This review may contain spoilers
Good drama for the end of the year 2021!!!!
I like to say that I enjoyed this drama from beginning to end. There were never a bore moments, and I enjoyed seeing the different relationships between all the main lead couples; from our main OTP Hashi and Shifu to Tilan and the Emperor, and ZhouYing and Zhoulu :), every one of these characters brings their charms and beauty to the drama.Characters: Hashi-I love how Hashi is stubborn, but she never lies about her love towards her Shifu and she always wants to protect him and love him. I love how Hashi can fight as a woman and is seen as a strong woman.
Shifu: He is very prideful, loyal, and confident. He is truly someone that a King can rely on in times of war and support. I think he is somewhat of a complex character because he is conflicted between his love for Hashi and his loyalty to the country, and the king.
Ah-Xu aka the king: I think he is one of the best kings in Chinese dramaland lol. I love his friendship with FXM and his love for his first late wife and Tilan. He is a capable King that has a love for his people, and in the end; he surprises me when he went into battle himself and tries to save his beloved wife Tilan :).
Tilan: She was married to the King and she grew to love him after she bravely call the king out for mistreating her!! You go, girl!!!! I love how Tilan is sweet, kind, and never suspects anyone of bad intentions.
ZhouYing: He's a silly brother that you love to adore, and I didn't know that Hashi was older than him lol. He is good-natured, loyal to Shifu, and a good sibling to Hashi. I love watching his relationship with ZhouLu; how he cares deeply for her safety and well-being.
ZhouLu: She is just so sweet and kind.
Plot/Writing/Martial Arts: It was a predictable plot somewhat, but I love that it was not boring. The writing was good and it sets the tone for the drama. Wow, the fighting scenes were very good in this drama, I love how Shifu fights and the flying scenes were executed so well!!! A+ to the director, martial arts masters, etc. I really enjoyed the fighting scenes, especially when Shifu does his smooth transitions fighting :)!!!! Love Hashi's fighting skills too!!!!
Overall: I had really enjoyed watching this drama from start to end, and the osts on here were very nice to listen too; like always Chinese music is poetic and really speaks to the heart and soul.
So sad it ended, I feel like I just saw epi1 yesterday!!! Ciao and have fun watching :)!!!!!
Edit: We Deqing, the eunuch of the king is the sweetest old man!! I love his scenes with the king, and they make me laugh every time they are together. He will be a memorable eunuch in years to come :), cannot remember any other memorable eunuch like him :).
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A slowburn worth watching
Needless to say that I’ve re-watched this drama for a ridiculous amount of times. It’s a slowburn drama of a love so selfless, I’m rather surprised that many of the reviews seemed to hate the ending to this really beautiful story. A warning though that this review will contain mostly specific rants on specific characters. I may sound biased of course but at least you know that I am so take everything with a bit of salt of you will.Let’s get one thing straight though, the story is also flawed especially one of the characters. I specifically felt little empathy for the role of the Emperor for his atrocious behavior towards Tilan. You may defend him all you want saying he’s just really heartbroken and traumatized because of what happened in the past but that it is of no excuse whatsoever to treat Tilan the way he did and you can’t convince me otherwise. It left my tongue a bitter taste when they gradually had a better relationship but I’ll never forgive him for the things he’s done to this poor girl who was most likely forced to be his consort for political reasons and was caught in the middle of every problem towards the story. I’m not saying he’s not someone to forgive but tbh, if I were in Tilan’s shoes, I would have just killed myself rather than suffer the way she did. She didn’t deserve any of it really.
But anyhow, I’m glad their’s is not the main focus of the story though they played a big part in the decision making of our main couple. I read a lot of comments saying they dropped this drama because they felt frustrated especially towards the latter episodes. Let me give my two cents about this though: I think the frustration we felt is only natural and I would like to explain why I think it is starting with the character of Fang Jianming.
Fang Jianming has spent most of his life being right hand man and bestfriend of the Emperor. He’s his best man and he shared almost all his life serving him not only as an official but as his closest confidante. Hence, it’s not farfetched to say that he hadn’t taken any considerable amount of thought for other relationships especially with girls though he has been promised to one by his parents. He was young and with a promising career as the then potential Emperor’s right hand. He also cared deeply for Emperor Xu since they grew up together. And so when the time comes when he felt attracted to a girl he really likes, it’s only natural to see him struggle between wanting to be with her and maintaining the quality of service he’s always given his bestfriend. I honeslty only saw his seemingly selfless attitude as him being very calculating as he has always done his entire life. He’s one of the highest ranking officials in the country mainly responsible for the military since they had to go to war very often to protect their territories. I doubt intimate and serious relationships will be something he’s up to par with while he battles state enemies and rebelling tribes. Ergo, when he found himself falling for his disciple and her reciprocating his affections, it’s bound to be a really difficult journey for the both of them. As for his condescending attitude towards people, well please remember that the story is done in a traditional setting hence as a master of his own pavillion and a high ranking official from an affluent family, he would have been raised with a temperament of a man who can have anything he wants and not be questioned for it. He is arrogant yes but he backs it up with great combat skills and dignified and fair leadership. He enforces discipline towards his subordinates as one would expect from a high ranking military officer.
On the other hand, there is Haishi and her passionate attitude towards people she really cares about. I really like her character as she’s so honest with her thoughts and feelings which poor Jianming probably envied a little since he’s never been given such liberties. Many wanted her to just leave Jianming since he seems to only play with her feelings and always has an ulterior motive in every decision he makes towards their relationship. But I don’t think she’s exactly clueless about those motives though. She’s of a quick mind but she’s also very biased so she tends to assume things, getting ahead of herself more often that she cares to admit. Since she’s grown up treating Jianming as her master, I didn’t really expect her to have full confidence in making him fall for her charms. He also didn’t fully really realize his own feelings until he sees Haishi getting attention from another man. I oddly find it cute that they both share the same trait when it comes to dating lol.
In any case, this is actually the first time I felt truly understanding of a drama’s ending. It concluded the whole plot really well and to the best it can be. Selfless but still relying on each other till the end. I would be honest though and say that I would rather they end up together but I don’t think making them selfish towards the end would be the right way to go. They had to do what they had to do. They chose to do it because they know that many lives depend on it. They both share a passion of caring for people and they fit each other well because of it. And so I say, it’s a fitting ending for a selfless love.
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The most mysterious yet heart-breaking story plotted in the Novoland.
This is my first review as I was strongly determined to write for this excellent drama that had me in tears, laughter and surprised.Each and every character in this story has a unique personality and the best part is that everyone of them had depth in their character. Right from how they were laid out, the dialogues, the actors and everything was up to mark. We had a lot of predictions discussed in the comment section but only 10 percent of them came true. So you can say that this is not a drama where u would know what would happen next without any suspense and this is exactly what keeps you engaged all throughout the 48-episodes of this drama.
Every little detail in the drama has been attended to. Haishi’s sword is rather special. Her weapon adopts characters of her birthplace and her background or geographical elements. That’s how the sword is made. It’s handle is inlaid with sea shells to connect with her birthplace. Everything had reference to their personalities, the place where they grew up and so on.
Since this was a high budget drama, the action scenes were of high class. You could feel the goose bumps and your fingers on the rewind button. Scenic sets and the beautiful scenery laid out in the Hengdian World Studios would stun you.
This drama has a set of heartbreaking and touching ost’s from some of our favourite singers - Zhou Shen, Zhang Bichen, Jane Zhang, Zhang lei, Shuang Sheng and Li Qi , who are also known for the emotions in their voice which can nevertheless make you tear up…….
The drama kick starts with a mysterious and a beautiful mermaid saving our female lead when she was young. The CGI will absolutely stun you. The female lead - Haishi is someone who has grown up by watching the back of our male lead - Fang jianming. She admires him and her perspective of the world was acquired through him which makes him very special and important to her. Once haishi confesses her love to her shifu (master), he is taken aback by her action and starts to avoid her. He slowly realises that the care he has for his favourite disciple (who has been disguised as a male) is not something a master and a disciple share but instead it was something more….
It is a pity that fate has planned a cruel life ahead of them where each of them are held back by their responsibilities. Fang jianming has been loyal to the emperor his whole life which resulted in the slaughter of officials and people who stood as obstacles for their plan to balance the power in the court.
His only desire in his life was to protect the hard earned peace and protect the emperor, who was his very dear friend. But everything changed when Haishi appeared in his life. He now has someone whom he desires to protect. But he has sinned too much to have a happy ending with his beloved….
The tragic fate that life plays, hard earned affection, unyielding love, impenetrable souls that don’t waver even for a second, to protect the people from misery that war causes
They are all ready to sacrifice.
It would be great if only they shown up in their best years.
The Executive producer of this drama told something that I very much agree with -
''It has a unique worldview. This TV story is sad but a beautiful love story that resonates more with female viewers. The love in this series is actually tormenting. We often use the words tormenting and tormenting love.'' Gao chen (Executive producer)
‘’ Over a decade of compromise only leads to desperation. I want nothing more than to see my love ……… lead a normal and happy life’’
NOVOLAND: PEARL ECLIPSE
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A tormented love between the main leads
First thing, the synopsis in MDL is not quite accurate. Haishi did not have conflicting feelings between her shifu (Fang Jian Ming) and the Emperor (Di Xu). This did not happen in the drama at least and Haishi did not vow revenge towards the imperial court after her father was killed by sharks in a fishing trip to gather pearls.Having read the synopsis, I went watching the drama thinking that it would be the usual revenge plot and love triangle, but it actually wasn't the case in the drama at all.
Haishi is a young girl who grew up in a costal village where fishermen used the ruse of killing their children to make mermaids cry and gather the shed tears which turn into luminous pearls to pay for taxes.
Fang Jian Ming saved her from the village and together with another disciple (Zhuo Ying), raised and taught them from academics to martial arts, archery, etc. from then on.
As the years went by, Haishi fell in love with her shifu and shifu also grew to love her, but due to the fact that he was a baixi for the Emperor, meaning he was bonded to the Emperor in blood, he felt all the pain and physical injuries on behalf of the Emperor, he knew he had no future with Haishi as he was someone who would die anytime, he chose to hide his love for Haishi.
What I liked about this drama was this tormented, forbidden love between the two leads. Haishi was very forthright with her feelings throughout, but shifu would always act nonchalant in front of her, most times pushing her away, but actually deep down in his heart, loved and cared for her as much as she did for him, always making sure that she was safe and always the first to save her in the event of dangers. I was touched when he once said to himself, "how can I not like you (=Haishi)? Nobody knows, how much I cherish and love you." I was really touched by the way he said it. So tormented, so heartbreaking, so painful yet so beautiful.
As some viewers have pointed out, the Emperor's acting was a little over in the first few episodes and I didn't enjoy watching him.
He acted like crazy mainly due to the sorrow he was suffering from the death of his loved one. I do agree there was overacting on the part of the actor. However, he became much better later, more toned down. As many others have agreed, I also liked the strong friendship between shifu and Emperor. I thought that Tilan, his concubine, would have some hidden agenda when she married the Emperor, but turned out she was just a kind girl.
I also liked the third couple, Zhuo Ying and Zheliu, a girl in the embroidery department. In the initial stages, when Zhuo Ying was still secretly in love with her, I thought it was kind of sweet that he always hid on the rooftop to watch her and secretly did things for her like gifting her a bracelet or a rabbit, etc. As they were just the third couple in the drama, I guess their ending was kind of not fully shown to audience, just showing them on a horseback together to show that they had a happy ending, which was still okay to me, though I would have liked to see a little more of their reunion at the end.
I have mixed feelings for the ending on the main leads. I am totally glad that shifu didn't die and together with Haishi, they ended up teaching and raising the crown prince (son of the Emperor and Tilan who both died in the end). However, shifu became the baixi again for the crown prince and again they were bonded and again he and Haishi could not be together. I would not consider this a sad ending, at least shifu didn't die, but it is like country above all else and all love, not a happily ever after live together, but perhaps in the very far future, this may be possible when the crown prince grew up.
The cinematography was very good. I especially liked the Ji feng tree, the Ji feng pavilion and Zhao Ming palace where shifu, zhuo ying and haishi and the secret force lived. The place was dreamy especially when the leaves from the Ji feng tree fell.
The OST was good overall, I especially liked the songs sang by Zhou Shen, Kiss without distraction, it was just so heartbreaking and the other song was Li Qi, Revel in Flower Room.
Overall, the acting was good for all the cast, with the exception of the Emperor's acting in the beginning, but as mentioned, he toned down a lot and was much better later. I have seen William Chan in 'lost love in times' drama, I think he's a rather professional and diligent actor, basically an actor who really uses his heart to think through about the role and act out, from all the BTS and previous interviews I watched about him and personally, I think he's rather good in doing kiss scenes. Therefore, based on his off-screen personality which is supposedly quite bubbly, cheerful and a little playful?, I think he did well in his role in this drama. Yang Mi, of course, did well as usual, though I did agree a little with others that her own voice was a little on the high side in the drama. I wonder would it really have been better if she had someone to dub her in the drama? I also thought that the actor Wang Sen who acted Zhuo Ying, Duo Han and Duo Luo, was really good. There was contrast in the personalities between Duo Han and his twin brother Duo Luo. It was not easy feat, but he did well.
I enjoyed this drama very much, so much that this was one of those dramas that I really listened hard to all the dialogues and of course especially the ones between the main leads.
Never regretted watching this drama and I would re-watch the parts by the main leads in future too.
Fully vested in such tormented and forbidden love, yes, it is painful to watch, but precisely because it is painful to watch, all the more you want to watch whether shifu will slowly open up, for how long he is going to torment himself and haishi, how long more the leads will confess their love for each other, every step towards confession, towards getting closer to each other and finally whether they will abandon all cares and worries to be together.
Thoroughly enjoyed it!
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Rewatching because it’s so good
ML & FL have strong beautiful chemistry. They should do a modern drama together as a couple. This drama gives you so many emotions. I love how their relationship develops and how ML is over protective of FL. ML is faithful to his friend, the Emperor. However, he is over protective of FL, Yang Mi. I am rewatching for the third time. I love that the ML is clear about his feelings for only her even when he tries to fight his feelings but gets jealous of her easily. Especially, when others pay attention to her. He is attracted to her especially when she dresses as the female she is instead of his student. All characters are good in their roles though some are hard to like because of the things they do.Was this review helpful to you?
For the acting, Yang Mi once more approved that she is the Goddess, and she can act any caracter with so powerfull and so natural. And She always could influenced and bring her ML, to improved the skill acting. And you can see with William Chan acting and Xu Kaicheng acting are improved so much in the novoland (that I never see them in other their film before)
The Song so beautiful and bring every story to be more powerfull
Novoland will be on my unconted rewatched film like ten miles and Fuyao ❤️❤️❤️❤️
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This review may contain spoilers
Great drama to watch overall.
I quite enjoyed the show. I don't think I have ever made an effort to watch a drama every day since it premiered.First off, let me just say the synopsis that you are probably reading is wrong. Apparently, the synopsis is based on the book that is the source material for the drama. I've not read the book and I have no plans to since from all the feedback posted about it, it's quite dark. I watch dramas to get entertained, period. And to be entertained there must be a narrative that's interesting to watch. Sad, gloomy, and depressing stories are not for me. There is no love triangle. But there are sweet pairings that you want to cheer for. There is action, some political intrigue, a bit of supernational, and a lot of interesting relationships - between brothers, friends, and lovers. It is not a romance drama but what a ride it has been from beginning to end. What I liked was that each character in the story had growth throughout the drama. That being said, I found the last episode to be disappointing. It felt disconnected from the rest of the narrative. There was no proper build-up leading to the end so for me, it felt flat. I would the story a 10 if not for this rushed ending that felt out of sync with the rest of the drama.
I've liked Yang Mi in TMPB and LOF but I think character-wise, Hashi is my favorite. Her character development was great to watch. From being a young girl to a tomboy with fantastic martial arts and archery skills to a woman with substance and depth, it was great to watch. The action scenes especially in Episode 13-14 were fantastic. It gave me a feeling of watching a female Legolas in Lord of the Rings.
It's the first time I've watched William Chen in a drama and overall I have no complaints. I think the main issue with the comments of no chemistry is not because of William Chem and Yang Mi but the execution of the romantic scenes was just not handled correctly. A lot of slow-motion sequences that just went nowhere and the one kiss that we were all looking forward to was blurred after 2 seconds. To be honest, I don't get it but it is what it is.
For the rest of the cast, I thought they were good and I thoroughly enjoyed their performance. Like everyone else, I loved the Mu De Qing, Zhao Zi, and Zhou You Du.
The music is great overall although I still think Ancient Love Poetry still had the best OST for the year. The cinematography was beautiful. The sets were fantastic I especially liked Zhaoming Palace. The customs were beautiful. Emperor Xu, Zizan, and Tilan's gowns were fantastic. Hashi in the light pink gown was just gorgeous but then she was also beautiful wearing that black light armor with the white embroidery in episode 14. And may I just say, William Chen in armor on horseback was just fabulous to watch. I'm just so impressed with the overall production quality of the drama as a whole. It will be tough to find another drama so well done anytime soon.
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Amazing production with solid plot and interesting characters.
It has been a long time that a drama kept me interested until last episode !Novoland: Pearl Eclipse's story is nicely built up and you want to see more and more until the last 48th episode.
I loved everything about this drama; the witty dialogues, the bromance between Xu and Jiangmin, the Eunuch who is so kind and pure to the emperor, the love between Jifeng brothers ... every part of the story is beautifully assembled to keep us craving for more at every episode.
Novoland: Pearl Eclipse disrupted the usual C drama dialogues and surprised you with twists and jokes.
The script is brilliantly written. But has nothing to envy to the scenery that is breathtaking or the fight scenes that are so well filmed and choreographed.
I will recommend you to watch this drama, even if you havent seen the previous released Novoland dramas or the read the books. It will not ruin your experience and will love this drama as much.
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This review may contain spoilers
UNPOPULAR OPINION: I LOVE THE THIRD COUPLE WAY MORE THAN THE 1st and 2nd LEAD COUPLES
I started off watching this series for the leading couple but in the end, I ended up watching this series for the third leading couple and their storyline. I seriously love the chemistry between Zhuoying and Zheliu! Just the small jesters and antics he would do for her and vice versa was so beautiful and in my opinion spot on. The scene that convinced me and sucked me into their love story was the scene where he gave her a bracelet as a gift. He didn't just straight up say "yo girl I like you, here's a bracelet" but I love how he approached her and slid the bracelet down to her fingers as she is learning how to blind sew. Even though there was no dialogue, how the acting unfolded and portrayed his love and interest in her spoke way louder and so much better than any dialogue can! In all honesty, I loved their love story way more and wish that both actors would have had more screen time and that there would have been more added to their plotline. I seriously wished they would have shown us how he found her...In all honesty, I could not make out the chemistry between the 1st leading couples which disappointed me greatly. I love Yang Mi but seeing how her chemistry was better with other leads in other series compared to this one was a letdown for me. I didn't like it that they made her come off like everything was in her head and it was all a one-sided love. I understand William Chan had to play the classic stone-cold shifu however, he could have been able to express his love for Yang Mi's character through his eyes. There were moments where there was something but it would quickly leave just as it came. The most romance you will see between the two is the last episode.
I loved the second lead couple too but was not really huge in the abuse Tilan was receiving from the Emperor in the first couple of episodes. I would say that him almost losing her the first time made me appreciate his jesters to her later. Despite us knowing that the two of them would end up dying in the end, I would say they did have an interesting relationship.
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love it
I really likeThe chemistry of the players is good, the depiction of the past is also okay. the story is quite interesting. I repeat watching it.
Even though it's colossal, there are still scenes that make us laugh.
one of the colossal drama spectacles that should not be missed.
There is no struggle for love, their love story is mature, there is no evil party that makes you want to slam things when watching it...
The depiction of a student's love for his teacher is good, willing to pursue, because he knows they like each other and protect each other.
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Yang Mi played Haishi very well
This is a very amazing show. Yang Mi is sooo beautiful！🥰 The production team is very attentive and the pictures are very shocking. The story makes me feel both funny and sad. I like Haishi's character very much. She is brave, firm, smart, and pursues bravely when she fall in love.. She is really a perfect girl. I wish her happiness.However, I don't like that the male protagonist never treats HaiShi as an independent person. He is always does not give HaiShi the opportunity to choose by herself, He should learn to respect women！I believe she can do a good job, and if he is willing to believe in her ability, the outcome may be different.
ps: Yang Mi really gave Haishi a soul, she is really a born actor, she is amazing！I hope she can get better and better！💕
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This review may contain spoilers
Get ready for a bucket full of tears
Guess most of you probably already know even before starting to watch the drama, this is going to be somewhat tragic. To some extent, it's not a sad ending but the journey towards it is definitely a very difficult one.This drama touches on a lot of things - friendship, love, sacrifice, love for the country and comradeship.
Parts I really love about the drama:
1) The friendship between the emperor and Fang Jian Ming. They both grew up together and were technically stuck together because of the Baixi. The depth of trust between the two are even stronger than blood siblings. It's always nice to see a good bond between friends who understand and trust each other.
2) The emperor character. You can either hate the emperor or love the emperor. In this case, I love the character. He is not the most perfect person but he is very real. He has every reason to be unhappy with his life - lost the love of his life, stripped off his freedom, stuck in a role he did not sign up for and can't even feel basic physical pain. Regardless, he stayed alive simply because he was put to the task and felt the responsibility to run the country well. Putting yourself into his shoes, you would kind of understand why he acted the way he did.
3) The fight scenes. The production and execution of the whole drama in general is quite top-notch. However, the fight scenes are really the ones that impressed me. Hai Shi, Jian Ming and even the emperor have really distinct styles in their martial arts. That part was portrayed very well in the drama.
Parts I dislike about the drama:
1) Hai Shi and Jian Ming's relationship. I know, I know. Why watch the drama if I don't even like their relationship in the first place? For one, their age don't add up. Forgive me, but it's kind of difficult to digest the fact that the age gap between the both of them is acceptable seeing how Jian Ming practically raised Hai Shi (like a father / sifu).
2) The progression of the relationship between Hai Shi and Jian Ming. There are so many things that are unnecessary. Jian Ming hiding almost EVERY SINGLE THING from Hai Shi cause he's "worried" about her safety; how he pushed her away almost all the way to the end of the drama. It seems like they keep going back to square one and it's quite tiring to watch.
-- MAJOR SPOILER --
3) The evil mastermind behind the whole coup towards the end of the drama is actually quite "meh". To be honest, they have been building up the tension about the evil mastermind for so long, I kind of expect the character to be more "evil" or at least have deeper attachment throughout the drama.
In general, I am quite impressed with the plot. This is not your usual romance drama which is very refreshing to watch. Will I watch again? No, cause it's simply a bit too intense for round 2. Will I recommend the drama? For sure.
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