Give it a try!
Normally I don't like this type of complex political-type show, but a lot of my friends were recommending it so I decided to give it a try. Honestly, I'm really glad I did. As a person who has anxiety and really hates misconceptions in shows, this drama had quite a low amount of plots that had me super anxious. Instead, it's really cool seeing how Mei Changsu is going to navigate the latest dilemma and what things he's got hidden in his sleeves. I absolutely loved his character, as well as Prince Jing, Meng Zhi, and Fei Liu. The acting for everyone is amazing. Even if you hate the character, you have to respect the actor and the script-writer for their work, because I was amazed every time. This show really gets you invested from the second episode (the first has necessary set-up) and really makes you want to re-watch to see everything that you missed, especially if you're like me and haven't read the novel. There are truly no filler episodes, and the only tiny thing that lagged was the semi-romance but frankly it wasn't at the forefront of the show so I didn't mind. I really recommend it, not only because of the plot, but because every aspect is really well done.Esta resenha foi útil para você?
A Series that Just Gets Better with Every Rewatch
There is a saying that the first viewing of a great series/ movie should be done for the plot, second watch for the details and third watch for the craft. While rewatching things (especially a long series) has never been one of my favourite things, i had done it for a very few JP dramas, which definitely the ones i love the most and since they just have a little number of episodes. Recently i had the chance to binge-rewatch this, and the sole reason was because i was triggered after seeing the series’ six-year anniversary post on twt LOL. I first watched it three years ago, though i had to finish it in haste before the university’s end of semester exam period coming up. I remember i loved the overall quality of the series, admiring some of the amazing casts, repeating the theme songs, looking up for the fanficts, but didn’t manage to rewatch it until this year, when i finally have more spare time and less thing to watch on my list.STORY - They served us with the damn near flawless presentation of story and ideas, with a very well-written & executed plot, and various pacing for every arc. I didn't even touch the fast-forward button because there were no dull and cringe moments, made the 54 eps felt short honestly. I've watched so many great Asian series with great plots and production, but in terms of story-telling and characterization, nothing can top NiF on my list until now, with 1 Litre of Tears (JP) and Mr. Sunshine (KR) come next. The amount of subtle forshadows throughout the series is insane, every dialogue, manner even cinematography does matter to build the dramatic tension and suspense that will keep the viewers turning the page.
Note that if you're looking for a cute romance, then this series might not be your cup of tea. But if you're like me, who prefer a longing and tragic, but still an unwavering and beautiful love story, then come join the club~
ACTING/ CAST/ CHARACTER - It's an ensemble of stellar casts! I started watching this series as a total stranger to any of the actors, and i didn't expect to find a remarkable performance from EVERY actors that could brought me into their realm of thoughts and beliefs.
About the MLs, i like how Hu Ge acted with his whole body as Mei Changsu, he pulled off the cold demeanor and perseverance naturally, but also showed various ranges of emotion through that restrained expressions and gestures . His character was so resolute about his plans as he had a limited time & breath, he wasn't easily distracted by other things & always ready what to plan even in the last minute. He's smart indeed, but i prefer to say that he's a great observer and opportunist. He fought with psychological warfare, preparing for 12 years should have resulted in nearly perfect scheming capability.
As for Wang Kai, our Prince Jing with his utmost sincerity and fidelity toward family and camaraderie, i like how his character developed throughout the series without him erasing his roots, ideals and loyalty. Wang Kai did really great to act as a hot-headed but lovable prince, i did hope to see him doing more sword fights though!!!
There are a dozen supporting characters in this series with important roles. Mei Changsu and Prince Jing are indeed the pivotal characters, but the key figures who executed the major events are mostly the supporting ones, and that's soo satisfying to see them taking actions together for something of greater importance. Also this show is fun because it's not always the fight between protags vs villains, but the protags scheming for fights between villain vs villain!
Next, though this is a male-centered series, it exceeded my expectation by having the female characters stand out with different strength each. They're not superwomen, they have their own weaknesses but it's not a reason for them to back out from the difficult and unfair environments. We got the physically strong and loyal women like Nihuang, Xia Dong, Gong Yu. The benevolent & quick-witted Consort Jing, clever but ruthless strategist Qin Banruo, the mentally strong & brave Grand Princess Liyang! The first drama ever where i admire all of the key female characters.
MUSIC - I'm just glad that our 3 main leads are also singers in real life and they gave us the beautiful and legendary OSTs that i'll never forget, and all of Meng Ke's instrumental musics are absolutely another amazing thing in this drama!
REWATCH VALUE - it's all going back to the headline and introduction section of this review. For me personally, who hardly find a C-drama that mainly focus on palace politic intriguing back then (i only loved watching wuxia/ xianxia/ republican ones) and was a stranger to the actors (i only found out that Hu Ge played Liu Lang in The Young Warriors 2006 after like 20eps in!) this show is truly a gem and i could see why it was a BIG HIT, even bagged soo many awards for the creative team and actors. And guess what, NiF was also claimed by Chinese drama industry as the work that restored the confidence in historical/ costume drama back in 2015 due to its realistic setting and respect for history and the source material, and it started the cinematic style trend for historical drama. The deep messages, which is absolutely not about revenge, but about how to live, how to die, how to admit past mistakes, accepting our weaknesses and try to give ourselves and other people a chance to change into the better human-being are very well conveyed to the viewers. The lingering awe that were left for it's brilliant script, character dynamics, the warmness and slight comedy revolving around Su Household make every rewatch of this series worth my time.
A 10/10 overall score, which i rarely give to a series, is not an exaggeration. I'm happy that in this lifetime i could find such a masterpiece and the amazing actors involved there. To you who have just started watching this series, don't give up even if it doesn't hook you right away, everything will be unfolded beautifully as you follow the flow of the story.
Esta resenha foi útil para você?
This drama is what you would call a masterpiece, from the story to the acting and the set. Everything is made for you to fall in love with this drama. This drama didn't need any romance or any filler episode to make your heart flutter or your eyes turn red.
First of all the first episodes are here to set the pace and background story of all the characters. So you will discover the main one Mei Changsu aka Su Zhe who came to the capital to help one of the prince to become the crown prince but is actually helping this forgotten prince Jing to become the future emperor. As soon as the backgroung is set, you will fall into a rollercoaster of emotions between happiness and sadness over the interactions of the character but also their own stories which are heartbreaking. And I do think that all of these details doesn't make any of these characters fall short when it comes to this drama. They are all here for a reason, and which one of them has a story to tell and a goal to achieve.
Second of all the directing is magnificient. The set where they filmed the drama was thougth on a delightful level where your eyes will be cleaned from it. It it beyond beautiful. The costumes are beautiful. And each dressings was thought according to the personality of each characters.
Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Cast: - You will love the main character, I mean who doesn't love Hu Ge? I wanted to see more sides to him in this drama. It would have been cool to see different mini versions of the drama with the same plot but just Hu Ge with different characters. Knowing the past of the main character, how would the story developed if he was still aggressive and cunning? Or silly and clumsy? It would have been way cool to see Hu Ge fight in this drama. At first, I didn't get a good glance at the princes and I found that I didn't like her until I had a clearer look at her. She's beautiful! Wished they had more romance. Overall, the acting cast is great, they chose a good set of experienced actors and actresses. You can tell that it's not your typical mediocre cast. The main characters bodyguard was young and could tell he was a newbie but he has more fighting scenes than he does acting/talking scenes.
Music - I didn't pay attention to the music, I just like the opening song which was just music, very enjoyable. Other songs or soundtrack didn't stand out too strong for me.
Rewatch Value - I wouldn't watch this again because most of it is just political scheming. There are probably one or two scenes I'd go back to rewatch, that's it.
Overall - I rated this 7.5 which is a fairly high score for me. There were some things I was really looking forward too but I was left disappointed but it didn't make me hate it. Most reviews for this drama put a 10 and seemed to be absolutely in love with it, I wasn't. But it wasn't terrible.
Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Plot: The series revolves around a man who was betrayed along with his father, family and fellow soldiers by ambitious men both equal and superior in status. Our lead suffered greatly and as a result he was away for a very long time. The series starts off by showing his reentry into the world that wants betrayed him and his effort to seek revenge and clear his family‘s name.
It should be noted the series is predominately about revenge and revealing the wrong that has been done. There is a significant amount of brotherhood and loyalty shown within the series which made it more pleasant.
You will see the normal power-hungry royals and those people who will stop at nothing to please them and maintain their sense of value.
Message: Although it was revenge driven, I do believe that there was a significant message within the series one in which I believe that we can all relate to it in terms of admitting mistakes.
What I liked about the series was that it it had action as well as an intense amount of intellectual plotting. The young male guard was fun to watch.
Well I just like about this series with that it was extremely slow. The people tops slow. They walk slow. They argue slow and they plotted slowly. Everything just seemed so slow. I also feel that it was dragged on way too long. Although there are many significant moments that happened near me and it just felt draggy. Once the major event happened/big reveal happened the show kept going. That being said the last two episodes really added no value to the series. Nothing changed it was really anti-climatic and the ending was just blah.
I actually feel weird saying this but I really did not like our male lead. He did so many things and used people to obtain his goal but he is suppose to be good. He seriously used and betrayed someone who thought that he was a good friend.
On another note, I felt there were loop wholes. How he got to where he was. He just was.
Action: Some
Plotting: endless
Politics: yes
Romance: none present
Good acting: yes
Brotherhood: yes
Betrayal: YES
Karma: slow but yes
Suspense: sort of but not really.
Rewatch for me: nope, too long and slow.
Esta resenha foi útil para você?
-Great Cast!!! I think Im in love with Hu Ge... LOL
-Well shot, the cinematography is quite amazing... it is traditional yet some very active switch shooting style in critical point. (al tho most ppl will not notice it)
Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Il est malade et faible mais il les tient tous dans sa main...
Alors là, dites vous bien que j’ai adoré !!!Je me suis laissée embarquer sur ce fleuve tumultueux, foisonnant de personnages variés et cachant plus ou moins d’obscures intentions, ou de sourdes ambitions, mais sans en oublier l’humanité pour autant et la recherche persévérante et ardue de la justice éclatante.
Les 54 épisodes (45 mn chacun) passaient à toute vitesse à chaque fin je disais « Déjà ! » et j’enchaînais sur le suivant !
Les personnages sont d’une richesse incroyable : intelligents ou retors, ou les deux, généreux ou ambitieux, ou les deux, empathiques ou antipathiques, ou les deux ! La cour impériale foisonne d’intrigues, de jalousies larvées (plus ou moins) où chacun essaye de tirer au mieux son épingle du jeu, par des moyens plus ou moins clairs.
Mais le pivot de l’histoire, le personnage qui tient en main tous les fils de la tapisserie, c’est le génial Mei Chang Su interprété par le non moins génial Hu Ge qui sait parfaitement rendre le fond mystérieux du stratège, homme de l’ombre dont on découvrira peu à peu la réelle identité, puis le but principal et secret de ses actes.
En face, l’empereur, à la méfiance aiguisée, à l’orgueil immense, mais pourtant d’une intelligence lucide assez remarquable pour un homme devant qui tous tremblent !
Le prince Jing, soldat d’une droiture sans faille, se trouve par là même tenu à l’écart, mais il n’échappe pas au regard aigu de Mei Chang Su.
Autour d’eux se déploie le ballet des Généraux, des princes et princesse, de l’impératrice et des consorts (concubines) avec leurs différents rangs, plus les eunuques, les soldats , la garde impériale, les sociétés secrètes et les autres…
Tout cela peut sembler bien confus, mais pas du tout, je m’y suis tout de suite retrouvée, Mei Chang Su est le fil directeur de l’histoire, et de plus il est dune classe et d'une beauté incroyables ! .
Il y a la politique, la gouvernance, l’ambition, la corruption, l’amour mais sublimé par le Destin qui se joue des personnes, (très belle romance discrète mais prenante entre la princesse et le stratège)la trahison, puis l’accomplissement mais à quel prix...
Le drama est historique, mais il porte aussi une atmosphère de légende, avec la secte des Arts Martiaux et ses hommes aux gestes d'une techniques stupéfiants, qui peuvent voler, de bizarres poisons aux noms étranges et aux effets inattendus, et des plantes aux pouvoirs presque magiques…
Comme nous sommes à la cour impériale, tout est géré par une étiquette rigide qui contrôle toutes les attitudes et le comportement des personnages. Cette apparente raideur non seulement ne gêne pas mais renforce les émotions qui sont contenues et que les acteurs savent très bien transmettre par leurs regards, ou la tension corporelle que l’on peut sentir.
Les acteurs sont tous excellents, les effets spéciaux très bien (on remercie l’invention de l’usage des câbles)il n’y en a que ce qu’il faut pour créer ce climat particulier. De même les combats (pas si nombreux non plus), sont remarquablement bien filmés et ce n’est vraiment pas plus sanglant que nécessaire, le principal de l’histoire se passe dans la tête.
Et que dire de la beauté somptueuse des décors et des costumes ? Grandiose, éblouissant, magnifique sont les mots qui viennent à l’esprit. Le tout servi par une sublime musique à la fois de goût classique, ou typique (j’adore la flûte de bambou et le gémissant violon chinois) . Les quelques chansons sont très belles (l’une d’elles chantée par Hu Ge lui-même) et pour une fois j’ai apprécié les paroles surtout celle à la fin du dernier épisode, elle en souligne parfaitement l’émotion, racontant la vie de Lin Shu telle une chanson de geste (c’est le prince Jing, Wang Kaï qui la chante!).
Alors, moi, je vous le conseille, JE VOUS LE CONSEILLE, MAIS JE VOUS LE CON-SEIL-LE !!!
Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Esta resenha pode conter spoilers
A Kingmaker Narrative that Tears Your Heart Apart
(2021-4-16) Hmm... SO far it's ABSOLUTELY superb! The women are all TRULY strong, Mei Changsu's character weak but determined, and the way the plot unravels is simply superior to any other drama of 'kingmaker' and 'revenge' I've ever seen. Only on episode 6, I'll be back with a more detailed review.
I'm back, and in pain. I will be honest, I knew that this drama was going to pull at me. Unlike some other viewers, I am not a crier. Rather than sad, I get very angry, irritable, and uncomfortable while I watch a series. Whether the story is bad or the plot just enrages me, I usually am not able to feel true, unadulterated sadness.
But this show got me.
I'll be honest, I did not shed many tears. Instead, I had to gasp for air whenever my throat burned or my chest tightened. Fei Lu's adorable personality paired with his tiger-like martial arts, Mei Changsu's friendships with Tong Liu, Commander Meng etc., the character growth and tragedy befalling Jingrui, the upstanding righteousness that is Marquis Yan, and the star-crossed love between Nihuang. Prince Jing. and Mei Changsu, all made me emotionally invested and torn. The women in this show are the best I've seen. TRULY strong. Contemplative, elegant, and poised. And even when they weren't, their performances as victims in a corrupt empire and patriarchal world made their actions all the more believable. The stereotypically 'masculine' and tomboyish women such as Princess Nihuang and Dong are not overdone. They are militaristic but still can carry themselves with an air of femininity. And CONSORT JING OH MY GOSH. SHE RAN THIS DRAMA, CONSORT JING SUPREMACY!!!
Ai, do not get me started on the steady rise of Prince Jing!
Psalm 118:22 "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."
Robbed of his brother-in-arms and the leaders he respected to corruption and chaos, it is only his steadfastness and longing for justice (much like Marquis Yan) that stops him from going insane. I'm also glad the series went the route of making this his only flaw before the Emperor. Prince Jing was a character thoroughly well done. While he's the stereotypical straight arrow, he is portrayed as a correctly flawed human. He constantly is suspicious of Su Zhe's morality, is rash and impulsive in his quest for righteousness, and is obsessed with the Chiyan case to the point of self-destruction. This drove him and Mei Changsu apart vehemently when it came to saving one of the last Chiyan Army survivors. It was to the point I wanted to fling my laptop. You can be frustrated with him, you can berate him, but you can UNDERSTAND him. It's not the "good-just-to-be-good-can-do-no-wrong bullshit." On the topic of Prince Jing...
One of the cons I have with the series is this: The secret of Mei Changsu's identity being kept from Prince Jing.
I'll be honest. The reveal was anticlimactic, and upsetting.
There were many better moments throughout the show where it could be revealed to Prince Jing.
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS. THE ABOVE REVIEW IS ENOUGH. FIRST-TIME VIEWERS, STOP HERE!
1.) When Fei Lu said Su Zhe refers to Prince Jing as 'water buffaloo' 2.) When Su Zhe's manners and phrases slipped, becoming more Lin Shu-like (WHICH WAS SO ADORABLE WHENEVER THEY'D MEET THROUGH THE TUNNEL AH) 3.) When Consort Jing flipped out about Su Zhe's health in front of Prince Jing...then ordered him to leave...{This actually may have been the best moment. If he stayed outside the tent and heard her cry while holding Mei Changsu..oh man...} and 4.)The moment where Su Zhe was horribly sick and rambled in the night, (and Prince Jing stayed the night with him... eheheehhehe) Sorry. In any case, the scene where Prince Jing left the Emperor's interrogation and realized while walking and piecing everything together was...boring. It was sad of course, And many heaved an exclamation of "Finally!" It was not a cathartic release. And then after the reveal... their playful banter was far and in between! WHERE'S THE TEARS AND HUGGING AND ANGST?! I FEEL RAGE! The final showdown with that hard-hearted Emperor- The climax- it was so too good for words. The pain held in for years was unleashed in a court-led demand for justice. Watching the Emperor fall to the ground in guilt and horror after being force-fed his sins was bittersweet. All in all...the series was amazing. I don't know how I held out for so long :')
Esta resenha foi útil para você?
