Completed
Terrica18
49 people found this review helpful
Mar 4, 2020
64 of 64 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 6.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 6.5
Rewatch Value 2.0
I was really hesitant to watch this after reading some of the reviews but after powering through so many episodes I can completely understand why some people gave it a high and why others gave it a low review. The series starts out somewhere upbeat and really entertaining. The banter between the two leads will be just enough to get you hooked. Our male lead is somewhat devious in a pleasant sort of way and the female lead is head strong, brave and tough. Of course you get to enjoy all of this banter between many scenes of politics and plotting.

The synopsis has already revealed that a female lead lost her family and was seeking revenge or justice. This plot of hers is how our leads cross paths. Initially you will find their banter really cute and you get the feeling that this is only going to get better and better. I honestly had a hard time figuring out our mail lead. This man did an amazing job portraying a strong person, a smart person, a weak person and a cunning person. His facial expressions were second to none.

What I liked about the series is that it is a historical film and I really do enjoy watching historical fans and if you manage to tie in a little bit of romance that is just a big bonus for me. I am truly not a fan of political plotting however the relationships of the royal family was so unique that you really somewhat hope that everything worked out fine. For me I found it somewhat odd that I actually like the villain. Not because they were feelings but because of the scene they were in with their brother and father and even their nephew at times were quite hilarious. This is rare that you get to see our villainess people in a somewhat comical yet plotting manner.

Now for the hard stuff. What I did not like about the series was that thing that hooked me in somehow died off. That’s right it was completely eliminated. That banter between our two leads that was funny and get you wrapped up for more of their entertainment died when or female lead entered the palace. Our feisty, brave, outspoken and tough female lead turned into a submissive palace person. It was a complete 360° change. I am really not exaggerating. It was just like she made a decision and that decision meant she was humble submissive and whatever else you want to call a person that don’t talk unless spoken to. That most certainly ruined it for me because her personality and our male lead personalities were on fire to begin with but because her personality change it just turned bland..
In addition to this, watching the beginning of the series you would naturally assume that there was gonna be this great love, great chemistry but oh was I wrong. There was no amazing love. There was no amazing romance. There was no amazing chemistry. There was no amazing anything about the relationship between the leads. It was just awful. She essentially turned into just another person that is obedient to the emperor and it was no longer fun to watch. After a major turn of events, I don’t want to spoil anything, our smart cunning and strong male leave turns into someone who does not handle pressure well. It was so conflicting and confusing at the same time.

If you’re into historical films and politics you’ll like this one. If you’re into historical romance I would advise you not to cheat yourself because you won’t get it here. This is 62 episodes of politics and plotting. Don’t go looking for love in this place. It ain’t here. Lol.
90% politics
10% palace/harem/romance

The acting was good in the first 22 episodes and it was entertaining. Anything after the 22 episodes was just a blur for me. A blur of going to war and plotting. Not exaggerating.

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Completed
ChineseDramaFan
22 people found this review helpful
Jan 3, 2020
64 of 64 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

Epic Historical Drama | High Quality Production

What an incredible historical story told with a touch (a lot) of humor, initially.

When I first started with the drama, I didn't know what to make of it: is it a real historical story, or is it a comedy? Real historical drama because it’s depicting one of the most interesting era of Chinese history from the Yongle reign in 1402 during the Ming Dynasty. Comedy because of the initial dialogues and relationships portrayed in the story – they are funny and entertaining. Nonetheless, a few episodes in, I found myself really enjoying this drama.

The drama is based on some real events and real figures in the early part of the Ming dynasty. It started with Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor, seizing the throne from his nephew in a revolt. In the beginning of the story, it focuses mainly on the relationships between Zhu Di, his sons and his grandson. How these relationships are depicted is humorous and enjoyable. Fictional or not, I’m really hooked watching how the father-son-grandson, brothers-brothers, uncles-nephew dynamics played out here; the relationships are just funny, informal, silly and sweet at times. However, after the demise of Zhu Di, the same relationships become hideous and the mood of the drama turns serious and deadly.

This drama also has some brief references to the expeditions of Cheng He, the Tumu Crisis, and various important figures such as Yu Qian, Wang Zhen and the three Yangs. However, Empress Sun is given a greater influence in this drama than in reality. Her son is such a spoiled brat and incompetent.

25 episodes in, the mood changes from light-hearted into dead serious. Many episodes focus on warfare with the northern Mongol tribes. The informal relationships we see earlier within the royal family disappear. The seemingly silly and funny characters of the 2nd and 3rd princes become devious and dangerous. Even the Zhu Zhanji character becomes unpredictable and sinister.

Zhu Yawen is a seasoned actor and is very good in his craft. His portrayal of Zhu Zhanji is amazing, switching from being timid in front of his grandfather the Emperor, to silly with his father the crown prince and with his uncles, to serious and nasty with his enemies. Zhu Yawen has a magician hat filled with unlimited facial expressions, body language, smiles, sneers and demeanor. He switches from one mood to another with ease and makes his character super interesting and convincing. However, he’s gone from the screen after about 2/3 of the drama. (Likewise with Wang Xue Qi who plays the Yongle Emperor character - he exits the screen even earlier.) Both of these actors are supposedly playing the main roles. One character, apart from Sun Ruowei, that consistently appears from early in the drama till the end is Yu Qian played by Su Ke. He is a wonderful convincing actor and I really enjoy watching his character.

I don't particularly like the female lead Rebecca Tang playing Sun Ruowei initially because I find her stiff and unnatural, over acts in certain parts and under acts in others. I also dislike her voice dubbing because her voice and tone don't match the moods and situations of the events. Everything just seems off with her. The Sun Ruowei character also changes greatly before and after she married Zhu Zhanji, and it (the character) doesn't feel like a lead character anymore. However, I’m pleasantly surprised by her transformation when she becomes the Empress Dowager. Her no-nonsense demeanor which doesn’t bode well initially becomes very convincing at the later part of the drama. As mentioned earlier, Sun Ruowei is depicted as a very influential character in this drama as a regent which may not be totally accurate historically. According to the record, the Grand Empress Dowager (Empress Zhang) should have held greater power than depicted and hence been the greater influencer. The relationship between Sun Ruowei and Hu Shan Xiang has also been fictionalized.

All the other actors and supporting casts are very good in their respective roles. After the demise of the Yongle Emperor and his sons and grandson, ie. the initial cast, the drama turns dry for some viewers with politics and warfare with a lot of bloodshed and deaths. All the comedies and humors are gone. The drama progresses with each episode getting more intense then the last. Despite the fictions, this drama is still very well made with not many holes; it's interesting and wonderful to watch.

My verdict: yes, I'd recommend this drama to all, especially those who love historical stories. This is a wonderful drama worth watching despite its length of 62 episodes! I have enjoyed almost every episode, although half-way through, it gets a bit dry without all the initial humors and comedies, but the tension and plots keep me on. The acting is impeccable and the music is one of the best. This drama goes into my MUST-WATCH list.

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Completed
pammo1949
12 people found this review helpful
May 11, 2020
64 of 64 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers

A classic that should be treasured

This is a brilliant work of art that follows the life of Sun Ruowei from childhood as the young daughter to an official to her rise to Empress and Empress Dowager. Every stage of her life is a progression that fills the entire 62 episodes. Integrated throughout her life story is the side story of various Emperors and relatives and court officials eventually becoming an Empress Dowager and ruler of the Mng Dynasty. These stories are interesting and give the drama historical substance.

The life of Sun Ruowei is the common thread that involves the leadership of 6 different emperors of the Mng Dynasty. I love historical dramas but if you stick to "just history" the story would be boring. There is a lot of incorrect and fictionalization of history immersed with nonfictional history to keep the story truly interesting. Since I started watching in January 2020 on YT with computer-generated nonsensical subs the drama was plain AWFUL. But after 62 episodes including episodes raw I promised myself I would find it properly translated and watch again. I discovered another translated version on "V" but the translators were too slow and this is a binge-watch drama if you truly want to enjoy the essence of the story. Finally found the completed drama on "AP" and started rewatching again with every intent to finish (May 2020) I can only assume the low ratings were because of the failure to properly sub on a timely and accurate basis. Watching becomes boring and other dramas take the place and viewers time so fast-forwarding and skimming become the usual practice.

However, this is a fine wine drama. You have to watch it thoroughly to continue to enjoy the time and money that the production crew put into this drama. The costumes, filming locations, battles are all A+ rated and not skimpy computer-generated images. They look real and the filming of action scenes is truly incredible.

The Actors and Actresses - A+. You become invested in all the characters and gosh I cried so many times and was angry or personally frustrated more times watching. You feel the quality and sincerity of the actors -no slackers in this drama.

This is a good watch and deserves higher ratings. One spoiler: the ending isn't satisfying but acceptable because it still leaves a chapter in Sun Ruowei (now the retired Empress Dowager's) life explained. If you haven't watched it and want to watch a historical drama - this is definitely a better drama to watch and worth every minute (now that the subbing has been completed).

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Completed
whiteybao
6 people found this review helpful
Nov 21, 2020
64 of 64 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.5

Excellent Historical Drama

I really like this show. I’m surprised that it’s not a hit and it’s received quite some bad reviews. I find that the production is of really high quality from the actors to the costumes and war scenes.

It starts off light and funny with serious undertones. The characters are all unpredictable so I don’t know what to expect next (which gives me some suspense).

Towards the middle, things get serious. I thought these fights were really good even though they were typically between the empress/concubine, prince/uncles. The backstabs, the wars, the tactics.

This seriousness continued right up to the end with even the next generation. All in all there are 4 generations of rulers in this series.

In the first arc, you see Tang Wei and the male lead’s journey up until they got married. This arc was funny, sweet and innocent. Then the 2nd arc goes into the male lead’s battle for the throne with his uncles. 3rd arc is his son’s reign, fall and reign again. I personally enjoyed the 1st and 3rd arcs the most and the 2nd arc is really good too (Zhu Yawen is an excellent actor). The 3rd arc had a lot of tough lessons to learn from and Lay portrayed his character as the fallen emperor really well. The emotions towards the last few episodes got me bawling (in a good way).

Favourite characters ? Yu Qian and Xu Bin!

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Dropped 62/64
TakCWAL
9 people found this review helpful
Jan 29, 2020
62 of 64 episodes seen
Dropped 4
Overall 3.0
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 2.0
On the official weibo site of this drama, the production crew boasted that this series will model after the official historical account to the era. Except there was nothing of the sort. White became black and black became white. Good guys turned bad, and bad guys turned heroic. Dialogues were oft-times anachronistic, and special effects were substandard at best. I've seen better CG from amaetur works than what was in this show. While the show was impressive early on, it gradually revealed to be an expensive disrespect to the Ming Dynasty.

The personal costumes also left much to be desired. While not as inadequate as prior incarnations from shows depicting the same era, it was certainly nowhere near as painstakingly researched as the Longest Day in Chang'An. Not to mention the rubber armor worn by Ming and Nomadic warriors. Soldiers didn't look like soldiers, and amor didn't look like armor. Nomadic characters had it the worst, as their costumes were all over the place, including some that obviously looked like fantasy cosplay pieces purchased on a budget. Additionally, Nomadic characters behaved in a way that Chinese people thought they behaved, but not how they might have actually behaved.

Then came the war scenes, which were absolutely atrocious. Some scenes & dialogues were blatant ripoffs from existing movies, such as Lord of the Rings and Gladiator. This, coupled with bad costumes, made the war scenes prime candidate for the fast-forward button. Also, why the hell were the 'foreign' mercenaries all speaking English?

The only merit of this series came from the acting prowess of Wang Xueqi, who convincingly interpreted the third Ming Emperor, Zhu Di. In addition, the Emperor's interactions with his sons & grandson were the highlight of the show. Unfortunately, once he left the scene, the show dimmed significantly.

Overall, a terrible show with too many inprobilities that cannot be redeemed, with mediocre acting amidst some of the worst dialogues I can remember. Not something I'd recommend.

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Completed
OSOUVERAINE
2 people found this review helpful
Jul 13, 2020
64 of 64 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 7.5

Ming dynasty or the story of mad emperors...

With this historical drama we don't know exactly when the storyline sticks to real facts and when it doesn't. We get poor psychological developments and emperors are finally shown in their ordinary madness or worst scheming sides.
Costumes are great, sceneries too. Epic war actions are quite very well depicted and give this drama real great moments. There are also poetic and beautiful scenes.
But finally my feeeling is that this drama could have been so much better ! The first part has funny moments but maybe because of my cultural gap I didn't understand the interest in bringing no relevant comedy scenes to this drama. Those scenes were rather boring and slowed the story progression . The second part of the drama is complety the opposite, quite serious and tragical.
The soundtrack is really really good and brings intensity to this drama.

Lead actors are terrific. Zhu Ya Wen (Zhu Zhan Ji) is amazing. I didn't know this actor before and he really deserves a best actor award ! I love the way he plays and give strenghth to his character : dumb, submissive and
caring as the imperial's grandson, smart, assertive and brave as a royal investigator and finally fearless as a warrior and rather mad as an Emperor. What an interesting character he is ! One can only regret not seeing him in more love scenes with Sun Ruowei. With such a talented actor it's a real pity not having given him more sensivitive and emotial love lines.
I also loved Rebecca Tang, she is so charismatic but her character (Sun Ruowei) is just unrealistic. I really didn't understand her psychology. As Empress Dowager she is just amazing with a perfect acting. Sun Ruowei is this drama's main character but she is too much idealized as a female strong historical persona. Compred to her, Ming's Emperors seem all to be mad, unhappy and finally rather ill fated.

Overall, this drama has very good moments. It's worth to be watched by all historical drama lovers.


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Completed
Kean Aw
2 people found this review helpful
Feb 23, 2020
64 of 64 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers
Many of the historical facts were incorrect. Firstly, Hongxi's empress (Grand Empress Dowager) died in 1442 and that was before Zhengtong emperor went to war with the Mongols and got captured in 1449. Jintai emperor was not the son of Empress Hu. In fact Empress Hu died in 1443 and that was before Zhengtong emperor went to fight the Mongols in 1449. In fact Empress Dowager Sun did not have much influence over Zhengtong emperor. It was Grand Empress Dowager that was the regent when he was 7 years when he was enthroned.
The director doesn't seems to understand war tactics used. The use of cavalry and infantry were incorrect. Typical Chinese war movies that made the mistakes of soldiers fighting each other with kungfu scences. The real fact was that they fight in formations supported with artilleries and archers.
A complete friction left with only the actual character names the major event dates that are correct. What a waste with such a distortion.

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Completed
Sunbath12
1 people found this review helpful
Aug 29, 2023
64 of 64 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers
If I were more of a stickler for historical facts in my dramas, I probably would have rated this much lower as this drama takes quite a bit of artistic license with historical figures of the Ming dynasty. As a drama of itself, I found it quite entertaining and moving in parts with a terrific, experienced cast and overall great production values.

The first 2/3 of this drama is pretty near perfect for me - the story and character arcs make sense. The last 1/3 (after Zhu Zhanji dies) is a bit of a mess - I've nearly blocked out all of it in rating this drama. The ending nearly obliterates the journey Zhu Zhanji and Sun Ruowei take together, and the head-scratching ending with the background music out of nowhere just seems like a weird fan MV to me.

In my mind, this could have been split into 2 dramas and would have worked better for each story being told (the first part being Ruowei and Zhanji's story and second being Ruowei and her son's story). In any case, if you are a fan of historical dramas, this is worth checking out (at least the first 2/3).

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Completed
YKAyeee
1 people found this review helpful
Mar 8, 2021
64 of 64 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 10
Rewatch Value 5.5
This review may contain spoilers

Not a bad watch

Let me begin by saying this drama was pleasant to look at. The cinematography is rather good and the sets/costumes are lovely.

Some other positives are how the story begins. The first portion of the very lengthy show are extremely interesting. We begin with action (the overthrow situation) and introducing our characters. Everyone introduced has distinguished personalities which makes learning these new faces entertaining. Their acting is pretty darn good too. I love the tease of the two main characters falling in love and all of the turmoil occurring in the background.

Now, that part about everyone being strong personalities and falling in love is also the problem. At some point, I’d say during the wars when the old emperor is ready to die, our main characters have long periods of not being well... themselves? All of the character development and prude personalities go down the drain for our main characters, Zhu Zanji and Rowei. This sucks because the show is about them! Suddenly the confidence and wittiness disappears. Ugh. They get so boring! So unlikable.

Not only that, we’re teased with the possibility of the two main leads falling madly in love , but only to find out Rowei loves someone else— which I must argue a strong love story was not established with this forbidden love she has. It was kinda like.. hey she knew this guy and he likes her. Boom, she’s in love. They could at least make it believable. Romance doesn’t live here guys.

Our main characters not being themselves towards the end of their time together was also strange. The story surrounds the larger than life personality of Zanji. When he passes away, it’s like the focal point, most likable (at least he used to be, he gets weird at the end) person is gone. We’re left with the now quiet Rowei and not one person is likable at all. I MEAN AT ALL. The story should have ended with Zhu Zanjis death. It died after that anyway with frustrating turmoil and pitiful actors playing the next emperors.

It’s worth a watch, but it could have definitely been better with minor changes.

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Completed
Paunitka
0 people found this review helpful
Jun 25, 2023
64 of 64 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

Emotional roller-coster

I watched this show with my hubby. When the character we hated the most was dying, we both cried. Yes, that's what this show did to us. Captivating!
The way it portrays family relationships is moving, but careful, this is not a romance - at least not in the way one might expect it to be at the beginning. If you aren't interested in history and politics, this show might not be that interesting to you, because it shows lots of real events, including political struggle, travel, and war.
Acting is top notch, costumes and interior design is beautiful (I am not a specialist, so I don't know it this is historically accurate), fictional story is smartly intertwined into the texture of real events. If anyone can recommend more series like this to me, I would be grateful.

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Dropped 40/64
Anais
1 people found this review helpful
Oct 18, 2022
40 of 64 episodes seen
Dropped 0
Overall 6.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.5
Rewatch Value 5.5
This review may contain spoilers

Wasted potential.

This is the story of Sun Ruo Wei whose parents are killed on the orders of the Yongle Emperor in 1402, though she escapes death after being secretly adopted by Sun Zhong. Sun Ruo Wei becomes the concubine of crown prince Zhu Zhan Ji later on.

Unfortunately, Zhu Zhan Ji passes away after a decade on the throne, and Sun Ruo Wei is honored as Empress Dowager once her 7-year-old Zhu Qi Zhen ascends the throne.



This series is very long, so my review will be too long and I'll try to be as concise as possible. I also wanted to say I stopped watching it, and usually I don't do reviews on series I stopped but I had to give one.



During the first part (episode 1-20).



We are introduced to the characters. First, we learn the historical circumstances that led the Yongle Emperor to the throne, and the inevitable consequences that a change of power brings - much killing and massacres of members and supporters of the old regime and Emperor.

Sun Ruo Wei's parents, so the father was an official, are killed as expected. Sun Ruo Wei is separated from her younger sister who is saved by the Emperor's grandson and the Crown Prince, later handed over to an official high female who will raise her as her niece in the palace, as a servant.

Sun Ruo Wei is raised by a friend of her parents, who saved her in time during the massacre. She basically becomes a young girl among rebels and orphans, who plots for the death of the Yongle Emperor and the return of his nephew to the throne.

As for Zhu Zhan Ji, he is the son of the Crown Prince, so the highly favored Imperial grandson of the Emperor, I believe their relationship was the highlight of the first two parts of the series. Although we are not introduced to other grandsons, we quickly understand that despite the swarm that exists, only Zhu Zhan Ji is seen as the one who will bring prosperity to the dynasty by his grandfather. This one, who is very suspicious of his sons, and with good reason, chooses not the Crown Prince as heir because he thinks he will make an amazing Emperor, but because Zhu Zhan Ji will be the only heir after him. Although it must be said that the Crown Prince is talented when it comes to the administrative management of the nation, he does not have the stature of an Emperor.



During this first part, we see the relations between the members of the imperial family. The Emperor who despite his paranoia towards his sons, he does not want them to spill the blood of their own family. It's a kind of hate-love relationship, their interactions are sometimes hilarious, and their characters highly dramatic. Like when the Prince of Han argues with the Emperor, then in his anger and refusing to apologize, celebrates his own funeral, going so far as to lie down in a sort of coffin, waiting according to him for the inevitable imperial decree who will announce his death. The emperor, also angry, who asks that his son be locked up alive in the coffin to punish him for a few hours until he decides to apologize.

The relationship between the brothers - the princes, who know each other so well that sometimes in their scenes, despite the dramatic or hypocritical dialogues, each sees clearly into the other's game. They have some funny moments, especially when they have to deal with the Emperor's wrath.

And then as I said, the relationship of the Emperor and Zhu Zhan Ji. We have a lot of tender moments, where we see the Emperor being less serious and teasing than he is with anyone, towards his grandson. Zhu Zhan Ji seems to follow the Emperor everywhere, to be a kind of confidant, he is also his voice and has his confidence. It is no secret in the Imperial Court that he is seen as the ultimate heir, and that the Emperor moves his pawns to facilitate Zhu Zhan Ji's path. This does not prevent the Emperor sometimes from getting angry but here it is more in a certain worry for his grandson and more in order to teach him something. Whereas when he gets angry with his sons, it's because of his paranoia and he tends to give out a lot of punishment. Talking about Zhu Zhan Ji, he seems to admire his grandfather the most, even more than his own father. He is in awe of the character and has a lot of affection for him. He is often nicknamed "little monkey" by his grandfather, he is often mischievous with him, playing jokes on him but he is also a kind of helper, as he follows him everywhere, he is the one who helps to get dressed, to get into bed, to run errands for him. He's kind of the Emperor's handyman, and often it seems officials know that when Zhu Zhan Ji speaks, he's representing the Emperor's voice. This is also why this one gives him at one time the very precious gold totem which represents the voice and the power of the Emperor, giving him the possibility of doing everything and being the most powerful after the Emperor himself.



Their relationship is the highlight. But also, we have some scenes between Zhu Zhan Ji and his parents, especially his father, he supports him a lot, above all, Zhu Zhan Ji is actually the one who fights against his uncles, the princes because they want the Crown Prince position (and this one kind of doesn't). It is therefore Zhu Zhan Ji who often faces his uncles and fights against their schemes. It is I believe the only relations in the imperial family where not once the scenes were positive or funny. Nothing but animosity reigns between Prince Han and Prince Zhao towards Zhu Zhan Ji. Many times they even try to kill their nephew. They actually know that the threat for them to sit on the throne is not the Crown Prince, but their cunning nephew, which is why he is the Emperor's favorite.



The first part really focuses on the characters who meet, Zhu Zhan Ji and Sun Ruo Wei. This part is quite light-hearted despite the sometimes dramatic scenes. We see how Sun Ruo Wei achieves good graces in Zhu Zhan Ji, what becomes of the rebellion and how it is linked to the power struggle in the palace.

Zhu Zhan Ji and Sun Ruo Wei relationship is often one-sided. Although it seems that only Zhu Zhan Ji fell in love with Sun Ruo Wei, that doesn't stop him from sometimes being harsh and manipulative when he needs to. As for Sun Ruo Wei, it's clear that she likes Xu Bin, and no one else, but she still likes Zhu Zhan Ji.



The second part (episode 20-30).



The mood goes down a bit, there are far fewer humorous scenes, but much more serious and dramatic. The sisters reunite, Sun Ruo Wei and Hu Shan Xiang. They both end up marring Zhu Zhan Ji, one as a consort and the other as a concubine. This part focuses much more on the issues of the border war and Zhu Zhan Ji's wedding celebration.

It is here that we have quite a few battle scenes between the Mongols and Uighurs and the Ming Empire. It is especially one of the first heart-breaking moments, because both the Crown Prince and the Emperor become very seriously ill. Zhu Zhan Ji scene with the Emperor in his military tent still brings tears to my eyes it was so terrible for him to hear his grandfather's tragic words.

Zhu Zhan Ji and his family find themselves in an awkward position, as his uncles prowl and patiently wait for the death of either the Emperor or the Crown Prince to try to steal the throne, and slaughter the Crown Prince's family. All this while they are at war and it is very critical for their country, which could sink into the chaos of a war of succession.

Some have criticized Sun Ruo Wei acting is in the first part was passionate then here she became much more passive, almost bland, And I admit that the change is really abrupt, but I also understand why she changes, it's not about achieving her revenge anymore but rather to put first the country and the population so they do not suffer from her actions, which in the end would be selfish to satisfy her revenge.

There's less interaction between the two, especially since he's going to war.

As for her, she stayed with the Crown Prince's family, and helped him manage the country even when he was sick.

During this period, the viewer definitely understands that the two leads will never be a couple, but rather partners who respect each other, and who will need to be united for the country.



The third part (episode 30-40).



It was during this part of the series that I lost interest. Why, and although I love series heavily based on shenanigans, power struggles, strategies, war and very little romance. This show should have enchanted me, but the strategies weren't really there, and if there were any, it was in the space of 5 min, we didn't have time to see the plan being built, unfolding nor appreciate if it works. The female characters have just become secondary characters, Sun Ruo Wei who appears very little, especially after the death of the new Emperor (former Crown Prince).

The character of Zhu Zhan Ji was so promising during the first thirty episodes that I wonder how we ended up with him just with scenes of anger with no thinking and cunning. As for Hu Shan Xiang, she becomes the Empress, and overnight she is pregnant, there is literally no scene between Hu Shan Xiang and Zhu Zhan Ji that shows they spent time together. Nothing. The only tender moment is when he caresses her hands after receiving the news that she is pregnant, but before nothing.



The thing is this part was very focused on the death of the Emperor, the Crown Prince ascending the throne becoming Emperor, then his brothers who scheme to rebel, then his death too, and finally Zhu Zhan Ji who becomes Emperor and defeats his uncles. Ten episodes that feel so empty, honestly, like really me loving shows like this, I'm baffled because I feel like it was really empty.



So, I stopped there, hoping to gain interest back again, watching few series in between but the will never came back.

So I dropped the series. Honestly to me, it feels that the potential was wasted, which is a shame, they could have done better with the script, because it is only about that, the actors were all very good.

A disappointment. I still recommend the series but don't expect highly complex writing of the script nor a satisfying character development.

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Dropped 33/64
thermana
0 people found this review helpful
Jun 6, 2021
33 of 64 episodes seen
Dropped 0
Overall 8.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

Wasted potential

At the beginning the drama seen promising bc the MCs were enemies and the love hate relationship they have was fun and entertaining. Another thing that I like was how the heroes and enemies interactions were portrayed in a fun way instead of using a serios and murderous aura like in most historical drama. But everything changed from episode 20 and up. Suddenly it became a men drama; first they make the FL into a mute and boring character, second they literally made a war that lasted more than 6 episodes and last we barely so the FL, even the supporting cast got more screen time than her

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Ming Dynasty (2019) poster

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