This review may contain spoilers
"I like the moon, but the moon doesn't know."
Zhou Ye and Cheng Lei worked super hard and did super well in their roles as He Yan/General Feihong and Xiao Jue/General Fengyun. This drama is full of beautiful character work, nice cinematography, and some touching full-circle moments and parallels.
In terms of the plot, I liked the pace, it barely dragged and kept me interested throughout every episode. There was something so satisfying about seeing He Yan who lost everything beginning from the bottom again and working hard to achieve her goals. That is what's so refreshing about this drama; usually the female leads tend to be naturally talented at fighting and work for recognition of their talents, but in this drama, He Yan is actually not talented at fighting and rises to the top through hard work and dedication, which is such a beautiful message. Skill and dedication truly matters more than natural talent.
I loved the main characters and Zhou Ye and Cheng Lei were absolutely amazing. There were widespread complaints that He Yan didn't have the general aura at the start, but as the drama progresses, the audience gets to experience her growth and reassumption of her position. I find it kind of funny that everyone was expecting a newbie soldier to be super imposing and emotionless, when that's not how it was written in the novel. One of the biggest downsides of the drama is simply the viewers' own expectations of what the drama should be like without regarding trying to understand what it is.
I thought Zhou Ye portrayed He Yan amazingly, her curiosity, playfulness, dedication and intelligence was on full display, and her struggles with finding herself and her own identity was also executed very well by Zhou Ye in terms of the limitations of the script. He Yan as a character is truly very engaging and the viewer can't help but root for her success and happiness in this new chance at life.
Meanwhile, Cheng Lei lived and breathed Xiao Jue, such an amazing character. Unexpectedly, the part that I enjoyed the most were all of the comedic moments, but the emotional and cool moments were also really great. A lot of male leads have the archetype of cold on the outside and soft on the inside, but I feel with Xiao Jue it was done incredibly well. He's commanding, skilled, but also sweet and dedicated to the one he loves.
The chemistry between Zhou Ye and Xiao Jue was also a huge highlight of the drama, their moments held so much tension, whether emotional, romantic or comedic.
In terms of Chu Zhao, I've seen that other viewers pity him but I think he's just the generic "I'm entitled to the female lead because I 'love' her" type of second male lead, and people who said that he should've been the male lead are absolutely wrong in my opinion. His role as a person who strictly follows his own morals was pretty interesting in the story, there were times when he was united or against the leads, and it all flowed very naturally. Zhang Kangle does have an iPhone face to me, though.
Cheng Lisu and Song Taotao were pretty interesting characters, especially as their romantic relationship is a feature unique to the drama. I wish that they had gotten more screen time, but obviously because of the face swap, it was not possible. Zhang Miaoyi was still very cute in her role, and I honestly could not tell that Li Qing was the replacement for Cheng Lisu's previous actor.
The villains, namely Xu Jingfu and He Rufei, really annoyed me, especially He Rufei's extraordinary delusion. I can't even elaborate more on that because it makes me so angry. He spends all of his screentime acting like an entitled child throwing a tantrum. I wish that the viewers could've received some context for Xu Jingfu's actions.
Last but not least, the male lead's subordinate Feinu and all of He Yan's army buddies survived to the end of the drama, which is an absolute miracle. I have to thank the drama writers for that one.
Honestly, the biggest downside of the drama is its runtime. It would've been so beneficial to have 40 (45 minute long) episodes to give the story breathing space and time to elaborate on other aspects of the plot or characters. I think that the audience could've really benefitted from a deeper exploration into He Yan's psyche and journey of self-discovery outside of He Rufei. The storyline was still present, but it could've been even more impactful and emotional to see He Yan's numerous struggles with her identity highlighted. However, for the time they ended up with and the amount that they had to cut, I think the people behind the drama did an excellent job at crafting a captivating and engaging drama.
I truly commend Zhou Ye and Cheng Lei on their amazing performances, and recommend this drama to anyone wanting to watch a touching story of romance, fulfillment, and growth with excellent acting and fight scenes.
In terms of the plot, I liked the pace, it barely dragged and kept me interested throughout every episode. There was something so satisfying about seeing He Yan who lost everything beginning from the bottom again and working hard to achieve her goals. That is what's so refreshing about this drama; usually the female leads tend to be naturally talented at fighting and work for recognition of their talents, but in this drama, He Yan is actually not talented at fighting and rises to the top through hard work and dedication, which is such a beautiful message. Skill and dedication truly matters more than natural talent.
I loved the main characters and Zhou Ye and Cheng Lei were absolutely amazing. There were widespread complaints that He Yan didn't have the general aura at the start, but as the drama progresses, the audience gets to experience her growth and reassumption of her position. I find it kind of funny that everyone was expecting a newbie soldier to be super imposing and emotionless, when that's not how it was written in the novel. One of the biggest downsides of the drama is simply the viewers' own expectations of what the drama should be like without regarding trying to understand what it is.
I thought Zhou Ye portrayed He Yan amazingly, her curiosity, playfulness, dedication and intelligence was on full display, and her struggles with finding herself and her own identity was also executed very well by Zhou Ye in terms of the limitations of the script. He Yan as a character is truly very engaging and the viewer can't help but root for her success and happiness in this new chance at life.
Meanwhile, Cheng Lei lived and breathed Xiao Jue, such an amazing character. Unexpectedly, the part that I enjoyed the most were all of the comedic moments, but the emotional and cool moments were also really great. A lot of male leads have the archetype of cold on the outside and soft on the inside, but I feel with Xiao Jue it was done incredibly well. He's commanding, skilled, but also sweet and dedicated to the one he loves.
The chemistry between Zhou Ye and Xiao Jue was also a huge highlight of the drama, their moments held so much tension, whether emotional, romantic or comedic.
In terms of Chu Zhao, I've seen that other viewers pity him but I think he's just the generic "I'm entitled to the female lead because I 'love' her" type of second male lead, and people who said that he should've been the male lead are absolutely wrong in my opinion. His role as a person who strictly follows his own morals was pretty interesting in the story, there were times when he was united or against the leads, and it all flowed very naturally. Zhang Kangle does have an iPhone face to me, though.
Cheng Lisu and Song Taotao were pretty interesting characters, especially as their romantic relationship is a feature unique to the drama. I wish that they had gotten more screen time, but obviously because of the face swap, it was not possible. Zhang Miaoyi was still very cute in her role, and I honestly could not tell that Li Qing was the replacement for Cheng Lisu's previous actor.
The villains, namely Xu Jingfu and He Rufei, really annoyed me, especially He Rufei's extraordinary delusion. I can't even elaborate more on that because it makes me so angry. He spends all of his screentime acting like an entitled child throwing a tantrum. I wish that the viewers could've received some context for Xu Jingfu's actions.
Last but not least, the male lead's subordinate Feinu and all of He Yan's army buddies survived to the end of the drama, which is an absolute miracle. I have to thank the drama writers for that one.
Honestly, the biggest downside of the drama is its runtime. It would've been so beneficial to have 40 (45 minute long) episodes to give the story breathing space and time to elaborate on other aspects of the plot or characters. I think that the audience could've really benefitted from a deeper exploration into He Yan's psyche and journey of self-discovery outside of He Rufei. The storyline was still present, but it could've been even more impactful and emotional to see He Yan's numerous struggles with her identity highlighted. However, for the time they ended up with and the amount that they had to cut, I think the people behind the drama did an excellent job at crafting a captivating and engaging drama.
I truly commend Zhou Ye and Cheng Lei on their amazing performances, and recommend this drama to anyone wanting to watch a touching story of romance, fulfillment, and growth with excellent acting and fight scenes.
Was this review helpful to you?
