This review may contain spoilers
The legend of what should have been
This was the biggest let down in 2025 and it makes me very sad.
it was supposed to be everything I wanted in a drama but it became everything I never needed.
The first thing that drew me to this drama was Cheng Lei. I came across him as an actor in Fangs of Fortune and fell in love with his acting in My Journey To You. When I saw this was going to be a main lead role for him, I was over the moon.
I really loved the episodes too until I came to hate it. I went from waiting desperately for another episode to reminding myself I had left it on hold and needed to catch up on it. I did want to finish it but that was purely for Cheng Lei. I made it to the end by skipping (a lot of scenes) and by not caring as much anymore.
I feel like the series could have been so much more. I haven't read the book(s) so I can only say this as a viewer of the show, but I truly feel like they could have done it so much better by changing up the script and giving the main characters the actual spotlight of the show. There was so much depth to a side character (whom I didn't care for) and left important parts of the story untold. We didn't go in depth for Xiao Jue or He Yan. We didn't get to see their backstory (only by a couple of flashbacks that didn't tell us much) and the thing with Xiao Jue's father became a non-relevant thing and it felt like it should matter more.
I kind of wish they told the story chronologically. They should have started us off at their academy days and have them bond, become friends and then the fall-out combined with Xiao Jue's father's death. It would have been more impactful, we would have bonded with the main characters and watched He Yan become a legendary general but have it taken away from her. After that we could've explored their road to revenge or redemption. In my opinion, that would have been so much better. In the way it was told within the show, it felt off. He Yan didn't come across as this bad-ass general but a spoiled brat who sucked up to Xiao Jue to get to a general's position as soon as possible. And Xiao Jue felt like a push over who gave her what she wanted because he was interested in her...
Don't get me wrong, I liked their chemistry. I loved their interactions and they way He Yan had to hide the fact she was a woman within a military camp. I adored the first couple of episodes.... It's fun to watch up until episode 18 or so. The story becomes ridiculous at that point and changes into a convenient plot that forces the main characters together as a couple in order for them to develop romantic feelings. In other words: it was easy writing with a shitty plot and lots of convenient help to progress.
Positives:
- The fighthing scenes (although very short and way too few) were very well done.
- The chemistry between the main characters.
- The first half of the show was fun to watch.
- Usually I don't care much for the male best friend or the female best friend but I loved Chi Su. I was sad to see him go (he doens't die but he just vanished after 20 episodes and doesn't come back until the very last episode).
- I'm still a fan of the two main leads. They acting is amazing and I love to see them in other shows.
Negatives:
- The fact that it's a legend of a female general but there's not a lot of fighting scenes, she does end up saving the day a couple of times by being lucky most of the time or she has to disguise herself and act like a different person in order to get things done. It was weird.
- I cannot get over the fact that she fought this mighty wutou warrior, got herself flinged off into the river with no one around to see where she landed, nearly drowned in the water and Xiao Jue coming in to rescue her. LIKE HOW DID HE KNOW WHERE SHE WAS?!?!?!?!
- That whole "you cannot get married because that would unite too much military power" thing being a shitty plot and makes me wish they had ended it at 30 episodes because it was soooooooo unnecessary. Especially considering the emperor changed his words in the last 10 minutes of the last episode and allowed them to get married anyway.... It's beyond stupid.
- The side characters got too much spotlight. For some reason Chu Zhao and He Ru Fei got a lot of screen time and the main characters become background characters for a lot of episodes. That was the reason I started to skip through most of it. Unfortunately, this remained like this for the second half of the show.
So would I recommend this drama? I'm not sure. But I can tell you this. The trailer is misleading and the way the story starts is too. There's not a lot of epic fight scenes. The female general doesn't really come across as legendary. The chemistry is there but the romance is not. So if you're in for a story that doesn't have a lot of drama or emotion in its script then this is the one for you. Are you looking for more drama and a story well written? Then you're better off skipping this one.
it was supposed to be everything I wanted in a drama but it became everything I never needed.
The first thing that drew me to this drama was Cheng Lei. I came across him as an actor in Fangs of Fortune and fell in love with his acting in My Journey To You. When I saw this was going to be a main lead role for him, I was over the moon.
I really loved the episodes too until I came to hate it. I went from waiting desperately for another episode to reminding myself I had left it on hold and needed to catch up on it. I did want to finish it but that was purely for Cheng Lei. I made it to the end by skipping (a lot of scenes) and by not caring as much anymore.
I feel like the series could have been so much more. I haven't read the book(s) so I can only say this as a viewer of the show, but I truly feel like they could have done it so much better by changing up the script and giving the main characters the actual spotlight of the show. There was so much depth to a side character (whom I didn't care for) and left important parts of the story untold. We didn't go in depth for Xiao Jue or He Yan. We didn't get to see their backstory (only by a couple of flashbacks that didn't tell us much) and the thing with Xiao Jue's father became a non-relevant thing and it felt like it should matter more.
I kind of wish they told the story chronologically. They should have started us off at their academy days and have them bond, become friends and then the fall-out combined with Xiao Jue's father's death. It would have been more impactful, we would have bonded with the main characters and watched He Yan become a legendary general but have it taken away from her. After that we could've explored their road to revenge or redemption. In my opinion, that would have been so much better. In the way it was told within the show, it felt off. He Yan didn't come across as this bad-ass general but a spoiled brat who sucked up to Xiao Jue to get to a general's position as soon as possible. And Xiao Jue felt like a push over who gave her what she wanted because he was interested in her...
Don't get me wrong, I liked their chemistry. I loved their interactions and they way He Yan had to hide the fact she was a woman within a military camp. I adored the first couple of episodes.... It's fun to watch up until episode 18 or so. The story becomes ridiculous at that point and changes into a convenient plot that forces the main characters together as a couple in order for them to develop romantic feelings. In other words: it was easy writing with a shitty plot and lots of convenient help to progress.
Positives:
- The fighthing scenes (although very short and way too few) were very well done.
- The chemistry between the main characters.
- The first half of the show was fun to watch.
- Usually I don't care much for the male best friend or the female best friend but I loved Chi Su. I was sad to see him go (he doens't die but he just vanished after 20 episodes and doesn't come back until the very last episode).
- I'm still a fan of the two main leads. They acting is amazing and I love to see them in other shows.
Negatives:
- The fact that it's a legend of a female general but there's not a lot of fighting scenes, she does end up saving the day a couple of times by being lucky most of the time or she has to disguise herself and act like a different person in order to get things done. It was weird.
- I cannot get over the fact that she fought this mighty wutou warrior, got herself flinged off into the river with no one around to see where she landed, nearly drowned in the water and Xiao Jue coming in to rescue her. LIKE HOW DID HE KNOW WHERE SHE WAS?!?!?!?!
- That whole "you cannot get married because that would unite too much military power" thing being a shitty plot and makes me wish they had ended it at 30 episodes because it was soooooooo unnecessary. Especially considering the emperor changed his words in the last 10 minutes of the last episode and allowed them to get married anyway.... It's beyond stupid.
- The side characters got too much spotlight. For some reason Chu Zhao and He Ru Fei got a lot of screen time and the main characters become background characters for a lot of episodes. That was the reason I started to skip through most of it. Unfortunately, this remained like this for the second half of the show.
So would I recommend this drama? I'm not sure. But I can tell you this. The trailer is misleading and the way the story starts is too. There's not a lot of epic fight scenes. The female general doesn't really come across as legendary. The chemistry is there but the romance is not. So if you're in for a story that doesn't have a lot of drama or emotion in its script then this is the one for you. Are you looking for more drama and a story well written? Then you're better off skipping this one.
Was this review helpful to you?
