This review may contain spoilers
While this drama slowly started as a woman trying to shirk her filial duty into marrying into a noble family, it became so much more than this. Zhuo Hua rose from being an unrecognizable member of her large family, to becoming one of the highest-ranking officials in the land, through sheer effort and cunning capabilities. Early on, Zhuo Hua meets the formidable, unemotive general Liu Yan, who seemed old enough to be her father. While I was initially dubious about their pairing, their quirky interactions are adorable that I can’t stop smiling throughout their courtship. My initial worry that the ML would be controlling was unfounded as the show depicted him allowing the FL to grow independently.
That worry later turned into fear when Liu Yan looks like he's at death’s door and would croak at any moment's notice. I wasn’t even sure if he will last another episode, so when he dies halfway through, I was resigned to the fact that he will stay dead. So with Liu Yan out of the way, I’d begun to root for Zhuo Hua and the Crown Prince, hoping they’d get together, though I knew that typical plot devices would likely prevent it.
Disregarding the plot, the cast delivers a respectable performance in this drama. Though she turns out to be a righteous villain, Wang Li Kun embodied the Princess Ruo Jia perfectly, that I could not even hate her when she veered off the path. It was such a satisfying watch seeing how everyone try to outwit each other to achieve their goals.
The only thing that disappointed me is the loosely wrapped arcs of the other princes and Yun Yun’s, as if they faded into obscurity without getting their just deserts. But otherwise, this drama is an engaging watch if you don’t mind age-gap romance.
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Lazy, lazy, lazy director
It would have been sheer perfection if it lasted 30 instead of 40 episodes.The real bummer is that around episode 25 or so the director got really, really lazy and provided each and every episode with some 15 minutes break from action, in the total 45 minutes duration of an episode.
It did so with editing in long, repetitive shots accompanied by the very same two or three tunes, during which the story did not advance but was more like "displayed".
Also, imagine hearing over and over again (some 20 times over) the same two or three songs ...
No matter how touching on one's feelings the first time, they end up touching on one's nerves by the 20th iteration ...
Silly and artistically counterproductive way to stretch the material in order to reach the 40 episodes mark.
I understand: they may be paid by the number of episodes.
But that is not the way to go, but the way to mock at the otherwise onest work of the acting cast.
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Cant think of one ??♀️
To say the romance in this drama was muted is an understatement. Even though it was touching it felt very flat and lifeless, I wish they gave the romance life. Also they went extremely overboard with the weird lightening and filter, it was really very obvious and it was distracting at times to watch.But it was a good drama especially the first half of it. I knew right away who the main villain was going to be, to me it was pretty obvious even though they kinda tried to keep it low key until like ep20 or so.
The irony of doing a drama about including women in the imperial court but making women the greatest villains of the drama is definitely not lost on me or any other viewer for the matter, making the villain that psychotic, unhinged and basically a sociopath just destroyed the very message they claimed they were trying to convey which was women can be and should be officials if qualified. That’s the major reason I took points from the drama.
CDramas and making female characters be extremely vile, vicious, unhinged, wicked, evil and all any of the unpleasant words you can imagine is really very disappointing, the level they make this female characters reach is beyond my comprehension because I don’t know any of those type of women in my life but oh well.
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I thought it was a masterpiece drama XD
I like 13 eps earlier..this is show how Zhuo Hua is really smart and independent woman.. and I like interact between her and Ding Wang..very promising XD but after that the drama turn just mediocre.. sometimes Zhuo Hua became dumb but suddenly she can be smart again..about Ding Wang..william Feng is too old to play this character (Ding Wang age is 30)..he looks like old man who always sick..sometimes he looks older than his brother (the King)
Also I little bit disappoint with their kiss scene XD why SML SFL has more passionate kiss XD
but so far I like this drama..smart Female lead is always my favorite..
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This review may contain spoilers
Love
Just finished this one, and love love it! I liked Feng Shao Feng from The Story of Ming Lan and in this one, I really like his role as Liu Yan. His character as protective but not over bearing suit him really well. I also like Jing Tian here, and both of them made really great chemistry.This is NOT wuxia or xianxia, this is imperial drama. So, it is a bit on the slow pacing. Not a lot of fighting, lots of scheming, lots of unexpected but expected twists. Also, the story or the idea, is very bold, dreamy, can't be more fiction than this. It is a lot easier to imagine flying gods and goddess than female official entangled in out of wedlock relationship 😅 But the love relationship was beautifully done. If you like Dream of Splendor, The Sword and the Brocade, Destined, then you might like The Legend of Zhouhua.
Bonus: OST/MV are beautiful:
明明 (Clearly) by Zhou Shen 周深
灼心 (Scorching Heart) by Liu Yuning 刘宇宁
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Tale of Women with different ambitions!
The legend of Zhuohua is mainly a drama based on career driven women.Starting with our protagonist,Zhuohua,she aspires to be a officer in the palace,but faces numerous challenges on her way since she is a female.Jing Tian was good in her role.
Feng Shaofeng plays the role of Lord Ding,who is the main supporter of female officers in the kingdom.I must say,he is a very good actor and was perfect in his display of body language as a reserved Lord Ding to his portrayal of love and caring male lead.
A special mention of princess Roujia and Wang Likun deserves a special appreciation for her portrayal of this character.
It tells us how we need to set goals and be ambitions but not over ambitious in the perspective of women.
No need to give a second thought,this drama can be easily preferred for a one time watch.
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Could have been 12 eps shorter
Some observations:FSF really sold me on his desire. I believed him. I was ready to be his woman out of wedlock. I’m officially a fan.
Ministry of Revenue seems like a chill place to work. Not totally sure what they do but a good vibe.
There were far, far too many scenes with music and pensive looks. And those scenes were too long. Eliminating those would cut the series by two episodes. This right here is my biggest beef with this series.
Whenever something lovey dovey happened this weird shiny bluish filter appeared over the scene. Like, ATTENTION, ROMANCE IS OCCURRING. PLEASE FEEL ROMANTICAL FOR THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS. I thought maybe there would be laughter and applause signs but no, we only got cues for ROMANCE.
Dowager Empress was a star. Top notch.
The show started out really amusing. Stayed good til like ep 20. Seems like the writers changed or just started picking storylines out of a hat after that. Wasn’t awful, but was a bit, uh, muddleheaded.
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This review may contain spoilers
A story that's just ordinary, with nothing new to show
"The Legend of Zhuohua" tells the story of Zhuo Hua, a woman who wants to be an officer, she doesn't want the normal life of a woman on these days, she wants a career, to become something other than a wife. Then she meets the general Liu Yan, who helps her achieve that.I really like Feng Shao Feng, but after seeing "Shining Just For You" and now "The Legend of Zhuohua", it's clear that there is an obsession in making him look younger, to the point of using a lot of makeup and even CGI in his face and honestly, it didn't work. He's a beautiful actor, everyone gets old, this is a part of life and if his age was a problem, the solution was to choose an older woman.
The drama is medium, the story is simple, light and easy to watch. I liked to see a woman in politics, making her way in a man's world and winning her place, but the romance is disappointing, there's no chemistry between the main leads.
The whole thing with princess Rou Jia was a surprise, it was the only interesting thing that really got me hooked.
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"My Lordship" excessively
I will reserve editing this review after completing the series. As for now, my thoughts:◇Good start of story introduction. Multiple flashbacks (typical Chinese way of clarifying a story in a series)
◇I think artists casted for the roles were good choices
◇Production and wardrobe is great. The focus on detail is evident.
◇Started with the depiction of the struggles for being a female in a royalty, power and male dominated period.
◇by ep 12 not much background story for anyone but the female and male lead plus a little about second male lead.
◇I am in episode 12 and starting to get sick hearing "My Lord" wherein it it is said by lead female character excessively. Everytime she talks to Lord Ding, in every sentence she says, "My Lord" is said.
◇This series seems to be not any different from typical series highlighting smart and strong women wherein they show strong, decisive, and witty female character but then at the same time inserting stupid moves and decision that don't make sense for a smart and witty character.
Lead female is supposedly smart and talented, wanting to be a female official yet consistently placing herself in a situation that makes no sense and places her career and life in danger.
I am yet to watch a series that depicts a strong and/or smart woman that will remain true smart and strong from start to end of series.
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Cheap, not-so-subtle romance
Story-wise, it is a decent drama as the story centers around a girl who was encouraged by her less-privileged mother to study as it would afford her more opportunities in the world. Great message for the women of today, and refreshing to see a female character assume a role as a court official, even if entirely fictitious. This is not the first drama to do this, but it is the first to show women taking the exam alongside the men to then become an official.The acting from all 4 main leads are convincing and there is also a likeability about the supporting cast which isn't always the case as many dramas use the supporting cast as time fillers who serve no real purpose of driving the plot forward. Here they are given an identity, and even a personality, unlike their usual ornamental existence!
The music is a delight and the chemistry is there between the leads, compliments to the screenwriter who was able to bring the two characters together in a way that is amusing and also unique.
The problem? Oh boy. Where do I begin? The screenwriter (just like so many other screenwriters of chinese olden day dramas) refuses to believe in the capacity of the audience to be able to appreciate a romance that is mature, genuine, and that isn't all about sex. Their perception and trust in the viewer to be able to consume an adequately written, well-paced build-up of a relationship is so low, that wherever possible they try to remind us that the leads are attracted to each other, which actually ruins the natural chemistry they actually have. Just as we're enjoying the authentic and interesting dynamic, the screenwriter will then proceed to use vulgarity or not-so-subtle reminders that the male lead is a man, and that Muzhuo is a female, the supposed suggestiveness, not so suggestive, but rather distastefully shoved down our throat countless times instead. It's as if cdramaland writers cannot fathom that we as viewers of dramas can actually appreciate a romance that doesn't involve juvenile sexual innuendos at every turn and assumes that for a romance to be believable or marketable, we MUST incessantly ingrain in the viewers' minds that the leads want each other physically.
Whatever happened to the good old days of showing, and not telling viewers what to think? Whatever happened to conveying emotions of yearning for each other without ever resorting to cheap sexual references as a means to create chemistry between the two characters? For anyone wondering, I grew up on Hong Kong olden day dramas which rarely ever needed to employ such tactics to create romantic pairings that worked and was full of chemistry. The reason why olden day dramas are so popular and were such a pleasure to watch is because of the virtues that are known to be prevalent during that time. Loyalty, filial duty and undying, unconditional romantic love was at the forefront of themes featured in these dramas. These quintessential elements of an olden day drama is slowly being stripped away by the commercialism of these chinese productions, rendering the seasoned viewer in me restless and wanting to turn away from these narratives simply because of the patronising experience we are being confronted with because the screenwriters lack respect for their work, and the audience as a whole.
Do better please cdramaland. It could have been a good drama! Just like all those other dramas that were tarnished by the same limitation. Please quit the suggestive trash and regain some faith in the viewers' capacity to appreciate art and classy storytelling in the romance department of the story. Cdramas can go so much further if they would just let go of this obsession with featuring unneccesary sexual references in their productions.
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This review may contain spoilers
AVERAGE
People concern about age gap but I think that's great. Liu Yan (Feng Shao Feng) is the younger brother of Emperor which has already been in many wars and he's famous as the God of War in Chen Dynasty (make-up dynasty of China). Being that powerful and great influence to the kingdom, we don't expect some 20 something actor to take the role but I can understand the review as Feng ShaoFeng acted like he's a dying 50 something yo General. Liu Yan had stubborn illness from the effect of previous war he went to, 30,000 brothers men-in arms wiped out from that war and he's the sole survivor. Of that reason, he investigated the reason behind mass massacre as to why and who's the main culprit. His suspicion was his closest relative who instigated the extermination of his soldiers for the reason of him holding too much power that might endangering Emperor authority (been in reign for 24 years). He didn't know yet but has suspicion. He's devoted to his brother Emperor, he's kind to his nephews and niece, he had no intention to overthrown the Emperor but why did the culprit want to get rid of him?In one of his investigation he met Mu ZhuoHua (Jing Tian), a runaway bride to-be that had ambition to go for national examination to be an Imperial official, she succeed it and rank to 17th of other scholars . An intelligent woman that also good in medicine, just too bad Jing Tian was badly act especially the girl JuLi who played her maid, their voice-over were so damn annoying!!! Jing Tian didn't act convincingly, more like an amateur actress in her first attempt. These two need some acting class or need some strict directive acting. Every sentence she opened it with 'Wang Ye'...and other casts not any better acting. Elder Princess acted like she's Kwan Yin....Ep 16 was enough, finally dropped it.
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The Legend of Zhuohua
One of best Chinese drama costume/historical drama had i ever seen. The actors, the story, ost, so so good. William Feng and Jing Tian have a good chemistry, i hope in the future seeing them in another series drama again.Already rewatch on we tv, and i need season 2 when Official Mu Zhuohua and Lord Ding (Liu Yan) have a kids 😌😍. Worth to watch everyone 👍
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