Secret of Three Kingdoms (2018)

Three Kingdoms Era, Political Romance

SECRET OF THE THREE KINGDOMS was a really wonderful series. There was so much to enjoy, least of all the maturity of the writing (story, dialogue, characters) that felt like a breath of fresh air. This is a strong drama that easily holds its own amongst the floods of historical dramas, very memorable and compelling. While it does start out interesting, the first few episodes can be a bit slow but act as staging for the rest of the series. Perservere and the drama grows into something more epic. There felt to be a little of everything here. Drama, Politics, Mystery, Romance and even a little Action at times.

Everything was simply amazing, from the story premise, to the beautiful costumes, to the excellent casting, to character chemistry, to the stirring music (in later episodes). The writing throughout always felt fresh and never confined by the usual C-Drama tropes. In fact, there were quite a few unusual aspects or at least less common to dramas such as hero POV being male rather than typical "female heroine get sucked into royal politics" trope, the sensitive male hero also (as seen in Liu Ping / Liu Xie) also isn't very common, especially in historical dramas were the typical "strong man" (as well as the warriors, strategists and politicians) reign supreme. Also, his character personality traits emphasize kindness, honesty, morality, mercy, gentleness, forgiveness, patience, tenderness etc...things not usually portayed as qualities in history dramas (and usually not by men). He is often cited negatively by other characters as having too much "womanly benevolence", but this quality indeed makes him strong throughout the series, an admirable aspect, as well as being trope defying. The power dynamics in the couple are also noteworthy as equals, balanced, with strength and weakness well matched.

Ma Tianyu (Ice Fantasy, Vigilantes in Masks) was brilliant as his (dual) role (Commoner Liu Ping / Emperor Liu Xie) and is really great in this series. He has a genuine boyish kindness and sensitivity that shines through, giving his truly noble character more authenticy and his onscreen chemistry with the fiercely intelligent Empress Fu Shou (played by Regina Wan / Wan Qian) was very believable, not to mention the epic bromance shared between he & and his onscreen foster brother, the ever cunning yet charming and charismatic Sima Yi / Zhong Da (played by Elvis Han).

Also, can I just say? The Empress Fu Shou (Regina Wan / Wan Qian) was one of the most powerful and convincing "Empress" characters I've seen to date, brilliant, fierce, cunning, regal, determined, loyal, ruthless when she needed to be, self-restrained but never subdued, an amazing display of badass feminine power and brilliance. Overall such a well-written and wonderfully acted character! And gorgeous to boot.

Also, the character of Sima Yi / Zhong Da (Elvis Han) must be mentioned because he was also another great character giving much to the show, especially in terms of charm, intelligence, sassiness and sarcasm. Always bold and headstrong, but fiercely loyal and entertaining. He was such a well-written and acted character as well. Loved the brother's dynamic. And he was so hilarious at times. Just a natural charmer to be sure!

The list of characters and their wonderful actors goes on and on, but among them
Commoner Liu Ping / Emoeror Liu Xie (Ma Tian Yu), Empress Fu Shou (Wan Qian), Sima Yi / Zhong Da (Elvis Han), Libationer Guo Jia (played by Sunny Wang), Imperial Consort Tang Ying (played by Dong Jie).

Others that are highly memorable are the characters of Lady Ren Hong Chang (Dong Xuan), Cao Pi (Tan Jian Ci), Yang Xiu (Wang Meng), General Cao Cao (Gardner Tse), Xun Yu (Wang Ren Jun), Cao Jie (Wang Yu Wen), Cao Zhi (Liu Yu Han), and Magistrate Man Chong (Tu Yan) and so many others. Really great casting!

In this series there are a lot of moving pieces, political scheming, strategies, hidden motivations, dynamics between characters. It's very engaging and mentally stimulating to follow along and try to read characters intentions. This series has a very strong story plot and cast. There is something to mention about this series, namely that it doesn't seek to emotionally manipulate it's viewers. For hardcore drama fans, that is an aspect that rarely we can escape from in Dramaland and might feel like a bit of change at first. Sometimes soapy melodramatic shows tend to elicit strong reactions initially but can feel manipulative at times. That's not always a bad thing but can feel tiring and under handed.

Therefore, I really loved how this show is not like that at all. It's telling a story and a very good one at that. It doesn't need to rely on half baked, kneejeek manipulative actions to keep viewers hooked. It does it's story telling well. Aside from that, the casting was really great with so many great actors well suited to their roles. I really loved so many of them. Even many of the "bad guys" were relatable and compelling. Everyone has their own motivations, desires, end game. It was great to watch this one!

Overall I definitely recommend viewers give this one a chance! Especially if you are a fan of slow burn Political, Historical, Three Kingdoms Era, C-Drama's. There's a little bit of everything in this one.

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This story had me going crazy but it was good. Have tissues handy because you will drop some tears. I loved the storyline because it was a little different than most. Ma Tian Yu played the Emperor and his task was very complicated but had a passion to be the Emperor. Excellent acting! Wan Qian who played the Empress, wow, she took charge! A lot of revenge and avenging had me breathing hard. A lot of blood spilled from the first episode to almost the last episode. The ending will leave you in awe! DO NOT skip any episodes or you will ruin it for yourself. I know it is long but just think of it as a vacation. lol.

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Interesting twist of actual history and good bromance but dragged should have been shorter

Started watching it three months ago and I was really interested and enjoyed it a lot at the beginning ,, it has very strong interesting start and a wonderful brotherhood or Bromance then it started to drag on for a long time so i stopped and watched other dramas then return to it dragged again stopped it then again ,, what kept me going back to it not dropping it is the plot and the actors ,, I was so invested to know what will happen or how it will happen and the characters were in depth all of them
were evolving and deceiving... Sima Yi is the most important brilliant character of them all
loved his complicated character and his love for his younger adopted brother the king
he literally put himself a lot in danger for his brother till the end
I knew that he was in real life the enemy of the real king and wasn't his brother at all but that what the writer imagined him to be ,, their communication with each other similar to actual brothers
The romantic stories were good and not forced also the female leads were amazing ,, every one of the cast did his job brilliantly
>>>>>>
what I didn't like about this drama is how long , slow and draggy it got and I kept skipping for the story to move a long
they dragged it to death LOL from episode 25 to 45 ,, about twenty episodes of slow and filler episodes
but I stick with it for three months and just finished it now
this is a good drama but needs patience and love for the actors

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Couldn't stop watching

History is often cruel. Stories have to end the way they did in real life, and that doesn't always equate to an enjoyable story. I was so disgusted so many times in this series, but I kept coming back. I couldn't help myself. In the end it was worth it. I kept trying to find out ahead of time what the deal was with this series, but everything was very vague. Now I can say it is worth it to watch right to the end because they tie up a lot of loose ends.

The acting was pretty good in this drama - and although not every couple has a happy ending, the romance was realistic too. Not overdone and fake and the chemistry was really believable.

It's a long, drawn-out story - and I got confused with some of the characters at times and keeping up with who was doing what - but I concentrated on the main characters and their story arcs a lot more than the history and the politics. Will I rewatch? Probably not - but I did bookmark the episodes that had the sweetest moments and the little twists that I liked, and will probably go back and watch.

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Suffers from the Chinese Drama Syndrome

I have now watched around a dozen Chinese Drama Series and only managed to finish 3 of them while dropping the others mostly midway through. The Chinese have a remarkable propensity to pull off a "Game of Thrones" in nearly every one of their Dramas. Only 1 of the Dramas I watched managed not to completely ruin everything towards the end.

This is not the one!

To be fair, it started incredibly strong with an engaging Story, interesting Characters, good Actors and an overall good "feel". The first 20 Episodes just flew by and would be easily worth 9/10 Stars. The next 20 Episodes were a little bit draggy and it could not keep up the momentum but it would still have been worth 8/10 to me. Its the last 10+ Episodes that really jump the Shark in ways that I cannot accept, ignore or forgive. I would consider 3/10 as a very generous rating for those.

But lets get through the Categories shall we? starting with the least important (to me).

MUSIC: the Intro is brilliant and fits the Series very well. It has a memorable Tune and gives the whole series a unique Character. However, it is completely countered by the Outro, which is an abomination I could not wait to skip. I dont know what they thought when they introduced that song into the outro but its just ear cancer to me. Also, there were some background music during scenes that was so annoying that often times I though that my Sink was defect and water was dropping from it. The 5 Stars are all for the Intro while the rest is either unnoticable or straight up bad.

ACTING: some great some pathetic! The Actor that plays Sima Yi is the clear Winner here. He does a great job overall and is only let down by the Story towards the end. On the other Hand, some Actors were so over the top "dramatic" that it bordered on comical and the actor playing the Emperor was just annoying towards the end.

STORY: This is based on the Historic Events of the Three Kingdoms Period. Arguably one of, if not the most Interesting Period in Chinese History. So the Story is based on very solid Foundation. Lets not forget though, based on History does not mean "historically accurate" and this series is clearly not historically accurate and takes a lot of creative freedoms, which sometimes works, sometimes doesnt.

The whole Twist with switching off the Emperor is interesting at first but becomes actually a weak point towards the end. The "holier than thou" attitude of the imposter should have better been left to Cartoons and simply looks misplaced in this Series. His actions are laughable and can only be accepted by those who are unknowing in Political Reality. I dont mind having a "cartoon character" in Cartoons but since this Series is clearly not a Cartoon, it just doesnt fit. There is a reason why History celebrates those who had little to no compassion and killed whole Countries. Thats the Reality of life. Jesus was compassionate, he ended up tortured and crucified, Gandhi was compassionate, he was shot, Luther King was compassionate, he was assassinated.....those are no accidents.

This gets even worse later in the Series by the Actor that plays the Emperor (they could have easily replaced him with a cuddly animal and nobody would notice the difference), who I would suggest should take the role of a piece of driftwood next time.

The "Romance" between him and the Empress is LAUGHABLE!!!!! Its really really cringe and catastrophically bad. We are supposed to believe that she is an Empress under constant threat, he is someone who replaces the Emperor and later even becomes a major Player but the two are so full of "Teenage Angst" that they cannot even touch each other.....riiiiiiiiiiiiiight! This is clearly targeted at said "angsty Teenagers" and does not make any sense in the series overall serious tone. The writers even go so far to insult us viewers by suggesting that their chastity was because their enemies would use it against them (they were in laws and that was supposedly a problem). They were living in the same Palace, in the same room, sleeping in the same bed. Do you really think once this came out people would care whether they really slept with each other or not? do you really think once it comes out that he replaced the Emperor this would be their main Problem? Its just insultingly bad.

On a positive Note, I liked nearly everything that was Sima Yi. Even his Romance. However, they even managed to ruin that by letting his Wife die in what must have been the most pathetic, forced, idiotic self sacrificies I have ever seen on film.

CONCLUSION: I am really thinking about watching Chinese Dramas only half or 2/3 max. The way they manage to ruin everything in the last couple of Episodes is nothing short of remarkable. This series is like a Gift wrapped Turd, as long as you only see the packaging, its great but the more you open it, the more it stinks.

Such a shame, there was great potential!

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ACTING IS BEAUTIFUL! Passion between leads! The plot

I loveeeeee this drama! I have come back to write this review after watching it almost a year ago. It’s stuck in my mind and for someone like me who loves historical pieces the cinematography, the historical accuracy it was just amazing! Now I love Elvis Han! Like love him and idek he was in this so it made it a plus. The ML and FL wow the chemistry was like no other! When I think of some of my favorite historical CDramas this is up there with NIF 1 & 2 cause it was so good y’all. I even fell in love/attached with some of the “villains”. This is my first time ever righting a review and I just want to say this show is top tier! I think I may rewatch.....

Don’t get me started on the brotherhood! This show takes you for a loop for sure but I definitely believe it is all worth it. Without the heart attacks and you screaming at the screen is the drama really worth it lol.

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Dropped the show at episode 29, bored.

The start of the show was a bit slow phased but interesting to say the least. I've read some of the reviews of the show that this is somewhat based on true events. So, basically I'm interested.

Somewhere nearing the mid part, it became so boring with too many filler episodes. So finally I've decided to drop the show at episode 29.

I think the casts were beautifully chosen. I like the chemistry between the ML and the FL. They both looks good. Actually, even secondary characters are good looking. Both major and minor roles are done pretty well, kudos to the actors.

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Better than Expected

This drama was better than expected after reading others review and finding out it was based on a real event I knew the outcome of the story and was worried about how it would be portrayed and if the ending would satisfy me.

The drama really shows a really great story between brotherhood, friendship and family. The political part wasn't too boring and gets more intriguing as the story carries on. The struggle on one's ideals and how far one should and could for their ambitions was portrayed really well in this drama.

With the character that Ray Ma portrays usually, I'm not a fan of the overly hopeful and naive character that I was expecting Ray Ma to play but the character was smart and never backed down from his belief. In some ways, I did find it annoying at the beginning and wished he follows the advice 'Sima Yi' the character Elvis Han portrayed but in the end I wasn't left unsatisfied with how he accomplished things and was quite happy with the ending.

The acting was really amazing by all the actors even the 'villain'. I have nothing bad to say about the acting. The characters all played their part even if some of the characters were annoying it was suited to the drama.

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To be honest, the only reason I want to watch this drama is only because of Ma Tian Yu and Elvis Han. They're such an eye candy and really pleasing to watch lol. The only reason why I stayed until episode 28 is because of Sima Yi aka Zhong Da(Elvis Han's character). And the only reason I dropped this drama after 28 episode is because of Liu Ping aka Emperor(Ma Tian Yu's character).

The story is interesting but sadly the hero ruined it for me. Even after watching that many episodes, I still held some hope that the emperor will become more ruthless and just don't trust other people blindly but after reaching episode 28, I just lose all hope. I get that this drama wants to portray an emperor that is kind and benevolent. But Liu Ping is just plain dumb. He's so reckless and always puts people around him at risk. Sima Yi always end up cleaning his mess because Liu Ping isn't clever at all.

I actually loved the empress in the beginning, she's ruthless and very driven towards her goal. But after some times, she just let the emperor do anything he wants.

As for Sima Yi, I think he deserve to be the actual hero in this drama. I'm astonished by his cleverness. He always planned everything ahead. He's the only reason why the emperor and the empress still managed to fooled the others. If only this drama is about Sima Yi, I would've 100% love it to death. Elvis Han really nailed his mischievous smirk, I swooned too much while watching him.

Although I dropped this drama at episode 28, I skimmed through until episode 40 and I watched the last episode too. The ending baffled me and I'm quiet glad that I dropped this early. Although I love Sima Yi very much, I can't stand to watch another episode of the emperor being stupid and reckless again.

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I was excited to watch this series as it has great reviews and high score feedback. However I had a hard time finishing it. I pushed myself to finish it but I really couldn't do it. The show has a great plot which is obviously inspired from The Man Behind The Iron Mask. However this series lacks the execution of the intrigue and drama. The flow is too slow and the cast are all boringly portraying their characters. The empress looked too old for the emperor who only has two facial expressions. And the emperor looked looked like a twelve year old choir boy who had one facial expression the entire show. None of the women here are exciting. They are too bland. The only great thing in this series is Elvis Han. I guess he portrayed his character well.

I'm sorry but I was really bored watching this show. Not great at all. I wouldn't recommend it.

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