This review may contain spoilers
both of them are insane and hot
fl: wang hai minthis drama is so so good!! and the chemistry is chemistrying!! the kisses were real and there were plenty of intimacy scenes that the actors did a great job at conveying intense passion. the fl is a strong confident total b*tch who isn't afraid to go after her man and the ml is a red/black flag but never directed toward her. he's obsessed and possessive and as the story goes on you realize oh okay he's actually just insane. like during her first life he loses his mind after her death and during her dreams you get to see how much he did for her and what he was really like behind the scenes because (spoiler below). the dynamic between the ml and fl is 100% brat + indulgent brat tamer. he lets her get away with acting absurdly in a way no other concubine can act. he pretends to set boundaries and punishments but they're all straw obstacles meant for public appearances and he gives her loopholes to exploit. the emperor never touches any other concubine during the drama. they're all there for political reasons and at the end he ends up with her as his one and only. also, despite how entitled and obnoxious the fl can be toward the other concubines, she only acts that way toward those who wronged her in her previous life. she's loyal and caring toward her friend and in her first life she was way too good to her sister who just wanted to use her to get into the palace. the revenge plot is complete and the ending is happy and satisfying.
spoilers!!
because to her face he posed as a gentleman because she likes gentlemen he played the part of a good and just emperor who cares for the people when in reality he only cared about her and if she didn't like chivalrous men he'd pretend to be whatever she liked. at first she was a little hesitant after she realized he's actually not a good man, but she wasn't ever scared or reproachful she actually loved that about him and fully accepted his craziness because he did it all for her. they're both ride or dies for each other and i feel like they both wouldn't have a problem with the idea of braiding their hair together to make an inseparable knotted rope.
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Zhu Xiao Xue and Xie Yu Wang made this drama great
So my standards for cdrama plot lines, acting, production are very very low lol, so my score is relative to the average modern or historical vertical cdrama (of which i have watched far far far too many).The plot was the average cdrama reborn, enacts plan for retribution against sml and sfl, ml is the brother of sml who has loved her since their pinky promise childhood days. The plot is well executed, so it gets a 5 because it's perfectly average, nothing remarkable or pioneering. And it was done well with no alterations that would make it worse, like constant torture for the fl to endure or prolonging frustrating misunderstandings.
The real highlight is the leads' acting. they were so so so good on screen together!! Incredible chemistry and plenty of kissing/teasing/flirting. Zhu Xiao Xue is a great actress and I really like a lot of her work and same with Xie Yu Wang. when Zhu Xiao Xue's character is pretending to contemplate whether or not to take the sml back after exposing his infidelity, she can't even be bothered to pretend like she likes that man, absolutely dogwalks him. And the ml is piping hot green tea that's always teasing her when the sml is around. The way they both are so expressive with their eyes is just >o
And I can't forget her grandpa who's on the ml's side. If the ml is fragrant green tea, her grandpa is the teacup.
It's a solid choice for anyone looking to scratch the green tea ml itch or for anyone looking for a well done vertical cdrama. The quality acting genuinely breathes life into this tired plot. You won't feel like you wasted 2 hours or regret using the little time you had today to watch a drama on something unsatisfying or horrible.
As long as you feel like the plot, regardless of how cliche or repetitive, is entertaining then you will enjoy this drama.
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WHY AREN'T MORE PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THIS DRAMA
. . . . . . . . . . . um . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . so this is a masterpiece and i have genuinely no idea how it's not more popular with dozens of comments underneath. the plot could have EASILY been adapted to a long drama idk if it's a vertical inspired by a long drama but god it is so so good. if it weren't a vertical short cdrama and it had a larger production budget and more fleshing out of the side characters and the male lead's personal emotional turmoil about his mother and father instead of making him a little 2-dimensional in wanting to help the fl as his sole motivation it could be mistaken for a movie. those criticisms i don't usually have for dramas i like that are Much lower quality but i mention it here because they did such a good job i wish it weren't constrained by the limitations of a vertical short lol. like her childhood friend, the friends to found-family to strangers dynamic with two major side characters (i'm trying not spoil), and the intelligent, decisive fl were all so so good that i want more ;-; i'm being so serious right now criticisms and flaws are easier to point out than the good and mentally impactful parts that make the lasting impression on a viewer. the female lead's acting is incredible and had me sobbing audibly in the last 30 minutes (i'm a sucker for dramatic parent-child relationships).to be clear it's a happy ending it's just a very dynamic plot where the side characters actually have meaning and substance to them so it's like life where you win some you lose some and in this drama, all things considered, the leads came out on top.
i can't believe i stumbled upon this magnificent opaline work of Art because i was going through huang you tian's dramas because i like his face ðŸ˜i cannot recommend this enough
watch if you want:
- an incredible plot
- movie-like script
- a badass fl
- a puppy ml
- a loving father of the fl that only ever loved her mother, never remarried, never had more children, never felt the need to have more despite having only 1 daughter, and never blamed his only daughter for not being a son
- quick, decisive revenge
- romance, but it's not integral or the focal point of the plot
there's sexual tension in some scenes but it's not a romance-focused drama where the rules of reality bend around the fl and ml's relationship to make their love more charming to the viewer by using tropes.
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