The Harrassment
So the story is a 10 like I could not move from my screen. but I do not feel the chemistry between the FL and ML at all. He lowkey forced himself on her with some of those kisses and it makes more sense for her to end up with the Zhang Ze guy. This story is so good, but she has chemistry with the other two guys like yan Lin or Zhang but not Xi Wei. The transaction from him being her teacher to abusing power as her teacher to make her spend time with him just did not do it for me. And those forced kisses NO NOOOO!!!Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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Overcoming the Past is An Uphill Battle
The cast did a great job with this show. The first few arcs learning about each character was great and enjoyable but towards the end though the final arc had some pacing issues. Some people said they were bored with the beginning arc but imo it gave us much needed character development and world building. I wish this show had at least 5 to 10 more episodes because the developments were rushed especially for the main couple.Our FL was in constant inner turmoil for her past life actions for good reason but I also pitied her for it because for the longest time she punished herself for it. Even when she has fixed all her past life wrongdoings she always blamed herself for it even for the stuff she had no control over. For the ML the past was just as traumatic if not more. He was forced to mature too quickly and survive through any means. It caused misunderstandings between the two of them which took a while. they both needed a lot of healing and made love a bit twisted and difficult for them two.
I know a lot of people will probably hate the ML because the other two supporting leads were such green flags. Still if you think about everything they've gone through it just shows how they are the best fit for each other as their connection and love runs the deepest. ( It also helps watching the mini episode of their wedding because they were so darn cute.) Keep an open mind when watching this drama and looking forward to watching more of these actors.
Warning: kinda red flag ML but honestly my biggest complaint is the lighting and filters at some points lol
Faves: The ost of this show and the whole cast main leads and supporting cast did a great job
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GREAT PLOT AND STORYLINE
Love Bailu. i really like her character and the plot of the seriesalthough there are some parts that made me cringe. i really enjoyed the series as a whole and the side characters as well.
kinda wish there was more on you fang ning and lyu xian though. but really enjoyable. 38 episodes went by relatively quickly without dragging too much.
interesting redemption arc for the female lead. trying to find her way back away from destruction. taking the whole “if only i could do it all over again” into play.
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Acting, storyline, development are all good story of the kunning palace is amazing!!
Ah! I really enjoyed watching the story of the kunning Palace. The story, acting, visuals were all magnificent! It is definitely one of the bests cdramas to come out this year. Moreover, the characters especially xie wei who was played by the actor Zhang Ling He, gave such a phenomenal performance. I was really impressed with how he protrayed Xie Wei as a man who has been thorough so much hardship thus devloping a cold and shrewd personality. He is someone that I am looking forward to seeing more of his works and how his acting can further progress. However, I would also like to mention that at some points during the drama i did feel like he over dramatised xie wei’s character a little bit which came as kind of scary? But nonetheless he put on a good performance! As for Bai Lu, I am pleased with how she presented ning’er as a character. I think she did a wondeful job in showcasing her fragile side and how strong and smart she is. I want to give an overwhelming praise to yan lin’s actor as his character development really warmed my heart with how the actor managed to show just how much of a silly but really sweet boy he was. (i fell so hard when he was fighting in last few episodes, he looked so badass ?) and ofc the actor who played zhang he i love you such a handsome man but his acting was really flawless i really think he put on a good performance in showcasing how self righteous. zhang he’s character was. Furtheremore, I think the story for kunning palace was executed pretty well but towards the ends it felt a bit rushed like the pace was inconsistent, so that kind of took the ratings down. Additonally, i felt like towards the end the director could’ve made the character’s deaths more vile because truly makes no sense how them being killed of just like that was a “satisfactory” ending for the viewers. Anyways i really did enjoy this cdrama and heavily reccomend for anyone who wants to watch. :)Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Watch for the engaging story, not the romance
An adaptation of a novel, this was a surprisingly enjoyable drama (ignoring the romances). The politics/story was actually the best part. Consistent characterizations, engaging political intrigue. I enjoyed watching everyone maneuver around each other and the various sideplots.The various romances were however a bit of a mess. It was not clear why she rejected some men, like the young Marquis and Lord Zhang. I had to read summaries of the webnovel to understand their characters and relationships, which is the sign of a poorly written romance. Jiang Xuening's romance with Xie Wei also didn't start till late episode 32 iirc (?) and it was rushed. There was debate about whether Jiang Xuening was being groomed by Xie Wei or she truly loved him. Imo if they had paced it better and developed it better, it would have been more satisfying.
I was however pleasantly surprised that the second half and the ending didn't flop and I didn't have to skip episodes or scenes. I also felt that Zhang Linghe overacted at points but his Xie Wei was consistent. Bailu delivers a reliable performance as usual.
PS check out the As You Wish variety show. That was SO good.
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Is somebody gonna match my freak? -> Not 100% in this drama
STORY OF KUNNING PALACE has all the tropes that I should love, but somewhere along the way it got me scratching my head @ the execution. Usually I do a pros/cons list in my review, but I find that for every pro or con, I have a "BUT" attached. At the end of the day, I enjoyed this show BUT found a decent amount of faults that knocked down my rating from a solid 8/10. I think the (surprisingly) happy ending would be the only thing that pushes the rating up.Nonetheless, if these themes call to you then I think you will also enjoy this show:
- Interesting court intrigue that is easy to follow and not too complex
- Second chance at life to turn wrongs into rights
- Love triangle/square where the girl chooses the "bad boy" over the "boy next door" and "nice guy"
- Good mix of likeable and hateable characters in the midst of the palace drama
❀ The introduction promised so much
Immediately we are met with a rebellion scene and the FL having so many regrets about using people in her lifetime to become empress. She k*lls herself and goes back in time to when she was 18 years old, vowing to correct all the wrongs she did in her previous life to rights. It's more "second chance rebirth" than "revenge rebirth," and it's satisfying to see the FL use her past memory to buy silk and raise money, avoid the chance of war, and ultimately save the people around her. BUT -- this plot disappears after the ep 20ish mark. When it becomes more court politics-driven, the FL's intelligence and character takes a step back as we focus on the ML. Other than key moments that the FL had, she's literally just following the Good Guy Team around like a tail. I understand that most historical dramas emphasize the court politics towards the end, but at least other FL's are kept busy (running a business, fighting a war, playing dead to name a few roles). Instead I feel like the FL was just hanging around for a good time which was a waste of her originally proactive and smart character. Also she never gave me "ruthless empress" vibes even though her whole background narrative was using others to rise to the top.
❀ ROMANCE DIDN'T MATCH MY FREAKKKkk
Y'all I was fully expecting a yandere, morally gray ML that you can't help but love despite his character flaws. While the ML is possessive and has a dark aura due to his PTSD and past, he was actually pretty chill. I know people are divided on the toxic romance and his red flag tendencies but y'all have never read a Cnovel have you. ಥ_ಥ Like Xie Wei is cute compared to the crazies in Cnovels and manhwas out there LOL.
Again, I liked the romance set-up of the FL going through various men in her life (repaying debts from the past life) before ending with the man who had been there since the beginning: the ML Xie Wei. BUT -- the show decided to put equal attention to each men which at the end of the day made for superficial relationships amongst them all. And then they added those fanservice kisses post ep 30 to make up for that lol. Seriously! Even in LOVE LIKE THE GALAXY where there were several male love interests, the FL's first fiance lasted up a bit after ep 20ish and then the show spends the next 30+ episodes focusing on her romance with the actual ML. In STORY OF KUNNING PALACE, the 3rd ML (Yan Lin) is in the background (even though she rejects him early on) until ep 10ish, which is when the 2nd ML (Zhang Zhe) shows up. Then she's interested in him until ep 24, where she decides to push him away so that he can focus on himself and his future. While the ML is always there from the beginning, offering advice, support, and rescue, their actual romantic relationship doesn't progress until like ep 31. I just feel like the show was ALMOSTTT there in making an amazing slow-burn, angst-filled triangle. But I just never felt the romantic intent from the FL until much later on. I love a pining ML but I would have also appreciated some exploration of the FL's feelings for him before the actual romantic bit. The most we get is that she trusts him, fears him, and respects their student-teacher relationship. Superficially though, I did enjoy all the male leads hehe.
3rd ML: boy next door who's your bubbly, sportsy childhood friend (he's a general and his character was literally holding the show's action scenes on his back).
2nd ML: nice guy who stays true to the law and his values (he helped the FL a lot in the first timeline despite her being "evil" which made her have a lot of regrets towards him)
1st ML: broken bad boy with tragic past who would bend over backwards to make the FL happy. The drama tried to show him as being healed from his traumas at the end but we aren't really given an explanation except for the power of the FL's love. Again, that's fine superficially BUT I really didn't feel the moral grayness from him since the beginning. Even though he was raised among the rebels, he was GOOD to his core. And even though his schemes didn't follow the law 100%, it was for the GREATER GOOD. There was one point where he was willing to sacrifice Zhang Zhe but didn't because the FL was there. Like see??? He a good guy through and through. His methods may be unorthodox but the results were giving hero that saves the day. Red flag who?
I feel like people who see their pair as a toxic romance don't like his manhandling (grabbing her by the throat, nonconsensual kiss) and pressure on making the FL see him the way he sees her. I attribute it to lackluster writing. Like I said, we just don't have a lot of time to develop their relationship by the time the writers remembered they needed to address this romance bit. By ep 31 there are multipleee characters asking the FL how she thought of the ML. Ofc they had to rush the script!! Miss girl barely even figured out her feelings about the rebirth/saving everyone (at one point she literally wanted to run away and was flip-flopping between saving people and running away lol), much less her feelings about this ML that she thought pushed her to her death in the first life. So, I get her initial hesitation which to other watchers might look like an unwillingness to be in the relationship. I just feel like with extra time and exposition, she could have come to her own conclusion about her feelings instead of using external forces to push her there.
❀ Pretty satisfying court schemes
The show keeps them simple while keeping viewers' interests. Most of the time it's the baddies getting thwarted by the main characters with mid-high stakes. There's both court politics and harem politics, which keeps the momentum going. BUT -- I started to lose interest around the ep 20 mark when I realized that we were going to rinse and repeat the same scenes: baddies (Xue family) try something bad, the main leads (mostly ML) foil their plans, and then the baddies tone it down a little before doing it all over again. I thought we would get more nuance with Pingnan in the picture as well, but his schemes were tossed aside within a few episodes. For a father-like figure and savior to the ML, I certainly didn't feel like his character got the attention and writing it deserved. Also I can't keep count of how many times the dialogue emphasized "Xue vs Yan" family like we haven't been watching the show from the get-go. Despite my complaints though, I still enjoyed watching all the scheming and knowing that the ML would be there to save the day.
❀ In terms of production...
I liked the cinematography and how the music leaned towards the melodramatic/twisted side. The acting was great from all the main actors with special mentions to Bailu and Zhang Linghe's crying scenes. BUT -- I was not living for the opening theme and overdramatic editing. Instead of having just music in the opening theme, they add Jiang Xuening's voiceover and it's just so over-the-top, cheesy, and borderline cringe. Like girl... this ain't cute. Also this isn't a revenge drama but the opening setup tries to give that vibe which is just Too Much (TM). As for the editing - I didn't expect to see Bollywood effects in a Chinese drama lol. There's epic zoom in's, frames that are doing 360 spins, and even echoes to the character's line. I'm not gonna lie, every time Xie Wei had some dramatic, emphatic line that ended with an echo I just got pulled SO out of the watching experience. It just felt so fake and over-the-top.
✕ Misunderstanding level: 4/10
FL was scared of giving into her feelings for the ML because she thought he "forced" her death in the first life. Also every time he did something for her - especially towards the beginning - she was too dense to notice it. So much for cunning empress who got reborn!! Damn girl.
OVERALL
I just feel like I came in with high expectations and the promise of something that was never fully delivered. I would say it was 75% of the way there, which matches my rating. It *checked* all the right boxes, but I guess they weren't *fully* checked at the end of the day. Both FL and ML didn't match my freak. Still an enjoyable watch though that is among the better historical Cdramas out there!
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The man with a double life, and the woman with a second chance at it.
Admittedly, I was surprised to have missed Kunning Palace in 2023 - having only heard of the show in early December. Usually, period romance is right up my alley, but given a few disappointing dramas still in my recent memory it's been a while since I've watched anything of that genre. On this front, Kunning Palace succeeds.From a period drama, this is exactly what we would expect; the domestic intrigue, the court intrigue, the 'hidden' past of the male lead. And, although nothing is particularly unexpected, the tropes don't necessarily grow wearisome. In particular, the relationships the female lead has with her other love interests are far from the usual "second lead syndrome" or "bothersome and obsessive reject who works to make her final relationship miserable". All of the stereotypically annoying clichés were toned down, which is a credit to the writers.
Yet, I do feel that this drama suffers from pacing and time delegation issues. Although we, as viewers, guess at the emotions of both love interests and see how they develop throughout the story - the realisation for both of the characters feels somewhat rushed. In the end, more time is spent on palace politics and battle scenes than on seeing them together as a couple. Unfortunate, given the emphasis that the drama clearly tries to place upon "love" and "loyalty".
Regardless, the stories outside of the main characters were gripping enough that I rarely skipped over them; particularly with regards to the princess, Xuehui and Fangyin. All of their characters were layered and interesting, and although I found the initial set up of the Jiang family relationship odd and forced; I liked how the tension between the family members resolved itself. It felt naturalistic and feasible.
However, the one cliché I cannot forgive is the set up for the entire 'rebirth' itself. It was superficial and poorly executed; feeling only like a weak attempt at trying to copy Joy of Life or Scarlet Heart (who at least had a purpose behind the usage which was relevant to the plot).
Ultimately, the drama is gripping and enjoyable. There is not really any criticism which can be thrown to the acting or the costume design, and the chemistry (both romantic and non-romantic) between all of the characters is palpable and poignant. It's unfortunate then, that they failed either to extend the drama, or to spend less time on its more superficial elements in order to focus on the relationships and plot that actually mattered.
Watch it though. I only have so many criticisms because it was so nearly perfect.
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Trọn vẹn.
Dưới N cái cấm từ Quảng Điện thì Ninh An là bộ phim hiếm hoi vẫn là chủ đề tái sinh mà vẫn trọn vẹn ở cốt truyện từ đầu tới, không bị hẫng ở đoạn nào. Trong bản tiểu thuyết có một cái kết đẹp và ngoài đời cả hai nhân vật giữa tiểu thuyết gia và biên tập viên cũng có một câu chuyện riêng của họ.Lâu rồi mình mới xem hết một bộ phim mà có cái kết trọn vẹn như thế này sau Lưu Ly.
Điểm cộng:
- Bối cảnh phim đầu tư ổn nên ngoại cảnh quay khá đẹp chứ không sử dụng nhiều phông xanh giả trân.
- Cốt truyện chỉn chu từ đầu tới cuối. Không quá nhiều chỗ vô lý, tiết tấu nhanh nhưng vẫn thuyết phục người xem.
- Dàn nhân vật ai cũng có điểm để toả sáng, cũng có những câu chuyện riêng mà không quá dài dòng hay thừa thãi.
- Một bộ phim dễ xem, không quá lắt léo, khó hiểu
Điểm trừ:
- Nam chính trong phim có hơi bàn tay vàng một tí nên mình thấy phản diện bị tính toán hết đường đi nước bước dễ dàng quá.
- Quá trình phát triển tình cảm của nam nữ chính thật sự chưa thuyết phục mình lắm, sáu tập cuối mới có chút tiến triển nhưng tiến triển này có phần nhanh quá. Hình như phim bị cắt hai tập nên thành ra có đôi chút tiếc ở phần này.
- Tạ Nguy có hơi điên nửa mùa :)))). Có thể Hách diên chưa ổn lắm hoặc kịch bản có nhiều vấn đề nên mình chưa cảm nhận được Tạ Nguy điên cỡ nào.
Cảm nhận nhân vật:
Tính ra trong ba mối tình thì Yên Lâm là một người bạn thanh mai trúc mã tốt bụng, là một tri kỉ. Trương Già là người trong mộng của Tuyết Ninh còn Tạ Nguy thì là tổ hợp hai phần tính cách ấy và phù hợp vợí cô hơn cả. Tập 25 khi Tuyết Ninh quyết tâm cắt đứt với Trương Già, đoạn đó thật sự làm mình cảm động. Giá như Trương Già cố gắng ích kỉ thêm một chút, đừng quá cương trực ngay thẳng, thêm chút bỉ ổi như Tạ Nguy thì có lẽ đoạn nhân duyên của hai người đã khác...
P/s: Lưu Tá Ninh đóng trưởng công chúa xinh vãi ò.
Tính ra cuộc đời trước khi Khương Tuyết Ninh sống lại trông ngon nghẻ quá. Một người bỉ ôi, không từ thủ đoạn đạt được mục đích, có phần khốn nạn, dây dưa nhiều người để được sống. Mình thích một cốt truyện bỉ ổi đó quá :))))
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You will cry and laugh
This drama is about the FL, who went back in time to redo all her wrongs in her first life. The FL has three main guys in her life. One is her best friend, the other one is her first love, and the last one is her one true love.This drama is also a kind of harem, in the sense that there is harem drama with the queen dowager. Anyways, the FL tries to redo all her wrongs and finds out the truth to save the people in her life.
I enjoyed this drama, and really like the ML. Love the ost, and cinematography in this drama.
I would watch it again :). 8.5/10.
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Disappointingly Average
This drama's problems begin in the marketing itself. I will be candid, I'm not really a fan of the story within a story format. Especially for romances, because that always feels so unfulfilling at the end. But nowhere in the description of the drama on MDL or IQIYI did it announce it was that, so I went in thinking it was a regular historical thriller. Despite tending to dislike that plot, I decided to watch on because I love tension and everything I'd seen had promised me that in spades. However, I think this drama only partially delivered. The past life scenes between Ning and Xie Wei were so tense and just what I was looking for however it wasn't the same with the current timeline. Obviously, they did have chemistry and tension but for me, it just wasn't doing it. Like when you compare the two timelines, past her is not nearly as frightened of him so they have this intensity that just doesn't happen in the current timeline. It is basically a one-sided obsession for the majority of the current timeline, and I don't even understand how she fell for him. Another thing, what was with the mental health rep? I don't understand why they included the mental illness at all, he could have hated the snow and been cruel without bringing in a disorder that is already stigmatized to use as an excuse for his violence.I do want to say I did enjoy this drama, it was beautifully shot, the soundtrack was epic, and the acting was great. This was my first Bai Lu drama, but I've been in the cdrama sphere for about a year so I'm familiar with her name, and I was really impressed. I will definitely check out another one when I have the opportunity. The male lead did great as well, as did all the supporting actors.
Overall, I would recommend this drama, 8.5/10
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Loved the plot ?
I loved this drama with all of my heart. The best thing? Xie Wei's wit. Jang Xuening was good, but my only complain is she didn't whole heartedly accept Xie Wei, while he almost forced her. Yeah later they got married and surprisingly had two kids, but still I'm on Zhang Zhe's side. Anyway, the drama is full of good plot and as historical Chinese drama goes, this one is more modern. I also love rewatching it, everytime when I have nothing else to watch.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
