The drama is finally over :'( I'm gonna miss chasing it every week. My overall thoughts was that this was the first drama in a while that I enjoyed waiting for every week. Great acting from the leads and certain key characters (Awu's dad was chef's kiss, as he is in nearly every ancient drama I've seen him in, a legendary actor). I didn't like the acting for Huai'en - but I feel that a part of it was bad characterization since the actor is great in The Joy of Life -- it could be that he felt Huai'en wasn't fully fleshed out & couldn't relate to his downturn towards evil & greed (he seriously looked constipated in the scenes he was supposed to be ruminating over choosing the greater good or the greater greed.) And side note- i kinda wish XQ became the King. I know it's unrealistic bc he didn't come from a noble/royal family, but he truly valued justice and had the power to uphold justice. I felt like his character would have felt the responsibility to govern the country in order to bring peace to the people, instead of letting these corrupt and greedy royal families just repeat vicious cycles of evil and power-struggles over and over again.
Now, for A'wu...I'm disappointed in two ways: (1) While ZZY held up incredible acting chops for some scenes for A'wu, I felt that some of her emotional expressions fell flat (ie when XQ staged their second wedding and put the crown on her, she looked a bit emotionless imo). (2) A'wu's character in general suffered from poor characterization. "Rebel Princess" was a bad choice for the drama name because her entire character is just a propping up of virtue over justice. She really acknowledged and saw firsthand how corrupt the royal families were not just because they were bad people (we saw good people turn to POS in the midst of power struggles) but because the structure of only letting royal families rule meant that those at the top didn't earn their ranks and didn't understand the lifestyles of their own country's people.
I don't agree with her character's assertion in the end that even though the Royal Ma Family members did terrible things for the country, their heirs should still rule because they are a royal family. I know it's realistic since that was the custom back in the day, but y'all had a princess defend that and still name the show "Rebel Princess?" Where's the Rebel?!
Here are the things I think the drama could have done without: - The entire Hulan arc. All of it. When I watched the last five episodes I forgot about Helan Zhen completely. I felt it wasted our time and it didn't give characters extra depth or A'wu a challenge to rise above and grow from. She just faced her evil cousin one more time, let Helan Zhen tell his sad story, kneel over XQ fake grave, and then got saved by XQ. All that time... we coulda seen a more fleshed out villain in Awu's father, a more close-up depiction of Huai'en's corruption, and more characterization of Zidan. - The amount of men that liked Awu - I felt there was no real reason as to why so many men were pining for her, and the ways their desire for her was tacked on as a reason for them to become greedy and corrupt really didn't make sense to me. I find myself in disbelief that Zidan would really work with an enemy country in order to "win the country and thus win Awu". I'm also confused as to why Huai'en would ask A'wu to be his Queen right after he stabbed her father...in front of her. Yes, you could defend the writer & say that Huai'en lost his damn mind but I would argue that if we scrapped the Helan plot, fleshed out Haui'en more, showed that his "love" for A'wu was really just his envy over XQ' s power and potential, I woulda felt more for his character.
Characters I felt were properly fleshed out: - Surprisingly enough even though HY was a side character (the woman in XQ's army), I felt her character was very fleshed out (could be due to good acting). And it's why I'm upset they didn't show a scene of XQ grieving over her untimely and sudden death. - I really liked Zilong's Queen. I felt that the show did a good job at subtly showing that her hatred for A'wu was really born from the distance wedged between them after the royal family's schemes. I really empathized with her character's ending.
This came out long af and I still have more comments but I'll end it here for now. I wanna know your reactions to the ending and the overall show! Do you think the show could have scrapped some arcs and fleshed out characters in those time spans?
The more I see Huein's face the more I find him scary
I really like him in Joy of Life but he kinda bothers me here-- I feel like he's over-acting. Him trying to show his character turn evil looks more like his character is constipated lmao :'(
"The Spineless Princess" I think this name suits, better for this drama, ZZY choose a bad script for her first…
THE SPINELESS PRINCESS LMAO!!! I fully agree. I was already annoyed when she was arguing with XQ about meeting HZ to try and save her cousin and she asked XQ if he even understood how important family was. Honestly, he's put up with so much danger & trouble after being involved with her family that I no longer respect the fact that she isn't fully opposing them as he is. I'm going to be really angry if XQ confronts Zidan for stealing the throne & Awu defends Zidan because "oh he saved my life once and risked his life to do it." The way she uses her "traditional noble values" to excuse her defending her trash & indefensible family pisses me off. I hope they turn it around in the remaining episodes but it's kinda too late.
it's the way i would fully leave Awu & this atrocious royal court if I were Xiao Qi...LMAO. I'm joking -- I think they have great chemistry, but if I were Xiao Qi and I was constantly targeted for being powerful & righteous, life would already be difficult, and now you're telling me I'm falling into multiple plots against my life because people want to marry my wife? ...Yeah I would simply remain single & happily live my life out farming somewhere completely anonymous lmao. It's not worth it. And the way Awu was surprised when Xiao Qi didn't bow to this fake ass king -- and how she was slightly offended when Xiao Qi wasn't being cordial with her brother, girl your whole family has brought nothing but misery and danger for Xiao Qi & his army, you want him to continue to treat them as if they're noble?! ...bye
Now, for A'wu...I'm disappointed in two ways: (1) While ZZY held up incredible acting chops for some scenes for A'wu, I felt that some of her emotional expressions fell flat (ie when XQ staged their second wedding and put the crown on her, she looked a bit emotionless imo). (2) A'wu's character in general suffered from poor characterization. "Rebel Princess" was a bad choice for the drama name because her entire character is just a propping up of virtue over justice. She really acknowledged and saw firsthand how corrupt the royal families were not just because they were bad people (we saw good people turn to POS in the midst of power struggles) but because the structure of only letting royal families rule meant that those at the top didn't earn their ranks and didn't understand the lifestyles of their own country's people.
I don't agree with her character's assertion in the end that even though the Royal Ma Family members did terrible things for the country, their heirs should still rule because they are a royal family. I know it's realistic since that was the custom back in the day, but y'all had a princess defend that and still name the show "Rebel Princess?" Where's the Rebel?!
Here are the things I think the drama could have done without:
- The entire Hulan arc. All of it. When I watched the last five episodes I forgot about Helan Zhen completely. I felt it wasted our time and it didn't give characters extra depth or A'wu a challenge to rise above and grow from. She just faced her evil cousin one more time, let Helan Zhen tell his sad story, kneel over XQ fake grave, and then got saved by XQ. All that time... we coulda seen a more fleshed out villain in Awu's father, a more close-up depiction of Huai'en's corruption, and more characterization of Zidan.
- The amount of men that liked Awu - I felt there was no real reason as to why so many men were pining for her, and the ways their desire for her was tacked on as a reason for them to become greedy and corrupt really didn't make sense to me. I find myself in disbelief that Zidan would really work with an enemy country in order to "win the country and thus win Awu". I'm also confused as to why Huai'en would ask A'wu to be his Queen right after he stabbed her father...in front of her. Yes, you could defend the writer & say that Huai'en lost his damn mind but I would argue that if we scrapped the Helan plot, fleshed out Haui'en more, showed that his "love" for A'wu was really just his envy over XQ' s power and potential, I woulda felt more for his character.
Characters I felt were properly fleshed out:
- Surprisingly enough even though HY was a side character (the woman in XQ's army), I felt her character was very fleshed out (could be due to good acting). And it's why I'm upset they didn't show a scene of XQ grieving over her untimely and sudden death.
- I really liked Zilong's Queen. I felt that the show did a good job at subtly showing that her hatred for A'wu was really born from the distance wedged between them after the royal family's schemes. I really empathized with her character's ending.
This came out long af and I still have more comments but I'll end it here for now. I wanna know your reactions to the ending and the overall show! Do you think the show could have scrapped some arcs and fleshed out characters in those time spans?