This review may contain spoilers
PRECURSOR: I was able to finally watch this because there were english subs available on youtube (actual subs, not just straight translations of the Chinese subtitles); However, halfway through (around episode 45) the subtitles ran out, so the second half of the drama I watched just with Chinese subtitles. I understood enough to get the major points of the story down, but definitely missed out on most of the politics talk/etc. (Still feel confident that I understood the majority of what was happening plot wise at least).If you watched Legend of Zhen Huan (which I'm sure most people who watched this saw that one first), you're definitely gonna feel like this is just another version of that. Same lead actress, same director and production crew. Similar story (following the life of a young girl who becomes a powerful Empress Dowager). I will definitely say that while the similarities are clear, the storyline itself felt very different in many aspects. So don't just skip this because it feels super similar to Zhen Huan!
**Definitely going to have a lot of comparisons to Zhen Huan (since that one was the more popular of the two).**
STORY:
-This story really ranges through the ENTIRE life of Mi Yue. It begins before she is even born and shows the precursor to why people treat her a certain way later on in life. It goes through her years as a young princess in Chu and continues on through the power struggle when she becomes Empress Dowager and even through her regency and later life. That was one thing that I probably would have enjoyed seeing with Zhen Huan (but the actual sequel deals with the later half of her life when the Qianlong Emperor is (well) emperor).
-Because it covered the whole 100 or so years of her life (she lived from 338BC - 265BC - damn). There were definitely certain parts that felt a little lagging, but it was still well paced enough that I wouldn't feel the need to skip chunks of the story (As many people - at least I did during a rewatch - will skip the nun story line of Zhen Huan).
-Whether or not it was fictional or actually closer to history, I really wasn't a fan of the person she became after she becomes regent. It wasn't even the power that annoyed me, but how she dealt with the conflicts with Qin and Yi Qu. (Not going to say more because it'd be a spoiler - unless you know Chinese history). It felt like the character was backtracking in personality because she had become so strong in later life.
-I think there was a good balance between showing us her relationships with everyone to the inner harem fighting to actual political fighting. (Zhen Huan was majority inner harem fighting and that can get tiring).
-Overall it did a good job showing us her life (again not sure how historically accurate it was, but it's TV) and felt like a very good portrayal.
ACTING/CASTING:
-Sun Li really is the ultimate empress. I've only seen her in these two dramas, but the characters definitely had their differences and they didn't feel like the same person - so props to her. She's a beauty who isn't afraid to be ugly which really pushes actors to a new level because their expressions and emotions feel real. When she cries, it's not the delicate tears falling from her eyes that many other actors will do, but its full on sobs and snot and greatness.
-Liu Tao - I definitely think it was probably partially her and partially the director that wanted her character to act that way, but honestly I kind of got annoyed at times with her character. She's a fabulous actress with a good track record, so it doesn't diminish her abilities, but there were times when she would be in anguish over her child or something and the way that she would cry out for her husband and just really irritated me. Overall I still think she did a great job showing the life of Mi Shu as well. (As you again see her from childhood until essentially the end of her life).
-Everyone else - no one else specifically stood out to me as beyond excellent, but everyone else did a fair job as well. No one majorly bothered me in any way.
REWATCH VALUE:
-Honestly not sure if I'd rewatch. The length doesn't scare me so much (I made it through all of Fan Bing Bing's 90 some odd episodes of Wu Ze Tian) and I actually enjoy the epic lengths sometimes. But something about the show didn't have that same captivating feeling that Zhen Huan (sorry for the endless comparisons) had. It was definitely a good drama, but there's nothing pulling me back to watch it again and again. The schemes and what not against her were intriguing the first time through, but it wasn't intricate enough to warrant a rewatch (think Nirvana in Fire scheming - that's the stuff you want to watch again and again). The relationships were good but nothing making me yearn to see them again. Overall good, but not good enough to be mind-blowingly great.
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This is the story of the first Empress Dowager of Chinese history.
This is a story which takes place before the beginning of the Qin dynasty.
You are following Miyue, a princess who was told to be in the future the one who will impact greatly on the country. She's has a very strong personality, despite her mother having no social status and was only a servant of another concubine. Miyue and her sister Mishu, the oldest daughter, and the daughter of the queen. Despite their social statues are as different as a lion is different compared to a cat, they have really good and close sister relationship.
They grow up, they fall in love, they slowly change, they became enemies.
It's a love and hate story.
But it is also the story of Miyue, of how, a princess like her, grew up to be the first Empress Dowager of Chinese history, and how she established strong foundation to the unification of China for the later Qin dynasty.
I see 3 parts in this story:
1/ Miyue as a Princess, as a big sister, and as a teenage girl with her first love.
You will watch her grow up in a very difficult environment despite her being a princess, how she's going to keep herself real and virtuous, and how she starts to spent her time on knowledge, how she's teaching her younger brothers to be a good man when they grow up etc.
2/ Miyue as a servant of the future Queen of the Qin country, her older sister Mishu, then as a concubine of the Qin King, and how this king will impact on her greatly.
I won't say much, but this part is really important for Miyue : she's had a strong personality when she was young, but with him, she's going to have more and more ambition and quit being a teenage princess but slowly step by step, becoming an intelligent woman.
It's also a part where you see how Mishu is changing because of her selfishness, also because of her misunderstanding, because she's also a mother, and how these sisters are slowly distancing themselves from each other.
3/ Miyue as a responsible mother, then as a political leader + her 3rd love story.
To put it shortly, you're going to see how Miyue try to reach her ideals and how she's going to sacrifice herself for the country.
/! what is good in this drama, it is also that the script took a lot of fact of the real history :)
* Acting / Cast :
Nothing to say, perfect.
Betty Sun improved so much, she was not acting Miyue, she WAS Miyue.
Big up to MaSu, to LiuTao and to Fong Alex, who impressed me with their acting skills! They were great really...
* Music :
Well, the music disappointed me...
speaking the music only, it was not that good, and i think it did not match the drama.
like the music in the legend of zhenhuan were a perfect marriage with the drama
but here i want the music and the drama to divorce, and ask LiuHuan to create another music, and ask Liu Lianzi from the heaven to sing one more time.
But the music with the instrument that Miyue is often playing is really good.
* Rewatch value :
well it's a very long drama, but if you ever have free time, definitely recommending to rewatch this drama :D
* Overall :
minus 0.5 for the music. it is not horrible, it is in reality very pleasant to hear, but i just NOOOOOoooooOOOOOOO these musics because it doesn't match at all the drama.
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An Epic Drama
I watched the Legend of Mi Yue many years ago while it was airing. Recently I came across Wang Bei, the composer for the sound tracks in the drama, in Music Talks podcast on Spotify. It reminds me all the emotions I was going through while watching this amazing drama. I feel I need to write something here for helping new viewers to appreciate this wonderful story that has brought me to the world of Chinese drama. And I would also like to share this fantastic Music Talks podcast with viewers who love Chinese traditional music: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0loDu2MPaECwJouuE3bC1Z?si=97ebacaa59ed4787Mi Yue was said to be the great-grandmother of Qin Shi Huang (The First Emperor of China), Ying Zheng (Qin Dynasty Epic). This story is about her romance, her odyssey from the Kingdom of Chu to the Kingdom of Qin including her exile, her multiple near-death experiences, ultimately her eventual rise to power and becoming the first empress dowager in China’s history. And the thousands of terracotta soldiers and horses that were discovered in Xi'an are said to have been buried for her, contrary to the common view that they were buried for Qin Shi Huang. How much of this story is fictional and how much of it is based on actual events happened more than 2,300 years ago, no one knows, but the story ties up every event masterfully, making the overall story logical and believable. This is a masterpiece that deserves to be revered by the masses. Deservingly, it receives many awards.
This drama boasts some very seasoned actors, in particular Sun Li (Betty Sun), Liu Tao (Tamia Liu), Huang Xuan and Alex Fong. Sun Li’s Mi Yue is beautiful, courageous and intelligent. I really enjoy watching her romance with Huang Zi Xie (Huang Xuan), my heart aches seeing their pains and sufferings, and sigh a joy of relief when they are together, enjoying each other’s company. Both have given the viewers a wonderful and believable love affair here and their chemistry is unbeatable. Sun Li’s performance is so good especially towards the ending when she becomes the Empress Dowager. She is regal, elegant, beautiful and strong. The performance I love equally well is Liu Tao’s performance as the Mi Shu character. Mi Shu, sister of Mi Yue, is timid and gentle, but grows to become cruel and evil as power blinds her. Her character development from a protagonist to an antagonist is simply so convincing, well written and performed. Liu Tao’s acting here is absolutely perfect; she gives us an evil empress (think of Snow White), having that piercing look with fire in her eyes, which is simply not replicable by any other actors. Alex Fong’s character as King Huiwen of Qin is equally wonderful. A Hong Konger and a veteran, his performance is convincing, giving us a lovable character that we come to empathize with, and his chemistry with his women is undeniable.
My Verdict
This is a very heavy historical based story with a lot of palace politics. But the writing is not dry and the drama is action-packed. If you’re a history buff, this is a must-watch. If you’re a Chinese classical music lover, you must listen to the music too, which have been carefully composed for effects and emotions; with imagination, it is also trying to emulate music sung 2,300 years ago and the result is applaudable. I particularly love the sound track “Waning Moon” performed by the pan flute or cello. The solo music sings out the sorrow and loneliness of Mi Yue as she plays the tune with her little pan flute. Melancholic and nostalgic, this is the most beautiful tune for the whole drama. I can just close my eyes and listen to it for the whole night, imagining life more than two thousand years ago, sad and hopeless.
For viewers who are interested in the pan flute music “Waning Moon”, check it out here: https://youtu.be/wQIjz68rr2E. Also available in cello version.
This is a TWO THUMBS UP for me. A must watch!
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Pros: Music, wardrobe
I give props to wardrobe. The costumes are gorgeous and very well done. The music was great as well.
Cons: It takes the writers forever to get to point. A lot of the episodes were fillers and didn't move the story along. I found a few plots uninteresting. Some of the story's logic seemed a bit off in reference to why a character is doing whatever they are doing.
Could be better: Character development could've been a bit better. Some characters seemed a bit bland.
The acting, though I liked most of it, at times it was a bit over the top to where their reactions where not relatable.
Summary:
It's an ok drama if you are looking to pass the time.
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Tania Liu steal the entire drama! She has class, charisma and beauty.
Gao Yunxiang was gorgeous as barbarian king.
The actress playing the Mi Yue lacked charisma. It didn't help they tried to show the Queen Dowager Xuan as a nice and charming girl. That got in the throne for her virtues and goodness of her heart... The actress seems childish.
Only Tao Liu or Tania Liu saved the show.
Watch fast forwarding and after just go to the ending missing about 3 episodes between.
I won't waste my time with Chinese historic dramas. I only will watch Koreans! Never again!
Please bring back Nirvana in fire for ever.
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How can the director allowed his wife to continue writing rubbish scripts??? Lack of professionalism on the director's part.
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This review may contain spoilers
I...have some mixed feelings. I waffled between giving it a 9 or an 8.5 because when the show hits its highs, when it writes its likeable characters, it's fantastic. When the script drags or the writers spin themselves into a corner, I was so frustrated I couldn't fall asleep at night after watching it. But I do think it's a show very much worth watching, and that a lot of the negative press it got was mostly because nothing could really follow up on the cultural landmark that was Zhen Huan. And to be fair, Mi Yue doesn't really do the best job of severing those comparisons--Sun Li aside, Hua Fei, Jin Xi, Jian Qiu, and even Meizhuang's actresses all appear at some point in the series. But Mi Yue's scope is also much wider than Zhen Huan, which is its strength--it is thinking beyond the inner palace to the Warring States era as a whole, and that's where it shines. We get to see Mi Yue handle affairs of state as the Queen Dowager after she ascends, which is one of the highlights of the show and see the difficult choice between love and the stability of her state and kingdom as it becomes clear she can't have both. This is one of the recurring themes of the drama--Mi Yue clings onto this idea of living an ordinary life and living for herself, even though her position and the position of the men she loves restrict them and keep them away from acting for themselves.
This is a Zheng Xiaolong drama--in terms of production value and casting, it's in a league of its own. The show spared no expense with the wedding scenes especially--the Mi sisters marrying into Qin is a ten minute sequence of pure aesthetic joy. Sun Li and Liu Tao are both great in their respective roles, and I am embarrassingly attached to Alex Fong's Qin Huiwen, who perfectly captures the character's uprightness, honor, and depth of feeling. Actually, Mi Yue and Qin Huiwen's relationship is shockingly romantic, and probably one of my favorite cdrama romances ever. Ma Su's Wei Furen was also great--she was the steady, plotting villain to the volatile and outburst-heavy Mi Shu. I also, along with everyone else in the comments section, adored Zhang Yi, who is the funniest and greatest side character in this show.
Now here are the bad things. There are two sections of the script I had the most problems with and are what, imo dragged down my enjoyment of what would otherwise be a fantastic show start to finish. If you've watched the drama, you probably know what I'm talking about. The aftermath of the killer bee incident and Mi Yue's later dealings with the Yiqu are...frustrating because it felt like the scriptwriters were truly backtracking the character development she had had at that point. Hold your nose and the drama will reward you, but I was definitely tearing my hair out a little. What the show also suffers in comparison to Zhen Huan is the relative intelligence of the villains--seriously, some of the people Mi Shu has on her side exemplify "don't be afraid of god like enemies, be afraid of pig like teammates".
Overall, Mi Yue is very much worth watching. It's one of those high production historicals that I've been missing from recent releases, I'm sad that the subtitle situation is so bad, because I really do think western audiences would enjoy it if it were more accessible.
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The lead actress can’t act
With increased irritation, I’m trudging through this dense and boring historical drama hoping something remotely interesting happens, however, it’s taking for-fu@king-ver to get plot advancement. It doesn’t help that I seem to have developed an intense dislike for, Sun Li, the lead actress who- with all apologies- can’t act her way out of a paper bag. I’m sorry but Ms Li’s acting is the same in every period drama she’s been in. She always does a doe-eyed ingénue who, despite being unfairly treated, goes through life singing kumbaya and has never met a potential enemy she didn't love. Seriously, who wrote this screenplay? Sigh. I’ll give it a dozen more episodes to see if the pacing and story development move faster otherwise it goes in the dropped category pronto.Was this review helpful to you?
Worth a watch
LIKEHow Mi Yue showed her authority in front of ministers
How Prince Ji was impressed by Mi Yue on several occasions one when she was facing the military generals
When Mi Yue's brother (King of Chu) still had a heart not to harm his own kins
What Ying Si did for Mi Yue that he had never done in the past
When Mi Shu was guilty of what had happened to her own son and Mi Yue still helped her
The moment when Mi Yue looked back and realised she still in love with her own country
DISLIKE
When the couple I shipped were unfated to be together
MUSIC
Man Yue 滿月 - Chen Si Si 陳思思
REWATCH VALUE
Yes absolutely worth it.
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