anopinion

I'm keeping this short and sweet because it's been a while since the show was broadcasted, so no one will read this anyway.

I think I'm gonna get bashed for it, but Liu does not have the gravitas to play the male lead. I feel he's a miscast. However, like what I said in the title, plots are important! So long as you have good plot and pacing, actors are secondary. But I would argue that the lead pairing have very little romantic chemistry and do not match visually.

Song is actually pretty attractive in this even though I've never really thought of her as a great beauty. But she does seem like a good choice for most period drama characters - she looks good in the hair, make-up and costumes. Decent acting as well.

The worst thing in this show is the secondary couple. In particular, very poor acting from Li Xueqin throughout the whole show. She's very jarring to watch in scenes where she's doing any kind of lifting.

Overall though, decent pacing and plot. Not too "woke" in terms of characterisations, but political correctness does not win you viewership. A good watch.