Chinese Bridgerton Brought To Life
Family gossip, women folk catfights, swooning over gallant men, royal family drama, well-timed articulated faint… Love Like The Galaxy (LLTG) might actually be likened to the regency popular drama ‘BRIDGERTON’, however unlike Bridgerton Love Like The Galaxy contains a healthy dose of comedy, political conspiracy, and military action, and of course, a slow-burn romance that will have your toes tingling.LLTG is here to steal your heart and the excitement it comes with will not be leaving you anytime soon. Unlike any other Chinese drama, LLTG features a young woman whose parents left to join the war immediately after her birth. This young woman (Shaoshang) grows into an ‘illiterate' woman who is quite smart and handy when it comes to building and making impulsive decisions during dire situations.
She is illiterate in that she was not taught Chinese characters and classical and ancient texts by her wicked aunt and illiterate grandmother. When her parents come back fifteen years later from the war, she is quick to find out that they can never go back to a loving parent-daughter relationship, especially with her mother who is always dissatisfied with her ‘unruly behaviour'.
Shaoshang meets the general and adopted son of the Emperor, Ling Buyi who has just come back after achieving great merit at war. They meet on several occasions and while Shaoshang feels nothing for the general due to her lack of family love while growing up, the general's feelings of admiration for her quickly morph into love.
Shaoshang while being unruly with more than two tricks up her sleeves every single time is kind and does not react kindly to bullying. The general, on the other hand, is cold, at first sight, looks unfeeling but he is quite protective of the people he cares about.
A key takeaway from LLTG is how the pacing of the movie ensures that you feel every character's development so you understand them better. Most of the major characters like the royal family were not introduced until later. With an abundance of characters in this show, from Noble ladies to Princes/Princesses and military families, you seldom get confused about who is who and what role they are here to play.
Asides from the pacing, the romance is stellar. The female lead does not immediately fawn nor fall for the general, and the process and growth that leads her to have feelings for the general is so genuine and stellar.
This drama has some pretty interesting subplots that will enrapture you. With a healthy dose of comedy, drama, wordplay, and DRAMA, Love Like The Galaxy is the drama you should NOT be found NOT watching.
This review will be updated once the drama is done airing.
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The Woman Who Will Flourish
In today’s society where women more often than not fight against each other, Flourished Peony comes to the rescue, offering viewers a different dimension of ‘The World Of Women’.But be careful because this drama was sent to steal your heart and soul, and rest assured at the end you will be glad it did.
Flourished Peony tells the story of Mu Dan (FL) , thrust into a life of marriage to save her mother and betrayed by the very family she submitted herself to. But Mu Dan will soon learn that marriage is easy to enter into, but hard to leave.
Set on the path of death by her In-Laws, Mu Dan escapes to the Capital to start a new life, and through out it all, the apparently Dandy, Loquacious, Spoilt, Corrupt Jiang Chan Yang (ML) is ever present.
But Jiang Chan Yang, trusted by the Emperor and the corrupt Flower Envoy, is not as he appears, and Mu Dan is smart enough to see through his facade just the same way he sees Mu Dan as more than a mere woman but one willing to escape her so called fate and carve a flourishing path for herself.
With Jiang Chan Yang serving as her investor and ever ‘strange’ support, Mu Dan grows in the business world, carving a formidable name for herself and other women whom she encounters on her path to flourish.
But Mu Dan will find out that just like flowers encounter obstacles while growing, her story would be no different for while she might have grown well, it will be difficult to tell if she will flourish and bloom at the end of it all.
Flourished Peony is bold in telling the story of the travails of woman and Mu Dan is no Damsel In Distress. At the same time, she is not necessarily over powering as the writers went to great lengths to show that no matter the determination of a woman, the society will still contradict her.
And that’s where the ML comes in. Seemingly powerful as he is, he does not attempt to overpower the FL in her journey. Jiang Chan Yang is a silent companion rooting for Mu Dan from the back stage and only stepping in where he absolutely must.
More than anyone he recognises the FL’s strength and it’s precisely because of that that these two are able to form a bond rarely ever seen in Chinese drama-land—the bond of ‘Best Friends’.
Yes, there’s sizzling chemistry between them and you can feel their attraction to each other from every spoken dialogue, but you see their friendship? Simply undeniable and absolutely breathtaking.
Now, I am simply waiting for Spring (In The Name of Blossom; the Sequel) where Mu Dan and the women around her will Bloom and flourish like a well tended Peony. And in her bloom, I’m hoping to see even more the fruits that will bear in her relationship with Jian Chan Yang :)
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