Patience will pay off when you watch this one. Great all around
The drama "The Double" really raised my expectations for how a slow-burn romance should be done, especially when it comes to more adult romantic developments.
In that show, the male lead could just look at the female lead and it felt like an indirect kiss. But this drama doesn’t have many of those subtle, intimate moments.
Sometimes the flirting and emotional development between the leads here can feel a bit awkward, even childish. For example, the male lead doesn’t go talk to the female lead himself but sends his guards to deliver messages — you kind of have to be mentally prepared for that kind of setup. When the screentime is just the two of them, it is a lot of back-and-forth obliviousness between them.
That said, I think the drama has WAY exceeded my expectations (which are low with how many mediocre historical drama being released).
One strength of this drama is that it’s not a typical palace drama. It’s set in a fantasy world with no emperor, just different territories vying for power, so the political dynamics have a different flavor. The male lead’s goal, at least for now, seems to be to unify the kingdoms by building water canals and improving people’s lives.
As for the romance between the leads — I’ve never seen a drama where the relationship isn’t the central focus, but rather how they work together to solve problems caused by side characters. The female lead doesn’t really start to fall for him & trust him until after episode 20. After all, they were from enemy clans to begin with. This makes all the prior episodes feel more organic.
Considering how much the male lead hated her clan at first, I think the slow burn feels realistic. If you decide to watch this drama, patience will be rewarded towards the last few episodes. It has gotten really good. I'm glad they didn't drag this out to 40 episodes.
Also, the side characters are awesome in this drama. The actor who plays his cousin (Liu Duan Duan) looked familiar and I knew he was one of the evil princes in Joy of Life!
In that show, the male lead could just look at the female lead and it felt like an indirect kiss. But this drama doesn’t have many of those subtle, intimate moments.
Sometimes the flirting and emotional development between the leads here can feel a bit awkward, even childish. For example, the male lead doesn’t go talk to the female lead himself but sends his guards to deliver messages — you kind of have to be mentally prepared for that kind of setup. When the screentime is just the two of them, it is a lot of back-and-forth obliviousness between them.
That said, I think the drama has WAY exceeded my expectations (which are low with how many mediocre historical drama being released).
One strength of this drama is that it’s not a typical palace drama. It’s set in a fantasy world with no emperor, just different territories vying for power, so the political dynamics have a different flavor. The male lead’s goal, at least for now, seems to be to unify the kingdoms by building water canals and improving people’s lives.
As for the romance between the leads — I’ve never seen a drama where the relationship isn’t the central focus, but rather how they work together to solve problems caused by side characters. The female lead doesn’t really start to fall for him & trust him until after episode 20. After all, they were from enemy clans to begin with. This makes all the prior episodes feel more organic.
Considering how much the male lead hated her clan at first, I think the slow burn feels realistic. If you decide to watch this drama, patience will be rewarded towards the last few episodes. It has gotten really good. I'm glad they didn't drag this out to 40 episodes.
Also, the side characters are awesome in this drama. The actor who plays his cousin (Liu Duan Duan) looked familiar and I knew he was one of the evil princes in Joy of Life!
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