Pursuit of Jade

It's the CLOY of c-dramas, and it's excellent.

This is top shelf goods, 100% Grade A Premium.

You can't please em all. But you can come pretty damn close.

So there are little criticisms to be had everywhere. But to focus on those is nitpicky, because when taken as a whole, this was a mightily satisfying and widely accessible drama, that highlighted all the good things c-dramas have to offer. Much like CLOY does with k-dramas. You can watch it with your friends, with your family, you can rewatch it over and over and it has staying power. Beautiful and funny and powerful iconic scenes created by a visionary director.

Cast was well-chosen, and delivered sincere and elevated performances that played to their strengths. And as usual, Deng Kai nearly stole the show, but this time his acting was on a whole other level of sincerity and depth, and I hope he reaches a new level in his career from this performance because it was EPIC DENG KAI. Pardon my french, but he took this massive A-lister production, and made it his bitch. And I mean that in the best possible way. I'm just so enthusiastic about his performance here that it moves me to expletives. Like if Deng Kai were your favorite hockey team and they just won the stanley cup. He was so great.

Usually I get into pros and cons of a drama when I review it. And then I say who I would recommend it for.

But with this one, it's honestly useless to list pros and cons, because I would recc this to literally just about anybody. And you can find out the pros and cons for yourself while you watch and form your own opinions, but however you walk away from this drama after watching it, it is NOT a waste of time. Its really effin good.

9/10 Because crowd-pleasers have to please everybody, they take less risks and so I give it one point off for "playing it safe" on a few key things. But other than that, this is about as close to "perfect" as a drama designed for a general audience can get.

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Pursuit of The FL Whom The Screenwriter For No Reason Suddenly Turned Into An Background Wallpaper

This drama started brilliantly. The entire 1st half and world buildup in Lin'an was done perfectly to the T. I was really invested in the story, and Changyu was brilliantly portrayed and written. She had nice fighting scenes and her character progressed nicely. The cinematography was just breathtaking. The main leads had natural chemistry and companionship. Later as the story progressed and Changyu found out about the real identity of the male lead, the writing became rushed and Fan Changyu's character was compromised. The screenwriter spoiled the consistency and character progression in FL's character for the comedic relief and that is something I am utterly disappointed with. Furthermore, her own journey towards becoming a female general was absolutely butchered. Her character regressed and as a viewer, I could not relate to her becoming a general at all. It did not feel natural to me due to the writing. The writing and character progression of her character was sidelined and towards the end, I felt like she was just a general in name only and was reduced to an wallpaper who is the love interest of the ML. The screenwriter gave too much time in the first half and later rushed to compress everything together. The casting though was brilliant and everyone performed brilliantly. Overall, the first half was a beautiful watch and the 2nd half was a decent watch only due to the mindblowing cinematography of the director.

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A must watch.

Been waiting for this show since ages 😂😭.
It was a wonderful and entertaining watch.
Would have given it 10/10, but genuinely this drama lacked on a few parts:
1) too many fillers and unnecessary scenes from start
2) ending plot could have been better
3) 2nd lead hot scenes. I know people loving such torturous scenes, but then only production and direction should be blamed. They shot and gave such scenes completely ignoring the gravity of such scenes. They themselves relied of the hotness quotient. So can't blame users, when zhuyu team themselves romantise such SA scenes.
4) Xie zheng, the great marquis of Wuan deserved better battle fight scenes. We couldn't see the true power and rawness of Xie zheng at all.

Nevertheless, it was an entertaining watch, but definitely could have been better.

I will also be angry at the leaks, show could have achieved higher numbers if not for these leaks. Iqiyi should take full responsibility of the mess they made.

Acting wise, everyone slayed and would definitely watch their upcoming shows. Wishing the whole cast all the best.

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A Story Full of Hidden Identities and Emotional Payoffs

What really surprised me was how layered the story turned out to be. At first it felt like a pretty standard historical romance setup, but the deeper it went, the more political tension and character complexity started to unfold. The pacing isn’t perfect some middle episodes drag a little but the emotional payoff later makes it worth sticking with.
The main leads carried the drama really well. Their chemistry felt natural instead of overly dramatic, and I liked that their relationship developed through trust and shared struggles rather than instant romance. There are a few moments where the writing leans into typical drama tropes, but the actors sell the emotions enough that it still lands.
Visually, the drama is gorgeous. The costumes and scenery have that polished historical aesthetic that Chinese dramas do so well. Some of the palace scenes especially look stunning, and the cinematography adds a lot to the overall atmosphere. What I appreciated most was that the story didn’t make its characters purely good or bad. A lot of the side characters have understandable motivations, which makes the conflicts feel more meaningful.
If I had to criticize something, it would be that a few subplots feel rushed, like the writers wanted to wrap things up quickly. I wish certain characters had gotten a bit more resolution.
Overall, I’d say Pursuit of Jade is a really enjoyable watch if you like historical dramas with romance, intrigue, and strong character moments. It’s not flawless, but it kept me invested and emotionally engaged.

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Number 1 best drama of 2026

Tian xi wei wow such a strong female lead her actions scenes were so intense i kept rewinding back to watch. But her and zhang ling he chemistry is everything . Storyline just was chefs kiss the fact that he doubted that her father was guilty and always had her back . This the prefect and one the best contact marriages i have seen. Glad they got their happy ending. I also enjoyed the alternate ending too.This drama even had feel sympathy for the villians. Snow kong and deng kai even though their characters relationship was toxic theres def chemistry i would to see them in a drama again. I def recommend this drama there is no boring episode in my opinion

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what the helly is happening

dropping this because i honestly don't know what the helly is going on and i don't really care tbh. the politics is so convoluted and there's too many characters. the beginning 12ish episodes were great (and the best part of the drama) but the execution for the remaining ones bamboozled me. quite frankly, a waste of time. after the war started, i completely lost interest in the romantic dynamic between FL and ML. chang yu's storyline fell a bit flat and it felt super fake how she was so strong because her father had literally taught her a technique that she reuses over and over again like c'mon, that's not how it works you simple minded simpleton. and then magically, she becomes a general, fights a literal war, and beats other men who have way more of a battlefield experience because of late daddy's special technique. like, where was the actual training, failure, or growth to make that believable? during her fight in ep30, she literally recalls two advice that was told to her abt her fighting skills and suddenly she goes super saiyan and kills the man. nothing about it felt built up properly, so by the end it just felt silly instead of satisfying. i also cringe everytime she says she'll kill pigs to raise the ML.

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what happened?

genuinely almost clicked off and called it quits during the first sighting of ai post lin'an arc. i thought the groundwork of the story was neatly laid, and i was quite impressed with the abilities of the cast, both linghe and xiwei. they have mouthwatering visual chemistry, and i was pretty frustrated by how wasted it was in the second half of the story.

some tropes got a little old after a while, the usage of ai was blatantly disrespectful, and the political lore just started to drag and drag after a while. i was intrigued, i'll admit, by the second leads and their forbidden romance. but then it got overshadowed and watered down for the sake of the main couples, including qi min and qianqian.

it sucks that such a brilliant director with such a keen eye for beautiful imagery fell victim to ai usage in his craft. i was amazed otherwise, but i'm mostly disappointed.

all in all, i don't think i feel the need to finish this show.

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The Pursuit of mediocrity

This drama had a very good first half, the village era was really rich and interesting but the moment they left it, it all came tumbling down here are some things i liked in this drama

1. Good chemistry: the kissing scenes in this drama were actually surprising to me they were high quality and actually good. I also loved the leads i feel like a military plotline was wasted on them because they could have had a romance drama and everyone would have loved it. Even the 2nd leads as toxic as they were also served incredible chemistry.

2. The first half of this drama had me hooked binged the first 15 episodes straight it was funny and very engaging.

3. I loved the fact the female lead knew martial arts and was a butcher we barey get to see women use their heads in Chinese dramas so this change of pace really hooked me on this show.

4.Most of the side charcters her sworn brothers,sister , the princess, the restaurant owner and her uncle and aunt were all very well written i loved their scenes and they exhibited a real family very well.

Now for some things i didn't like

1.The boring subplots and the confusing side charcters, maybe it's just me the whole secret princes minister wei and her father being a criminal arcs where severely boring i put all those scenes on 2x because why do we have more than 3 villians? very uncessary why are we adding villans all over the place how do u expect one to keep track with one if u make more than 3?

2.Dragging storyline and plotlines why did she only find out his indentity ep 27? with only 13 episodes left it feels off putting for some users and definitely discourages people who don't like long dramas

3.The whole military plotline tbh, i generally wished it was just a typical revenge or romance historical drama the whole military arc was annoying confusing and just stole the valuable screen time of our couple for almost a good 5 episodes they don't imteract with one another in the name of war and finding her sister it was very annoying.

4. Failure to introduce new characters and keep up with their plots. Why would u introduce a new character in that way? they would just add them in like they were part of the story then forget them for 5 episodes and leave them be? why? The Princess, the grand tutor? if you introduce people midway in the drama u give the impression they are of some kind of importance but when u don't even mention them or remove any kind of scenes with them for 3 episodes or more just to introduce them again if feels like u completely loose the plot.

All in all it's not a bad drama it's certainly ok but i was expecting better but people on this platform have a way of hyping up some dramas then u end
up being disappointed. Definitely try for yourselves

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What are we pursuing?

It’s strange, but lately, it feels like Zhang Linghe is in every drama I watch.
For me, his best role was in *Story of Kunning Palace*. In that series, he played a more mature character—one who truly demonstrated the emotional depth and expression of an adult. I still remember that cave scene to this day.
That said—
The first half of *this* series seemed to have a little bit of everything; at the time, I really hoped the female lead would evolve into a supportive and capable partner. However, once she arrived at the military camp, she started doing things that were... well, hard to make sense of. Her character development went backwards, even making decisions for other people that she had no right to be making.
I understand that the Marquis wanted a wife who wasn't intimidated by this kind of lifestyle, but she could have easily demonstrated her strength in other ways, rather than turning the plot into a "female general" trope.
Furthermore—it took 26 episodes for him to tell her who he really is. Their relationship lacks the sense of maturity it ought to possess. Ironically, it is the other male lead(Deng Kai)—despite being a quite unhinged and toxic figure—who actually embodies the desire, pain, sorrow, and longing that are characteristic of adult relationships.
I became a little bored with the main couple due to the male lead not really doing much for most of the show despite being a famed general, while female lead becoming too nonsensical. Deng Kai as the villain & the plot with his brother was really the only reason I stuck around for the show.

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Strong start, weak ending

Initially, I was a bit hyped for this. The plot seemed interesting and the starting arc of the series kept me waiting for the continuation episodes.

If the series was mainly about the first arc of the story, I'd rate it a solid 8/10. The visual aspect is done well throughout the series. You can truly see the best sides of the main actors in this series.

The episodes in the first arc were well paced, established the characters well enough to keep me invested, and the tragic fate that befell her village was a good setup for the upcoming episodes.

For me it truly peaked in the episode where she beat the general in two strikes. After that, it went downhill. As others have mentioned, the quick rise in rank on the battlefield, made absolutely no sense. It makes even less sense that she would be placed into that position, even if it was a 'plot' by the opposing sides in the court.

I'm not gonna delve into the main plot, because while it was interesting to guess where it would lead in the beginning, the breadcrumbs you picked up throughout the series, just made it all bland.

I liked the portrayal of the king. He came of as a puppet king, which he acts out well.

Personally, I wanted it to actually focus more on her growth as a up and coming general.

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Good story rushed ending

Pursuit of Jade is undeniably a good drama, but it is ultimately held back by severe pacing issues that drastically lower its rewatch value. The story is highly ambitious, and trying to cram it all into a single run was a mistake. This drama ideally should have been divided into two seasons of 24 episodes each. At the absolute minimum, it needed at least 8 more episodes to do the narrative justice.

The pacing problem becomes glaringly obvious in the final stretch. The last 10 episodes feel so incredibly rushed that it automatically takes you out of the immersion. Instead of experiencing the story naturally, it feels like someone hit the fast-forward button, leaving you to watch a frantic checklist of plot points being rapidly ticked off.

The elements that suffer the most from this rush are the war arc and the final ending. The battlefield sequences, which should have been the epic centerpiece of the story, lack the necessary breathing room to build real tension or stakes. Because the war is hurried, the ending naturally falls flat. The climax arrives too abruptly, and the final resolutions feel unearned. After everything the characters endure, the audience isn't given the time to actually feel the emotional payoff.

Overall, it is a solid show with a great initial setup, making it worth a first watch. However, because the chaotic final 10 episodes ruin the immersion and the emotional landing, I wouldn't go back to rewatch it.

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Overall a RARE gem , MUST watch drama!

PursuitOfJade is a masterpiece from start to finish. The story is gripping and beautifully paced, keeping you hooked with every episode. The main actors deliver performances that are both natural and powerful there’s no forced emotion, just genuine connection.

The best part of this duo is their natural chemistry. It’s rare to find a drama where the leads match so perfectly in acting ability, visual presence, and emotional depth. On top of that, the cinematography is stunning, and even the side characters are well-developed and play their parts seamlessly.

This drama isn’t just entertaining
it’s a full experience. Truly one of the best pairings and productions in recent memory

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