Unchained Love (2022)

Good story but very unfortunate finally untidy

The beginning has shown the cheerful, intelligent and independent FL (Bu yinlo) character. The romantic story of the duo Xiao and Buyinlo is also described as sweet, funny, adorable, most of the audience will like it. The main theme of this story is not a conflict of political feud to seize power in the kingdom, but focuses on the struggle of love between 卡西姆皇家 and the widow of the previous Emperor, there really is a rebellion scene to replace the Emperor but many scenes tell love stories and challenges from FL and ML. Acting from Yukee Chen is very successful in being a BuYinlo character, she is very good to play a cheerful, independent, and very good character being a strong female character, Maybe in my opinion, this is the most successful character played by Yukee Chen among the other series that she is the main role. Charisma Dylan is undoubtedly to attract the audience from this series. Lifting thumbs up for Peter Ho, he is very good to play the character of the emperor who is psychopathic, selfish, cruel but even though he is basically timid, he is very good to make the audience upset and angry with him. But unfortunately this series many scenes are cut, especially kissing scenes, this makes the audience disappointed. Overall this series has described an interesting and good story but at the end of this story it is less epic and does not illustrate the end of the romantic story that ends but still leaves a question mark for the audience

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Cruel and sadistic at times but a great watch for lovers of forbidden romance . . .

A thrilling story of two people following their hearts in a dangerous, toxic imperial palace. The first episodes are violent, overacted and aesthetically ugly, but these issues mostly resolve and settle in.
The plot is unique, you are dropped right into the middle of the conflict and the characters have to fight hard for control over their fates. The ultimate strength of the drama is both people in the romance are skilled and strategic, personable, and have great chemistry.

Dylan Wang from Love between Fairy and Devil continues excellence at conveying menacing, brooding protectiveness. He also succeeds this time in softening and adding some humor and teasing. Chen Yu Qi excels at moving between humor and pranks, to righteous anger, to deep sadness. I was really cheering for them to overcome the odds.

The music is fairly one note, and some of the romance scenes may be worth a rewatch.

I grade on other criteria as well:

Complex Themes: 8.5
Obsession and jealousy are soul destroying - healthy love is completely different. Holding firm to simple principles avoids corruption. Fighting for what you want leads to less regret. Being unafraid of death provides courage and a life with dignity.

Complex Characters/Growth: 7.0
The emperor is a simplistic fool who lets his irrational fantasies and desires run wild. While not a complex characterisation the character is welcome: more dramas should explore obsession v. care and love. Similarly, I liked how the main characters leaned in to stereotypes and tropes to deceive and trick their way to freedom. It was a refreshing take on what is considered a moral and dignified way of life when you have no power and it worked for me: what is crying, faking illness, lying etc. compared to protecting the people you love?

Complex Women/Interactions Between Women: 7.5
Chen Yu Qi is complex: while she desires a simple and carefree life, she is fully capable of initiating her own strategies and power plays. She is making a conscious, active choice to not lead a life full of power struggle - not because she couldn't hack it, but because it's not what she wants. Besides her though, the other women characters are simple and mostly discuss the male characters.

Cinematography/Production Values: 7.5
On one hand, the fight scenes are well done, and there are a few cinematic moments. On the other hand, it really is shot like a drama from 5 - 10 years ago.

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Go in with no expectations

I have been waiting for this drama forever. So, when IQIYI announced that it was to be released on 27th December 2022 I was euphoric. Special mention to all the trailers, they were just amazing.

It is the story of Xiao Duo a eunuch who works for the emperor and Bu Yin Luo the concubine whom the emperor loves. Their relationship is forbidden (Hence the name), so the problems they discover form the story.

Characters:

Xiao Duo played by Dylan Wang. I must say that I expected a lot after LBFaD but he was not up to the mark. Mostly he did a fair job, but he fails to show emotions through certain scenes. Especially some emotional scenes between Yukee and him. The lack of chemistry between him and Yukee was showing through. He looks amazing as always with the beautiful and intricate wardrobe, especially the Black ones. Dylan has few but some excellent fight scenes, which I absolutely love. Also, his general controlling, stern and clever attitude is noteworthy.

Bu Yin Luo played by Yukee Chen. Yukee Chen was not bad but one could not help but see a lot of recycled actions across different emotions. She is wide-eyed in several scenes which feels out of place. Most emotional scenes could not be related to. She not only lacks chemistry with Xiao Duo but also with Li Ping Ru and Tong Yun. There is a lack of build-up between her and Li Ping Ru, which makes the emotional scenes just so-so. At times one cannot help but question if she has any feelings for Xiao Duo or if she is okay with spending time holding hands with Fu Wang. She also has a good wardrobe.

Murong Gao Gong/Fu Wang played by Peter Ho. He does a good job of a know-nothing, want-nothing prince who by chance became an emperor. His love for Yin Luo is blind and selfish. The character build-up is fair.

So Far:
If you have time and want to binge-watch a costume drama or miss Dylan after LBFaD you can watch it. The drama is one-time watchable with some amazing shots and beautiful costumes. It lacks some character build-ups, story build-ups and lead pair chemistry. The first few episodes lack the charm but as you go on the story does become quite interesting. If you can bear with the problems do give it a try.

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Genre confusion

The biggest problem with this drama is genre confusion and a lack of a plot. The story started off with a very cruel practice of killing childless concubines and burying them with a deceased emperor. One of the concubines was rescued by a powerful eunuch leading to the two forming a unique relationship. The plot included serious elements of murder, abuse, political conspiracy, and forbidden love that had a potential to create an engaging story and complex characters. Unfortunately, the serious elements pretty much disappeared at the beginning of the drama turning it into another goofy rom com.

I like Dylan Wang and I think he does very well in other costume dramas like Love Between Fairy and Devil. But, here, he was miscast. Xiao Duo is a complex character wielding incredible power and influence second only to the emperor. Everyone fears him and his subordinates call him "godfather" (per Viki translation). He should have been portrayed by an older and more mature actor, especially because it would take years to achieve that kind of power. Instead, we had a 25 year old actor playing dress-up. Bu Yinlou's character was completely stripped down, and, a lonely and abused former concubine became just another infantile female stereotype. The whole experience felt like the writers were insulting my intelligence by introducing a serious plot with very tragic elements and turning it into a silly idol drama.

By episode 15, I was bored out of my mind because nothing of substance was really happening. There were no more hints of political conspiracy. Any kind of seriousness and danger were gone. A promising story with a dark plot turned into a slap-stick comedy. An incredibly dangerous and vicious Xiao Duo regressed to a love-sick puppy. Bu Yinlou acted like an infantile nincompoop with overly exaggerated facial expressions. At this point, 36 episodes were far too many to sit through when there was nothing to look forward to.

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It's great so far!

Many people rate everything Dylan Wang does as a 10. While I'm loving the story line the FL should have been someone else. Her acting is sub par for me. Dylan actually keeps the show interesting. I'm no Dylan groupie but I actually think his acting in this drama is excellent. The king...Man what a change from how he was in the beginning. Power really did go to his head. That stupid eunuch is the one that made him that way imo. It was clear the FL never loved the king but that bloody eunuch had to make it seem like she was infatuated with the king. I'm nervous how he will react when he finds out his love is with chief Xiao 😳. He's so hot headed lately it is going to be a disaster!

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NO CHEMISTRY

The MLs didn't have chemistry together, no intertwine background story to get them relate to each other, supposedly has comedy element which none shown. By a chance they met and get together, YuQi as her usual acting didn't deliver her character but annoying and plain. She's been in the business for a while, has big eyes and smooth skin beautifully, but she's an average actress no matter who she's with.

The Story
Very different and interesting... a promising line of story. The drama is based on the novel of the same name by You Si Jie, which tells the story of Xiao Duo, the leader of the powerful Zhao Ding Division and Bu Yin Lou, a concubine of the previous emperor, who bravely defies fate and feudal ritual to support each other through life and death to win their freedom. There's a custom; By the death of Emperor, there're selected childless concubines that have to serve (accompany) dead Emperor to nether world, Bu YinLou was one of them although she's never met the Emperor and tried to get herself out of situation. Murong Gao Gong, a lowly surviving prince loved her and asked Xiao Duo a favor to save her for such terrible fate, which Xiao Duo did it with demand a favor in return.

Dylan Wang (Xiao Duo)
Xiao Duo's twin brother was killed by Yu Wen Liang Shi when he entered the palace for a work. Although Xiao Duo had risked to try to assassinate Yu Wen Liang Shi, ended up in failure, and finally had to take a risky move to infiltrate the palace in place of his brother. All the way to promotion, in order to have the opportunity to avenge his twin brother. When he agreed to help Bu YinLou, he had his own agenda for personal advantage against people who killed his brother. Xiao Duo although powerful was melancholic when he's alone and confuse about his own feeling, available for YinLou. Up to ep 8 nothing but boring scenes about feeling, actually...... no action scene worth mentioning.

Chen YuQi/Bu Yin Lou
Bu Yin Lou has lived a miserable life since she was a child, and later entered the palace in place of her sister as lower class concubine but she has never even seen the emperor. Bu Yin Lou's mother sending her the grave (by accompany dead Emperor) for an award for son's career in officialdom. Her mother even offering bribes, to make Bu Yin Lou go to death smoothly. To sacrifice one person in exchange for the promotion of other officials in the family. As a character, although very observant, she's naive and annoying, love to play card and no other activity to show her worthiness.

Zeng Li/Empress Rong An
If she played super strict mean mother in LLtG, here she played a cougar cruel Empress which none were likable characters. Don't like her acting here though; she chopped dialog (per syllable), with oversize robe/gown she looked shorter - dragged down by her costume and hairdo, as a cougar she's interested sexually in Xiao Duo (older woman initiating physical love is gross) so I don't think she'll win any award for her part here.

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Promising plot with unique storyline and horrible writing. An OK rom-com, thanks to Wang Hedi

The series nudged on the topic of social roles in ancient and imperial China, with high focus on the oppression and discrimination against women: this is my first time learning about the burial rites in ancient China where (childless) concubines and palace maids were buried alive with the deceased emperor. Aside from Wang Hedi, the unexplored and rarely told story about this funeral custom made me pick up the drama despite the mixed reviews it garnered.

The storyline also explored themes of death, revenge, and domestic abuse, although the narrative did not heavily focus on those.

Comedic bits were inserted in between scenes, which actually worked, and they were neither awkward nor forced. The comedy made the overall tone lighter and digress from the heavier and darker aspect of these subjects.

The first episodes were slower in setting the pace, but this improved in the succeeding episodes. However, a struggle in consistency is notable as the story progresses.

What initially gripped me made me want to skip a few minutes of some episodes because it fails to anchor on the message and theme of the story.

The story lacked depth and the usual revenge and star-crossed lovers tropes did not even allow me to develop a deep emotional investment for the leads and other characters.

It is important to note that a number of scenes, especially the steamy ones, were omitted due to censorships, but upon checking, the said deleted scenes do not hold much significance to the development of the story, unless (steamy) kissing scenes are a prerequisite to your good romance.

For the romance aspect, Wang Hedi delivered. He makes a successful tsundere who’s down bad for the female lead.

This is my second Wang Hedi drama coming from Love Between Fairy and Devil (LBFD) and based from the two series of Wang Hedi I’ve watched so far, I can see that he has the ability to build chemistry with his co-lead. Yes, his handsome face is enough to give you butterflies in the stomach, but he also makes use of facial expressions in conveying emotions that are very effective.

In contrast, I feel Chen Yuqi (as Bu Yinlou) fell short in acting. She was average in some scenes, but overall, I cannot identify the emotions she wanted to convey—by making her eyes appear larger and doing these rapid eye movements, what does she want me to feel exactly? Grief? Joy? Or is there an incoming gag that I need to anticipate so I could break into laughter?

Bu Yinlou is actually a rare female character type who’s clumsy and funny but has a thinking head on her shoulder. Often times, Bu Yinlou is independent and does not need saving when stuck in a dire situation. It's a shame this character was not portrayed better, effectively, and consistently.

The secondary characters have their own story, too, but the narrative did not dwell on these and clearly, the focus of the story was to resolve the conflicts of the main characters.

From a technical standpoint, the writing is definitely askew and the inconsistency is jarring. The plot holes (life of concubines in the inner court, Deer's Reed Residence tunnel, to name a few), though, would not require much effort to ignore.

Wang Hedi’s fight scenes have good choreography and again, to underline his acting skills, he was able to depict the strength and tenacity of his character during these scenes. Some scenes had stunts which were unnecessary (I remember Wang Hedi was just trying to climb into the bed, but he had to flip awkwardly in the air like an acrobat just to do that).

It’s a shame for a drama with unexplored topics like ancient burial customs to make a sharp turn downwards due to horrible writing, but for those looking for an instant fluff, especially Wang Hedi fans who want to admire his good acting (and face), this could pass as an enjoyable watch.

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How crazy are you willing to do for 'love'?

Finally finished watch this after delay it for quite sometimes. Thinking & thinking to watch or not because of Chen Yu Qi. For me this girl is no FL material yet. I love her character in ashes, but as long as she play the lead role / FL, almost feel lack of something. Sorry for her fans. But at the same time I want to watch Dylan Wang after Love Between Fairy and Devil, so yeah finally I decided to watch this & hang till the end because of Dylan & Peter Ho.

How crazy are you willing to do for 'love'? Here we have Murong Gao Gong (GG) that willing to do anything just to make sure Bu Yin Lou (YL) be his, even with the lack of cooperative & willingness from YL herself. GG is an unfavored princes that have opportunities to take the throne, due to all his relative is dead & he is as the closest heir. GG himself has very week personality & when he takes the throne he became quite insecure. Unfortunately he choose the wrong way & pick power to control everyone that don't obey him.

At the same time we have Xiao Duo (XD), head eunuch & have all the power to control the military & court. He has one purpose to find his brother killer & take revenge. With time he encounter YL & fall in love with her. In the end they found out the one killed XD's brother is related to YL & he decided to just give up the revenge in the name of love. And last he finally give every thing that he has just to be with YL....

OK. Now our girl, Bu Yin Lou (YL). She is one free spirited girl that love freedom, she is smart & witty. She is falling in love with XD, the man that up & down try to do everything for her & give his best to give her freedom. Unfortunately we got Chen Yu Qi as YL, she can't portray YL perfectly. Although I quite like her in the end, where she like crazy & the talk with GG is done well. But maybe if someone else be YL, it's gonna be better...

What I love:
+ The chemistry between Dylan Wang & Chen Yu Qi not as bad as I imagine. Quite like to see them together.
+ Peter Ho give amazing performance as GG. We can see how insecure he is, how he crave love from YL, and every little feeling that GG has we can feel it.
+ The adorable Tong Yun & Cao Chun Ang

Overall this drama pulled by Dylan Wang & Peter Ho performance.

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It could've been so much more....

I don't have much to say except the drama had potential to be so much better, especially when I watch all the deleted scenes, my heart hurts. The editing was horrible from a certain point and the story line didn't make sense until I watched the cut scenes, most of them I don't even understand why it was cut. I know censorship exists but I don't think any of the cut scenes went against it especially when many other dramas show just as much intimacy as the ones we see in the deleted scenes.

The story itself had potential but the villain characters pissed me off bad, especially the emperor, he has such a punchable face and his little eunuch sidekick with that annoying voice and he's beady eyes. The emperor is a full blown creep, I hated him till the end and also the fact he harasses the fl to that extent is disgusting. I also hated the SA scene for obvious reasons, it just went on for too long and brushed off. I don't understand how they kept a clear assault scene in but cut out all kiss scenes like what even was the standards when putting the drama together??

Personally I think this was just a waste and I feel sorry for the actors, I really did enjoy the actors and the relationship dynamics but unfortunately the production completely butchered the show, I only stuck around for the leads tbh and skipped any scenes with the villains at some point even the ending was bad. I really want to know how the show would have turned out if they didn't get rid of so many important and intimate scenes. The chemistry was definitely there between the leads and even more in the deleted parts. Overall, it's just unfortunate what the end product is :(

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Started for Dylan, Stayed for the plot and Dylan

Frankly speaking I only started this series because of the ml . I’m a big fan and decided to explore his other series after watching the love between fairy and demon.
This is my first time watching a historical drama that isn’t centered around cultivation and so I didn’t really have any interest . I read the comments here on mdl and was discouraged further but decided to continue and I’m glad I did .

The fl’s character was refreshing to watch . She was always quick on her feet and wasn’t easily bullied which I genuinely loved . I also love how the love story between her and Dylan developed. It wasn’t rushed or forced .

Honestly the drama did get boring at some point for like 5-10 episodes but after those episodes, the drama picked up and I binge watched it to the end . The boring episodes were like from 8-15 . I’m not certain of the exact episodes but it’s around there .

I don’t want to get into the details and end up dropping spoilers but all I’ll say is ignore the negative comments and just watch the series for yourself. Try to hang in there till like episode 16/17 and you’ll be fine .
The rewatch value is low simply because I’m not really the type to rewatch dramas. So you can ignore that .

Have a great watch ! ❤️

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Don't have high expectations

This was what I've told myself several times when I watched this drama. Now, I know my limit, that is don't watch forbidden love type of story because I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop the entire time. I actually stopped watching after 29th ep and proceeded to read the remainders episodes' spoilers so I kind of finish it but not really. I definitely will try to watch this drama till the end.

ML, Xiao Duo was intimidating, ruthless and clever head chief of eunuch in Zhaoding Bureau/Sect. He was definitely good at finding solution for difficult situations.

FL, Bu Yinluo, the Consort Duan, was playful, smart and ruthless when the time needed her to be. I definitely admired her brazen behaviour when she slapped the Empress(the villainess) back and hold her as a hostage. Like I need to see more of that move from Female Lead.

I definitely agree when PeachBlossom's review mentioned how they flaunted their affair with recklessness.

Now let me gush about the ML's outfits. Definitely love love how he looks so royally and the person with authority better than the emperor. I love this one outfit of him, there were gold patterns on his shoulders and on the skirts beneath the see-through first layer of the skirt. Idk why but most of the time, his eyes looks like it was so natural for him to have his eyes lined with black eyeliners. Looks more edgy and dangerous.

I am really rooting for Princess Hede and Prince Liangxu's love. Cao Chung'an and Tongyun too.

I cannot believe that I hv to put this drama on hold bcs I'm afraid to watch it till the end. This review is not finished yet, will come back, conclude it once and for all.

- 29122023

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Wooden actors with no chemistry

After Dylan Wang ruined Evernight 2 with his bad acting, jumping around and waving a sword without any real martial art, runing an excellent performance by a great actress (Ireine Song) we vowed never to watch him again. However, having run out of series to watch, we gave Unchained Love a chance.

After 8 episodes we have given up. There is no chemistry between Dylan Wang and Chen Yu Qi and apart from Zeng Li, the remaining cast can only be considered class C actors and actresses.

How anyone can rate Dylan Wang as a good actor is beyond me. He has no character and does not connect with his lead actress.

Save some time and give this series a miss.

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