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Bloody Revenge with Boatload of Deaths
Subjective Gut Rating: 8.75
“Fated Hearts” was universally praised throughout its airing days and the expectations are high. I came in trusting these rave reviews and the drama did not disappoint. Though I like it very much, I might not have loved it enough to give it a 9+ rating.
Plot/Pacing
The plot of enemies-to-lovers has always been one of my favorites. Adding to that are two very strong (physically and mentally) main leads, excellent chemistry/disgust for each other, and incredibly well-paced plot lines throughout the full 38 episodes. “Fated Hearts” did an excellent job in introducing Fu Yi Xiao (FL) and Feng Sui Ge (ML) simultaneously through parallel and intersecting stories. I greatly enjoy the first half of the drama when the focus is on all the main characters and the setting is in Susha. There’s equal screen time dedicated to both FL and ML’s stories, and also their development from enemies to lovers. However, towards the second half, I miss seeing everyone together. I kept on hearing viewers talk about ep 28, and I wondered what that is all about. It’s basically the end of the big ‘villains’ in Susha, and the start of the next arc. From the Wind Alliance arc, Yi Xiao and Sui Ge started off having their own adventures, while secondary leads, Princess Feng Xi Yang (2FL) and Prince Xia Jing Shi (2ML) continued with theirs in Jinxiu. Even though the Wind Alliance arc didn’t take up too much time, it also doesn’t seem to be very necessary. But since this mysterious place was mentioned, I’m not surprised we got to find out what that is all about. Unfortunately, I find the pacing to be a little off when we have two concurrent storylines happening in two countries. It’s hard to go back and forth between them to keep up on all the excitement. Having said that, I still think each couple’s arc individually was exciting and interesting. The pacing might be a little weird, but it’s definitely not slow or draggy. The last couple episodes ended with a bang with exciting confrontations and action scenes. I love the end of the trio of ‘brothers’: Fu Yi Xiao, Ning Fei and Xiao Wei Ran. Their last moment together hit me with all the feels.
Romance
As I said, I love enemies-to-lovers and it’s especially amazing when you have two equally strong lovers coming together and they are on equal footing in a relationship. FL and ML really are the same type of people: smart, ruthless, will give you an eye for an eye, yet loyal, caring, honest, communicative and supportive of each other. They are partners-in-crime and also soulmates. This mature romance has some skinship (decent kisses, holding hands and hugging), a lot of actions in supporting and caring for each other (you know, they will kill for those you don’t have the heart to kill). They understand each other so well that no explanation of action is necessary. But, I can’t deny I wanted just a little bit more sweet scenes. They could have eliminated a certain event that happened to ML in the Wind Alliance arc, and save those screen time for sweet and romantic moments. LOL As for secondary leads and their ‘romance’, I am glad to see that it went the other direction instead of the common rom-com way for secondary leads. I love a good unrequited and one-sided love, and I was hoping they would stay that way. But did it go the way I wanted? I’m not telling you. The other romances offer a contrast to the main romance, thus giving us a different flavor and something different. None of the romances are sizzling hot, but that’s not the point anyway. The chemistry is that of angst and maturity, hate and love, but they are never sexual or sensual.
Acting
I’m a fan of Li Qin and really enjoy her not being pigeon-holed into one type of female lead. Her strongest acting for me before this drama was in “War of Faith”. I think she outshone herself with her performance here in “Fated Hearts”. We’ve seen quite a few female generals lately but she’s the best out of them. Her eyes pierce through enemy lines. Her posture and strength showed. There’s no delicacy but just a force of nature. Her emotional scenes were great. Chen Zhe Yuan was great as well, but I might like his overall acting in “The White Olive Tree” just a teeny tiny bit better. Having said that, the most memorable scene for me was the confrontation between ML, the emperor (ML’s father) and FL in the former empress house. That was one hell of an acting powerhouse exchange at the end of ep 24 to beginning of 25. I was so tense watching them. Xia Meng played a beautiful princess who has quite a character development. She was lovely as the innocent princess who’s so in love that she thinks she could change her man. Wrong! But as her character changes, Xia Meng’s acting got better. I really liked Chen He Yi when I saw him in the rom-com “The Perfect Match” and thought his role there matches his personality well. But seeing him here, Chen He Yi has such a nice guy face that it’s hard for me to imagine him as the ruthless Prince. He was better in the last episode when he was seeking revenge, but other than that, he looks very handsome yet the acting doesn’t quite match up. I was excited to see Zuo Ye but I felt that his character as Murong Yao was a little disappointing. He was great as the playboy but we only see glimpses of his excellent acting against Chen Zhe Yuan in a couple confrontation scenes when his other personality came out. Unfortunately, we rarely see this other personality anymore as the story progresses. A surprise for me is Qin Tian Yu, who played the crazy Emperor of Jinxiu. In contrast to Chen He Yi’s acting, this crazy emperor is so much more interesting. Qin Tian Yu is a scene stealer and his last scenes showed great emotional depth. “Fated Hearts” also has a large supporting cast of veterans (who are awesome) and the younger generation (who are pretty good too). I’m glad there isn’t any characters that I hate or annoy me to death.
Production
There’s money poured into “Fated Hearts” as you can see from the beautiful and grand sets throughout the drama. I was amazed to see grand bedroom doors, open meeting spaces and rooms that are beautifully decorated. The costumes, hairstyles, jewelry and accessories are all detailed and of high quality. The royal family looks exquisite! Did you see the sequins in the two male leads’ costumes? Li Qin looks gorgeous in red and black, and I love that they did not adorn her with excessive jewelry but just a simple but gorgeous wig. She’s a fighter after all. The action scenes are well-choreographed and hard-hitting. There’s no flailing, twirling or standing around doing nothing. There are a ton of fights throughout the drama and everyone looks fierce. There are a few shaky camera shots during these fights that I didn’t quite like. The music is fine. None of the songs left a lasting memory for me but they also don’t sound out of place. I guess my biggest disappointment is that everyone was dubbed by voice actors except for Chen Zhe Yuan. I would have loved to hear Li Qin’s voice as well.
I had a great time binge-watching this drama over the weekend. The pacing is great, the acting is solid and the production quality high. I might have a minor complaint here and there, but this is a drama worth watching and I would definitely recommend it. I guess the special sauce that’s missing for me is that emotional impact after the drama ends. I am satisfied and things wrapped up somewhat nicely. However, I didn’t feel especially happy or sad.
Other Random Observations:
1. First scene - using soft peacock feathers on the arrow to avoid it being caught easily. So smart!
2. There are many shots of hands clenching.
3. A woman should never think she can change a man.
4. The other amnesia plot is quite useless.
5. My personal pet peeves: soldiers and generals should not look so white. Shouldn’t they be in the sun all the time?
Completed: 10/19/2025 Review #634
“Fated Hearts” was universally praised throughout its airing days and the expectations are high. I came in trusting these rave reviews and the drama did not disappoint. Though I like it very much, I might not have loved it enough to give it a 9+ rating.
Plot/Pacing
The plot of enemies-to-lovers has always been one of my favorites. Adding to that are two very strong (physically and mentally) main leads, excellent chemistry/disgust for each other, and incredibly well-paced plot lines throughout the full 38 episodes. “Fated Hearts” did an excellent job in introducing Fu Yi Xiao (FL) and Feng Sui Ge (ML) simultaneously through parallel and intersecting stories. I greatly enjoy the first half of the drama when the focus is on all the main characters and the setting is in Susha. There’s equal screen time dedicated to both FL and ML’s stories, and also their development from enemies to lovers. However, towards the second half, I miss seeing everyone together. I kept on hearing viewers talk about ep 28, and I wondered what that is all about. It’s basically the end of the big ‘villains’ in Susha, and the start of the next arc. From the Wind Alliance arc, Yi Xiao and Sui Ge started off having their own adventures, while secondary leads, Princess Feng Xi Yang (2FL) and Prince Xia Jing Shi (2ML) continued with theirs in Jinxiu. Even though the Wind Alliance arc didn’t take up too much time, it also doesn’t seem to be very necessary. But since this mysterious place was mentioned, I’m not surprised we got to find out what that is all about. Unfortunately, I find the pacing to be a little off when we have two concurrent storylines happening in two countries. It’s hard to go back and forth between them to keep up on all the excitement. Having said that, I still think each couple’s arc individually was exciting and interesting. The pacing might be a little weird, but it’s definitely not slow or draggy. The last couple episodes ended with a bang with exciting confrontations and action scenes. I love the end of the trio of ‘brothers’: Fu Yi Xiao, Ning Fei and Xiao Wei Ran. Their last moment together hit me with all the feels.
Romance
As I said, I love enemies-to-lovers and it’s especially amazing when you have two equally strong lovers coming together and they are on equal footing in a relationship. FL and ML really are the same type of people: smart, ruthless, will give you an eye for an eye, yet loyal, caring, honest, communicative and supportive of each other. They are partners-in-crime and also soulmates. This mature romance has some skinship (decent kisses, holding hands and hugging), a lot of actions in supporting and caring for each other (you know, they will kill for those you don’t have the heart to kill). They understand each other so well that no explanation of action is necessary. But, I can’t deny I wanted just a little bit more sweet scenes. They could have eliminated a certain event that happened to ML in the Wind Alliance arc, and save those screen time for sweet and romantic moments. LOL As for secondary leads and their ‘romance’, I am glad to see that it went the other direction instead of the common rom-com way for secondary leads. I love a good unrequited and one-sided love, and I was hoping they would stay that way. But did it go the way I wanted? I’m not telling you. The other romances offer a contrast to the main romance, thus giving us a different flavor and something different. None of the romances are sizzling hot, but that’s not the point anyway. The chemistry is that of angst and maturity, hate and love, but they are never sexual or sensual.
Acting
I’m a fan of Li Qin and really enjoy her not being pigeon-holed into one type of female lead. Her strongest acting for me before this drama was in “War of Faith”. I think she outshone herself with her performance here in “Fated Hearts”. We’ve seen quite a few female generals lately but she’s the best out of them. Her eyes pierce through enemy lines. Her posture and strength showed. There’s no delicacy but just a force of nature. Her emotional scenes were great. Chen Zhe Yuan was great as well, but I might like his overall acting in “The White Olive Tree” just a teeny tiny bit better. Having said that, the most memorable scene for me was the confrontation between ML, the emperor (ML’s father) and FL in the former empress house. That was one hell of an acting powerhouse exchange at the end of ep 24 to beginning of 25. I was so tense watching them. Xia Meng played a beautiful princess who has quite a character development. She was lovely as the innocent princess who’s so in love that she thinks she could change her man. Wrong! But as her character changes, Xia Meng’s acting got better. I really liked Chen He Yi when I saw him in the rom-com “The Perfect Match” and thought his role there matches his personality well. But seeing him here, Chen He Yi has such a nice guy face that it’s hard for me to imagine him as the ruthless Prince. He was better in the last episode when he was seeking revenge, but other than that, he looks very handsome yet the acting doesn’t quite match up. I was excited to see Zuo Ye but I felt that his character as Murong Yao was a little disappointing. He was great as the playboy but we only see glimpses of his excellent acting against Chen Zhe Yuan in a couple confrontation scenes when his other personality came out. Unfortunately, we rarely see this other personality anymore as the story progresses. A surprise for me is Qin Tian Yu, who played the crazy Emperor of Jinxiu. In contrast to Chen He Yi’s acting, this crazy emperor is so much more interesting. Qin Tian Yu is a scene stealer and his last scenes showed great emotional depth. “Fated Hearts” also has a large supporting cast of veterans (who are awesome) and the younger generation (who are pretty good too). I’m glad there isn’t any characters that I hate or annoy me to death.
Production
There’s money poured into “Fated Hearts” as you can see from the beautiful and grand sets throughout the drama. I was amazed to see grand bedroom doors, open meeting spaces and rooms that are beautifully decorated. The costumes, hairstyles, jewelry and accessories are all detailed and of high quality. The royal family looks exquisite! Did you see the sequins in the two male leads’ costumes? Li Qin looks gorgeous in red and black, and I love that they did not adorn her with excessive jewelry but just a simple but gorgeous wig. She’s a fighter after all. The action scenes are well-choreographed and hard-hitting. There’s no flailing, twirling or standing around doing nothing. There are a ton of fights throughout the drama and everyone looks fierce. There are a few shaky camera shots during these fights that I didn’t quite like. The music is fine. None of the songs left a lasting memory for me but they also don’t sound out of place. I guess my biggest disappointment is that everyone was dubbed by voice actors except for Chen Zhe Yuan. I would have loved to hear Li Qin’s voice as well.
I had a great time binge-watching this drama over the weekend. The pacing is great, the acting is solid and the production quality high. I might have a minor complaint here and there, but this is a drama worth watching and I would definitely recommend it. I guess the special sauce that’s missing for me is that emotional impact after the drama ends. I am satisfied and things wrapped up somewhat nicely. However, I didn’t feel especially happy or sad.
Other Random Observations:
1. First scene - using soft peacock feathers on the arrow to avoid it being caught easily. So smart!
2. There are many shots of hands clenching.
3. A woman should never think she can change a man.
4. The other amnesia plot is quite useless.
5. My personal pet peeves: soldiers and generals should not look so white. Shouldn’t they be in the sun all the time?
Completed: 10/19/2025 Review #634
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