This review may contain spoilers
Waste of the Potential
I edited this review after watching the full series.
The concept is supposed to be good. The makeup and costumes are flawless—the cast looks amazing without trying too hard. They clearly invested a lot; the ML alone has at least five different wig styles, lol. But the execution just isn’t there yet. The romantic scenes aren’t sentimental, and the kissing scenes are awkward. Some episodes are so bad and some so good that it feels like they were made by two separate production teams.
The first 20 episodes bored me throughout, but it does get better—so much so that it feels like the second half was directed by a completely different director. But just when everything improves, the last 3 episodes become so horrible that I genuinely wanted to drop the show (after enduring so much already). I absolutely hated the last few episodes.
The biggest problem with the first 25 episodes is the cringiness. The fight choreography, flying capes, and dialogue are all extremely cringe. I couldn’t make myself watch the scene where Wei’s brothers’ wives performed that dance before leaving the house, lol.
It’s also very jumpy. There’s almost no emotional build-up. I don’t know if they were aiming for fast-paced storytelling, but it didn’t work—it still feels slow-burn, slow-paced, and boring, just more jumpy. Honestly, you could skip the first 20 episodes and not miss much. There is never any real emotional build-up. The whole “family doom” plot is supposed to be the main driving force for the leads, but the script barely uses it after a few episodes. After all the torture in jail, I expected some strong emotional development, but it just passes by without impact.
The ML seems to have a small crush on the FL at first, then suddenly—out of nowhere—he becomes madly in love and extremely persistent in just one episode. Him being crazily in love should have been enjoyable to watch, but I just didn’t feel any chemistry. DYX acted well—I was rooting for him. But the FL seems to have zero feelings for the ML, then suddenly at the fake wedding she admits she loves him too, even though they can’t be together. The director should have at least given us something—anything—to ship them before that moment. They had 20 episodes to show even a tiny spark.
The first half also has logic problems. Why does the FL have to be so secretive? Why is the ML so doubtful of her early on, when their parents were killed for the same reason? Shouldn’t they have cooperated easily? But later, they share their secrets about the rebels freely with random acquaintances without hesitation. Also, why did they even need a fake wedding? Did the editors cut explanations out?
Around episodes 29–30, the story becomes really good. The fighting scenes improve, the leads start feeling smart and strategic, and I became invested in their war plans. It becomes fast-paced, intelligent, and fairly realistic. Both leads are steadfast in love—they aren’t the self-sacrificing type. Even if it puts each other at risk, they take that risk together. I loved this part.
Then the last 3 episodes happen, and everything goes downhill. Not because the stupid and evil emperor tries to stop the ML and FL’s love, but because of more logic problems. All the strategies to “rescue” the princess are unnecessary—especially considering they can’t take her back anyway. At this point, Da Sui honestly feels like the villain. They mess up Bei Qi far worse than Bei Qi ever did to them, using dirty and pointless methods. I actually felt bad for Zhao Yue—he’s portrayed as evil, but he’s only “evil” because Da Sui screwed him over. If they truly wanted peace, the princess could have simply asked Zhao Yue to make peace and return the three cities; he was clearly willing to do anything for her. She could have stayed with him, been happy, and governed peacefully. Instead, they chose a path that killed many people. Da Sui’s emperor is way worse than Bei Qi’s. This made me stop rooting for the leads’ cause—they’re doing terrible, pointless things for a horrible emperor while trying to appear self-righteous.
If you’re not a DYX or VS fan and just want to root for the couple, go find a better series. If you still want to watch, skip the first 19 episodes.
The concept is supposed to be good. The makeup and costumes are flawless—the cast looks amazing without trying too hard. They clearly invested a lot; the ML alone has at least five different wig styles, lol. But the execution just isn’t there yet. The romantic scenes aren’t sentimental, and the kissing scenes are awkward. Some episodes are so bad and some so good that it feels like they were made by two separate production teams.
The first 20 episodes bored me throughout, but it does get better—so much so that it feels like the second half was directed by a completely different director. But just when everything improves, the last 3 episodes become so horrible that I genuinely wanted to drop the show (after enduring so much already). I absolutely hated the last few episodes.
The biggest problem with the first 25 episodes is the cringiness. The fight choreography, flying capes, and dialogue are all extremely cringe. I couldn’t make myself watch the scene where Wei’s brothers’ wives performed that dance before leaving the house, lol.
It’s also very jumpy. There’s almost no emotional build-up. I don’t know if they were aiming for fast-paced storytelling, but it didn’t work—it still feels slow-burn, slow-paced, and boring, just more jumpy. Honestly, you could skip the first 20 episodes and not miss much. There is never any real emotional build-up. The whole “family doom” plot is supposed to be the main driving force for the leads, but the script barely uses it after a few episodes. After all the torture in jail, I expected some strong emotional development, but it just passes by without impact.
The ML seems to have a small crush on the FL at first, then suddenly—out of nowhere—he becomes madly in love and extremely persistent in just one episode. Him being crazily in love should have been enjoyable to watch, but I just didn’t feel any chemistry. DYX acted well—I was rooting for him. But the FL seems to have zero feelings for the ML, then suddenly at the fake wedding she admits she loves him too, even though they can’t be together. The director should have at least given us something—anything—to ship them before that moment. They had 20 episodes to show even a tiny spark.
The first half also has logic problems. Why does the FL have to be so secretive? Why is the ML so doubtful of her early on, when their parents were killed for the same reason? Shouldn’t they have cooperated easily? But later, they share their secrets about the rebels freely with random acquaintances without hesitation. Also, why did they even need a fake wedding? Did the editors cut explanations out?
Around episodes 29–30, the story becomes really good. The fighting scenes improve, the leads start feeling smart and strategic, and I became invested in their war plans. It becomes fast-paced, intelligent, and fairly realistic. Both leads are steadfast in love—they aren’t the self-sacrificing type. Even if it puts each other at risk, they take that risk together. I loved this part.
Then the last 3 episodes happen, and everything goes downhill. Not because the stupid and evil emperor tries to stop the ML and FL’s love, but because of more logic problems. All the strategies to “rescue” the princess are unnecessary—especially considering they can’t take her back anyway. At this point, Da Sui honestly feels like the villain. They mess up Bei Qi far worse than Bei Qi ever did to them, using dirty and pointless methods. I actually felt bad for Zhao Yue—he’s portrayed as evil, but he’s only “evil” because Da Sui screwed him over. If they truly wanted peace, the princess could have simply asked Zhao Yue to make peace and return the three cities; he was clearly willing to do anything for her. She could have stayed with him, been happy, and governed peacefully. Instead, they chose a path that killed many people. Da Sui’s emperor is way worse than Bei Qi’s. This made me stop rooting for the leads’ cause—they’re doing terrible, pointless things for a horrible emperor while trying to appear self-righteous.
If you’re not a DYX or VS fan and just want to root for the couple, go find a better series. If you still want to watch, skip the first 19 episodes.
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