Amarina

Overall I loved this show, even with its flaws at the end (and that fever dream of a last episode I just watched 🤣). I personally loved the intricate politics and the slow romance. I do feel though that it's almost like there were supposed to be MORE episodes than we got. In a few places the editing was too choppy and like they were a
erasing out plot points to make it shorter. A few deaths had very unsatisfactory surrounding footage and/or no consequences; some characters seemed to flip a switch out off screen to change direction without a proper explanation, and notably but not spoilery, a scene where the ML leaves the group to meet with the Emperor goes LITERALLY nowhere and has zero purpose. It's just a guess but I'd say there "probably" should have been 5-10 more episodes worth of scenes and story to truly make this Top Teir storywise.

🤣 Having finished the show it ends with 3 couples.
ML/FL
Situ Haonan/Nangong Qian Qian (Friend/Princess)
Baili Weisheng/Xiao Sheng (The "bountyhunter" duo)

So I don't personally see any of their storylines as incomplete since both couples BEFORE the war were told "hey, you're all happy and your lives are just beginning now so DON'T follow us to war in case something happens. Then, after everything reverts, they all come running out towards the two of them laying on the ground crying out so it becomes obvious that they lived through the events (in case we hadn't kept up with the back and forth camera actions they were doing showing us their movements.)

But "essentially" none of that mattered anyway once she woke up because "it was a dream" and not a real place.... they couldn't take us (the audience) back to a dream world they'd already dissolved to show us the other characters, idk, mourning (assumedly) the Prince and (definitely) the Princess.

First 30ish seconds immediately show the brutal mass murder of her people INCLUDING a child holding out their hand offering them candy...

TITLE CARD

1 year later...
Cuts to obviously enslaved woman being taken somewhere in a forest then cuts to people discussing how the General went to go save the Maids from being hunted (paraphrased). Then shows the women LITERALLY running for their lives, being hunted by the Crown Prince as he and his people shoot at them with arrows. General (ML) comes to intercept. They are chased into a cave where the FL does something with her bracelet that makes the CP see something and his eyes bleed as he hallucinates a demon...

All this is about half the episode.

Watched 12 episodes out so far and LOVING it. Though I will say the 1st episode threw me for a loop as I was NOT expecting it to go that dark. But once past that episode it's back to being "normal" fantasy/thriller with some comedy (especially in the beginning episodes).

Based on the trailer I'm guessing it's going to get dark again but in case anyone wants to know what happens in 1st ep I'll spoiler the comment.

This is absolutely a romance though it's probably going to be a tragic one by the vibes.

You know I was thinking at the very end, before I even saw the last episode 😅, that the show had actually put more "romance" between the FL and "2ML" despite all the chemistry, story and "visuals" being given to the "ML" and FL. Then that last episode happens and it's like okay.... so she mourned him for 15 years as his "wife"? 😅

Weirdly.... this is possibly the first comic one that can be said to be absolutely yes. 😅 But that also makes it weird.

Dude at this point I'm not even sure the scriptwriters are trying anymore 😅

Yeah... I literally raged against the screen at this as it makes ZERO sense. She would rather DIE herself than have an imaginary character SHE herself created "die". Just wake up and rewrite the story again....

Add in the previous episode doing the "the poison is in her bone marrow but you can try sucking it out" and it's quickly becoming too illogical to fully enjoy any more.

Hmmmm you might be right there, they just didn't really differentiate the titles too well I guess so my mind went "he's a Marquis, that's also nobility, why's he different 😅"

English Trailer: https://youtu.be/SXnYl2tU6AY?si=BPNkdXeYgvIPXDSJ

Lol nah I get it, that was basically me with Dashing Youth. I finally gave up and dropped that one and just watched the clips that came up on YouTube 😅.

Overall I think I liked this but it definitely felt like it was too long and that's generally something I never say. Hilariously, certain plot points are barely wrapped up or just fully and completely dropped leaving me honestly wondering things like what happened to her porcelain store?, What happened to his sister's family? If ML's friend was head of his family, how was he able to always pick up and wander around like he did since our ML couldn't? Idk, more thoughts honestly but but I'm done writing for now. 🤷‍♀️

This is my opinion as well.

🤣 I suppose it depends on what you mean my "complicated". The previous persons answer was way too simplistic as I would say "yes, maybe". One of the frustrating parts of the first act is that they sweep aside "most" of the politics to the point where there is literally a "missing episode" when there's a voice over saying "the old Emperor fell, the new Emperor came to power, yadda yadda". BUT then the second third is outside palace politics (meaning he goes to the palace but is sent off and stuff happens outside the palace that eventually effects the palace. Finally the last third of the show is literally devoted to internal palace politics and the power struggle with wrapping up storylines.

😅 So honestly... you might wanna drop it at this point. If you're looking for feeling "the chemistry" between the main couple I didn't find it that sort of show and never personally felt sparks between them. Instead they spend the first 1/3 of the show dancing around each other in their comedy mixed with business plot (basically she plays the loving wife and he plays a dumb dandy around her so any closeness they get is played for laughs mostly), then it turns into a bit of a thriller as she's getting her memories back and they haven't confronted each other (here they're spending "most" of their time apart in the show plot, occasionally he drops by for plot points) , then it's business mixes with political until she forgives him ( Again they are mostly separated here and when together she's very cold towards him so.again, not a "ton" of time for "chemistry"). Then it moves over to straight political. (This final bit has the most "cutesy" moments with them together as by this point they are officially married.

Overall, they do have many the cute moments but this is honestly a show that should have gripped you from the beginning based on how they structured it. The fact it didn't and you're not liking the first episodes which essentially set up the first 1/3 of the show, indicates it might not be to your liking.

BTW 😅 "The woman who watches the FL" is just a Nanny who is in the employ of the ML. She's a servant who was hired to keep an eye on her and help keep the lies straight but she's not an "unusual" Character for the drama. By that I mean her having an older servant who helps her and looks out for her isn't unusual, there's a part in the show later where this character is sent to the "Nanny" of another household on her "day off" so they can gossip and she could come back and report about the household situation.

I can see your point on it ending at ep 23 if you want a story where she is still empowered to live a "normal" life despite everything that has happened to her. In that sense, absolutely, stop watching at end of ep 23. But realistically that's not the story they were telling the entire time. She had already mentioned multiple times she had nothing left to live for. Her smallest chance of survival even for a moment was when she was pregnant and had the promise of being able to leave, but once that was gone her only grip left to the world WAS to kill him and die herself.

Beyond what was already written, one thing to note is that the end does not have them technically end up together as a happy couple which is a note in their favor. The more vicious and ruthless the main character is the more they have to "punish" the character so often that ultimate punishment is death.

Specifically, he gets approved to marry her, she coats her lips in poison, they kiss, dialog about this is the closest they've ever been and how she wishes she never met him, he wishes there she could meet someone else, kiss, he dies, she cries and lays him out on the bed, she sets the palace on fire and lays down to die next to him whether the poison or fire gets her first doesn't matter, she's dead too. Very satisfying ending IMO.