Drama Addict

Arthdal Chronicles: A Mirror of Power, Politics, and the Fragility of Human Nature

What truly fascinates me about Arthdal Chronicles is not just its imaginative setting or compelling characters, but the thought-provoking way it blends myth, history, and human psychology into a grand narrative. Set in a fictional ancient world, the drama paints a stark contrast between the advanced civilisation of Arthdal and the simpler, earthbound life of the Wahan tribe. More than that, it explores the clash between different races — the dominant Saram and the marginalised Neanthals — reflecting themes of social stratification, cultural conflict, and imperial dominance.

It also lays bare the fragility and fickleness of human nature. The moment Tanya ascends as the high priestess, the Wahans’ status is instantly elevated — not because of justice, but because of power cloaked in sacred authority. The Wahan tribe, once brutally oppressed by the Arthdals, forgets their suffering almost overnight, swayed by shifting tides of power and the new luxuries they now enjoy. Their loyalty changes the moment the tables turn — a sobering reminder of how quickly victims can become collaborators. Equally striking is how susceptible the people of Arthdal are to superstition: they swallow the high priestess's tales of Igutus and their royal purple blood without question, swept up in a wave of religious fervour. It is a haunting depiction of how belief, fear, and ambition can rewrite history and reshape identity.

What makes this series resonate deeply is how eerily it mirrors our present-day world. The sophisticated, resource-rich and powerful Arthdal — with their advance weapons, polished lies and manipulative politics — resemble modern superpowers. But can such entities truly suppress the vulnerable forever? Can truth survive in a world where greed and self-preservation so often take precedence over justice?

This season opens with a gripping twist: the Igutu twins, Saya and Eunseom, now leaders on opposite sides of a civil war, fight unknowingly against each other. Saya, as Arthdal’s cunning commander-in-chief, and Eunseom, as the principled Inaishingi of the Ago tribe, cross swords and strategies in battle — masked, unaware that the person they are trying to defeat is their own twin. The tension climaxes during an assassination attempt that leaves both brothers wounded and mistaken for each other, resulting in their dramatic switch of roles - Eunseom is matched off to Arthdal as Saya, and Saya was mistaken as the Inaishingi. What unfolds next is too good to spoil.

There are hints at further sequels to come. The drama ends with tantalising hints of more turmoil: Saya with a dark gleam of cunning in his eyes, Queen Taealha donning armour alongside her grown son, and the newly crowned ruler of Arthdal struggling to hold together a kingdom of clashing races, religious divides, differing opinions and values, and political ambitions.

While I missed some familiar faces from the earlier seasons, the new cast — especially Lee Joon Gi — delivered a brilliant performance. His portrayal of the two brothers was masterful, making each distinct yet compelling: Saya cold and calculating, Eunseom warm yet wise.

The pacing of the series is well balanced — fast enough to keep viewers engaged without feeling rushed, emotionally evocative without slipping into melodrama. One of the most poignant arcs for me was that of Tagon. His desire to be a beloved ruler was constantly thwarted by the manipulative forces around him — especially Asa Ron and Taealha's father — pushing him into tyranny and bloodshed.

All in all, Arthdal Chronicles is a thrilling, intelligent series that goes far beyond fantasy. It holds up a mirror to human nature and modern geopolitics. All the seasons are masterpieces - highly recommended.

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The Ascension to the Throne

My review to Season 1 and 2 are at:
https://kisskh.at/profile/7403249/reviews/402084
https://kisskh.at/profile/7403249/reviews/402278

Could Tanya be the descendent of Asa Sin and therefore the rightful religious leader of Arthdal? If so, then the Wahans could also be the descendents of Aramum Haesulla and Asa Sin. This mystery was unveiled in Season 3.

With the help of Taelha and Tanya, Tagon rose to become the Union Leader. Asa Ron was not going to let Tagon rose to power so easily. Tagon hid two secrets and Asa Ron knew one of them and he was determined to expose it to the tribal leaders to topple Tagon. He set a trap for Tagon. To hid both his secret, he massacred the tribal leaders and set out to be a king. Tagon had wanted to become a benevolent leader loved by his people. But this rebellion changed him and he became a tyrant.

Meantime, Eunseom escaped from the mine. He rescued a Momo tribal leader and her baby. The Momo tribe had a motto of returning favours. The tribe became indebted to him.

Unfortunately Eunseom was captured again, this time by the Ago Tribe who captured humans to be sent to Arthdals to be sold as slaves. But by a twist of fate and help of his fellow prisoner, a sly and treacherous man, he became recognised as the Isainagi re-incarnate. The Ago tribe was a lost and disunited tribe. They had been hoping for a powerful leader and Eunseom fitted the role.

Now, two powerful regions were formed. One led by Eunseom and the other by Tagon. Friction between the powers were inevitable. And this was to be presented in the sequel produced 4 years later in 2023.

Might I also add that Song Joong Ki did an excellent job acting a pair of twins with opposite characters - one was kind and innocent, the other ruthless and cunning. I rated 10 for all seasons.

Now I am going to start on the sequel filmed in 2023, 4 years later but covering Arthdal and Ago 8 years later. But in the 2023 sequel, Song was replaced by Lee Joon Gi who is also and excellent actor.

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The Fight Continued and the First Prophecy was about to be unveiled

You can refer to my review on Season 1 at https://kisskh.at/profile/7403249/reviews/402084. Each Season comprised six episodes. Season 2 started from episode 7.

The Wahan tribe in Iark where Eunseom had taken refuge was attacked by the Arthdal Samaras. A peaceful tribe without any advanced weapons, they were quickly subdued. The Wahan villagers were taken to Arthdal as slaves. However Eunseom escaped and vowed to rescued them and his love, Tanya. In one of his rescue missions, Eunseom was captured and sent to a mine as a slave miner. He was also blamed for the death of Sanung, the Union Leader.

Tanya's mother was killed by the Samaras. Tanya was set to be the next tribal mother, a religious leader in the tribe. In Arthdal, Tanya discovered a man hidden in a Tower, who looked very much like Eunseom.

Legend had it that Aramum Haesulla was the hero who united the Arthdal Samaras. It was said that he ran away with Asa Sin, the Arthdal's supreme religious mother. It was not known where they went.

The current Asa clan was led by Asa Ron, a power-hungry religious leader. This clan was known not to be a direct descendant of Asa Sin. Prophecy said that the direct descendant of Asa Sin would return one day and led Arthdal. And this person would be able to find the bell hidden by Asa Sin.

Asa Ron disliked Tagon as he was viewed as a hero in Arthdal for his military conquest and set to sabotage his ascend to power. Tagon and Taelha were eager to find this descendent. If found, she would replaced Asa Ron as the rightful leader of the religion sect.

A lot of viewers said that this season was better than Season 1. But I find them equally good. In Season 2, there were some draggy parts around the miners. My Season 3 review would follow soon. I had given all 3 seasons a full rating of 10, in spite of some small imperfections.

This drama was interesting as it had so many events borrowed from events in history. More about the entire drama can be found in my review of Season 1.

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Not the usual theme

What I appreciated most about this drama is that it was based on the decline and revival of a family's fortune. This was a departure from the usual themes of fight for the throne, god vs demons, gang/clan revenge type of stories - these had become very stale for me since I watched a lot of Chinese and Korean dramas.

The head of the Hua family offended the emperor who was narrow-minded, narcissistic, domineering and wicked. The family was driven out of their home and the men were sent into exile, leaving the women and young children to fend for themselves. Worse to come was they were cheated out of whatever minimal valuables they could bring with them.

The newly appointed Commander of the Security Bureau, was assigned the duty of driving them out and confiscating all that Grandfather Hua had written. Hua Zhi, the grand-daughter rose to the occasion to lead the family to earn a living through selling whatever they were capable of producing. The family, being of scholastic background looked down on such careers and it was a challenge to overcome their mindset and stereotyping.

It was interesting to watch how a young girl struggled against family's prejudices against new means of earning a living, and also the bullying that came from business associates and the public as a girl with no backing. You would witness how the different characters in the family responded to the situation. - some were supportive, some resentful, some had other schemes up their sleeves.

Along the way, the younger generations girls found their marital partners - each leading to different outcomes. The older generation Hua daughters were bullied as soon as the Hua family fell from grace. And you get to see how each situation was dealt with, often with keen intelligence, although some were tragic.

Although unknown to her, YanXi, the martial arts instructor was a nephew of the emperor, and he had grown very fond of Hua Zhi. The emperor wanted all of YanXi's loyalty. He could not tolerate his affection for HuaZhi and became a major obstacle to the development of any affection between the two.

In addition to an interesting story was a great cast who acted well, and chemistry between the leads were great. Costumes were beautiful, music were befitting to the mood of the drama, cinematography was excellent.

What was more interesting was some of these happening could happen to any family, even today. So it was easy to empathise with them.

The only doubt I had about this drama was it seemed all too easy to get rich in such a short time, especially in view of the setbacks. The family was moving back to the capital and setting up their businesses in less than nine months - gauged by the time it took for one of the aunts to give birth.

And also, not another child emperor again. :(

In spite of these small nitpicks, I rated it 9.5. Overall, I highly recommend this drama.

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If you have not watched much of Chinese xianxia fantasy dramas, you should absolutely watch this.

YanDan and ZhiXi were the human transformation of and the only surviving members of the Four-leaves Lotus which had great medicinal value. YanDan had a tiff with the Heavenly Lord YingYuan, God of War when she discovered that he had been bullying a turtle in the garden, flipping him over every time he saw it. Unfortunately she was sent to serve him in his palace.

A war broke out between the immortals and the demons. It was a bloody war and YingYuan returned seriously wounded although victorious. YingYuan knew that he was not going to survive and left his palace to die alone in the forest, so that he would not harm anyone when he went crazy. Fate had it that YanDan would find him already blinded in the forest and nursed him while hiding her real identity. She found out that the heart of the Four-leaves Lotus, of which she was one, would save him and decided to carve out half of her heart to do so. YingYuan knew this healing method earlier and had resisted it.

The immortal realm had a rule that immortals were not fall in love. Breaking this rule brought about severe punishment. Unfortunately for YingYuan and YanDan, the jealous fairy YingDeng who wanted YingYuan for herself was always around to sabotage them. To save YanDan from punishment, YingYuan had to play along very often with the scheming fairy YingDeng to stop her from spilling the truth about them. Part 1 of the drama continued onto Part 2.

I am surprised that Part 1 was rated better than Part 2, although I think Part 2 was more interesting after YanDan was banished to the mortal realm. She forgot who she was and called herself Bai Piao Liang.

Part 1 was very stale and more of the same to me. It was too much like the Ashes of Love where Yang Zi (YanDan) was the female lead, Love and Redemption where ChengYi (YingYuan) was the male lead and some of the earlier Chinese xianxia (fairytale) fantasy dramas. The moods, settings, some scenes and even the title of the drama were too much like these earlier dramas. For example YanDan crossing the WangChuang (River to Forget) reminded me of Ji Mi (Yang Zi) crossing the river to the demon realm to visit Xu Feng (DengLun) in Ashes of Love. There was also a jealous love rival who actively sabotaged - Sui He in Ashes of Love and YingDing in this drama. Part 1 was very emotional but did nothing much for me as it was mainly about one of the lover pretending and pushing away the other while one of them clinged on, so the chemistry between them was almost non-existent. Similarly the character Si Feng in Love and Redemption was always pushing away Xuan Ji - a similar situation of forbidden love. It was draggy, and all about deceit and hiding the truth - a lot of them were very annoying to me.

When the other party pushed one away, one should learn to move on, especially when so little was committed from the other person, regardless whether they reciprocated in their hearts and said nothing.

I will continue with my assessment in Part 2 for the rest of the drama.

However, if you have not watched Ashes of Love and much of Chinese xianxia fantasy dramas, or like to re-live those stories, you will enjoy this drama tremendously. A good drama to get you introduced to the world of Chinese fantasy dramas.

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Fantastic episodes 1-29 but a questionable 30

I enjoyed episodes 1-29 thoroughly and was wondering during these episodes why it lost out to 'A female student arrives at the Imperial College' in rating on mydramalist.com. Both dramas featured the tall handsome Xu KaiCheng with settings in an academy. Being a fantasy drama, this story was definitely more interesting. My question was answered in the last episode when it ended wishy-washy and open-ended with a lot of unanswered questions. In contrast, the ending for the Imperial College drama was very well crafted - heart-rending and yet with positive vibes.

The beginning and ending of a drama are very important. The beginning determines whether we would watch on, the ending leaves the parting impression. This ending looks like it is preparing for a sequel but as we all know, sequels can take years before it can even start filming - just look at Joy of Life. And at times a flop - like the sequel to Journey of Flower.

However, I enjoyed the humour during the initial one-third as the reincarnated and cunning Feng Wu (lead female) tricked Jun LingYuan (lead male) and Yu Ming Ye (second male lead) who were from two opposing camps and played them against each other. Her ultimate aim was to steal the celestial fruit to help her regain her lost power. Subsequently, they ended up in the same academy while a conspiracy was brewing. The intense rivalry was attention riveting too.

The second lead was Wang Hao Xuan who acted the good-looking evil Xue Yang from The Untamed, who left a deep impression. As I realised, he has a lot of fans from that drama. In terms of actresses, the leading actresses were all very good looking, especially the second lead.

Excellent backdrop, interesting scenes (except the last), good looking cast and some would even say nice music. Watch and you may enjoy it but be ready for a disappointing ending.

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An interesting drama, good acting and mysterious plots. I could guess who is the killer in the first murder scene but the later ones were mostly surprises. The ending was an interesting twist that seems to suggest a sequel might be coming.

Entertaining, but there are some lull moments. Very well produced but i won't rate it among the top league. Nevertheless worth a watch and it is quite a short series. Almost like Dr Qin but with a setting in ancient times.

I would have ended my review here but it would not allow me to submit the review because it is less than 500 characters long. So i have to add a few more comments.

If there is a sequel, i am likely to watch it as the ending suggested that there is more than meets the eye.

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Wow! Comparable in standard to Ten Mile Peach Blossom but livelier

The ideas of a peach garden, God of War, fighting the demon king, six realms are all ideas from the Ten Mile Blossom. But this drama has its own story line entirely different from the former. It has all the ingredients for a great drama - story, acting, costume, music, computer graphics, directing. And in spite of the intense emotional settings, there are some humorous moments which make me laugh real hard.

I can understand why more mature actors and actresses are chosen for certain dramas - few young ones could pull off the intense expressions of emotions and chemistry that Ni Ni and Zhang Zhen could. There are not that many Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo - even these two took a while to warm up to their roles in the Untamed.

I knew Ni Ni from the Rise of Phoenixes but I knew nothing about Zhang Zhen. Before I started watching the drama, I did for a moment wonder whether he could measure up to some of the popular drama actors like Hu Ge or Wallace Huo and he did. He acted the character of JiuChen very well - a powerful, responsible, canny, very stern, yet tender and loving God of War who protected the world and capable of harsh action when required. He is equally capable of showing extreme tenderness as well as giving hard, angry, stern looks.

As I started checking up on Zhang Zhen, I realised he was the handsome bandit lover in Crouching Tiger and Sun Quan in Red Cliff. I remember the 2 characters but unfortunately his name was not given much prominence in these movies. But I am sure his talents was recognised as he had a lot of lead roles, and was nominated for and won several awards in movies.

Ni Ni is an excellent actress who can demonstrate different facets of a character. In this drama, she started off as an innocent mischievous playful girl infatuated with the God of War into a mature sophisticated lady, both capable of winning his heart. The lead characters had this amazing chemistry. It was heart warming to see how they relate to each other, and how NingXi coyly seduced JiuChen, and how JiuChen fell hard for her. Their flirting moments were entertaining. Her expression of emotions was just as good as the lead actor.

If we are to nitpick, we will always be able to find some small flaws even with the best dramas, and I can pick one out here. Much as I love most of the costumes, I must say the designer for JiuChen did not do him justice - he is the God of War not a peasant or scholar. And this black cap he wore was terrible.

Finally, I re-watched this drama and love it even more.

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Deserves its current top rating on the list

I am very selective of dramas I watched online and typically I only watched those with high ratings. I must say this drama deserves its current top rating for Chinese dramas. Good looking actors and actresses, bromance, mystery, beautiful cinematography, special effects, comic moments, heart-wrenching scenes, melodious music rolled into one.

The initial couple of episodes were rather confusing. But I was intrigued by the mystery of Wei Ying's death and resurrection, and I watched on - great job of introducing that at the beginning. When I reached the episode he was thrown off the cliff, I revisited the two initial episodes and they all started to make sense. Similarly, I was not impressed initially with the cast. But the drama improved further down the track and so did the acting of the actors/actresses.

I had not read the novel, but this drama deserves credit in its own rights. From the reviews of readers of the novel, there were suggestions of homosexuality in the relationships. But the drama was tastefully done and there were no homosexual scenes. Although I am not homo-phobic, I really do not appreciate homosexual scenes so I am glad of there were none - I do not share and appreciate the emotions - in fact, they are a bit of a turn-off.

However, intense feelings and camaraderie were enacted. The looks that Lan Zhan gave to Wei Ying were full of quiet intense emotions, and the feeling of pain at his death and suffering was well expressed. Wang YiBo acted Lan Zhan well. If WeiYing or LanZan is replaced by a female, coupled with a bit of tweak, this could become a romance story. In dramas, I have a type - I am strongly attracted to the charismatic, calm, intelligent, handsome hero of little words.

The mystery of what happened in the 16 years that Wei Ying was dead was not quite satisfactorily explained. Did he stay dead for 16 years until he was resurrected? If not, what happened to him in the 16 years? How did Mo Xuan Yue found and resurrect him?

And I love the music pieces - the theme song at the end and the music piece at the beginning.

I was impressed with the attention to details - they had chosen a boy who had dimples on his cheek to act the young Jin GuangYao - consistent with Zhu Zan Jin who had very obvious dimples and acted the adult.

Finally, to those who had started watching this drama and are the impatient type, stay on for a few episodes before you give up. And if you have not started, go ahead and you would not regret it.

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Talk, sob, kneel

This drama was produced 13 years ago. I guess based on the standard of Chinese dramas at that time, this was outstanding and was a blockbuster then. However, with the advent of newer and better dramas releases, this drama had become somewhat jaded. In comparison to some of the outstanding production like Till the End of the Moon, Kunning Palace, The Untamed, Ten Mile of Peach Blossom, Scarlett Heart had dropped from the top league in today's drama scene.

Additionally, I watched the Korean version of Moon Lovers, Scarlett Heart Ryeo which was a remake of this drama but was based on the Goryeo dynasty, before watching this drama. The storyline was similar but I found the Moon Lovers a lot more action oriented with its fighting scenes, a lot more dramatic and faster paced. It was very clear why their 'Ruo Xi' shifted her affections from the 8th Prince to the 4th Prince. as the latter was hot in pursuit and was very proactive in winning her heart. In contrast, this Scarlett Heart drama featured a lot more talking, sobbing and kneeling. The 4th Prince was a lot more subdued in his approach and courting. Other than some gifts and a couple of scenes when he stood up for her and saved her, there was nothing very dramatic.

I was impressed with the cast of Princes - many of the sires subsequently became big names in the Chinese drama scenes - this drama had brought them to fame.

Overall, the acting was very good, story was interesting and Liu Shi Shi had excellent chemistry with her four suitors. It is worth the time to watch this especially for someone new to the Chinese drama scenes and had not been spoilt by the newer productions.

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Who would she end up with?

For a drama produced eight years ago, it was still very appealing. I had not watched the Scarlet Heart produced earlier in China, which was what this drama was modelled after. But I am now inspired to do that.

Heart broken by her boyfriend and best friend who betrayed her, Go Han Jin was crying by the sea. While trying to save a drowning boy, an eclipse happened and Han Jin found herself transported back to the Goryeo era and into the body of Hae Soo. Here she witnessed the fight over the throne by the Princes.

Han Jin unwittingly attracted the attention of several of the princes and they fell in love with her. Most prominent was the 8th prince and 4th prince. The 8th prince was quietly plotting for the throne. The 4th prince was seemingly the ostracised and the least favoured for the throne, but unknown to most people including himself, he was born under the star of the King, the same as for the Crown Prince Wu.

So, who would Hae Soo end up with? The gentle loving 8th prince, the forceful 4th prince, the playful 10th prince or the righteous 14th prince?

1. The story was interesting. It was difficult to predict what might happened next. We know quite early who the next king would be but would he become the cruel king who massacred his brothers? Would Hae Soo be able to change that?

2. Character development was very evident. How a gentle soul become cunning in the face of the desire for power. How someone with no interest in the throne was eventually lead to follow his fate. How a confident modern maiden bowed down to the cruelty of the time.

3. Having only 20 episodes, the pace of the story development was fast and there were no dilly-dallying.

4. The cast was outstanding. The leads did a fabulous job. Lee Joon Gi portrayed the forceful 4th prince who was very much ashamed of the scar of his face. Kang Ha Neul had such a gentle look on his face when he was in love with Hae Soo. Hong Jong Hyun was absolute evil looking and he looked really deranged later in the drama. Then there is Byun Baek Hyun with this innocent, playful and silly look.

5. However, the drama was not without some flaws. In some instance, it was clear that the drama was deliberately made very makjang. The rather intelligent Hae Soo became brainless, weak and hesitant. And she started blaming Wang So for beating to death someone who had betrayed her trust. Of course, this was to lead to the chosen ending of the drama.

However, overall I highly recommend this drama.

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Soul shifters and heart renders

The fictitious land of Daeho is dominated by two powerful groups of mages who are learned magicians: Cheonbugwan and Songrim. Cheonbugwan reports directly to the King. Songrim is a self-run organisation openly against the practice of sorcery, especially the soul shifters who are able to move from their bodies to dominate another. Soul shifting involves exchanging bodies, often with an unwilling younger person to prolong one's life and is an evil sorcery. Cheonbugwan claims a similar anti-sorcery stance but secretly rivals Songrim for power.

While running away from the pursuit of the Songrim mages, assassin Naksu finds herself soul shifted into the body of MuDeok and later becomes the maidservant of Jang Uk from a powerful elite family. Jang Uk knows that MuDeok is Naksu and uses this knowledge to blackmail her to help him lift a seal on his energy. The Jang Uk is the son of the Head of Cheonbugwan, who has been missing for 20 years but rumours goes that he is an illegitimate son from his mother's affairs.

King is plagued by the prophecy that a powerful King's Star mage would one day appears and is insecure about his position. There are dark powerful forces supporting the sorcerers and the people practicing it are in high places, who will make use of the King's and Crown Prince's insecurity. Even the Unanimous Assembly of mages is dominated by ambitious sect leaders who are secretly hoping to lay their hands on the Ice Stone which can make the soul shifting happens, while claiming to be righteous and anti-sorcery.

What I like about this drama:

a. This soul shifting story is original. There had been dramas based on soul of a person shifting to another - mostly as individuals unique cases. But this drama takes it to another dimension as a widely practised sorcery involving a cult of powerful men and women whose ambitions are to live forever and dominate the world.

b. The chemistry of the leading female character MuDeok (Jung So Min) with the first, second and third male leads is great.

c. The cast is outstanding and acted their parts well. To mention a few:
- Jung So Min - she was outstanding - whenever she was disgusted with Jang Uk, she would squint her eyes and glare at him which was often interesting to watch,
- Lee Jae Wook as the male lead - filled with a desire to break free from his bondage and to excel and at times temperamental and slackening,
- Hwang Min Hyun as the righteous mournful Seo Yul haunted by guilt,
- Shin Seung Ho as the disturbed Crown Prince knowing often that it is wrong but nevertheless unable to resist a selfish course of action.

d. Along the drama, there are a lot of secrets to be unveiled, identities to be confirmed, suspenseful moments and what would be Naksu's choices - make the story very interesting and attention gripping.

What I dislike about this drama:

a. The ending was open-ended. It takes another 10 episodes in a sequel to wrap this up. If I had watched this drama shortly after it was released, I would be cursing as the ending is so crap. But since the sequel is already released, I just hopped onto the sequel to figure out the ending.

Overall, I highly recommend this drama.

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Keep you guessing

Emperor WenZong was locked in a deadly power struggle with the formidable Duke Qiu Zhi Liang, a highly skilled eunuch who had attained great power and dominated the court. The emperor and his ministers started the Dew conspiracy in an attempt to overthrow Qiu Zhi Liang.

Sensing that the Dew conspiracy was unlikely to end well for the imperial family, QiYan the emperor’s younger brother took side with Qiu and assisted in defeating the conspiracy to earn his trust. The Prime Minister Wang and his family, and many who participated were massacred during the turmoil. His two granddaughters escaped severely wounded and were separated.

Years later, WenZong was poisoned and died under house arrest. QiYan, his younger brother ascended the throne with the support of Qiu. Planning another conspiracy, Emperor QiYan schemed to overthrow Qiu – an attempt which his brother had failed. Qiu Zhi Liang was now assisted by Qiu YanZhi, his beautiful foster daughter and a great strategist, was ever more powerful than before.

On the young emperor’s side was the Purple Velvet, a group of female fighters. This group unfortunately was on a decline. The emperor’s new sword holder who was both a bodyguard and potential new head of the Purple Velvet, was a pretty naive young girl by the name Cheng RouYu. Emperor QiYan was rather disappointed.

The relationship and trust between Qiu and QiYan had always been on thin ice. However, it became apparent there was a hidden third party in the game, planning to drive a wedge between them further. Who was this third party and what was their motive? Was romance going to kindle between the young emperor and the beautiful scheming YanZhi or the pretty naive Cheng RouYu? Was QiYan going to succeed with all the odds against him? Was QiYan gong to pay with his life for success?

What I like about this drama?

1. The Cast
The cast was excellent, acted well and very good looking. I could name a long list of outstanding actors/actresses in this drama. But I am going to just pick three.

ChengYi (QiYan) was absolutely outstanding. I was not a fan of his, but I have become one with this drama. In the past, I thought he was rather monotonous and expressionless - very much a single character actor. When he was ‘dying’ in this drama, he told his love one to leave the palace, marry someone else and lead a new live after he was gone but he was going to be so jealous. That scene was heart rending and he carried it through marvellously. His on-screen chemistry with his female lead was great.

Xuan Lu (YanZhi) was stunning and very beautiful in female attire and was excellent as the second lead. (She was the lead actress in Luoyang.) We are seeing the rise of a generation of actresses in their 20s ready to over take the generation of those already into their 30s. When she started playing the harp in glee over her success or impending success, it was quite a sight.

He ChengMing (Qiu Zhi Liang) was the absolute perfect villain. The way he flickered his eyes and flipped his sleeves when he was angry was so iconic. From the YouTube comments, many among the audience were imitating his gestures.

2. The convoluted story
The story was very convoluted – the path to uncovering the third person was quite lengthy. It kept the audience guessing who the third person was and why they were doing what they were doing.

And whether Prince Guang, the emperor’s uncle was a villain and whether his kindness was a hypocritical act was undetermined right to the end – leaving it to everyone’s guess along the way. Guang was portrayed to be undecided and eventually only decided at the last moment. Only then it was clear whether he became a second villain or a hero.

It took 48 episodes of various attempts to contain Qiu, so the audience were kept on edge whether each attempt would succeed and who might be sacrificed along the way. Vicious and brutal retaliation were expected from Qiu if he should discover who were against him.

Aside from fear of Qiu’s retaliation, there were internal discord between the various parties against Qiu. They were not cooperating and not communicating, but instead second guessing each other. YanZhi and RuoYu were pitted against each other while RuoYu was wondering who YanZhi really was.

3. Emotional roller coaster and hygiene factors
Chinese dramas are excellent in tear-jerking and this drama is no exception. There were many opportunities for reaching out for the tissues. But there were moments of humour as well. It brought the audience on an emotional roller-coaster.

The hygiene factors for a successful drama were there: backdrop was beautiful and appropriate, music was good, costume was elegant – all the technical aspects were excellent.

What I dislike about the drama?
1. The villain kept winning and you have 48 episodes of that. The story seemed draggy at parts because of some recurring setbacks. And it went on and on based on the same themes I am elaborating below.

2. The suspense was built on keeping a secret: A lot of the suspense was built on a secret kept from Cheng RouYu. If she had known who was the real enemy and the real friend earlier, the outcome could end a lot better but the drama would be shorter as well. But the unwillingness of YanZhi to tell RuoYu the truth caused a lot of misunderstanding. When they could have cooperated, the strong-headed RouYu chose to fight instead. I really wanted go onscreen to slap some sense into the two stupid girls. Can't you see that honesty here is best. And this fight kept recurring again and again.

3. RuoYu becoming a baggage: To protect her from harm, RuoYu was told to leave several times for her own good. But she kept turning up at the wrong moment and became a baggage QiYan or YanZhi had to deal with. She was smart and yet stupid. I was wondering when QiYan was to come to his senses that she would not leave, started using her effectively and involved her in his plot.

4. Adult acting like kids – appealing? I could also highlight the female lead, Zhang YuXi (Cheng RuoYu) as outstanding. But I do not quite like immature silly girl character, so I discounted her. One of the problems I think is because most actors/actresses acting these characters in Chinese dramas are already mature adults portraying teenage/late teenage characters and somehow, that innocence does not come across realistic – it looks more like adults acting as immature kids, which is not appealing. Perhaps this is part of the appeal for some – exactly as it was – adults acting like kids.

5. QiYan getting stabbed: He either stabbed himself or got stabbed. How many times could a man take that? Somewhat masochistic.

6. Realism: Although very entertaining, the story is a bit short on realism. It was really a complicated way to get rid of a tyrant and certainly sacrificed a lot of innocent people.

However, overall I would give this drama a thumbs-up and recommend it strongly.

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Hmm... generally very good but not awfully impressive. I would not rate it among the top league but nevertheless give it a good rating.

The earth star mutants seem to be of an ancient Chinese culture coincidentally, given the hundreds of different cultures in the world. A little limited in originality - appears to be more of an extension of xianxia (fairytale/fantasy) story into a science fiction.

In a number of parts, audio was being altered and stitched in and a poor job was done as I could hear the change in volume and voice.

The actors and actresses acted well. The story is interesting although it lacks originality and creativity. The bromance is a little stretched - it seems to be the fad of the time to have suggestions of homosexuality in dramas in the like of the Untamed.

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This drama scored on the hygiene factors - handsome actors, pretty actresses, nice scenery and lovely costumes. If you are a fan of Deng Lun and Luo Jin, two very popular actors today, you might be motivated to watch this. This drama was produced 7 years ago and perhaps then, it had less competition and a lower standard to compare with. But with the Chinese drama production scene today, the expectation of the audience like myself is much higher.

The story was slow moving. It took 7 episodes for Da Ji to enter the palace. The story was based on a legend that had been featured on an earlier drama by Fan Bing Bing, Ma Jing Tao and Zheng Bin Hui. So the story became somewhat predictable and lacklustre. Fan Bing Bing's depiction of Da Ji was difficult to match - the extreme of her bitchiness as the fox controlled seductress and the kind-hearted original Da Ji was very pronounced.

The plot for the failed rescue of Da Ji was poorly developed. Why the need to bring Yang Jian into the palace to fetch Da Ji - just send her out quietly in the guise of someone else.

Additionally the voice dubbing of Da Ji was strange - it sounded like a reading from a script. I am about two-thirds of my way through. For this far, I had been watching Yang Jian and his disciple sister messed up with their impetuousness and immaturity. I am going to pause and watch something else. If I do get back to complete the drama, I may update my review.

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