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Best part of this drama was the cast
==Breakdown==
Background plot - 70%
Romance - 20%
Misc comedy - 10%
Background plot - It was fine
Romantic chemistry - ML and FL had good chemistry, just not romantic chemistry (i.e. no butterflies were felt at any point).
Misc comedy - Fine
Production value and direction - *Mid*
I absolutely love Hou Ming Hao. I will watch anything he's in. He's fantastic.
This is my second time seeing Ai Mi and I think she's great.
Separately and together, both actors did a great job in their roles. But I'm going to be honest here, I did not feel romantic chemistry between them. At one point, the ML claims that he fell in love with the FL at first sight but the writer/director definitely DID NOT show that on screen. It was almost like a throw-away sentence and I was shocked when he said it (because, again, there was no evidence of this in the actual drama). ML and FL had chemistry, but it felt more like siblings or good friends who deeply admire each other, but nothing romantic. Characters were likeable, but ML didn't really change; he was basically perfect the whole time. FL did experience some growth.
The main plot followed a similar path to any number of previous CDramas; scheming court politics and power struggles with a familiar ending and resolution. I did like that the FL was an engineer, which isn't necessarily unique but you don't see it often. I also liked that the ML had wives who he considered good friends and had married them only as a means to help them. That was cool.
One other thing you should be aware of: you could tell this was a lower budget drama, so you have to know going in that it feels low budget / a little cheesy right from the get-go. I also think this drama suffered for me because I was watching 'Road to Splendor' at the same time and the production value there was OUTSTANDING (like, the best I've ever seen in a CDrama). In comparison, this one felt threadbare.
Background plot - 70%
Romance - 20%
Misc comedy - 10%
Background plot - It was fine
Romantic chemistry - ML and FL had good chemistry, just not romantic chemistry (i.e. no butterflies were felt at any point).
Misc comedy - Fine
Production value and direction - *Mid*
I absolutely love Hou Ming Hao. I will watch anything he's in. He's fantastic.
This is my second time seeing Ai Mi and I think she's great.
Separately and together, both actors did a great job in their roles. But I'm going to be honest here, I did not feel romantic chemistry between them. At one point, the ML claims that he fell in love with the FL at first sight but the writer/director definitely DID NOT show that on screen. It was almost like a throw-away sentence and I was shocked when he said it (because, again, there was no evidence of this in the actual drama). ML and FL had chemistry, but it felt more like siblings or good friends who deeply admire each other, but nothing romantic. Characters were likeable, but ML didn't really change; he was basically perfect the whole time. FL did experience some growth.
The main plot followed a similar path to any number of previous CDramas; scheming court politics and power struggles with a familiar ending and resolution. I did like that the FL was an engineer, which isn't necessarily unique but you don't see it often. I also liked that the ML had wives who he considered good friends and had married them only as a means to help them. That was cool.
One other thing you should be aware of: you could tell this was a lower budget drama, so you have to know going in that it feels low budget / a little cheesy right from the get-go. I also think this drama suffered for me because I was watching 'Road to Splendor' at the same time and the production value there was OUTSTANDING (like, the best I've ever seen in a CDrama). In comparison, this one felt threadbare.
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