ChocolateCookie
This review may contain spoilers
Must watch for any fans of Three Kingdoms
STORY
Storyline: There is no other tv series/film that comes close to this version in terms of providing the most full account of the Three Kingdoms. It begins with the crumbling Eastern Han dynasty and ends with beginning of the Jin Dynasty. As a result, the audience clearly sees why warlords rose up and why the kingdoms fell. This drama will complete your Three Kingdoms fantasy by having the characters appear in person, and it is likely that your favourite historical figure will appear, no matter how little known they are (e.g. Qin Mi, Kan Ze, Liu Ye) because this drama just covers so much with no useless plot.
Pacing: Although this drama covers a lot, this does not mean that the events are rushed through. The director knows when to slow down and dig into the atmosphere (e.g. the meeting of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang). There is no weird delay in pace due to random romantic plot lines, while also not cutting out the female characters because they actually contribute to the plot and have a life outside of romance.
Potential con: As a history buff, I absolutely loved the event-focused, macro-history approach, but I can see how that can be less of an appeal for others. No one from the beginning lived till the very end, so you will have this very weird sense of attachment to a certain kingdom while the reasons you like it might have disappeared long ago (a bit like Theseus' ship). However, this is the appeal of history, and if you are considering watching it, this should be no problem at all!
ACTING/CAST
Acting: I find no problems with the acting at all, like there are some S-tier acting and some A-tier, but there is no bad acting whatsoever. I absolutely loved the casting for Cao Ca and Sima Yi:
This is difficult to explain without providing snippets of the video, but what I liked about Bao Guo'an's Cao Cao was that he was neither shown as a sociopath nor had a villain-downgrade. We see him as a man who was initially loyal to the Han and slowly grew disillusioned with the coalition (hence his poem Hao Li Xing). When Cao Cao massacred cities (no one else in the Three Kingdoms did it on the scale as he did), you don't see a sociopath (a version of 3k I won't name has Cao Cao act nonchalantly or childishly when seeing brutal things) but a human being who chose to go down that path, which is more chilling.
Wei Zongwan's Sima Yi is my favourite portrayal of the character both in the novel and history. Sima Yi is not meant to be a person who is immediately suspicious (e.g. Littlefinger from GoT), he is someone who impeccably served Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Rui, and appointed as the entrusted minister to oversee the succeeding young emperor by Cao Pi and Cao Rui. Loyal Wei ministers like Jiang Ji vouched for Sima Yi until he executed the 3 clans of Cao Shuang. As a result, I love how Wei Zongwan was able to show Sima Yi as a minister when he was around Cao Rui with a face that is 10% appeasing, 50% honest, 20% genuinely concerned, 20% unknown (hard to describe a person's face). He is also a man who constantly has the long vision: when he realised that he was intimidated by a dead Zhuge Liang, you see that split second of shock before he pities Zhuge Liang for trying so hard because he still has the upper hand in the war (instead of, you know, losing your shit and rolling around in bed from a certain 3k adaptation).
Problem with casting: A regret about the drama is that a character will have two or three actors (whether it's because they aged or there's a schedule clash for the original actor), which might influence its consistency. There will be no problem with recognising them because the subtitles will indicate who they are whenever they appear. I personally don't find it as big of a problem because, as a fan familiar with the Three Kingdoms, I can see the different ways that the actors saw in the character. But this can be a problem for someone who is less familiar with the story and cares more about having the same reading of a character.
MUSIC
The songs are beautiful, they are either made up of lines from a poem (e.g. Cao Cao's Short Song Style), or are written by the production team that are clearly fluent in writing in either vernacular or lyrical Classical Chinese depending on what the song is about. The character song for Liu Bei that was playing when he did not abandon the people can function as a poem by itself. It was brilliant.
Zhuge Liang's theme song (guqin cover) was sometimes used as a soundtrack during emotive scenes that showed the dwindling state of Shu (e.g. Zhuge Liang's unsuccessful northern campaigns or Jiang Wei's retreat iirc).
OTHERS
Clothes: Before I fangirl over the historically accurate props that appears, I will first note the historically inaccurate clothing. The clothes for the soldiers and generals are not accurate. The court uniform is semi-accurate: the hats are accurate and it's true that the martial officers wear red and the civil officers wear black, but the civil uniform is not supposed to have red linings or inner-sleeve. But apart from that, it's highly accurate. The costumes the dancing people wore after Cao Mao's death is inspired by this mural they found around the 3 kingdoms period, so yes, as weird as those cone hats look, they are legit.
Props: most of the props that appear are dated from the Warring States to the Han Dynasty, so they are objects that the (rich) people can very well be using. I remember there was that weird incense box that kept appearing that's supposed to be from the Tang Dynasty, but apart from that everything seemed right. The patterns of the tapestries, sword holders and some clothes are patterns archaeologists have dug up around that time. The red and black lacquer wine bowls, bronze palace-girl lamp, bronze insulated soup tub etc. are all artefacts that you can find in museums. My archaeology friend is very pleased with the show in this aspect, so they are surely doing something right?
Screen-writing: absolutely stunning. First they have the titles right (depending on how they addressed each other, you can pick out who is close with whom). Then there is the style that is not in modern Chinese so it is not out of place. Also, the essay written that Cao Cao read at the Bronze Bird Terrace was written by the screen-writer in fill classical Chinese, so kudos to whoever wrote that! Whenever white subtitles pop out in the drama, that is when it's full on Classical Chinese (so that the audience can understand). Notable moments include Zhuge Liang debating with the Wu officials, Qin Mi's discussion with the Wu ambassador, or Zhuge Liang roasting Wang Lang.
OVERALL
It has so much re-watch value, whether it's for the plot, acting, noticing the props etc. There is always something new that I will notice when I rewatch. I gave this a 9.5 overall because I think the problems with the changes in casts is still an issue that doesn't interfere but is there. But apart from that, literally everything else is god-tier and no adaptations will ever come close to this version in every other area.
(This show really does not deserve to be rated so low...)
Storyline: There is no other tv series/film that comes close to this version in terms of providing the most full account of the Three Kingdoms. It begins with the crumbling Eastern Han dynasty and ends with beginning of the Jin Dynasty. As a result, the audience clearly sees why warlords rose up and why the kingdoms fell. This drama will complete your Three Kingdoms fantasy by having the characters appear in person, and it is likely that your favourite historical figure will appear, no matter how little known they are (e.g. Qin Mi, Kan Ze, Liu Ye) because this drama just covers so much with no useless plot.
Pacing: Although this drama covers a lot, this does not mean that the events are rushed through. The director knows when to slow down and dig into the atmosphere (e.g. the meeting of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang). There is no weird delay in pace due to random romantic plot lines, while also not cutting out the female characters because they actually contribute to the plot and have a life outside of romance.
Potential con: As a history buff, I absolutely loved the event-focused, macro-history approach, but I can see how that can be less of an appeal for others. No one from the beginning lived till the very end, so you will have this very weird sense of attachment to a certain kingdom while the reasons you like it might have disappeared long ago (a bit like Theseus' ship). However, this is the appeal of history, and if you are considering watching it, this should be no problem at all!
ACTING/CAST
Acting: I find no problems with the acting at all, like there are some S-tier acting and some A-tier, but there is no bad acting whatsoever. I absolutely loved the casting for Cao Ca and Sima Yi:
This is difficult to explain without providing snippets of the video, but what I liked about Bao Guo'an's Cao Cao was that he was neither shown as a sociopath nor had a villain-downgrade. We see him as a man who was initially loyal to the Han and slowly grew disillusioned with the coalition (hence his poem Hao Li Xing). When Cao Cao massacred cities (no one else in the Three Kingdoms did it on the scale as he did), you don't see a sociopath (a version of 3k I won't name has Cao Cao act nonchalantly or childishly when seeing brutal things) but a human being who chose to go down that path, which is more chilling.
Wei Zongwan's Sima Yi is my favourite portrayal of the character both in the novel and history. Sima Yi is not meant to be a person who is immediately suspicious (e.g. Littlefinger from GoT), he is someone who impeccably served Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Rui, and appointed as the entrusted minister to oversee the succeeding young emperor by Cao Pi and Cao Rui. Loyal Wei ministers like Jiang Ji vouched for Sima Yi until he executed the 3 clans of Cao Shuang. As a result, I love how Wei Zongwan was able to show Sima Yi as a minister when he was around Cao Rui with a face that is 10% appeasing, 50% honest, 20% genuinely concerned, 20% unknown (hard to describe a person's face). He is also a man who constantly has the long vision: when he realised that he was intimidated by a dead Zhuge Liang, you see that split second of shock before he pities Zhuge Liang for trying so hard because he still has the upper hand in the war (instead of, you know, losing your shit and rolling around in bed from a certain 3k adaptation).
Problem with casting: A regret about the drama is that a character will have two or three actors (whether it's because they aged or there's a schedule clash for the original actor), which might influence its consistency. There will be no problem with recognising them because the subtitles will indicate who they are whenever they appear. I personally don't find it as big of a problem because, as a fan familiar with the Three Kingdoms, I can see the different ways that the actors saw in the character. But this can be a problem for someone who is less familiar with the story and cares more about having the same reading of a character.
MUSIC
The songs are beautiful, they are either made up of lines from a poem (e.g. Cao Cao's Short Song Style), or are written by the production team that are clearly fluent in writing in either vernacular or lyrical Classical Chinese depending on what the song is about. The character song for Liu Bei that was playing when he did not abandon the people can function as a poem by itself. It was brilliant.
Zhuge Liang's theme song (guqin cover) was sometimes used as a soundtrack during emotive scenes that showed the dwindling state of Shu (e.g. Zhuge Liang's unsuccessful northern campaigns or Jiang Wei's retreat iirc).
OTHERS
Clothes: Before I fangirl over the historically accurate props that appears, I will first note the historically inaccurate clothing. The clothes for the soldiers and generals are not accurate. The court uniform is semi-accurate: the hats are accurate and it's true that the martial officers wear red and the civil officers wear black, but the civil uniform is not supposed to have red linings or inner-sleeve. But apart from that, it's highly accurate. The costumes the dancing people wore after Cao Mao's death is inspired by this mural they found around the 3 kingdoms period, so yes, as weird as those cone hats look, they are legit.
Props: most of the props that appear are dated from the Warring States to the Han Dynasty, so they are objects that the (rich) people can very well be using. I remember there was that weird incense box that kept appearing that's supposed to be from the Tang Dynasty, but apart from that everything seemed right. The patterns of the tapestries, sword holders and some clothes are patterns archaeologists have dug up around that time. The red and black lacquer wine bowls, bronze palace-girl lamp, bronze insulated soup tub etc. are all artefacts that you can find in museums. My archaeology friend is very pleased with the show in this aspect, so they are surely doing something right?
Screen-writing: absolutely stunning. First they have the titles right (depending on how they addressed each other, you can pick out who is close with whom). Then there is the style that is not in modern Chinese so it is not out of place. Also, the essay written that Cao Cao read at the Bronze Bird Terrace was written by the screen-writer in fill classical Chinese, so kudos to whoever wrote that! Whenever white subtitles pop out in the drama, that is when it's full on Classical Chinese (so that the audience can understand). Notable moments include Zhuge Liang debating with the Wu officials, Qin Mi's discussion with the Wu ambassador, or Zhuge Liang roasting Wang Lang.
OVERALL
It has so much re-watch value, whether it's for the plot, acting, noticing the props etc. There is always something new that I will notice when I rewatch. I gave this a 9.5 overall because I think the problems with the changes in casts is still an issue that doesn't interfere but is there. But apart from that, literally everything else is god-tier and no adaptations will ever come close to this version in every other area.
(This show really does not deserve to be rated so low...)
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