Only one word: Anxiety
I'm still not so used to writing reviews and this is my second one, I'm so sorry for the next mess.If you have seen some historical, in particular long ones like this, you already know that there are a lot of tense moments followed by a bit of calm, but here I found myself assisting with a state of perennial anxiety!
The poor protagonist never has a moment of peace and even when she does nothing, she is blamed for something (If you are like me that you will surely hate Qiao Liang Fang and Madame Xu)
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Reputable, Brave & Lovely Main Leads + Severe Polygamy delineation~!
This drama got me so whipped the entire time and put me in quite a few mood swings during its duration.A well planned, produced and written story that will surely touch you in every corner there is. I expected it to be Good but not THIS 'GOOD'. An example of a Solid drama that surpasses the Great tier and should be lined up along the BEST OF BEST!
I've got so much to say but lemme just summarize it to the best way I can cause this will be endless for sure IF i don't limit myself. Hahaha~
×× Things I LIKE and/or Love.
+ The characters are well-versed and truly showcases different views, situations and emotions that are relatable to probably anyone who would watch it.
+ Smart Story and Plot, It feels so surreal to be able to watch such production who's incorporated with proper planning and thinking after a long time. This drama provided it all beyond my expectation and truly nailed it.
+ Refreshing character development and world building. Something that is rarely seen these days due to 'recycling-whats-popular' trend nowadays. A breath of fresh air I must say.
+ The EVER reliable Main Leads who're always there to help nonetheless of the situation and is always ready to take charge and resolve things. Both of them are brave and responsible individials whose sense of responsibilty and understanding is beyond and above the normal/standard.
×× Things I Dislike and/or Hate.
+ Terrible presentation of Polygamy. I always hated the Idea of having more than 1 Wife and this show just infuriated me for doing so.
+ This is more like a compliment but I hate the villains here more than I do to other dramas antagonists I've ever watched.
Story - 10, Story & Plot wise it's top notch. No words needed. A story that is highly and worth recommending to almost everyone. This production won't disappoint one way or another.
Acting/Cast - 10, Oh God! Phenomenal set of Actors. ? All of them nailed it and it's really rare for a drama to do that. Their way of executing emotions and reaching out to their viewers is something to take note of. One of a kind.
Music - 10, I honestly didn't focused much on the music side cause I was so engrossed on how the story unfolds but simply base on the BGMs and insert music I've listened to, I can say that it's decent, Good even. No complaints at all
Rewatch Value - 9, For me, It is on the level of 'Nirvana in Fire'. A drama I wouldn't get tired watching of no matter how many times I watch it. It will always has that multiple spark that will glued your eyes on the screen gradually and consistently.
Overall - 10, This shouldn't even be a question at this point. This drama deserves more than what it has achieved. The way it's produced and presented to viewers felt so refreshing and relatively new. I can assure anyone that this drama will never disappoint.
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
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Mature leads that shares the same values and love that is built on trust
First of all, I really love Tan Song Yun in almost all her dramas. She is one of the c-actress that I think has an eye when choosing script and dramas. Her acting is very natural and she looks really good in both modern and historical dramas. And she did it again, this drama never disappoint me at all.I love how both ML and FL are very mature in handling their relationship and things around them. In fact, Shi Yi (FL) is considered young in the show and she is married into the ML family with a bunch of concubines and annoying mother-in-law for the sake of protecting her nephew's place in the ML family. She herself came from a aristocratic household and is always seen as an option to her family. The drama shows how she survives in the family and wins the trust and love from the ML.
Back to the romance, it's not fireworks or love at first sight. It's pretty slow burn and although ML had a few other concubines but does not marry them by love. He respected his mother and his wishes but we do see him "rebel" abit when he fell in love with FL. It also does not have the "hero save beauty" kind of plot. In most times, both of them do not push pull with each other and have good and mature conversations with each other. I really love both their characters and I felt that the actor and actress did very well.
It's been a long while since I watched dramas like this and I highly recommend this if you haven't watch!
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If you want to take a break from action dramas this is for you!
The story lacked something. I did stay with it because of Wallace Chung who is one of my top Chinese Actors. I love dramas that have a lot of action in it which I felt this didn't have as much. I know how good Wallace Chung acts when it comes to martial arts such as the "General and I" which is my #1 Wallace Chung drama. Knowingly this is a historic drama for China, they have to be pretty careful in how the storyline goes. Wallace Chung who played Xu Ling Yi played his part really well, I can't deny that. Seven Tan who played Luo Shi Yi Niang, this my first watching this actress and I don't want to make a review on her just yet.The only thing that I credit this Cdrama was the fact that Luo Shi Yi Niang took herself out of the palace to help other women in the Embroidery business which made me happy therefore I rated this drama 8.5. I also did love the visuals as far as the location, costumes, and the embroidery was beautiful. Thanking the rest of the cast for their acting skills.
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Value to watch !
I decided to watch this drama because of Female lead (Seven Tan). However, I fall in live with many character in this drama.Plot : This drama is about family culture, planning , politic and love. This plot is very good and make people excited all episodes. The improvement of story is not boring and charming. The story reflected people as real about Love, selfish and etc. Moreover, the importance thing that I like is empower women and hardship of women in the past. Many scene shows about the ideal of strong women and empower us.
Character/ Actor : All actors are talents even the slaves in the story. All characters have a movement and lively. We can not forecast that which character is good or bad.
Overall: Personally, I like everything about these story. This is good and perfect for every angle.
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Best Character of FL
I'm falling in love with seven tan character.She want to prove that women can do everything she can as like a man do to. She's strong and independent girls, never jealous for someone cause she can do the best as she can for her life.First, I don't like a harem story or like ML has so many girls in his life. But from this drama I know that he can choose his life to marriage with someone he love. But when he marry lady Si he found that his falling in love for the first time with someone who trust to his life.
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Good drama
This is the first time that i write a comment here, i personally like this drama because the story is good, both main leads have great chemistry in their acting. I am looking forward to the remaining episodes, hope to see how the two main leads begin to fall in love with one another. Even though the first two episodes were slightly boring, however i was glad that the following episodes bring so much joy and excitement to the audience, it is so funny to see how the main ML wanted to come close to the FL and yet he is too prideful to express his affection, but he did not stop drawing close to her, he did many things to capture her attentions, that was quite cute and funny.Was this review helpful to you?
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Love the male lead , female lead and love the beautiful story and best drama of the year .
I didn’t like watching much from the beginning , it was boring and confusing in episode 1 and 2 and I was so disappointed to see the male lead has many wives already, but started from episode 3 i found it so interesting and can’t wait to watch all the upcoming episodes to the end .Seven Tan is that kind of actress that is rare to find . She acts naturally so well, that you can get involve into the story and characters without even noticed .
I would like to say that I didn’t expect Wallace Chung has the same ability as her , you can see through his professional acting was true.
Wallace is so charming handsome talented actor.
So lucky to have both of them in the same favorite drama.
Love the music, the opening song and the meaning also .
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Good Storyline Drama by Wallace Chung & Seven Tan
I hardly watched Mandarin speaking drama but except this The Sword and Brocade. It is highly recommended. The storyline is good. I watched and rewatched before bedtime, kind of addicted ! I have not heard of Wallace Chung, a HK actor. This is the 1st drama I watched that played by Wallace as lead role. I really feel like falling in love for his character. Wallace as Xu Lingyi is such a cool calm, powerful guy and of course every lady would love to have a husband like him. Seven Tan and Wallace Chung does have good chemistry and many romance moments along the entire drama. Wallace does have very good height and high nose feature. He does look extremely handsome in this drama.Was this review helpful to you?
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Great characters with mediocre story, my perfect rating would be between 8 and 8.5
Well, my suggested rating is 8.5 so I will go with that but if I could, I would like to give this drama something like an 8.2, which co-incidentally happens to its actual current rating. The beginning starts off absolutely amazing and while the middle and ends are not horrible, they finish off into something mediocre just due to plot pacing.Characters: Now, to start off with, the characters are great and basically the highlight of this drama. This is in part due to the superb acting on everyone's part. I believe this drama wanted to convey the struggles of various women at the hands of the patriarchal system and unintended negligence of males and they did it quite well. There was one of the Xu family concubines who my heart just completely broke for and the only scene which brought me to tears. Despite her actually being in the wrong, I hated everyone for doing this to her.
The female lead was amazing. Calm and competent female leads are my absolute favorite but they are sadly few and far between. While it may seem like Shiyi is letting people walk over her one, in her position there are certain things she cannot do and two, she focuses on what is really important. I also appreciate how it is not easy for her and we see how she has to work very hard to obtain success. While I dearly wish there were more of these types of female leads, I know part of the reason why Shiyi is so great is due to Seven Tan's amazing acting; she really brought this character to life. The male lead was also pretty good and I like how his character gets some development too. I appreciate the second male lead because his character had an interesting conflict and he knew when to back off.
The plot is what brings that drama down. I believe the drama wanted to express too many ideas, some of which contradicted each other and it showed. For example, it wanted to show how conservative and rigid this era was but also resolved certain conflicts by completely ignoring this. For example, ***SPOILER*** women should not be seen in public, especially concubines. But there is a soup kitchen arc where are all seen standing on stage in front of a large crowd. There are also scenes where Luo Furen is furious at Shiyi for not making it official with the Marquis then furious when she does. Certain plot points (like Zhun) popped in and out based on convenience. The multiple they-knew-all-along conflict resolution scenes got a bit stale towards the end. Finally, it was a little exhausting having conflict after conflict with no room to breathe.
The music was nice, it added a nice auditory aesthetic but all the fade-to-black transitions and somewhat choppy editing ruined some of the visual aesthetic. I think it would be an okay re-watch. Overall, the plot could use some consistency but the themes were well conveyed and the characters stayed very consistent with appropriate development which still make a good drama worth watching.
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Its just so Pretty
My overall impression of Sword and Brocade is its just so pretty...- The look and feel - everything is beautiful - I love Shiyi's room asthetics.
- Each costume is beautifully detailed (especially the lady characters) The embroadery is beautiful.
- Their love story is beautiful. Learning to trust and love was realistically portrayed and I really felt the beauty of their married relationship.
- All the prettiness certainly made up for the couple of glitches (eg having a mustache in the 2nd to last scene and then not in the last scene)
- The OST is simply beautiful and tells the story beautifully (you just cant go wrong with Charlie Zhou).
- Wallace Chung and Seven Tang protrayed Lingyi ans Shiyi beautifully and reamin 2 of my all time favourite actors
- Rewatch rating - 10 - to appreciate the finer details once you've watched the story
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The sorrow beneath the glorious image
This drama told the story of a young girl forced to marry into the family of a marquis and an outstanding general. Her eldest sister who was married to this marquis, died of mysterious circumstance leaving behind a son who was to be the heir to the marquis title. Her attempt to run away from the marriage failed and she was coerced to take the position as the legitimate wife in order to safeguard her nephew and his heritage. She had to handle the favouritism of her mother-in-law, backstabbing from a concubine vying for the position of the legitimate wife, betrayals and the traps lay by her husband's political opponents.The drama was interesting and would certainly keep you glued to the TV set, wondering what was going to happen next and the 'truth' behind the different mysteries uncovered.
The themes were quite typical of Chinese dramas: rivalry of concubines and wife, political struggles that harmed the family, forced arranged marriage, obsessive lover of unreciprocated love, love triangles and the like. Likely this was the cultural settings of the Chinese society during that era and the status of women at that time, who had no career except to become the first wife of a prominent husband.
At various points, the story was quite unrealistic and did not gell - quite typical of long dramas. The wife refused to have intimate relation with the husband and he still thought that they were mutually in love - how did this happen? Things just conveniently happened - the evil guy/gal were always at the right place to overhear the important information, witness a critical situation, and smoothly carry out their evil deeds, and the good guys were always at the receiving end.
Still, it makes good entertainment. It is very much in the same genre as the Legend of Ming Lan - if you like this drama, you would likely like this one. Although I won't rate it as a top league drama, it is still a very good production and acting is great.
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