A Splendid Match

Strong female lead and mature male lead

It's been a while since I've enjoyed watching a Cdrama. For a change, there's none of the overused Cinderella trope. Female is rich and clever at the same time. She's honest with her feelings, but knows her worth- does not wait for any man. This actress is the perfect choice for the role- youthful look, but headstrong persona. This is my first time watching Ren MIn and would now check out her other shows.

I am also enjoying ML's acting. It's the first time I've seen him play a role with a wider range of emotions. Appreciate his mature acting and subtle, but on point facial expressions. For some reason, never realy found him goodlooking until now.

Second male lead's character is very much like his role in Perfect match. Nevertheless, he's still as charming. Hopefully, more people will find this show enjoyable so that it'll get the rating /popularity that it deserves.

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One of the Best Historical Dramas

Before you start, don't expect you're watching a drama like Pursuit of Jade, Story of Kunning or even Blossom where everything happens in the first episodes. It's a slow burn drama, so you need to watch every detail of it, from the dialogues to the eye contact of the characters. There are so much detail in this drama that if you miss them you won't feel what the characters want to convey to each other.
I loved the main leads and their romance journey and also the side characters. As for the villains, from all from all of them the most intelligent and cunning is the male lead's mentor, you even can feel how treacherous he's by the way he looks to everyone from the very first episode.

It's a great drama, and I would watch it again. ❤️

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Why I Decided to Stop at the Halfway Point

This is a drop review—commentary on the first half of the season. No numerical ratings, opinions only.

This wasn’t my cup of tea. I don’t want to get too deep into specifics since I’ve already shared my thoughts on the drama a few times in the group, and after a while, repeating the same points feels less like reviewing and more like criticizing.

I will say that I was immersed at the start, and I enjoyed the characters, their roles, and the dynamics between them. But as the story progressed, the characterization started shifting in ways that didn't land for me, and the plot gradually lost my interest. I stayed with it through to the midpoint because I wanted to remain open to where the story was heading. But after that, I was mostly just keeping up with the parts I was drawn to, mainly the political aspects.

That said, I do think the performances themselves were wonderful from what I watched, and the cast really stood out in their roles. We don't see enough of Ci Sha IMO and Winwin delivered a masterful performance with his character.

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A Splendid Match? More Like a Splendid Surprise

I am genuinely SHOOK by how good A Splendid Match was. I did not see this coming at all. The show was not highly rated or talked about that much, so I went in with pretty normal expectations, but damn, was it good.

I do think this show is not for everyone because it is a VERY slow burn. It takes its time, and romance is not the main focus, especially in the first half. The actual romance really kicks in after Episode 20. However, the show is so interesting that I genuinely did not mind waiting. It has everything: court intrigue, family disputes, romance, war, revenge, friendship, business, and almost a chess-game-like battle of minds. Surprisingly, despite having so many different elements, the plot is very easy to follow and never becomes overly complicated.

There was honestly never a boring or dull moment for me. Even when the focus was not on the romance, I was still completely invested. I genuinely enjoyed this show so much, and so far, it is one of my favorite dramas of the year. I definitely think it deserves more attention, although, again, I understand that the slow-burn structure will not work for everyone.

First, I NEED to talk about the male lead, Chi Sha. OH MY GOD. I have watched him before, but are people sleeping on this man?! I really hope this drama skyrockets his career and opens new doors for him because WHERE HAS HE BEEN?

He does not have that typical pretty-boy handsomeness, but at the same time, he is absolutely gorgeous. He has such a masculine presence, and the casting was perfect. His acting was amazing, and he suited this character so well. I loved the contrast between his cold, ruthless side and the incredibly soft side he showed only to her.

Yan Yuan is such an interesting character. He is definitely not your typical green flag because we literally start the show with him on the wrong side, killing people. He can be ruthless, but he is also capable of so much mercy and tenderness. I honestly think the actor is a huge reason I loved the character this much because he portrayed every side of him so well. He is charismatic, masculine, and ridiculously attractive. His smile? Amazing. His hair down? AMAZING. His costumes? Amazing. The black wardrobe? Amazing. His fighting scenes? Also amazing. I could talk about him all day.

He is officially my new male crush. I enjoyed every second he was on screen.

And Yan Yuan as a hopeless romantic? OH MY GOD, WE LOVE TO SEE IT. I love a man who is easy when it comes to love. Once he fell for her, he accepted it. He did not spend 20 episodes denying his feelings. He admitted it to himself quite quickly, confessed openly, followed her around, supported her, and was completely gone for her. I LOVE HIM.

As for Ren Min, her character here reminded me a little of her character in The Rise of Ning, but I loved her there, so I did not mind at all. I love a strong female lead who is not just kind and good but can also be ruthless when necessary. This girl was SLAPPING people left and right, and she refused to bend for anyone.

I loved the complexity of Jin Zhao. I loved her acting, her styling, and the shift in her appearance from an unmarried woman to a married woman. I also LOVED her businesswoman era. I enjoyed watching her relationships with the people around her, how forgiving she could be, how strongly she fought for justice, and how fiercely she protected the people she loved. I genuinely loved and enjoyed her character from beginning to end.

Now for one of the most beautiful parts of the show: THE MAIN COUPLE.

Their chemistry and romance were amazing. They are easily one of my favorite couples of the year. Their relationship was surprisingly mature, open, and supportive. I loved them so much.

And their scenes after they got married? OH MY GOD. They were so romantic, intimate, close, and touchy. Amazing. The way he was constantly picking her up? I loved every second of it. Their scenes together portrayed love and intimacy so beautifully. Their chemistry was not necessarily explosive or electric; it was something deeper, softer, and more beautiful. They genuinely felt like two people who loved each other deeply.

My only issue with their romance is that it starts WAY too abruptly.

The show spends so much time in the beginning focusing on the female lead and the second male lead, and then suddenly, after the three-year time jump, the romance with the male lead kicks into high gear. I do not think that transition was handled very well. We clearly see Yan Yuan falling in love with her throughout the beginning of the show, but with Jin Zhao, I do not think we saw enough of her slowly falling for him.

Suddenly, he admits his feelings, and she is basically like, “Okay, I love you too.” I needed more! I wanted to SEE her falling in love with him. This genuinely annoyed me because the foundation was there, but the emotional transition was rushed. Still, I loved them together, and once the romance finally started, I enjoyed every second of it.

You really do have to wait for the love story, though. I waited more than 20 episodes! But I was okay with it because so much character development and plot progression happened before then.

Now, for the hidden star of the show: WINWIN AS YE XIAN.

OH MY GOD. I LOVED THAT MAN.

I enjoyed him from the very beginning. I know a lot of people hated him for hurting Jin Zhao, and yes, what he did was wrong, but I understood his character. Ye Xian is someone with an incredibly high rank who is feared by everyone, yet he has never truly been loved by his father. He constantly puts on this strong, untouchable persona, but underneath it, he is deeply broken.

He also lives with a serious heart condition and always feels as if something inside him is missing. So while I absolutely think he made mistakes and hurt her, I understood where his behavior came from.

His character development was one of my favorite parts of the show. His chemistry with the female lead was also amazing. I fully expected him to become evil after she married Yan Yuan because that is what second male leads usually do. And yes, he had a reaction to the marriage, but honestly, his reaction was understandable. What I loved was that he never truly became evil. Instead, he had such a beautiful redemption arc.

His love for her could be intense and even violent at times, but it was completely in character for him. Winwin did an amazing job, and I genuinely cannot wait to see him in more leading roles because he deserves them.

Something else I absolutely loved was how close Jin Zhao remained to Ye Xian. You rarely see a female lead maintain such a deep and important relationship with the second male lead. Their friendship was beautiful.

What she told him about why she could never love him romantically was also so meaningful. She basically said that loving him would feel like loving herself because she saw herself in him. He was her mirror. That was exactly why she could never fall in love with him. She saw too much of herself in him.

Meanwhile, he also saw himself in her, which was exactly why he wanted her to love him so desperately.

Their story was beautiful even though they did not end up together. I was okay with that because, until the end, they still deeply cared about each other. She always tried to support him, and I loved that Yan Yuan never tried to stop her from being close to Ye Xian. Of course, he got jealous sometimes and fought with him, but he never tried to control her relationship with him.

And eventually, Yan Yuan and Ye Xian became friends too.

THEN THEY KILLED HIM.

OH MY GOD, DID I CRY.

I have not cried over a character like that in such a long time. His death completely broke me. And then Yan Yuan carrying him on his back? I was DONE.

What made it even more heartbreaking was how Yan Yuan allowed Jin Zhao to mourn Ye Xian. He understood how devastated she was. He was not jealous or insecure. He simply let her grieve someone who had been such an important part of her life. Ren Min's acting in those scenes was incredible. Every time I see that scene, I still cry.

As heartbreaking as it was, I also think it was a perfect ending for Ye Xian's character. It was better than watching him slowly die from his heart condition. He died proving his father wrong. He proved that he was capable of fighting on the battlefield and dying while defending his country.

I loved him. I loved his character. I loved everything about him. I am just still heartbroken.

And then his bodyguard died too. AND YAN YUAN'S BODYGUARD. Oh my God. Those last few episodes destroyed me. I cried so much.

I also need to mention the young emperor because OH MY GOD, I loved that kid. He was so cute and so much fun to watch. I only wish we had seen him at the end becoming a powerful emperor.

I also loved Jin Zhao's cousin. He was the definition of a supportive brother, and I really wish we had seen more of him.

On the other hand, this show had SO MANY vile, disgusting, insufferable characters that I wanted to reach through the screen and kill them myself. One of them was Jin Zhao's female cousin. That woman was such a brat, and I really wish we had seen her receive the punishment she deserved.

And Yan Yuan's nephew? OH MY GOD. I was genuinely so happy when he died because I was DONE with that psychopath. I hated him. I hated his storyline. I hated every second he appeared on screen.

There were a lot of horrible characters, but thankfully, the good characters were good enough to balance them out.

I would have given this show a 10/10 if it were not for that DAMN ENDING.

WHAT WAS THAT?!

It is not even that the ending was sad or tragic. My problem is: WHERE WAS THE ENDING? There basically was no ending!

I was so disappointed. You had 40 episodes and could not spare FIVE MINUTES to show us the characters being happy? No one wanted to spend the final minutes of the drama watching the villain! They could have removed so many unnecessary scenes and given us a proper ending.

The villain's downfall was also extremely unsatisfying. We should have gotten a time jump. We should have seen Jin Zhao and Yan Yuan happy together. Give them a child or something! Show us the young emperor growing into a powerful ruler. Show us the other characters. Give us the happily ever after!

Instead, the ending was rushed, incomplete, and genuinely bad. I was sitting there like, “NO. THAT'S IT?!”

Despite the terrible ending, though, I still loved the show. It was genuinely well made and such a pleasant surprise. The plot was easy to follow, the costumes were beautiful, the sets were gorgeous, and the makeup and overall production were very well done. The OST was also lovely. Nothing extremely memorable for me, but still very nice.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend A Splendid Match if you enjoy chess-game-style plotting, court intrigue, politics, family conflicts, revenge, friendship, strong character development, and a beautiful slow-burn romance. It has so many different elements, and somehow, they all work together.

This show genuinely surprised me, and despite my issues with the rushed romantic transition and that AWFUL excuse for an ending, it is still one of my favorite dramas of the year.

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A Fairly Good Script With Several Twists Different From The Novel

It was refreshing to see Ci Sha as the lead actor, carrying the role well as both an older statesman and a middle-aged man. The director seemed overly generous with the number of kissing scenes for the lead couples, perhaps getting carried away. Over many episodes, I was puzzled by how the Chancellor, once deeply motivated to reform the country, turned into a greedy and corrupt man willing to collude with Northern Barbarians against his own people. Even until the final episode, I believed this brilliant man blindly trusted his wife simply to please her. I was unexpectedly moved to tears when Ye Xian died in episode 39; his speech rallying his troops was truly inspiring. For years, he bore the shame of being unable to assume his father’s marquis title due to heart illness, and I never expected him to die in battle. Chen Xuan Qing’s transformation from a bright, mature, sensible kid into someone consumed by jealousy toward his father and uncle was a ridiculous twist. At his final hour of death, he returned to that sensible child felt deeply ironic.

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Absolutely stunning

This is one of the most addictive , engaging Chinese Dramas I have ever watched. Ci Shan is stunning and has moved from a second Male Lead to a Super Star Lead after this one. The drama is beautifully done with loads of handsome suiters chasing after the female lead. She is tough, outspoken and honest. Her conversations with her dreadful Father are legendary. She is a breath of fresh air and provides a wonderful alternative to mousy, squeaky Female Leads. It is certainly a Splendid Match,. Both Leads are stunning. Full paced with lots of great acting. lovely settings, great story. The female Lead's Family are atrocious and deserve a good and painful outcome. This drama will be legendary. The amount of postings I have seen on other channels are chock a block full of excited, mostly females who cannot wait for the next episodes. There will be lots of binge watchers. After a drought of forgettable dramas the tide seems to be turning towards some excellent, mostly Chinese Dramas. This has been a totally consuming experience of watching a Drama for me. It Marks the First time I ever became addicted and couldn't wait for the next Episode. The Male Lead is stunning and I hope this drama catapults him into becoming a Super Male Lead in many more dramas. I saw him in Forever and Ever and felt sorry he did not feature more. What a wonderful match between him and the Lovely Female Lead. Their collective families were as Ugly as can be found in most Period dramas of families competing and fighting amongst each other for Power and influence. .
The reason I am doing my Review before the final Episodes is because I am worried it will be screwed up before the end and we will be robbed of our happy ending for the Main couple. That will be a tragedy.. There has been so much Angst every episode. So much excitement, disbelief at the insanity of a number of neurotic men in Pursuit of the Female lead and Ugly Entitled Females.. This Drama will Be my first Number One Choice for a long time to come. It will be rewatched forever. Bravo to all involved in the production and every Actor who were tremendous. This Drama Has Real Impact and will no doubt be remembered by heaps of Grateful people. Thank you and fingers crossed for a happy ending for our beloved Main Leads.

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Romance and Politics, Family Drama!

A Splendid Match is not so new genre in which it tells about a lady in family conflict and fictional historical politics. However, what makes it so special for me is the chemistry between the main couple. The politics in drama is also not so difficult to follow through. So overall, it's so easy to engage and get into the story completely.

In early episodes, there weren't many scenes between the main cp. But it cannot hide away the obvious connection. Even when they just look at each other, the chemistry is flowing. Once male lead knew that he was in love, and the way he persue her were all good to watch. I can say that Chen Yan Yun is another male lead type i admire. I love the way he persue love and how smart he is in political game. Ci Sha gives perfect performace for this character, who is mature, smart and romantic.

Ren Min is very beautiful as Gu Jinzhao, our female lead. However, I just have a feeling that I don't understand her much at times. She is a good person in overall, but also a sharp tongue who was not afraid to stand up for herself or told off her own father. I don't understand why she can't call her mother "mother" when she already come good terms with her mother who was then near to victim in her marriage household. The mother was not able to look after her since young because of the father took her away. Nevertheless she was still the mother. So Jinzhao seemed good term with her. So I don't exactly get Jinzhao whether she still holding grudge or not able to forgive the mother wholly?
Her relationship with Ye Xian looks weird at times for me. It felt like they had skipped some parts. Because I was not convinced that they had such deep relationship that he become very important to her. I can see his admiration towards her (but he's too bratty and so immature at times). He did few things for her (not as much as male lead). Him and Jinzhao were mostly on bickering and then she come to see good side of him too. But then I don't think they have spend enough time to get strong bond. Therefore, I just don't understand why she would say he was important to her (just not in romantic way).
Lastly, after her marriage with Chen Yan Yun, I wish she talked properly with Xuan Qing, her first crush, that she no longer have feelings for him. I mean after all she used to crush on him and acted like she liked him before. The guy deep down might still thinking she still have that feeling and was married to Chen Yan Yun for good sake. The way she avoided him just feels she leaves the problem just hanging like that without solving it.

Despite some confusing stuffs, A Splendid Match is a nice watch so far. It's generally beautiful historical setting. Costume are beautiful. The casts give superb performance(especially from the older generation).
I have watched so far up to episode 32. I will update my review once I watch to the end of drama.
My current is score 8.5. Generally a good watch though with some confusing flaws.

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This drama is so slept on. It is so good!

As an avid cdrama watcher, this drama was insane!! It is completely slept on and being overshadowed by others, and it is such a hidden gem!

I wanted to first bring up the chemistry. OH MY LORD the chemistry. The FL and ML talk with their eyes, both of their eyes oozing love for one another; this level of acting is insane. Truly applause for Ci Sha and Ren Min, their acting was exceptional. The way the loved each other, cared for one another makes this pair one of my favorite couples out of the 100+ cdramas I have watched. I have seen many people complaining about Chen Yanyun looking to old or favoring the second ML, but honestly, I cannot get over the chemistry between the two. The love that CYY has for his wife, the stability even when he is angry, the maturity, makes him the best husband out of them all. Their love , the way their eyes soften when they are around each other, the way their body gravitates to one another, alone made this show worth the watch.

Even without them being together in the start of the show wasn't a problem, after all watching our FL, a character who is genuinely smart and crafty, make her way through the capital was enticing. I love how even after marriage she wasn't made some dumb character who fades into the back, she remained sharp throughout, and CYY loves her for it! Again just Ren Min did this role so well!

On to the plot, overall it was coherent, and made sense. It was a bit cliche, but interesting nonetheless. The emperor was a great character, watching him actually become smart instead of some puppet child emperor, schemeing with CYY and Ye Xian was very fun to watch. That reminds me, I loved CYY and Ye Xians developing friendship, they went from strangers fighting over the same girl, to truly people who relied on each other in battle, their relationship was heartwarming to watch (especially towards the end; I started crying, they did care for each other in a way).

For those of you wondering about the ending, it is a happy ending so don't worry (well relatively happy...). Like many others, I did wish for more from the ending, some closure on how everything ended, how is the court, the people, but the rest of the show truly makes up for it.

To all of you reading this review, WATCH THIS DRAMA! IT IS SO GOOD!

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Truly Splendid

"Splendid Match" really surprised me… in a good way, until it didn't. My main issue is that none of the love interests are true matches for the female lead; they're all flawed and doomed from the start. The romantic trope felt fresh at first, but quickly fell flat once I realized this. On top of that, the male lead's appearance and prune-like facial expressions distracted me, making it hard to stay engaged. I ended up not finishing the drama, especially since the fight scenes lost their appeal; suddenly, the male lead couldn't fight or keep himself or the female lead safe. Watching "Adventures of Zhan Zhao" right after only highlighted these problems more.

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A Standard Plot with Boring Beats

I’ve made it to episode 12, and honestly, the domestic conflict here strongly reminds me of 'The Glory' style of plotting. You’ve got the legitimate daughter cast out because of a 'bad omen' prophecy, the villainous concubine and her children, a spineless patriarch with zero integrity, and the 'weak' primary wife.

To be fair, this type of trope is starting to feel a bit exhausting, especially when layered with the usual palace politics. Even 12 episodes in, I’m still not feeling the chemistry between the leads. I haven't quite engaged with the storyline or the main characters yet.

The only thing keeping me interested so far is the production design. The costumes and accessories, especially for the female characters, are stunning and look so beautifully crafted.

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