A feel-good show about female empowerment
First of all, do not expect anything resembling realism when it comes to the female lead’s abilities or accomplishments. I read some other reviews beforehand which set my expectations appropriately, and this contributed greatly to my happiness. Do not wonder too hard if time runs differently in this universe, or how xyz is even remotely possible. Just sit back and enjoy the satisfaction of watching these women kick butt.
Now, let us begin.
While the overarching story sets the premise, this show is broken into many smaller standalone story arcs, some as short as a couple of episodes. I didn’t like every story arc, but overall I liked this structure because it meant lots of satisfying closures, and some room to breathe in between.
The theme of female empowerment is embedded throughout. There is a conscious focus on presenting women as their own people beyond their relationships to men (the point of the Bechdel test, actually). Sisterhood stands strong; we do get some typical cattiness, but the women in this story mostly end up very supportive of each other. The extent of societal sexism portrayed at times felt a bit overdone, like they were selling righteous indignation; but as intended, it makes it even more satisfying to watch our characters succeed.
Hua Zhi, the eponymous (Chinese title) FL, is smart, confident, fearless, and kind. She has lots of ideas, and everything she tries goes well. She is a great character to root for because you won’t lose. It’s gratifying to watch her constantly handle situations with skill and heart. But on the flipside, I wasn’t that emotionally invested in her. I was never worried about her; she’s got a ton of plot armor and it’s somehow really obvious from the tone of the show that she always wins.
I was more invested in many of the side characters. A strength of this show is its plethora of likable, multidimensional, and interesting female characters. Many of them get decent development in one or more story arcs, but disappear for the rest. I did hope to see some of my favorites a bit more, but there were enough characters to care about that I didn’t dwell too much.
We also get a lot of side couples, as different members of the household find their matches. A variety of different types of relationships and outcomes are shown. Happily, the show is free of silly love triangles, except the main one.
Not surprisingly, the male protagonists are all allies who support their women. At the beginning I was all for our poor SML, Shen Qi, who did everything he could. For whatever reason, he then went on to disappear for a long time, so I forgot about him. I do feel like he deserved a bit more screentime.
The male lead, Gu Yanxi, is a typical ML combo of badass but kind and supportive. I really liked his relationship with Hua Zhi. Many dramas have an overprotective, overdevoted ML, which I always found a bit much. Gu Yanxi and Hua Zhi seem more normal; they are supportive while each having their own lives. Their very healthy relationship is also impressively drama-free, even when you think there might be some drama.
That said, while I liked Gu Yanxi enough, I actually never felt that interested in him. And so, although I liked the dynamics of their relationship, it was two characters I was not totally invested in, so I wasn’t quite oogling over them.
As for villains… the emperor is the source of problems, but I’d hesitate to call him the villain. The ML is on his side, while Hua Zhi treats him more like a force of nature than an enemy. This emperor is a psychopath with too much power, a bad ruler and a bad father, but he’s also so… human. He’s an interesting character with an interesting role, and I liked that this show does not have a typical good-vs-evil plot.
In terms of acting, overall I think Zhang Jingyi did a great job. Her portrayal of Hua Zhi has been criticized for being too “perfect”. I do think there’s some truth to this, but I wouldn’t pin it all on acting. For example, on occasion she does something not-so-bright (eg mouth off unnecessarily to a powerful person). But it comes across as more heroic than anything else. A little remorse or recognition of “mistake”, by herself or anyone, would have gone a long way to making her a more multi-dimensional character. This could have been accomplished through writing, acting, and/or directing.
For Hu Yitian as Gu Yanxi, there were a few times I thought his expression maybe should have been something else. Overall he was fine, but I think he could work more on nuanced facial expressions. For whatever reason, I just couldn’t care much for this character.
Lu Yuxiao as Shaoyao deserves a special shoutout. It seems the show was going for neurodivergent, which is difficult to portray- I don’t really know what’s accurate, but she did SOMETHING well as I was very invested in this character.
But my favorite acting comes from Hai Yitian. His muted depiction of the emperor- lonely but such a difficult person- conveys a complex character that adds depth to the show. I especially love that momentary look of hurt he gets when somebody says something he doesn’t want to hear. It makes us hope again and again that he’s finally reflecting on himself.
In terms of world-building, this story occurs in some unspecified historical time period, which gives lots of leeway, but they couldn’t seem to keep things consistent. For example, for a society so conservative that unmarried women can’t show their faces, Hua Zhi sure goes on a lot of public dates. In fact, what women are and are not allowed to do is rather inconsistent. However, costumes and styling were fairly good… in particular I thought many of the young women looked very pretty.
Also, for a feel-good romp this show was surprisingly brutal and violent. For example, lots of bloody beatings. And background characters get slaughtered left and right… the choreographer was not messing around, the deaths are fairly graphic. Not gruesome per se, just vivid depictions of stabbing or slicing accompanied by little spurts of blood.
Sidebar rant…this show likes to show off the ML’s fighting prowess by pitting him against many enemies all at once. Such fights are notoriously difficult to choreograph, as in real life a person cannot counter all directions at the same time. The solution? He fights with a few people in front of him while everyone else stands around at ready, conveniently out of focus. …come on, let’s just save the bravado and put him in more realistic situations. I did not swoon for this ML winning 1 vs 50, I just rolled my eyes.
Then again, based on other reviews, it seems everyone else swooned. lol. Well… Hu Yitian’s sword technique seemed ok to me, not bad but didn’t stand out (eg it’s still a little sloppy at times, which is understandable with that many sword strokes). His fist fighting is more MMA style which I personally don’t like as much. I won’t say he’s a good or bad fighter, I just am not sure why so many people are raving about his fight scenes.
Finally: I didn’t know where to fit this in, but I loved the music! Especially those beautiful cello solos. I was so happy to find the instrumental BGMs on youtube so I can play them on repeat.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
Of course this uplifting, feel-good show has a happy ending, it’s just a matter of how well it’s pulled off. And I’ll say first off that, in terms of closure, it’s one of the better Cdrama endings I’ve seen. We get a good half episode of wrapping things up and telling you where everyone goes. I was satisfied.
MORE MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD
Shows often like to insert some heartache near the end, and in this case I would say it’s the Hua Rong story arc. Although one couple is a relatively small sacrifice, I still found it extremely upsetting. I was really rooting for them. Her death was unnecessary; it did not even follow the themes and patterns of the rest of the show.
And as for the actual ending… well, I really liked Hao Yue. In this show about female empowerment, it’s only fitting that it’s a woman who packs the final punch. And her tirade against the emperor was so on point.
I’ll admit that, for somebody who played such an important role, she did come a bit out of nowhere. I would have liked to see her developed a bit more, and I really wished for a better ending for her. As is, by the end she is neither friend nor foe- more like a disposable plot tool.
Do I wish that, instead of a random assassin showing up in the last few episodes, the emperor finally came around and reversed his rulings? …sure, but that is totally unrealistic. The emperor is that person in your life who will never apologize, will never even recognize that they need to apologize. It’s so brutally realistic, and I think his death was the only way to solve Hua Zhi’s problems.
Now, let us begin.
While the overarching story sets the premise, this show is broken into many smaller standalone story arcs, some as short as a couple of episodes. I didn’t like every story arc, but overall I liked this structure because it meant lots of satisfying closures, and some room to breathe in between.
The theme of female empowerment is embedded throughout. There is a conscious focus on presenting women as their own people beyond their relationships to men (the point of the Bechdel test, actually). Sisterhood stands strong; we do get some typical cattiness, but the women in this story mostly end up very supportive of each other. The extent of societal sexism portrayed at times felt a bit overdone, like they were selling righteous indignation; but as intended, it makes it even more satisfying to watch our characters succeed.
Hua Zhi, the eponymous (Chinese title) FL, is smart, confident, fearless, and kind. She has lots of ideas, and everything she tries goes well. She is a great character to root for because you won’t lose. It’s gratifying to watch her constantly handle situations with skill and heart. But on the flipside, I wasn’t that emotionally invested in her. I was never worried about her; she’s got a ton of plot armor and it’s somehow really obvious from the tone of the show that she always wins.
I was more invested in many of the side characters. A strength of this show is its plethora of likable, multidimensional, and interesting female characters. Many of them get decent development in one or more story arcs, but disappear for the rest. I did hope to see some of my favorites a bit more, but there were enough characters to care about that I didn’t dwell too much.
We also get a lot of side couples, as different members of the household find their matches. A variety of different types of relationships and outcomes are shown. Happily, the show is free of silly love triangles, except the main one.
Not surprisingly, the male protagonists are all allies who support their women. At the beginning I was all for our poor SML, Shen Qi, who did everything he could. For whatever reason, he then went on to disappear for a long time, so I forgot about him. I do feel like he deserved a bit more screentime.
The male lead, Gu Yanxi, is a typical ML combo of badass but kind and supportive. I really liked his relationship with Hua Zhi. Many dramas have an overprotective, overdevoted ML, which I always found a bit much. Gu Yanxi and Hua Zhi seem more normal; they are supportive while each having their own lives. Their very healthy relationship is also impressively drama-free, even when you think there might be some drama.
That said, while I liked Gu Yanxi enough, I actually never felt that interested in him. And so, although I liked the dynamics of their relationship, it was two characters I was not totally invested in, so I wasn’t quite oogling over them.
As for villains… the emperor is the source of problems, but I’d hesitate to call him the villain. The ML is on his side, while Hua Zhi treats him more like a force of nature than an enemy. This emperor is a psychopath with too much power, a bad ruler and a bad father, but he’s also so… human. He’s an interesting character with an interesting role, and I liked that this show does not have a typical good-vs-evil plot.
In terms of acting, overall I think Zhang Jingyi did a great job. Her portrayal of Hua Zhi has been criticized for being too “perfect”. I do think there’s some truth to this, but I wouldn’t pin it all on acting. For example, on occasion she does something not-so-bright (eg mouth off unnecessarily to a powerful person). But it comes across as more heroic than anything else. A little remorse or recognition of “mistake”, by herself or anyone, would have gone a long way to making her a more multi-dimensional character. This could have been accomplished through writing, acting, and/or directing.
For Hu Yitian as Gu Yanxi, there were a few times I thought his expression maybe should have been something else. Overall he was fine, but I think he could work more on nuanced facial expressions. For whatever reason, I just couldn’t care much for this character.
Lu Yuxiao as Shaoyao deserves a special shoutout. It seems the show was going for neurodivergent, which is difficult to portray- I don’t really know what’s accurate, but she did SOMETHING well as I was very invested in this character.
But my favorite acting comes from Hai Yitian. His muted depiction of the emperor- lonely but such a difficult person- conveys a complex character that adds depth to the show. I especially love that momentary look of hurt he gets when somebody says something he doesn’t want to hear. It makes us hope again and again that he’s finally reflecting on himself.
In terms of world-building, this story occurs in some unspecified historical time period, which gives lots of leeway, but they couldn’t seem to keep things consistent. For example, for a society so conservative that unmarried women can’t show their faces, Hua Zhi sure goes on a lot of public dates. In fact, what women are and are not allowed to do is rather inconsistent. However, costumes and styling were fairly good… in particular I thought many of the young women looked very pretty.
Also, for a feel-good romp this show was surprisingly brutal and violent. For example, lots of bloody beatings. And background characters get slaughtered left and right… the choreographer was not messing around, the deaths are fairly graphic. Not gruesome per se, just vivid depictions of stabbing or slicing accompanied by little spurts of blood.
Sidebar rant…this show likes to show off the ML’s fighting prowess by pitting him against many enemies all at once. Such fights are notoriously difficult to choreograph, as in real life a person cannot counter all directions at the same time. The solution? He fights with a few people in front of him while everyone else stands around at ready, conveniently out of focus. …come on, let’s just save the bravado and put him in more realistic situations. I did not swoon for this ML winning 1 vs 50, I just rolled my eyes.
Then again, based on other reviews, it seems everyone else swooned. lol. Well… Hu Yitian’s sword technique seemed ok to me, not bad but didn’t stand out (eg it’s still a little sloppy at times, which is understandable with that many sword strokes). His fist fighting is more MMA style which I personally don’t like as much. I won’t say he’s a good or bad fighter, I just am not sure why so many people are raving about his fight scenes.
Finally: I didn’t know where to fit this in, but I loved the music! Especially those beautiful cello solos. I was so happy to find the instrumental BGMs on youtube so I can play them on repeat.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
Of course this uplifting, feel-good show has a happy ending, it’s just a matter of how well it’s pulled off. And I’ll say first off that, in terms of closure, it’s one of the better Cdrama endings I’ve seen. We get a good half episode of wrapping things up and telling you where everyone goes. I was satisfied.
MORE MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD
Shows often like to insert some heartache near the end, and in this case I would say it’s the Hua Rong story arc. Although one couple is a relatively small sacrifice, I still found it extremely upsetting. I was really rooting for them. Her death was unnecessary; it did not even follow the themes and patterns of the rest of the show.
And as for the actual ending… well, I really liked Hao Yue. In this show about female empowerment, it’s only fitting that it’s a woman who packs the final punch. And her tirade against the emperor was so on point.
I’ll admit that, for somebody who played such an important role, she did come a bit out of nowhere. I would have liked to see her developed a bit more, and I really wished for a better ending for her. As is, by the end she is neither friend nor foe- more like a disposable plot tool.
Do I wish that, instead of a random assassin showing up in the last few episodes, the emperor finally came around and reversed his rulings? …sure, but that is totally unrealistic. The emperor is that person in your life who will never apologize, will never even recognize that they need to apologize. It’s so brutally realistic, and I think his death was the only way to solve Hua Zhi’s problems.
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