This review may contain spoilers
Very complex story packed with good characters - romance, revenge and whole lot of more!
This was one of the first surprises in 2025: short, but really involved story which sometimes was overdone and sometimes uncooked. Acting was pretty good although sometimes uneven, but overall the effect was really good.Below are the major spoilers because tracking all the twists of the story is not so easy if you fast forward too much as a habit.
The story of a princess from the South who is raised by and for the enemy (North) to be their valiant leader of Jet-Black Armored Cavalry, is buried deeply underneath the usual orphan girl (pretending to be a boy) to general story. But while she is a kickass military person and has awesome relationship with her men (including 2nd prince of North who is her vice general) there are three scoundrels who plot to get rid of her - including the North King who orders her and her troop to be killed to keep 2nd prince under control. The history is further complicated by the fact that 2nd prince competes with his older brother for the throne and there is a envoy from the South (Shafeng) who falls for the general and also wants to get his paws on the North's throne.
The general FL does not die along her men, but she has to be now the tool and a toy of that dude from the South who not only gives the general better face but also masquerades himself as the 1st prince and... kills the North King after he imprisons the 1st stealing his face!
Further down the road 2nd prince falls for the general who is now a woman, and we are on the roller coaster ride because the general is poisoned and made a puppet of the Southern madman and unwillingly blinds the 2nd prince! Regardless of all of that the true love flourishes and in order to save his girl 2nd prince takes the general to the South King looking for a remedy. There we learn that the remedy can only be applied during the intercourse and the South King has that remedy in his hands, while WE know that the general is his sister!!! Will there be an incest?
Well, it all works out because of love: brotherly and romantic. People sacrifice themselves left and right (so many good side characters well written and played!) and in the end all band together to free the 1st prince from the clutches of the madman from the South pretending to be the North King now aiming at marrying the general even though he is dying of poison himself. He will give the general antidote to her poison but in exchange for killing the 2nd prince. The general is smart and will just wound her beloved, but after she does the madman from the South reveals that he poisoned the weapons so even a scratch will kill the 2nd prince. How do you like it now, huh?
Ending? In Ep 23 we are still wondering how the Southern scoundrel is going to ruin leads' happiness since he escaped the North with the news that South now has an antidote to his poison. In the last episode the tension builds incredibly because now there is the 3rd country attacking the North and they came with the deadly poisons of the Shafeng on their weapons! The 2nd prince now the King of North orders his soon to be wife and queen to stay in the palace, but when she defies that order he follows her because she is always his general. The HE could have been better organized rather than two-line comment about the death of the Southern madman, but it was still satisfying to see that the ML stood by FL!
For those who had seen the FL actress before (for ex in Love and Bid Farewell) you will love her agency and power here. For those who like the male leads here - all 3 ML are handsome and there is plenty of naked torsos and seductive masculinity in plain view. All of that is encased in a really nice sound/OST and framed with very good outdoor shots with incredible lighting that fits the scenes' gravitas or melancholy (you will love half naked troop toiling against the backdrop of greener than envy grass as well as kisses, lingering longing and intimacy - particularly the bed scene after consummation!)
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Addictive But Don't Look Too Close
This show was addicting to watch but FULL of hand-waving and plot holes. Some were so small you barely noticed and thought "maybe I just missed something" but others were so big you could drive you car through.That said, I was INVESTED wanting to know what was going to happen next. This show took a soup of tropes and made them actually feel mostly fresh. From gender-bending to face-swapping; palace politics, mindcontrol and betrayal, there was a little bit of everything in this plot.
The music had an intense, epic feeling to it that helped carry that feeling of getting addicted and NEEDING to know what will happen next.
8.5/10 (bumped up for enjoyment)
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It was painful to try to end it
As an addict of female general dramas, I really had high hopes for this one, but honestly, I tortured myself just to finish it. The FML got "announced dead" like 4? 5? times—like, enough is enough already. They just kept piling on clichés. Sure, she’s strong, and yeah, the enemy general being in love with her was kinda okay. I didn’t hate their acting too much, but the whole thing felt like it was written by someone drunk at 3 a.m. But hey, what else would you expect from a cheap Chinese drama, I guess?Was this review helpful to you?
An Exiting Journey with a few bumps
I really enjoyed the first few episodes—they were so exciting and had a lot of great character development. The costumes were gorgeous, and the cinematography really made the show feel special. The fight scenes were amazing, too! I loved how well-choreographed everything was, and the soundtrack added so much to the overall vibe. That line, ‘Not born together but die together,’ really hit me. The villain was one of my favorite parts—he was really interesting and added a lot of depth to the story. The romance scenes were also great, adding a sweet and emotional touch to everything.That said, as much as I loved it, the plot did have some holes that became pretty noticeable later on. Honestly, if the writing had been a little tighter, this could’ve been a 10/10. But still, I enjoyed seeing it as the LABF couple’s second chance at happiness—it felt like a nice, hopeful ending after all their past struggles."
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A decent mini drama but some plot holes but worth watching for He Xuan Lin
Subjective Gut Rating: 7.75“Always My General” started out with an interesting (but not unique) premise of FL disguised as a man and is the fiercely general of the Xuangjia Army. He Zuan Lin’s cross-dressing portrayal isn’t too bad. Of course, she still looks pretty and skinny, but at least her acting tries to show off a more manly side with some charisma. Gao Ming Chen could have pulled off the soldier role better if the makeup artist can tone down the white powder on his face. He is a soldier, and should have nice tan skin and not look like an idol.
I found the first half of the drama more interesting. I enjoy the hidden identity + revenge plot when the three main leads are trying to outsmart and out-scheme each other. The romance developed a little more abruptly after FL’s identity was revealed. I would have loved a little more buildup to that. 2ML’s obsession with FL wasn’t expressly conveyed to the viewers, but I assume he fell for her after finding out she’s a woman and realizing how amazing and attractive she was as a general.
The second half of the drama is when I see more plotholes. Our female general slowly becomes superwoman. She can’t do no wrong and can never die. She’s smart, schemey, can fight better than any man, yet beautiful and seductive. At one point, she needed to learn how to talk and walk like a woman, yet she suddenly possesses amazing hairstyling skills! Princes and emperors don’t necessarily have guards protecting them at all times and can be harmed easily. Palaces are accessible to anyone.
The acting is decent, but I’ve seen better overall acting in other dramas. Of course, He Xuan Lin’s acting doesn’t disappoint. Whenever she’s in a mini drama, she’s the star and carries the show on her shoulders. Gao Ming Chen (ML) and Leo Zhou (2ML) have their moments but their acting is not as consistent as He Xuan Lin.
For a low budget drama, it doesn’t feel cheap and I have to applaud them. The song played sounded beautiful and haunting, and complements the scenes.
Overall, this is a decent mini drama if you can just enjoy the ride and don’t think too much. I would have given this a higher rating if the ending is more satisfying, and the last few episodes don’t feel rushed.
Completed: 3/30/2025 - Review #561
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AN EASY AND THRILLING WATCH
For those of you who cannot find time to watch long dramas, this one is perfect! The story has a few plot holes, but overall, it is pretty enjoyable. The amazing thing is that the plot holes are so well covered because of the chemistry between the male and female lead! They have already done a drama together called Passionate Love, and a future drama called Wild Fire is going to star them for the third time!Was this review helpful to you?
Too Many Plotholes to Handle
So FL is General Zhou Chu who just came back with her troops from the frontier bearing victory, and went to report to the king for commendation. Little did she know, her troops had been marked as collateral damage when the king decided to elevate her vice general as the crown prince. Turned out the Prince was sent in disguise in order to claim military merits, and upon his return, to prevent him from possessing too much military power as he was granted the crown prince title, the king had his troops eliminated. A few survived the massacre in the palace compound, one of them being FL who was picked up by their arch enemy from rival kingdom, Sheng Kaifeng. He used a secret technique to poison the FL and control her, making her his pawn by sending her back to her homeland to seek revenge against her vice general who is also her sworn brother in arms.I’ve never seen a disgraced general who’s supposed to make a comeback for revenge be as reckless, weak and stupid as the FL on this show. After seeing strong FL who are also female generals leading troops in Fighting of Love, Princess Agent, Qingchuan’s Veil of Vengeance, and Legend of Shen Li, this Zhou Chu is a disgrace for that title. She acts like a naive foot soldier who couldnt see other than one step ahead of her. She incredibly lack calm and reservation, and she definitely falls behind so far out in terms of tactical manoeuvre. That ‘controlled by enemy due to poison’ trope is astronomically weak to justify how childish her actions are on this show because many happen while she is very much in control of her own body and mind. She also constantly needs consolation by ML, always needing rescueing by ML, and always needed to be restrained by ML cuz her childish act of trying to bulldoze her way through her revenge would definitely cost her life and others around her. Her trying to sound heroic just make me roll my eyes each time. And that bewildered look on her face when she shouldve stayed calm and composed when caught off guard by ML and Sheng truly make me look down on this character even more. The only scene I saw her look a teeny wee bit formidable was when she broke into Sheng Kaifeng’s camp to rescue her troops in the first 10 minutes of the first episode. Starting from there, her credibility as a general is thrown down the drain. The actress isnt all that good in romance and sad scenes too.
The ML, on the other hand, is pretty good. The emotions he tried to convey came through, although I cannot fathom at which point did he decide to fall in love with this pitiful general who he had always thought a man. The show being a miniseries with less than 20 min per episode may contribute to this cuz everything seemed rushed with considerable plotholes.
The music category came to be the saving grace for this show as it seem to get stuck in my head after a while, hence the medium range of the overall rating. And the performance of the actor who played ML and SML also saved the rating from getting a solid 4 or below.
Though i like the ML and SML, I just couldnt handle this whiny FL so i just had to drop it. Sorry not gonna waste any of my time over this anymore.
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This review may contain spoilers
Uma general forte, mas uma história com algumas falhas de execução.
Para um resumo completo, vem conferir no meu canal: Porão dos Doramas <3Sou completamente apaixonada por FLs fortes, guerreiras e que não abaixam a cabeça para qualquer um. A general Zhou/ ou Shisan, tem um espírito batalhador e uma alma tão leal que fiquei apaixonada pela protagonista.
Apesar da falsa identidade masculina que a FL usa, não ser considerado um típico clichê, a história insiste em repetir o mesmo: Uma garota busca vingança contra um príncipe > Ela descobre que ele não foi o culpado > Eles se apaixonam e juntos lutam contra o verdadeiro vilão.
Ainda que seja o mesmo de sempre, a história consegue entregar um romance único, cheio de estratégias e conflitos. Mas para uma proposta tão ambiciosa, a história não soube equilibrar os acontecimentos. Em um certo ponto, a história fica repetitiva e prolixa. A FL é envenenada, e acompanhamos três episódios de um roteiro sobre as chances dela partir ou sobreviver. Eles passam muito tempo procurando o antídoto para no final descobrir não ser necessário. Então a história avança para a reta final, onde eles confrontam o vilão. Quando pensávamos assistir á uma batalha épica, a história resume tudo o que houve em um curto texto e uma única cena, encerrando o drama :o
Sem lembrar do final super apressado, adorei o avanço do relacionamento entre a FL e o ML. Eles são únicos. Entendem o peso da lealdade e do amor, como se entregam a isso de corpo e alma.
A atuação de Gao Ming Chen (Príncipe Hanzhi), foi muito boa, madura e suave na proporção certa. Enquanto
He Xuan Lin (General Zhou/Shisan) consegue dar alma e valentia para a personagem, e entrega tanto poder em seu olhar que intimida e encanta.
No mais, adorei a proposta da história, apesar de ser prolixa em certos pontos. Sou completamente apaixonada por FLs independentes que não dependem de ninguém para executar a vingança.
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