Now that's what you call a wholesome drama
There are so many things that other directors could learn from this show. How to make your story gripping and engaging, how to utilise technology without being overly dependent on CGI, how to do proper editing, how to utilise actors in a way that their characters become believable. I don't remember watching any of Zhang ling He's earlier dramas and believing his characters completely, they always looked very superficial. But this time this director had other plans in mind and he gripped his character so well in a tight leash that it is completely moving the way he wants. No over the top expressions or using just the face card to make him act. You will be in awe, watching all the subtle changes in their expression and body language that even without dialogues sometimes, they are conveying every emotion with such an ease.
I am loving our FL here because her character is not all over the place. She is called brute in the drama but she is more than that. She is the exact image of a young girl that you could imagine from that era in impoverished state, without parents and struggling with the harsh realities of life. I am loving how they are not shying away from it just to make her look a perfect female character. Special mention for the child actor. I just adore every scene with her and all the village scenes and their interaction has a 'The story of Miglan' vibe a lot.
Complex political struggle is yet to unfold completely but so far it is interesting, I had no idea this show would give the best villain of all time to me. He would give you creeps. Court politics could make you skip certain scenes a little bit if you are not into that much politics but every character looks believable and have a story to tell, even the villagers and the side characters with extremely small screen time. What I loved the most is the way they used the natural lights to enhance the beauty of the scenes. Even the set design doesn't feel like as if it is a set. Costume and makeup are equally good and for me it is Zhang Ling He's best look so far. Whether it is romantic moments or any slow motion sequence playing with the scenery to amplify the presence of the character everything requires well thought out execution and all thanks again goes to the director and the actors. Whether it is romance sequence, emotional sequence, war sequence or slap sequence...cough*.... everything is top notch. It is THE best show for me of this year in all aspects.
PS: I don't remember which was the last drama where I felt a drama married couple had such a real couple vibes. I can just watch these two spending their lives in small town and doing all their daily work, forever and to all the people who think it is very slow in the beginning, the director is smart enough to take that time because he is building a world where viewers could feel the emotions of the later episodes, which is only possible if one gives proper time to all the characters. Believe me it will hit you hard when the time comes. Trust me this drama knows how to play with the feelings.
PS 2: Despite everything I still felt that this one is the best drama of yr (at least for now). My only complaint would be the way they started to cut the scenes and letting it all fall for viewers' imagination. Including Marquis' battle scenes. Towards the end I could feel how they were rushing badly and chopping the scenes to compress it all into ep. limit. The room that they were giving to breathe this world became too small in the second half. I had no problem with other leads getting a screentime but I felt our main leads needed more screentime as we got attached to their characters more. In second half, the leads were there for such a short time together or their story only became part of post credit scenes. Our over powered FL would have looked more believable if they would have given us some hint that she was a prodigy in martial arts since birth...defeating seasoned soldier in two blows was too much even for her character. More time should have been given to her character for us to believe her well deserved status of a general. But it will still be a nitpick because first half raised too much expectations. It was definitely 10/10 if not for the second half. I will still recommend this show to everyone who is into Wuxia dramas. It has definitely raised the standards for others.
I am loving our FL here because her character is not all over the place. She is called brute in the drama but she is more than that. She is the exact image of a young girl that you could imagine from that era in impoverished state, without parents and struggling with the harsh realities of life. I am loving how they are not shying away from it just to make her look a perfect female character. Special mention for the child actor. I just adore every scene with her and all the village scenes and their interaction has a 'The story of Miglan' vibe a lot.
Complex political struggle is yet to unfold completely but so far it is interesting, I had no idea this show would give the best villain of all time to me. He would give you creeps. Court politics could make you skip certain scenes a little bit if you are not into that much politics but every character looks believable and have a story to tell, even the villagers and the side characters with extremely small screen time. What I loved the most is the way they used the natural lights to enhance the beauty of the scenes. Even the set design doesn't feel like as if it is a set. Costume and makeup are equally good and for me it is Zhang Ling He's best look so far. Whether it is romantic moments or any slow motion sequence playing with the scenery to amplify the presence of the character everything requires well thought out execution and all thanks again goes to the director and the actors. Whether it is romance sequence, emotional sequence, war sequence or slap sequence...cough*.... everything is top notch. It is THE best show for me of this year in all aspects.
PS: I don't remember which was the last drama where I felt a drama married couple had such a real couple vibes. I can just watch these two spending their lives in small town and doing all their daily work, forever and to all the people who think it is very slow in the beginning, the director is smart enough to take that time because he is building a world where viewers could feel the emotions of the later episodes, which is only possible if one gives proper time to all the characters. Believe me it will hit you hard when the time comes. Trust me this drama knows how to play with the feelings.
PS 2: Despite everything I still felt that this one is the best drama of yr (at least for now). My only complaint would be the way they started to cut the scenes and letting it all fall for viewers' imagination. Including Marquis' battle scenes. Towards the end I could feel how they were rushing badly and chopping the scenes to compress it all into ep. limit. The room that they were giving to breathe this world became too small in the second half. I had no problem with other leads getting a screentime but I felt our main leads needed more screentime as we got attached to their characters more. In second half, the leads were there for such a short time together or their story only became part of post credit scenes. Our over powered FL would have looked more believable if they would have given us some hint that she was a prodigy in martial arts since birth...defeating seasoned soldier in two blows was too much even for her character. More time should have been given to her character for us to believe her well deserved status of a general. But it will still be a nitpick because first half raised too much expectations. It was definitely 10/10 if not for the second half. I will still recommend this show to everyone who is into Wuxia dramas. It has definitely raised the standards for others.
Was this review helpful to you?
