Jun Jiu Ling (2021)

Suspend Disbelief and Enjoy the Exhilarating Ride that Jun Jiu Ling Brings

I came to this drama (which aired in 2021) late (in 2024) but better late than never. For those who have not watched it yet, I urge you to start. Right from the get-go, I was hooked and the entire ride of 40 episodes was highly enjoyable and riveting.

What I Loved:
- This was the first time watching the FL and I was blown away by her charming and beguiling beauty. She is certainly a good-looker! More than being a pretty face, she was excellent as JJL. She fitted the role and she delivered.
- Perhaps other actors/ actresses will suit the roles here but I felt that the chosen cast was great and performed excellently. Zhu Zan might not have been the most handsome and perhaps, a more good-looking actor might have been a better choice but he was definitely manly and tough. An effeminate actor would not have done a good job.
- The plot was excellent. Suspend disbelief and just believe! Doing so enabled me to be fully invested in the drama and to just enjoy the very crazy (in a good way) and wild ride! I loved the interesting plot and how things were explained and linked and wrapped up in the best possible ways (despite the plot being somewhat overly amazing, that is, illogical at several points).
- The OST, while not remarkable, was suitable.
- The interactions that JJL had with her suitors and the other characters was interesting and exciting. The drama was full of exciting moments.
- I liked how her suitors all turned out to be (generally) nice people. Well, no one is perfect but her suitors all genuinely loved her deeply. I liked that she did not toy with anyone's feelings and that she was communicative about her sincere romantic feelings towards ZZ and ZZ was also sincere towards her. It was lovely!
- While I kind of did not like Lu Yun Qi at first, I found myself rooting for him and this actor towards the end of the drama. This actor is a fine one who can use his facial expressions and eyes to convey his different emotions or be deadpan and hide his emotions. I loved how he was brutally vicious towards those whom he hated/ were malicious but yet, he was loyal and true to his subordinates and his lady love. It was extremely cathartic and gratifying to see the obnoxious Imperial Doctor get locked up for wanting to be evil towards his lady love, JJL. I loved that scene. Good riddance to the awful doctor, indeed!
- Happy ending whereby lovebirds got together, good people were still alive and recognised for being good, bad people were dead or were receiving their just deserts.
- Everything was tied up quite nicely! Thumbs-up!

What I Didn't Like:
- Chu Rang who usurped the throne was all sorts of insecure and crazy. He crippled all his loyal and brave subjects and listened to the bad ones who had their own ulterior motives.
- Huang Cheng was revolting to the max. Good riddance to bad rubbish in the end. He was so disgusting.
- Crazy potential mother-in-law in the form of Ning Yuanzhou's mother and his mad sister with bad intentions.

Overall, I rate this drama as a "must-watch" and I am very pleased to generously give this drama a Perfect Score of 10/10!

It took me on a very enjoyable and exciting wild ride and brightened up my drama nights. I looked forward to every single episode and nothing felt draggy or boring. Of course, many parts were rather illogical and unfathomable but as I said, suspend disbelief. The ending felt "just right" as everything was wrapped up well.

I highly recommend that you dive right in and enjoy this delightfully dramatic gem of a drama! :o)
<3 <3 <3

Lire davantage

All would have been solved in women were allowed to have more than one husband....

This drama had been on my watch list for some time (upon recommendation of my sister). I enjoyed it enough to get all the way through, but I do not think I'll rewatch it. In my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," and "nah," this drama rates a "liked" but no rewatch.

While this may be tagged as historical, it bears little resemblance to actual history--even if any of those characters existed in history (which I did not bother to look up). There was definitely no ancient Chinese doctor who could perform plastic and voice surgery. lol. But anyways, if you suspend historical reality, then you can enjoy this drama. This drama showed a good buildup of a relationship between the leads, featured an intelligent and fearless female lead (who, best of all, did not suddenly get helpless just so the ML could save her), and there minimal misunderstandings and stupid sacrifices for one another. There was a lot of "background", as in the characters would talk about something and then it would have happened by the next scene (so you don't see many battles, ML assassinating the emperor of the Qi, etc).

Personally, I did not mind Jin Han in the role of ML. At first, I was not sure about him as ML, his appearance fits better with Western, rather than Asian, standards of handsomeness--and I also saw him for the first time playing a sociopath in Princess Agents (but then playing the ML in "Our Glamorous Time") so I was a bit hesitant. But he did alright--especially the more comedic bits (I loved him and his two brofriends). He could be a little too dramatic at times, but it was tolerable. And its nice to have an ML in a drama who (almost) weighs as much as me...

This is my first time seeing Peng Xiao Ran in anything, and I thought she did just fine.

Du Ya Fei did a good job as Lu Yun Qi. He was a properly creepy/repulsive character with almost no good side except that LYQ kept Jiuling's family safe and never forced himself upon either her sister or her. I did not quite buy his change of heart at the end, since before that DYF played the character as a sociopath, but they had to tie up a happy ending in some way so him becoming a witness was a way to do that.

Side characters: Zhou Zhan as Fang Cheng Yu--I feel bad for the actor that he, a man in his early twenties, can convincingly play a fifteen year old boy. I really thought the actor was that young. He was cute though, especially with his crush on his "cousin"/wife/ex-wife. I kind of shipped ZZ's full sister with Ning Yun Zhao--that would have been a nice tie-up and they would have been a cute couple (but that mother would have been a bit of a nightmare...). I loved the ML's brofriends, they were hilarious and the three of them were able to convey hilarity without even needing to speak. I like the portrayal of supportive families (the Fangs and the Zhus).

A random drama questions: Why does anyone ever want to be the emperor!? (At least as the job is portrayed in Chinese & Korean dramas). It seems to be absolutely no fun and while you may be the person in charge, you're not actually in charge because every minute of every day is ritualized, you can't marry whom you want (or if you do, your actual wife [or your mother or grandmother] can make their life a living hell), you can't go anywhere you want, and you have to deal with annoying ministers all the time--and you are never alone while at the same time very lonely. Also, is that really how governments functioned back in the day? At anytime, anyone (with almost no evidence) could be accused of treason and their entire family for three generations killed? Even if you were a celebrated general? A long-serving minister? Seems like absolutely no one would want to risk doing anything for their country. Or maybe that is really what happened, and why kingdoms eventually collapsed and/or were conquered.

Not a waste of time, not the best drama ever, but a good watch for when you want to escape reality.

Lire davantage

Slow-burn, authentic love story, mediocre plot

This will just be me ranting honestly.

The main bits I really did like about this series are that FL and ML have a really authentic and cute romance, nothing was cliched, there was no stupidity, no misunderstandings, and best of all, they act like actual best friends, which is something you don't often see in a chinese period drama series. Second thing I loved, is that FL is surrounded by good people, whether it's her previous family, her friend who sacrificed herself, the friend's father, her current family, and of course her 3 love interests, and yes i'm excluding that demented bish LYQ for obvious reasons. There is no unnecessary dramatic family fighting scenes, no sibling rivalry (ok there was just slightly), no parents who refuse to understand their children, which are all again very very commonly found in chinese period dramas.

Now for the bits I didn't like so much, the plot itself. While I enjoyed the series as a whole with the slowburn romance, I faintly remember there also being a mystery plotline as they try to unravel the hidden story behind FL's father's death. But then, this mystery thing basically was left untouched, except for maybe a few minutes here and there within some episodes. It was completely sidelined, and I nearly even forgot about it, which is not a good thing, as that is supposedly the whole reason our FL is where she's at right now. It was definitely wonderful seeing FL's amazing feats and her crazy medical skills, but it would be nice if they also touched on how she's actually using those skills for the benefit of her revenge. It's interesting how our FL who was so hell-bent on revenge and even risked her life to do so, somehow seemed to lose all of that anger and wish for revenge throughout the series.

Basically, watch it for the romance plotline, but maybe not so much for the mystery and revenge bit of the story. And as much as I hate LYQ, I do admire the actor for making me hate him so much.

Rant over.

Lire davantage

The clever & talented Princess and her 4 husbands + A great and extremely fun drama.

A drama that deserved more episodes compared to what it has right now. 40 episodes is inadequate!!

Honestly, I only have good words for this drama. This piece is 1 out of many dramas I dare not slander or complain about in any way or aspect. It is THAT great! So let me start showering this drama review with nothing but positive and brilliant praises. Hahaha!!

First, I would love to commend the story's way of putting the scenes together. it was arranged in the most smartest way possible. Everything felt properly connected and intact and that made it more exciting and interesting to watch. Story build up was excellent and well-structured so it never felt lacking and confusing; Instead it made the drama a lot more easier for the viewers to watch.

Second is their decision to only focus on the Female Leads life and love interest. I was really fascinated by this side of the drama because it shows how they want to present it to people in a smooth and flawless way. Not only it keeps the viewers attention in one place but it also helps to fully indulge and focus themselves on the flow of the story + it made the drama more appealing and less complicated as a whole.

Third is the great synergy and chemistry among all the characters of this production. Just by the looks of it you'll know that they enjoyed filming it. This drama is full of positive energy and bright smiles that became one of the leading factors on why it's more comfortable to watch. I was so engrossed and excited each and every scenes that I was able to finish it in 4 days despite its 40 episodes.

Absolutely one of the best costume drama I watched ever since. It's a complete package of every single thing put all together + it didn't lack on any area which is very amusing for a drama these days. kudos!!

Story - 10, A well-written and excellently created story that shows how much hardwork the script writers must've invested into this to make it as perfect as it is right now. Every piece of it just fits perfectly together. Definitely one of the stories that will be difficult to be criticize by anyone in any possible way.

Acting/Cast - 10, Perfect set of talented and stellar actors and actresses. I was very satisfied of their character execution and their performance is over the top + I just enjoy the positive and radiant vibes they exuded.

Music - 10, Great choice of BGMs overall. I enjoyed and appreciate all of them and how they were picked to match and fit the vibe and mood of the scenes they were used on.

Rewatch Value - 10, The drama I enjoyed watching the most among all the chinese series I have watched since day 1 and I will never hesitate to watch it again.

Overall - 10, Masterpiece!! I will never stop mentioning how well structured, created and written this drama is. I feel like the people who worked on this drama are passionate about it and just decided to put their 101% the entire time they were shooting it. Definitely, a MUST watch!!

IF you find my review helpful please let me know

Lire davantage

What I like about this drama that is different from other chinese romance drama i ever seen

First of All, we have this adorable and cute female lead. her acts are amazing and display her emotion thoroughly in the story especially her love for the main lead. She is brave and never gave up even after losing her best friends and family. She always put herself in front to help those in needs. Being a wonderful physicians she had cure many diseases and illness showing her generous personality. However, she is way different from the female lead of other drama for one she doesn't act weak nor helpless as she act like one of those who takes on the role of mans being brave and doing what other women can't do normally. This is a wonderful model for what a typical Female lead should be like. The Male lead is alright. He is funny and displays characteristic of true man nature. He put himself in front of his love ones. He is always the one getting hurt(mostly) which is different from other Chinese drama where it is the female lead get hurts. This drama is typically unique. Also I don't like the other female leader's love relationship partner. Lu yun qi is just too obsessive with himself and want to get everything he want for himself under any circumstance yet he is protective of those he love. Ning Yun Zhao, a typical historical scholar, gentle, respectful and have a calm personality. He doesn't force her to love him. Fang Cheng Yu is just too childish to understand romance and love yet he know he does know that she is deep in his heart.

Lire davantage

4 EXES...IS THE BEST OF STORY

Alright, I admire this girl, she's married twice (going on 3) and has 4 handsome exes....that's an achievement especially for a girl from many century ago...a busy girl. She's beautiful, poise, kind, intelligent, strong will, determine, mature thinking, and has mind of brilliant strategist. BUT the story line was suck...badly. 1st & 2nd episode didn't make sense, she married with full blessing of Emperor but she tried to kill the Emperor with accusation of him murdered her father, in to jail she went for attempted murder, and her friend save her. Friend sacrificed herself in replace her burn to dead. Then, her friend's dad the genius doctor took her out of town - done up her face and voice cord, she miraculously changed into her friend's identity (Hmmm...modern genius surgeon won't able to do all that miracle just for one night) The writer(s) has done terrible job in writing a scrip for this drama; lazy writing full of short cut - not making sense - uninteresting dialog - a lot of plot holes.

But again I like every men she's with, they're special in their own way but who I like the most is Ning Yun Zhao (Wang You Shuo) he's polite, handsome, smart, dignify, well dressed, scholarly and kind. We don't get that kind of guy nowadays. The ML Zhu Zan (Jin Han) is kind of hot headed, loyal, martial artist, a prince, playful...he stick his face too close to the FL. They're child sweetheart but get separated, he loves her and thinking about love declaration when she reach 15. He blame himself for coming late to the capital after the dead of Princess Jun Jiu Ling on her marital ceremony to the trusted imperial guard Lu YunQi (Du Ya Fei) who had loved FL with mix of gratitude, admiration, obsession, love, respect and sacrifice. He's misunderstood, he came out wrong in his action, no body seems to understand his good intention - the dead wife treated him as a step stone although he laid his heart down...he remarried to the oldest sister with the intention to protect his in-laws family for the Emperor. His love to Jun Ling is boundless...

Fang ChengYu, 2nd husband is 15 years old boy who's sick and disable - she married him using her Bf's name (Jun ZhenZhen) for the reason of treatment option that requires intimate (medicated bathing) that only a wife can perform. He's a young cute rich boy, very delicate, smart, dedicated cousin as " ex-husband" out of respect, trust, young love and gratitude. She cures his illness and he's able to walk again. He divorced her after knowing the truth about their marriage but keep supporting and waiting for her. His young love is kind of innocent and always thinking the best for FL and Fang's family,

Her medical expertise is well-known and famous as a miracle doctor in which this story's making a detour to focus on rather her intention to take on revenge. The Emperor more interested in killing her and husband Lu YunQi had to deliver the order. The hatred she has to the current Emperor wasn't a big deal when she has 4 guys to mingle - she especially has a problem with Lu YunQi but to me he has the most legal authority to claim her - she married him using her legal status and name although she presumably dead on the day of their marriage - by right he's still her husband. Ok, she changed her identity and name a lot, can't keep up..Stuck on ep 20 as I started to get bore of the story line...

Lire davantage

Female lead absolutely carried this series

As the title suggests, this female lead which I had enjoyed when she was in Goodbye my princess, absolutely carried this series on her back.

Alot of the situations, scenarios and lines are cringe worthy but FL always looks perfect with her expressions and acting. I mean there are so many shows already with the small pox angles.

Its a pity the Male support casts and male lead doesnt match up to her abilities as compared to her ML in goodbye my princess. The chemistry between her male casts are average at best, while the chemistry with male lead seems so forced and fake from the male lead end too. So it was hard to ship or root for them as a couple. Hopefully she gets more series and gets matched with better male leads, as it was such a waste of her abilities. This got me thinking if the male lead was someone like Wang Anyu, this would have been a much better pairing and series.

This series when live was a drag to watch just because it got delayed for a week during the cliff hangers. But for the binge watchers this will be a worthy and enjoyable watch.

Lire davantage

Everybody Marries Jiu Ling!

Completed - 11/20/2021

"Jun Jiu Ling" seems to be a pretty controversial drama - either you love it or you hate it. I am in the former and quite enjoy watching this drama. The pacing is good for a 40-episode drama with a good mix of romance, politics, medical practices and battles, to keep me engaged. This is no small feat, as I do get bored usually in the middle of a Chinese historical drama.

Plot - If you can get over the ridiculousness of the first episode - a bad attempted murder, incredible prison break and face/voice changing, then you will be rewarded with a good and fun drama. The general plot is pretty typical - a revenge drama to expose the wrongdoings of the antagonists with the support of your friends. As I mentioned, this drama has many different elements. I am glad that it's not about a bunch of princes fighting for the throne. There's enough romance to go around for the romance lovers (like myself), a little bit of martial arts, some evil court ministers and battle scenes to save the country. This is by no means a perfect drama with a perfect plot. There are some scenes that I did do some eye-rolling, but I enjoy the drama for the most part.

Jin Han/Zhu Zan/ML - Jin Han received many negative reviews for his role as Zhu Zan because he's deemed not "handsome" enough. He might not be your typical, idol-looking ML, but I am very impressed with his acting. I think he fits very well into the character of Zhu Zan - a fun, loyal, upright, hopeless romantic. I hope netizens won't give up on this drama because they don't like Jin Han.

Peng Xiao Ran/Jiu Ling/FL - This is my first drama of Peng Xiao Ran. I avoided watching "Goodbye My Princess" but I heard she was great in it. I can see why everyone praised her as she did a fantastic job as our FL, Jiu Ling. She's beautiful with porcelain-looking skin, and her eyes can convey so much emotions. She has enough acting chops to carry this show on her back, if needed. However, I do think the character of Jiu Ling seems to be a little too perfect. She is so smart in every way possible, brave and beautiful. There doesn't seem to be a flaw in her.

Main Romance - I love the main romance here between Zhu Zan and Jiu Ling. I think it could be considered a slow-burn romance as it took a very long time for them to be officially together. However, you cannot miss the chemistry between them. There's so much emotional and funny moments between the leads. Even with 3 other love interests appearing, there's no reason to doubt the love they have for each other. There's no misunderstanding and they are honest and communicate with each other. When they do get together, there are many sweet and cute moments between them. When Jiu Ling is with Zhu Zan, that's when we see a different side of her... a fun and mischievous side that she rarely shows to others.

Other Men - The other 3 men really have no chance in being with our FL. She's honest and straightforward with them, and never leads them on. With such a perfect woman in front of them, it's no wonder they would do anything to support her. Aside from one psycho obsessive admirer, the other two are considerate and supportive. However, they are not good enough for me to have second-lead syndrome. I am Zhu Zan all the way!

Supporting Cast - There is a pretty decent sized supporting cast. It's a given that the veteran actors did a good job. But even the younger actors and actresses acted well. I was glad that there's no truly annoying character. You know who the villains are, though they aren't the most despicable I've seen.

Lire davantage

How many husbands do you have?

The drama followed an old face swap/identity switch formula with a slice of revenge. Jiuling was a princess who assumed the identity of her deceased friend to plan revenge against her emperor uncle for the death her emperor father. Along the way, she met four men to whom she was either engaged or married. I actually enjoyed that the drama did not take the harem trope too seriously and constantly made fun of it. The question "how many husbands do you have?" led to hilarious back and forths.

The face-swap explanation was pretty lolsy - a super secret non-surgically invasive technique performed by a physician in ancient China. Gotta love Chinese tropes.

Jiuling was portrayed as a mature young woman, a mix between the heroines from the Story of Ming Lan, the Double, Rebel Princess. It was very refreshing to see a more mature heroine, rather than the typical infantile stereotype.

I normally don't like harem or reverse harem formula because of all the extra drama and love triangles/rectangles. What I appreciated about this story was that Jiuling had entirely different relationships with all four men. From the very beginning, it was obvious that Zhu Zan will be her one and only love interest. Chengyu will be like a younger brother, Yunzhao will be her friend, and, Yunqi will be her enemy. The story did not have her flip flop between the four men making it confusing whom she will end up with.

I enjoyed her chemistry with Zhu Zan. Even though he didn't look like a typical hero because the actor also played villains, he had enough charm to hold his own and develop great chemistry with Jiuling through their spicy bantering.

One thing I didn't like was Yunqi's character development. The writers decided that nobody died in this show, although Yunqi was the one character who should've died. He went from having obsessive romantic feelings for Jiuling, which lasted for way too long, to going full psycho by kidnapping and locking her up. Then, he suddenly had an epiphany and started helping her. Considering his complete mental breakdown, him trying to be a good guy at the end was pretty unbelievable.

Overall, the drama was very enjoyable, the romance had plenty of chemistry, and the story was well paced.

Lire davantage

Watching this drama is absolutely worth your time.

After taking a step back and looking at the big picture, I can confidently say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Unlike most long dramas that tend to drag on and become redundant, this one managed to keep me engaged throughout. The plot was well thought out and each episode contributed something meaningful to the story. Although the main male lead's overacting and the annoying maid did get on my nerves at times, they were minor issues that did not significantly impact my overall enjoyment of the drama. Despite some inconsistencies, I can say without a doubt that I liked this drama.

The love story in this drama was an absolute letdown. Despite the obvious chemistry between the lead characters, the revelation of the FL's true identity was unnecessarily delayed until the very end of the show. Not even a single romantic moment happened before episode 33 out of 40, and to make matters worse, the one potential kiss they had was interrupted by a child. The late addition of the love story was a completely ridiculous move by the scriptwriters or director. The fact that she kept her identity a secret from the male lead, who had been mourning her loss for years, only to reveal it at the last moment, was utterly nonsensical.

I have to say, I was not impressed with the female lead. While she may be a talented actress, her character left a lot to be desired. Though she was often attractive, her stubborn insistence on keeping her identity a secret made her quite dull to watch. Frankly, there were many times when she came across as a cold and callous individual. For example, I found it quite distasteful when she showed no respect for the 15-year-old boy who simply wanted to have some privacy. Additionally, her rejection of the young villain who only showed affection to her, only further cemented my negative opinion of her. All in all, I did not care for her character at all.

The female lead had three suitors, and I won't count the fourth one as he was more like a little brother to her, which was clearly acknowledged in the epilogue. She ultimately ended up with the ML. The other two were the young villain and a scholar, and it was captivating to witness the three different types of love they all had for her and how their feelings unfolded. In my opinion, the female lead was not impressive. She relied too heavily on her tears (courtesy of the eye drops) and made empty promises (such as revealing her identity if the male lead survived). I found it hard to connect with her character and felt that something was missing.

The choreography was at times predictable and amateurish, leaving much to be desired. Additionally, I wasn't entirely satisfied with all of the casting choices - more seasoned actors could have added depth to the story. The big reveal in episode 40 came across as immature, not quite living up to its hype.

I detest disrespectful and completely unrealistic maid characters from historical dramas. They grate on my nerves so much that I have to fast-forward through their scenes every time. However, the happy ending did provide some small satisfaction. I also found myself growing increasingly bored and frustrated with the fact that she continued to keep her true identity a secret from the ML. It was an unnecessary and redundant issue that only served to create extra and unnecessary episodes.

Despite these criticisms, the drama kept me engaged throughout, but it didn't leave me breathless like the truly great ones. It seemed to be stuck in the middle, not childish, but not quite a masterpiece either. Hence, my opinion of the drama falls somewhere between like and love. The drama had its fair share of funny moments, which played a huge role in keeping me engaged throughout.

I think the primary problem I had with the drama was that the main male lead didn't quite align with my personal preferences in terms of physical appearance. Additionally, I found his acting skills to be unimpressive and lacking in authenticity. In the production, the use of eye drops seemed to be overdone. The main characters had big tears rolling down their eyes and cheeks, but the frequency with which it was done made it look exaggerated and unconvincing.

The other characters in the drama were intriguing and the actors portrayed their roles with talent. I was particularly drawn to the young villain who fell in love with the female lead when he was a victim of bullying as a child and carried his love for her into adulthood. He was cruel and obsessive but somehow his love redeemed himself. He was undoubtedly the most intriguing character to me. So was he a villain to survive? I have a soft spot for villains who are madly in love, but the scriptwriters put him in the villain category which I found hard to believe.

Overall, I would still recommend giving it a watch. Perhaps I'll revisit it someday to see if my opinion changes, as it did provide me with a good time.

Lire davantage

Good, but can be better

I like PengXiaoRan from Goodbye My Princess, and her acting is good so I enjoy her acting here too. The plot center on PXR's character, JiuLing, and how she changes her identity to revenge against her uncle; aka the King. FL's uncle murdered her father, and on her wedding day; she tries to kill him but didn't succeed. The King throws her into jail and wants to kill her. As the plot thicken, FL came into contact with her childhood friend, the ML. ML and FL eventually team up and went on a quest to fight against the King. FL also has some admirers that help her along the way. One of the admirers was YunQi, the crazy obsessed ex-husband that FL was forced to marry at the beginning of the drama. Chile Ning, her maid's longtime engagement that she ended up being tangle with when she took on the identity of her maid (her maid sacrificed herself so that FL can get her face and get revenge). In the end, FL succeeds in overthrowing her uncle, and everyone has a happy ending.

Plotwise, it was a predictable plot. The acting was good. The beginning was good towards the middle but got a little draggy towards the end. Overall, a good watch and an interesting unfolding plot.

Would recommend it if you want to watch a strong female lead center drama, and she is not stupid.

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