beatriz
over the rainbow
Charming historical drama
Let me start off by saying I wasn't planning on watching this drama. From the main leads I had only watched Love in the Moonlight, which I didn't really like, and Abyss, which is the bane of my existence and that I dropped after five episodes. I wasn't excited for it when it was announced nor did I pay attention to people commenting about it on Twitter. But fours days ago I was going through mydramalist's currently most popular shows and I FELT like watching it... out of nowhere! When that happens I usually end up loving the show so I just followed my heart and watched it. And I have to say that this is a great show overall. It's charming, interesting, different from other historical shows out there. However, there are also some elements that don't allow me to give it a higher rating. While watching it, I wrote down many of the positive or negative aspects about the show, in my opinion, so I'll share those now! This section might include spoilers (but to be honest... the first episode is one big spoiler for the rest of the story already so... it's not too serious haha)
Things I loved about this drama:
1) The structure!! The way the story was told was very different from other shows. Like I mentioned before, the first episode lets the viewer see all the details of what happened in the past, while it keeps characters in the darkness until the last few episodes! Sometimes it was a bit challenging to follow who knew what informations but overall I think it was a super refreshing way of telling a story.
2) One of the most charming parts of the plot was the blindness aspect. That factor was used well throughout most of the show and connected the storyline between the two characters very well.
3) I loooooved the fact that the male lead isn’t a king or a prince and his main ambition or goal isn’t the throne!! He has so many goals to fulfill other than the romantic pairing: get revenge for his family and himself and get rid of ma wang’s possession.
4) The female lead is strong but has flaws, which makes her likeable.
5) Good acting that isn’t over the top or too dramatic. Very touching acting from everyone in the cast. Couldn't have been cast better!
6) Phenomenal chemistry between the two leads even though they didn’t share too much screentime in the first half of the show- the story was built according to the time it needed and it wasn’t overwhelmingly fast paced nor too slow it became boring. Perfect pace and perfect relationship pace according to the circumstances, in my personal opinion.
7) All the (main) characters have clear ambitions and those ambitions make sense for everyone! They’re not just caricatures but complete human beings with a background story and actual feelings, whether they’re good or evil.
8) Good fantasy elements that added to the show and made it stand out from other historical shows. It’s sooooo cool! I love the fantastical characters. Great cgi too.
9) It was funny when it had to be, heartbreaking when it had to be. Great balance.
10) It is a political drama but the plot matches the fantasy elements nicely and it’s not just boring ministers fighting for the throne.
11) Amazing ost. Baekhyun. No need to say more.
12) The love triangle is here for a reason! It wasn't toxic and there were no forced feelings from anyone. Really good.
13) I love that in episode 9 we got another summary of what happened with the demon as the king was telling the third prince about it. I thought it was nice to refresh the viewer's memory and to explain once again the fantasy elements.
14) OUR MALE LEAD IS SOOOO DREAMY!! THE EYE COLOR SUITS HIM SO WELL. He portrays deep emotions very well.
15) I also appreciated the fact that the male lead isn’t a goodie goodie. He’s looking for REVENGE!! He is a good person who (and to be completely fair, rightly so) feels very wronged and can't deal with that.
16) Really pretty cinematography and camera angles.
17) I LOVE THE VILLAIN SOOOO MUCH!!! The acting was phenomenal.
Now, the things that took out one star for me:
1) Sometimes it looked like the male lead's eyes don’t look like he’s blind. They seem to follow the female lead movements as if he could see... Maybe I’m being ignorant but I thought blind people had more unfocused eyes? But sometimes he does it more realistically… I'm not sure, maybe he’s just used to following the voices? Oh well, it took me out of the story sometimes.
2) Why does it have to be the dead king’s portrait and not the current one? Was it because the portrait wasn’t completely burned??? It was a bit confusing.
3) Very weak finale. It wasn't very impactful, there was a weird use of the blindness for just a minute and then it was dropped, and don't get me started on the weird plot with the second prince like????WTF was that????? Way too rushed!!! It's so weird how the last episode was structured... Worst episode of the whole show.
I hope my review makes sense. I'm writing this on three hours of sleep.
I did love this drama but I agree that there is a lot of wasted potential.
BY THE WAY
A very important advice: you should binge watch this show. I’ve noticed that a lot of people who suddenly stopped enjoying this show was because they were watching it from the beginning and waiting each week. The story is complex so to not miss out on details you should watch it in one go, like I did.
Things I loved about this drama:
1) The structure!! The way the story was told was very different from other shows. Like I mentioned before, the first episode lets the viewer see all the details of what happened in the past, while it keeps characters in the darkness until the last few episodes! Sometimes it was a bit challenging to follow who knew what informations but overall I think it was a super refreshing way of telling a story.
2) One of the most charming parts of the plot was the blindness aspect. That factor was used well throughout most of the show and connected the storyline between the two characters very well.
3) I loooooved the fact that the male lead isn’t a king or a prince and his main ambition or goal isn’t the throne!! He has so many goals to fulfill other than the romantic pairing: get revenge for his family and himself and get rid of ma wang’s possession.
4) The female lead is strong but has flaws, which makes her likeable.
5) Good acting that isn’t over the top or too dramatic. Very touching acting from everyone in the cast. Couldn't have been cast better!
6) Phenomenal chemistry between the two leads even though they didn’t share too much screentime in the first half of the show- the story was built according to the time it needed and it wasn’t overwhelmingly fast paced nor too slow it became boring. Perfect pace and perfect relationship pace according to the circumstances, in my personal opinion.
7) All the (main) characters have clear ambitions and those ambitions make sense for everyone! They’re not just caricatures but complete human beings with a background story and actual feelings, whether they’re good or evil.
8) Good fantasy elements that added to the show and made it stand out from other historical shows. It’s sooooo cool! I love the fantastical characters. Great cgi too.
9) It was funny when it had to be, heartbreaking when it had to be. Great balance.
10) It is a political drama but the plot matches the fantasy elements nicely and it’s not just boring ministers fighting for the throne.
11) Amazing ost. Baekhyun. No need to say more.
12) The love triangle is here for a reason! It wasn't toxic and there were no forced feelings from anyone. Really good.
13) I love that in episode 9 we got another summary of what happened with the demon as the king was telling the third prince about it. I thought it was nice to refresh the viewer's memory and to explain once again the fantasy elements.
14) OUR MALE LEAD IS SOOOO DREAMY!! THE EYE COLOR SUITS HIM SO WELL. He portrays deep emotions very well.
15) I also appreciated the fact that the male lead isn’t a goodie goodie. He’s looking for REVENGE!! He is a good person who (and to be completely fair, rightly so) feels very wronged and can't deal with that.
16) Really pretty cinematography and camera angles.
17) I LOVE THE VILLAIN SOOOO MUCH!!! The acting was phenomenal.
Now, the things that took out one star for me:
1) Sometimes it looked like the male lead's eyes don’t look like he’s blind. They seem to follow the female lead movements as if he could see... Maybe I’m being ignorant but I thought blind people had more unfocused eyes? But sometimes he does it more realistically… I'm not sure, maybe he’s just used to following the voices? Oh well, it took me out of the story sometimes.
2) Why does it have to be the dead king’s portrait and not the current one? Was it because the portrait wasn’t completely burned??? It was a bit confusing.
3) Very weak finale. It wasn't very impactful, there was a weird use of the blindness for just a minute and then it was dropped, and don't get me started on the weird plot with the second prince like????WTF was that????? Way too rushed!!! It's so weird how the last episode was structured... Worst episode of the whole show.
I hope my review makes sense. I'm writing this on three hours of sleep.
I did love this drama but I agree that there is a lot of wasted potential.
BY THE WAY
A very important advice: you should binge watch this show. I’ve noticed that a lot of people who suddenly stopped enjoying this show was because they were watching it from the beginning and waiting each week. The story is complex so to not miss out on details you should watch it in one go, like I did.
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