This review may contain spoilers
Overall, I have mixed impressions of the drama. Weirdly enough I enjoyed watching it (in terms of entertainment factors), but I will definitely say that this drama had a LOT of issues and weirdness about it, but a few good points to almost balance it out.STORY:
The plot line for this drama was honestly all over the place. I know it was based off of an IP novel, so maybe it made more sense in writing? IDK. I also know that it's supposed to be an "Odyssey" which I guess it really was, it was just such a convoluted path to get there.
The story began easily enough. Rich, young, beautiful daughter of a court official buys an amnesiac boy from a market. Girl also meets a city detective and together they solve crimes around the city with some help. Ok, cool. There's a bit of fantasy involved (obviously), but for the most part, it's relatively logical (for a Chinese drama at least xD)
Fast track to the middle of the drama, the slave boy remembers his true identity, has stolen a precious treasure, and returned to his original homeland. The female lead (IMO) has been getting more and more immature as time passes and is just downright whiney most of the time (I still love Janice Wu though). The second male lead is weirdly one of my favorites at this point in time (he's mature and brave, but still has a bit of a playful personality behind him). The fantasy aspects pick up more, and things start taking a weird turn.
By the end of the drama, we have people turning into dragons, bats, and moths. There's "soul splitting" occurring (Hey, Harry Potter), time travel (multiple times), and magical spells running amok. Relationships are fully formed by this point, and just overall there's honestly a lot going on that you somewhat get lost in the mix.
The romance is super slow burning, which isn't a problem (there are still a lot of cute moments that happen throughout), BUT my biggest issues are how they played out the various romances.
*** SPOILER *****
*** SPOILER ****
The writers spend basically the first half of the drama with Yuan'an having a crush on Lan Zhi, (which honestly I kind of preferred because he was matured and balanced out her somewhat stubborn and child like tendencies). And at the same time, she showed that she cared for Mu Le, but wasn't really in love with him (even though other people just kept saying it to her as the writers way of making people care about Yuan' an and Mu Le's relationship). They keep this going for more than halfway through the story, up until the point that Lan Zhi is no longer an option. So basically this way, whether it's true or not, it feels like Yuan'an is only going to end up with Mu Le because she couldn't have Lan Zhi anymore. Not because she actually chose him.
And to make matters worse, it's not until after Mu Le remembers who he really is that Yuan'an and him get together (so now she not only chooses him because she doesn't have another option, but she only realizes her feelings when he's not her slave boy anymore. Cool.)
Obviously this isn't how the writers want their relationship to be portrayed - probably aiming more for a "she didn't realize until he wasn't her slave boy anymore that she was in love with him and loved him no matter what his real identity was." But honestly, I personally feel like it backfired for them because it undermined her credibility for falling for him.
Also I really disliked Ming Hui as a character for the fact that she spent the majority of the drama being an adversary to the characters and never REALLY redeemed herself (to anyone but Lan Zhi), but gets to have a happy ending by the end. Bleh.
Overall, the story made sense (I guess), but it just wasn't well paced and fluid like I would hope. You're taking your audience on this epic journey, so making things make sense and fit together is a big part of that.
ACTING:
Overall I think the actors were all pretty good.
Janice is very good at the cutesy and stubborn personality types, though there were a lot of times I couldn't take her seriously when she got angry and what not. (I do think it was refreshing that her character was so blunt and somewhat sarcastic. It's not super common in Chinese dramas).
Zheng Ye Cheng - very believable as the loyal and loving Mu Le. Had a very innocent charm to him. As Ah Ying, (and it might have been his age playing into it for me) but I certain times couldn't take him seriously as a powerful prince. But he was very good IMO.
Zhang Yu Jian - it might have been more of his character (kind of my type lol), but I honestly really liked him as an actor. As I mentioned, he was a very matured character with a strong sense of justice and loyalty, but he had his moments of being romantic and also being playful/flirty which balanced him out well. I personally think he was the most well rounded of characters because you saw his strengths and faults more clearly and ZYJ did a good job portraying those different parts.
OVERALL:
Again, I didn't severely dislike this drama. I honestly think it was relatively captivating and fun to watch, BUT there were just a lot of plot issues and character problems that I wasn't a fan of, hence my lower score. It seemed to be a fairly popular drama while it aired, which I can see why, but looking at it overall, there were too many core problems I had with it for me to give it a higher score.
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ACTING - Okay so despite the story being all over, I won't lie, the acting is SUPERB. Wu Qian and ZYC are the real reasons i'm still watching this. Oh and Monk Tianshu. I love them. They managed to save this drama with their acting. I love how Yua'an is a badass at times and then a scaredy cat at other times. Seeing ZYC transformation did it for me. He's SO BEAUTIFUL! I'll stop ranting now.
MUSIC - AMAZING given that the only song i paid attention too is the opening track ???????????.
REWATCH - Probably not in the nearest future
OVERALL - If you're looking for something a little bit hilarious just to pass time with, this is probably it but if you're looking for something more on the Princess Agents, Eternal love (TMOPB) Paths, then this is most likely not for you...
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This review may contain spoilers
Love it or hate it, it's probably better than you think
Spoiler-free Review (as much as possible)I think this is sort of a love-it-or-hate-it kind of show, in particular because there is a difference in tone between the first and second half that can make it frustrating for people who like a little magical realism rather than a full-on Taoist cultivation magic/gods are real/demonic creatures abound sort of fantasy.
Make no mistake though, despite the weirdly (and great!) "Steam Punk Sherlock Holmes in the Tang Dynasty" vibe of the first half, it is a full-on fantasy NOT a period piece with some "unexplainable-maybe-magic, acupuncture-just-works-for-some-reason, sure-people-can-jump-that-high, handwave handwave" sort of fantasy. It has all those elements, but they are grounded in the full mytho-religious scope of Chinese historical lore--akin to how Lord of the Rings is grounded in the full scope of European lore. In this show, magic and cultivation are real, are understood by people in this world to various degrees, and immortal cultivation is possible. If you are expecting this kind of world, the plot is perfectly comprehensible, and the choices characters make lead reasonably logically to the next scenario. If you are expecting minimal fantasy in a mostly "period" setting, it's going to throw you for about a million loops, especially after the magical quest picks up.
The romantic arc is, I think, explained well by a comment the Tang Empress makes maybe about a third of the way in: that a lasting relationship requires that couples have equality. She's not strictly speaking about a political kind of equality (like, it's not a feminist statement nor is she *exactly* talking about status). She is somewhat talking about feelings, somewhat about status, and somewhat about how they see each other--which encompasses feelings and status and respect. This, for me, was the reason the MC couldn't be together in the first half: they were unequal; and it drove many of the plot progressions in the second half.
Overall, if you hang in to the end *most* of the stuff that makes you go "huh?" is explained, and it's a really entertaining ride full of great acting. I recommend it to people who like fairly fluffy high fantasy with good characters and enjoy plots that take them for a ride.
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Spoiler-light review of the ending: was it happy or sad?
I have no particular issue with the ending in terms of *what happened*... but I did find the last scene weirdly abrupt and it took a while to interpret it. Key to understanding the ending is noting that the main characters are experiencing a calamity/tribulation (which is stated near the end by the character with the best grasp of what's going on). In Western romance, happy endings are required and are defined as the couple together. However, I find that in Chinese romances, when a couple's love is entwined with "the fate of the world," it usually requires some kind of significant sacrifice and they usually do not end up both alive and together. Just like Western romantic endings, these can be done well or poorly. In my opinion, the ending fit the story and the world-building, and it was increasingly clearly inevitable--as an ending largely should be. It does not fit the standard Western "happy ending" but at the same time, I wouldn't call it tragic or bad.
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Spolierish review of ending: what the heck was that last scene?
Scroll
scroll
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Is Mu Le alive or dead? Well, the best interpretation I've seen (it is supported but subtle in the show; I read that this it is how the book explains it but I can't find an English translation of the book to confirm) is that he is the son of the goddess who made the beads. We see that the one egg shaped bead, which is the center one, survives. This is the bead in which Mu Le's spirit is sealed. So, basically Mu Le is a god. His mortal self perished, but he can't die. You can view the entire series as the "mortal tribulations" portion of a show like _Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms_ or _Ashes of Love_.
My personal take is that Ye Yuan An is also experiencing a mortal trial. Just a bit of head cannon; but based on the "equality" idea; that their love for each other is one that spans mortal and immortal status.
Anyway, because Mu Le is the god that seals the egg bead, him appearing at the end isn't just a sop to a happy ending after the inevitable sacrifice. It's actually him fulfilling his promise that if he has an afterlife, he'll spend it with her. So I would count it as a happy ending but presented in a not-very-satisfactory way.
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Full of details and random spoilers analysis of what I liked and disliked. Read at own risk :)
Things I liked:
The Second Lead Couple: fully developed characters and a reason to be together besides just 'cause
A lot of time second lead couples in stories where one or both was originally in a love triangle with the lead/leads feel like they were given to each other by the author as a consolation prize for everyone with second lead syndrome. Not so in this case. First of all, their relationship is rocky *at best* for most of the series. Second of all, they're actually perfect for each other, if they can make it through all the rockiness--which is the essence of a true OTP.
Ming hui, the princess, is initially an antagonist. She has an unlikable personality, although she shows a different side in a few moments of vulnerability. When we later learn of her good motives, her personality doesn't change, but our perspective of her has a chance to. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that her personality stays difficult. It's easy to hate Ming Hui, and the writer *could* have gone for the stereotype that equates difficult personalities with being a bad person. She *could* have had Ming Hui turn out to be a sweet person and her undercover personality a mere persona . And that would have been super boring.
Instead she challenged us to find the good in Ming Hui, to find what was likable and consider what was forgivable. And she showed up what growth looks like in a person who isn't exactly bad, but is kind of selfish and prickly. Ming Hui, although not having much redemption from the stuff she did under cover (it's kind of excused as "what she had to do"), does experience real growth as she first tries to brute-force her romance and then realizes that she was wrong, and finally starts to figure out how to be a genuine person to the one she loves.
Despite Ming Hui's unilateral initiation of their relationship, the pairing between her and Lan Zhi actually makes sense. She seems very cold and calculating, but while she is extremely pragmatic about her duty and what she has to do to achieve her goals, she's actually very impulsive and emotional in her relationships. This leads to her initially hating Lan Zhi and Ye Yuan An. In my opinion, hating Ye Yuan An didn't make much sense, other than that Mu Le rescued everyone and her servant was the only one that died. But as the series went on, it became more and more obvious that Ming Hui and Ye Yuan An had these parallel experiences with loving a slave and being unable to do anything about that love (including admitting it to themselves). So I think that Ming Hui hated Ye Yuan An so much because Ye Yuan An still had Mu Le, whereas Ming Hui's love was dead.
But as time goes on and Ming Hui keeps encountering Lan Zhi, she has unsettling experiences with him that make her feel valued and seen, something she hasn't had much of in her life. He has also been the only person to see the potential goodness in her when she was undercover, and believe that she could do the right thing.
She feels strongly but has no confidants and isn't at ease being vulnerable, which means that she tends to repress her emotions to the point where they bubble out into irrational decisions. This means that when she takes such drastic actions to force Lan Zhi to marry her, he isn't able to take her claim to love him seriously. He believes her demand is about the rivalry with Ye Yuan An, not about any actual feelings for him.
Some people felt disappointed that he wasn't the ML. But I think the writer established that he wasn't right for her very early and in repeated ways. Whereas he sees the goodness in Ming Hui when she's putting up a front, he doesn't see the suffering or vulnerability of Ye Yuan An when SHE's putting up a front, nor does he recognize her as someone who has as strong a moral code and as much a need to act on it as he does. In short, he never actually recognizes their equality (in the sense the Queen talked about). In fact, he much more recognizes his equality with Ming Hui, as when he relates his childhood story of becoming a good person to her difficulties and potential for doing the same.
Lan Zhi's arc actually parallels hers a bit. His personality is also difficult. He tends to hide behind the letter of the law whenever faced with complexity. He is very judgmental and while he is fair, he is not kind. He can be selfish: although he said he wanted Mu Le in the army so Mu Le could gain some merits, he really wanted Mu Le away from Ye Yuan An. It was obviously going to end terribly (a supernaturally strong man who ignores propriety and will only somewhat take orders from one person who is not in the army is supposed to do well in the army??? No. Lan Zhi. You did not actually think that was how it was going to go.). He does not express his feelings to the people he cares about and his bearing is so rigidly law-abiding that it's easy for the people he loves to believe his feelings for them are not deep.
With Ming Hui, he has to learn a bit about forgiveness, and how to let go of the past. He learns to be more flexible, more vulnerable, and more expressive--but none of this to the extent that feels like a personality rewrite. I also like that he never comes to hate or distance himself from Ye Yuan An. Like, we get the definite feeling he's stopped pining for her and started loving his wife. But she's still his friend, she's still important to him. And it's still a difficulty in their relationship, which just read as really true.
You can totally imagine how them as a main couple would make for a sort of typical "arranged marriage, enemies to lovers" story, but enjoy it as a less developed side story because it's elements are in so many ways done to death.
.... okay.... this is crazy long. To be continued, maybe :D
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This review may contain spoilers
give some explanation about this drama for who not understand well
you could say that I wrote is not a review, more to the analysis of the story,because of my habit of watching as much detail as possible,
I wrote various questions that I did not understand in order not to forget while watching this drama,
and hope that everything is clear at the end of the story ,i wrote maybe 17 -20 questions almost everything was resolved, but there were some that I still confused
I want to write some irregularities that make me confused
1. suspect of the case always appear suddenly, shen da (opium smugglers),he had jumped to the lake to escape, it was unknown when he was captured, and was not chased while jumping into the lake, then the jumping scene to the lake was just a futile addition
2. zhou li xian (ilegal artefact seller) i think his case is separate from the case of the loss of the queen's painting，but when they lost the direction of the investigation suddenly become related
3. who and how they giving back shui yue face skin to xiao ke? While shui yue died after removing her face skin?
4. when looking for the bead from the clue is a puppet, how she know it related with general guo?, even though there is also a puppet show in the kingdom
5. Ming Hui was known to be martial arts from the beginning or not?,but for what she pretended don't understand martial arts in front of zhao lan zhi when he thought about killing him?but all people know she is the disciple of tian qiao?
6. What is actually the color of the bead received by Tian Shu? , when given by his teacher the colors of gold and purple, but when he showed them to yuanan the colors were blue and purple?and keep changing, change both colors,At first I thought I was switched while fighting with Tian Qiao, but it seems not
7. Why mule can see the future of yuan an?, it still makes sense if what he saw was during Yuanan Time Travel,but in ep 4 when he first time saw yuanan with woman cloth, it shows 4 memory of yuan an 2 when she time travel and 2 when she become a maid, but she become a maid after mule stole the bead and go back to suoluo kingdom, i think maybe wring editing
8. when yuan an know about the dead of tian shu And just only his soul left?
9. Why did Tian Shu chase mule after he had volunteered to give it to him?
10. at first I found it strange with the medicine given by ling xi to zhen zhen, but after thinking i thought it still made sense if ling xi died when the fire after planning to hurt the king, but at the last they said ling xi just the soul of aheng, so it makes no sense, because the memory recovery drug was given suddenly,
It is not part of Ling Xi's plan, so what is given to Zhen zhen is only the healing drug, and aheng not a doctor but lingxi yes, it make a sense if lingxi gave them the memory recover drug,but not with aheng he just good with his magic
11. what is the secret that the queen hasn't yet told?
12. Isn't there only the soul of the red dragon in the body aying ?, How can Tian Shu seal the red dragon body? His body was killed by aying right?, and how they have the release seal? If the master they said who seal the red dragon is tian shu? ,It was said the release seal was given by the sealing master, but Tian Shu sacrificed himself and sealed the red dragon without having a chance to give the releasing seal
13. why aheng can stole the bead back from yuan an without her permission? And the last piece of bead destroyed or not? If destroyed, its mead the bead stole by aheng
14. if a hand can grow back with a blue bat, why lingxi eyes cant?
"accept explaining what I question, but do not accept criticizing me for watching habits in order to understand"
I always think why continue watching if I don't understand what is being told
NOTE:
The internet says the kingdom of Suoluo is an India now,,BUT from what i search, based on the drama(the country located in the southwestern part of the tang dynasty province of annam),gestures of characters (salute by lying down and angling hands on the floor), word(announcement when king and queen looking for doctor to have heirs)i scan and translate with tamil it not have a result but have result with thailand language, room decoration( elephant), war with champa kingdom (now vietnam) everything shows that Suoluo(娑罗)is Thailand in dynasty tang era years, all match,,,,,tian zhu (天竺) is india, kang kingdom (康国) is 西藏 xi zang, tibetan
Thats all my wikipedia haha
Not very clear, i think have some problems not solved ,some story not make a sense and very forced to connect , the plot is complex ,at least almost everything was resolved ,,and quite interesting to watch even the ending maybe can be said not happy ending? ,,but not just happy ending is a ending, at least the story ends well without hanging ,,,the point is not too bad for watch
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This review may contain spoilers
You cannot convince me that I didn't like this drama. Yes, there were a lot of plot holes and there was a lot of repetitiveness, but you cannot convince me that I didn't like it. I always knew about this drama because I am a huge fan of Janice Wu and I started getting into actor Zhang Yu Jian after his role in Please Love Me and knew that they were both in Le Coup de Foudre. I think what scared me away was not knowing if Yu Jian was the main love interest in this drama as well as not wanting to sit through 50 episodes trying to find out. So I ultimately put it aside, until about a week ago when I saw a clip on Instagram between Janice Wu and Zheng Ye Cheng and was like...wait....is that Mo Zha Ta from Love020? And for anyone who knows me, I had such a huge crush on him in that drama and wanted to see him in more things. So I decided, hey, I am already in a drama slump, what is the worse that can happen? I had okay expectations with this drama, but I wanted to give it a chance because of these three actors, and honestly, this drama was EVERYTHING I needed. It had the elements of a historical drama with a touch of magic (and everyone knows I am a sucker for fantasy love stories). It had Janice Wu being her normal spunky self. And I watched it on Youtube so I am not sure if the subtitles were different from Viki, but the script was so bizarre and funny. I needed a good laugh at the end of the workday and this is where I went. Honestly, I was scared that this drama would take me months to finish, but I binged this drama in a few days because I was so obsessed.
And the only fair way to talk about this drama is in two different parts because it did seem like there were two different stories -
The first 30-something episodes take place in Tang. We are introduced to a spunky girl named Yuan'an who is the daughter of the head of the treasury. We are also introduced to a young police officer named Lan Zhi. Lanzhi, after having a complicated past, has moved up in the ranks and proved himself worthy to be the right hand of the Queen. Together (off the books), Yuan'an and Lanzhi find that even though they have different motivations and morals that guide them, they work well together in order to solve crimes. One mission brings them to a black market where we are introduced to a man named Mu Le who has no memories and is (for a time) mute, which is where Yuan'an decides to buy him as a slave in order to save him from an abusive life. Then for the remaining 30-something episodes, the three of them work together to solve crimes and this evil of the 9 beads.
Then after some time and everything starts to become normal, Mu Le recovers his memories at the cost of losing the ones he made in Tang, which results in this 9 beads evil cycle restarting again but in a new kingdom that is completely fueled by dark magic.
It was this completely new drama after this point, but no one seemed phased. And I have read so many reviews and comments of people saying that this drama should have ended in Tang in 30 episodes, but I would have to disagree. Yes, the first 30-something episodes were very simple and fun, and I feel like after Yuan'an left for this new kingdom on a new quest, she lost her fun and spunky spirit and became this new character altogether. But I do feel that this was necessary and we needed Yuan'an, after everything that happened, to mature and decide what was most important. She was passionate about the people in her life, but she was very young and impressionable and needed something to kick her booty in gear to handle important issues. Not going to lie, even though she would risk her life for her people, she somehow kept hurting Mu Le's feelings over and over again.
Going back to the beginning and talking about the romance in this and how I was scared about starting this because I didn't know who the main love interest was - in a way they both were. I like to believe that deep down she had feelings for both men and obviously they had feelings for her as well, but Yuan'an was very young and her love for both men came out naturally and without realizing that she loved them romantically. But it was obvious who the directors were trying to make end game for Yuan'an just based on conversations that she was having with both men. I also saw a lot of split opinions in the comments about who reviewers wanted her to end up with. In my opinion, I was on team Mu Le, but after he regained his memories. I loved him as well when he was Yuan'an's slave because they had this relationship where they 100% had one another's backs regardless of their statuses, and he never questioned her decisions, but something was missing and he just came off like a devoted slave. It wasn't until after his memories came back that he gained this confidence and this aura that he was his own person that I was like...yes...that yo man. It got to a point where I didn't care if Mu Le ever turned evil, I would probably support him until the end. I just loved his character that much. And don't get me wrong, I also loved the relationship that Yuan'an had with Lanzhi , but I think they would be better as friends. The best way to describe them both is, Lanzhi put the law above everything, where you are guilty until proven innocent, where Yuan'an took the side of you are innocent until proven guilty, which is where they disagreed a lot. Also, Lanzhi knew that Yuan'an was a strong woman, but there were many times where he always wanted her to stay at home and live a happy life as someone's wife, specifically his, while he went into the battlefield and did the hard work. This ultimately strained their relationship, I think, where their highs were high, but their lows were really low. I liked Mu Le because he never questioned Yuan'an and saw her more as a partner.
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And this is where the spoilers come in -
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My favorite part of this drama was in the second half where Yuan'an's mission was to go to this other kingdom and steal back the 9 beads that Mu Le or Prince Ying stolen and ultimately kill him. Yes, the whole element of the drama changed and we are now introduced to a very stubborn and serious Yuan'an who just wants to get revenge from a man that she risked her life for over and over again, who basically put her and her family's life in danger when he stole the beads. Yes, it was annoying at times how clouded her mind was for a good part of the second half, but I loved his new magical world and I loved how we got to see Yuan'an and Mu Le switch places in this new kingdom. But my ULTIMATE favorite part was Yuan'an meeting Prince Ying for the first time again, with no memories of her or their past, and him basically falling in love with her all over again without her trying and with the mission of killing him. AND THEN, when things start to go south and people start to get wind of her plan, she is sent back in time (yes...you heard that right) to before he leaves for Tang, in order to kill him in hopes that if he never went to Tang, he would have never stolen the beads and met Yuan'an. Instead, Yuan'an and Prince Ying get to know one another, before all the corruption of the 9 beds, and they learn about this evil plot against the prince and ultimately helps him survive and once again, they fall in love with one another.
This is why I LOVED this drama. Her going back into the past was weird and out of place with this whole drama, but it ended up being my favorite part. Also, kudos to Zheng Ye Cheng for playing 3 different versions of the same character. You made me fall in love with this tan soft boy prince who had nothing but devotion for Yuan'an. Which is another reason why I picked team Mu Le and not Lanzhi. After everything that happened, Yuan'an and Mu Le went through so many character changes, but their love for one another never faltered. Lanzhi, I felt, didn't go through change, and if anything, as the drama progressed, I started to hate him. Yes, this also routed from my hatred of Ming Hui, but I lost complete respect for Lanzhi when he ultimately gave up the fight and fell in love with Ming Hui. I didn't realize his internal battle was about him not knowing if she truly cared about him or just used him as a pawn. I thought, the whole drama, that his fight was about her just being a terrible person who blackmailed him into marriage and threw tantrums when she didn't get her way which included multiple attempts on Yuan'an's life.
Finally, with the big topic of the ending that everyone is still trying to decipher, here are my only thoughts. I was upset with the ending even though Mu Le kept on foreshadowing it, but the writer did us dirty and I knocked off half a point from the review. BUT, I will say this:
In a world full of dark possession puppet magic, 9 beads controlling the world, people becoming magical animals when exposed to their blood, and time travel....I am 100% positive that Mu Le can find a way back to Yuan'an. The prophet said true love can conquer anything in this world...so I am positive that this open ending is a postitive ending.
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This review may contain spoilers
Came for the compelling four main leads, fastfowarded to see how it end
Major plot threads spoilers below, although I try to be as vague as possible.------------------
Though I enjoyed many aspects of this drama, such as the cast and characters and the sweet and emotional scenes, I have mixed feelings about how the second half of the drama unfolded to the point where I was no longer actually invested and only fastforwarding scenes to find out what happened and how it will all be resolved. The saving grace of this drama is the acting from the four main leads, especially zheng yecheng and janice wu.
The drama starts off as a detective-type historical with a focus on fantasy as ye yuanan and zhao lanzhi solves cases that happen to intertwin with the life of mu le, an amnesiac servant boy bought by ye yuanan, and ming hui who has her own missions to find the Nine Divine Beads and thus she undermine zhao lanzhi at every turn. That's how it starts and is fine. It was intriguing and compelling (although sometimes it feels like I'm just tuning in to an episode to see which case will come up; each case is only connected by the Nine Divine Beads), especially when finding out more about what mu le's true identity is as he has shown signs of being more than an ordinary person. However, his identity is very slowly hinted at during the first half. The first half instead focuses on building the romantic relationships between mu le and ye yuanan, and ye yuanan and zhao lanzhi, and zhao lanzhi and ming hui--which will lead to angsty moments in the second half, which some decent payoff.
The relationship between mu le and ye yuanan has good tension because mu le is only a servant whereas she is a noble lady. although mu le (and I think ye yuanan) never feels like that should be a problem, society and everyone else does. mu le becomes frustrated at his identity as a servant. ye yuanan is oblivious of her own feelings--as she is tomboy-ish--and instead just opts to showing her care through her actions. mu le also becomes frustrated with his identity because it leads to bullying. he just wants to be with ye yuanan--he's very devoted--but is faced with all these external barriers and the obliviousness of ye yuanan.
ye yuanan and zhao lanzhi's relationship is pretty cute and I'm not even mad why she cares about him so much and vice versa. I'm fine with how it developed, the feelings it went through, and how it ended.
zhao lanzhi and ming hui was an interesting one because I didn't see it coming although I do like enemies-to-lovers trope. Their mutual dislike/distrust is a very fun dynamic, although it starts to become suffocating at a later point as ming hui, being an antagonist-type, becomes super toxic in trying to own zhao lanzhi.
Regardless, the relationships between the characters developed well and the story was interesting until toward the second half of the drama (mostly toward the end).
I was completely happy to see mu le recover his identity and go back to his rightful place and I liked that the setting moved us to a different place in the suoluo kingdom. I was fine with that plot move.
This was a chance for ye yuanan to struggle deeply with her complex feelings for mu le: the sense of betrayal, the sense of care and love. It's a lot to handle and unfortunately, I don't think janice wu pulled it off as well as it could've been. It could've been the fault of the director and editor and script writer too, but this kind of tough and complex situation really needed a great actress and janice wu didn't make me feel compelled but rather annoyed. (If you want to see a great scene that handled the betrayal and love and horror, just rewatch Goodbye My Princess when Xiaofeng realized that her lover Gu Xiaowu is the one that destroyed her grandfather's clan. That scene is just stunning and heartbreaking and incredible.)
ye yuanan was repetitive toward the last like 12 episodes and, although I understand that she is very bitter about the betrayal, she came off as idiotic at times and childish where it wasn't enjoyable anymore. I was also hoping that this second half would be a chance for ye yuanan to grow compassion; as she is now undercover as a servant and is treated badly just like mu le was when he was a servant, I thought there would be some connection there and some enlightenment and empathy toward mu le. Instead, ye yuanan just came off as constantly complaining and still so stubbornly arrogant. On one hand, it's align with her personality, but at the same time, it feels like she just didn't develop as a character.
As I said earlier, I was fine when the plot took us to the suoluo kingdom, but then there was time-travelling, which I threw up my hands and was like "Fine, we're doing this." I was fine with that plot turn too--but then they made it happened three times. Three times! ye yuanan kept saying that she could accomplish the mission back in time, but then fails--and they STILL let her go! I don't care how compelling her argument is--that she's responsible for mu le, whatever--it's just so idiotic that they let her go again and again when it was clear to everyone that she wouldn't be able to accomplish the mission. Instead of having her go back and forth in time three times, they should've just had it happened once and have her go through all of that stuff in one go.
The saving grace of the second half of the drama is mu le in his true place and his identity. he looks really great all dressed up, confident, and elegant. Not much else was very cathartic toward the end, sadly, not even my feelings for mu le and ye yuanan helped me through it. It was just zheng yecheng pulling me through to finish it.
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This review may contain spoilers
You probably read comments and reviews where it says something like ¨ the first half of the drama was good and interesting. And the second part is a mess¨ This statement is fully true. And I will tell you why.The first part:
It was really interesting, unpredictable, and super fun. I liked all the interactions with each of the characters. Everyone had a pretty solid personality. And it fit the drama really well. And all the investigations with Zhao Lan Zhi were interesting. They were all connected to the main characters and it all made sense at the end. I will give credit for that.
But then the second half
The story was still interesting, unpredictable, fun, and binge-worthy.... but slowly and surely it all became a kind of a mess.
One of the biggest negatives parts of this drama is Ye Yuan'an. She became really annoying. I couldn't stand her. She had mixed feeling for Mu Le which was pissing me off. R one point all she wanted was to kill Mu Le. And then out of nowhere, they become a couple. And she truly loved him. She was even able to die for him. #confused. Maybe I missed something. But that's what I understood. For like 10 or so episodes. I literally thought it would off been better if Mu Le and Ye Yuan'an weren't together because Ye Yuan'an just didn't deserve him. Mu Le was the sweetest. loyal and pure little bean. But Ye Yuan'an just played with him and his feelings. I was really devastated by her personality. She really just killed the romance. But when they officially became a couple her personality was a little better.
The second negative part of the second has was the plot. It becomes all over the place. I couldn't follow along. I was sometimes confused. It was really misleading. Then out of nowhere.....time travel........people turning into bats......really???? The screenwriters really put all their imagination into the second half of the drama. I literally skipped all and I mean all the parts about the second lead couple. They were not interesting.
Overall I feel like Me Lu and Ye Yuan'an didn't have the spark in their relationship. They didn't have the chemistry I was expecting. There were a lot of scenes where they were together but no chemistry was between them. Me Lu was always ready to protect Ye Yuan'an was literally so cute. That was probably the cutest part of their relationship.
I'm leaving the best for the last.
My favorite part of this drama is(drums)......The main character Me Le.
His acting and visuals were on point. I literally kept watching this drama because of him for the most part. His makeup was perfect. Whoever did his makeup, hit me up. I need some lessons on how to put on contour and eye makeup. And the costumes were really nice and pretty. Let's just say Me Le (Zheng Ye Cheng) took the spotlight on this one.
Last but not least
The opening OST was amazing.
With all of these holes in the drama, I still love this drama to the moon and back. This drama took a special place in my heart and I truly recommend it.
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This review may contain spoilers
Don't drop midway or you will regret it!
I'm here after finishing the series to say a few things.I REAAALLY RECOMMEND IT.
The way the drama makes you feel confused about the characters (on which side you really support) is amazing. The actors are really talented to make their characters transition to someone really detestable to someone very likable and vice versa. It also makes you confuse on which ship you should pursue but in the end, it will eventually lead you to the correct pairings and be satisfied with it.
There is romance and comedy in case your wondering. The main character "YE YUANAN" - you are SO gonna love her, her personality is so adorable and she really has cute facial expressions. The romance between the main characters in the first few episodes might be lacking and not convincing, BUT dont ever drop the series because of it - just be patient and eventually in the second half YOU WILL BE FANGIRLING SO MUCH (well, i did). The ending ... you can discover yourself. DON'T WORRY, YOU WONT REGRET FINISHING IT :))))))
From the review of others ^^... I didn't have any issues about the plot being confusing AT ALL. It was well organized but there really were some invention imaginations that were forced like flying with a kite (but that's it!) (nothing to do with the plot).
The first half might be a bit boring for the main cast but the second half will cover up for it all. You just need to be patient and give careful attention to the plot or you will get confused like others (honestly, I still don't get why other say its confusing - the plot was really really easy to catch up with)
Will I Re-Watch it? I already am re watching it for God knows how many times already (but only the episodes with scenes that I like)
Do I Recommend it? YES! YES! YES!
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If you are wondering why I rated Overall as a 9.5 instead of a perfect 10, then it's because I'm not satisfied with the ending. But no spoilers allowed so just watch this series. You will surely like it.
I pray that the producers come up with Season 2 . It's definitely worth waiting for. Please please Huace Production Outfit, make my wish come true !!
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This review may contain spoilers
Story is okay but the ending is disappointing (not much of spoilers)
Firstly, I am so disappointed with the ending. Not what I expected. Whoever watch this drama will be as disappointed as I am. However, the storyline is not bad at all. It's pretty okay. Well, the main leads, Zheng Yecheng and Janice Wu were the reason I started to watch this drama in the first place. The ending was a cliffhanger. I think there is more to the ending but then I also feel like that's it for the ending.Anyway, as for Mu Le and Yuan'An, although there were e a lot of scenes of them together, I feel like they don't really have that much of sweet and romantic moments together. Somehow they always got into trouble wherever they are. I suppose the sweetest and somewhat romantic moment was when Mu Le always there to protect her but Yuan'An always have Zhou Lanzhi in her mind which I think it is nice but I wasn't hoping for that. As for Zhou Lanzhi and Minghui, they got their good ending. Peace was brought to the two kingdoms, Suoluo and Tang.
I would give 9 stars to this drama but the storyline by the ending doesn't reach to my expectations so I give 8.5 stars instead which is quite high enough. If there ever be a second series for this drama, I look forward to it and I hope this time the ending will be better.
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Another female lead that forgets how to fight once she finds a man
It really was worth watching. The first 30 episodes were very interesting with those crimes and the character of Yuan'an, even though I did not like the way she treated Mu Le.I particularly liked the clothing of the actors in Solou. I liked the actors and the way they played and even the story, and if there were times when I found myself confused.I do not really know if it would be worthwhile to see it, but whoever should see it and I hope they will see a season 2 if it will exist because it seems to be an open end or it just has to put you in thoughts. It seemed a little annoying to me in particular how Yuan'an treated Mu's, that is, every time I feel he treats him equally, he begins to speak that she is a kind of master of him. But must to say that the one I liked the most was Chen Tianshu because you always felt that he was trying to bring Yuan'an and Mu Le together, but not just that.Okay,I think I could do this all day but let's finish it. I enjoyed it and you could give it a try too. I'm generous so I'll give it 100 stars.Was this review helpful to you?
