This review may contain spoilers
Great Acting from the Whole Cast, Captivating Plot, But Too Many Tragedies
This is a great story. The acting from everyone is done very well, and I love that I am getting certified evidence that Ren Jia Lun is a captivating actor, despite the criticism I often hear about his wooden, copy&paste acting or his "No Kissing Rule" (which is true, and is in effect here, but he has time and time again proven that you can really sell a romance without any explicit intimacy).
PROS
The Main CP Falling In Love - Despite the opening scene showing a rather forced marriage between 2 people with no affection, the immediate next flashback arc (which lasts several episodes, and really should’ve just been the chronological exposition of the show) was like perfect sugary romantic candy. And their relationship is so believable and goes so deep, and has so many real, non-superficial, marital issues that they deal with with so much grace towards the people around them. So the main CP is a win win WIN, and all of the side couples are also very enjoyable (everyone is so dang attractive in this drama).
The Rizz of Ren Jia Lun - RJL has so much charisma, this is the drama that made me realize that his face is actually attractive. It has attractive angles, a manly eyebrow bridge and cheekbones, glistening eyes, and the fiercest eyebrows you’ve ever seen. And he seems to have a very stern, furrow-browed default facial expression, and that perfectly, perfectly fits his character as the Emperor. It is a deadpan look, but it is the kind of deadpan look that gives you the impression “I am the one in charge here. De facto. My aura alone commands everyone’s attention.” And seeing this expression always mixed with some very whipped, lovesick boy idol drama-type behavior is the most satisfying juxtaposition, it gives “I am a man, and I am not afraid to love you” <333. And on top of that, he also has some great micro-expressions that I remember him also pulling out in previous dramas like DHR, so it's definitely not a fluke. An example is early on when he tries to get accepted into Fenglai Pavilion and he wakes up after they’ve tied him up; when he recognizes his surroundings, processes the situation, and then quietly says to himself “I let my guard down”, there were SOOOO many small expressions and beats in that realization moment, and it gave so much context as to who his character is. I’m telling you, some may see his acting as stiff, wooden, and always the same, but the proof is in the minor details, this guy can ACT.
The Brotherly/Sisterly Love - This drama features really strong bromance between siblings who should’ve been rivals for the throne, but instead trusted and understood each other like no one else (all this in the face of a mother who vehemently tried to pit them against each other their whole life to get her biological son to fight for the throne?? Like not only did he not give in to this manipulation to grow animosity towards the ML, the emperor, but he even spent his whole life pretending that he was somewhat in agreement with his mother in order to protect his older brother). And then there are so many touching sibling moments between the ML and his 2 younger siblings that I just had to repeat (XY coming to ask her gege to allow the boy she likes to like her back, in the middle of the night while he is sleeping on the empress’s bed, whiel giving him the biggest most innocent puppy dog eyes, after she spent most of the drama plotting to murder him before she fell in love with someone). So many people are used as pawns to destroy the ML’s life, his siblings, his wife, and yet he never falls for it and always recognizes that someone else is pulling the strings, so there is no retaliation, no enemies with the middle man, and no bad blood. We need more smart, perceptive, cunning, cool-headed ML’s like him.
Fierce Battles w/ the ML Coming Out On Top - And then there are so many great battles that the ML is in. Like he has been an emperor since he was a teenager or younger, not even the type that needs to go to war and lead troupes, and he has his own secret service - why is he such an OP fighter? And this is even when he was born weak and has lived with a fatal poison in his body since birth. I love, love, love over-powered ML’s, but this drama doesn’t even need to have one since it is a romance+politics drama, so the fact that it has that is just icing on the cake.
Epic Reveals - And also, there are some really great “satisfying” reveals, particularly in episode 17 when he reveals his Emperor identity to Kumor, after beating him in a physical combat 1-on-1x and then flexing on how much power and reinforcements he has, and then choosing to show mercy and give in to all of Kumor’s demands. What a boss-like reveal + negotiation, I literally replayed it several times.
Jam Packed with Sweet, Happy Moments - Like in Episode 24, which was the “calm before the storm”, when everything is going right, the main villain is presumed defeated, all the side couple are coupling up and the main CP is even expecting a baby. The first 2/3rds of this drama had so much fluff and cotton candy, anyone would be full on all that they gave us.
CONS
Bad Ending - I haven’t seen how they do the ending yet, but **spoiler alert** I know that everyone dies, and this is pretty upsetting because the ML has been set up to be so OP and cunning and 5 steps ahead of everyone else that it is almost inconsistent with his characterization to ultimately lose in the end (lose in the sense that he may stop the bad guy, but he will be unable to protect the lives of anyone he loves or even himself).
Too Many Realistic Tragedies - There were too many tragedies that I had to skip over because my heart couldn’t take (e.g. when the FL miscarries their child due to a punch in the stomach from the ML’s sister of all things, and she’s not even evil or an adversary, she was just weak and manipulated through hypnosis). I don’t know how the ML/FL can still function immediately after all that, but I sure couldn’t.
So I'm docking points because it made me sad, and docking points because the ML seems too good to die, both of which, will limit the re-watch ability of this show for me.
And also, I still have 5 more episodes left, but it really seems like we are in the last battle, especially since we’ve already seen so much tragedy and death of leading characters. So I am concerned about how they will drag out this battle for 5 more episodes, and how many more smaller losses I’ll have to sit through knowing that the ML and FL, SML and FML, and everyone else will probably lose and all die in the end. I don’t anticipate any more scenes that will be making me happy, and that’s a lot of tragedy to sit through, so I don’t look forward to finishing this drama.
PROS
The Main CP Falling In Love - Despite the opening scene showing a rather forced marriage between 2 people with no affection, the immediate next flashback arc (which lasts several episodes, and really should’ve just been the chronological exposition of the show) was like perfect sugary romantic candy. And their relationship is so believable and goes so deep, and has so many real, non-superficial, marital issues that they deal with with so much grace towards the people around them. So the main CP is a win win WIN, and all of the side couples are also very enjoyable (everyone is so dang attractive in this drama).
The Rizz of Ren Jia Lun - RJL has so much charisma, this is the drama that made me realize that his face is actually attractive. It has attractive angles, a manly eyebrow bridge and cheekbones, glistening eyes, and the fiercest eyebrows you’ve ever seen. And he seems to have a very stern, furrow-browed default facial expression, and that perfectly, perfectly fits his character as the Emperor. It is a deadpan look, but it is the kind of deadpan look that gives you the impression “I am the one in charge here. De facto. My aura alone commands everyone’s attention.” And seeing this expression always mixed with some very whipped, lovesick boy idol drama-type behavior is the most satisfying juxtaposition, it gives “I am a man, and I am not afraid to love you” <333. And on top of that, he also has some great micro-expressions that I remember him also pulling out in previous dramas like DHR, so it's definitely not a fluke. An example is early on when he tries to get accepted into Fenglai Pavilion and he wakes up after they’ve tied him up; when he recognizes his surroundings, processes the situation, and then quietly says to himself “I let my guard down”, there were SOOOO many small expressions and beats in that realization moment, and it gave so much context as to who his character is. I’m telling you, some may see his acting as stiff, wooden, and always the same, but the proof is in the minor details, this guy can ACT.
The Brotherly/Sisterly Love - This drama features really strong bromance between siblings who should’ve been rivals for the throne, but instead trusted and understood each other like no one else (all this in the face of a mother who vehemently tried to pit them against each other their whole life to get her biological son to fight for the throne?? Like not only did he not give in to this manipulation to grow animosity towards the ML, the emperor, but he even spent his whole life pretending that he was somewhat in agreement with his mother in order to protect his older brother). And then there are so many touching sibling moments between the ML and his 2 younger siblings that I just had to repeat (XY coming to ask her gege to allow the boy she likes to like her back, in the middle of the night while he is sleeping on the empress’s bed, whiel giving him the biggest most innocent puppy dog eyes, after she spent most of the drama plotting to murder him before she fell in love with someone). So many people are used as pawns to destroy the ML’s life, his siblings, his wife, and yet he never falls for it and always recognizes that someone else is pulling the strings, so there is no retaliation, no enemies with the middle man, and no bad blood. We need more smart, perceptive, cunning, cool-headed ML’s like him.
Fierce Battles w/ the ML Coming Out On Top - And then there are so many great battles that the ML is in. Like he has been an emperor since he was a teenager or younger, not even the type that needs to go to war and lead troupes, and he has his own secret service - why is he such an OP fighter? And this is even when he was born weak and has lived with a fatal poison in his body since birth. I love, love, love over-powered ML’s, but this drama doesn’t even need to have one since it is a romance+politics drama, so the fact that it has that is just icing on the cake.
Epic Reveals - And also, there are some really great “satisfying” reveals, particularly in episode 17 when he reveals his Emperor identity to Kumor, after beating him in a physical combat 1-on-1x and then flexing on how much power and reinforcements he has, and then choosing to show mercy and give in to all of Kumor’s demands. What a boss-like reveal + negotiation, I literally replayed it several times.
Jam Packed with Sweet, Happy Moments - Like in Episode 24, which was the “calm before the storm”, when everything is going right, the main villain is presumed defeated, all the side couple are coupling up and the main CP is even expecting a baby. The first 2/3rds of this drama had so much fluff and cotton candy, anyone would be full on all that they gave us.
CONS
Bad Ending - I haven’t seen how they do the ending yet, but **spoiler alert** I know that everyone dies, and this is pretty upsetting because the ML has been set up to be so OP and cunning and 5 steps ahead of everyone else that it is almost inconsistent with his characterization to ultimately lose in the end (lose in the sense that he may stop the bad guy, but he will be unable to protect the lives of anyone he loves or even himself).
Too Many Realistic Tragedies - There were too many tragedies that I had to skip over because my heart couldn’t take (e.g. when the FL miscarries their child due to a punch in the stomach from the ML’s sister of all things, and she’s not even evil or an adversary, she was just weak and manipulated through hypnosis). I don’t know how the ML/FL can still function immediately after all that, but I sure couldn’t.
So I'm docking points because it made me sad, and docking points because the ML seems too good to die, both of which, will limit the re-watch ability of this show for me.
And also, I still have 5 more episodes left, but it really seems like we are in the last battle, especially since we’ve already seen so much tragedy and death of leading characters. So I am concerned about how they will drag out this battle for 5 more episodes, and how many more smaller losses I’ll have to sit through knowing that the ML and FL, SML and FML, and everyone else will probably lose and all die in the end. I don’t anticipate any more scenes that will be making me happy, and that’s a lot of tragedy to sit through, so I don’t look forward to finishing this drama.
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