5
19
4
1
1
1
1
A lot of good stuff - studded with flaws
First of all, this drama sticks to its vibe/path from beginning to end. It's not like you get a certain atmosphere in the beginning, and the second part suddenly feels totally different. Except for it being a romance, it's also an investigative story of murder cases to be solved and justice be served, which was quite entertaining. Sadly though because of that the romance fell on the sidelines and never fully flourished - at least for me. Never truly felt it, even though they had some really sweet moments together.
The story had its ups and downs. I appreciated the effort they put into telling about tea cultivation at the end of each episode. It still fascinates me how much care they put into that part of their culture, as I love tea in its various types and tastes, too.
As for the main theme: Women in charge and about all, being the head of the family. Yes, I liked that approach and the fact, that everything was the other way around. Men being displayed as potential husbands for the FL to choose was refreshing to see. Yet they dragged that "challenge" of them, passing tests and compete against each other to show their worth, a bit too long. At some point I almost lost interest since I couldn't see where this was going at all. Yet, the character development of the side cast was a predictable story of good people turning bad and bad people turning good. I got tired of the constant quarrels and intrigues between the sisters as well those husband candidates.
Though I don't want to talk much about the acting since it was decent from most of the cast, I must say that Gulnezer Bextiyar's (FL) performance stood out the most. Character writing is a different matter and I didn't like the FL's aloof and distant behaviour most of the time. Only in the last quarter of the drama she actually showed improvement while staying true to her imposing and dignified nature.
On the other side - and it pains me to say this - Hou MingHao's character writing (not his acting! which was good) somewhat felt all over the place and I could never fully get an understanding of his self. There were times when I really loved his personality, esp. when he was in his imperial magistrate's role. Other times he was woolly and obscure. Weirdly though (or let's say, thank god for that last trial), in the end his actions and decisions still worked for me. He had great fighting scenes (though only very few) and that last part of his story saved my rating quite a bit.
Regarding appearance this drama definitely has a unique style with its costumes, scenery and sets (rooms, gardens, manors, etc). Also , the background music has a memorable sound and accompanies the different situations quite well. Fun fact, I actually got reminded of the music from One Piece (you know those grand entrances of our heroes :p). But other times, the music in this sounded somewhat alienated, not fitting that period of time at all. And with alienated I do mean as if it was picked from some sci-fi movie.
I mentioned this before, but my biggest complain is the make up. Though being plain and simple, it still managed to disrupt my focus on the actors and their stories. Call me stupid or what, but it tarnished the acting a lot. I think, the FL's make up was the only one which didn't distract me.
The story had its ups and downs. I appreciated the effort they put into telling about tea cultivation at the end of each episode. It still fascinates me how much care they put into that part of their culture, as I love tea in its various types and tastes, too.
As for the main theme: Women in charge and about all, being the head of the family. Yes, I liked that approach and the fact, that everything was the other way around. Men being displayed as potential husbands for the FL to choose was refreshing to see. Yet they dragged that "challenge" of them, passing tests and compete against each other to show their worth, a bit too long. At some point I almost lost interest since I couldn't see where this was going at all. Yet, the character development of the side cast was a predictable story of good people turning bad and bad people turning good. I got tired of the constant quarrels and intrigues between the sisters as well those husband candidates.
Though I don't want to talk much about the acting since it was decent from most of the cast, I must say that Gulnezer Bextiyar's (FL) performance stood out the most. Character writing is a different matter and I didn't like the FL's aloof and distant behaviour most of the time. Only in the last quarter of the drama she actually showed improvement while staying true to her imposing and dignified nature.
On the other side - and it pains me to say this - Hou MingHao's character writing (not his acting! which was good) somewhat felt all over the place and I could never fully get an understanding of his self. There were times when I really loved his personality, esp. when he was in his imperial magistrate's role. Other times he was woolly and obscure. Weirdly though (or let's say, thank god for that last trial), in the end his actions and decisions still worked for me. He had great fighting scenes (though only very few) and that last part of his story saved my rating quite a bit.
Regarding appearance this drama definitely has a unique style with its costumes, scenery and sets (rooms, gardens, manors, etc). Also , the background music has a memorable sound and accompanies the different situations quite well. Fun fact, I actually got reminded of the music from One Piece (you know those grand entrances of our heroes :p). But other times, the music in this sounded somewhat alienated, not fitting that period of time at all. And with alienated I do mean as if it was picked from some sci-fi movie.
I mentioned this before, but my biggest complain is the make up. Though being plain and simple, it still managed to disrupt my focus on the actors and their stories. Call me stupid or what, but it tarnished the acting a lot. I think, the FL's make up was the only one which didn't distract me.
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