Yuwen

Unexpectantly Interesting... with minor drawbacks

'Legend of the Female General' is a series I was genuinely excited about, especially given the strong potential of the leads. Ryan Cheng, cast as the male lead, had already impressed me with his performance in 'My Journey to You'. Zhou Ye, playing the female lead, is a personal favorite of mine thanks to her notable acting in 'Back from the Brink'.

Zhou Ye as the FL, He Yan is a girl who has to pretend to be her family's son to protect their title. She meets Xiao Jue (Ryan Cheng as the ML) while studying at an academy; instead, she leaves to fight in the army.
The FL fights her way to become a general, she returns as a war hero, only to be betrayed by her family when her real brother suddenly comes back. After surviving stabs, blindness, and poison, she takes on a new identity and disguises herself as a man to join the army in Yezhou.

First impression: Positives:
#1: Strong potential with a strong FL and Eye-candy ML, surprisingly a great casting choice. They both fit their corresponding roles pretty well. Good expressions!
#2: Chemistry is as interesting as the storyline itself?? In the first few episodes, I am absolutely hooked on the chemistry between the cast! (probably because of Ml's expressions) FL is able to guess everything the ML thinks. ML is initially cold to her, thinking she is a spy. After finding out that the FL is actually a girl, he goes soft on her.
#3: Great cinematography, nothing groundbreaking, but really good visuals. The camera really makes ML a great military general fit, especially during horse riding.
#4: Storyline is interesting, despite the ML's suspicion of the FL as a spy, he still helps her prove her abilities.

Negative Drawbacks: plotholes and crazy plot armor
#1 The FL's Voice. The ML had known He Rufei (FL version) ever since their time in the academy, yet when the FL's brother took He Rufei's identity, his voice was completely different. How did the ML fail to recognize that? Even the figure?
#2 The FL is shown as someone super clever who is able to depict whatever the ML is thinking. But she was not able to think through her family's schemes and was poisoned.
#3 Her being poisoned was way too sudden. After she was chased and stabbed, she fell off the cliff. How was her master able to cure all her severe injuries and even the blindness?? Maybe there will be context in the future; this part was rushed and thus a bit confusing.
#4 I just feel like the FL's build is sort of feminine for a military series.. it could've been a bit more towards the 'hardened' side.. being a general with that beauty is unrealistic..

Read More

What a masterpiece!.. until episode 3

Initially, I was really excited to watch this series. I mean, Wang Xing Yue acting as a detective sounded too good to be true. As for Julia Xiang, I was quite excited to watch her again after her fabulous work in 'Love of the Divine Tree '. Safe to say I had high hopes for this drama.

Episodes 1-2 were interesting.. I could see the buildup of the drama and the potential. The acting was good, and the story was direct and smooth. Though the sudden acquisition of the ML being 'Yesha' really took me by surprise. I totally did not expect the blame to shift towards the detective who tried solving the case. Episode 3 totally drowned my expectations. The FL kept the same expression on her face throughout, and the story started to degrade. The ML suddenly appeared out of nowhere after 3 years to face the female lead with 'some' clues. I am talking about the same ML that boasted about solving the case in 3 days. ML is probably the only reason why my ratings aren't lower; his acting made up for a lot of parts. The scene where the FL 'accidentally' poisoned him felt like a rush. Something so serious happened to the ML, and it was taken quite lightly. It was as if she barely felt any remorse. To think that the FL technically married the ML, yet again.. Her doubtful stoic expressions fell short of my expectations.

Read More