Peya

S/he shouldn't try. S/he obv. doesn't like ZYR, since he was one of the highlights of GtG. If s/he blames him 4 the not-so-perfect script, s/he is rabidly biased against him. No point in trying anything else.

Totally agree.

Np. I enjoyed it btw, good story.

32x30min, standard South-Korean length, just multiplied differently. U should give it a try and see.

I feel your pain. It took me a few tries to get through the beginning, too.
My ears and eyes were 'bleeding', even after reading up on it, knowing the reason 4 her childish behaviour, I just couldn't stand her cutesy-baby everything.
However, once I managed to get past it, this is really a great story, music, directing, acting... everything.

Now, stop 4 moment and think about it:
if I was this bothered, how come I could say, it was one of - if not THE - best fantasy I've ever watched in m life. ;)

Totally agree. If u managed to tolerate her voice in this - I feel your pain :D - LGIEF is another gem. Not perfect, but I loved it, and her char was really funny.

4 fantasy with 'dark' ML, I would recommend
- Moonlight Mystique
- Love You Seven Times
- Till the End of The Moon
- Fangs of Fortune
- Love Game in Eastern Fantasy
- Back from the Brink
- Hard to Find
- When Destiny Brings the Demon
If DFQC is dark, than they r, 2, but more like aloof+/badass+/bossy+witty sly foxes. However, just like with DFQC, once smitten, they mostly turn into jelous kittens. ;)

Well, I just love everything fantasy, so, if u don't mind, I can give u some titles from a bigger pool. Not all are perfect masterpieces, (also, Chinese censorship tends to ruin endings, continuity etc.) but these have sg about them, that many of us liked:
- Love You Seven Times (FL's voice and behaviour is similar to Orchid's at the beginning, but boy, does she change. One of my personal favs beside LBAFD, even though I can't stand that cutesy voice in either of them. :D )
- Moonlight Mystique
- Till the End of The Moon
- Back from the Brink
- Fangs of Fortune
- Who Rules the World
- Love Game in Eastern Fantasy
- Be Yourself (short length series, really entertaining, just has 1 giant plothole, so rooting 4 S2)
- Hard to Find
- Under the Power
Than, there r those, that many others liked, and also those, that I haven't gotten around to watch yet, but got stellar reviews:
- Joy of Life S1&2 (somehow i just can't get past the 1st few eps, but might be the highest rated Chinese fantasy series)
- I Am Nobody S1&2
- Nirvana in Fire S1&2
- Mysterious Lotus Casebook
- The Untamed (not 4 me)
- The Romance of Tiger and Rose
- Ashes of Love
- Love of the Divine Tree
- When Destiny Brings the Demon
- Immortal Samsara
- The Starry Love
- Ancient Love Poetry
- Love in the Clouds
- Shadow Love (Strictly if u can suspend disbelief and tolerate her voice, since FL was a total miscast, but ML can make up 4 it, and the story is pretty good, too. I tend to rewatch 4 details, but I couldn't with this1, even though it has CL! as ML.)
- Guardians of the Dafeng
- A Journey to Love
- Lost You Forever S1&2
- Love of Nirvana
These r mostly labeled wuxia. However, MDL doesn't have xianxia as genre, only in tag, even though, from what I know, these r 2 diff genres.
Since u r looking 4 sg similar to LBFAD, I highly recommend to start with the 1st 3 on my list, in that order.
Have fun!

Oh, thx, missed that1.
I remember when she told XY about the corpse pile, but the part where it's connected to her master...
Hmm, was it mentioned maybe, when he saved her from drowning? That part is a bit foggy, was half-asleep and haven't rewatched, but it might have been mentioned there. Guess I have to rewatch that now :)
Thx for the bookinfo in advance.

I pay much attention to details, that's why I love c-dramas. Just like with this1, the details saved the series for me, I really enjoyed it from beginning to end.

She only started to take off her mask, as she grew closer to XY. She didn't have a single person around, with whom she could be honest (her master being far away), thus we could only see her real self more in maybe the second half of the series, so I didn't mind it, as it was understandable.

Since you've read the novel, one question though, if you have the time: when and how did she meet her master? I can't recall any detail about it, and that's a hole I just can't fill with my imagination.

Well said. I watched SL for CL, no disappointment there, he was marvelous, but just to imagine the amount of arrows FL would have to carry to be actually able to use her bow in close combat, not to mention her shooting speed - enemy soldiers have to w8 in line to get shot.
She is not Legolas for sure. :D
And yes, my thoughts exactly, at least she should have been dubbed, it would have added a bit more credibility with the right voice.

The pacing, the acting, the fight scenes, the series as a whole is really good, forget about the reviews, give it a try. Not perfect, has it's flaws, mainly on the story side, but all in all it's worth the time.

Couldn't have said it better. Just ludicrous, not to mention her physique, her high voice that breaks mid-speech, the way she walks, as if she's on the catwalk, zero credibility as a general, but hey, SL is fantasy, anything goes I guess ;)

Finally, some1 else can see, what I see :)
So many complaints about her being bubbly, too bubbly, when it was obviously just an act. When she stood in front of her old sword, and XY came in, the way she 'put on' her smiling bubbly mask before turning around was so visible, I don't get how ppl missed it. And that was just one of the many. However, even if ppl couldn't notice, it was so unambiguous, she had to act all her life, ofc she wore a mask.

Don't move an inch than, you're at the right place ;)
His acting, fight scenes, his whole performance is stellar.

Now I get it. We interpreted the whole thing differently.
For me, FL wasn't a star general, because she was dominating men's world. She became a star general despite her difficult circumstances, and - as ML pointed out - because of her unparalleled stubbornness.
She was forced to take her stepbrother's place, lived as a boy, but she was very stubborn, wanted to escape and fight for her country, thus she ran away into the military, at the age of 15, because she felt, it was her calling.

In my eyes, it had nothing to do with genders, it was about a true calling and the stubbornness to fulfill it. Yes, she had to live in a male dominated world, yet she achieved something, that even men had to work very hard to get, because she felt, it was her calling and never gave up. Her tenacity was seen through the whole series. Maybe she had to w8, stumbled again and again, but she never stopped, once she set a goal.

At that day and age most women - even of rich families - were treated like tradable items, even in the most advanced countries. Hardly any had choices, they were forced to do whatever their families wanted them to do. You can't expect a historical drama - even if its fiction - to totally change the way women were treated in the past, they can only take some liberties. Sad, but that's the way it was.
I didn't feel like it was mocking women, when she dressed up for the role. It was part of the story, it had a natural flow. She was never allowed to behave like a girl, thus had to be taught, and yes, at that time and place, women had to excel in those things. Yet again, in my view, it's history, not mockery.

Don't get me started on FL's speeches... ;) So misplaced, so off.

If you've seen LOTFG, don't get your hopes up, not terrible, but far from that.
Esp. the arrows, the archers' shots, the FL's shots go straight into the ridiculous category.
However, CL makes up for it all with his performance. His fight scenes are something else.

My best advice is, don't try to find some earth-shattering message or life-changing revelation in these series, just take it for what it is: entertainment.
It was far from perfect, but it perfectly entertained me, and most ppl are watching these for only that purpose: to get away from the daily grind a little.

Not sure where you mean stunt doubles, but I don't think they used many, if any. In c-dramas stunt doubles are not common. If you watch BTS, many actors and actresses do their own stunts, you can see many bruises on them, because of spinning on ropes, working in freezing water, painstakingly practicing for who knows how long, - not like Hollywood actors and actresses. Don't belittle their hard work pls.

However, if you need something groundbreaking to watch, you should read professional critics' reviews to find those gems. Here the reviews are very biased.

Women's empowerment? I don't need that, we have enough power in my country, and don't feel the need to rise above men, each have their own values.

Instead, as a woman, I find it appalling how manly men are reduced to lovesick, subservient puppies lately. Many Chinese series are written by women, and It's sickening to see how they turn men into these slave-puppies, doing everything for their master's approval, thus sending a really bad message to women.
House chores are not demeaning, and can be shared, but to push it all on men living now, because previously women were oppressed by other men? Isn't it the same oppression of a kind, the other way around?
I prefer manly men, not these love-slaves.
However, you write about brainwashed female authors, so I guess we don't usually watch the same series. Go and take a look at CL's other new series, Shadow Love. (Worse than this one btw.) Even though CL's performance is stellar, he is turned into one of those lovesick slave-puppies, so you'll see what I'm talking about. Sickening, really.
However, the lady of the house is not expected to fulfill any traditional female roles, so you might like it. (There's the marriage thing, but it was the same for men at that time, emperor could decide anybody's fate, so don't read into it.)

Back to this one: FL was never expected to fulfill any trad. female role here either. What she did, she wanted to do to surprise ML (the sewing and noodle), and it's the same in real life, we like to surprise our other half every now and than, don't we? And she was pretending to be half a proper lady at that time. The marriage thing is the same, as above.
So what do you mean
'All it's done is piled on more pressure for women to think they must dominate in men's domain as well as excelling in traditional female roles.'
by this? I don't see any indication in this series. There's no 'as well as', just 'either...or...'
Sry, it became very long. The thing is, don't try to read too much into these, but if you do, than watch female empowerment movies and series praised by professional critics.
glhfbb

We don't see things the same way they do, just accept it.
Most ppl here are somehow blinded to the fact, that she's grown up training among men, without women's influence on her, which would obviously result in a much stronger, manlier woman, with a very strong, commanding presence. Instead, we got an extremely thin, weak-looking proper lady, with high voice, which can't even start to carry those war speeches, and breaks mid-speech! (Yes, even her voice should be stronger from all the previous shouting, and the harsh living conditions.) It hurts my ear every time, when she raises her voice, but the problem is not her, it's our eyes, ears and brain, because most ppl here are just perfectly fine with the above. ;)
(Not the actress's fault, nor the character's, she was a total miscast for the role.)
No magic will happen later, or if any, she actually turns into a full proper little lady.
However, CL's performance is worth the watch. He is absolutely amazing, made me watch it till the end, even though I'm fed up with the 'strong, manly man turned into little servant puppy dog by love' bull* by now.

1. The most important reason: the acting. Main leads have done an amazing job. I can get lost in micro-expressions, look for little details, that can change the way I look at certain events, ppl, plot developments. The way they can convey their characters' emotions is uncanny.
Eg. many complain, that FL is all cheerful and bubbly. Can't they see - even though it's made perfectly clear by certain scenes, when she visibly 'puts on' her bubbly mask - that it's all an act? She had to act since childhood, she is a pro by now.

2. Yepp, shallow as a kiddie pool: Cheng Lei, ofc. I mean, which girl couldn't and wouldn't look at that guy for hours :D And it's magnified by his pristine acting: his eyes... those evil little smiles... etc.

3. The 'why'-s. I'm always fascinated by them. What makes them act that way? Why did that happen?... Not always getting an answer, though :)

4. To hell with physics, I love Chinese fight scenes, the visuals are just mind-blowing. And to think, that there were some, that they cut, such a shame.

Btw, many has beef with last few eps, but I don't know why. It's pretty obvious, if someone has seen some palace intrigues.
Emperors are snakes, when it comes to military. Ofc. he wouldn't allow them to get married, merging two great armies into a huge one, and yes, the emperor is an ass, wanting to make sure those two armies wouldn't merge, thus 'granting' the marriage with another guy. It surprised me a lot more, that he let them get married in the end.
It had nothing to do with being male or female, just palace politics.
My only beef is with the fact, that I haven't seen signs of 2ML getting close to snapping, he just blew, but I might have missed sg.
The story isn't perfect, but it was worth the watch for me.
I don't mind watching the same tropes a gazillion times, as long as it's well done, and the acting,+/directing,+/editing adds some xtra, making me want to watch it. :)