The Sword and the Brocade (2021)

Wonderful love story, but the plot has lots of problems

What I discovered after watching The Sword and the Brocade
- Women are bloody scary when they're having tea with you
- Forehead kisses are better than bedroom scenes
- Ming dynasty mother-in-laws are scarier than the T-1000.

I had long avoided *The Sword of the Brocade* for the following reasons:
- I was super not impressed with Tan Song Yun's performance and was majorly annoyed with her aegyo character in *Under the Power*.
- In general, I dislike harem dramas intensely. I just don't like watching women bully each other.

But for some reason I am suddenly in a romantic mood for mature, adult, slow burn, arranged marriage romance and the *The Sword and the Brocade* delivers.

I really loved Shi Yi and Ling Yi's gradual attraction to each other and I love Wallace Chung and Tan Song Yun's performance. I believe that Tan dubbed herself, and it really brought a lot of nuance and colour to her character.

I didn't find Wallace Chung attractive at first, but he is so manly, honourable and considerate as Ling Yi that these qualities end up making him very attractive indeed.

And yes, yes, this is one of those dramas with misunderstandings between our couple, but it's not at epic proportions like Love and Redemption.

I don't seem to mind misunderstandings and lack of communication in romance dramas as I find them morbidly enjoyable. But if you hate this be warned as the Show has one major arc with that.

(Also, I'd like to report that Wallace Chung is such a good kisser. Like, no fish-eyed kisses, people! But one filled with intense passion and desperate hunger. *Fans self*.)

However, I confess that I skipped or fast forwarded a lot of scheming concubine parts because I can't stand a lot of that. At times I found the mother-in-laws (both Madam Xu and Luo) intolerable.

Yet, despite their horrid scheming, I have a lot of sympathy for the concubines. I felt their pain and sorrow when Ling Yi rebuff their efforts to gain his attention. As for Qiao Lian Fang, the primary evil concubine? Nah, she deserves everything she got lol.

But while it tries to convey the painful lives of concubines and women in ancient Ming dynasty times, but it was clumsily done.

And as with so many Chinese dramas, for some reason, the last 10 episodes was a rush of betrayals and schemes, a lot of them lacking logic.

If I were to rate the way they had written romance between our main couple, it would be an 8.5.

But for the plot involving the evil Ou family, concubines and more? Oof, it'll be a 6 or less.

So, I can only give it an slightly above average rating rather than excellent.

But I still highly recommend this drama if you like watching slow burn romance and arranged marriages. Our leads are really good and you will really enjoy their performances.

Rating: 7.5

I wrote a longer, more detailed review here: https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/2024/01/09/the-sword-and-the-brocade-review/

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Excellent All Around

This show delivers on most things required of a 45 episode historical series.

Story: Clear plot goals. Unexpected plot twists. Closure on subplots. Excellent intrigues with intricate subtleties. The scene editing is brilliant, leaving viewers questioning what they thought was going to happen and what is actually happening.

Acting: Character growth is obvious and distinct per character storyline. Actor chemistry creates the feelings needed in scenes of even little importance. Strong female characters who face and sometimes overcome their flaws. Considerate male characters who maintain patience despite societal norms.

Music: The OST is beautiful throughout the show, fitting each scene so well that it's hardly noticeable as a separate entity.

Rewatch Value: With 45 episodes, I doubt I'll ever watch this show again. However, if there is ever a sequel picking up from the ending, I'd likely watch it.

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Good Casting and Script writing(for novel non readers)

First of all if you dislike the fact that they have massive age gap. Lols. In ancient times thats normal. Even the emperor have plenty of concubines which can even be considered as his children already due to age gap.

What I like about this is the chemistry and the cinematography plus the script writing . What really impacts the overall quality of a drama is the director. I like the melo/romcom vibe of this drama. It is wl balanced there are alot of drama with good stories whats lacking is timing, chemistry and good cinematography.

I have been watching dramas for almost a decade now. Same with anime I cant count the movies, series, webtoon, manhwa and anime that I have watched.

What attracts me is the first 10 episodes and this series captured my liking. What i am looking is chemistry, story balance, and cinematography so far this drama has it all. This drama have the Story of minglan vibe for me.

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Do you love to hate treacherous women?

I'm slowly falling in love with the male lead. I find the storyline interesting. Why? The male lead already has several concubines before marrying the second wife (female lead). We already know it will be drama with women sharing the same house and fighting for one man's affection. However, like the series Yanxi Palace, the lead female has a reason to enter the Xu household, and it has nothing to do with the affections of the male lead. That's right; initially, she's not interested in him and speaks her mind freely. There's also a similarity to the Story of Ming Lan, where both females marry a Marquis and live in a house of treacherous scheming women. Yes, I can give more examples, but you get the picture. Actress Seven Tan is adorable and can be considered a serious female lead. Every character she plays is alluring and makes you want to keep watching to the end. The male lead, Wallace Chung, plays the cold Marquis who takes responsibility for his women, especially the main wife. He seems emotionally distant from all of his women yet believes in love but has yet to experience it. Therefore, he only wishes to live amicably while taking care of his responsibilities. This production has a 50/50 chance of ending on a good note.

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Cannot seem to stop watching it!

Series is still ongoing and just cannot help to write a prelim. review for those looking for new drama to watch. So far it's been an addiction for me.

Story line is pretty easy to follow and typical in my opinion but it's written and developed well. Fell a similar vibe as "The reputable family, The merchant, and General & I" thus if you like those series, you should like this one as well. Characters and their relationship developing throughout the episodes...still not sure where the story will go (maybe I should read the novel too lol) but hopefully won't be one of those with many fillers just to extend the series.

There is a separate discussion about the "harem" but don't let this deter you from watching (I almost drop it myself at first).

Cast are seasoned Actors/Actresses, it feels realistic and very believable up to this point.

Overall, I really like the series and cannot seem to stop watching and waiting for the next episode!

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Hope there will be happy ending.

Beautiful story , credit to the writer and producer.
So far , I am enjoying watching this drama even it was little boring in the first few episodes.
First I didn’t like the male lead has too many wives and he doesn’t smile at all but really glad that he will find some someone to make him falling in true love and smile again . Wallace is so talented , charming and handsome actor who does a great job professionally.

Love how strong, smart and funny the female lead is ...Seven Tan is very cute and adorable, she is such a beautiful actress.

A successful soundtrack can always convince the audiences to look forward to watching the film.
Thank you for English Subtitles.

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A slow paced, well developed period drama with romance and betrayal within an aristocratic family.

I watched this drama a couple of months ago, and I fell in love with the way that the story was told. I will admit that I didn't think this drama would be good after watching the first episode, but I was wrong! This drama reminds me a lot of the drama The Story of Ming Lan. The only con to this drama, and most Chinese period dramas is the fact that the amount of episodes are more than required. After the male and female lead finally felt secure in their marriage, I lost interest, only because it took almost 30 episodes to get there, and I felt like it could have just ended there. Maybe one day I will pick this drama back up but right now in my mind, this drama is worthy of a 9 for the first 30 episodes.

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I probably would still give them a perfect score whatever happens in the remaining episodes

First of all I know I'm biased. But Wallace is my favorite actor especially his He Yi Chen portrayal. And Seven is my costume drama fairy because I only enjoy her Yuan Jinxia performance.

Second let me discuss what I don't like;

The screenwriter has a really great source material worthy of becoming a classic but decided to take the easy road by writing the popular and overused scenes like the hero saves a lady as the first encounter. I understand they don't want issues with plagiarism because it can bring a lot of problems. But after watching 8 episodes I think no one can say they plagiarized. Imagine characters have different personality ,missing main characters , additional characters and different storyline. Sister Zhen and the Binju are not in the story which is quite surprising because Shiyi easily got foothold of the Xu mansion because of sister Zhen. And Binju is her most loyal maid unlike Donqing. So yes the scriptwriter deserved the criticism.

Then the plot holes which is still due to the screenwriter. Best example would be the concubine Qiao LAN managing the household. I mean Madam Tai is still active, there is still the second lady and the fifth lady. So why does they let a concubine take charge? Wouldn't they be a laughingstock?

What I like
The acting is really great. I've read the novel and I love it but I still enjoy the series because the cast are great.

The costume looks beautiful. I've seen criticism about the costume andn I dont know if they are right but when I checked out the supposed costume I'm glad they didn't use that because I like what they use now.

All the OST sounds great.

The pace is good. It's not dragging and it's not too fast. It's just right.

The voice sounds good to me. Either Seven's real voice or Wallace dubbed voice.

Lastly did I tell you I love the main actors?

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Not bad but not that exciting either

Story: The is a chill drama with a slow-burn romance. There was nothing wrong with the story, it just wasn't exciting. The gist is that the FL marries into the ML household in order to investigate her mothers untimely death. The ML has a harem of women but he isn't in love with any of them. He feels more of a duty towards them. This may turn off some viewers but I personally didn't mind it since this was common in that time period.

I dropped this drama mainly because there was nothing compelling me to keep watching. The romance while I think well developed was really slow. The scheming within the household was pretty standard and the mystery surrounding the mother was slowly revealed.

Acting: I thought the acting was fine--nothing exceptional. Although it was pointed out that the FL dubbed her own voice which I appreciate.

OST: Some memorable songs such as "Want to be Together" (要一起) By Zhou Shen (周深)

Rewatch: I may come back to this and finish it but it is low on my priority list.

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Failed attempt to recreate the magic of Ming Lan

This is a sleep fest. The story if existent is boring . Lady protagonist , although does things behind family’s back , most of the time lying and has hidden agenda, is a very strong ethical character( or so we must assume). It looked like they tried very hard to make it look like Ming Lan . Lost patience after 30 episodes. It has no story . Female lead was a disappointment both in terms of acting and the character. The lead characters have no chemistry. They tried to build up suspense of the female protagonist’s mother’s murder and it was a long stretch. She could put Sherlock Holmes to shame.
Well that was my take. See if you like it.

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Back stabbing women...

Ok...this drama isn't my cup of tea..I watched this because of Seven Tan...she's a great actress. But oh boy....I can't stand it when women back stabbing, bad mouthing each other just to gain favor from the husband they share. 4 wives, mother in law, an over bearing mother, jealous sister Er Niang (not to mention a brother and sister in law at the same premises), inserted their influences with their charm or devious act or authority to this poor guy the good general Xu Ling Yi - he's overwhelmed. I guess he made the bed and he need to laid on it....no wonder he look so tired in every episode with the full house of women bickering. I guess Seven Tan was the recipient of all the bad vibes, defensive fort to stand guard against all strong willed and crazy craved women...so I gave up. In my opinion, we don't need to watch all these bad s**t characters and be the judged who's better than the other. Sorry....

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