Shang Shi (2022)

Quite enjoyable

I myself enjoy this drama. This drama is actually my thing, particularly the less screen time of the romance because I'm literally not really enjoying romance. I like how they solved the problems of their kingdom, and the topic about the government and their officials, especially about how concubines should've worked to help the emperor. But, the last two episodes feel like not satisfying enough. It's just so so, nothing WOW.

Also, I like Zijin, but her character's personality is just so unreal to be real. Smart, brave, kind, patient, silver-tongued, easily forgiving people, even sassy, it's hard to find someone like her in real life. Moreover, I don't see a significant character development from her. Same thing goes for the others, they lack character development unless for Ziping.

The execution of those bad people was just unfair. Instead of giving them karma or being punished by the law, the writer let them d* words by suicide? I hate those parts. I believe the writer could do something better.

Forget about some lingering questions, overall, I love this drama. It's not boring for me tho.

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Sleeper Gem For Me!

Since I watched this drama a couple of years after its original release, I never really saw it heavily promoted on all those "Best Drama: list recommendations. I accidentally ran across it on YouTube, watched the first episode and was hooked. It was strangely addicting because I usually don't like this time period in dramas. It had everything I loved in a drama and more. On their own, Xu Kai (who I adore) and Wu Jin Yan are such great actors and never disappoints. Great cast, great acting, leading couple could have had more chemistry, but I over looked it because overall. was such a good drama. It had palace intrigue, array of royal dishes and various cooking methods, "Kitchen Politics", good guys won over the good guys! Reading some reviews, I guess this drama is not everyone's cup of tea, but for me, it was a definite 10 and I re-watched it already. I personally highly recommend it.

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This series is not to bad to be rewatched

I think this series have had a bad review because of bad subtitles. I could only find subtitles which I can watch the series for entertainment but still can not find one with subtitles that I think the characters really meant in certain scenes.

Minus points for bad sequencing of the story and didn't have enough background relationship of ML and FL prior to EP 9 when it looks like they have aleardy fallen in love and start having conflict, may be because they were cut short to only 40 episodes. Anyway, out of the blue, they suddenly acting like they, in a way, been a couple already in early EP 9 when ML asked FL's opinion in visiting his wife.

Minus points for certain costume and makeup for FL. In the history, the Empress Sun was the most beautiful woman in her hom town and Wu Jinyan was more beautiful herself than in this series. Her night gown also looks very bad for a concubine of a crown prince. Her hair did make the back of her head very flat. The hairstyle of that time may not suit her.

Minus points for unnatural moves, very stiff, of FL and ML in comparison to thier acting in the story Yanxi Palace, especially when they were together.

Plus points for happy ending between Fuca Fuheng and Wei Yingluo eventhough there are not enough of scenes that they were together. I wishes for more.

In the end after I watched this series for so many times (one of the reason was to find subtitles that make the most sense) I understand and appreciate the subtleties of the conversations in the series better and, hence, comeup with my rating.

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Mouth watering cuisine with a side of romance

I never shipped Fuca and Wei Yingluo so I was a bit ambivalent about seeing Xu Kai and Wu Jin Yan in another historical drama, however, I ended up enjoying it more than expected. Two things bothered me about Jin Yan though...
1) her makeup was done by someone who clearly hated her because she looked like a ghost onscreen and
2) she looked tired, skinny, and so much older than Xu Kai.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed the use of food as a driver for the plot.


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It is a drama with a weak script and some high points. The romance doesn't enchant and the characters aren't captivating.
The performances aren't bad, but the characters don't help the actors in creating memorable scenes.
The direction is questionable, as the drama is slow and tiring, the scenes cooking food are exaggerated, the feature of omitting scenes to create suspense was used so many times that it was possible to deduce that the result would be different. There are some editing errors, but they would certainly go unnoticed if the drama had a more immersive pace.
The costumes are exuberant, perhaps this is the high point of the drama.
The soundtrack doesn't offend, but it doesn't enchant either.

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You can hv your own ambition but don't trample others to achieve it.

Tbh I don't know what to put in the headline but I think it's apt bcs in this drama, it told a lots about the characters' ambitions and their ways of achieving it. Ill intention ambition will be met with resistance and hv their own consequences.

ML, Zhu Zhanji, was a wise man and hv great aspirations to be a great Emperor thanks to his grandfather's guide and teaching. He was kind to those who deserved it and ruthless to those who betrayed his trust. When it comes to love, he has only hv eyes to the woman he fell in love. He was so sweet, very tolerant and understanding of FL. He did reprimand her when needed but also admitted his faults when he wronged her.

I love seeing their moments together, I love that they communicated their differences although it was not right then and there but only after some misunderstanding

FL, Yao Zinji or Sun, was a woman who always keep her composure, intelligent, magnanimous and bold. She was also elegant personified I wld say bcs she was trained for it, but not on her own volition, because of this, she had a hard time growing up. She tried to cope with it, entering the palace to be in the domain that she took comfort in which was being a chef and cooking foods. Her relationship with ML was complicated but she truly love him although she had to sort out her feeling bcs loving him also related to her hard times. But ML didn't give up and sincerely care about her so that moved her and she also gave it all loving him. She told him that she also was her own person with her own views so she would try her best to change something that she felt wasn't right and it was about the practice of burying the concubines alive with the dead Emperor. I like that she said that and I support it.

Supporting characters that deserve a shout-out. The Fearless Empress Dowager although I didn't like her at the start but she amazed me. Yang Ziping, loyal friend even though I was suspicious of her at the start but her character development just pleasing to watch. Chen Wu, clever man that observant of ML moods, thoughts and also credit to him that helped ML and FL communicated. Manager Fang, kind woman and very patient.

Cons: I agree with one review here (user morenokatz) that said there are gaps in the story, that some scenes jumps that made us crave for answers to some events.

I saw one review in one of the episodes about how some of the viewers expected this to be the unofficial continuation of SoYP. I am really thankful to their review (user blinky catt) that made me take a step back and think.

For those who came from the Story of Yanxi Palace including me, it took me a long time before I decided to watch this drama bcs both of their characters before hv a special spots in my heart. I don't know about you, but I am okay with it. This drama was its own story with a bit of them two. I am happy with it.

I agree with one review here from Louie G. They did a good job describing FL and ML.

- 20240318 0208

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the gentlest palace cdrama i have watched

I had no idea what to expect; I only hoped that this was NOT yanxi palace redux. While there is nothing outstanding about this drama, I think they did a good job of following through with the storylines in a rational and sensible manner. Characters acted according to themselves and not as plot devices. There were no random plot twists just to up the drama shock factor. The editing was weird in spots where I assume they snipped stuff for censorship or time constraints. No one overacted and most actors did their job credibly. No anxiety inducing melodrama or over-dramatics to induce emotions. Even the humor was understated and appropriate to the sedate tone. And I didn't mind the sedate, gentle tone at all. I loved it after watching so many insane palace dramas. Why do I care if it's realistic or not? It's a drama! I found it refreshing for my soul.

The leads were outshone by the Empress (Zhanji's mom) and Yin Ziping. They were very good. They delivered their roles of feminist icon and working class hero very well. These themes were very obvious but not obnoxiously conveyed. The women in this drama were very very good. The villains either got their comeuppance or found their humanity to repent, and they did it without hysterics. All of the characters got an ending and it was a good mix of happy and not.

It's not a five star drama (nowhere near that good) but I enjoyed it and rewatched it. I liked it even better the second time around. When I need a break from the insanity of cdrama plots, I will come back to it.

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To watch for the cast, the costumes and the (relative) historical reality

History & Culinary series with Xu Kai as ML, and lots of excellent actors.

PLOT: The FL becomes a cook at Court. There she encounters the difficulties of a kitchen team, court intrigues, etc. and the ML, imperial grandson. We then follow the FL's progression in the kitchen and the ascension of the ML to the throne.

+++ The point of view is centered on the FL, therefore the Inner Courtyard, particularly the Courtyard seen from the kitchens.
+++ The characters are human, complex, well developed.
+ The embroidered costumes are MAGNIFICENT. Bravo to the designer!
+ I really like the credits and the OSTs, not memorable, but well suited.
+ The narration is slow, but detailed. This gives a realistic impression of the era, the customs, the protocols,... (except that if we look at the chinese emperor'portraits, there is none as young and handsome as Xu Kai :)

# Start of the series a little sluggish, the rest is better.
# I don't find FL pretty. I'm not talking about the actress, but her very severe hairstyle doesn't suit her.

=> In the end, I liked this series, but I don't think I will watch it again because it is slow and long.

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Série Historique & Culinaire avec Xu Kai as ML, et bcp d'excellents acteurs.

PLOT: La FL devient cuisinière à la Cour. Elle y rencontre les difficultés d'1 équipe de cuisine, les intrigues de Cour, etc. et le ML, petit-fils impérial. On suit alors la progression en cuisine de la FL et l'ascension du ML au trône.

+++ Le point de vue est centré sur la FL, donc la Cour Intérieure, particulièrement la Cour vue des cuisines.
+++ Les personnages sont humains, complexes, bien développés.
+ Les costumes brodés sont MAGNIFIQUES. Bravo au designer !
+ J'aime beaucoup le générique et les OST, non mémorables, mais bien adaptées.
+ La narration est lente, mais détaillée. Cela donne une impression réaliste de l'époque, des usages, des protocoles,... (sauf que si on regarde les portraits des empereurs, il n'y en a aucun aussi jeune et beau que Xu Kai :)

# Débuts de la série un peu poussifs, la suite est mieux.
# Je ne trouve pas la FL jolie. Je ne parle pas de l'actrice, mais sa coiffure, très sévère, ne lui sied pas.

=> Au final, j'ai bien aimé cette série, mais je ne crois pas que je la regarderai à nouveau car elle est lente et longue.

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Do not watch this drama when you are hungry

As the title suggests, Royal Feast showcases a lot of food, the preparation and the eating of it. I liked watching how the food was prepared and it added to the visual feast of this drama. This drama was one of my anticipated dramas partly because I wanted to see a cdrama set in the kitchen and also because I wanted to witness the reunion of the Xu Kai x Wu Jinyan cp from Yanxi Palace.

The Good:
The costumes, aesthetics and song choices used in the drama were really good.
I loved the friendship between Ziping and Yao Zijin. It was probably my favourite part of the drama.


The Bad:
The storyline was not well developed, This could be due to some very obvious editing and cutting , there were points where I felt confused with the characters actions. I enjoyed the drama up to the point where the leads get together. Afterwards it felt rather flat.

The sml just seemed to be constantly plotting and there was no character development for him. There also seemed to be no character development for the sfl as well. In fact I actually would have liked to see a romance bloom between the sfl and sml as there seemed to be potential there, rather than letting the sml just pine for the fl. I liked both Wang Yizhe and Wang Churan's acting but after seeing them in better works, I think this was not their strongest performance.
The same goes for Xu Kai and Wu Jinyan . Wu Jinyan's performance felt stiff at times. It could be also due to her character seeming like such a Mary Sue. She is perfect in everything. Xu Kai performance felt alright but even his character didn't seem to experience much development.

Final thoughts:
I also thought the drama might show the story of Empress Sun more ( Yao Zijin character) and her struggles with dealing with her son. So I am disappointed that we did not get to see more of Yao Zijin as Empress. Overall giving the drama 7.5 because I liked the pretty aesthetics and the food.

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Royal Feast in Yanxi Palace!

I am pretty sure that many People will watch this Drama after being disappointed by Leads "romanticus interruptus" in Story of Yanxi Palace.

So I will start my Review with exactly that.

- the Romance between the Leads:
If you expect to get satisfaction for the disappointment in Yanxi Palace, you MIGHT, but only to some degree. Yes the Leads are romantically engaged to each other but it is slooooooooooow and takes ages to take off. It had some moments but overall it did not satisfy or engage me enough to consider it worthwhile on its own. It also turns into planned/forced Relationship later on. The Romance is there but it could have been done better.

- the Story in general
this series is basically an Advertisement for Chinese Food that is disguised as a Drama (not necessarily a bad thing). Neither Actors are the "main Leads" but in fact Food is the "main Lead". Do not watch this Drama on an empty Stomach.
Overall the Story is ok but nothing to write Home about. Besides, it makes the same mistake as Yanxi Palace did and later foregoes the main Story centered around the Kitchen and Food and turns it into "Yanxi Palace light" with again female Lead ending up as the Consort of Emperor!
I didnt like it in Yanxi Palace, I didnt like it here (thats why I dropped it around Ep. 30). This might be my personal Bias but I find Romances on the highest level of Human "Status" completely unbelievable and have a hard time to suspend my disbelief. Believing that an Emperor, who basically has nearly unrestricted access to ALL the best and most beautiful women in China, would simply settle for what is the historical equivalent of "high school love" is something I leave to Teenage Girls.

- the Music
nothing Noteworthy but also nothing really disturbing. The Intro overall is great though.

Conclusion: as far as Dramas go, its nothing really bad but its nothing really good either. If its unique premise (the presentation of lots and lots of food) strikes your fancy, you might get a lot more out of it.

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Because Xu Kai watched drama till end

As drama was based on royal feast ,so most of the times preparing of the food had been shown in the drama . Inorder not to get drama bored ,so story had some spices to it means some fights in order to snatch the power ,conspiracies among family member and a romantic story
had been added which also got bored. Female lead looked little elder to male lead so I didn't like the pairing .
I liked one scene in which female lead slept outside the door of prince while waiting for him . When his meeting got over . He came out of the room and saw her sleeping and carried her into his arm and very nicely laid her on bed and kissed her . Wao so romantic.
Story was confusing especially story of female's lead. What actually she wanted not cleared properly.

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