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This review may contain spoilers
Decent watch for those looking for a revenge plot with political intrigue
Highlights:
- Great start from ep 1 with nice pacing (despite being a slow burn) that kept me engaged for the first 20-ish episodes.
- I had a lot of love for the actors who played Gao Ming and the Marquis - they were probably my favourite characters. The actor who play Cao Jing Xian did a great job too
- The chemistry between the actors were great, especially the interesting dynamic that was shown between Zang Hai and the Marquis (heck they had more chemistry than the main couple), the back and forth schemes and wondering who would outsmart the other was fun. Even though the Marquis was the bad guy, I couldn't hate him.
- Following Zang Hai's journey and just feeling for the poor guy. He was imperfect but that is what made him real and human.
Lows:
- I felt the show lost some momentum after the Marquis died (maybe I'm just biased but I feel that he was a big asset to the story). It was also due to what felt like a forced love line between Zang Hai and Antu. I have no issue with romance being added to this type of plot, in fact, I'm a fan of watching romcoms/romance dramas, but there was not enough emotional development between the couple to make me believe in their relationship. It lacked substance - they went from 0 to 100 too quickly. They should have omitted the romance or at least give it proper development.
- The writing wasn't very consistent throughout the drama and the reveal of the third person felt anti-climatic. I wish it was someone we wouldn't suspect (I mean of course everyone would be suspicious of a masked man ep 1 lol - it should've been someone else).
- Like many dramas, the ending wasn't the best. I felt like they just wrapped everything up way too easily after dragging things on for 10+ episodes. This could've been shortened to 30 eps.
Overall, a decent watch compared to many of the releases lately. It definitely got my attention (especially because it reminded me so much of Nirvana, but it's definitely not on part with the classic series). Was it the most well written story? No. But was it good enough? Yes. Therefore, an 8/10.
- Great start from ep 1 with nice pacing (despite being a slow burn) that kept me engaged for the first 20-ish episodes.
- I had a lot of love for the actors who played Gao Ming and the Marquis - they were probably my favourite characters. The actor who play Cao Jing Xian did a great job too
- The chemistry between the actors were great, especially the interesting dynamic that was shown between Zang Hai and the Marquis (heck they had more chemistry than the main couple), the back and forth schemes and wondering who would outsmart the other was fun. Even though the Marquis was the bad guy, I couldn't hate him.
- Following Zang Hai's journey and just feeling for the poor guy. He was imperfect but that is what made him real and human.
Lows:
- I felt the show lost some momentum after the Marquis died (maybe I'm just biased but I feel that he was a big asset to the story). It was also due to what felt like a forced love line between Zang Hai and Antu. I have no issue with romance being added to this type of plot, in fact, I'm a fan of watching romcoms/romance dramas, but there was not enough emotional development between the couple to make me believe in their relationship. It lacked substance - they went from 0 to 100 too quickly. They should have omitted the romance or at least give it proper development.
- The writing wasn't very consistent throughout the drama and the reveal of the third person felt anti-climatic. I wish it was someone we wouldn't suspect (I mean of course everyone would be suspicious of a masked man ep 1 lol - it should've been someone else).
- Like many dramas, the ending wasn't the best. I felt like they just wrapped everything up way too easily after dragging things on for 10+ episodes. This could've been shortened to 30 eps.
Overall, a decent watch compared to many of the releases lately. It definitely got my attention (especially because it reminded me so much of Nirvana, but it's definitely not on part with the classic series). Was it the most well written story? No. But was it good enough? Yes. Therefore, an 8/10.
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