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spoilers (i think)
This is my third drama which I’ve watched after a year or two. I stopped watching c dramas cause I felt it had gotten so repetitive in its entirety after some bad watches and recently got back into it after watching prisoner of beauty and story of kunning palace. To be completely honest, pursuit of jade was not my first choice. This was straight after watching story of kunning palace (which I finished last Sunday) and as a bai Lu fan who binged only for love and till the end of the moon and believe it to be some of the greatest dramas ever, I was aiming to watch the first jasmine since it starred bai Lu and since I wasn’t too fond of zhang linghe’s role in SOKP, I genuinely felt this drama was to be overrated and had a negative bias towards it but after seeing for Tain xiewei reels I decided to give it a go, and boy did I give it a go.
I started the drama 28th of sep, and after 3 days and 2 nights of straight binge watching, I can definitely say it lived up to its hype. To clarify I’ve never in my life binged something this hard and gotten so attached and addicted to a show as I did for this, the story was brilliant, characters were beyond amazing and the storyline/plot was also very good. Apologies if this is straight rambling, first review im writing for anything which ive watched and im just writing this fast and casually to distract myself while waiting for something
Now let’s get into the actual content of the drama. As most people have already mentioned, the xingu alley arc was probably the best parts of this drama and probably some of the best scenes and episodes of a drama I’ve ever seen. Changyu was introduced in a very funny and entertaining manner, which set up her character as this nice, stubborn, cute yet strong character. Xiewei’s portrayal of her character was truly fantastic, her facial expressions and the lines were incredibly funny which engrossed me into the drama even more. Zhang linghe in my opinion also redeem himself from SOKP, as he did manage to portray Xie Zheng in such a memorable fashion. From the initial conversations between changyu and Zheng where he spoke in a very tactful manner to his awkwardness towards a villager’s life and their daily food, he managed to capture the perfect version of a noble living in a village vibe. The chemistry between the two was also quite remarkable, at first glance they both had this contrast if lives and character. Zheng was a elegant, noble, well educated, injured/weak and reserved person whereas changyu was a more outspoken, straightforward, rough around the edges and while somewhat educated, more reliant on her strength to survive. As they begun to learn about one another, they slowly began to melt into a perfect match, where each filled the gaps that the other had and helped live a happy life. The gradual transition, particularly of Zheng’s relation with changyu was very memorable as he transitioned from being guarded, to feeling grateful, tofeeling respect, admiration, love and unrelenting devotion. It did not feel rushed or forced at all, and so naturally developed and felt very grounded to reality in a way.
The pacing itself was probably one of if not the best thing about the arc other than the main couple. Every episode felt so complete yet so integrated into the storyline. It didn’t feel like it was a sectioned story, each episode felt more like something that you would put in a memory book or like a diary. This was further amplified by the growing development of characters like the pig butchering squad that went from the village’s troublemakers to honest and loyal followers of changyu. The gradual exposure to outside events or characters also felt kind of natural, hinting at things without forcing it into the story. It was similar to the integration and removal of characters from the story. From the introduction of mrs zhao as a friendly neighbour to becoming a very attachable character who’s like a second mother to her, to the introduction and final exit of butcher guo that went from a salty competitor to someone who wants revenge towards them. Besides this, the application of side characters were also very good throughout the drama, the characters had very good screen time.
Now I believe this perfection lasted till about the linan massacre. Up until this point, the story progression seemed very elite, and I could agree if from the start till now were the whole first season if they had wanted to include more scenes or extend the story, and I feel this entire story should have been split into multiple seasons to truly make a perfect drama, but once yuanqing got saved by the bandit stronghold, everything felt somewhat forced and rushed. They could have definitely created some build up in the relationship between yaunqing and the stronghold master or a buildup to the actual bandit raid but the fact that it occurred so quickly felt rushed. I could even let it slide if they had expanded a bit more on the bandit raid and built it up more before ending the first season with changyu falling off the cliff but it was too rushed. Furthermore, the transition from being injured to escaping and looking for changning all the way to the bacia arc had a similar issue. There was no real explanation or illustration of changyu’s 2 month travel after the massacre and while I loved the character development of changyu, who now feels a lot more mature, there could have been so much potential which the story could’ve added into the arc. We could’ve gotten some more expansion into how she handled the losses or some sort of interaction between changyu with characters or something or like had a quick introduction or something of grand tutor Tao before their first interaction within the dam construction. Regarding the characters, story and other aspects of the arcs, still we’re very addictive and high quality. The only thing which degraded it would definitely be the pacing. The same thing could be said about the following arcs, like baxia could’ve definitely had potential for more plot points or expansions into it. The whole battle/arc felt way too underwhelming for the importance which it had. While the mount gu fort arc had much better pacing and stayed consistent with its characters, the vibe and the various chemistries, its main problem was still pace. We didn’t even get a proper introduction to how the princess popped up or the journey to the mount by changyu and the pig butchering squad, and some great action scenes for changyu. But it felt like the princess’s chemistry with advisor bungsun felt too forced, not to mention the potential for chemistry between the stronghold leader and yuanqing. Matter of fact, this was such a missed opportunity. We could’ve had such a great addition of rivalry or something sort of lore for the stronghold leader who’s trying to win over yaunqing or something but she literally faded into the background, and barely appeared for more than 15 minutes throughout the whole baxia arc. But back to my main point, this whole arc was very under developed, but I did like that it helped set up the stage for changyu to introduce herself as a peak warrior and further expanded and deepened Zheng and her relationship. In regards to the future storyline, it had similar themes of issues. Lord changxin’s death appeared way too underwhelming, the battle was over way too quickly and the fact that while it was a 30k plus army, the actual battle was dramatically underwhelming and just awkward in a way. This is similar to the other large scale combat scenes like the riot of linan, as there was no real portraying of 1000 elite units or the 10 thousand soldiers which the Shi brothers though the fort gu.
I regards to the end arc, it was very cinimetically well made. I loved the slow wrap up of the story with all the significant characters pulling up to the capital and the straightforwardness of changyu in face of the manipulating ministers, furthermore, it helped build up the significance of the finale and the slow destabalisation of the imperial court that ended with the coup. It also gave a pretty good ending for all the characters that remained, and I liked that closure which was brought from prime minister wei when talking to grand tutor tao as well as the revealment of the past throughout the episode as well as the heartfelt ending of them going back to xingu alley as they are greeted by the fallen residents as well as mr and mrs zhao. The main issue for this is once again the pacing. There was no real time for expansion into the capital arc, it felt too shallow and superficial and especially the end battle, it was so underwheliming considering it was the finale of the entire series. I truly feel like the capital arc had the potential to be pure peak, if it was appropriately paced so the ending while underwhelming was still a heartfelt ending that I enjoyed very much. The end credits of the what if was also such a nice touch, truly made me understand that my journey watching pursuit of jade was about to end.
if you have read this till the end, thanks and let me know if there are some unnecessary parts or something i should get rid of or aviod in writing future reviews.
I started the drama 28th of sep, and after 3 days and 2 nights of straight binge watching, I can definitely say it lived up to its hype. To clarify I’ve never in my life binged something this hard and gotten so attached and addicted to a show as I did for this, the story was brilliant, characters were beyond amazing and the storyline/plot was also very good. Apologies if this is straight rambling, first review im writing for anything which ive watched and im just writing this fast and casually to distract myself while waiting for something
Now let’s get into the actual content of the drama. As most people have already mentioned, the xingu alley arc was probably the best parts of this drama and probably some of the best scenes and episodes of a drama I’ve ever seen. Changyu was introduced in a very funny and entertaining manner, which set up her character as this nice, stubborn, cute yet strong character. Xiewei’s portrayal of her character was truly fantastic, her facial expressions and the lines were incredibly funny which engrossed me into the drama even more. Zhang linghe in my opinion also redeem himself from SOKP, as he did manage to portray Xie Zheng in such a memorable fashion. From the initial conversations between changyu and Zheng where he spoke in a very tactful manner to his awkwardness towards a villager’s life and their daily food, he managed to capture the perfect version of a noble living in a village vibe. The chemistry between the two was also quite remarkable, at first glance they both had this contrast if lives and character. Zheng was a elegant, noble, well educated, injured/weak and reserved person whereas changyu was a more outspoken, straightforward, rough around the edges and while somewhat educated, more reliant on her strength to survive. As they begun to learn about one another, they slowly began to melt into a perfect match, where each filled the gaps that the other had and helped live a happy life. The gradual transition, particularly of Zheng’s relation with changyu was very memorable as he transitioned from being guarded, to feeling grateful, tofeeling respect, admiration, love and unrelenting devotion. It did not feel rushed or forced at all, and so naturally developed and felt very grounded to reality in a way.
The pacing itself was probably one of if not the best thing about the arc other than the main couple. Every episode felt so complete yet so integrated into the storyline. It didn’t feel like it was a sectioned story, each episode felt more like something that you would put in a memory book or like a diary. This was further amplified by the growing development of characters like the pig butchering squad that went from the village’s troublemakers to honest and loyal followers of changyu. The gradual exposure to outside events or characters also felt kind of natural, hinting at things without forcing it into the story. It was similar to the integration and removal of characters from the story. From the introduction of mrs zhao as a friendly neighbour to becoming a very attachable character who’s like a second mother to her, to the introduction and final exit of butcher guo that went from a salty competitor to someone who wants revenge towards them. Besides this, the application of side characters were also very good throughout the drama, the characters had very good screen time.
Now I believe this perfection lasted till about the linan massacre. Up until this point, the story progression seemed very elite, and I could agree if from the start till now were the whole first season if they had wanted to include more scenes or extend the story, and I feel this entire story should have been split into multiple seasons to truly make a perfect drama, but once yuanqing got saved by the bandit stronghold, everything felt somewhat forced and rushed. They could have definitely created some build up in the relationship between yaunqing and the stronghold master or a buildup to the actual bandit raid but the fact that it occurred so quickly felt rushed. I could even let it slide if they had expanded a bit more on the bandit raid and built it up more before ending the first season with changyu falling off the cliff but it was too rushed. Furthermore, the transition from being injured to escaping and looking for changning all the way to the bacia arc had a similar issue. There was no real explanation or illustration of changyu’s 2 month travel after the massacre and while I loved the character development of changyu, who now feels a lot more mature, there could have been so much potential which the story could’ve added into the arc. We could’ve gotten some more expansion into how she handled the losses or some sort of interaction between changyu with characters or something or like had a quick introduction or something of grand tutor Tao before their first interaction within the dam construction. Regarding the characters, story and other aspects of the arcs, still we’re very addictive and high quality. The only thing which degraded it would definitely be the pacing. The same thing could be said about the following arcs, like baxia could’ve definitely had potential for more plot points or expansions into it. The whole battle/arc felt way too underwhelming for the importance which it had. While the mount gu fort arc had much better pacing and stayed consistent with its characters, the vibe and the various chemistries, its main problem was still pace. We didn’t even get a proper introduction to how the princess popped up or the journey to the mount by changyu and the pig butchering squad, and some great action scenes for changyu. But it felt like the princess’s chemistry with advisor bungsun felt too forced, not to mention the potential for chemistry between the stronghold leader and yuanqing. Matter of fact, this was such a missed opportunity. We could’ve had such a great addition of rivalry or something sort of lore for the stronghold leader who’s trying to win over yaunqing or something but she literally faded into the background, and barely appeared for more than 15 minutes throughout the whole baxia arc. But back to my main point, this whole arc was very under developed, but I did like that it helped set up the stage for changyu to introduce herself as a peak warrior and further expanded and deepened Zheng and her relationship. In regards to the future storyline, it had similar themes of issues. Lord changxin’s death appeared way too underwhelming, the battle was over way too quickly and the fact that while it was a 30k plus army, the actual battle was dramatically underwhelming and just awkward in a way. This is similar to the other large scale combat scenes like the riot of linan, as there was no real portraying of 1000 elite units or the 10 thousand soldiers which the Shi brothers though the fort gu.
I regards to the end arc, it was very cinimetically well made. I loved the slow wrap up of the story with all the significant characters pulling up to the capital and the straightforwardness of changyu in face of the manipulating ministers, furthermore, it helped build up the significance of the finale and the slow destabalisation of the imperial court that ended with the coup. It also gave a pretty good ending for all the characters that remained, and I liked that closure which was brought from prime minister wei when talking to grand tutor tao as well as the revealment of the past throughout the episode as well as the heartfelt ending of them going back to xingu alley as they are greeted by the fallen residents as well as mr and mrs zhao. The main issue for this is once again the pacing. There was no real time for expansion into the capital arc, it felt too shallow and superficial and especially the end battle, it was so underwheliming considering it was the finale of the entire series. I truly feel like the capital arc had the potential to be pure peak, if it was appropriately paced so the ending while underwhelming was still a heartfelt ending that I enjoyed very much. The end credits of the what if was also such a nice touch, truly made me understand that my journey watching pursuit of jade was about to end.
if you have read this till the end, thanks and let me know if there are some unnecessary parts or something i should get rid of or aviod in writing future reviews.
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