I watched this show because learning more about history is always really high on my agenda, and I like to see things from other points of view. This is certainly a patriotism driven show. However, it’s not enough to make you feel like you’re being brainwashed. They don’t try to make one side glorious while the other is evil, they show that there are wrongs done on both sides. It’s very engaging right from the start. Formulaic, perhaps, from what I’ve come to learn watching Asian dramas, but it doesn’t detract from it at all imo.
Bai Lu’s Xi LiangChen is very endearing, so very much more so than she was in Legends. Being a woman who has gone through boot camp myself, I could certainly relate to this character, even if we don’t have to pretend to be boys. She expresses the difficulty, determination, and feeling of accomplishment very well.
Xu Kai was perfect for Gu YanZhen. I can imagine his career skyrocketed after this. He was able to go from playboy jerk to valiant young man without ever once annoying me. Which is rare. Is he ever not adorable? Ok that may be annoying just a little bit.
The chemistry between the main leads is uh-may-zing. Like, so crazy intense that you just watch kind of hypnotized by it like a snake with the charmer’s weaving. I think my eyes may have gotten dry from not blinking when those two would start up. And it makes you laugh so hard at times during this show while they’re working their relationship out. Brilliant writing there.
It was really Toby Lee that had me cheering for him though. It may be my tendency to root for the underdog or my preference for the still-water-that-runs-deep personality, but he was the quietly complex and noble Shen Junshan in in a way that had me looking forward to seeing him every time.
The supporting cast was spectacular. IT was SO SO NICE to see Hong Yao play a good person. I’m so used to seeing him in villain roles that I was already cringing to see what he was going to do this time, and I have to admit it made me enjoy his Shen TingBai just a little bit more when I came to realize that hey, he’s pretty freaking amazing. To the point where I wanted to poke Wu Jiayi’s otherwise fun ManTing in the head for the way she treated him. Why do we as girls perpetually go after the ones we shouldn’t and develop blinders to the ones we should be seeing? At any rate he was kind of my hero as well in this. Which is probably going to really mess with my head the next time I see him as a bad guy. Le sigh.
I will say that I absolutely was beguiled by the under-story of Guo ShuTing and Huo XiaoYu. It added complexity to the show that couldn’t have been achieved if it had revolved entirely around the younger set. Both actors did amazingly in their roles as well.
There were some silly parts- that crazy and slightly weird fireworks party that YanZhen threw for LiangChen that had me cringing a bit. But…. That everyone there just rolled their eyes instead of instantly manning an anti-gay revolt was refreshing. Yay.
Overall it wasn’t profoundly deep or anything but it was fun, engaging, at times riveting, and definitely something I would watch again in the future. The OST was pretty good too, and suited the drama well. Watch it.

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A fun and undemanding war movie

Action- packed, this movie jumps in and doesn’t stop running until the end. It is a valiant underdog story of how ancient Korea fared against the onslaught of the invading Tang Dynasty of China.

The cast is pretty good. Everyone was believable enough in their role. Those playing Chinese roles spoke Chinese. Though I’ve adjusted enough to hearing it spoken to know it sounded a little stilted, it’s way better than having them speak Korean. That’s a peeve of mine in films of any sort- not using the language or at least the accent of the country the person is supposedly from. Perhaps it's because I don't particularly expect an action movie to make me sob or laugh hysterically, but I had no problem with any of the actors, or the story. I never lost immersion either, even if it didn't have me an emotional wreck. (Thank goodness, I wasn't watching it for that.)

The military tactics are clever and it was fun to guess how they would be counteracted. I’m not sure if they were ones actually recorded in history as having been used in that time frame, but they were believable, on both sides. (At least to some extent, we allowed for dramatization.)

This is an action movie, and doesn’t really have much romance in it. There’s a little poignant heartache, but it’s more of an aside than any running theme. Even so, it’s a great fun movie to watch, especially if you want to compromise on a date night. ;)

For those interested in history, the invading Chinese Emperor Taizong, aka Li ShiMin, is the first husband of Wu Zetian, the eventual only ruling Empress in the history of China. (Of course she’s not shown in this, she was an Imperial Consort at the time.) But fun! I’ve always wanted more details on that time frame- I’ve been fascinated by it since I was 12.



TL/DR: definitely see it. You won’t be bored, unless strategy eludes you and you just need to see gratuitous violence, or you live only for romantic dramas.

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Where to start? We were really so excited to see this. We have been gaming for more than ten years, I, for one, love Spain (I have a gihugic painting in the living room of Sevilla that I spent a year painting) and as I had literally just finished watching Crash Landing on You, I was even more stoked to see what the talented actor Hyun Bin could do. There also have been reviews that were interested in a gamer’s take on it. I went in relaxed, hyped by the positive reviews, and with an open mind.
I really did.
OMG.
First off, I’m going to nerd out, zero shame. I don’t think a gamer was involved in the writing of this at all, other than the occasional verbiage they toss out. If there was, I’m pretty sure he or she is a troll, or had such a bad experience PVPing right when they began that they ragequit. There are so many things that are just not happening in the gaming world. Simple things. Like for instance, when you just start a game, the first NPC you fight isn’t going to take 50+ times to kill. I don’t care how much of a noob you are. Even the most complex game gives you breathing room to adjust to the controls and idiosyncrasies before it really starts challenging you. Yes it takes more to level endgame than it does in the beginning- BUT you don’t get XP by killing low level NPCs unless you’re low level too. It just doesn’t work that way in ANY game I know. The scene where he drives by in a car and guns down the NPCs the newbies are fighting with in the starting zone? Yeah, I don’t know if even trolls bother to do that. It’s just beyond obnoxious. Now I could see if he was legit concerned about the noobs and trying to keep them safe, but it didn’t present that way and certainly wasn’t in his personality to do so.
That brings me to the show’s personality archetypes. There are only two people in this entire show- the secretary, and the little sister that we nicknamed “Total -harm” (i think her shirt actually said totally charming but it was partially covered in a way that made it adorably apt)- that aren’t either utterly unlikeable or completely frustrating.
I don’t even think the leads in this could truly engage with their characters because, while I could tell they were trying, so much of it felt stilted and one dimensional.
The ML is pretty much a Trump-type stuffed into a supermodel’s body, which to me is just the devil incarnate- if the devil weren’t even remotely intriguing and was just off putting instead. I told myself, however, that no matter how much I might want to punch the ML at first, Kdramas have a tendency to give the guy layers (Secretary Kim etc) and let you see past the surface to the decent person underneath. But…. halfway through, and I was still wanting to punch him. Two episodes from the end, and I am stymied with the feeling that if he hadn’t been stuck in circumstances entirely beyond his control and didn’t need her to soothe his wounded ego, he would still be same a$$**** that yelled at her so viciously in the beginning. And that scene… where he just unloads on her, gets the phone call where he finds out she’s intrinsic to his business goals, and then turns around with that smile on his face? I got totally creeped out. ( I’m going to need a Hyun Bin palate cleanser after this. I don’t want to hate him) The FL, adorable as she is, spent most of the time crying and being helpless. (UGH, put your big girl panties on and kick some gaming ass, why don’t you?? It’s your BROTHER) I’m sorry but if a game- or anything else- ate my sister, whatever-it-was would be in for an entire world of hurt.
And really, this was a Netflix original? Did there need to be SO MUCH product placement?
We desperately stuck with it however. The guy that I watched this with was determined to stick with it too, because he felt he deserved an explanation for the bizarre twists the show kept throwing out. We just needed to know how it ended. We knew by then, even if it somehow managed to validate everything into something shiny and glowy and new, it still wouldn’t get back the fourteen hours of growing frustration and annoyance we had spent watching it. BUT WE DID. And….
Everyone is entitled to their own feelings and opinions. This is ours. If we want to signify something to each other that should have been good and disappointed us completely, we use this as a reference now. Just saying.

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Something new for fans of Le Coup de Foudre

A surprisingly good show from Mainland China, especially since a lot of the dramas that have been released lately have been unimpressive. This is a show mainly for those that want an older cast- and by that I mean past the age of 20 somethings. It’s much more realistic to have executives that are the correct age, and if you’re going to have a couple that are reunited again after a previous romance, like this does, to actually have some years on them. Let’s face it, a separation of a year or so is just not that drastic. That’s more of a temporary break up.

The script writers and producers were honest about their world of entertainment and letting us see into it a little bit. We might forget with all the glitz and glamour how savage the world can be for them. I wouldn’t wish this life on anyone I cared about, even as I appreciate what they bring to us. It’s true that artists suffer for their art. The topic of depression, as others have said, is handled really well, I just wish they would handle the problem of overwork less cavalierly. They portray it as necessary and in a more positive light (like she's a badass because she does this) rather than for the serious health risk it really is. Overwork can lead to depression and mental illness, as well as a host of other health problems. Probably not getting sick when caught in the rain for five minutes though. Just saying.

Cinematography: It's helmed by the same director as Le Coup de Foudre, so a lot of the cinematography and style will feel familiar, such as the sunlight filtering through the leaves and classic window shots. It’s kind of nice when you can recognize an artistic style right off the bat.

Cast: The actors are really good. You get a full range here. The MFL, whom I first saw as the gentle empress in Yanxi Palace, is just the epitome of refinement. The MML, Godfrey Gao, our Magnus Bane from the Mortal Instruments series, just breaks your heart in so many ways. The supporting cast is also pretty good. You kinda love the little starlet and at the same time kind of want to have a do-over in raising her so she’s not such a brat. The SML- who was a bit of a surprise- makes it easy to become really fond of him. He comes across as a bit of an old soul, certainly doesn’t seem his age, beyond his face of course. I love that the antagonists in this aren’t vicious just for the sake of evil. They all have their motivations, and it makes sense even if you don’t particularly like it.

Misc: The music is really on point, about what I’d expect from a Chinese drama. Even if the show itself lets me down I can usually enjoy the OST. :) The title of the drama was a bit misleading though. Like, the opposite of what it actually was, just like Le Coup de Foudre. That show’s romance was anything but a bolt of lightning, it was a really warm and lovely slow burn. This show was more about always having someone there for you, even if you didn’t know it or appreciate it. Perhaps this director lives in Alice’s world.
Alice: ” If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would.”\o/






****slight spoiler****







Is this far enough down? Ok. There is a strange otherworldly parallel in the last few episodes where one of the characters dies (won’t say who), and the MFL is talking to the MML about how short life is and how you never know when you or someone you care about is going to leave this world…. It just sent chills down my spine knowing what happened to Godfrey not too long after that. I still get them whenever I think about it. For those that don’t know or remember, Godfrey Gao, the MML, dies in RL soon after the making of this show, ostensibly from a heart attack. It’s hard to watch this show at all without your heart aching when you see him, but this just .. was hard to watch. I hope in his next life he is able to claim as much happiness as he brought to others in this one.

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This is one I have wanted to write a review for right off. Now before I get started, I will say that none of this should reflect on the acting. If anything, the acting was so good that it turned something that may have been mildly disturbing into one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen.
This is not a romance. This is not even really a love story. This is a sparkly wuxia tale of destructive and unhealthy relationships. Right up until the last episode where it desperately tries to redeem it. Like most others, I started this thinking it would be a reasonably light drama with great actors and fun fantasy elements. Maybe I read too much into things, but this was nothing whatever like I expected. While it certainly starts out that way- This took something I usually applaud- good not really flawless, bad not always evil- and does it in almost every wrong way… and STILL somehow end up with characters that are ridiculously, rigidly “good” or intrinsically and unsalvageably evil. So annoying.

I was able to sympathise right off the start with Hua QianGu, even though she’s rather helpless and damsel in distress throughout most of the show. If you are looking for Chu Qiao in Princess Agents all over again, stop now. But if you can tolerate the idea of her starting out and mostly staying vulnerable to the nth degree, you may be ok. You mostly end up thinking of her as a little sister type. This made the story that much more painful. It’s like watching your bff or whatever start a self destructive relationship and not being able to do a thing about it. Really, that’s what troubles me the most. Guy or gal, if you are in a relationship that even remotely resembles this one up until the end, gtfo. Please. For your sake and the sake of everyone that loves you. And none of that “you can’t help who you fall in love with”. Love is supposed to bring joy and light and life to your world, not destroy it. At some point much earlier you just have to stop and ask yourself if this is good for you. Do we make mistakes that hurt each other? Of course. But the essence of it needs to be rooted in positivity. It scares me that some people may watch it and feel justified staying in an unhealthy relationship. That was my predominant thought watching this show.

This is one of those that ten episodes in, I’m wondering how the hell almost any of the good characters can be considered good. They’re either self righteous jerks or actually inherently evil. I mean, once they make decisions towards the dark side shouldn’t they become dark sect? The judgy pool should at least acknowledge that, right?

The bad guys are either truly decent people or the stereotypical utterly evil. I enjoyed the relationships between Dong Fang, and Sha QianMo, with our girl so much more, and both are technically supposed to be dark side.

The little caterpillar. So cute. Speaks at a decibel that stabbed ice picks through the headaches this show had me experiencing most of the way through. I actually had to watch this in fits and starts because it really did make my head hurt.

This was my first time seeing Wallace Huo and by the end I had and almost unbearable urge to poke him in the face to see if it moved- which gave me fits later because I watched Love Me if You Dare soon after, and the lead actress DOES poke him in the face. Very satisfying. Not saying he’s a bad actor because it was the role he was playing, and he did it very well. Even if you wanted to jab him. Really, really hard.

The OST is beautiful. The music is so catchy it gets stuck in your (aching) head. The lyrics are absolutely perfect for this, too, which is amusing, because destructive relationships are much easier to handle in a song than to watch them progress slowly and painfully each episode.

Upside: Everyone is shiny and beautiful (on the surface at least) and if you can get past the many, many flaws and watch it for entertainment value alone- probably want to be as drunk as a nine-tailed fox too- then you’ll be fine.
Downside: If you’re like me and you need the main relationship to stay inherently healthy and nonabusive, it’s going to hurt. Emotionally, and probably physically.

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This is a difficult drama to review. There are so many things I liked about it- the female lead, the sets, the costumes, the secondary characters and story lines. There was enough that I didn’t like about it as well- the male lead, the ending, the title. (Did it lose something in translation? I don’t know. This is yet another I would like to have renamed. I may go through and rename for myself all the ones that I find are a spoiler alert or just plain wrong.)
Upside:
Xiao Feng comes across as someone I could have a few beers with and watch c-dramas… she seems that fun and real. She’s not ms. perfect and is kind of headstrong, and I appreciate that in a female lead. I really liked almost every female character in this and when they were all hanging out together, I would have wanted to hang out with them- and I don’t think there’s another show that really has me saying that. It’s nice to see this kind of camaraderie, especially between women. Too often every other woman hates the main character, and it’s tiring. On a completely frivolous note, how cute is Serena Cheng, aka Yong Ning, with that haircut? If I had her face I would just run with that chin length hairstyle forever. And can I have A Du as a bestie even if she decides to not vocalize for half our friendship?
Also, I could watch the General Pei’s facial expressions forever. Always subtle. Occasionally hilarious. He has a gift. I ended up really, really liking him. On a side note, I appreciate the way he was able to carry a girl down a half dozen hallways without showing any strain. It kind of ruins it when a guy lifts the girl and there’s a noticeable struggle. (cough cough.) There was no struggle here. Definitely one of my favorite characters.
Oh, and Gu Jian. Again, the secondary male lead won my heart. Why does this always happen? Well, in this it is truly and deeply justified. He’s an amazing person, noble, self sacrificing for our female lead, sensible most of the time. He chips away at the wall you have up to keep you from voting for the second lead because you know he’ll lose in the end. Well done, sir. Not the heartbreak, I’m a little resentful over that, but Shawn Wei gently and slowly wins your over to the point where you’re thinking, why the hell don’t you just run off with this guy already? You were in love with him once, why do you keep getting sucked in by the other one?

Downside:
Which brings me to Li ChengYin. Keep in mind I am not panning the actor, even if he does look a little too much like Keanu Reeves to me. He played his role really well. Seriously. It was the character itself that I deeply disliked right from the start. I hated that they had such amazing chemistry together, because he was such. A. Jerk. When you’re watching a drama and you just really hate the male lead, what’s the point? Even so, she wanted him, so I selflessly tried to stop rooting for Gu Jian- hey maybe I can have him if you don’t want him?- and tried to have faith in her and let her figure things out on her own.
NO. Some people just do not make good life decisions. Without utterly spoiling it, the ending made me just want to yeet myself off my balcony. And as I treasure this life, that made me resent it too.

To sum up: If you want something that will make you laugh, cry, watch with ease, and eventually make you want to slash your wrists in the end, this one's for you. If you want a male lead and story line that doesn’t ultimately make you sad in a very dastardly way, skip it.

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I’m a little mad right now. At myself, because the negative reviews on this made me wait sooo long to watch it- til a couple of delightfully rainy days in fact.
1. The acting is amazing. If you have a pretty face, I’m biased against you until you prove your acting chops, and Jung Hae In continues to pleasantly surprise me. Watch his eyes, they’re amazingly expressive. I actually liked Son Ye Jin in this even more than Crash Landing, which I had seen first, and I liked her in that as well. The antagonists get under your skin too- good job done there.
2. The story was not exceedingly melo. Not purely “slice of life”, but with an overall feeling that almost any of this could happen any given day. It had realistic problems woven together into a believable story.
3. The cinematography was beautifully done. The OST was brilliant, and added to the overall feel of the production- with one tiny nitpick that the Stand by Your Man song was occasionally ill-timed. Unless they were being wry, and it didn’t really feel like it. I would have saved it til later. Otherwise the music gave the show the sort of mellow, poignant feel it deserved.
4. I never once lost interest in any part of the show. It didn’t lag in the middle or anywhere else. On the contrary this one did bring tears to my eyes, and giggles, and made me shamelessly sigh. Which was what I was looking for at the time. And, well, most of the time. If your heart’s not in it, what’s the point, right?
5. I like how the secondary plot gives the show a dose of seriousness. Workplace harassment and bias is prevalent in real life and they portray the aspects of it well- from the subtle undermining of self esteem, to the way women occasionally turn on each other in doubt and selfishness.
A definite must see in my book. I’ll be watching it again, for the feel good moments... and to see if I can definitively ascertain any significance behind the red, green and yellow umbrellas. I have my ideas, but I’m just not sure. :)

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A multilayered masterpiece

I honestly wasn’t going to write a review for this, simply because I didn’t know if I would be able to capture in words everything I felt watching it. This is an art film made into a drama, and done well. The story, cinematography, characters, the lack of artificiality, everything was raw. This is not simply a steamy story about a risque affair. It is a slow, seductive, and painful concerto about finding yourself, your center, your own truth, and letting go.

Story: It isn’t writing you can skim along the surface with. You have to discern the undercurrents and figure out what’s hidden in everything they say and do. This is the opposite of flash over substance, despite the salacious title. If you can enjoy watching a chess game played with people’s lives and reputations, if you like dynamic lead characters that grow and transcend, and if you like complex and multilayered relationships contrasted with shallow ones, then this is created for you. It is very reminiscent of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in its style and nature, only with more heart.

It was fascinating to observe how we can get caught up in the needs and expectations of others, augmented by our own ambitions, just by living our lives; as a contrast, we also see what happens when a catalyst comes and changes the world around us. In my own mind I keep picturing the main character as a bird in a cage that others keep tightening around her with their own selfish needs. She stays in it for her own desperate sense of security, complacent enough to the point of not realizing how small her world has become until that world is shaken. It is so difficult to watch her start to beat to her wings against the bars that are stifling her.

Production: The cinematography is brilliant: the way they use raindrops and the set itself to truncate the edges of scenes and create a sense of intimacy, the moody and often bleak monochromatic coloring scale. The music, which this entire film is woven around, transports you, even if you’re a layman like I am. Don’t mistake me, I enjoy music deeply, but I have no real knowledge of it, I only recognize what it makes me feel. I can only imagine how profound it might be to someone who actually understands and has a passion for classical music.

Acting: Phenomenal.

Misc: I'm not one to hand out five star reviews just because I liked something. In a lot of ways, this still raised the bar for me. This is a drama that I absolutely could not binge watch the first time around. I had to save it for a time when I could not be distracted by anything, and even then it was so emotionally charged that I had to pull myself out of it and breathe.

There are some people that are naturally not going to like it because things are still very black and white for them, and they haven’t developed a sense that there is always more to a story than that. This is not for the very young or very idealistic, or for those that have the idea of marriage being some sort of sacred thing, regardless of circumstances or differing reasons as to why it might have been entered into.

Unlike far too many western shows, this completely defies making the parts involving intimacy base or gratuitous. The title is meant to be ironic, and you see very quickly the truth of that. Honestly, after the piano sessions, any physical intimacy is a bit anticlimatic.

As an aside, the ending music can be very startling if you’re as wrapped up in it as I was. It made me jump a few times, I won’t lie. I had to start clipping the end because it became like an alarm clock to me- and I developed an internal alarm clock just so I won’t have to ever use a real one. So be forewarned.



TL;DR: Don’t watch this right now, you won't understand what's going on if you couldn’t even get through a review. (That wasn’t what you expected, was it…. ^.^) But seriously, it is complicated, and you'll have to pay attention.
Also, in all honesty, if you’re thinking of going in with preconceived judgements and a fistful of holier-than-thou notions, please don’t bother, it will only make you frustrated. But if you can give them a chance to tell you the tale, and accept the intricacies of being human, then give it a solid try. I’m not one to condone breaking promises of any sort, but I had absolutely no issues with this often sad but still lovely story.

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This is one of the dramas that I hold as a benchmark for all-around perfection. There are not many Chinese dramas- or any really- that meet the sheer scope and mastery of this.
1. The acting is just beyond; mind-blowing veteran actors that make you feel so many conflicting emotions that it just becomes a journey you feel you took part in yourself. Nie Yuan as the quintessential brilliant and dictatorial emperor. There are very few that can so perfectly capture the chilling absolute power of imperialism like he does. YingLuo draws you in with her canny intelligence, and absolute refusal to back down against seemingly overwhelming odds.
The supporting cast would have completely stolen the show if there had been weaker leads, they were that strong. You fall in love with all of them.
2. It is very bittersweet at the ending, I was sobbing, and it is really hard to get me to do that. I can think of maybe 5 that have, and I have seen hundreds. Seriously.
3. The entire production, from the OST (which I have on my youtube playlist), to the costumes and sets, the spectacular writing and cinematography, all of it was so perfect for the show. Nothing was jarring.
4. This is one where you might not even like the main characters, but you deeply respect them. I found myself interested in the historicity of this and researched how it fits along with other shows I have seen in a similar time frame. (Scarlet Heart and Empresses in the Palace- two other favorites of mine- are about the father of this emperor, and both would be a great series to watch in conjunction with this one, preferably before and in that order.)
5. I would watch this again. And again. And probably until I got to the point where I could recite the lines myself. It will probably become a yearly thing for me. A definite can’t miss series.

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Fans of Ming Lan, Yanxi Palace, Scarlet Heart, and Empresses in the Palace Will LOVE This

This has to be one of the least mentioned series in comparison to the ones above, and that’s just a crying shame. Understated, elegantly written and superbly brought to life by a stellar cast, this is a magnificent show that brings to life the turbulent days during the declining years and fall of imperialism, and the rise of one of the first female Chinese entrepreneurs.

There are, as far as I can see halfway in, no fillers in this 74 episode drama. For reals. Everything that happens is part of an intricately plotted tale that moves like a chess game (or, I suppose, a weiqi game would be more apt). Just when you think you hit the point where a Chinese drama almost inevitably gets dull and repetitive, someone makes a move and everything just hits the fan. Just when you think it’s going dark and serious, something will happen to make you shout with laughter. It is a little melo sometimes, but with this many episodes it has to keep your attention. Some things you can see coming a mile away, but there were still things that startled me when they happened.

Sun Li, as the MFL, has a talent for getting rare jewels of complex characters and making them shine. She takes the dynamic character of Zhao Ying and evolves her like watching a diamond developing facets and shine. Zhao Ying is a catalyst for change in everyone she interacts with. She isn’t a particularly good person, but she is strong, and real.

This isn’t purely a romance, though it has plenty of romantic relationships in it. It isn’t purely slice-of-life, because there is lots of drama, and it will keep you on your toes for most of it. It isn’t perfect, but it’s engaging and it just seems to keep getting better and better. Most 70+ episode shows you need to have patience, and occasionally something else to do as it plays in the background. With this one, I have a hard time doing that. Every time I tried to multitask I found I missed something important. >.<

Honestly I absolutely love how she thumbs her nose at the misogynists in the show. There’s a neat yin-yang sort of balance between Zhao Ying and the Magistrate Zhao, who she keeps butting heads with.

Sets, costumes, and cinematography are all gorgeous. I wouldn’t change a thing. The soundtrack is reminiscent of Yanxi Palace and Ming Lan, lovely but nothing particularly catchy or distracting. In all, everything blends in a lovely way without one thing overpowering the rest. And for those who need the eye candy- well. There are certainly gorgeous men in this. :) XingYi is sooooo easy on the eyes, and a great actor as well. (Not even the weird hairstyles can make him unattractive. How crazy is that.)

I haven’t even finished it, but I kind of wanted to point others that like C-dramas in this direction asap. I’m totally binge watching it- like 7+ episodes a day, and if there are any updates I need to make I’ll do it when I’m finished. It's available on Amazon Prime right now. (June 2020) Only saying this because sometimes it's hard to find the shows you want to watch easily. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

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The other reviews are pretty spot on, considered altogether. You either love that the story behind the history is told, or you’re uncomfortable with it. But it WILL NOT let you remain untouched. I’m honestly sitting here stymied on what to say, because nothing seems adequate. Even so, I just want to pull this to the forefront of the review world for a little bit so more people can watch this absolute masterpiece of cinema.

I’ve said it before, I don’t often rate things a 10. I was actually torn this time because I find accuracy in history important. I still rated this that highly however because it walks in the gray area that surrounds the why in which a person became what he was, rather than the end result. Despite the memoirs that survive from that time, the truth of how he got there is still open to conjecture. This film takes a monster and turns it into a man, instead of the other way around.

Also as others have said, and I have to reiterate, the acting is just beyond phenomenal. As any role, and especially as SaDo, this man has a way of changing his entire countenance according to the character he plays. (I watched this with someone who had recently watched Chicago Typewriter with me, and he didn’t even recognize Eom Hong Sik (Yoo Ah In). He’s usually pretty damn good with recognizing faces, too.)

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A must-see for any K-drama fan

It looks like it has been a while since anyone has reviewed this one and I felt the need to put it out there, in this time of summer self-quarantine, when we’re all avidly looking for something to keep our interest. This does that, in spades.
It’s lighthearted without being ridiculous, has serious moments without weighing you down, and still manages to grab you and make you think with ideologically challenging questions. So without further ado...

Reasons to watch:

There’s a decent plot. One we’ve seen, of course, sure. But it follows it pretty faithfully, and doesn’t forget what it’s doing halfway through. That alone feels rare nowadays. It may be silly occasionally, but it’s not insulting. It can actually be pretty clever. My favorite thought provoking line: “Are you aware that with passion comes responsibility?”

The acting. This has an insanely all-star cast, with the actors we love now in the roles that pretty much started them on their path to fame. The performances are brilliant, to say the very least. There is an air of the three musketeers- adding in a female D’Artagnan, naturally- about the quartet. Especially if you can see Porthos taking on shades of the Scarlet Pimpernel, and Aramis becoming Zorro. Add in an angsty Athos being unwillingly attracted to D’Artagnan (who just looks at him with dewy, loving eyes and emotionally slays him), and the Scarlet Pimpernel chasing Zorro with a playfully lusty grin, and that’s basically this show. I hope I didn’t confuse you with my analogies. :) But if you know the iconic characters I’m talking about, you will totally get it when you watch this show.

The second leads. Ok yeah I mentioned them already. BUT. In case I haven’t convinced you yet… the two men literally have the entire spectrum covered for anyone who likes men. (I worded that carefully.)
Take one man that stimulates most of the world intellectually, and then toss him in a role that is a walking dose of sexual pheromones. Then make him all hot and sweaty for a quarter of his scenes. (Raises eyebrow.) If you are still breathing, I will not understand how you could not be attracted to Yoo Ah In, especially in this.
If that doesn’t win you over (checks your pulse) then the sly eyed, promiscuous and surprisingly canny Song Joon Ki will with his irresistibly wicked grin. I don’t care how pretty this guy is, he is not to be underestimated.
Put the two of them together, and they are more than just the sum of their parts. Honestly, if I saw the two of them were cast in a puppy food commercial together, I would go out of my way to watch it after this. They are THAT good. And now I've made myself slightly ill with all the effusive praise. Le sigh.

The ONLY thing that was slightly off putting for me was the occasionally startling OST. Sometimes the music was ill advised, sometimes it was distracting. Sometimes it was pretty. It was mostly confused with what it wanted to do.
And critically, the baddies are just bad for the sake of being bad, and I like to know their motivations are something more interesting than entitlement/greed/pure evil. A lot of the gratuitous scenes, while not boring, could have been done away with to give us more on the people we are interested in, such as Cho Sun’s back story, and the terrible two’s 10 year history. The benevolent king- what pivotal moment might have made him different from most? And the eldest Moon brother, his story would have been interesting. Good shows typically leave you wanting more, and this certainly does. I just had fun with it.

Reasons Not to Watch: You don't like K-dramas. Or you need something deeply and intellectually stimulating with no frills.


TL/DR: Just watch it.

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1. Has the overall feel of a young-adolescent show from the early 90’s- like Saved by the Bell. Very staged and cutesy. If you enjoy that, you’ll like this.
2. Handles high school-esque problems well, other than the fistfighting, but the butt kicking makes it fun.
3. The chemistry between the leads was memorable. I liked the actors, even if they’re not particularly believable as high schoolers. I’d love to see them in a less youthful production. Something with meat on it.
4. Sometimes it was overly saccharine. To the point where I really wanted to stop watching it. Kept it up as background entertainment for most of the show while I did other things, I won’t lie.
5. It is what it is, and doesn’t pretend to be anything else. The opening song and beginning reel kind of prepares you for what’s coming, unlike others where it’s misleading. If the lot of them popping up in the beginning doesn’t immediately make you cringe then you may be ok. I however would not even half watch this again, it’s not my milieu. Share it with some 12-14 year olds you know, or those that need light, fluffy and fun in their life.

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A Nora Roberts style Kdrama

Let's face it, when we started this we weren't really expecting it to be a psychologically thrilling and thought provoking masterpiece. It is what it is- a romantic drama, full of the cliches that, while overdone and expected, we still fall for because it can make us smile. If you want a fantasy to take you out of your life for a little bit and give you a lot of steamy scenes and romance, an occasional rofl moment, and/or just want something to while away some time with a glass of wine and a blanket in front of the fireplace, this is for you.
PHJ and JBA both carry off their roles with aplomb, neither one becoming particularly annoying to me, which could very, very easily have happened. Instead, there are a few roll your eyes moments interspersed with truly sexy encounters that will make your heart jump a lil bit. The sex appeal PHJ carries so subtly in Cheese in the Trap just runs wild in this one, and if you're watching this solely for him, you will not be disappointed. At. All.
JBA was endearing to me, and that goes a long way for me in these romantic dramas- if the female lead is a pushover or brainless, I'm just done. But she manages to stand up in the relationship and not take any BS, to the point of making me chuckle a couple times- which with the rather overpowering personality of PHJ's character, is rather a feat in itself.
There really wasn't much of a triangle, which was rather refreshing. The couple certainly had enough issues to work out without it. The secondary couple seemed to be added in just because, but there are one or two funny moments that had me laughing hysterically, because as absurd as they are you can still see it happening. (That parking lot loudspeaker scene, omg.)

While I hope PHJ doesn't get relegated to eye candy roles- the man has an amazingly chilling ability to carry off that razor edge of Machiavellian brilliance without looking completely psychotic- I admit I enjoyed him in this. You'd have to be blind and estrogen-less not to.
Sit back, have a glass of something fun, curl up and just enjoy. I am.
Binge watching this still while you read this, most likely. I'll amend if I need to.

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This was the first Chinese drama I had ever seen, and (between this and Princess Agents) made me totally hooked on Asian dramas. Why?
1. The romance. It really is one of the most achingly romantic stories out there.
2. The acting. I may be completely wrong, but the two ML seem a lot more intelligent than their characters were written. Perhaps that’s what added nuance to what would probably have been like watching the quarterback and head cheerleader hook up. (Pretty to watch, but really…) The entire cast was brilliant and I’m always happy to see them show up again in dramas. To me, this is part of what marks a stellar production.
3. This made me understand what Second Lead Syndrome was. Poor Night Immortal. So damaged, dark and deep. Leo Luo brought him to life in a pavane of delicate fragility, with a core of tempered steel.
4. Beyond anything else, the set, the music, the cgi, pretty much everything about this drama was gloriously aesthetic and made my dreamy artist’s heart sigh. I still have some of the OST on my playlist. It was a feast to the eyes and ears.
5. It wasn’t particularly intellectual, but it was entertaining and memorable. Certainly something I could find myself going back and rewatching in a few years, especially since I have seen so many others of the same genre now.
I would definitely recommend it to you if you’re looking for something to sweep you away for a little while into a dreamworld. Don’t expect it to challenge your mind, and it will truly get your heart engaged.

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