finally finished the drama... solid 7.5/10. it started off slow, picked up a little after dongjun leaves tianqi, then slowed down again. it wasn't until episode 28 ish that i was fully invested again.
if you want friendship, loyalty, eye candy, good acting, excessive CGI rather than fighting scenes, very minimal romance (it's more implied than actual scenes)- then go for it. if you want romance and a fast pacing, better to skip this one.
i will say he yu's acting kept me going though. also, i like dongjun's growth although i would've liked it if he developed faster in the drama. i 1000% agree with him at the end when he said he blamed wenjun. she was my least favorite character, it was a shame that he yu's character loved her so much. he did way too much for her while she was a coward. in the end, he never blamed her. everyone wished for a better ending for ye dingzhi, but i think it was the best ending that they didn't end up together. she didn't deserve him.
didn't expect myself to love this drama this much. No plotholes, the storyline makes sense and comes full circle. Nice pacing throughout. Love the songs, acting, and visuals. Lu yi xiao and neo hou had incredible chemistry and acting was great. Things I didn't like were how much deception was going on between the main leads, I've been spoiled by dramas like fated hearts so I forgot cdramas still do this style. luckily, the deception lessened halfway through the drama, making things better.
if fated hearts had the good plot and pacing like this drama, it'd be the top drama of 2025. I'd say this drama is a must watch. it is worth it. if FL is annoying you, stick it out, she will get better.
seeing so many good comments about this drama... I've tried to continue watching this 3x but each time I end up dropping it. whenever I watch it again, I drift off bc I'm bored. story doesn't pull me in, don't like their chemistry for some reason. love zhao lu si but it doesn't keep my attention
I only watch historical/costume dramas because modern style dramas never kept me watching, but this drama is so good I'm hooked. Love the acting, visuals, plot, and chemistry
I really loved this drama but I have to agree it has its flaws. Pros: - Acting was amazing. I've always been a fan of CZY but I haven't seen him in a role as charismatic as this one. I hope he continues to pick up more roles like this. LQ is always top-notch, so nothing surprisingly. The supporting characters are all great. - Loved the OSTs. - Eye candy! - Started off super strong, was super intriguing, kept me on my feet every minute of it.
Cons: - Starting episode 24ish, the mysteries start unraveling and all these people were popping up as bad. Backstories vague. Felt like I was being thrown a bunch of sideplots/secrets all at once. It was overwhelming. Even the good people went bonkers and turned bad... for what reason? Not enough development on the antagonists to convince me why so many people turned crazy and wanted to kill FSG. - The historical/kingdom part of this was not realistic at all. You have the prime minister and the emperor always harping on and on about how you need to win over the support of the officials in the court, but where were the officials when FSG brilliantly decided to appoint his sister (who btw had to use XJY's power to back herself up, no knowledge whatsoever on state affairs since she was young) as the empress? Also, it was frowned upon to have a woman take over the throne back then, especially since women were required to be lady-like and delicate (paint, play instruments, sing, dance). If the princess was more similar to FSG, then sure, but she is not. If FSG (first prince + fought his entire life to protect the kingdom) could not make all the officials listen to him when his father was emperor, what makes them automatically just support the princess just because FSG said so? - Better ending would be him becoming emperor and having a grand wedding with FXY as his empress.
Even though I love this drama, I can't help but rant when I compare this drama to Goodbye My Princess, the antagonist stories/mysteries/decisions concerning state affairs here are lacking. It started off so strong, had so much potential to be a 10/10. Due to the cons, I knocked the rating down to 8.5
From what I’ve seen up to episode 25, people may side against the Emperor because of how he raised the male…
i agree with you. this is the realistic take, but i think the drama chose the fictional, unrealistic side (which was the ML giving the throne to his sister) which i didn't like (would've made way more sense if he became emperor and yixiao became his empress). very historically inaccurate. the entire court would definitely have disagreed knowing history.
dropped it after 26 episodes I really wanted to like this one. but I really dont feel any chemistry between the…
I think the acting was amazing. they def have chemistry. in comparison, i watched sword and fairy 4, ju jingyi and chen zheyuan's chemistry is not really there (if you watch the special scenes they kiss but it's still off).
usually i watch the new adaptations to see how bad they can be, but i was genuinely impressed with this one. loved the acting of wzc as xln and love yang guo! so good. it wasn't as true to the story as many parts were cut to be condensed but overall very entertaining. cant wait for part 2!
if you want friendship, loyalty, eye candy, good acting, excessive CGI rather than fighting scenes, very minimal romance (it's more implied than actual scenes)- then go for it.
if you want romance and a fast pacing, better to skip this one.
i will say he yu's acting kept me going though. also, i like dongjun's growth although i would've liked it if he developed faster in the drama. i 1000% agree with him at the end when he said he blamed wenjun. she was my least favorite character, it was a shame that he yu's character loved her so much. he did way too much for her while she was a coward. in the end, he never blamed her. everyone wished for a better ending for ye dingzhi, but i think it was the best ending that they didn't end up together. she didn't deserve him.
if fated hearts had the good plot and pacing like this drama, it'd be the top drama of 2025. I'd say this drama is a must watch. it is worth it. if FL is annoying you, stick it out, she will get better.
Pros:
- Acting was amazing. I've always been a fan of CZY but I haven't seen him in a role as charismatic as this one. I hope he continues to pick up more roles like this. LQ is always top-notch, so nothing surprisingly. The supporting characters are all great.
- Loved the OSTs.
- Eye candy!
- Started off super strong, was super intriguing, kept me on my feet every minute of it.
Cons:
- Starting episode 24ish, the mysteries start unraveling and all these people were popping up as bad. Backstories vague. Felt like I was being thrown a bunch of sideplots/secrets all at once. It was overwhelming. Even the good people went bonkers and turned bad... for what reason? Not enough development on the antagonists to convince me why so many people turned crazy and wanted to kill FSG.
- The historical/kingdom part of this was not realistic at all. You have the prime minister and the emperor always harping on and on about how you need to win over the support of the officials in the court, but where were the officials when FSG brilliantly decided to appoint his sister (who btw had to use XJY's power to back herself up, no knowledge whatsoever on state affairs since she was young) as the empress? Also, it was frowned upon to have a woman take over the throne back then, especially since women were required to be lady-like and delicate (paint, play instruments, sing, dance). If the princess was more similar to FSG, then sure, but she is not. If FSG (first prince + fought his entire life to protect the kingdom) could not make all the officials listen to him when his father was emperor, what makes them automatically just support the princess just because FSG said so?
- Better ending would be him becoming emperor and having a grand wedding with FXY as his empress.
Even though I love this drama, I can't help but rant when I compare this drama to Goodbye My Princess, the antagonist stories/mysteries/decisions concerning state affairs here are lacking. It started off so strong, had so much potential to be a 10/10. Due to the cons, I knocked the rating down to 8.5