Stumble upon this show on youtube & i was instantly hooked. It's an ambitious production but after 2/3 into the show after ep.40, it's where the show really falters alot in storytelling, depth, & cohesiveness along with editing/cuts. The story is heavily revolved around palace politics & vengeance. It's not unique persay but the approach is rather refreshing in Royal Nirvana. It's about a Crown Prince Xiao Ding Quan who tries to right the wrongs & an imperial minister's daughter Lu Wenxi who becomes embroiled within the palace politics & schemes.

The essemble cast is excellent. Luo Jin is superb as the crown prince with exceptional execution in dialogue & facial expression. Li Yi Tong portrays the intelligent & talented Lu Wen Xi, who is just as great/if not equally has the same caliber of acting alongside Luo Jin. They both have great screen presence & chemistry. Great performances. Luo Jin is a great crier. Tears falls down effortlessly & same with Li Yi Tong. I'm not familiar with these two works but they are excellent in Royal Nirvana with the materials they are given. Ep 1-18 is the set up of the story & characters in terms of relationship to eachother. Ep. 19 - 39 are my favorite episodes & probably where the writing is the strongest. I watched ep. 40-41 but ep. 42-50 without subtitles. This is where the writing becomes much weaker to the point of absurdity. The editing/abrupt cut from scene to scene is a visible. One of the biggest gripe of the show is the ENG translation. It lacks clarity & even dialogues are left out at a certain point. The original essence/meaning of the dialogue is lost & becomes a bit hard to understand certain scenes/situation of the story, which makes the political aspect/storyline of Royal Nirvana convoluted due to rough translation.

Xiao Ding is introduced as a very well versed/smart young man whom seems to set out an agenda against the imperial concubine & her family. His character is likable, especially with Luo Jin's impeccable acting. But his character becomes quite insufferable along with the palace shennanigans, especially after 40 episodes. His character lacks depth & character development is bare. There isnt a natural change or progression in his personality/mindset. He's somewhat stagnant throughout the show. His mannerism towards Lu Wen Xi also rather odd/becomes a tad unnerving onscreen later in the show as he physically wears her down. There's an imbalance of power, which makes their relationship unequal. There's also a huge lack of communication between the two which causes more dismay for Lu Wen Xi. Many problems could be resolve on the show if the writers had the two lead characters communicate/be on the same level of thinking/planning.

Lu Wenxi is a great character of talented feat. Unfortunately her characters get bogged down, beaten, yelled, & whipped. It's hard to not to feel frustrated with the writers, since she has so much potential, but she's put in many degrading situation that undermines her character. I enjoyed her character alot onscreen so it saddening to see a great female character exposed to an onslaught of repetitive assault. The romance for the two leads has potential but the progression towards it is rather abrupt/flat & questionable because of the imbalance between the two leads which can be fixed with proper development in the writing.

Royal Nirvana's strongest suites, besides the acting/cast, is the cinematography, costume designs & the beautiful music score. It is a visually pleasing show to watch, with it's attention to detail in colors, from the setting to the clothes the characters wear. It's not over the top/gaudy but it is definitely not cheap/tacky. The stage sets is also very nice. The music score on this show is amazing. The opening sequence has resemblance to the sound of Evernight's op sequence as both show shares the same music composer. Although Royal Nirvana has two composers. Music can either make/break the show but the music score here really heightens the show on an emotional aspect. Overall there are many things to like about Royal Nirvana & it's production. It has potential to be great but the writing drops in quality in cohesiveness & development/depth for the storytelling & characters.

This show reminded me alot of Rise of the Phoenix but revenge plots are pretty half baked in the C-Drama department. If you want a show that respects its female lead character with an excellent male lead character plus awesome character development, I recommend Story of Minglan. The story is also much more unique than your average palace politic shows.