Cinematographic Political Military Drama — But Beware Love Triangles and Second Half!
I honestly cannot stop thinking about and watching this show - not only because of the great production value, but also because of the themes, the dynamics amongst the cast members, and also because of the great chemistry between the main leads!I'd highly recommend having a watch if you like these tropes:
♡ Lead Falls for Girl First: Xu Kai + Bai Lu are well known for their romance in The Legends, but interestingly Xu Kai's character Gu Yanzheng has a lot of traits that we usually associate with second leads in dramas. Gu Yanzheng clearly falls for Xie Xiang first and constantly tries to pursue her while also protecting her - even if Xie Xiang is always annoyed by him and bickers with him. Gu Yanzheng also has a troublemaking, playboy, childish personality, but deep inside he has not yet experienced his first love yet and is still very inexperienced, which makes their relationship much cuter!
♡ Great Cast Chemistry: You will feel deeply for all the students of the military academy, and all of their interesting stories and backgrounds. The drama really emphasizes the role of brotherhood, friendship, loyalty, and patriotism.
♡ Interesting Political Context: The drama is set during WWI, and takes place in a period when Japanese victories & their growing sphere of influence resulted in ambitious desires to encroach upon Chinese sovereignty. How the students face this and the actions they take, especially after having suffered from Japanese attacks, is a central part of this drama.
♡ Slow Burn Romance: In terms of actual romance, romantic fluffy scenes are interspersed between serious military training and events. The first half is very fluffy and adorable in terms of romance, while the second half almost eliminates most of the romantic parts. However, I personally feel that this makes the romance even stronger because of how deeply you can see the characters care for each other, and also because of how the life or death situations make them stronger together. The romance comes as a result of their strong brotherhood, friendship, and camaraderie, and continues to develop as they work together in turbulent political times.
♡ Crossdressing Well Done: Xie Xiang really knows how to fight, and works really hard to not only meet the expectations that people have of her but even surpass the skills of her peers. I also like how Bai Lu did a great job acting as an actual boy (even if skinnier or smaller) and how her reasons for doing so were meaningful. You can also see her physical capabilities improve as well, and she is very smart - when situations go wrong, she is out there holding a gun and fighting, not just passively sitting there or waiting to be protected.
♡ Loveable Side Characters and Interesting Villains: You will love a lot of the side characters, such as Xie Xiang's friends, and you will get invested into love rivals and their stories as well. In addition, the relationship between the teachers and students is also very endearing. I won't go into spoilers, but the main villain is also interesting and has very complex motivations that I think adds to the suspense and intensity of the drama.
♡ Little Filler: There's not a lot of filler in the drama - every episode I had to continue and keep watching because it was so intense, and there's something happening that's important in every episode (as well as cute moments every episode too!)
However, there are also some things you might not like about the drama:
♥ It is a Military/Patriotic Drama: There is a lot of patriotism and nationalism in this drama. I've heard that scenes also had to be cut from the drama and filled with more "patriotic" scenes because of the current ban on Chinese dramas due to the 70th anniversary of the PRC. I personally liked this aspect because it was integrated in a way that showed just how deeply the characters loved their country, and how they were willing to risk their lives for this, but some people might be thrown off by this and also see it as veering on propaganda.
♥ Angst-Heavy Last 10 Episodes: As a shift from the lighthearted, even almost fluffy beginning and middle of the drama, all the angst seems to culminate and intensify in the last stretch of the drama. Some characters also suddenly lose a lot of screen time without explanation, while others suddenly gain a lot more (I think this is partly due to pacing issues, with the director even mentioning feeling sorry that there was a lot of content cut out in the final edits.) You can really tell that the drama attempted to shift from almost romantic comedy to intense patriotic wartime drama, which is something that might seem jarring and unsatisfying. I will also warn - there are NO KISS SCENES in this drama between our main couple, and so while it is a "happy ending" it may not be what everyone is wanting or expecting.
♥ Love Triangles: There are a lot of love triangles and love relationships in this drama. Without spoiling anything, I will say that this is one of the dramas where if the posters didn't really advertise our main ship, I would be really confused about who exactly Xie Xiang will get together with in the first half of the drama. There are also some cinematographic and script choices that seemed to put emphasis towards one couple, but then switch to focus on the other part of the love triangle in the next episode. If you are interested in what the love triangles are (please be warned of some spoilers here) the main one is #1) Gu Yanzheng ~ Xie Xiang ~ Shen Junshan. However, there is also #2) Shen Tingbai ~ Qu Manting ~ Gu Yanzheng and #3) Xianrong ~ Shen Junshan ~ Xie Xiang. I will warn beforehand about this because Shen Junshan also plays quite big of a role, and this can lead to a lot of confusions or dissatisfaction with the romance. What I will say is that Gu Yanzheng only loves Xie Xiang and never loves anyone else for those who are really looking to see more Xu Kai and Bai Lu moments.
I'd recommend you watch this if you liked dramas that have romance BUT also have social/political tension in them. The drama is also very high quality and the sets, clothing design, and general atmosphere of the drama are very well done and true to the Republican era of that period. If you really want something with a great romance, interesting plot line, but also delves into some of the history and social themes of that period, I'd highly recommend you pick this up to binge watch. You definitely won't be able to put it down!
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This show is overall amazing. Fantastic casting- the actors are amazing and I especially like Qu Man Ting. The characters are endearing and they're well developed; the plot was pretty good as well. It was amazing to see Gu Yan Zhen's character development and Li Wen Zhong's growth. Shen Ting Bai's devotion was sweet; this show was filled with amazing and flexible actors as well.
The reason there's a 9.0 on story is because sometimes the characters are so inexorably stupid. They could easily just shoot someone but they have to be a hero and fight them with their hands instead. That's the only problem I have with the show; otherwise, nothing's wrong.
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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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I love this drama so much I don't even know where to start!I guess with the leads first. After watching them in The Legends I put them both on my watchlist because their chemistry is through the roof! Xu Kai expresses so much emotions through his eyes alone that I felt what he feels in scenes even when he's not saying anything.
Kudos to Bai Lu also for carrying her weight in this drama. It didn't feel like a woman pretending to be a man as it happens in most gender bender dramas. She really moved and acted like a man, with swagger and all that.
I loved the supporting cast as well, from the classmates to the faculty, and their friends outside the academy. Even the side stories and their missions were interesting!
The weakest link for me was the female antagonist. I felt her character portrayal a bit canned and 2 dimensional, no depth or layers to her personality. I didn't buy into her motivations for being the way she is.
Special mention to the styling - I loved the dresses, and especially loved the trench coats of both the males and females. Xu Kai's trench coats are to die for!
Lastly I would like to give a special mention to the opening OST. Most of the time when I watch dramas I skip the opening song and get straight to the drama, but here I find myself letting the song finish because I loved the beat so much.
A really enjoyable, well thought out production! Much recommended!
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Apparently Xie Xiang had joined the military pretending to be her brother. She met the rich, rather spoilt Gu Yan Cheng and the quiet and calm, Shen Jun Shan.
Xie Xiang excelled in the miliarty and garnered the respect of her co-students as well as the teachers.
And then the two men fell in love with her
For me one of my best chinese drama, friendship, love and patriotism. I like the story, acting, and music.
Great chemistry from the main lead Xukai and Bailu. The funny and cuteness of Gu Yanshen and cool badass of Xeng Xiang.
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Story : the story follows a group of military trainees from admission to graduation. They evolve through adventures and hardships which are well told and entertaining for the action parts and cute and funny for the other parts. Main focus is put on 3 characters who are very interesting in their personality and their development throughout the drama. You really understand them and feel close to them. The love triangle was very well handled as you could not know how it will unfold for a long time. Other secondary characters have also nice or sad or bittersweet stories well told and this brings complexity and good density to the overall plot line.
Acting : I thought most of the cast did a tremendous job here. I have seen the two main lead in the Legends and the are very good in this drama too. Bai Lu acting is on spot portraying a strong character but less funny more calm but also daring. You totally believe her tomboyish female character as a girl and the pretty boy soldier as a man. Xu Kai was great too. He portrayed nicely a fun character quite immature but finally reliable. He was good while bickering or nagging or playing cute with Xie Xiang. Many commented he had something of Leonardo Dicaprio. I kinda agree. Toby Lee was great also. He portrayed a very serious heir of a rich family. You totally believe his character and the nature he shows in his relationships. He overshadowed the main lead some times as his chemistry with the female lead was so good. Others actors did well too specially the guy portraying soldier Song, the Shen brother but the also the Academy staff. The female friends were well portrayed.
Music : I found the intro music very surprising but contrasting with the genre of the drama and it gave it an originality. I loved the love song at the romantic moments. Overall the music was ok for me.
Re-watch: Not sure I would re-watch it since it is so long but this drama has many fun or heartbreaking scenes I will gladly re-watch just for the feeling of it and I seldom have the chance to do that with Chinese dramas.
Overall : despite some usual clichés regarding the vilains it's a very entertaining and recommended drama.
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Let's start with the good points.
The story is pretty good actually, there is this political frustration between the Chinese and Japanese, which they make you feel in lots of situations. We see how the government, the rich families, or poor students are affected by these circumstances. It's pretty interesting, and quite reasonable mostly.
It wasn't my main reason though to watch this series because of politics at all though, but it made me interested in it and I wanted to see how people react to these tensions.
I'm also not really into wars or soldiers but it has a very exciting element of course. There was obviously a lot of killing, which I don't particularly support as a 21st century pacifist, but I got it of course that this nationalist thinking was the case in older times.
For me a huge good point was the set and the costumes. They were amazing, they had this atmosphere that was perfect, and the clothes' designs were just beautiful and they used gorgeous fabrics. This has a huge thumbs up from me, because these details really get you the vibe that's needed.
Another very good part is the acting and casting. The faces they chose were so perfect in so many cases, a lot of quite important characters just really fit their roles with their faces! And they are also very much in their roles, they played pretty well from the cheesy lines to the life-threatening situations.
And now for the not so right things.
So I have my thoughts about the girl cross-dressing as guy thing though... I've actually seen a couple like this, because I like the idea of this whole thing. And I have seen more promising guy-girls. Though I have to say this main gurl wasn't that bad, she tried I guess, but I just don't get it... This casting was not good in my opinion. I actually liked the girl, but... To be real honest, they REALLY should cast a guyish girl at times like this. Because in these cases the main point is really NOT to be cute and pretty, but to look like a damn guy. Especially in the military. I believe the best would have been a little bit bulky, more muscular than average girl, who actually resembles a military guy, so that would have made it so much easier to believe than that a small, skinny girl taking down big guys with a few kung-fu moves... That is silly. It is. And bulky girls CAN also have a charm, you out there Game Of Thrones fans, you know what I'm talking about if I say Brienne. <3
Also there is your fair share of other silly stuff.
Like the super deep wounds which heal in a week or two (at a time when health care was not that cool). Or like how this military school is super kind, like really, it's like if you have a tummy ache then you can just lie down boo-hoo. Nah. I mean I haven't seen that many military stuff, but it seems to me that here they were super nice with them. It seemed more like just playing-military not actually preparing for a war, which is absolutely serious and dangerous. So it kinda made me mad, how they just dilly-dally.
Of course it's just a drama, what am I expecting? But that's the thing, if they just wanted a rom-com in a military setting, I guess that's ok. But I felt like they just couldn't make up it's mind what to be. It wanted to have these sweet, cute moments, but a lot of them didn't turn out that well. And then some very serious thing came, which was hard to take seriously after the lovey-dovey scenes... So I don't know. I think the writing wasn't as smart, or entertaining as it wanted to be.
But I suppose the best word for the series is: ambitious.
Because it tried hard. You can tell. So many details, so many characters who have a big part, or fun personality. It just wasn't that well written I think. The focus just wasn't clear. Is it on the story? or on the characters? on the fun stuff? or on the very serious stuff? I'm not against shifting focus, but it just felt all over the place for me.
It was still a VERY decent series, very impressive, it's good to give it a watch, it's interesting and entertaining. But I don't think it's flawless, I don't think it's the best, and I don't think it's a 10. But see for yourself! Maybe it's your cup of tea.
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I really loved the main couple and this show has given me a rollercoaster of emotions. There were so many sweet and cute moments of romance along with hot-blooded thrilling fight scenes that kept me hooked. I am deeply saddened by the sudden passing of some of my favourite & not-so-favourite characters but I realise that it is exactly how a war would be like, your loved ones would be suddenly ripped away from you without warning and all you can do is o keep fighting on. There were some unrealistic moments like when the ML suddenly came back after going missing with no explanation but I wouldn't complain because I am extremely glad that the main leads managed to stay together throughout the entire ordeal.
Overall, a great drama that would be more suited for patriotic people and those who have watched "the legends" (you will regret this after seeing all the cute scenes they have together) !
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Super Overrated except for Xu Kai
Xu Kai's Character/Performance: 10/10Xu Kai is the only thing that kept me watching this. For me, up until the very last episodes the show was a miss for me outside of Xu Kai's incredible performance. His scenes, every one of them, are incredible but there was noooooo romantic chemistry between his/bai lu's character... and imo they didn't do a good job even building up what about her he was so attracted to. I came to the conclusion it was just supposed to be because her joining as a him was so unconventional and ballsy that he falls for her because he likes whatever is the opposite of what he's "supposed to" but his incredibly beautiful, courageous, loyal love gets NOTHING in return to work with. It's a bizarre dynamic that did not work for me. It's not even good tension. It's just..... nothingness. I don't know if this is the writers fault, the directors fault or Bai Lu's fault for her acting but Xu Kai literally gave more than most humans are capable of to his side of the performance to save this show. I LOVED their chemistry in The Legends so this was a huge disappointment coming from that. The show suffers from not enough early development of the main characters, totally weird choices by Bai Lu or the director on how she should portray her character and way too much of the side characters. The side characters were wonderful but way too much is devoted to their scenes in the first half of the drama and not nearly enough to making Bai Lu's character a well developed character. She's there to fulfill her brothers dream but there is way too little of the show devoted to this motivation. Or the fact that she was depressed and non functional for the 2 years between his death & her joining Arsenal as a boy. They gave so much depth and attention to characters at Bai Lu's characters expense that it made her feel so thin & unusual to me. Maybe it was also the way she thought she had to act portraying a male but it made her character feel like a placeholder.
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Story wise it is nothing new. A girl act as a guy and went to a guy school (not just any normal guy school, this is military school we are talking about). It doesn't make sense how it can happen but oh well this is a drama after all so yeah let's just skip the usual logical sense. Then the main lead knows her true identity and falls in love with her, helping her along the way and always protecting her etc. Although the story is typical but the characters are not. I really like how GYZ's character is written. Funny, smart, loyal, handsome (Basically all the good traits) but also mischievous and playful like a child (sometimes over the top lol). However this is how all the funny scenes happen which I find it really entertaining and not forceful type of comedy that makes me roll my eyes. This is another reason I like it because in between all these action, serious, scheming plots and conspiracy especially during world war times when Japanese army are evil and people are dying everyday, these funny scenes can relief the tension and make the story fun.
As usual, there are plot holes but it is not that serious so I just ignore most of it. I also like that XLC or XX (Bai Lu's character) is a strong woman with brain lol Although guys are always helping and saving her most of the time but she can still stand on her own and get stuff done so it is not those typical damsel in distress character. As her character is acting as a guy, she does it really well. I should say her stylist is good too as she looks great both as a guy and a girl. Nothing much on the story cause during this period is when a lot of rebelling happens, they want their country back but it is not easy. A lot of other countries such as Japan, America, Russian or German are trying to take over and they fight for it with a lot of killings or scheming. Luckily they didn't go with the main leads saving the country story like the usual drama in which the leads always ends up saving the country etc or maybe the history doesn't allow but anyhow they keep it real most of the time.
Acting/Cast is great. Aside from the main couple, I come to like the side characters too. There are quite a few love triangles but I am okay with it because they are clear with who they like and not indecisive who they actually like and go back and forth. At least they don't prolong too much on that and no evil schemes trying to harm the other person that their partner like or something except the antagonist lol. QMT's character is really funny too and I like her a lot along with other classmates from the school and XX's best friend. At first I do feel slightly annoyed with Lee Wen Zhong's character but his character bring laughter along the show and in the end quite likable too so it is okay. STB character is so faithful and I am starting to take note on this actor haha he do looks hot. Director did a good job casting these actors and actresses to their characters and all of them did well. Moreover, Xu Kai and Bai Lu's chemistry is on fire. They act so naturally with each other and brings out their character well. Big part of me liking this drama is because of their chemistry so i guess my review might be a bit biased xD
But one sad thing is they don't really have too much romance scene. You should be warn that there are NO Kiss scenes at all. The most they did was just hugging and holding hands. It is sweet too but as their fans I want more :(
The ending is just somewhat satisfied.
Music is okay. I like all of their OST including open and ending song. One of them is sang by Bai Lu and Xu Kai themselves although it does feel a bit too much of autotune. It sounds nothing much like their voice but the song is nice. However the songs are not use much in the drama. Most of the time are just normal background music that you hear from other shows.
Rewatch value is quite low cause i don't think i will rewatch it unless for some of the main couple's scenes and the story didn't intrigue me much. One thing for sure is that at least it is not too boring. I would give this an OKAY. The story turns out better that i expect so it does boost up some points and I have always like the main couple so I am a bit biased. Other than that nothing much that leaves a big impression.
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