Dreaming Back to the Qing Dynasty (2019)

BEST DRAMA I WATCHED IN LIFE

I know I can't compare it to Scarlet Heart, but I would put them both on the same level, the emotion, intrigues of the palace, it was worth every hour that I watched this masterpiece. The plot took several turns giving more emotion, I was not tired of watching each episode despite knowing that Ming Hui would not leave Xiao Wei alone. From my point of view, the romance between Xiao Wei and the 13th Prince has developed very well, also that they have not only paid attention to the main couple, but also to the secondary couples, to see how Ming Hui has changed over time, to see how the couples met again in modern times ... This drama really deserves a top score!

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Had Potential but was Disappointing

As a hardcore fan of historical dramas and time travel I had high expectations with this drama, however I was severely disappointed. It had the potential to be a great drama, all the elements were there, romance that transcended time and space, drama, emotional turmoil, and the promise of an incredible adventure. Did they fully utilize all of these elements? No. That they did not which is why it left a bad taste in my mouth. Here is why:

Plot: so the plot line in the beginning was actually fairly unique as far as time travel plot lines go. It was unusual for the leads to meet in the modern world first even if it was because of overlapping time periods and mostly during the dream state of the other party. That was as creative as it got I'm afraid as there wasn't much anything else unique or interesting from there on. The plot left a lot to be questioned with no answers, there were multiple plot holes and it left me with more questions than answers. I felt like the original plot line sort of got lost somewhere in the middle.

Characters: so the characters were okay. I liked the female lead in the fact that she was wise and not too annoying like some historical drama female leads typically are. The male lead was okay enough, nothing too memorable about him though. I actually thought the 14th prince married to the female antagonist was more charismatic and memorable than he was. I couldn't help but wish he were the male lead instead to be honest.

music: to be honest, the music was probably the best part in this entire series. They had some really beautiful and moving instrumentals that made me feel kind of sorry that it didn't have a better plot line to accompany it. The music was far too good for this drama. This drama did not deserve its magnificence.

Overall I was pretty disappointed that the chemistry between leads wasn't stronger considering how their love transcended time and space and their relationship felt rushed. There were also a lot of conversation holes that confused me like when she was openly talking about being from the future with 13th prince when it never showed their first conversation about this. he went from not knowing or having any idea to just suddenly being on board with it and knowing everything about her with no conversations leading up to it or any BIG revelation scene where she tells him. It was just like suddenly 'oh yeah somewhere during the time they knew each other they must have had this conversation. we just didn't feel the need to share it with the audience.' overall it made me pretty confused and then cheated like I got cheated out of some potentially good scenes they felt weren't important enough to include. If they had, I feel like the chemistry and relationship building between the leads could have been better. But they didn't and so I'm disappointed. Probably not ever going to rewatch.

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One of the best time travel historical drama

Underrated historical c-drama with good looking casts, good acting and a beautiful plot. Although time travel has been something that was used in a lot of period dramas already, this is definitely one of the best i've watched! Although the main leads might seem relatively new to you, but trust me - their acting won't disappoint! you will fall in love.

This drama has 40 episodes which allows each character to grow and enough for everyone to watch finish without feeling empty. I absolutely loved the romance between both leads in the present world and I am very happy that the show did not rush that important part between both of them. When the female lead travels back in time and the whole memory lost thing happened, I was quite frustrated and thought the show is gonna suck from then on.. but trust me the relationship still builds well between them!

The main characters all portrayed themselves well. 14th prince being someone cold and evil outside but actually only wants to protect the woman he loves, 4th prince being the sweetest and did have selfish motives sometimes but he still treasures his bromance with 13th prince a lot. And ofcourse, 13th prince (male lead) and female lead have such a beautiful love story.

The downsides - Ming Hui (the evil sister) is kind of given the 'happy ending' which I felt was a bad ending, the bad things she have done is beyond evil and to me should be given a harsher punishment but it seems like the show kind of rushed all the expose and the 'turn over a new leaf' thing towards the last few episodes. Also. I didn't thought FL suits the historical period costume as well, felt that she looked way better in modern times.

FINAL VERDICT: if you like a ML that has the puppy eye look and is 100% devoted to FL, a time travel show that does not neglect the present world, a good balance of love, politics and sad sobbing scenes, then this show is for u. but i would say this is worth your time.

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Strong start, disappointing rest

The idea is similar to Scarlet Heart Ryeo (which is intentional) but is not even close to be on the same level. The worst mistake this drama made is disappointing me. It started out very promising; the FL was (relatively) smart, the romance between the leads was cute and funny, and the story had its own twist.
But then, the FL just started to get dumber and dumber. For some reason the three main princes were obsessed with her until the end, the "conflicts" oftentimes didn't make any sense and the characters were so easily manipulated for people who should be used to court intrigues. Even the characters who were smart in the beginning and were able to look through manipulation just went dumb and hollow towards the middle/end.
The main leads disappointed me so much as well. There was so much chemistry and romance in the beginning but they started to give second lead vibes in the middle part and it only got worse. In the end, I think the writers realised who their story even was about and tried to save it again but no chance. They felt like support roles in their own love story. Even the extremely annoying and morally disgusting side couple got more character development than them.
But I'll give the second lead actress that I really hated her character with a passion. Great acting from her part.
Overall, quite disappointing, especially with such a promising start. And also quite vain, if I'm being honest, it just ran around in circles.

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Full Marks in every dept.

It is a completely WAOH production! Bebot Adaptation, Script, Screenplay, Acting, Direction, music, Background score, Dialogues. Everything is waowsome, As I quote it. I have watched Cinderella Chef (all episodes min 10 times in 2 months), and few other modern and ancient story based Chinese series, But this one was Intimate. I couldn't find screenplay or script flaw (which are very often found in almost all of the 5 series I have completed watching). I qas feeling so annoyed with EACH of those Screenwriters, but after much courage and a suggestion from online community viewer, I watched , rewatched the entire series and finished in few days only... Each moment is cherishable, each character is so well presented on screen. And special thanks for avoiding the UNNECESSARY kissing scenes which are very disgusting and found in most of the Chinese series. Enjoy It's one of best ever I have. Watched. Thanks

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What a lovely drama - Must watch

This one has it all - suspense, drama, emotions, love, hate, vengeance, loyalty, laughter, tears, forgiveness, cruelty, etc. I finished this about 3 weeks but had to wait till now to write a review. The series wrung out my emotions - I enjoyed it so much and felt that i was able to experience every bit of emotion as the FL and ML. I enjoyed the high skill level of the 13th Prince, 14th Prince and even the evil female lead. I It took me back to the Qin Dynasty. Let me say that I am not one for time travel dramas and I was surprised that i managed to complete the whole series without skipping.


The OST is simply superb. What a singer. I felt right like i was there. I have rewatched this several times though just parts of it that i particularly enjoy.

Even if you are not a fan of time travel dramas, take the time to stick with it. It's well worth the time.

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This is my first time writing a review on this platform but after watching this drama, I just felt like I had to.

When I first started Dreaming Back to the Qing Dynasty, I thought the beginning was unique. The first few episodes were fluffy, sweet and cute. It was different from the usual time-travel dramas. If you like Scarlet Heart, you might like this too. Although they do have some similarities, they do have their distinct differences. Especially the portrayal of certain princes. DBTTQD made me love the 13th Prince and 14th Prince more than I already do in Scarlet Heart.

Although I felt like some parts were a little rushed (there were some inconsistencies) and some parts were a little repetitive, due to the scheming, there are many to love about this drama. The acting is great, especially the excellent chemistry between the characters; the romance of XiaoWei and YinXiang, the brotherhood and sibling rivalries between the princes, the hatred and betrayal between sisters. Not only that, the set and costumes were beautiful and the OST is definitely addictive.

I thought the ending of DBTTQD is fairly well wrapped up and concluded, almost satisfying. It didn't leave me wanting more or questioning it. Although I'm surprised that almost every prominent character in the drama got a happy ending (even the most, most, most sinful character), I felt like it was okay. Though, I felt like it could've been better if the romantic relationship between the two main characters were given more time and depth throughout the entire drama.

Overall, I still think it's worth a watch.

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unsure about how I feel really!

i am usually a very strong lover or hater of a drama but I am super unsure about how I feel about this drama! I suspect I might be spoilt by Yanxi and Scarlet Heart so I constantly draw a comparison with how this was done.

Pros:

- I always like Wang An Yu and I didn’t feel much about Landy but I liked them both here! acting was great, the cuteness, sweetness, the seriousness and the tears were all great.

- NO ANGST between the main couple thank god. well, minimal, in that while FL was unsure about her feelings in the beginning, ML was always sure. and once they found each other, it was always them against the world. love it.

- Minimal angst between the sides in the fight for the throne, even if there was any, it was quickly resolved. (I’m a hater of misunderstandings and angst for no reason)

Cons

- how the f can the entire harem and politics be one handedly played by one woman who gets her happy f-ing ending in the end?????? and it was all because of her jealously????

- nobody really gets their just desserts ^ refer to above. maybe they want to stick close to history? but they already deviated at some points (i.e. missing out Yinxiang’s 10 years of confinement until Yongzheng took the throne) then just kill some people!!! like the 8th, 9th, 10th prince or the Consort De…? unsatisfying.

- I think I draw too much comparison with Yanxi and Scarlet Heart which are both longer than this so the history depiction is more accurate and also happens to be abit more serious. this has a less serious tone, so probably I’m nitpicking.

all in all, this is an ok watch, I like Wang An Yu and the cast, especially Kangxi. but there are definitely loopholes and wtf @ Minghui lol.

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This is my first review on a drama,
I haven't watched these type of Chinese historical drama, so i really like this drama, kinda fresh and new story for me, so i like the plot.
The first thing is the ost, which are great, it has three songs and i love the opening a lot, ending also and the male lead song.
Second- is the male lead, it's a historical drama, but still his personality was really enjoyable, he was funny, smart, understandable, playful, caring and loving not only towards female lead but also towards his brother, positive, calm, etc and doesn't have others main leads characterstics like forcing, stalking, jealousy, possessiveness on female lead. He is really one of rare ml exists in drama world.
Fl- i have love-hate relationship with fl, sometimes i found her bit annoying but sometimes really proud of her, to be honest whoever cast the actress has done a great work with casting her and other characters.


I have read other reviews, it's would be good drama to watch if, you wouldn't have watched a drama which has time travelling in past but if you have, it might be little boring or repeatating.


Negatives
Ost - are used a bit much, so it's annoying.
Plothole - there are few plot whole and i don't wanna spoil people, so
Editing is not good, but i think the production would be low so understandable.

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Abysmal plot; Good cast

Writer chew more than she could handle.

There were two distinct parts of the story: fantasy romance of 2 realms and palace drama. From the moment she decides to mix the two that's where disaster starts to brew. The transition from fantasy part to just historical palace defies a lot of logic. There were gigantic plotholes in how ML goes to present, how they seesaw between they can and cannot touch each other, how someone else could hear ML, how if he sleeps he can choose not to dream of her of which he would enter her realm. And then how wishing on a special lunar phenomena transports her to the past in time to see another female of the same face passing away. And she conveniently assumes her identity. The amnesia bit was ( ༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ ).. All this gave me a headache in digesting and then choosing to suspend the logic thinking part of my brain to continue watching.

My biggest issue was how it then became a solidly palace drama full of scheming females and inciting unrest in the backpalace and discord among the princes. Worst of the lot is Ming Hui who has a huge grudge against Ming Wei of which Xiao Wei of present shares the same face. This palace bit starts from about 1/3 in to the drama and lasted til ep 39. So I'm telling you if you dislike palace politics like me it means a lot of skipping of scenes.

As to why i still gave a solid 7.0 scoring despite my huge grievances with the drama. Its because of the cast. Both Li Lan Di and Wang An Yu are super young but sparkling in this drama. They deliver depth where possible and their banter were pleasantly cute and sweet. There's that good push pull, action reaction when you get a CP with chemistry. Its only the plot problems that cause IQ cells of Xiao Wei to dwindle when she went back into history. The last 20minutes also gave the show some bonus points.

I wouldnt recommend this drama. I started it when going through Li Lan di's pastwork and decided to give it a go. It doesnt sticks with you like Scarlet Heart does and i dont think its fair to compare.

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So Much Wasted Potential

The Good:

-Wormhole plot point
- Time traveling desk + prince, but he's always asleep when it happens which is... a bit strange, because then the wormhole theory doesn't actually work. Just make the desk inside the wormhole and then he gets transported with the desk, or what was the point of having the desk transport in the first place?

- Reference to Scarlet Heart\ them watching Scarlet Heart.

- Lantern being connected to the wormhole. Beautiful lantern with original illustrations.

The Bad

- Pretty much everything else.

-FL never matures like in Scarlet Heart. She stays the same.

- Acting all around is OK. Main characters seem to be made up of newbies out of theatre school. No great performances, except the emperor who was excellent.

-CGI animals were incredibly cringe. Not as cringe as watching grown men get swatted by a CGI bear, but pretty close.

- Fight scenes were incredibly fake looking and cringeworthy.

- Characters were all incredibly dumb.

In Conclusion:

This could have been an awesome homage to Scarlet Heart. It started off with the idea of a love that spans 300 years, but Scarlet Heart went deeper than that. It was about human relationships and how there are different ways of looking at them, and about different ways of loving someone and how you can love someone completely but their dark side can ruin you. Anyway, Dreaming Back to the Qing is a superficial drama with no big ideas to it. The FL was likeable enough, but she remained as superficial as the drama itself.

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