JUST IN! My cynical cold heart has lost the battle.
It's over . The white surrender flag has been raised.
I can't watch Chinese dramas without believing in a mushy lovey-dovey love that conquers all.
And this drama was the bestest.
Not the best but the bestest!
At first the title discouraged me. I thought it was a fantasy drama,
which is not my comfortable go-to, I am still discovering that arena.
A colleague at work said that I needed to watch it,
I am so glad I did.
The #cdrama has it's serious emotional intertwined storylines but what I enjoyed so much is how the comedy creeps up on you. Humor is skillfully crafted and used so wonderfully; your small grins turn into big laughs, not too often but in all the right places. The actors know how to play off the awkward moments. It's also so effortless how they flow from comedy to drama and back again throughout.
My New Absolute Favourite 2022 #Cdrama Couple
I already said above, that they were meant for each other. They are the best thing to happen to my cdrama laptop and tv screens in 2022. I also believe that this was made more incredible by how well they played their leading roles I saw and disagreed with some of the reviews that mentioned our Mr Leo was too stiff.
I feel Mr Leo Wu understood his character, and what a skill to be able to make us laugh while remaining in his role as a dedicated strategic warrior and leader tortured by deep internal torment.
Zhao Lusi played her immature, stubborn, playful character perfectly. The depth and the growth in the arc by the end was evident. Is she also considered a Mary Sue? Tell me in the comments.
The Father Figures
Honestly for what Bao Jianfeng (Emperor Wen) and Guo Tao (Cheng Shi) were meant to do... they were great in their supporting fatherly roles. They didn't over shine but there were so many memorable moments. Through laughter they provided wisdom. Sometimes we forget the Emperor was the leader of a nation; maybe that would be one of my minor criticisms.
The Empress and Imperial Consort Dynamic
It was other people that wanted them to hate each other, NOT them. From the few c-dramas that I have watched the empress is always feuding with an imperial consort or many consorts; they have to display loyalty to their family clicks . In this #cdrama, the love of Emperor Wen's life happens to be the consort and he made both palaces of equal status to deter negativity and competition. The Empress(Tong Lei) is a neglected wife but not in a physically cruel way just in the sense that she is a gentle timid soul who is alone in this arranged-marriage-to-secure-power-alliances dynamic.
The episode with the betrothal banquet was epic! We catch glimpses of the sharp bark and bite of Consort Yue(cao xiwen) in earlier episodes but this I felt was where her royal- rebel-for-good-in-the-palace nature really came out in all its full glory.
One Type of Mean Girl
To me the mean girls were ALL the same person. I often got confused.
This could have been decided on and done better; maybe by giving different coloured costumes, and maybe not having more than two targeting the female lead at the same time.
Avenue X is right, evil cannot just be one sided, there has to be a back story there to make it interesting and human. We need good character development on the evil side too please.
Special Mention - Two Interesting Love Interests
The soft one and the bully...
I was not a fan of the empathic Mr Lou Yao. (Yu Cheng'en) but he grew on me and their break up scene had me in tears.
Yuan Shen(Li Yunri) brought an interesting dynamic; his jealousy always festering in the background and fighting for attention with slick cutting comments.
Old Madam Cheng stole every scene
Overly-dramatic and unapologetic about it. I loved the commitment of Xu Di .
This Chinese drama is worth ALL your binge watching hours. I have tried very hard to not leave spoilers in this blog post that will take away from your enjoyment so please go watch.
You can view it on You Tube or WeTV . While watching or when you have concluded, do comment below and tell me your thoughts.
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