This review may contain spoilers
A story that left me with a sour taste in my mouth....and P.S. I hate the male lead....
So I literally JUST finished this like 10 seconds ago and I knew I had to write a review while the story is still remotely fresh in my mind. And I'm gonna be honest, this story left me feeling kind of annoyed more than happy or bittersweet.
What I liked:
- Acting was on point. The antagonists were ESPECIALLY well acted since they made me hate their characters with a burning vitriol at times (shout out to Danashiri's actress on that one)!
- Female characters were strong and had actual purpose in the story without being extreme girlbosses that put down their male counterparts.
- Some fight scenes looked cool as fuck like when Wang Yoo did gymnastics mid fight.
- Morally questionable characters were allowed to exist.
- Most character deaths actually meant something to the plot and other characters.
- The palace politics actually managed to interest me a bit and were crucial to the plot.
- No weird age gap between an emperor and the main character for once.
- Pacing was mostly decent and it improved more near the middle part.
- The "central" villain (El Temur) wasn't the final boss and his defeat impacted what would be later central villains.
- Taltal.
- Danashiri's death was tragic as fuck and I loved every second of how morbid it felt. I feel like it'll stay with me for a while because I somehow felt bad for such a raging bitch.
- Ki Yang's character development and darkening was truly a marvel to watch and carried the second half of the drama; truly a morally gray protagonist for once.
- The cliff fight scene made my jaw drop. Of course it is later revealed to be a fake out but it still made my jaw drop in shock at first.
- Wasn't afraid to kill characters off in a political strife story.
- Didn't look too bad compared to other shows that came out around the same time cough *Empresses in the Palace* cough.
- Thank god it didn't have the dammed miscarriage caused by pure nonsense trope in the palace harem.
- Bi-coding on Wang Yoo and Tahwan towards Ki Yang near the beginning.
- That bitch Empress Bayan's death. Loved how Park Bul Hwa put her in her place. Deserved. Empresses (+ Dowager) stay losing and dying in misery as they should. (Now if only the Emperor did just like his dad-)
What I disliked:
- Opening scene and actual scene were not the exact same. I don't care if this is a nitpick and unimportant, this is a serious pet peeve of mine because it feels so cheap to entice people in with a flash forward scene only for it not to come to fruition when the time comes for it to take place.
- Throughout a good amount of the story it switched to Wang Yoo's side and it was so fucking boring 90% of the time.
- Some of the ugliest color schemes of clothes I have ever seen in literally anything.
- Taltal's bangs were too stiff and his hair never changes. I liked how his hair was brown but he never even took it down or changed in bangs in over 5 years. He's too hot for that, man.
- First half of the show was significantly more boring than the second half.
- Songs and some sound effects were TOO LOUD!!!
- Talahai was so useless compared to the entire rest of his family. All I remember him doing was running away from a Turk battle early on or something?
- Tanqishi's death was super underwhelming and disappointing for such a relevant antagonist throughout the story.
- Maha's death felt unnecessary and I didn't like it at all.
- Tahwan (The Emperor) should not have been the end game love interest. I despise him since day one.
- I hate the ending SO MUCH.
- Some scenes had terrible lighting and it hurt my eyes so bad. This was usually uncommon though.
- The other concubines were just background dressing and contributed NOTHING. At least they didn't die for shock value though, so that's something.
- Heavily implied that the Emperor raped Ki Yang in one of the later episodes yet it never even gets somewhat addressed????? That really didn't sit right with me, especially considering how they still end up together.
- The fact that Ki Yang had four admirers (Wang Yoo, Tahwan, Tanqishi, and Taltal). She was a baddie but like, c'mon.
- My eyes got tired of the same settings over and over eventually. A problem I face in most palace type of dramas except maybe like The Story of Yanxi Palace.
- I feel like Hong Dan was underutilized compared to most other characters.
- Wang Go just disappears and it feels out of character compared to the rest of the story.
- Too many death fake outs.
- 51 eps bothers my OCD please make dramas even numbers, I beg.
- Unexplained time skip in the like last three minutes that really pissed me off. I hate undisclosed time skips LIKE AT LEAST GIVE ME A BALL PARK TIME ESTIMATE.
- Think we needed some more time set in Goryeo considering how important it was to the plot.
- Too many facial expression zoom-ins for like the first 65% of the drama. It made me cringe.
- The drama felt like a parody of the historical genre in the first half because of how overdone the expressions were like in reality tv along with the dramatic ass music and loud battle cries. I swear I will go crazy if I have to hear "Your Majesty!!!!!!!!" in succession one more fucking time I'll pop a blood vessel.
I feel like something I was left feeling sour over was the romances in this show. Obviously the character that Ki Yang had the best chemistry with was Wang Yoo yet of course they didn't end up together despite them loving each other unconditionally throughout the entire story. I also liked her and Taltal but that was more of the fact that I liked how they seemed similar in personality and how they respected each other's intelligence and dedication to the nation's welfare. They did him dirty at the end with that off screen death. Such disrespect even more so than The Double's disrespect toward Xiao Heng at the end. Tanqishi's "love" for Ki Yang was repulsive and when he admits he had feeling for her to himself I nearly gagged because WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOVED HER WHAT AT ALL HAS TRANSPIRED TO INDICATE THAT!? Sick bastard.
Now we move on to the part of the story that brought me even more emotional grief than any of the character deaths: Tahwan. Specifically him as the emperor. I hate this man so much it is kind of crazy. The fact that they stay together until his death and he got to die in peace makes me mad. He was such a pathetic loser since day one and he keeps flip flopping his stances on things throughout the entire story and dear lawd just PICK A SIDE!!! He treated Ki Yang pretty poorly in the grand scheme of things as well. Overly jealous of her and Wang Yoo and not to mention his sense of ownership over her despite not having truly "earned" her. He only does positive things in the story in order to feel like he's earned her. He is also a terrible father towards Maha and it truly emphasized his selfishness for me. He is one of the most selfish main characters I have ever seen in anything and I could not stand him getting a happy ending despite how he literally rapes her and sends her away to get lashings at a temple for an undisclosed amount of time. His whole world revolved around her and he doesn't care what he has to do in order to keep as his possession and he WINS!!! His ego to be a famous ruler in history is literally what causes his kingdom to eventually fall and his sudden dependence on Bakan as prime minister lowkey pissed me off because what the fuck do you mean you can't choose between him and her??? Remember who risked their life to continuously save yours from a certain man near the beginning......evidently not because if he did then it wouldn't have even been a debate. It's almost as if prime ministers have a track record of tricking and ultimately killing emperors or something, wise guy.
The villains were numerous and I actually liked a lot of them because their greed and corruption made sense in the story. Easily the best part was watching how Ki Yang's darkening turned her into more of a menace than even Yingluo or Zhen Huan; there I said it. She was scarier than both of them in my opinion. I also liked how a lot of her feats later in the story required her receiving help in order to succeed as a lot of stories make it a one woman army solving every single thing alone. She received help mostly past the second half which is probably why I liked it more and why the villain defeats help even more satisfying. One thing that is a bit of a negative for me though is that her plans never really fail. Only times they really do are when the plans weren't really hers and she was just a support rather than a major player. She was super hollow near the beginning and I worried I'd end up finding her boring but she wound up being way better later on and turned into one of my favorite female leads I've seen yet. Kudos to her writing!
But then negative kudos to Tahwan's writing because he gets a happy ending. Fucker. Worst male lead in a historical piece ever and you can fight me on that.
Would I recommend? If you can put up with how dramatic it is with a sour ending then sure. Historical dramas aren't exactly known for good endings and of course you can blame that on real life history but I don't really care about historical accuracy with endings when literally everything else is greatly exaggerated for entertainment anyway. At least it was better than Empresses in the Palace....but that bar is pretty low, so take that as you will. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What I liked:
- Acting was on point. The antagonists were ESPECIALLY well acted since they made me hate their characters with a burning vitriol at times (shout out to Danashiri's actress on that one)!
- Female characters were strong and had actual purpose in the story without being extreme girlbosses that put down their male counterparts.
- Some fight scenes looked cool as fuck like when Wang Yoo did gymnastics mid fight.
- Morally questionable characters were allowed to exist.
- Most character deaths actually meant something to the plot and other characters.
- The palace politics actually managed to interest me a bit and were crucial to the plot.
- No weird age gap between an emperor and the main character for once.
- Pacing was mostly decent and it improved more near the middle part.
- The "central" villain (El Temur) wasn't the final boss and his defeat impacted what would be later central villains.
- Taltal.
- Danashiri's death was tragic as fuck and I loved every second of how morbid it felt. I feel like it'll stay with me for a while because I somehow felt bad for such a raging bitch.
- Ki Yang's character development and darkening was truly a marvel to watch and carried the second half of the drama; truly a morally gray protagonist for once.
- The cliff fight scene made my jaw drop. Of course it is later revealed to be a fake out but it still made my jaw drop in shock at first.
- Wasn't afraid to kill characters off in a political strife story.
- Didn't look too bad compared to other shows that came out around the same time cough *Empresses in the Palace* cough.
- Thank god it didn't have the dammed miscarriage caused by pure nonsense trope in the palace harem.
- Bi-coding on Wang Yoo and Tahwan towards Ki Yang near the beginning.
- That bitch Empress Bayan's death. Loved how Park Bul Hwa put her in her place. Deserved. Empresses (+ Dowager) stay losing and dying in misery as they should. (Now if only the Emperor did just like his dad-)
What I disliked:
- Opening scene and actual scene were not the exact same. I don't care if this is a nitpick and unimportant, this is a serious pet peeve of mine because it feels so cheap to entice people in with a flash forward scene only for it not to come to fruition when the time comes for it to take place.
- Throughout a good amount of the story it switched to Wang Yoo's side and it was so fucking boring 90% of the time.
- Some of the ugliest color schemes of clothes I have ever seen in literally anything.
- Taltal's bangs were too stiff and his hair never changes. I liked how his hair was brown but he never even took it down or changed in bangs in over 5 years. He's too hot for that, man.
- First half of the show was significantly more boring than the second half.
- Songs and some sound effects were TOO LOUD!!!
- Talahai was so useless compared to the entire rest of his family. All I remember him doing was running away from a Turk battle early on or something?
- Tanqishi's death was super underwhelming and disappointing for such a relevant antagonist throughout the story.
- Maha's death felt unnecessary and I didn't like it at all.
- Tahwan (The Emperor) should not have been the end game love interest. I despise him since day one.
- I hate the ending SO MUCH.
- Some scenes had terrible lighting and it hurt my eyes so bad. This was usually uncommon though.
- The other concubines were just background dressing and contributed NOTHING. At least they didn't die for shock value though, so that's something.
- Heavily implied that the Emperor raped Ki Yang in one of the later episodes yet it never even gets somewhat addressed????? That really didn't sit right with me, especially considering how they still end up together.
- The fact that Ki Yang had four admirers (Wang Yoo, Tahwan, Tanqishi, and Taltal). She was a baddie but like, c'mon.
- My eyes got tired of the same settings over and over eventually. A problem I face in most palace type of dramas except maybe like The Story of Yanxi Palace.
- I feel like Hong Dan was underutilized compared to most other characters.
- Wang Go just disappears and it feels out of character compared to the rest of the story.
- Too many death fake outs.
- 51 eps bothers my OCD please make dramas even numbers, I beg.
- Unexplained time skip in the like last three minutes that really pissed me off. I hate undisclosed time skips LIKE AT LEAST GIVE ME A BALL PARK TIME ESTIMATE.
- Think we needed some more time set in Goryeo considering how important it was to the plot.
- Too many facial expression zoom-ins for like the first 65% of the drama. It made me cringe.
- The drama felt like a parody of the historical genre in the first half because of how overdone the expressions were like in reality tv along with the dramatic ass music and loud battle cries. I swear I will go crazy if I have to hear "Your Majesty!!!!!!!!" in succession one more fucking time I'll pop a blood vessel.
I feel like something I was left feeling sour over was the romances in this show. Obviously the character that Ki Yang had the best chemistry with was Wang Yoo yet of course they didn't end up together despite them loving each other unconditionally throughout the entire story. I also liked her and Taltal but that was more of the fact that I liked how they seemed similar in personality and how they respected each other's intelligence and dedication to the nation's welfare. They did him dirty at the end with that off screen death. Such disrespect even more so than The Double's disrespect toward Xiao Heng at the end. Tanqishi's "love" for Ki Yang was repulsive and when he admits he had feeling for her to himself I nearly gagged because WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOVED HER WHAT AT ALL HAS TRANSPIRED TO INDICATE THAT!? Sick bastard.
Now we move on to the part of the story that brought me even more emotional grief than any of the character deaths: Tahwan. Specifically him as the emperor. I hate this man so much it is kind of crazy. The fact that they stay together until his death and he got to die in peace makes me mad. He was such a pathetic loser since day one and he keeps flip flopping his stances on things throughout the entire story and dear lawd just PICK A SIDE!!! He treated Ki Yang pretty poorly in the grand scheme of things as well. Overly jealous of her and Wang Yoo and not to mention his sense of ownership over her despite not having truly "earned" her. He only does positive things in the story in order to feel like he's earned her. He is also a terrible father towards Maha and it truly emphasized his selfishness for me. He is one of the most selfish main characters I have ever seen in anything and I could not stand him getting a happy ending despite how he literally rapes her and sends her away to get lashings at a temple for an undisclosed amount of time. His whole world revolved around her and he doesn't care what he has to do in order to keep as his possession and he WINS!!! His ego to be a famous ruler in history is literally what causes his kingdom to eventually fall and his sudden dependence on Bakan as prime minister lowkey pissed me off because what the fuck do you mean you can't choose between him and her??? Remember who risked their life to continuously save yours from a certain man near the beginning......evidently not because if he did then it wouldn't have even been a debate. It's almost as if prime ministers have a track record of tricking and ultimately killing emperors or something, wise guy.
The villains were numerous and I actually liked a lot of them because their greed and corruption made sense in the story. Easily the best part was watching how Ki Yang's darkening turned her into more of a menace than even Yingluo or Zhen Huan; there I said it. She was scarier than both of them in my opinion. I also liked how a lot of her feats later in the story required her receiving help in order to succeed as a lot of stories make it a one woman army solving every single thing alone. She received help mostly past the second half which is probably why I liked it more and why the villain defeats help even more satisfying. One thing that is a bit of a negative for me though is that her plans never really fail. Only times they really do are when the plans weren't really hers and she was just a support rather than a major player. She was super hollow near the beginning and I worried I'd end up finding her boring but she wound up being way better later on and turned into one of my favorite female leads I've seen yet. Kudos to her writing!
But then negative kudos to Tahwan's writing because he gets a happy ending. Fucker. Worst male lead in a historical piece ever and you can fight me on that.
Would I recommend? If you can put up with how dramatic it is with a sour ending then sure. Historical dramas aren't exactly known for good endings and of course you can blame that on real life history but I don't really care about historical accuracy with endings when literally everything else is greatly exaggerated for entertainment anyway. At least it was better than Empresses in the Palace....but that bar is pretty low, so take that as you will. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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