K H-C

This is one of my favorites of all time.

(Standard warning: Likely spoilers below, read at your own risk).

This was my gateway drug into Asian dramas. I have rewatched this one enough times that I have now set a limit on when I can watch it again, lest I get tired of it.

ML & FL probably have one of the healthiest relationships ever portrayed in Asian drama land. They always support each other's goals and achievements. They communicate, they do not manipulate (though ML tried it a little during the Deep Water arc). ML was never threatened by FL's abilities, never put her down, and was so proud of her when her true identity (in her birth country) was discovered rather than threatened.

The ending was a bit of a let-down. There appears to be debate as to what it actually represented. In my opinion, it shows them in Megrez, but others would likely disagree. I would have liked to have seen an epilogue that wrapped everything up better. There are some dramas that never seem to end and others that could use a bit more explanation.

I did not really ship the SML and SFL. She's sweet but this super crazy stalker-type and he clearly denigrates her intelligence (tells his mother so directly). I actually think the character portrayed by the same actress in "Ancient Love Poetry" was a far better fit for Ven Gao's character than the one she played of LofFY). At the least the love triangle was half-hearted at best and never a cause for angst.

There were some periods of illogic. Such as, why wouldn't they have disguised Fu Yao better as a man (like they disguised her as another person in Deep Water). I hate when the girl crossdressing is soooooooo obviously still a girl, especially when in a made up, magic kingdom you have plenty of options to make it work in a logical way. The show drags in the middle with an unnecessary drama over bandits in the desert, then it picks back up again.

There were some amazing fight scenes. Perhaps the most romantic (?) fight scene ever in the royal bath at Deep Water and then the most amazing fight for survival when she's kidnapped by Prince Assist in Megrez. The first arc and the Deep Water arc are my two favorites--my third is perhaps the arc in the country run by women.

I recommend this one if you like the fantasy genre (my personal favorite) or are just getting started with Asian dramas. I apologize in advance for any lost sleep and lost study time. :D

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Thank you for making up for the ending of Season 1 but…

…I’m not sure why this couldn’t have just been tacked on to the end of Season 1. Season 1 was 20 episodes, Season 2 was half that. It could have just been one complete season of 30 or so episodes, and it would have flowed just fine. But I guess they had to get our hopes up so that we would excitedly watch S2 and drive the Netflix ratings up?

Anyways, now that the whole shebang is complete (I hope--though a next generation sequel might be interesting or a prequel, set 200 years before when the whole ice stone problem started), using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a (one my rarely-given) “loved”. This is taking the two seasons together.

What I liked: That they figured out a way to make a happy ending for Naksu without her having to push someone else’s soul out of their body (well she sort of did that, but it was okay—just watch it if you need more explanation). I don’t think S2 was quite as good as S1 (which is why I wish it had not been a separate season, just the last ten episodes of one, single season), but it was satisfying. Evil lost, good won, Master Lee watched it all with a knowing smile.

What I did not like so much: I wish they would have given the Crown Prince a bit more depth of character, I really thought he’d been playing Jin Mu the whole time, but turns out he really wasn’t and seemingly made an arbitrary decision to go with the good side based on what appeared to be a trivial reason--but I'm glad he made the right decision in the end. I also wish they would have given a hint about who his queen would be and that it would be a smart, capable, and very sassy person :D. Mama Jin made me so angry with the way she treated Naksu. Even the assassin did not deserve that kind of treatment (e.g. being trapped in a room and then the plan to turn her into nothing more than a sow in a gestation crate—omg, those episodes before Jang Uk rescued her made my skin crawl). Matriarch Jin knew Naksu’s history and. sure, Naksu was the one who had killed her husband, he wasn’t exactly a stellar person in the first place since he was the reason beloved first daughter was drowned in the first place! And let’s not forget him deliberately placing a fake in the household with the intention of letting Jin Mu get control of the Jin treasury by soul-swapping the fake queen with Matriarch Jin. Anyways, any points of dislike of mine are minor irritations at best.

Should you watch this? I would recommend watching S1 & S2 as a complete season, which of course is possible because Netflix has them both. If you’re a fantasy person like I am, then I think you should watch it. Its well done. If you prefer hard, gritty reality then you won’t like it—or you could try stepping outside of your comfort zone and seeing what you think. (But I totally understand if you don’t want to because I don’t want to go outside my comfort zone, either, lol!). :D

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