The drama begins with a female student being granted the opportunity to study at the Imperial College at at time when women are considered inferior to men. Just when you expect this story to be about a lady paving the way for women’s education, the focus shifts to an unrequited love and a murder case with links to a spying and smuggling network. Hence, just be aware that the plot may not be what you would have expected given the title.

The drama starts off being light that is typical of rom-coms. But that rom-com flavor starts to fade as the drama progresses. It just gives me the feeling that the production team is trying too hard to make it both comedic and serious that it ends up being short on both ends. There are super annoying characters that overshadow the fun bits and framing innocent people become standard operating procedure for the villain. In short, the whole story is not well-executed and together with the tropes, the drama becomes uninspiring to watch.

A Teacher-Student Romance
The plot of A Female Student Arrives At The Imperial College involves a girl who falls in love with her late brother’s best friend. And that man also happens to be the Deputy Chief of the college and her teacher. He woos her and even fights with another student for her affections. I think this is why I can’t really get into this story because it is simply weird for a teacher to have romantic ideas with a student. Moreover, he is portrayed to be a noble and virtuous man that seem inconsistent with such behavior. Well, if you don’t mind the way this romance is written, then you will definitely like this couple more than me.

The second male lead is there to complicate the main couple’s romance. A lot of screen time is spent on Wen Yuan’s jealousy. It is really a case of refusing to take no for an answer to the point that it becomes highly annoying to the viewer. Add in the supporting female characters who also refuse to let go of the male lead and you will have more annoyance to contend with. Basically, this is where the plot goes together with the criminal activities that the male lead is trying to get to the bottom of.

Repeated Plot Twist (Spoilers Alert!)
The second male lead is the villain whom the main couple needs to take down. So, viewers will be shown that Wen Yuan has the upper hand in one episode before being brought back down to earth in the next with Sang Qi and Yun Zhi’s plotting. The lovers will play pretend to trick Wen Yuan.

This plot twist is repeated with another pretense towards the end of the drama. So, Wen Yuan is tricked twice using more or less the same modus operandi. To the viewer, this would seem a lazy way of writing a story. It becomes predictable and the drama ends up offering no surprises.

Not A Matching Pair
Personally, I don’t find Rosy Zhao and Xu Kai Cheng to be a great on-screen couple. Their visuals don’t match and the chemistry is lacking. In the initial episodes, they bicker quite a lot but I cannot see the sparks despite the quarrelsome interactions. When they start to date, some of their romantic moments just fail to emit the required fluff. This is so unlike the couple in One And Only whereby you can immediately sense their yearning despite being reserved.

Of course, you might have a different view about their chemistry especially if you enjoy Rosy Zhao’s acting. She is a natural here as this type of young, spunky and brash character is nothing new to her. She did it in The Romance Of Tiger And Rose and again in the modern dramas, Please Feel At Ease Mr Ling and Dating In The Kitchen. You can say she is being stereotyped but she is also at the right age for this kind of roles. So, it is easy for her to look and act that part. For me, I would like to see her in more challenging roles given her talent and I liked her performance in The Long Ballad which is different from her usual characters.

As for Xu Kai Cheng, I think his character has been overshadowed by Ren Hao’s Wen Yuan. Although Wen Yuan is highly irritating to the viewer, it just reflects the ability of the actor to bring out the essence of the character. He manages to give Wen Yuan an evil and creepy feeling of an obsessed young man.

My Verdict – Skip It
A Female Student Arrives At The Imperial College is certainly not a great drama. Some people even see the female character as being dumb. While I don’t consider it that way, I also don’t see Sang Qi as a character that really stands out. So, if you like matured and intelligent female characters, you are better off watching Jun Jiu Ling or Song Of Youth. Sang Qi is more on the immature side given her age and pampered upbringing.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with a young character who is free-spirited and unconventional if done right. But the drama is a letdown to me because the story concentrates too much on the unrequited love portion when it could have developed the criminal and investigate part better like in The Imperial Coroner. As it is, those parts are simplistic that it lacks suspense. At the same time, the main couple doesn’t possess that alluring sweetness needed for a good romance drama unlike Maiden Holmes which manage to balance crime and romance rather well with a matching pair.

For this A Female Student Arrives At The Imperial College review, I would give it a score of 6.5/10. I think it is skippable with its average plot and weak storytelling. You can watch it if you don’t mind a teacher-student romance. But you should skip it if you absolutely hate annoying love rivals who can’t take rejection. This is not a drama that will make you hungry for more but rather one that you would be glad you are done watching once it is over.