A hit and miss
This “rebirth”drama had many glaring flaws but I managed to finish it so it did intrigue. It really was a hit and a miss for me. From the first few episodes I could already see that this wouldn’t win drama of the year. The overall story and direction is mediocre at best.
The hits:
Some really likable characters: I enjoyed a lot of the characters and their personalities, even some of the villains. FL and ML are overall strong in character and the kind that’s not frustrating to watch. Many side characters also added a lot of warmth and fun - like ZH and princess FQ were just rays of sunshine in a corrupt palace. At first I did wonder about some of the casting, like the brother, but eventually he grew on me. The women were also particularly delightful to watch as they were all just so pretty.
Some good storylines on its own: How they narrated some of the cases were a good watch. I also enjoyed how characters that appeared in the series at different stages all came together in the end - that was rather poetic. And the overall idea of the rebirth was more original than other rebirth plots.
Family and relationships: Rather than the typical tropes, it was refreshing to see the father put his children’s happiness above anything else. Instead of the typical miscommunications or distrust you see play out too long in mediocre dramas, it portrayed some beautiful relationships of trust and camaraderie.
The misses:
Directing and editing: I don’t know much about film but I find that the directors are critical to the success of a drama - and I think they did a poor job. The scenes sometimes just cut abruptly, some angles and scenes were taken with noticeable flaws - almost amateurish, the voiceovers/dubbing were almost comical sometimes (particularly the scene when XS had her monologue, I cringed). It’s one of those occasions where it really is the fault of the director that we find the acting bad.
Storylines, screenwriting and execution: While some storylines were good, there were also a lot more storylines/scenes and how things played out that were so unoriginal that laziness just shone through. Episodes 36+ were a big representation of that. The flashback scenes also didn’t really show us much - they could have really delved deeper into this aspect to make a good storytelling.
Surface level villains and motivations: I think one of the biggest failures of this drama was the main villain. For a character with so much screen time, they failed abysmally at showing why RY was the way she was. Were we meant to feel sorry for her or hate her? I was left feeling more confused than feeling any of those things (why below).
***spoiler***.
They failed to show why she always played the king and why she didn’t treat him sincerely as her brother - I couldn’t see why when they showed the king to be nothing but good to her. It makes her entire personality grown out of “villain for villains sake”. There was just no real backstory for her actions. This is so important to the story, especially because they were the reason all of this happened to the FL. Their overall demise was not near satisfactory - it was an insult to the suffering endured by everyone.
The hits:
Some really likable characters: I enjoyed a lot of the characters and their personalities, even some of the villains. FL and ML are overall strong in character and the kind that’s not frustrating to watch. Many side characters also added a lot of warmth and fun - like ZH and princess FQ were just rays of sunshine in a corrupt palace. At first I did wonder about some of the casting, like the brother, but eventually he grew on me. The women were also particularly delightful to watch as they were all just so pretty.
Some good storylines on its own: How they narrated some of the cases were a good watch. I also enjoyed how characters that appeared in the series at different stages all came together in the end - that was rather poetic. And the overall idea of the rebirth was more original than other rebirth plots.
Family and relationships: Rather than the typical tropes, it was refreshing to see the father put his children’s happiness above anything else. Instead of the typical miscommunications or distrust you see play out too long in mediocre dramas, it portrayed some beautiful relationships of trust and camaraderie.
The misses:
Directing and editing: I don’t know much about film but I find that the directors are critical to the success of a drama - and I think they did a poor job. The scenes sometimes just cut abruptly, some angles and scenes were taken with noticeable flaws - almost amateurish, the voiceovers/dubbing were almost comical sometimes (particularly the scene when XS had her monologue, I cringed). It’s one of those occasions where it really is the fault of the director that we find the acting bad.
Storylines, screenwriting and execution: While some storylines were good, there were also a lot more storylines/scenes and how things played out that were so unoriginal that laziness just shone through. Episodes 36+ were a big representation of that. The flashback scenes also didn’t really show us much - they could have really delved deeper into this aspect to make a good storytelling.
Surface level villains and motivations: I think one of the biggest failures of this drama was the main villain. For a character with so much screen time, they failed abysmally at showing why RY was the way she was. Were we meant to feel sorry for her or hate her? I was left feeling more confused than feeling any of those things (why below).
***spoiler***.
They failed to show why she always played the king and why she didn’t treat him sincerely as her brother - I couldn’t see why when they showed the king to be nothing but good to her. It makes her entire personality grown out of “villain for villains sake”. There was just no real backstory for her actions. This is so important to the story, especially because they were the reason all of this happened to the FL. Their overall demise was not near satisfactory - it was an insult to the suffering endured by everyone.
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