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This review may contain spoilers
One of the Greatest story of extremely Strong General Couple in my book!
I have been hearing about this drama for a long time, I thought it was just another historical drama about generals but when I started watching it boy!! I was utterly blown away and completely proven wrong. I have been absolutely hooked by this unique gem from the beginning, keeping me glued to the screen eagerly waiting for every episode excitedly.
What drew me to this drama is the fact that female lead is undeniably strong, yes it's bordering on supernatural strength but I love this feature. It's deliberate and most importantly it works perfectly for this most outstanding and extra ordinary story.
Hats off to all the perfect cast who have brought this magnificent masterpiece to life with their superb acting and smooth chemistry. Not only the main leads are drop dead gorgeous even the villians are heart throbs.
💫ZLH as always have portrayed his complex, layered and emotionally intense character XZ brilliantly well. With each new project his acting has become more natural, refined, and emotionally nuanced. Once again he displayed his mastery of micro-expressions in drama, particularly his ability to convey deep emotion, longing, or menace through his eyes without needing dialogue through out many scenes in this drama. The drama flawlessly showed us XZ's sweet, caring, sensitive, protective, thoughtful, soft, tender and loving family man side in contrast to his decisive, tough, possesive, manipulative, calclating, tactical, cunning, over-powering, commanding presence, patriarchal and strong unmatched awesome warrior side. XZ has very turbulent life yet he masterfully excelled in educational field and cultivated a very admirable and formidable character becoming a legendary marquis who has incorporated the wisdom of contemplating things through 9 times before taking action. He demonstrated both the brains and the brawn and showed his amazing capabilities through out the drama.
💫TXW has also nailed her character exceptionally and impeccably well. She has brought her sun like energy to brighten, employed her intense agility, perseverance and strength to bring out character FCY's warrior and wild persona. She did not fail to incorporate and blend in her sweet, bright and lively but strong and confident energy with the character to make FCY's extremely likeable and unforgettable character come to life seemlessly. She has delivered a whole range of scenes i.e. comedic, intensly emotional, romantic and action ones extremely naturally and with brilliant skills. FCY's character growth is most significantly engaging and captivating part of the story and it is done stunningly well. Her journey of being a child bearing the brunt of mocked parents, to a teenager with no parents and shouldering her household and her ill younger sister, to taking care of and protecting her severly injured husband with unstable identity and a harrassed friend, to protecting her village, to protecting the country along with all her family and friends is a massive and incrediblly admirable feat. FCY is a beauty who has brawns unquestionably yet lacked high intelligence (not being able to study due to socio-economical factors) yet she possessed very admirable rare wisdom, strong principles and insightfulness that leaves most educated people to submit to her stunning decisions and capabilities in the face of most dire circumstances. She is like a wildflower: beautiful, carefree and having capitivating presence that commands undistracted attention to it. The drama perfectly captivates her loving, caring, bold, hardworking, silly, commited, daring, responsible, wise, destressful, vulnerable, yearning, resilient, progressive, selfless and empathetic sides, she is constantly evolving and achieving new goals.
💫Villians have performed significantly well too. They also have captivated the audience with their masterful portrayal of very complex characters. QM/SYH displayed his very vicious, ruthless, obsessive, vindictive, manipulative, cunning, vengeful, selfish, unhinged and malicious sides yet did not fail to express that he was actually pitiful person and there was part of him that wanted unconditional love and care. The character that was hopelessly unreemable had wish for the light for the sake of loved one only. Then, SYQ who is no less villainous then QM bordering on maniac too similarly had a side who loved and admired his brother and wanted to protect his parents and avenge their death. Not forgetting to mention WY, didn't want to be villian but was forced to take wrong path due to all the events 16 years ago invites audiences' loathing yet subtly compels them for understanding at the same time. Then there are other villians who play the usual troupe of committing henious crimes being pathetic, greedy and selfish for the sake of power.
✨️Amongst all the other characters I love the introduction of pig slaughter squad brothers (different from novel). Their presence added a lot of fun, excitement, brotherhood moments and deeper emotional layers to the events. Also, XZ's sub general's humorous and loyal moments and events stood out a lot. Then there are LHA, Tutor Tao, Mr and Mrs Zhao, GSY, Princess, YQQ, YB, and FCN who were all so very sweet, intresting, lively, warm and handful that there was never a dull moment with them around. The director brilliantly and masterfully made the simple Linan town characters like Mr Wang, Mr Li etc stand out and have emotional presence with their lingering short but impactful stories that it pulled on viewers hearts strings to even see them get hurt.
💫The main couple YZ/ XZ and FCY had fire chemistry that went through the roof!💖👌 They blessed the viewers with all kind of dynamics: at times they were domestic, sweet, soft, cute then they had extremely passionate and emotional moments coupled with times where there was blazing tension and attraction between them. The drama perfectly executed the different phases of their love journey: their acquaintance curiosity turned into admiration then it turned into hesitant love then that turned into beautiful heart warming yearning when they were apart which later transformed into selfless, unrelenting, overpowering and unwavering love. Even though their relationship dynamic wasn't enemies to lovers yet they magnificently managed to build steaming tension between them at different instances. The viewers experience wide range of emotions between the main leads while they start from conincedental meeting, move on to mutual contractual fake marriage, then they develope genuine feelings, take their time to accept their own feelings before finding courage to confess their feelings given their inconvenient circumstances. Eventually building a positive relationship where they trust, protect and rely on each other while unraveling the mysteries and solving the challenges surrounding them.
Although the chemistry between our 2nd CP QM and YQQ was very engaging, it was morally grey relationship. Viewers were kept at the edge of their seats, teasing them that this cp might turn out okay. However sadly the only way out for their relationship dynamic was the ending QM accepted for himself. Now to the 3rd cp GSY and the princess, their love story is very cute, humorous and endearing.
💫The cenimatrography, CGI and sound effects are exteremly impressive! The directing of this drama is unquestionably ingenious. Rich attention to details in set designs, luxurious and status related costumes, resonating BGMs and OSTs, immersive atmosphere, mesmirising sceneries, very elaborate and engaging camera angles all blended in gloriously and splendidly well to bring this majestic work to life. This historical drama has high production quality, strong acting and a delicate balance between historical accuracy and compelling storytelling.
💫The drama story itself is grand in every aspect💯, encompassing emotional, and social struggles, high lighting timeless issues like class, women's rights, and social change, making them feel relevant today. It brilliantly kept multiple romantic stories with various dynamics engaging, suspenseful, exciting and captivating while immersing the viewers in the world of warfare and political intrigues. Viewers get to have taste of how the art of war is employed: the wisdom, the reasons, the psychology, the capabilities, the decisions, the restrictions, the decipline, the miltary rules and ranks, the effects of wrong decisions made on the royals, ministers and citizens' lives.
💫ENDING:
I loved the happy dreamy ending for our most beloved General CP that they have hard earned! Most villians got what was coming for them. I would have liked more elaborate ending for the pig slaughter squad, MK and GSY x Princess CP however, I was satistfied that they had peaceful and good endings where they all came to terms with what they wanted and loved to do and which paths to follow. QM x YQQ ending was very interesting, QM finally learned that to love is to be selfless enough to be able to sacrifice even your life just to make sure your loved one is happy and safe. Their ending was sad but unfortunately in this life he reached the point of no return, only by finally doing something good at the end of his life did he earn good karma for his next life. Towards the end there were many hints that most of them will meet in the next life. It was very surprising for me that YQQ is not from this world but could have been from the future world.
Epilogue:
I really liked this part. It was very unique supernatural element of the ending, it gave some more conclusion to the main narrative, revealed the future fates of some characters, wraped up some loose ends, and provided us with some final reflections. It's either a parallel universe or possible future where events of 16 years ago never happened. Where neither XZ, nor CY has lost their parents, they have a good relationship with WY( who hasn't commited any villainous acts). Like our main couple promised they chose each other in the next life too. Then, QM is a good and wise king who everyone respects while YQQ happily runs the resturant yet when they meet, due to their wish to never meet again in the next life, QM can’t stand to be in her presence in this life (wondering if they were enemies in last life). I would have preferred to see them to be a happy couple at least in this life but if this is what they both wished for in the last life then it is acceptable.
💫Overall, I enjoyed this grand work a lot. I highly recommend it anyone who enjoys historical, romantic, war and mystery dramas. It is 10/10 in every aspect for me!!
What drew me to this drama is the fact that female lead is undeniably strong, yes it's bordering on supernatural strength but I love this feature. It's deliberate and most importantly it works perfectly for this most outstanding and extra ordinary story.
Hats off to all the perfect cast who have brought this magnificent masterpiece to life with their superb acting and smooth chemistry. Not only the main leads are drop dead gorgeous even the villians are heart throbs.
💫ZLH as always have portrayed his complex, layered and emotionally intense character XZ brilliantly well. With each new project his acting has become more natural, refined, and emotionally nuanced. Once again he displayed his mastery of micro-expressions in drama, particularly his ability to convey deep emotion, longing, or menace through his eyes without needing dialogue through out many scenes in this drama. The drama flawlessly showed us XZ's sweet, caring, sensitive, protective, thoughtful, soft, tender and loving family man side in contrast to his decisive, tough, possesive, manipulative, calclating, tactical, cunning, over-powering, commanding presence, patriarchal and strong unmatched awesome warrior side. XZ has very turbulent life yet he masterfully excelled in educational field and cultivated a very admirable and formidable character becoming a legendary marquis who has incorporated the wisdom of contemplating things through 9 times before taking action. He demonstrated both the brains and the brawn and showed his amazing capabilities through out the drama.
💫TXW has also nailed her character exceptionally and impeccably well. She has brought her sun like energy to brighten, employed her intense agility, perseverance and strength to bring out character FCY's warrior and wild persona. She did not fail to incorporate and blend in her sweet, bright and lively but strong and confident energy with the character to make FCY's extremely likeable and unforgettable character come to life seemlessly. She has delivered a whole range of scenes i.e. comedic, intensly emotional, romantic and action ones extremely naturally and with brilliant skills. FCY's character growth is most significantly engaging and captivating part of the story and it is done stunningly well. Her journey of being a child bearing the brunt of mocked parents, to a teenager with no parents and shouldering her household and her ill younger sister, to taking care of and protecting her severly injured husband with unstable identity and a harrassed friend, to protecting her village, to protecting the country along with all her family and friends is a massive and incrediblly admirable feat. FCY is a beauty who has brawns unquestionably yet lacked high intelligence (not being able to study due to socio-economical factors) yet she possessed very admirable rare wisdom, strong principles and insightfulness that leaves most educated people to submit to her stunning decisions and capabilities in the face of most dire circumstances. She is like a wildflower: beautiful, carefree and having capitivating presence that commands undistracted attention to it. The drama perfectly captivates her loving, caring, bold, hardworking, silly, commited, daring, responsible, wise, destressful, vulnerable, yearning, resilient, progressive, selfless and empathetic sides, she is constantly evolving and achieving new goals.
💫Villians have performed significantly well too. They also have captivated the audience with their masterful portrayal of very complex characters. QM/SYH displayed his very vicious, ruthless, obsessive, vindictive, manipulative, cunning, vengeful, selfish, unhinged and malicious sides yet did not fail to express that he was actually pitiful person and there was part of him that wanted unconditional love and care. The character that was hopelessly unreemable had wish for the light for the sake of loved one only. Then, SYQ who is no less villainous then QM bordering on maniac too similarly had a side who loved and admired his brother and wanted to protect his parents and avenge their death. Not forgetting to mention WY, didn't want to be villian but was forced to take wrong path due to all the events 16 years ago invites audiences' loathing yet subtly compels them for understanding at the same time. Then there are other villians who play the usual troupe of committing henious crimes being pathetic, greedy and selfish for the sake of power.
✨️Amongst all the other characters I love the introduction of pig slaughter squad brothers (different from novel). Their presence added a lot of fun, excitement, brotherhood moments and deeper emotional layers to the events. Also, XZ's sub general's humorous and loyal moments and events stood out a lot. Then there are LHA, Tutor Tao, Mr and Mrs Zhao, GSY, Princess, YQQ, YB, and FCN who were all so very sweet, intresting, lively, warm and handful that there was never a dull moment with them around. The director brilliantly and masterfully made the simple Linan town characters like Mr Wang, Mr Li etc stand out and have emotional presence with their lingering short but impactful stories that it pulled on viewers hearts strings to even see them get hurt.
💫The main couple YZ/ XZ and FCY had fire chemistry that went through the roof!💖👌 They blessed the viewers with all kind of dynamics: at times they were domestic, sweet, soft, cute then they had extremely passionate and emotional moments coupled with times where there was blazing tension and attraction between them. The drama perfectly executed the different phases of their love journey: their acquaintance curiosity turned into admiration then it turned into hesitant love then that turned into beautiful heart warming yearning when they were apart which later transformed into selfless, unrelenting, overpowering and unwavering love. Even though their relationship dynamic wasn't enemies to lovers yet they magnificently managed to build steaming tension between them at different instances. The viewers experience wide range of emotions between the main leads while they start from conincedental meeting, move on to mutual contractual fake marriage, then they develope genuine feelings, take their time to accept their own feelings before finding courage to confess their feelings given their inconvenient circumstances. Eventually building a positive relationship where they trust, protect and rely on each other while unraveling the mysteries and solving the challenges surrounding them.
Although the chemistry between our 2nd CP QM and YQQ was very engaging, it was morally grey relationship. Viewers were kept at the edge of their seats, teasing them that this cp might turn out okay. However sadly the only way out for their relationship dynamic was the ending QM accepted for himself. Now to the 3rd cp GSY and the princess, their love story is very cute, humorous and endearing.
💫The cenimatrography, CGI and sound effects are exteremly impressive! The directing of this drama is unquestionably ingenious. Rich attention to details in set designs, luxurious and status related costumes, resonating BGMs and OSTs, immersive atmosphere, mesmirising sceneries, very elaborate and engaging camera angles all blended in gloriously and splendidly well to bring this majestic work to life. This historical drama has high production quality, strong acting and a delicate balance between historical accuracy and compelling storytelling.
💫The drama story itself is grand in every aspect💯, encompassing emotional, and social struggles, high lighting timeless issues like class, women's rights, and social change, making them feel relevant today. It brilliantly kept multiple romantic stories with various dynamics engaging, suspenseful, exciting and captivating while immersing the viewers in the world of warfare and political intrigues. Viewers get to have taste of how the art of war is employed: the wisdom, the reasons, the psychology, the capabilities, the decisions, the restrictions, the decipline, the miltary rules and ranks, the effects of wrong decisions made on the royals, ministers and citizens' lives.
💫ENDING:
I loved the happy dreamy ending for our most beloved General CP that they have hard earned! Most villians got what was coming for them. I would have liked more elaborate ending for the pig slaughter squad, MK and GSY x Princess CP however, I was satistfied that they had peaceful and good endings where they all came to terms with what they wanted and loved to do and which paths to follow. QM x YQQ ending was very interesting, QM finally learned that to love is to be selfless enough to be able to sacrifice even your life just to make sure your loved one is happy and safe. Their ending was sad but unfortunately in this life he reached the point of no return, only by finally doing something good at the end of his life did he earn good karma for his next life. Towards the end there were many hints that most of them will meet in the next life. It was very surprising for me that YQQ is not from this world but could have been from the future world.
Epilogue:
I really liked this part. It was very unique supernatural element of the ending, it gave some more conclusion to the main narrative, revealed the future fates of some characters, wraped up some loose ends, and provided us with some final reflections. It's either a parallel universe or possible future where events of 16 years ago never happened. Where neither XZ, nor CY has lost their parents, they have a good relationship with WY( who hasn't commited any villainous acts). Like our main couple promised they chose each other in the next life too. Then, QM is a good and wise king who everyone respects while YQQ happily runs the resturant yet when they meet, due to their wish to never meet again in the next life, QM can’t stand to be in her presence in this life (wondering if they were enemies in last life). I would have preferred to see them to be a happy couple at least in this life but if this is what they both wished for in the last life then it is acceptable.
💫Overall, I enjoyed this grand work a lot. I highly recommend it anyone who enjoys historical, romantic, war and mystery dramas. It is 10/10 in every aspect for me!!
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