Fight for Love (2025)

Bad ruler and stupid court politics...stay away

I was really hoping Fight for Love wouldn’t disappoint me. I wanted this to be the last drama I watched before the year ended, but I had already started a few others that grabbed my attention more. With the holiday break, I’ve been spending extra time catching up on winter hobbies and binge-watching series I’ve been trying to finish before the new year.

Fight for Love became a “crochet and watch” kind of series for me. It had been a while since I last crocheted, so I found myself reintroducing the hobby while this drama played in the background. However, it wasn’t like this at the beginning. The opening episodes captivated me—the falling roses and Chu Yu waiting on the bridge as the Wei family returned from war really hooked me. I also loved how each brother and their wives had distinct personalities.

Knowing that the family was being set up intrigued me, and I thought the series would focus on love and unraveling that conspiracy. Instead, the latter half spent so much time on politics and war that I ended up skipping large portions. The main reason I kept watching was to see the side characters and how the main leads’ love story would turn out.

The only real highlight of this series was probably the cast. Ding Yu Xi always stood out to me—he consistently has great chemistry with his female leads. I can’t say the same for Victoria, though. I feel like she often plays the same cool, level-headed character in every series I’ve watched her in.

Other notable characters and cast members I enjoyed were Joe Chen and Liang Xue Feng (I didn’t expect him to be the emperor of the enemy state, and I was really rooting for his love story with Joe), Tuan Tuan and her relationship with Chu Lin Yang, and Lu Qi Ba with his quirkiness. I also liked seeing some of the Wei brothers played by actors I recognized from other dramas, such as Zhang Tian Yang and Wang Sen.

Fight for Love isn’t a series I’d recommend, mainly because of its heavy focus on war and kingdom politics. Even with the romance, the drama centered far more on uncovering betrayals and fighting for the kingdom, with only small glimmers of hope through the couples’ love stories. The final episodes, especially after the war, were a disappointment. I honestly don’t understand why the emperor had to interfere in the leads’ relationship at the very end. Was I being hopeful in expecting him to be more reasonable? Yes—I truly was.

Because of how frustrating and foolish the emperor’s decisions and rule felt to me, I can’t rate this series higher than a 6/10. Again I skipped A LOT! So I'm sure I missed a lot of details.

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Not Poor but Weirdly Lacking

With two well known actors as the main couple, it's expected that this drama be one that outshines some of its peers with smaller budgets, cast, and production. Surprisingly (or not), it felt like this drama was lacking something and it just didn't measure up.

First of all, like many of the dramas in recent years, Fight for Love draws inspiration from a CNovel. One of the biggest pitfalls of these sorts of adaptations is shrinking these novels while preserving iconic scenes and arcs as some of these novels are hundreds of chapters long. This particular novel was 174 chapters long which is pretty average as other novels like Rebirth of a Star General (which Legend of the Female General was adapted from) came in at 272 chapters. I found that there was nothing wrong with the way that the script was adapted. No particularly iconic scenes or arcs were cut and there weren't awful time-skips or jumps in the story, yet it still felt like there were too many side characters and too many things going on at the same time. The multitude of side characters which seemingly insignificant roles made it difficult to remember all of them and understand where the plot was trying to go.

Since the end of this drama, there were many articles talking about the lack of chemistry between the FL and ML (which I confess, I agree with) but I think there were a number of issues that contributed to this drama feeling a little lukewarm. Aside from the main couple, the major issue really was the fact that there wasn't a single scene stealer. To put it nicely, everyone on the cast is about the same level when it comes to acting. To be a little more blunt, no one on the cast was particularly good at acting and so there weren't scene stealer moments. You would expect that there would be at least one breakout star in such a big team, but it just felt like they shooed in a bunch of unknown actors to fill roles. (Edit: Joe Chen as the Eldest Princess and her yandere man was actually pretty good)

Ok, so here's the (potentially) controversial part. Many people said that Victoria and Ding YuXi just had too big of an age gap which is why there was no chemistry. but I find that to be only part of the problem. The FL in the novel is supposed to be older than the ML and Victoria has done 'noona' style dramas in the past, but the chemistry is lacking here for a couple reasons. The FL as a character doesn't feel like she's older than ML, whether it was due to the adaptation of the script or due to Victoria's acting. Similarly, ML has moments were he feels younger (more inexperienced) but also too young and naive for someone who is supposed to be from a military family. The fact that Ding YuXi also could pass for a 20 year old also doesn't help in this case. In essence, neither seem like the adult in the relationship so it becomes a bit of a mess seeing them go back and forth.

Production-wise, the budget is large enough that the costumes looked well-made and not too tacky. The music wasn't really highlighted too much but it got us through. There were, however, jarring moments of CG use which made me question the artistic sense of the director and the purpose.

So in summary, a drag-y Sparks Note version of a script, a humongous cast with no real breakout stars, and a main couple with no chemistry really made FFL tank pretty hard especially airing after similar, but far more outstanding dramas in the same year like Legend of the Female General, Dream within a Dream, Legend of Zang Hai, etc.

To be completely fair, looking at the roles by themselves, Victoria Song and Ding YuXi are good fits for the roles. Victoria really stood out in martial arts sequences due to her background in dance and did not waver when performing moves (even with a sword) which is quite rare. Her expression of her character and how her state of mind changes could use work, but visually she fits the role. Ding YuXi also was a good fit for the role, but potentially he could have toned down how young his portrayal of ML was (but that also was partly due to the script) which could have helped make the main couple look more like a couple and not like big sister and little brother (who is way to young for her).

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Good story but time consuming

At the beginning of the story, the main leads give a lasting impression. Both of them are from families with strong military backgrounds and the female lead played by Victoria Song portrays a strong sense of an independent woman. The overall story is very interesting with the main characters tracing the clues all the way to the truth. It's captivating in the way that the suspense in the plot builds up and an (somewhat) unexpected result as to who is the mastermind behind this is revealed. However, the more the plot progressed, I found that the supporting characters (the eldest princess and Zhao Yue) story was much more interesting to follow. While I did enjoy the humor from the main leads time to time, I found that the supporting characters did a really great job in enhancing a humorous environment admist the seriousness and chaos. From the aspect of the cast, I believe an absolute great job was done! The acting for each character left a strong distinctions from their personalities. This would definitely be a reason to watch this. However, the age gap between some of the roles did annoy me a bit. While watching, the music for each scene matched the mood that it was giving, but it didn't wow me. Would I watch this again or would I recommend others to watch this again? Probably not. The drama is 40 episodes and I just feel like some of the plot could've been cut off. If you are someone who is willing to spend that much time on the positives of the drama that were mentioned above, then go ahead...it's still entertaining to watch from the acting aspect and most of the story, BUT I still don't believe that it's THAT worth it.

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Fight for Love: The Drama I Liked, Rolled My Eyes At, and Still Scored an 8/10

Fight for Love surprised me in the best way and also annoyed me in the most random ways. First off, the male lead? Loved him. Loved the whole squad around him too. Their friendship and banter carried half the vibe of this drama and honestly kept me from rage-quitting during the draggy bits.
Now let’s address the elephant in the room. The female lead. Yes, she has that calm borderline wooden expression like she’s buffering inside, but to be fair, this is actually one of her better performances. She felt more natural here than in her modern roles. So props where due.
But let nobody lie to you: the ML did not carry this show alone. He’s always been a strong actor, that’s baseline. What annoyed me was how his character was written. Why did they make him timid around the FL like he’s some baby deer and she’s the wise aunty of the mountains. I’m all for older strong female energy, but the writing made him look unnecessarily young and clueless when he’s clearly not.
My personal pet peeve though? Every woman in the after a man like it’s an Olympic sport. Why do dramas keep pushing this narrative that women have no chill or dignity. Like hello, women in that era already had enough struggles, we don’t need extra humiliation from each other. Which brings me to the one wholesome gem: the bond between the Elder Princess and Chu Yu. That sisterhood hit different. More of that please and less of women tearing each other down for some dude.
There was no breakup per se, which I loved. It was more like everyone and their traditions trying to pull the ML and FL apart. But the couple themselves stayed solid. It fits perfectly in the no breakup but still happy ending category. Though, honestly, the ending could have been more satisfying. It felt like they wrapped it fast and didn’t give the couple the final emotional payoff they deserved.
And yes, this drama could have wrapped in under 30 episodes. I definitely skipped around like I was speed-reading a textbook before an exam.
Overall, not perfect, but it had charm. Loved the characters, strong comraderie, rolled my eyes at the writing choices, and still ended up finishing it because the cast chemistry was too good to drop.
Final score from me is an easy 8 out of 10.

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From decent beginnings to a decline too steep

As a Ding Yuxi fan and a die-hard romance enthusiast, I couldn’t pass up the chance to see Yuxi don a historical outfit once more, step into the role of a general, and showcase his award-winning eye acting. Beyond that, I was equally eager to watch Victoria Song take on the role of an actress. As a second-gen Kpop fan, I was excited to consume content that felt reminiscent of my old Kpop days. Unfortunately, that excitement ended there.

I genuinely liked the premise. While in-law dynamics in romance aren’t usually my preference, I was curious to see how the characters would navigate the setup, how the writers would play with the format, and how the relationships would challenge social constructs.

The character archetypes themselves were unconventional: the series was heavily female-driven, and the female lead held more dominance than the male counterpart. This was a critical choice—a commendable attempt to break away from historical drama formulas where women are often portrayed as conservative, meek, and weak. Yet, ironically, this very choice contributed to the series’ downfall.

Without prior references to compare, I can’t say whether behind-the-scenes issues played a role, but Victoria’s portrayal was deeply disappointing. As much as I wanted to celebrate the nostalgia of Kpop’s golden age, I couldn’t find a single redeeming quality in her performance. It was, quite simply, extremely poor.

The performance issue becomes especially glaring when set against Zhou Jing Tao’s earlier work in A Journey to Love, another female-centric drama that featured one of the strongest female characters I’ve encountered. That series delivered a powerful and compelling female-led narrative. Which is why, in this case, I’m left questioning what went wrong.

Victoria’s acting was so ineffective that, without context or cues, I couldn’t discern the emotions she was trying to convey. She cried—the tears were visible—but as an audience member, I felt no sorrow, no sadness, no trace of what those tears were meant to express. Worse, she failed to establish any chemistry with Ding Yuxi.

From both romance and non-romance series I’ve seen, Yuxi has never struggled to build chemistry with his co-stars. Yet here, the best they managed was a camaraderie that felt flat and unconvincing. In fact, the tension and chemistry between Yuxi’s character and the second male lead were far more palpable.

The writing itself wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t strong either. It lacked hooks, emotional impact, and staying power. The characters and their archetypes felt inconsistent, leaving them forgettable. Average at best.

Ironically, the saving grace of the series came from the subplots and secondary characters. They were richer, more layered, and offered good character development. Their romances were far more compelling. The grand princess Li Changming’s tragic story with Hanmei/Zhaoye, for instance, could easily stand alone as a lead-worthy narrative — one that eclipsed the main storyline entirely.

As a Ding Yuxi fan, I managed to finish the series, but I also owe that endurance to the secondary characters. Their arcs weren’t filler; they provided the missing elements the leads failed to deliver.

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What was Ding Yu Xi doing in such a poorly written story??

Rom-Hist Series starring Ding Yu Xi (gorgeous) and Victoria Song

PLOT: The FL, a general's daughter and warrior, has been waiting for her lover for five years. He returns to announce his marriage to the daughter of Duke Ning (the most powerful figure at court). The FL's father is killed and her brother seriously wounded in a suspicious battle. The FL pretends to be courting the ML's (the arsenal's head) older brother to investigate. But he dies along with all his 5 brothers (except the ML) in another suspicious battle. The FL decides to pretend to be his widow to uncover the truth.

+++Ding Yu Xi as ML is adorable, talented, sensitive, charismatic, and magnificent.
+++ The cinematography is superb: costumes, sets, fight scenes...
+++ Many excellent actors (too many to list all of them).

### I like Victoria Song; she is indeed beautiful, but she shouldn't have accepted the role of a young FL in her twenties. She doesn't fit the character, for one thing, and her emotionless acting always annoys me. She needs to move on to more mature roles!
### The story has too many inconsistencies, nonsense, and illogical behaviors (o^ ^o) (o^ ^o) The plot devices are too obvious!!
### It feels like the visual beauty of the production overshadows substance and realism!!
### The servant characters (ML & FL) are disrespectful, stupid, and have very familiar and disobedient behavior; they're inappropriate. They're there to lighten the mood, but it falls flat!!
### The story is very focused on romance, specifically on who loves FL more, when it's actually about investigation, conspiracy, war, lives in danger... The main characters are worried about FL's love life (who is a hesitant and confused bitch, and whom they all should have dumped).

=> I was eagerly awaiting this series, but I was disappointed and frustrated by the poor writing.

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Qu'est-ce que Ding Yu Xi est allé faire dans une story aussi mal écrite ??

Série Rom-Hist avec Ding Yu Xi (magnifique) et Victoria Song

PLOT: La FL, fille de général, guerrière, attend depuis 5 ans son amoureux. Celui-ci revient pr annoncer son mariage avec la fille du Duc Ning (1e puissance à la Cour). Le père et de la FL est tué et son frère gravement blessé ds 1 bataille suspicieuse. La FL courtise (fake) le frère aîné du ML (responsable de l'arsenal) pr enquêter. Mais il meurt avec ts ses frères (sauf ML) ds 1 autre bataille suspicieuse. La FL décide d'être sa veuve (fake) pr trouver la vérité.

+++Ding Yu Xi en ML, adorable, talentueux, sensible, charismatique , magnifique.
+++ La cinématographie est superbe : costumes, décors, scènes de fight ...
+++ Bcp d'excellents acteurs (trop pour en faire la liste).

### Mais cela donne l'impression que la beauté des images l'emporte sur la consistance, sur le réalisme !!
### J'aime bien Victoria Song, elle est belle effectivement, mais elle n'aurait pas dû accepter le rôle d'1 jeune FL ds la 20aine. Elle ne correspond pas au personnage, d'une part, et son jeu sans émotion, m'agace tjs. Il faut savoir passer à des rôles plus matures !
### La story comporte trop d'incohérences, de non-sens, de comportements illogiques (o^ ^o) (o^ ^o) Les ficelles sont grosses !!
### Les personnages des serviteurs (ML & FL) irrespectueux, stupides, avec des comportements très familiers et désobéissants, sont inappropriés. Ils sont là pr alléger l'atmosphère, mais ça fait Flop !!
### La story est très focus sur la romance, plus précisément sur qui aime le plus la FL, alors qu'il s'agit d'investigation, de complot, de vies en danger, ... Les acteurs principaux s'inquiètent des amours de la FL (qui est une b**tch hésitante et confuse, et qu'ils auraient tous dû laisser tomber)

=> J'attendais cette série avec impatience, mais j'ai été déçue, frustrée par la pauvreté de l'écriture

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dissapointment! no chemistry between FL and ML. The chemistry of supportive characters were better

the only thing i liked was filler stories and the supporting characters.. at least these kept me going to watch until the episode 37 lol.
I started to watch it because of Ding Yu shi ( ML).
there is no romance though the title of this drama is fight for LOVE (LOL). there is 1% chemistry between ML and FL probably...
ML is acting kept me watching as well. Victoria song needs to keep her distance from romance dramas. I dont find her beautiful is something but her acting was worse than mine. The other female leads were all good!!!!, acting, clothing, make ups, hairs. good looking .. except the female lead.
I understand FLneeds to look cool since she is a general but look at Fated Hearts (the drama) . Li qin (FL in Fated hearts) was cool but also full of passion.
Im dissapointed.
I was very excited for this drama because of Ding Yu shi. What a waste..
I liked the story line but 40 episodes was long.

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Good general plot but suffers from uneven pacing and disappointing romances

Subjective Gut Rating: 7.75

The general premise and plot of “Fight for Love” is actually good. I was impressed with the first episode and was hooked. I then wondered, why is it only rated a 7.4? And then, I realize there are two big weaknesses in this drama, and the lack of screen time for Ding Yu Xi is NOT one of them.

Weakness #1 - Uneven pacing and dragged out storylines
Ep 1 started out with a bang and I was immediately hooked to a strong FL dressed in red, ready to scheme her way into the Wei family. But then the first half focuses on ML’s family and his forced rapid growth and maturity. The FL, who started everything, became a sidekick for a while. Still, the first half wasn’t bad and there’s enough background info, early enemies-to-comrades, family dynamics and investigation to keep me interested. But once the battles ended and everyone went back home, the second half started to drag when the focus shifted to the different romance storylines. I don’t mind slowburn romance, spending a little time with the ‘forbidden’ love and the challenges the leads have to face. I am more concerned about the other 2 side romances which took up too much time, repeating the same commentary over and over again. The action scenes also decrease in the second half with more talking and less fighting. This unfortunately drags on all the way to the end of the drama.

Weakness #2 - All the romances
I wasn’t aware that this is a jiejie/didi (older sis/younger bro) romance. I am usually not a fan and when Victoria Song looks so much more mature than the baby-faced Ding Yu Xi, I knew this is not going to work for me. In the drama, FL is 3 years older than ML. Victoria definitely looks more than 3 years older than DYX. On top of that, FL is away ahead of ML in life and love experiences. The chemistry between the leads is lacking. I wouldn’t say the acting is bad, I just don’t feel a lover’s romance but more of a sibling/comrades/friends relationship. I can see how ML could fall in love with FL, but I can’t see it the other way around. There are 3 other romances in the drama. Instead of focusing and executing 2 really good romances, I ended up feeling disappointed in all. The spoiled couple is the least interesting. Doc and General could be cute but it drags on for way too long, repeating the same concerns and pushy habits. The toxic relationship is supposed to be the most interesting, and even that is missing some hot, sizzling chemistry. If you are expecting a great romance in a drama titled “Fight for Love”, you will be disappointed.

Having said all that, there are still many things I like about the drama:

1) I love the initial setup and chemistry between FL and the Eldest Wei brother. Their beginning could be a whole drama itself. I can see a drama about them forming a partnership/marriage of convenience and then eventually fall in love, while investigating. In just a few episodes, I feel that Victoria Song has more chemistry with Zhang Tian Yang (eldest bro) than Ding Yun Xi.

2) I also love the fights especially with such a focus on spear fighting. We’ve seen enough swords in a battle, rarely do we see almost everyone uses a spear. Victoria actually looks pretty strong and believable as a soldier. But, there’s still too much slow motion, spinning and twirling for my taste, but not too bad.

3) Acting is actually pretty good overall. Ding Yu Xi is awesome as a young, spoiled and beloved youngest brother, a love sick loverboy, a traumatized and hurt son, and a tortured but fierce soldier. Many didn’t like Victoria’s acting but I am fine with it. She’s not amazing but also not as emotionless as others claimed. Her character requires her to keep her composure and she is more mature than ML. The supporting cast is not bad either except Liang Xue Feng (aka boytoy Xue Han Mei). I think because his acting is not quite up to par, thus, the toxic romance is lacking for me.

4) I like that all the characters are smart. The leads are both strong physically and emotionally. I enjoy seeing FL being the one coming in to save ML during a fight, and not the other way around. The supporting cast is also smart in their own ways, and no one really makes too many dumb decisions.

5) The drama doesn’t really focus on the use of CGI/green screen. Money is spent on good fights, big battles with real people, nice costumes and styling. Although disappointingly, all the actors are dubbed, they are dubbed well. No mismatched voices and mouths, or voices that I dislike.


Will I recommend “Fight for Love”? Only if you are a Ding Yu Xi fan. I think it’s best to skip it, especially if you are looking for romance. There are too many other period dramas out there right now, and viewers can be picky. I don’t regret watching because I do think the general plot is interesting. It’s just the execution could be better. As a disappointed romance watcher, I am rating this a 7.75 but rounding down to 7.5.


Completed: 11/26/2025 Review #645

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Beyond boring

This show is beyond boring. Female lead looks like shes 13 years older than male lead and has no chemistry with him at all. male lead is carying the whole show, side plots are boring so I'm fast forwarding 50%, of each episode. The FL starts off alright but gets boring after like 8 episodes always having the same shocked, confused look on her face in every scene, and never admitting her feelings, she acts like ML is her brother and its so wrong to be with him. It's not that deep. I literally frown evey time she comes on Screen now because she always acts the same in every scene and i can't stand it. I just want to see my man happy when she finally agrees to be with him but once that happens I'm dropping. Not to mention the brother of the FL has the same problem as her about loving someone but not admitting it and torturing himself not allowing himself to be with her...

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To love means to sacrifice — but if you have the choice to fight for it, then fight for it.

True to its title, they really did fight for their love.

If you're looking for a romance-filled drama, I have to honestly say this is not it. But if you want a great historical drama with a strong storyline, then please do enjoy this show.

I liked all the characters, and their stories were fairly executed. Chang Ming and Chu Yu’s friendship was also so underrated — and her loveline was really good, especially if you enjoy a bit of angst. I’m also glad that everything that needed explanation was answered in this drama.

As for the OSTs (this is just my personal opinion), the soundtrack was one of the reasons the romance wasn’t represented well. I say this because I’ve loved many dramas mainly because the soundtracks helped convey the emotions the story wanted to express.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. And honestly, I’m glad I didn’t read the comments here before watching the show, so my view of it wasn’t affected.

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Slow Burn Worth Watch and Better Than the Ratings Suggest

I don’t usually write reviews, but I wanted to share my thoughts because the low ratings honestly don’t reflect the drama at all. The plot may be a little different from the usual, and a lot of people commented that the female lead wasn’t acting well or that her character felt shameless. But I actually appreciated that she never let anyone walk over her or force her into something she didn’t want.

I also loved how the male and female leads consistently supported each other. Unlike many dramas where one misunderstanding ruins everything, these two stay steady, communicate, and stand together. The supporting characters also did a wonderful job and added a lot of charm and balance to the story.

The synopsis does not do the show any justice. The drama has much more depth once you start watching it. It is a slow burn, but the title says it all: Fight for Love. If you enjoy relationship growth and characters who genuinely choose each other through every challenge, give it a try. Everyone has their own preferences, but personally, I think it deserves far better than the ratings it received.

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