Qing Shi Huang Fei

The princess is to be beheaded. For Pan Yu (FuYa), it's just a Tuesday. She's always under threat of death for one reason or another.

TGIC is a 2011 release consisting of 44 45-minute episodes. And it can be pretty rough, at times. The show never grabbed me and it gradually got worse and worse. By the time I was halfway through I had lost interest, almost entirely. I let the episodes continue to play to keep up with the plotline, but I couldn't bring myself to watch attentively. I opted to let it drone on in the background while I was doing other things. The more I kept up with the plot, the more I started to hate the show. For reference point, I love the following titles:

Overlord 8.4, Under the Power 8.6, The Rebel Princess 9.1, The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in ancient Chinese opera style), Ruyi's Royal love in the palace episodes 1 - 49. I abandoned the show at that point because I found out what was coming and I didn't feel like dealing with 30 episodes of steadily encroaching heartbreak. If one stops at episode 49 there's a happy ending and it's sort of perfect.

The Rise of Phoenixes 9, The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8; The Sleepless Princess 9.1.

Except for the last two entries, which contain fantasy elements, those titles aren't fantasy, and I like Chinese fantasy shows even /more/. I also liked Legend of the Two Sisters in Chaos-7.7, though the ending is bittersweet. While I wasn't able to finish it before it left Netflix, I started Foresighted Liu Bo Wen, which is dated and less sophisticated than what China is putting out now. I liked it. But I loathe this show.

Ruby Lin (The Victims' Game, Three Kingdoms) plays Ma Fu Ya / Pan Yu / Lady Yuan. She's the princess of Chu. Her uncle usurped the throne and murdered her father - in front of her eyes. Yan Yi Kuan (Burning Flames, Ensanguined Youth) Meng Qi You / Crown Prince of Shu. FuYa runs to Shu and becomes embroiled in the court there. Wallace Huo (Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace, Battle of Changsha, Suddenly Seventeen) is Liu Lian Cheng, prince of Han. He falls hard for FuYa when they meet while both on the run - I like him way more than the ML. The 3 Kingdoms are in heightened tensions, and FuYa is right in the thick of it.

Meanwhile, back at the palace, Jennifer Hung (Dear Mom,The On1y One) plays Ma Xiang Yun who can't get a break. She's FuYa's cousin, her dad is the new emperor of Chu, she's pretty and talented, but no man will look at her with FuYa around. They must be able to sense how rotten she is - to the core. My favorite character happens to be FuYa's eunuch. He's fabulous. Miao Hao Jun (Are You the One, Douluo Continent-9.1, Stories of the Tourist Agency) plays Hua Zi Qiao. FuYa just calls him "grandpa". The director is Lin Feng of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Three Kingdoms, and Sai Shang Feng Yun Ji, so he's capable. Everyone has an off project every mow and then. The screenwriters are Shao Si Han (Singing All Along, Swords of Legends), and Shao Xiao Yi, who in addition to collaborating on those two works, also scripted Noble Aspirations.

The theme is that it's lonely (and thoroughly deadly) at the top. Don't get attached to many characters because not many will survive.

As I started watching TGIC I was wondering if the ratings were too harsh. It gets off to a strong start despite having an aged feel. Midshow, I started to get it. The show keeps circling the same drains with too much back and forth revisiting the same old retread. It isn't awful (maybe it is, north of episode30), it just never launches off of the ground and soars.

By the time the episode count reached around 30, I hit a roadblock. I didn't like FuYa's romantic choices. She was getting on my nerves a little bit. I found the ML unlikable. His nasally voice was getting on my nerves. The overwhelming number b!+che$ snapping at them was getting on my nerves ~ the show has an over-abundance of mean girls. I got into a cycle of trying to pay attention and then inadvertently starting to do other things. The other shows I was watching on the same days did hold my gaze - including some pretty brainless romances. A brainless romance can still stir the heart. TGIC only stirs up an overload of bile. I recommend you skip it.

〰🖍 IMHO

📣5 📝4 🎭7 💓3 🦋4 🎨6 🎵/🔊6 🔚4 🤗0 ▪ 🌞4⚡4 😅1 😭7 😱3 😯4.5 🤢3 🤔4 💤5

Age 14+ Violence, mild references to rape and prostitution Language: d@mn, $h!+, he!! - but not very much.

Re-📺? With the benefit of the foreknowledge I now have, I wouldn't opt to watch it for the first time.

In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

💓 - C🇨🇳: A Little Thing Called First Love 8.5; Find Yourself 8.9; The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8; The Sleepless Princess 9.1; Wait, My Youth-8.4

Romance junkies only: Accidentally in Love-6.5 '18 B-level scripting, acting, and directing, but still fun/strangely relaxing to watch, Well-Intended Love-7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine but many object to an outrageous stunt the ML pulls, When I Fly Towards You-7.8, You are my destiny-6.8 cute and sweet and 1/2 padding, Meteor Garden-7.4 - 70% flowing 30% dragging and BOF is better, Hidden Love-7.8

🎎 - K🇰🇷: My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy; Mr. Queen 8.5; My Sassy Girl 8.5; The King's Affection 8.3; Mr. Sunshine 9

🔮🐉- C🇨🇳: Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9; Douluo Continent 9.4; Handsome Siblings 8.7; The Princes Royal Ancient Love Poetry 8.6; Love and Redemption 10

⚡/😱 - C🇨🇳: Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber 9-Kung-fu!;

I enjoyed it at the beginning, but then it started to take itself too seriously. Do writers really think we enjoy watching all these people cry? I got tired of all the female jealousy and infighting. As someone said, stupid people making stupid mistakes over and over again. Very few redeeming characters. So much supposed sadness and heartache. Superficial characters with infatuations, lust for power and jealous hearts. No real growth, no real character development. Characters who cannot see through obvious manipulations and have no self-awareness. Or, maybe that's the writing. They all seem so immature, and some just act like petulant children. Maybe pampered and protected people end up being this way, but we are not really given the opportunity to care about any of these characters.

I found this to be such a well-executed drama about love, concubines, emperors and princes that I had to view it two times. I think that in the West, many might not get the nuances that the Chinese actors convey or understand Chinese cultural aspects of the series, but I can guarantee that this series was be hugely popular all over China, Japan and Korea. People would cry all through it.

It lacked much sex, violence ,drugs and guns which seem to have such appeal in the West but was full of what many people in Asia yearn to see, such as a great love story (without explicit sex), deep emotional expression, people with integrity and learning, but also jealousy, pettiness and ruthless competition for social status. And people in Asia also have such a deep appreciation for their own history and tradition.

I have lived in Asia for 8 years and just LOVE dramas from this part of the world. One has to believe in China to be able to see it, and perhaps it is not possible for many in the West who can't understand such a different culture or are taught many false ideas about China.

Probably the worst drama ever. The plot made no sense whatsoever and dragged on to nonsensical heights. The dialogue was terrible, and honestly the scriptwriters ought to be out of a job for putting out this rubbish. I can't believe somebody put money into this and the show even got approved to be made in the first place.

What was more shocking was that I bothered to persevere until it ended, instead of discontinuing when I knew it was going to be a train wreck. I just kept hoping it would get better but it kept finding new ways to crash and burn. It got to the point where I carried on with the show just to see how ridiculous it could get.

This review is not about the acting but the writers.

What a disappointment this was. I can't believe I watched the whole thing, my mistake. Now I'm reading every review I can before I watch anything else.

I found myself hoping against hope as I watched each episode that it would get better but instead, it got worse. I kid you not.

There is not one part of the series that I would want to watch again. Nothing! I don't understand what the director/producers were thinking using such a lousy plot. I don't want to say anything more in case you want to watch it.

The whole series was about how bad people can be so conniving and sleazy liars but also portrayed the good ones as liars, manipulative, naive, and stupid. The people in power were back stabbers, weak and just downright disgusting yet feared and respected.

All in all, I wish I hadn't watch it.