okay, first of all i have to admit that i cheated a little.

i really liked this drama at about the 3rd episode in, so i looked for a few reviews and skimmed through them. one thing they had in common was the view that the drama sort of went off the rails after the conclusion of the revenge part. so when i came to the satisfying reveal in ep 26, i kind of paused the drama there and haven't returned to it since. therefore, this review applies only to the first 26 episodes.

with that disclaimer out of the way, let me say that i thoroughly enjoyed this one. of all of the cdramas i have watched this year, this is by far the best (btw, this isn't as much praise for this drama as it is a criticism of the poor quality of dramas this year).

having read the other reviews, i can say that one of the reasons i liked this more than a lot of other people is that i haven't watched any of gong jun's other dramas and i didn't have any impression of what his character should be like. his portrayal of prince han ye is interesting. he's obviously a goody two-shoes sort of character, but there is an underlying manipulativeness and stubborness to him, as well as his belief that the status quo is good when it comes to his family's rule (but not when it comes to certain other nobles). that small hypocrisy gives his character some depth and makes for an interesting conflict between him and anle.

and anle herself is everything i want in a female lead. up to episode 26, i haven't really seen her do anything stupid as the other reviews have commented. she does fall for han ye, but through it all she still uses him to accomplish her 'revenge', which isn't a revenge as much as it is clearing her family's name. she's able to play the part of the quirk, uncaring about etiquette pirate lord, and the thing that's good about her eccentric character is that the important characters can't call her out without revealing their own manipulations. i loved dilreba in the long ballad and anle is a character in the same vein; a female main character who is just allowed to be a character the way a male main character would be.

together, they have great chemistry. in fact, the three-way chemistry between han ye, anle and mingyi worked so well. the way the plot built up to the reveal of anle's identity, especially how the cases revealed han ye and anle's traits, was enjoyable and episodes 24 - 26 had every ounce of my attention. brilliant stuff, especially after the drama had slowed after episode 10.

i also don't quite understand the complaints about the drama being cheap. the fight scenes are awful, which is the case more often than not, but the sets are lovely. they have a lived-in feel which a lot of other dramas lack. i also like the costumes, which are intricate and flatter all of the characters' body types.

now comes the criticism.

the di cheng'en thing was drawn out far longer than is necessary. i also don't need so many scenes of anning moping around to get that she's guilty about something. nor was there a need for the northern princess character at all, since the connection between leng bei and the chancellor already establishes that he is a spy.