Yanxi Palace: Princess Adventures

Episodes: 6
Synopsis:

A hard-headed Qing dynasty princess navigates the palace life and love in this short series (spin-off with beloved characters from Yan Xi) 

Review:

This was an interesting spin-off of Yan Xi Palac,  and it was nice to see familiar cast members from the original drama here as well. This series follows one of the princesses and her love life over the course of 6 episodes. As we all know, historical dramas usually go up to 60+ episodes and they go in-depth with world-building and story-telling. Hence, I wasn't expecting a lot of depth or fully connected story-telling in the span of 6 episodes. 

 It started off really strong. Our character is feisty and unlikable, and she butts heads with everyone despite having good intentions. She's the standard "spoiled and disliked" archetype of a princess. She also had very clear love interests in this series and also an opponent that was her exact opposite. While she was rude and wild, her opponent was soft-spoken and obedient. It was very easy to understand why our character disliked the other girl so much very quickly, and it was easy to empathize with her behavior and her attempts to be a better person. 

However, our main character got a bit weird as the story went on. I couldn't tell if she was actually mature and was playing this long game or if something clicked mid-series for her. Her character was not consistent and it was confusing where her true intentions lie. The ending was a nice twist, but it was just hard to fully follow due to the series being so short and the abrupt change in character/plot.

 I still enjoyed watching it and found it amusing. I wish that this drama could have been developed more though because it could have been really strong (especially with that twist at the end).

The Wolf

Episodes: 49

Synopsis: A young boy was raised by wolves and befriends the kindhearted daughter of the city general/lord, Ma Zhai Xing. Every few days Ma Zhai Xing would come up to the mountains to spend time with her beloved Wolfie. They shared memories of watching butterflies and sharing treats with one another. As rumors spiraled of a wolf demon living in the woods, Wolfie is blamed for being the murderer of the emperor's godbrother. Wolfie was hunted down and eventually driven off a cliff where he is later found by the warlord Chu Kui. 

Chu Kui recognizes the young boy's amazing strength, speed, and skill. He decides to adopt Wolfie and renames him Chu You Wen. Wolfie, feeling hurt and furious as he believed Ma Zhai Xing betrayed his trust and blamed him as a murderer, gladly went along with Chu Kui to start his new life. Using Wolfie as a military tool, Chu Kui successfully launches a coup and usurps the monarchy. He names Wolfie as Prince Bo of his kingdom. 

Eight years later, Prince Bo finds himself face-to-face with Ma Zhai Xing as he leads a massacre, killing her father and everyone else in her manor. From there on out, Ma Zhai Xing is brought to his kingdom to maintain the family's reputation and to strengthen city ties. Refusing to acknowledge his past identity, he purposely butts heads with her and makes her life harder as he lashes out past grudges. However, he cannot run away from his feelings and he finds himself falling in love with her again, learning of her situation 8 years ago, and forgiving her. The two are able to rekindle their romance and friendship. 

Things go wrong as a war breaks out between the empire and Wolfie is forced to be cold to the love of his life to protect her. At the same time, Ma Zhai Xing finds herself being pushed closer to Ji Chong and build new alliances. 

Review: 

We all waited so long for this drama to come out...and it was so disappointing. While I felt as though Wolfie/Lord Bo's casting was very well done, the lack of chemistry and all-over-the-place plot ended up ruining the show. 

To start, I wasn't really into the idea of a wolf-boy who had no understanding of civilization yet was so human and childlike around Ma Zhai Xing. I know that a lot of Chinese dramas play into characters being abnormally strong or having unrealistic martial art skills. However, the whole concept of him being a wolf-boy and surviving cliff falls because of his wolf instincts felt lame. Just because you were raised with wolves doesn't mean your physical capabilities match them (not to mention, wolves wouldn't even be able to survive a cliff fall like the ones shown in this drama). But considering many dramas of this sort are not the most realistic, I looked past it thinking it was probably a matter of personal preference. 

I got through the first few episodes and when things started to pick up (romance, action), I was like "okay, I can get into this. This is what I was here for...the entertainment." But that didn't last long. :(
Here is where I had the biggest issue with this drama: inconsistency and abuse. 

1. INCONSISTENCY: After the supposed loss of Wolfie, Ma Zhai Xing grows up to be more stubborn and strong-headed. She's not the same naive girl as she was in the first few episodes. Great! I love that. Character development. 
But then she begins to oscillate as she gets to know Lord Bo, recognizes he is Wolfie, and as things continue to happen to her. She's constantly asking why they can't go back to the past when both her and Lord Bo have grown to be fairly different from what they were like in their youth. She's whining and she tries to push Lord Bo to be her wolf-boy without any grasp of reality. Her strong-headedness and character growth that they attempted to show in the beginning got lost in these scenes, and she felt more naive than she did as a young girl. She often felt weak, defenseless, and in need of someone to rescue her which didn't seem like what the directors wanted her to be portrayed as in the drama. She did not feel like a strong and consistent character. 

2. ABUSE: Lord Bo is abusive as hell. Physically, there are scenes that resemble sexual assault. Emotionally, he stonewalls her, gaslight her, and manipulates the environment and situations to make her lose her mind. And every time she has an emotional breakdown due to his betrayals or actions, he's like "I had to do that to make you stronger." 
BOIIII BYEEEE 
This relationship dynamic combined with Ma Zhai Xing's weak protagonist vibe was just so draining to watch and it was pitiful watching her constantly go back to him the moment he lets his "kindness" show. 

There are definitely other sins this drama committed, and I hated so many aspects of this drama despite watching the whole thing. I can't remember them well enough though since I have blocked out these scenes from my memory. I do feel sad about the drama turning out like this since I was waiting on this drama for so long and was fairly excited about the casting. The screenwriters did the actors dirty, and the lack of chemistry is probably more due to the script than the acting ability of the cast. 

Start Up

                                                    
Episodes: 16
Synopsis: Set in a fictional Silicon Valley called Sandbox, Start-Up follows the story of young adults as they attempt to achieve their entrepreneurship dream and launch start-up companies that help others. Seo Dal Mi, an ambitious young woman finds herself partaking in competitions and building a company despite never attending college. She finds a team of young software engineers who have not been fortunate with their personal start-up visions. Together, they push forward to reach their dreams. 

Review:

This drama started strong in my opinion. It had great actors and a good background story with Han Ji Pyeong and Seo Dal Mi beginning an unconventional pen pal relationship. I loved the family dynamic and the history that they experienced with failed start-ups. This was a great element to have when creating a strong female role who is passionate about launching her business. We needed the: "why is she like this?" and the writers delivered.

I also loved how selfish In Jae was with choosing a comfortable life with her mother rather than staying with her entrepreneur father. For me, the moment the two sisters chose different paths and priorities, I viewed it as the turning point for how these women will turn out. It was all unraveling pretty well in the beginning and reminded me a lot of the old classic Korean dramas such as "Stairway to my Heart" and "Autumn's Concerto" with the clear storyline, depressing backstory (spoiler: why did the writers have to do that to the father?? I get it....but man that was just painful right off the bat), and clear "good vs bad" dynamics. However, as this drama went on, I became very disappointed. 

While the name of Nam Do San was used in the pen pal letters, the person Seo Dal Mi fell for was Han Ji Pyeong. I thought he was a great balance to her idealistic entrepreneur character. He was an investor so he looked at the logical side of things and had business acumen that she did not. He also had a distinct voice in how he viewed the world and himself, and that definitely showed in his penpal relationship back in his childhood and how he behaves in the present day. He also remembers her from their childhood past and appears to hold her best interests at heart due to his connection with her grandmother. His interest in her as an adult was renewed upon connecting the past to the present, and it wasn't tied to a frivolous crush or unhealthy obsession from his youth. He would have made a charming protagonist. But no, the writers made her fall for Nam Do San who stepped up to the penpal role in order to not crush Seo Dal Mi's dreams of her ideal man. This relationship is rooted in lies. You fell for him because of who you believed him to be and then you accepted the rest. He also was very similar to her. It was a big reason why they were making the same big business mistakes and why they were overreacting and jeopardizing their futures in this small start-up space in many episodes. Eventually their relationship made more sense as we had more memories and as we saw the characters' growth. However, I believe that was the work of the writers. 

Han Ji Pyeong was made the unattractive option as the drama went. They showed his inability to connect with Seo Dal Mi (when the real issue is because they already wrote it out to have Seo Dal Mi set on Nam Do San) as well as his jealousy issues when Nam Do San came back after 3 years. This was also the unreasonable part to me. Why are you going to break up with Nam Do San and just be single for 3 years? You guys aren't moving on with life? Han Ji Pyeong just chilling for 3 years straight not making a move UNTIL NAM DO SAN GETS BACK? Goodbye. That just felt lazy in my opinion. 

As for In Jae: I mentioned I liked how selfish she was in her decision back when she was a child. She seemed confident in her decision when we first meet her again as an adult as well. However, In Jae and her mom suddenly had a change in heart toward entrepreneurship and living the hardworking life...something they scorned their father for back in the day. This sudden turn was too extreme and made no sense. If you didn't like the start-up life back then, then why would you suddenly be okay with it now? The idealization that all people will eventually come around and be good was tiring and I did not enjoy it. Likewise, suddenly In Jae had a mission because she didn't want to be a figurehead and not invested in (and I get it??? But they made her and her mom out to be so materialistic in the beginning and so I didn't understand why it got to that point). 

This could have been a really good drama. The ending just did not do it for me. 

Office Girls

Episodes: 40 
Synopsis:
Sheng Xin Ren is a simple office worker in the Operations Department of Jing Shi Department Store. She is hard-working and extremely thrifty as she attempts to save up to buy a house for her mom. She is given the task of training and mentoring Qin Zi Qi, a new entry-level member of the Sales Department. He is extremely hard-headed, outspoken, and financially struggling. Hence, the two instantly clash with their differences in worldview and life habits. However, unbeknownst to Sheng Xin Ren and everyone there, Qin Zi Qi is actually the son of the Chairman of Jing Shi Department Store. He is working from the bottom and climbing his way up as he has been challenged by his father to prove that he has what it takes to be a leader of the department store and that he can work with teams/pitch ideas successfully. While Qin Zi Qi hides his identity and struggles to live on his entry-level salary, he begins to get close to Sheng Xin Ren and learns how to be more thrifty and less superficial. 

Review:
This is a fairly old drama so my perspective may be different now as I have seen more complex plots (that don't necessarily follow the same old-same old plot styles). This drama has a pretty standard formula -- poor, hardworking girl meets the CEO's son (who she falls in love with not because of superficial reasons but because he is a great person) while dealing with antagonists throughout the story. It was definitely a pretty simple drama to play in the background while running errands or eating meals but it was not the best quality drama. The acting was subpar and the chemistry between our main leads SUCKED. Sheng Xin Ren had little to no emotion, and Qin Zi Qi often had times where his vibes came off as really sleazy/douche-baggy. Not to mention, Zheng Kai Er, the antagonist, was so freaking annoying. She also had little to no emotion, and every time she "cried" while telling her sob story, it felt so fake. In general, all of them were bad at crying and the acting was awful. 

There are definitely better dramas that were made during this time period and even before. This would definitely not be one that I will rewatch in the future. 

Also, all the characters just felt so lame. Like the fashion designer was annoying too, and I had no idea why he was even relevant to the plot since he was definitely not pursuing Sheng Xin Ren (despite the drama setting it up to make us think he is). The only people who got me through were the comedic relief things with the operations staff (but even that got old at times too) 

Was it cute in some scenes and pretty entertaining? Yeah, because I knew what was going to happen. 
Did I necessarily enjoy this drama? Not really...pretty bland. 

Story of Yanxi Palace

Episodes: 70
Synopsis:

Wei Ying Luo enters the court of Qianlong Emperor, Aisin Gioro Hongli, as a palace embroiderer. As she seeks to investigate her sister's death, she begins to scheme to get close to certain political figures within the palace such as the imperial guard Fucha Fuheng and Empress Fucha Rongyin. Using her embroidery skills and wit, she gets close to these two siblings and finds that not only were they not involved with her sister's death but they were going to be those who protected her the most within the palace. As Wei Ying Luo develops romantic affection toward Fucha Fuheng and a sisterly bond with Fucha Rongyin, she learns how to read and write under the kindhearted Empress Fucha. However, her wit and skill that earned her such powerful allies also bring attention to her from enemies within the harem. Wei Ying Luo learns how to use proper etiquette, mannerisms, and fast-thinking to her advantage as she maneuvers around political agendas and rivals within the court. Over time as she experiences new hardships and loses people she loves, she begins to get close with Qianlong and begins her climb to the top of the harem. 

Review: 

This was such a long drama so there were definitely parts where it DRAGGED. 

I also was watching this after Ruyi and so it was interesting to see the story be told from another perspective when Wei Ying Luo was the antagonist in the other drama. However, I loved the cinematography and the attention to detail in the outfits and scenery. I loved the contrast in new cast versus old cast when compared with Ruyi. 

I loved how smart and bold our main character was. However, I question if this was even possible being a maid in the palace. How did she not get offed early on?  

I did get a little hesitant as this drama continued because they made Ruyi's character a murderer. This was too far-fetched and didn't seem reasonable (considering the other woman was an imperial concubine as well). I feel like servants and investigators would've been on that immediately. Hence, I enjoyed the story of how Ruyi was portrayed in the other drama more where her decision to not be an empress anymore was targeted at her dissatisfaction with how the emperor was handling affairs rather than over some petty shit. 

Also, Fucha Fuheng---my heart is with you, homie. You deserved better.