Sad that the sweet nice one is actually the villain
The drama centres around Sang Qi, the only daughter of Marshall Sang as she becomes the first female student at the imperial college to fulfil her late brother's wish. Not knowing the tradition in the capital, she enters into a pact with the spoiled Song JiaYin, daughter of Minister Song to get Yan YunZhi to accept her pouch. Failing this, she would have to perform at the Lunar Festival. According to the tradition of the capital, this is a gesture of demonstrating and accepting love between a man and woman.As it turns out, Yan YunZhi is the Head of the Imperial College. Her childhood best friend Zhou WenYuan is a top student at the college and helps her through various crisis. It is hilarious as she tries various tactics to get YunZhi to accept her pouch. But things turn sinister when she is poisoned and becomes embroiled in the investigation of the smuggling of prohibited items into the capital involving high standing people in the court.
Although the story seems rather straightforward at hindsight, it is not quite so obvious at the beginning. The initial ten episodes is quite humorous and light-hearted but the drama becomes dark and more intense. It is quite clear early in the drama who the villains are, but it is quite unclear what the next turn would be.
Acting is excellent. Xu KaiCheng (YunZhi) is tall and handsome and Zhao LuSi (Sang Qi) is very pretty especially when she lets her hair down and don on feminine clothes, and they have excellent on-screen chemistry. Ren Hao (WenYuan) as the second lead is really good as well - you can see the different changes of expression on his face - from the loving childhood friend to a jealous monster. I am sure he will elevate into main leads in future dramas. And among them, you see a fashion parade of lovely period costumes.
The ending is well-crafted with a mix of happy and sad endings. You would be happy for the couples whose lives have ended well. Some of the villains are shown to have a human side, which makes it difficult to hate them - at least it gives you some confidence in humankind. In fact, you would even feel sorry for them. It is heart-rending as one of the villain kills themself in desperation. You witness how a young person with great promise travels down the wrong path and eventually ruin themself while some are ruined by greedy parents. Somehow you wish things could have turned out differently for them. The ending stirs up the emotions.
Although I won't rate this among the top league, but I say it is a very good production and well worth your time watching.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Ciekawe, ale za długie
Drama jak najbardziej na plus, ale moim zdaniem troche zbyt naciągana fabuła, czasami powiewało dla mnie nudą. Główna para bardzo uroczna nie powiem, miło oglądało się ich perypetie, ale od 23 no już zrobiło się nudno. Obsesja Zhuo Wen Yuanwzględem Sang Qi mnie nudziło, ona się zaręczyła już planowała ślub a ten dalej myślał, że ma jakąś szansę. Rozumiem jego szantaż względem niej to było ciekawe, ale powinno wydarzyć się wcześniej, Całe to cackanie się z nią dla mnie bez sensu, tak samo jak koniec, że ją otruł.... miałam takie wtf... serio nie wiem dla mnie bez sensu relacja między nimi. Tak samo uważam, że Yan Yun Zhi mógł wcześniej poślubić Sang Qi i było by po problemie. Dla mnie drama powinna mieć 24 odc, te nudne momenty wyciąć i wkleić te ciekawsze i było by 10/10 ale niestety musze dac ogólną ocenę 8/10 no troche mnie przynudziła ta drama juz od 23 odcinka musiałam zrobić cosbie 2 tygodniową przerwę aby dokończyć tą dramę. ogólnie polecam, bo mino wszytsko pomysł bardz ciekawy :)
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Sit back relax, just watch.
Don't get hung up on all the arm chair judging. This is a drama to sit back and just watch. With some giggles, ooo's and aaah's and just mind fun.Scenery, costumes, acting, and different episodes all have different levels of good and really good. I personally see this as a light drama compared to some of the more heavy weight ones.
To many heavy ones in a roll is not fun. So have lighter ones in between is good to have and allows us to see more ingenuity in production by all areas of the drama to keep it light but nice and beautiful.
I hope those who make dramas will remember to give us rom-coms regularly in the costume era regardless of those who would pick them apart from an arm chair. Especially making them not necessarily stupidity silly, but fun, funny, active, and bantering between in them dramas.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
The most annoying second leads ever ahah but this drama was pretty good to me
Chemistry : 8/10Kiss : 6/10
Breakup ? : No
Annoying second leads ? : Big yes
Any secondary couples ? :Yes
Happy ending ? : Yes
Ending : 9,5/10
Wedding? : Yes
Any kids ? : No
I found this drama funny and entertaining. I also like the love story between the leads and they had a good relationship. They fought for it and did not break up even with all the obstacles and annoying people. It also have a good happy ending.
The second leads were so annoying and crazy that I almost stop watching. Both of them were told many times that they don’t love them and that they would never be together, but they weren’t taking no for an answer and they tried to force the leads to marry them. That was aggravating and so annoying, they were the worst.
I only continue when I found out that the leads were staying strong against them and they weren’t breaking up.
At first I thought it was a cute romcom, but there was in facts many problems and obstacles.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
The Dean who's novice & child-like in terms of Love + The worst 2nd Male lead transformation ever!
There's no such thing as who came first in love - Sang Qi.I badly wanna talk about how magical and amazing the love story in this drama is, but my eagerness to talk about the moral lessons of this story is much stronger. So let me start this review on how I find this narrative as something very influential and purposeful.
This drama stood out to me not only for its beautiful love story but because of how good they deliver the moral lessons, struggles and challenges they all went through to achieve it. That women rights and equality wasn't achieved in a blink of an eye and it was a cultivation of someone's collective hardwork, bravery and boldness to face and accept the countless indifferent, judgemental and discriminating gazes to prove that she deserves what she's yearning for and achieve whatever she's been working hard on. Although there are flaws in this dramas historical facts, I just admire their guts and proud of them for still making this possible. To see the progress of how women gradually received better treatment and broader opportunities made me ecstatic and warm.
I'm so excited to write my take on the romance side of this story and I'm literally overflowing with admiration and passion for the Main leads. Definitely! the best CP I've watched after a long while. This couple not only made each and every scene extremely fun and colorful but also made sure that we're not gonna suffer any unnecessary clichė drama plots we are all exhausted of. Their unconditional trust, loyalty and love for each other has been challenged and proven multiple times through adversities and I'm just amused that not even once they got affected by it nor submit to any scheming and oppression. Instead, they're always hiding something up their sleeves ready to retaliate and fight back. That's some sturdy foundation right there! Something very difficult to find and see from couples right now because of shallow jealousy, lack of trust and poor communication.
Main Leads - They're just the perfect fit. Yan Yunzhi being the snobbish, intelligent and highly respected deputy chief while Sang Qi as the willful, bold and cheerful maiden who will do everything to achieve whatever she wants. I mean, Opposite do attracts! and what I really adore about Sang Qi is how she never let the circumstances decide for whatever her decision's going to be and will always find logic to resolve and get away from any obstacles infront of her. Yan Yunzhi on the other hand is a smiling-gummy-ball. He's so precious specially when sulking and acting jealous.
2nd Male Lead - Or should I say, the Worst evolution for 2nd ML ever? I swear, I'm utterly disappointed and disgusted on how Zhou Wenyuan has become. I was rooting for him from the very start not until he showed his true motive and color. He's very unexpected all throughout and most of the things he does is something I never imagined coming from him. Like, how did my charming and lovely lover boy turn out be this cruel and hideous asshole? Nonetheless, I still love his character and hate it as well.
P.S. Wanna mention Lian Pian & Yan Yan as well for being one of the most entertaining Supporting pair of this story. They made this drama extra fun and vibrant.
Story - 9.5, It was smooth sailing and I'm really satisfied on how they never added unnecessary drama to this story. + The fact that it has strong women empowering message and overall effective and inspiring moral lesson made this production even more worthy and admireable. P.S. Just watch out for some fictional historical facts and superficial problem solving cases.
Acting/Cast - 10, The glow ZLS brought to any drama she's in is exceptionally blinding—She's so vibrant! and Xu Kaicheng!! I wasn't expecting so much from him but he delivered above and beyond! His every expression is flawless. Like he was carved and molded for this role. He embodied it! Also... Zhang Yue, this is my 3rd drama of her and she's been very consistent and versatile in all of it. Ao Rui Peng & Ren Hao did extremely well to. So satisfied of their acting.
Music - 10, I'm very happy with the choice Music for this drama. Correct and proper placement of songs + They're just beautiful and fits this drama as a whole.
Rewatch Value - 9.5, It worth all the watch it could get and I'm really satisfied about this drama. But something about it just felt rather ordinary/lacking for me. Most probably with how they deal with the antagonists and the investigation segments/cases.
Overall - 9.5, To sum it all up... I really enjoyed this production a lot and would surely recommend it. The only thing that made me feel a bit off about this drama is mainly because of how shallow and abrupt they treat the cases... Like they didn't give much depth to it resulting to it feeling half-assed specially during the 1st half of the story. It lacks the fundamentals to make the investigation scenes plausible and have a proper go-through process . Phasing is overall fine but they kinda neglect lots of the important investigatory crumbs behind.
IF you find review helpful please let me know.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Typical plot but good
Title is weird that it doesn’t even catch interest. It’s the typical love triangle story of a woman wanting to be given same opportunity as a man. I find the second lead man’s performance and acting superior than that of the male lead. Slapstick humor but still entertaining. You can predict the storyline but most times it’s hard to be interested when you already know what will happen. This broke that rule. I don’t personally find any chemistry between the lead male and lead female. At the end, I was rooting more for the villain second male lead. His acting and portrayal of the role is that good. It is worth the time to watch.I believed there are two other series with same concept - female in period school full of men. Only exception in this story, Zhao Lusi didn’t pretend to be a man and entered as the first female student in an all male school. She pioneered being the first female student in an all male school.
One thing about Zhao Lusi is her excellence in portraying the core essentials of the role. She can adapt her personality to whatever role she is playing.
Although I like the male lead, I was hoping she ends with Ren Hao in this story. I know he is the villain somewhat but he played his character so well, I couldn’t help rooting for his character to get the FL.
Anyways, if you like period drama like I do, this is an awesome watch and you won’t be disappointed.
Love the Martial arts choreography. I love the wardrobes used by all characters.
One of the actress who played second lead is same actress in Love in the Galaxy that played the role of Niao friend that became her sister in law.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Watch it for Zhao Lu Si
This show suffered from being too long and shifting gears midway through the episodes. I'll address each separately.The first part of the show was so funny! Zhao Lu Si has absolutely the best comedic timing and a smile that would light up a town. I liked the character of the FL. She wasn't portrayed as stupid or clumsy or stalkerish (except when she was trying to win a bet). She didn't put up with stuff from anyone, including the multiple annoying females. Really, was every female in love with ML? I was thinking that this would be a different type of historical drama. I don't care for palace intrigues so much.
ML and FL were absolutely precious together. One of the obvious plusses of this show was the healthy relationship between the ML and FL. They were evenly matched. She didn't shy away from physical affection. That said, the kisses were pretty bad, and I didn't actually feel the chemistry between them, though they were fun to watch.
The second couple was cute to watch, though initially I found him very irritating.
HOWEVER, the second half of the drama became a palace intrigue-fest, with a would-be suitor that wouldn't take no for an answer "I'll save your father if you marry me", multiple bad guys, framing people for crimes, killing off people, dungeons, etc.
I would say, watch it for Zhao Lu Si. She never disappoints. The women's clothes and intricate hairstyles were nice too. Personally, I don't find the men with the long hair and weird sideburns attractive, but that's just me.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Crazy about Asian dramas
0 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Fine
Start was good ,entery of leads increase the interesting level ,the male lead show the attitude while listened her name and then came out if the carriage and the way he talked to her ,I thought there some story in between them because the way he react when listened her name . Then the male lead' parent fixed his marriage ,so very start of the drama introduced his fiancee . All these increase the interest that we were going to have some secrets ,some love rivalry and from female lead side also she had one male best friend who loved her but she saw him as just friend. So all these were little intersting . But story didn't go well ,little disappointed with it . Because after few episodes the male lead fall for her ,I expect more from the story and his character was tough and discipline one but when he fall for her and after confessed his love for her ,he attitude become soft which I don't like. I want his arrogant type of attitude . Starting half way was good ,there were some funny scenes also but second half of the story was bored .Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
It is not as shi.tty as many writes
Firstly, Zhao Lu Si series..... alot of humorous, cheeky and adorable scenes. I do have fondness of watching both Zhao Lu Si and Xu Kai Cheng's series but somehow, both of them together as a couple doesn't really sit right for me (personal opinion). They do not really match as a pair - compared to all the other series I watched of the both of them individually. Nonetheless, they did a good job together in this series. One is all seriousness, no nonsense and sometimes abit aloof while the other is constantly bubbly, cheeky and lively. Watching both of them together in this series can be quite amusing.The other casts all did a very good job. Including Ren Hao as Zhao Lu Si's childhood bestie and "sweetheart". Yes, there are many talks about how his possessiveness sort of ruined the show, however not every show / series are meant to be a rose garden. Some reflects on real life too. His character's possessiveness isn't something new in real life either. There are some crazies, both male and female, that do not know the borderline whatsoever when in love with another person. I do not think that it is a reason for people to shoot down the series. Yes, the drama of it in this series is quite tiring and annoying ... heck you would also be tired out and annoyed if it happens to you in real life. I wouldn't just shelf something over a tiny detail.
I find that this series, excluding the "drama" is actually quite good. All the casts did a very good job acting in this series. And this series is good because being a first female in school during ancient times is very very hard to come by. Many can really just dream about it or learn in secrecy. Therefore, to be given a chance to enter school to study and go thru the examinations is no small feat. So I find this series a good 1st watch. Whether you find fit to rewatch, well that is entirely up to you personally.
Not all the music paired with this show is to my liking but there is some really nice tracks for this series.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Historical story promoting equality for women
This is the first Chinese drama where I see where equality for women is being pursued and supported. Liked (1) the way one needs to think of solutions to overcome problems by the ML and FL. (2) the many funny scenes (3) shows how one can feels growing up not being loved by a family (4) nice costumes (5) a nice story with everything .. fun, great friendship, suspense, love and a lot of forgiveness. The acting by ALL were good too (1) FL was feisty (2) ML was cool but indulgent to his loved one (3) 2ML obsession with the FL and his behavior towards life due to his upbringing. It was a happy experience watching this light comedy plus the BTS were hilarious.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
I felt bad for the first one!
Rosy Zhao who plays Sang Qi is a very good actress, but her best performance for me is the "Long Ballad".Xu Kai Cheng who plays Yan Yun Zhi was okay, I really don't have an honest opinion on him as I haven't seen any of his acting skills except one other and I was not really that impressed with the storyline.
Ren Hao whose character is Zhuo Wen Yuan, I kind of felt sorry for him, the character that is. I don't think he was evil in the beginning but became extremely bad when Sang Qi fell in love with Yan Zhi. He honestly loved Sang Qi. I don't like how the storyline took this character.
The visuals were good, and the martial art was excellent... didn't care too much for the storyline but it did keep my focus because of Ren Hao and Rosy Zhao. Thanking all the support and quest cast. I loved the children in the beginning. I did love the red/black historic costumes. Please, don't make the horses look too fake.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
I gave this drama a try for Zhao Lusi. I loved the leads but story was bad! Too much focus on the second male lead aka the bad guy... The development of the story is way too slow!I also thought it was going to be a cute lighthearted drama about their academic adventure between the leads but dont let that fool you. There is more... female lead wants to fulfill her brother's last wish of going to the academy. There she meets the male lead who is like the dean/teacher there. Her brother and the male lead were good friends and he wanted to find out the reason behind his death. Basically from the start of the drama to the end of the drama they are solving this mystery as who is the evil mastermind/people group who does illegal things like sell salt etc.
Too much limelight is given to the second male lead. He is revealed as the bad guy who has an evil aunt as the emperor's concubine, Like they portray him very innocent and having a crush on the female lead... and suddenly they introduce the aunt and he becomes evil . What piss me off is that he tried to sacrifice her. Like if she doesnt like me then nobody can have her. I would hope he would change and give up his ways for her but he didn't. He got a lot of the time and i didnt like that.
The leads figured out the second lead was evil towards the end ( which in my opinion was kinda late)
The cute parts between the leads is in the beginning half. Zhao Lu si has chemistry with all her co star! She is seriously so cute! They are a cute couple, wish they had more time together...
I skipped a lot of parts, I made it to the end. It doesnt develop well. If you are a fan of Zhao Lusi I dont think you'll mind this drama!
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
