This review may contain spoilers
Beautiful show with interesting characters - if only it was more balanced!
Very interesting plot, nice acting, excellent cinematography, nice soundtrack, great recommendation for people who enjoy action scenes, female leads with strong personalities, and power couples. The dubbing quality is excellent and the child actors were adorable! Yet, a lot of the show's potential was left unfinished and some plot choices were questionable.
Changyu is a great protagonist and a lovable character. Although I had my doubts about the actress, not due to her acting abilities but due to the baby face, her appearance fits Changyu's lively spirit, playful and a bit naive personality. She looked her best during battle. Zheng is an ideal male lead - handsome, smart, compassionate, capable, and together they made an excellent power couple. Qianqian's character was intriguing and I would have loved to see more about her background and personality outside of her forced reality alongside Qi Min. Qi Shu and Yin Gongsun were adorable together, the background characters were interesting but a bit underdeveloped, and Wei Yan made a very good antagonist. The friendship between Changyu and Qianqian was one of the best dynamics of the show, combined with an overall strong female presence in the whole plot. The sociopolitical commentary was decent and the final results for certain characters were worthy of their actions, minus Qi Min who deserved worst.
The editing is superb in many scenes, the song choices are very good, and the alternative ending was a smart inclusion (although the original ages of the main leads do not add up, but I pretended they were both 27-ish anyway)
On the negative side, the political aspect of the plot was underutilized in favor of the romance, which is truly a shame. The show starts great, but slugs during the middle part exactly because one can not rely on the chemistry of the main characters alone in order to push the narrative - the show gains momentum once again when both Changyu and Zheng enter the Capital and the scenario starts moving. The makeup artists really did not hold back (not everyone has to look beautiful all the damn time) and the show had multiple unrealistic moments, like people surviving from injuries that would have normally end up in disability or death, and Zheng coughing blood multiple times without it harming him at all. Qi Min was unworthy of redemption, although I don't blame Qianqian for having confused emotions due to her apparent supernatural origins (?) and her traumatic life. Gongsun and Shu deserved more screen time, and we got no proper showcase of Beijue as a foreign power. The occasional fatphobic stereotypes were not absent.
Changyu is a great protagonist and a lovable character. Although I had my doubts about the actress, not due to her acting abilities but due to the baby face, her appearance fits Changyu's lively spirit, playful and a bit naive personality. She looked her best during battle. Zheng is an ideal male lead - handsome, smart, compassionate, capable, and together they made an excellent power couple. Qianqian's character was intriguing and I would have loved to see more about her background and personality outside of her forced reality alongside Qi Min. Qi Shu and Yin Gongsun were adorable together, the background characters were interesting but a bit underdeveloped, and Wei Yan made a very good antagonist. The friendship between Changyu and Qianqian was one of the best dynamics of the show, combined with an overall strong female presence in the whole plot. The sociopolitical commentary was decent and the final results for certain characters were worthy of their actions, minus Qi Min who deserved worst.
The editing is superb in many scenes, the song choices are very good, and the alternative ending was a smart inclusion (although the original ages of the main leads do not add up, but I pretended they were both 27-ish anyway)
On the negative side, the political aspect of the plot was underutilized in favor of the romance, which is truly a shame. The show starts great, but slugs during the middle part exactly because one can not rely on the chemistry of the main characters alone in order to push the narrative - the show gains momentum once again when both Changyu and Zheng enter the Capital and the scenario starts moving. The makeup artists really did not hold back (not everyone has to look beautiful all the damn time) and the show had multiple unrealistic moments, like people surviving from injuries that would have normally end up in disability or death, and Zheng coughing blood multiple times without it harming him at all. Qi Min was unworthy of redemption, although I don't blame Qianqian for having confused emotions due to her apparent supernatural origins (?) and her traumatic life. Gongsun and Shu deserved more screen time, and we got no proper showcase of Beijue as a foreign power. The occasional fatphobic stereotypes were not absent.
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