The Legend of Mulan 花木兰传奇

Alright, Hua Mulan is that hero that Disney made a film about. Disney just changed the last name to Fa. However, when I first heard of this drama, I was interested. I wanted to watch it. I knew there would be romance involved since this is a television series. But seriously, knowing that it's a drama and they'll choose a pretty actress, but I expected her to be like a tomboy which would explain how she was able to fight on battlefields. So when I first started watching this, I didn't understand why they made the girl have so much make up on at the beginning of the drama. Thankfully, it was only in the beginning. 

       Also, in most movie or drama adaptions of this story, Mulan usually falls in love with the captain of their side. However, in this drama, they twist it so it's a love story between enemies at battle and lovers personally. This drama did have flaws, no doubt, and parts that could've been improved. However, overall, it wasn't too bad and was interesting to watch to see their feelings of having to fight with one another and how it'll harm the other if they won. 

Synopsis:

          Hua Mulan's village was well known for stitchery and embroidery. Hua Mulan was extremely good at sewing. However, even just sewing, she faced a lot of problems where it seemed like someone was personally trying to attack her. Their village was responsible for making the Intermarriage Image to prevent a war from breaking out. She was part of the project but it seemed that someone was trying to prevent them to get the job done. One woman working there died and Mulan was also targeted.
        She went through issues where her hands trembled and she couldn't sew. Thankfully, with the help of many, she learned a technique that helped heal her hands. Then at one point, she was targeted and it caused her to go blind. Thankfully, she overcame all that. During the time, she fell in love with a prince named Duo Lun who was part of the enemy's family. He was kind and loved Mulan and tried so hard to convince his father not to start a war. But his voice in this matter wasn't loud enough. So despite offering his father a bride and a peace offering, the war still started. 

        Since the Hua family didn't have a son, the father was expected to go. Mulan made the decision to go in his place. The night before the men were supposed to register themselves and arrive for attendance call, she poured her dad a couple of drinks and he went to sleep. Because of the drinks, he was bound to wake up later. So she took the time to prepare herself to go in his place. She tied her hair up and wore her dad's armor. When her father woke up to find his armor missing, he knew exactly what his daughter did without even reading her note that she left behind. He went out to go find her but the army had already set off. And her father seemed to just have this feeling that she won't be coming back as he knew how brutal war was.

        The prince came by a few times in search of her. He had wanted to marry her but since the war started, he wanted to take her someplace safe. Her father wouldn't reveal information because he was angry at how the war still started despite everything. He said things like how she might never come back and told him to leave over and over again.  Many of the villagers didn't know Mulan left. The only people who knew the truth was her father and some of the people she knew from the village who had also gone to fight. She was kind to people, helpful, just, and that allowed her to make quite a lot of friends. Her courage, bravery, and skill made her a brave fighter who was praised by the captain. Over time, her success even became known to the emperor. 

        However, during this process, the prince realized she was a soldier and that they were on opposite sides. They constantly met on battlefields, both not willing to hurt the other yet still having to complete their duty. They were both conflicted and the prince was constantly thinking of ways to not hurt her, how to help her, and he didn't care about the throne his father was offering to him to be next in line. He only cared about Mulan. During this time, the two suffered emotional turmoil and they were also conflicted on whether they fight for their country and family or for their love. During this entire time, many people on the enemy side were trying to get rid of Mulan and Mulan had also became very close to certain people on her side. Thankfully, the people she knew from her village helped her keep her secret and offered her help often.Whether the characters died or not, they were all heroes and brave people. It was nice to see how in the end, everything seemed to work out for Mulan. She was recognized as women in front of the army she led and in front of the emperor, the emperor excused her from punishment as she helped the country and offers her the status of being a general, and she ends up giving up her status as a general to go home. Going home meant returning back to the life she once knew and she could focus building on the relationship she has with that prince.