Legend of the Female General

A good Mulan type story but romance wasn't as good as it could have been

I was excited for this because any Mulan-type story gets me hyped. The drama delivered in that department for the first 10-12 eps or so. I loved watching He Yan trying her best to make it as a soldier, fit in with the guys, and impress the boss. And it was fairly easy for her because she already has the skills and mind of a general. Her strength and intelligence throughout the entire drama impressed me. I've only seen Zhou Ye in Everyone Loves Me and Back from the Brink before, so I wasn't if she was going to be able to pull off a serious wuxia. But I think she has a natural gift for portraying pretty but tomboy roles so I was really happy with this casting. There was also no doubt in my mind that Cheng Lei would pull off his role. I will admit that I don't prefer stoic MLs and did not like his character in My Journey to You. Yet I can't deny how well Cheng Lei has acted in both roles. And although Xiao Jue was a great fit for CL, he was just an okay character for me.
Unfortunately, due to the poor writing and story telling in the last half of the drama, the romance as a whole turned out underwhelming. The chemistry was definitely stronger before the couple confessed to each other. Then the love story just got completely lost in the last quarter. Which I could deal with if the conclusion of the plot was handled better. But watching the last 3-5 eps felt torturous and unnecessary. I still liked more than I disliked in this drama but I couldn't give a higher rating solely based on how disappointing the story was towards the end. I am tempted to read the novel because I've heard the story is significantly different and told better.

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Good Fighting scenes but the story was draggy and boring; especially imperial court scenes

The Legend of Female General is a Wuxia costume drama starring Zhou Ye and Ryan Cheng. Their on-screen chemistry was awesome, and it was the first time I watched Ryan Cheng perform as a male lead. He is good and a talented actor. His acting and demeanor as General Feng Yun were good, better than Zhou Ye's character.

The reason I did not give a high rating is that it is a bit draggy, and it took a long time for her to be promoted to join the imperial court. There were too many imperial court scenes that were too boring to watch. The fighting scenes were choreographed perfectly, which I enjoyed the most, and the side kicks were awesome.

Synopsis: To protect her family's noble title, He Yan, the eldest daughter of the He family, is forced to don a mask and pose as the family's eldest son, "He Ru Fei." As a young girl, He Yan first meets the brilliant scholar Xiao Jue at Xianchang Academy. Determined to escape her family's fate, she leaves the academy and heads to the battlefield. Years later, He Yan returns home as a celebrated hero, only to be betrayed by her family when her brother He Ru Fei reappears. Surviving the treachery, He Yan assumes a new identity as He Yan, the daughter of a city gate officer, and disguises herself as a man to join the military in Yezhou, vowing to reclaim everything that was taken from her. In Yezhou, He Yan befriends the gentle and refined Chu Zhao and once again crosses paths with Xiao Jue. However, Xiao Jue suspects He Yan of being a spy and constantly tests her. Despite his suspicions, He Yan clings to Xiao Jue and proves her abilities by becoming the top soldier in Yezhou's defense force. Through various trials, including the Sun family incident, the Ji Yang Princess affair, and the battle to defend Rundu, the two face life and death together and gradually come to understand each other's true feelings.

My Reviews:
1. Acting: 8
2. Script: 7
3. Music/OST: 7
4. Production Quality: 8
5. Cinematography: 7
6. Rewatchable: 7
7. On-Screen Chemistry: 8

Overall Rating: 7.5

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Independent Female General

The drama is terrific. The cast was well chosen and encompasses all the details you would want for each role. From the start of the story, it captured me and made me anticipate the plot that would follow. For those who love to watch strong female leads who make great impacts, this is definitely the drama for you. The female lead has to relive and go through immense pain and struggle to make it back to her position as a general, as her brother and father tried to get rid of her. Originally, she was forced to take her brother's place to train and become a general, as her brother was weak. However, when her brother came back, they blinded her and tried to kill her. Fortunately, she survived and planned to regain her glory. Step by step, she worked hard, eventually reclaiming her title as a general. Along the way, the tensions between her and the male lead were both irritating at times but also really fun to watch. Their love story developed over time, which was kind of like the female lead fell first, but the male lead fell harder for her. A really good thing about the plot is that there are lots of flashbacks that show the interactions between the male and female lead during their early years in school, when the male lead believed that she was a guy. Though there were misunderstandings along the way that caused their relationship to be broken apart, ultimately their affections toward each other ended up inseparable. Clearly, the story was REALLY good, so I rated it a 9.5. The only part of the story that was a little disappointing was the ending, which did not show how some of the side characters. In my opinion, the supporting characters played a huge role in enhancing the story as they added humor into the story. Once again, the cast was absolutely amazing, all the scenes were acted out very well(even the embarrassing ones done by the female lead or some other awkward scenes). The music, though, is definitely worth praising. The intro music to the drama was exceptionally beautiful and matched the drama very well. Additionally, one of the songs was sung by Zhou Shen, which was also really nice to listen to. In my opinion, the rewatch value is definitely lower than the first watch because you know most of the plot, which makes it less interesting. BUT, I do recommend rewatching the most memorable scenes. Overall, this was one of the better dramas that I've watched, so definitely recommend :)

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Wants to be about female empowerment, but misses the mark

With a talented cast and highly stylized but still engaging battle scenes, the "Legend of the Female General" is very watchable, but gets bogged down by some of its script and character choices.

Zhou Ye mostly pulls off the title character, though the playful and tough-as-nails sides of He Yan’s personality didn’t always add up for me. And it does require some suspension of disbelief to buy into her being able to pass as a man while unmasked. It doesn't help that the character is written in an inconsistent way — there are times when she has the presence and poise of a military leader and other times where she definitely doesn't.

While it’s refreshing to see a female lead with fighting and strategic skills on par with the men, male characters frequently come to her rescue at key moments and the borderline ridiculous level of plot armor that she has makes her capabilities less impressive.

Add to that a few too many lectures and monologues, and the messages about women’s worth and equality start to get a little heavy-handed.

Ryan Cheng is certainly leading man material and convincingly plays the brooding but anguished General Fengyun, He Yan’s current commanding officer and former schoolmate. Unfortunately, his character doesn’t have a whole lot to do other than look dashing and speculate about the FL’s secrets.

Overall, despite good performances and mostly good production values, it feels like something’s missing. It could be due to the meandering plot towards the middle, character development that could’ve gone further, or the romantic storyline that falls a little flat despite decent chemistry between the leads (although there is a particularly memorable and poetic profession of love in ep. 30 *).

* “I respect her, value her, and won’t let anyone slander her. She graces my view, occupies my mind, and claims my heart.” (swoon!)

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a drama not reaching its full potential.

not gonna lie this drama was better than i expected and good compared other recently released historical dramas ,except prisoner of beauty.

ignoring plot holes like the fls completely different physique and voice compared to her brother. chu zhao's completely foolish behavior in the end ,where several different options could've been chosen for extending an extra 2 episodes(34-36).
i know the reincarnation plot was changed from the webnovel due chinese sensoring. they did mange to save the story despite it. the plot armor for the fl is really strong by the way.
i wanted a better backstory of how the fl became a general which it did not give.
i liked the chemistry between the leads with more romantic scenes compared to other dramas.

overall not a bad watch with good acting, production and music with subpar script in last few episodes.

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okay, queen

TLDR; The story was great up until the end..like I feel like there were a lot of inconsistencies that led to something that probably wasn't supposed to happen just bc the writers wanted to change it up a bit. And the last episode was definitely rushed. All things considered, the very last end was worth watching. Acting is phenomenal, and music is worth relistening. I don't tend to rewatch shows so this one's just a one-time watch, but it was enjoyable.

Story: There's a bit of a mystery aspect to it, but it's not overly complicated (as someone who finds it hard to parse mysteries). Also, I enjoy a secret identity that links to the main leads bc all it takes is one slip to realize who the other person really is--the paradigm shift that changes their relationship almost instantly, and I patiently wait for that moment bc it's very rewarding. Supporting characters' love plot is also very nice and just as good as the mains'. There are a ton of feminist ideals that aren't overly cheesy and get the point across. The plot w/ second ml is a bit too much and kinda out of character to me imo--idk if they did that bc of whose student he is, but idk, it just seems out of nowhere.. And the emperor's attitude is lowkey wishy-washy like why do that when you're just going to retract it just as easily, but I digress..

Acting/Cast: Every character is expressive in their facial expressions, esp ml, that don't need to be verbal to make an impact. It's also natural and it doesn't feel like it's just a show, if that makes sense.

Music: A lot of good songs in this one. The instrumental renditions are also very good and worth relistening to.

Rewatch value: One and done but enjoyable while it lasted.

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A balanced blend of romance and exciting battle scenes.

Legend of Female General is a solid and enjoyable historical drama that kept me entertained.
What stood out the most for me is the strong chemistry between the leads, the romance blends in well with the military and political themes, giving the drama a good balance of action and emotional moments.
The production quality is also impressive with beautiful costumes, well-choreographed battle scenes and settings.
Some of the middle episodes drag a little, there are noticeable plot holes that make certain story turns feel less convincing and some side characters or villains could have been written with more depth.
The female lead’s acting isn’t always the strongest but the engaging storyline and the great lead chemistry make up for it and the ending was very satisfying.
Overall, this is a drama I’d happily recommend.

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Preview looked greater but all was just hype

I was really excited due to all the reaction it got. The trailers also seem great.

Pro: the fl was so pretty as a man. There were fun moments as she was being like mulan. I enjoyed the moments of her at that time. I liked how the ml found out her gender fast. Ml eye contact was good. Choreography was nice I can say that.

Con: her acting as a dude in the first half was so bad, she was so girly and flirty. I’ve seen good Korean dramas where they pretend to be male and I’m myself convinced. This was not convincing. the voice or acting was not good for pretending to be a male. The love scenes came later and wasn’t that intense. I wanted more love and more compelling love. Ml was not very expressive nor that romantic. The Sl story was just everywhere. Story just was messy. Villain was just okay but sided with someone incompetent. There was no real twist. There were some parts I just had to skip.

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Entertaining with some flaws

Once again i’m beginning to write my review despite not finishing completely (the last two episodes are playing at the background). I have to agree that similarly with many cdramas they should’ve ended things earlier. The last plot twists ruin a good flow of script as well as characterization of the king and Chu Zhao. And i don’t quite understand the need to do so. Maybe we need the required quota of character deaths. Also the character of Chu Zhao might need to be addressed as good or evil since clearly nothing in netween can’t be tolerated.

That being said, I very much liked the fact that Xiao Jue didn’t simply give up his title in the end, since that would’ve contradicted his character in my eyes.

Over all, I enjoyed the drama. Of course many parts needed to be squinted through, since it was filled with cliches and typical unrealistic actions. How amazing this drama would’ve been if it had been more realistically done? I did wish this especially on the matters concerning the military.

I will most definitely watch again, maybe just stop watching at episode 33.

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The Most Annoying Child Actor I've Seen on Screen

From time to time, I almost couldn’t tolerate watching this series anymore because of this pretentious, fake-acting kid. He’s the most annoying child character in any series I've ever seen and he made me dislike a child character like never before. Normally, even when a story is bad, characters played by child actors still manage to be cute and likable. This series is the complete opposite.

The story itself is actually enjoyable, but this child actor is just unbearable. I honestly don’t understand why he was cast at all unless it’s because of nepotism. His acting is highly pretentious and not convincing in the slightest. I first thought he was a spy or something. He's the person who made me start hating the show.

Apart from that child, this is the first drama that I actually feel the actress playing FL has real chemistry with her ML. Usually, I don’t sense any romantic chemistry between her and her co-stars at all.

For the ML, this is the first drama since "My Journey to You" that I feel he has a impactful on-screen presence. Even though his popularity rose after that drama, the roles he’s taken on since then have been less interesting (I'm talking about "Shadow Love" and "How Dare You!?"). This role isn’t particularly special, but it suits him well. He fits the fierce, intense, violent type of character. I enjoy watching him in this kind of moments.

As for the story, there’s nothing new. It’s basically a typical cross-dressing genre drama that follows the genre's typical pattern, but the leads carry it well enough that I still enjoy watching it.

𓂃 ✦ 𓂃

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worth the hype.

Pretty good. loved Zhou Ye and her playful character. I fell in love with Cheng Lei and his morally grey character. Love that they are always true to themselves till the end, no matter the circumstances. Love their chemistry and the storyline. I also enjoyed the complex characters like the emperor and Chu Zhao, because you don't really know their next move.
My only qualm is that they couldn't have made He Yan's school days character any less believable; it's almost ridiculous, but the overall plot saves it. I also wish the 5 buddies of He Yan had more screentime. AND I wish there was a bit more suffering and crying on my end; that'll make a 10/10 drama for sure.
overall worth the hype: 9/10

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SAID WHAT I SAID. WOMEN IN MALE FIELDS. THIS SHOW IS SO GAY TBH IF XIAO JUE DID NOT REALIZE HAHAHA

CGI is kind of meh in the first episode.

Everyone keeps saying they're disappointed because this is a novel adaptation, which Xiao Jue terrified them in the drama version. I haven't read the novel; as someone who only watched the drama, this is my honest opinion. The plot was good, the slow burn trope makes me SCREAM. The cinematography is not the best, just good. I love that there's no toxic scene that C-dramas often do, such as forced kissing or unintentional things.

Xiao Jue is the greenest flag, letting He Yan choose her path, everything just for her, and the fact he's not giving up on his title, it's kind of rare in C-dramas that male leads would sacrifice anything, or make unnecessary sacrifices. Whilst they're still together, this is what we call LOVE MATH, MINIMUM LOSS.
THE MARTIAL ARTS COULD BE MORE EXPLORED... But, I love every scene of He Yan's fight. OH, I REALLY LOVE XIAO JUE'S GAZE. THE ACTING IS PEAKKKK, THE LOOK OF LOVE.

THIS IS WHAT I IMAGINE WHEN THE NARRATION SAID THAT HIS GAZE SOFTENED.

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