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I am enjoying this immensely. To date I have watched episodes 1-34.

It is an investment of time and energy if you choose to watch this. The plot is dense, not for the faint of heart or for those who do not like subtitles. Please don't let the botched attempt in the first few minutes to paint a historical backstory deter you. I almost stopped watching after those first few minutes. Fortunately I ignored it, hung in there, and waited to learn what was going on.

It is the complex plot and the acting which has my rapt attention. The intrigues at court are more convoluted and fascinating than any soap opera has ever been. Plots within plots, hidden motives and alliances. That said, the beautiful, ornate sets and fabulous costumes are superb and warrant an Emmy for that alone.

Great acting by the two main characters with marvelous support from other actors. The actor playing Ning Yi, the character who returns from banishment in the first episode, portrays him as complex, lovable, and relentless. The character reminds me of a historical character (described in the I Ching) that was caught like a fly in a complex, life-threatening web at court. He chose to dissemble, pretending to be insane in order to cloak his true purposes until it was safe to reveal his intentions. But Ning Yi is so clever and multilayered that I am not certain that he is ever clear on his own motives. The main female character, Feng Zhi Wei, who cross-dresses (new name Wei Zhi), so that she is able to become a scholar, an official, and eventually the Emperor's favorite advisor, was a joy. I was grateful to see a female character arising from modern Chinese culture who so much more intelligent and wily than her peers -- she ran circles around them and then enlisted them to help her. That made me smile.

My favorite secondary character is Xin Ziyan. He is head of the Qingming Academy, where young, capable, and ambitious men are trained scholastically, socially, and in the martial arts. He is subtle, nimbly jumping in and out of the centers of power. He never manages to bow quite as deeply as the others, and always enjoys himself with wine, wives and poetry. He is ambiguous. He admits the ferocity and importance of the political struggles but never takes it overly seriously. With bemused detachment he still manages to keep his prince Ning Yi focused on the important issues.

The character playing the Emperor Ning Shizheng does a great job of acting without acting. He uses a variety of techniques to portay an emperor -- an almost constant mask (a straight face), very occasional and careful explosions, showing how and what he chooses to attend to, and my favorite, placing and then watching the royal princes' behavior in various situations. He is able to suggest what it might have been like to be at the center of all those machinations. Seemingly the one with most power and yet the one most trapped in a role.

A brief sentence to note the performance of the Crown Prince , who is portrayed both diabolically and sympathetically. It is a rare thing for me to feel some empathy toward a character who is not above slaughtering 1/10 of the others. But he managed to show how his behavior arose not only out of unwanted ambition but misdirected desire to please this all-powerful father.

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For those who want a little bit more history with their historical drama, or if you find this sort of thing to be enjoyable, I strongly suggest watching the Korean historical drama series Queen Seondeok. It has much greater attention to historical detail and recounts the story of the first reigning queen of Shila, one of the three kingdoms of Korea. Queen Seondeok was described as "generous, benevolent, wise, and smart." The story was interesting, but I particularly liked its superlative female acting. The actress playing Queen Seondeok was wonderful and showed exemplary character development abilities. But it was the villainess, lady Mishil, who still wins my vote for the most clever and nefarious female villain ever. Best of all, that series has the best bad boy, of all time Bidam -- innocent, complex, devoted and a superb martial artist. (Although Bidam doesn't come into the story until the end of the 21st episode!).

To some people, this is very slow pace but that how it is for most Chinese period drama. They usually give background and full characters development. Plot and costumes, etc are similar to nirvana in fire because they are from the same people. Great characters development and insight you reach characters even to the supporting casts. It is a story of revenge, love, power, loyal, honor, and grievance.

Visually stunning, lyrically beautiful, masterfully acted. Treachery and political intrigue at its finest. Game of Thrones minus the violence, nudity, and supernatural but with an added dash of rom-com and mystery.

I liked the comedy sprinkled throughout the darkness. The funny faces, the banter, the expressive hums.

I binged 45 x 45min episodes over a 3 day weekend, and currently suffering through withdrawal symptoms until new episodes are released.

I deducted one star for the botched flash-backs in the first episode. Took me a while to work out who's who and what was going on, glad I stuck with it.

PS. If you are watching this show with non-Chinese subtitles you are massively missing out. The Chinese dialogue is written with the skill of a bard. The language is sophisticated, succinct, elegant and poetic - as beautiful as the visuals. In comparison, the English subtitles were dull and prosaic, an abominable shadow of the original dialogue, using the vocabulary of a primary school student. It's as if the varying shades of blue - cerulean, sapphire, teal, indigo were translated into "blue, blue, blue, blue". I was truly disappointed by the English subtitles and eventually switched to a different app so I could watch it with Chinese subtitles.

Growing up in China, I have watched so many dramas and this is definitely the best one I have ever watched! I lover the plots and narratives so much as well as the characters. I am so glad this drama is available on Netflix and had been translated into so many different languages that people around the world can watch it. Ni Ni is my favorite actress and she is so amazing in The Rise of Phoenixes. Her performance was very impressive.

Sooooo amazing, I mean I feel so satisfied when I see the drama, The Rise of Phoenixes. It has changed my opinions on Chinese drama.

I love everything about this drama. I am always watching Chinese dramas and I think this one is just well made. Even though Nirvana in Fire (I and II) still are my forever favorites, it is impossible not to fall in love with every aspect of the Rise of the Phoenixes. Acting is great, bromances are awesome, sarcasm is perfect, double meaning in every sentence is spectacular. The romance I think is very little, but is the same way it was in Nirvana in Fire I. Well done, main lead actor is very handsome 😍

I was very impressed. Netflix produce amazing shows from different countries. A show you have to see! Good actors, well written story and the director did a beautiful job as well!

The Rise of Phoenixes kept me hooked from start to finish, and for me this is a serious act of binge watching, but... I tend to disagree with fans on the internet comparing this show to Nirvana in Fire, or even Game of Thrones. This show wasn't up to par compared to those two. I think what mesmerized me were the stunningly filmed scenes and actors. I just love to look at beautiful faces and places. The leading couple took my breath away sometimes. Although Ni Ni was forced to play a Mary Sue, completely different from her character in the original novel, I easily forgot all this by just looking at her. The same can be said about Chen Kun. He sometimes fell into the trap of emotional, hammy playing, with eyeball rolling and all, but compensated this with good scenes that made him a true anti-hero. I loved their flirting scenes and their love scene beneath a water surface. Also the supporting cast did a good job, especially the old emperor.

So why do I feel unsatisfied after 70 episodes? I think it was the script. With historical drama there's usually the choice between (a) the "man meets woman/they fall in love/they have difficulties/their love survives or not"- storyline or (b) the "man meets woman/they support each other/one of them choose to break up for the common good"- storyline. I guess this production didn't make this choice. It started as a love story, and abruptly hopped off to version (b). I wonder why, we didn't see the suffering of the common people at all, they were absent during all scenes.

There was also an inconsistency in characters. Normally there are outright heroes, villains, and anti-heroes in a show. Ning Yi is the anti-hero type, who should have become more defined as the story fleshed out. It didn't happen. In the original novel his life experiences made him another man. In the end he dares to choose for his personal happines. In this production however, although he's portrayed as a highly intelligent man, Ning Yi only wants to win the throne above all other things, turning him into a Macbeth type. This makes his character difficult to portray. How can this prince be a romantic anti-hero, a highly treacherous schemer, and an intelligent person at the same time? The same goes for Feng Wei. She's the protagonist/heroine of the story. She's young, intelligent and she becomes an imperial adviser, she doesn't know her origins and is highly naive, although she can be plucky and daring at the same time. The moment she knew about the fate of several people who gave their life for the sake of her heritage and dynasty, she should have thought about her purpose, her goal in life. It would have been a call to action for her type of character. This happened in the novel. In this production however, after a few revengeful thoughts, she became like many heroines in other c-drama: a brokenhearted, passive love interest.

This production could have been a complicated love story. In stead it became the story of many people whose lives became intertwined. They just happened to meet at the same place, at the same time under difficult circumstances, namely the struggle for power at the imperial palace. All actors did their very best, this makes it worth your time. There are many questions left about certain events, and characters, so it feels that even 70 episodes is not enough. Perhaps a remake will meet the challenge.

Rather than a romantic story, it's more about humanity and the different kinds of people in the game of power

I have never seen such a Chinese TV drama like The Rise of Phoenixes. It is beyond my imagination so much. Hope Netflix bring us more Chinese dramas.

I'm very happy that I was able to watch this thanks to Netflix. Truly one of the best love stories I have ever seen - it took my breath away. It's been almost a week since I finished watching it and I can't stop thinking about it. The entire show is beautifully done, the writing, costumes, acting, the balance between the dramatic and the comedic elements - I liked it all. But the love story ... is something else. It grows, matures and intensifies as it develops along with the two lead characters. Excellent acting brings to the forefront an intensity of longing that is difficult to describe and deserves to be seen. In this day and age, where the 'sex sells' mantra infiltrates pretty much all pores of society, the power of this story is so much greater. Who knew that a brief touch, a few caresses and one stolen kiss could pull on the heartstrings so strongly?

Just amazing!!!! Beautiful costumes + excellent acting and twisted plot full of vengeance, love, rebellion, schemes..... It's by far one of the best china drama for 2018. Totally fell in love with the relationship between Ning Yi & Zhi Wei (two main characters). Ning Yi played by Kun Chen is now one of my favorite actor!

Chen Kun's face looks so gorgeous on the screen!! Especially his eyes, they are deeply rich in feelings and can tell stories.

This drama made me so gaga into Chen Kun. Never had I watched a Chinese historical drama like this. Simply beyond my expectations. The anger, love, sadness of Chen Kun and other actors feels so real that you won't feel that they are acting. Plenty of times I cried when 'Ning Yi' cried. It's so heart wrenching.

The soundtrack of this drama is so enticing. The beauty of this show is every actors using their original voices that you can really feel the reality of this show instead of those usual dramas where their voices were dubbed again. Introduced this drama to my colleagues and everyone rushed to watch this and now having withdrawal syndrome after finishing it.

Suggest not to skip any content of the show. Once skipped, you are unable to follow the storyline. Everything that was said and did are all connected. My friend skipped the evil plotting of the royal siblings and she ended up rewinding it coz she failed to understand.

Towards the last few episodes, 'Ning Yi' reminds me of Captain Jack Sparrow :)

The incredibly talented directors (and team) brought ancient China right into my living room and took me through a deep emotional journey over 70 captivating episodes.

70 episodes may sound like a lot but rest assured, every single episode is captivating, deeply emotional and every detail is important to the overall plot which is consistent over the entire series. To clarify - no episode is pointless or made to drag out the series.

Every detail from the beautiful stage settings and costumes, the thoughtful writing, the talented actors, the stunning cinematography are all to be appreciated and nothing short of amazing!

I can't talk this series up enough. I believe the director had a clear vision and he hit the nail on the head.

Be warned Westerners - In order for the director to keep his masterpiece authentic to ancient Chinese values, he can't always satisfy westerners wants from a film and has left me with a bit of heartache. You have officially been warned.

This Chines drama is worth watching. It does have a good cast for a classic period piece with a historical quest for power, loyalty, and some romance. I like tat that the cinematography is definitely not lacking and shows a unique style in costume. However if you not used seeing Chinese dramas this one maintains the deep cultural aspects that may leave some viewers perplexed at times Aside from that, the episodes are decent but some are long and dragging giving a me a get-to-the-point feeling. No big action-pack here but a good series that brings viewers into the emotional and personal lives of the characters. So snuggle up and enjoy 70 episodes.

Definitely one of the most disappointing asian drama I have watched. I waited and waited for it to pick up but it kept dragging and instead, it became ridiculous. The story went all over the place and every single character turns out to be the worst version of themselves. I didn't like how they turned into cry babies. It felt like I was watching a mexican telenovela where there's a crying scene for every two minutes. Too much victim mentality and wallowing in self pity. The two lead actors did have chemistry but the writers build tension with so much teasing and bantering that when they finally got together, it felt really underwhelming. Now, one of the few good things of this show is the actor playing emperor. He was outstanding! His facial expressions, his hand gestures, his voice - all of it was on point. Everything is what I imagined an emperor would be like. That is some top notch acting right there! Ning Qi is also good. He was a really effective villain. Ning Yi had his moments but some scenes seemed a bit over done. Feng Zhiwei could be played by any other actress and I couldn't care less. Nothing remarkable about the actor. The set is well-produced. Cinematography is good. Poor writing ruined it. It was quite obvious that the writers were in a hurry towards the end. They kept dragging the story only to rush it towards the last 10 episodes. I usually like sad films and shows (Ruyi and Mr. Sunshine) but this one is such a letdown.

This is awesome.. can't do anything more but to watch and get hooked.. i love ning yi and shi wei hope they meet soon in heaven... its a different story then.. i'll miss all the characters. Great movie series..

I have enjoyed the pure and romantic exchanges between the main actors Chen Kun and Ni Ni. The acting of All is SUPERB. The costumes, imagery, and storylines are great! I hope to see more shows like this air on Netflix in America. I am a new fan of the actors who portray Xiyan and Gu Nanyi, as well. Thank you casting for the handsome actors and a strong, powerful drama!