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Watch it for the Strong main Romance but don't expect a well-written rise of a Female General
First of all, I have not read the novel and I had no expectations of “Legend of the Female General” . It's not a highly anticipated one for me, but I want to watch it because I like Zhou Ye and Ryan Cheng. Besides, there aren’t that many dramas about female generals, and I want to check it out. Having said that, I was warned that this could be disappointing and I should think of this more of a romance drama rather than a gritty, revenge story of a female general.
With my expectations low and adjusted, and being a romance lover, “Legend of the Female General” gets an 8.0 from me due to the well-developed main romance, decent acting, above-average fight scenes and great production quality in costumes, sets and accessories.
As a romance lover, I really enjoy following the leads from being school mates when young, to comrades, enemies, comrades again and lovers. The development is paced well without rushing through any of these stages. There’s enough chemistry when they are testing each other and eventually teasing (most from FL). Although I can see more clearly how ML falls in love, the chemistry is there. The drama did not forget to give us some sweet moments here and there, and especially towards the end. The kisses are decent but I really don’t think ML needs to have those wide-eye shock expressions.
But for a drama that should tell the story of the rise of the female general, a strong romance can derail the development of the other more serious plotlines. In a sense, this might be why viewers are disappointed. After a great start when FL started from scratch again in ML’s army, the focus was lost with some war battles. The focus moves away from FL and her struggles. Even though the drama tries to show how capable she is as a fighter, strategist and general, at the end of the day, she still needs to be rescued by ML. This happened a few times in the drama. She fought and supported in holding down the fort but eventually still needed to wait for ML’s arrival to save the day. She successfully killed the enemy general, yet she drowned in water and had to wait for ML to miraculously appear out of nowhere (traveling in the speed of light) to save her and give her one of those romantic (?) underwater lifesaving kisses. ML keeps on stealing FL’s thunder at the end of the day. Each time I try to take the drama more seriously, especially during battles, it does something dumb in the name of romance or to create something romantic/cheesy.
Additionally, there are plot holes and ridiculous things that happened throughout the drama. Is this an adaptation error? Or was the drama really full of holes? FL’s disguise is laughable and such a secret became not so secretive. The last death of a female character was ridiculous. She should never have died but her death was needed to advance the plot of 2ML. And then, the last death of the male character could be seen from a mile away. You knew he’s going to die, and his death proves a point in the ending of 2ML again. 2ML totally took the fall for the emperor, who does not need to take any responsibility for his actions. The last few episodes really made me scratch my head and wonder if episodes were cut, thus, messing up the writing.
Despite all my complaints, the acting is great all around. I have to say, I was quite impressed with Ryan Cheng. In “My Journey to You”, he was this cold and serious guy. In “Follow Your Heart”, he showed a more outgoing personality. Here in “Legend of the Female General”, his character seems to be a combination of the two. He’s cool on the outside, but warm on the inside. He has great posture and looks charismatic. His tiny smiles and longing looks warm my heart. Not only is ML a green flag, but he’s one that did not become a lovesick silly boy after falling in love. Zhou Ye, on the other hand, with her small stature and pretty face, it’s really hard to imagine her as a female general. Her acting was fine but I didn’t think this was her strongest drama. I felt that she was great when acting cheeky, but was weak when she’s angry. Zhang Kang Le, Zhang Miao Yi and Li Qing all did fine but not outstanding. The veteran cast shines more than the younger supporting cast.
You might disagree, but I do think Zhou Ye did a pretty good job in her fight scenes. She is never going to look powerful, but she looks graceful yet nimble. She never looks weak to me or as if she’s dancing. I was pleasantly surprised by the fight choreography and really enjoyed many of the close combat scenes. However, they also seem quite unrealistic because these are regular people in a historical setting, and not martial artists in a wuxia drama. But I am not going to complain much, as it’s hard to find good fight scenes without the use of CGI, even in wuxia dramas these days. Zhou Ye looks beautiful in her female attire, and Ryan Cheng definitely looks handsome in anything he wears (maybe not when wearing a helmet). The clothes look like they are of good quality and the sets and accessories look elaborate and not flimsy. However, their makeup department did not do a good job. How could you have soldiers looking so white? Even if Zhou Ye needs to look pretty, Ryan has got to look tan and not a face full of white powder. Lastly, it's too bad most of the actors are dubbed. *sigh*
I would only recommend this drama if you are looking for a nice romance story. But if you are looking for a serious drama with a well-written plot, then you will be disappointed. Based on my calibrated expectation, I am giving this drama an 8.0 rating.
Completed: 8/26/2025 Review #617
With my expectations low and adjusted, and being a romance lover, “Legend of the Female General” gets an 8.0 from me due to the well-developed main romance, decent acting, above-average fight scenes and great production quality in costumes, sets and accessories.
As a romance lover, I really enjoy following the leads from being school mates when young, to comrades, enemies, comrades again and lovers. The development is paced well without rushing through any of these stages. There’s enough chemistry when they are testing each other and eventually teasing (most from FL). Although I can see more clearly how ML falls in love, the chemistry is there. The drama did not forget to give us some sweet moments here and there, and especially towards the end. The kisses are decent but I really don’t think ML needs to have those wide-eye shock expressions.
But for a drama that should tell the story of the rise of the female general, a strong romance can derail the development of the other more serious plotlines. In a sense, this might be why viewers are disappointed. After a great start when FL started from scratch again in ML’s army, the focus was lost with some war battles. The focus moves away from FL and her struggles. Even though the drama tries to show how capable she is as a fighter, strategist and general, at the end of the day, she still needs to be rescued by ML. This happened a few times in the drama. She fought and supported in holding down the fort but eventually still needed to wait for ML’s arrival to save the day. She successfully killed the enemy general, yet she drowned in water and had to wait for ML to miraculously appear out of nowhere (traveling in the speed of light) to save her and give her one of those romantic (?) underwater lifesaving kisses. ML keeps on stealing FL’s thunder at the end of the day. Each time I try to take the drama more seriously, especially during battles, it does something dumb in the name of romance or to create something romantic/cheesy.
Additionally, there are plot holes and ridiculous things that happened throughout the drama. Is this an adaptation error? Or was the drama really full of holes? FL’s disguise is laughable and such a secret became not so secretive. The last death of a female character was ridiculous. She should never have died but her death was needed to advance the plot of 2ML. And then, the last death of the male character could be seen from a mile away. You knew he’s going to die, and his death proves a point in the ending of 2ML again. 2ML totally took the fall for the emperor, who does not need to take any responsibility for his actions. The last few episodes really made me scratch my head and wonder if episodes were cut, thus, messing up the writing.
Despite all my complaints, the acting is great all around. I have to say, I was quite impressed with Ryan Cheng. In “My Journey to You”, he was this cold and serious guy. In “Follow Your Heart”, he showed a more outgoing personality. Here in “Legend of the Female General”, his character seems to be a combination of the two. He’s cool on the outside, but warm on the inside. He has great posture and looks charismatic. His tiny smiles and longing looks warm my heart. Not only is ML a green flag, but he’s one that did not become a lovesick silly boy after falling in love. Zhou Ye, on the other hand, with her small stature and pretty face, it’s really hard to imagine her as a female general. Her acting was fine but I didn’t think this was her strongest drama. I felt that she was great when acting cheeky, but was weak when she’s angry. Zhang Kang Le, Zhang Miao Yi and Li Qing all did fine but not outstanding. The veteran cast shines more than the younger supporting cast.
You might disagree, but I do think Zhou Ye did a pretty good job in her fight scenes. She is never going to look powerful, but she looks graceful yet nimble. She never looks weak to me or as if she’s dancing. I was pleasantly surprised by the fight choreography and really enjoyed many of the close combat scenes. However, they also seem quite unrealistic because these are regular people in a historical setting, and not martial artists in a wuxia drama. But I am not going to complain much, as it’s hard to find good fight scenes without the use of CGI, even in wuxia dramas these days. Zhou Ye looks beautiful in her female attire, and Ryan Cheng definitely looks handsome in anything he wears (maybe not when wearing a helmet). The clothes look like they are of good quality and the sets and accessories look elaborate and not flimsy. However, their makeup department did not do a good job. How could you have soldiers looking so white? Even if Zhou Ye needs to look pretty, Ryan has got to look tan and not a face full of white powder. Lastly, it's too bad most of the actors are dubbed. *sigh*
I would only recommend this drama if you are looking for a nice romance story. But if you are looking for a serious drama with a well-written plot, then you will be disappointed. Based on my calibrated expectation, I am giving this drama an 8.0 rating.
Completed: 8/26/2025 Review #617
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