My Lady General (2023)

A villain who can switch to a coquette (flirt) ?

I've had this in my currently watching for so long, and decided to watch it finally after so long.

Idk why i waited so long, because this was really nice, it definitely deserves to be one of those well worth watching short length series

The story was okay, I think some parts were a tiny bit hard to follow and it was regarding the past events, but apart from that it was very simple and the political stuff though it was there, I didn't find it heavy or too much, because of the the drama was spent on the leads, whether building there relationship or stuff related to them.

The costume were really nice, the male costume when being the flirty husband fit his sickly image so well, and tmhis outfits as the villain also fit him really well. The FL general outfits were okay, she wore female clothing and she looked absolutely stunning!!, she could rock both, which I liked!. Ofher side costume were good as well.

The acting for the FL was okay, but the ML caught my attention, seeing him act all flirty like a concubine trying to get their master's affection, and then switch to a villain haha 😄.. he did a great job, and I loved his character all together, great antihero ❤️. Other side characters acting was nice as well.

The songs in this one was really nice.

I also loved how not because it was a short drama, their romance wasn't rushed at all, it had time for the FL to fall in love with the ML. I also liked how the misunderstanding was cleared.

There were funny moment, sweet moment, a little bit of sad moments, and a full epsiode for a happy ending (rare) ... don't forget steaming kisses, there chemistry when kissing and being intimate were nice.

Highly reccomending short length series!

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Satisfying romantic comedy with a dash of plot

I love the villain romance trope and wow does this drama scratch that itch. This ML is underhanded, scheming, manipulative, violent, and unapologetic about all of the above. And once he falls in love? He stays all of those things, but also becomes devoted, sweet, protective, and loyal as all hell to the FL. Perfect. Xu Zhen Xuan does a wonderful job in the role, switching from sweet puppy-dog husband pretending to be weak to flirty playful bastard to cold vicious killer in the blink of an eye. *chef's kiss*

Yang Qi Ru as the FL was a bit stiff, but I enjoyed watching her on the screen nonetheless. She plays a down-to-earth, righteous general who doesn't care much for decorum or sugar-sweet politeness but has a kind, loyal heart.

If you enjoy gender role reversals where the FL appears in the nick of time to save the ML and bridal-carry him off to safety, this is your show. You also get some ML saving FL scenes, it's a great balance. They're both strong and competent in their own ways. Their chemistry was good and you get some great skinship all throughout the series.

The plot meandered somewhat and I wasn't super invested in the flashbacks to the FL's angsty past and the present timeline of the princes scheming for the throne. It wasn't bad, but also nothing new or particularly interesting.

The music slaps hard, particularly the intro theme.

TROPES: (light spoilers)
- ML falls first and harder
- enemies to lovers
- hidden identity
- jealous, possessive, clingy, deeply devoted ML
- physically and emotionally strong FL
- villain romance with hero FL and villain ML
- political court intrigue and succession scheming
- love triangle, but it's not a big part of the plot (kind of unclear whether the SML is romantically interested in the FL or if she's just a pivotal, fateful figure in his life)
- arranged/forced marriage
- HEA

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Hero x Antihero

TLDR; A fun miniseries with some interesting characters and refreshing dynamics. It's nothing wow, and the little plot it does have is quite standard in concept and mediocre in execution, but it delivers rather unique main leads and a refreshing love story.

Whump meter: ▲◭△△△ (mild/very little).

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【Very mild SPOILERS below】

►CHARACTERS:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The highlight for me was definitely the main couple, both refreshing characters we don't often see in a refreshing dynamic we also don't often see. FL is a rough general who suffered a lot but still holds a lot of kindness in her heart (portrayed by an actress who actually looks like she could be a fighter!) while ML is a shady guy who switches from helpless and delicate to homme fatale. Together, they make quite the power couple (unfortunately, we didn't see much of this though), and they're adorable together. Basically, Hero FL & Antihero ML.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ My only issue is the unfortunate trope of FL having great flaws that make no sense for her character that the character simply wouldn't have if it were a man (like being illiterate 💀). Meanwhile, ML yet again excels at everything. Since they're doing the role reversal anyway, just commit to it. It didn't really take away from the experience, but I thought it was still worth mentioning.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Side characters were fine for the most part. I enjoyed the main couple's attendants/right-hand men. Prince Yue was also quite an interesting character. I'd say the most dull was Princess Sijiu, who only appeared for a handful of scenes (and was also the ONLY other female character, which is always a minus in my book, but at least they had a good relationship).

►ACTING:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I didn't have an issue with any actor's portrayal. They all did a good enough job, but I'd say ML's actor stood out as the best. He portrayed various rather complex characters very well!

►STORY:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Hilariously, the worst aspect would have to be the story. If you stop and think about something, it all falls apart. There's very little plot to go around, but an unusual amount of attention is put on it. Conflicts and issues are resolved rather quickly, so the stakes are pretty low too.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I think it would've worked better with romance as the main plot and then a sprinkle of something else here and there instead of this romance/political drama. In these sorts of small productions, less is usually more, so keeping things simple is ideal, but yeah.

►PRODUCTION:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Production quality is okay, noticeably low budget though. There's a lot worse, but there's a lot better out there too. It didn't bother me too much, not did it take away from the experience either.

►MUSIC:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The music was not very memorable, just alright. I do remember it being somewhat out of place in certain moments, though.

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◇ Was it what I was expecting? Yes
◆ Did it live up to its potential? Somewhat
◇ Would I watch it again? Yes, I loved the main couple
◆ Would I recommend it to others? Unlikely

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An unexpectedly fun drama

This drama has an interesting premise: the female general Wei Lin is looking for clues to redeem the late Crown Prince, but during her mission she ends up marrying Gu Mingzhu, whose family is involved with the case. She doesn't know, however, that the man she marries is actually Jiang Juan, leader of the Ling Pavilion, who has his own reasons to disguise himself and infiltrate Wei Lin's home.

I was a little skeptical at this premise at first, since the episodes are short (if we don't count the opening and ending themes, all the episodes together amount to a little more than three hours), but the plot flows nicely and gets to its resolution without becoming too complicated in the meantime. I don't recommend expecting anything too refined (there were multiple moments when I had to forcibly suspend my disbelief at how certain events were unfolding), but for a short drama it works.
Rather than being dramatic and with an overly serious tone, this drama is actually more fun than anything else. From General Wei's attempts to adjust to a life with her new husband, to Jiang Juan trying all sorts of tricks and schemes to get closer to his wife. Not to mention all the secondary characters! Every episode felt lively and irresistible, I ended up binge-watching the whole drama in the span of a few hours.

The chemistry between the two main characters is great. I've never seen these two before, but I will definitely be looking forward to any new productions including them. They managed to make the love story believable and charming, and it was very satisfying to see their dynamic: a strong female hero who is actually believable as a general, and a sick male anti-hero who acts all sweet and clingy.

Definitely worth watching: it's fun, it doesn't have any unnecessary drama, and the actors did a great job from start to finish.

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Breaking all stereotypes between man and woman / hero and antihero

Imagine your regular romance drama reverse the gender roles ...this is exactly what you get ... Here the FL general is domineering.. strong..tough ... Manly ...Outgoing ... And Protective ... Whatever you see in ML from other shows she has everything to offer .. while ML is beautiful.. shy .. fragile matrilocal husband doing household chores ( atleast he pretends) ..weak in body (pretends)
The extreme twist in gender roles is what makes this show worth watching

Of course there is a back story of conspiracy going on ..but my bet is on the leads and their romance ..that's the core of the show

Totally recommended

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My Lady General (2023) Is a very good romantic comedy set in a fictional historical time. This is a fun drama to watch with a leading couple that did a great job bringing their characters to life. The heroine female lead forces marriage upon a sickly guy in the Gu family but the antihero main lead takes his place hoping to heal and make the heroine fall in love with him. With a couple of exceptions, the supporting cast also did well in the performance of their characters but this drama really centers in the leading couple and it was a pleasure to watch as their love story evolves and the two becomes each other strong hold. Overall, this drama is very entertaining, enjoy it!

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Refreshing drama with heroic army general FL & anti-hero, house husband ML

I subscribed to WeTV last weekend and was browsing their catalogue when I found this mini drama. I was intrigued by the synopsis and binged the series in one evening.

What I liked:
1) Gender reversal roles - I love that the FL is an army general who has a tough exterior but a soft spot for her husband whom she married out of obligation, not out of love. I also love that the ML is a scheming head of assassin organisation whom adopted a coquettish persona to deceive his wife. It's refreshing to see atypical characters on screen.
2) Romance - When they are intimate, FL is dominant while the ML is submissive and it's hot. The kisses are hot even when ML was begging for FL to stay by his side after his cover was blown.
3) Gu Ming Zhu / Jiang Jun - Gu Ming Zhu is sickly scholar while Jiang Jun is a headstrong head of organisation. Xu Zhen Xuan was able to showcase two different characters well. The contrasting costumes help in showing two different characters.
4) Supporting characters - Lord Yue/Xiao Ban, Qi Qi and Li Qi were a delight to watch. The three of them were quite good looking as well. Zi Yu who played Lord Yue kinda reminds me of Felix from kpop group Stray Kids while Wu Tian Hao kinda resembles Gao Hanyu.

What I disliked:
1) Multiple arcs - There were too many in the mini drama and most of them were underdeveloped e.g. Second Prince's hunger for power, Lord Yue backstory, Jiang Jun's sickness, Crown Prince. At one point, I forgot about the deal Jiang Jun made with Second Prince because there were no scenes/interactions between 2 characters. If this series was turned into a longer series, perhaps they could elaborate on those arcs.

Favourite scene:
When General Wei Lin jumped on Jiang Jun after waking up from sickness. Their makeout session was interrupted by their right-hand men reading a novel out loud.

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Interesting storyline

This drama has a very interesting plot. Female general got married with the sickly fake young master of Gu Family aka The villain Jiang Juan. The drama opening theme shows promising romantic kissing scene.

What I love from this drama so far is that the FL is badass general and she is pretty plump, unlike skinny C-drama FL in general. Both FL and ML shows strong acting skills.

The ost is not bad, The only downside is each episode is so short, I wish it's longer. Even the ending ost takes most half of the episode.

However, I'm still looking forward to see how this drama goes. Hopefully satisfying till the end.

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