The Rise of Phoenixes has an intriguing plot and an excellent cast. After watching a few epic dramas produced recently in China, I am beginning to feel that the endings often take on a Japanese style - always sad or tragic. I am starting to associate Chinese dramas with depressive endings. This story could have ended with the hero marrying his love, but the script writer/director chose not to. The overall setting is a little towards the old school of Chinese dramas.

I always suspect that dramas reflect the prevailing sentiments of a country. There is always this pessimistic view that nothing ends in perfection and there is no fairy tale with the ending 'they live happily ever after'. Japanese lived through the tragedy of the atomic bomb and WWII, while the Chinese lived through a century of political upheaval and hardship. Perhaps unhappy endings in romance are common in real life but most people move on after a setback, and we watch dramas for entertainment. A sad ending leaves a bad taste, otherwise I would have given it a overall 10 rating.

The theme songs did not impress initially but I grew to like them. There were little background music in most part of the drama, unlike Ashes of Love which was heavily dramatized by background music. I got to like Chen Kun as the story develops - initially I thought his acting was too pretentious to convince his opponents.

The were some small details which made it laughable. When asked for a token of verification, Zhiwei gave Ningyi a bracelet which she said was given to her when she moved into the Qiu's residence - she was a little girl then, but the bracelet was huge - should have used a pendant.

If I ever edit this story, I would opt for the heroine leaving with Helian and her former dynasty followers, and Ningyi eventually marrying someone deserving to be his empress and without the emotional baggage, for example, Yao's daughter who seems to be a bright and morally upright girl from one of the episodes. Especially since his father is still alive, he could have chosen someone for him. They could then both lead happy separate lives but every now and then, they would retrieve a gift from the other and think of each other, and their spouses would watch on tolerantly but a little unhappily. They could send gifts and congratulatory notes when they each produce an heir to the throne. To have Zhiwei committing suicide was ridiculous as she had so much fighting spirit in her - completely inconsistent with her character.

Chinese dramas like to propagate the belief that people at the top (emperor) lead lonely lives, which is not always true. The emperor made his life into a lonely one.

Chinese dramas really need to work on stronger endings (the Chinese saying: a tiger's head but a snake's tail). Of course, they are still better than many American TV series which do not seem to have proper endings - they just end when the viewership decline. On this note, Chinese dramas are doing much better.

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An excellent production in every measure: the plot, acting, good looking cast, cinematography, music, costume. I had watched some of the mega newer Chinese dramas like Ten mile peach blossom, Fu Yao and Ashes of love. When I initially saw that the rating of this drama was higher than the former three, I could not believe it. The former three are already so good, how is it possible to beat that. Now that i have completed watching it, i am very impressed. Every episode keeps you captivated and is of very high standard with no slackening throughout the series. There are only two elements I don't like about this drama. The sad ending is depressing. It made me cry and i am not one who cries easily . The explanation of the hero's illness and the difference with his deputy's situation is somewhat ridiculous. For these, I rated the story 8.5, otherwise it would be 10. While i would re-watch Ten mile and Fu Yao, i probably won't rewatch this as the ending is too much of an emotional roller coaster for me. But i have to say this again, it is an impressive production.

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Living up to the expectations set by a highly sucessful first series is a big challenge. This sequel did well. However, I am still emotionally attached to the first series. But by itself, this sequel deserves all the thumbs up.

The writer did very well with stirring up emotions in both series. Her literary poetic style is very appealing.

However to nitpick: imaginative medical and toxicological conditions take the shine away and made the script sound like children fairy tale - need something more realistic for future stories. Generally I do not like the old school Chinese music style of loud coarse and harsh tone - the second ending theme song would be perfect if that part can be smoothened over. Also the dances look awkward, not sure how much really reflect the style of that age.

The romance between Lin Xi and Pingjing paled in comparison to the tragic setting of Lin Shu and Nihuang, and the strong emotional display by Hu Ge and Liu Tao. But the happy ending is great.

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