This review may contain spoilers
Best and the Worst
After the disappointment I've experienced with "Female Dudu general", "Wanted Detective", "Prisoner of beauty" and many more hyped dramas, I had my doubts about "Fated Hearts" as well.It started strong , the dynamic between female & male leads was great but then it just died when they fall for each other.
In the final episodes I didn't care about the main leads and fast forwarded their scenes. It was too predictable and boring. The only reason I didn't drop this was because of the Princess of Susha who married the prince of Zhennan, then slept with Emperor for intel. It didn't make sense but was forcing me to watch what would happen. :)
Good things
* Cast of many gorgeous and some good actors.
* Nice costumes and not everything felt like green screen studio set.
* Princess of Susha,Prince of Zhennan and Emperor of Jinxiu stole the show as support characters.
Bad Things
*Main plot was too predicable.
* Many side plots were left undeveloped (for example Murong Yao).
* Beware the annoying fake crying kids in the first episodes. It was 40 mins "shifu" Shifu".
* Some scenes looked very cringy because actors were posing for cameras instead acting.
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Pizzabox with only half of pizza inside
I am not big fan of Chinese fantasy series because the special effects cheapen the entire production. In Fangs of Fortune however everything is done with the right amount and the special effects look really great. The entire soundtrack was unique and especially the end music with the fangs dance looked amazing. Costumes and the entire production looked expensive with so much details. Each of the characters had unique style and interesting background story.Fangs of fortune delivered however some chaotic main story progression, 2-3 episodes were linked together but then unrelated to the next bundle of episodes which revealed different plot. They tried to create somehow of a mix between romantic, spooky, comedic, dramatic moment. The comedic moments looked quite cringe, the dramatic moments had a lot of beautiful fake crying ( all actors cried same way with cosmetic tear drops). Also all the actors were beautiful, but I could not tell if they were actually good at their job because the poor script.
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Dropped dead boring
I was so hyped by the trailer when I watched it, It started somehow interesting.I watched until episode 19, it feels they forgot what they were investigating. The more I watched the more I was forcing myself. The way ML got poison by his own ppl was also pretty idiotic, how can the pro poison expert would give the wrong uncurable poison bottle as if it was package of M&M.I hope it getter better for the ppl keep watching it. This year we're getting so many flashy dramas with very few substance.
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Old Story new faces
I love both leads but this story simply can't keep me interested. First of all, I miss the main villain, and it looks like brave girl searching for new hobby instead revenge. A fragile lady in man undercover, but in what universe someone would think she looks like male. The romantic exchanges between the leads were cringe. This is from the dramas where I feel sorry for the actors. With better scrip and directing they could achieve much more. The only thing worth watching are the fighting scenes, The choreo was outstanding. The only reason this could get 6.5.Was this review helpful to you?
Gem in the mud
I was reserved when start watching , but it turns out to be quite entertaining .Great actors ,plot with interesting progression.So far I can say that Korean fantasy Tv series look much better compared to Chinese one , because special effects here complimenting the story, are not overdone and don't look too cheap. I started immediately season two but the actress was not the same.
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Interesting Begin and predictable Ending
Ok I really loved how this Drama started. I watched it mainly because of Liu Yu Ning and he saved many scenes where the female actress failed to deliver. The costumes, designs, plot and cast were overall really nice. FL Xiao Qiao role was interesting in the beginning of the story, I was expecting her to be mischievous, calculating and even backstabbing but after she went to Wei she acted as boring housewife, the scenes where she was trying to act as 5 year old girl Infront of the lord were not helping at all. This kind of made their entire romantic relationship flat & boring. Literary every other character like the peony unibrow lady, the half brother Wei Yan or the fat couple were fare more interesting and entertaining than the main leads. I thought the story will end with the last two major battles where the Wei lord dies to the north and his half brother Wei Yan wins by defending the capital, then moves north , unites the land and take care of his brother wife and new born. Would have been a twist but they went the most generic boring way with minimal side characters sacrifices.Comparing this to other master class historical (costume) dramas like "Love of like a Galaxy", "Story of Kunning Palace" it simply doesn't deserve above 9.
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Looks familiar but done really poorly
I fall in love with Chinese costume dramas since I've finished "Story of Kunning palace", "Goodbye princess", "The double" and many more.Landy Li played in another top drama "love of Nirvana" and I was expecting Coroner's Diary to come closer, but omg I was so wrong.
Plot is a about a prince and a medic playing pro detectives who are not chasing injustices, injustices are chasing them . There is colleague chemistry between them and side characters are total fillers. I've finished ep 15 basically forcing myself to keep watching. Some scenes are so cringe: for example when the princess balancing on the heels with one hand holding on the edge with the other straight hand holding two other grown women. Another one was when the prince charming went though tornado under water to save the medic and then covered her with his coat but how are they soaking wet, but his coat is warm and dry. Because it fits better the romance scene, just turn of your brain, it is fine O0.
I also don't get how there are ppl giving this top score 10, with what do you compare this?
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Too ambitious.
Moon River is overall good drama with solid 7.5-8 ratio. It tries too hard to be too many things at the same time: ridiculous comedy , serios historical drama, fantasy inspired moments with unnecessary CGI. As end result the plot feels messy and chaotic. I enjoyed it but it won't leave any imprint to my memory like "Red Sleeve" or "Moon Lovers" did. Ending was cheap and predictable. The best thing for me was the great main theme folklore song performed by Song So-Hee.Was this review helpful to you?
Diamond among all Gemstones
Red Sleeve really shook me with this great story, where love doesn't conquer all. I am so surprised by the open to interpretation ending, some people find it as happy other as heartbreaking.Usually when we see kids showing leads past is very brief and cringe moment, just to highlight they had somehow of childhood connection. In Red Sleeve even this consumed a whole episode where every scene was meaningful and had major consequences. The side characters were also well developed, I've never found myself fast forwarding a single moment.
Great story, directing and the amazing work of these Korean actors made this Drama one of my favorite. I didn't want it to end, as the emperor in his final dream.
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One of the best
This in indeed one of the best historical Korean Dramas. The plot varies from location to location following multiple character lines. There were some hard war and torture scenes which might be hard to swallow, but this reflects also the horrible human nature at this era and the hardship of war. From first until last episode My dearest commands completely your attention. What a touching love story, revealed in most horrific and beautiful way.Was this review helpful to you?
Title should have been "Love of Sadness"
Love of Nirvana is one of my most favorite Chinese dramas. Ren Jia Lun is flawless in his acting and such pleasure for the eye. I loved the story progression, some people were disappointed by the sad ending but this is what makes this TV Series so good. There is no victory without sacrifice. Costumes and music were great, the story pasing was right with different locations and nice side characters.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Good but not great
This is rich production with great costumes, so you definitely enjoy it. The story however is too predictable and somehow illogical. I find it strange that they're siblings until episode 32 and then lovebird for the last 8 episodes. Would have been much better if Luo Yi Ning could have remedy her broken love relationship with the Lu Jia Xue instead going for the more predictable path. All actors did amazing job, but for me the discovery was Lu Jia Xue. What an amazing actor with such diverse range of skills.Was this review helpful to you?
Mixed feelings
I don't know how to feel about this Tv Serie. It started really good, story looked interesting but once the main leads decided to work in team and fall in love everything became extremely boring. I would have enjoyed it if f this was the first epoch drama, but with so many masterpiece productions "princess Royal" falls short.Was this review helpful to you?
Great Chinese Epoch drama
Story of Kunning Palace is probably one of the best Chinese dramas I've ever seen. I keeps the ancient vibe of the time, fighting scenes were done in a great way without overdoing it. Characters were introduced and developed in such a great way that the story hooks you from episode one until the very end.Was this review helpful to you?
What was this?
As big fan of Gong Jun, after watching him in "Word of Honor" & "Legend of Anle" I was expecting same quality of story and acting here. Unfortunately he was acting dead, blank face delivery as if he was bored by this drama as well. To be honest I can't blame him because he was not the only one. The way pacing and the scenes are cut and fused together doesn't make much sense, everything looks random and overexaggerated . What usually happens is that two ppl jump into each other , chat a little bit then start fighting and one of the eventually flees . I forced myself for the first 10 episodes but I don't get how p[pl can watch this.Was this review helpful to you?
