This review may contain spoilers
So much Sexism
The most distasteful thing about this drama is that its built off of gender inequality, whether its the FL's family that is pretty oppressive towards men, or the rest of the world that is outrageously oppressive towards women. The worst part of this is that instead of promoting gender equality, it almost feels like they are subtly telling us that oppressing men is good.
One part of the story that I do think was well done was the relationship that the MLs had with their siblings/cousins. Their was plenty of sibling rivalry, but I really liked how the MLs (eespecially Neo's character) made to go out of their way to maintain good relationships with their siblings and cousins to make sure that their families didn't fall apart. On the flip side, I think they did a very poor job building the character of the grandma. They tried way too hard to make her have a complicated relationship with the FL, and they failed pretty bad. The grandma was very unlikeable and brought nothing of value to the plot.
Outside of that the plot was subpar. When I was watching the show, I furious at the scriptwriter because of how bad the plot of the show was. I could not believe it when I found out that this was the same scriptwriter as the one for Story of Yanxi Palace. This was not her best work. The plot was repetitive, and the last 6 episodes were completely unnecessary. Why did they just randomly add a completely irrelevant storyline at the end of the show. Also the plot was constantly trying to sabotage the main couple, and not in the way that its supposed to. The show keeps pushing the agenda that you can't trust the people you love because they might change in the future. Philosophically I think that's just so silly because you are punishing someone for something they didn't even do yet, and it keeps the relationship of the main couple from reaching its potential. Another thing about the show is that there are no good people. Anyone that you see in the show that you think is a good guy, will become a bad guy, and likely for a really stupid reason that is filled with plot holes.
The cast was excellent, in fact it carried the show. If you are watching for the romance and chemistry between Guli Nazha and Neo Hou, you will not be disappointed. Everyone in the cast plays their role very well and all of the couples have wonderful chemistry. Zhao Yi Qin especially does a fantastic job on his character, and was a perfect casting for the role.
Unfortunately the show was heavily overdubbed. Most of the voice actors did a good job, however production did get a bit lazy and some of the sound and movement of the actors' lips were not always in sync. Thankfully they let Neo Hou do the voicework for his own character. I think that it was a mistake to overdub Cheng Xiao, her real voice would have been a better fit for the character. Oddly enough, they did not overdub Zhao ZhaoYi. This was a mistake. I found her voice to be incredibly irritating throughout the show, especially with how many lines she had. The show would have been more enjoyable had she been overdubbed.
The OST was mediocre. In fact it can't even be considered an "Original Soundtrack" because it was not original. They used a popular song called "Zhe Xian". It's a wonderful song and I'm glad they used it, as it was the best song in the soundtrack, but if the best song in the track isn't even theirs, its not a great look on the production team. I did enjoy the one song that Neo Hou sang, but other than that the songs were mid.
The show has no rewatch value. There is nothing super deep that requires a second watch, and the plot was so bad that it leaves you glad that its finally over. The only thing that could possibly be worth revisiting would be the romance, but even then you would be better served looking for compilations on Youtube.
Honestly, the show had potential, and the cast was amazing, but it was ultimately hindered by subpar scriptwriting.
One part of the story that I do think was well done was the relationship that the MLs had with their siblings/cousins. Their was plenty of sibling rivalry, but I really liked how the MLs (eespecially Neo's character) made to go out of their way to maintain good relationships with their siblings and cousins to make sure that their families didn't fall apart. On the flip side, I think they did a very poor job building the character of the grandma. They tried way too hard to make her have a complicated relationship with the FL, and they failed pretty bad. The grandma was very unlikeable and brought nothing of value to the plot.
Outside of that the plot was subpar. When I was watching the show, I furious at the scriptwriter because of how bad the plot of the show was. I could not believe it when I found out that this was the same scriptwriter as the one for Story of Yanxi Palace. This was not her best work. The plot was repetitive, and the last 6 episodes were completely unnecessary. Why did they just randomly add a completely irrelevant storyline at the end of the show. Also the plot was constantly trying to sabotage the main couple, and not in the way that its supposed to. The show keeps pushing the agenda that you can't trust the people you love because they might change in the future. Philosophically I think that's just so silly because you are punishing someone for something they didn't even do yet, and it keeps the relationship of the main couple from reaching its potential. Another thing about the show is that there are no good people. Anyone that you see in the show that you think is a good guy, will become a bad guy, and likely for a really stupid reason that is filled with plot holes.
The cast was excellent, in fact it carried the show. If you are watching for the romance and chemistry between Guli Nazha and Neo Hou, you will not be disappointed. Everyone in the cast plays their role very well and all of the couples have wonderful chemistry. Zhao Yi Qin especially does a fantastic job on his character, and was a perfect casting for the role.
Unfortunately the show was heavily overdubbed. Most of the voice actors did a good job, however production did get a bit lazy and some of the sound and movement of the actors' lips were not always in sync. Thankfully they let Neo Hou do the voicework for his own character. I think that it was a mistake to overdub Cheng Xiao, her real voice would have been a better fit for the character. Oddly enough, they did not overdub Zhao ZhaoYi. This was a mistake. I found her voice to be incredibly irritating throughout the show, especially with how many lines she had. The show would have been more enjoyable had she been overdubbed.
The OST was mediocre. In fact it can't even be considered an "Original Soundtrack" because it was not original. They used a popular song called "Zhe Xian". It's a wonderful song and I'm glad they used it, as it was the best song in the soundtrack, but if the best song in the track isn't even theirs, its not a great look on the production team. I did enjoy the one song that Neo Hou sang, but other than that the songs were mid.
The show has no rewatch value. There is nothing super deep that requires a second watch, and the plot was so bad that it leaves you glad that its finally over. The only thing that could possibly be worth revisiting would be the romance, but even then you would be better served looking for compilations on Youtube.
Honestly, the show had potential, and the cast was amazing, but it was ultimately hindered by subpar scriptwriting.
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