A Female Student Arrives at the Imperial College (2021)

GREAT DRAMA with quality plot, romance, friendship themes and OST!!!

Hilarious and amazing main/side characters! The plot starts light-hearted, seemingly just about the students' school lives, but a deeper and more mysterious plot emerges, whilst keeping the comedic aspect the whole way through still. Although the students are young, because each of them is connected to families of power, different trouble arises and not everyone is as innocent as they seem. The friendship theme of the drama is really heartwarming to watch, as you see how the female protagonist influences the male students at school and becomes friends, and how she forms friendships with her elder brothers' friends too. I also love how the female protagonist can stand up for herself, and how straightforward both protagonists are about their romance as well and not beating around the bush.

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Thin Storyline

I came here to watch Lusi.

The FL and ML's chemistry was good. Good enough for me to want to watch until they made it into a couple. Then I couldn't get myself to carry on to continue watching the subsequent episodes.

Lusi did her best of being her usual a lively character, which I love. But the storylines are not interesting enough. I have zero interest on the side characters stories. SPOILER: the guy who used to have a crush on FL changed his course and fell for FL's maid, who treated him so rudely in the beginning. She was over the top rude!

The story of ML and FL is a bit unsettling. A student and teacher in a romantic relationship? My heart couldn't take it, I was always on my toes that they wouldn't get caught by the others in the academy. I understand both are in the marrying age, but it just feels so wrong for a teacher to "abuse" his position that way. He just seemed to be a horny guy whenever he saw her!

I have to say the SML is the coolest character here.

I wouldn't recommend this drama. I'm now looking forward to watch Lusi's next drama with Yang Yang!

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Has Nothing to Do with College

"A Female Student Arrives at College" is ridiculous. She actually arrives in and arrives out. We expect her (as the first female student) to shine among the male students... but ...no.. The drama has nothing to do with a college. The FL, Zhao Lu Si, runs around like a chicken with the head cut off “busy” with whatever nonsense pops up in her mind. It's not that she lacks acting skills but script writers keep her in the same funny, humorous, comic pattern from one drama to another. The dramas she is in are almost identical. In this drama her kinda comical image doesn’t fit into a role of a college student. Her behavior is more like of an uneducated, ignorant, scandalous girl who sells radishes at the market. So this costume drama doesn’t coincides with her acting like a modern girl from a modern society, this image that doesn’t belong to this drama; so to say, the drama and her run separate ways. Not mentioning lack of connection and charisma between her and ML

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slightly disappointing? [EDIT: COMPLETED]

don't get me wrong from the title of this review. but let's break it down...

legends: YYZ [male lead, yan yun zhi] SQ [female, sang qi] ZWY [2nd male lead, zhuo wen yuan]

the story:
short detailed summary: SQ is the first female student of the imperial college with a goal to graduate and get good grades there to fulfil the dying wish of her late brother and to also prove to the whole nation that females deserve a chance to study at an institution. in the midst of studying there, she fell in love with the polymath of the imperial college that she is in and that is YYZ. Alongside the romance line and the school story, YYZ and his side character friends are investigating a bad organization and their wrongdoings.
Moving on, let's start with the romance line,
this is a small spoiler but YYZ is the best friend of SQ's late brother and that was also a catalyst of their relationship. The romance between them is lighthearted, funny and hand in hand, they investigate the death of SQ's brother. Up to ep24, their relationship did not go through that big of a rollercoaster [by rollercoaster, I mean like separating for more than 2 eps]. Some of yall might not like it but I think it's okay? Though for ancient dramas, I do prefer those harem chaos and betrayal shit. But as everyone knows, Zhao Lu Si [SQ actress] rarely acts for those chaotic dramas. I don't think it's much big of a spoiler but there is some love triangle shit.. YYZ and SQ are together, but ZWY [childhood friend with SQ] is madly obsessed with SQ.
What I don't like much about the love line is the lack of creativeness, like I don't get the sweet romance/first love kind of feeling that usually gets me slamming my table because it is so sweet in between them. And what I mean by creativeness is that the feelings or the plot between the lovers are like not fresh? Like the reason they fight or have a quarrel, is that usual common reason, not sure if you can guess what is the reason cuz I'm tryna spoil bare minimum.
Moving on to the 'Investigation' part of the drama, ehhhh i think it's very boring. Not thrilling, not exciting. Some reactions that I get from good 'Investigation' plots are when it leaves me hanging and anxious about what the bad guys are gonna do next. But for this drama, they basically sit under a roof, drink tea and discuss shit like "Don't hurt XXXX" and their moves are predictable? Like some of the good shit are from Princess Silver, or like Legend of Fuyao [10/10 recommend this two if you love really MESSED UP stuff and really really good plot twists], Oh and actually Legend of Yun Xi is not bad too [9/10 recommend for a messed up story]

I would recommend drama if you like dramas with good visuals or a drama for relaxation. I would pick this drama if I have just gone through dramas and dramas of a really torturous (虐) storyline. I will update when the last episode airs!

EDIT: COMPLETED 30/30
well well well. it hasn't been a hot minute and I'm here.
For those who don't really want to read this whole part. Watch 25-30. It's where all the mess starts and ends!

Ah, the ending. Very complete I would say! I must admit the middle part of the drama isn't very well done but the ending is really good IMO. Within 3 episodes [28,29,30] Lots of emotions, LOTS OF PLOT TWISTS that got me screaming [for real] and the last episode was beautiful. Truly beautiful. This show ended with all questions answered and all dreams came true! Worthy to watch for the ending!! Now I'm renewing my stars from an 8.0 to a 9.0 :) The only flaw being the middle plot not being well done and some parts being boring. Everything else is good!

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Great romance with a strong plot

I absolutely adored the drama, it had everything that I love! Rosy Zhao was amazing and the two male leads were fantastic. Thanks to Rosy, they really shone on screen. The drama was perfectly balanced with just the right amount of drama, romance and comedy. The costumes and makeup were impeccable, but the dance and song choreography needed significant improvement. It was not awe-inspiring to watch someone just turning around and around.

Ren Hao was my favorite character, his villainous yet madly in love portrayal was spot on. Not to mention he looks absolutely delicious on screen! However, I felt like we needed more information regarding his transition from a teenager to a man. I was left wanting to know more about how he became a villain, even if we got glimpses of his aunt.

Despite my appreciation for the music, I must say that the synchronization between Rosy Zhao's vocals and the music was extremely poor. Moreover, the dancing choreography was quite subpar, as it seemed like anyone could merely spin around with a flowing dress and raised arms. It is disappointing that the production did not put in more effort to improve these aspects of the performance.

Lusi Zhao is an all-round package. She shines and brings out the best in every partner, be it male or female. I caught a glimpse of her 2023 Lu Lu land concert, and she was stunning. However, I hope she pays all her taxes.

Even though I loved the drama and have re-watched it several times, I have to admit that the lip-syncing during the school singing performance was terrible. I wished the directors did better on this. But overall, the script, direction, and acting were all top-notch. Kudos to the entire team!

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Watch if you like The Romance of Tiger & Rose/ ZLS's usual acting

I might be biased towards because I personally enjoy ZLS's character as the funny, outgoing and fun loving FL. She did it yet again after the success of The Romance of Tiger and Rose. Although many people mentioned of the lack of chemistry between ML and FL - i felt that this show have a good contrast between both leads as the ML is one with less words and strict as compared to FL.

The show started off very well as we get to see a lot of banter and cute scenes in the school from both leads and other character. The show then progress to more political scenes where they show the evil side of 2nd ML. This is also one of the shows has a lot of 2nd ML scenes - which i don't think is entirely a bad thing.

FINAL VERDICT: a very predictable show, which you will know what is gonna happen next, a good show with mix of romance and politics. overall a show you can easily watch finish in 1/2 days, no frills!

BONUS: OST is great too!!

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Cute but Kind of Drags

This drama was very cute. But the unfortunate part is that the second half of it where the plot turns to solving this huge conspiracy really drags on.

Pros:
- Acting was great and the cast is adorable. There is lots of funny moments and I think everyone played their roles well.
- A good amount of humour sprinkled throughout
- The main couple had decent chemistry (their scenes were cute and funny to watch)
- I loved the original plot of having a female centric drama -> where the female lead challenges societal norms at the time
- I liked the sets, costumes etc.
- The first half of the drama does have rewatch value for me.

Cons:
- The second half of the drama I felt moved away from the romance and I would have liked to see their romance play out more as their story developed.
- The second half of the plot also dragged and the story lost some interest.

But I would still recommend this drama, at least the first half of it because it is an adorable love story and I really liked watching the MFL and ML fall for each other.

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If you're tired of heart wrenching dramas, this one is a great follow up!

If you're after something light hearted, this show is pretty good. I enjoyed the comedy and the easy going plot. I found myself laughing at a lot of the earlier episodes. Some may argue that the acting isn't great, and there were some moments that could have been filmed better, but I enjoyed the chemistry the actors had. I think Zhao Lusi has that charisma even off-screen that you can see which makes the relationships on-screen bearable to watch. The overall storyline was better than I expected, it dragged on a bit towards the end with the whole chase around to catch ZWY and the ending was a little anticlimactic.

What I wasn't a fan of was the hair and makeup in this show, her hair isn't half brown 'from being in the sunlight' that some may suggest. It's clear it's faded from the roots. the most they could have done was just spray it or something. Who would have the ability to die their hair back in the day? that part seemed a little unbelievable. Some parts of the editing were a bit cringey to watch as well.

I enjoyed the CP moments between the leads and I most enjoyed her relationship with Yan Yan who really turned out to be more of her best friend than ZWY was. I didn't mind the soundtracks either, was very fitting to the show and scenes.

Overall, don't expect much. I watched it after watching Forever and Ever & One and Only and wanted something easy to pass the time and it did the job. But I doubt I'd rewatch it again.

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Sad that the sweet nice one is actually the villain

The drama centres around Sang Qi, the only daughter of Marshall Sang as she becomes the first female student at the imperial college to fulfil her late brother's wish. Not knowing the tradition in the capital, she enters into a pact with the spoiled Song JiaYin, daughter of Minister Song to get Yan YunZhi to accept her pouch. Failing this, she would have to perform at the Lunar Festival. According to the tradition of the capital, this is a gesture of demonstrating and accepting love between a man and woman.

As it turns out, Yan YunZhi is the Head of the Imperial College. Her childhood best friend Zhou WenYuan is a top student at the college and helps her through various crisis. It is hilarious as she tries various tactics to get YunZhi to accept her pouch. But things turn sinister when she is poisoned and becomes embroiled in the investigation of the smuggling of prohibited items into the capital involving high standing people in the court.

Although the story seems rather straightforward at hindsight, it is not quite so obvious at the beginning. The initial ten episodes is quite humorous and light-hearted but the drama becomes dark and more intense. It is quite clear early in the drama who the villains are, but it is quite unclear what the next turn would be.

Acting is excellent. Xu KaiCheng (YunZhi) is tall and handsome and Zhao LuSi (Sang Qi) is very pretty especially when she lets her hair down and don on feminine clothes, and they have excellent on-screen chemistry. Ren Hao (WenYuan) as the second lead is really good as well - you can see the different changes of expression on his face - from the loving childhood friend to a jealous monster. I am sure he will elevate into main leads in future dramas. And among them, you see a fashion parade of lovely period costumes.

The ending is well-crafted with a mix of happy and sad endings. You would be happy for the couples whose lives have ended well. Some of the villains are shown to have a human side, which makes it difficult to hate them - at least it gives you some confidence in humankind. In fact, you would even feel sorry for them. It is heart-rending as one of the villain kills themself in desperation. You witness how a young person with great promise travels down the wrong path and eventually ruin themself while some are ruined by greedy parents. Somehow you wish things could have turned out differently for them. The ending stirs up the emotions.

Although I won't rate this among the top league, but I say it is a very good production and well worth your time watching.

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Sit back relax, just watch.

Don't get hung up on all the arm chair judging. This is a drama to sit back and just watch. With some giggles, ooo's and aaah's and just mind fun.
Scenery, costumes, acting, and different episodes all have different levels of good and really good. I personally see this as a light drama compared to some of the more heavy weight ones.
To many heavy ones in a roll is not fun. So have lighter ones in between is good to have and allows us to see more ingenuity in production by all areas of the drama to keep it light but nice and beautiful.
I hope those who make dramas will remember to give us rom-coms regularly in the costume era regardless of those who would pick them apart from an arm chair. Especially making them not necessarily stupidity silly, but fun, funny, active, and bantering between in them dramas.

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The most annoying second leads ever ahah but this drama was pretty good to me

I found this drama funny and entertaining. I also like the love story between the leads and they had a good relationship. They fought for it and did not break up even with all the obstacles and annoying people. It also have a good happy ending.

The second leads were so annoying and crazy that I almost stop watching. Both of them were told many times that they don’t love them and that they would never be together, but they weren’t taking no for an answer and they tried to force the leads to marry them. That was aggravating and so annoying, they were the worst.
I only continue when I found out that the leads were staying strong against them and they weren’t breaking up.

At first I thought it was a cute romcom, but there was in facts many problems and obstacles.

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