Xing han can lan

In my opinion, this historical costume drama has it all: comedy, fighting scenes, childhood trauma, slow burning romance, beautiful cinematography, great OST and amazing cast. Every single actor suits the character portrayed in the novel. The evolution of main couple is extremely well done, from cold selfish untrustfull youth, these damaged souls learn to trust and love each other. Their microexpressions, the slightest look will change according to the plot. It may seem like a slow start the first 5 eps, but is necessary to build the background of the characters, so you can understand why / how their teens years shaped their mind.

It is an unusual drama, since both ML and FL are flawed, but this is what makes it unforgettable. Special thanks to Director Fei who researched and prepared each detail of the drama ( see youtube), and special kudos for actress Zhao Lusi and actor Wu Lei, both in their early 20's, for a magnificent performance that made our 2022 summer ungorgettable !

From the superb acting, captivating storyline and over-all great production, I was in awe with this series! What I love the most about this show is the how the characters and story were presented. The main leads' love story is very refreshing for me because we got to see how each of them grew individually with their experiences and how their relationship evolved through time. It is also my first time to watch a show which involves a ruling monarch who doesn't have a bad blood between the Emperor, the Empress and the Consort. It has a total of 56 episodes but I wish it was longer (but they stayed true for the most part from the novel). If you're looking to watch a show with political, romance, family, friendship, and comedy genres, then give this show a go.

Solid production about feisty Cheng Shaoshang (Zhao Lusi) who was left to the care of an unloving grandmother by her warrior parents for 10 years while they had been serving the country. She encounters young general Ling Buyi (Leo Wu) who had witnessed his clan being eradicated 15 years ago. The dream husband of every girl in the capital city, Ling Buyi sets his sights on uncouth and uneducated Shaoshang. Their love would be challenged by his thirst for revenge and her childhood scar of feeling abandoned by her parents.

The story is compelling and the acting, especially of Zhao Lusi, is remarkable. However, the pace in the last few episodes got so draggy I dozed off several times.

Another thing that dampened my initial enthusiasm for this drama was the female lead's irrational tendency to hold on to grudges. She had a hard time forgiving her parents for leaving her with her grandmother even after it was explained why they did so. She also had a hard time forgiving Ling Buyi for abandoning her even when he did it to protect her. I found it hard to fully warm up to such a spiteful female lead. This drama could have wrapped up sooner had she just learned to forgive but the writers seemed to have used that nasty trait of hers to keep dragging the drama out.

One more thing that took points off this drama was Lin Buyi's obsession for revenge. I'm so done with this trope. It was shocking how many people he had to kill just to finally get to his main target. By doing so, he just doomed his future. If any of those people he killed had relatives as obsessive as he was, he and Shaoshang wouldn't be as peaceful and happy in the future as the ending suggested.

I compare all Chinese historical dramas to the Rise of Phoenixes, which I consider one of the best dramas ever done. This one actually competes well with Phoenixes!

The story, characters and casting are all great, and I shouldn't leave out the cinematography.

Zhao Lusi is spectacular as Shao Shang, the very outspoken heroine who holds her own in a male-centered universe. And Wu Lei as her main love interest is sometimes terrifyingly focused on revenge and killing. They do a believable job of convincing the viewers that their love is possible and real, but tragic in so many ways.

Other actors are well cast, too, and provide great performances.

All in all, a really good drama and well worth watching. I will say that the very last episodes dragged on a bit, but I was so involved in the story by then that I watched all.

I liked the show pretty well. It was very well done in bringing ancient people to life. It's very interesting to think of people who passed so long ago. Nothing else have I seen made people come alive so much. Community, friends, family, customs, traditions. It's like I moved there myself and was learning with the locals. The acting was good, the plot was good. Just when I thought it was going to get boring it wasn't but became a mystery adventure. The male lead was very dignified and intriguing.

I overall liked the show a lot,

But, I want to mention my petty criticisms.

1. Side characters and sometimes main characters bickered and argued too much, and non stop. Too boring and stressful.

2. They didn't develop how they fell in love well enough. They should have developed the arc of their love better to make them falling in love more believable.

3. He saves the day, just in time, too many times. It makes the story unbelievable.

4. So much fighting but never dies or gets seriously injured. Not realistic.

5. Main female character was too talented and too intelligent. Makes no sense if she's uneducated. It would be more believable if we saw her do hands on learning that's not scholarly. There's scenes where she's inspecting how something is made. But taking a glance at it for 5 seconds doesn't make you know how to do it.

6. The mother of the main female lead is a total B but then acts wronged because she feels her daughter doesn't appreciate or know her feelings. So annoying she keeps talking like a victim when she's a total B.

7. They kept saying she didn't know etiquette and she was rude and unruly. However, as I saw everyone else was extremely rude to her and she was just defending herself. If a big part of the plot is that she's uneducated and has no etiquette they should have done a better job showing that rather than her just defending herself to a very rude people.

8. The show mixed in the way that they portrayed women. They made it seem like the main female lead was a very strong and powerful and intelligent woman who was strong-willed and unruly. At the same time they showed many female side characters that were full of jealousy, gossip, and hatred who were always plotting and scheming out of jealousy and hate. It just seems like I'm not like other girls I'm better than them all and I'm not like these jealous bees. Seems kind of like it is written by a sexist person who hates women. Even if they were portraying women is strong and equal in relationships ended up modern sense, the constant parade of evil, jealous women makes me wonder if the author has issues. Coupled with the main character who isn't like the other girls!

9. The main character, female lead, always had similar facial expressions. It was annoying.

10. Drama tried too hard to be entertaining because towards the end of the show, every episode had some over the top dramatic assassination attempt or evil act by another relative or somebody.