The Legend of Dugu (2018)

I was looking forward to the drama every week. It was the only cdrama I kept up with these past few months, I had others that I dropped but this kept me on my toes.
The story revolves around the Dugu Clan, specifically the three sisters: Dugu Banruo (eldest), Dugu Mantuo (second oldest) and Dugu Jialuo (Youngest).

Initially I did not expect much sisterly love between any of the sisters because most sisters in traditional dramas hate each other for no reason. However, Banruo loves the youngest, Jialuo dearly because she practically raised her.It was so touching to see her do anything she can to save her sister. I loved their relationship the most. Banruo is played by one of my top favorite Taiwanese actress, Ady An. She did a WONDERFUL job with her role. Although her role was obsessed with having her "Dugu tian xia" - so obsessed to the point that she's betrays someone quite close to her. Unlike Mantuo, she puts her family safety above all others. Until the end, she knew which side to be on and what really mattered.

Second sister, Mantuo, is the antagonist of this drama. She's VERY VERY VERY annoying. She's also OBSESSED with the Dugu Tian Xia legend but she thinks everyone is against her when really its the other way around. She's willing to betray and back stab (and kill) her family. She fake cries to get her way around and get what she wants. Mantuo may be smart but she doesn't know that everyone else is even smarter and that those people knows who she really is and what she's up to. Yet, she continues to bat her eyelashes as if she's innocent in her wrongdoings. It's hialrious and irritating at the same time. I hate that the actress keeps pouting her lips, its ridiculous. In the end, she was still a pain in the ass. I still can't tell if the actress is good at her role or not because the pouting, baby talking, innocent act were very irritating to me. Like I wanted to slap her. :]

Youngest Jialuo was very carefree and did not let anyone boss her around.. She knows what she wants and its not "Dugu Tian Xia." She, like Banruo, holds her family above anything else. Which means she is willing to follow her father's orders despite protest against marrying ..someone. She and Mantuo is always fighting because Mantuo is a B****. Banruo is always on Jialuo side because she knows how cunning Mantuo is.

Main couple: Jialuo and Yang Jian were very cute once they warmed up to each other. I grew to love them when Yang Jian finally figured out Mantuo was a lying piece of ****..:]

Overall story is all about lies, betrayal, sisterhood, fight for the throne and high ranks in the palace, friendship, family, and love.

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I was very excited for this drama because the plot sounded interesting and intriguing. Three sisters getting into political grounds, attaining power, how great does that sound?

The drama did not really live up to my expectations; however, i believe that it was worth watching. The legend of Dugu is about three sisters. Out of the three, two of them (Dugu Ban Rou and Dugu Man Tuo) both treasure power and entitlements, while the young sister (Dugu Jia Lou) desires peace and happiness. From my point of view, this drama did not have much to do with politics. It’s more based on the sister’s romantic relationships and how all three of them become successful in their own way (only Dugu Ban Ruo and Dugu Jialou became actual queens).

The casting could have been better, Ady An was the only person who left a great impression on me. Her acting is phenomenal and perfect. Her chemistry with Jeremy Tsui and Zhou Ting Wei was so much more heart warming than Hu Bing Qing and Zhang Andy’s. Honestly, Hu Bing Qing and Zhang Andy had no chemistry at all! Their relationship was not delivering to the point where i shipped her with Ying Jun. This lead me to skipped through all of their ‘romantic’ parts. Another big problem with this drama was Dugu Man Tuo. She is extremely annoying and irritating. Dugu Man Tuo is always trying to strive herself into power, no matter what it takes, including sacrificing her dignity. She neglects people’s encouragements, telling her to stop being evil and even tries to steal both her sister’s significant other. However, she provides the story with a climax, no matter how provoking her character is. I believe it’s both the script and actress which made the character, Dugu Man Tuo, flawed. Also, Yang Jian (Zhang Andy) was so stupid and annoying in thw first half of the drama, he believes EVERYTHING Dugu Man Tuo says his actions were ao idiotic. However, in the later half, he becomes a more decent human being and learns to love Jialou. Another problem with this drama was the amount of people who died! LIKE WTH!!! To prevent myself from spilling spoilers, i won’t mention those who passed away in this drama, but some deaths may include your favourite characters (isnt that great)! So, out of all actors and actresses, my favourites were Ady An, Jeremy Tsui (his love for Ban Ruo was unconditional, even i could feel it), thats about it.

The soundtracks in this drama were fantastic and i was not really irritated by any sort of music displacement (which we all know happens a lot in cdramas). HOWEVER, whenever there is a ceremony or celebration in the palace, it is inevitable for some sort of dancing crew. I am perfectly fine with that, BUT the same instrumental song is ALWAYS being played, IT GETS SO IRRITATING WHICH MAKES ME ROLL MY EYES EVERYTIME.

Overall, as a person who never completes dramas myself, i am actually surprised that i managed to finish this drama (i did a skip through some repetitive and uninteresting parts though). I can almost say that this drama is my cup of tea. Its not anything special and never seen before, but it does have its own magic. I truly do love this drama and it left a very great impression on me. I would highly recommend people to watch it (i am aware that there are no English subtitles, but definitely give it a try when there are).

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