Great review! I was eagerly awaiting your thoughts on this one and was really worried you would drop and and then I wouldn't get to read your review. I really enjoyed it despite the "messy storytelling" as you put it. It was such a great throwback to old school wuxia that I grew up with in the 80s and 90s and of course only deepend my love for Zhou Yiran (I have you to thank for introducing me to him through 12 letters). I appreciated the overall theme and like you I was really pleased to see Song Yuzhi didn't get relegated to jealousy turned villain. Agreed that given the complex characters and histories, our villain's motivations were pretty weak sauce. Trying to decide what to watch next. Maybe veil of shadows? I see you dropped rebirth pretty quickly. I was planning to watch but now am having second thoughts.
I have been waiting for your review on this one for some time now. Your writing is brilliant as always. Couldn't agree more with you on all of it including the critique of tang yixun's "noble idiocy" and the just right ending. The acting was beyond amazing. I already loved Wang Yinglu after I Am Nobody, but this was a whole other level. And Zhou Yiran is so smouldering.... :)
Ye Yibo managed to outdo the father from The Bond (which Zhou Yiran was also in), which was quite a feat. I picked this up because I saw you were watching it. Thank you for leading me to this beautiful bit gut wrenching story.
Well written and on point review from you as always. As soon as I finished the drama, I kept coming back to your page to get your final thoughts. My closure for every drama that I watch that I know you're watching. I enjoy a great romance so I really enjoyed watching the drama for song zu er and Liu yuning's chemistry. But I also felt the drama had potential to be much more. It made me miss Rise of Phoenixes and the politics and smarts displayed in that storyline. I feel it was ultimately the actors, especially the side actors that really kept me invested in this drama, from the 4 generals to the 2 maids to the Wei matriarchs. What costume drama will you watch next? I took your advice re eternal brotherhood and decided not to watch season 1 until season 2 came out. Will you do this one next?
I was waiting with baited breath for your review and I 100% agree with everything you said. Definitely Allen Ren's best. I don't really like him so have usually avoided his dramas, but I loved him in this. A very different character. Loved him enough to go back and watch some of his past dramas to see if I should have given him a better chance. Watching Under the Power right now.
I especially love your assessment of the ending. That was my read too. I didn't understand why people said it was a sad ending. I thought it was clearly a hopeful ending especially since they didn't really say goodbye as if it was the last time they would see each other. I felt that was intentional that they didn't make a big deal of it between each other like it was the unspoken promise that they would wait/find each other later.
Reading your reviews are always provides good closure for me after watching a drama. Thanks for making time to articulate so beautifully your thoughts, despite being exceptionally busy with work. Do remember to take time for self care! Eagerly waiting to see what your next costume drama will be.
Really enjoying this. Super giddy everytime the ML and FL interact and am impatient to see more interaction. But I'm also torn because at the same time, the story is really interesting and I'm really appreciating the solid storytelling/plot outside of the 2 leads. What a good dilemma to have. :)
Finally watched this after revisiting your ranking lists for some lighter fare. Good recommendation and as always great review... I love your unapologetic appreciation for beautiful men - "I may have gone with an 8.5 had they rolled out Hou Minghao in that spectacular white wig earlier on in the drama." Hahaha...
On point review as always. I find myself as eager to read your reviews as I am to watch the drama because you are able to so eloquently describe my very similar feelings about them. I also watched on 1.25 a lot too. I am really enjoying watching ZWY's career take off and he actually made me laugh out loud a lot. Maybe a little stiff, but I found his comedy endearing. But I agree that there was a lot of issues opportunity to explore the darker aspects of the characters. And I LOVED Shi Xue Ji. She was so smart, loyal and had the most amazing way with words. I wished we got to see more of her and the development of her relationship with Ziyu. Thanks for your articulate thoughts!
You write the best reviews. Wicked sense of humour pared with a great critical eye. Do you write for work? Because if you don't, you should! Best line: You can skip all the rest because as foreshadowed by the eunuch theme, this drama has critical missing parts. Lol. I've been waiting for you to finish this drama so I can read your review. I only watched this for Dylan. And did my best to ignore all the other issues. Thanks for a good read as always.
I have been checking daily for your review on this drama. As usual, spot on. Though I was less enamored with the love story in the 2nd half than the 1st. SS is definitely less likeable as you said and I think that's the primary reason. But that may also be because I watched A Dream of Splendor between the 2 parts and as much as I love Wu Lei and Zhao Lusi, it's hard to compare their acting to the more mature couple I'm ADOS. I echo all the sentiments about Wen Di and his empress and consort. Their relationship was the most heartbreaking for me. And also the best humour. As always, thanks for the great reviews, 95% of what I watch is based on your recommendations! I'm now I'm depression after the romance high from ADOS and LLTG. No idea what to watch next.
Ye Yibo managed to outdo the father from The Bond (which Zhou Yiran was also in), which was quite a feat. I picked this up because I saw you were watching it. Thank you for leading me to this beautiful bit gut wrenching story.
I especially love your assessment of the ending. That was my read too. I didn't understand why people said it was a sad ending. I thought it was clearly a hopeful ending especially since they didn't really say goodbye as if it was the last time they would see each other. I felt that was intentional that they didn't make a big deal of it between each other like it was the unspoken promise that they would wait/find each other later.
Reading your reviews are always provides good closure for me after watching a drama. Thanks for making time to articulate so beautifully your thoughts, despite being exceptionally busy with work. Do remember to take time for self care! Eagerly waiting to see what your next costume drama will be.