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This review may contain spoilers
Yang Zi as a proud Peony, role model of the strong independent women in ancient times
I finally caught up with the drama till end. It was very colorful and beautiful, twists and turns, morally fulfilling, Yang Zi flawlessly portraying the strong and proud Mudan, who even saved the army to win the battle, Li Xian also admirable, and Miles Wei as despicable and hateable as his villain character demanded, many support actors who came to life...
So why did I feel a bit tired and even frustrated by this long drama? Perhaps because of the overuse of the two main musical themes at every turn, and the design of the emperor as weakling to almost idiocy, supported god only knows why by the leads despite we never saw him take one good action, just rolling with the flow and nodding in acceptance when he schemed in secret meetings with the Flower envoy and the Flower merchant. The villainous elder brother(why not emperor then?) of the emperor, King Ning was too often seen seated, stroking his beard, looking cruel. His unreasonably jealous daughter appeared on and off like a puppet on strings to look harsh, try and fail to hurt Mudan, getting hurt herself and... well her fate was almost clear from beginning (and no, she did not get offed or off herself).
The story still had its merits, so I award it an 8.5 but I only learned a few interesting things about the historical period and the plants in the first part, Flourished Peony, which was cut artificially from end because of regulatory reasons. The remaining part was.... okay, not extraordinary, despite the twist of Jiang Changyang's almost Christ-like returning from the dead. Well, since we had not seen him buried, it was not that big a surprise or a heartbreak to see him stabbed by Liu Chang... King Ning had publicly said that Jiang was "hard to kill". Nor was it a surprise to see Mudan rescued as she was since Jiang had sent his best swordsman to protect her (even if he missed the necessary abduction by the arch villain). So, there were many quite predictable twists, nice words, sweetness somehow watered down since the couple really was "too busy", got into "misunderstanding" (sighs), had little time to spend together after the evenings guzzling wine by the swing under the moon, which also got too repeatedly used, perhaps.
The last episode features a shadow theater moment as an anthology of the milestones of the story, how Mudan bruised and battered was rescued to become the employee and next, concubine of Jiang ; how the main secondary characters grew noticed, etc. But to me, it felt like a very artificial filler moment, alas.
For newbies, it may still be a thrilling and nice watch (although they should start from beginning in Flourished Peony as this part here is wacky as a stand alone, so be prepared for 32+24 episodes watching, although, exceptionally in second part, some skipping may be forgiven), and for the leads, it certainly was a task adequately performed, and an enjoyment to wear those costumes, bring ancient makeup back to life, and finish with the hopeful message that flowers will eventually be more important than medicine once wars and sickness have been contained. Overall, the drama was nicely painted in bright colors (I particularly liked the draped red shawl, cute hairdo and hat of Mudan before "the tragic episode"), but too airbrushed, despite some arresting episodes. Sometimes I felt Mudan was too much cast as a Mary Sue. I leave feeling "mission accomplished": another historical watched till end.
And don't let my lukewarm feelings deter you from appreciating this FP1+2 drama. Everyone may have different feelings. It is late on my end, and I am eager to go dream about another one, which perhaps appeals more to me because of its humor and quite a lot of thrills, even in the explicitly ridiculous parts. It does not have ambitious lessons to proffer, is more pure entertainment, also a nice watch, which I got sidetracked from to watch the Flourished Peony story till end first, as I had decided I would do (although, that other one, frustratingly, released last episodes just a tad earlier than FP2), so I'll have to digest it a little more before adding a review there. Watching two dramas simultaneously can be frustrating.
So why did I feel a bit tired and even frustrated by this long drama? Perhaps because of the overuse of the two main musical themes at every turn, and the design of the emperor as weakling to almost idiocy, supported god only knows why by the leads despite we never saw him take one good action, just rolling with the flow and nodding in acceptance when he schemed in secret meetings with the Flower envoy and the Flower merchant. The villainous elder brother(why not emperor then?) of the emperor, King Ning was too often seen seated, stroking his beard, looking cruel. His unreasonably jealous daughter appeared on and off like a puppet on strings to look harsh, try and fail to hurt Mudan, getting hurt herself and... well her fate was almost clear from beginning (and no, she did not get offed or off herself).
The story still had its merits, so I award it an 8.5 but I only learned a few interesting things about the historical period and the plants in the first part, Flourished Peony, which was cut artificially from end because of regulatory reasons. The remaining part was.... okay, not extraordinary, despite the twist of Jiang Changyang's almost Christ-like returning from the dead. Well, since we had not seen him buried, it was not that big a surprise or a heartbreak to see him stabbed by Liu Chang... King Ning had publicly said that Jiang was "hard to kill". Nor was it a surprise to see Mudan rescued as she was since Jiang had sent his best swordsman to protect her (even if he missed the necessary abduction by the arch villain). So, there were many quite predictable twists, nice words, sweetness somehow watered down since the couple really was "too busy", got into "misunderstanding" (sighs), had little time to spend together after the evenings guzzling wine by the swing under the moon, which also got too repeatedly used, perhaps.
The last episode features a shadow theater moment as an anthology of the milestones of the story, how Mudan bruised and battered was rescued to become the employee and next, concubine of Jiang ; how the main secondary characters grew noticed, etc. But to me, it felt like a very artificial filler moment, alas.
For newbies, it may still be a thrilling and nice watch (although they should start from beginning in Flourished Peony as this part here is wacky as a stand alone, so be prepared for 32+24 episodes watching, although, exceptionally in second part, some skipping may be forgiven), and for the leads, it certainly was a task adequately performed, and an enjoyment to wear those costumes, bring ancient makeup back to life, and finish with the hopeful message that flowers will eventually be more important than medicine once wars and sickness have been contained. Overall, the drama was nicely painted in bright colors (I particularly liked the draped red shawl, cute hairdo and hat of Mudan before "the tragic episode"), but too airbrushed, despite some arresting episodes. Sometimes I felt Mudan was too much cast as a Mary Sue. I leave feeling "mission accomplished": another historical watched till end.
And don't let my lukewarm feelings deter you from appreciating this FP1+2 drama. Everyone may have different feelings. It is late on my end, and I am eager to go dream about another one, which perhaps appeals more to me because of its humor and quite a lot of thrills, even in the explicitly ridiculous parts. It does not have ambitious lessons to proffer, is more pure entertainment, also a nice watch, which I got sidetracked from to watch the Flourished Peony story till end first, as I had decided I would do (although, that other one, frustratingly, released last episodes just a tad earlier than FP2), so I'll have to digest it a little more before adding a review there. Watching two dramas simultaneously can be frustrating.
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