This review may contain spoilers
Defying Royalty
I was adamant to watch this because of the FL. I've seen her in other dramas such as WOL which I placed on hold and never pickup back. Watched it for Xu Kai. And this time watched for Zhang Wan Yi. This is my 3rd historical drama of his. I'm always mesmerized by his charm and enchanted by his voice. I love hearing him speak. It always feel like he's so close whispering to your ear. And so glad, I took the shot to check this out.
I got hooked from ep. 1 . One reason I guess, the romance was more fired up here than The Glory, which I tried to watch simultaneously. I dropped The Glory at ep.19 for the lack of romance of that drama. I liked that this drama is quite fast paced. Got a kiss already at ep.9, which is a very rare case for historical dramas. I like Yu Qi's character for being bolder and not reserved. Though the development of romance is quite confusing because of the time sequence I guess. I'm not a fan of reborn characters tbh. So, the flashbacks makes the story quite confusing at times. Like, how she got to be a Saintess at the present times when she was supposedly a Saintess only in her past life.
I really did enjoy the first half of the drama. Specially the story of FL's brother which was so intense, yet, sometimes funny and sweet. While, FL's battered sister was another intense story. The violence made by that cruel husband was really unforgiveable. If it were in the modern times, that's considered a heinous crime either punishable by death or lifetime imprisonment. Well, justice has been served in the drama, thankfully. Despite that power and connections of the perpetrators father was strong. That made again, one of ML's strong points. He's really good in investigating crimes. Oh, and let me not forget the first crime solved which was FL's former fiancé who pushed her in the bridge which led to her almost death and got being reborn. She has a strong will character which is one of her good asset. She knows when to fight for her rights like the way she helped to seek justice both for her brother and the other 2 sisters of hers which has both failed marriages. The thing with her wicked Aunt is another story. Honestly, the aunt's character and the murderer husband of her sister who abducted lots of women are truly existing in our real cruel world. That depiction is so realistic which really happens in our society today. Sadly.
Because of jealousy, greed, lack of proper attention from parents upbringing makes these kind of evil people today. And yes, there are also extremely brat person like Ming Yue in the socitey today. Who'll do everything just to get what they want. Her character is really hateable. She never felt a single remorse in all her wrong doings. But, of course, who else to blame but the wicked Princess Royal, her mother, who share the same attitude as her. And yeah, partly to blame was the Emperor who spoiled his sister and abused their power. Though, I would prefer for Ming Yue to suffer more abit before her firepit death. It feels like FL has suffered more from Princess Royal's torture. The grandmother of FL is another villain for me. She's not a good rolemodel as a parent. Her entire family suffered because of her tbh.
Well, justice has been served for all the villains. But, I felt their deaths didn't justify all their wrong doings. I was hoping they suffer from torture before death to give them the same dose of meds they've done with their crimes. Anyways, I thought am gonna enjoy more the remaining half of the drama, but, not really much for me. Ever since Yu Qin became Yu Jin and was vested as the 7th Prince, everything became a mess. Though, I know the MC was already expecting how things will unfold for them and have designed in advance a counterplan for the troubles that will come their way. The marriage of the MC was sweet on their wedding night but come to think of it, it was the same night that Ming Yue died. Like, not really a good omen for the day of your marriage. Then , the finale....Like, after getting married that's the time MC has to separate and do their royal duties. Not a fan of LDR's honestly. And yes, I'm not happy of them being crowned as the Emperor and Empress. Probably, there are no other best candidate to take the position but them. But, from the start, they have always wished for an ordinary normal life together. I was hoping for them to have kids and live a normal happy family life. Being in the Palace is a start of a not so happy life even if they are together. Just stating facts.
Overall, story was good if only they just followed the current life and not correlate the past of being a Saintess and Yu Jin with another character as well. Romance is good. Kisses were there but not executed well. I've seen fish and angled kisses. I hope ZWY would work on his kisses. Hope he could do steamy kisses later on. And just why they didn't have kids at least in the finale? Still, this is recommendable. Specially for ZWY's fans. He's bolder this time compared to his other dramas.
I got hooked from ep. 1 . One reason I guess, the romance was more fired up here than The Glory, which I tried to watch simultaneously. I dropped The Glory at ep.19 for the lack of romance of that drama. I liked that this drama is quite fast paced. Got a kiss already at ep.9, which is a very rare case for historical dramas. I like Yu Qi's character for being bolder and not reserved. Though the development of romance is quite confusing because of the time sequence I guess. I'm not a fan of reborn characters tbh. So, the flashbacks makes the story quite confusing at times. Like, how she got to be a Saintess at the present times when she was supposedly a Saintess only in her past life.
I really did enjoy the first half of the drama. Specially the story of FL's brother which was so intense, yet, sometimes funny and sweet. While, FL's battered sister was another intense story. The violence made by that cruel husband was really unforgiveable. If it were in the modern times, that's considered a heinous crime either punishable by death or lifetime imprisonment. Well, justice has been served in the drama, thankfully. Despite that power and connections of the perpetrators father was strong. That made again, one of ML's strong points. He's really good in investigating crimes. Oh, and let me not forget the first crime solved which was FL's former fiancé who pushed her in the bridge which led to her almost death and got being reborn. She has a strong will character which is one of her good asset. She knows when to fight for her rights like the way she helped to seek justice both for her brother and the other 2 sisters of hers which has both failed marriages. The thing with her wicked Aunt is another story. Honestly, the aunt's character and the murderer husband of her sister who abducted lots of women are truly existing in our real cruel world. That depiction is so realistic which really happens in our society today. Sadly.
Because of jealousy, greed, lack of proper attention from parents upbringing makes these kind of evil people today. And yes, there are also extremely brat person like Ming Yue in the socitey today. Who'll do everything just to get what they want. Her character is really hateable. She never felt a single remorse in all her wrong doings. But, of course, who else to blame but the wicked Princess Royal, her mother, who share the same attitude as her. And yeah, partly to blame was the Emperor who spoiled his sister and abused their power. Though, I would prefer for Ming Yue to suffer more abit before her firepit death. It feels like FL has suffered more from Princess Royal's torture. The grandmother of FL is another villain for me. She's not a good rolemodel as a parent. Her entire family suffered because of her tbh.
Well, justice has been served for all the villains. But, I felt their deaths didn't justify all their wrong doings. I was hoping they suffer from torture before death to give them the same dose of meds they've done with their crimes. Anyways, I thought am gonna enjoy more the remaining half of the drama, but, not really much for me. Ever since Yu Qin became Yu Jin and was vested as the 7th Prince, everything became a mess. Though, I know the MC was already expecting how things will unfold for them and have designed in advance a counterplan for the troubles that will come their way. The marriage of the MC was sweet on their wedding night but come to think of it, it was the same night that Ming Yue died. Like, not really a good omen for the day of your marriage. Then , the finale....Like, after getting married that's the time MC has to separate and do their royal duties. Not a fan of LDR's honestly. And yes, I'm not happy of them being crowned as the Emperor and Empress. Probably, there are no other best candidate to take the position but them. But, from the start, they have always wished for an ordinary normal life together. I was hoping for them to have kids and live a normal happy family life. Being in the Palace is a start of a not so happy life even if they are together. Just stating facts.
Overall, story was good if only they just followed the current life and not correlate the past of being a Saintess and Yu Jin with another character as well. Romance is good. Kisses were there but not executed well. I've seen fish and angled kisses. I hope ZWY would work on his kisses. Hope he could do steamy kisses later on. And just why they didn't have kids at least in the finale? Still, this is recommendable. Specially for ZWY's fans. He's bolder this time compared to his other dramas.
Was this review helpful to you?
