Wonderland of Love

Ahhh ... the waste of good characters .. this had so much potential to be a good romance drama

The story cuts right into a good character introduction of the main leads - both of them fiercely independant but at the same time kind and sympathatic with grounded personalities - how much I love such character set up and was thoroughly enjoying both the leads and even the supporting cast - the first 20 or so episodes did a good job in bringing us into their worlds and their unique love story ...... and then the second half of the series happened .

I was completely baffled - it felt as if the scriptwriter was changed , the director was changed , even the characters seem to act OOC - felt like a completely different drama and it was a huge mess.

For once I was enjoying a good sexual chemistry of xu kai with jing tian which I hadnt seen in his last few series with other actresses , exception being bai lu from "the legends" days - maybe bit older / experienced actresses bring out the best in him - xu kai has always been a hit and miss for me , sometimes it works and sometimes not .

Overall this had so much potential , reminded me so much of " A journey to love " another of my all time favorites - and dare I say jing tian looked so much handsome dressed as a man then her female dressing style - wish they could have maintained her same style throughout the series and especially her armour dress :) .

And I cant forget Curly gao's ost for this drama , it definitely went into my playlist .

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Rock-solid, binge-worthy romance

Wonderland of Love is yet another exceptional C-drama to put on my list of top 10 power couples. Xu Kai and Jing Tian play main leads Li Ni and Cui Lin who fall in love after a friendly rivalry gives way to a more serious relationship.

The first few episodes were a bit weak and, due to that, I dropped the series for a few months. I finally went back to it after completing Best Choice Ever with Xu Kai, since I found myself very impressed with his low-key, earnest performance. I had a renewed interest in finishing WOL because of his work in that.

This drama has it all: palace intrigue, epic battles and martial arts, beautiful scenery, gorgeous costumes and set design, and an exceptional soundtrack--which at the moment is only available on YouTube. (This is bad because that means I can't add it to my C-drama playlist on Spotify. Not cool).

What locked me in place was the excellent chemistry and stellar acting between the main leads. They both drew me in and made me thoroughly enjoy their playful banter which slowly becomes attraction and then intense love. Once again, I was bowled over by Xu Kai's performance. He was passionate, tempestuous, forthright, and courageous. He was everything one wants in a romantic hero. At the same time he is not without flaws. He jumps to conclusions and can be unfairly cruel to his leading lady. Just watching them fight would sometimes make my heart ache, but then the make ups were epic.

Throughout all the intense flirting, there is more intrigue to keep the plot moving. Bad guys abound in the this drama and seems our main leads jump from one dangerous situation to the next. You get some great action scenes, but keeping track of all the villains gets exhausting and repetitive. I could have done without the last episode. It was too neatly wrapped up and didn't feel true to the supporting cast and the stories that had originally been intended for them.

I also appreciated the guest performances by Zen Li and Liu Yu Ning. I have watched them both in other great C-dramas and it is a treat to have them appear in this series. I recommend this drama to those who love romances, palace intrigue, and period dramas.

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Best Xukai’s Show

Li Ni is our ML, the grandson of the emperor, who was banished to the borders at Yaoyan Pass when he angers both his father Lord Liang and the emperor at one point of his teenagehood. Being born to a maid who died giving birth to him, he was never favoured in the mansion, and he never had a memory of his father hugging and being kind to him. But at Yaoyan Pass, he found kinship with his troops, fighting battles, dining, having fun with them, not putting up airs as a royal at all. The experience tempered him into a brilliant, calculative strategist who is revered by many among the army. One day they received news that one of the great generals of the dinasty, Sun Jing revolted, killing the emperor and the crown prince, while the son of the crown prince went into hiding to escape the coup. Left with no choice, Li Ni raised the Zhenxi Army to march towards the capital to reclaim the throne for the crown prince’s son. On the way there, he met our FL Lt. He, a strategist for the Cui army whose army was also marching towards the capital. They clashed a few times, experienced the spark to fall in love with each other while battling each other, and ended up working together in siezing forts after forts towards the capital, while ML at the same time trying to locate his royal cousin.

I must say, this is definitely one of Xukai’s best series. The story is interesting enough, the plot although not without plotholes, is exciting and engaging. Although I must say, for an army marshall entrusted to reclaim the capital, ML sure has a lot of time to indulge in romance. But I have to admit this is probably the best of Xukai’s performance i’ve seen so far. ML’s anguish was really real after he survived the ambush. He can really cry convincingly good, that it made me cry at that scene. Although, i totally despise his hopeless lovesick puppy character whenever he argues with FL.

The SML, Liu Cheng Feng, turned from just a person to long for his childhood sweetheart to a total psychopath who wouldnt accept that his love was rejected. While still in Cui army acting as the commander, he was shameless enough to claim as loyalist army when you collude with the traitor against another loyalist army? That’s the Cui army for you. Truly despicable. And to think that the commander isnt a Cui is even more comical. What kind of commander would sell out his own principle because of jealousy? The SML is truly despicable despite his supposedly frail look. And for a sickly man, he really was hard to die. He got stabbed with swords with two spears, and is still very much alive. Guess that’s the privelege of being SML, he’s got plot armour! An annoyingly thick one at that.

As for the FL, she lies so much sometimes i cant even figure out when she was lying and when she was being truthful. At first i thought she was toying with ML’s feelings, but gradually it looked like she really fell for him. However, FL is too caught up by her ideals and ambition that she doesnt care if forcing her loved one to be the emperor would mean a lifelong unhappiness. She doesnt like when her dad tells her the kind of life he wants her to have, but is very content about dictating how the ML should live his life. Such hypocrisy. I got so mad at that episode. I fast forwarded many of their supposedly romantic scenes afterwards because i hate seeing ML giving in to her advances every single time without her relinquishing that selfish thought of hers. Really hate seeing her leading him around like a dog so i keep wishing for them to break up. Just go separate ways already. She should feel the heartbreak and regret her decisions instead of ML every single time. I am so glad ML put his foot down when she insisted him to fight for the crown prince title. Her attitude is too horrible, always throwing tantrum when things dont go her way. It’s really a pity because ML sacrifice so much for her. She was the one who is adamant about ML becoming crown prince, and she was also the one who is mad at him when she had to marry him in a way that she didnt approve of. Most of the time this character is very sensible and reasonable, but somehow it is written to be very proud and cranky when she argues with ML.

The main leads definitely has chemistry, though I truly hate it when she was throwing tantrum and ML give in to her every time. Their romantic scenes is fun to watch when they’re sincerely happy with each other, but hard to watch when FL throws tantrums and ML gives in. It’s like ML was trying to make her happy while he himself was generally sad and angry. FL is kinda selfish and unreasonable despite being an intelligent strategist who can see through the enemy’s plans, when ML refuses to do things her way. Honestly their arguments are generally needless as even if FL lets everything go with the flow, ML would still had to become crown prince based on the circumstanaces. There was no need for for her to pressure him to do anything, really. They wouldve had a happy time in the capital had she not do what she did. What a needless and senseless argument.

The battlescenes are impressive, especially the attack on the capital. It’s the first time that i saw foot soldiers scaling the wall with parkour-like skills, and it’s also the first time that i felt any of their deaths are a huge loss to the force. They looked like minor pawns but their skills are definitely impressive.

The amount of people getting poisoned is astronomically high in this show, but sadly none really die from it. Too comical when they keep getting poisoned like flies getting sprayed. The FL suffers the brunt of it, always getting sick or injured in every other episodes 😆 too cliche.

I totally love the OST. They really didnt hokd back on getting the best in this category.

Anyway, it’s a happy ending, though i really have a hard time liking the FL in some parts of the show.

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Memorable performance by Xu Kai

This show would be as legendary for Xu Kai as Falling into your smile, or Arsenal Military Academy. His character, costumes, action scenes, and demeanour were simply perfect! He played a guy who was brave, considerate, loyal, super romantic and responsible, displaying every characteristic one ever wants to see in a male lead. As for Jing Tian, she looked super pretty and her acting was true to her character, appearing hot and cold, competitive, even with her love interest, but remaining loyal to him always. I read some comments saying the female lead appeared cold, and uncaring for the ML, but it could be justified seeing her background. She grew up without a mother, dressed up as a man, and trained as a soldier, trying to always hide her true identity, and was pitched against the ML several times due to his being from a rival camp. Even though I understand the character and that she did complete justice to it, one would have loved to see her warmer towards the ML. The second leads were super cute and adorable, though I found it irritating that the second FL almost always made the FL angrier with the ML. The devotion of the second ML towards his girlfriend was amazing and so likeable. Overall, it was a very watchable show with characters who were human at the end of the day.

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Too much conflicts, too much bad guys

I started watching this drama because I recently became a fan of Xu Kai. After finishing As Beautiful As You, I was eager for more and jumped into this series to get my Xu Kai fix. I had actually tried watching it a few months ago, but I lost interest about 20 minutes into the first episode. Still, my admiration for Xu Kai pulled me back in. I also like Jing Tian, especially from her role in Si Jin, so I decided to give it another shot.

This time, I pushed through the first episode and found it wasn’t as bad as I remembered. That gave me enough motivation to continue watching the entire drama. Unfortunately, the female lead’s character quickly started to wear on me. She constantly set up schemes against the male lead, only to end up in trouble and needing to be rescued. And of course, Li Ni ever the devoted and heroic figure, would rush to save A Ying, only to be betrayed time and again.

As if that weren’t frustrating enough, the plot kept piling on villains and conflicts. Just when one antagonist was defeated, another would emerge, and the cycle repeated endlessly. It became exhausting. I genuinely felt sorry for A Ying, and even more so for Li Ni. Jing Tian is an actress I admire, but her character here was difficult to root for, always pushing her own desires while ignoring Li Ni’s feelings. The emotional imbalance became more grating as the story progressed.

Despite the flaws, the excessive conflicts, the overwhelming number of antagonists, and the frustrating character dynamics, I stayed until the end. Mostly for Jing Tian, but especially for Xu Kai. His expressive eyes and charming smile were the saving grace of this drama.

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I liked last 5 episodes after he married to her.

Starting was good . Then middle part of drama was boring . All the time chasing ,chasing and chasing . Then was trying to disband the Cui's army and the reason was not satisfactory . Why the king wanted this ? The Cui's army was always work for the welfare of people and never been hindrance in the work of king . The prince and the daughter of Cui family were having same target and when everything was happening good then suddenly prince father kept the condition to marry with her . She was not agreed at first only because of her father she accepted the proposal.
I liked the episodes after their marriage scenes .

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Would be perfect if drama is about 25 episodes

LIKE

Shi Qi Lang and Ah Ying pretty witty and conning each other - hilarious as their intelligence are on par

When Cui and Zhen Xu army negotiating with each other and started throwing foods

Poor Pei Yuan who constantly spit out his water whenever Li Ni said nonsense stuffs

Did Mister Mu decide to be a cameo? - lol when I see this person appearing

Whenever Shi Qi Lang closes his eyes, he loses his bet

DISLIKE

Too many unnecessary scenes making this drama boring

Ah Ying's thoughts which me angry at times

MUSIC - personal fav

乐游原 Le You Yuan - 希林娜依高 Xi Lin Na Yi Gao
如果爱记得 Ru Guo Ai Ji De - 刘宇宁 Liu Yu Ning
命定是你 Ming Ding Shi Ni - 阿兰 A Lan

REWATCH VALUE

Five for now

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Heartfelt historical romance with a bickering couple and a storyline full of righteousness and valor

I hope everyone can find their Wonderland of Love <3

I saw this recommended on a TikTok with "strong FLs in C-dramas" and it definitely did not disappoint! This was also my first drama with the ever-popular Xu Kai and I think they really highlighted his acting skills (especially the grief/crying scenes). If you like very romantic historical dramas, you're in for a treat. There's a lot of scenes between the main leads (LOTS of kissing too hehe) while they deal with an unstable court regime, a missing crown grandson, and invaders along the border. I thought that the opening music matched the couple's energy: heroic and righteous from beginning to end.

The storyline starts with both leads having a playful back-and-forth with their armies on the line during a time of rebellion and turmoil, as the emperor's family is almost all annihilated and a general took control. Midway through, the environment shifts from the battlefield and war to court intrigue and tricky politics. I do think the war strategies were at the forefront of the conflict in the show compared to any palace drama, which was refreshing and fun.

PROS:
❀ Main couple with stellar chemistry and dialogue
I loved the scenes between A'Ying and Li Ni, from the very beginning where they were after the same thing (provisions for their respective armies) to the end where they worked together as a couple to squash rebels. Their chemistry was fire from the very beginning and the flirting never stopped from there, lol. The couple dynamics were giving stubborn general's daughter x playful nobleman. Neither of them were invested in the fight for court power but were thrown into the game due to the incompotent people around them, such as Li Ni's cowardly father and brothers. I love how they were on the same frequency for most of the drama, knowing what the other thought and going along with their plans. They both respected each other's wit and characters immensely, and the dialogue always emphasized that. In terms of an equal relationship, this one takes the cake. ALSO, I'm very happy with their ending as a couple and how the show took time to reach that conclusion.
As individuals, I thought their characterizations stayed true throughout the story. Even though Li Ni didn't want to crown prince role and favored a simple lifestyle on the border, he recognized what he needed to do after the huge betrayal scene. Even still, he remained stalwart and upstanding even in the midst of scheming ministers. A'Ying is like the rest of her family - tsundere at heart. She may seem quite cold at times, but she actually has a soft heart. Together, they get along best when they fight/bicker (lol). Shout out to the choreography of them fighting/battling together, because that was always a feast for the eyes.

❀ Interesting side characters that added a lot of depth
From the torn Crown Princess (what a heartbreaking character!) to the brother-in-arms from Loulan Pass (my favorite comic relief), I really appreciated the extra characters. The only ones I didn't like were the second leads, lol. More on that in the con section. Oh also, Taozi and Erduo were the cutest :)

❀ Giving Art of War energy
I enjoyed the heavy emphasis on military strategy over any palace intrigue. A lot of the plans talked about knowing when to attack and when to retreat, which people to use as your allies, when to ambush the enemy, etc. I thought it kept the storyline exciting and the action non-stop.

❀ Them costumes though...
Flashy and gorgeous. Especially Li Ni's outfits... that man looks fine in everything. Also loved his hairdo as well lol. They did an amazing job with making A'Ying look heroic in her military gear too! It created a great juxtaposition when she dressed up as a noble lady.

CONS:
✕ Second leads were kinda weird
I forgot their names so I'm just going to label them as 2ML and 2FL. Both had odd characterizations that were reductive and trite. Also both of them started out decent but ended up getting super obsessed over our main leads which made for lazy writing. Both stand no chance in the romance game.
The 2ML was A'Ying's adoptive brother who wanted to get together with him, but she only saw as an older brother. I thought their separation would allow him to come back even more heroic and helpful in the Cui Army cause, but he just fell into the dark side.
The 2FL was a court lady that Li Ni randomly saved and she got obsessed with him ever since, going back to her father to scheme him into marrying her. At first I was like, "ooh she's kind of smart despite being a court lady that was kicked out of her home," but instead of leveraging that plotline to create character depth, her development stunted at falling in love with Li Ni who never ever gave her hints.
This wouldn't even be a con if it weren't for their obsessive scheming getting into the way of the leads. Like let them be!!

✕ A'Ying could get pretty stubborn at times
This is part of her character, but she could give a good sulk like no other. Thankfully, Li Ni is 10/10 at apologizing and I love a good grovel when I see one (even if it's sometimes not needed LOL). This didn't hinder my enjoyment but sometimes I was like, girl can you just let it go :,)) Thankfully their make-up scenes were 20/10!!

✕ Misunderstandings: 3/10
Nothing major that I can think of. It was more like minor understandings in the beginning when they were both figuring out each other's identities and character. Any break-ups and arguments were short-lived between them and they made up pretty often. I loveeeed their romantic dates in the midst of the war and fights breaking out lol.

OVERALL
If you're looking for a valiant couple who work together for the sake of bringing peace to the people, this show is for you. There's plenty of action, and even more romance, to enjoy. The male lead is protective and sweet, the female lead is headstrong and gallant. Both of them stand brave in the midst of chaotic times and strive to protect the ones they love. While the show was 40 episodes, I never felt bored and the satisfying ending made my heart all warm. The symbolism of Le You Yuan (Wonderland) will leave viewers hopeful about their own wonderland of love.

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Sensible FL while ML being intelligent has his own flaws.

The most sensible & string FL character i hv evr seen in ancient chinese dramas. Both ML & FL complimented each other in terms of looks, intelligence, strategies & fighting. But ML's trust in FL was at his convenience. His priorities changes according to situations. While FL was consistent in her missions, priorities & plannings.
ML was not interested in palace's politics but got himself involved as per his convenience & priorities which was very diplomatic & hypocritic on his part. FL was not wrong to take decisions on his behalf or to pressurize him for taking power into his hands as ML's father & brothers were totally wrong choices for such power which they even proved time to time by misusing it.

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Enjoyable but often frustrating

I really enjoyed many parts and arcs of this drama and I think the whole cast has been great in it. In particular I think Kai is a phenomenal actor who managed to bring his character to life beautifully.

I'm pretty sure he didn't dub himself (if I'm wrong, I apologise) so I wanted to also praise whomever did dub him because he did a great job, you could often truly feel the raw emotion in his voice.

Sadly, for me personally, this was a very frustrating drama because of the relationship between the characters and because I often found myself not liking the FL.
I often felt like the relationship was a bit imbalanced and that the FL could be pretty unreasonable but that even when that happened, she always ened up being the one shown to be "right".
While I really liked Li Ni, I also sometimes couldn't help but feel like he was too much of a "perfect hero".

I also felt like some characters arcs and motivations could've been flashed out a little more as they fell a little flat.

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Drama with clever FL and ML characters.

What I like the most is the character of the two main characters and also their costumes. HAHAHA.

so first of all, I initially had no intention of watching this drama until it was quite popular in cdrama. The reason for not wanting to watch? I dont know. I just didn't intend to because I didn't have attention to watch Xukai dramas and I didn't really know the actress (until I finally realize that her acting and visuals at the age of 35 were really good).

So, this is a 40-episode historical drama. The setting is an empire being rebelled by a general named Sujing. There are two teams that want to protect empire, the Lini form western border team (which turns out to be one of those who has an imperial lineage that has been massacred) and Cui Li (Who has a daughter Cui Lin but keeps it a secret, so her daughter is disguised as an adjutant).

Cui Lin and Li Ni both want to save the empire, but neither of them trusts each other. So, they have their own way of saving until they have to work together to overcome various dramas and obstacles.

What I like is that Cui and Li are very smart in scouting and war, Where's Miss Cui's fashion, she's really pretty when she's about to attract, oh my God >_<

In short, Lini managed to save his father from Sujing's captivity, kill Sujing, and appoint his father as temporary emperor assisted by Prime Minister Gu and his daughter. But unfortunately, Lini is the kind of child that the emperor doesn't like so the emperor listens to her 2 stupid older brothers.

There are differences of opinion between Li Ni and Cui. Li Ni wants to return peacefully to the border after searching and finding the real crown prince and asking the emperor to abdicate, while Cui feels that Li Ni has the potential to become a wise emperor. Yeah, their romance is full of intrigue there until finally Lini has to become crown prince and marry the person she loves (Cui). But the Cui family has to disband 100,000 of their military troops which also causes her father to go crazy. (Imagine, in order to save yourself, you have to let go of all the troops that have been built from your acestors and his father is crazy, so on the first night, Cui and Li end up fighting, it's funny even though it's tragic).

And let's discuss what I don't like.

1. 39/40 episodes the emperor is stupid. Li Ni's father wasn't stupid in the final episode but only when he handed over the throne.
2. Lini's two older brothers were so stupid that they were taken advantage of by enemies who started a civil war.
3. Cui's former adoptive brother, a boy who was originally called General Cui's son, didn't thank him enough and was a stupid love with Cui, until he worked together with Sujing to attack the empire and killed many people.
4. Mr. Gu's 4th daughter, who was so stupid that she decided to become a concubine and had a lot of drama.

Please, if the protagonist is as smart as Sujing with Mr. Gu, I'm fine with that. This protagonist is so stupid: (makes your blood run high. What makes you stick around watching? Of course, our two main players. Who else? The characters are really fresh. The girls and boys are equally intelligent. The way they learn from those who are good at warfare and then learn to enter politics is told in a subtle way. They are not made to be so smart that they don't make mistakes, but they are made to learn that their intelligence also has limits to power.

My favorite character apart from them? The former crown princess of the dead emperor and the mother of the missing crown prince (searched for by Lini). Mirssss, you are willing to ruin your crown princess title and change into Sujing's empress during the rebellion so you can be an eye, poisoning Sujing with lipstick so that you get poisoned, so you don't arouse suspicion, that's amazing, and so calm, my god, that's crazy!This drama is quite good as a historical drama!!!

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