This review may contain spoilers
Ended up captivated by Bloody Romance
Started this drama because of Wang Duo and ended up captivated by Li Yitong's Wanmei and Qu Chuxiao's Changan, and by the unique world setting of the Guihua City!
I have watched other dramas with assassin characters as lead or support roles but Bloody Romance took me by surprise. It has a very unique world building for me which focused mainly on Wanmei's growth and journey from the weak, naive girl surviving in the burial grounds to the cold but compassionate city master of Guihua City. It's like watching a female version of leveling up in male-centric stories. All the while her life story interconnected with Prince Ning's schemes and three lifelong promises, and Changan's revenge for the Xie family while contemplating his hidden identity.
She's not the expected female lead in an assassin-themed story. Not succumbing to killing without due process like the other assassins shows how much she stays true to her morals that she doesn't even let the evilness and darkness of the Guihua City corrupt her good nature despite her horrible experiences. I describe her as an oddity in the world of assassins, a light that sparks in the dim corners of the city, a fresh breath of air in their cruel world.
The only time she succumbed to her killing side is when poor Yingying was abused, and to be honest, those two trash men really deserve death. Finally, some blood in her sword from people worthy of death. It's just a shame those bloods are not sucked out by her red demon umbrella.
I especially like LYT's portrayal of Wanmei throughout the series. Her naive, weak, scared look in episode 1 is such a contrast to her cold, anguished, betrayed look in the middle of the series and to her almost detached, indifferent look at the end of the drama. That's why I enjoyed watching Wanmei because I can feel her growth through LYT's immersive acting.
QCX is really captivating as the subservient, serious, restrained shadow of Wanmei. Though I felt like his character didn't change much throughout the series, but his acting really caught my attention. His charisma is in his eyes, voice, line delivery and posture so I enjoyed watching him as much as I love watching Wanmei.
The chemistry of LYT and QCX is really good. With just their eyes and line delivery, I really felt the deep love, anguish, restraint, and pining of Changan and Wanmei for each other. The tension is so palpable onscreen that I felt goosebumps. The emotional scenes also hit so hard that I cried really hard in multiple episodes.
And of course Wang Duo. I already saw him in his other roles in the Yin Yang movie, ALON, FOF, TBL so I'm really looking forward to his character here and as expected, he didn't disappoint. I still really enjoyed his acting as an anguished second male lead who can't capture the heart of the female lead, with hidden agendas for revenge and scheming that is almost villainous. His micro expressions are really good that it makes me overthink what is true and what is false in the words and actions of Prince Ning. And his devastated expressions when Wanmei rejects him again and again, that is just so heart-breaking to watch but also an impressive acting from him.
Additionally, I also love the following:
- Cinematography: The cuts are just weird in some subplots (or maybe it's because of the script or editing?), but the overall vibes of the drama is really good, the camera angles are visually pleasing, and the direction style is almost cinematic. I also like the shots during the fighting scenes and sword dances. The camera angles and focus on their movements, hands, swords, and background settings are really nice to look at.
- Aesthetics: I love the haunting and melancholic atmosphere of the drama. The set designs are so unique and creative especially the Bi'an Chamber - that place is so eerily beautiful.
- OSTs: I really love Tia Ray's 一生等你! I'm bawling my eyes out every time I hear this OST play. The lyrics are so heart-wrenching, but the melody and vocals are so captivating. QCX also sang the male version of this OST and his voice is as charming and solemn as his character Changan. LYT's 失宠 is also so good that I feel so sentimental when I listen to it after the ending of each episode.
- Costumes: Gorgeous costumes! I love all their wardrobes, from Wanmei, Changan and Prince Ning to even the support and guest roles!
- Color palette: I love the vibrant reds, pinks, blues, purples, and of course the blacks and whites!
- Animations: That's so creative of them to use in narrating the events and continuing the flow of the story. I also like the art style – the black and white strokes are so striking and beautiful.
Rating it 9/10 because of few things I'm concerned/confused about:
- Some subplots in the middle to the end of the drama became confusing to me especially about the palace, war and army events. If they could've explained what happened in the end maybe it would make so much more sense to me.
- The Ending! Afaik it's an open ending but I would love and accept it more if they could've filmed an extra episode or a web movie to show us the reunion of Wanmei and Changan. I read the summary of the epilogue written by the author (I saw it in the earlier comments in this page) and I would love to see those scenes onscreen! The drama is already 6+ years so that might be hard to produce, but it would be great if they filmed more scenes now because we can see that LYT, QCX and WD already matured so the time gap would even be more realistic.
I'm 6+ years late to this drama but I'm here now. I have deep emotional attachment to this drama especially Changan-Wanmei's deep affection, sacrifices, and tragic love story so I’m sure it’s a drama that I won’t forget and will always remember.
I have watched other dramas with assassin characters as lead or support roles but Bloody Romance took me by surprise. It has a very unique world building for me which focused mainly on Wanmei's growth and journey from the weak, naive girl surviving in the burial grounds to the cold but compassionate city master of Guihua City. It's like watching a female version of leveling up in male-centric stories. All the while her life story interconnected with Prince Ning's schemes and three lifelong promises, and Changan's revenge for the Xie family while contemplating his hidden identity.
She's not the expected female lead in an assassin-themed story. Not succumbing to killing without due process like the other assassins shows how much she stays true to her morals that she doesn't even let the evilness and darkness of the Guihua City corrupt her good nature despite her horrible experiences. I describe her as an oddity in the world of assassins, a light that sparks in the dim corners of the city, a fresh breath of air in their cruel world.
The only time she succumbed to her killing side is when poor Yingying was abused, and to be honest, those two trash men really deserve death. Finally, some blood in her sword from people worthy of death. It's just a shame those bloods are not sucked out by her red demon umbrella.
I especially like LYT's portrayal of Wanmei throughout the series. Her naive, weak, scared look in episode 1 is such a contrast to her cold, anguished, betrayed look in the middle of the series and to her almost detached, indifferent look at the end of the drama. That's why I enjoyed watching Wanmei because I can feel her growth through LYT's immersive acting.
QCX is really captivating as the subservient, serious, restrained shadow of Wanmei. Though I felt like his character didn't change much throughout the series, but his acting really caught my attention. His charisma is in his eyes, voice, line delivery and posture so I enjoyed watching him as much as I love watching Wanmei.
The chemistry of LYT and QCX is really good. With just their eyes and line delivery, I really felt the deep love, anguish, restraint, and pining of Changan and Wanmei for each other. The tension is so palpable onscreen that I felt goosebumps. The emotional scenes also hit so hard that I cried really hard in multiple episodes.
And of course Wang Duo. I already saw him in his other roles in the Yin Yang movie, ALON, FOF, TBL so I'm really looking forward to his character here and as expected, he didn't disappoint. I still really enjoyed his acting as an anguished second male lead who can't capture the heart of the female lead, with hidden agendas for revenge and scheming that is almost villainous. His micro expressions are really good that it makes me overthink what is true and what is false in the words and actions of Prince Ning. And his devastated expressions when Wanmei rejects him again and again, that is just so heart-breaking to watch but also an impressive acting from him.
Additionally, I also love the following:
- Cinematography: The cuts are just weird in some subplots (or maybe it's because of the script or editing?), but the overall vibes of the drama is really good, the camera angles are visually pleasing, and the direction style is almost cinematic. I also like the shots during the fighting scenes and sword dances. The camera angles and focus on their movements, hands, swords, and background settings are really nice to look at.
- Aesthetics: I love the haunting and melancholic atmosphere of the drama. The set designs are so unique and creative especially the Bi'an Chamber - that place is so eerily beautiful.
- OSTs: I really love Tia Ray's 一生等你! I'm bawling my eyes out every time I hear this OST play. The lyrics are so heart-wrenching, but the melody and vocals are so captivating. QCX also sang the male version of this OST and his voice is as charming and solemn as his character Changan. LYT's 失宠 is also so good that I feel so sentimental when I listen to it after the ending of each episode.
- Costumes: Gorgeous costumes! I love all their wardrobes, from Wanmei, Changan and Prince Ning to even the support and guest roles!
- Color palette: I love the vibrant reds, pinks, blues, purples, and of course the blacks and whites!
- Animations: That's so creative of them to use in narrating the events and continuing the flow of the story. I also like the art style – the black and white strokes are so striking and beautiful.
Rating it 9/10 because of few things I'm concerned/confused about:
- Some subplots in the middle to the end of the drama became confusing to me especially about the palace, war and army events. If they could've explained what happened in the end maybe it would make so much more sense to me.
- The Ending! Afaik it's an open ending but I would love and accept it more if they could've filmed an extra episode or a web movie to show us the reunion of Wanmei and Changan. I read the summary of the epilogue written by the author (I saw it in the earlier comments in this page) and I would love to see those scenes onscreen! The drama is already 6+ years so that might be hard to produce, but it would be great if they filmed more scenes now because we can see that LYT, QCX and WD already matured so the time gap would even be more realistic.
I'm 6+ years late to this drama but I'm here now. I have deep emotional attachment to this drama especially Changan-Wanmei's deep affection, sacrifices, and tragic love story so I’m sure it’s a drama that I won’t forget and will always remember.
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