The Long Ballad

Over all good. But once again, rushed ending with short lived victories

Life is too short for stressful drama. Why spend all that time watching and be stressed? Don’t our lives already provide enough of that? Over all pretty good. But once again, rushed ending and victory celebration and extended aftermath is not there

Summary of the series:
- Some tear jerking, medium hearted with some action/rom; series had good but not great flow, some stress watching it; enjoy some of the action
- cute romance, a bit of a slow burn
- a bunch of holes in the plot like who would leave a princess unattended with not even one guard? stupid like a few other places
- simpatico characters but smart characters; lead characters endure lots
- like a little bit of mystery mixed in there but reveals towards the end
- ML is brave, one track minded
- FL is smart, but still suffers greatly due to her naive character
- some villains, long struggles, calamity and miscommunications to cause more drama for the series
- main characters was able to figure everything out but comes with big sacrifices
- closure ending, but ends shortly; I wish they extend the ending to show us the joy we been waiting for and that was build up

ok to watch once, good series with some action: recommended to watch for sure but you may need to fast forward some parts

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A high-budget production that sets off the imagination

I think what The Long Ballad does best is paint a picture of a time long ago, a land far away. It’s very evocative and really set off my imagination. It also inspired me to spend hours on Wikipedia reading about the Tang dynasty, the Ashina tribe, and so on… later when I checked up reviews, I realized I was not the only one! You know a show is doing something right when it inspires so many people to start googling.

TLB has a high budget feel. I saw some Behind the Scenes videos that discussed the production, set design, costume making, music, etc. A lot of thought and effort went into all these things. I really liked the music, both songs and BGM (which used instruments from around the world). Other details stood out too, like Ashile Sun’s furry costume which had Wu Lei sweating during filming. The presence of such fully produced BTS in and of itself is, I think, another example of all the effort that went into this show.

All the attention to detail really paid off in capturing a certain feeling of a bustling, distant past. This is a good example of lots of little details adding up to elevate a show.

TLB is not just set in a historical time period, but actually features real historical figures and events (thus inspiring my Wikipedia binge). Bold. In general, I think it’s hard for historical fiction to steer too close to real-life figures, because then it’s bound by recorded history. …this show sort of just tossed all that aside and bent history as necessary. I for one didn’t mind as I still enjoyed the story, and we don’t watch Cdramas for logic or historical accuracy.

Character-wise, Li Changge is the eponymous FL and much of the story follows her journey after her world is turned upside down. I personally found her character really irritating for awhile, as she does a lot of drastic, hostile things without first understanding the situation, which is clearly more than what it seems. Perhaps this is all we can expect from a child (the show is vague about her age, which I think is the right move; historically, an unmarried Tang princess would have been too young for this entire thing to work out). However, I’m not that interested in watching children be children.

Luckily she stops short of being truly unlikeable, because through it all she hangs onto her conscience and an overall picture of the greater good. And her difficult personality sets the stage for some character growth. She’s tough and capable, and after she grows up a little I began to see her more as lost than anything else, and then I could sympathize with her.

The male lead, Ashile Sun, is (as I saw somebody describe) the “perfect boyfriend”. He is really badass, but also so sweet to her and always watching out for her. As an aside, the number of coincidental run-ins he has with Li Changge in the first quarter or so of the show, across such a large city/nation, is a stretch even for a drama. Gosh, I wish I were also always randomly running into a hot mysterious stranger.

The thing is, with Changge, Sun, and the romance between them- all three of these things- I liked them and was invested in their story for awhile, but sort of lost interest as the show went on. Luckily, the second couple has a very sweet story that picks up as the first one is getting less interesting. I liked Li Leyan’s character arc because she never pretended to be extraordinary or even capable, but you can see how she was forced to grow. Props to Zhao Lusi for playing, as she herself said, a character very different from her own personality.

There are a lot of other characters in this show, that come, go, and sometimes come back. It’s a great cast and I liked most of them. Except maybe Mimi… sorry, Mimi.

And all the acting was quite good, both from main and side actors. Pay attention, for example, to some of the older actors- some of them were really exceptional.

Technique-wise, this show is not quite a wuxia, so while there are some stunts, there’s a minimum of flying people, flashy choreographed fight scenes with unnecessary spins, and so on. It’s more “realistic”. There is a little sloppiness sometimes (uncontrolled sword strikes, arrows shot from the chest, etc), but the archery at least is mostly solid, (almost) none of those funny arrow grips you see sometimes. I always find it fun to see who rides their own horse; several of the actors here seemed to be decent riders, and Wu Lei stood out enough that I googled and found out he’s been riding since he was young.

Stylistically, this show pays homage to its comic book source material with some manhua cutscenes at key points (still frames in sequence, not moving), as well as random scenes with actors in front of green screens. Some people liked them; I personally did not. But I’m here for the story, so something like that wouldn’t stop me from watching.

I’ll just close off by saying that this is not a lighthearted, feel-good show. It’s not as dark or depressing as some shows can be, and has some fun moments (like that whacko COVID dance), but I cried more than I laughed. After watching this, I had to cheer myself up by watching only lighthearted shows for several months.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





The ending is mostly happy, and does sort of tie things up as well as give you a hint as to where some of the characters end up. I wouldn’t exactly call it satisfying, but by Cdrama standards it’s not that bad. I had read in some other reviews that it’s an open ending, so I thought they would just tie up the main conflict and that’s that. What we got I would consider to be a bit more than an open ending, so it’s already better than I expected… but that’s a low bar.

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Drama with amazing characters and interactions

Even supporting characters are all amazing! ML and FL have interactions with supporting characters that will be so interesting to follow. They will go through development, not just serious of conversations. All cast is amazing, and they really each have a unique contribution you will like them for. The good thing, there is no actual villain, just many desinformed people, navigating their way through confusion, forgiveness, personal growth into a better character. Actually there is one villain, but almost irrelevant to the main plot.

ML - Wu Lei is magnificent as always. He delivers an amazing character once again, and he is so good at these powerful, skilled men roles, and on the other hand he can be so gentle with the FL- even without the kiss, just the body language and eyes he can make you feel chemistry.
FL - this is in my opinion shortcoming of this drama, to boyish, and there are many good dramas with boyish FL, but she rejected ML to many times, and when she accepted him, it was so meh as if she was just kind, no love in her eyes or body language whatsoever. Maybe it is poorly written FL. For me, she was kind and genuine, and skilled, but lacked to recognise logic. There are several things she did that are complete dumbass move, and ML warned her about it, but trying to be independent she was stupid. And instead of apologising and fixing as the real hero would, she went into pitty mode.

Emperor - the first time in C drama that emperor is kinda hot. Righteous, and has something.
Hao Du - the way love transformed him, for me they were the lead couple. And from the "villain" start to genuine kind guy, so cool.
Yong An - the way life and situations transformed her, also her growth in every sense, professionally and as a person.
Du Ru Hui - not your typical boring righteous minister. He has heart
Brother Shuyu - is so perfectly miserable in love, but has dignity, not one of those pitiful or villain second ML. Although with the FL as she is, he would be a better fit.

Some boring characters - Mimi, Kathun, they are a drag. Princess Tujia, too much time screen time on irrelevant character that has insignificant effect on the main plot. Without the character you wouldn't miss anything in the plot.

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Good drama about Loyalty and Love

It was really enjoyable because we can see the character development of some characters, and all the actions and strategies to fight wars. I think I couldn't give a good review this time bcs I didn't finish this drama in one go. I paused watching it when there was still 5 eps left ughh bcs life intruded and only got to finish it about half a month later.

ML, Ashile Sun/Falcon or A'Zhun, was a general and leader to the Eagle Division of Asher Tribe. He was ruthless, intelligent and very very good at strategies when it came to war or dire situations.

FL, Li Change or Shisi, was a princess to former CP of Tang Dynasty. Earlier, she was filled with fire to avenge her family and so she was a bit brash wanting to start war against the current Emperor. But she experienced some hard lives and realised that she still a princess that had responsibility to protect the citizens of Tang Dynasty so she underwent character development after all of that. It really help that she met with righteous people (shout out to Gongsun Heng!). Changge also the same with ML in the sense that she was very good at strategies. She was very loyal and affectionate to people who treated her well even though she was not really that friendly. She really was not the typical noble lady.

The romance between both of them was slow burn bcs they started as friends but Ashile Sun liked her first and wld do anything for her. Later, Changge wld do the same for him. But really ML did everything everything for her like I think he loved her more. He was so sweet.

One of the the things I love about this drama, some characters that I liked at the start became the face that I didn't want to see later and while some I hated but really really love him now. Talking about Wei Shuyu and Hao Du.

I am so glad that A'Sun and She'er still hv a good siblings relationship. I love love love that we got other couples stories even tho... only one can get a happy ending :\. Anyway, this was random but I'm glad that Great Khan/Yanli Khan suffered for a long time even though A'Sun was still being a filial son to him. Serve him right!! The way he treated both A'Sun and She'er was not fair to them.

I am contemplating to give it 9 or 8.5 stars rating because the ending wasn't giving that much to me. I need more. I need to see how Changge's daily life with A'Sun, how the tribe fared, how our second couple doing too. Myb I'll change my rating if I get the mood to rewatch it... Who knows.

20230418 2301

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You will have a hard time moving on

I rarely write full on reviews for dramas, but leave a comment. However, this drama just needed one. I spent the past week trying to really comprehend how we came to love TLB.
First off, both main leads are very strong and loyal to their countries. What made it a success I have to say about it, is the fact that throughout the whole drama they both remain that way. They don't compromise or suddenly put their loyalty on the burner side as their relationship grows. I think this was a breath of fresh air cause many times in such enemy-to-lovers tropes, one always starts compromising their family or country all in the name of love.
Secondly, it really does a good job of showing how complex human beings can be. Not every emotion is black and white in real life and TLB characters all exhibited this very beautifully. We are forced to make decisions out of hard predicaments and while in the moment they seem right, in the long run it can be detrimental. But how do you reconcile all those emotions? It's truly phenomenal how characters exhibited such inner struggles.
Thirdly, life is a journey and seasons change include relationships, goals and hopes. Several characters had to learn this one way of the other. As a result, the story never dulls down so much. There is always a relationshio and dynamic being tested, shifting, leaving room for us as watchers to be engaged throughout.
Honestly, this is the tip of the iceberg about the great things in TLB. I have not been able to move on. I keep longing to see a drama that has a wonderful balance between all characters. Will I rewatch this drama? A lot of times. Should you try it if you haven't already? For sure.

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ASHILE SUN IS A GREEN FLAG

Watched this show two years ago, but I still heavily regard it as one of my favorites. I love watching historical dramas but usually have a hard time finishing them. I recall staying up so late and binging this all in 2 days.

Sure there are some parts that could've been better. I am drawn to stories with a strong, smart FL and Li Changge was frustrating at times because she made rash, impulsive decisions. As a viewer, you forgive and commend her for her bravery and loyalty. I take into account that she is supposed to be very young, and this all plays a role in her character development. Love when a FL can fight and hold her own.

Wu Lei's acting was really good despite how young he is; he is showing his experience and dedication to acting. TLB made me a fan, and since then have looked forward to his works. I was also disappointed in the romance scenes, but given how young Wu Lei probably was when they filmed, it kind of makes sense. However, I really really enjoyed Ashile Sun's character and his own way of protecting Changge. For me, the chemistry and love was there. I usually can't stand too many lovey dovey scenes, and rather enjoyed the glances and small details. Like most viewers did, Ashile's character was the most likeable and memorable.

Rewatch value: 7.5/10 I rewatched it back then when I was more invested in the storyline. I enjoyed the soundtrack and honestly didn't mind the illustrations.

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WOW!

ok first of all, I love the plot it was constructed so beautifully. The actors did really well in portraying the characters. Everytime the ml appeared, i screamed because he's rlly fine but also his words were so sweet. when they had their first kiss, it didn't match the level of excitement i felt for their other scenes bc the ml really showed his love through actions and words. Along with that, the fl was super cool and smart and everything was under her control. Their relationship was adorable but im a bit disappointed because I feel that their love story wasn't really completed. I really wish there was an extra episode to finish off all the tiny side stories too. I wanted to see ashile sun tell changge his last wish (to marry her hehe) and a wedding, i wanted to see him and sher drink together, and for his father to get better again. I could not stop watching, i would literally pull out my phone to watch it in school. I love the hidden identity trope too so this drama was perfect for me. There weren't any embarrassing scenes and the love was adorable but not to the point where it made me cringe. Im so jealous i want someone to look at me like how sun looks at changge! Each episode was interesting and it was never boring at all. usually i dont like rewatching dramas but i can totally see myself watching this one again. The fight scenes were amazing and I love how all the friends changge made went to go help her at the end. It's most definitely a slowburn but their love story started from the first episode and was realistically developed. they respected each other and there weren't any silly misunderstandings. ALSO they were both powerful on their own but when they were together it was just awesome!! He cared for her in his own way and they were willing to sacrifice themselves for each other. Their chemistry is unmatched and that’s not even the main focus of this drama! The ost fits the mood very well. I don’t think I will ever get over it. This cdrama was so beautiful and I loved it! im sad I finished it :(

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Loved the OST

I initially watched the show because I was just bored and Leo was in it; I never thought Rosy was also in it. I watched Love like the galaxy first and I loved them there. I thought their chemistry there was superb. Seeing them with different partners this time still had me gushing. Their chemistry with each of their partners were excellent. I absolutely love Hao Du’s character development and his love for the princess. I love how they had few scenes but had me waiting to see them every time. I hear they just recently had a new series which they are the main leads I am going to watch that as well. Hopefully it has a great plot.

The thing I am bummed about is the ending for the main leads. I felt lacking, i dont know i expected more since theyre the main leads.

I also absolutely love the opening song!!!! I usually always skip intros but this time around i always let it play just to hear the song 😂

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A Very Interesting Strategy Story of Love Matched on the Battleground

The rich historical account of China's battle with its neighbors have created this tv series that fictionally account the battle strategies during the early conquests of China. Utilizing tribal inter marriages or heqins, spies and even game matches can all be strategies in order to gain tribal access, favors and even battles.

The Long Ballad showcases that love can amazingly bloom even between enemies and on the battleground. That even the Emperor of Tang and Great Khan can agree that a perfect match of hearts can lead to attain peace in their war torn regions.

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Watched thrice and still bitter about it

I wanted to like this series A LOT. "Chang Ge Xing" is possibly my favourite manhua, still to this moment. But I couldn't, no matter how much I tried a.k.a. three-freaking-times!

1. The good:
- The OST no doubt. What a goated OST.
- The first episode is likely one of the best first episodes I've seen. The character introductions (albeit with many changes from the manhua), the exhilarating sepak takraw match, the costumes, the sets, all.
- The best acting scene goes to Wu Lei [SPOILER] when his foster mother was killed. That and the first episode were non-skips.

2. The alright:
- The characters of Yong An and Hao Du, both new and extended characters from the manhua. In my first viewing, their journeys, separate and together, are easier to watch and pay attention to. Because it's simpler compared to the push-and-shove, tug-and-pull characterisations and storylines of Chang Ge and Ashile Sun. But I don't care about them beyond that first watch.

3. The BITTER:
- The story. I understand the writers made the most out of the source materials. They seemed to have a lot of love and respect for Xia Da too. But damn was the whole thing butchered.
One of the driving forces of the manhua is the conflict of identities, especially ethnics of Chang Ge and Sun. Unfortunately, the ethnic diversity is superficial and completely washed here.
- The characterisation. For a story as intricate as "Chang Ge Xing" to work, it must be developed gradually and in focus. By parading a bunch of characters and creating new storylines for the supporting-but-important-commerical cast, it fails miserably. It's clear as day, when main characters got pushed aside and received less attention from viewers than the secondary ones. In my first viewing, I dropped as Chang Ge gets into the nunnery.
- Chang Ge and Sun. Bloody hell, Dilireba and Wu Lei butchered my beloved characters.
Dilireba might have been a good cast, given her Uyghur ethnicity. But she doesn't look the part of Chang Ge (cry), barely gave any acting if at all to save her life (cry), even her figure and acting dead-gave away she was a girl (cry). They made Chang Ge character sooooo unlikable, self-centered and inconsiderate (even as a strategist, you have to be able to consider to plan and strategise). Cry.
Wu Lei looks ridiculous in costumes that aren't Tang, including his wig and his battle armour. It doesn't help that his physique is like most every other Chinese commercial actors. In the manhua, Sun has an imposing presence and endless charisma (earned at that). Even though he is young he is a seasoned warrior and highly respected leader, regarded as the "god of war". I don't see any of that in Wu Lei. But at least, he gave that emotionally violent and gut-wrenching highlight of a scene.

To be fair, I think, those who don't know/read the manhua might like this series (more). But even when I tried to detach it from its source material, it was still such a jumble-mumble of bad story-telling.

Conclusion: Bitter. Wasted. Dead.

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Path to Revenge that turned into Patriotism

Story is about the road to revenge of a fallen princess of Tang Dynasty who ended up defending the person whom she believed to have killed her whole family. Along this revenge seeking adventure, she met with rival kingdom’s lead general, Ashile Sun - the ML - and they ended up going through life and death together. She eventually realized the right path for her was never revenge, but to live on without hate as her late mother had intended and to help ensure peace across the land.

The show had a good storyline and great line of actors and production. I must say the production is actually quite clever in reducing cost. Instead of hiring enormous amount of extras for battle scenes, or great hours of CGIs, they resorted to sketches instead. Im actually disappointed that there are no actual battle scenes. There were just sketches of battles and the lead actors waving their swords around on the foreground. Although undoubtedly a fresh idea, it made the show look rather cheapskate. Although they went frugal on battle scenes, im very satisfied with hand-on-hand combat performed by ML and SML. The fight sequence are seamlessly elegant which doesnt look rehearsed and awkward.

This is also one of those shows where they spend little effort in making the actress disguising as a male look convincing because she looked so damn feminine with ample contour on the chest area. Although, admittedly there really not much u can do when u hire an actress as gorgeous as Dilireba. She can never pass as a male no matter how much they disguise her. Her features are just too feminine, her voice cant get any deeper and well, her demeanor is much too graceful. It’s because of shows like this that I value shows like Fighting for Love where they go all out to make the disguise believable.

A fair warning to romance lovers, this story aint a feast for the lot of you. There is not much romance going on, as the story focuses more on revenge line and how each character developed into maturehood. The development of FL, ML and SFL is pretty significant. Even the small support characters gets their characters developed along the way, like how Wei Shuyu changed into a more confident man, Hao Du into a flexible and humane person, even Shiba got a decent growth into a real free woman. Her love story with Xu Jing is the cutest because she had always been this stone-cold fighter who cares nothing but for her master. Meanwhile, the main love story is pretty slow moving. The ML had shown fondness towards the FL quite early on, but he didnt realize it was love yet until quite to the middle of the show, and this had only been reciprocated by the FL towards the last 10 episode. It took a life-threatening arrow through ML’s chest before she finally confesses (when ML was unconscious) that she cannot live without him.

The music score of this show isnt that memorable and catchy enough so they didnt stick really stick in my head. Although, i especially liked the tune they use each time the scene with Ashile tribe is on.

The reconcilation scene on the episode 46 is gold! Throughout the show, I have never viewed both of them as any other than father and daughter, even as FL hated him so much. I knew there’s something behind her mom’s death that wouldnt have been his fault. I just hope FL wouldve hugged him before she left for good. I really like the Li Shimin character.

However, it is unconvincing to see Hao Du as general in the last 2 episodes. Throughout the show he had always been that lone ranger imperial guard and has always been working alone. He had shown no military prowess before this other than his brawn as an imperial guard. Pretty ridiculous to see him donning the general hat all of a sudden. So yeah maybe after being Prince Consort he’s given an army of his own, but to lead one as general is rather unconvincing. Just doesnt go in line with his character at all. It is more believable if it was Changge leading the troop to intercept Princess Yicheng’s fake carriage, she had always shown to be a military strategist and have actually fought in battles.

Leo Wu has proven he’s no longer that actor with a babyface. I was not convinced in the earlier episodes, but his look as a fierce general kinda grows into you.

All in all the show as a whole does not disappoint. A plus plus for having a happy ending too. This covered up for the loss of star in music score. After A Journey to Love, I’m so sick of tragic endings already. Is it worth a rewatch? I wrote this review after a rewatch, so yeah definitely worth it.

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Powerful, mind-twisting and passionate drama!

Dwelling in the past only brings trouble, people come and go but you trust the new that is the future. This drama captures military strategies and depicts the fight against kingdoms so beautifully. I was intensely involved in how the leaders were making decisions and how Changge(FL) was coming up with interesting ideas. I personally love strategies and problem solving and this drama showed it really well and nicely executed. However, many claim to stay just for romance and forwarded a lot.
Here, comes the other side, the romance of the leads wasn't that involving. Although I loved the initial part of drama, slowly it started losing its color and became dull. At this moment the second leads picked up the romance and it was worth watching because it was so fricking lovely. (Flash alert: These 2 have an upcoming drama in 2024 which is super exciting as their chemistry was just out of the world)
Acting:
I felt the acting in this drama required a lot of emotions and facial expressions and each character play their role well which is not the case with most dramas.
Story:
I loved the storyline but somewhere near 35ish ep I started feeling same strategies being repeated, characters being purposely killed which really wasn't necessary but just screentime. So i found myself forwarding in the end but the second leads romance always grabbed my eye.
On a side note, I also loved the FLs character development because they show how rage can sometimes blind you from making the right choice and end up hurting the ones you love. It was beautiful, lot to learn and grasp. The ML was just there tho, its just shown he fell hard for her and nothing more, this could have been developed better,

Overall:
Its a great drama, unlike most cheesy dramas (which im not a fan of like story of minglan or ashes of love which just show blind love and not focus on other aspects of life because the world just revolves around the 2 leads which does not resonate with me). This one was a bit real, although it lost that interest towards end specific to the leads but the rest storylines and characters, the strategies, the dialogues teach so many life lessons like moving on, what true love feels like (loves you for you) and how to take advantage of making the right decisions. I would highly recommend to watch this worth a watch historical drama. It felt hard to remember places and names but it helped me improve my memory power and focus i guess xD.

Don't look back if you're looking for a intense historical drama, this is the right one!

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