6
22
4
1
1
1
1
1
Chapeau to a character-driven story
Many people enjoyed this one the same way I did, and I'm glad it did. Sometimes a hype can mislead you, but sometimes it can also display its actual value.While trying to pick a hopefully good drama from that never ending list, this wouldn't have been my next choice if it wasn't for a recommendation of a dear friend. Someone who I'd consider one of the most critical watchers here on MDL. Even though my rating is highly likely more generous than hers, we do feel the same about a bunch of dramas when we actually hit a jackpot. Flower of Evil falls into that category.
Someone once told me that if you start to dream in a language you're currently learning, then you really begin to understand it.
In a way this drama is a language on its own, and it wants to tell a very sensitive and shocking story. A story, that made me dream about. I wasn't able to let go of the characters even after going to bed. The tension already tied me down after switching off the television. And I can't remember the details about the dream but I do remember the strange feeling after waking up the next day. My feelings were caught up in all these circumstances, and the more I got to know, the more invested I became.
The drama has so many strong treats, that I can't decide which one I should mention first. The main leads? The supporting cast? The acting? The writing?
Starting the drama, the first thing you notice is one of the most adorable married couples you've ever seen in the dramaworld, only completed with one the most precious little daughters out there. At first sight they look perfect. Too perfect actually. And as the plot summary already reveals, there's something you can't see right away. Something that starts to tear down those perfectly built walls from within. Being experienced with alot of crime tropes, I knew there was something fishy about that dark past, they wanted to sell me. Seriously, how far would a drama go with making the main lead the bad guy? That question constantly followed me while my suspicions changed all the time.
The script was fabulous in overthrowing my theories over and over again, only to make me realize that I was wrong from the very beginning. There were plot twists I'd never dreamt of. However in the later episodes I became quite suspicious of alot of scenes. But the precise draft of the plot kept my confidence high that everything would play out comprehensible.
No doubt, Lee Joon Gi pulled a big one here. I don't want to exaggerate but his performance was brilliant. The characters' writing was so detailed that I as a viewer was able to understand his whole nature even before he himself knew his true colors. Moon Chae Won was the perfect counterpart to disclose all the given layers, designed by a well balanced push and pull of both of them. I rooted for her character as well as I did for her husband. At some point though she kinda disappointed me, but... I guess that's what you call human nature. So, despite that one situation, I was glad that Do Hyun Soo (LJG) didn't let me down during that time. If he did, I would have questioned the whole concept of his character.
The villain was a league of its own. I don't want to give away too much, so let me just say, what an astonishing display of 'antisocial disorder' this was. My inner profiler screamed 'what a warped mind to study!'.
The side actors supported the story big time, thanks to a neatless writing and a well selected cast. Hyun Soo's sister Hae Soo, Reporter Kim and Hyun Soo's step parents got enough background story to become tangible pieces who you could relate with (whether you liked them in the end or not).
The members of the police force weren't given that much background, but each member made a perceptible contribution to push the plot forward. Usually I don't give much credit to police officers in dramas, because they keep messing up in unbelievable ways. These guys however, I can make an exception with a clear conscience. Their actions were always reasonable and well thought-out. Even though you don't know much about them, you could feel the teamwork and trust that was built over the years. I could accept their decisions, for better or worse. The few character treats they were given were used well enough to make them not look like brainless drama puppets.
Somewhere in the middle I realized that this was not the first drama with Lee Joon Gi and Moon Chae Won working together. 'Criminal Minds' were another one, a drama I was highly disappointed with because it felt cold and lacked empathy. While that one proved once more that if a script sucks, the best actors can't save it either, Flower of Evil confirmed that great writing can pitch its actors to another level.
Thank you, Flower of Evil, for giving me such a delicious watch and such a remarkable and catchy OST (my next earworm indeed).
Was this review helpful to you?
Plus, acting was entertaining and praiseworthy as well. Esp. Do Kyung Soo who won over my heart with his performance. Kinda reminded me of Kim Soo Hyun and his portrayal of the Crown Prince/King in The Moon Embracing the Sun. But not as an imitation, he created his very own Crown Prince here. Without him the story would have been a lot less impressive and not as resonating. His character was the mainstray. (This might give me an idea for an article... )
That ending almost ruined the 9 that I intended to give since a while ago... Why? Because first of all they overdid the very thing I praised throughtout the whole drama: The comedy. And there were some characters left untouched as if they had been saints all along. Secondly, I just can't stand the excuse of an "ill-fated past" that keeps the protagonists apart. Like, are you writers serious? I wouldn't mind if it had been explained well. But here it felt like a lame and shallow try to prolong the inevitable, and was so NOT needed. So, 30 min of the drama were definitely a breach of style. Those few points made that heaviness they had built up during the whole story almost crumble.
Was this review helpful to you?
I was very fascinated about that special father/son relationship. It was complicated, and subtle gestures, words and looks created a really good feel for those both as well as for me.
I also liked that there were so many grey-ish characters, some of them explained more detailed, others less. Being in the medical field myself I can relate to the daily struggles and difficult decisions the doctors have to make - and it's stressing you out a lot. Of course, for us it looks like "Omg, he's such a bad person." but well... it's never easy to make life changing decisions, right?
I also mentioned before that I'm in love with the constellation of the cast, right? This drama has so many of my favorites actors and actresses in it, that it was pure pleasure to watch them - even if the script was trash. Though that is definitely not the case here. The plot, the writing, the dialogues and the execution were great. Except for the last episodes. I wouldn't have minded two more. I think that it would have been better for the story flow because the finale feels a bit flat and rushed now. Also, for the development of the relationship between Lee Young Oh and Gye Jin Sung, especially how she is slowly changing him. Both of them together got less screentime because of the cut since the drama also had to solve the criminal part.
But nevertheless, Park So Dam and Jang Hyuk were... well, they completed each other? I mean, they were able to pull off the differences in character and how they completed each other (even though I feel that Park So Dam's character fell a bit short on that part). They had really good chemistry, even though I also enjoyed Jang Hyuk's and Park Se Young interactions in the beginning (yeah, part of it was Money Flower-induced... :p).
Those Power Rangers below (excluding Jang Hyuk, ofc)... and the rest of the medical stuff were a nice addition, and even though they were either not the nicest people or just too undefined in the beginning, they grew on me. Though Dong Ha was my favorite from the first minute :p~ And he and Jang Hyuk... I need another drama with them together!
The medical part is very... tumor-heavy, one could say. It makes it look like there are just no other diseases out there. I always told myself that there are a lot more patients with minor illnesses, but just not shown for the viewer. And for the sake of the viewer they picked the more dangerous and rarer ones. I can't blame them. First of all, it was very interesting to get to know about some of them. And secondly, not every "tumor" means "cancer". "Tumor" just means "lumb/swelling" where the structure of the cells is either slightly or gravely different from the usual ones. I learned that in school recently, but I'm sure that the majority of people who don't work in the medical field and don't research those things on their own, don't know about it. There's a difference in cells and benign tumors (the good ones) can be removed if the location is not too dangerous and it won't re-appear. Benign tumors also won't "spread" because their cell walls are definite. There's a lot more to the subject, so I will stop here since it's quite the dry material. I just wanted to point that out because I know a lot of people freak out when they hear "tumor".
If you listen to "Dirt" by Park Bernard, the songs makes you all warm and melancholic and sad with a spark of hope. Not every OST of a drama is worth mentioning, but this one needs to be. It's captivating and so different from your usual songs, and stays with you even after the song has already finished for some time.
Was this review helpful to you?
I had a lot of fun watching this. Even though I wasn't quite fond of the "game" theme in the beginning, I got used to it.
There were some really good surprises during the story which probably comes with its game setting. I felt a bit in the dark about the original novel story here, different as I usually know it from other dramas of this kind. So, I had flatout no idea where this was going and in which way the FL was changing the plot or had to go along with it. But it didn't become less entertaining. It always remained exciting.
In the end the story created a grand finale which didn't seem that way at first. It was even somewhat poetic and presented an even bigger surprise.
The main couple's romance developed quite nicely, and they got some really emotional, heavy moments together. I just love their way of acting, especially their dramatic, heart throbbing scenes. And they got an even more touching finale.
On a side note, even though the SML was the SML, he always felt somewhat inconspicuous. He had his important tasks and moments, but he always felt like a cloud or something.
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
The drama has its own beauty and grace. A different kind of grace, especially the main romance in the beginning. As the main plot continues with the villain, the romance lost some of its artful beauty - you could say it was replaced by the game-like storytelling. Those of you who are also gamers maybe know what I'm talking about. Your typical RPG-storyline: a group of heroes is built - growing as the story continues - to fight the big evil, that is terrorizing humanity. You have your different places where the main group travels to, to solve smaller side-stories, that are still important for the main plot. And everything results in the big fight at the end. Thankfully in the last episodes, the story rediscovers the beauty and gracefullness of its initial love story as well.
And at this point I can't quite differentiate between my subjective and objective opinion about the last events. Because they added another - imo - unnecessary side villain to the story. I also think many characters had a questionable fate at the end. At some point I can understand the storyteller's intentions for the later purpose - at the same time I don't like it at all, because the way it happened felt unreasonable.
What I really love about this drama were its many different couples. You get so many awesome and unique characters and so many great couples you can root on. This feels somewhat refreshing, since you don't have to concentrate on only one but a whole bunch. It definitely never gets dull.
The music played a big, big deal in this one. It was powerful and strong, connected you to the current scenes while you got swept away by its emotions.
Visual effects supported the fighting skills greatly and made them look stunning without going overboard.
Was this review helpful to you?
No brain needed, watch for the cast and you'll enjoy!
Yeah, I admit my shallow, reason. Only watched this because I went through Hou MingHao's movie list.And yes, the only reason for many others as well is probably purely the cast and maybe getting some action. Jackie Chan, John Cena, GoT's 2nd Greyjoy bad boy. And Hou MingHao. Even though he's got a really small supporting role with only 2 sentences and a nice close-up.
The film is a pretty simple mainstream action movie, no brain needed, fighting scenes ala Jackie Chan and some comediac inserts that are usually part of your action movies these days. The story is so simple, that I actually forgot to listen to the dialogues some times.
What I have to compliment though is the cinematography. Really beautiful desert and explosion shots.
The end was quite sudden and I didn't get how they actually stopped the evil master plan...
Conclusion: If you know what you signed up for, you can't get disappointed and might actually enjoy the movie. I somewhat did, lol.
Was this review helpful to you?
While the beginning successfully built up atmosphere and suspense, the later tribulations felt a bit rushed and therefore took out some spice. I couldn't fully enjoy the romance the way I wanted to. I'm not a fan of cushy pink clouds or those childish romance gestures/attitudes between the main couple. Playful yes, but not childish. The overall romance wasn't as intense as I had hoped for, at least for me. A huge part caused the FLs acting, that felt quite limited many times. Facial expressions failed to deliver enough emotions.
My favored atmosphere as well as suspense became better again during the end of the last tribulation and when the arc in the demon realm started. And wow, the demon arc was great, but a bit too short. I would have liked to watch that part a bit longer - and with more amnesia.
I found the whole cast very pleasant and the hidden villain was well played. Special applause to the cast who always played the parents. They were great and their appearances were always a delight.
I still don't get why they changed the actress of the SFL though. Whether it was planned from the beginning or had to be done later on for whatever reason, they wrote the change into the script, so it would make sense, but it was not necessary at all, imo. I liked the first version better.
Visuals were great, makeup and costumes beautiful, as well as colorful cinematography/CGI. Yet they actually put some mannequins in armor in the background during one of the last episodes, as well as a few not so well made CGI "power moves". That was a small letdown.
I overall still enjoyed this drama and the cast alot. It was fun, seeing the actors and actresses in different roles over and over again. The few complaints I have about this drama are mostly completely subjective and don't mean others would feel the same. Those were just not my thing.
Was this review helpful to you?
The sceneries looked quite fake here and there and the lighting felt wrong. CGI was well done sometimes, and bad other times.
For a postapocalyptic environment they displayed not enough desperation of the people.
Without getting into too much detail, the backstory was too short (there was just too less explanation of everything), the introduction of the characters was almost nonexistent, which made it quite hard to get their motivations - just a bunch of stereotypes colliding - and the action scenes were all over the place. There were too many action scenes and even though the fighting itself looked good, the shaky cameras and blood/body parts flying everywhere turned it into a bad rollercoaster. A lot of "deaths" were totally exaggerated.
If they made the movie a bit longer, put more effort into the backstory and its characters and created a more logical rescue mission, this could have been an enjoyable movie.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but don't waste your time on this, guys.
Was this review helpful to you?
It's one of those dramas that lives from its characters as there were many multi-layered ones who drove the story forward and whose cast did really good in portraying them. It's rare that I don't look for flaws in at least one or two actors/actresses. I just enjoyed all of them, the leads, the second leads, the side characters, the villains.
I often have concerns when it comes to characters pretending to be the other gender. And even though I started doubtfully, Park Eun Bin convinced me otherwise. She did really well in portraying someone that had to hide her gender for years, starting to feel more comfortable in men's clothes and acting way tougher than one would expect, so that it would lead to a natural rough behavior. In the end I found it somewhat funny but totally fitting that in her developing relationship with the ML, she was the strong one while Jung Ji Woon was the softer counterpart. She took the initiatives while he followed. And he definitely cried more than her, lol. BUT he never felt unmanly or something. Rowon achieved a good balance between his character's soft side and his strong/brave moments. And he was a good equivalent to Park Eun Bin.
At some point in earlier episodes I started to wonder why she continued to pretend to be someone else, since it was such a toll on her. But later on I realized that everyone just wants to live. And don't always need an answer to everything. Sometimes things are just like that without any deep reason.
One thing I'd complain about would be the part where people from Ming were visiting. They hinted so much to another back story that I actually expected them to make use of that in later episodes but they never did, which is quite sad. I would have loved to see as to what that part might have led.
And the music... In my humble opinion, I thought it was too weak and didn't support important scenes well enough. But that's just me.
Was this review helpful to you?
A Pool of Delicacies
I think this was one of the most comfortable watches I've ever had.It was a pleasure watching all the characters interact with each other. Everyone was unique. They differ so much from your usual drama stereotypes, that I was always excited to see what they were doing next. I never got frustrated about things and there was not one boring moment. Why? Because every character had an interesting approach towards their acting partners, whether it was the ML with the FL, or the ML with the SML, or the FL with the SFL or the SML with the SFL. Or with everyone else who showed up, for example, the FL's best friend/colleague or the secretary of the SFL. I was able to sit back and relax and wait for new fun moments.
Especially Ki Seon Gyeom. Im Shi Wan gave him such a special touch, that it feels difficult to see anyone else doing it. He's always so pure and looks innocent, but when it comes to face serious situations, he shows an unknown backbone and strength.
Shin Se Kyung. I know she's an either hate or love actress for many people. Well, let me tell you that she was lovely in this. Her acting was harmonious and well balanced with Im Shi Wan.
My secret favorite though was Kang Tae Oh (SML). Damn, that man. I'm in love. I've never seen someone as charming as him. I can't even describe how much I looked forward to his scenes. Whether it was with his love interest or Im Shi Wan or... well, anyone else. He was the light in every scene.
The sole a*** in this, the only one, you could possibly get angry with was the ML's father. Well, someone had to play the devil, right?
Was this review helpful to you?
Having an airport as the main stage is a nice change of scenery. It felt refreshing to see how life of those workers looks like. Though the focus changed in the second half of the drama.
They tried to cover a lot of backstories with only small dialogues here and there which I liked that way. You don't always need a multi-paged essay about everyone and every connection/relationship people have. Sometimes dropping some words on the sidetrack will also inform you about the whole thing, so you don't have to complain about distractions.
I also appreciated that they displayed 3-dimensional side characters with the help of small side-stories which again were kept short. It made those characters more likable and got those actors some small time to shine as well.
The love story was really sweet and got even quite heartbreaking towards the end. The development was well done, it felt real and pure. And Chae Soo Bin and Lee Je Hoon... oh well, they nailed it. There was chemistry, there was magic between those two. Their intimate moments felt natural. That special charm between them made me so damn emotional at the end.
It was also nice to see familiar faces in smaller roles, for example Choi Won Young (I Remember You), Nam Da Reum (SFD and many more, this boy has just too many "younger version" roles, lol) and Park Hyuk Kwon (the make up and swords master of SFD :p).
Lee Dong Gun's role was the one I despised the most. I wanted to punch him so many times, my knuckles were itching all the time. Of course, k-dramaland had to give him some excuses for his behavior. But it didn't change the fact that Seo In Woo was one detestable fellow for me. But I guess he doesn't care much about my opinion.
As for the secret of the male lead... During earlier episodes I thought that it wasn't necessary to make it extra special for the drama because the normal version would have served enough story already and I didn't see the purpose behind the way they put it. But right after finishing I had to look that part up and get a bit smarter about it (I also misunderstood parts of that secret in the beginning). I came to the conclusion that it's alright. How they told that part of the story, why they chose to do it that way and that there is indeed not exactly a "normal" version of it in real life either. There are similar things but nothing would have worked for the path the writers had in their minds. Although I have to say that they shouldn't have bothered with that action finale. It was too much and the story would still have worked out fine. They did follow that certain thread right from the beginning, so it wouldn't alienate in the end. It was still unnecessary.
So, yeah, quite an enjoyable drama that tells its story slowly but without getting boring.
Was this review helpful to you?
I mean this was such a great story, almost perfect. There actually didn't "happen" that much, if you look closely at it, but the interactions between each person were enough to keep you glued to the screen. I mean, every single character had a grounding of their own which let you connect with and like them to bits. I loved every single story. Gang Doo's sister and Moon Soo's boss kinda annoyed me though.
Of course, the most endearing and compelling part was Moon Soo's and Gang Doo's growth and their struggles to overcome their past. And how they completed each other, eventually. The actors were just... magnificent, especially Jun Ho (and I'm glad they never changed his hair style in this drama like they do in other ones, because.... damn his messy curls~).
I preferred the first part over the second one. The characters were steadier in their decisions and actions, and never budged. In the later episodes there were some things that looked like the writers didn't know how to push the story forward, so that they started to use old standard methods.
And this is also why I only gave a 9. Because the final plot twist rubbed me up the wrong way. It was totally unnecessary and felt like an emergency solution because (again) the writers had no idea how to wrap up the drama with a smooth and deserving ending. I mean I didn't even ask for an explosive finale at all. I would have been completely satisfied with a calm one, too, instead of this... dispensable add-on. Or they could have at least changed the reason for the last event.
The drama still deserves the 9 because of its many strengths, a well put together atmosphere, strong characters with noticeable development, and a significant background music, which all put together create a heart wrenching but also warm story. It's one of those dramas that will touch your heart in a special way and stay with you for a long time.
Was this review helpful to you?
The rating was pretty easy on this one even though I thought about giving this a 9 even. But there were still some things that bothered me, so 8.5 is pretty alright for this drama. Also, my rating is partially biased by enjoyment. It would be way lower if I were only judging in regards to writing, cleverness etc...
I think the best way to describe this drama would be "average makjang"...
Imagine reading your favorite fanfiction packed with your favorite clichés. All the things that are happening in the story have the only purpose of entertaining you and keep your excitement up. You don't even care whether all those incidents make sense or are possible in reality. One convenience/coincidence is hunting the other and timing of certain twists doesn't add up either.
But because you like it anyway, you won't nitpick. That's how I felt about the story. The whole story was all over the place, started many twists in the beginning and worked through them one by one. Because it didn't really follow realism, everything was possible and every character seemed to be capable of whatever was needed - because neither of them had a conscience (and because the story needed them to act that way).
Even though I had temporary hair loss in the first half because the female lead kept making me angry with her trance-like attitude and visible discomfort regarding the situation she was in (if you agree to play a role, you should play a role and don't make it obvious/show your real emotions on your face), she got alot better during the second half (even though her change was a one-eighty, as if she had switched personalities). It still made me happy because her scenes got more enjoyable and I loved listening to her conversations with the male lead throughout the drama.
Therefore half of my whole enjoyment were indeed the leads. I've never seen either of them before but they grew on me. Their acting had a warm aura and made me feel comfortable. They also had really good chemistry between each other. I loved their skinship. It was not exposing but it was nice to watch, it delivered the right feelings and was very sensitive <3 (But dramas already get me with a caressing gesture or a tight hug anyway :P)
Especially Jo Ji Hoon (the male lead) got me quite good during this show (probably his deep, relaxing voice played a part as well... seriously, it was such a pleasant sound~). I don't think he's one of the prettiest guys out there but I liked his acting very much, it was warm and made me feel at home in the drama. He also had some really interesting, subtle nuances in his facial expressions that made his scenes very touching and unique. And his role was the most intriguing one. From all flawed characters, he was probably the most authentic one.
The second leads had a quite dysfunctional relationship that was bad from the beginning and just got worse (I mean that in a positive and enjoyable way). I didn't really get their change of hearts in the last episodes, but well... The drama didn't care much for explainable developments from the start. I was also a bit disappointed that everything constantly resolved to whoever had the better evidence to blackmail and constant threatening (or the evil ones had a sudden enlightenment). I was also a little sad that they didn't clear another lose end that was mentioned in the early episodes...
But overall:
Pure satisfactory, superficial entertainment that I enjoyed a lot nonetheless~
The charm of the older dramas, the simpler cinematographic touch, the development of the romance, and even those ridiculous twists and turns.
And did I say that there were also many scenes that surprised me because I didn't think they would get me in a certain way? Throughout the drama, there were always some pretty... striking moments regarding mood and other things.
Was this review helpful to you?
Sleepless nights
Oh well. I silently watched this after it finished airing. And I restarted it right after.I also successfully avoided any spoilers as well, so I was able to enjoy this full heartedly.
I don't want to write another ass long essay about this one, since there are already plenty other well written ones. Let's just say, that all the hype is deserved. I haven't been that addicted to a drama in a long time. I don't know why. I guess it's doing a great job at keeping you at bait with some damn long separation period between the leads, mixed with all that danger they are facing during that time and right after the drama just built up enough emotional ground for its viewers to be caught. There was even some kind of overwhelming numbness at some point after some drastic events, that left you speechless. My sleeping time suffered alot.
Short key points that made the drama work:
- of course the plot / story telling
- great acting and chemistry between the whole cast - and the way the leads interacted with each other made your heart beat faster every time
- strong FL - physically and verbally
- ML - I don't know what to say except that I was utterly satisfied with him, lol. Esp. the way they introduced his actual authority and identity only later on and with such an awesome entrance music. You have this strong, leading military general who's upright, clever and strategic, has backbone and fairness, and who doesn't submit to anyone not even the emperor. On the other side he's totally devoted to his wife in such a caring and warm way and even though you might think he's totally submissive towards her (and yes, maybe he is), he radiates a strong and protective aura while they are still on equal grounds. You just feel comfortable with him the whole time (well, except for one misstep)
- different multifaceted interesting characters and backgrounds
- Chang Ning !!!! (the FL's little sister)
- cleverly placed strong and captivating music - every single song fits a certain mood/situation (love, longing, despair, loss, leadership, danger, and so on)
- impressive fighting scenes
- karma always find's its prey - you won't be disappointed
Man, during the last days after finishing and now rewatching it, I had so many ideas in my head how to put my enjoyment into some short words, yet I feel like lacking the vocabulary / fun remarks to fully transport my feelings. At the same point I feel like just repeating what everyone else had already said before. Well, I can't deny how much I love this drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
