First of all, I want to say that both the male and female leads did a really good job. You could tell they genuinely gave it their all and tried their best to deliver a great performance.
As for the drama itself, I've known this director and his team since The Long Ballad back in 2021, so I already knew there were some serious weaknesses when it comes to shots, especially in SOKP.
For the first ten episodes, I was mostly busy trying to get used to the filming style, the filter, and the dialogue. Around episode 10, though, it finally became interesting for me, and I watched it till episode 25 at once.
But then I started losing motivation to continue, mainly because of the story
The Prime Minister spent 25 episodes as the villain and even colluded with the enemy, only for it all to end with that funny ridiculous stunt? I honestly kept expecting there to be some bigger plan behind arranging the Princess's marriage to the enemy prince, but there was nothing at all.
Both the marquis and the Princess changed way too suddenly. The marquis had been helping everyone so sincerely all the time, but the moment he was put in that position, he turned on them without even a second of hesitation. He didn't deserve that fate or that ending. Princess too . She spent the whole drama talking about how much she loved him, then suddenly changed overnight without anything significant even happening. If I were the writer, I would've had that change happen after she found out about her father and brother being killed. At least that would've made some sense.
Even the Emperor suddenly went from being a good father who cared about his children to a selfish and negative character, and it felt completely unnecessary and forced.
My third issue was the main couple's storyline. I really liked their chemistry, but after Feng Sui ge got injured and the story went into the completely cliché amnesia plot, i get bored
On the other hand, in the end I really liked emperor of Jinxiu and his feelings for the Princess. I felt like he was actually changing and had some interesting character development. Unfortunately, I didn't like his ending at all, and I genuinely felt bad for him.
As for emperor of Jinxiu's Queen Mother, there's honestly not much to say. She was a truly stupid character who ended up doing nothing but ruining her own son.
Overall, the drama had some high points that helped keep the story engaging. Combined with the cast's strong performances and a great OST, I'd say the drama was overall good to average. Personally, I think it would've worked better as a 30-episode drama, and storylines like the Storm Alliance arc should've been much shorter.
One plot line that the novel helped me piercieve better was HanLinQui's . Because with the TV series I never truly…
yes in some point it was really good, like ep 10 it is my most favorite episode... but overly it could be much better, it had so much potential anyway i gave it 8/10
I was curious about how they developed a novel to make a movie so I read the novel after watching the TV series.…
Yeah, it was almost the same in the novel too, but the emotional impact just didn’t come through in the drama. In the novel, besides that spirit, Duan’s rival generals were also present during that whole conflict, which made the situation feel much more intense.
And for example, the storyline in the next three episodes — the switching of the sense of smell, the city they went to, and Luda’s father — all of it was handled very superficially. As a viewer, if I separated the drama from the knowledge I already had from the novel, I honestly couldn’t fully understand or connect with what was happening.
I’m a fan of Dilraba and I’ve watched all of her dramas. When this drama was officially announced, I read the novel because of her. I even found the script, and even though it was in Chinese, I used Google Translate just so I could read it.
I followed the filming process every single day with so much love and excitement, and I still have every leaked video saved one by one. Ever since filming started, I fell in love with Dilraba and Arthur’s chemistry, and I was waiting for this drama.
But…
I can’t say I was completely disappointed, but my expectations were definitely much higher. The character development wasn’t done properly, and unlike the novel, the characters never became truly deep or memorable. The cinematography and directing had a lot of flaws, and the visual effects seriously needed more work.
I remember people saying the drama was using “6D” or extremely advanced CGI effects and that it was going to turn into a masterpiece, but honestly, it didn’t. The events from the novel were portrayed very superficially in the drama. They basically rushed everything important into the last ten episodes, while the twenty episodes before that just felt like they were going in circles for no reason.
a part around episodes 12 and 13 in the novel and script was one of my most favorite parts — the moment when Simu gets injured and Duan arrives. But in the drama, I felt absolutely nothing from that scene emotionally.
Maybe my expectations were too high because I had already read the novel, but after watching Chinese dramas for eight years, I could clearly tell that not much effort or budget went into the production quality or character writing of this drama.
For me, the novel itself, the sweet feelings I had while reading it, and the pairing of Dilraba and Arthur will always remain perfect in my heart.
But this drama? No. cuz of the director and screenwriter
I’ve a love-hate relationship with this drama. I started watching it right after PoJ. Story-wise, it’s definitely stronger, but in terms of cinematography and directing, it's definitely weaker. The filming style especially threw me off at first, and it actually took me a whole week to get through the first ten episodes.But once I reached episode 10, things got really exciting and interesting for me. and i fell in love with the main and second CP as well.so I watched 15 eps at once, watched till episode 25 in just one day — until the king, who had supposedly been good, suddenly turned into the villain of the story.After that point, I kind of lost momentum again and still haven’t finished it. overall, I have a lot of mixed feelings.
As for the drama itself, I've known this director and his team since The Long Ballad back in 2021, so I already knew there were some serious weaknesses when it comes to shots, especially in SOKP.
For the first ten episodes, I was mostly busy trying to get used to the filming style, the filter, and the dialogue. Around episode 10, though, it finally became interesting for me, and I watched it till episode 25 at once.
But then I started losing motivation to continue, mainly because of the story
The Prime Minister spent 25 episodes as the villain and even colluded with the enemy, only for it all to end with that funny ridiculous stunt? I honestly kept expecting there to be some bigger plan behind arranging the Princess's marriage to the enemy prince, but there was nothing at all.
Both the marquis and the Princess changed way too suddenly.
The marquis had been helping everyone so sincerely all the time, but the moment he was put in that position, he turned on them without even a second of hesitation. He didn't deserve that fate or that ending. Princess too . She spent the whole drama talking about how much she loved him, then suddenly changed overnight without anything significant even happening. If I were the writer, I would've had that change happen after she found out about her father and brother being killed. At least that would've made some sense.
Even the Emperor suddenly went from being a good father who cared about his children to a selfish and negative character, and it felt completely unnecessary and forced.
My third issue was the main couple's storyline. I really liked their chemistry, but after Feng Sui ge got injured and the story went into the completely cliché amnesia plot, i get bored
On the other hand, in the end I really liked emperor of Jinxiu and his feelings for the Princess. I felt like he was actually changing and had some interesting character development. Unfortunately, I didn't like his ending at all, and I genuinely felt bad for him.
As for emperor of Jinxiu's Queen Mother, there's honestly not much to say. She was a truly stupid character who ended up doing nothing but ruining her own son.
Overall, the drama had some high points that helped keep the story engaging. Combined with the cast's strong performances and a great OST, I'd say the drama was overall good to average. Personally, I think it would've worked better as a 30-episode drama, and storylines like the Storm Alliance arc should've been much shorter.
And for example, the storyline in the next three episodes — the switching of the sense of smell, the city they went to, and Luda’s father — all of it was handled very superficially. As a viewer, if I separated the drama from the knowledge I already had from the novel, I honestly couldn’t fully understand or connect with what was happening.
I followed the filming process every single day with so much love and excitement, and I still have every leaked video saved one by one. Ever since filming started, I fell in love with Dilraba and Arthur’s chemistry, and I was waiting for this drama.
But…
I can’t say I was completely disappointed, but my expectations were definitely much higher. The character development wasn’t done properly, and unlike the novel, the characters never became truly deep or memorable. The cinematography and directing had a lot of flaws, and the visual effects seriously needed more work.
I remember people saying the drama was using “6D” or extremely advanced CGI effects and that it was going to turn into a masterpiece, but honestly, it didn’t. The events from the novel were portrayed very superficially in the drama. They basically rushed everything important into the last ten episodes, while the twenty episodes before that just felt like they were going in circles for no reason.
a part around episodes 12 and 13 in the novel and script was one of my most favorite parts — the moment when Simu gets injured and Duan arrives. But in the drama, I felt absolutely nothing from that scene emotionally.
Maybe my expectations were too high because I had already read the novel, but after watching Chinese dramas for eight years, I could clearly tell that not much effort or budget went into the production quality or character writing of this drama.
For me, the novel itself, the sweet feelings I had while reading it, and the pairing of Dilraba and Arthur will always remain perfect in my heart.
But this drama? No. cuz of the director and screenwriter