Annie
Putting in my 2 cents because I see a lot of inflated ratings in the reviews. The romance was great but this drama is not without its flaws.
Did I enjoy it? Yes. Why? Because I'm a sucker for these type of dumb plots, which I admittedly seen quite a few times. By this, I'm talking about memory loss, falling in love again, emperors that must be cruel to secure their throne, kind of helpless female lead that can only cry and forgive, etc). There were beautiful moments that triggered my tear ducts, but there are also moments that made me just fast forward. Maybe I'm dumb or disinterested but the politics didn't stick with me too much so I had a 75% grasp of what was happening politically and was here more for the romantic scenes.
In terms of the emotional roller coaster for viewers, I felt frustrated during the majority of the drama rather than nodding along and saying "Yeah, predictable plot but totally believable and they sold it to me, I can keep watching this bs." For example, there were a few times I was frustrated that Xiaofeng was so oblivious to what was going on, even if that's what her character is supposed to be like, which is unfortunate because I think the actress did phenomenally in every scene.
Another point of personal frustration (aka not a flaw in the production but rather as a heads up for viewers), as I was watching, the sweet moments that did exist between Li Chingye and Xiaofeng were enough to give me hope that maybe this is all leading to the ending that we all, if not most of us, want. The ending was unsatisfying to say the least.
I can't put it into words and maybe it's because I wanted a happy ending very badly, but the whole exposition leading up to the ending just didn't explain why it ended the way it did. It's not that I don't want to accept the ending, but it didn't make enough sense.
Despite me going on and on about how I didn't like the way things ended, I enjoyed the drama and finished it until the end. It is going to be a rough 52 episodes with a rough ending that matches how it's made you felt the whole series.
Li Chingye and Xiaofeng's characters were acted out well, and they're honestly what I kept coming back for.
Did I enjoy it? Yes. Why? Because I'm a sucker for these type of dumb plots, which I admittedly seen quite a few times. By this, I'm talking about memory loss, falling in love again, emperors that must be cruel to secure their throne, kind of helpless female lead that can only cry and forgive, etc). There were beautiful moments that triggered my tear ducts, but there are also moments that made me just fast forward. Maybe I'm dumb or disinterested but the politics didn't stick with me too much so I had a 75% grasp of what was happening politically and was here more for the romantic scenes.
In terms of the emotional roller coaster for viewers, I felt frustrated during the majority of the drama rather than nodding along and saying "Yeah, predictable plot but totally believable and they sold it to me, I can keep watching this bs." For example, there were a few times I was frustrated that Xiaofeng was so oblivious to what was going on, even if that's what her character is supposed to be like, which is unfortunate because I think the actress did phenomenally in every scene.
Another point of personal frustration (aka not a flaw in the production but rather as a heads up for viewers), as I was watching, the sweet moments that did exist between Li Chingye and Xiaofeng were enough to give me hope that maybe this is all leading to the ending that we all, if not most of us, want. The ending was unsatisfying to say the least.
I can't put it into words and maybe it's because I wanted a happy ending very badly, but the whole exposition leading up to the ending just didn't explain why it ended the way it did. It's not that I don't want to accept the ending, but it didn't make enough sense.
Despite me going on and on about how I didn't like the way things ended, I enjoyed the drama and finished it until the end. It is going to be a rough 52 episodes with a rough ending that matches how it's made you felt the whole series.
Li Chingye and Xiaofeng's characters were acted out well, and they're honestly what I kept coming back for.
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