The Long Ballad (2021)

I have watched a lot of historical dramas but only some have such a satisfying storyline. From episode 1, you know you are in for the best stuff. Li Chang Ge's entry and Ashile Sun's dominating vibe....such amazing actors. Leo's acting in this drama was really really good. He acted out every scene perfectly. His character didn't have major changes personality wise. He liked Li Chang Ge from the very beginning therefore he did everything for. His way was just the way he thought was best. But I have to say that the fact he is willing to change and leave so much behind for her was very touching. He made her his slave but then he became her guard. He went searching for her after episode 26 and then she went to rescue him at the end. The balance in their relationship was very equal. They hurt each other unintentionally but made up for all the bad and even the good. I loved Sun's expressions, his jealousy and specially his soft side for his love.
Li Chang Ge's character had big changes. The free and outgoing princess changed to a revengeful, strong-minded warrior. There were some parts where she made mistakes but in my opinion they were needed for her to realise that revenge won't get her anywhere. Even though the emperor didn't kill her mother, she let go of her revenge without knowing this. Whatever happened because of her at the Ashile camp was a turning point for her. She became so mature since then. Then we ended up with a Chang Ge who only cared about her loved ones and thought things through before taking action.
I always felt bad for Hao Du but honestly they couldn't have given him a better storyline than to let him and Leyan get married.
I'm glad they didn't show the main leads living a life in the countryside like they were going to because both the ML and the FL are good at what they do. They are totally capable to be the leaders they are and still live a peaceful life together.
I can carry on and on forever but I'll stop here.

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Historical Genre at its Finest

The Long Ballad is easily one of the best historical dramas. Loosely based on Li Shimin’s rise to power, the story follows fictional Princess Li Changge’s banishment from the capital. After the Xuanwu Gate incident (real historical event), she loses her parents and regality. To avenge her family and reclaim power, she embarks on an arduous journey. Along the way, she encounters issues that threaten the welfare of her people. She plunges into an endless series of military operations and political maneuvers. In the show, Changge remarks that “by saving others, I am saving myself”.

Li Changge’s development is what makes the show so valuable to watch. Through her decision-making skills and profound leadership, she becomes an extraordinarily endearing main character. Changge is played by Dilraba Dilmurat, who perfectly portrays the exiled princess. Additionally, the male lead Wu Lei makes a lasting impression as ASun, the steadfast Tegin. Other amazing characters include Sher, Hao Du, Li Shimin, Du Ruhui, and Princess Yicheng.

The relationships in this drama is best described as refreshing. Unlike other shows, there are no misunderstandings that drag on forever. Changge and ASun may not be the cliche “romantic” couple, but the mature dynamic matches their personalities. The scenes between parent-child and mentor-mentee are incredibly heartwarming. Some noteworthy examples are Changge and Li Shimin, ASun and Yanli, Sher and Yicheng, Hao Du and Du Ruhui. I even find the relationship between Changge and Yicheng to be very interesting as the two characters mirror one another.

While I have heavily enjoyed watching The Long Ballad, there are some flaws. I am not a fan of Mimi Guli and wish that her character could have less screentime. The manga drawings are okay but a bit comical at times. I appreciate the mature relationship between Changge and ASun but would prefer some more romantic scenes between the two. However, these issues are minor. I still give the show a high rating because of the life lessons learned from Changge’s pivotal adventure.

Lastly, I want to give a special shout-out to the amazing OST. The music team has produced an epically beautiful selection of songs. Zhang Bicheng’s “Direction of the Light” resembles a battle song but surprisingly can serve as a healing instrumental for some scenes. Liu Yuning’s “One Love as Always” nicely complements his scenes with Zhao Lusi. Zhou Shen’s Cocoon is my favorite ballad of this year. The song can represent Changge’s emotional turmoil, her unwavering love for ASun, or her hope for eternal peace.

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A Very Compelling Historical Drama

I mainly watch modern cdramas, so for a historical drama this long to actually stick is a rare event.

The Long Ballad was not perfect, but it was pretty close to it. Each character has an enormous and very evident arc throughout the story, each one very different from the last. That kept me hooked even when the focus was away from the main characters.

The romance was not really a part of the story, and it didn't need to be. After doing some research on why the leads never kissed, I was more lenient about the directors choice to leave that out. Even so, the subtle interactions between couples were so precious and really helped move the story.

The plot was also an amazing addition to the drama. The several elements incorporated into the story really helped move it along. It was fast paced, but not enough for the viewer to fall behind. No storyline was continued for too long, and most loose ends were tied. I also loved to see a strong female lead and the other female lead become super strong over the course of her story arc. The male lead also did an amazing job. I loved Wu Lei's acting. Additionally, Liu Yu Ning's character (Hao Du) had an excellent story arc, his arguably being the most surprising. It was so exciting to see his character grow to care about more beyond his role in the palace. The writers really didn't fail to keep things interesting at all times!

I was constantly looking forward to the next episode. The production was a tiny, tiny bit below what it should have been at times, but not enough to be noticeable. I did see some editing discontinuities from time to time, and a few music issues as well. Aside from that, it was flawless.

This historical is definitely going down as a top 2021 drama, and everyone should definitely give it a watch!

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A drama of adventure and many life lessons!

Honestly, I debated over writing a review because I’m a casual viewer of C-dramas but I have read so many positive comments of the Long Ballad that I felt compelled to watch and boy am I glad I did! Since I typically watch 4-5 dramas a year (40-50 episodes per drama is a long commitment for me) so I do narrow my list to the “best” dramas based on recommendations so do take my rating with a grain of salt.

To start off, this is not a perfect drama but it has so so many positives:

• LOVE the character, Li Changge! From the very beginning, I love her journey, as she tried to avenge her befallen family and surviving with her wits, determination and a good dose of help from those around her. As a viewer, we can understand her anguish, her motivations, her flaws, her self-reflection and finally her purpose in life. I just found her journey and character development so incredibly fulfilling at the end - from a revenge driven girl to a mature, forgiving person who considers the greater good of her people. Even when she was determined to exact revenge, she never allowed it to consume her to discard the Tang citizens well-being. Dilraba was simply amazing in this role! I have seen a few of her dramas before and honestly, this is her best role to date. There are so many memorable scenes that showcase the range of emotions in her performance. Some of my favorites are: (1) Scenes leading up to A’Dou’s death and the aftermath – the tears, the heartbreak, and her badass determination to avenge him. (2) When Governor Gongsun Heng committed suicide – she was completely broken by his choice to save the people. I cried buckets when he died because I absolutely love the governor and understood his sacrifice. (3) When she met Ashile Sun outside the gates of Shou State – the snow was falling and when Ashile Sun demanded that she became his slave. The look in her eyes as she was trying to contain her grief and anger. Simply love that iconic scene! (4) All her scenes with Li Shimin, particularly when she realizes the truth of her family's assassination and she can finally let go of her revenge. I love their relationship because Li Shimin truly loves her as his own so I was happy to see a good resolution.

• Ashile Sun is the perfect male lead and Leo Wu was wonderful in his portrayal. I like that he loves and respects Changge but he will not betray his people for her (and vice versa for Changge). He sticks to his convictions and is straight-forward and not afraid to reveal his feelings. Actually, some of the funny parts of the drama are his reactions to the (budding) relationship with Changge and his jealousy even though he does not comprehend what his feelings might be at the time. I have only seen one other drama with Leo Wu which was Nirvana in Fire and am so happy to watch him slay such a mature role and proving doubters wrong that he was the perfect Ashile Sun.

• I adore the many different relationship dynamics in the drama. I HATE love triangles or dramas where every character falls in love with the FL or ML so I am thrilled that there is none of this nonsense in this drama! I know there is an age gap between Dilraba and Leo but honestly, I didn’t think about it when watching both actors on screen. The drama shows such a balanced relationship between the two characters and how they truly fit as a puzzle and are true partners as they share the same values – same passion for their people, both are loyal and trust each other unconditionally. It would have been nice if there was a kiss but the lack of one did not mar their romance at all. I thoroughly enjoy their individual growth and how they come together as a power couple. Other relationships of note are Changge and Leyan, Changge and Li Shimin, Changge and A’Dou, Little Yuan with anyone (she’s such a cutie!), Shiba and Xu Feng, Governor Gongsun Heng and his wife, Ashile Sun and She’er, Ashile Sun and Mu Jin and so many more!

• Great supporting cast! I love many of the characters and most roles were well acted (even those with minor roles) which contributed to my enjoyment of the drama.

• I love the costumes in the drama, both the Tang and grassland attire. Leo Wu, in particular, looked smashing in his grassland wear and looked very imposing as the leader of the Eagle division. The braids for the Ashile tribe men were also very cool and attractive.

• The amazing soundtracks to this drama. I love the opening and closing scores and do not ever fast-forward when I hear the amazing songs come through. And both songs are very fitting and aptly described the drama!

• The pacing of the drama is good overall, except for the Luoyang arc as described below under “negatives”.


The Not So Good Areas (Negatives):

• The Luoyang story arc really caused the show to lose momentum at one point. I understand Changge’s need for self reflection due to the (poor) choices she made in saving her father’s general in the grasslands but it took more episodes than needed for her to reflect and grow from it. This arc was also dragged down by having the focus on bratty Tang’s Crown Prince. At first, I did not understand why the show incorporated this character but after thinking about it, I believe it was to contrast the virtues of Leyan to the selfishness of the entitled brother of hers. However, in my opinion, it’s unnecessary to devote so much screen time to both Crown Prince’s brattiness and Leyan’s growth.

• I did not enjoy Leyan and Hao Du individually or their romance and prefer to have their characters more incorporated or rewritten to contribute to the main story arc, especially the side story of Leyan’s hardships was fast forward material for me. Both actors portrayed their roles adequately but I just do not find their characters interesting or their love story compelling. At the end of the day, I am invested in the character of Li Changge so I just find their scenes to be tedious.

• Another pet peeve of mine is the character of Hao Du. I honestly don’t see the appeal of this character. Yes, he became less stoic at the end but for most of the drama, he was arrogant prick (especially to Wei Shuyu who did not provoke him) and lack any forward thinking. His obsessive need to capture Changge was frustrating to watch, especially during the Shou State arc when Changge was needed to protect the city. He still wanted to kill her knowing she was trying to save the common people? He has capable kung-fu skills, why didn’t he offer his services to save the people in Shou State or at least try instead of folding his arms and doing nothing? In his foster father’s eyes, killing her means protecting the country and yet when the time to protect the country presents itself (with the stakes being so much higher as people’s lives were in jeopardy), he did nothing. He then gets credit (from Leyan) for letting Changge go at the Liuyun temple but it was ONLY due to his foster father’s instructions because Changge literally took a knife in the back to protect his father. If the father ordered him to kill her at that moment, he would certainly do it even though he knew of her contributions to the Tang country prior to that. So he gets no credit from me. I just wish his supposedly character growth stems from self-realization and that he actually stand up to his foster father, saying that NOT killing Changge is the right thing to do rather than a change of heart and orders from his father or a slap by Leyan to propel him to act differently. In the end, he is "redeemed" because he's one of the main characters but his earlier actions still left a bitter taste in my mouth.

• The villain of the story can be more dynamic. The actress who plays Khatan is okay but I think a different actress can bring more layers to the character. The character suffered tremendously but it’s very hard for me to relate to her and her pain. I’m not sure if it was the acting or the writing. I do like the parallel of what might have been if Changge decided to pursue her revenge. Her outcome might mirror Khatan’s.

• I do not care for the animated manhua drawings, especially during the epic war scenes. It is a nice thought in giving tribute to the manhua artist but in my opinion, it does take away the overall viewing experience for me. I know there were COVID restrictions but I think the drama warrants at least one non animated epic war scene due to the political backdrop and the period the drama was set.

Overall, I highly recommend the drama! As I have stated at the beginning of my review, The Long Ballad is not a perfect drama but it is an entertaining one! At the end of the day, as a viewer, I just want to be entertained and this drama has accomplished that. Give it a try!!

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❗ONE OF THE MUST WATCH C-DRAMAS THIS YEAR❗

If you're one of those people who loves watching a drama with a smart and strong female lead but still hesitating to watch this drama (), then it's time for you to stop, and start watching it now. Just give it a try you'll probably wont regret watching 49 episodes — yeah it's a bit long but worth it.
The acting skills of the casts is good specially when it comes to a dramatic scene that needs tears. And I love seeing the action stunts though I'm kind of disappointed that there's not a lot of war/action scenes but overall it's still good and I enjoyed it.

P.S. always get ready with your tissue or handkerchief.

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WELL WORTH THE (WAIT) WATCH!

Literally, the long ballad! LoL Took me a few weeks to catch up to and finally finish watching it (only because I’ve had no time). Newest one added to my favorites list because I know I’ll be rewatching it. Like most of the other good ratings shared, I can also say it truly is a great production overall. Yes, it’s quite a long show but it doesn’t fail to keep it interesting from the very start of episode one. Political dismay that changes a young princess’s life forever, the tough journey just to survive, and the many obstacles she endures along the way. And of course, the storyline always calls for a fated meeting with the male lead character which makes it even more interesting and fun to watch on “how” exactly they meet. Of course, two of my favorite parts of a period show are the costumes and music. Oh yeah, and there was just something mesmerizing about the male lead and his long hair, that Leo Wu just looked soooo darn good with the braids and long locks, ha!

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Could've been better...

I'm surprised by how well this drama was received. I think it's a solid 7/10. However, I think it's mostly because of the beautiful people in this show that everyone is gushing over this. The story is decent, the acting mediocre to subpar in some instances (except for some of the older cast, honestly loved the Tang three stooges and the Emperor). This also speaks about the lack of good content being released for the past few years. The drama is decent, but is being heralded as a gem and I'm not surprised since there aren't that many good dramas these days with complex plots AND good acting.
This show is mainly being judged with rosy eyes and an overload of hormones. The cartoons in random segments of the show were annoying, especially as they were used to show large scale battle scenes (I'm sure to reduce the cost of production) or very crucial plot development and took me out of immersive experience.
I did like that the FL/ML had a healthy relationship and the character growth of the FL throughout the show was commendable. But I think the director made many bad calls, such as how FL NOT ONCE looked like a male, but we, as an audience, is supposed to believe that she can pull this off? There was even obvious makeup and lipstick on her in her 'male' scenes! This is an insult to the audience as well as the cast members.
Lastly, I just want to say that this is just my opinion, I wanted to like this show more, but every time I came across an idiosyncrasy I felt let down. I think this show could've been much better if it was directed with more sincerity to realism and relied less on the beauty of the actors to gloss over major inconsistencies.

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I like the male lead & female lead.

I’m a fan of the female lead as I find her quite gorgeous and her acting is pretty decent too. She’s very easy on the eyes and very watchable. The male lead has grown up to be a very fine young man who’s tall and well-built. I swooned.

What I liked / Watch because:
- great leads with chemistry
- great acting cast on the whole
- story plot is an exciting one on the whole
- there are suspenseful moments, touching moments, cute moments, lovey moments … lots of ups and downs throughout the whole show
- the music complements the show
- I actually liked the “comic book” elements

What I didn’t like:
- the last section of the show (probably the last ten to fifteen episodes weren’t as good as the front part)
- the ending was a let down to me as there wasn’t a true “happily ever after” ending element for the male lead and female lead in that they didn’t get married and settle down
- too many deaths - I know it’s war and stuff but too many deaths/ too much bloodshed
- the woman who played KeTun was insufferable - the way she spoke and acted really put me off
- good people die and I don’t like to see this

Overall, please watch!! I recommend it as it is a well-made drama. There are some ‘I cannot believe this’ moments but it is a drama, after all. It is entertaining and 49 episodes are kind of over before you know it. Watch!

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Outstanding acting, OST and action scenes

I was most blown away by Leo's acting of A'Sun as the last time I watched him was in Nirvana on Fire when he was still a little kid. I cannot believe how much he has matured and his emotional scenes were better than those I've seen from seasoned actors. He was excellent portraying a fierce warrior and did an incredible job with all the fight scenes. Although he is only 21-22, his acting is dynamic and he is so interesting to watch. He also worked really hard to build his physique to match that of the character.

Diliraba's portrayal of Li Chang Ge is a nice change for her and I can see she has improved a lot with her acting. Her previous roles which were often very weepy and she had the tendency to frown a lot in many of her sad scenes. I'm glad she has improved on that a lot and is able to show a lot more emotion using more subtle facial expressions which is much more tasteful to watch as a viewer.

The SML and SFL had a wonderful storyline. Zhao Lusi's character is very different here than in her previous roles and I appreciate her taking on a very different role. She did a great job with her character and the development of her character was very interesting. I found myself captivated with her storyline. I often skip or fast forward scenes that don't involve the MLs in other dramas because they often feel like fillers. Overall I found all the 4 main characters very different from one another, and they all had their role to play to make the story come together. They all went on a journey and major transformation through many trials and tribulations.

The action scenes in this series were done very well. I initially wasn't quite fond of the anime cut scenes but I soon started appreciating them because many of them were used during war scenes where animals would have been involved otherwise. I think this is far better than causing animals which I know often suffer during filming. Many of the dramas like Legend of Xiao Chuo involved so many live animals, it made me sick to think of the potential injuries and traumas they had to go through to shoot those scenes. I think this was but better although it did make some of the battle scenes less intense and life-like.

Finally, the music is one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a while. Overall this drama has been a gem. I've already rewatched many scenes several times and I have been enjoying the soundtrack also.

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This drama is the Best

I love this drama so much and overall everything is perfect with main character Dilraba and Leo Wu has great chemistry and other character are really amazing too every episode has great values I can’t wait to watch all the episodes. I wish this drama has more than 10000 episode so I can watch them every day with full of excitement ??? after watching this drama I can’t get over with Dilraba and Leo Wu. Her talent and magnificent looks is the main reason I started to watch this drama but after watching this drama I can’t denied how Talented and Charismatic Leo Wu is?

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The exhaustingly Long Ballad

A show that started out strong and as it progressed it became mediocre at best. Looking back, this drama had a lot of flaws from the beginning, but that I ignored since the story had so much potential that I hoped would be achieved, but oh boy... Honestly, don't let all the high scores in the reviews fool you, this show is not amazing, it's barely even good. In a lot of ways I think The Long Ballad is a very pretentious show. It promises this epic story and gripping romances, but it doesn't deliver ANY of them.

The first half of this show is pretty good despite its flaws, but in the second half the pacing of the plot just takes a nosedive, becoming super boring, which makes the problems with the show become even more apparent. They simply prolong these side plotlines that don't add anything to the main plot and keep introducing characters that no one cares about.

Talking about charactes... I didn't care much about any in this story. Changge was a very promising FL, but she quickly fell flat for me. I like empowered female characters, but in her case everything just felt very cheap. She would just go to a place and do nothing and everyone there would go: "Well I don't even know you but I guess I'm gonna trust you blindly now and help you." Besides, just by warching her I soon noticed that the writers of this show don't know how to write smart characters. If you think about Changge's plans for more than 10 seconds you'll realize they make no sense at all. They just relied on convenience and luck and the only reason they worked is because she is the main character.

A'Sun was also kinda stereotypical. It doesn't help the fact that both his actor and Changge's actress can't actually act for shit. They were so stiff and unnatural, which reflected on their relationship cause they had little to no chemistry, even though I still persisted for some episodes to see more of them, but there's really not much to see about them as couple. I think the writers aimed for slowburn but hit underdevelopment instead. Regarding the other characters, most were either annoying or uninteresting. I think the only one worth mentioning here is Le Yan since she was the only one with a half-decent character arc. I still didn't find her character very compelling, though, because she was just the innocent and kind stereotypical female character and the writers definitely could've developed her way more, but they dropped the ball just like how they did with every other aspect of this drama.

Now I might be a little controversial here, but I think the manga styled animation used wasn't so bad, it was a nice alternative to create the scenes they probably didn't have the budget for, but the overuse of this technique also kinda took away the epic feeling and dramatic weight of certain scenes.

So, basically, The Long Ballad was the disappointement of the year for me. It doesn't deliver neither a good and intricate plot, nor good love stories, so I'd say if you have any standards at all definitely don't waste your time on this drama.

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meh. (spoilers for romance couples but not the actual storyline)

as a person who literally only watches historical dramas at this point, this one wasn't very... good... imo.

story:
well i didn't really know what to expect cause im gonna be honest i watched this drama because of most of the cast members. i guess the storyline was decent, although it was a little slow. this was the first time i wished a historical drama could be shorter lmao. sometimes i even forgot about the main leads' romantic relationship, which honestly i don't have a problem with because the fighting and wars and stuff like that were supposed to be the "main focus" (?) but yeah the romance between the main leads was not it, just another basic "i'll sacrifice anything for you but i'll also not tell you bc i don't want you to be sad" bs. if i wanted to see that i would have watched love and redemption again lmao. ALTHOUGH i will say, the second couple was so cute. i've seen and heard a lot of other people's opinions about the second couple, saying that it's unnecessary, which i will kinda agree, it is unnecessary, but they were still so cute. i didn't really like the fact that zhao lu si was playing a weak little sister role honestly i wouldve watched a sequel with just zhao lu si and liu yu ning's relationship.

acting/cast:
don't come for me but i don't think di li re ba's acting is... good. well, it's average. a lot of people think that she has godly top tier acting skills, but uh i beg to differ. she has like five facial expressions and her crying scenes are not realistic (AGAIN don't come for me it's my opinion lol). also her hairstylist did her dirtyyy, the middle part is. interesting (shes hella pretty though don't get me wrong). on the other hand, wu lei, zhao lu si, and liu yu ning's acting were all pretty good. i was quite shocked by liu yu ning's acting ngl, i always knew him as a singer, an artist, but i didn't think he would actually be good at acting (cause a lot of idols/singers/dancers these days are... attempting acting... and they're not the best at it). although i despised zhao lu si's role, she played it well. as for wu lei, he portrayed what i had in mind when i first skimmed the summary of the drama.

music:
this is where all the points are coming from. i am weeeeak when it comes to historical drama osts. especially with the ost gods zhang bi chen and liu yu ning in this one. i listened to both osts before even watching the drama. not much else to say, just amazing songs.

rewatch value:
eh no thanks i won't be rewatching this one lol

overall:
i'd say a ... decent drama if you're really bored or if you really really really like the main cast. but if you have better dramas to watch, i'd say not to watch this one lol.

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