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What a disappointment! The trailer looked promising but the drama did not do it justice. The use of fake-marriage slash noona romance trope was wasted on this one. There a very few things I liked - and they mostly involved the lawyer-y stuff, but the rest is abysmal. What I liked: Though Yang Hua's mother is meddlesome, her uncanny ways of trying to outwit his son I find quite funny. And even more funny is how Qin Shi manages to foil the traps laid out by Mrs. Yang. I also liked the friendship between Yang Hua and Cai Liang, how odd their dynamic is, especially when Cai Liang tries to give the emotionally-stunted Yang Hua some relationship advice. How the rivalry between Li Dai and Qin Shi turned out to be a mutual understanding of each other's ambitious dreams. And there are the things that I didn't like: How Mei Mei is such a pushover to keep going back to her cheating scumbag of a husband. How annoying Wu Fei turned out to be. How Tang Yi manipulates Qin Shi despite being her employer/friend, just so Qin Shi could be her little lap dog. How the drama throws in so many conflicts that are conveniently resolved. Or unresolved. How the show tried to solve all life's philosophical questions by jamming in so much rhetoric about inequality, fairness, justice, relationship, you name it, they talked about it enough to fill up a year's worth of Sunday sermons. How incredulous that a top law agency would solicit somebody's husband as an expert without vetting his credentials, and as if Yang Hua was the only available source for financial advice. How Qin Shi's lies about her marital status weren't exposed sooner, even with such glaring inconsistencies. How the drama had so many filler scenes and dragged so long that I am glad that they invented the Fast Forward button on the remote, which I certainly put to good use while watching this trainwreck.
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Drama-wise, I must say that I liked the mystery-solving here so much better than the forced romance. Although there's a lot of skinship between the ML & FL, I didn't feel their chemistry. It looks like they are just going through the motions (especially on the FL's part). The secondary couple was worse and their acting quite atrocious. But aside from this, the plot isn't that convoluted and easy to follow (so easy in fact to guess who the suspects are right from the get-go).
The drama also tries to convince you that the evidence they produce aren't purposefully planted that only their merry band of investigators could find them. You would have to suspend your disbelief as well that the Prince walking around as freely as he pleases without much anyone recognizing him is possible. Aside from these convenient loop holes, this drama was a decent watch.
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THIS REVIEW IS FOR BOTH PART 1&2.I almost passed on this drama because I thought it would be gory and senseless like "My Name," which I dropped, but I'm glad I didn't. Although I did not find this "super amazing" like most people, The Glory, as a story of revenge and redemption, was quite good. I had trouble stomaching the violence that was shown in the first few episodes, and the scenes where Moon Dong Eun was subjected to a curling iron, but this made me so angry that I really wanted to see the comeuppance due to the perpetrators.
Song Hye Kyo is great as the long-suffering victim who is intent on bringing hell on Park Yeon In and her band of bullies. It was oddly satisfying to see how the FL calculates through her revenge plot, not by directly going after the bullies, but by infiltrating those who are around them for years. We see Dong Eun's practiced patience as she waits for opportunities like she does in the game of Go. But sometimes, this waiting gives way to frustration, especially when her plans are thwarted by the very people who are supposed to have your back (ahem, your mother-phuker).
As a thriller, melodrama, The Glory delivers, but if you are expecting romance, it falls flat. Despite the presence of Lee Do Hyun as a romantic partner for Song Hye Kyo's character, Joo Yeo Jung is at most a love-sick puppy following after the woman of his dreams. They are only lumped together for convenience's sake and their kiss was underwhelming. Moon Dong Eun had better chemistry with Yeon Jin's husband, Ha Do Young, but of course, the plotline won't allow such a scandalous pairing. In the end, the perpetrators' supposedly got their just deserts, but I can't help feeling that somewhere down the line, the vicious cycle of revenge will continue again.
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Also prominent in this drama is the topic of found family, how blood may not be always thicker than water, and there is no prerequisite when it comes to loving someone.
There's a few things that irked me about this drama, manely (pun intended) the bad hairstyles sported by many characters.
If they were meant to be endearing, they were not. Also, everybody seems to be up in each other's business and coincidentally run or know someone who knows someone. I guess this is typically true of small seaside towns. There are loopholes in how people show up suddenly without any logical reason, because "they just happen to be there."
The saving grace for me is Kitamura Takumi's portrayal of a deaf/mute man who doesn't let his lack of hearing/speaking deter him from enjoying life to the fullest. Hiragi Issei is the anchor that holds everyone together; his big heart injects everybody else with warmth. Issei believes that even broken people are only mean, because they are hurting and deserve love too.
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I loved the unraveling of intricate plots and unsolved mysteries as deciphered by Zhang Ping despite some inconsistencies. In some instances, I was amazed how easily a commoner can obtain access to the Empress, and how fast the higher ranking officials believed Zhang Ping's explanations. But if I overlook some of the loopholes, I find this drama entertaining to watch.
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What a fun drama this is. In the beginning, I was not really sold on the lukewarm, almost non-existent chemistry between the male and female leads, but the main father-son tandem more than made up for it. If you are expecting romance, this is not the drama, but if you are fond of intricate schemes and a hodge-podge of quirky characters, this is the show for you. I loved seeing Zhang Ruo Yun portray the cunning heir to the Northern region, who uses his dumb, playboy persona as a cover, but he is really a thoughtful person who values friendship, family and loyalty. Hu Jun as Xu Xiao is so freaking adorable as Feng Nian's loving father who, out of good intentions, plans his son's path to the throne, but does so with more shrewdness and usually at other people's expense. Feng Nian tries to outwit his father's well-intended machinations while his merry band of martial artists travel across mountains and seas to meet his brother and sisters. On the way, Feng Nian meets more allies and enemies while on his quest to fight for peace and justice.
Side characters are very well-fleshed out and memorable. I especially loved Lao Huang and Li Chun Gang who are Feng Nian's mentors/companions. The fight scenes can sometimes be over the top some times but are quite entertaining to watch. Can't wait for Season 2.
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Aside from the MC's visuals and flirting though, what makes this drama so good is the wealth of multi-dimensional characters, dramatic intrigue, political twists and turns that kept me on my toes. The cinematography is also something to be admired, especially the seamless battle scenes. What I also liked about this drama is that there are no overtly annoying secondary characters that I want to wring their necks or slap them across the face. Yes, there are pretentious villains, there are ambitious eggheads, and murderous mistresses but what historical Chinese drama does not? At least, in this drama, they were more than just stick-figures. I also liked how compact this drama is, that they managed to condense this story in 40 episodes with hardly any fillers.
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The situations that Ha Ri find herself in are hilarious and Tae Moo's unusual responses to her antics make for comedy gold. ABP is rom-com done right, and is lighthearted despite all the clichés. The secondary couple isn't too shabby either, and their story is also endearing. Other characters are also multi-dimensional, and I especially liked Tae Moo's grandfather who is a hoot. Love, love this drama.
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I'm not really fond of FML chasing ML first, especially if they are clingy and looking desperate for male attention, but after a few episodes of this drama, I'm not as averse to Yuan Bing Yan as the Princess Chang Le as I thought. But what really kept me going is Zheng Ye Cheng as the aloof Commander of the Guards. He first caught my attention in Love O2O as Hao Mei who was in this bromantic relationship with Vin Zhang. But here, Ye Cheng is a totally different person, much older and with better acting. As Shen Yen, he endures the silly antics of the stalker-y Princess, sometimes even to the detriment of his missions. The Princess thinks that she has charmed her way in Shen Yen's heart as he was as firm in his rejection. Portrayed as a pampered brat, especially over-indulged by her doting Grandfather, Chang Le is most likely a misunderstood woman who had to deal with political machinations (even from her own father) since her mother's death. Of course, we know eventually that Shen Yan will cave in and profess his undying love for the Princess but before they can live happily after, the couple has to go through the usual trial and tribulation set forth by their conniving relatives and friends and relatives of said conniving relatives.
The drama would not be complete without secondary and tertiary couples, between ML's brother and FL's bestie, and also between their two servants. Contrived couple-dom for the win. This drama is lighter than your usual historical drama, just by counting by the number of times that the FML strategically falls into the ML's arms, and eye-rolls at said "accidental" tripping.
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In the course of the drama, we see the introduction of many characters, with some falling for the Mulan and God of OPL, and while some are harmless crushes, others fans were far more vindictive. The drama takes this opportunity and others to demonstrate how being a keyboard warrior can affect the lives of the people being talked about. Despite the popularity of some of these players, they are also human who are vulnerable to unwarranted criticism, especially if they are attacks on a personal level. The drama also showcases the level of cooperation between teammates while playing a game, as well, as how they operate in their private lives. For example even though Si Cheng's tenacious protectiveness of his colleagues is well-intentioned, he had to learn to trust his teammates to carry the burden.
In other notes, Though the in-game animation /CGI is pretty badass, sometimes it is difficult to follow the gaming strategies especially if you are not an active player of a MOBA game like Onmyoji Arena. Although the drama imparts many kernels of wisdom regarding teamwork, online bullying, lack of parental support and/or self-esteem, etc. sometimes it tends to get preachy. Otherwise it is a feel good drama.
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