Velvetpeaches
What a bittersweet drama. I’ve never had such mixed feelings about a Chinese Historical drama before. It’s either I like it or I don’t like it. There’s no in-between. But for some reason, this one is the first where I really don’t know how to really feel.
Reasons to watch:
THE BROMANCE is strong between the Emperor and Sima Yi. With so much dreary, backstabbing, & gloomy palace politics going on, it’s so refreshing to have them both bring joy to the screen when we need a break from all the serious stuff. Like seriously, it’s soooo cute how they interact with one another! (P.S. This is the first drama where “consummation” is so openly mentioned multiple times between two characters. And it was hilarious!)
ELVIS HAN. Wonderful actor! He played Sima Yi as if he was Sima Yi. He literally was the savior of this show. Most of the times, characters tend to be one-dimensional. They’re either intelligent/good or manipulative/evil. But Sima Yi was intelligent and manipulative as hell. He was the wild card where you never knew what move he was going to pull next. HE KEPT THE SHOW GOING. I seriously don’t know how many times I almost quit on this drama but kept going because of Elvis Han’s portrayal of Sima Yi. His love story was refreshing as well! Much more interesting than the Empress and Emporer imo.
CAO CAO. I know this sounds crazy but he’s literally the perfect villain. He doesn’t show up until the latter half of the story but that’s what makes it work so well. You hear about his cruelty and his ruthlessness but you can’t put a face on it till later. Empresses and commoners literally all shake in fear at his name. And when you do finally meet him, it’s like facing Thanos from Avengers. Every time Cao Cao was on screen, it felt like the world was on a ledge and all it needed was his push to fall and crumble. He’s literally the epitome of what and how a villain should be written and portrayed!
CAO PI. A tragic character that happens to be one of my favorite. The actor did such a great job on honing this character and launching it into the tragedy it became. He was a joy to witness on screen. Especially early on when he was still just an innocent, young, and pretty boy. I looked forward most to his scenes actually. The actor really draws you in on who and how Cao Pi came to be.
However the cons of this drama are:
1) TOO MANY CHARACTERS INTRODUCED AT ONCE. I’ve lost track on who was who so many times. The politics got messy and so did the writing, it made me confused at times on what was going on. I began to lose interest and was only looking forward to my fav characters to pop up on screen. That’s never a good sign.
2) SLOW-PACED. The first 20 episodes were agonizing as the emporer kept committing the same mistakes just to get yelled at again and again over the same things. It was like running in a circle. A cycle of stupidity. Which means that there was no character growth from him. It got very annoying at various points that I almost stopped watching.
3) BORING. Most of the court politics were boring. Each problematic arc was extremely dreary most of the time. Maybe one or two situations really drew me in. But there was never really a shocking moment that was done well. The tension wasn’t built well enough that when the truth came out, it was kinda like “Eh, ok.” I never really received the “OMG” moment in full. The only time I felt that way was when one of the female character’s true identity was revealed and I didn’t see it coming.
4) CHARACTER USAGE. Sometimes characters are introduced and forgotten. And then they pop up later and you’re like “I forgot you existed.” I don’t know why you would put a character into a story just to throw them in the background. I feel like there was so much potential for growth for all the people in this story and at times, it was wasted.
OVERALL:
The most beautiful moments of this drama were the funny and light-hearted scenes. Every time I wanted to quit watching because of the boring court politics, one of these silly scenes would come on and pull at my heart-strings. Then I’d be like “IM BACK IN THE GAME!” It seriously contains some of the sweetest yet heart-wrenching scenes ever. I love how many of the characters in this story are super witty, smart, and intelligent. Many of the good guys AND the bad guys see through everything and no one is dumbed-down just to keep the mystery going. That’s sometimes rare in these kind of drama to see the bad guys prevail or to see them on par with the good guys in terms of intellegience. BUT this drama does have many things it could’ve worked on like pace & story-telling, in general. It drove me away and pulled me back many times so I guess it’s worth the watch.
PSS. The romance factor really pops in this. There’s no shy, maiden-like love. Characters who are in love, plunge into it completely. No hiding or acting shy from it. They legitimately express their love openly and willingly. No one fights their feelings. The kisses are as real as it can get. No fake flat lip to lip. Expect some tongue action in here. (:
The ENDING: ended like how it should have. You have to remember this is based on historical truths. It was bittersweet but it honored the reality in which these people existed in.
Overall Grade: C++
Reasons to watch:
THE BROMANCE is strong between the Emperor and Sima Yi. With so much dreary, backstabbing, & gloomy palace politics going on, it’s so refreshing to have them both bring joy to the screen when we need a break from all the serious stuff. Like seriously, it’s soooo cute how they interact with one another! (P.S. This is the first drama where “consummation” is so openly mentioned multiple times between two characters. And it was hilarious!)
ELVIS HAN. Wonderful actor! He played Sima Yi as if he was Sima Yi. He literally was the savior of this show. Most of the times, characters tend to be one-dimensional. They’re either intelligent/good or manipulative/evil. But Sima Yi was intelligent and manipulative as hell. He was the wild card where you never knew what move he was going to pull next. HE KEPT THE SHOW GOING. I seriously don’t know how many times I almost quit on this drama but kept going because of Elvis Han’s portrayal of Sima Yi. His love story was refreshing as well! Much more interesting than the Empress and Emporer imo.
CAO CAO. I know this sounds crazy but he’s literally the perfect villain. He doesn’t show up until the latter half of the story but that’s what makes it work so well. You hear about his cruelty and his ruthlessness but you can’t put a face on it till later. Empresses and commoners literally all shake in fear at his name. And when you do finally meet him, it’s like facing Thanos from Avengers. Every time Cao Cao was on screen, it felt like the world was on a ledge and all it needed was his push to fall and crumble. He’s literally the epitome of what and how a villain should be written and portrayed!
CAO PI. A tragic character that happens to be one of my favorite. The actor did such a great job on honing this character and launching it into the tragedy it became. He was a joy to witness on screen. Especially early on when he was still just an innocent, young, and pretty boy. I looked forward most to his scenes actually. The actor really draws you in on who and how Cao Pi came to be.
However the cons of this drama are:
1) TOO MANY CHARACTERS INTRODUCED AT ONCE. I’ve lost track on who was who so many times. The politics got messy and so did the writing, it made me confused at times on what was going on. I began to lose interest and was only looking forward to my fav characters to pop up on screen. That’s never a good sign.
2) SLOW-PACED. The first 20 episodes were agonizing as the emporer kept committing the same mistakes just to get yelled at again and again over the same things. It was like running in a circle. A cycle of stupidity. Which means that there was no character growth from him. It got very annoying at various points that I almost stopped watching.
3) BORING. Most of the court politics were boring. Each problematic arc was extremely dreary most of the time. Maybe one or two situations really drew me in. But there was never really a shocking moment that was done well. The tension wasn’t built well enough that when the truth came out, it was kinda like “Eh, ok.” I never really received the “OMG” moment in full. The only time I felt that way was when one of the female character’s true identity was revealed and I didn’t see it coming.
4) CHARACTER USAGE. Sometimes characters are introduced and forgotten. And then they pop up later and you’re like “I forgot you existed.” I don’t know why you would put a character into a story just to throw them in the background. I feel like there was so much potential for growth for all the people in this story and at times, it was wasted.
OVERALL:
The most beautiful moments of this drama were the funny and light-hearted scenes. Every time I wanted to quit watching because of the boring court politics, one of these silly scenes would come on and pull at my heart-strings. Then I’d be like “IM BACK IN THE GAME!” It seriously contains some of the sweetest yet heart-wrenching scenes ever. I love how many of the characters in this story are super witty, smart, and intelligent. Many of the good guys AND the bad guys see through everything and no one is dumbed-down just to keep the mystery going. That’s sometimes rare in these kind of drama to see the bad guys prevail or to see them on par with the good guys in terms of intellegience. BUT this drama does have many things it could’ve worked on like pace & story-telling, in general. It drove me away and pulled me back many times so I guess it’s worth the watch.
PSS. The romance factor really pops in this. There’s no shy, maiden-like love. Characters who are in love, plunge into it completely. No hiding or acting shy from it. They legitimately express their love openly and willingly. No one fights their feelings. The kisses are as real as it can get. No fake flat lip to lip. Expect some tongue action in here. (:
The ENDING: ended like how it should have. You have to remember this is based on historical truths. It was bittersweet but it honored the reality in which these people existed in.
Overall Grade: C++
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