Fake Princess (2020)

Behind Every Strong Man Is An Even Stronger Woman

The females in this practically rule the world here, and I lived for it. Plus, we get some lovely romance to boot.

Fake Princess follows Changle, an "innocent" robber, as she gets blackmailed into marrying the crown prince, and gets pulled into court politics. What's wonderful about this is that at no point does she succumb to the people around her, but instead is clever and wily. This makes fun adventures and narrowly escaped attempts to catch her in the act.

There is court politics, various poisonings, side rescues and missions, and two other couples to follow along the way. While the plot has some regular fighting for the throne and trickery galore, what really makes it are the couples sprinkled throughout, and the cleverness of the characters (there are some eh moments). There is some drag starting at episode twenty, and a few too quick revelations/solutions, but it picks back up in the last episode and ends satisfactorily for the most part.

The acting was decently good in this, the two main leads and the second coupling/leads carrying for the most part. The love between Changle and the crown prince is wholesome, sweet, and mutually respectful in a way that is a pleasure to watch. It is romance heavy, but the romance in here was perfect. I really kept watching for Changle, Li Che, Mo Sun, and Nong ying.

All in all, a very fun watch. Definitely give it a go if you're looking for a good romance with strong female characters, and some light plot to keep the story moving.

Lire davantage

Very worth watching and beneficial for learning Chinese as well

Though it has some minor plot holes (and which drama doesn't have), I really enjoy every moment watching it. The overall story makes sense and is catching. There are critical moments that really got my heart.

The music was amazing by the way! And I love the ending!

Also, as a Chinese language learner I usually watch C-dramas without translated sub. I have usually been going for modern dramas, since they are easy to understand. But this time I tried with this "historical" drama, and it was not hard to understand either (of course once in a while you need to look up for some difficult idioms). Maybe because the story was not too complicated and the language use was quite simple. (Of course I don't mean to learn to use the language in "historical" dramas, but only to test my understanding).

Lire davantage

Main Couple is cute and fuzzy aside from that- nada

TO BE SHORT, the main pair was the cutest! They were super cute and soft, and I adored them! But what bothered me was how cringey and depressing the second pair was. Their love story is so corny and just— it makes no sense! The ending was cute, but it left me a little disappointed. I always assume that the third couple is worthy of a better ending than the second couple. I'm not even exaggerating when I say, "I'VE NEVER SKIPPED A SCENE AS QUICKLY AS I CAN WHEN WATCHING THE SECOND COUPLE SHOW UP ON SCREEN!" Anyway, I still watched it because the main pair was adorable! heehee

Lire davantage

Cheesy & Playful with some Weird & Inapplicable character dispositions.

Let me address the negative comment I added on the headline "Weird-inapplicable Character Aspects"; This specific attribute led me to doubt the story itself with it's 1st Episode and that's how a MERE Prime Minister can act arrogantly and valiantly infront of the Crown Prince? The way Liu Sheng treated Li Che during the very 1st episode bothered me so much. Like ghad, Just how can he act so despicable and belittle the Crown Prince like that? even with the fact that he's the Empress' father he shouldn't have that much confidence with him.

Anyways moving on, this drama do serve some silly and cute scenes. It took me days to finally appreciate it and binge watch it but all of that is all worth it considering how good the drama executed their story lines. Almost every major thing was addressed and I didn't have that much complain aside from the fact that Liu Sheng didn't received death penalty, General Shen not getting featured in the last few episodes for his redemption and Nongying dying. All of these are nothing major but I just cared about it quite much.

Aside from those acting, story and plot wise I enjoyed it a lot. I also felt the comfortableness from the Major cast specially with Li Che & Chenle's character. Most of the time their Sweet, silly and lovey-dovey moments look and felt so real to me. Like REAL as REAL!

Story - 9, I'm satisfied with how the story goes. Just a little weirded out by Liu Sheng's unforgiveable manner towards the Crown Prince from the very start of the drama. Aside from that other things I have issues with are just some of my most desired scenes. Nonetheless, story direction wise is good.

Acting/Cast - 10, I initially wanted it give it a 9.5 but after some self-reflection I couldn't really find anything that made me dissapointed with the actors and their acting since it was designed for it to be that way. More so, I just wanna commend the great chemistry from the Main Leads. Job well done. ?

Music - 10, One of the greatest aspect of this drama is it's BGMs. The moment I heard the opening theme I was like "Ohh! shit I love this playful sound/beat so much" then started mumbling the words and humming its tune. Though, there's this one song that got me "ehh?" most of the time due to it's excessive nasal restraint sound but it was overpowered by how good the other songs are.

Rewatch Value - 9, Something I wouldn't watch unless I feel like to, but gotta give it a high points since it's definitely not bad and doesn't deserve any slander.

Overall - 9, I gave it in consideration of how I feel about the story itself. Surely, there are some plot holes but they're not that huge to be notice unless you're someone like me who's a little concerned over those little discrepancies. A good drama that is commendable to watch to make you feel good and smile contagiously.

IF you find my review helpful please let me know.

Lire davantage

Whats mostly important to know is that is a drama worth watching

This is an amazing drama to watch if your a beginner or not ever episode of this drama made everything so worth watching the acting was amazing and the songs are so catchy, but i really loved was the loves sense omg- i tell best cdrama in 2020. One thing i didn't like was that they planned to make this drama really short but wither way it was really interesting and of cousre i would re-watch it. One little secret is that I'm a big fan of Eleanor lee her dramas are so funny and entertaining to watch I really highly recommend you to watch this drama and i hope you will enjoy it just like i did

Lire davantage

Adorkable couple + a fight for the throne = light-hearted romcom with court intrigue

Left me smiling and with all the warm fuzzies. I really loved the main couple's chemistry and dynamic (naughty bandit x righteous crown prince), as well as the OST. It's upbeat, cute, lively, and a perfection reflection of the drama.

PROS
❀ Well-casted with an actress I fell in love with | I ended up loving Eleanor Lee's depiction of the spunky, sometimes naughty but mostly well-intended Chang Le. She's a robber and proud to be one; the whole reason she gets embroiled in the crown prince's mess is because she's trying to save her village people. There's less face-slapping in court than I expected from the synopsis and the majority of the plot, when the couples aren't being cutesy with each other, is the fight for the throne between the fifth prince's faction and the crown prince's faction. A lot of old people doing machinations for the young generation, which was funny to see.
❀ Romantic storyline picked up quickly | For the main couple, it happens in the first 5 or so episodes even as the crown prince is mistrustful of CL. She smashes all expectations he has of her (or, Yu Yao, the girl she's pretending to be) in funny ways. For example, he takes her to a casino thinking she would be scared off by the gamblers but she ends up winning a lot of money for him and he ends up forgetting about his 'mission' because he has so much fun. Lol! The second romantic line between Nong Ying, CL's martial artist maid/bodyguard and Gong Sun Mo, Li Che's scholar and strategist, progresses a bit slower but also lovingly. Finally, the last couple of Li Heng (the fifth prince) and Zhu Yan was the typical stuff between two well-read scholars who fall in love through couplets and poetry. I didn't care at all for this couple (more details in CONS section).
❀ Can't say enough about the OST | I thought they did a wonderful job with the music additions, which added depth to scenes (whether it be comedic value, a sense of triumph/romance, or something else). Maybe because the music was very pop-like which appeals to me compared to sorrowful ballads (lmao), but I like several songs in the OST which is pretty rare for me.
❀ Why is the couple so adorkable??? | I loveddd the scenes where LC and CL are just being silly with each other and making kissy faces. All the feels!! I thought the actors had great chemistry together and they were the cutest couple. CL's adorable facial expressions made me cheer for her the whole show, and LC's boyish and charming personality was the perfect match. I know some people complained about wanting more from Li Che as the crown prince, but I personally liked how he wasn't a hypermasculine dude with no emotions. You could really feel the love and loyalty he had for his people. I think "boyish" is a better description than "immature" in his case.
❀ Foreign royalty that DOESN'T get between the couple | I feel like whenever foreign royalty (especially a princess) comes up, the writers are like "Yesss let's bring angst + drama through this poor soul who only has eyes for the ML." Nah, none of that happens here. The foreign princess Ali Ati remains sweet and level-headed throughout the story. We stan women who have self-respect.
❀ The name of the game is damsels NOT in distress | I loved the number of times we saw women characters save the day in this drama. They aren't too over-the-top with it but it's definitely a recurring theme, whether it's CL's mastery in picking locks/figuring out gadgets or NY with her top-notch martial art.
❀ Set costumes have STYLE | Seriously, why did the outfits for the guys (especially LC and LH's) look SO good??? I've been binging historical romcoms this past week and this drama's outfits for the princes are top game.

CONS
✕ The third couple y'all... | I literally have nothing to complain about this drama OTHER than the LH and ZY couple. I thought ZY was fine but basically a useless character the whole story. Like,,, she had no role except being the tragic partner of LH. And LH omg... at first I saw people hating on the couple and I was like "nah I'll give them a chance." WRONG. They spoiled the story for me. Everything is light and fluffy and then a scene with them comes up that's all tragic and shit (as they are on opposite factions in the fight for emperor). Compared to the other witty and fun couples, they are boring and I jumped on the bandwagon and skipped through their lame couplets and encounters. You really can't make excuses for LH's character who spirals because of his love for ZY and does ridiculous things. Throughout the story, he remains weak, indecisive (outside of stuff pertaining to ZY), easily manipulated, immature, and selfish. But even skipping this couple's scenes, you'll still be able to understand the storyline which made me feel better lol. I just don't understand why they got as much screen time as they did. Ooh the only saving grace - good music during their heartbreaking scenes.
✕ Misunderstanding levels | Between the main couple: 0/10. I can't think of a scene where a misunderstanding happened because LC and CL fall in love pretty quickly and are loyal to each other through the end. Even CL's hidden identity gets straightened out without a fallout. Between LC and the dimwit fifth prince: 10/10. Yes, it was for plot purposes, but it made me hate LH even more. What a dumbass.

OVERALL
Everything is perfect EXCEPT the storyline of the third main couple. I could care less for them and they ruined an otherwise wonderful story. With that said, it's still worth watching for the other two couples (especially Li Che and Chang Le... y'all they are so cute I cannot). Historical romcom lovers will like this one!

(Note: My rewatch value is set to 5.0 always as a default as I'm not the type to rewatch dramas EVER. Thus, I do not take it into account when calculating overall score.)

Lire davantage

Didn’t meet my expectations as much I have hoped and it was hyped.

Now this review on this drama is plainly based on my own preferences and views. Let’s not hate but discuss instead. I will share this review to simply move on from This drama and remind myself why I decided to move on from this show although it was on my watch list for a while now.

I ll keep it really simple. The romance between the two characters weren’t something that swoon worthy, it didn’t move my heart or made me tingle everywhere on my body instead, it had me fast forwarding to the next. I suppose the romance is sweet and loving and romantic. But if there is lacking the passion from both characters regardless of whichever scene then the chemistry between the leads would be lacking. And being the two main faces of the show, this can be so.

There is no love triangle in this show it turns out. I suppose here and there not having a triangle play out is fine but in a story which harvest such a troupe having a triangle makes the passion more fiery. But since both of those were lacking.

The cast was alright looking. Not something that had my eyeballs popping out when I was watching it. They all just looked adorable. Plus the male lead was in the modern drama my girl and it was hard to take him seriously in a historical drama such as this.

This drama had a lot of potential. It’s something that if they took longer to discuss and fix these minor details then maybe even someone as picky like me would have enjoyed it.

Don’t get me wrong it was decent but nothing I would Rewatch for a while.

Bear in mind the martial arts of the female characters is badass and that is always appreciated in my book. Also I feel in this troupe there can be even more drama if let be.

Lire davantage

Unexpectedly enjoyed this

(Likely spoilers below so you're warned).

I got halfway through the first episode of this and dropped it. Then I went back weeks later and finished it. As the title suggests, I unexpectedly enjoyed it. The FL carried the show--the actress did an excellent job and had a way of communicating hilarity that came through even to those of us stuck reading the subtitles.

I felt bad for the SML/SFL in this story, even went into MDL comments on the show to read ahead to see how they ended up. There was definitely some illogic there in how they all behaved, but it worked out in the end.

This is pretty light-hearted. The main actress does an excellent job and she and the main actor do a nice job together. I would rec'd this as a 'palette cleanser', especially if you're one of those who likes the really heavy stuff but need a break in between. :)

As for rewatch: This is on my rewatch list, I just haven't gotten to it yet.

Lire davantage

Love can't control

This drama is one of the best and worth it to watch in this year 2020 ... I really love how the relationship shows even they start of being hate and need to follow the mission given by the grandpa.. I love how Li Che give up the title for Chang Le.. Love will never control if they felt it already. Feeling betrayed and using revenge to each other but make sure that they don't hurt each other.. I laugh and laugh because of them, hahahahaha Jealous is making me laugh too HAHAHAHA I'm so happy to see this drama and by the way.. I watch it in on going.. and i love waiting because i know it is really worth it to wait... Love the character so much.. The comedy is there ...

Lire davantage