This review may contain spoilers
Worthwhile show but not great. (Part I and II review)
Firstly ask yourself these questions:1. Do I have the patience to watch a slow burn? Yes? Are you sure? Okay then go crazy, because this show took a long time for any mutual romantic build up between the main characters and when it did....I was confused??
2. Do you suffer from second lead syndrome? Yes? Then proceed with caution.
3. Are you going to be focused on the political aspect of this show or the romantic aspect? If political, then this may or may not be your cup of tea, since the starting politics were mostly petty and the real political drama only unfolds later down.
Yap Session, (I'm just ranting)
While watching this show, I found myself focusing more on the mini plots, particularly within the palace. I especially loved the story of the Emperor, Empress and Consort Yue, it was perfection. It was so perfectly executed with the help of the characters' dynamics and their acting.
What made these mini stories special, was their interrelation with the main plot, how they influence the story no matter how minor the story. I loved how each character in the story seemed to develop with their own flaws, their mindset were very realistic, allowing you to contrast characters of seemingly different social statutes that have the same dilemma.
Another plot in this story I absolutely loved was the family plot, I loved the relationship ShaoSheng had with her family. I loved how the story portrayed how complicated a mother's love can be towards their child. For some reason, I found myself slightly rooting for ShaoSheng's mother (let me tell you why..) Shao Sheng is clearly unruly, thanks to her not learning any etiquette. Therefore, her mother tries to instill womanlike practices into her as much as she can, so that no one can look down on her for being a common general's daughter. It is clear it is her first time being around her daughter and thus, she fails to understand how to get through to her, ugh the angst...this story was a bigger tearjerker than anything else in the show especially when the empress came in to play a part into this family plot.
So I must admit, the romance between the main characters was overshadowed, and I may be biased....since to me, the romance between Ling Buyi and Chen Shao Sheng was a tad bit disappointing. The male lead was cool but I found myself struggling to love his character, he was so edgy..and I know it was for a good reason but I had a hard time accepting their relationship dynamic..and I somehow preferred the relationship between Chen Shao Sheng and Yao, I couldn't help but wish Chen Shao Sheng ended up with Yao, someone who would have given her lots of love, without putting her through hell in the slightest, it was clear to see his affection, because he knew what affection, thanks to the love he received from his mother and brother..
This is what egged me about the male lead, it's clear he does not know how to really show affection as he is not used to it, and well he tried (I cannot argue about this too much) but Shao Sheng was painted as someone who never really knew love, so I wished she got with the affectionate Yao instead.
Also, I feel like the romance between the characters only blossomed because Shao Sheng was a damsel in distress .(because she always had her nose up in grown peoples' business) You don't believe me?...count how many times Shao Sheng got in danger...and how many times Ling Buyi had to save her.
SPOILER:
I really dislike the second chance trope, especially when it is a subplot TOWARDS THE END OF THE SHOW?? make it worse, when you have invested so much hours into watching the relationship start rocky, go smoothly, then fall through...yeah this set me off badly.
No...now that I'm recalling this really made me mad, I was hoping Shao Sheng just remained single..this relationship required so much effort it was crazy.
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I feel like I would watch any show with Ding Yuxi in it
As soon as I heard Ding Yuxi was starring in this show as the main lead, I pulled up quicker than lightning and it was actually worth the watch.This was the refresher I needed after watching Love in Eastern Fantasy Game...
The chemistry in the show was great and I loved, the main couple, but I would have to agree with earlier reviews that called out how irresponsible and tactless the female lead was.
Female Lead:
She was introduced as someone brave, who was willing to put her life on the line to uncover the truth, but I feared for the poor senseless child. She would carelessly walk into obvious traps and get herself into so much trouble just to get information and then her husband would have to save her time and time again, at one point I wished she would just stay home.
Nevertheless, she manages to get promoted, maybe because the empress realized that if she didn't give her some authority, this senseless chicken would have no other protection besides her husband. Don't get me wrong I still loved the female lead, I think she had a good sense of justice and responsibility, after all she did step up to get married in her sister's place. She is also a bit more cautious when it comes to her family and thus I couldn't hate her too much.
Male Lead:
This is the most buff I've ever seen Ding Yuxi and honestly one of his most mature roles, he wasn't too edgy of a male lead, but there really was nothing too understanding about his character either, he wasn't that good of a politician and I feel like if he did not have the favor of the empress, he and his wife would have been goners a long time ago.
Second Love Interests:
I was so glad when they left my screen, these attempted homewreckers had no decorum please, why are you chasing a married man or woman when they gave you no clear signs of interest, nevertheless beside this part of their character, they actually did help the main couple get out of sticky situations as well.
Villains:
The main villain in this show must have been so bored, because why are they everywhere??! I was so confused when more of their villainous crimes were exposed, because they were so unprovoked.
Overall, I feel like this show was pretty good, especially when you need something to watch in the background, the cinematography is stunning and the OST is beautiful. A causal historical C-drama if you will, with enough plots to keep you entertained for a while.
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Is it just me or was this season not as good as the first?
Do not get me wrong, I love WHC1 and I waited years for the second season to drop. All of my expectations and anticipation just built up more and more over the years. To make this season as raw as possible, I avoided the manhwa, because I wanted to watch the show without bias. But even without the manhwa, I was still disappointed..why?It just felt empty, the fight scenes weren't that good at least to me, I think I preferred season 1's fight. However the fight between Seunjae and Sieun was pretty good. Although, I loved the new characters, I just felt like we knew so little about them and I did not really form a deep connection with them as I did with Suho. I feel like I would have really liked Gotak if I learnt more about his failed athlete story and his full beef with Seunjae, but again nothing much was developed. It's like most of the characters included Sieun were paper cutouts with labels on them, so you would not confuse them.
Then pacing was another issues, in the first few episodes, the story was just moving as a snail's pace nothing much developing with Baekjin beside Pyoman stealing phones to join the union (and in my opinion Seunjae could have been the villain this season alone), because afterwards the story picked up its shell and ran, all of a sudden we are having gang fights, etc etc and the tension was never fully established, like yes we know about Baek Jin and how strong he is , and how much of a think he is, friend complex he has, but again no emotional connection to this character could be made.
But maybe its just because of the expectations I had towards the first season, that was amazing and most of the story conflicts remained in the school, or between a small collection of people creating intimacy and reason for fights. Then I came to find out, that some characters weren't even included in the show?? Bro..ok. No wonder it felt flat, what if we are missing someone important? Butchered the writing.
Overall, I still think it's worth the watch to just bite the anticipation off your nails and to curb your dissatisfaction with season 1, especially since there is a good surprise in it.
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This review may contain spoilers
I would not waste my time...
Let me keep this short, because the more I write, the more I weep.I've had my fair share of "What the hell did I just watch?" shows, but I was left speechless with this one. The plot itself is so mundane...some guy gets a threatening phone call, and that same phone ends up in the hands of his wife.
His wife, who he deemed a mute, uses this phone to demand a divorce from him, which he eventually finds out. Great! but it was literally so easy to sniff her out, she's clearly approaching this phone call in such a personal manner, berating herself and calling out flaws about herself that only she would know.
Touching lightly on the romance part of this plot, I would say it was okay. It did not stand out to me. Don't get me wrong, there were a few romantic moments here and there, but the romance only came out best, when Hee Joo or Paik Sae On got injured, other scenes just fell flat.
It did NOT help that the last episode was complete trash. Please...couldn't we have wrapped this up at episode 11, it was a pretty good ending already. Instead we got a nightmare of a finish.
SPOILER AHEAD
Suddenly Paik Sae On goes missing (bro how did the actors read the script for the last episode with a straight face??), of course Hee Joo goes out to find her husband, believing he isn't dead..but when he shows back up on screen. BOOM he's in the military...excuse me what??
This was unnecessary, completely unwanted material in the show. The reason for doing that wasn't even that valid either. Plus, during such a sensitive time, why was the whole scenario of war portrayed in this show in such an unserious manner. It solely served to make the main character look cool, and for the main characters to reunite.
There were so many options for the main characters to reunite, she could have traced his donations and met him aboard, or better yet,why make him go missing in the first place?
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Nice for casual watching!
Pros:Quite simple, not overly complicated.
Loved the female lead and rival friendship…why didn't they have a bit more screen time, this is the first time I'm seeing a drama that does justice to the love affairs of two rivaling women, without making the minor antagonist bat shit crazy…
The friendships in these shows were well written and breathable, showing many diverse characters connecting in some similarity. Even between Wanwan and her friend…
Very cute moments here and there…loved the conversations, very heartfelt and straightforward
Loved that the female lead did not allow a misunderstanding to stop her from confessing.
Cons:
I wish there were more episodes
Hated the second couple
Why: The Xiabei is not compatible with Jinyu, it seems like a cat and mouse method was used to draw these two together, but i couldn't help but feel that Jinyu deserves someone better.
Reason being both male leads were very flat, beside the “I get good grades and look good” package, nothing else really stands out about the male leads. Although there was so much to add to their characters, you really had to search for those recessive traits on the male leads.
E.g male lead is surprisingly tentative sometimes but then the show switches it focus back to him being the nonchalant smart guy again.
I wish…the female lead was better written, no one is perfect and the female lead had her strengths (but I'll never understand how someone can be good at baking..but bad at cooking…? Being better at one is alright….but being horribly bad…..nah..not possible!)
One such strength is her attention to detail, she pays close attention to her work and others as a caregiver (doctor) yet again the show doesn't really bring this out and just decides to have her throw such a good skill around.
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