NotYourOppa

Zhu-yatou! (from Word of honor💕)I'm very glad to see Zhou Ye improving her acting skills.

Reading here that 6 or even 8 last episodes were totally unnecessary seems too harsh for me. But I agree that what happened in the last 3 eps were hmm overcooked? came out of nowhere? plain stupid..? Esp the emperor getting involved in who should marry whom. I've never heard of generals pass on his majesty's edicts too... I pity what the scriptwriter did with Chu Zhao's character there.

Nevertheless I enjoyed the show (despite not enjoying that much the 3 last eps).
It had decent fighting scenes. Although Zhou Ye could never ever pass as a man, she had her badass moments. Someone wrote she was waiting to be rescued - I totally disagree. She made her own plans, went to fight and trusting and believing the backup will come doesn't equal to stay idly like a damsel in distress.
Sadly there were some cringy moments, but IMO they weren't too many. Being balanced with strong points of prowess, respect and trust in the ability of another, it was bearable 😉 Just laugh and wait till it ends XD
The plot holes and inconsistancy hit harder😬

At this point I'm not expecting a Chinese costume drama to fulfil my expectations (and yearnings) for a great, believable cross-dressing story with a strong female character. I'm glad she didn't become a weakling later in the story😂
I gave it 7,5⭐️

And how Xiao Jue and others didn't notice huge change in He Ru fei's frame. Like He Yan is shorter with very narrow shoulders (that itself makes her unpassable as a guy). So what, they all thought his puberty hit just after the battle?😂

If we cut out fighting scenes there might be 5 episodes left XD A long fight in every episode, which left ppl beaten into a pulp, when you think no way they'll fully recover in years, after a few days in this drama land were as good as new :D

Han Na's character was very annoying... Supposed to be a badass, but won't try to rescue a drowning person before somebody tells her to...
As in one of the reviews: poor poor script.

That's one of the real feel tropes here, which're rather limited XD

Ooooh! Thx for that information :D And I think since webnovels are rather poorly written (nethertheless we can enjoy many of them!) when they're "made into a drama" they tend not to be similar that much XD In favor to the dramas🤷🏻‍♀️

An unsuccessful attempt to duplicate "The Double" mastery. Although I've seen only 3 episodes, but first: there's no way she would be so well-versed, intelligent and composed living like this. Just reading every book in a houshold won't be enough. And she's suppossed to be 17!!
The actress' face seems emotionless - not sure if that's how it's supposed to be.
Also, the great bonks in attempting suicide while being distressed that we can see in some Chinese dramas, are preposterous (and too much of unintended comedy).
And too much of a theatre while putting old secrets to light.

Bonus:
The most diabolical mother I've ever seen in any drama! And I think they (the dramamakers) will try to justify her actions, trying to tell a story she wasn't that bad, she couldn't do otherwise, both 17 years ago and now. Ugh...

It's kinda shitty plot for me, but Japanese sometimes manage to give some value to a drama even if the story is so weak. Is it this case or should I just skip it without regret?

I'm halfway. And I think it has potential for a nice movie. Why make it prolonged for 6 h in total when nothing's really happening? It lacks substance.
And why the second couple has to be kept in secret? It feels like Phojai takes advantage of Tag.

Available globally - NO

Might also be a factor. I'm notoriously dissappointed that an asian show I'd like to watch (and on MDL it says it's on Netflix) is not available for me ಠ︵ಠ

My biggest frustration:
- girl, SPEAK!!! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
He told her more and more, but she what? Just kept everything to herself. For so f** long. And even longer. And I thought he had doubts all the time so he won't be much heartbroken later... I felt really sorry for him.

The plot is lacking - to put it shortly. "Silly" is the best word that comes to my mind thinking od the drama. I'm not a fan of throwing "oh there's a special device for this, that and more" just to push the action forward. And it's discouraging when a character's core existance is based on "I love sb and I want to make them mine". Adding previous traumas hadn't much helped bc for most of his on-screen time it was "I live thanks to her-> I'll do anything for her->why can't she choose me."

However, I did enjoy the show XD I shamelessly admit I'd stayed watching for the actors. And Ji Bozai definitely gets The Best Badass Rescuing Entry Award -> I laughed so much! (that I've invented such award :D)

I thought the perfect word describing this drama is "silly". But yet I'm rather enjoying it at least bc of the actors(„• ᴗ •„) I shamelessly admit.
The last seen ep 13 was the best for me :D Chinese fantasy dramas are quite slow, so it's normal you won't get hooked after 2 episodes.
Nethertheless don't expect "heavy plot" or darkness (although like I said I'm not even in the middle of the show, but after 13 hours you can get what you're watching) so it might be too light for you.

*Edit: Edit! Edit! It gets a little more serious and steamy (literally ;)) I haven't expected that. Still I saw you've dropped Love Between Fairy and Demon and Till the End of the Moon, I'd say the three are from one genre.

P.S. I've to ask - why no score next to Go Ahead? It was darker, unhealthy and real bc of these. I enjoyed it for those reasons (and the beautiful song(༎ຶ⌑༎ຶ))

I've also just finished 13th ep. The best one so far! But I really thought Ji Bozai was suspecting her all the time. Rather heartbreaking he didn't(╯︵╰)

Like at first it wasn't THAT BAD. He came with a mission, unexpectedly met Shu He... Maybe he couldn't understand his decisions but at least they're talking ab it. I recall the moment when Shu He couldn't convince him, Zi Ang was still against his actions but kinda let it go? Like: I don't support your decision, I think it's too dangerous for you, but it's not like I can tie you up and keep you forever in the room.
While later it was exactly like this.

I def wouldn't nitpick about sacrificing without being sure your feelings are reciprocated ;) At least it showed Zi Ang did care, at some point, and could forfeit his mission.
I see it that there was an understatement in their relation at first. Both weren't sure the nature of it and let it slowly develop. Which was totally fine. They didn't need grand, flowery speeches of how much one loved the other.

Totally agree with the last paragraph. The second half of the drama was all about it: superficial, romantic-like gestures and love-hate ping-pong to satify the audience. But they'd lost real feelings in that.

Well said on the part Zi Ang bears a lot of traumas on his own. So... What he chose to do proves how weak he is as a person.

Also agreed on "he's possessive, but not intentionally cruel". I didn't say he planned to humiliate Shu He. It just... somehow turned out like this? His possessiveness made him lose his loved one from his eyesight. Not sure if it's clearXD
So maybe in another words: Zi Ang focused on how much HE loves Shu He and how much HE doesn't want - "can't" in his mind actually - lose him and what to do to keep him HERE/CLOSE, that he'd stopped thinking about the prince as a separate, equal human being. Obsession is not love. I won't applaud playing on your beloved one as one wants and calling it great love.

*Altough it's not like this from the beginning. I think his character deteriorated along with the plot.

You're so sweet<3 I finally finished it :D Oh yeah, Mi Jin fits Shu He very well.
The drama has indeed spark my interest, but I've stayed a little critical - I added my impressions in the new comment.
I'll say here (in case that one will get floded) I didn't liked in the second part that Duan Zi Ang treated Shu He like shit, while still saying how much he loves him. And Shu He stating he hates him (but also loves him a little) and the quick changes: in one scene they hate, a few days later they hold hands...
I kinda get the plot point and how they came to becoming enemies, but after those humiliations Shu He should never show any affection to Duan Zi Ang. Nor wait for him you-know-when-and-where.

Finally I've finished! And gave it 6 after all... Not sure if it's still too high😅
First episodes were kinda boring - I couldn't get hooked in it. But it was "bad". And in the middle of 5th ep it became interesting ;) However the last episode I was watching with a little disgust... like, Duan Zi Ang treated him like shit, while Shu He was a prince, an emperor or a king even. So what "love" there possibly could've lasted?
Maybe if there would've been many episodes it would feel different however when it's like this the shifts from hate to love(with hate) were every few days?XD He humiliated Shu He, put him in irons and few days later they hold hands... Come on.

Duan Zi Ang at least had a good one: when he wondered if his every decision he made, was wrong. I screamed: YEEEEEES!!!! dude.

Lemme vocalise the real problem here.
Japan has never acknowledge the atrocities they did in Korea during WWII (as well in China). Never has express remorse, sense of guilt, not to mention any apology. They even dare to reject the existance of sexual slavery system they commited.
The awareness in the society is also very low.

Is a Japanese actor the guilty one here? I'm not so sure. A huge question is do we (and he) know his grandfather commited smth we'd call a war crime? I know it might be hard to prove however him stating he's proud of his grandfather ISN'T automatically praising the atrocities. And there's strong culture of respecting one's ancestors in the region so I can imagine a public dismissal of our own ancestor might've itself lead to criticism. I strongly believe he wouldn't be invited to that programme if he were to said anything else .

But I must say: telling that Japanese are here thanks to the soldiers from that time... is a blatant b*ll*t. You know what? (I'm adressing Fukushi Sota here) There would be many more of you now, as well many wouldn't be suffering from the nukes to these days, if you hadn't started attacking your neighbours (and others too).

O_O So now there's two of us. How can you be European and not heard anything ab Hitler for 18 years?

Read the novel. It was WAAAAAY better😎

Yep, even when I rewatch I tend to skip the first episode or skip most of it XD But then again, after I got hooked into this drama, I regreted not starting it sooner.