The best part of this drama is the relationship Xu Qian had with everyone, his uncle, aunty, cousins, his friends, the princess, and especially lord wei. I always smile while watching their interactions. The supporting characters are so well developed.
Is low rating similar to unloved drama or lack of viewers?Nope.I just went to Douban's Real Time TVlist ranking…
Yea, Douban score is not a metric for a good drama, besides it can be heavily manipulated by both fans and antifans. Iirc tteotm had a Douban score of 5.2.
speaking as a woman who mostly watches female centric romance dramas I seriously don't like romance in male centric…
If you don’t hate romance in female centric dramas, why should it be any different in male centric dramas? Male leads are allowed to embody a wide range of flaws, and fans readily understand, excuse, or rationalize their behavior. In contrast, female leads are rarely afforded the same grace, and their imperfections are scrutinized more harshly.
One day we will talk about the unnecessary vitriol female leads get from fans in male centric dramas. This drama wasn’t adapted from a BL novel, so wtf is hetero agenda? Romance is unnecessary? Why exactly? The male lead has experienced family, friendship, enemies, why not love? It’s also an emotion. Besides the romance subplot is given the least screen time and the female lead appears for less than 5 minutes per episode, so what exactly is the issue here?
Bai Shuo talks a big game but if he didn’t hold her with his whip, she would have totally knocked her skull on her ground. But I like the way she stands up for herself anyways. It’s just that she has no powers and is currently vulnerable with demons and eternals trying to kill her, so her bravado seems somewhat misplaced
Okay. I kinda of saw how Princess Lin An fell in love with Xu Qi An but at what point did XQA fall in love with…
Oh it wasn’t abrupt. Xu Qi An definitely developed a crush on her from the first time they met at the astronomical bureau in episode 6., around 34.30 mark, he literally forgot himself staring at her, so her maid had to reprimand him. That’s why his rose tinted glasses for her didn’t allow him notice that she was not the smart, calm and collected grand princess everyone was praising all along.
Even when he discovered that she was intentionally misleading him, he didn’t get upset, instead he praised her to his brother. They have mutual admiration and crush on each other, and it’s very obvious even from their subtle interactions, eg the way Xu Qi An held her and teared up when she was mourning the loss of her friend.
They haven’t defined their relationship yet though. Lin An kissed him because she was drunk, I doubt she remembers the kiss. I guess their relationship will move forward when she returns from her travels. By then she will be more mature but hopefully still her cheerful and carefree self.
Xu Qi An and Lin An have so much chemistry! Especially the way Xu Qi An looks at her.. every woman deserves a partner that will admire them the same way. He just looks past her flaws to see the positive aspects of her character. I can’t wait for their relationship to develop further. Speaking of which, Dylan wang’s best features has to be his eyes. He doesn’t even have to do anything but they are so expressive. He can look imposing, cute, puppy like, downright scary just through his expressive eyes. That’s huge asset for an actor.
The Eternal clan Elders are so irritating. At this rate, it will be a relief if the cold spring palace demons beat up their ass. If only Fu Ling wasn’t so evil, I would have been rooting for Chong Zhao to leave that incompetent clan, and join her. But it seems she just wants to use him for now.
I binged the first 5 episodes. This is classic xianxia drama complete with all the tropes, so people who love the genre may like this one. Within the first 5 episodes, we already have blood spitting, angst, stabbing, choking, hand pulling..clearly the screenwriters didn’t hold back when it comes to the tropes.
I like Bai Shuo’s character, and Bai Lu is really doing great with her acting. Bai Shuo is smart, loyal but very stubborn. Her stubborn obsession with immortals basically laid the grounds for the death of her father, and she admits it. Which is why I like her character, she is very flawed but true to her emotions. Even when she told Chong Zhao that logically, it’s not his fault but emotionally she can’t help but blame him, I respected that. Hopefully, her character will continue to evolve for the better.
On the flip side, idk how to feel about Ao Ruipeng as the ML. He is clearly going through the acting motions but he lacks the charisma and aura that comes with the character. Think back to characters that played this sort of all powerful demon lord (Moon supreme DFQC in LBFAD, or Devil god in TTEOTM), they look very imposing even without speaking, and their aura precedes them. On the contrary, with Ao Ruipeng, idk, he is clearly trying but I’m not sold yet. But it’s just 5 episodes in, hopefully there is some improvement.
The chemistry between the leads is so so, but it might improve with time. They have already choked and stabbed each other so we know the screen writer is going for maximum angst, but I’m not feeling it yet.
I think the best part of the story is the mystery of Bai Xi, Bai shuo’s long lost sister. Right now, I’m guessing Fu Ling is Bai Xi, and if it’s true, that’s some delicious angst because idk how she will deal with practically murdering her father in cold blood. Right now, I’m keeping up with the drama mainly for this subplot.
FINALLY! The mistaken identity is OVER, and they can actually develop a good loveline and good chemistry. After…
I think you are underestimating the conflict Princess Lin An was in quite a bit. She has also been compared most of her life to her perfect sister Huaiqing and she falls short every single time. Yes, she has the favour of the emperor, probably cos her childish cuteness makes him see her more as a pet (see the way he treats the Crown Prince for instance)…but asides that, her mother doesn’t seem to care to know the real her, for eg she keeps sending her milk cakes when Lin An doesn’t even like it. She may be favoured by the emperor but no one thinks she is capable of anything, and she is lowkey a laughing stock. Most of her childish stunts is just trying to prove she is worth something. Her major problem is that she is trying to be like Huaiqing because everyone around her told her that’s how it should be. As soon as she focuses instead, on being her own true self and finding her unique talents, she will shine very bright. She has that infectious bright, cute, resilient and positive attitude, which is why the ML fell for her to start with.
On a side note, I kind of understand why people find it hard to empathize with Lin An. If you think about it, in 90% of Cdramas, the female lead would be Huaiqing who is smart, calculating, scheming, everyone admires her etc. that’s what we are used to and conditioned to root for. Lin An would be more like the second FL who is dumb, petty and jealous of the main FL, and possibly be driven to evil because of that.
This drama kind of switched things the other way and gave us Lin An, who has the classic tropes of the second Fl character, but despite being petty and childish, she is actually kind and she truly doesn’t have malicious intent in her heart. Infact, of the three female characters (Lin An, Caiwei and Huaiqing) in this drama, Lin An is probably the least likely “female lead character”, and I actually appreciate that. Because that means if the drama is well written, her character growth will be most impactful. And I think with episode 21, it’s gradually happening.
Princess Lin An’s crying scene in episode 21 is one of the best acting I’ve seen from a Cdrama actress or even actor for that matter. You could feel her heartbreak from the screen. And her walking into court demanding for justice almost made me tear up. I think we will see major growth in her character henceforth, and her relationship with the ML will move forward.
LOL. In this situation, Xu Qi An is like the cousin everyone adores and wants to succeed. Lin An is like the girlfriend…
I don’t see how he is intimidated by Huaiqing’s intelligence when he is besties with Caiwei who is smart af also. Lin An may not be as intelligent as Huaiqing but she is pure hearted and adorable in her own way. I understand why he likes Lin An, they fit each other temperament wise.
I see a lot of people don’t like Princess Lin An but in my opinion, she is the most realistic character in the show. Sure she is petty and childish, but she is also really innocent and not devious minded. Besides, with the sort of parents she has, and unhealthy situation she grew up in, it’s a miracle she is not evil.
On a side note, I think fans should allow Fls room to breathe. We get all sorts of ML characters in dramas, and people eat them up but FLs aren’t allowed to be less than perfect. Irl, how many people are as put together as Huaiqing anyways? Lin An is way more realistic as a character, and she has a lot of room for growth .
One thing I like with this drama is that the 3 female characters (asides family) that interact most with the ML are all unique in their own right without anyone written as evil or jealous, till now at least. Caiwei is spontaneous, Huaiqing is discerning and Lin An is chaotic but not in a bad way.
Even when he discovered that she was intentionally misleading him, he didn’t get upset, instead he praised her to his brother. They have mutual admiration and crush on each other, and it’s very obvious even from their subtle interactions, eg the way Xu Qi An held her and teared up when she was mourning the loss of her friend.
They haven’t defined their relationship yet though. Lin An kissed him because she was drunk, I doubt she remembers the kiss. I guess their relationship will move forward when she returns from her travels. By then she will be more mature but hopefully still her cheerful and carefree self.
I like Bai Shuo’s character, and Bai Lu is really doing great with her acting. Bai Shuo is smart, loyal but very stubborn. Her stubborn obsession with immortals basically laid the grounds for the death of her father, and she admits it. Which is why I like her character, she is very flawed but true to her emotions. Even when she told Chong Zhao that logically, it’s not his fault but emotionally she can’t help but blame him, I respected that. Hopefully, her character will continue to evolve for the better.
On the flip side, idk how to feel about Ao Ruipeng as the ML. He is clearly going through the acting motions but he lacks the charisma and aura that comes with the character. Think back to characters that played this sort of all powerful demon lord (Moon supreme DFQC in LBFAD, or Devil god in TTEOTM), they look very imposing even without speaking, and their aura precedes them. On the contrary, with Ao Ruipeng, idk, he is clearly trying but I’m not sold yet. But it’s just 5 episodes in, hopefully there is some improvement.
The chemistry between the leads is so so, but it might improve with time. They have already choked and stabbed each other so we know the screen writer is going for maximum angst, but I’m not feeling it yet.
I think the best part of the story is the mystery of Bai Xi, Bai shuo’s long lost sister. Right now, I’m guessing Fu Ling is Bai Xi, and if it’s true, that’s some delicious angst because idk how she will deal with practically murdering her father in cold blood. Right now, I’m keeping up with the drama mainly for this subplot.
On a side note, I kind of understand why people find it hard to empathize with Lin An. If you think about it, in 90% of Cdramas, the female lead would be Huaiqing who is smart, calculating, scheming, everyone admires her etc. that’s what we are used to and conditioned to root for. Lin An would be more like the second FL who is dumb, petty and jealous of the main FL, and possibly be driven to evil because of that.
This drama kind of switched things the other way and gave us Lin An, who has the classic tropes of the second Fl character, but despite being petty and childish, she is actually kind and she truly doesn’t have malicious intent in her heart. Infact, of the three female characters (Lin An, Caiwei and Huaiqing) in this drama, Lin An is probably the least likely “female lead character”, and I actually appreciate that. Because that means if the drama is well written, her character growth will be most impactful. And I think with episode 21, it’s gradually happening.
On a side note, I think fans should allow Fls room to breathe. We get all sorts of ML characters in dramas, and people eat them up but FLs aren’t allowed to be less than perfect. Irl, how many people are as put together as Huaiqing anyways? Lin An is way more realistic as a character, and she has a lot of room for growth .
One thing I like with this drama is that the 3 female characters (asides family) that interact most with the ML are all unique in their own right without anyone written as evil or jealous, till now at least. Caiwei is spontaneous, Huaiqing is discerning and Lin An is chaotic but not in a bad way.