This review may contain spoilers
This series is so infuriaTING!!! I love it....
Subtitle: '' ''Close the gates and release the dogs'' IS in the Art of War.''
This is an ultimate meta-drama; anti-trope, anti-box, anti-expected plot progression. At some points I wanted to scream and pull my hair out because character action didn't make sense, but you just have to wait and really watch it till the end for everything to make sense. An interesting take on prejudice, pre-determinism and fate, where your belief about what your life is or should be and what other people are like, makes you the main character and everyone else is just an NPC. Or are they?
This is the second attempt at watching and now I remember why I quit the fist time around - humor is quite a bit over the top (at the beginning). Very slapsticky, doesn't feel natural and this time I will say it's the writing not the acting, cause physical acting is good, just the script is unnecessary ridiculous at times for my taste. But, at least the drama knows what it is and leans into the absurdity. And when the scales tip towards the end, the drama is DRAMA, but then it again ends very light. Don't miss the end-cut scene from modern times, it's very cute.
Beautifully shot and edited, and all (very few) slow motions were spot on. Loved the music, yes it was modern at times, but still worked well with the plot.
This drama really buries the leads of who's doing what and why until the end. A reflection of real life, on some level, as you're not always privy to other peoples reasoning and life experiences that shape their decisions, letting you believe that they are assholes for no reason half of the time. You will likely not realize who's the real bad guy until late into the drama, that is, of course, unless you are one of those people who don't believe that a child plotted his other mother's murder at age 9. Not to mention the wonderful take on writers responsibility of their characters in the story world they create and how absolutely insane some twists can sometimes be.
The wrap up was so so, but I ignored the nonsense and completely suspended my disbelief at that point (yes, it took me 40 epdisodes to give up reason), because sure, why wouldn't the Noble Consort throw divorce papers at the Emperor and why wouldn't he run after her like a puppy?
A special mention for acting goes to father offthe FL, Mr Song, he did such a great job at playing the politician father while maintaining a perfect balance between comedy and seriousness while always being just a breath away from scheming comic relief with great physical acting, his eyebrows did a lot offheavy lifting. And second mention is to Song Yiting, sister of FL, whose last line in the last episode made me scream laugh out loud.
Love the way the Seventh's Prince always calls the Emperor's bluff on whatever threat he issues. Malicious compliance at its best.
Some of the ML scenes were shot on a green screen for some reason?
This is an ultimate meta-drama; anti-trope, anti-box, anti-expected plot progression. At some points I wanted to scream and pull my hair out because character action didn't make sense, but you just have to wait and really watch it till the end for everything to make sense. An interesting take on prejudice, pre-determinism and fate, where your belief about what your life is or should be and what other people are like, makes you the main character and everyone else is just an NPC. Or are they?
This is the second attempt at watching and now I remember why I quit the fist time around - humor is quite a bit over the top (at the beginning). Very slapsticky, doesn't feel natural and this time I will say it's the writing not the acting, cause physical acting is good, just the script is unnecessary ridiculous at times for my taste. But, at least the drama knows what it is and leans into the absurdity. And when the scales tip towards the end, the drama is DRAMA, but then it again ends very light. Don't miss the end-cut scene from modern times, it's very cute.
Beautifully shot and edited, and all (very few) slow motions were spot on. Loved the music, yes it was modern at times, but still worked well with the plot.
This drama really buries the leads of who's doing what and why until the end. A reflection of real life, on some level, as you're not always privy to other peoples reasoning and life experiences that shape their decisions, letting you believe that they are assholes for no reason half of the time. You will likely not realize who's the real bad guy until late into the drama, that is, of course, unless you are one of those people who don't believe that a child plotted his other mother's murder at age 9. Not to mention the wonderful take on writers responsibility of their characters in the story world they create and how absolutely insane some twists can sometimes be.
The wrap up was so so, but I ignored the nonsense and completely suspended my disbelief at that point (yes, it took me 40 epdisodes to give up reason), because sure, why wouldn't the Noble Consort throw divorce papers at the Emperor and why wouldn't he run after her like a puppy?
A special mention for acting goes to father offthe FL, Mr Song, he did such a great job at playing the politician father while maintaining a perfect balance between comedy and seriousness while always being just a breath away from scheming comic relief with great physical acting, his eyebrows did a lot offheavy lifting. And second mention is to Song Yiting, sister of FL, whose last line in the last episode made me scream laugh out loud.
Love the way the Seventh's Prince always calls the Emperor's bluff on whatever threat he issues. Malicious compliance at its best.
Some of the ML scenes were shot on a green screen for some reason?
Was this review helpful to you?
