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This review may contain spoilers
Dramatic Battle Scenes, Nice Romance, Epic Failure to End Satisfactorily
The cast, leads' chemistry, costumes, and OST were good. The story kept me invested most of the time. I loved the FL. She had an admirable character, and Zhou Ye played her well. Kudos to Ryan Cheng who had the best adoring looks as the ML.
Nitpicks:
1. I'm all about female empowerment, but some of the speeches got too preachy. People accept points of view more readily when they are attractively and subtly presented, not when they are bludgeoned repeatedly with them.
2. The death of Yan He was telegraphed so hard in advance that it became a cheap and needless death.
3. Chu Zhao's character was a large part of the story, but his ending felt rushed and squandered. What a waste. He could have been an amazing villain or a compassionate leader after a redemption arc, but his character fizzled out.
4. If He Yan grew up as a boy and became a fierce general, she wouldn't have acted so timidly or cutesy, like hiding behind Xiao Jue while grasping him for protection. It would have been engrained in her to act masculine at all times, for fear of blowing her cover and losing her life.
5. During battle scenes, it's probably dangerous to seek out your loved one for a moony-eyed heart-to-heart talk or to sit and cry because you think your partner is dead when war is raging all around. Thankfully, the enemy respected that lovers need a break from battle and didn't skewer them with a spear. What is that? A love time out? A battle break?
6. No one noticed General Fei Hong shrunk overnight when He Ru Fei took He Yan's place? No one noticed the voice change? Or her delicate hands became manly? She was tiny, and he was average male sized. Major plot hole! I could suspend belief that beautiful He Yan was accepted as a male (not really, but I tried very hard!), but this was impossible to fathom.
Neither here nor there, but I don't believe I've ever watched a drama that smashed so much pottery to convey surprise, anger, and an utter disdain for the props budget. The director obviously loved the splash and crash of a smashed dish filled with liquid.
Nitpicks:
1. I'm all about female empowerment, but some of the speeches got too preachy. People accept points of view more readily when they are attractively and subtly presented, not when they are bludgeoned repeatedly with them.
2. The death of Yan He was telegraphed so hard in advance that it became a cheap and needless death.
3. Chu Zhao's character was a large part of the story, but his ending felt rushed and squandered. What a waste. He could have been an amazing villain or a compassionate leader after a redemption arc, but his character fizzled out.
4. If He Yan grew up as a boy and became a fierce general, she wouldn't have acted so timidly or cutesy, like hiding behind Xiao Jue while grasping him for protection. It would have been engrained in her to act masculine at all times, for fear of blowing her cover and losing her life.
5. During battle scenes, it's probably dangerous to seek out your loved one for a moony-eyed heart-to-heart talk or to sit and cry because you think your partner is dead when war is raging all around. Thankfully, the enemy respected that lovers need a break from battle and didn't skewer them with a spear. What is that? A love time out? A battle break?
6. No one noticed General Fei Hong shrunk overnight when He Ru Fei took He Yan's place? No one noticed the voice change? Or her delicate hands became manly? She was tiny, and he was average male sized. Major plot hole! I could suspend belief that beautiful He Yan was accepted as a male (not really, but I tried very hard!), but this was impossible to fathom.
Neither here nor there, but I don't believe I've ever watched a drama that smashed so much pottery to convey surprise, anger, and an utter disdain for the props budget. The director obviously loved the splash and crash of a smashed dish filled with liquid.
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