The Rise of Phoenixes (2018)

A long palace drama with a sad ending. , character development,

When I started this 70 episodes drama, it was without english subtitles. It was too difficult for me to continue even as I understand 50% spoken Mandarin. The English subtitles, though about 80% accurate, it helped me complete the drama.
1. The story evolved around palace politics, involving fight for power among princes to ascend to the throne. involves the harem characters and politicians.
2. Emotions such as love, hate, jealousy, kinship, revenge, regret, compassion, greed, justice, rightuosness drives the actions of the characters.
3. The acting is great as it can make me sympatise and understand the actions, even though I don't agree with some of the decisions made by the characters.
4. Technical production quality is good, with good music.

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Great

It worth watching 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
Their chemistry is amazing
Unfortunately there is no enough romance scene here.
and we need a second season and a third season 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

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A Heavy Crown Leaves You Lonely

*The Rise of Phoenixes* would have been decent if it wasn’t 70 episodes long! The show was adapted from a novel called 凰权, literally Phoenix Power or Royal Authority. And since the phoenix is feminine while the dragon is male, despite not having read the novel, I’d wager that the author’s intent was to make the female lead, Feng Zhi Wei, the story’s protagonist. I feel that a story told solely from her perspective would have been superior to what we got.
As things stand, the show tells multiple stories within the compressed medium of 70 roughly 40-minute episodes:

1. The Founding Emperor of the Tiansheng Dynasty’s coup and his machinations to maintain his autocracy against attempts by his co-conspirators to keep him in check, their heads attached and their families in power.

1. The love story between the emperor and a foreign tribeswoman.

2. The Sixth Prince, Ning Yi, and his bid for power to avenge the death of his mother — the aforementioned foreigner.
1. The love story between Ning Yi and Feng Zhiwei.
2. A palace power struggle between the princes.
3. The complicated relationship between father and son juxtaposed against their rivalry as aging autocrat and possible replacement.'

3. Feng Zhiwei’s attempt to make her way as a competent woman in a feudal society where the odds are stacked against her.
1. Her relationships with her harem of concubros.

4. The secret conspiracy among elements of the previous dynasty to destroy the Tiangsheng regime.

5. Ancillary plotlines like Tiansheng’s dealings with neighbours, the restoration of order in the aftermath of a bloody coup, the everyday difficulties of staffing a bureaucracy in the mediaeval age etc.
The plotlines outlined above mostly work as stand-alone arcs. However, attempts to combine them into a coherent storyline floundered. In the same way, this show’s biggest weakness was its inability to realise that it could only work with one lead. The result is that while its somewhat controversial ending makes some sense, the path it took to get there was frustrating and illogical.
In sum, this was an otherwise excellent production let down by terrible writing, direction and production. The fish rots from the head.

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Impressive!

This was the first C-drama that I've ever watched just because I stumbled over it on Netflix. I didn't know that it had such a bad (in literally every sense) ending until I was punched in the gut after 70 episodes, but until then I thoroughly enjoyed it. Knowing how it ends (in the series, not the book) will not keep me from re-watching this and savouring every episode, but it makes me want to read the book as well...

The acting is phenomenal and the main characters are well developed. The romantic leads make a nice coupe and have great chemistry. The setting and costumes are a feast for the eyes. The music is pleasant and inobtrusive.

The gender-switching bit in the middle had me a bit confused. As this was my first C-drama I was not yet familiar with the premise that as soon as a woman dresses up as a man she becomes unrecognisable and everybody takes her for a man. I loved the way humour appears throughout the drama in the dialogues.

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WORTH THE WATCH DESPITE THE ENDING!!!

This is my favourite C-dramas and one of my favourite dramas ever. The writing and story is unparalleled (until the last third of the drama). It is a subtle and intense game of go between the main characters and the actors pull it off to absolute perfection! The best thing about this drama is the chemistry between the leads. The female lead is strong and can hold her own intellectually against the male lead. It is a relationship of equals and mutual respect despite the many plot points which make it a complicated relationship. I read somewhere that they changed directors through the drama, I think this was a terrible idea, the director they had at first was really great at capturing the intense atmosphere and making intentional decisions of where to put our focus.
The ending is terrible, I cursed and cursed and cried a lot, and really the problem started about the last third into the drama (I assume when they changed directors). They also chose to deviate from the book source material - WHY? - if the story is already great, why change it? Anyways, despite such an ending, this drama is still worth the watch and rewatch. I guarantee you won’t find another drama which holds you so tightly and makes you hold your breath during the tense moments, like this one does. I’m a huge fan of historical political dramas, but I think they’re very hard to pull off to a high degree. I find that many writers, directors and actors can’t hold the tension in a way that fully satisfies the story. But this drama does. I highly, highly recommend it. Yes, be prepared for the ending, but let it take you on this unforgettable ride that will burn itself permanently in your mind as one of the best dramas you will ever see.

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Great Premise, Builds Addictively, But then . .

How can you tell the difference between true justice and unjustified revenge? When is it OK to forgive?

The Rise of Phoenixes stays strong for the first 40 to 50 episodes or so...so many hours of entertainment that I can forgive the show for boxing itself into a corner and then spinning its wheels on how to finish. The premise is so intriguing, and so puzzling (how can they pull this off?) that it keeps you on the edge of your seat.

The characters are compelling, though there are far fewer characters than other historical dramas. The main characters are great. Ning Yi does mildly overact/do an eccentric sort of Johnny Depp type performance. Feng Zhiwei has plenty of personality and backstory, and the actress brings it to life. There is a lot of electricity between the two main leads in small gestures and looks, which had a really nice build. The friendship between Ning Yi and Xin Ziyan is also very well done.

The music works with the show, and there are definitely scenes that I will rewatch, though I'm not sure about watching it straight from beginning to end. There are many scenes that I like to revisit again.

I have other criteria I score by:

Complex Themes - 9
(The main theme of the show is forgiveness, justice and revenge. When do ends justify the means? When is forgiving someone betraying other principles?)
Character Growth -9
(The great tension of the show is how the characters rise to the challenge at first, how they become better coordinated, better leaders, smarter and more calculating, and then how they hit walls that cause their faith to shatter. Unfortunately, the show ends up getting stuck far before the finale and the growth stops)
Nuanced Women -6
(Feng Zhiwei is a great role - but she is it. There are very little other women in the show that act as more than plot devices or have much screen time).
Cinematography/Production Values - 10
(The costumes are really innovative, use beautiful textiles and fabrics, the sets are lavish, and there are some good exterior shots as well. There isn't as much martial arts as some, more army movements/storming a building/special effects of collapsing buildings)

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Great Leads

This was my first foray into C-Drama and I was not disappointed. The storyline was interesting with all the plot twists, however, it felt rushed and chaotic near the end. Despite this, I think the series was done very well and I was drawn to watch it in it's entirety.

I was captivated by the 2 wonderful leads. Even though the story seemed to get worse towards the end, I continued to watch it because of the chemistry between the 2 leads and because they were also talented actors. I especially liked NiNi in the heart wrenching scenes. I felt in some parts that Chen Kun was a bit over the top, but in the more serious scenes, he shined.



I definitely recommend this series!

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My Opinion on The Rise of Phoenixes

*May contain SPOILERS*

What an intense & heart breaking drama. The story is about the ML Ning Yi (played by Chen Kun) is the 6th prince who was wrongfully accused of a crime that he did not commit. His aim is to establish peace & stability as well as clear his dead brother, the 3rd prince and his mother's names.

While the FL is Feng Zhiwei (played by Ni Ni) who is the unflavoured daughter of the Qiu household and has to flee due to circumstances. She is being protected by Ning Yi and cross dresses as a Wei Zhi.

The entire drama is full of palace politics schemes, lies and betrayal. The ML and FL have to deal with the various plots that are being schemed against them. Despite the conditions they end up falling in love with each other but are drawn apart due to the political schemes.

The entire drama is full of palace politics schemes, lies and betrayal. The ML and FL have to deal with the various plots that are being schemed against them. Despite the conditions they end up falling in love with each other but are drawn apart due to the political schemes.

Apart from the roles played by the lead actors Chen Kun and Ni Ni, I also liked the roles of Bai Jingting who plays the role of Gu Nanyi, Feng Zhi Wei's loyal bodyguard, Zhao Li Xin who plays the role of Xin Zi Yan, Ning Yi's friend and advisor and Edward Zhang who plays the role of Helian Zheng, The King of Jinshi and Feng Zhi Wei's husband.

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Love blossomed between between political conflict

The story of the show is common like any other Historical political drama but what makes this Drama DIFFERENT from others is solely bcoz of How Alloy Chen and NiNi put their soul while portraying their characters as Ning Yi and Feng Zhiwei, it felt so alive like everything is happening in front of me.
There are parts which felt a bit draggy and similar, i wish they could have merged the Ning Shen and Ning Qi part together rather than showing them separately.

I truly adored the relationship between Headmaster Xin and Ning Yi, they had that brotherly friendship bond between them which is quite rare to see. The time Ning Yi reunited with his Mother while Headmaster Xin lost someone precious it was really hard to see him, Headmaster Xin was in pain and had a lot to say but Ning Yi didn't realised also, the time when Ning Yi became the emperor and asked Headmaster Xin to become his minister but he denied to make him understand how he felt back then was just so sad.

The Love Story between Ning Yi and Feng Zhiwei is really like a treasure, though i knew may be they won't be together but still i was hoping for them to end up together. Sometimes i also wished if Zhiwei mom had taken back her Oath in respect of not letting her marry Ning Yi since, both deserve to be Together. The way Ning Yi said that he wants Zhiwei not only in this lifetime but in every lifetime ..awwwww that so sweet and melting 🥰🥰 it really shows how true his love is.
The ending was really sad and i wish there can be a SEASON 2 about Feng Zhiwei is alive and finally reunits with Ning Yi.
Nanyi was so cool, i really loved how he always says "Wherever you go, i will follow you".



Things i find a bit weird is:
1. Headmaster Xin is such a reasonable man i didn't expected him to kill Lady Wang.
2. Fine that Nanyi was trying to avenge Master Zhong death and he wouldn't in any case will hurt Consort Yale but who keeps the carriage on the edge of the clif ???
3. Why Ning Yi didn't realised what Ning Qi is trying to achieve ?? Ning Qi was the one who wanted the Feng Hao and Qiu Mingying identity to be revealed so he can also get rid of Feng Zhiwei.
4. Helian Zhang was so stupid to kill himself so he can make Zhi wei hate Ning Yi🙄

Acting Skills
Aloy Chen: I m so in love with his acting, he literally brought life to Ning Yi's character ❤️
NiNi: She did an excellent job in portraying as Feng Zhewei, her expression were on the spot and dialogues delivery were so bang on ...I just loved her 🥰
Rest of the Cast also did an excellent job in conveying their character.
I gave it 9/10, deducted 1 point for repetitive parts and not ending it properly.

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A drama that tears us apart

This drama is one of the few that touched me so much. The acting is incredible, Chen Kun often gave me chills in some scenes. Ni Ni is touching, and her character is strong, intelligent and resourceful. This drama is not soft on the audience, it surprises us, it is violent. The evolution of the characters is gradual until the hatred, and I find that it changes the usual dramas.

It was not predictable nor justified to put a happy ending. I am very satisfied (although very sad) with the turn of events.
No, I didn't find the ending as crap as other may say. I totally saw this coming, the whole story evolve in this direction. It is a tragic drama which stages a series of events one after the other that the heroes (and the spectators) undergo.

There were few love scenes between the MLs, but their rarity makes their beauty. The OST is magnificent, is raises well the heavy atmosphere of certain scenes, the tension in others.

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I love the intense scenes and the cunning and manipulative thoughts and actions of Ning Yi. I just felt bad on the ending and disappointed but I guess tmost of the chinese series i have watched so far has no happy endings except for eternal love. The female lead always die. I wish they change that idea as people like happy endings and not a sad one . Hope there is a continuation for this as i like ning yi to be happy after all the trials and pain he went through lol. Cinematography is so great and the intricate and lavish costumes . I loved the historical part of it

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