This is one C-drama that became really famous throughout Asia. I really loved the drama and even went to the read the books. (yes books) And since the Korean version. Scarlet Heart: Ryeo have started airing, I have decided to a short review on the Fabulous drama.
Brief overview of the drama: Zhang Xiao, time slips into the Qing Dynasty during Kangxi's reign and becomes Ma'ertai RUOXI and becomes involved with the princes and their fight to the throne. The story deals a lot with the butterfly effect of Rouxi and her every action that reflects her choice.
What so awesome about it: The whole story plot is very well thought out. Every action had some sort of result, which is why the title 步步惊心 is so apt. Every action and step she takes she have to weigh all her options and the results.
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| Photo credits to wikipedia |
The WHOLE butterfly effect is so well thought out. It is one of the drama whereby the knowledge of history makes her weary of every action that she takes. And the story show very intricate planning in the plots. Such as being respectful and fearful of the 4th prince from the beginning as she knows that he will become a very ruthless monarch in the future, and this special approach to the 4th prince lead to the misunderstanding that she likes him. The other big butterfly effect was falling in love with 8th prince and leaving him because she knows that written in history 8th prince lost the fight to the throne. She out of her love warned the 8th prince of his potential enemies.In the end as Ruoxi might had tried her hardest, History remained unchanged.
Another strong point about the drama is that despite staying in the history for 20 years, she kept her modernity thinking, such as monogamy and her freedom of choice to marry. While she was in her ancient Chinese costume speaking in formal Chinese, there was never a moment that you doubt that she is a modern woman. Her thoughts that lead to her actions were very clearly modern. An example is her belief that woman when married should not just stay in the room and wait for the husband to visit, she believes that a woman should also be allowed equal chances to find her husband, thus she refused to get married and rather be a lady in waiting that can see the king as and when she likes. (A king visits his woman at night). Another example is her firm belief that she should be able to choose her future spouse and she would fight for her rights. (this mentality was very rare in during the period of Qing Dynasty
The side characters were all very well written in the development of the story. Many characters had developments that lead to the development of Ruoxi. Such as the marriage of 10th prince, it lead to Ruoxi understanding the power of the monarch. It was such an important revelation I felt since as a modern person, we will never fully understand the monarchy and the power it has, but by this one event she came to fully encapsulate the powerlessness of a mere human in the Qing dynasty. Some other well thought out character were surprisingly the ninth prince, 8th prince's wife, Ma'ertai RuoLan, Yu Tan, Li Dequan and Wang Xi.
And of course, I love the pretty clothes and scenes in ancient shows are ALWAYS SO PRETTY. As you guys know by now, I have a soft spot for period dramas because of the clothes and the language.
Recommends: YES. its a rather long drama. 35 episodes, but when you start watching you realized that the drama is really concise, Every action had some sort of meaning behind it and in 35 epsodes you cover about 20 years. the other grip is that main love line does not start appearing until ep 12, and the ending of the love line is what i would deem as a sad ending, But I came into this drama without any prior knowledge of the plot and enjoyed the ride a lot.
Ranting on: The CG is many of the scenes were..... well, you can tell that it is CGed like any chinese CG. but the acting kinda made it forgivable. (or maybe not, since I am ranting here) hah. And don't watch the sequel, what happens is Qing dynasty should stay in the history books.
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