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This review may contain spoilers
Man is Stone, Woman is Water; W/Time Water Flows Over Stone, Becoming Smooth, Complimenting Water.
I'm so glad this drama got cleared to air. I watched for LYN primarily and not only did he exceed any expectations but everything and everyone did too. I can't put into words how proud of him I am. To think we never nearly didn't get to see this wonderful drama is eye opening. I only knew the FL (at the time) from a variety show she was on with ML but that show which was filmed earlier the same year this drama was, gave them a chance to build their friendship and the chemistry that flowed naturally. I knew many of the supporting cast as well. As someone who goes into each drama without expectations, this went beyond mine.
Pros: "A man is a stone, a woman is the water; with time as the water flows over the stone, it will take a smooth, round appearance, and complement the water." This paraphrasing was essentially said by QX's (FL's) grandfather explains this drama in a nutshell. What started as a 14 year blood feud between the Wei and Qiao states/clans due to a betrayal by the aforementioned grandfather but for the sake of his people that caused many deaths including that of ML's (WS') grandfather, father, and brother resumed as a marriage alliance between a very smart and strategic QX and strong, powerful lord of Wei State WS. For him it was love at first sight but he was still hard to come around regardless how much she helped him at first and they bickered, schemed against each other though not enough to cause real harm. After all it was an alliance to be able to work together to unite the states and bring the country together. QX also had to deal with internal conflicts within his family as his stupid mother and random chick were always trying to cause problems. The fact that she had his grandmother on her side was a good thing and after some time his 4 generals and advisor also very strongly had her back. Her first priority were the people of all states and safety of her family before they grew together from cohabitation to bickering friends, to love and trust.
The story telling was very well done. The comedy was ever present and even when it didn't seem more than just getting along domestic life, the comedy made you howl sometimes. The chemistry was liquid fire and even though we only had two real intense scenes of intimacy, they were very well done, smoke was coming off the screen. I was really surprised that it passed censorship even though both were fully clothed. It can't be described but seen for oneself. Both actors did very well; we now know not to trust anything LYN says in livestreams or interviews. In one he said his shirtless scene he was just skin and bones pork ribs from a local super market with his face stuck on it lol; when in reality he had a full 6 pack. And when asked about kissing he first said there weren't any until SZR told him to stop and that they had two and that the audience should really prepare themselves. And did we have to ever! He was a total tease and actually let her take control at one point which was very hot. I better stop or my review will get flagged as rated R lol. I can write a whole review on just their two really hot scenes; one sadly interrupted but they made up for it a few episodes later and then some.
The friendship and love between the generals, assistant, advisor and their Lord which was both as boss and employee and brothers. Losing one towards the end was very sad but you knew it was coming especially when right before they spent a lot of time together. And he was nearly engaged to the maid; them two chubby folks were great. I loved how after his death the other 3 generals kind of adopted her as one of their own. Then there was the very complex and multi layered creepy and sleazy cousin or SY who fell for FL. That whole thing was very cringe but he really was a lonely soul that eventually found his way in the world and became his bastard father's successor. I really liked how they evolved his character and the actor did a great job. The other well done characters other than those mentioned were the other maids, BZ, FL's family (subtract uncle and his advisor), especially her younger brother, another general and awesome leader in the making. Eventually WS' mother came around as well.
You guys, I can't write absolutely everything I liked because then it wouldn't make a point for people to watch! But there were so many great moments of symbolism like for example; when one of the generals helped QX with her backup plan of blowing up the dam to release the river, (very LOTR style though on a much smaller scale); to back up ML when the enemy was invading on multiple fronts since she couldn't get reinforcements, thanks to her selfish cousin. The general (WX; who by the way used a bow and arrow and was probably half elf when it came to fighting) that was helping her and had her back in every single second was the same general that in the beginning of the series was ready to kill her because his family was murdered during the betrayal 14 years prior. It just showed how far this particular character had come from that time to absolute trust and faith in protecting this woman and backing her play. Another moment happened to WS himself at the end of the series when he had to make the choice of either returning and protecting his home or continuing with the original plan and finally understanding the why of QX's grandfather making the choice that he did. Because his choice was the same exact one that WS chose as well, which was to save the people as opposed to just save his family; whom WY appeared in the knick of time and saved. These little moments of symbolism really brought the entire story of many characters and many reasons full circle, and it was so important. They didn't sleep in the same bed for a year in respect for her grandfather's passing; the fact that he allowed her that bit was a big step. Also was a little less than the timeline of most of the show.
Another great point was that misunderstandings were very quickly resolved between the leads because they essentially had great communication skills and misunderstandings didn't stretch for 10 episodes each. Plus with the help of maids, generals, advisor and everyone in between those were handled very well because they both had great people on their sides to help them. WS in particular didn't know how to be gentle or say things that came from the heart as opposed to just blurting things out, but they figured out how to do it and many times it was comical because he would blurt something out and then realize it was the wrong thing to say because he pissed her off and ended up sleeping in the study more times then not in the beginning, which itself was a comedy show. But then he would try to get back on her good side and it was just very funny to see. Not to mention WS' hysterical jealousy.
The series had a smaller budget, which was obvious from a lot of the scenes, but it made up for it with the storytelling and the relationships and the acting. Costumes were beautiful sets were all right, OST's were very well done, especially the opening and closing credits by their respective artists. There are many many many more positive things, but I cannot possibly put them all into a review. This show is worth watching because there are so many small things that end up mattering later on and conversations that have incredible symbolism and mean a lot from start to finish.
Cons: Not a lot for me. Because of the smaller budget, I believe the battles were shorter that could've been longer instead of focusing on villains that were very lackluster. CGI was used and though decent, it was short. When they did fight in skirmishes and battles, it was really great to see, but they were always way too short. Another point of contention were the villains themselves or "the snakes" as I called them which included FL's uncle and his advisor, as well as SY's bastard father. I also did not like FL's cousin; there were people in the comments on both sides of her explaining why she said this or why she did that, but I really felt that she was a coward and selfish because after everything FL did for her including take her place in the marriage alliance, which ended up actually being a blessing for both, but she did not provide reinforcements because she wanted to live a peaceful life; but you can't live a peaceful life when you have war at your teeny tiny states borders from five sides and your husband is the commander of all of these troops. She said very hurtful things to FL and her decision to return back to her home even though neither she, nor her husband were accepted originally by her father, and it was such an obvious trap because he had by that time betrayed everyone and joined the snakes was very gullible and stupid; I felt that she was just waiting to be captured. I did not feel bad about her death; I felt bad for her husband and her child but she reaped what she sowed.
The deaths of all the snakes were very lackluster. The chick villain after she had her nose sliced by WS--who should've taken her head off then it would've been less problems--just took herself out after she realized that her entire life with her fake empress fate she had screwed up herself when there were literally three or four men that truly loved her for real and she just used them. And LY, who was drunk and delusional with power just got harpooned by BZ and WS at the end while he laughed or cackled maniacally felt off; I very much felt like the last two episodes were rushed. They could've had a bit less of the domestic life in the middle and made the villains feel more like antagonists as opposed to just clowns in the middle that threw wars in that for the most part, they couldn't win, even if they had more troops came and went to get power. It honestly just seemed like the villains were there just to say that the series had villains and nothing else.
Would I recommend it? 100%. It didn't get a perfect score because of the cons but it came close. LYN has outdone himself yet again; love him in his role here. I can call him Mr. Sexy for sure! I very much love this series and it's forever in my heart and in my rewatch pile.
Pros: "A man is a stone, a woman is the water; with time as the water flows over the stone, it will take a smooth, round appearance, and complement the water." This paraphrasing was essentially said by QX's (FL's) grandfather explains this drama in a nutshell. What started as a 14 year blood feud between the Wei and Qiao states/clans due to a betrayal by the aforementioned grandfather but for the sake of his people that caused many deaths including that of ML's (WS') grandfather, father, and brother resumed as a marriage alliance between a very smart and strategic QX and strong, powerful lord of Wei State WS. For him it was love at first sight but he was still hard to come around regardless how much she helped him at first and they bickered, schemed against each other though not enough to cause real harm. After all it was an alliance to be able to work together to unite the states and bring the country together. QX also had to deal with internal conflicts within his family as his stupid mother and random chick were always trying to cause problems. The fact that she had his grandmother on her side was a good thing and after some time his 4 generals and advisor also very strongly had her back. Her first priority were the people of all states and safety of her family before they grew together from cohabitation to bickering friends, to love and trust.
The story telling was very well done. The comedy was ever present and even when it didn't seem more than just getting along domestic life, the comedy made you howl sometimes. The chemistry was liquid fire and even though we only had two real intense scenes of intimacy, they were very well done, smoke was coming off the screen. I was really surprised that it passed censorship even though both were fully clothed. It can't be described but seen for oneself. Both actors did very well; we now know not to trust anything LYN says in livestreams or interviews. In one he said his shirtless scene he was just skin and bones pork ribs from a local super market with his face stuck on it lol; when in reality he had a full 6 pack. And when asked about kissing he first said there weren't any until SZR told him to stop and that they had two and that the audience should really prepare themselves. And did we have to ever! He was a total tease and actually let her take control at one point which was very hot. I better stop or my review will get flagged as rated R lol. I can write a whole review on just their two really hot scenes; one sadly interrupted but they made up for it a few episodes later and then some.
The friendship and love between the generals, assistant, advisor and their Lord which was both as boss and employee and brothers. Losing one towards the end was very sad but you knew it was coming especially when right before they spent a lot of time together. And he was nearly engaged to the maid; them two chubby folks were great. I loved how after his death the other 3 generals kind of adopted her as one of their own. Then there was the very complex and multi layered creepy and sleazy cousin or SY who fell for FL. That whole thing was very cringe but he really was a lonely soul that eventually found his way in the world and became his bastard father's successor. I really liked how they evolved his character and the actor did a great job. The other well done characters other than those mentioned were the other maids, BZ, FL's family (subtract uncle and his advisor), especially her younger brother, another general and awesome leader in the making. Eventually WS' mother came around as well.
You guys, I can't write absolutely everything I liked because then it wouldn't make a point for people to watch! But there were so many great moments of symbolism like for example; when one of the generals helped QX with her backup plan of blowing up the dam to release the river, (very LOTR style though on a much smaller scale); to back up ML when the enemy was invading on multiple fronts since she couldn't get reinforcements, thanks to her selfish cousin. The general (WX; who by the way used a bow and arrow and was probably half elf when it came to fighting) that was helping her and had her back in every single second was the same general that in the beginning of the series was ready to kill her because his family was murdered during the betrayal 14 years prior. It just showed how far this particular character had come from that time to absolute trust and faith in protecting this woman and backing her play. Another moment happened to WS himself at the end of the series when he had to make the choice of either returning and protecting his home or continuing with the original plan and finally understanding the why of QX's grandfather making the choice that he did. Because his choice was the same exact one that WS chose as well, which was to save the people as opposed to just save his family; whom WY appeared in the knick of time and saved. These little moments of symbolism really brought the entire story of many characters and many reasons full circle, and it was so important. They didn't sleep in the same bed for a year in respect for her grandfather's passing; the fact that he allowed her that bit was a big step. Also was a little less than the timeline of most of the show.
Another great point was that misunderstandings were very quickly resolved between the leads because they essentially had great communication skills and misunderstandings didn't stretch for 10 episodes each. Plus with the help of maids, generals, advisor and everyone in between those were handled very well because they both had great people on their sides to help them. WS in particular didn't know how to be gentle or say things that came from the heart as opposed to just blurting things out, but they figured out how to do it and many times it was comical because he would blurt something out and then realize it was the wrong thing to say because he pissed her off and ended up sleeping in the study more times then not in the beginning, which itself was a comedy show. But then he would try to get back on her good side and it was just very funny to see. Not to mention WS' hysterical jealousy.
The series had a smaller budget, which was obvious from a lot of the scenes, but it made up for it with the storytelling and the relationships and the acting. Costumes were beautiful sets were all right, OST's were very well done, especially the opening and closing credits by their respective artists. There are many many many more positive things, but I cannot possibly put them all into a review. This show is worth watching because there are so many small things that end up mattering later on and conversations that have incredible symbolism and mean a lot from start to finish.
Cons: Not a lot for me. Because of the smaller budget, I believe the battles were shorter that could've been longer instead of focusing on villains that were very lackluster. CGI was used and though decent, it was short. When they did fight in skirmishes and battles, it was really great to see, but they were always way too short. Another point of contention were the villains themselves or "the snakes" as I called them which included FL's uncle and his advisor, as well as SY's bastard father. I also did not like FL's cousin; there were people in the comments on both sides of her explaining why she said this or why she did that, but I really felt that she was a coward and selfish because after everything FL did for her including take her place in the marriage alliance, which ended up actually being a blessing for both, but she did not provide reinforcements because she wanted to live a peaceful life; but you can't live a peaceful life when you have war at your teeny tiny states borders from five sides and your husband is the commander of all of these troops. She said very hurtful things to FL and her decision to return back to her home even though neither she, nor her husband were accepted originally by her father, and it was such an obvious trap because he had by that time betrayed everyone and joined the snakes was very gullible and stupid; I felt that she was just waiting to be captured. I did not feel bad about her death; I felt bad for her husband and her child but she reaped what she sowed.
The deaths of all the snakes were very lackluster. The chick villain after she had her nose sliced by WS--who should've taken her head off then it would've been less problems--just took herself out after she realized that her entire life with her fake empress fate she had screwed up herself when there were literally three or four men that truly loved her for real and she just used them. And LY, who was drunk and delusional with power just got harpooned by BZ and WS at the end while he laughed or cackled maniacally felt off; I very much felt like the last two episodes were rushed. They could've had a bit less of the domestic life in the middle and made the villains feel more like antagonists as opposed to just clowns in the middle that threw wars in that for the most part, they couldn't win, even if they had more troops came and went to get power. It honestly just seemed like the villains were there just to say that the series had villains and nothing else.
Would I recommend it? 100%. It didn't get a perfect score because of the cons but it came close. LYN has outdone himself yet again; love him in his role here. I can call him Mr. Sexy for sure! I very much love this series and it's forever in my heart and in my rewatch pile.
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