WM

I always liked this explanation (based on my favourite heroine Lu Songli and her In-Laws adventures): Military is the survival-first reality - the ranks and gender on the battlefield can be thrown away in some cases, as the people will flock to the lower-ranked if she/he can improve their survival chance, or chances to make merit as well.

@koreanbosuji

Well, I possibly have unrealistic standards for the expected FLs badassery in some cases.

In the AJTL, the supposedly super-duper FL (trailer!!!) was injured by some amateur soldiers in Episode 1. which limited her power for like half of the Drama. And later it was often said that she had too many injuries from the past and had to be rescued way too many times.

There were zero moments when she rescued ML, as even when it was happening on the screen, she was rescuing his young brother/sidekick in reality, as ML was made to be absolutely ridiculously OP-ed (despite the trailer suggesting the drama would be quite FL-centric).

She was also made to look dumber than expected - her rape attempt and obsession to get pregnant during the very important mission. Or her agreeing to keep her identity secret from the squad, which of course, caused issues later on. Just too many things against my sky-high expectations.

Still a very powerful character, but at the same time a waste of the fantastic potential.

@koreanbosuji
Thanks. I never heard about this one (not a K-Drama enthusiast), and it indeed looks tempting.

They rarely exist, to be honest. When both leads are supposed to be badass, the ML is ALWAYS badasser. Sometimes the difference is relatively small ("Who rules the world"), but typically it is much bigger in the favour of the ML.

I think "Are you the one" is possibly the best call here, but it has other weaknesses, though.

AJTL had an opposite problem - the FL was not powerful enough/too overshadowed by the ML based on her promised skills and experience level.

Some of the moments when she had to be sawed by the ML were really watering her down.

I will always consider AJTL the biggest wasted chance in creating a truly badass female lead.

If they are a power couple, as it seems so based on previews, I can assure you that there will be "Damsel in distress" moments.
They always are, writers can't help themselves when Romance is inwolwed :).

I would love to know how much material they had recorded with the Battle of Lucheng action - it looks like it had the potential to take more than 1 episode, if they wouldn't waste time earlier on some nonsense.

Also, the FL knocking out Lord Li was definitely the right move in my eyes, he could barely walk.

Would you allow your friend to kill himself just because it's his wish?

After watching Episode 30

What do you mean by "from reuters"?

"Stay behind me. Keep close" - idiot.

"Soldiers, heed my order" - I've suddenly realised that Blossom's Song Mo telling it to his soldiers sounds much more powerful than the Marquis of Wu'an's version (at least based on the Blossom's rebellion vs POJ's battle in Episode 29).

After checking it at Baidu, I'm shocked that the original general/heroine didn't have any movies/dramas created about her since 1950's.

@whoissilmoy

This would be surprising, at least for me - I expected a villainous growth by him and activity in the final battles, just like the scholars/early fiancées of the FLs in "The Double" or "flourished Peony".

Episode 28 - I hate lazy writing. There's absolutely no way the ML with his heightened senses could not hear Princess coming inside, so him talking to the Counsellor without any of them realising Princess is listening is just plain dumb.

I remember this having the worst ending ever. And I don't remember Cheng DanDan in it (and typically, she is hard to forget).

Costume drama with adult-looking actors? Will try this one for sure.

@Meari21
Great post, thanks.
It made me tempting to watch it on my never-ending hunt for the fl-centric dramas , as the FL sounds fantastic.

@Alexasopretty
+1.
I still didn't watch it (tempted at the moment), but great post on the average FL's behaviour.

Your explanation makes me want trying to watch it, as the FL sounds very smart and capable - exactly how I like.

I don't like the actor playing ML, but I'm still somehow tempted.

Such a powerful strategist like ML looks extremely dumb not knowing when the right moment was to share his true identity with the FL.

It doesn't bother me when the dumb characters make mistakes like it, but it bothers me here, just like it bothered me in LOFG, Journey to Lowe and many other shows.

I would take less drama/more boringness over making an otherwise very smart characters behaving dumb just to create extra friction in the storyline.