kiimnu

The best drama ever!! I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days!!

This has to be one of the best shows of all time, if not the best!! I LOVE the lead pair soooooo much!! They’re officially my fav couple of all time, topping Zhang Wuji & Zhao Ming 2003, Ren Ying Ying & Linghu Chong 2001, and Ye Hua & Bai Qian 2017. I can’t believe I put it off for so long, thinking it would be a typical court drama, but boy, was I so wrong. Everything is perfect in terms of acting, story, characters, production, screenplay, cinematography, camera work, OST, and casting. There are no perfect dramas, but this show is the closest to perfection among the dramas I’ve seen. I will be rewatching it multiple times in the future.

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Could’ve been much better

This was one of the rare instances where I liked season 2 better than season 1. It was such a treat to watch the military and psychological battles between Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi unfold. I especially appreciated that the battle scenes and strategic planning were shown properly and in full detail rather than simply being narrated after the fact. But just like the first installment, the show peaked around episode 30, and it wasn’t really worth watching beyond that point. The other characters were not compelling and engaging enough, and not to mention, I was never fully invested in the character Sima Yi in the first place.

The actor that portrayed Sima Yi gave a strong performance, but I feel like a more nuanced actor could have brought greater depth to the character. I would’ve been more emotionally invested in the character as I did with Cao Cao, Xun Yu / Wen Ruo, Zhuge Liang, and Zhang Chun Hua. There should have been a subtle difference between Sima Yi’s calculated emotional outbursts and his moments of genuine desperation, but unfortunately, I could never tell the difference. One can say Zhang Chun Hua was the glue that held the Sima family together, but the family dynamics changed so abruptly after her death that I was utterly disappointed with the storytelling. It was also such a shame that Liu Tao’s character was largely implied most of the time instead of showing her character development since the first part. Not only that, the female characters, especially in the second installment, had little impact and substance, regardless of their screen time.

I thought Sima Yi treated his wife Zhang Chun Hua poorly, but oh my gosh, I felt so bad for Bai Ling Yun at the end, even though she is not one of my favorite characters.

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Realistic, feel good, and cute romance

This drama did everything right — strong, independent women with careers, and the show actually takes us through the ups and downs of their journeys. It features beautiful friendships, heartwarming family dynamic, realistic and adorable love stories for all the leads, great cast chemistry, light-hearted moments, and no kissing scenes yet romantic moments that fill your heart with joy. It also touches on some bittersweet, harsh realities of life and shows how the characters navigate through those situations. I also love that the show started strong and only got better in the second half.

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Must watch if you’re a huge fan of Liu Tao!!

If you enjoy watching slice-of-life dramas based around friendship like Hello, My Twenties! and Hospital Playlist, you would love this drama, too. It’s refreshing to see a show where none of the main characters are morally upright or perfect, but you can’t help but root for them. I didn’t particularly care for any of the love stories, but that didn’t detract from the watching experience, except for the Wei Wei guy who I hate with a passion.

Unlike Hello, My Twenties! 2 and Hospital Playlist 2, Ode to Joy 2 didn’t retain the momentum that it carried in season one. There were inconsistencies in storytelling and character struggles, especially with Andy’s character, but still, it was an enjoyable experience.

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Not worth watching unless you are a massive fan of the leads!

The first few episodes were okay, but the show got really boring after that, so I marathoned through the entire show in half a day just to watch Liu Tao’s part, lol. She was the star of the show, in my opinion! I really loved her character transformation from a pampered, sheltered, naive but kindhearted, not the sharpest tool in the box but well-meaning princess to a neglected and heartbroken woman who walks on eggshells around the man she loves and does everything she can to please him, an empress torn between her home country and her new country, to a hateful and vengeful empress embroiled in harem affairs!! Her villain arc is not well written, but it’s more about the character and the director’s vision.

The show was really long without moving the plot forward for a large part of the show. Most of the characters were one-dimensional, and the show didn’t explore the characters’ intentions and purposes in a way I would have liked. And don’t even get me started on the hypocritical king who got no repercussions from any of his consorts whatsoever. I know the show is about Mi Yue, but I only liked her character until she parted with her first lover. Her character development seemed backward and inconsistent throughout the show. I absolutely loved Sun Li in Empresses in the Palace, but both her characters, Zhen Huan and Mi Yue, seemed like they could be the same person at different timelines. Despite having stellar leads, everything went melodramatic and even caricature-ish two-thirds into the show, though I blame it on the directors, not the actors.

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I need the time back that I wasted watching this show. As someone with a high tolerance for melodramas and unrealistic plots and someone who gives generous ratings as long as the watching experience is enjoyable, regardless of clichés, this show was beyond what I could tolerate. I don't even know how I managed to push through to the end. The acting was strange, especially the male lead. There was no chemistry between the leads, the plot was convoluted, the screenplay felt disjointed and hard to follow, and the mood kept changing every few scenes. The show tries to mix love story, court drama, wuxia, and xianxia elements all in one show and fails at it miserably, at least in my opinion. It was especially frustrating how the male lead was always there to rescue the female lead every single time when the story was supposed to be about the strong female lead. The only good thing about the show was the beautiful background music and the intriguing first few episodes.

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