Peacock in Wonderland (2024)

Novel transmigration with cute romance and reverse gender roles

Don’t let the negative comments about the ending stop you from watching this! I really loved everything about this drama except the censored ending. But thankfully we have the secret clip from douyin that wraps up the story (link below).

This drama is about the female lead who is transported from the modern world to a historical novel. In the novel, the Peacock City is run by women and women have the same rights as men. The female lead drops from the sky and is appointed as the Peacock Holy Envoy. The male lead is the Minister of Rites who seemingly befriends her but has secret schemes.

POSITIVE:
- Bad boy with a good heart male lead.
- Cute romance and kiss scenes.
- Great chemistry between the leads.
- Frenemies to lovers trope (push and pull dynamic).
- Mix of political intrigue, investigations and revenge.
- Reverse gender roles.
- Smart and quirky female lead who uses her science knowledge to bypass the plot.
- Mostly light-hearted with great comedy moments + a bit of angst towards the end.
- Similar vibes (not plot) to The Romance of Tiger and Rose.
- Prophetic dreams (I loved that bit).

NEGATIVE:
- Censored ending. However there is a secret clip on douyin that wraps up the story. So the drama is still worth watching. Scroll below for spoilers and link.
- Some small parts lack logic but it’s part of the charm and comedy for me.
- Female lead is a bit of a baby sometimes (not a lot).

OVERALL:
If you want a light-hearted transmigration story with reverse gender roles and cute romance, watch this drama.
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It’s a shame that this got zero promotion. I’m going to guess and say it’s because the male lead had issues with the government and had to leave the industry. So they not only censored the drama by giving us an odd ending but also cut it to appear as a short drama (perhaps short dramas pass easier?). I’m pretty sure this was originally done as a typical full length drama (each episode is 20 minutes, that’s around 20 full episodes if it’s 40 minutes each).

SECRET CLIP:
1. Douyin (provided by @Suzette Ser):
https://www.douyin.com/user/MS4wLjABAAAA8Gft2z08CjrLcEI3BGbNk6CLkePD5pUTxQbD0haYQBF7uU0hiAy4KW651lRC_yAL?modal_id=7360304476701396239
2. Twitter:
https://x.com/Fatum____Tempus/status/1782076978369061012

BONUS: BTS of the modern world scenes
https://x.com/Fatum____Tempus/status/1786669698790367614

ENDING SPOILER:
In the finale episode, the female lead dies and is transported back to the modern world. She reads the novel, the story is now changed and doesn’t include her (which we see that play out on screen). There are ambiguous details to suggest the male lead is aware of the book change. END of drama. NOW, thanks to the secret clip uploaded on douyin, we can see the male lead (sports jacket) is reading the same novel in the modern world. The female lead calls his name and he turns around to face her. So they end up meeting each other in the modern world too.

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