This review may contain spoilers
Final Review: Strong characters, strong chemistry and acting, but held back by a clunky plot.
A young woman is forced to take the place of her sick brother lest their family lose their position of power because of their lacking male heir. She therefore turns herself into the perfect son and even becomes a legendary general in the military. However, tragedy strikes as her brother regains his health, her family betrays her, and she is left for dead.
After she recovers she vows to take revenge and show the world who the real general He Ru Fei actually is, so she joins the army again and finds herself in the camp lead by her past schoolmate and fellow General FengYun. FengYun, however, is disgraced and his father dead because of accusations by the current He Ru Fei. The actual He Ru Fei calls herself HeYan and hides who she truly is while gaining his trust and rising back up the ranks.
When they fall in love and FengYun eventually finds out who she actually is, will their love survive? And what about the revenge both of them are looking for?
Pros:
- Great chemistry between the main couple. You actually believe that there's something there, even when FengYun still thinks she's a man. And when both of them admit to their feelings, they are believable and charming.
- Great characters. Not a single character bothered me. Well acted, great in their role, and enjoyable. Personal favourites are one of my favourite actors, Bai Shu, as the horrible fake He Ru Fei and Zhang KhanLe as Chu Zhao.
- Talking about Chu Zhao, he is one of the best and worst things about this drama. I'm still not entirely know if I love or hate what they did with him, because we know he is up to no good from minute one and yet halfway through the show we start thinking that maybe we were mistaken and he's actually not that bad. (Only for him to become despicable again towards the end.) It's a wild ride and I'm still wondering what the hell happened there. The actor sure knew what he was doing, though.
- While the plot has its issues - I'll get to that - it IS still a very enjoyable watch and nowhere did I find myself bored. The push and pull between two people who are hiding secrets AND their burgeoning feelings for each other is a lot of fun. Especially when the rest of the world doesn't yet know that she's a woman and just see FengYun being wildly protective of his male subordinate. If you liked Mulan, you'll enjoy this.
Cons:
- Woof, the plot. I still enjoyed the story, but there are definitely issues. The female lead's plot armor was ridiculous, because what do you mean she survived being stabbed by someone who meant to kill her, managed to make her way up a mountain WHILE BLIND, and when she's thrown off the mountain into a river not only survives that but just happens to be found by her Shifu?? Show, please.
Also, Bai Shu (HeYan's brother) is 1.79 m tall and ZhouYe (HeYan) 1.65m. You're telling me no one noticed the difference??
- The male lead finds out she's a woman because she presses against his back when they're on a horse together and that's enough for him to go 'oh, a woman!' What?? You're telling me that 1. this woman who has had to pretend to be a man - at the risk of DEATH for deceiving the emperor - her entire life forgot to put her binder on?? 2. He can feel that the boobs on this really skinny woman are somehow different from the pecs on a dude? Through several layers of clothing??
- Deus Ex Machina Emperor who is somehow incredibly cruel, incredibly dumb, but also incredibly lenient?
The guy has the male lead flogged for leaving his post. Something which SAVED thousands of people and possibly the country, because without him the enemy would have overtaken an important stronghold and slaughtered everyone there. Meanwhile he gives the female lead, who ALSO left her post, a merit and title.
But then when HeYan's big secret is revealed, something we've been working towards all show, and everyone finds out she's secretly a woman, he just goes 'oh yeah, I already knew'. All of a sudden FengYun - the guy he has had tortured for SAVING THE COUNTRY - can admit to the emperor that they've deceived him and ask for leniency and the emperor is suddenly totally cool and forgiving.
Only to be a total asshole again when they want to get married and Chu Zhao brings up the fact that their army would be huge if they were allowed to stay together. Which the emperor apparently hadn't thought of before and he needed reminding.
Something which ends up not being a problem in the end, because Chu Zhao is too obviously evil and he gets banished, which apparently means that the emperor is no longer worried about their military power and so he lets them get married??
Dude is all over the place on this.
In the end, should you watch this: If you like chemistry, cute characters, and don't mind a trashy romp that's made enjoyable by the sheer likeability and acting of the actors involved, then yes. Just know that you'll have to fastforward some of the plotholes in your head.
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This review may contain spoilers
Final Review: Enjoyable, colourful, and fun. Some issues towards the end but still worth a watch.
A vivid story with likeable characters that you end up rooting for, a great score accompanying it, and beauty everywhere you look. (From the actors to the scenery to the intricate costumes. It's all very bright and colourful and pretty.)
Pros:
- The characters are interesting. They all exist in a world at war, so none of them are free of biases and vices, but that makes them human and relatable.
- The main female character is charming. Often I find the main female character grating because she's written to be childish or unaware of what's going on, but even at the very beginning Xiao Yao is ingenious and likeable. She suffers from 'everyone likes me and most male characters are in love with me' but then almost all main female characters in Cdramas like this do.
- BingZhu is a fascinating character and is a highlight of this show for 90% of it. He's tortured, conflicted and principled and those three things don't work well together, leading to him having a horrible time throughout. (He's also fucked up and does some horrible things, but you understand why he does them.)
His friendship with Xiao Yao is also rather nice to see, because for once in a Cdrama like this I'm not stuck watching the second male lead pine for the main female lead and eventually realize she won't ever love him back. He liked Xiao Yao, but not like that and it was a delight.
Cons:
- Hong Ye as an all powerful demon king is interesting, but it doesn't help that this means they have a deus ex machina walking around so they chain him up and remove his power for a good part of this show. it means he's just decoration while Xiao Yao does shit and if he's your favourite that might drag a bit.
- The end is a bit of a mess. Still enjoyable and we do get closure for Xiao Yao, but it feels rushed and some of the character choices aren't my favourite.
Note: Spoilers!!
For example; BingZhu's character kind of gets assassinated towards the end when he willingly absorbs demonic energy to fight HongYe even though his entire character arc is 'I hate demons to my core and loathe all that they are (so I would never willingly become one) but I learn to see that the emperor is wrong to want to exterminate them all for his own gain since they are not all evil. I have seen the error of my ways. And yet I will go and fight the demon king I have learned to respect and work with - and who Xiao Yao loves - just so i can get back in the good graces of the emperor.' (Not to mention that PianPian absorbing the crystal heart is what caused her to lose herself, yet he's all of a sudden very willing to absorb demonic energy and stop being him.)
Second, at the end of the show they introduce three very interesting characters that we grow to like and then kill them off in very quick succession and without much fanfare just to power up BingZhu.
And you might not like the conclusion of Xiao Yao and Hong Ye's relationship.
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This review may contain spoilers
Final Review: A story of longing, things that could have been, and the pain in letting go.
Snowy Night Timeless Love is a beautiful, albeit tragic story of people who were formed, twisted, and fucked up due to their tragic pasts and those who exploited them. It is full of broken characters who you'll fall for anyway and a romance that feels like two souls constantly longing for each other. It's beautiful and heartbreaking but overall enjoyable.
(That is, if you can ignore the fact that the female lead lied to the male lead for EIGHT YEARS and caused him to risk his life and nearly die several times while searching for the ingredients she claimed she needed to save the male lead's sick nephew. Which was a lie.)
Pros:
- A gorgeous main couple who play quiet longing really well. It's a slow, gradual falling in love and at the end both seem to recognize their feelings but are terrified to admit to them because they, though the female lead especially, know their time may be fleeting.
- A whole lot of whump. If you're here for beautiful people suffering, spitting up blood, and then getting saved by other beautiful people? THIS IS THE SHOW FOR YOU. The male lead especially keeps on almost dying and has to be nursed back to health by the female lead at least half a dozen times altogether. Hell, she finds him passed out in the snow after he comes back with one of her ingredients at least three times. It's amazing.
And that's not even including her saving Miao Feng (and getting saved by him) or Ming Jie. They really got mileage out of her being the most skilled doctor alive.
- So many shades of grey. There's white snow everywhere, but when it comes to the characters very few of them are either good or evil. At the very end you even feel bad for Chang Jue's minions - though not him.
- This story is tragic at times. Be prepared to cry.
Cons:
- Personally I thought Huo Zhanbai responded shockingly well to finding out Xue Ziye lied to him for EIGHT YEARS, because if I found out the love of my life had been sending me on incredibly dangerous fools' errands that had me on death's door several times, I'd have left her to freeze in that Valley of hers. 'She saved me so many times.' Yes. From injuries you sustained while searching for her bullshit ingredients.
- If you want instant chemistry and a fiery romance, this is not the show for you. There are lingering glances and a whole lot of promises, but it's all understated and builds gradually.
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