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Low effort production
Don't get me wrong but im a fan of both ZLH and ZJM, and because of them that i watch this drama. I think their acts are impressive.I had my expectation up when the trailer released, but idk what's wrong with the production team. Tho being known as most budgetted drama, they don't even bother to throw some fake blood on the floor on the war scene and everyone is still so clean not even a scratch or dust visible. Idk while watching this drama i always had the feeling like some scenes are missing something, like small details.
And the plot!!
The first 15 episodes are interesting and funny with the interaction of the ML and FL. But when it gets intense with political fight and stufff, it gets boring. Idk maybe it's just me
I really hope this drama would be good but it turns out disappointed.
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Frustrating but good...
This is the only historical royalty and political intrigue drama that I was able to finish. I almost dropped it but I was curious how they will fall in love in their second life. I was so disappointed with the ending of Scent of Time that I was hesitant to start this. So I checked thoroughly if this is a happy ending. It is. :)I also watched the last special episode where they are happy with two kids but they still always bicker. It was a funny and super romantic episode.
Their chemistry is through the roof. Zhang Linghe and Zhao Jinmai are great actors. They made this drama enjoyable for me. And their love story is good. They will have another drama together and I will definitely watch it.
The FL does not have emotional intelligence in her first life and ML was prideful that was why they end up fighting with each other. Their second life, they fought together and did their best to understand each other. Pei Wenxuan is a good man in both lives and deserves the best in life. A woman deserves a Pei Wenxuan.
The main villain, Su Rongqing was a complicated and disillusioned character. He could have changed his fate but he always twist his own narrative. For someone who claims he loves Li Rong, he failed miserably in showing that love.
Overall good drama.
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Like kids playing house
The drama came on Netflix recently so I thought I should give it a try since I don't mind the visuals of both leads. However, from the outset it was apparent that this was not a serious production, because there were obvious flaws with both the mannerisms and dialogues to the point that it was jarring to watch. I don't have high expectations on this front; the drama simply doesn't meet the passing mark.On to the story, it's actually a widely used trope in web novels, where a couple on the verge of a relationship breakdown go back in time, realise that there were too many misunderstandings on the way, and fall in love all over again (or realise they never actually fell out of love). It's not a creative plotline, but it can definitely be sufficiently entertaining, or it wouldn't be that popular in the first place. The problem is that the execution just sucked. It's like having a very patronising tour guide, who brings you from attractions to attractions, but never delving into the history and culture of the place. Once pictures are taken and there is proof that the location is visited, he ushers you to the next attraction, without checking if your expression is fine, if the lighting is alright and if the landmarks are all captured. You're basically just checking in to the different places soullessly without enjoyment. Yeah, that's the feeling I get after finishing the drama. To add on to that, the court intrigue was very frivolously designed, and the conclusion was very hasty as well.
Now, the actors. They look way too young for their roles, and I cannot take them seriously. The princess royale has zero authority and presence, and it doesn't help that she actually looks like a kid. Cutesy-looking actresses have this going against them - they are not convincing in roles which require more gravity. I think this is just a miscast. Zhao Jinmai needs several more years to pull off this kind of roles because she's naturally disadvantaged. This is something meant for a young Ning Jing, young Fan Bingbing, or young Dilraba. You get it. Zhang Linghe is underwhelming as expected, but he doesn't need to be impressive since this drama focuses on Zhao's role (and also because his rival has no charm so competition is non-existent). The second male lead is about as interesting as a twig, so there's that. He also has either a terrible dubber, or terrible vocal colour. Frankly speaking, the entire cast's inexperience shows and the acting is just painful to watch. There is chemistry between the lead actors though, but not enough.
All in all, it's a disappointing show. Even if you really like the two leads and you buy the romance between them, you'd be surviving on scraps. I cannot think of any reason to recommend this drama.
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Where the Fuck is ML??
In real life I hate politics, but when it comes to series or movies, I love watching the political genre. Watch this show for Zhang Ling He & its political genre. But they ruined it. I loved the political plot & twist & turns, but they reduced ML screen time to supporting characters. As Zhang Ling He fan, it's really disappointing. Even if it was any other actor, I could complain about ML's screen presence being so less. I know it is a women-centric drama, but in other dramas they use the ML character very well, at least doesn't reduce his screen time. I would've given it a 10 rating with all the political plot, but they destroyed it. I have a rating of 7 for the political plot & cast acting.Pei Wen Xuan is smart and cunning, but his love for Li Rong is obvious. Throughout the series, they said he is smart but never showed properly. In the Story of Kunning Palace, ML's cunningness & smartness are shown throughout the series, but here they only said it didn't utilized it. Also, he didn't have a purpose other than to chase after Li Rong, which is another disappointment. In SOKP he had a purpose, but here there's none. Zhang Ling He's acting was good. It was visible from his expression that Pei Wen Xuan truly loves Li Rong & could do anything for her.
Li Rong is selfish. She never tried to understand Li Chuan, Pei Wen Xuan & Su Rong Qing. Li Chuan was struggling to rule, and was under a lot of pressure from noble families. Instead of helping & supporting him, she also did the same thing to him. I'm saying what he did to her is right, but she is the reason it ended this way. In Pei Wen Xuan's case, she always assumed that he didn't love her or support her. She never tried to express herself or never tried to communicate with him properly. At last Su Rong Qing, she trusted him so blindly, despite knowing that his family was being executed because of her brother. It was obvious that he wanted revenge. She never asked her brother the reason behind Su families family's execution. She is smart, no doubt about that. The way she ploted against those noble families was awesome. In this life she tried to change her fate & truly help & supported her brother. Also expressed her feelings for Pei Wen Xuan.
What's that ending dude!! Li Rong says she loves Pei Wen Xuan but still gives a lovey-dovey look to Su Rong Qing. The scene where Su Rong Qing tells the past of his brother & Pei Wen Xuan to Li Rong was so focused on Su Rong Qing. They wanted to show both sides of the story, but the execution was wrong. They would've edited the scene with both Pei Wen Xuan & Su Rong Qing telling the story at a time rather than focusing only on Su Rong Qing.
Su Rong Qing was also selfish. He would've done so much better. He would've helped Li Chuan in ruling. The fact is, he is also like othes, want noble families to rule nothing else.
Laughed how Pei Wen Xuan & Li Rong keep on arguing about their past issues. Love their bickering. Zhang Ling He & Zhao Jin Mai have amazing chemistry. I can see why they're cast in a new series so quickly.
Loved the friendship of Li Rong, Shangguan Ya & Qin Zhen Zhen. They're strong, independent women who wants to change the ruling systems.
I loved Shangguan Ya character. She fun-loving, smart & independent girl.
Laughed how Pei Wen Xuan didn’t even let Li Rong finish before agreeing.
Loved when Li Rong slapped Pei Wen Xuan's uncle. It was so satisfying. The way she came to save is so awesome. She was on fire.
Its cute how Pei Wen Xuan hugged Li Rong.
Laughed how Pei Wen Xuan was trying to seduce Li Rong.
Laughed when Tong Ye came running to Li Rong saying Pei Wen Xuan was missing & he ended up seeing her there.
Laughed how Pei Wen Xuan & Cui Yu Lang got into Li Rong's house by climbing the wall.
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It's lonely at the top
For me, this is a story of knowing and realizing the struggle and sacrifice to achieve power. Despite having a good romance, what I appreciate here, which made me cry many times, is the loneliness and hardship just to gain or maintain the power to save their life.Everyone did a good job, especially Li Rong. Such a powerful woman. I was frustrated on her but there's a reason why she needs to be strong. The good thing is she got PWX to pull her if she is out of control and is truly a person that you can rely on. Good job for these two.
In terms of romance, I was more captivated and invested in Shangguan and Su Rong Hua, just because I love how they develop their relationship, and the story in the past and present is really captivating.
My comment is maybe it can be reduced to 30 episodes. I find it boring sometimes, especially in the second half.
Overall, it has a great ending. 8.5 for me..
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Loved this drama for Zhang Ling He
Wanted to start doing more reviews even though it makes me nervous. So decided to start with this one with a lot of reviews that differ from mine. I'm not great at this but here goes.I really loved this drama and it definitely will be one of my top ones for Zhang Ling He. His character Pei Wenxuan is so great and loved his lines in this so much. I thought they also did fine with showing how smart his character is even though yes I know they could of did more but Li Rong didn't do everything alone. I really loved the bickering between Pei Wenxuan and Li Rong I found it funny and cute really like an old married couple and I understand some people would find it annoying and childish, but they did learn to communicate better with each other where they could actually talk everything out instead of dragging the misunderstandings out. There were just so many great scenes between these two the confession in the rain, the way Li Rong comes to his rescue against his family, and these are just to name a couple.
Su Rongqing's character I really didn't have a problem with and I thought the guy who played him did a pretty good job, and I didn't think he had more screen time then Pei Weixuan. The one thing that I did find annoying was the last episode where they really dragged out his scene that I just really found it unnecessary. Maybe I am the only one but in that episode it felt like they really tried to force the chemistry but it felt really off to me.
One thing I will say is to just always watch a drama for yourself cause you never know if you will love it or not unless you do.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama is really worth wathching
I finished watching it.l also addicted to it,exept some few episode all cast was really good,The main couple Pei wenxuan and Li rong were cute husband and wife.They played well,especially l didn't think jinmai can do a wondeful powerful character with her young age,she attracted all international fan ,wish you all the best maimai,you acted well and did justice to the characters, I am also linghe fan.he is top 1 in my chinese actor list.In Pei wenxuan character he acted different movement and characters,Sometime he was prime minister,a good caring husband,a friend,a good sword fighter, good loyal officer with highest IQ.some time he got angry as well as he quetish the princess, that incident really touch me,l hope to see your next drama cherry amber, Don't worry about other's telling. You know that you did best .l am from SRI LANKA 🇱🇰Was this review helpful to you?
"WATCH BEFORE YOU JUDGE"
I choose that as my headline because I almost didn't finish the drama because of this one comment I saw online, saying that the drama plot disappoints her around last 10 episode. Context why I saw that comment is I browse online if it is happy ending or not (your girl doesn't watch sad ending) And the comment I saw was one of the top results I saw. Thankfully, It says online it has a happy ending so I decided to watch it until the end (I'm already in ep 20+ this time with a sprinkle of anxiety with the plot twist).After 4 days (10 episodes each day) I finally finished the drama!
I have a lot to say but in my mind still processing al of it. (Negative and Positive towards the portrayal of the actors/actresses)
Opening scene - 100000/10
> I f you make it to the last episode/special episode. I'll share with you that it hits different when I watched the ep 1 (first 15 mns.) for the very first time vs. I watched ep 1 (first 15 mns.) after ep 40 + special episode. It gives something like a pain and you will. It will gives you a bitter-sweet feeling.
Music(OST)/Sound Effects - 9.8/10
> The soundtrack sounds novel-like. I am now streaming the drama's OST on spotify and when I hear each song. I could always remember the scene like it automatically plays in my head. The missing .2 is to where they didn't put a sound effect to funny scenes for the first set of episodes. It bothers me because It made me feel that something is missing in that specific scene and later I found out it is the comedic sound effect. The deliberation of actor/actress line is perfect except the missing sound effect that could make that scene better. I still deduct .2 because it improves on later episodes.
Pacing - 8.5/10
> Well the top contributor of the missing points are the conversation of Shangguan Ya and Su Ronghua on the later episode. It seems like their lines aren't necessary to be that long. I'm guilty because every time it's their scene I fast forward them. Lastly, Su Rongqing, the last episode doesn't have to be that long. He has a lot of screentime than PWX himself. (I have to fast forward because of cringy lines, sorry)
Plot - 10/10
> The scenes were unpredictable for me. Not a usual "oh my god, it keep repeating. I have to do this, that, etc" I watched a lot of who travel time and in order to avoid something to happen they will mostly like became irrational, became emotional etc. I am racking my brain on how to solve the character's issue. I usually put my feet in the shoes of the characters but they always made me realized (in a good way) I am just a watcher. The characters esp FL and ML makes a decision i didn't think it is possible.
They didn't drag the misunderstanding of the past between the leads. First two episodes and voila "communication" is indeed the key. I also love that it doesn't entirely focus on the love team tho which I love.
Acting - 9.5/10
> This is my opinion on the overall acting of the cast. Sounds unfair to rate their acting as a group but I observed that some actor/actress bring out the best of whom they act with or exchange the lines with.
Characters - 100/10
>The character development is amazing!
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The animation intro is beautiful too.
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Amazing if you aren't coming from the novel
This is one of those drama I watched simply because too many people were hating on it :^). I didn't understand the overly critical reviews after finishing the drama so this review is just a self rant.•Firstly, let's focus on the matter of concern for a huge chunk of reviews I came across: " Su Rongqing" 😭. As someone who haven't read the novel, the presence, absence or importance of Su Rongqing wasn't uncomfortable to me. So I assum people who read the novel generally found the limelight on him overbearing. The actor acted really well in my opinion . Many people questioned his acting in respect of arousing sympathy for his charecter as in novel ( not sure) well i didn't expect such things so there was no sympathy I felt for him and neither the sympathy felt necessary to me.
• The drama was in my opinion really clean with straight schemes and resolutions. After every issue the Grand Princess and Chancellor duo rejuvenated their relationship. As if they are loving each other a little more. I didn't find any part of the drama frustrating or unspoken. The expression, the script, the timing, the acting of the main leads and supporting all were on point.
•The best part of the drama that makes it stand out from other scheming and descheming dramas is the complexity of the characters. Especially the dillema, the miscommunication, the multiple shades in the main characters were really alluring. I found the relationship blooming and never really felt that their love wasn't shown enough to convey how much they yearned for each other— these added layers to the simple conspiracy - counter conspiracy screenwriting kind of quenched my thirst .
• The production was clean , the script was okay, can't stress enough how good they were in their respective role. The unity among its women all were beautiful to see. Maybe some episodes could have been more compact but I was satisfied over all.
So if you are coming from the novel, this drama might disappoint you that I am not aware of why but if you are watching this afresh, i don't think it gonna disappoint that way. A extremely strong woman character with a ideal partner being the assistant/ mess cleaner/ doing the dirty works , this formula can never fail come on!!
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Watch for Zhang Linghe ?
One of the best Chinese Period Dramas of 2024. I am putting it shoulder to shoulder to The Double.Although The Double was far better in terms of overall acting, direction etc but personally I favour this one. ♥️
First of all, Zhang Linghe who should have been just in the shadows of the the heroine & the anti hero, outshines all others. I think this is one of his acting masterpieces. He is a fine actor but he has poured his heart out in Pei Wenxuan. His eyes speak out his pain, his frustration when he is not speaking or cannot speak, his knowing smirk can embarrass you and his sweet words can manage to convince you to see things his way.
Many viewers have complained how can the ML be in love with the FL even after seeing her sharing close ties with the anti hero for 17years?
Because Pei Wenxuan is a pure heart as Li Rong says. In the world of fiction, a man can remain true to his heart & love even after 2 decades. That's the beauty of fictional world. A real man can aspire but it's ridiculous to compare reality with fiction. So I didn't find anything wrong with Pei Wenxuan's everlasting love for the Princess.
Zhao Jin Mai, even though she is young,was convincing enough in her portrayal of the proud, opinionated Princess.
But the major letdown of this drama is Chen He Yi.
This drama could have sealed his future as a successful actor but he wasted this role.
This man cannot act..I mean even after rewatching the whole series twice and more, I am still shaking his head at his flat expressions . Also his character is confusing.
Did he really love the Princess? Did he really want to save his family? Seemed to me, he just wanted great power for himself as the Grand Prime Minister second time around, to be the actual master of the Empire.
Another character which had loose end was the Consort Rou. Her expressions and acting were very weird.
The ending where the ML and FL are talking about their happiness after their re-wedding, I think that should have been edited before the "happily ever after voiceover"..it would have made this drama perfect.
Other than this, the set, the costumes are awesome. The background score is so romantic.
I will definitely be rewatching again to see a great power struggle and also the utterly dashing Pei Wenxuan winning his lady love's heart. 🤩🤩🥰
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