Meng Xing Chang An (2021)

When all the hopes are gone, but you still keep going

I can’t tell exactly why, but while with other dramas I soon forget what they actually were about, this drama left very long-lasting and strong impression even after a long period of time.


Plot: 9,5
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★★★★★ Main idea:
--> Very strong, intriguing and well thought out.
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★★★★★ Logic:
--> Whole plot has logical continuity and doesn't contain much irrational twists. It tells the story of powerless emperor struggling to survive in palace where many parties supposed to protect and support him follow each their different agendas to seize power, while the nation suffers.
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★★★★★ Pace:
--> It was interesting till the end.
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★★★★★ Impression:
--> Still can't stop thinking about it. There was a strong feeling of heaviness through the most of the story, since there was everyone at war with everyone, even allies couldn’t trust each other completely, and one couldn’t simply believe this could end well.
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★★★★☆ Skip rate:
--> I skipped some of the side plots, but not much.
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★★★★★ Annoying factors:
--> If that count’s, I hated the main antagonist beyond any rational level, however that shouldn’t be a reason to criticism, quite the contrary, for me it’s an indicator the story pulled me in completely.


Characters: 10
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★★★★★ Lead 1 - Emperor Qi Yan:
--> Loved this character. It's a man sacrificing everything, his happiness, reputation, love and whole life, in order to return the empire to its original order. He’s not complaining about this role, not pursuing his own happiness, he silently bears the responsibility of his position, looking for ways to win an impossible fight.
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★★★★★ Lead 2 - Swordbearer Cheng Ruo Yu:
--> Loved this character. I really liked her evolvement – she started as a naïve and a bit dim-witted child, but she has grown up by the emperor’s side and learnt all about scheming and plotting, but never turned out this way herself.
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★★★★★ Overacting:
--> There is no annoying exaggerating.
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★★★★★ Acting:
--> Actors are great, very talented.
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★★★★★ Annoyance level:
--> Not annoyed at all.


Background: 8
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★★★☆☆ Soundtrack:
--> Liked a song or two.
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★★★★☆ Visuals (camera, scenery, visual effects, ...):
--> Really liked it.
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★★★★★ Wardrobe (costumes, hairstyles, makeup, ...):
--> Absolutely loved it.


Rewatch value: 8,5
I assess this value based on impression, skip rate, annoyance level and overall preference.


Final verdict: 9,5
If I were to be objective, I would have to admit, there are some weird plots and behaviors in this story, that should probably lower my rating. Reason I am overlooking this, is that I usually move on from one drama to another with no difficulty, at most I replay the drama twice, then I move on. This drama however made me feel heavy and I couldn’t emotionally move on for a pretty long time. Since it left impression this strong, I can’t help but to rate high.

Lire davantage

A surprising enjoyable drama

This Chinese drama was not the best I have seen. But it drew me in to at least watch it to the last episode. The male lead’s acting was compelling. I did not appreciate the female lead’s character in beginning but more toward the ends ; I had more respect for her. The villain did his job sometimes frustratingly. The ending is rather confusing and open ended because thinking about the intrigues throughout the series, it made me question what I saw at the end. Especially since the emperor hinted what were his plans for their future, then her surprised look at the end after someone requested her favorite noodles, and finally, the way the emperor trust guard looked at Yu’er with a “I know something you don’t.” Hmm I wondered was that my wishful thinking or was the director trying to play with the audience ? I hope someone can explain it one day.

Lire davantage

A powerful drama that has sucked you in till the very end.

Also known: Dream of chang'an. FYI
Up to ep 36 I originally thought of giving this up at first as all i could think was 49ep ouch and was i so wrong before you know it i was addicted and looking at different site for more episodes.
The ML/FL & 2 ML/FL are all kicking ass and doing an amazing job and this time a villian who you definitely hate in every sense of the word the rest of the cast which is A lot are also doing a believable job. The costumes, carriages and set are great in my options.

This storyline start with the plannings of the Morning Dew Rebellion 8yrs ago when the Emperor Qi Ang was in pain & wanted to take back his power from the eunuch fraction who was getting to big & powerful.

Warlords LiXu & Zheng Lu took the Dew Code and Gen'l Han Yue lured QZL to Zuo Zhenhen yard to kill him, but failed since QZL knew and already killed both of them/familiy Gen'l Han went to the palace to report to emperor and so he made a secret imperial edict (to make prince Guang emperor? ) and told him to give to Prime Minister Wang.

As he arrived the servants were telling him and his Granddaughters Ruoqing and Ruoling to leave and gave him the edict and sent them out thru underground tunnel and while trying to hold off QZL/QiYan/Shencai army he got an arror thru the eye presumed dead. By the time the wangs got out they were waiting for them and QZL shot PM yang wang in the back and QiYan shot both girls in the back.

Later Qi yan goes back to the dead grave and looks for the 3 girls he find zheng wu and send her out, he then finds Gen'l han and gives him to prince guang to fix and prince Guang finds Ruoling but not ruoqing. We learn that the yi Yan practiced to hit between ribs and not the heart in order for them to live.

The emperor Sadly lost the last of his power/control of court and officials to become a powerless puppet who was controlled by Qiu Zi Liang(QZL) for the next 8yrs. The official were either in coercion with QZL or coerced into following him or be killed.

So of course you dislike the ML, but later you also feel a little sorry for him with the pressures of secrets given by his brother before dying(suicide/QZL murdered by fish) He also spoke to Teacher Wang and made him a promise to try and save him & his 2 granddaughters, but QZL got to the arrow.

It was and is still a little confusing to me as Qiu Zi liang is an eunuch who got power from the last emporer to the point he was running the courts and the new emperor is more or less a puppet also. Why hasn't anyone's tried to kill or poisen him there were many occasions. Why he didn't make himself the emperor?
This review could go on and on from me so will stop as there are so many twist and turns like a rollercoaster of stories and events and gruesome killing.
Now up to ep 46 and only 3 to go and its sad and cruel that Ruo qing doesn't tell yu'er she's her sister. Does she really believe yu're will never find out.
Just finished and WOW the ending was completely not what i expected, but ended well. You never know who's good and who's bad umtil the end. Its worth the watch

Lire davantage

Most annoying main and female lead ever.

Watch it because of the score but sadly this show is painful to watch because you basically watch a king actor only know how to express pain and clutching his chest most of the time and female lead written as an intelligent and martial prodigy but act completely different most of the times.

Music: you got nice shenshen's song but that's it

Story: if they cut it to 20 episodes instead of 49 and throw all the two main lead scenes maybe it will become more watchable

Act: for sure the actors can act but due to char development you can expect same expression from beginning to end of the show.

Rewatch value: 0. No clever plot, you only watch it if you are the fans of the male or female lead fix expression here but for sure their other shows should be better.

Lire davantage

Meaningful story

As I am still watching this drama, every day seems long as to wait for the next episode. Watching the first episode already sucked me into this drama. I love how each character has their own flaws and they are not perfect. The emperor may have made despicable choices to gain the throne but after a few episode we realize that he has good intentions for his country and its people. Watching more of this drama i realize this drama is really have deep meaning of the choices that people make and how it effects their relationship with others and I realize that some choices are regretful but some are not. The strength of this drama is the story and how the story develop.
An added bonus for me is hearing zhou shen singing the ost for this drama. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ Will keep watching and hoping for the next episode to come faster. hahahahaha...

Lire davantage

One of the best cdramas

Highly recommand for this one. I can definitely say that this one does not waste your precious time. There is no doubt why this drama gets billion viewers on MGTV. I had been waiting for this drama throughout the whole 2020. It doesn't make me disappointed. The script writer can know how to draw the attensions of the viewer. At first, I didn't understand the story so I feel a little bit boring. Later, when I try to understand it , I found out that it has such a good story line and the concept what they want to show and their performaces are matched. They showed the love story between lovers, the love between sisters and how Qiyan succeed his goals very beautifully and obviously systematically. The acting of all the actors ,actresses and supporters have nothing to say.

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I Need Compensation for the Emotional Damage This Drama Caused Me

You ever encountered a drama so good you know that it'll take weeks or months for you to recover from it? This is it. This is how good this drama is. Plot twists at every corner, nothing is ever predictable. .

That was honestly so satisfying to watch. It's rare to find a costume drama that wasn't dragging. The actors were so good, the chemistry so effective, the plot is honestly to-die-for, and everything is just perfect down to the OST.

I thought this was a consoling story (especially if you have watched Love and Redemption). At first I thought it was a nice change that someone would die for Cheng Yi's character rather than him dying over and over again. But man, this is more emotionally taxing. The actors here are so good! Especially FL who was so pretty when she smiles, and beautiful even when she cries.

Lire davantage

Terrible

What a mess. Gaaaaah, I hated this drama. I hated the FL actress’ face with her fish-like pucker lips. I hated the palace nonsense and lack of anything resembling a sensible story. I hated the almost dying and hapless Emperor. Mostly, I hated the way the youtube comments were all fawning over this non-existent love story. I mean, despite Cheng Yi’s valiant attempt to dial up the scorching eyes and pursed lips, it still couldn't create any chemistry with the skinny-noodle-like FL who, btw, we're supposed to believe is a martial artist (el oh el). Why do I do this to myself?

Lire davantage

Intense.

I was fairly intrigued by the premise of this drama and I decided to watch it because I like the female lead. She’s pretty and kind of cute.

What I liked:
- intense drama with a lot, a lot of things happening
- plenty of unexpected twists and turns
- it’s a long-drawn chess game which lasts 49 episodes
- never know what will happen so you have to go episode after episode
- the male lead is handsome (it’s my first time ‘meeting’ him and he’s quite fine
- the female lead is pretty and quite fine too

What I didn’t like:
- crazy eunuch - he’s nuts and hateful
- too many twists and turns - I was quite confused and puzzled (but things do get solved and explained which is good)
- quite bloody with plenty of deaths

A drama worth an 8/10 is a drama worth watching in my opinion. If you are thinking of whether to watch or not, I’d say watch if you have time for 49 episodes.

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