This Drama Does Not Take Itself Seriously - So Have Fun
Ahhhhhh Liu Yu Ning. How do I love thee. Let me count the ways.
A Dream Within a Dream is not the end all be all of dramas. It is not the most intense or compelling of dramas. What I believe is it is one of the most well casted of the c-dramas I’ve seen. Every character is fun in their own way and each actor was superb in developing their character.
Of course, I liked Liu Yu Ning’s Nan Heng/Li Shi Liu the very best.
Not sure where to begin……the story.
Story:
Song Xiao Yu is a lazy actress who is cast as the lead in a ridiculous palace drama. Too much studying of the script sends her straight into that world as Song Yi Meng, the female lead character. She spends the better part of the first half of the 40 episodes trying not to marry Nan Heng who in the script will end up causing her much torture and a violent death.
A silly premise which opens up the story to be……..funny.
I like funny.
My rating is high because this show is not serious from the beginning. For a not-serious drama, A Dream Within A Dream is pretty well done.
Characters:
It is the characters that bring this passable story to life.
Li Yi Tong does a fantastic job of bringing the comedy to life as Song Yi Meng. Riley Wang’s Shangguan He plus all the Fading River Moon people were so lightheartedly fun. Lu Xing played Song Yi Meng’s father (Song Yu De) and was such a smartly written character and he played it soooooo well. All the Song women were so FUN and very well written. Lastly, Chang Long really provided the sweetness every c-drama needs playing the wonderful 18th Prince Nan Rui.
The two male leads: Nan Heng (Liu Yu Ning) and Chu Gui Hong (Wang You Shuo) were basically the straight-faced serious characters while everyone else got to have fun. The emperor was a serious character, at least until the end and I hated him until about episode 30ish.
Some pointed out there was no growth for the female lead, Song Yi Meng. I’ll be honest, I hated her guts until about episode 20 when I realized I was looking at her all wrong. She was the bad guy. In fact, throughout the show, the bad guy shifts. If we consider she was the bad guy along with the emperor until episode 30, it really makes more sense.
You must watch it to see who plays the bad guy to the bitter end……such a great performance.
Each actor did their job well. The only annoying character to me was Fu Gui but I realized towards the end that he was cleverly written as he ended up growing the most out of all the characters.
Music:
The soundtrack was amazing and the added music using classical arrangements were EVEN BETTER! I wish I could purchase those along with the soundtrack. I will be buying Liu Yu Ning's 2 songs as he was just PERFECT with that delicious voice.
He does sing on a lot of soundtracks for c-dramas…….so dreamy.
Rewatch Value:
I would rewatch this in a heartbeat although this was my first Liu Yu Ning C-drama so I’ve already started Prisoner of Beauty. Maybe later.
Overall:
A Dream Within A Dream is a very fun show. Don’t watch it for literary perfection. Watch this drama to have a good time or just to star-gaze at the lovely Liu Yu Ning. There is a reason why he was in so many hit dramas in 2025. He is one talented man.
A Dream Within a Dream is not the end all be all of dramas. It is not the most intense or compelling of dramas. What I believe is it is one of the most well casted of the c-dramas I’ve seen. Every character is fun in their own way and each actor was superb in developing their character.
Of course, I liked Liu Yu Ning’s Nan Heng/Li Shi Liu the very best.
Not sure where to begin……the story.
Story:
Song Xiao Yu is a lazy actress who is cast as the lead in a ridiculous palace drama. Too much studying of the script sends her straight into that world as Song Yi Meng, the female lead character. She spends the better part of the first half of the 40 episodes trying not to marry Nan Heng who in the script will end up causing her much torture and a violent death.
A silly premise which opens up the story to be……..funny.
I like funny.
My rating is high because this show is not serious from the beginning. For a not-serious drama, A Dream Within A Dream is pretty well done.
Characters:
It is the characters that bring this passable story to life.
Li Yi Tong does a fantastic job of bringing the comedy to life as Song Yi Meng. Riley Wang’s Shangguan He plus all the Fading River Moon people were so lightheartedly fun. Lu Xing played Song Yi Meng’s father (Song Yu De) and was such a smartly written character and he played it soooooo well. All the Song women were so FUN and very well written. Lastly, Chang Long really provided the sweetness every c-drama needs playing the wonderful 18th Prince Nan Rui.
The two male leads: Nan Heng (Liu Yu Ning) and Chu Gui Hong (Wang You Shuo) were basically the straight-faced serious characters while everyone else got to have fun. The emperor was a serious character, at least until the end and I hated him until about episode 30ish.
Some pointed out there was no growth for the female lead, Song Yi Meng. I’ll be honest, I hated her guts until about episode 20 when I realized I was looking at her all wrong. She was the bad guy. In fact, throughout the show, the bad guy shifts. If we consider she was the bad guy along with the emperor until episode 30, it really makes more sense.
You must watch it to see who plays the bad guy to the bitter end……such a great performance.
Each actor did their job well. The only annoying character to me was Fu Gui but I realized towards the end that he was cleverly written as he ended up growing the most out of all the characters.
Music:
The soundtrack was amazing and the added music using classical arrangements were EVEN BETTER! I wish I could purchase those along with the soundtrack. I will be buying Liu Yu Ning's 2 songs as he was just PERFECT with that delicious voice.
He does sing on a lot of soundtracks for c-dramas…….so dreamy.
Rewatch Value:
I would rewatch this in a heartbeat although this was my first Liu Yu Ning C-drama so I’ve already started Prisoner of Beauty. Maybe later.
Overall:
A Dream Within A Dream is a very fun show. Don’t watch it for literary perfection. Watch this drama to have a good time or just to star-gaze at the lovely Liu Yu Ning. There is a reason why he was in so many hit dramas in 2025. He is one talented man.
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