lilseemonster

I’m excited to see PHS in his villain era! This cast is 🤩 Disney+ is kind of slow though…

She’s a brilliant actress. I actually felt like they were different people. There are actresses that are essentially the same in every drama they take on. I thought the messaging here was beautiful. Kdramas have a wonderful way of conveying life’s wisdom.

I just started this and I'm all sorts of confused by the first episode. I know that the story is told out of order, but when do things start making sense?

Also, a random thought...when they make actors have white hair, they always leave the eyebrows black. Does it look weird if they have white eyebrows too? I would think those two things should match in color.

Note that I skipped the entire betrayal part because I have no desire to see Wei Liang die.

1) I loved how smart and logical FL was. I really dislike the bumbling brainless happy go lucky types. She was a great strategist, direct, and proactive. She never waited around to be a damsel in distress. She’s really a perfect partner during a warring state period like this. Yet, she was not perfect. Her tunnel idea actually backfired on her. She acknowledged and apologized when she was wrong. SZE really brought Qiao Man to life for me.

2) Wei Yan was played delightfully by Liu Duan Duan. I know some people think he was the creepy cousin, but I felt like I understood his character. He had talent and ambition, but due to his background, he had to suppress his desire to be more than just Wei Shao’s cousin. So he turned to other desires, such as alcohol and brothels. He was always tripping and his eyes were always a little glazed because he drunk to numb his ambition. He honestly was very wise and often poked at Wei Shao in a way to help Wei Shao understand his feelings for Manman. He was always supportive of them. He also had some of the best lines in the drama. I loved his monologue when he finished the painting.

3) ML was flawed but also consistent. He fought his emotions because filial piety and guilt consumed his childhood and how he grew up. LYN’s height really made him believable as a formidable general compared to many other c-actors that look more frail. He also has great comedic timing. I think some of my biggest laugh out loud moments are from him.

4) A negative about this drama, probably due to the episode limitation, is the lack of character development outside of our leads. I understood Liu Yan and Yulou Furen were how they were because of how they grew up. Liu Yan felt he was an ant to his family, and Yulou was merely a tool for hers. It’s hard to see them as sympathetic villains when everything tragic we learn about them are simply told to us through a few lines. Both their ending was also a bit disapponting. Bi Zhi also felt more like a plot device/pawn than a fully fleshed out character. I would’ve loved to see him go from a simple minded stable boy to a formidable general that had battle (strategy) talent and not just brainless muscle.

5) Similar to the above point, I felt like the core set up of their conflict was dealt too quickly. I don’t think we felt the emotional trauma of the male lead enough to understand some of his actions thoroughly. Maybe I also wanted more Vengo Gao time 😅

6) Lastly, I don’t like unnecessary deaths. If you’re on a death mission like in AJTL, I kind of get it (I was just hoping for 1-2 survivors in that one, not a complete massacre of the crew). Wei Liang felt like a typical c-drama move where they take a character, purposely make you like them, then kill them off at the end for emotional impact. I knew that was going to happen once he gave Xiao Tao his little golden blade, and he was given a love line. It’s not shocking at all because they do this so often. But I just feel anger with those kinds of plots. Sometimes a happy ending is fine!

I really enjoyed this drama for the most part, which I feel is a solid 9/10. Definitely one of the best this year. My many thoughts below.

Sometimes a happy ending for all the good guys also delivers great emotional impact, rather than kill off a beloved character. I wish we could get those more often in these kind of dramas 😞

Thanks for the suggestion! After all of you told me, I went and watched it. Episode 32 was a perfect end and I’m not watching the rest even though I do want to watch Liu Yan, Yulou, idiot uncle and his even bigger idiot advisor die 🤬

You are right! Ep 32 was a perfect spot, and all loose ends from their initial feud was nicely tied up!

Ok you’re right, ep 32 is a perfect spot to end. Also, I feel embarrassed watching the scene between them two 😅 like I’m invading someone’s intimate and very private moment!

I also like her! She’s a very good actress, even when she’s playing antagonist roles. It’s hard to believe she’s almost 40.

I would’ve been much happier with this 😭😭😭

I honestly hate it, and have been refusing to watch the last episodes. I’m pretending it ended at 31. This happens so often that it no longer illicits shock value but anger that the writers keep using these cheap tactics. Create a lovable character and kill them off instead of the main leads for emotional impact. Similar happened to characters in The Double that didn’t die in the novel, and many other dramas.

I actually was really worried since Wei Liang is by himself, and they had that whole exchange of how he’s going to propose when he comes back. I’m praying for a miracle but cdramas like to make us care for the lovable side characters and then kill them off 😭😭😭

Wei Shao promised his brother two things before his death (1) to never trust a Qiao and (2) to help him take care of Yulou Furen, who was engaged to the brother at the time. He already failed on #1 so I think he personally feels a stronger guilt to do #2 that might cloud his better judgement.

To be fair, Wei Shao did say earlier on that if you spend too much time with the Qiaos, you become dumb 😅 All joke aside, I agree we’ve spent too long on this love sick puppy arc. I hope this drama doesn’t suffer from a pacing issue/rushed ending like many other c dramas that start out good.

Based on what novel readers have said here, the answer is no 😊

If anything happens to my Baymax general in the end, I swear, I’m going to build a fortress around my heart like the ML before attempting another costume cdrama. I don’t need side characters sacrificed for an impactful ending, just give me a happy one!

Noooo! I’m still recovering from the trauma of The Double when they killed off my favorite supporting casts, who were also supposed to survive in the novel 😭 I hope this isn’t true.

I love this drama so much but it’s so emotionally draining… definitely not one for me to binge watch unless I want to die from dehydration from crying too many tears…

Such an underrated actor. I hope he gets more opportunities!