Great drama amazing chemistry
It's honestly one of the best dramas I've watched this year, unfortunately towards the end it got a little draggy, though it could've been the fact that a lot of footage was supposedlycut off ( I rwad somewhere that10 episodes were cut off).I cannot put to words how much I loved the main leads. Their chemistry is simply magnificent. I really wish to see them in more projects starring together in the future. Everything felt really natural between them. Plus I feel like they complimented each other's acting. There wasn't any over the top acting (like extreme unrealistic and overly animated reactions from them). Both of their portrayals were REALLY natural and I love how they had their performances perfected down to their micro expressions (which was absolutely needed for their roles as they both acted as very intelligent and multidimensional characters).
I absolutely adore how smart and strong the female lead is, we really need more FLs like her. Not only can she fight but she's also really intelligent and can match the main lead perfectly, instead of leaching off of him and waiting for him to save her every time. Some dramas say that the fl is "smart" but then she goes ahead and does the most stupid thing. This does not happen here, she's legitimately intelligent, strategic, powerful, knows her shortcomings and doesn't fear to be cunning when she needs to win (which obviously suits her character as she is a woman general in the ancient times). All that without losing her funny and humane side. Also she does not come off overly cold or arrogant. She seems just the right amount of imposing. Overall kudos to Jing Tian for her excellent portrayal.
Just like Jing Tian, Xu Kai did AMAZING in his role. To be completely honest I felt like he improved even more in his acting and seemed like the perfect King Qin. I love how intelligent and powerful, but at the same time playful, honest and loyal his character was. Moreover his character was also quite shrew at times and knew when to retreat and when to advance, even if he put emotion above logic at times.
I also really liked the cast's costumes. Obviously both main leads looked absolutely STUNNING, gosh I really wish to see them in drama together again soon.
Although the main leads had their ups and downs, they never stopped loving each other. I find their story really beautiful. Maybe the story didn't need that many episodes and could have ended earlier, as it gets a bit draggy towards the end, but tbh watching both Xu Kai and Jing Tian on screen, as a fan of both is a delight. All in all it still is a great watch because of the chemistry of the main leads, their acting and the quality of the production, which seemed good (not necessarily excellent but good).
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"Production house did justice to xukai "
Chemistry, acting ,ost ,visuals- perfectFight scenes - not that great ..
Plot- family feud,treason,love interest square
So to be frank it had everthing for a period drama,
If you ask me the main leads had too much Chemistry.. i haven't seen this much of a chemistry for a period drama in recent times. The opening and ending osts were great. Acting was great from both the leads , so being a drama were both the leads are capable on the field and of the field 👏.. that was actually great... The chess game between the main leads were awesome..so overall its a quality drama with great chemistry and story line.. but not much of great fight scenes.. you know what i mean right.. it's surely better than his previous 3 dramas.. so go for it...
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This review may contain spoilers
Brace yourselves
This has to be one of the most heart breaking episodes. All his close friends and nanny GONE. And to face the fact that his brothers were not anything but garbage. This is what he wanted to avoid and escape far away from court palace. The loyalty of his friends to protect him and the way his brother was seeking his distruction, the rain and gray day, it all sums up to a very sad long scene. Great performances, a lot of sadness indeed.Here we can see how the king is really just a clown. He is so darn scared, in the end he only cared about himself. Uncapable of being a good father for all his children, he now just shows what a big coward he is. Comming episodes will start closing this story, but this episode is truly sad among many other shows.
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Frustratingly, the political plot is full of flaws: tedious, goes around in circles, cartoon villains, and full of nonsensical story. Just lots of evil, greedy one note characters that pop up again and again. But, the romance plot is so good, that I finished this drama anyways. In some ways, the political plot is so clearly bad that it's easy to skip through the political parts and just watch the romantic scenes.
This has everything you could want in a romance: a Romeo and Juliet forbidden romance, a man head over heals for a woman who is his equal, tons of rescuing and protectiveness, and putting each other first. It will go down as one of my favorite romantic couples, and this drama reminded me of Xu Kai's excellent acting and romance in Story of Yanxi Palace.
The production values and direction are also extremely good. The costumes are very original and beautifully designed. There's a lot of excellent choices with camera angles, and music. The action scenes are thrilling and don't use much CGI.
This drama is so uneven it's hard to recommend. But, I must say I was deeply touched, and the romance will stick with me. It may be worth a try to see if this love story sticks with you.
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A must watch cdrama!
Adding a 40 episodes long cdrama to my cw list wasn’t on my plans, but the promos of Wonderland of Love seemed really interesting. I also fully blame XuKai and his undeniable charm. I am glad I watched this drama because it's definitely a must if you enjoy historical romances interconnected with war and court politics.This drama knows what it’s doing. Half of it was about defeating the throne usurper. The next 10 episodes about court chess play to decide who will be the next Crown Prince and Princess. The final 10 episodes are all about trying to gain political stability and finishing off old enemies.
The development of each arc, with its respective main conflict, was amazing. I am content with how they handled every storyline. There are no victories without risks and some loses. Both leads’s journey is really well done, cohesive, grounded and coherent to their respective personalities and wishes. Even a bigger bathtub... iyyk.
On this note, I have to thank whoever decided to cast Xu Kai and Jing Tian together because their chemistry is electrifying. There was never a doubt of my mind that their characters were meant for each other and would get their way. I also love to see a happy and affectionate couple that’s not shy to show their love… or how hot they are for each other!
This is how I like my leads: two equals working together and communicating properly in order to achieve a common goal, while also learning from each other and growing as people together. They are also badass military savants, masters of the art of war, fearless and kind leaders. They have my loyalty and respect.
The secondary characters were equally endearing and interesting. I particularly appreciate the nuance of the former Crown Princess, forever torn between duty and what her heart wants. A wonderful performance by Zeng Li. The comedic timing and cool presence of performances from Jiang Kai, He Feng Tian and Zhu Hong Jia were a breath of fresh air.
I truly enjoyed this drama from beginning to end. I can't recommend it enough.
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Great drama but went downhill in the last 9 episodes (the final conflict)
The drama tells the love story of a General and Lady Lieutenant who, despite being part of different armies, fall in love. Both of them have hidden identities, him being the Emperor’s grandson and her being the daughter of the commander. Though walking on different paths, their goal of restoring peace in the court is the same.The love story (which for me is the best part of the drama) is the main focus and the war is a subplot. The romance is Mr. & Mrs. Smith merged with Romeo & Juliette vibes.
WHAT WENT WRONG FOR ME:
I enjoyed the drama very much until the last 9 episodes. Episode 30 is the most intense and impressive episode in the whole drama (and generally in cdramas) so I feel it should have been the final conflict in order to make the drama more impactful for me. The writers could have put 1-2 episodes afterwards to wrap up the story like they did in episode 40. However instead of that the plot was dragged with unnecessary and pointless drama that added absolutely nothing to the story. Boring villains that nobody cared about were introduced and the actual final fight scene was extremely underwhelming (like watching a child’s play in comparison to episode 30 fight scene). I never felt like the stakes were high in the final conflict thus had no emotional reaction when the bad guys were defeated.
POSITIVE:
- Hot chemistry between the main leads!!! Their chemistry felt natural and organic, like the actors were indeed a couple in real life.
- Xu Kai (male lead) is brilliant. Seriously, even just for him it’s worth watching this.
- Feels like a high budget production. Cinematography is movie-like with beautiful visuals.
- Fantastic cast. I loved all the actors and their performances, especially the main leads.
- Realistic war/fight scenes that were done really well.
- Smart and cunning female lead.
- The whole final episode is seeing the main leads happy together which was super satisfying to watch especially as it’s rare in cdramas these days who love their open endings or 2 second reunions.
NEGATIVE:
- Annoying second male lead and second female lead with the cliche and extremely overused unrequited, obsessive love plotline that needs to be banned in cdramas for real. It added nothing to the story.
- A lot of back and forth and repetition in terms of plot. The female lead was always getting kidnapped, someone was always getting poisoned or there was always an ambush.
- Filler episodes. Throughout the drama, there would always be 1-2 episodes that literally felt like fillers in between great episodes.
- As mentioned above, the last 9 episodes (final conflict) were extremely pointless and underwhelming to watch.
OVERALL:
Watch this if you love a couple who tries to kill each other one moment but the next are passionately kissing.
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Not my Wonderland
Wonderland was too fake for me to buy into their heart-to-heart talks there. And unfortunately, the tear jerker scene there just didn’t do it for me - firstly because the whole wonderland setting looked so artificial and secondly because there were too many flashback scenes. The last few episodes were too draggy.This drama was really generous with the kissing scenes but unfortunately, some of them felt forced and out of place. Sometimes, all it takes is a hug or a loving peck on the forehead to have a more impactful, romantic atmosphere.
Parts of the story just didn’t sit well with me. A good guy turned bad just because he saw the FL in a romantic moment with the ML and he even tried to kill the man who raised him just to force the FL to be with him. Was he driven insane by his desire for the FL?
This drama likes making people go insane so it also made the FL’s father go mad and his hair turned grey overnight. And how the ML found someone who could do “magic” to cure the FL’s father took this drama away from reality.
And just when you thought the insanity cards were all played out, another character was written to go insane as well.
What I did like were their costumes and fighting scenes. The beginning storyline was interesting as well to see how the FL and ML strategised and tried to one-up the other person. Thankfully, there was a happy ending.
Random note: Is there a product placement advertising in the drama for Tang Confectionery? The way they kept talking about it and all the dried fruit and nut made it look like it was an advertisement…
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Don't watch with high expectations
Don’t watch with high expectations like I did. My initial high rating kept dropping episode after episode because:- The ML has a moron-cartoon-like-villain father (plus 2 stupid step brothers), and I think that even cartoons might not have such unrealistic characterization. This destroyed the credibility of the plot (for me) as his decisions' were absurd, causing silly predictable collateral damages.
- The ML is a smart, strategic thinker, but he is a beta hero, a beta lover, and a beta, insecure son who suffers the mistreatments (and murder attempts) from his cartoon-like-father, without protesting the whole drama with a moronic forgiveness at the end.
- Although the ‘know-it-all’ female lead character becomes less irritating with time, the leads’ love story becomes bland after the first half of the drama.
My 6 rating is for XU Kai acting, plus the effort that went into the set/art production and special effects.
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A Must Watch Drama!
Classy Scenes:1. First Fight between Cui Lin & Li Ni (Underwater fight and Backyard fight)
2. Li Ni hitting fire arrows with Style
3. Li Ni's Sword Dance
4. Li Ni and Cui Lin's Post-Wedding Fight
Emotion-Filled Scene: Episodes 29-30 depicted an intense scene involving Old Bao, Bandits like Zhao Youde, You Yi, and others deeply moved me. Witnessing their sacrifice to save Li Ni and the emotional weight of the moment brought tears to my eyes.
As everybody talked about the Plot, I wanted to share more about the scenes, impressions, and characters.
First Impression: Li Ni - His character: Down to Earth, Charismatic, Skilled, and Peace-Keeper. You will understand his character in the first few episodes. I loved his interaction with Bao, Chang Er, and Pei Yuan the most.
You won't be bored at all. Each episode unfolds with a distinctive challenge as Li Ni journeys through various cities en route to the capital, striving to restore their kingdom.
Overall, I loved IT!
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when a bad character ruins it all
To be honest I had high expectations for this drama! started out strong and then went flat really fast. I like the parts of the fighting but not the politics and all the scheming.Male lead is the third son, not highly looked at due to his mother being a lowly servant. He is a general and has his own clan/army. He fights and try to establish/regain cities. He meets the female lead who is a bad ass assistant general to the Cui Army. She has the wits and the brain, her character definitely carried throughout the drama.
Its your typical drama about fighting and re-conquering the cities so that they are under control. There is also annoying royal palace schemes, like the brothers hating the male lead and trying to fight for the throne. Of course the king is stupid and useless, his character is a waste of time lol
One of the most annoying characters came from the Cui army. He was the god son, which the outside world knew as the Cui's son. The Cui army is very strong, they didnt want others to find out that they actually had a daughter so they used the godson to fake the Cui's having a son. The female lead is the daughter. But basically the fake son is obsess with the female lead and wants to marry her at all cost, even if it means to betray the Cui's. His part took so much time and so not needed.
Romance... what do i say... The leads dont have any chemistry. Sure they might be cute together but their kissing scenes lack a little chemistry. They actually have quite a few kissing scenes but not which gave me the tingle in my heart. Its mostly the female lead initiating the kiss lol
I felt like they could of stuck it at 30 episodes and it would of been decent... I prefer the drama with bailu, Kunning palace a lot better.
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An amazing military/palace story told through the journey of a general and a Lieutenant
Okay, I just finished watching all four episodes and I gotta say, the story so far is really good. The storytelling is quite amazing. The pacing from scene to scene flows really well and makes the characters interaction natural. Everything is seamless so far. So props to the writers and director.I really love Xu kai portrayal of this role. His character is quite believable and fun to watch. After his last role in Snow Eagle Lord, he's finally have a FL that can match him wit for wit, scheme for scheme, and It's exciting to watch him and the FL interact trying to see who will one up the other. Jing Tian is really holding her own. They complement eachother well. Their fight scenes (when they fight each other) reminds of of Yang Mi and Ethan Juan in Legend of Fuyao. The fughts feel like they are making love.
I have so many favorite scenes already. But one I want to mention is when ML and FL were on the mountain with the bandits and they were all walking outside singing and dancing and being happy. I love that whole sequence. lol I really love our mountain bandits. Also when they were in the tent and FL was tied up and her and ML were fighting with the soldiers, that scene was amazing. The whole thing with the old couple... omg...
The story reminds me a little bit of WRTW, but this is told more properly and the writing seems to be better than WRTW. I am excited to see how all this plays out and what's in store for them. Can't wait for the next episodes! If you are thinking of watching this, definetely give it a go!!!
I will update as the story progess
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A good drama with a touch of annoying characters and boring moments, but with perfect ending
finally finished this drama after a few weeks. I have many things to say about it, I think this will be long.Let's start with the positive points :
1) The leads have amazing chemistry, good kissing scenes and many sweet moments. This pairing is perfect.
2) ML character was great in many ways (he wasn't perfect, but in general I like his character) and good acting from Xu Kai. He's a strong ML and has good fighting skills. He's respected by many and a great leader. I like a strong and intelligent ML.
3) The romance starts early and it's a main focus. The interactions and bickering from the leads were good most of the time.
4) Love the second couple (Er and Peach). Their moments and interactions started early too. They are cute and I like both characters. Their romance is sweet without problems or misunderstanding. Wish we could have seen them with a child at the end
5) The friendship is good and I enjoyed seeing that. The bandits, Bao, General Pei, etc ... I consider them good characters.
6) In my opinion Sun Jing is a good villain. He is still an intelligent and strong character + not the annoying type. The part of the plot fighting him was good for me.
7) I like Consort Xiao (the former Crown Princess) character. She's a strong women, a good person and I felt her story. She made contributions and sacrifices to help take back the throne. She feel in love in the enemy, but that didn't stop her to do the right thing and help ML. She was unhappy has the crown princess, but she found happiness at the end in seclusion and with her son.
8) General Han (to one who protected the crown grand son, don't know if I say his name right) was also a good character. Love his loyalty and how he protected him till the end. Glad he survived and still teach him.
9) Cui Yi (FL's father) is bad ass when he fights and was also an interesting character. Glad he overcame his illness and can teach the future emperor. But I would have like to see him again for the ending, even if he was briefly mention.
10) The scenery and cinematography is beautiful.
11) The fighting scenes are really good and interesting to watch
12) Ep 30 is pick and amazing : the fighting, the deaths, the emotions. It is truly heartbreaking and good cinema. It was so sad to see ML watch his friends dies without being able to save them and Bao :( He protected him until his last breath, I lost it when he placed himself in front of ML to shield him, receiving arrow after arrow...
13) The ending was one of the best thing about this drama for me. Not an open or annoying 2 mins happy ending. We have a whole episode for the ending. That is exactly the ending I wanted : Him ruling until the crown grand son is old enough to rule and after that, doing what he always wanted to do, going back to the border. Then they live happy ever after with their kids and with Peach + Er also there. It was such a sweet ending seeing them with their kids and it was cute that the boys were wearing blue clothes and the girls red. I was also touch with the graves scene and them remembering their fallen friends. It is a satisfying ending : we see him ascending the throne as emperor, the world at peace, the Gu family getting what they deserved, her getting pregnant, her giving birth and then seeing their lives a few years lather at the border.
14) The costumes are great
15) The music is really good, just like the intro and the ost. I loved watching the intro every episode.
16) The plot in general is good
Now the negative points or things that I liked less about this drama (some is just me complaining ahah not really bad things) :
1) There are a few annoying and unlikable characters (maybe too much for my liking, made the drama less enjoyable), let's go thorough some of them :
- Liu Cheng Feng is one of the worst and most annoying character ever. He obsession with FL and his delusion ruined the drama for me a little. His presence was annoying from beginning to end, it took him so long to finally die. He wasn't a good villain for me, just an annoying character, just looking at his face I wanted to skipped. He shouldn't've have been there till so late in the drama, his presence was unnecessary since also we have other villains.
- Mrs Gu (prime minister Gu's daughter) : that girl also annoyed me from her first appearance to her last. I agree that she was kinda good at scheming and she made her way to the palace + at first she wasn't unnecessary, but she needed to be gone sooner. Just her talking was irritating me and her face also. I was also just annoy that ML wasn't clear earlier towards her (even if it was so satisfying when he finally did). Why did he let her go to his place and giving him gifts. He was to polite at first. I truly hate obsess second lead and this drama has 2... so for me that was a let down also because they were there until almost the end and no development (like the guy in ''A journey to love'' had at least a developments and let go of his obsessions, so it's more bearable). They were both crazy till the end.
- The emperor (ML's father) : what a useless, spineless, stupid, weak and annoying emperor. It was so frustrating. But at least in the end he finally admits that his not a good emperor and not a good father. But he didn't deserved that kind of redemption arc. His wife (the empress) had at least a bit of brain cells
- ML's brothers : they were annoying, but at least they were trying to scheme and the conflicts between the 3 brothers gave us some amazing eps and fighting scenes. So I gave them that. The older one was so stupid... And the emperor defending them... But the power struggle was necessary for the story, so not that much a negative point here.
2) After the deaths of the bothers and the fight of ep 30-31, the villains were boring and not interesting. The plot was just dragging, the last fighting scene wasn't that good and didn't have a big impact for me. It was useless to had the conflict with the other people (forget the name, but the clan that killed FL's mother) and even Mr. Gu to an instinct. I couldn't care less.
3) Filler episodes with boring or annoying moments to extend to 40 eps. The ones after the wedding in ep 34 for example with the leads in conflicts AGAIN was just annoying to me. FL got on my nerves in eps 35-36. From eps 33-39, I was mostly on my phone the hole time, my interest was gone and I just wanted it to end. I was at the end almost just watching 1 ep a day just to make some progress. This morning I was like today is the day, I'll finish this drama ahaha I had 3 eps left.
4) We were suppose to have a strong and intelligent FL, but she wasn't all that and annoying sometimes. I expected more, maybe I'm biased because I was watching ''A Journey to love'' at the same time and in that drama that's more of a good, strong FL for me. She kept getting kidnap and ML saved her often. When in ep 37-38 SML kidnapped her, I was like, not again... She was stupid there. I also think she wasn't that likeable sometimes, but I agree that she had her moments. Don't know why, I'm also a women, but I feel like the FLs characters are sometimes written annoying, weak or stupid in dramas, more than MLs. It wasn't actually bad here at all, she was still consider strong and had her mind, but it's a tendency I'm realizing now. I often tend to get annoy by a FL and not a ML when I watch a drama, maybe I haven't watched many dramas with the annoying kind of ML yet ahah (I know there are many out there) or maybe I did see some, but nothing comes to my mind right now.
5) I was a bit annoyed with some aspects of the relationship between the leads. Them being in conflicts, they make up, in conflicts again, than make up, ... blah blah blah, happened a few times. It was a part of their relationship and sometimes justified, but maybe they could have had it happen less.
6) I know ML is filial, but he's father treated him like shit all his life, but he was still trying to be a good son, saving him and even kinda getting along with him in ep 40. That man is trash. deserved nothing from ML.
7) ML was stubborn when he didn't want to be the crown when he was the obvious and best choice, but I didn't like how FL was trying to force him. Even less when he was finally crown prince and she didn't want to marry him and make sacrifice for him. Like girl what and she's suppose to be intelligent. Did she really not think that they would have to disbanded the Cui army if she becomes crown princess ? ML already knew it was a strong possibility. And after they got married she was mad at him for the disbanded of her family's army and what happened to her father. ML did is best to defend them and it wasn't his fault, I don't think it was justified to treat him like that. ML also exaggerated by breaking up with her after the letter her father send to the emperor. They both have faults and flaws.... I know they can't be perfect and all of that is part of the plot, but still
So, because it wasn't that good or even interesting past ep 30, filler episodes or some boring moments, the annoying characters and with comparing with others dramas I rated, I stopped my rating at 8.5/10. In general it still a good drama and has many positive points, so of course I would recommend. Also, it's my opinion, I can get annoyed by characters or bored easily, so my negative points are mostly bad things just for me.
If we talk about 2023 chinese dramas that are not modern drama, Wonderland of Love has one of the best ending in my opinion.
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