TW: toxic/abusive relationship
Episodes: 52
Synopsis:
This drama follows the beloved ninth princess of the Western Liang Kingdom, Qu Xiao Feng. She is an extremely happy, free-spirited girl growing up in the plains and without the rules and regulations many other noblewomen are faced with. She starts off with a crush on her mentor, Gu Jian, and attempts to rebel against the arranged political marriage she is to have with the Crown Prince of Li Dynasty. However, little did she know that this attempt to break free from this marriage, she would meet the "love of her life" and enter a tumultuous relationship with him.
The man she meets unexpectedly is the fifth prince of the Li Dynasty, Li Cheng Yin. With a personal agenda of seeking revenge on the clan that killed his brother and gaining political footage in the power struggle for the title of the crown prince, he seeks help from his cousin (who happens to be Gu Jian--Xiao Feng's mentor!). He disguises himself as an ordinary tea merchant called Gu Xiao Wu and begins to work on winning Xiao Feng's trust. Xiao Feng is naive and extremely genuine in her friendship with Li Cheng Yin and it moves him greatly. He feels extremely guilty about tricking her along the way to seek revenge against her grandfather and grandfather's clan but continues to follow through with his political aspirations. The two fall in love with one another, and Li Cheng Yin manages to infiltrate Dan Chi, the kingdom ruled by Xiao Feng's grandfather, and even wins the trust and respect of her family. On the day of their wedding, Li Cheng Yin attacks and Xiao Feng is left to witness the death and downfall of her Grandfather and his kingdom.
Betrayed and hurt, she is unable to recover from the betrayal and hurt. She discovers the mythical River of Oblivion and jumps into it in hopes of forgetting all that happened. Li Cheng Yin jumps in after her and the two end up forgetting these memories together. However, their fate continues as everyone around them continues to lie to them to allow for the arranged marriage Xiao Feng has originally planned to go smoothly. Li Cheng Yin becomes the crown prince and she is married to him. As the two completely forgot their past, the two butt heads, bicker, and face many other difficulties in their relationship. With time, the two slowly begin to fall in love but the memories of the past begin to resurface and catch up to the present. What happens then?
Review:
 |
| Look at how beautiful the costume attire is!! |
I have a lot of thoughts in regard to this drama as I have found myself rewatching this time and time again. Each time I experience a spectrum of emotions and I often have conflicting feelings about the way this plotline is structured, how unhealthy the relationships are, and also what situation is best for all the characters. I do have to say that I really enjoyed this drama though. I loved the tragedy, the aesthetics, the dynamics between the characters, and so forth. I often characterize a drama as good or bad depending on their ability to make me emotional/make me cry/make me think. This series had so many tragic scenes that I was constantly in my feels; and with such strange character relationships and plotlines, it also made me think from a more objective, feminist standpoint. Regardless, from an objective standpoint, I want to talk about why I enjoyed this drama and also highlight why this show is so complicated and unhealthy to the characters and ways in which we can recognize it in our own personal relationships. With a critical eye into looking at this drama, I do question why I love it so much...but I guess you can say it's kind of a guilty pleasure!
I was first drawn to this drama after listening to the OST playlist. The music is extremely fitting as it invokes sadness through the beauty and softness of the song. The lyrics are also often tied to the plot which made it more beautiful with every listen. Every time I listen to the OST I can't help but want to rewatch some of my favorite scenes in the drama. I don't know how anyone listens to "Casualty of Love" or "First Encounter" without wanting to cry. Not to mention, the aesthetics of this drama were amazing and it pulled on all my heartstrings! My ultimate decision to watch this drama, however, was after I watched a fanmade video that highlighted the entire plot of the drama. (I don't really mind getting spoiled, to be honest--often times such things make it easier to decide if I want to watch a drama or not, especially with limited time to do anything). I was intrigued by why there seemed to be so many deaths, sorrow, and intense emotions in this drama fanmade video. I came into this drama with expectations to cry, and it did not disappoint.
Some of my favorite scenes are the most intense ones--filled with betrayal, grief, and anger. For instance, the scene at the beginning of the drama where he basically kills off her entire clan for his personal political reasons was so intense. The grief and betrayal that was felt by the female lead were so palpable through the screen. The acting is amazing because she didn't react immediately to him being the reason her family was killed off. She started off worrying about him, slowly piecing it together, and then freezing up at the realization before lashing out at him. The small details like this make the scenes so much more intense and the music was often haunting and chilling when paired with those crying scenes. Then there were those many scenes at the end where beloved characters are dying off and truths were unraveling.
I do want to point out that this drama is
based on an internet novel, and it is important to note that the male lead is
actually written to be even colder and ruthless in the novel than how he was
portrayed in the drama. In the drama, it appears as though he doesn't really
want to hurt her despite continuing with his own political ambitions. However,
in the book, he actively decides to ambush her Grandfather's clan on the day of
their wedding and very clearly prioritizes his political ambitions over her.
Regardless of the drama trying to paint him in a better light, this was the
first drama that I watched where there was so much hatred toward the male lead
character from the fans. Many comments talked about how men ain't sh*t, how
Xiao Feng (the female lead character) can find someone better, and also why Gu
Xiao Wu/Li Cheng Yin (the male lead character) is the way he is.
The
casting for the female lead was very well-done as her appearance and child-like
gestures at times draw the crowd in with her innocence. Her eyes, always filled
with emotion and with how clear and sharp they were, also conveyed so much to
the audience that made it easy for many fans to empathize with her and feel
protective of her. While it was an impressive cast, I definitely felt like the
female lead greatly out-performed her fellow castmates. Her acting, in
comparison to the male lead, was significantly better and her crying scenes
always hit me where it hurts. Li Cheng Yin/Gu Xiao Wu's crying, on the other hand,
often felt a bit monotone as his expressions are always the same pained look.
Even at the ending scene, his crying just felt strained and lacked emotion.
It's hard to explain because he's crying and putting it all into it, but I
believe acting is often portrayed in subtle gestures and through the eyes...and
something was just a little lacking in those scenes. And I feel really bad for
saying this because I have watched the BTS of this drama and he nearly passed
out filming this crying scene. It's not to say that I didn't feel anything from
his performance. Like it still made me feel things because of the storyline but
I wasn't particularly moved by his performance. His acting in the intense
jealousy scenes toward the end of the drama and his expressions during their
cute, loving moments were on point though!
Now
for the plot! From my personal experience and perspective, I struggle to
understand why this romance and this love was so hard for Xiao Feng to let go
of. Like it was so easy for her to move on from Gu Jian who has consistently
treated her well throughout the drama but yet she couldn't move on from this
toxic relationship with Li Cheng Yin--even after he kills her family and the
people she cares about, even after he constantly subjects her to emotional pain
and loneliness, and even after he has proven his selfishness over and over
again. I think this drama did a great job in showing what an abusive
relationship looks like where the girl keeps staying for the "good
memories" and for the possibility it'll be better when all signs are
pointing otherwise. At the same time, with the setting this drama takes
place...she is in an arranged political marriage with him which means she
actually CANNOT get out of this situation. It really makes you wonder about the
struggles women in such arrangements endured back in history.
Likewise,
the intense jealousy Li Cheng Yin felt and the extremes he was willing to go to
keep her by her side felt extremely abusive as well. He shows abusive
characteristics in the way he isolates her from those she loves--and it's
harder to see this than if we were watching a modern-day drama because in this drama he has reasons for killing off her family and her mentor, even if the
reasons are self-serving and selfish.
But
by him doing so, he doesn't just break her trust and betray her, he leaves her
with no one but him, isolating her from a life she used to know. In a way, I
agree with the general public that the ending is sad but that it is the only
way this story could've ended. Knowing that this is a romantic drama and a
CHINESE HISTORICAL FANTASY drama, there was no way these two would part ways
and move on with their lives. Their fate would forever be intertwined, and so
Xiao Feng had to die for this story to end. And I feel it is also the best form
of punishment for Li Cheng Yin to live with that on his consciousness and
reflect on the ways he's mistreated her both intentionally and unintentionally.
I think it was also a really good sign that the audience enjoyed this drama but
HATED THE RELATIONSHIP XIAO FENG HAD WITH LI CHENG YIN!! It shows that the
audience is viewing this with a critical eye--where they enjoy it because it is
an addicting drama but are able to recognize toxic patterns in the
relationships. I love these changes, especially because a lot of us easily
ignored toxic signs in dramas like Boys Over Flowers (which took place in
modern times). This just shows that we are understanding what's for our
entertainment enjoyment and what is okay/not okay in real life. I also really
appreciated the mini epilogue episodes this cast made showing how their love
life continues in their modern-day incarnations. In these mini-scenes, it shows
a loving and healthy relationship between the two characters in modern-day--not
reflecting anything like the relationship we saw in the actual drama.
All in
all, I greatly enjoyed this drama! It definitely made it on to my favorites
list of 2019.
However,
I highly suggest that viewers pay attention to the trigger warning I have
listed above and to view this drama with a critical eye! Just because a drama
is well-made and has a compelling plot doesn't mean that certain aspects of
abuse should be ignored! I wanted to acknowledge this aspect to provide some
depth to this review as well as educate certain features of abusive
relationships. I believe it is through dramas we can live multiple lives but we
can also learn from dramas what we want in a significant other and what we do
not!
Most of
the audience have expressed negative opinions on the male character and on the
relationship while still loving this drama! It is 100% okay to like this drama
as long as we are aware of these relationship dynamics! This is still an
addicting drama with many common drama components as seen in many historical
dramas/Chinese dramas, and it is interesting that I'm pointing out these issues
in this relationship dynamic when there have been many other unhealthy
relationships portrayed in dramas. I wanted to highlight this as I do not
condone this sort of abusive behavior in any of these dramas and especially so
as this was taken to a more extreme level. At the same time, it also allows us
to look back on other dramas where such features of toxic masculinity and abuse
can be seen! It shows the growth I have had from watching dramas as
pre-adolescent to watching dramas today as an adult. There are a lot more
things I pay attention to, and I hope this gives this review an interesting
take!
