This review may contain spoilers
A bit overhyped
I already know this by now but it’s really a shame how misleading the ratings of a drama can be on my drama list.
I had really high expectations for this show because everyone praised it and I haven’t seen a single negative comment on it.
If this is your favorite show or you really enjoyed it, that’s fine, everyone has a different taste but a lot of people who are new to cdramas, also tend to rate everything they watch or that got them into it, really high or they are biased towards the actors.
It’s hard to look at things objectively and everyone has their dramas they enjoy, even if they aren’t always the best, but this was kind of a let down for me.
What I liked:
- the story started of quite dark and interesting. The events of how the FL and ML met and ended up in a different time together was thought out well. I like that there was more to it than the ML taking an arrow for her but that their fates were intertwined
- I like that they didn’t waste time and got right into the plot.
- The FL is strong but not in a typical way like a female general, it’s not so much about physically strong but mentally. I like how she used her intelligence to become a smart businesswoman and help with various plot points. I like that she was portrayed as more realistic, at least when it comes to her behavior. She is not exactly one stereotype, like a cheerful and quirky girl that always laughs or an unruly, bratty and spoiled girl who does whatever she wants, she doesn’t overreact nor does she not react enough. She behaves quite realistic at times, although not always.
- I do enjoy the scenes between the leads, it was quite sweet at times although they have issues.
- the cinematography is so stunning, a lot of scenes were magnificent, especially in slow motion. Snow, shattered glass, flowers or lightning was very well done.
- I initially liked the family dynamics for both leads. I was interested to see how the FL deals with the people who wronged her, same as the ML
What I didn’t like:
- Firstly, the time travel aspect was not explored enough. When the leads travel back in time, they become children again. The FL also received a book from the monk character that sort of tells her about certain things that might happen. She acted shocked about what happened to her for like 2 seconds and then adapted to her new life really quickly without asking many questions. This always happens in time travel stories but it’s so unrealistic. She could have asked the monk more about what to do initially or why this happened to her but it was just like she figured it out on her own. When you’re in a different time or world, how would you know what to do?! I get it, it’s not like she wanted to go back to her miserable adult life of the future but I think she was a bit too calm, considering what happened to her. I also didn’t get why the ML didn’t remember his previous life at all, at least when he was a kid. He can remember the FL from some of his dreams though, even though she is wearing a mask. I feel like this whole fate thing or why certain things work and some don’t, are not explained properly, unless they did explain it but if so, it might have been in a passing comment. Also, I dislike the fact that the time travel aspect really doesn’t matter anymore as the story goes on. Why have it in the first place then?! If you want to show a revenge story, the time travel didn’t need to exist.
- The relationship between the FL and ML was not really convincing to me. She keeps lying to him about their past and why she can predict certain events which caused the ML to get suspicious of her, to the point he thinks she is involved in the crimes and behavior of her uncle. The ML asked her repeatedly what she is hiding because he knows by that point she isn’t like her family and he just wants confirmation but she chooses not to tell him. Sure, it’s difficult to explain that she met him in another life before and traveled back to the past but she could have tried to be honest. Worst thing he could do is think she is crazy but he himself had these dreams of her so he could have believed it. And what’s worse is that after they got married, she told him about the book etc in one sentence and he just accepts it like it’s the most normal thing, which proves that her constant struggle that dragged on about her not telling him the truth, was pointless.
At first the relationship between them started slow and they both benefited from it. It was logical that there were no feelings involved especially cause they had a completely different impression of one another and by both helping one another and getting involved with one another, they developed mutual respect and started to become friendly. But then it was like they skipped an arc or something because next thing I know, he tells the emperor that the FL is important to him and then asks her to marry him. They never expressed mutual romantic feelings towards one another at that point, they just started to get closer. Sure, they had a couple of moments together when they were in dangerous situations and he protected her or they looked deeply into each other’s eyes but to me, that’s not enough to justify the jump that the relationship took.
He doesn’t force her to marry him, especially since she repeatedly insisted on not wanting to get married but then basically gave her 5 days to think about if she wants to reject his proposal or not. And during that time, somehow the FL realized how much she likes him and married him. By the time their wedding comes around, I feel like they barely know anything about one another. I know arranged marriages were the norm back then and you don’t always know your partner but considering she never wanted an arranged marriage, you’d think she would have waited with marriage. She could have at least gotten to know him better. Besides investigating together and her business ventures, I feel like I don’t know what they like or dislike or what their hobbies are.
- The leads did have chemistry but not enough. It was not electric. The FL also seemed way too perfect. Somehow she was good at almost everything. They made her a smart businesswoman who was supposed to be different to the traditional women back then but then she was also really great at cooking, poetry and more and ofc she always has the best insight and is so wise and the ML does not have that, so he learns from her. They undermined his character compared to hers and showed him as someone who is senseless and impulsive, even though he is supposed to be a general leading a huge army. Generals also need to be tactical and logical and sometimes they showed that but often not.
- My biggest issue was the plot itself. I thought it would be a mysterious, dark plot about revenge and court politics but a plot that ties both leads together and leads to a constant push and pull between them and makes them question everything but to me it just fell apart. A big part of the show was about domestic instances that the FL was involved in and frankly speaking, half of these characters I did not care about. If it would have focused more on her relationship with her father, the death of her mom and so on, maybe it could have been better.Yes, they redeemed the father later on but everything just felt quickly resolved in a few sentences. Most of the side charscters were just annoying. I thought the plot of the step sister was a bit interesting at first but we don’t need multiple episodes of that. A lot of things that happened just felt like filler or side plot and made the show kind of boring. The FL mostly uses her knowledge and wit to solve these family issues and not some dark mystery. The plot lost its mystery and secretive nature that I thought I would get. It didn’t help, that the pacing felt quite slow to me after the first couple episodes. Maybe this type of show where people talk a lot and everything feels like it’s moving slowly, isn’t for me but I’ve watched shows where not one episode felt boring to me. Shows that were dynamic from the start. This show lacked tension for me. I never felt like I couldn’t wait to watch the next episode. A lot of characters also annoyed me with their behavior because they didn’t need to go down this road but they made bad choices for themselves, even though they had other better options.
- The acting was ok but to me the ML is a bit better than the FL. I’ve seen him in other stuff, even as a side character he is pretty decent. The FL lacks expressions. I wish both of them showed more range and emotional depth.
All in all, everything about this drama is average to me, besides the cinematography. It’s not a bad drama cause I’ve seen worse and it can still be entertaining at times but it’s not one of those shows I’m obsessed with. And I still don’t understand the ratings on this.
I had really high expectations for this show because everyone praised it and I haven’t seen a single negative comment on it.
If this is your favorite show or you really enjoyed it, that’s fine, everyone has a different taste but a lot of people who are new to cdramas, also tend to rate everything they watch or that got them into it, really high or they are biased towards the actors.
It’s hard to look at things objectively and everyone has their dramas they enjoy, even if they aren’t always the best, but this was kind of a let down for me.
What I liked:
- the story started of quite dark and interesting. The events of how the FL and ML met and ended up in a different time together was thought out well. I like that there was more to it than the ML taking an arrow for her but that their fates were intertwined
- I like that they didn’t waste time and got right into the plot.
- The FL is strong but not in a typical way like a female general, it’s not so much about physically strong but mentally. I like how she used her intelligence to become a smart businesswoman and help with various plot points. I like that she was portrayed as more realistic, at least when it comes to her behavior. She is not exactly one stereotype, like a cheerful and quirky girl that always laughs or an unruly, bratty and spoiled girl who does whatever she wants, she doesn’t overreact nor does she not react enough. She behaves quite realistic at times, although not always.
- I do enjoy the scenes between the leads, it was quite sweet at times although they have issues.
- the cinematography is so stunning, a lot of scenes were magnificent, especially in slow motion. Snow, shattered glass, flowers or lightning was very well done.
- I initially liked the family dynamics for both leads. I was interested to see how the FL deals with the people who wronged her, same as the ML
What I didn’t like:
- Firstly, the time travel aspect was not explored enough. When the leads travel back in time, they become children again. The FL also received a book from the monk character that sort of tells her about certain things that might happen. She acted shocked about what happened to her for like 2 seconds and then adapted to her new life really quickly without asking many questions. This always happens in time travel stories but it’s so unrealistic. She could have asked the monk more about what to do initially or why this happened to her but it was just like she figured it out on her own. When you’re in a different time or world, how would you know what to do?! I get it, it’s not like she wanted to go back to her miserable adult life of the future but I think she was a bit too calm, considering what happened to her. I also didn’t get why the ML didn’t remember his previous life at all, at least when he was a kid. He can remember the FL from some of his dreams though, even though she is wearing a mask. I feel like this whole fate thing or why certain things work and some don’t, are not explained properly, unless they did explain it but if so, it might have been in a passing comment. Also, I dislike the fact that the time travel aspect really doesn’t matter anymore as the story goes on. Why have it in the first place then?! If you want to show a revenge story, the time travel didn’t need to exist.
- The relationship between the FL and ML was not really convincing to me. She keeps lying to him about their past and why she can predict certain events which caused the ML to get suspicious of her, to the point he thinks she is involved in the crimes and behavior of her uncle. The ML asked her repeatedly what she is hiding because he knows by that point she isn’t like her family and he just wants confirmation but she chooses not to tell him. Sure, it’s difficult to explain that she met him in another life before and traveled back to the past but she could have tried to be honest. Worst thing he could do is think she is crazy but he himself had these dreams of her so he could have believed it. And what’s worse is that after they got married, she told him about the book etc in one sentence and he just accepts it like it’s the most normal thing, which proves that her constant struggle that dragged on about her not telling him the truth, was pointless.
At first the relationship between them started slow and they both benefited from it. It was logical that there were no feelings involved especially cause they had a completely different impression of one another and by both helping one another and getting involved with one another, they developed mutual respect and started to become friendly. But then it was like they skipped an arc or something because next thing I know, he tells the emperor that the FL is important to him and then asks her to marry him. They never expressed mutual romantic feelings towards one another at that point, they just started to get closer. Sure, they had a couple of moments together when they were in dangerous situations and he protected her or they looked deeply into each other’s eyes but to me, that’s not enough to justify the jump that the relationship took.
He doesn’t force her to marry him, especially since she repeatedly insisted on not wanting to get married but then basically gave her 5 days to think about if she wants to reject his proposal or not. And during that time, somehow the FL realized how much she likes him and married him. By the time their wedding comes around, I feel like they barely know anything about one another. I know arranged marriages were the norm back then and you don’t always know your partner but considering she never wanted an arranged marriage, you’d think she would have waited with marriage. She could have at least gotten to know him better. Besides investigating together and her business ventures, I feel like I don’t know what they like or dislike or what their hobbies are.
- The leads did have chemistry but not enough. It was not electric. The FL also seemed way too perfect. Somehow she was good at almost everything. They made her a smart businesswoman who was supposed to be different to the traditional women back then but then she was also really great at cooking, poetry and more and ofc she always has the best insight and is so wise and the ML does not have that, so he learns from her. They undermined his character compared to hers and showed him as someone who is senseless and impulsive, even though he is supposed to be a general leading a huge army. Generals also need to be tactical and logical and sometimes they showed that but often not.
- My biggest issue was the plot itself. I thought it would be a mysterious, dark plot about revenge and court politics but a plot that ties both leads together and leads to a constant push and pull between them and makes them question everything but to me it just fell apart. A big part of the show was about domestic instances that the FL was involved in and frankly speaking, half of these characters I did not care about. If it would have focused more on her relationship with her father, the death of her mom and so on, maybe it could have been better.Yes, they redeemed the father later on but everything just felt quickly resolved in a few sentences. Most of the side charscters were just annoying. I thought the plot of the step sister was a bit interesting at first but we don’t need multiple episodes of that. A lot of things that happened just felt like filler or side plot and made the show kind of boring. The FL mostly uses her knowledge and wit to solve these family issues and not some dark mystery. The plot lost its mystery and secretive nature that I thought I would get. It didn’t help, that the pacing felt quite slow to me after the first couple episodes. Maybe this type of show where people talk a lot and everything feels like it’s moving slowly, isn’t for me but I’ve watched shows where not one episode felt boring to me. Shows that were dynamic from the start. This show lacked tension for me. I never felt like I couldn’t wait to watch the next episode. A lot of characters also annoyed me with their behavior because they didn’t need to go down this road but they made bad choices for themselves, even though they had other better options.
- The acting was ok but to me the ML is a bit better than the FL. I’ve seen him in other stuff, even as a side character he is pretty decent. The FL lacks expressions. I wish both of them showed more range and emotional depth.
All in all, everything about this drama is average to me, besides the cinematography. It’s not a bad drama cause I’ve seen worse and it can still be entertaining at times but it’s not one of those shows I’m obsessed with. And I still don’t understand the ratings on this.
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