Cha Se Gye reading Shin Seo Ri’s poem and seeing her drawing gave me SO MANY FLUTTERS. He looked insanely good with his hair down too. That entire scene felt like peak boy-in-love behavior, especially when he translated all the hanja after judging it at first. AND THE DRAWING!!! I loved how the lights turned into heart shapes. It was also so cute when he misread 팬 as 편 😭 What I appreciate most is that the misunderstanding didn’t drag on forever and got cleared up quickly.
Nope, its definitely not something I would expect in a classic wuxia. This is one of those unfortunate embellishments…
I feel like the term ‘bromance’ is overused to every male-male relationship whatever it is. It’s not that I don’t like it but more that it’s so out of place and out of context at times. From what I’ve seen and also read from what you shared, wuxia has such rich elements. It’s interesting how deep and complex relationship bonds go that I believe it should not just be defined as ‘bromance’.
Also, thank you for sharing! I’m really keen to learn more. It’s very interesting! 🙇♀️ I felt weird seeing the hug hahaah. It was a brief hug but it felt so out of place 😅
That “braving the fire” scene was so weak because the fire itself felt nonexistent. Hui Ju walked in there casually like she was entering a normal room to save a man who merely fainted. Where was the heat? The smoke? The suffocating panic? None of it was there. The only “effect” of the fire was random stuff falling from the ceiling and fire spraying so she could look startled. At the very least, put some soot or smoke stains on her face. The lack of realism completely took me out of the scene.
And honestly, most of the characters started feeling out of character by the end. Hui Ju suddenly becoming this determined, rage-filled person in the name of love felt strange to me. I need more time to process it, but it didn’t feel fully earned.
Jeong Woo’s turn into villainy had potential, but the execution was lacking. After acting like the kind, dependable prime minister for so long, he suddenly couldn’t suppress his desire to protect the crown and his feelings once Hui Ju got hurt. I can see what they were trying to do, but the buildup was just too weak for it to land properly. Yi Rang’s transformation from a power-hungry empress dowager into a caring mother also felt abrupt. What exactly caused such a drastic change? And was it really enough to justify it?
Then there’s Yi An surviving the fire in the most fake, idol-drama way possible. It felt anticlimactic instead of emotional. And his sudden decision to abolish the monarchy? Completely underdeveloped. If that was the direction they wanted to take, they should’ve planted the seeds much earlier. His brother’s death could’ve been the catalyst. Show him questioning the system, making plans with the little emperor, or even secretly preparing to dismantle the monarchy over time. There were so many ways to build toward it.
Instead, it ended up feeling like he abolished the monarchy because Hui Ju got hurt. As if romance became the answer to everything. It stripped away so much potential depth from both his character and the story itself.
And that’s my biggest disappointment with this drama overall: the depth just wasn’t there.
Thank goodness there’s only one episode left. Let’s see how they’ll rage bait me this time… or maybe not.
I appreciate how consistently they write Gu Jin Zhao’s character.
As someone who once didn’t want marriage, it’s nice to see her getting cold feet and feeling nervous once things become real. I also like how she tries to meet Ye Xian to tell him the news herself because she knows how he feels. She feels human. She also has such a modern mindset for that era.
Just a random thought but man, I really love how c-dramas release new episodes every day. Also, I’m taking my time with this one. There’s something comforting about knowing I still have one unwatched episode waiting for me (I’ve only watched up to episode 7 so far).
7 
17 
7 
1 
1 
1 
1 
3 
2 
3 
1 
1 
1 
3 
1 
2 
Also, thank you for sharing! I’m really keen to learn more. It’s very interesting! 🙇♀️ I felt weird seeing the hug hahaah. It was a brief hug but it felt so out of place 😅
That “braving the fire” scene was so weak because the fire itself felt nonexistent. Hui Ju walked in there casually like she was entering a normal room to save a man who merely fainted. Where was the heat? The smoke? The suffocating panic? None of it was there. The only “effect” of the fire was random stuff falling from the ceiling and fire spraying so she could look startled. At the very least, put some soot or smoke stains on her face. The lack of realism completely took me out of the scene.
And honestly, most of the characters started feeling out of character by the end. Hui Ju suddenly becoming this determined, rage-filled person in the name of love felt strange to me. I need more time to process it, but it didn’t feel fully earned.
Jeong Woo’s turn into villainy had potential, but the execution was lacking. After acting like the kind, dependable prime minister for so long, he suddenly couldn’t suppress his desire to protect the crown and his feelings once Hui Ju got hurt. I can see what they were trying to do, but the buildup was just too weak for it to land properly. Yi Rang’s transformation from a power-hungry empress dowager into a caring mother also felt abrupt. What exactly caused such a drastic change? And was it really enough to justify it?
Then there’s Yi An surviving the fire in the most fake, idol-drama way possible. It felt anticlimactic instead of emotional. And his sudden decision to abolish the monarchy? Completely underdeveloped. If that was the direction they wanted to take, they should’ve planted the seeds much earlier. His brother’s death could’ve been the catalyst. Show him questioning the system, making plans with the little emperor, or even secretly preparing to dismantle the monarchy over time. There were so many ways to build toward it.
Instead, it ended up feeling like he abolished the monarchy because Hui Ju got hurt. As if romance became the answer to everything. It stripped away so much potential depth from both his character and the story itself.
And that’s my biggest disappointment with this drama overall: the depth just wasn’t there.
Thank goodness there’s only one episode left. Let’s see how they’ll rage bait me this time… or maybe not.
As someone who once didn’t want marriage, it’s nice to see her getting cold feet and feeling nervous once things become real. I also like how she tries to meet Ye Xian to tell him the news herself because she knows how he feels. She feels human. She also has such a modern mindset for that era.
My two favorites!
My two favorites!