Funny and awesome show
I kind of stumbled upon one of their OST in YouTube and my curiousity got the better of me. I have to say I really enjoyed the show, although some parts of the series when the Female Lead and her pretend to be extremely weak and sickly seriously got on my nerves big time. However, it is quite a great series to watch. There are alot of extremely funny moments and "omg" moments. The entire cast really did an awesome job for this series, the female and male lead are also very good together. There isn´t much big romance scenes, but the tiny little scenes and the TLC (Tender Loving Care) shown between the male and female lead are quite sweet. The OST is also very beautifully paired with the series.Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
It was okay.
Just okay.I know the author's works and while interesting, this author is a bit long winded. However I still like her novels. This novel, I picked it up and put it down more than once. It just took too long for the protagonists to acknowledge their love.
I thought that since I had no patience to read it, why not watch it. I'm glad I did. I got to finish the story. However I will say the political machination scenes were lacking of common sense and weren't too intricate. I don't think it was solved in any logical way either. One day people were plotting and it was 'serious', the next day everything was solved and everyone was happy. It was too easy, not much effort going into it. It's because all the intricate details like concubines children, palace maids doing dirty work, inter-family relationships within the upper-class etc that were in the novel can't be put onto the screen. The fight scenes were a bit of a joke too.
However the actors are all beautiful to look at. I enjoyed watching their faces and clothing and the customs this author details in her work. I always enjoy her characters and I'm happy to see the production stayed true to the story as much as possible. This was not my favorite book by the author, but the (romance) story is still nice to see. Overall, it was an okay rode for when you have nothing to do and nothing to watch.
My favorite character is Princess Jiamin. The actress is so beautiful too.
Nice job.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Lovely drama for some light romance & comedy
The basic story line is nothing new but with some refreshing touches like the FL pretending to be a weak beauty. This was a good way to inject some humour into this drama and she did it nicely. I also enjoyed the cute animal art work.I liked that this drama didn’t try to be too smart with a vague ending and instead had an ending that was happy and not rushed. At the same time, it wasn’t too unrealistic (ie have all couples work out) but instead showed one that parted and others in the beginning / middle of their romance.
The chemistry between the main couple worked well and the way the ML confessed his feelings to the FL was something new (and not involving fireworks) so I appreciated it even more. The love triangle was not overly dramatised and it was good to see the other love interest not go overboard to protect or win the favour of the FL.
What suffered in this drama was the villains - not properly fleshed out in terms of their motivation and ability to carry out their plans. When she came into the room with more glamorous dressing and make up, I was at a loss as I thought it was a new character. Then you find out all this could have been avoided if she had spoken up before her marriage… so take this into account and just enjoy the romance part of the drama.
The ending that saw them speaking to the audience reminds me of some old old dramas / movies that do this and it was a nice playful touch.
Was this review helpful to you?
The Crown Prince and his cat
I watched this mainly because I wanted to see Meng Ziyi in a main role and hadn't seen any of her dramas since The Untamed. I also hadn't watched Jeremy Tsui in anything else before other than trying out watching The Journey of Chong Zi not long before, but which I dropped, so this also handily gave me another chance to see what he was like.This is a light rom-com with lots of fluff and pretty low stakes - which surprised me a little considering the lead actors. Unfortunately, it really is light on the story and mostly fluff. I was pretty sold on the story based on the strength of the MDL synopsis blurb, but unfortunately it seems like the story sold by the blurb was better than the actual plot and execution. (It certainly wouldn't be the first time...)
This is basically a story about the Crown Prince (Ji Yuan Su, played by Jeremy Tsui) chasing a cat (Hua Liu Li, played by Meng Ziyi), and the two of them batting at each other until they get tired of playing and then settling down to cuddle and snooze together. The 'sickly beauty' schtick that HLL pulls from the moment we meet her until the literal end of the show was incredibly annoying and got old super fast - like immediately, mainly because of how absolutely overblown and false it was - and frankly part of the reason I even made an MDL account at all was in part motivated by how annoyed I was by this show that it drove me to wanting to write a review here. The plot was okay, but because there was so little building up or actually showing what events or actual political motivations looked like and meant, etc., nothing felt it had any stakes. For example, the Hua clan is supposed to be the most powerful military power in the kingdom - but you don't actually see what that looks like. They just say that. There's no display of the family's huge army or even their mansion or a scene where you see them fighting on the battlefield in the sand or whatever to back this up; or if there was, it wasn't impressive enough that I remember it and going 'Ah, yup'. The saddest and most interesting part of the plot was probably the character of Yun Han and his relationship with Miss Du/Du Xiu Ying.
I did like the secondary characters (this is becoming a running theme), especially the relationship between Jia Min and the First Prince. The First Prince was Hilarious. I still remember his little nose scrunch and smug facial expression in that one scene where he's talking about how good he is to Jia Min or something like that. Honestly the best comedic character with the best facial expressions I've seen in a long time. Princess Shun An, Jia Min's mother, was also hilarious and I loved her relationship with Jia Min. I also liked Pei Ji Huai, whom I also thought was very funny, and thought it was cute that Yuan Wei, who was really kind of underserved in my opinion, especially given that she was mainly used as a maid but actually had a decent military rank herself, liked him. As mentioned above, Yun Han was an interesting and sad character and I liked his relationship with Du Xiu Ying/Miss Du, but thought his choice at the end was daft. Honestly, I think the relationship the Crown Prince/Ji Yuan Su has with Yun Han and Pei Ji Huai had much more chemistry than he did with HLL. I did not care for the He Yuan Ting character and thought that whole business was daft, but A Wa was kind of funny, even though he was very silly and not very clever at all. Also, they totally did Uncle Song/Song Shu completely dirty. It felt to me like it was absolutely one of those things where they did it just to round the trope because of course that's how it goes, although I get that it was probably how he wanted to go out. I just really think he didn't have to.
I found Jeremy Tsui very weird to watch, there's something about his eyes, I think? - it looks like he's wearing those huge circle lenses or something, which I found extremely distracting, and I didn't really like looking at him very much because of that, and it took me out of the story quite a bit. Which is not a good thing when they're the male lead. Meng Ziyi didn't fare much better for me either in this, I really didn't like her costuming here at all, specifically the hair, besides the gripes I had with her character. This might just be a personal pet peeve thing but I really don't understand it when they have the huadian (decorative ornamentation in the middle of the forehead) when they also have a straight fringe which is kind of blocking it. But anyway. Also, I couldn't stop being aware of the 10-year age gap between them. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but the whole time I was watching I was thinking "Uh, he's like 37".
Music was fine, nothing really stood out to me, but I'm sure it was pleasant enough. Wouldn't rewatch this for the reasons outlined above, but on the other hand, the First Prince and also Princess Shun An were so funny they add to the rewatch value, so 7 points for that.
The best part of this show was hands-down, without a doubt, the closing short at the end of each episode that always began with the illustrated title card of the royal family members as their representative animals. That was my favourite thing about the show.
Was this review helpful to you?
Good drama which gave up.
I liked the basic story, the two leads were engaging supporting cast were good, especially zfLs maid who was quite spiky, but there were a few plot holes early on (FL pretending to be sickly to hide her strength....which just stopped being a thing for no apprent reason). The drama moved along at a hod pace up to about episode 20 and just as it looked like it was building for a big finale it just fisiled out like a damp squib, it felt as if the writers couldn't be bothered. Thats a pity because it was a solid 8 until then.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Worth it for 2 male characters
If you're into dramas that show men falling hard, then this one might pique your interest. However, it's important to note that there were more cons than pros overall.On the plus side, the male lead (ML) was a refreshing change from the usual boyish characters, with his sexy deep voice and good acting skills. Additionally, the plot had its moments of interest, particularly in the second half of the drama. Hun Han also deserves recognition for his standout performance.
Unfortunately, there were several drawbacks. The female lead (FL) was not as impressive as the male actors and lacked passion in her portrayal of the character's feelings towards the ML. The chemistry between the FL and ML was also lacking, which made it difficult to root for the couple. Furthermore, the show suffered from inconsistencies and redundant episodes, and the low budget was evident in the limited use of set backgrounds. The maid character was also extremely annoying, as is often the case in costume dramas. Lastly, the epilogue failed to leave a good impression.
Overall, despite some brief moments of entertainment, the drama had too many shortcomings. Despite this, the ML's performance alone made it somewhat worth watching .
Was this review helpful to you?
full of feel-good comedy and fluff
This is a drama full of feel-good comedy and fluff.I watched the drama because of the news of Jeremy Tsui' s retirement.. (He's the ML)
I've watched just one his other dramas " yong an dream ". Both " Yong an Dream " and " Royal Rumours " are in a same theme.
I didn't expect much from royal rumours, But it turned out to be one of my favorite costume comedys.
I really enjoyed it.
First time watching one of Meng zi yi (FL) dramas, Her acting was good.
The Fl's character is one of the reasons that many liked the drama.
The writers have done such a good job.
she was adorable, and so was her maid.
I did like her character the pretentious feeble beauty... LOL
The main couple has a good chemistry.
Their love is so cute >.<
The support roles and their love story were equally good.
I enjoyed Su Meng Yun as Tian JiaMin as well.
She should be appreciated for her role.
She can shine more in comedy dramas if the chance be given to her.
The easter eggs after each ep as "pretentious moments" were so fun to watch.
The paintings of the third prince were so cute (:
I highly recommend "Royal Rumours"
P. S: BTW seriously why royal rumours? they could have picked a better name... it reminds the viewers of political intrigue and rivalry between Fls in a harem... LoL.. This drama barely has these elements.
Most of the character are such a delight...
Was this review helpful to you?
A cute love story to make you giggle
This was such a refreshing breath of fresh air. I adored the two main leads. The fl is a very intelligent character who as a strange obsession with being the country's no. 1 weakly fragile beauty, even though she is actually really strong and good at fighting. I love that at no point in the story does she loose her intelligence. The ml on the other hand is an equally intelligent crown Prince who tries to appear as a non-caring playboy good for nothing prince, while he is actually really hardworking and cares for the people deeply. These two odd pair of dorks quickly find out about the others secret and fall in love. Then the story becomes even more adorable.I also really liked the side pairs. The first prince and the princess were such a cute pair. I also liked fl's maid/sister Yuan Wei with the ml's guard Pei Ji Huai. The constant bickering was actually enjoyable this time.
But my favorite side couple gotta be Yun Han and Du Xiu Ying (the imperial censor's granddaughter). I'm totally surprised by their chemistry. Not to mention the set up of the characters was so unique. A high ranking minister's granddaughter, who has no parents and is actually lonely yet tries her best to be kind, falls in love with a double agent who works as a courtesan and is an assassin. Such a good set up, I might even have liked them more than the main leads lol. The comedy aspect of the drama seems to not apply to this couple, it's passionate but also heartbreaking.
I liked the other characters too. The comedy really hits this time around. I found myself laughing at the jokes or giggling at the romance throught the entire thing. If you need a short dopamine rush kinda drama this is it for you.
Was this review helpful to you?
Super cute, easy watch!
I was lost after finishing The Story of Ming Lan and just wanted a light filler. Came across this and realised that Meng Zi Yi was the lead!!! (Fell in love with her after her Wen Qing portrayal)TLDR; This was such a fun watch, it's short, light and sweet. While not perfect, it's such an easy watch and all the actors were amazing.
The Pros:
- Short! 24 episodes made it really easy to watch, everything moved really quickly
- Characters and Actors - really loved everyone in it. I saw some comments about the other characters taking up too much time and not enough for the leads, I actually really loved everyone else too. Princess Jiamin, Yun Han, Pei Jihuai, Yuan Wei... The Emperor... Of course it was also a eye candy galore with most of them and they were so cute!
- No Angst - After watching so many dramas, I came to realise that I dislike the break up, get back together, break up or obstacles x9999 stuff. I loved this because there wasn't much angst, friendships, relationships wise. Even the tiny angst with Princess Jiamin was super cute.
- Meng Ziyi (LOL)
The Cons:
- Bing mei ren overkill - hahaha, I think the portrayal of her as a bing mei ren was way too long, I actually really enjoyed her intelligence and fighting! Especially the scene with Princess Jiamin. But I get it, it was super cute at the end when she said it was her dream to be the most famous bing mei ren... lolol.
- Plot drops - I think they had many many great characters but there were some like touch and gos with some stories, such as Yun Han and the Du... Can't recall her name. I don't think it's that big of a con because it's 24 episodes. Maybe lesser storylines might have helped but also really loved everyone.
All in all, a good watch! Light hearted, fun!
Was this review helpful to you?
Jeremy Tsui as the lead was not good enough to appreciate this show.
I thought it could measure up to "Autumn Ballad" where I first saw Jeremy Tsui and began adoring him, unfortunately, it failed to do so. I have watched a few dramas with the same slow storytelling pace and still, it pushed my interest to finish the show. With this one, each episode made me struggle with whether I should continue watching until the end.I believed it has a potential storyline. The screenwriter could have shortened those scenes in which the FL was acting up as a fragile and feeble woman. Those scenes in particular bored me a lot and made me decide to drop it.
I also did not feel the chemistry between Jeremy Tsui and the FL. Their early romantic interactions were especially dull and missed the heart-moving effect.
Was this review helpful to you?
There wasn’t too many roles and not a lot of outfits. There also weren’t many crew members which can be seen on the last episode, so you wouldn’t really expect a lot from this drama. The story picks up a bit around episode 7 and then it story starts to head down around episode 15.
There’s no need to watch this drama again, unless you just really like the main leads.
Was this review helpful to you?
