Anya

This is probably the first drama that has made me want to write a review, and I’m not entirely sure that’s a good thing.

ROYAL BETROTHAL was actually a drama I randomly came across through an MDL post. I hadn’t seen any promotions or even a trailer for it, so it almost felt like it came out of nowhere. Somehow, that made me more curious to watch it, apart from the fact that it already had so many elements I like in a C-drama.

The drama was more or less a hit or miss for me personally. It had so many elements that I genuinely enjoy in a C-drama — palace intrigue, a strong FL and ML, a hate-to-love relationship, romance, and all the usual court politics — but somehow, the drama felt more like watching bits and pieces of these elements rather than seeing them come together as a complete production.

The FL is strong, prideful and smart, which I really liked about her character. However, she somehow keeps getting herself into trouble, while the emperor, the ML, is an ambitious ruler who supposedly has his own plans and goals, yet somehow spends most of his time cleaning up after her and dealing with the aftermath of whatever mess she has gotten herself into. 😭 He also somehow has all the time in the world to meet her every day, and considering his position, I genuinely don't think that would be possible. At some point, I started wondering when this man actually had time to be an emperor.

I think my biggest issue with the drama was the pacing. Everything happened so quickly that I couldn't really emotionally connect to much of it. Enemy arcs ended faster than I could even process what was happening, and just when I thought something was going to develop into a proper conflict, it was already over. The suspense also wasn't really doing much for me because most things felt predictable. There was very little time to sit with the characters or the situations before the story moved on to the next thing.

The romance was another mixed bag. Interestingly, I actually enjoyed the lack of romance in the beginning because I love yearning and slow-burn relationships. I liked having that distance between the leads and watching their relationship gradually develop. But even that somehow became rushed in the middle. The drama had the ingredients for a romance I would probably have loved, but it never quite gave those moments enough time to breathe.

And, as usual, we get the childhood connection. At this point, I feel like C-dramas are legally required to have one. 😭 It wasn't necessarily a problem on its own, but with everything else happening so quickly, it felt like yet another plot element that was introduced without enough room for me to really become invested in it.

The cinematography also reminded me quite a bit of one of my personal favourites, THE DOUBLE, starring the same actress, Wu Jin Yan. She shined so brightly in that drama with her character, and I couldn't help comparing the two while watching Royal Betrothal. I think this comparison also made me more aware of how much I wanted her character here to have that same impact.

The ending, unfortunately, was something I wasn't particularly happy with either. By that point, I had already spent most of the drama feeling like I was trying to catch up with the story, and the ending didn't really give me the satisfaction I was hoping for.

Overall, ROYAL BETROTHAL was one of those dramas that made me say "oookkk" after almost every episode. 😭 It had all the elements of a drama I should have loved, but the execution never quite brought them together for me. The pacing was too quick, the suspense was predictable, the romance didn't get enough room to breathe, and I never really got the chance to emotionally connect with the story.

That being said, removing every other factor, as a fan of both Wu Jin Yan and Chen Zhe Yuan, I genuinely enjoyed seeing them on screen together and that was the one thing that me watch till the end.