New Life Begins (2022)

Light and fun feminist alternate reality

This drama exists in a fantasy version of history where everyone’s a feminist, the men are curiously timid and disinclined to exert their power, and women overcome patriarchal structures with laughable ease. You just have to accept that from the jump, and then you will have a great time with this show.

It’s light all the way through with a lot of humor, and even when it touches on serious issues (such as intimate partner violence) they get resolved quickly and happily. Despite the marketing of this as a romance, the focal point of the narrative is the female empowerment arc and the sisterhood that develops between the women. The romance arcs are secondary (the main romance gets fully put on ice for about 20 episodes straight), but when the show does get to it, it’s done well. The couples are very rootable and there are some happy and thriving single women, as well. The cast is fantastic all around.

Recommended if you can just go along for the ride and not take it too seriously.

Leggi di Più

first i started watching the drama because of bai jing ting (ML) . i have watch him in destined and i love his character and his acting so i have to give this drama a try and i didn't regret it all.
i become fan of this drama for sure because it's amazing cast and a great story line.
this drama will give you everything in one go like romance , comedy, little politics , some good action scene , sisterhood ( WHICH WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DRAMA) , business and many more things.
the cast has deliver their best performance ( FOR ME THE 3rd PRINCE AND HIS SOLAR GIRLS HAVE STOLE MY HEART)
every character have it's story to tell and it was really a great work . the drama is mostly based on the women empowerment (I GUESS) and it delivers different type of perspective of that .
ML and FL have a very beautiful journey in entire drama. they have good chemistry between them , the 4th prince and his wife was really mad for each other ( they should get together earlier) , and 7th prince and his wife was really a cute couple ( i want more of them ) .
i like the ML form the previous drama ( which was DESTINED that i saw before this ) and i like the FL too in this. she was not childish like other cdrama but here she was little playful and likeable by all.
the last minutes of the drama make me cry .....

IF YOU WANT TO WATCH A LIGHT-HEARTED DRAMA WITH NO 2 MALE LEAD OR ANNOYING 2 FL AND A BLIND OF COMEDY , ROMANCE , HISTORY THEN IT IS FOR YOU START WATCHING IT WITHOUT WASTING MORE TIME !!!!

Leggi di Più

Came for the arranged marriage trope, stayed for the feminism

Initially I only started this show because I like Bai Jing Ting and the romantic pairing in this fall in love after getting arranged married. But as I watched this I realized that the focus of the show wasn't on romance but rather on showing the beauty of female friendships which I really loved.

This show can somewhat be considered a harem drama because it focuses on the wives of princes. Many of them are married to the same man. harem dramas are synonymous with toxic relationships & women harming each other all in a bid to assert their position as the legitimate, head wife. But this is where new life begins flips the script.

Women in the show recognise that the system pits them against one another when really their circumstances are because of their husbands. They form strong bonds with each other, support and uplift one another. Their characters exist independently outside of the marriage. They're real people with personalities, thoughts, opinions, flaws, ambitions and with their female friends they achieve their dreams, they achieve the freedom they crave and live their lives as they please.

In these Palace dramas its common to see the princes be ambitious but their wives are often relegated to tertiary characters with no life of their own. But Li Wei, along with the other women have their own ambitions independent of their husband' political ambitions but ambitions that regardless impact the politics of the country in a meaningful way.


I really enjoyed the show and the characters and they will be dearly missed.

Leggi di Più

Une gentille comédie sur fond d'amitié honnête

Il se dégage de New Life Begins de bonnes ondes positives avec assez de légèreté et de gentillesse pour intéresser jusqu'au bout, malgré la romance (très) discrète.

C'est vendu comme une comédie romantique, mais le "romantique" est en trop d'après moi. Cela dit même avec une romance discrète (qui prend de l'ampleur sur les derniers épisodes), le drama arrive à garder son intérêt entre deux conflits de palais et la franche camaraderie qui le compose.

Les femmes sont à l'honneur. Bien qu'on soit dans un univers fictif, les personnages féminins luttent pour le droit des femmes. L'amitié est ce qui ressort de ce drama. Tant entre femmes qu'entre hommes et femmes.

Pour parler rapidement des couples, on en voit plusieurs, mais c'est celui de Yin Zheng et Li Wei qu'on va suivre.
Je n'avais plus revu Bai Jing Ting depuis "You Are My Hero" que je n'avais pas aimé. C'était agréable de le voir dans le genre historique. Bien que son personnage soit lisse, il arrive à lui donner un côté royal, mais doux à la fois.
Tian Xi Wei ne m'avait pas marqué dans "Ms. Cupid in Love", ici elle représente la douceur et l'innocence, parfois un peu trop. Malgré tout, cette aura fonctionne pour son personnage (avec son adorable fossette).
Le couple peut facilement donner l'impression d'être de proches amis qu'un réel couple amoureux. La relation reste légère et s'ils sont mignons ensemble, on a l'impression qu'ils ne sont pas amants la majeure partie du temps.

Cela dit, 40 épisodes c'est long et pourtant, il y avait un réel déséquilibre dans les personnages. Certains viennent et repartent sans raison alors qu'ils ont un intérêt dans l'intrigue.

En bref, un drama gentil et mignon avec des femmes solides sans aucune toxicité ou rivalité (ou presque). Malgré sa nature fictive, on s'amuse de voir la modernité s'emparer d'un drama historique dans la lutte des femmes sans jamais en faire trop.

Leggi di Più

Simple and lighthearted!

This drama focuses mostly on family and relationships! All the other plot (palace politics, harem drama) are touched on but gets resolved quickly. All the villains eventually repent. No lingering hardcore villain to keep us on the edge of our seats to the end. Plot is overall simple and lighthearted.

ML and FL is really cute. I loved BJT in YAMH and Reset so I was excited to see him in a costume drama. He continues to be a cutie to look at! FL is really cute with her big eyes. They make a cute CP in the drama! All the other characters did a great job in their supporting roles. Either you love them or you hate them but they add to the lovely, crazy, sometimes, nerve wrecking family dynamics but everyone eventually sees the right of way!

My only con for this drama is that some parts are a bit draggy and there was a bit too much emphasis on sisterhood for me. I also think there was a hint of a BL relationship but that's hush hush.

Overall, a great watch!

Leggi di Più

Un historique chinois feel-good et féministe

Cette histoire commence par des mariages arrangés entre des jeunes filles des neuf régions et les princes de la capitale, et se révèle très vite être bien plus que ça. On suit bien sûr l'évolution de la relation entre l'héroïne Li Wai et Yin Zheng le discret 6ème prince, le couple principal qui a le plus de temps d'écran. Mais ce drama nous montre surtout les liens qui se forment entre ces jeunes femmes prisonnières de leur condition, qui parviennent à s'émanciper chacune à leur manière, ainsi que le soutien qu'elles s'apportent constamment sans jamais se juger. C'est vraiment frais, agréable, loin de suivre une banale histoire d'amour on a droit à de belles démonstrations d'amitié féminine et la prise de conscience qu'une femme devrait avant tout apprendre à compter sur elle-même plutôt que de penser le mariage comme condition essentielle au bonheur. Qu'il s'agisse de l'accès à des postes officiels, créer sa propre entreprise lucrative ou s'investir dans des activités améliorant la condition féminine et proches de leurs préoccupations, ces femmes ne manquent pas d'idées et n'hésitent pas à mettre en commun leurs ressources pour progresser et faire évoluer les règles strictes du palais.

L'histoire est ponctuée d'intrigues politiques assez classiques, comme par exemple la rivalité existant entre certains princes siégeant à des postes officiels, mais cela reste léger et ne plombe pas l'ambiance avec des magouilles à rallonge. A quelques exceptions près, tous les personnages sont sympathiques et possèdent des personnalités aussi différentes qu'attachantes. Ici pas d'evil bitches qui cherchent à faire de l'ombre à leurs rivales, ni de guerres de territoires entre l'empereur et les méchants ennemis. De nombreux sujets sont abordés, comme par exemple la dépression post-partum, encore tabou à l'époque, ou le fonctionnement d'un pervers narcissique, même si ce n'est pas défini comme tel puisque les recherches sur le sujet sont récentes.

J'émets toutefois un bémol concernant un couple en particulier, que j'ai beaucoup apprécié mais qui à mon avis a été traité de façon maladroite. La princesse guerrière et le 5ème prince sont loin d'avoir des atomes crochus au début de l'histoire et bien que j'aie trouvé l'évolution de leur romance sympathique, je dois souligner que le féminisme prône l'égalité des sexes ce qui passe notamment par la condamnation des violences, le plus souvent masculines, dans le couple. Etre féministe ne signifie donc pas inverser les rôles en reproduisant des comportements problématiques de l'autre sexe, donc être une femme de caractère n'est pas synonyme de brutalité envers son époux. La princesse le rudoie quand même pas mal au début, c'est montré comme quelque chose de comique et pas très grave, et à mon sens ce point n'a pas été suffisamment réfléchi. Comme dit je pense qu'il s'agit surtout de maladresse de la part des scénaristes, mais comme plusieurs personnes l'ont fait remarquer en commentaire, il reste à espérer que les prochains dramas seront plus subtils sur ce point.

Je ne pense pas que je reverrai cette série, mais j'ai passé un moment agréable et c'est encore assez rare de voir des dramas historiques où les femmes sont autant à l'honneur et se soutiennent sans faille. En bref, une histoire fraîche qui prouve que l'audience a de nouvelles attentes, de nouvelles valeurs, et que l'évolution est en marche dans le bon sens.

Leggi di Più

The main couples romance is non existent

This is not a romance drama, the main couple could be seen as friends. The male lead's expression never changes, the main couple has no chemistry and they rarely have scenes together. the plot has no direction, the ml seems like the villain at this point. The only real relationship in this show is Shang guan' and yin Qi's.

The show seems like it's trying to make a statement on feminism but it makes all the female characters weak and stupid, the only strong female character is overly violent to her own husband. The only smart female character isn't actually very smart. Also, the male lead is stupid and weak as well but they try to make him seem intelligent and strong. Overall the show isn't fun to watch or good in any way, even the camera work is lacking, I would not recommend it to anyone.

Leggi di Più

Indeed a New life Begun

I really enjoyed watching this series, I loved the chemistry between actors and the overall story line.

It is a very light, feminist, lots of food type of series with many actual real life issues that a lot of people especially women deal with on a daily basis. Women empowerment story that was done right, it has many multi-layered characters without pitting women against women and promotes sisterhood instead.

Li Wei and Yin Zheng story warms my heart, it was very complicated at first but in the end it was all worth it.

I tend to fast forward or skip because 40 eps series are sometimes very dragging but this series was one of those series that I enjoyed every second of it. Even side characters and their story is good and gave me a reason to root for them.

I can see myself rewatching this series in the near future. I hope others can enjoy this series as much as I do.

Leggi di Più

Most interesting drama of the year!!!

Just want to tell you everything about this drama, the story, the cast, the ost, the cinematography are dam so goood
The story is light but it wont make you boring, i used to prefer a heavy story since light story tend to be boring, but this drama isnt boring, TRUST MEEE, the ups and downs are just PERFECT, not too light but not heavy at all

the musics thooo, some are relaxing, some are give emotions to the story, ++ ye xuanqing and Liu Yuning sang the osts for this drama

What i most like is the cinematography, it gives a kind of atmosphere which is hard for me to describe 👉👈

Leggi di Più

Kindness Always Wins

This was less romance than I expected but a very calm slice of life. Very easy to watch with lovely visuals and rich, relaxing music.

The overall theme of no matter male, female, high rank, or commoner kindness matters was nice. But a little overly hammered home with every story for every couple. Being respectful and having integrity is important but did make it feel like only females understand this and men need to be taught. I understand it was pseudo historical and trying to be a sign of the times but it was still a fictional setting so they didn't need to be quite so heavy handed.

People that complain the FL is childish, yes she is because she is practically a child and never had to have city life/rules. She definitely does learn, grow, and mature by the end. The growth of the women was mainly the focus of the story. It was nice to see how all the friendships unfolded.

P.S. I need someone to teach me how to cook everything in this show!

Leggi di Più

Underrated

Its a beautiful n a fresh drama. Unlike lots of other c drama this one is unique coz of story line. No typical fights between the main wifes n concubines. Acting is amazing. But kudos to the screenplay.
Worth a watch. I couldn't stop once I started. Will rewatch it for sure.
The drama is underrated definitely deserves more.
Special mention on the comic timing of the 3 rd price n his team of women.
This drama talks of women empowerment in a very good way. Women folk here were shown as independent thinkers which was definitely fresh ro see for ancient period dramas.

Leggi di Più