawn out for no reason for the first 20+ episodes. Honestly, I enjoyed the parts where women of the harem covertly had hands in politics/war. They spent too much time dwelling on petty schemes in the harem with no actual consequence but just so the FL is shown suffering. Logic seems to be thrown out the window just so that our FL and her pimp are seen as cunning and “smart”. None of the decisions make sense for anyone with sense.
I’m not one to judge characters. I love grey characters but Haolan is too much of a hypocrite. She kills her sister (justified) but is upset when Lu Buwei kills that girl at the banquet. She gets upset at Yiren for not betraying his country when she has committed several traitorous acts for him and Lu Buwei. The only reasonably written characters that make sense to me seem to be Lady Li and Princess Qionghua.
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At the end of the day, just depend on yourself..
LIKELove hate relationship between Hao Lan and Princess Ya
DISLIKE
Most of Hao Lan's men except for probably one who truly loved her
MUSIC - personal fav
化羽 Hua Yu - 高雨儿 Gao Yu Er
月出 Yue Chu - 陆虎 Lu Hu, 黄雅莉 Huang Ya Li
REWATCH VALUE
Five for now
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The Drama That Started My Love for C-Dramas
I watched The Legend of Hao Lan a long time ago, but its beauty still lingers in my mind—so I finally wanted to write this review now.The production is stunning, with breathtaking costumes and cinematography that bring ancient China vividly to life. The writing is equally impressive—woven with political intrigue, emotional depth, and unforgettable character arcs. And the acting? Simply phenomenal. Every actor delivers a performance that draws you deeply into their world.
My only lingering wish: that Haolan and Lü Buwei had a chance to end up together. This drama remains in my heart —and it’s how I first fell in love with Chinese dramas.
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