Main couple- Kevin was actually pretty good, I liked his character and Su Yu was the only male character here who fought and protected the girl selflessly even with the price of losing his own life but the main girl was really bad in acting and I couldn't feel a bit of chemistry between them, they seemed too fake.
Some of the supporting characters who were there I don't know why, too much of idiocy and stupid acting from them, actually drama could be better without them.
Three main couples in each part of the story- I liked all of them, I felt sorry for most of them and I felt love between all of them.
First couple Shen An and Song Ning I loved the most, what angst, passion, what extremely proud people, how they destroyed one each other only cause of misunderstandings, cowardly attitude and pride. Shen An the biggest coward ever and such a stupid man but still how much he loved her, we could see that and feel that. Song Ning- the best female character in here and one of the best I've met, definitely goes on my list dearest characters. It's so rare to see a woman like her, so intelligent, smart, brave, strong with golden heart, unselfish, simply admirable. Jiang Xin and Justin had freaking sizzling chemistry, I have to see them in some other drama together, such talented actors.
Second couple- they were the most realistic, so full of understanding, so cute and sweet while doing some trivial ordinary things which couples do, Ying Ge was such a tormented soul, I pitied her the most in whole drama and still she succeeded to fall in love and be happy even for a short while, Rong Yuan was my fav. male character here cause the man is just too great, he didn't want to hear anything, he believed in her actions, her eyes, her feelings, he didn't listen to anyone and that's why there wasn't some stupid misunderstanding coming from his side, amount of love he had for her was without limit, what a loyal and gran man he was, a real king. Also the actor is very beautiful. ;)
Third couple- personally I was too subjective cause I love the actor, he is so attractive and I love his acting, always full of passion, his character Su Heng and Murong An had the most beautiful scenes together, I loved their scenes in forest, their kisses, their conversations, he was so ambitious, ruthless and selfish cause he wanted to be a king yes but in the end he never loved anyone else beside her and he protected her no matter what. Npt that I approve his actions, I don't and I would run away sooner from him but still I could understand him sometimes.She was a goddess, how beautiful, how gracious, how graceful, a real forest goddess, i was staring at her all the time plus she was so unselfish and powerful in her mind and heart.
All these couples were destructive and in all of them male characters were most guilty for tragic ends and with less love towards their loved ones, women were giving more love, their own lives, more understanding and they were much more powerful and stronger than them.
That's why I loved this drama. And with wonderful OST, the ending song became my favourite song from Chinese dramas, it fits perfectly here with words, characters and their actions, I'm still listening song at least once in a day. Whole ost is really great with many capturing melodies, I enjoyed even more.
I wouldn't recommend this drama to anyone who appreciate the most high budget production, decent effects and good acting from main characters but I'd still recommend to those who look for original idea, great chemistry and more interesting and important side couples with good acting coming from them.
In some way I did enjoy although I really couldn't stand what I already pointed out as bad, these side couples and amazing music managed to keep me going all the way till the end.
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the story line is going from one main cast to another, mostly hinged on the lady in the plot,
which is very strongly attached due to her excellent charisma...
lin yuan .. reminds me of zhao wei in her youth, strong acting as well as beautiful .
the other girls are all strong acting too... the characters of song ning, qi qi,zi yan,
and even if it was diverted in the middle by the appearance of the assassin (guo zhen ni)
..who i think is a very strong actress as well. she plays the dual role so convincingly...
flipping beauty and sinster , powerful and weak...
i watched other roles by guo zhen ni before, but she never got to show her acting skills until now
with a strong main supporting role.
mu rong an , the mermaid, is even more enchanting. even i would fall in love with one look :)
this is the best of the new dramas to date, other than sun li (beauties of the emperor)
and zanilla zhao (best get going) and tiffany tang (lady and the liar).
i give it top marks simply because i am not familiar with the lead actress lin yuan,
who as i said before, is impressive with qualities (beauty + powerful acting ) of zhao wei
gong li, betty sun li, chen qiao en , jing tian,etc...
i hope lin yuan will get a new drama soon. btw, i think song ning had too little part in this movie
which is a pity. they should have given more episodes on the warrior lady, also zi yan the bodyguard.
they should have done more with these two fighting ladies. maybe a new sequel with
resurrected song ning and zi yan .
lastly, too much emphasis on the silly emperor... who although is funny, but once again, the comedy weaken the plot of a period movie. either go all comedy like another pandora box,
or go mostly serious like song of the desert, or stay magical like this one ... with less emphasis
on the silly side.
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I didn't like how Ye Zhen/Jun Fu and Su Yu/Mu Yan's story was changed, but it had to be done for the sake of the plot of the drama. Their relationship went through so many life and death situations. Honestly, I liked the character Jun Fu better than Ye Zhen. Ye Zhen was an annoying naive girl, while I felt like Jun Fu was a strong and cold woman because she had a mission with no recollection of her past. Once she began remembering, I saw her transform back into the personality of Ye Zhen, which again made her useless. But I guess that showed her acting skills. As for Su Yu/Mu Yan, everything he did was for his love of Ye Zhen/Jun Fu, which can be annoying, but in the end, this is what changed Jun Fu back to Ye Zhen. So I guess what he did was worth it. It was great seeing him interact with Jun Fu when he lost his memories because now the roles were reversed, but he still showed a softness to her in the end.
I liked the changes made to Song Ning and Shen An's story. It made it that more heartbreaking to watch, and their ending ended up pretty much the same as in the novel. Song Ning transformed from a strong independent woman to a woman who was just in love and wanted to do anything for it until she finally was hurt enough to just let go of it all because she had no more hope. In spite of all the bad things Liu Qi Qi does, Shen An still remains loyal to her to fulfill his promise to her until the day when he finally decides to let go of Liu Qi Qi. However, it was a little too late, which made it so heartbreaking to watch, especially when he learned the truth about his whole situation with Song Ning and Liu Qi Qi. He misunderstood Song Ning many times and never knew Liu Qi Qi's true nature. The only person who ever really understood Shen An was Song Ning.
Rong Yuan and Ying Ge's story was pretty much the same as in the novel, except Ying Ge's ending, which made me a little irritated because I liked her ending. It was a slight change, but I guess it wasn't too bad of a change. Ying Ge and Jin Que were really a good pair of sisters until Jin Que betrayed Ying Ge (in the novel, it wasn't like this, Jin Que was always loyal to Ying Ge). Rong Xun and Jin Que's betrayal was probably needed so that Ying Ge could give up her love and dedication to Rong Xun because she was nothing to him,but a tool. But when Rong Yuan came into the picture, he gave Ying Ge the love and happiness she thought she never would have, which was touching to watch because they truly loved each other regardless of their identities.
Murong An and Su Heng's story was almost the same as in the novel; their ending in the novel was more tragic. But Su Heng still found a way to redeem himself, so I guess that was okay. I felt that they spent way too much time in this story than necessary, and Jun Fu and Mu Yan forgot their original intention of why this story was important. In spite of that, their story was touching. Su Heng's tactics to keep Murong An were actually quite mean and evil. At first, I even wondered if he loved her. She was always hurt by him because she doesn't know much about politics and his world, but it was all because he wanted to protect her. I could understand why she was heartbroken and felt betrayed time and time again. But even when she understood him and his intentions, she still couldn't help but be hurt.
If I were to rewatch this drama, I would probably only rewatch certain stories/scenes, not the entire drama.
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