Editorials 
This review may contain spoilers
10’s across the board!
This show kept my interest the whole time starting with episode 1. The cast is outstanding and I was a little nervous as to how the ending would be because that usually makes or break my reviews but the ending was a great one that fit the plot. Finished the whole series today and immediately rewatching it. First show that I thoroughly enjoyed since SOKP and if you liked that I definitely recommend this drama. I think maybe it’s because they have the same trope but this series is amazinggggg. This is the first role of Bambi’s that I really love and the chemistry she has with Han Zhang was through the roof!Was this review helpful to you?
it is better than most drama
the story start is good and fun.mystery journey discover something new, great adventure and also romantic.
it is good drama.
plotting is nice.
fighting is also good.
acting and performance's quite good.
this is nice drama.
balance between action and magic.
there is nothing wrong about story and performance.
each characters performance is really good.
however characters's age but it's still great.
Event in the drama
Day and night
countries
War in action
it perform quite good.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Fateful suffering
Pros: The male lead and female lead have good chemistry, she also has good chemistry with the second male lead. The acting is nice. The ost is nice.Cons: The female lead is attacked every single episode by many never-ending enemies with either a lust for power or a lust for the male lead. It's 40 episodes long so it gets tiring. Also, whenever the people she trusts betray or hurt her, she forgives them and then they move on to the next plot which honestly doesn't make sense to me. Additionally, the male lead and female lead are sometimes petty towards each other leading to unnecessary misunderstandings and further complications that weren't needed in the first couple of episodes.
Do I recommend watching this? It honestly depends. If you are looking for a feel-good drama to pass the time, this isn't the drama for you. This drama will upset you. However, if you like either of the lead actors or want to see good chemistry etc, then this would be a good show to watch. I gave this an 8/10 star due to the chemistry/acting and ost. Otherwise, I would have given this a 4 because the plot/storyline is frustrating.
Was this review helpful to you?
Lack of romantic chemistry, low production quality and repetitive plot
Subjective Gut Rating: 7.25I really wanted to like “Fateful Love” and I thought I would. Who wouldn’t like a kickass female lead who can beat anyone up and is as physically strong and powerful as the male lead? Unfortunately, that fact alone is not enough. I anticipated that this is not a super popular drama since there’s no idol actors. This drama was filmed in 2021 but broadcasted in 2024. 3 years isn’t that bad but unfortunately, the low budget production makes this drama feel more dated than it should be. I thought Zhang Han would be able to pull in more resources as a veteran. Oh well…. I quite like the first half of the drama, especially before the music scavenger hunt. Ultimately, it failed to hold my attention for all 40 episodes and I was quite bored in the last 10 episodes.
Here is my quick rundown of likes/dislikes.
What I like:
1. A badass female lead, who complements a strong male lead.
2. A good-looking 2ML in Yao Chi, who played Xuanyuan Li Ge. His handsomeness keeps me going.
3. Creative fight choreography. Aside from a few slow motion scenes, I really enjoy and am very pleasantly surprised. The actors also do a great job in those moves.
4. It seems like, actors are really riding those horses. No fake CGI horses and I was quite impressed with Zhang Han’s horseback riding skills.
5. I like the focus on music and it’s cool to see music so prominently featured as a weapon.
What I have Mixed feelings:
1. A badass female lead who still needs saving quite a bit.
2. Looks like low quality fabric in costumes but the drama has beautiful headpieces for the women. The designs are beautiful, if only it has money. Props to the costume designers.
3. As much as I like the 2ML, it’s hard to keep on watching him trying to sacrifice himself. Where’s ML when FL needs him? He’s always a step behind.
4. The mermaid fight was hilariously BAD!
5. Acting is decent but not excellent. I was glad to see Zhu Xu Dan not playing the evil 2FL role, but her acting seems inconsistent.
What I Don’t Like:
1. I have to suspend my belief that a modern girl does not need time to adjust to the new world at all.
2. Poor dubbing and often out of sync.
3. Too many spoiled princesses
4. Not a fan of all men falling for FL and all women falling for ML. Adding to that, the women are usually jealous and evil, and the men are caring and will die/sacrifice for FL. Enough of these cliches.
5. Repetitive sabotage and trying to hurt FL becomes boring. The plot seems to run in circles in the second half.
6. Romance is not romancing. I don’t mind the slow burn, but I am not feeling the chemistry. I think Zhang Han tries his best, but Zhu Xu Dan is not feeling it.
7. What happened in the last arc with 2ML’s sudden change? I don’t think it was written and explained well.
Due to the lower production value, repetitive plot, lack of romantic chemistry and some other annoying factors, I am not going to recommend “Fateful Love”. This is very subjective as it seems like many others like it. I think there are other better quality dramas out there.
Completed: 10/4/2024 - Review #494
Was this review helpful to you?
Has its own issues, but except few instances does a "strong FL character" trope right!!
Overall, should be an 8.1-8.2 show, but MDL with its no one knows algo has somehow rated this below "Melody of Goden Age"What to expect:
`1. Maybe an obvious ending considering the theme.
2. Decent story and character development with some hint of mystery
3. Good acting - at least the main characters
4. Annoying side characters - to some extent romantically
5. Strong FL who makes mistakes but redeems herself, a sacrificing ML (FL centric drama so thats kinda expected) - Unlike most other cdramas that want to portray a strong female but make her just strong in ignoring the ML , this one does a pretty good job where FL is strong both physically, mentally and morally. People might question her spending time with SML who wanted to kill ML earlier, which is a valid point but once she realizes the threat (and that she wants to try it out with ML) she starts giving no fucks about him. Hence a good, strong redeeming FL character. She actually acts like a modern FL as she should whenever she is allowed to do so.
What not to expect:
1. Its not a spectacular show, it has its own issues but seemed to be as a good show among shittier 2024.
2. Eye candies - I don't care about this, so no further comments
3. Smart side characters - well we rarely get these but this one has a little bit too many annoying side characters
4. Doesn't get annoying at any moment. It does at some bits after episodes 20, but everything has a reason which gets resolved in 1-2 episodes.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone in for a good watch, way better than anything else airing rn but yeah some people might not like the overall theme of going to ancient time and coming back.
Was this review helpful to you?
Entreteining drama with good FL and amazing qugin music
Ok, finished watching. Some comments:This was very entertaining, you can have a good time watching something not so serious and being curious of what is coming next.
I loved the OST, the amount of guqin musics was wonderful.
Love the FL, such a cool actress. The other actors are good as well, but I have a special place for her and the 2ML.
You can see that it's low budget drama, but they really put some effort, so congrats to the production.
It's not a very heavy drama, so it's surprising that some characters actually die, some that deserve it and some that don't as well.
The weird thing is the plot, so many things happen, sometimes the story was all over the place. Interesting things are mixed with repetitive and annoying situations. It got really tiring watching the MCs on the brink of the death constantly,
What was unusual is the palace drama become a jianghu story, I really liked that.
The end was satisfying, a cool expected way to finish the drama.
I feel that I'm being overly nice to give it a 9, but that it's because it hoked me enough to bingewatch.
Was this review helpful to you?
There are better shows out there
ML and FL are gold. Production was clumsy and frankly bad in some parts. I would avoid anything by this producer now. Plot drags on and filled with unnecessary little villains and conflicts that didn’t amount to much in the end. My mind melted by the end of it.I would not — I repeat with my whole chest — WOULD NOT recommend this who likes a well-produced show with nuanced plot line.
It’s such a shame. I really like the main couple a lot. In acting abilities, appearance and the chemistry, they both are so good. Honestly, they carried the whole show. I would not have watched until the end if it was not for them.
Was this review helpful to you?
Fateful love
The drama starts off with the FL travelling back to ancient times after she accidentally opens a dagger in a cave.Well I quite liked the story of this drama.The start was promising.Han Ziqing,the FL,is really badass and never spares anyone who messes with her.
Zhu Xudan's acting is very good.Be it action scenes, emotional scenes,being badass and confident,she carried herself well from the beginning to the end.
ML is always calm,smart, decisive,supportive of his wife.Zhang Han performance was good as Jun Beiyue.
The main highlight in this drama is the chemistry between the main leads,ML and FL.
Their scenes were good to watch,though they were short lived.I liked their pairing and also the tacit understanding they have with each other.
All the supporting cast were good.
I kinda liked the concept of time travel and how they unfolded the hidden secrets.
The costumes, jewellery and accessories are really good in this drama.I have never seen such good hair accessories and crowns in any other dramas.
Though there were annoying side roles,I still would suggest to watch this drama as it will not disappoint .The last episodes were very good.Overall the rating could be between 8.1-8.2.
It can be watched easily without any hesitation.Though it has its flaws,you can go for it.I liked this drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Intriguing, a good watch
This drama is really hard to review. It started out very strong, with an interesting story, a great main couple, and good supporting roles.In the last 1/4 it didn't go directly downhill, but it became a little "too much" of everything and was sometimes annoying.
All over, it was a good watch and the first 3/4 were great. I liked it.
What did I like?
The main couple, they had great chemistry and their relationship was complicated enough to be realistic. I liked their growth.
The supporting characters were mostly well depicted and did add to the story.
The OST was good,
The storyline was good and got me hitched from the first episodes.
The fights were well choreographed, smooth and strong.
I liked the way the sound-strike was shown, it worked well.
What did I like less?
The villains were too dumb.
During the last 1/4 it got repetitive. Someones origins would be revealed, they would fall in a trap (probably in some cave), someone would get hurt badly and fall in a coma, Lige would be weak and keep dying ...
Some characters were extremely annoying (for example Weishengs little "didi", he/she was annoying in every way, to much makeup, obviously a girl (how didn't he realise over the years?) that became even more annoying when revealed as such).
Perhaps there were too many sidestories.
Was this review helpful to you?
Strong FL and ML but too many plotholes
When I watched the first episode, i felt that it was really promising, with the FL as a modern soldier turned bodyguard leading a group of biologist in a forest looking for specimens.they were attacked by a giant serpent and while protecting the group, she fell into a cavern or some sort. As the FL was looking for a way out, she stumbled upon a dagger which transmigrated her to ancient time Longyuan Continent after she unsheathed it. The girl FL woke up in was an illegitimate daughter of the chancellor of Tianque, who had been mistreated all her life growing up in the mansion as her mom the concubine died early when she was a young. The story followed FL’s journey to find a way to return to her time, while at the same time standing up for herself in the family who had mistreated her. Turned out she had a body that is immune to all kinds of poisons, and the 4th prince -the ML- her evil sister was aiming for had taken a liking at the FL during the consort candidate lineup, and chosen her as the princess consort instead of the original arrangement by the emperor for him to be with FL’s sister.As princess consort, the FL had to keep dodging bullets thrown at her by her own family, the royal family and others who looked down upon her, while trying to find a way back to her time. She was also thrown into the royal political turmoil surrounding the ML while at the same time finding herself falling in love with him.
I liked the FL in the earlier parts of the show cuz she’s good at the portrayal as an arrogant,confident and self-reliant young lady, the personality that is apt for a soldier and bodyguard of modern time. She’s also very beautiful and pleasing to the eye. However as the story progresses, i found her to be rather stiff and wooden in intimate and romance scenes. She liked to put up a puzzled/clueless face in such scenes, and she’s really bad at sad scenes too. The emotion just didnt come through. Also, she’s just too mischievous and lively as princess consort compared to the serious persona she had in the first episode as a weapon wielding soldier. The contrast is just too big. I would expect her demeanor should be closer to Ren Xin’s in A Journey to Love as she was member of the armed forces before transmigrating. Maybe the writer forgot that she was a transmigrator rather than a native of the ancient time.
The number of times FL got kidnapped and captured hence tortured by ML’s and her enemies is also ridiculous to the point of being comical. It just seemed like FL’s superpower is getting kidnapped and captured repeatedly right up towards the end. How can a modern special force get so bad at defending herself all while posessing superb ancient ability like sword wielding, cultivating inner power and qinggong, archery and horse riding? It became comical because these ancient abilities had nothing to do with her special forces training or even the ability of the original owner of the ancient FL’s body. 😂 she just automatically became good at everything after transmigrating. Funnier even that she became good at everything and yet still need to be saved by ML over and over again. Gosh the plot repeats so much that I literally rolled my eyes and laughed. One thing i was grateful is that they did not use the common and ever so popular “got injured, in a coma, woken up with an amnesia” plot.
As for the ML, i thought he looked too old to portray a 20yo+, and isnt as handsome as most ML of other shows that i’ve seen. But one thing i had to admit, he looked very masculine and manly befitting the role as a prince who rose to power by his achievements on the battlefield. He basically volunteered to go to war at 14yo just to escape the awful life he had in the palace. The actor grew into me just like The Rebel Princess’ General Xiao Qi who didnt give much impression in earlier episodes but grew into the audience as the story progresses. The ML’s emotional expressions in all of his scenes came through unlike the wooden FL. The way he looked at FL also looked convincing, in the beginning when he was intrigued by her origins, and later as a longing lover. The happiness, sadness, anger, crazy, basically everything was executed perfectly well, as opposed to the FL who would always looked confused/clueless even when she was supposed to be looking into the eyes of the love of her life.
The show also had a ridiculous amount of flashback scenes which some can be repetitive too! Omg, i fast-forwarded so much of those. They also love to do slowmos which i ff too. What a waste of time. I guess thats why i manage to finish everything in under 3days. There’s many unnecessary scenes which are lengthy! I didnt like the scenes with second ML so i ff most of them too.
Other casts arent impressive too, many had to work harder. The supporting ML looked so awkward around FL and some of the other casts overact. I also fail to understand the plot about finding music scores to discover the origin of ancient FL. And it is also funny that the distance between kingdoms looked so close that they can move from one capital to another in a matter of a short time like they just went through a portal or something. Gosh so many plotholes and the plots are predictable too! The ending is also too stereotypical for time travel genre.
However all in all it is an enjoyable show. Both the FL and ML are likable and they looked good for each other. I could feel the attraction between the two. The storyline on the other hand, needed better writing. I understand that it was a novel adaptation, so it is acceptable that the plot might have been cramped to fit into 40 episodes.
Was this review helpful to you?
Loose Ending
Better than a lot of dramas out but still has its issues. Some predictability in some aspects of the story. It was still one that I enjoyed.The Good
Acting was decent and the story kept me engaged, although transmigration stories are similar, this one tried to do things a little different with the plot and tell a unique story. The main 2 characters were good and have nice chemistry. The FL’s character was very likable and had a strong personality. She definitely wasn’t perfect and did things good and bad which makes her interesting. She was a very rational character. Lots of action and great fight scenes.
The Bad
Although FL was rational, she was also irrational at times which made some of the subplots repetitive due to her repeated mistakes. Some of the characters weren’t that interesting. Also, a lot of unanswered questions like why she was in another world and what happened to them all at the end. Leaves plot holes.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
mmmm needs better plot stories
I was engrossed in this story because it looked better than other 'tropey' cdramas I watch....SPOILER ALERT!!!!.....the FL is always in trouble, needs help or is getting beaten up, and the ML always always always is LATE TO HER RESCUE....Scriptwriters need to carry an epic looking drama on right to the end with some consideration for repetition, plot plausibility and relatedness - plot ingenuity - and so on as an english speaking country fan of CDRAMA only a few have cut it for me in terms of quality screenwriting and production - TenMiles of Peach Blossoms is one...Legend of Fuyao another ...Princess Agents too, Back from the Brink, The Blood of Youth too and unforgettably - The Untamed another....Wulin Heroes, as well....I got tired of the female lead always getting hurt and then being rescued late by her hero/husbandWas this review helpful to you?
