hollijolli
Lovely little drama. Not as good as it could be, but worth a watch.
~PROS~Production:
Colour grading, scene composition, lighting, music, set design are all pretty great. Adds a lot of richness and atmosphere to the drama and each scene. The entire OST is beautiful.
Costumes/Styling:
Main characters have a variety of outfits, and there's different levels of wealth/class level being communicated through the costumes among the cast. In later scenes in the capital some of the fabrics and textures look great, robes look HEAVY and layered. Liu Xue Yi's styling in particular is outstanding in this drama, really works to highlight his best features and he looks true to his character's reputation of being particularly handsome.
Story:
The story has an interesting premise, isn't overly complicated, and focused from start to finish. It's not a literary masterpiece, but nothing meandering or offensive here. Pacing is also generally consistent all the way to the end, doesn't seem super rushed and crammed like some other dramas in recent years.
~CONS~
Fight Scenes:
Choreography of the fights aren't bad, but it feels like the director isn't experienced in filming them. There are instances where you can see the actors moving a bit slow and you become very aware they're going through a planned choreography, which took me out of the scenes sometimes, as someone who likes wuxia dramas.
Ju Jing Yi's acting:
Let me preface this by saying I'm completely unfamiliar with her and her acting prior to this drama and have nothing personal against her, but this section is lengthy because her role is extremely important on multiple levels for this drama. JJY's acting in this drama is just okay/passable for me. She goes through all the motions the script demands of her, and displays all the appropriate emotions, but I think this role is a bit out of her depth. I do not see Yang Cai Wei in her. I'm often aware that it's "JJY acting like Yang Cai Wei" instead of "Yang Cai Wei in the body of Shangguan Zhi". Any resemblance to YCW in her acting are from superficial things (such as saying things YCW would say or displaying YCW's deduction skills), she doesn't have any of YCW's body language or facial expressions, nothing that makes her FEEL like YCW, that this is a character who's carrying a complex past and resulting mental burden. I've had to remind myself many times that this person is supposed to be YCW and not a completely new character. It's no surprise that there are so many jokes about Pan Yue "cheating", because it does feel like that sometimes, especially when the chemistry between post-swap PY and YCW is also very different. The dubbing voice actress remained the same for both versions of YCW throughout the drama but even that didn't help convince me that JJY was actually YCW. She's not a deal breaker, but her lack of ability does drag the drama down compared to if they'd casted an actress with more acting ability. And while I liked seeing the main couple together for plot/ship reasons, on a technical level Liu Xue Yi and Ju Jing Yi's scenes together lacked texture and flow compared to LXY's scenes with some of the other actors (his father, SGZ's brother, original YCW). The gap between their levels of acting ability and commitment is very obvious sometimes, to the point where I have to applaud LXY for doing the extra lifting in some scenes of them together.
~OVERALL~
As a whole, I actually really enjoyed this drama. I've had to suspend my disbelief a little bit when it came to JJY's YCW (remind myself that it's really YCW in the story's universe regardless of what I'm getting from the actress in reality), but I can only do so because I find the drama generally very charming and I wanted to continue and see PY and YCW get together like they deserve. The main couple is very sweet and their affection for each other is steadfast and reliable despite the initial mutual suspicions (understandable). There's a lot of things this production does well, and I admire the team for spending time and effort into things that really matter to make this production feel more expensive than it is. If they make a second season I'll definitely watch it!
Was this review helpful to you?
Very good, but also a lot of missed potential
I will go straight into the parts that I felt detracted from this drama since other reviews have said plenty about the pros such as acting, characterization, music etc.-Cons-
Weird camera work:
There is an overuse of extreme closeups to characters' faces and characters speaking or looking directly into the camera. This technique is usually used for emphatic moments and stylistic storytelling, but because it's being used everywhere, it undermines the dramaticism of the moments that actually uses it well. Or else it feels like it's trying too hard to make suspense happen even when it doesn't feel organic in that moment.
Plot/logic holes:
The FL is quite smart and capable, but also things go her way a little TOO well. Everything is, or is set up to be, in her favour, even uncontrollable and highly variable elements (like human nature or... life happening). Her enemies are supposed to be smart cunning individuals, but it seems while she grows stronger with every victory, the villains never grow to keep up and will keep bashing their heads on the wall hoping to succeed where they've failed before. And even when they DO seem to have an upper hand they're always quickly brought back to just a step below her, because apparently fate just doesn't want them to win, or something. This is a glaring issue for me because there are plenty of moments where the FL's success is fully earned by her abilities so these handwaving moments on the writers' part is obvious and irritating.
Inclusion of overused C-drama tropes:
Cue the classic "FL laughing and twirling in the rain while ML falls in love with her", or "ML watches calmly, with zero expression, as the blade pass over him by a hair" (used at least once in every fight scene and breaks tension every time), or "FL and ML have a slow-mo romantic moment while physically in the middle of a major conflict and somehow everyone around them, friends and foes alike, just stares at them like the NPCs they are and let them have it". There's also a downright bizarre moment in one of the episodes where the shows turns into a magical CG-filled Xianxia for 10 minutes because I guess there was really no other way to show how OP the FL was? I was speechless.
Trying to bite off more than it can chew:
Without any spoilers, I think it became WAY too ambitious near the end, as if they suddenly realized they haven't had enough of the universe and was scrambling to fit literally everything under the sun into its last moments. Messed up the pacing, even kind of messed up the focus of the plot due to how certain characters' story arcs resolved [spoilers].
FL and ML don't fully mesh well:
This one is very subjective, so only speaking for myself here. The actors are very good at their roles and have done everything right, but I could never fully invest in them as much as I tried. I think the reason might be that the FL's actress, Wu Jinyan, just inherently exudes a more mature air than the ML's actor Wang Xingyue. I do not get the same feeling when the FL is in scenes with her ex-husband, who are much closer together in age to each other in real life. I do not care about age differences when it's between two consenting adults, but that doesn't mean I don't see differences in maturity or mindset in couples that have them, and it isn't inherently bad, only that I prefer very well-meshed chemistry in my fictional romances so this isn't my preferred vibe.
-Overall-
I think this drama had the potential to be among the greats of costume c-dramas, but there are many small things that adds up to hold itself back from its full potential. My overall impression of these fumbles is that the team could not fully commit to whatever ambitious vision they had and took a short cut by including things that were "audience pleasers" when it wasn't necessary at all, and instead undermined itself.
I highly recommend this drama If you're looking for a revenge power fantasy. The FL is capable, and where she falls short the plot will bend itself to her will, so there's an infallible sense of reassurance that everything will be alright. But if you're looking for a drama that will stand up to scrutiny, then it's best to keep your expectations in check.
Was this review helpful to you?
Not deep, just a good time.
This is a very enjoyable series if you're looking to turn your brain off and just have a good time, and I mean this in a positive way. I honestly enjoyed it a lot just vibing along and not taking the plot too seriously.In terms of technical things like story/cinematography/script/editing/etc. it's extremely average (not terrible, I've definitely seen worse). If you're in here expecting something fresh or groundbreaking, you will be disappointed.
For me the enjoyment comes mainly from the 3 main characters (Yan Dan, Ying Yuan, Yu Mo). All 3 roles were well acted, I didn't find their characters annoying (yes, Yang Zi has played very similar roles before, but honestly she's quite good at it), and their interactions with each other are super fun to watch, especially when they are in the human realm and all kinds of shenanigans are happening. Even though both men are in love with the same woman they don't let that get in the way of working together or make things difficult for the FL. The FL also doesn't cause unnecessary drama that break up their 3-person team. It's clear by the end of the drama that their camaraderie is a core part of the drama that the writing team purposely kept intact to the very end.
As for the romance, the main romance (Ying Yuan and Yan Dan) is nothing to write home about story-wise, but very enjoyable because the actors are charismatic and good at what they do, and they look great doing it. I highly recommend fans of Yang Zi and/or Cheng Yi watch this because they're just a joy to watch (especially fans of Cheng Yi because it's fascinating seeing him play 3 characters in one show).
Was this review helpful to you?
Some people were disappointed by the ending, but in my opinion it was very fitting. It was obvious what road XS was going take as the show reminds us repeatedly what kind of person he looked up to and what he had always wanted to do with his life. I feel like if he'd chosen differently it would've gone against the entire spirit of the show.
Was this review helpful to you?
But the FL made me drop it. Her characterization makes no sense - grew up in the palace but doesn't know the bare minimum of palace etiquette. She is literally RUDE but somehow the king just lets her get away with it because ??reason?? even very early on and when they're barely acquainted. She's supposed to be the best candidate for king's bodyguard position but has no brains for it at all and also physically doesn't carry herself like one. They could've just cut her role and have the FL be the 2nd FL who is clever and cunning and have her go head to head with the king.
Acting wise I think they were all pretty good, but no matter how good Zhang Yuxi is her acting cannot change characterization. Cheng Yi, as usual shows emotions very well, but he cannot make his character's interaction with the FL make sense.
Overall I still gave the show a 5/10 because I can see a lot of potential in there, but sacrificing logic to make romance happen in a drama is one of my top peeves and I cannot continue watching.
Was this review helpful to you?
