Novoland: Pearl Eclipse (2021)

Where do I begin?

This was one of the Chinese historical dramas that I waited for to air. So, I had high expectations.

THE ACTING
The script is well written. However, due to the directors direction, the female lead actress did not act as good as she could have. The actress did an excellent job in the Legend of Fu Yo and other historical and period dramas, but in this drama, she was lacking, tremendously. Firstly, her character acted immaturely for the first 20 episodes, even in the scenes when she was supposed to be brave.

ROMANCE
Secondly, I did not feel the romance between the female and male lead characters, meaning it wasn't captivating for a big budget drama like this. The romance between the female lead and male lead was stale...maybe dry is a better word for it. Sidenote: The actors and actress who played the king, the male lead (up until episode 20), and the consort acted their butt off (meaning they did an excellent job). Although the king was very cruel, his behavior for an ancient king character is one of the most realistic I've seen in Chinese historical dramas (check the article out on my page for details). I also did not like the romance between the adopted brother of the female lead, and the character from the fabric department. I was bored the whole time watching their love story unfold, and I skipped a lot of their scenes. Again, I think the director didn't do all of the characters justice. This drama should have had more a serious undertone, especially for these types of characters who were strong and skilled warriors. Instead of having the female lead actress and her adopted brother be shy and cutesy about romance, this was an opportunity to have these character develop from being aloof about romance due to childhood trauma, to becoming open to it, gradually (which is what the director did for the male lead).

WHAT I LIKED
I liked the fact that both the king and the male lead are healthy (not anorexic and or bone thin). There are a lot of male actors who act in Chinese historical dramas who are so thin and frail. So much so, you can see their rib cage when they take off their shirts in historical dramas. This trend in China should absolutely come to an end. Just because someone is skinny doesn't mean that they are healthy.

On the brighter side, the political storyline in this drama was great. It is the reason that I didn't give this drama a rating of less than 7.5. Additionally, the reason why I am not going to drop this drama at episode 20 is because I'm invested in the political plot. The actor who played the king by far, was the best actor in this drama. Seriously, pay attention to his mannerisms, his voice fluctuations, his facial expressions, and his body movements. It is not as easy as it appears to act, especially as a king during ancient times. I'm amazed by his acting skills. Kudos to the casting director for casting this actor.

I will edit this review at another time to fix all grammatical errors. I'm typing this review from my cellphone. I'll also let you know what I thought about the end!

FINAL UPDATE:
I decided to drop this drama. Episode 21( or 22?) was horrible and it didn't make any sense.

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Don’t miss this awesome drama!!

Watch every episodes without fast forwarding because you might missed the little details that define this drama. Such a fast past and exciting drama. The actors and actress is top notch and very professional. I think that if they were to cast younger main lead it might not be so good and quality acting. WC so fine in here and YM shine so far. I can’t wait for the rest because every scene is putting on edge. The cinematography is awesome and very pleasing visually. I waiting for YM badas@&& fighting scene in the battle field. She always delivered like Fuyao.

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Even Yang mi can't resque this drama

I wonder why many of reviewers praise this drama.
Partly it is a story of two conceited men ( Emperor and Fang Zhu ) who like each other too much. In their own opinion they are the most important people in the world - all others are pawns to be exploited and sacrificed.
In addition to that they both wallow in self-pity all the time. sarc- What a lovely bromance

When all ready ca. 20+ years old Fang Zhu meets ca. 10 years old girl ( Hai Shi ) and begins to raise her as a foster father. As her "Master" he teaches her HIS OWN RULES - such as for example that she must always obey and do as her Master wants. In practice, Hai Shi is thus being brainwashed throughout her childhood.

Second part of this story is a "romance" between Hai Shi and Fang Zhu. Watching this drama just makes me feel sorry for Hai Shi. I think it's not a romance but abuse of her.

So no matter how much I like her acting, watching this drama is too disgusting

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This drama knows how to break your heart

The story is great, I expected it to be more fantasy but it's more political than fantasy which isn't a problem. The story is great, the characters are great and their relationships are so amazing. Each couple is so good with their own differences, all the relationships develop so well. The only complaint I have is nearing the end, one character goes off somewhere and we don't see much of him, I would've loved it if we saw more of what was happening in the huku tribe with him. The ending is heart wrenching, the tears just kept coming, it's definitely worth the watch.

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Good storyline but missed the mark on casting

Overall the storyline was good, production & costume quality were good. My main issue with the series is the casting. While most actors did ok with their individual parts (except Xu Kai Cheng) the casting and chemistry were seriously lacking. They really missed the mark on the casting with this one. Especially w/ the ML and FL leads.

While ML and FL acting was decent - they didn't quite fit together. They really lacked chemistry and I didn't root for them. Jian Ming had a more youthful look but his character was supposed to be quite older than the Haishi. He was a grown adult when they met and she a child. But when she became an adult he still appeared younger than her. They should've casted an older actor for the ML or a younger actress for the FL.

ML (Willam Chan) as Fang Jian Ming - this is the first time I've seen this actor in a role. He was not able to exude the tough, stoic demeaner that the role entails (such as actors like Wallace Chung in Sword and Brocade or Lin Geng Xin in Princess Agents). But in the last few episodes where he was more carefree & and happy, and then the tragic ending he did really well portraying the exhaustion and utter sadness.

FL (Yang Mi) - she did fine as she typically does. But I couldn't help but feel like she played the exact same character/acting as she did in Legend of Fuyao. Took me a bit to get accustomed to her real voice.

2ML (Xu Kai Cheng) - the Emperor. I had zero empathy for him. He was supposed to portray a tormented, conflicted emperor with morals and compassion, but he just came across as an unhinged sadistic lunatic. He completely overacted. Scenes of his abuse towards Tilan were uncomfortable to watch.

2FL (Tilan) - Started off w/ some edge to her but fizzled out and became a limp doormat. She overplayed the sweet forgiving angelic aspect.

3ML (Zouying) - he did fine, I liked his loyal/playful bond w/ Haishi. But his portrayal of the evil twin brother was overacted and not believable.

3FL (Zheliu) - she did a good job. this is the first role I actually like this actress in. I couldn't stand her in all the other series I've seen in her.

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Good and entertaiining

This is the first series I've seen in the Novoland universe. I usually am not that interested in stories with too much fantasy elements like in the other series, mostly because CGI looks to unbelievable. But it was toned down very, when it came to the element of merfolk and it was simply used to drive the plot forward at certain points.

The acting was great for pretty much every character involved. I was surprised by the acting form the Emperor and, Ti Lin and Zhe Liu. The emperors eunuch was also great for comedic relief here and there.

The music which accompanied the series felt right throughout the series and was timed well.

They didn't go berserk with flashbacks, but they increased it a bit towards the end. Thankfully, it didn't feel too repetetive. I have in recent years become prone to fast forward in series, as soon as it makes me lose interest. But I didn't FF more than tops 15 minutes throughout the series, which says a lot.

The pacing of the story was for the most part good. They could've made a few parts less draggy, but all things considered it wasn't too much. The last 4 episodes, the plot felt a bit rushed. The last episode was great. Its one of the better made endings I've seen in a drama overall.

If you like a show which has a strong female lead in it, give this one a spin. While FL clearly has flaws, it wasn't emphasized too much, making it ridicilous. It felt grounded.

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You will start crying with the first episode but will laugh, too

Not exactly a spoiler, as I’m actually trying my hardest not to, but I think since this is enough of a spoiler to let you know that things might not end exactly how you expect, i marked it as a spoiler. To be honest, I’m writing the review not so that I can tell you about details of the plot or the acting or if I would personally watch it again—but I’m encouraging you from the depth of my being: if you make it to the last episode, do not stop watching until the words “the end” appear on the screen. Watch past the musical montage. I don’t know if it will make it better or worse—I don’t know if it made it better or worse for me even now. But you’ll need it.

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Back to square one: love left, loneliness stayed

Finally finished it after months of putting it on hold in dread of heartbreak and watching again.

Production: this is the best thing here. top notch production. Action scenes are done super well. The sets are grand and costumes and jewellery of everyone, especially tilan's were mesmerising. The music is nice, especially each of the couples have their own song.

Story:  the story is pretty good, just not what i had expected, honestly since i expected lots of fantasy and less on politics. But i wouldn't say that i loved  the  story, mainly because of how the main men here keep making dumb decisions amd learn nothing. Also, When it comes to teacher student thing, that too in fantasy dramas, i can't help but compare it to eternal love and get disappointed. But that's out of context because the genres are different. I have seen from a lot of comments that the novel is rather very dark and tragic but i like how the scriptwriter made it into a political and not so dark story. The main couple had what I'd call an illusory good time with each other. They met, loved, lived together happily very briefly, only to part ways. Honestly i was more invested emotionally in Di xu and tilan's romance, than the main couple, because after the initial torturous and hostile period, they were consistently in a sweet romance until fate took over. The ml actually went too much back and forth, so i could only feel pity for the fl and not be too touched by their story. Zhe liu and zhuoying had a nice fairytale like romance which was pleasant to see, until it wasn't anymore. A major part of the story was political, so there were numerous villains and i liked how the ml planned and schemed against them. Some of them were shown as villains from the start while some were undercover, which i failed to recognize, so it was not that predictable for me. Shit got really tragic and depressing from ep 34 on. And that absolute fucking bitch of a maid that ruined everything for all of them just for her own selfishness was horrible. Later we had blissful episodes 44 to 46, after  which  shitfest of doom began. However the main villain's revelation just fell flat in reason in the final battle, and all what every villain wanted here was power, that really made the villains shallow. I'd rather it ended at ep 46 , would've saved us the tsunami of heartbreaks they purposely inflicted on watchers. Also the last war happened only because they didn't want us to have happy ending. Logically it could've very well been averted by beating the villains at their own game but makers wouldn't do that lest we get a happy ending for all 3 couples.

Characters: firstly my favourite characters were zhuoying and youdu. Youdu was super cute tho he was just a guest role and zhuoying was the best brother ever, i loved his brotherhood with haishi. Others that i liked were chengqian and shaozi, mu deqing. Who even needs a court jester when mu deqing is there? Lol. I didn't like fang zhu too much as a lover, because he was way too dedicated to the emperor to the point where he forgot that he was a human with his own life and hurt everyone around himself to protect him. That was plain frustrating and i understood that he felt guilty for causing the pregnant empress to die but being the baixi for the emperor and then again his son was just too much of noble idiocy. Haishi, as a character was similar to fuyao in legend of fuyao, so i liked her character, the dedication, determination and loyalty she had. The emperor was plain horrible to everyone in the first few episodes and just disgusting. After halfway through the series, seeing his interactions with fang zhu i felt like am i watching a bl? However i couldn't help but sympathize with his pathetic character, he had a really miserable romantic life and also as a king. Tilan was a gentle yet stubborn character, who put up with everything for no real reason at first, then because of love. There were villains  out of desperate love like Ju qiqi, general tang and out of vengeance and greed like su ming, eunuch shi, princess sister of emperor, and others that i won't spoil. The villains here however had nothing to be pitiful, except one, they were just greedy and vain.

Acting: it was my first time watching William chan, so i don't know how he is but i was satisfied with how he portrayed a stony cold character and sometimes how he got affected by haishi getting close to him. However his love for her wasn't expressed that obviously if his actions aren't counted. So i guess he did that purposely or isn't good at facial expressions of being in love, idk. Yang mi, on the contrary had a character similar to that of fuyao so i compared fuyao and haishi a lot, even though the plots were vastly different, and can't help but choose fuyao. Fuyao was even better acted out and portrayed in the romantic scenes, well there were few romantic moments here, so maybe i felt this way but nonetheless it was believable and good. Xu kaicheng surprised me with his acting here , it was very well done. And chen xiaoyun played both the bubbly zizan and introverted tilan very well and her voice was so soothing, idk who dubbed her? The villain's acting actually got on my nerves,  so i guesshe did well. Nothing to say about others.

I do recommend watching it overall. If for nothing else, for the feast to the eye it offers with the grandeur of production. It was interesting and exhilarating in some scenes. But this is too serious for me to rewatch. As a one time watch, it was worth it.

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I HAVE A QUESTION!

Please someone tell me if fang jianming survived in the end or not? I can't sleep!
Although I think the ending was fine but i truly want him survive, also they should have shown fang jianming in the end. It wasn't satisfactory but was fine. Also i think they wanted to blend realism in the fantasy, the idea was good. Overall the acting, storyline was good. I like the chemistry between shifu and student romance that was turning point for me. I want Chinese dramas to show atleast some real kisses and skinship, after 50-60 eps all we get are fake kisses after these good chemistries.

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Well...I am conflicted

I loved this production and the efforts of the team, from the beautiful sets to the breathtaking costumes, special effects, OST, gravity defying martial arts and outstanding performances. As an American watching C-drama's since 2018, I am in awe of the time, labor, and passion for creating such awe inspiring dramas. I have been in love with Yang Mi's style and beauty since first seeing her in TLTWTMPB, renamed Eternal Love in the States. I have seen several of her films and TV dramas and can see what a fabulous actress she is. The thing is that great acting also requires great storytelling. This is where the drama suffers. It took all my energy to keep up with the many twists and turns in the storyline. I loved William Chan's performance as the debonair master of Jifeng Pavilion, never allowing his emotions to be expressed in court or at home among his pupils. Equally entertaining is his adolescent female student Haishi, who is played convincingly by Yang Mi. She has the most emotional growth in this drama from annoying teenager, to a powerfully clever leader. Yet, there is so much going on and so many characters to keep track of that the storyline sometimes gets muddled in the various plots.

As much as I appreciated all the effort that went into creating this epic drama, the writing and the story arc are crucial to the success of a drama, and I think too much happens here that doesn't really need to. The story seemed to be coming to a natural end and yet, in the last episode, the writers contrived and ending that felt orchestrated for the sake of getting the ending they wanted rather than the one that was coming naturally. In doing so, I felt that previous plot lines were negated and rendered contradictory. I would mention examples but don't want to add spoilers, so you would have to watch to understand what I'm talking about.

I have seen over and over in my five years of watching C-dramas that the handsome, younger, emotionally guarded male is the epitome of sexiness, and favored in Chinese dramas. Some are done better than others depending on the acting abilities of the performer, while the leading lady is beautiful, sweet, sexy and less smarter than her leading man. Mmm...kay. Yet, here I am coming back to them over and over. What is it that makes them so appealing? Maybe its the costumes, the music, the gorgeous performers. Who knows? I guess I am hooked, but I am always looking for anything that will take me to the heights that Eternal Love has. This drama, with all its merits, unfortunately falls short.

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Just OK

I think if you watched this prior to Legend of Fu Yao or Eternal Love (Yang Mi's notable roles) then you would probably like it more. However if you watched this after that, then it's not as good. Story, chemistry, all felt less comparable. Sure the production is expensive. Costume and sets quite impressive.

Yang Mi - Fang Hai Shi ( literally she acted the same as her other roles) but with worse dubbed voice. The only part that I did like is that she's honest with her feelings and bold to express it. The role also didn't pull a disappearing kung fu like so many other strong FL roles. She should start to part ways from young roles at this as she looks too mature for the part. Of course she's gorgeous for her age but being type casted for the same role over & over again gets boring. Not to mention 2nd lead ML looked 10 years younger than her.

William Chan - Fang Zhu. He did a good job overall but chemistry wasn't strong w/ Yang Mi.

Emperor & Ti Lan - Talk about toxic relationship at its worst start to finish.

3rd couple Fang Zhuoying & Ju Zheliu, sweet couple but also not much going on there.

Too many episodes revolves around just the developing relationships and not so much on plot development. Often times felt draggy and repetitive. I'd rather see a lot more of plot development but I guess this is geared more towards sappy love story drama lovers.

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