I wish I'd read comments below before watching. Netflix cut the drama to 9 episodes for money purposes. The drama just stops. I can't even consider that an open-ended ending. Skip if you don't like incomplete dramas.
I liked this drama. It felt like a Song-dynasty Pride & Prejudice. Each sister gets a husband, and the "sons-in-law…
- 1st sister likes mind games, so she matches with the calculative Du. Not my cup of tea. He makes her suffer a LOT, needlessly in my opinion. - 2nd sister is bossy like her mom, and Fan is… quite useless. He get whipped into being a good husband, which again, is not everyone's cup of tea. He’s funny though. - 3rd sister is smart and competitive, and her husbfalls for her as they flirt/outwit each other. This couple reminded me of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy. - 4th sister is open and genuine, and that's what captivates the stoic Shen official. This is my favorite couple. 1st sister's advice "to be strategic and act reluctant" was not how she wanted to woo a husband- much to my relief. Out of all the sisters she actually cared for the common people (not just for her family), and worked to help them through court cases. - 5th sister was spoiled and fierce, again, similar to her husband. They were both young. I think this couple could have had an epic story if they had been given more episodes to grow, but it rushed and the meddling of her family really REALLY annoyed me. Why did they need to "protect" their sister by tricking him into losing all his money and kicking him out? Why turn him into such a fool and laugh at him? Not nice. - 6th (adopted) sister, who was always in a kind of limbo between being a sister and servant, barely got her own story in the last episode.
Additional couples: - Emperor and Yang consort: he made a big mistake in not making Yang his empress. She was SO QUEENLY, truly noble and smart. Sadly she was stuck as a concubine. - Li mama and her dead husband: I didn't always like her, especially when she was making a ruckus, but there was one scene where she was talking to her departed husband because she had no one to talk to. It really got to me. - My favorite maid Chunlai got no husband in the end??? Inconceivable! Each of the husbands had a male servant. I kept thinking one of them would fall for Chunlai. Justice for Chunlai.
I liked this drama. It felt like a Song-dynasty Pride & Prejudice. Each sister gets a husband, and the "sons-in-law alliance" grows. I wish the drama had spent less time on the arrogant Du guy and 1st sister romance, and more on 4th and 5th sister's arcs.
It's not meant to be deep, but somehow it made me react strongly. I think it's because although all of these were "perfect matches" for each couple, they would have been a disaster if paired differently.
I randomly clicked on this drama on YouTube, and surprisingly it was good! It has just my kind of humor and an innocence that is hard to find nowadays. Just enough romance, and built on trust and respect. It's low on historical accuracy but strong in character development.
By the way, Jinpo must be a fun place. They were supposed to be the enemy state, but except for their annoying Second Prince, they are actually good and loyal people, if slightly dumb. They made me laugh a lot.
Overall, this was a breath of fresh air after watching quite a few fluffy trashy costume dramas. This one had…
1) Having women officials is pure fantasy and would never happen in ancient China. But we gotta roll with it otherwise there is no story. It did cause some issues though..
2) Sure, the leads ended up being a very modern couple, but that is also fantasy. Court officials could lose their posts (and their heads) for having an affair in any other drama. Ironically, here they are the ones calling out people for lack of virtue.
3) There's a law that women can't hold office when they get married. But our female lead eventually gets everything. This conflict was solved way too easily.
4) I have no idea why the leads were dubbed. Feng Shao Feng's dubbed voice was lifeless. Maybe he was aiming to portray a stoic general, but with no control over his voice, only his eyes had any energy. I kept thinking of how his voice made the character of Gu Tingye in The Story of Minglan and thought it's such a pity.
On the other hand, these were the highlights for me: the comic "moo", and the Princess' headpieces. My goodness, they were fabulous!
Overall, this was a breath of fresh air after watching quite a few fluffy trashy costume dramas. This one had substance, and it had some great characters. Why didn't I give it a 10? Well...
The last 3 minutes of episode 24 were not necessary and totally ruined the worldbuilding. It was clearly a fantasy…
Thanks for clarifying. Chinese censorship can be weird... so that's why she said "time travel doesn't happen in real life" at that interview (but we all know it isn't really a time travel drama? Oh well)
I liked the innocence of the love story. I definitely laughed out loud several times. It's a light enjoyable fantasy…
The last 3 minutes of episode 24 were not necessary and totally ruined the worldbuilding. It was clearly a fantasy story! We don't need to be told in the last minute that "this doesn't happen in real life". Seriously.
Just finished this drama and it's one of the better Chinese dramas I've seen in a while. However, I had to skip…
Some glaring plot holes in this drama and some inconsistent character writing. An example is Fengyao, the perfect cousin whose main line throughout the whole series was "Moxi! Moxi! I'm so useless." Unfortunately, yes, she was useless. But then towards the final 1/3 of the drama she suddenly knew about the art of war (and had photographic memory!), but somehow she had never applied that before when all the debtors were pounding at her door and she made Moxi confront them.
We do not see the main character develop much. Moxi is an immature girl until the final episode, and the scenes where the general (though handsome and a good man deep down inside) forcefully kisses her are not romantic. Thankfully he toned down the rough ways and sought to woo her by making her embroider socks and TALK to her about the political situation. Nobody else had admired her brains, not even herself. She never attempted to learn how to read and write throughout the series, except at the very end, where we find after a time skip that she had taught herself reading, writing, and manners. I do wish we had seen Moxi grow up more on screen.
Pet peeve. Like other viewers, I agree it was unnecessary to get an actress to play Wu Yin. I cringed every time he tried to act manly and strut around in his armor. And the cry of grief in the forest sounded hysterical. I could not take this character seriously.
All in all this was a drama that was ok to pass the time., and waaay better than the fluffy dramas that cast baby-faced teenagers as generals, but I won't be watching again. I have to say I liked the clothes. I love shiny silks in Cdramas, but in this drama the costumes seemed more authentic.
Just finished this drama and it's one of the better Chinese dramas I've seen in a while. However, I had to skip episodes 12-16 because I didn't like the creepy vibe of that school. I don't think I missed anything. More thoughts below.
I didn't like what they did to the singer character Mr Hu in the second half of the drama. He was used by that woman and then abandoned, but he still went to look for her with all his friends cheering him on? She never cared for him! Poor guy. Initially, his story was about being in conflict with his parents and the drama never resolved that. This made the drama lose points from me.
- 2nd sister is bossy like her mom, and Fan is… quite useless. He get whipped into being a good husband, which again, is not everyone's cup of tea. He’s funny though.
- 3rd sister is smart and competitive, and her husbfalls for her as they flirt/outwit each other. This couple reminded me of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy.
- 4th sister is open and genuine, and that's what captivates the stoic Shen official. This is my favorite couple. 1st sister's advice "to be strategic and act reluctant" was not how she wanted to woo a husband- much to my relief. Out of all the sisters she actually cared for the common people (not just for her family), and worked to help them through court cases.
- 5th sister was spoiled and fierce, again, similar to her husband. They were both young. I think this couple could have had an epic story if they had been given more episodes to grow, but it rushed and the meddling of her family really REALLY annoyed me. Why did they need to "protect" their sister by tricking him into losing all his money and kicking him out? Why turn him into such a fool and laugh at him? Not nice.
- 6th (adopted) sister, who was always in a kind of limbo between being a sister and servant, barely got her own story in the last episode.
Additional couples:
- Emperor and Yang consort: he made a big mistake in not making Yang his empress. She was SO QUEENLY, truly noble and smart. Sadly she was stuck as a concubine.
- Li mama and her dead husband: I didn't always like her, especially when she was making a ruckus, but there was one scene where she was talking to her departed husband because she had no one to talk to. It really got to me.
- My favorite maid Chunlai got no husband in the end??? Inconceivable! Each of the husbands had a male servant. I kept thinking one of them would fall for Chunlai. Justice for Chunlai.
It's not meant to be deep, but somehow it made me react strongly. I think it's because although all of these were "perfect matches" for each couple, they would have been a disaster if paired differently.
By the way, Jinpo must be a fun place. They were supposed to be the enemy state, but except for their annoying Second Prince, they are actually good and loyal people, if slightly dumb. They made me laugh a lot.
2) Sure, the leads ended up being a very modern couple, but that is also fantasy. Court officials could lose their posts (and their heads) for having an affair in any other drama. Ironically, here they are the ones calling out people for lack of virtue.
3) There's a law that women can't hold office when they get married. But our female lead eventually gets everything. This conflict was solved way too easily.
4) I have no idea why the leads were dubbed. Feng Shao Feng's dubbed voice was lifeless. Maybe he was aiming to portray a stoic general, but with no control over his voice, only his eyes had any energy. I kept thinking of how his voice made the character of Gu Tingye in The Story of Minglan and thought it's such a pity.
On the other hand, these were the highlights for me: the comic "moo", and the Princess' headpieces. My goodness, they were fabulous!
We do not see the main character develop much. Moxi is an immature girl until the final episode, and the scenes where the general (though handsome and a good man deep down inside) forcefully kisses her are not romantic. Thankfully he toned down the rough ways and sought to woo her by making her embroider socks and TALK to her about the political situation. Nobody else had admired her brains, not even herself. She never attempted to learn how to read and write throughout the series, except at the very end, where we find after a time skip that she had taught herself reading, writing, and manners. I do wish we had seen Moxi grow up more on screen.
Pet peeve. Like other viewers, I agree it was unnecessary to get an actress to play Wu Yin. I cringed every time he tried to act manly and strut around in his armor. And the cry of grief in the forest sounded hysterical. I could not take this character seriously.
All in all this was a drama that was ok to pass the time., and waaay better than the fluffy dramas that cast baby-faced teenagers as generals, but I won't be watching again. I have to say I liked the clothes. I love shiny silks in Cdramas, but in this drama the costumes seemed more authentic.
P.S.: I loved loyal Xiao Wu.