Jess4163
Goodbye My Princess: Director's Cut
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Gut-wrenching drama that will haunt you for ages with an incredibly compelling male lead!!!
SPOILERS....As a veteran drama watcher (grew up watching Asian dramas), I'm extremely picky and only like dramas (prefer romance or ancient historical fiction) with a decent script and production. Story and characters are the most important to me and I find many romantic dramas these days to be crappy with non-existent plots.
"Goodbye my princess" took me completely by surprise and will go down as one of my favorite romantic dramas of all time along with "Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms" and "Someday or One Day" (both are well-crafted/quality dramas with a romance that stole my heart). "Ten Miles" also has one of the most charismatic/powerful MLs (male lead) who's as relentless as Li Chengyin (ML in "Goodbye my princess") when it comes to the FL (female lead) -lol, love it!!!
I initially never even bothered to look at "Goodbye my princess" as not only is it a tragedy, it's based on a novel by Fei Wo Si Chun, an author I avoid like the plague because I don't like the type of angst she writes -depressing plots and angst just for the sake of torturing her characters. Even when someone who shared my exact taste for possessive MLs recommended it, I still resisted.
Luckily, my sister stumbled upon some clips and finally convinced me to watch at least the first and last 10 episodes since it has the kind of angst I like, an extremely compelling and obsessive ML, and a very lovable FL. The clips she showed me peaked my interest and the rest is history. I hunted for the director's cut and knew from the first episode that this drama was going to be my jam. It had everything I wanted in a drama: Irreplaceable leads with explosive chemistry, an obsessive/powerful ML, a high quality production, and a decent script that mainly stayed on track even if the pacing did slow down massively from episodes 15-29. I loved episodes 1-15 and 30 to the end the most (though the drama did get rushed towards the end and I would have liked to see more episodes of Chengyin dealing with his memories coming back -that kind of angst would have be stellar).
And aside from being a tragedy, GMP (Goodbye my princess) surprisingly embodied the kind of romantic angst I love and avoided almost every type of angst I hate.
The kind of angst I hate in a romance is noble idiocy (ML pushing the FL away for her own good, etc.), cheating/constantly parading women in front of the FL, angst for the sake of angst, ML being too passive and self sacrificing (I only love MLs who go after their girl no matter what and like to take the initiative), and ML giving up/letting the FL go (only love MLs who never give up or let go of their girl).
GMP mainly had angst I liked and it all fit into the story organically and didn't feel forced. I generally can't tolerate the ML sleeping with anyone other than the FL, but in GMP, he actively avoided it as much as he can while keeping up his charade and it can even be argued the number of times he may have touched the secondary FL, Sese, was minute as she was constantly subjected to house arrests by the Empress due to his shenanigans. I was able to handle it because the drama made it clear Chengyin only wants to be with the FL, Xiaofeng, but is forced to spend the occasional night with Sese to keep up pretenses. Even then, he does his best to keep himself pure by using work/the Empress to ward her off.
Above all else, when it comes to the love story, the ML encompassed everything I could possibly want in a leading man. He's obsessive/possessive and relentless when it comes to Xiaofeng -will never give up on her. Plus, he's faithful, capable, intelligent, charming, charismatic, hot as hell, and can see through subterfuge.
He can be ruthless to everyone except for his beloved Xiaofeng and that just really appeals to me in a romance. Ruthless and powerful MLs who's only soft towards the FL and can't live without her is my kryptonite in a romance. Never in a million years did I expect one of Fei Wo Si Chun's stories to have this kind of ML. Especially when the source novel has Chengyin being abusive and always hiding his affections.
I never expected the drama to portray the "abuse" in such a humorous and charming manner. It just never felt malicious to me (there was too much love/affection in Chengyin's eyes and mannerisms -he acted more like a spoilt child) as the drama made it so blantantly obvious that every cruel act's a show that I was thoroughly entertained and enjoyed all of their bickering. Lol, I found it as endearing as Chengyin did. He's literally engaging in foreplay with the heroine even in their public fights and whenever he gets mad for real, it's always due to his petty jealousy. Lol, this guy becomes wary of every male Xiaofeng has a good relationship with. It's like he wants to be the only recipient of her smiles and laughter.
I really felt Chengyin's all-consuming love for Xiaofeng: I actually loved watching their married life because even though he couldn't display his feelings in front of her, he still wore his heart on his sleeve for us viewers. Every one of his supposed "mean" actions toward Xiaofeng was juxtaposed by his pained/regretful reactions when he later talked to his subordinates.
Lol, as a viewer, I actually thought Sese suffered more in the palace than Xiaofeng because of Chengyin's fake love that effectively used her as a meat shield to protect Xiaofeng from the Empress's jealous antics. Many people in the palace were very nice to Xiaofeng as the ML concentrated on surrounding her with trustworthy people.
Unlike some fans, I didn't mind his scenes with Sese as his fake interactions with her made for a brilliant contrast in comparison to his genuine interactions with Xiaofeng. His eyes literally light up whenever he sees her, even when Sese's around -his eyes are always kind of dead when he's spending time with Sese. In my opinion, Sese's presence in this drama highlights Chengyin's deep love for Xiaofeng even more.
He always acts so distantly polite whenever he interacts with Sese and it just gets worse as he finds it harder to rein in his passion for Xiaofeng. Towards the end, he looks like a zombie and is struggling to even maintain decent courtesy whenever he bothers to see her. I found it hilariously entertaining and can't understand the fans who think his scenes with Sese were too lovey-dovey. His affections were so obviously (his mask was always on and I felt no affection) fake and it only served its intended effect, which was to keep the Empress off of Xiaofeng.
I love Chengyin and find him to be one of the most fascinating and compelling protagonists I've ever seen. I've always loved more villainous MLs and Chengyin is a poster child for that trope. I live for drama characters like him. Honestly, the only thing Chengyin did wrong was to both fall in love and covet the key pawn in his plans. His unwavering love for Xiao Feng is both his curse and salvation.
My heart bleeds for both Xiaofeng and Chengyin as she can never be with him with her memories intact and he can never stop himself from chasing after her because she's his only hope of happiness, the light to yank him back from the darkness. Only when Chengyin is with Xiaofeng does he let down his guard completely and reveal his true self. I completely understood why he went nuclear and full on yandere when he thought she hated him and loved someone else. He's terrified of losing the one thing he can't live without. It's utterly heartbreaking when what he feared the most inevitably happened and he couldn't even follow after her as he was binded by his promise to her to live on. Even then, he had to delude himself into thinking she faked her death in order to make it through those 30 yrs. His love for Xiaofeng is all-consuming and he will go down as my favorite ML along with Ye Hua from "Ten Miles."
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Love Like the Galaxy: Part 2
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Uneven pacing, rushed story, and a fizzled out romance really disappointed me
SPOILERS....Overall, I was very disappointed with part 2: They had some amazing scenes: Pretty much all of the emperor, empress, consort Yue, and 3rd prince scenes were awesome!
I also loved the arc where CSS, YSJ, and 3rd prince team up to help exonerate LBY. Those episodes were amazing and the FL was consistently smart again during this period. I remember saying to my sister, "we're back with part 1 FL and why couldn't she have been more like this for the entirety of part 2?"
But the arcs after this were almost all terribly rushed and edited. The Lou Ben arc in particular was a complete disaster! Probably the worst edited scenes in this entire drama...the events just happened because the writers said so. More attention and care to the script was needed to come up with a reasonable explanation for why Lou Ben acted in that manner. Someone of his talents and patience wouldn't have committed those acts without something happening that's life threatening to his loved ones. And if he had this dark/twisted/"ambition over everything" side, the drama should have revealed it to us.
And don't even get me started with the most retarded scene of all: The LJT carriage scene where CSS, despite not trusting her, still rides with her alone and ends up almost killed had LBY not come to her rescue. That scene was horrendously written and it makes CSS seem extremely dumb since she clearly doesn't trust LJT, yet chooses to be alone with her anyway without any protection. Like, huh? I thought LBY taught you some moves and if you're unable to even handle a physically weak female, how were you able to lead soldiers and protect villages? Again, this scene was nothing more than a cheap way to make LBY look heroic and to hasten CSS's eventual forgiveness.
Which leads me to the other retarded scene where CSS repeats her mistake: Despite being suspicious of Lou Li (Lou Yao's stupid cousin) and having never gotten along with her, she chooses to go with her alone anyway without any guards (she could have taken any of the dozens that were behind her). Why do the drama creators constantly have the FL purposely placing herself in danger when she had no reason to do so? Why does she constantly go off to dangerous places alone despite knowing she lacks martial arts skills? And what was the point of her previously asking LBY to teach her self defense skills if she never intends on using them in crucial situations?
Not only that, shortly after arriving at the Lou residence, she's constantly eyeing Lou Li with suspicion and wouldn't even drink the soup laced with poison. Yet she still does nothing but roll with whatever Lou Li wants, ending up trapped with YSS and ZJ. The idea that a braindead girl like Lou Li could have successfully lured one of the smartest drama FLs is so laughable and ridiculous -we have truly hit the bottom of the barrel.
If the director needed to get the FL into the trap to continue the story, he could have done so without sacrificing all her brain cells. Seriously, the FL's character in the later episodes of part 2 was so inconsistent, constantly vacillating between brilliance and retardation, that it gave me whiplash. The drama successfully turned her into a walking plot device, being whatever the plot point demands her to be.
The subsequent underground reveal was also rushed: I tried to hold back my laughter when LBY just came leaping down when the last time we saw him, he was still outside and didn't even mention the Lou residence. It's like entire scenes were skipped just to get to the showdowns more quickly.
I also really hated using LBY's near death to force CSS into finally forgiving him: It was done really badly and felt cheap. The drama writers fit his whole regretful speech and near death experience all in one rushed scene to reconcile the leads. I felt nothing as I couldn't even take his near death seriously: LBY was able to take down dozens of guards with only a few followers, yet couldn't even handle a frail woman holding onto his leg? He does nothing to shake her off and only stares up at CSS, waiting to die and see her reaction. It seems the drama creators wanted to make that scene touching, but instead, it felt so unbelievable and laughable. Once again, horrible writing and execution.
The drama writers pretty much went with my worst nightmare: Using lame near-death experiences as a shortcut to speed up the leads' reconciliation. This is pretty much the least satisfying and cheapest way to force a forgiveness in any romance. And it's definitely not enough for our leads' specific situation: LBY abandons CSS when she's already a character with trust issues due to being abandoned by her parents for 10+ years. This is not something she can get over after two near death situations (not to mention they're two of the worst written/executed scenes in the drama).
Overall, the pacing in part 2 was uneven (certain scenes stretched too long while others were too short) and certain arcs like Lou Ben, Cheng family calamity, and the last few episodes all felt rushed and sloppily written. It's like the drama creators ran out of time and decided to just give us all the payoffs without the proper setups, which effectively made everything feel unearned.
I also hated all the whitewashing: No way would grandmother Cheng ever say that she'll save all her treasures to use on CSS (completely out of character). The mother trying to reconcile with CSS also felt forced and shoehorned in just because the writers wanted to tie everything up with a neat bow. If the writers intended on making everyone regret their actions, they would have had to put in a lot more character work and heartfelt interactions to make it convincing. But what we ended up getting felt completely half baked and unbelievable.
Yet, even with all the writing inconsistencies and uneven pacing, I still could have been satisfied had the drama creators continued to deliver on the romance.
Unfortunately, the romance later on was too passive and subdued for me, kind of boring. After five years, I wanted to see LBY really fight to get his girl back, but instead, he stayed too passive and never lost control. That's just not exciting nor is it true to his character.
He's somebody who lost his whole clan as a kid and found it extremely hard to connect/fall in love with anyone. Thus, once he finally found the love of his life, he tends to be extremely possessive and protective. No way would he remain this subdued after five years of being without his girl.
In the novel, as soon as he's anywhere near the FL, he loses control and would end up going after her. That's the LBY I know and love. Not this passive guy that's content to never make a move unless she wants him to...LBY was never the type of guy to watch from afar and keep waiting. He could delude himself into thinking he'd be able to "do the right thing" by letting CSS go only if she's not in his vicinity. But as soon as she comes into his sight, all hell would break lose and he won't be able to stay away from her. Such is CSS's effect on him.
Now, that version of LBY would have been really exciting to watch: Somebody who's very human and unable to contain himself after being starved of CSS for 5 long years. No way would he be as controlled as he was in the drama. Come on drama creators, where's the passion and desperation?!! Where's the emotional catharsis?!!!
The fighting/clawing and emotional groveling scenes from the book where LBY pleads with CSS to not be so cruel to him would have stimulated the romance like nothing else. It also would have given the actors more to work with and we could have gotten some truly emotional/angsty scenes from them, making full use of their chemistry! I wanted to see WL and ZLS go all out with their acting.
Instead, the drama creators made all their subsequent interactions too tame/subdued, effectively devoid of any tension. The romance simply fizzled out completely for me by the end. I couldn't believe how bored and checked out I was in their final scene together (felt long and stretched out too).
That last sequence showcasing everyone all happy/giddy felt more like fanservice and it just kept on meandering. I could have used another follow-up scene of the 3rd prince and LBY after their touching battle scenes.
In closing, I felt part 1 was much stronger than part 2 in terms of storytelling and quality of script. Even though the love story wasn't heavily underway and there were less intense plot points, the actual slice of life story presented was much better told. Other than a few minor quibbles (FL mother's repetitive criticisms, some unreasonable amplifying of bitch drama, and the FL's love revelation), I found the overall pacing and storytelling of part 1 to be pretty even and smooth. There weren't any arcs and story events I found to be sloppily executed or confusing. The FL's characterization was also much more consistent, unlike part 2, where she's smart one moment and foolish/sloppy the next. Altogether, much more care was taken when filming and writing part 1.
I'll still give the overall drama an 8.5/10 (very generous rating mainly due to my HUGE bias) due to the storytelling in part 1, our favorite royal trio/3rd prince esp. in part 2, the intense LBY trial in part 2, and how invested I became by its world and characters. I also loved the initial tension and buildup of the leads' romance up until the manor massacre.
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Finally, a romance with the most intriguing time travel mystery plot that's intricately written and doesn't fall apart. This is the time travel story I've always wanted to read or watch: Main girl time travels into the body of another girl and gets that girl's crush (male lead) to fall hard for her (he didn't like the original inhabitant). I've always wanted to read about a romance plot like that because it'll be such fun to watch the male lead slowly fall for someone he's never liked, but now is drawn towards only due to the main girl's soul inhabiting the body. It's like he truly falls for her soul/spirit and not the body. Sooo romantic!!! And the drama does such a good job at showcasing the male lead's "falling" process layer by layer and doesn't rush it. So delicious and swoonworthy!!!
No episodes feel like filler and such care is placed into the narrative and character development. This feels like a breath of fresh air! So many dramas these days waste screen time with bloat or scenes that add absolutely nothing to the narrative that I can hardly believe a drama like this can exist. Thank you Taiwan!!! This drama is on another level and I love the love story and overall plot!!!
The ending totally justified the means and resolved the narrative in the best way possible. It's both an incredible love story and a story about self-worth and the drama achieved both without seeming forced or preachy. Wow, can't believe how seamlessly the writers were able to intertwine both the love/self-worth plots without sacrificing either. Both heavily overlapped with the other, so it was impossible to become invested in one and not the other -I loved this as I hate too many plot threads that go absolutely nowhere.
Almost every plot thread in this drama was resolved in a satisfying manner, without leaving you feeling cheated. There was only one forced/conveniently written plot thread and even then, it made way for a good twist and didn't influence the most important aspects of the drama, so I was easily able to overlook it by the end. Overall, not only did this drama have my dream time travel plot , but also wrote it masterfully and had the best actors bringing it to life. Masterpiece through and through and will go down as one of my favorite dramas of all time along with "Nirvana in Fire" and "Ten Miles". Boy did this one steal my heart!!!
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More of a long analysis with some novel vs drama comparisons than a review
After watching the entire drama and feeling disappointed by the end, I remembered my very lengthy part 1 analysis and decided to post it here. It's interesting how much of my fears back then were realized in part 2. Give it a read if you're interested in my initial thoughts back then...I'm reading the novel (never been so thankful for forcing myself to learn how to read mandarin after college) and although the production team/director's doing a brilliant job, for the most part, at respecting the source material and bringing justice to its world/characters, they do falter a bit when it comes to the FL (female lead) and several other female characters (mainly the minor antagonists).
The FL in the novel is not only brilliant and nuanced (author's very talented at crafting badass, 3 dimensional heroines), but her spirit's also an educated time traveler who was from modern times. This makes it completely believable that she's so knowledgeable in many different fields, yet lacks the ability to read archaic texts that's a staple amongst the nobility (she can read the majority of vernacular text).
In addition, since the novel FL never received parental love either before or after she transmigrated, she possesses a cynical attitude towards the world and tends to place herself in the role of an observer, rolling her eyes and poking fun at the shenanigans happening around her. Even with this jaded attitude, she still values sincerity and shows warmth to those who are genuinely kind to her.
This is a heroine who possesses high intelligence (has a flair for strategy and mechanics), practicality, wit, and dry humor all rolled up in one. She's the kind of relatable, mature, calm and collected heroine I dream about reading in a romance!
Her ultimate goal is to become independent and carefree, so many of her actions reflect that objective. All of her decisions are carefully weighed/considered in order to avoid being trapped in a life where she's unable to express her true self.
Due to censorship, the time travel aspect of our FL's character was stripped away and the director/script writers had to think of ways to best preserve the novel FL's attributes in a way that makes sense within the drama. Luckily, they retained most of her intelligence/street smarts, caution, and cynical attitude even when it stretches drama world logic from time to time, especially when it comes to her extensive vocabulary despite being truly uneducated.
The director also gave her some immature attributes since the drama her is no longer an older spirit inhabiting the body of a 15 yr. old (13 yrs. in the novel). Her cynicism/distrust is due to being neglected by everyone including her parents and yet, because of her young age, she still yearns for motherly affection. She treats people who are kind to her with equal fervor/warmth, but sometimes goes too far when exacting revenge on those who wrong her. Despite all this, the drama FL was still established as someone mature for her age due to being abandoned by her parents and raised by an aunt-in-law who's a viper. Lacking a proper parental figure, she had to wise up and fend for herself.
And up until recent episodes, I've been ecstatic at the way the drama creators have been faithfully showcasing the novel FL's nuances and character growth. Everything from her relationships with the people around her to her witnessing the atrocities of war contributed to her character growth. For the majority of part 1, the drama's been very successful at developing her into a believable, flesh and blood character.
One of my favorite scenes was the bridge incident because it allowed the FL to display flaws while staying true to her character. Her mistakes and subsequent stubbornness make her more human and yet, her character's actions were completely believable. Nothing she did was inconsistent with her character setup.
Everything I've seen for the majority of the first 27 episodes has led me to believe that the production crew's intentions are to faithfully adapt the novel's story/characters to the best of their ability. After reading parts of the novel, I approved of most of the changes in part 1 as they were all done in an effort to either streamline or elevate the drama.
However, there are some changes I didn't care for like the increasing amount of bitch drama (esp. the one in the palace involving all the princesses ganging up on the FL, effectively turning her into a damsel who had to be saved by our swoon-worthy ML) in the later part 1 episodes which weakened the FL and made all the other minor female characters into one-note caricatures instead of characters with nuance.
This amplifying of drama for drama's sake approach was even extended to the FL's mother in the earlier episodes. In this case, the writers added several scenes of mother-daughter drama that didn't exist in the novel. But similar to the later bitch drama, the additional mother-daughter drama doesn't really add anything of substance and becomes very repetitive.
Fortunately, the mother, unlike the one-note palace females, is actually a nuanced and 3-dimensional character when she's interacting with everyone else who's not her daughter. There are many scenes with other people that showcased her badass, intelligent, and introspective side, which effectively added more dimensions to her character. However, this doesn't extend to the majority of scenes with her own daughter, the FL.
For some reason, the drama turned her into a toxic mom who repeatedly criticized her daughter at every turn. It turned into a sort of pattern: Every time the FL does something, her mother would have some form of nitpick and would ignore anything she does right. This behavior kept repeating like clockwork until it begin to feel unnatural. It's almost as if the writing purposely handicaps the mother from dealing out any compliments to the FL, making this aspect of her character seem like a plot device that exists solely to make the FL feel unloved.
In the novel, the mother was much more reasonable, even if her relationship with the FL, similar to the drama, was never the best. There was never this repeating pattern of her criticizing the FL at every turn and she also suffered more consequences. For example, her mistake with the study table where she unfairly publicly shamed the FL actually resulted in graver consequences: The FL's father refused to speak to her for a few days and the aunt was more harsh. This led to her being more ashamed and self aware of her actions. She felt more like a person when dealing with her daughter in comparison to her version in the drama.
I also didn't like how the drama made the FL seem all flip-floppy after her blowup with the ML since right after she told him she didn't want him in her life, she immediately started reconsidering. No matter how nice he's been, it still doesn't change the fact that he practically forced her into an engagement out of the blue without consulting with her beforehand. She's a character who values free will and clearly hates being forced into doing anything. Due to his high-handed actions, she should only be at the "reluctantly accepting the engagement" phase. That montage that suggests she's falling for him already kind of felt unnatural and rubbed me the wrong way.
I'm now worried about the FL's love trajectory. I'm scared that the creators are purposely making her feelings for the ML more abstract so that they can take more liberties with her character in order to have the best of both worlds: Fanservice for the viewers while remaining faithful to the source material.
The montage of all the leads' closeup interactions at the end of season 1, however unnatural, clearly made it seem like the FL's reached some form of love revelation, but I heard that subsequent episodes have her regressing and taking the "unsure of her feelings" stance. This only hurts her character, making her out to be someone who's wishy-washy. And FLs who are indecisive about their feelings are one of my pet peeves in a romance. It's annoys the hell out of me if I see FLs telling the MLs how they want them out of their life one minute and then the moment they got what they asked for, they're all mopey and regretful -ugh...makes me want to slap them.
That montage immediately following the blowup, with the FL sprouting a lovestruck expression and then acting all giddy, came off as forced and completely out of character. It skated dangerously close to my pet peeve FL behavior scenario in a romance. And the fact that it was put in at the very end of part 1 makes it even more evident that the writers only did it to hook in viewers for part 2. They really failed to consider the bigger picture and how out of place it'll later become if they still intend to respect/follow the novel FL's overall character growth.
I just don't want the FL's love trajectory to turn into a complete mess only because the drama writers want to please everyone: Book lovers and casual viewers. You all know what happens when you try to please everyone, you end up compromising story integrity and pleasing no one. It seems like in order to both follow the novel love trajectory and please viewers, the writers decided to utilize the "dangling a carrot" approach when it comes to the FL's feelings: They give just enough fanservice/cutesy scenes (misleading viewers into thinking she's deeper in love than she really is) until they arrive at a major novel plot point where they then yank it all back, rolling with the novel FL's status quo, which then kind of clashes with the drama character changes that were tweaked for fanservice. Sigh...making character changes based on viewer response almost always leads to disaster due to the writing inconsistencies.
By attempting to have the best of both worlds, they're going to end up weakening the FL's overall character. Which is a shame, because nuanced, 3-dimensional FLs of this caliber are practically a unicorn in romantic dramas. It's especially rare because very few production companies even respect the source material of novels they buy. It still feels surreal that a romantic and well-written novel with a nuanced/lovable FL is even chosen to be adapted, let alone respected. So I really really want them to make use of the FL's potential and not let it go to waste. I'm just concerned about the warning signs I'm seeing and don't want this brilliant character to end up regressing, becoming unbaked.
And if the drama creators wanted to satisfy fans, there are others ways to put in fanservice without compromising character integrity. In the novel, I heard the FL gets engaged to the ML before the halfway point and that's when their romance really starts (the ML hardly showed up before this). Since they already changed this in the drama by tastefully adding in more interactions with the ML in a way that didn't compromise story integrity, they could have easily had the FL start falling (yet make it clear she's not "in love" yet) for the ML organically over the course of the engagement in the next several episodes.
At this point, they're learning how to operate as a couple after all and the FL can start appreciating him after getting to know him better. They can put in plenty of fanservice during this process and remain faithful to the source material since "starting to like someone" doesn't equate to deep love. This way, they can still keep the novel FL's character intact (novel FL doesn't fall deeply for the ML until much later, which is very true to the cynical/distrustful nature of her character) while pleasing fans with cute moments.
Point is, the production team already showed me in part 1 that they understand and respect the source material enough not to compromise story/character integrity. If they didn't care, they would have had the ML/FL interact much more in order to jumpstart the romance as quickly as possible. But they didn't go that route and respected the novel instead by focusing on the FL's story/character growth. Of course they couldn't ignore the ML completely, but the way they sprinkled scenes of him sporadically all worked in service of the story. It's almost the textbook example of what you would do with a major character that's completely absent in the first part of a novel.
They also weren't afraid of displaying the darker aspects of our leads. Because of all that care and respect, I'm now even more baffled/disappointed by their latest shenanigans. Why are they dropping the ball now by getting sloppy with the FL when the story's essentially about her growth and development? Ugh...I really really hope this is only temporary and the drama gets back on track!
Other than that, the majority of this drama, thus far, had been one full of nuanced characters, decent writing (being mainly faithful to the novel), and delicious buildup of tension between our leads (ML's proposal and subsequent carriage scene were the hottest); I had been hoping it would avoid resorting to cheap tactics/tropes that cater to the lowest common denominator. Unfortunately, the latest episodes have been using some of my most hated drama tropes: Dumbing down the FL and other characters in order to elevate the ML and dialing up drama simply for drama's sake.
This has already happened during the palace bitch drama incident. In the novel, Wang Ling tried to ignore the FL (she'd been burned before and knew she wasn't a match for her) and it was the FL who first provoked her. The 5th princess wanted to avenge Wang Ling, but she never went further than kicking the FL's shoe before the ML intercepted. Even then, the FL's already thinking up a tactic to counter her so she probably never needed his help anyway.
But the drama somewhat weakened her and turned all the other females into plot device bitches who have nothing better to do than be the FL's foil all day, everyday. This was all in their attempt to set our FL up as the damsel in need of saving in order to elevate the ML's hotness. The hotness was achieved, but it came at the expense of all the other female characters. Our FL from the earlier episodes who effectively delegated orders, led around her subordinates, and held her own against the fake bandits wouldn't have needed saving in this particular incident. Sigh...
They didn't rely on this cheap trope in the first 20+ episodes, so why start now? Why are they okay with besmirching all of their hard work with the FL in almost half the drama? If this continues, these inconsistencies will turn her into more of a plot device than a nuanced character. None of her later brilliant feats will feel as natural if they keep sprinkling more of these "dumbing down the FL in order to emphasize the ML's appeal" moments in between. God, I hope this gets nipped in the bud soon!
Whew...I had a lot to say and needed to write it all out. It's been a while since I've been so obsessed with a drama and I desperately want it to stay its course to the very end. Fortunately, it's not too late and I hope the production team can resolve all this in a satisfactory manner instead of simply brushing it off as an isolated incident of stupidity where it's never mentioned again and the FL suddenly becomes smart again when the next plot point demands it.
I desperately want this drama to become a shining example of how incredible a book to screen adaptation can be when you make all the right decisions: Respecting the source material and staying mostly faithful, yet not being afraid to make changes when it better serves the drama and elevates the story.
I want this drama to join the ranks of my three all-time favorite dramas:
"Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms" (successful adaptation that elevated the novel with my favorite romance of all time)
"Nirvana in Fire" (successful adaptation that's probably the most flawless drama amongst my top 3)
"Someday or One Day" (original script with an intriguing mystery almost flawlessly written and an epic romance)
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Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
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Perfect romance/chemistry, but overall drama just doesn't work
I try to balance out my ratings with a combination of objectivity/subjectivity. Hence, the highest rating I can give this drama is a 6/10. And that's only because the lead pairings' buildup/chemistry was one of my favorites (my bias is heavily at work here, lol). Even then, the overall drama just doesn't work due to the other three plotlines: Company threat, gangsters, and serial killer. Our leads had to share their plotline with the other three and the result was disastrous. Lol, the gangster/serial killer plots were such a mismatch to the romance that it felt like three different dramas (slapstick, horror, and romance).I couldn't finish this drama the first time around and on my second, I fast-forwarded everything that didn't involve the OTP's romance. The production team had a goldmine OTP and really should have written the overall plot around their romance: Maybe explore the lore behind Bo Soon's powers and focus more on Min Hyuk's relationship with his family or the leads' passion for developing games while building up their relationship during this process. You'll have a much more cohesive drama this way. The gangsters/serial killer plots don't connect well with the romance and should never have made it in the script.
Oh well, at least the creators knew enough to give us plenty of sweet scenes between our swoon-worthy leads. Aside from their story, this drama really is a trainwreck.
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Drama gave me the kind of love angst I craved and features the best ML groveling scene...
ML (male lead) is both extremely handsome and one of the most passionate/devoted men I've ever seen. Before truly accepting his feelings for the FL (female lead), he did something cruel, but ended up paying for it tenfold. It was both extremely satisfying and heartbreaking watching his torment over the FL -she really gave it to him good! This was the angst I wanted and it built up to one of the most climactic/touching scenes I've ever witnessed in episode 33. I was thoroughly convinced that the ML couldn't live without his FL.The FL was also awesome (strong and more on the mature side) and really made him suffer a lot as she didn't think they were meant to be. She never pined for him and instead, tried to move on.
Keep in mind that it starts out rather slow and doesn't become a downward roller coaster ride until episode 16 where the ML "digs his own grave." From then on, you will witness his downfall as he comes to realize how much the FL means to him and what he has lost. He then trails after the FL like a bloodhound, determined to win her back, but our FL will not budge. Forgiveness takes a long time and our ML is in for a world of pain for many episodes -can't say he didn't deserve it, lol. Happy drama watching and hope you become as emotionally involved as I was.
Here's a clip that gives you a taste of the leads' intense relationship:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2ZkPalWR3Y&ab_channel=WindzOz (the montage is heartwrenching...)
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Watch the first 13 amazing episodes and then just watch female lead and second male lead scenes
I watched this many years ago with Chinese subtitles (don't think it's ever been subbed in English) and was completely addicted by the first 12-13 episodes! The storyline felt fresh and featured a strong and capable FL (female lead) who shared amazing chemistry with the SML (second male lead). OMG, they had HOT chemistry (she's an ex-cop and he's a mafia lord, so there's always tension and conflict of interest btw them) and FL ended up having way more scenes with him than with the dull as dirt ML (like the actor, but not in this drama).Anyways, after episode 13, this drama became an absolute trainwreck with only the FL and SML storyline worth watching. So, feel free from then on to fast forward through everything except their scenes, although it does end in tragedy. I fell in love with their relationship and the SML (he's so devoted and relentless when it comes to the FL -still pains me how he never gets her love and ends up dying for her on their wedding day) and that's the only reason I'm giving the overall drama a generous 7.5/10.
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The most epic and passionate romance that will steal your heart!
I watched this way back in 2017, so my review's long overdue...If you're in the mood for an epic fantasy romance, look no further than "Ten Miles!" I consider it a masterpiece romance drama because of how well the main love story's executed: It's extraordinarily intoxicating! However, if you're not into romance, then I don't recommend it because at its heart, the drama's nothing more than a simple love story. But the way the writers/director adapted this simple story, by elevating its source material, is what makes this drama a masterpiece.
"Ten Miles" simply gave me my preferred epic romance (simple romance plot that was well-executed): Leads with explosive chemistry, a calm/mature FL (female lead), and a ML (male lead) who was powerful, hot, relentless when it came to chasing after the FL, and never committed noble idiocy (push her away for her own good, etc.). It gave me everything I wanted in a romance and executed it in a way where it's impossible to beat in my eyes.
The lead actor, Mark Chao's performance as Ye Hua (the ML) is too skilled/unforgettable. He's an expert at eye expressions: To this day, I have yet to see another actor capable of emoting so much passion while portraying an icy cold character. Not only that, he also portrayed my favorite type of ML in a romance. What can I say, I'm a complete sucker for the obsessive/possessive MLs who will never let the FL go and won't ever push her away for any reason (fatal illness/injury, bankruptcy, etc. -nothing keeps him away) lol. And Ye Hua fits that to a "T!"
Romance Minor SPOILERS...
The ML, Ye Hua, can give up anything/sacrifice anything for the FL and chases after her like a bloodhound -he basically deceived her into marrying him by not disclosing anything about himself (his biggest fault is his tendency to keep everything to himself and shoulder all burdens). He tries to shield her from everything, but when all hell broke lose, he tries to protect her using the wrong method and it cost him.
What's even more attractive is how arrogant and cold he was before he met the FL -nothing and nobody can affect him. He's never loved anyone (there's a lady who stayed by his side since they were little and is obsessively in love with him, but he's extremely cold to her) and finds that emotion to be a nuisance. His 3rd uncle even said that though he's seen as "perfect" (crown prince status, extremely powerful and handsome) in everyone else's eyes, he's incomplete in his because he lacks emotion/affection.
Well, that all changes when he meets our FL: She's the only one who can melt him and make him go crazy. Seriously, this ML won't be able to live without his beloved FL. When he thought he lost her, he gave up on life and almost died. He also cries a lot because of her -I just want to hug him (love his manly tears). He also sees through all female machinations and is never fooled by "other women's" tactics. The drama's so good at making us see everything from the perspective of both leads, unlike the book which just focuses on the FL's side. I could totally feel the ML's desperate love and pain...swoon!!!
Overall, "Ten Miles..." is still the best romance I've ever watched and nothing beats it!
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Worth watching for the leads' romantic buildup and the sexy as sin male lead...
I watched "Love Between Fairy and Devil" with my sister and it had the relationship dynamics we love the most: Powerful/hot as hell (and I mean otherworldly HOT –Dylan Wang’s performance was incredible and immortalized this role) villainous ML who falls first and is always the possessive/active one in the relationship; FL who, although has an annoying baby voice, loves more passively and took a long time to come to terms with her feelings; tons of cute ML jealous scenes. The way the ML always wants the FL by his side (first because of their situation and later because of his feelings) and his alpha/possessive attitude made us positively swoon!!!Overall, the series is completely worth watching for the ML and the slow burn romance: He gets jealous/possessive rather early and stays in the denial, yet "can't help but want the FL near him" stage for a long time. Watching him struggle with his feelings and acting grumpy/losing control of his emotions due to his increasing jealousy of the FL's feelings for the SML gave us such giddy excitement! Basically, "Love between Fairy and Devil" put so much care in building up the relationship between the leads that we had one of the best rides of our life -we loved practically every arc in their relationship!
Despite some issues (rushed ending), esp in episodes 30-36, the drama was overall well-plotted and all major characters had their own understandable motivations and weren't simply there to be a plot device obstacle for the leads.
The FL's character was written inconsistently at times (really dumb, yet smart when the plot demands her to be), although she did shine more towards the end. I completely understand why people may drop this series early on: The FL's baby voice and "cute/dumb" archetype can be really grating and my sister and I had to force ourselves to acclimate.
However, we did very much appreciate how she doesn’t fall for the ML easily and loved how she remained quite unflustered by his smoldering gazes and always made him jealous by openly admiring the SML!
Her dynamics with the sexy as hell ML really kept us watching all the way through -we never were in danger of dropping this series because the ML was everything we wanted in a romantic lead. And this drama is all about the romance, so there's tons and tons of scenes between our leads in practically every episode. We felt like we were in heaven with so many cute/hot interactions btw leads without too many side plots. There's also very little bitch drama as most characters are nuanced -breath of fresh air. So, if you can, try to tolerate the FL for the well-written romance and devilishly HOT ML. If you can manage to connect with the leads, you'll be in for quite a ride. The Ost and costumes/set design are also one of the best we've ever seen and heard!
SPOILERS...
In addition, the ML in "Love between Fairy and Devil" did commit a bit of noble idiocy (my most hated trope) towards the end, but we were able to roll with it because his intentions were only a desperate act to save the FL's life and as soon as she's out of danger, he clearly would have come after her again like a bloodhound. Point is, the ML convinced us that he could never let the FL go and wouldn't be able to live without her.
END of SPOILERS...
This drama also catapulted the ML to join the ranks of Ye Hua (Ten Miles), Li Chengyin (Goodbye My Princess), and Li Ziwei (Someday or One Day) as my top favorite MLs of all time! I can't imagine anyone else playing the all-imposing/sexy as sin Lord Supreme of three realms, DongFang QingCang...
Here's a short MV that perfectly encapsulates our ML's HOT/possessive side:
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1tW4y1b7kY?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click&vd_source=0f51f15ecb949e1a7887f3f80628e226
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Drama with an engaging plot and a very memorable ML (Jang Dong Gun)
Watched this one dubbed in Mandarin 15+ years ago: This was one of Jang Dong Gun's best roles in terms of character complexity. I loved his character, but he wasn't a good lover/boyfriend. He was really cruel to the FL and wasn't worthy of her devotion to him.That said, this series showcased a lot of Jang Dong Gun's acting capabilities and is the best reason to watch as his character, Su Hyung, is truly memorable. The drama was also well-paced and riveting to watch.
SPOILERS....
Very sad and depressing ending -I've been turned off of tragedies since then and refused to watch another until "Goodbye my Princess"
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The lovable cast and their chemistry as well as the Yi City arc saved this drama for me!
This drama's overall worth watching, but you need to adjust expectations. I suspect the reason it's so highly regarded is because of its efforts to adhere to the BL elements, cast chemistry (despite relatively poor acting from many, they all fit their character counterparts and shared great chemistry with one another), and overall faithfulness to the main story beats in the novel.However, this drama is plagued with major problems in its storytelling and overall production (aside from its low budget). There's a good story somewhere in there due to the source material (I later read half of the book in Chinese and it made a lot more sense than it did in the drama), but the drama has the worst production I've ever seen and fails to properly tell the story. Everything the drama changes due to censorship is not well thought out, but they're too lazy to work on the script more and just assume people have read the book.
For example, in the novel, the past was told in a series of short flashbacks and was the least interesting part. But for some reason, the drama creators decided to devote around 30 episodes to the past when there really wasn't enough novel material to warrant all that time wasted. This resulted in padded filler (they actually made up a storyline that ended up being a complete waste of time) and slow pacing for the first 30+ episodes. The drama only started getting good around the Yi City arc, which was when it started focusing on the current timeline.
Even then, the drama's storytelling was often confusing without prior knowledge of the novel. I was lucky enough to have my sister by my side to explain some of the main story beats because the drama did a piss poor job of telling it using the camera. There were some weirdly shot sequences that left me utterly confounded about what the director was trying to tell me. This confusion was all cleared up by the novel, which was well-written and completely believable. Lol, the novel author's a much better storyteller than the drama crew.
The editing and camerawork is also very shoddy and amateurish. There are many awkwardly filmed sequences where they cut off character's heads or the camera angle's not quite right. But all this gets a free pass just because many people are in love with the cast/chemistry btw characters.
The best rating I can give this drama is an 8/10 and that's only because I fell in love with the Yi City arc (loved the relationship between two characters) and I also loved the sibling chemistry btw the ML and his brother (I actually found them to have the spark and angst that's missing from the lead couple -this is largely due to censorship preventing the leads' romance from having central focus).
In addition, I adored the younger generation disciples and all of their interactions with the leads. But I can't give this drama a 9 or 10 when almost everything aside from cast chemistry/music and some well-done sequences are all executed poorly.
Honestly, even an 8/10 is generous, but that's my biased rating and I admit to it freely, lol. The cast chemistry and relationships are what ultimately save this drama for me. This is the main area where I give credit to the production crew. I don't credit them for the ambitious plot because that came from the novel and they weren't even particularly skilled at telling it, lol. In fact, many story changes they made only served to confuse the viewer and some, like the Yin metal storyline, were a complete waste of time.
It's certainly not a masterpiece like "Nirvana in Fire" and it's not just the censorship holding it back either since the entire drama's replete with numerous craftmanship flaws that has nothing to do with censorship. Censorship certainly doesn't excuse shoddy storytelling (ex: the romance btw the ML's sister and another character was poorly done/inconsistent whereas it made complete sense in the book), crappy editing, and amateurish camerawork.
So overall, this drama is worth watching if you can forgive the amateurish production and manage to connect and fall in love with its many lovable characters. But do prepare yourself to be patient for the first 30+ episodes (some got into it after the first 15 or so terrible episodes, but I didn't fall in love until the Yi City arc).
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