10/01/2023

I went into this after watching a number of other good CDramas with little expectations except that I didn't feel Lu Wei was right for the role and that perhaps someone else should have been chosen.

I thought he wasn't good looking enough, too scrawny and not old enough to pull off such a strong character like Ashile Sun and I knew nothing about Ashile Sun other than that he was like a nomad or warrior from the grasslands.

And I am not the only one that saw it this way from other reviews I have read on different platforms, but at least there aren't many.

Glad to say I was proven wrong!

Dilraba was okay, but unfortunately I didn't take to her at all.

The story, more or less, is about how a demoted Tang Princess set on vengeance ends up saving the Tang Dynasty from falling into enemy hands as overtime she comes to realise there is far more at stake than just her own personal vendetta.

The outro song eventually grew on me as did the music throughout each episode.

I enjoyed all of the males in it and the youngest princess, but I really liked the characters of Mu Jin, Yaro, Ashile Sun, Sher and Hao Du.

I have probably watched this 3 times back to back so it is most definitely likeable and re-watchable. There is not really one episode that is boring and the pace is just right!

From episode one it is exciting with the horse chase scene on to the bridge from the very start and that phenomenal Cuju game between the Tang and Ashile players.

In episode 5 we have a bit of a laugh when Ashile Sun discovers Channge isn't a male and is slapped hard even though he is blind folded.

And in episodes 15 and 16 it is a pivotal moment when Channge learns a certain home truth about Ashile Sun.

One of the best scenes I have ever watched in any movie or series comes at the end of episodes 24 and start of episode 25.

If you want to see real acting at its best I'd highly recommend watching the above.

In comparison to Lu Wei's character in Love Like The Galaxy (Ling Buyi), in the "uncle massacre scene", Ashile Sun wins hands down when it comes to "losing the plot." He is far superior!

Not sure why Lu Wei didn't do the same justice for LLTG although it wasn't a complete mess.

What else?

I appreciated that Ashile Sun was more honest and direct which is what I like in a person just in general so I found his character had more depth than Ling Buyi did in LLTG. Ashile Sun saw the bigger picture whereas Ling Buyi was all about vengeance no matter what the cost!

And whoever filmed some of the scenes in The Long Ballad should be given an award because some of the angles and shots were spectacular to a fault like the fight scenes and that Cuju game.

Some excellent filming - my kind of filming!

I know there are some that didn't take to TLB because it lacked romance, but to me that was an added bonus because the story was what I was in it for not a drawn out cliched triad situation or love between a couple that takes 59 episodes to manifest in full.

There is definitely love scenarios in this, but it isn't suffocating like it is in some CDramas. Yes!!!

That aside it is indeed a well told story that isn't too light or depressingly heavy and each episode has something going on.

I'd highly recommend this series for the story and a well told story at that where you will be drawn in by most, if not all, the characters and like each and every one of them!

This will probably remain in my top 5-10 for life!