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Sibling-bait Romance Meets Revenge Drama
What's more titillating than "normal" sibling bait but "twin" sibling bait drenched in blood and wrapped around a revenge setting.
đź’€Negativesđź’€
• Important details needed for 2nd half are given too late
• Lack of angst when story has built the expectation
• Minor plot holes; but those that did show up were large
• Romance may feel uneven and turn some off (ML has more information than FL and utilizes this factor to get closer to her)
✅️Positives✅️
• Both Leads and 2nd Leads portrayed convincing emotional scenes (biased opinion that this director can make even a bad actor give the best performance of their life)
• Cinematography (another hallmark of this director) is stunning
• Romance is spicy and doesn't shy from being "almost" too much
• While there are many aspects that are predictable based on the genre, the show still provides MULTIPLE instances that defy the usual tropes
🔥Set-Up🔥
This drama is one that absolutely toes the line on taboo thoughts and fantasies. Multiple characters engage in possibly or absolutely immoral relationships.
We have the ML/FL set-up which is described in the synopsis. These two, despite being not blood related, grew up together as sibling twins from infancy. The FL is shown in a flashback to have been told the ML was adopted possibly around the age of ten (they don't say specifically) while it doesn't give a definite or generic time when the ML discovered the secret. Throughout the drama the ML refers to the FL on and off as A'Jie and there is a line near the end episodes in which he declares his intention to be the "elder brother" going forward and protect her.
Next, we have the relationship between the 2ML and 2FL (FL's husband and 'sister/cousin'). Based upon the FL marrying him, her female relatives become his female relatives and as such, having a relationship with her "brother-in-law" is the same as if it were her own brother.
This is also the case when the FL's aunt (specifically 伯母 bómǔ - father's elder brother's wife) is found to be in a relationship with her father in the beginning episodes. Just as before, the woman is the sister-in-law and as such she is his "sister". They are prohibited from having a rel or marrying and while they are again not blood relatives, the relationship would be deemed immortal.
🔥Revenge🔥
A significant portion of this drama focuses on the revenge of first the FL, then the ML. While the first portion is a bloody, edge-of-your-seat revenge drama that puts many others to shame, once her story is wrapped up, there is a section of... blandness. Romance, something which had been sprinkled in among the unhinged schemes, becomes the majority of the episodes and the viewer will either enjoy the switch or roll their eyes at yet ANOTHER scene of "making eyes".
When it comes time to make the same emotional scenes in the back half, the story hasn't laid out a foundation to make the audience care. Because of this, grand emotional scenes are watched with confusion asking the leads what the issue even IS that's causing the turbulence.
Is the audience eventually given the answers? Yes. But usually clues are doled out a little at a time and history (even if it's fake) is set up as a reason for later conflicts at an earlier stage than having the audience listen TO BOTH the true and false narratives at once.
Will the revelation put past scenes into perspective? Yes. But also, this doesn't change the feeling of frustration and lack of connection to the emotions that had already been played out on screen in those previous episodes.
đź‘ŤConclusionđź‘Ť
The story, from a "nit-pick" stand-point could have been laid out better, but ultimately, it was interesting. There are definitely plot holes in the final episodes with questions left unanswered about the ML and eye-rolling thoughts about the Emperor that make him seem either VERY subtly evil or blissfully incompetent when it came to two seperate matters.
Ultimately this is a fun ride for people who enjoy lots of blood, over the top fights, and revenge themes while not minding a ML who makes doe eyes at the FL every 5 seconds and has a tendency to strip at the slightest provocative.
đź’€Negativesđź’€
• Important details needed for 2nd half are given too late
• Lack of angst when story has built the expectation
• Minor plot holes; but those that did show up were large
• Romance may feel uneven and turn some off (ML has more information than FL and utilizes this factor to get closer to her)
✅️Positives✅️
• Both Leads and 2nd Leads portrayed convincing emotional scenes (biased opinion that this director can make even a bad actor give the best performance of their life)
• Cinematography (another hallmark of this director) is stunning
• Romance is spicy and doesn't shy from being "almost" too much
• While there are many aspects that are predictable based on the genre, the show still provides MULTIPLE instances that defy the usual tropes
🔥Set-Up🔥
This drama is one that absolutely toes the line on taboo thoughts and fantasies. Multiple characters engage in possibly or absolutely immoral relationships.
We have the ML/FL set-up which is described in the synopsis. These two, despite being not blood related, grew up together as sibling twins from infancy. The FL is shown in a flashback to have been told the ML was adopted possibly around the age of ten (they don't say specifically) while it doesn't give a definite or generic time when the ML discovered the secret. Throughout the drama the ML refers to the FL on and off as A'Jie and there is a line near the end episodes in which he declares his intention to be the "elder brother" going forward and protect her.
Next, we have the relationship between the 2ML and 2FL (FL's husband and 'sister/cousin'). Based upon the FL marrying him, her female relatives become his female relatives and as such, having a relationship with her "brother-in-law" is the same as if it were her own brother.
This is also the case when the FL's aunt (specifically 伯母 bómǔ - father's elder brother's wife) is found to be in a relationship with her father in the beginning episodes. Just as before, the woman is the sister-in-law and as such she is his "sister". They are prohibited from having a rel or marrying and while they are again not blood relatives, the relationship would be deemed immortal.
🔥Revenge🔥
A significant portion of this drama focuses on the revenge of first the FL, then the ML. While the first portion is a bloody, edge-of-your-seat revenge drama that puts many others to shame, once her story is wrapped up, there is a section of... blandness. Romance, something which had been sprinkled in among the unhinged schemes, becomes the majority of the episodes and the viewer will either enjoy the switch or roll their eyes at yet ANOTHER scene of "making eyes".
When it comes time to make the same emotional scenes in the back half, the story hasn't laid out a foundation to make the audience care. Because of this, grand emotional scenes are watched with confusion asking the leads what the issue even IS that's causing the turbulence.
Is the audience eventually given the answers? Yes. But usually clues are doled out a little at a time and history (even if it's fake) is set up as a reason for later conflicts at an earlier stage than having the audience listen TO BOTH the true and false narratives at once.
Will the revelation put past scenes into perspective? Yes. But also, this doesn't change the feeling of frustration and lack of connection to the emotions that had already been played out on screen in those previous episodes.
đź‘ŤConclusionđź‘Ť
The story, from a "nit-pick" stand-point could have been laid out better, but ultimately, it was interesting. There are definitely plot holes in the final episodes with questions left unanswered about the ML and eye-rolling thoughts about the Emperor that make him seem either VERY subtly evil or blissfully incompetent when it came to two seperate matters.
Ultimately this is a fun ride for people who enjoy lots of blood, over the top fights, and revenge themes while not minding a ML who makes doe eyes at the FL every 5 seconds and has a tendency to strip at the slightest provocative.
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