This review may contain spoilers
My success is nothing without you | Love that is true & intense but is short lived.
First of all, I want to thank this drama for not slapping me with such a heartbreaking ending—when I know for a fact that it's going to be a sorrowful one no matter what.
I truly appreciate the thought and consideration of whoever is behind this idea of minimizing the impact of YZJ death by giving us lowkey signs instead of shoving it in front of our faces. Like, thank you so much for going easy on us by delivering that tragic scene in a milder and less distressing way. I totally commend you for not using it as a clickbait to gain more attention and views for the finale of this story.
Diving into the story itself, am I the only one expecting Duanwu to go pearl diving again? Like, I waited patiently for it to come but it never happened. Then it finally occured to me after 30 episodes that she'll never gonna go back doing that job again as it's the sole reminder of how rough and painful her life was growing up, and how she had to work hard in order to vouch herself out of that predicament. It also made me realize that there are people who stops doing things they excelled the most not because they want to but simply because doing so suffocates them. So they would rather choose to avoid and completely abandon it by honing their other skills in order to gain more experience and transition to other things they have potential in doing.
Another thing I want to talk about is the exceptional execution of our main and supporting leads of their characters' role in the show—Yan Zi Jing as the revengful soul, Duanwu as the hardworking, wise and clever individual who want success and comfort in life, Zhang Jin Ran as the upstanding official who values justice and righteousness above everything else and Cui Shi Jiu as the redeemed villain who went through a handful of agonizing event which taught her to how to love and appreciate life better. This drama revolved around these characters and how they face their own demons and traumas in order to achieve their dreams and goals in life. They're the core elements of this drama who molded and animated it to be the outstanding show it is right now.
Love stories/relationships on this drama are one of the most sweet, memorable yet heart-rending for me. I totally appreciate the healthy rivalry and friendship between the Yan Zi Jing and Zhang Jin Ran so I never really expect them to pull off Yan Zi Jing dying and Duan Wu getting left behind. Specially after what they've done with Cui Shi Jiu and Zheng Zhi Heng...the progress of their love story was promising only for them to slaughter ZZH mercilessly—it was truly heroic and valiant though so I will give them credits for that—nonetheless, I would say that this drama is a tragic-themed story intricately enveloped in an enticing love story.
Phasing overall is good as they were able to highlight each stage of the main leads progress in terms of their personal growth and their romantic relationship. I even think that they did great in arranging the sequence of events in a logical and natural way on how they have to go through the trials and hardships in their respective lives to obtain the position and success they're trying to achieve.
Design, Costume, Colour Scheme, Editing and everything related to effects - are mostly nicely done aside from the Ship scenes. LOL I was never against of green screen utilization so I find it rather clumsy and funny whenever I spot some unpolished details but I am sure it's going to be big deal for others. In addition to that, the size of the ship doesn't add up to the number and size of the rooms being showed. Like, what do you mean multiple rooms of approx. 20sqft+ can fit that mid size looking ship? are you kidding me? When the ships interior is bigger than its exterior. Hahaha!
Lastly, I just wanna mention how crazy Zhao Lusi and Liu Yuning's chemistry is. Everytime they're on screen, it feels like they're some kind of breathtakingly gorgeous scenary I can't stop looking and taking a picture at. Their spark is so vibrant that I feel like they're illuminating the entire screen which makes me smile unconciously. + The thumb kissing scene on Ep.31 was the most phenomenal, romantic and iconic kissing scene I have ever seen for a couple or so of years now. Dang! They really got me rolling over my bed, all cramped up because of how thrilled I was during that scene.
I just wanna say here as well that I have watched Tang Xiao Tian as the 2nd male lead for multiple times now that I have automatically branded him that way in my head. I would love to see him take some cool and amazing main lead role cause right now I still can't see the main lead aura in him.
P.S. Cui Shi Jiu and Zheng Zhi Heng's love story is the dark horse of this story...too bad they killed ZZH. I still feel bad and regretful about that. Grr! What a bad decision!!!
Story - 9.5, Don't get me wrong, the plot and how it unfolds was good. It's just that the ending made me a bit disheartened, and not to mention how I see so much potential with CSJ and ZZH romance but they ended up using him as a plot device to redeem Cui Shi Jiu. Additionally, I feel like something's really off towards the end when Zhang Jin Ran was dealing with Prince Ying. It feels like he's got too much authority and power in him while the "Prince" felt powerless which made me watch those scenes with critical doubtful eyes.
Acting/Cast - 10, No words needed! I love every artists in this production and I would never have them any other way. Liu Yu Ning here was insane!!—his acting is so suave to me that all of his facial expressions, specially when he's smiling and mad are so attractive. Love him a lot. <3 + I would love to see Chloe Xie's other acting projects too. My attention was so drawn to her during the end.
Music - 10, I honestly didn't pay much attention to the music but the opening was exceptionally done. + I never felt bothered by any of the insert songs during my entire watch experience. I even feel like it helped heightened the emotions of the events at some point.
Rewatch Value - 10, Will definitely re-watch this drama if I happen to have some more spare time to do so. + This is the fastest drama I finished this year (I only procrastinated watching the last episode because I got no time to write my review) Hehehe...
Overall - 10, An overall good drama to watch for sure. I highly recommend this specially to those people who loves to watch empowered and skilled women succeed through their hardwork, ingenuity and dedication.
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
I truly appreciate the thought and consideration of whoever is behind this idea of minimizing the impact of YZJ death by giving us lowkey signs instead of shoving it in front of our faces. Like, thank you so much for going easy on us by delivering that tragic scene in a milder and less distressing way. I totally commend you for not using it as a clickbait to gain more attention and views for the finale of this story.
Diving into the story itself, am I the only one expecting Duanwu to go pearl diving again? Like, I waited patiently for it to come but it never happened. Then it finally occured to me after 30 episodes that she'll never gonna go back doing that job again as it's the sole reminder of how rough and painful her life was growing up, and how she had to work hard in order to vouch herself out of that predicament. It also made me realize that there are people who stops doing things they excelled the most not because they want to but simply because doing so suffocates them. So they would rather choose to avoid and completely abandon it by honing their other skills in order to gain more experience and transition to other things they have potential in doing.
Another thing I want to talk about is the exceptional execution of our main and supporting leads of their characters' role in the show—Yan Zi Jing as the revengful soul, Duanwu as the hardworking, wise and clever individual who want success and comfort in life, Zhang Jin Ran as the upstanding official who values justice and righteousness above everything else and Cui Shi Jiu as the redeemed villain who went through a handful of agonizing event which taught her to how to love and appreciate life better. This drama revolved around these characters and how they face their own demons and traumas in order to achieve their dreams and goals in life. They're the core elements of this drama who molded and animated it to be the outstanding show it is right now.
Love stories/relationships on this drama are one of the most sweet, memorable yet heart-rending for me. I totally appreciate the healthy rivalry and friendship between the Yan Zi Jing and Zhang Jin Ran so I never really expect them to pull off Yan Zi Jing dying and Duan Wu getting left behind. Specially after what they've done with Cui Shi Jiu and Zheng Zhi Heng...the progress of their love story was promising only for them to slaughter ZZH mercilessly—it was truly heroic and valiant though so I will give them credits for that—nonetheless, I would say that this drama is a tragic-themed story intricately enveloped in an enticing love story.
Phasing overall is good as they were able to highlight each stage of the main leads progress in terms of their personal growth and their romantic relationship. I even think that they did great in arranging the sequence of events in a logical and natural way on how they have to go through the trials and hardships in their respective lives to obtain the position and success they're trying to achieve.
Design, Costume, Colour Scheme, Editing and everything related to effects - are mostly nicely done aside from the Ship scenes. LOL I was never against of green screen utilization so I find it rather clumsy and funny whenever I spot some unpolished details but I am sure it's going to be big deal for others. In addition to that, the size of the ship doesn't add up to the number and size of the rooms being showed. Like, what do you mean multiple rooms of approx. 20sqft+ can fit that mid size looking ship? are you kidding me? When the ships interior is bigger than its exterior. Hahaha!
Lastly, I just wanna mention how crazy Zhao Lusi and Liu Yuning's chemistry is. Everytime they're on screen, it feels like they're some kind of breathtakingly gorgeous scenary I can't stop looking and taking a picture at. Their spark is so vibrant that I feel like they're illuminating the entire screen which makes me smile unconciously. + The thumb kissing scene on Ep.31 was the most phenomenal, romantic and iconic kissing scene I have ever seen for a couple or so of years now. Dang! They really got me rolling over my bed, all cramped up because of how thrilled I was during that scene.
I just wanna say here as well that I have watched Tang Xiao Tian as the 2nd male lead for multiple times now that I have automatically branded him that way in my head. I would love to see him take some cool and amazing main lead role cause right now I still can't see the main lead aura in him.
P.S. Cui Shi Jiu and Zheng Zhi Heng's love story is the dark horse of this story...too bad they killed ZZH. I still feel bad and regretful about that. Grr! What a bad decision!!!
Story - 9.5, Don't get me wrong, the plot and how it unfolds was good. It's just that the ending made me a bit disheartened, and not to mention how I see so much potential with CSJ and ZZH romance but they ended up using him as a plot device to redeem Cui Shi Jiu. Additionally, I feel like something's really off towards the end when Zhang Jin Ran was dealing with Prince Ying. It feels like he's got too much authority and power in him while the "Prince" felt powerless which made me watch those scenes with critical doubtful eyes.
Acting/Cast - 10, No words needed! I love every artists in this production and I would never have them any other way. Liu Yu Ning here was insane!!—his acting is so suave to me that all of his facial expressions, specially when he's smiling and mad are so attractive. Love him a lot. <3 + I would love to see Chloe Xie's other acting projects too. My attention was so drawn to her during the end.
Music - 10, I honestly didn't pay much attention to the music but the opening was exceptionally done. + I never felt bothered by any of the insert songs during my entire watch experience. I even feel like it helped heightened the emotions of the events at some point.
Rewatch Value - 10, Will definitely re-watch this drama if I happen to have some more spare time to do so. + This is the fastest drama I finished this year (I only procrastinated watching the last episode because I got no time to write my review) Hehehe...
Overall - 10, An overall good drama to watch for sure. I highly recommend this specially to those people who loves to watch empowered and skilled women succeed through their hardwork, ingenuity and dedication.
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
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