The Legend of Xiao Chuo (2020)

So so

So much but so little happened. The pacing was great. The cinematography was top notch. The acting was pretty good. The series length was decent considering the content. They really did well casting a strong female lead and it was refreshing to watch someone that wasn’t easily pushed over and was very smart. Now to the meat of it.

What I enjoyed about this series was that we had pretty consistent characters. I for one personally dislike characters that go back-and-forth. Most of the cast were perfect for their roles. The characters were pretty consistent with their stances on whatever it is they felt was right. For the most part I enjoy that the sisters at least attempt to stay loyal to each other. And I say attempt very cautiously. The series was upbeat and the fight scenes were great. The perfect part and it’s for me was that they broke from the norm and integrated the idea/concept of women remarrying. I absolutely love the support that the Sangay when the topic was introduced.

Well I disliked about this series was that it seem to lack intimacy. Although you could feel the chemistry between our two main leads it just seem to be somewhat flatlined or simply just not included. So if you’re looking for romance, please stop. You will get a genuine love but nothing more. Also it seem to omit the development of many other relationships. In truth it may the FL appear to be easily swayed after she enters the palace.

I read it this is it another 10 because it was fairly decent but they were many things that I didn’t like. First I feel that it really lacked some of the emotional components. It was also flooded with politics. I feel that it was not even be balanced. And lastly there was really no character development. Everyone stayed the same. I’m not saying that their characters are bad but they started with one mindset and series ended with these individuals having the same mindset. Sadly looking at some of the comments only validated my point. So in truth we end the series with the only innocent person being looked at in a negative light. That is evidence of zero growth.

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Sisterhood and brotherhood vs family struggles for power and/or idealism

I've been really interested in the whole story eventhough many scenes were really heartbreaking.
The storyline is easy to follow with a good pace and interesting plots. Some scenes are everything but soft and others are rather unexpected. We have some nice and poetic moments as well.
It's all about sisterhood, brotherhood and betrayals. It is although about power and plots to get the THRONE. At first, we have a mad emperor who kills whoever he wants, drunk most of the time, of course he will be replaced by a very good one who wants to instaure the Han system but is in bad health so he will be assited by his Queen .... It's quite interesting to see how a female will impose herself and become the Regent all mighty ! Quite rare in c-drama. We have in this drama 2 strong female leads, quite different in behaving and values.
Love is very present too. Unfortunately, to me, couples don't really match (maybe because of the age difference : female leads are mostly older than male leads... something seems wrong with the chimistry ....)
The acting is really good that's the reason why you are stuck to this drama. Special attention to Peter Sheng for his character (horse breeder).... quite free and wild and unfortunate (from ep. 45).
This drama is certainly not a must watch one but it' s quite interesting for its surprising or heartbeaking scenes. I'd also like to point out how elegant and beatiful the Queen is with very nice outfits. The production did a very good job with costumes, sceneries and scripts.

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wasted too much potential

Story/Production:
The drama has many interesting characters. I think the reason why you most time felt the story being realistic is due the fact, that the persons really existed in history. The plots are entertaining and could keep you til the end , but it could have much better with such historical personalities as model.

Characters/Actors:
Besides of the 2nd sister and her husband (both acting were kinda too exaggerated), all actors were actually quite solid with their performances.
Out of the three sisters. They tried to make a strong female lead, who felt a lil bit flat. Due the story telling couldn't grow and build a connection with the characters growth at all. If I would have to choose out of the three sisters, the oldest sisters has more depth and the best actress.

The main lead fits very well as well.

Overall:
It was a drama, which had a lot of potential story wise, but got wasted despite having the budget. At the end it's an average drama in the higher budget segment.

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I love how the storyline began, but after the story started its twist and turns, I skipped over episodes and went to the last episode. In my mind, I knew what was taking place so it is not like I skipped then ran to the ending. I loved the main characters and they would've held my focus but it is not their fault. This drama was not for me. There was a lot of action but the romance severed which I didn't like is why I gave it a 7. The costumes were beautiful, and the set was great. It is hard for me to know that in the dynasty days that women were forced to marry someone that didn't love just for the title of Empress. I have seen this play out during the Renaissance period which is a small part of my DNA Hx.

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Recap

Putting this review from 3 years ago here so that it was in my review tab and I remembered why I DNF-ed this

Review up till Ep40:

Honestly, this drama really is trying my patience. Haha. There are a few instances where i almost dnf-ed it but for the sake of i’ve already spent so much time on it, i strive on. Lol. I know it’s stupid, but i am just that kind of person.

Trying to finish it to the end before review, but it seems i cant, i might just burst! So here’s a preliminary review up till ep40

First of all, i’m surprised that this is quite a recommended drama (I think i’ve read quite a few people recommended this drama for strong FL on pages such as The Long Ballad etc, thats why i started this in the first place). The plot is all over the place, not convincing, and sometimes even appeared stupid-ish. Not sure what are the writers trying to achieve.

Glaring issues/my issues with this drama:
-not sure if it’s just me, but i just cant feel the chemistry between han derang and xiao yanyan, so the first 20episodes are quite a drag for me. I mean, if they still cannot convince me of their love in 20episodes, there must be something wrong somewhere right? I mean, come on, i felt more chemistry between mingyi and xiao yanyan in those 20+ eps, rather than HDR and XYY ?
-i felt the story regain back my interest after xyy becomes the queen. More things to look forward to
-i have issues with HDR’s character. I mean, come on, you preach all over the place regarding trying to replace the system bla3, and your girl becomes someone else’s queen? Bamm no more ambition, suddenly your life agenda is now something not worth pursuing anymore? I am much disappointed in the character.
-the king can just be honest to HDR in the first place, rather than go behind hdr, grab his girl, and trying to explain after everything’s already out of the bag and people already feel that you stabbed them in the back? I mean, is that stupid or what??
-and wuguli and xiyin are 2 basically most annoying characters in this series (and basically why i need to write here at this 40ep mark). Time and time again, that stupid xiyin makes the same mistakes and time and time again he was let off. Someone needs to off that stupid boy like Taiping Wang soon or my blood pressure is going thru the roof! Now even liulishou is becoming stupid like him and his mom. Truly, the stupidity must be inherited somehow ??. And dont mention wuguli. How much more stupid can this girl get my god can someone help me from torturing myself like thisssssssss arghhhhh

Ahh forgot another issue. Lol.

I think the writer forgot to write something in between, or maybe it is just the case of poor editing (i hope soooo), but the transition between yanyan stubbornly trying to break off with the emperor after her marriage, and her acceptance towards being mingyi’s wife through and through is just mind-blowingly fast it makes my head spin. What, just one time of watching mingyi being bullied by his so called officers, and then you cant wait to forgive all of his past transgression and jump into his bed? So much for trying to convince us of your leads’ one true love (hdr-xyy) in those earlier episodes ?

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It's...….Okay.

STORY:
So far I like this drama. I've cried. I've ranted. I even stopped watching it for a day because I had conflicting emotions. However, I always find myself saying "this whole thing could have been avoided." The plot has a few twists and turns but in the end "this whole thing could've been avoided." I think if the plot had a no other option scenario then it would've been a tad bit more interesting and maybe I would've ranted more. I will say that I didn't get attached to all of the characters. The supporting cast didn't really "support" very well.

ACTING:
LOVE the acting. Sometimes when you see an actor in a drama they're good but when you see them in another drama they pretty much play the same character and it turns out bad. This was not the case! Everyone probably knows Shawn Dou from Princess Agents but when you watch this drama you don't see that character. When he plays Han De Rang it feels completely different and refreshing. The same thing goes for Tiffany Tang. Honestly, I would love to see them in more dramas together. They have great chemistry.

MUSIC:
Terrible next!

Overall it's okay thus far. I doubt I'd ever watch it again though.

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What could be and what wasn't— a rant

This is a proper quality production. The prairies are a beautiful place and the drama manages to capture the wild yet freeing beauty of it perfectly. Be it horse riding beneath the blue sky on the vast green plains or colorful costumes to show the nature of the Liao people in contrast to the more subdued Northern Song Dynasty, this drama has it all. The cast has great acting, especially the older generation. Everything is enjoyable.

However, I really really hated the female lead's character through and through. Tiffany Tang is not a bad actress but she is just annoying in this drama and I think it's because of the character.

The fl is supposed to be Empress Xiao Yanyan, an actual historical figure that managed to bring mighty generals from the many time more powerful Song Dynasty to their knees. But this fl starts as the most annoying, bratty, Marry Sue character ever. But that is the least worst part of the drama beleive it or not. As the drama progresses her character goes from Annoying to just downright unlikable or even hateful. Sometimes I find myself supporting the villains over her. She's the worst FL I've ever seen.

Midway through the drama she goes off to marry the Emperor despite promising her love to the ml. Don't even think she was forced to do so. This mf just wanted power. Okay we can forgive her for that. She chose power over love good for her. But what does she do after getting the power? She forced the ML to be her right hand man. Gets jealous when the ML finally decided to move on. She has a freaking grown up child already mind you with someone else yet had the audacity to go scare the fiance of ml so much so she died. This is horrible, this fl is not at all a good person which would be okay if the drama didn't try to portray her as the epitome of good. Disgusting character. I'd give this drama a 0/10 if it was only her. I wish she died a horrible death at the end instead of getting the poor ml.

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Very Bingeworthy drama when dubbed in Cantonese

So I tend to use a classic piece of English literature when writing my review of Mainland Chinese Dramas. The hard part is figuring out which story I should use to describe this TV drama... I know, Romeo and Juliet because it is also about 2 star-crossed lovers; they should end up together but they don't get the "happily ever after" ending they deserve due to a predicament outside of their control. I’ll tell you all about it, in as few words as I can, if you read on! :)

Chinese Juliet is a Khitan noblewoman living in the 11th century I believe. She can ride on horseback and beat up suitors in a fight. Think of the “Courtship of Atalanta” – Juliet is like Atalanta in this drama. The biggest difference is to win her hand in marriage, a suitor must beat her in a fight, as opposed to a race like in the Greek myth.

Enter Chinese Romeo, who is a very skilled Khitan warrior and close friend to the prince. He wins the fight against Juliet, gives her his prized horse and they get along like a house on fire. They have this chemistry which is quite awesome to watch. I was routing for them to be together.

Juliet warns Romeo that he should marry her as soon as possible which Romeo says he will do. But surprise, surprise he delays the wedding; I guess it’s because he’s a very busy guy – he’s got battles to fight, intense training to do and I guess a prince to protect (Romeo seems to be his personal bodyguard). Juliet also seems to keep meeting the prince for Chinese tea. To me, in those days, that’s not just a sign of interest, no, but a clear sign of dating!

Surprise, surprise, when Romeo’s good friend the prince becomes king, the king instantly asks her father for Juliet’s hand in marriage. Unlike the play by Shakespeare, as this drama is only 10 episodes in (it’s a 39 episode TV series), there’s no way the 2 star-crossed lovers will commit suicide and put an end to their screen time.

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Kaptan

I like his story. He has a very good and very large cast. I like the leading actors very much, I watched many of their series. In this drama alone, I saw Shawn Dou very weak. This series does not have the vitality of its previous series. I was sorry for him. I hope he is not sick. It is not good to lose that much. Again, as always, he was smiling, but his weakness was too much for me. Especially in such activated scenes, it has no credibility. You are fighting three or five people. You are eating. It's not believable. Other than that, his game is good. It fits everywhere.
Our actress is like the maestro of this series. Very very good. He is more lively, more genial, more aggressive and playing very well. Like a man in some places. In some places, she makes her femininity talk. It also makes these transitions very well. It is also romantic. The warrior too. Rebellious too. He's also a vixen type who breaks his grip. So versatile.
Our other players are also fine. The production is solid. Unlike many, I liked it.

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First 5 eps feels like 20 eps already! But I'd say The characters and the acting skills is well-balanced and well-done in this drama. Tang Yan and Shawn Duo impressed me this time. Tang Yan is looking elegant, classy and super pretty in here! She exceeds my Princess Wei Young vibes expectation. Can't deny their chemistry! Well, shawn is too sweet to be ignored! Liked him in Princess agents but I loved him here in Legend of Xiao Chuo. Chairmaine is a bombshell! Gosh I loved her here more in this drama, btw 2nd sister is so great in acting! So natural.

I'd never expect their soundtrack is better than I expected. Costumes and Hairstyles like Princess Wei Young were too elegant. The setting is gosh super 3D ?✌ I'd never push myself writing a long review but this drama deserves it. This one is a matured historical drama.

Waiting for next eps!

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I struggled with this one because I really can’t stand the lead female character. I think she’s supposed to seem daring and confident but she’s actually pretty stupid, arrogant, and smug. When she charges straight towards trouble we’re supposed to swoon (like the male lead) over how straightforward and brave she is but it’s actually more like overconfidence and conceit. She does not stop to think about how much she endangers others and her confidence is sadly misplaced, given how often the male lead needs to rescue her.
p.s. It’s frustrating when a drama ostensibly about a strong woman actually undercuts the strong woman argument by having the male lead save her over and over again. Are we supposed to find that romantic? Adorable? ugh.

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