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So and so
Finished this maybe a week or two ago, let’s see how much i remember. LolThis was my second drama of Jeremy Xu and i just can’t help but thinking, “i’ve seen him playing a role like this before” and going thru his list of dramas, i found that he’s also in The Autumn Ballad and i think theres not much difference between his Liang Yi and his Ji Yuansu. I was a bit disappointed tbh. I also found that the character was not build very well, first they were like, ‘this taizi tianxia is someone who has nothing to do, just playing around all day, doesnt care to deal with court matters that much’. Then he was also ‘the feared and ruthless taizi tianxia’. But at the same time, he is ‘the apple of his emperor father’s eyes’. Whatever he did, he will get support from the emperor. I found that those character just doesnt fit together, not convincing enough, or probably a case of poor writing/character building.
As for the FL, lol, im not sure why, but i cant relate that Hua Liuli is Meng Zi Yi. Of course knowing MZY from The Untamed a few years ago, i probably forgot how her face looks like in between. Lol. As for the character Hua Liuli. For basically initial 1/3rd of the episodes, i was getting quite more and more annoyed with how they are trying to sell Hua Liuli as someone fragile and sickly. She redeemed the character for a while in the middle when she stepped up and became the badass martial artist after being kidnapped, but became boring again after that like whyyyyy!!!!
The plot, sad to say is all over the place and sometimes appears not convincing enough. Not gonna rewatch this for sure. In fact, it think i almost forgot whats the story was all about already.
All in all, it was fine for a first watch (heyyy at least i can power thru and finished all the episodes!) but yeah, thats it. Nothing to mention home about sorry
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This review may contain spoilers
"Royal Rumors" is a drama about a woman named Liu Li, the daughter of a family of generals. Everyone knows her as weak, but that's just a facade. Yuan Su is the cold crown prince who got involved with her.It's a very light drama to watch, but the story just didn't grab me, mainly because there's no chemistry between the main couple, mainly because of Yuan Su.
Liu Li is also a strange character. I understand that she pretends to be weak to fool others, since people have issues with her family's excessive power. But even at the end, when Yun Su knows everything, she still remains like that... to me, it felt forced and ridiculous.
It's not a drama I would recommend, it's just something to pass the time.
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Cute and Lighthearted
Okay so I only watched this drama for Meng ZiYi but I was pleasantly surprised by the other actors. The romance between the mains was too cute.I didn't like Jianmi in the beginning but she ended up being one of my faves, she's all bark no bite lol. Yuan Wei is my favorite character. She surprised me with her fighting ability. I wished we had more from Lady Du and Yun Han (favorite couple) It broke my heart that he didn't tell her he was alive. Prince Hong was a cutie, he also needed more of a storyline. And Last but not least Uncle Song deserved better.Was this review helpful to you?
Watch when you don't have anything good to watch anymore
First half of the drama is really good and entertaining then it went a bit boring from there. I think ep 16-17 until end.Acting wise, all actors are good. But I like Meng Ziyi more in Blossom than here. This is my first Jeremy Tsui drama. Not a fan but he did well. I don't feel the chemistry.
My complaint is the fight scenes. It's not believable. I have seen B rated cdramas where fight scenes are really good. Also Princess Hua who was supposed to be a martial artist failed to deliver that persona on the latter part of the drama. Her fight in the forest is better choreographed.
As for the characters, I like Princess Jiamin. She's funny. Prince Ying too with all his naivety.
Overall an ok drama to watch.
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The Crown Prince and his cat
I watched this mainly because I wanted to see Meng Ziyi in a main role and hadn't seen any of her dramas since The Untamed. I also hadn't watched Jeremy Tsui in anything else before other than trying out watching The Journey of Chong Zi not long before, but which I dropped, so this also handily gave me another chance to see what he was like.This is a light rom-com with lots of fluff and pretty low stakes - which surprised me a little considering the lead actors. Unfortunately, it really is light on the story and mostly fluff. I was pretty sold on the story based on the strength of the MDL synopsis blurb, but unfortunately it seems like the story sold by the blurb was better than the actual plot and execution. (It certainly wouldn't be the first time...)
This is basically a story about the Crown Prince (Ji Yuan Su, played by Jeremy Tsui) chasing a cat (Hua Liu Li, played by Meng Ziyi), and the two of them batting at each other until they get tired of playing and then settling down to cuddle and snooze together. The 'sickly beauty' schtick that HLL pulls from the moment we meet her until the literal end of the show was incredibly annoying and got old super fast - like immediately, mainly because of how absolutely overblown and false it was - and frankly part of the reason I even made an MDL account at all was in part motivated by how annoyed I was by this show that it drove me to wanting to write a review here. The plot was okay, but because there was so little building up or actually showing what events or actual political motivations looked like and meant, etc., nothing felt it had any stakes. For example, the Hua clan is supposed to be the most powerful military power in the kingdom - but you don't actually see what that looks like. They just say that. There's no display of the family's huge army or even their mansion or a scene where you see them fighting on the battlefield in the sand or whatever to back this up; or if there was, it wasn't impressive enough that I remember it and going 'Ah, yup'. The saddest and most interesting part of the plot was probably the character of Yun Han and his relationship with Miss Du/Du Xiu Ying.
I did like the secondary characters (this is becoming a running theme), especially the relationship between Jia Min and the First Prince. The First Prince was Hilarious. I still remember his little nose scrunch and smug facial expression in that one scene where he's talking about how good he is to Jia Min or something like that. Honestly the best comedic character with the best facial expressions I've seen in a long time. Princess Shun An, Jia Min's mother, was also hilarious and I loved her relationship with Jia Min. I also liked Pei Ji Huai, whom I also thought was very funny, and thought it was cute that Yuan Wei, who was really kind of underserved in my opinion, especially given that she was mainly used as a maid but actually had a decent military rank herself, liked him. As mentioned above, Yun Han was an interesting and sad character and I liked his relationship with Du Xiu Ying/Miss Du, but thought his choice at the end was daft. Honestly, I think the relationship the Crown Prince/Ji Yuan Su has with Yun Han and Pei Ji Huai had much more chemistry than he did with HLL. I did not care for the He Yuan Ting character and thought that whole business was daft, but A Wa was kind of funny, even though he was very silly and not very clever at all. Also, they totally did Uncle Song/Song Shu completely dirty. It felt to me like it was absolutely one of those things where they did it just to round the trope because of course that's how it goes, although I get that it was probably how he wanted to go out. I just really think he didn't have to.
I found Jeremy Tsui very weird to watch, there's something about his eyes, I think? - it looks like he's wearing those huge circle lenses or something, which I found extremely distracting, and I didn't really like looking at him very much because of that, and it took me out of the story quite a bit. Which is not a good thing when they're the male lead. Meng Ziyi didn't fare much better for me either in this, I really didn't like her costuming here at all, specifically the hair, besides the gripes I had with her character. This might just be a personal pet peeve thing but I really don't understand it when they have the huadian (decorative ornamentation in the middle of the forehead) when they also have a straight fringe which is kind of blocking it. But anyway. Also, I couldn't stop being aware of the 10-year age gap between them. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but the whole time I was watching I was thinking "Uh, he's like 37".
Music was fine, nothing really stood out to me, but I'm sure it was pleasant enough. Wouldn't rewatch this for the reasons outlined above, but on the other hand, the First Prince and also Princess Shun An were so funny they add to the rewatch value, so 7 points for that.
The best part of this show was hands-down, without a doubt, the closing short at the end of each episode that always began with the illustrated title card of the royal family members as their representative animals. That was my favourite thing about the show.
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Worth it for 2 male characters
If you're into dramas that show men falling hard, then this one might pique your interest. However, it's important to note that there were more cons than pros overall.On the plus side, the male lead (ML) was a refreshing change from the usual boyish characters, with his sexy deep voice and good acting skills. Additionally, the plot had its moments of interest, particularly in the second half of the drama. Hun Han also deserves recognition for his standout performance.
Unfortunately, there were several drawbacks. The female lead (FL) was not as impressive as the male actors and lacked passion in her portrayal of the character's feelings towards the ML. The chemistry between the FL and ML was also lacking, which made it difficult to root for the couple. Furthermore, the show suffered from inconsistencies and redundant episodes, and the low budget was evident in the limited use of set backgrounds. The maid character was also extremely annoying, as is often the case in costume dramas. Lastly, the epilogue failed to leave a good impression.
Overall, despite some brief moments of entertainment, the drama had too many shortcomings. Despite this, the ML's performance alone made it somewhat worth watching .
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18 episodes later, still asking why ???
The drama looked promising at first. I picked it purely for the tags since I'm not particularly attached to the cast.Big mistake.
By the time I reached episode 9-10, it became painfully obvious that the plot is not progressing at all and nothing meaningful is happening . Unfortunately, it couldn't deliver even 20% of what it promised.
Let's talk about the comedy first.
What comedy???
Every pun. Every punchline. Every supposedly funny scene. All of it felt painfully forced.The natural humour, the kind that actually catches you off guard, is completely absent.
The leads didn't help either. Their cutesy antics are tolerable at first, then quickly become a sugar overdose. By the tenth episode, Everything became so overly cute that it started feeling nauseating and cringe.
Unfortunately, this affected their chemistry too. Because beneath all the flirting and cute moments, I couldn't feel any real connection between them.
The biggest reason?👇
Their goals are never in sync.
The FL spends most of the drama hiding her martial arts abilities behind a fragile-girl facade. Meanwhile, the ML spends most of *his* time manipulating situations for his own plans......Even when she needs help, he acts less like a partner and more like a chess player ... And she becomes another piece on the board.
So where exactly is the couple dynamic?
where is the romance?
Where is the trust?...the teamwork???
Because all I saw was flirting.
Lots of flirting.... Cheap thrills, teasing, accidental closeness, and those *"oops, we fell into each other's arms for the seventeenth time"* moments. But The romance itself?...Missing.
In a nutshell ~~
This was by far the most ridiculous romance plot I have ever seen. I spent 45 mins per episode and watched 18 episodes so far yet I am not sure why, when and how the leads started falling for each other.
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This review may contain spoilers
Very catchy, well performed Sageuk (great performance by Jeremy Tsui and Zoey Meng).
Plot: meeting between a cold and suspicious crown prince & a FL daughter of a general, well trained but who hides her abilities. Having learned to trust each other, they will thwart plots and ensure peace.The tone is really comedic, with funny characters, even the evil ones have a fairly human side, the misunderstandings don't last, and the easter eggs at the end of each episodes contribute to lighten the story.
The production is dynamic, without length. The images are beautiful and the story is told with intelligence.
Don't hesitate, you will have a good time!
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Sageuk très accrocheur, bien interprété (super performance de Jeremy Tsui et Zoey Meng).
Plot : rencontre entre un prince héritier froid et méfiant & une FL fille de général, bien entrainée mais qui cache son jeu. Ayant appris à se faire confiance, ils vont déjouer les complots et assurer la paix.
Le ton est vraiment dans la comédie, avec des personnages drôles, même les evils ont un côté assez humain, les malentendus ne durent pas, et les eastereggs en fin d'épisodes y contribuent.
La réalisation est dynamique, sans longueur. Les images sont belles et l'histoire est menée avec intelligence.
N'hésitez pas, vous passerez un bon moment !
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Funny and awesome show
I kind of stumbled upon one of their OST in YouTube and my curiousity got the better of me. I have to say I really enjoyed the show, although some parts of the series when the Female Lead and her pretend to be extremely weak and sickly seriously got on my nerves big time. However, it is quite a great series to watch. There are alot of extremely funny moments and "omg" moments. The entire cast really did an awesome job for this series, the female and male lead are also very good together. There isn´t much big romance scenes, but the tiny little scenes and the TLC (Tender Loving Care) shown between the male and female lead are quite sweet. The OST is also very beautifully paired with the series.Was this review helpful to you?
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fun, cute with a bit of action and intrigue
i binged this in a day. it was fun with a bit of action and intrigue. i loved the dynamic between the ml and fl and all the friendships formed along in the story. we saw development over the episodes with every character. i don’t think anyone could have an issue with this drama. the stakes are not too high but it is still a cdrama, there will be some loss. the cast and crew saying goodbye in the last episode made me cry. oh how i love u royal rumors and much much much love to the cast and crew.Was this review helpful to you?
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Lovely little story, very heartwarming, and very comedic as well
One point I was make is that I really enjoyed the character settings of everyone, from the leads to the side characters. This series was perfect with no unnecessary fights within the royal family, with all 3 princes being very harmonious. The King himself is benevolent, and not one of the typical terrible monarchs seen in many tv series. FL and ML are quite unique characters, with FL being the perfect sly but 'weak damsel' actress, and ML seeing right through her act immediately. Even the side characters and couples are just adorable, and the perfect cherry on the already amazing cake!I would've liked there to be more focus on the romance between FL and ML, but understanding the plot, it was more sidetracked for the 'war' parts of the story to progress. There were many extremely adorable moments between the leads, and there's no angst at all. At some point FL did drop the whole act, which I thought was quite funny as no one seemed to question her extreme 'quick recovery'.
Now to JinPo - honestly their country(?) just seems like a comedic joke, with their general, assassins and even their prince acting like complete fools, but I do find them quite endearing. Even with the context of war between the Jing and JinPo countries, I find myself quite pitying JinPo's prince, afterall he did get tricked by FL twice, leaving deep mental scars haha. But I do not like the prince, as he did try to initiate war, and nearly got FL and ML killed tsk tsk, he failed miserably, as did all his previous missions.
Overall, this was a short and cute story. Though I do wish it could be a bit more fleshed out as I thought the plot did not really have enough time to develop well. The plot twist happened too quickly, and the evil mastermind did not even have enough screen time for me to truly understand and empathise with his motives. But I did enjoy the beautiful character settings most, and this was what made the series for me.
PS - those little tidbit videos at the end of every episode is just the perfect little addition to the series, its fun, relaxing, and seems really like BTS scenes of the character's normal daily lives when they're 'off-screen', whoever thought of this is an absolute genius!
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