This review may contain spoilers
Don't enjoy 2FL's storyline thus not enjoying the drama (very subjective review)
7.75 rating - rounded up to 8.0 because of Feng Shao FengI started watching “Prince of Lan Ling” at the end of 2022 and it’s the first drama I completed in 2023. At times, it does feel like it took me a year to finish watching this. Watching this drama almost 10 years after it’s aired, I came to the conclusion that there’s one trope I really dislike, and that’s the main reason I did not enjoy this drama as much as I thought.
What I Like:
1. Feng Shao Feng - A younger Feng Shao Feng exudes charisma as the tall, dark and handsome general. He might not fit the historical description of the real Gao Chang Gong, one of the 4 most handsome historical figures, who was described as more feminine and gentle. But putting that aside, I love his portrayal and his acting. His acting moved me, more so than in “The Story of Ming Lan”. Since this is an older drama, I guess China did not use white filters or makeup to make all men look like women.
2. Acting - The acting of the cast is good, including supporting characters. I enjoy all the emotional scenes and cry with them. I hate the villains, especially Zhang Er soooo much, because the actors were so good.
3. Male/Female/Male Love Triangle - I was pleasantly surprised to find out Yu Wen Yong is actually a good and understanding third wheel. I thought most of the romantic angst is because of his doing, since he’s the Emperor and is used to getting his way. Imagine my surprise when he knows when to let go, to love unconditionally and never really forces FL to do anything she doesn’t want to. No wonder some watchers are rooting for him instead of Gao Chang Gong. I didn’t really have second lead syndrome since I find GCG a lot more handsome and dashing. LOL
4. Grandmothers - Love both grandmothers for different reasons. Blind grandma is strict but kind and caring. Empress Dowager grandma is hilarious and lights up the show. Not enough grandma scenes in this drama.
5. Production - Looking via my 2023 eyes, I can tell money was spent on set designs, props and even battle scenes. Palaces in both kingdoms though look similar at first sight, actually have their own unique styles. Empresses wear elaborate jewelries and give off very different vibes, one’s elegant and the other’s imposing and commanding. I love all the costumes, especially for the men. Gao Chang Gong (ML) and the 5th Prince have the most unique and colorful outfits. Not a big fan of Yu Weng Yong (2ML)’s hairstyle and his royal robes look a little too big on him, not as fitting as what the two princes wear. Yang Xue Wu (FL) has a more simpler look with fewer accessories, and she fits her well.
What I Don’t Like or have Mixed Feelings:
1. Evil/Jealous 2FL - This is a personal hatred. After watching so many xianxia dramas, I’ve come to the realization that I really dislike second female leads who won’t take no for an answer, and are clingy, jealous and obsessive. I empathize with her sufferings but still. I could not stand misunderstandings between the leads especially if they are caused by evil 2FLs. Unfortunately, this whole drama is about this evil woman, and I couldn’t help but have to watch some episodes at 1.25x speed because of her. After watching newer dramas such as “Love Like the Galaxy” where the angst of the main romance is caused by understanding each other too well, watching this show’s misunderstandings hurt my soul.
2. Female/Male/Female Love Triangle - Continuing with my previous point, I do not like this love triangle between Yang Xue Wu/Gao Chang Gong/Zhang Er. I am mainly more disappointed in the two main characters where they would fall for Zhang Er’s tricks over and over again. They’re supposed to be smart people, yet Yang Xue Wu couldn’t stop herself from believing in those lies, when she KNEW Zhang Er was evil. My blood boils!
3. Dubbing - Ariel Lin is the only one who used her own voice in this drama. I applaud her for doing so, and it did make a difference. Unfortunately, I was expecting a different voice from Feng Shao Feng. His voice actor doesn’t seem to match him. I also dislike the voices of Emperor Gao Zhan and Zu Ting. They sound weird and a little cartoonish.
4. Main Romance - The main romance should have been good and right up my alley. They have sweet and fluffy scenes, romantic and emotional scenes. I would have loved a few more good kisses. I think the evil 2FL just took too much enjoyment out of the main romance for me to appreciate what I usually like. I enjoy the earlier episodes when they just met each other and started to fall in love. Once they became a couple, there’s something missing that I couldn’t pinpoint. I would not say the chemistry is bad. I love some of the scenes, especially the 2nd wedding and the portraits. I love that they mostly are very honest when communicating their feelings to each other. But this star-crossed lovers plot should move me more.
Other Random Observations:
1. The writers must know people hate the second female very much and try to compensate by showing a quite long scene of her getting sexually assaulted (no explicit skin-showing scenes).
2. The writers also don’t hesitate in burning a small child alive or throwing a baby on the floor to kill it.
3. Blind loyalty is the death of the male lead. He could have a good life with his wife but no, he chose to be a martyr. Reminds me of Zhou Sheng Chen in “One and Only”.
4. So much time was spent on FL helping out the disabled soldiers in the village. Well, it’s somewhat anticlimactic when ML just heard of it but never fully appreciated the effort. It’s just another plot device of the evil 2FL.
Completed: 1/1/2023 - First review of 2023 and I couldn’t keep it short and succinct.
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Here is why I could not give this potentially wonderful drama a 10:
(1) I enjoy historical fiction if they do not alter too much from history, and unfortunately this drama did just that.
(2) I did not enjoy watching them argue. The storyline changed their strong and intelligent personalities into messy, immature teens.
Overall I was not attached to this movie or the main characters. I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending, but this is worth watching if you enjoy palace and relationship drama.
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Casting wise, I absolutely loved everyone. You know that you have great writing and actors when you sincerely hate someone, because that is so much harder to do than to love a character. No one was annoying, as in many other dramas I've seen, and they all seemed to work very hard to fit the personalities of their character.
Music is beautiful. I absolutely love the different songs in the OST.
I've actually already rewatched it in the past year and a half, so that has to count for something.
Definitely a must see. Ariel Lin and William Feng are really amazing together and its great to see where the characters end up.
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There’s a lot to be said about this drama.
The captivating story line, the well written characters, the action, lingering music- whatever you name to make a great drama- it’s all here.
I will say though, what makes this drama so pulling has to be the cast. They live their roles. This is one drama where the negative and supporting roles leave an impact equal to and at times, more so than the lead roles.
William Feng does an awesome job as Prince of Lan Ling or Lan Ling Wang or Fourth Prince. He exudes the grace and majestic composure of his character, and at the same time, his interactions with Xue Wu are charming and very cute.
Ariel Lin, we know, is great. She carries the role of The Divine Sorceress Xue Wu with playfulness, grace and a daring strength.
Daniel Chan as Yu Wen Yong, the King of Zhou state is absolutely endearing. His is the most interesting track, I dare say, with the way he is introduced, to his journey throughout the series. His love for Xue Wu which begins as something he doesn't understand and grows into an unconditional bond, is beautiful.
There would be no review without talking about the negative characters in this drama:
Zheng Er takes the cake for her acting! Her portrayal of the crazed evil queen is phenomenal. She made my blood pressure go up so many times, I can vouch she’s good.
As is the King, Gao Wei. He plays the role of the immature and struggling King really well.
There are many other memorable characters- Xiao Dong and Zu Ting, to name two.
The music is very soulful. There is one song that plays for Xue We and Lan Ling Wang, ‘Heart of Palms’ which I really liked.
To sum up:
This drama is like one of those books that you can’t put down. Hard to stop watching!
One quirky thing I loved in this drama, which must be mentioned- William Feng’s hair! It’s gorgeous…to swoon over!
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I wish that she got to develop her granma skills a bit more, actually I wish the granma stepped up she could of prevented a lot of stuff from happening. Xue wu she was kind and helped a lot of people if only she had helped herself a bit more and went with her instincts instead of giving the benefit of the doubt to people who don't deserve it she was too good a really well played main character. The only thing I can say is I wish some episodes expanded her potential of the divine sorceress it would of created a bit more fantasy for my liking as in the earlier on episodes she was so intelligent and witty which made it fun to watch she was a step ahead.
The story was so beautiful to watch and grow with I like how many things start to make sense even though it's not very logical at times. anyway I got to say I loved it all the good and bad and I could talk about the ending but wouldn't want to give away this story all I can say it was emotionally heart wrenching and a powerful performance there are just so many paths that they could of played out and scenarios which played in my mind, yes a more happier one.
I enjoyed the characters each to there own. The king of Zhou has got to be one my favourites as well as Xiao dong there characters were so selfless and sacrificed a lot. My favourite was Xiao dong because he was just funny and brilliant to watch as well as fifth prince they made it more light hearted at times which you needed after seeing zheng er appear and the weirdo was just so moving I think I enjoyed watching him more than anyone else sometimes as he was a very deep character that's when he really became himself when he was around xue wu they had a really special relationship I could see that she wish she could of pursued it further but wasn't in her heart everything fell into place for every character by the end!
The cast couldn't of done a better a job, the main characters Gao chang gong and Xue wu were so romantic to watch and it didn't feel too forced or mushy, I did hope for fourth prince to realize sooner things going on around him which made me really frustrated with his character although the relationship with him and Xue wu was just very sincere and beautiful I wish also that they were selfish like there babysitter said because they deserved it! Okay Zheng er and Gao wei god they made my blood boil so they must of acted their socks off, Zheng er was so devious I only wish that Xue wu leanred her lesson already and figured out how she really was and out witted her as in they knew she was pulling a lot of the strings behind the scenes. Everyone were so good in their roles. Such an awesome cast.
Music was very touching and played well with the scenes, the ost is just so easy to listen to and remind me of this great love story when being played. At the start I kept skipping into the content past the opening scene as I was zooming past the first 15 episodes but later as it was drawing to a close watched the opening and ending music as I knew it was going to end and just listening to the music and the scenes were really moving for me.
As in the rewatch value we will see as I plan to watch with my mum again. I would like to watch again anyway so this gives me a extra reason lol.
I have definitely fallen in love with this show and hope I find something just as good as this is now one of my favourite shows. Watching this was very moving on every level and was such a great journey with the main characters, the show delivered. I am glad I decided to watch Prince of Lan Ling.
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It is rare to find a drama that is so funny it will make you roll on the floor in laughter, and at the same time have such tragedy that you are bawling (Perfect Couple is an excellent example if you want a comparison of how this formula fails). The ending blew my mind. I was stunned, and did not expect it. Mind.Blown. I frantically recounted to my bf what happened and the conversation ended with him asking 'Are you going to be okay?' I think it caught me off guard because in spite of the drama it could be so light so I just didn't see it coming.
So much tragedy that could have been avoided were it not for obsession...and so many unpredictable moments that had me staring at the television and yelling 'what?' and 'don't do that girl!'
This show has some of the most memorable on screen kisses, and the opening song and ending song mark the first time I added a foreign song to my ipod list. And the love triangle was not annoying because the third guy loves the girl enough to respect her wishes. He was very interesting as well.
I am extremely excited about the sequel, and cannot wait for it to come out.
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Yeah, it has a lot of episodes but trust me, it's so worth watching because of the enthralling story, amazing actors, fantastic music, and the beautiful romance between Lan Ling Wang and Yang Xue Wu.
This drama is unique to me b/c its the first drama where I felt so overly emotionally invested in it when watching it. I pretty much experienced all emotions a person could feel. I cried, I laughed, I cried tears of anger, I cried tears of joy, I even laughed and cried at the same time, I yelled from anger and from happiness, I was in awe, I was in shock, I even cried so much at times where I cried for several eps in a row, I had emotional breakdowns...etc. Yeah, truly an intriguing experience. Even though watching this was painful at times, it was worth it. It was a new experience for me. I never felt so much emotions like that before while watching a drama until I watched this drama. It's amazing how a single drama can make me feel like that. I also found the relationship between the main characters in this drama really unique than in most other dramas,
This drama also made me fall in love with William Feng. I immediately started watching other dramas he was in after this drama. He is a truly amazing actor.
Overall, this drama was simply a 10/10 for me. I highly recommend that you PLEASE watch this drama. I know we all have difference preferences, but I truly think this drama is so worth watching.
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The story itself isn't bad. The story actually had a great potential, but...
1- Everything was so predictable. I felt like I could predict what the main female character was going to do two episodes before. Hence, I kind of got bored quickly. The episodes are insipid, there's nothing interesting happening.
2- I was disapointed by Lan Ling Wang as well. I thought he was an intelligent man, but from episode 20 to 27, he behaved to stupidily, like what the heck, is he dumb !? And of course Xue Wu forgave him right away even if he did not deserve her forgivness.
3- The main villain of the story, Crown Prince is...... I don't even know how to describe him. He is just not charismatic. I know he is supposed to be the bad AND stupid guy but I really found him useless. Bad characters are supposed to be sadistic or weak and manipulated by some even worse characters. But Crown Prince was none of those.
The ONLY good point of this drama was YUWEN YONG, the emperor. I found him awesome. So strong, but so weak. So cold but so soft. He is not not nice since he is the emperor and has to have his hands dirty but he has a heart. He was so fascinating that he should have been the main male character, instead of Lan Ling.
I stopped watching at episode 30 and I don't know if I'll keep watching this drama. But If I really do, it would be 100% only for Yuwen Yong.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is one of a kind drama. I love how in this show, the protagonist doesn't always win. They had a really good cast and really nice music. Really a tragic drama.Honestly, Zheng Er is a really nice person, but love is what changed her. Zheng Er abuses her power. Because she is queen, and Gao Wei pampers her too much, he's willingly to do anything for her. If Zheng Er wasn't queen, she wouldn't have been able to do any of that. Whereas for Yuwen Yong, I feel so bad for him. He doesn't deserve the ending he got. He gave so much love for Yang Xuewu and he just ended up dying for her.
As the saying goes, Gao Wei is a fool for love, and Zheng Er is also a fool for love, only a fool and a fool are matched.
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This drama started out strong and fortunately, finished on a strong note too. The plot was tight, well-written and followed closely real Chinese history.
Ep 1-20 was the highlight for me. These episodes kept me on my toes and I sacrificed my sleep to watch 'just one more' episode each night. And yes, these episodes were what pulled me into the series.
However, from ep 20 onwards, things started to take a sudden turn at the appearance of an antagonist but what made me annoyed or even infuriated was that the main characters' personalities were not like before (strong and smart) and I started to feel that they became dense, Lan ling Wang especially.
Nevertheless, that too, was soon over and things became more politically complex from that point on.
I have to admit, the beginning of the series was a lot better than the middle (which caused it to lose its steam) and the end but I sat through all these 46 episodes for Feng shao feng and Ariel lin which was, in my opinion, worth it. Since it was a Taiwan-Chinese production, Ariel lin was a bit awkward with her Chinese accent and could sound somewhat strange but the acting for both the main characters was the key point for me to finish this series.
The love triangle between the 2 male leads and Xue wu was great. Both deserve her and love her dearly but I can't help but feel sad for the second male lead, Yuwen yong, because time after again, it was him who saved her without caring about his status or even his life. Second male lead syndrome is strong in here.
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First of all, this series is mainly focused on
scheming, scheming and scheming. The story overall is not bad but some scenes didn’t make sense. I totally can’t stand the fact that the prince tried to place people over his love and always trying to believe the fatuous king.
I always feel like some scenes are deliberately
making us to be angry and frustrated.
In spite of these plot holes, both Ariel Lin and Feng Xiao Feng had great chemistry. Both of them are outstanding, and eye-catching .
Was hoping for a Happy ending but instead left unsatisfied with a tragic one.
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