Ancient Terrorism
I think this drama is underrated on Mydramalist. It is an excellent production and a very enjoyable drama.A father and his daughter tried to approach Baili HongYi (acted by Wang YiBo) to report a conspiracy and were killed in a back street of Luoyang. HongYi's father was a commoner who rose to become the Minster of Works. Subsequent to the event, HongYi's father was murdered on HongYi's wedding night. Were the incidences related?
Gao BingZhu (acted by Huang Xuan) grew up in the Ignoble Ghetto where criminals and their descendents were condemned and placed under restricted movements. Seven of his mates who were his best friends were killed by a group of mysterious masked attackers when they left the Ghetto with him on a stealthy fun trip.
Wu SiYue (Victoria Song), an imperial guard and niece of the Empress regnant and therefore a nobility, was escorting Princess YongChuan when armed fighters tried to assassinate the Princess.
These three different individuals from vastly different background were investigating these three different crimes. Their paths crossed and they realised that the crimes were linked to the same terrorist group - the Spring-Autumn organisation. This terrorist organisation was supposed to be exterminated years ago and the head of the movement was imprisoned and had gone insane. Who was now leading the group? And what were they up to? In his insane babble, he mentioned a Hidden Phoenix.
The style of the drama footage and cinematography reminded me of the 24 hours in Changan - with the crowded narrow streets and rather dark background - a very realistic portrayal of an ancient China city.
The drama would keep you intrigued as each investigation led to dead ends as the people involved were either killed or committed suicide, or there were more than met the eye every time it seemed they had found the 'mastermind'. And there were always the unexpected attacks as the culprit tried to fool and kill HongYi and BingZhu.
The final revelation of the Hidden Phoenix was a surprised although I had suspected he was associated with the terror group earlier in the drama but did not expect him to be so high in command. As BingZhu said to him at the last episode, he hid himself well.
The theme songs were alright. I particularly like 天机 (Heavenly) - the melody and the lyrics very aptly set the mood and described the story.
What makes this story more appealing is it is realistic and probable. The madness that drives a group of people to kill individuals and mass murder resembles the terrorist movements today. The emotional riots that happened in many cities, that were either politically motivated or instigated by rumours and conspiracy theories, and hijack suicide flights into buildings are all examples of the modern day terrorism. A group of people who believes they are marginalised by society or the enemies, or has ambitions beyond reality can all fall victims to extreme actions. Also, there were no flying swordsmen or ridiculous strange energy transfer remedies for a change - these add more interest to fantasy dramas but look rather strange in historical dramas.
I watched the drama a second time before I wrote this. I must say that I appreciated the story and cinematography more. However, since I already knew the real mastermind and what was going to happen next, it took the suspense out of it. And without the glamour of beautiful sceneries and backdrop, it did seem a bit more dull. The head dress for the Empress regnant was also a bit dull.
The cast portrayed the character they acted very well. As for the popular Wang YiBo, he did very well acting the serious nerdy engineer who was very bright in science and analysis, but did not quite know how to handle social situations. He was however more glamourous as the the Lan WangJi in the Untamed and more handsome in the Legend of Fei where he smiled a lot more.
Aside from the lead actors/actresses, the support cast was really good too. Bai Lang (Jiang Long) who was the friend and sidekick of BingZhu was funny and added a lot of humour to the drama. Prince Dong Chuan (Liu Duan Duan) was the most upright, well-meaning and capable out of the bureaucrats but was always undermined by the terror group. They were among the outstanding ones.
However, the last episode is a bit of a let down. I think they killed the wrong person - someone capable and righteous. I would have chosen to kill the mastermind or the whiny feather-head who always got into trouble instead. And the idiotic murderer got away from death sentence - it was all so wrong.
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A refreshing difference
Xu FengNian is the astute heir apparent to the fiefdom of Northern Liang (BeiLiang). His father Xu Xiao is a powerful general and outstanding strategist who conquers six countries for the LiYang Imperial dynasty and is conferred the title of King of BeiLiang. Although the LiYang emperor honours Xu Xiao with great titles and a huge fiefdom, the LiYang court is wary of his powerful cavalry and distrust him. The last thing they wish to see is another powerful successor.To secure Xu FengNian's succession to his father, his siblings are sent away by the father to help secure his position, while FengNian has to act as a playboy to avoid an arranged marriage to the bitchy Princess Sui from the imperial family, besides hiding his capabilities. Internally, Xu Xiao's numerous foster sons who hold considerable military power and younger son are also potentially rivals to FengNian's succession and the Prime Minister is trying to wedge division within the family.
The scattering of his siblings all over the empire has saddened Feng Nian. This drama is centred around FengNian's trip to visit his siblings and bring them home, while his father schemes to secure an imperial decree to pronounce him the official successor amid a court that is not friendly to him. Not wanting to destroy and kill, Feng Nian has refused to train in any martial arts from young. Setting out with only a few highly skilled bodyguards and a small troop, he faces numerous assassination attempts and is injured on a number of occasions by enemies of unknown sources. Behind the trip is a huge conspiracy awaiting FengNian, not only from his enemies but his father as well. Very much a strategist and schemer himself, FengNian pit his wits against his enemies and his father. Will he survive his journey, what will he achieve and will Xu Xiao succeed in getting him named as successor?
This drama does not contain triangular love story and rivalry among brothers for the throne, which have become the common themes of a lot of Chinese dramas. After watching many Chinese dramas, these themes have become boring. So this drama is refreshing for a change.
And of course there is the outstanding acting skills of Zhang Ruo Yun. He livens up the drama. I would not place him among the top 10 best looking actors but I would certainly place his acting skills among the top league.
The pace is quite moderate and at parts quite slow moving, but you will be riveted in front of the screen waiting to find out who is behind the various assassination attempts and what is going to happen next.
If you are reading this to figure out whether you should watch this, I give it a thumbs up and recommend it strongly. This is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pf392nvj2_E.
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Extremely well produced
This was a Korean version of grand settings and fabulous costume, and smoking hot actors and actresses. The story was well written and the acting was superb. The drama was intense with moments of humour to lighten the tension. It invoked a whole range of emotions - anger, suspense, sadness, laughter, romance, joy... It featured betrayal and loyalty, love and hatred, and jealousy - the common emotions in life. It was almost like the drama Nirvana in Fire but with the key strategist a woman (a slave girl) instead of a man (a former general).The story centred around Empress Ki who became the empress in the Yuan (Mongolian) dynasty which ruled China and Mongolia. Although of Korean descent, she rose from a tribute slave girl to the highest female position among the Yuan nobilities. Many of the characters in the story existed in history, but of course the story was twisted to make it highly dramatised - otherwise who would watch it.
The story was very well woven together and very complicated. The story centred around Ki Nyang (the empress), Emperor Toghon Temur of Yuan and King Wang Yoo (Korean King). The Korean King struggled to keep his throne while the Yuan are scheming to take over the kingdom to make it part of the Mongolian empire. Emperor Temur grew from a frightened teenager living in the shadow of his ambitious regents to become an emperor who won the respect of the various feudal lords and commanded an empire. In the middle of it all was their rivalry over Ki Nyang's love.
Empress Ki (Ha Ji Won), Emperor Toghon Temur (Ji Chang Wook), King Wang Yoo (Joo Jin Mo), Tanashili (Bake Jin Hee), Dowager Hwang (Kim Seo Hyung) and Tal Tal (Kim Ji Han) were all smoking hot. What particularly left an impression was Kim Ji Han (Tal Tal). Although he was only a support actor who spoke very little during the drama, he left a strong impression. Instead he spoke with his facial expression - the disbelief, suspicion, concern for the empress (with perhaps a hint that he was in love with her as well but never expressed it)... He was dashingly handsome, certainly the most handsome of the lot, and acted his part with dignity and carriage. In this drama, he was a strategist and general who was calm, collected, knowledgeable, observant, inscrutable, intelligent and rather scheming. It's a pity I did not see many of his dramas where he was the lead actor, listed in mydramalist.com. Hope to see more of him in lead roles in outstanding dramas in future.
Of course, like a lot of dramas, some parts were a little unrealistic - for example, the Emperor on intercepting love letters between King Wang Yoo and Ki Nyang did not confront her. If he had, the entire scheme of the cunning would fall apart. What husband would not say anything and suffer in silence, much less an emperor.
Watching Korean dramas is a refreshing break from Chinese dramas - there are some distinct differences in the way things are interpreted and approached. But you have your eyes glued to the TV so as not to miss the subtitles.
If you know the Yuan dynasty history, they were eventually driven out of Southern China by the Chinese, and Emperor Toghon Temur ruled during this period. Although the story centred around Yuan and Korea with China being left out of it mostly, you should expect what the ending would likely be.
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The turbulent life of Wu ZeTian, the one and only Empress regnant of China
This drama is about Wu ZeTian, the only empress regnant (meaning reigning as opposed to consort) of China. It tells the turbulent story of how Wu became a minor consort of Emperor Li Shi Ming, the second emperor of the Tang dynasty, and went through sabotages and betrayals. She met Li Zhi, the future emperor, went through several life threatening encounters with him and helped him became the crown prince amidst the rivalry for the throne. Li Zhi fell in love with her. When his father passed away, he insisted on making her his consort, then his empress and eventually his co-ruler, against strong opposition. Li Zhi relied on her help against his uncle and the aristocrats who controlled the court, while he was plagued with illness. After Li Zhi passed away, she became the empress dowager and regent, and took over the throne when her son messed up on the throne. Wu was and will be the one and only Empress regnant of China - past and future, since monarchy is now dead in China.Of the 3 dramas I had watched about Empress Wu through the years, I must say, this beats all of them.
The on-screen chemistry between Li Zhi Ting (Aarif Rahman) and Fan Bing Bing was absolutely amazing. I could really feel the love, the anguish and the sorrow at the ‘younger’ emperor’s death. This is one of the very few dramas which managed to make me cry – I am very immune to crying scenes. They are excellent actor and actress, and mega stars. You can see a transition of the emperor from a vibrant young lad to a feeble old man. It is a pity we do not see much of them since this drama in 2014. Aarif also wrote the music for one of the songs in the soundtrack. Aside from excellent acting, the make-up artists deserve our applause - although I think it is slightly overdone in their 'old' age since they were just about 50s - Aarif looked 80 or 90. Aarif’s performance in this drama far exceeded that in Princess Silver; I think largely due to the chemistry between him and Fan.
The costume were absolutely the best of the dramas I had seen over the last few years, especially of Li Zhi and Wu during the last one-third of the drama – there was only 74 episodes in the version I watched instead of the 90+ indicated on Mydramalist. All the actresses in the drama were all beauties.
The opening and ending theme songs were very well written especially the lyrics; it aptly describe the dramatic life of Wu.
If you leave historical inaccuracy aside, this is a mega epic. I think the romance between Li Shi Ming and Wu was made-up and fictitious as there were no historical evidence that they were that loving and the drama was draggy during this part. But between Li Zhi and Wu was believable as historically, Wu did become his empress and co-ruler – evidence of the love and trust of her, aside from her beauty and intelligence. Wu arranged to be buried next to Li Zhi, farther evidence of her reciprocating love. If I were to rewatch the drama, I would likely start from the latter. Also, there was a wordless stela on her grave – I had the privilege of visiting her grave during a tour in China.
Putting aside the historical inaccuracy, I give this drama a perfect 10.
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What impressed me most was the special effects and the cast acted well.
You would see how the main character, Xiao Yan, overcame the schemes and attacks of his enemies with unexpected help through the drama. At every crisis, you wonder how was he going to get through this one.
You would might be reminded of Harry Potter, Jumanji, Alice in Wonderland, so in terms of originality, it did not measure high.
The drama was interesting but lacked an element of surprise and mystery. It was very clear who were on the good side and who were on the bad, so there was not much of a surprise. However, it made you clutch your fist when the bad guys were winning and were blaming and punishing the good guys for crimes they did not commit. You feel like punching them, if only you were there.
The title translation 'Fights break Sphere' is terrible. 'Battle through Heaven' without 'the' would be much better.
The final battle was exciting but the attempt to turn out a surprise at the very end did not work too well. Many Chinese dramas have terrible endings - perhaps you should start the story with the end in mind.
I would rate it among the top league although not quite in the ultra top like The Untamed, Nirvana in Fire or Ten Mile Peach Blossom - they set a standard difficult to beat.
But as you know this is the first season, so you would expect a sequel and an ending that was not conclusive.
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However, if the script was properly written, this sequel could have been folded into the first series, with much less draggy moments and flashbacks in the first series.
Of course, by this stage, there were not much surprises except for what the demon beast was about and whether it and Bi Yao could be resurrected.
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The story is quite cliche. Boy met girl and fell in love with her but she was in love with someone else. In turn, another girl was in love with him and determine to stop any love blossoming between them. Further down the drama, he discovered that there was much more behind his infatuation with her. Basically, romance dramas always involve triangles or multiple triangles. As a backdrop to this romance, there was the ambitious monarch who was out to sabotage and invade the rival tribe and disrupt the peaceful lives of the people. And some people were not quite what they appeared to be. I guess I can draw some parallel in life with these - that is why dramas are always fabricated along these themes - although real life stories are seldom as dramatic, thankfully. It is the variation in the story that keep you wondering how things are going to turn out that keeps you following.
There some weaknesses in the story. The lead female character Yi FuLing was pretty stupid - she was always trying to help but instead made situations worse. The same went for Yu Huan Zhen who could not figure out the situation, was dogmatic with his beliefs and was made use of by evil minded people. However, bearing in mind that they were teenage characters, we can understand the impetuousness.
Attention to details is sometimes lacking in Chinese dramas. Some scenes were inconsistent - FuLing fell from the sky, injured her leg and could not walk. When Feng TianYi came along and argued with her, she ran off in a fit of anger - that was a miraculous cure to her injured leg? At least should let her limped away.
There is this stubbornness in the characters - they each insisted on loving the person who did not reciprocate their love - wonder if this is cultural. We get over infatuation - hurt a little when it happened but we lick our wounds and move on, except for some psychopaths who turn fatal. I guess Bai TingJun and Xue FeiShuang are the psychopath equivalent .
A review on this website recommends skipping episode 28 and go straight to 29 if you want a happy ending and I did. I am wondering what is in 28 - I may go back and watch it but I am happy I went straight onto 29.
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Great chemistry between lead actor and actress
I watched this drama a long while ago. All I could remember is that it is a great production. Chen Kun and Ni Ni acted well in the drama. Acting was excellent, period costume was beautiful, scene setting was great. It was interesting to watch how the pair fell in love in the story although they continued to 'fight' throughout the plot. Scheming in the palace for the position of the crown prince is the theme. Story was convoluted and baffling. I could not wait to get to the final episode to find out who eventually seize the throne.I thought some parts were a little juvenile and the sudden switch in people's personalities were not quite realistic - for example the hero upon finding his mother and the decision of the heroine in the last episode. I could not remember much of the music - likely because it was not great.
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An unimpressive start but developed beautifully
My initial reaction at the start of the drama was not great - I thought it was going to be boring. But I hung on and the story got more and more intriguing as the plot thickened, and then the mysteries started to unravel bit by bit as they moved from kingdom to kingdom. Easily the top 5 Chinese dramas I had ever watched in recent years.Acting was great and the character development especially of the hero, Wu Ji, was fantastic. There was an excellent mix of gut wrenching and comic moments. Yang Mi and Ethan Ruan had very good chemistry. The moments when Wu Ji teased and flirted with Fu Yao were hilarious. There were some draggy moments with the story around the general and his silly stalker but not much. It was a nice development too with Fu Yao moving on with her life as her early romantic relationship broke down - quite unlike a lot of Chinese dramas when the heros and heroines kept hanging on their love ones, which is unrealistic.
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Beautifully interwoven story
This is probably the best Chinese drama I have watched to-date. I gave a 10 for almost every attributes. The acting was first class - leading and supporting actors and actresses were all impressive, besides being good-looking. There was no lull moment. The plot was very well woven. The lead characters, Hu Ge and Liu Tao had excellent chemistry. The heart wrenching and gut rending moments made me cry and I do not cry easily. If I am to find any fault is the ending left me unhappy for a couple of days. The lead characters deserved better. But that is life - not everything ends happily. Later I found out that there was actually a clip which suggested a happier ending - I would have prefer if that was chosen instead.But there were some flaws - the appearance of the white-haired monster and the medical explanation for it was ridiculous. For a historic epic, there should be a more realistic medical case. If this is a fantasy drama, I would accept that. For this I took half a point off the story.
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Nothing much to say
Impressed by Luo Yunxi's acting in the Ashes of Love, I watched this drama. Unfortunately, other than him, there are no other good reasons for watching this series. If it is not because Luo was the lead actor, I would have rated it worse. He was very good. Other than him, acting and production were amateurish.I am spoiled by the epic series Ten Mile Peach Blossom, Fu Yao and Ashes of Love which have set very high standards; this drama paled in comparison. There were some interesting twists in the stories but were rather poorly developed. A lot happened in a short series which is only about one-sixth of the earlier mentioned epics. It was very fast moving and did not drag like the longer series but resulting in a story that was very shallow with too much happening. The story was also very cliche and in some parts, things just conveniently happened in favour of the heroine of the story. For example, the third prince suddenly returned from the war in time to save her from being locked up by the emperor, and an ambassador from a distance country just arrived at the right time to request for a special painting.
The lyrics at the beginning of the opening theme song made me cringed. In general, the music pieces were not that great. This could be one of the reasons that many of the romantic scenes just did not work out. Additionally, there seemed to be no chemistry between the main actor and actress. So the romantic scenes turned out completely tasteless. The romantic scenes Luo did in the Ashes of Love were a lot more touching even though it was a one-sided romance. In spite of a few 'gut wrenching' scenes, I did not even shred a tear.
The make-up artist had done a rather poor job on the main actress. She looked rather plain. Some earrings and hairpins could have improved that.
I do hope to see Luo Yunxi more often in future drama series of higher standards. He left a very positive impression in Ashes of Love.
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Heart rending
This drama was much awaited among Chinese dramas followers and did not disappoint. And I think it is under rated on mydramalist.com.I rate this drama as 60% romance and 40% action. The pace was quite moderate but there were enough events to keep you interested. The battle scenes were intense and impressive, and the interactions of the lovers were heart rending. The cast is outstanding - everyone played their part so well.
Haishi grew up in a village which fished for luminous pearls formed by the tears of the merfolks. As a child, her father died fishing for these pearls and she blamed the emperor for his heavy taxation which resulted in the death of her father. When her village was raided by soldiers, she hurt an officer, ran away and was saved by Fang Jian Ming, a close friend of the emperor. He took her in as his disciple. She chose to dress up as a boy and eventually enrolled in the emperor's military. She fell in love with Fang and so did he in return.
Throughout the drama, it is heart rending. Fang would consistently pushed away Haishi's advances although he loved and cared for her with all his heart. The clueless Haishi could not understand what was going on. She suspected that her Shifu (tutor) was in love with her too and blamed him for putting politics above their love. On numerous occasions Fang sent her away and she was sure she was being abandoned. When Fang met a rival in love and he was obviously jealous in spite of efforts to hold it back - that was double heart rending. As the drama went on, the reason behind Fang's rejection of Haishi were slowly unraveled.
There were a lot of events which would keep you in suspense: coups, rebellion, people who were not what they appeared to be, wars with tribes at the border, internal feuding for the throne, Haishi's attempted assassination of the emperor, sabotage in the court targeted at Fang instigated by hidden political rivals, conspiracies and counter conspiracies, Haishi's participation in the competition for a position in the military amidst a conspiracy to hurt her, her appointment as consort to the emperor, which she resented, and so on. There were a lot of common themes similar to other period dramas involving imperial families but these were played out differently.
There were 3 couples and a total of 9 persons in love. Only 1 couple eventually led a happy life together. The other 1 couple could continue to see each other but had to keep a distance. 2 persons died, not getting the love they were seeking. And 1 couple died in each other's arms. I shall not reveal which, but this tells you that this drama has a rather dark setting.
I wish the director would stop the drama at the 46th episode. It could have ended as: they lived happily ever after, for all. But it went on for another 2 episodes which twisted it into a tragedy. There is something sadistic with either the writer or the drama production community.
All the three lead couples did very well. I enjoyed watching William Chan and Yang Mi as leads - there were great chemistry between them - their acting were very natural. William is one of those actors who looks good even when he puts on a cold stern face. He could switch from a look ladened with a mix of sadness and heavy responsibility to one of relief and quiet happiness - and you can see an obvious difference.
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Burden of the Past
There is no doubt that Korea still holds a major position in dramas in Asia in spite of the rise of China in this industry. This story is very interesting and well-developed - with the story spanning across centuries. The twists in the story were unexpected and very craftily woven. The two lead actors are good looking. Good looking actors and actresses often help.In comparison to Chinese dramas, the male characters in Korean dramas tend to be more chauvinistic in behaviour. This may because Chinese dramas have been under scrutiny not to portrait certain values or indeed Chinese society especially in the larger cities have become a lot more receptive to women's status in the society.
The English title of this drama, however, was very poorly translated. A goblin is an ugly dwarf-like creature. But the lead character is handsome and tall - a complete mismatch. Wonder whether the translator knew this. A better title could be Immortal, Demi-god, Burden of the Past or the like of these.
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Keeps you guessing her final choice
The story is intriguing and acting was excellent. Throughout, I was left wondering what would be the heroine's eventual choice.Being a sucker for the underdog, I was rooting for the 9th lord. He was rich and powerful but had obvious inferior complex because of his disability. Hu Ge has this doleful look that melts one's heart - he is an incredibly outstanding actor. Not many actors can match up to that standard.
I did not rewatch this drama like I did for the Nirvana in Fire, Ten Mile Blossom and Fu Yao, but I would certainly recommend watching for the first time.
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The story stemmed from a boy who acquired a murderous aura because of a sword his tribe was entrusted to guard, and the heavenly Crown Prince who was trying to unite his soul which was split into two. Both had to suffer immense pain.
The drama is good but not among the top league. The story was much ado about nothing. For example, why had the Crown Prince sought such a big detour to re-unite his soul? It had already been a thousand years. He could have approached the guarding tribe and told them who he was, and what he needed and found a more direct way to re-unite his soul without such a huge upheaval.
Also, episode 48 was a big yawn. The group was supposed to be preparing for a battle. Tusu had only three days to sustain his power, yet they were indulging in leisurely mushy conversations and enjoying romantic moments under the starlight. I must have been hardened by watching too much drama - I find them neither touching nor romantic. The romance between Li Yi Feng and Yang Mi were not well played up - failed to stir up any emotion in me.
There were these persistent attempts by people around trying to dissuade the key people from certain course of action - don't do this, don't do that - after a while it became really annoying - perhaps this is the Chinese culture.
The audio on YouTube videos was muted in a number of spots - and one of the theme music sounded very familiar - I suspect there was copyright issues which did not allow it to be broadcast outside of China.
However, if you are locked down in this pandemic and running out of entertainment, this could still be worth watching.
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