Underwhelming time slip drama: strong start, uninteresting midpoint, OK ending
The first episodes grip you in entirely as the series introduces the fantasy aspect through a time slip, right in the middle of an inciting incident—from here on and for the entirety of the series, the female lead navigates her second chance in life with a playbook as her compass.
There were definitely plot devices and symbolisms used, but like other fantasy series, they were not elucidated as time slip is not the focus of the story, but merely an incident that sets off the story.
The first few episodes are also used to establish the female lead and male lead as the couple, which is one of the contributing elements to the romance in the series. However, once this has been introduced, the story’s focus deliberately shifts, with politics taking the centerpiece.
That being said, while there is romance in the drama (both for the main and secondary characters), this is not the main theme of the series. The romance is merely a subplot.
Casting Meng Zi Yi and Li Yun Rui, who have been constantly secondary leads in their previous projects, is not a bad choice, though.
Meng Zi Yi is not stiff and conscious when acting, while Li Yun Rui has the standard characteristics of a male lead. Li Yun Rui, though, still has a lot of areas to improve on, specifically in using his expressions.
I have no qualms with the pacing as it's pretty consistent throughout the series. Still, while the drama started off strong, the second half of the series hit a sharp decline in the quality of storytelling.
By the second half, I was struggling to keep my attention on the drama and was seriously considering skipping a few scenes just to fast track.
As the drama comes close to conclusion, nothing was making any impact anymore: writing was steadily becoming askew. And while the drama occasionally delivered good cinematography, the OST is mediocre at best and did not help elevate the experience in any scenes. The political turmoil plot alone cannot carry the entire series.
There was an effort to tie loose ends, and the ending was definitely conclusive, which is an important factor to the majority, but aside from introducing the potentials of Meng Zi Yi and Li Yun Rui as actors, and having a strong and smart female lead (with a good head on her shoulders) who actually (and finally) takes the lead (and is dominant in the relationship with the male lead), I will give this a pass. Romance, politics, time slip, rebirth—there are far better choices, with mid dramas that can easily topple this.
There were definitely plot devices and symbolisms used, but like other fantasy series, they were not elucidated as time slip is not the focus of the story, but merely an incident that sets off the story.
The first few episodes are also used to establish the female lead and male lead as the couple, which is one of the contributing elements to the romance in the series. However, once this has been introduced, the story’s focus deliberately shifts, with politics taking the centerpiece.
That being said, while there is romance in the drama (both for the main and secondary characters), this is not the main theme of the series. The romance is merely a subplot.
Casting Meng Zi Yi and Li Yun Rui, who have been constantly secondary leads in their previous projects, is not a bad choice, though.
Meng Zi Yi is not stiff and conscious when acting, while Li Yun Rui has the standard characteristics of a male lead. Li Yun Rui, though, still has a lot of areas to improve on, specifically in using his expressions.
I have no qualms with the pacing as it's pretty consistent throughout the series. Still, while the drama started off strong, the second half of the series hit a sharp decline in the quality of storytelling.
By the second half, I was struggling to keep my attention on the drama and was seriously considering skipping a few scenes just to fast track.
As the drama comes close to conclusion, nothing was making any impact anymore: writing was steadily becoming askew. And while the drama occasionally delivered good cinematography, the OST is mediocre at best and did not help elevate the experience in any scenes. The political turmoil plot alone cannot carry the entire series.
There was an effort to tie loose ends, and the ending was definitely conclusive, which is an important factor to the majority, but aside from introducing the potentials of Meng Zi Yi and Li Yun Rui as actors, and having a strong and smart female lead (with a good head on her shoulders) who actually (and finally) takes the lead (and is dominant in the relationship with the male lead), I will give this a pass. Romance, politics, time slip, rebirth—there are far better choices, with mid dramas that can easily topple this.
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