The Long Ballad (2021)

Great plot!

I only watched this because of Zhao Lusi lol. The story is good but I only cared for the Li Le Yan and Hao Du scenes. ?
Honestly, I skipped majority (knew enough about what was going on) and watched Le Yan and Hao Du. I LOVE them. They were adorable. The other main lead couple is cute as well.
I wish it showed more of Du and LeYan. They are considered main roles too. I figured it'd show more so....BUT their love story and how it happened. She could rely on Du and he never disappoints. Yeah he followed Le Yan cause of her sister etc but I could tell he really liked her. When she slapped him, I'm like oh s***, girllll but then he cried. I cried with him. ?? I knew Du liked her from episode 1. The stank eyes he gives Wei Shu Yu throughout series was funny. Also, am AMAZING ending for them ?
Now Chang Ge and Ashile Sun had a good ending I suppose. I was hoping she would go back to at least visit and all instead of like basically gonna cut everyone out. I get it but she should also think of her sister, Li Le Yan. ☹️
Overall, I enjoyed it and will definitely be watching again. (Mainly for Li Le Yan and Hao Du)

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It's fine but misses on important beats

The Long Ballad is one of those stories where the princess who's only known royalty her whole life gets everything changed. She goes from princess to garrison leader to slave to the leader of a coalition. The story is focused on her journey and her romance with a general from the central plains. It's a fine story. The side characters such as the emperor, the crown princess, Haodu, and Sun's captains are all fine. My main problem is that Changge is too OP in this show. Like she literally gets shot in the chest with an arrow and falls off a cliff but we're supposed to believe she survives. Many other times she finds herself in dire situations and she gets out unscathed, either by herself or by getting saved. It's tiring seeing her get out of situations with no real consequence. What was the worst thing that happened to her after she left the capital? A kid she teamed up with for like 2 episodes died. Even when she becomes enslaved it doesn't really matter because she's protected by Sun. Speaking of Sun, the main romance in this show is not convincing in my opinion. Something about it doesn't work for me. The actors have chemistry, but it seems so rushed. They barely get any actual time together. They're always moving from one place to another and we're supposed to believe they develop a romance during that time. Ironically, the side romance between Leyan and Haodu was way more compelling. They get a lot of screen time and we can watch their relationship grow. When Haodu ultimately fights for Leyan's hand in marriage, it feels earned and there was a lot that built up to that moment. One of my favorite moments was when Haodu's adopted father finally made him an official member of the family so that he could marry into the royal bloodline. These are things missing from the main romance. There's just no time when they talk to each other about things that aren't plot related. But it's not all bad though. The plot, although bouncing from place to place too much, is pretty good. Whenever there were action scenes, they were done well. Although I really didn't like it when action scenes would be taken over by artwork and the actors were forced to stand in front of a green screen and shout their lines. I get the intent, but it's not fit for a live-action show. The acting was also really well done by the main actors. I didn't buy the main romance but it wasn't the fault of the actors. They sure did try. One last thing, the music is pretty good aside from one track that is basically completely plagiarized from "Up is Down" by Hans Zimmer. A couple of memorable melodies otherwise. There are still enough positives to make this a fine watch. I doubt I'll ever rewatch the entire series again, but there are definitely scenes that are worth revisiting. Solid drama.

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Best love story

OK I have to admit this is One amazing story. The characters, the story line, the costume, the plot, And the music. I don’t know how to say it, but it is so moving that my heart pounds every time I watch the next episode. all the characters in this were amazing. They’re acting were top-notch I have followed them, hoping to see more of them and other series. I fell in love with everyone of them. I absolutely love love this series. The plot in the story was in such amazing details. This is probably one of the top five of my series. I watched that I absolutely will watch over and over again.

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The Long Ballad

''The Long Ballad'' The series tells the life of the Great Tang Princess Chang Ge. This series left an impression on me in many ways. The deep sibling bond between Chang Ge and her cousin LeYan is very impressive. Apart from this, the friendship bonds, strong characters, and family relationships in the series impressed me. The fact that it had different content made me more attached to the series. Although I discovered the series late, I watched and finished all the episodes in a short time.

Cast;
The relationship between Chang Ge and Ashile Sun is clearly evident from their actions and facial expressions, how much they care for each other.
The second couple of our series, LeYan and Hao Du, were my favorite couple of the series. The cowardly, weak princess and the tough, ruthless commander.
The leading men in the series were very handsome. Leo Wu and Liu Yu Ning were both handsome and mature.
Three actors I love very much were acting in a series, and this made the series even more appealing to me.
Leo Wu, Liu Yu Ning, and Zhao Lusi are my favorites. Dilruba's acting was also good but I didn't really feel her role in the series.

Rewatch value - 8.0
The series is very good to watch both in terms of the plot and the talent of the actors. But I don't plan on watching it again. But the series had many good scenes that could be watched again. Especially LeYan and Hao Du's scenes.

Overall: 9.5

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MUST WATCH

War series but not dark at all. the mood is lighten by the main and support roles. All characters was given a room to grow and mature into their characters. All characters that has enough screen time and speaking lines are completely NOT one-dimensional. They have their own history, personality, shortcomings and chance to show their other side. This is the only Chinese series I've watched where mostly all actors has exemplary acting from support roles, to villains, to extras. That's very good casting.
(FL) Li Changge has superhero complex. Story was set in a time where woman has no voice. Male leaders having found out that she's a woman was in awe instead of taking offense. I kept waiting for a rumour that she's a witch because of her prowess, but there's none.
(ML) Ashile Sun is asexual then turned obsessed with the female lead. If you're in for romance, you'll absolutely love that. Modern day weirdo but if you're into that, go for it.
The main female and male lead has no real kissing scene where the other 10 couples have--even birds have their own spotlight! The inadequacy of the intimacy between the FL and ML are very well-compensated by the passionate interaction of the support roles.
Failed to showcase the masculinity and savagery of Mongol tribes. It also fell short if it wants to go political. Nevertheless, all loop holes were connected, all scenes has a clear direction and purpose. Will keep you tuned in because this series is very rich in content.
Good soundtrack and sound effects.

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More action and growing, than romance – loved it for that.

Given the fact, it's a story based on manhua, it has its own rights on how to tell the story. On top of that, compared to the original manhua I really loved the job crew did on giving the characters more depth and explaining the story in more logic way.


Plot: 9
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★★★★★ Main idea:
--> Very strong, intriguing and well thought out.
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★★★☆☆ Logic:
--> Plot sort of makes sense, but especially in the second half there are many unreasonable and annoying twists that disturb the overall impression from the story. It lost the continuity, the original plot was somewhat forgotten and there started to be too many other new short plots and characters, which made me lose my focus and get a bit bored.
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★★★★★ Pace:
--> Although I would personally end the story somewhere halfway through and considered it perfect, the story has so many great characters, one simply seeks to stay with them a little longer, even if the plot loses its pace.
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★★★★★ Impression:
--> Still can't stop thinking about it.
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★★★★★ Skip rate:
--> Didn't skip anything, on the contrary, it made me watch it twice in a row.
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★★★★★ Annoying factors:
--> The annoyance is well balanced with fascination, so it’s fair and square not to reduce any points.


Characters: 9,5
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★★★★★ Lead 1 - Ashile Sun:
--> Ashile Sun is a textbook example of a typical hero – clever, patient, loyal, cunning, great fighter, always survives, always outsmarts the opponent, lenient, strong and protective… He is so annoyingly flawless it would make one sick. And yet, precisely this type of non-existent perfection is why we watch romance dramas.
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★★★☆☆ Lead 2 - Li Changge:
--> I loved this strong-minded, brave and cunning girl in the first half of the series. And yet I got a bit annoyed by her in the second half, hating her constantly running around doing whatever she liked with zero consideration of the aftermath.
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★★★★★ Overacting:
--> Kind of cute or absent.
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★★★★★ Acting:
--> Actors are great, very talented.
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★★★★★ Annoyance level:
--> Not annoyed at all. There are plenty of excellently profiled characters, even some minor side characters have well thought out personalities, which completes the overall atmosphere.


Background: 10
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★★★★★ Soundtrack:
--> Absolutely loved it.
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★★★★★ Visuals (camera, scenery, visual effects, ...):
--> Absolutely loved it. Some scenes are drawn and presented as the actual manhua, and it was splendid. Other than that, there were many impressive fighting scenes, completing the great impression.
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★★★★★ Wardrobe (costumes, hairstyles, makeup, ...):
--> Absolutely loved it.


Rewatch value: 10
I assess this value based on impression, skip rate, annoyance level and overall preference.


Final verdict: 9,5
I actually think the drama is way too much better than the original and I was really impressed. I am willing to forgive all queerness and imperfections, since there were many other factors making up for it.

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The most underated chinese drama

First of all the main character is pretty and she looks good in the drama. The storyline was so good. Dilireba sacrifice herself fitting in custome that suit with the original comics, that get some bad review on weibo. She even cut off some of her eyebrown to pair this character. In this drama, change is bringing live to reallife by her amazing acting skill. Her acting skill are superior which can makes me cry over her.

ROMANCE:
Romances are slow burns but they are built from the first episode and were really wonderful! The main couple spoiled us with beautiful scenes and incredible dialogue throughout the drama.


OST:
It is certainly one of the most beautiful OST there is. All the songs fit wonderfully into the drama

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Not perfect but it was good? Enjoyed the anime that was included here and there

A good historical romance series. Enjoyed it.

******SMALL SPOILER ********

Story: 9 well written with well thought out plots, character building and everything nicely tied up.

Acting : 8.5 All actors did a great job at portraying their respective characters. Leo Wu and Dilraba Dilmurat did well but chemistry between them was just not there making it hard to believe they are in love. Zhao Lusi and Liu Yuning did great and their 'love' was believable, as well as that of Xiyue Cao and Yi Daqian's.

Production and Visual FX : 8.5 enjoyed the anime that was included here and there. Costumes for the Ashile tribe and other tribes were great especially that of Ashile Sun (Leo Wu)

OST: 9 loved all the songs used and sound effects were just right.

Rewatch value : 0 Even though I enjoyed it I don't think I will rewatch it and there's also no single episode that wowed me in such a way that I would pin it to watch again later.

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Over all good. But once again, rushed ending with short lived victories

Life is too short for stressful drama. Why spend all that time watching and be stressed? Don’t our lives already provide enough of that? Over all pretty good. But once again, rushed ending and victory celebration and extended aftermath is not there

Summary of the series:
- Some tear jerking, medium hearted with some action/rom; series had good but not great flow, some stress watching it; enjoy some of the action
- cute romance, a bit of a slow burn
- a bunch of holes in the plot like who would leave a princess unattended with not even one guard? stupid like a few other places
- simpatico characters but smart characters; lead characters endure lots
- like a little bit of mystery mixed in there but reveals towards the end
- ML is brave, one track minded
- FL is smart, but still suffers greatly due to her naive character
- some villains, long struggles, calamity and miscommunications to cause more drama for the series
- main characters was able to figure everything out but comes with big sacrifices
- closure ending, but ends shortly; I wish they extend the ending to show us the joy we been waiting for and that was build up

ok to watch once, good series with some action: recommended to watch for sure but you may need to fast forward some parts

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Good drama about Loyalty and Love

It was really enjoyable because we can see the character development of some characters, and all the actions and strategies to fight wars. I think I couldn't give a good review this time bcs I didn't finish this drama in one go. I paused watching it when there was still 5 eps left ughh bcs life intruded and only got to finish it about half a month later.

ML, Ashile Sun/Falcon or A'Zhun, was a general and leader to the Eagle Division of Asher Tribe. He was ruthless, intelligent and very very good at strategies when it came to war or dire situations.

FL, Li Change or Shisi, was a princess to former CP of Tang Dynasty. Earlier, she was filled with fire to avenge her family and so she was a bit brash wanting to start war against the current Emperor. But she experienced some hard lives and realised that she still a princess that had responsibility to protect the citizens of Tang Dynasty so she underwent character development after all of that. It really help that she met with righteous people (shout out to Gongsun Heng!). Changge also the same with ML in the sense that she was very good at strategies. She was very loyal and affectionate to people who treated her well even though she was not really that friendly. She really was not the typical noble lady.

The romance between both of them was slow burn bcs they started as friends but Ashile Sun liked her first and wld do anything for her. Later, Changge wld do the same for him. But really ML did everything everything for her like I think he loved her more. He was so sweet.

One of the the things I love about this drama, some characters that I liked at the start became the face that I didn't want to see later and while some I hated but really really love him now. Talking about Wei Shuyu and Hao Du.

I am so glad that A'Sun and She'er still hv a good siblings relationship. I love love love that we got other couples stories even tho... only one can get a happy ending :\. Anyway, this was random but I'm glad that Great Khan/Yanli Khan suffered for a long time even though A'Sun was still being a filial son to him. Serve him right!! The way he treated both A'Sun and She'er was not fair to them.

I am contemplating to give it 9 or 8.5 stars rating because the ending wasn't giving that much to me. I need more. I need to see how Changge's daily life with A'Sun, how the tribe fared, how our second couple doing too. Myb I'll change my rating if I get the mood to rewatch it... Who knows.

20230418 2301

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You will have a hard time moving on

I rarely write full on reviews for dramas, but leave a comment. However, this drama just needed one. I spent the past week trying to really comprehend how we came to love TLB.
First off, both main leads are very strong and loyal to their countries. What made it a success I have to say about it, is the fact that throughout the whole drama they both remain that way. They don't compromise or suddenly put their loyalty on the burner side as their relationship grows. I think this was a breath of fresh air cause many times in such enemy-to-lovers tropes, one always starts compromising their family or country all in the name of love.
Secondly, it really does a good job of showing how complex human beings can be. Not every emotion is black and white in real life and TLB characters all exhibited this very beautifully. We are forced to make decisions out of hard predicaments and while in the moment they seem right, in the long run it can be detrimental. But how do you reconcile all those emotions? It's truly phenomenal how characters exhibited such inner struggles.
Thirdly, life is a journey and seasons change include relationships, goals and hopes. Several characters had to learn this one way of the other. As a result, the story never dulls down so much. There is always a relationshio and dynamic being tested, shifting, leaving room for us as watchers to be engaged throughout.
Honestly, this is the tip of the iceberg about the great things in TLB. I have not been able to move on. I keep longing to see a drama that has a wonderful balance between all characters. Will I rewatch this drama? A lot of times. Should you try it if you haven't already? For sure.

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