This review may contain spoilers
something different from your typical mini cdrama
I don’t usually write drama reviews, but I felt the need to for this drama.1. This drama is surely different from the usual mini C-drama tropes. It involves the story an archaeologist who time-travels and becomes a royal concubine, while the male lead can enter people’s dreams, something I didn’t see coming.
2. I love that the writers didn’t forget she was an archaeologist! She was so excited to see and feel ancient artifacts in real life (the king included🫢).
3. The leads had amazing chemistry, resolved misunderstandings quickly, and the actors portrayed their characters so well.
4. The plot was never boring wi so many twists that kept me hooked.
5. It had a happy ending (for me at least), though the princess’s first love didn’t work out 💔, but she still found happiness.
Now that it’s over, I feel so empty 😢. If you’re thinking of watching, DO IT!
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This review may contain spoilers
Unpredictable in good way + wonderful arcs for 3 main characters
I am a massive fan of Wen Mo Yan so I was delighted to see a new drama out in the first quarter of the 2025.What I liked:
1. The plot - Wow, I was surprised at every turn as all my guesses of where things were going were incorrect. Making a few historical characters with little known back story was a great move to be creative with character development. It's refreshing.
2. FL characterisation - I liked Ye Ji Nan. She's a history buff which was advantageous to her but she was sensible while exploring. I enjoyed watching Wen Mo Yan playing Ye Ji Nan in modern and historical eras.
3. ML characterisation - I liked Feng Zhi Li. He was a known tyrant but later we saw his other sides. I liked that we saw his baddie side in third act. This is my first time watching We Ji Feng's acting and I was pleasantly surprised by his performance. He was able to express different personas of Feng Zhi Li and overall he was charming.
3. SFL characterisation - Princess Zhi Fan was a delight to watch. She's a capable, smart and beautiful army general. I also enjoyed watching her character development. This is my first time watching Liu Jia Xi's performance and I was impressed.
4. Romance - It was a fun ride at the start since Ye Ji Nan was brought into the royal concubine's body and she had to impersonate. I loved it when she realised that she should seize the opportunity to have a romantic relationship with the King. Yes, there were several kisses but what made me enjoyed watching their romance is the affectionate and tender moments. It was good to see the couple being tested in their relationship due to ML's severe action.
5. Ending - I thought it would go another way but hey I really liked this ending.
6. Stying - The outfits worn by the main three characters were beautiful. I love some of the royal concubine's robes.
What I disliked:
1. Supporting characters - Ling Shan and Yan Ming were underdeveloped characters. I was intrigued by Ling Shan and wanted to see him more on screen.
2. Dubbing - I was dismayed when I heard FL's voice in the first episode. That wasn't Wen Mo Yan's voice. Apparently most characters were dubbed. I wonder why.
Favourite scene
When FL found out that ML knew about her real identity
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Unique and visually appealing
Stumbled upon this one by accident while searching for another show and was positively surprised. The emperor is really handsome and the acting especially from the main couple is really good. Also, whoever fitted the emperor did an amazing job.That is to say, there were a few minor plotholes throughout the story which did not impact the experience whatsoever and the plot was pretty solid up until the ending where it crumbled. The main villain's motivations were quite watery as well. The music for the romantic scenes was quite anticlimatic. It starts with drum sounds, kind of like "We will rock you" by Queen (just to give an example). Always felt more like jamming than feeling the romance when hearing that.
Generally, I like the concept that FL is an archeologist. I haven't seen this type of character in a time travel yet. So it definitely had it's unique twists, also with some minor supernatural aspects (don't worry, they won't spoil the experience).
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This review may contain spoilers
Not expected
Ok let me start by saying that it's not worthy of an 8 per se, but it's so refreshingly different from all the rip bodice dramas out there that I kept watching without realising it! You don't know what to expect, but you must overcome the obstacle of the 1st episode to appreciate it.So an archaeologist travels through time and wakes up as his concubine. He's wacko and she's supposedly more so, or so her body predecessor was. And then you get the ML's super power of being able to enter other people's dreams! Like, whaaaaat? He knows immediately she's not his concubine and yes, they resolve that quite early in the drama, and we get a very touching story that connects both their worlds... Anyway, I don't want to ruin it for you. Watch it, it's really good!
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