1it took me 5 tries to get into this drama because i'm an absolute clown listening to political talks. the first 3 or 4 episodes can be overwhelming with the amount of information bombarded at your face. on top of that, you have character names to remember. basically, you literally need to have an open mind like literally open your brain, have it turned on and make it function because you never know what impact those characters have on the story.
the charming points that caught my eye is ma boi sir su, ma girl princess nihuang, relatable meng zi, babie boi fei lu and hella fine prince jing.
ma boi sir su is such an admirable character that doesn't fail to interest me. he had everything planned to attain justice not for himself but for the many who had their reputations smudged by false facts that were made to be known for many years. he is not careless to make a single misstep and where there is one, he is quick to resolve the problem.
while the ending was emotional, i didn't feel like it was that climatic. what i do like is it leaves room for questions and makes me eager to watch season 2.
p.s. A+ for the beautiful ost, the pigeon and yes to the tangerines
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A masterpiece
Its truly is a jaw dropping, heart-wrenching masterpiece about friendship, loyalty and justice. I loved the intriguing story that always kept me on my feet, the complex characters the actors splendidly portrayed, and the themes of the story that even in the most grueling of times, justice will prevail and the truth will be revealed. I will miss all the sleepless nights I stayed up watching it, it’s absolutely phenomenal.Was this review helpful to you?
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This review may contain spoilers
Possibly one of the best court dramas in any language
A piece of fiction that has all the basics covered. The plot is exiting at every instance, the characters intriguing. While there are many twists and turns that the side characters go through, we see the drama through the focal point of all those twists and hence, the audience is let in on all there is to the drama. The showrunners, therefore, counted on the characters to be relatable and flawed enough that their reactions to those twists to be the anticipated parts of the drama.The overarching story, therefore, is very simple. It's a story about a man whose family and friends were wiped out by a proud, foolish emperor. Instead of revenge being his driving principle, he sought after seeking justice for their legacy and a better future of his homeland.
Music fixes a lot of the flaws of the drama. It has a romance plot between the protagonist and his former betrothed. Their relationship was sadly not explored enough but the saving grace was the acting and the music alleviated them as much as possible. A lot of characters were also not explored enough. Consort Jing for example never had any role in the story besides feeling sad for the past and helping her son and the main character. Unfortunately, almost all female characters in the story shared the same fate. They had no desires or interests of their own aside from helping the male figures closest to them.
But, despite its flaws, it is possibly one of the best court dramas ever made. It has the right pacing, the right plots, the right actors and the right dialogue to keep audience on their toes. The values espoused by this drama are the same as most dramas that tell age old tales of brotherhood, community and bravery. Hence, I recommend everyone to watch it. It has something for everyone.
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This drama is exceptional with the push of the talented actors and actress as well. Hu Ge especially has been able to display Lin shu's passion to clear his family and army which is hidden behind his frail body. His tale is indeed sad but inspiring. He is an amazing person who is also recieved love the most from everyone around him. All of his followers follow him not because of fear, but love and loyalty. He is an unforgetable character and has become one of my most fav too.
Another thing that I love is the fact that the story highlight the importance of loyalty, family love and amazing display strategies.
This drama is a total must watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
Exceptional plot twist and mouth gaping story~!!
Spoiler!! Be ready for Wu Lei, He'll be coming at you HARD!!I don't even know where to start! This drama has brought me so much amazement that made me reassess my hopes and expectation in every climatic scenes cause they never go the way I thought it would be; It made me realize how dumb I am. Hahaha
It's a story that is smartly created and is placed accordingly without any loop holes. I'm not that keen but I can usually see through plot holes and such however this drama really is a cut above the rest. Hands down to that! My compliments and respect to the author/writer of this drama.
Another thing I notice is how abundant the budget is. This is a drama that thought me how big of a difference there is between Well Funded and Greatly Funded projects. This drama surely SPENT so much. From the costume, the location, the # of people, the horses and all other stuff. Just Wow!
ONE FACTOR that must be praise no matter what is its Meticulous tactics and planning. I love guessing of what might happen next but I just never got it right. Really, It always goes the opposite way of how i thoihjt it would and that is a Great Indication of an outstanding piece. Deserved every high praises!
Story - 10, I have high praises and mad respect to this story and it's writer. It's almost 1 in a million chance that I get to encounter such a great piece in this oversaturated dramaland.
Acting/Cast - 10, Do I even need to tell? Main Leads are Phenomenal so does the 2nd Leads and other actors. Everyone is well-versed with their characters. You'll know they're professional when you see the fire and concentration on their eyes. It's different to how "experienced actors" look like; they're certainly on that PRO LEVEL.
Music - 10, I appreciate how the music compliments the scenes and story. It never bothered me instead soothed me and highlighted the emotions the actors are sending/relaying when the music plays in each scene.
Rewatch Value - 10, No doubt that this is a great drama which deserves all the views it can accomodate! I will surely rewatch it IF I feel the need to watch a drama that's above the usual cliche storyline.
Overall - 10, I would be to ashamed not to give it a Perfect score! It deserved all the love and support. EXCELLENT & PHENOMENAL!!
If you find my review helpful please let me know.
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ABSOLUTE GEM
Do you know he was in a car accident and has to be out for a year or something. Didn’t know if he was ever going to walk again. The director decided they will wait for him to come back. No one else can replace him for this role. Notice his eye lid has a scar. He fought his way back against all odds. Bravo to Hu Ge !NIF has all leading actors and actresses; there are no supporting. Everyone performed superbly of their roles. Each of their performance absolutely will make you BELIEVE in their struggle, love, care, goals, principle etc. their performances will draw you in emotionally and as if also physically. You’ll find your heart and breath skip the beat as you can feel their anguish, pain and happiness.
The whole story is so well coherently written and told. The plots and their exquisitely smart dialogues in each and every moment are all necessary; not more and not less …. Such perfection! The entire drama shows great respect to its audience with zero dumb or nonsense moments.
The costumes were rich, beautiful and elegant.
There’s so much depth in this drama and its pure beauty in conveying it to us make this drama 100% enjoyable watching it over and over and over again. Love it to death.
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"Unorganized truth will be defeated by systematic evil"
A truly phenomenal drama begins with the massacre of Marshal Lin Xie and the Lin family, along with his 70,000 Chiyan army soldiers, in sixth-century China under the regime of the Emperor of Great Liang.Mei Chang Su, an outstanding and brilliant strategist from the pugilistic world, returns to the capital with a secret plan after being recruited by two favored princes. He chooses to assist the unfavored Prince Jing in rising to the throne and reopening the massacre case. Mei Chang Su believes that to stop the corrupt princes, they must use the same ruthlessness that the princes employed, promising that “we will use whoever we need” to minimize harm. A huge storm is now brewing in Jinling.
Many schemes unfold until the time when an ex-lieutenant of the Chiyan army is captured, creating discord between the male leads. Jingyan wants to uphold his virtues to save him, but Mei Chang Su insists on not getting involved. He states, “The prince has honor and loyalty, but he does not use his brain. The massacre in Meiling is quite enough as an example of loyalty without strategy.”
It is a road with no turning back—a bloodshed battle filled with manipulation. The dream is to reveal the truth of the massacre, but the main goal is to bring a virtuous ruler to the kingdom. A corrupt court will fail to bring justice for the past massacre because the current emperor will never admit his past errors.
The most amazing aspect of this drama is that it fulfills the audience with just one OST and encourages them to be patient, sitting through all 56 episodes without skipping a minute. Because if you do, you will miss very important strategies by Mei Chang Su, a divine talent Marshal Lin Xie.
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This review may contain spoilers
WARNING: major spoilers below
I’m really glad I watched this; it’s definitely one of the better dramas and I can see why people like it so much. It’s not for everyone though, because it’s incredibly conversation heavy - about 70 to 80 percent of what takes place/exposition are conversations between the characters. The rest are action scenes and in one case, a military fight. This is fine with me because I am also a fan of mystery dramas and those are conversation heavy too, but this might not be for everyone.
What I liked:
I think the actor playing the main lead, as well as the entire cast did a great job in portraying their characters. I like the overall story arc as well as the smaller cases in between where they had to get rid of two princes and some corrupt officials one by one before getting to the emperor. I normally don’t like sad endings but this one fit and was satisfactory.
male centricity: This is one of the things that worried me at first. I thought this would be one of those male centric dramas that had mostly male MLs with only a handful of token strong female leads thrown in every now and then, ala Lord of the Rings. Thankfully it wasn’t like that. While there were more male characters, there were also plenty of diverse and strong female characters and they had a lot* of screen time, significantly influenced the plot and in some cases, were just as smart as the main lead.
character relationships: All the characters working with the lead were great and they seemed like one big family (regardless of whether they were related or not) who supported him. The strongest relationships in this drama were the filial ones. The relationship between Mei Chang Su and Fei Liu was like that of a father and son. He also seemed like a father figure to two of his younger friends JinRui and Yujin, who were much younger than him. It also has a strong focus on mother and son relationships such as the ones between the palace consorts and the crown princes- I really liked the relationship between Prince Jingyan and his mother Consort Jing. There is also a bit of romance although it is subtle. Mei Chang Su’s relationship with Nihuang reminded me a lot of Li Mu Bai’s relationship with Yu Shu Lien (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), except that they had far more screen time together. It also explores toxic filial relationships such as the relationship between the emperor and his sons.
What I felt undecided about:
Prince Jing. I think the actor did a great job but his role but could be very frustrating at times. He doesn’t have that many scenes until episode thirty something, and there is an entire arc where the ML gets into trouble because of him because he reacts in a way that causes a lot of trouble; this is in spite of everyone telling him otherwise. There were times when all the characters seemed smarter than him, from his foot soldier to even his mother. He is also the last to realize the main lead’s true identity in spite of supposedly being best friends with him and yet so many people, from the war general to the love interest and even (yes) his mother, figures this out earlier on. The good thing is that he redeems himself at the very end* of the drama, so I was glad to see him get a happy ending.
What I didn’t like:
There are some boring episodes…not many, but a few. I personally found the first episode hard to watch and this is the reason it took me awhile to get to this.
There were some events that were incredibly hyped but never shown. There’s one arc where they hype this debate among scholars and the appearance of a master scholar who was so wise he could end the debate…but they never show this debate. You see the master scholar arriving with melodramatic bg music…and then it cuts to after the event where they say he won and all is well now.
There’s also a major battle where they play up Prince Jing’s role as a Gandalf type figure who goes off to get some reinforcements. You don’t see him do anything at all while the rest of the characters are fighting. You get this scene were he is about to challenge his brother to a duel and then it cuts off again. The only good thing about this is that it is princess Nihuang who gets to defeat the enemy general.
Poison of the bitter flame: It’s not the illness I disliked but there is a character who reveals symptoms I found completely unbelievable…if this was a fantasy or xianxia drama it would be acceptable, but it doesn’t work here, IMHO.
I also don’t like ‘the ending’ of one of the female characters; it was too ambiguous and I feel that we deserved to know what happened to her.
Is this drama like Game of Thrones? Overall no, but I can see some similarities in the wide range of diverse characters, scheming/one-upmanship ( the main lead is very good at this) and a kind of fight for the throne, in a way. But NIF is much smaller in scope. It focuses on only one kingdom, getting rid of corruption (it doesn’t really have morally gray characters/views like GOT) and has a slight ‘Count of Monte Cristo’ theme. Also, it doesn’t have magical elements in it. It’s a pretty good drama but it’s its own thing.
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Story/Script: This is not your average revenge drama. It's a story about wanting to set things right, to obtain justice for a case that was misjudged years ago and it's beautifully done. It may start a little slow, but rest assured that the pace will pick up. There are also some really funny but jokes/puns in the script which may be hard to get if you are not a native Chinese speaker, but they really add a lot to the drama.
Characters: Honestly the best part of this drama. They are complex, emotional, human characters. Unlike many other dramas which cause you to unconditionally hate the villains, the villains in NIF are just as human as the protagonists and have their own hardships and reasons.
Acting: Very well done and in character.
Music/setting: Beautiful music and amazing cinematography. The wordless opening is perfect and really gives you the feel of the drama through the use of music and art.
Rewatch: I have rewatched this a couple times and every time, I discover something new. Definitely worth several rewatches. The only thing is that the politics discussions get a little windy and so I often skip through those.
Truly a masterpiece. I understand many romance genre fans are unwilling to give this a chance due to the lack of romance, but romance is there (as is a lot of bromance), just not the main focus. The romance in NIF is a pure form of companionship/friendship which I honestly think is harder to achieve. Give it a try, and it may just top your list :)
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Becoming extinguished
Nirvana Fire - an appropriate title for this philosophical story. The meaning of Nirvana (via Britannica): Literally, it means “blowing out” or “becoming extinguished,” as when a flame is blown out or a fire burns out.Quick summary: The story is incredibly well crafted; varied and complex characters; the plot was well paced and not too long at 54 episodes; ambience of music, cinematography, and costume was effective; there was a good balance between political intrigue, wuxia, military, romance, fantasy, etc.
The first few episodes can be confusing, so a character chart and episode recaps can help. However, the show is successful introducing characters, developing them, so that viewers get a clear grasp of what's going. When, for example, we meet Lin Chen in the first episode, then he disappears for 40 or so episodes, we are still well connected to him in his return at the end of the show.
Many characters besides Lin Chen were distinct and well-presented. It was a joy to watch their depth, development, and interaction with one another. I'll highlight a few gems. Because every character was so eloquent and precise in speech, Fei Liu's stunted and grunted speech was an effective counter point. Bai Li Qi, the northern fighter, was quite enjoyable (and cute). Consort Jing was impressive - the queen of "my pieces are moving on the board, but you can't see them in the first place". Eunuch Gao Zhan was subtly humorous and the perfect counter point to the Emperor. He had an awkward, yet charming smile. I won't even praise the main cast here because you'll undoubtedly agree how terrific they were.
Besides distinct and well-presented, most characters were complex and nuanced. Grand Princess Li Yang is a model character of complexity. Despite the awful circumstances of being forced into matrimony with Xie Yu, it's obvious they've grown great affection for one another. This character also outlines the moral/philosophical crux about this show. While Grand Princess Li Yang did some terrible things, she was able to reverse her path of moral degradation and contribute to something wholesome later on. Even though the truth of the Chiyan army massacre was covered up, seeking the truth while losing face, is the correct path. Looking at modern leaders who are wholly unapologetic for their mistakes or looking to rewrite history through propaganda and social ignorance, it's a reminder that this moral push and pull in the grand societal play is persistent like a good weed.
One thing this show got be thinking about was rebirth. Not so much in the 'wait til I die and start life again in a new form sense', but rather what change or 'rebirth' can one experience within the current life span. Many of the characters go through processes of change and, are effectively, a new form of themselves. And I wonder how distinct our life embodiment is vs. shared with others and carried forward by others. Lin Shu is reborn into Mei Changsu and then is reborn into Lin Shu again; it is as if he has had 3-lives in one lifespan. People's characters, goals, values, and dreams are also 'reborn' through others. For example, Prince Qi dies, but his life spirit is reborn through Prince Jing and others. We cultivate life spirit, disperse it to others, and don't need to count on death/rebirth to 'progress' again. The idea is not to wait to improve or change one's form in the next life and simply accept what one is now. Cultivate now.
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