If you stick around for the story, it's not that bad
I see a lot of the negative reaction was a result of the initial episodes. I wondered if 1st impression would taint the rest of the show, in case the story would come through. Several episodes in, it became apparent this new drama is having a hard time letting the past go. There are a lot of flashbacks to old key scenes from Princess Agents, re-enacted by the new cast which made me wonder how much was invested in continuing a new story.
The first few eps follow all the of major characters from Princess Agents as they try to reposition themselves but no truly new developments arise. Even a wedding day sabatoge is repeated once more.
Anyway, it seems the story writing isn't the only thing not well invested in as poor special effects & cinematography were glaring in the first few episodes. In fact, the lake ice in the 1st episode looked as fake as it did in 2017, as if continuing the story from that point was taken so seriously that 9 subsequent yrs of CGI development could be ignored. Yan Xun's costuming & hairstyling is quite a step down from his appearance in PA; there's not much regal about him at all.
After Ep 6 there's a change in the production: the cinematography suddenly looked crisper & sharper. I started to feel that this was becoming its own show, completely separate from the original it tried to crawl out of. But a familiar storyline began emerging, with Chu Qiao now hitching to Li Ce's cause in the same vein as when she supported Yan Xun. I began to wonder if Chu Qiao ever does become her own person instead of always supporting the ambitions of men who would never elevate her above themselves. Her character got annoying as she became a football tossed between Yan Xun & ZGY. However, I'm glad I stuck it out because it did become it's own show which actually got quite interesting toward the end, but not without the huge price of an astronomical body count.
I don't have an issue with new casting because of the time lapsed (the former leads are almost 40 after all) & I actually like Li YunRui. As for Huangyang Tian Tian's young age, she does look strikingly similar to the insanely baby-faced Zhao LiYing of 2017, & I believe there was an implied age gap in the original story. But her range was very limited & she couldn't portray the 6 yrs of what should have been tremendous growth in the character.
And why are there so many close up shots of the actors looking directly at the camera while delivering their lines? The long stares with slo-mo flowing hair. This technique is so overplayed as to be almost comical. In fact, there are very few camera angles through most of the entire show, with only a handful of artful scenes. The acting & dialogue in general was stiff & choppy, which is not the fault of the actors. In fact, I got used to it as the story came through & it just became an individual characteristic of this show. The music also sounded like 10 yr old generic tracks, a reminder of the feel of the original show.
I would've expected a lot more from the director of The Double (2025). It's better off standing on its own as a drama rather than trying to carry on a legacy. The character development could've been deeper, otherwise the drama on the whole was a bit superficial. Watch it just to see what happens to everyone as the story eventually did get interesting & exciting. The finale, however, was lacklustre.
The first few eps follow all the of major characters from Princess Agents as they try to reposition themselves but no truly new developments arise. Even a wedding day sabatoge is repeated once more.
Anyway, it seems the story writing isn't the only thing not well invested in as poor special effects & cinematography were glaring in the first few episodes. In fact, the lake ice in the 1st episode looked as fake as it did in 2017, as if continuing the story from that point was taken so seriously that 9 subsequent yrs of CGI development could be ignored. Yan Xun's costuming & hairstyling is quite a step down from his appearance in PA; there's not much regal about him at all.
After Ep 6 there's a change in the production: the cinematography suddenly looked crisper & sharper. I started to feel that this was becoming its own show, completely separate from the original it tried to crawl out of. But a familiar storyline began emerging, with Chu Qiao now hitching to Li Ce's cause in the same vein as when she supported Yan Xun. I began to wonder if Chu Qiao ever does become her own person instead of always supporting the ambitions of men who would never elevate her above themselves. Her character got annoying as she became a football tossed between Yan Xun & ZGY. However, I'm glad I stuck it out because it did become it's own show which actually got quite interesting toward the end, but not without the huge price of an astronomical body count.
I don't have an issue with new casting because of the time lapsed (the former leads are almost 40 after all) & I actually like Li YunRui. As for Huangyang Tian Tian's young age, she does look strikingly similar to the insanely baby-faced Zhao LiYing of 2017, & I believe there was an implied age gap in the original story. But her range was very limited & she couldn't portray the 6 yrs of what should have been tremendous growth in the character.
And why are there so many close up shots of the actors looking directly at the camera while delivering their lines? The long stares with slo-mo flowing hair. This technique is so overplayed as to be almost comical. In fact, there are very few camera angles through most of the entire show, with only a handful of artful scenes. The acting & dialogue in general was stiff & choppy, which is not the fault of the actors. In fact, I got used to it as the story came through & it just became an individual characteristic of this show. The music also sounded like 10 yr old generic tracks, a reminder of the feel of the original show.
I would've expected a lot more from the director of The Double (2025). It's better off standing on its own as a drama rather than trying to carry on a legacy. The character development could've been deeper, otherwise the drama on the whole was a bit superficial. Watch it just to see what happens to everyone as the story eventually did get interesting & exciting. The finale, however, was lacklustre.
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