This review may contain spoilers
A fast paced and nicely written rebirth drama | A mission to save lives and change the past.
"Husbands are meant for troublesome chores, you know? If you don't bother me, that'll be my biggest problem. Therefore, please keep bothering me." - Yu Qi/Jin
I must say that producers are becoming more and more resourceful and crafty in circumventing Chinese censorship laws these days (because of time travel ban). Well, I guess I am just glad that the theme was executed decently and the plot was nicely woven together.
Something I'm glad about, is for the production team for keeping the trope scenes at the bare minimum. I expected it to contain the typical elements found in idol dramas and knowing that they kept unnecessary plots at bay made me truly grateful. Thank you for not infesting this show with loads of foolishness and absurdity.
Looking back, I can only recall 2 scenes from Shan'an Medical Hall arc that made me roll my eyes and sigh for being ridiculously illogical. First is when Shen Xin'an is disguising as a woman but no one noticed it. Even the supposedly keen ML failed to notice it at all. Like, hello!! It's 2025 and knowing that people are still utilizing this god forsaken stupid plot offended me. I can praise them for casting a feminine and petite looking man but cannot forgive them for making the characters seem stupid for not recognizing a man at one glance. I mean, if Shen Xin'an is at par with Thai lady boys I might understand but he's not. You can see his prominent men features on him. So, nope! Second is the sense/purpose of this entire Medical Hall scene. I was expecting it to have some kind of relevance in the story towards the following arcs but it never had any. It was a filler plot that was added as device to make their journey a bit what? turbulent? perilous? totally useless. Omitting that whole plot will not harm the story in any way or form. So I don't understand why they included that in the final cut which brought nothing but a smear to the story's flawless run.
Continuing this trend of bad blood, I want to express my greatest and most sincerest appreciation to this production for killing Cui Mingyue in the most cruel and satisfying way. That ominous b*tch deserved countless deaths but knowing that she got stabbed multiple times then burned beyond recognition made me at peace. LOL! On the other hand, I'm quite dissatisfied with Princess Rongyang's ending as she deserves 10x of what her daughter received. The small cut/slash and a hairpin stabbed were simply not enough for me. She much deserve to be stabbed multiple times by a thick sword on top of the grief and betrayal she's having caused by her brother and husband. She even got a posthumous title when she should've been labeled as a traitor and her body thrown in the wild. I can never understand kindness given to unpardonable sinister evils. Anyway, I got no other grievances to vent aside from the above. Haha!
Traversing towards the brighter aspect of my review. I enjoyed the master-servant relationship between Jiang Si X A'man & Yu Qi X Long Dan. Both are equally adorable and entertaining to watch. It was also fun seeing Erniu (Dog) being included in almost every scene of Jiang Si & Yu Qi. He's like a guardian angel who's their to witness all the sweet and bitter moments of their relationship. He's practically their son (assuming he's a male).
Kudos to the writer/s as well for giving the CPs time to develop and sort out their feelings. It make sense and become much meaningful to know Zhen Heng's reason for not accepting Princess Fuqing (marriage proposal) the first time. Same thing goes with Jiang Zhen & Lu Chuchu. Both are cautious to not spoil their friendship but when triggered by a hint of confession, they immediately expressed their mutual affection. Gotta thank the writer as well for the improvement bestowed to Jiang Zhan. Like, thank you so much for the 2nd chance given to him to become competent. I was furious and worried when he got tricked, thinking he might die. Good thing it served as a lesson and a wake up call for him to stop being so useless. Phew!
Talking about the leads, I think they have a strong chemistry that was made even firmer by their undeniable connection. Another aspect I noticed is that they have a good understanding of their roles, which allowed them to execute them splendidly. This was of course, made possible because their characters are nicely written, well-developed, and exhibited intense commitment and affection towards one another.
Lastly, the ending. I'm a sucker for a landscape-worthy scene of a harmonious, happy family, and they presented it in a heartwarming way. However, I am just not really fond of Jiang Si & Yu Qi being an Emperor and Empress. I would much prefer them retreating to a mountainous abode, living a simple life—farming and taking care of their kids.
P.S. I just want to praise the adjustments in aspect ratio and color grading whenever a flashback is being shown. It is such a considerate move for viewers to distinguish scenes and to avoid confusion. This is much better than just playing flashback scenes out of the blue without any cue at all—a lazy practice that most production companies often resort to right now.
Story - 9.5, I loved and enjoyed this story a lot. The only aspect that prevented me from giving it a perfect score was the completely unnecessary filler episodes of Shan'an Medical Hall. Aside from that, most of the scenes were compelling and really entertaining to watch. I also want to commend the production team for giving us a well-written script and not just some random stuff hastily put up together to create a so called story.
Acting/Cast - 10, I am satisfied with them all. This is my first drama of Zhang WanYi & Jing Tian as the main leads, and I'm amazed by their overall performance. Something noteworthy is Zhang WanYi's resemblance with Bai Jingting. He reminds me of Bai Jingting so much!! Specially his goofy and clumsy characters in New Life Begins & Destined which you can't help loving.
Music - 10, I so love all the music used in this drama. Specially the opening and insert ballad song for dramatic scenes.
Rewatch Value - 10, Overall this is a good idol drama. Great script with consistent plots, and the leads are perfect for their roles.
Overall - 9.5, I would have given this a perfect rating only if I was not reminded that this is an idol drama after all. That Shen'an Medical Hall arc really tainted this story for me. Such a distraction for a good script!
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
I must say that producers are becoming more and more resourceful and crafty in circumventing Chinese censorship laws these days (because of time travel ban). Well, I guess I am just glad that the theme was executed decently and the plot was nicely woven together.
Something I'm glad about, is for the production team for keeping the trope scenes at the bare minimum. I expected it to contain the typical elements found in idol dramas and knowing that they kept unnecessary plots at bay made me truly grateful. Thank you for not infesting this show with loads of foolishness and absurdity.
Looking back, I can only recall 2 scenes from Shan'an Medical Hall arc that made me roll my eyes and sigh for being ridiculously illogical. First is when Shen Xin'an is disguising as a woman but no one noticed it. Even the supposedly keen ML failed to notice it at all. Like, hello!! It's 2025 and knowing that people are still utilizing this god forsaken stupid plot offended me. I can praise them for casting a feminine and petite looking man but cannot forgive them for making the characters seem stupid for not recognizing a man at one glance. I mean, if Shen Xin'an is at par with Thai lady boys I might understand but he's not. You can see his prominent men features on him. So, nope! Second is the sense/purpose of this entire Medical Hall scene. I was expecting it to have some kind of relevance in the story towards the following arcs but it never had any. It was a filler plot that was added as device to make their journey a bit what? turbulent? perilous? totally useless. Omitting that whole plot will not harm the story in any way or form. So I don't understand why they included that in the final cut which brought nothing but a smear to the story's flawless run.
Continuing this trend of bad blood, I want to express my greatest and most sincerest appreciation to this production for killing Cui Mingyue in the most cruel and satisfying way. That ominous b*tch deserved countless deaths but knowing that she got stabbed multiple times then burned beyond recognition made me at peace. LOL! On the other hand, I'm quite dissatisfied with Princess Rongyang's ending as she deserves 10x of what her daughter received. The small cut/slash and a hairpin stabbed were simply not enough for me. She much deserve to be stabbed multiple times by a thick sword on top of the grief and betrayal she's having caused by her brother and husband. She even got a posthumous title when she should've been labeled as a traitor and her body thrown in the wild. I can never understand kindness given to unpardonable sinister evils. Anyway, I got no other grievances to vent aside from the above. Haha!
Traversing towards the brighter aspect of my review. I enjoyed the master-servant relationship between Jiang Si X A'man & Yu Qi X Long Dan. Both are equally adorable and entertaining to watch. It was also fun seeing Erniu (Dog) being included in almost every scene of Jiang Si & Yu Qi. He's like a guardian angel who's their to witness all the sweet and bitter moments of their relationship. He's practically their son (assuming he's a male).
Kudos to the writer/s as well for giving the CPs time to develop and sort out their feelings. It make sense and become much meaningful to know Zhen Heng's reason for not accepting Princess Fuqing (marriage proposal) the first time. Same thing goes with Jiang Zhen & Lu Chuchu. Both are cautious to not spoil their friendship but when triggered by a hint of confession, they immediately expressed their mutual affection. Gotta thank the writer as well for the improvement bestowed to Jiang Zhan. Like, thank you so much for the 2nd chance given to him to become competent. I was furious and worried when he got tricked, thinking he might die. Good thing it served as a lesson and a wake up call for him to stop being so useless. Phew!
Talking about the leads, I think they have a strong chemistry that was made even firmer by their undeniable connection. Another aspect I noticed is that they have a good understanding of their roles, which allowed them to execute them splendidly. This was of course, made possible because their characters are nicely written, well-developed, and exhibited intense commitment and affection towards one another.
Lastly, the ending. I'm a sucker for a landscape-worthy scene of a harmonious, happy family, and they presented it in a heartwarming way. However, I am just not really fond of Jiang Si & Yu Qi being an Emperor and Empress. I would much prefer them retreating to a mountainous abode, living a simple life—farming and taking care of their kids.
P.S. I just want to praise the adjustments in aspect ratio and color grading whenever a flashback is being shown. It is such a considerate move for viewers to distinguish scenes and to avoid confusion. This is much better than just playing flashback scenes out of the blue without any cue at all—a lazy practice that most production companies often resort to right now.
Story - 9.5, I loved and enjoyed this story a lot. The only aspect that prevented me from giving it a perfect score was the completely unnecessary filler episodes of Shan'an Medical Hall. Aside from that, most of the scenes were compelling and really entertaining to watch. I also want to commend the production team for giving us a well-written script and not just some random stuff hastily put up together to create a so called story.
Acting/Cast - 10, I am satisfied with them all. This is my first drama of Zhang WanYi & Jing Tian as the main leads, and I'm amazed by their overall performance. Something noteworthy is Zhang WanYi's resemblance with Bai Jingting. He reminds me of Bai Jingting so much!! Specially his goofy and clumsy characters in New Life Begins & Destined which you can't help loving.
Music - 10, I so love all the music used in this drama. Specially the opening and insert ballad song for dramatic scenes.
Rewatch Value - 10, Overall this is a good idol drama. Great script with consistent plots, and the leads are perfect for their roles.
Overall - 9.5, I would have given this a perfect rating only if I was not reminded that this is an idol drama after all. That Shen'an Medical Hall arc really tainted this story for me. Such a distraction for a good script!
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
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