A forgettable little story with too much out of nowhere
Wanru’s Journey is not the worst show I’ve started, but ranks low on the ones I’ve finished. I probably wouldn’t have finished it if it hadn’t been so short. But by the time I was ready to give up, there were only so many episodes left… might as well see it through and learn the mystery behind her past.First, characters. This show was recommended for having a smart female lead, but actually I found her kind of annoying. There are a lot of eating scenes where her slurping and chomping noises are really loud, and she’s extremely, exaggeratedly, rude and uncouth. Maybe it’s supposed to be funny, but I just found her unlikeable, which makes it hard to root for her. She’s also a bit dopey-looking- I think it’s the way she acts, not the actress herself.
All of this later gets better when she starts to show signs of competence, but this transition is done so poorly. If she were really smart and capable (and can fight that well), it should have come through earlier, even if she hid it from everyone else.
Her romantic endeavors are likewise sudden- no explanation, out of nowhere. One leg of her love triangle is worse about this than the other, hate to love in the blink of an eye. It was so ridiculous, I didn’t feel anything about this pairing. We do, however, get the longest kiss I’ve seen to date in a Cdrama.
The two male leads were more likeable, but I still didn’t care too much for either, and I couldn’t decide how I wanted their love triangle to resolve. I did think the bromance was well-done. People kept wondering if this is BL… come on, can’t they be really good friends without it being BL? *rolls eyes*
As for the plot, I guess at the core it’s about everyone killing each other for some secret manual. Not the greatest premise, but they could have pulled it off better. There is too much random stuff pulled out of nowhere. Lots of vicious mass massacre scenes that make little sense. And as we get closer to the end, a giant mass of scheming and plot twists. It’s honestly a bit of a hot mess.
I normally care less about production, but scene transitions were bad enough that I noticed them. That and the too-loud sound effects makes me think it was just a lower budget production.
What did it do well? It does have some legit good humor that had me laughing. In general, the humor is more slapstick which is less my style, but at least it has a nice lighthearted feel- for half of the show or so. Also, I still finished the show, so it at least had enough intrigue to keep me going.
By the way, normally I would hide this in the “ENDINGS” section, but I feel it is important to state early on in case anyone is strung along like I was, slogging through to the end out of curiosity about her past: you never find out. It’s such a tease, SHE finds out, you don’t. I think it’s scriptwriter laziness, they hyped it up so much that they couldn’t figure out a good enough truth and left it open instead.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
Happy ending. Somehow, despite all the twists and turns, it all works out.
Somebody on reddit said “if you’re a woman who likes to have your cake and eat it to, you’ll like this ending!” which made me really curious and excited. Ok, turns out it’s about the love triangle, she chooses neither and they go traveling. I happen to like this because I couldn’t pick, either. However, I was so irritated that they didn’t reveal the secret of her background, that drowned out whatever appreciation I had for their unconventional resolution of love triangle.
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Likeable characters and a fun watch
BFTB remains one of my favorite Cdramas. This is a fun watch with a great story, likeable characters, and great humor. Humor is a little subjective but this one jibed with me- I laughed out loud many times. The show is also pretty straightforward in who to root for and who not to, with a nice anti-racist underlying message and only a few characters to feel ambiguous about. This makes it easier on my emotions. (There is still heartache, but only just enough).Yanhui, the female lead, remains one of my favorite characters in a drama. Although she’s not particularly skilled or strong, she is self-aware and down-to-earth. No BS; she sees situations for what they are and calls it out. She is cute, funny, and not a racist. She’s also great in a lot more subtle ways… I could go on and on, but I’ll stop. Zhou Ye plays this cheerful character quite well.
The male lead, Tianyao, is a little stiff, but also fairly likeable and oh-so-good looking… great styling for Neo. I thought the development of his relationship with the FL was exceptionally good for about 15 episodes. They are both so sweet and have a mutual respect, I loved watching their relationship grow.
Then the Dragon Valley story arc happened. I found both of their behaviors a bit annoying during the arc, but overshadowed in annoyingness by what happens next. Less than halfway through the drama, a nonsensical event occurs to stir up trouble. It made no sense, even after it was explained. The development after this fallout was fine, just the plot point felt so forced that it took away from my enjoyment of watching them recover. For my own sanity I ended up just seeing it as a device to advance the plot (something has to happen with this outcome) rather than looking too carefully at what actually happened.
The second male lead, Bai Xiaosheng (aka dimples guy), was a drama addition who was not in the book. I personally thought he was hilarious. Loved his style, which I think also matches Riley’s personality. Unfortunately after the nonsense plot point mentioned above, he becomes less likeable. I feel he got used for plot development; he’s forced into a silly love triangle that doesn’t match his personality, and he never stood a chance. Even accepting this, his trajectory afterwards is a missed opportunity… they could easily have done a lot more to develop his character in the latter half of the show. Instead, he gets sidelined. Poor guy.
There were also several likeable side characters in their merry band of friends, many broken up neatly into side couples. I enjoyed seeing them on screen, but they weren’t as captivating to me as the main characters.
The villains are a mixed bag. Suying might have been interesting but ends up being a bit too obsessive and one-dimensional. She spoke so slowly and mostly said predictable things, I wanted to fast forward through all her dramatic speeches. The story of the twins is sad. Unfortunately the main villain is somewhat one-dimensional and not very interesting, also shows up midway out of nowhere. I do wish he were more nuanced and less cliché, but ultimately I enjoyed the protagonists’ story enough to overlook this lameness.
I thought the sets were pretty and the costumes looked good- the colors of the clothing often reflect the character. I also liked the music, both BGM and songs. I will point out, though, that the CGI is kind of bad. It makes the entire thing feel lower budget. This didn’t matter as much for me because I’m here for the story, but I did have to laugh a few times at how bad it was.
There was some sloppiness in filming, like things moving around between when the camera cuts away and back. And of course, regular inconsistencies and plot holes, both big and small. This was the first xianxia I watched so I don’t know if I’d still be so horrified now that I’m more used to a bit of nonsense.
Ultimately, despite some flaws, this is still one of my favorite shows and the only one so far that I have fully rewatched. I like the lighthearted feel and lovable characters. It does get darker towards the end, as many shows do, but it still has some humor even in the last 10 episodes.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
The ending is happy, but also a typical rushed and unsatisfying Cdrama ending. It’s probably one of the worse ones I’ve seen, because random things happen out of nowhere. Couldn’t they have played fewer flashbacks near the end and used that valuable airtime to explain some things?
The resolution of the final conflict is very confusing. Explosions, sparkles, and dramatic-looking scenes are great and all, but what I really care about is what’s going on. My bafflement changed to vague horror as I started to realize the net outcome, which was looking quite sad… then in the last minute or so, everything turns around and an unexplained happy ending arrives. Fin.
They had to deviate from the novel because censorship bans reincarnation, but I don’t think that’s a good excuse. I was really attached to the characters by the end of this drama and wish we had gotten more closure.
Sometimes I read the novel or just its epilogues to get closure, but in this case the novel seemed quite different- my beloved characters were a bit less lovable, and the ending premise was also different- so I didn’t bother. Random fan theories on reddit helped me come up with a conclusion of what happened.
By the way, Yanhui’s transformation into a dark magic user in the last 10 episodes wasn’t in the book, but I think it worked well with the plot and story development of the drama. Still, I thought it came a bit out of nowhere and her change in personality was a bit jarring. It probably could have been pulled off better.
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A fun watch, not too deep
Royal Rumors is a cute, light-hearted show. It’s not very long, and a fun watch, which I’d say I enjoyed but didn’t adore.The show starts with a lot of good humor, but it seems to die down later on in favor of pure story. I really liked the humor and wish they had just focused more on comedy throughout. It gets a bit darker but at least becomes a fairly straightforward good-vs-bad kind of deal, so you don’t feel too many ambiguous emotions. When I’m here for fluff, I don’t need strong, nuanced emotions.
This FL is one of those secretly smart, capable protagonists hiding her true abilities. It’s a classic plotline but always fun to watch. I did find the sickly act to be a little annoying (more powder ain’t gonna help, girl), but at least it sort of disappears after awhile. It wasn’t until the end that I realized she actually WANTS to be known as a sickly beauty (this is in the book too), which makes me wonder- self-defense I can understand, but why would you WANT to play into such a dumb stereotype?
The relationship between the ML and FL starts out fairly hostile, although I’m not really sure why. There is a background of cute childhood letters between them, and the ML seems quite nice and sentimental about them. I guess the FL is just very cautious, but I felt a little frustrated at her as she kept trying to hold up her act. After that goes away and they get together, though, I found them less interesting. Guess I’m hard to please.
I do like this ML- he’s not full of himself, and he doesn’t fall for flattery. He has the best “ORLY?” face as he deals with all her BS. (He is a bit too clingy, though.) I like Jeremy Tsui’s style here- he has the best eye roll, deadpan stare, and funny facial expressions. But, sorry to say, I think he looks too old for this role. It’s not that Meng Ziyi is too young, per se, it’s that her character is young (18), and she can pass. Jeremy in his late 30s, unfortunately, can't really.
Although I wasn’t totally into the main characters’ relationship, I really liked the side characters. I read somewhere that the author of the book felt that women should support each other, and this comes through with great sisterhoods. I found many of the side characters to be very likeable, both male and female, and I was very invested in their stories. This is one of those fluffy shows where I’d expect everyone to pair up, and they mostly did, but unfortunately most of these side couples didn’t seem to get very far- at least, not as far as I wanted.
Not a big part of the story, but we also, refreshingly, get an emperor who actually wants his kids to be happy. That’s a pretty rare one.
The fighting in this show isn’t that flashy (or frequent), but it’s not like this show is a wuxia. Martial arts is clearly not that important because many of the male characters are surprise good fighters out of nowhere… impressive and all, but they didn’t even feel the need to set it up or explain it. The FL has better development in this aspect- she’s supposed to be good and she is, but I also like that she’s not invincible… more realistic.
Another quibble- I’m sorry, but who entrusts national diplomacy to an 18 year old? Never mind that her counterpart doesn’t look much older. No wonder their negotiations were such a sham. “Give us the land.” “No.”
Anyways.
My good feelings for this show are mostly running off the humor in the first half and my attachment to the side characters, and I probably would rate higher if either of those played a bigger role. As is, it was fun to watch but not the kind of show I felt obsessed about.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
It’s a fluffy story, of course it has a happy ending, and the finale is pretty exciting. Only one big sacrifice, but it was sad- I guess they had to kill off somebody we all liked to create some emotional oomph.
I was, on the other hand, not too happy with the level of closure I got on many of the side couples. I was really invested in them. How come the relationship between Pei Jihuai (ML’s BFF) and Yuan Wei (FL’s maid) never went anywhere? And the story with Yun Han (pretty boy) and Du Xiuying (scholar girl)… my gosh, how could they leave it in such an unsatisfactory position? That was the worst.
Speaking of that maid, I thought she was super cute, but her RANDOMLY being a general of the army just doesn’t make sense. If she were, she would have acted very differently throughout the show. And at the end where she finally rushes in with a sword… wow that was the worst sword swipe I’ve ever seen. Sorry girl, I know you were in the background, but could you have at least tried? I liked her a lot (adorable!) and really wished for her to be badass, it’s too bad they couldn’t pull it off better.
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Great heroine but somewhat messy execution
My favorite part of this show was Bai Fengxi, the female lead. She is a rare FL who is actually as strong and capable as her ML, even in fighting. I enjoyed watching her kick butt, handle situations, and be properly appreciated by her ML.I very much enjoyed the first part of the show showing their adventures in the Jianghu. After that, they settle down in town for a while as court politics play out. Some people complain about the political arcs and I agree they are less interesting, but I found them still fun enough to watch. Unfortunately BFX is slightly sidelined here but I was always happily waiting for her to show up again.
Around halfway through is I believe when there was a shakeup in the crew and a bunch of people left. One unfortunate casualty must have been the choreographer because the great fight scenes of the first half are no more, replaced by some seriously lame sequences.
There are also some poorly explained plot devices, inconsistences, and logic holes, which seem worse in the second half. But since the script should be written before filming, I don’t think these are a product of the internal crisis. The plot holes are not as bad as some other dramas, I just always find it interesting how they can turn a book that makes sense into a drama that doesn’t.
I think dramas and their novels should be treated as separate entities, but in this case I do think some of the confusion and inconsistency comes from trying to hang onto some things from the novel while changing others. For instance, a lot of the novel centers on the rather complicated dynamic between the ML and FL. In the drama, Hei Fengxi has been edited to be more “likeable” and their relationship is simplified, which left me puzzling over things like why they are suddenly getting together now after 10 years of knowing each other, or the entire Hua Chunran story arc (which should have happened before they got together). Getting them together earlier is fan service at the expense of some logic, which I guess is ok. But if they are going to make a bunch of stuff up anyways (like all the palace politics), they could have done a better job.
For better or worse, they also added an evil mastermind villain for us all to hate. Personally I feel this cheapens the story a bit, turning it into another trite good-vs-evil deal. But it does reduce emotional turmoil for all of us audience.
Acting wise, I think Zhao Lusi captured BFX’s free spirit pretty well. Yang Yang always plays a certain kind of character, which just happened to be perfectly suited for this one. For the first half, the martial arts were solid, good choreography and technique from both of them. There is a part in the middle where they do solo forms, and it was fun to watch their different styles. Never mind that I had no idea what skill they were learning or why they were doing these forms.
If we overlook some garbled logic, this is still a fun watch, right up until the mess of the ending. They crammed the second half of the novel into 5 episodes. Granted, this was the less enjoyable half of the novel, however rushing through it without proper development didn’t help.
Also, FWIW, I thought the styling on this show was quite bad. All of the actors (especially male) looked a bit worse than they have in other dramas. Something about the helmet hair, or maybe it’s the makeup. This was one of the first Cdramas I watched and I was honestly surprised to see some of the same actors later, in other dramas, looking much better.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
This show had a rushed and unsatisfying ending that could probably be considered bittersweet. They emerge alive but with a huge asterisk. It did not leave me feeling very happy.
In my head, I just sort of ignore the last two episodes. Whenever a show does “three years later”, I sort of roll my eyes. And without proper development and buildup, momentous occurrences feel cheap. The final battle lasting only a few minutes is not my major quibble, but still a good example of why the ending (and last few episodes) felt cheap.
Sometimes I read the book and/or its epilogues to get more closure. In this case, the novel ends a bit happier (without aforementioned asterisk), but I also found one of its epilogues to be super upsetting, so… not sure I would recommend the novel to bring happiness.
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Not my show, didn’t like FL
I’ll admit upfront that I didn’t finish this show. I watched about 25 episodes, then skimmed the rest. This was the first show I quit after a really solid effort to stick with it. You can decide if it invalidates my review, or read ahead to see why ;-)Ultimately I think this just wasn’t a show for me. Many other people liked it, I just couldn’t quite get into it.
From the description, this show promises to be a feel-good story of female empowerment. The setting is the Song dynasty, which I believe was a bit more liberal (but don’t quote me, I can’t find the source anymore), making it possible though still difficult for women to succeed on their own.
The main couple, Zhou Pan’er and Gu Qianfan, get off to an amusing start. I liked the banter between them, legit funny at times. They get together fairly early and have a good, healthy relationship. Thanks to Song dynasty liberalism (maybe), they are able to go on many lovely dates.
At the same time, Zhou Pan’er is making her name as a teahouse owner, along with her two gal pals. They even pick up another down-on-luck girl later. It’s the perfect setting to watch these young women defeat stereotypes and rock the world. That so much of the drama simply shows Pan’er and friends overcoming daily obstacles is probably why some have called this a slice-of-life drama.
I think my main issue with the show comes from my inability to connect with the female lead. Pan’er is a capable leader who solves problems with confidence. This by itself is great; Blossoms in Adversity has a similarly capable FL doing similar things, and I really liked her. But I think Pan’er- who in the source material was, I believe, actually a courtesan- is going more for a graceful, classic-beauty persona, and I personally just did not like it that much. I tend to like down-to-earth personalities.
Liu Yifei is a veteran actress and I believe she’s very good, but somehow I just couldn’t connect with her portrayal of Zhou Pan’er. Her mouth was hanging open a bit too much. And she was doing something with her voice… this show was, I believe, not dubbed (good for them!), which means occasional audio issues. But her voice seemed to have this weird sheen on it- that was not audio issues- as if she were trying to make it sound ethereal. For the first few episodes, I thought it was really pretty, but by around episode 10 it was driving me crazy. It just felt so pretentious. I even tried it myself, to confirm that it can be done on purpose and isn’t just her natural voice.
The voice thing seems like a minor detail, but for me it combined with the rest of her “elegant and beautiful” act to make the entire thing seem pretentious. It’s definitely not what they were going for, but if you start to see the FL as putting off saintly airs, then the show becomes much less enjoyable.
As for the ML, Gu Qianfan is a great, devoted boyfriend. I seem to see these a lot in Cdramas. I like his casual style and swagger, that’s done well. What’s done less well: he is supposed to be some master fighter, but he keeps hyperextending his shoulder when swinging a sword outward. It makes his fighting look messy and weak.
Similarly, Yinzhang (already everyone’s least favorite of the sisterhood!) is supposed to be an amazing pipa player, but her nails are SO long. Although I haven’t played a pipa, I would think anyone who’s played a string instrument should know to cut their nails.
These are all quibbles, but I guess I was hyperfixated on these details because I just didn’t like the show. I noticed them right away and then couldn’t stop seeing them.
Then there’s her ex-fiancee. At the point I stopped watching, it was undetermined just how much of a scumbag he is. But up to that point I had some sympathy for him and felt her campaign against him, as well as what happens to him, was over-the-top. It seemed so artificial, like show writers wanting to give justice to all wronged women while demonstrating Pan’er’s mettle (it might also have been a plot device, I’ll grant that). The much more realistic thing would have been for her to just swallow the insult and move on with her life. It made me empathize even less with her… like, if they made me feel sorry for her, I might have liked her more, but they went the opposite way.
I liked Sanniang as well as some of the other characters, like Zhaodi and Chen Li. But at the point where I found myself sighing and rolling my eyes whenever the main character showed up, which was often, I decided to just stop watching the show.
All this aside, I do think this show is incredibly beautifully shot. The city has lots of canals, and the cinematography is just beautiful. I love the setting. So the show gets a 5 from me (which is what I give a show I’m not into), but +0.5 for the beautiful setting.
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