Story of Kunning Palace (2023)

Overcoming the Past is An Uphill Battle

The cast did a great job with this show. The first few arcs learning about each character was great and enjoyable but towards the end though the final arc had some pacing issues. Some people said they were bored with the beginning arc but imo it gave us much needed character development and world building. I wish this show had at least 5 to 10 more episodes because the developments were rushed especially for the main couple.

Our FL was in constant inner turmoil for her past life actions for good reason but I also pitied her for it because for the longest time she punished herself for it. Even when she has fixed all her past life wrongdoings she always blamed herself for it even for the stuff she had no control over. For the ML the past was just as traumatic if not more. He was forced to mature too quickly and survive through any means. It caused misunderstandings between the two of them which took a while. they both needed a lot of healing and made love a bit twisted and difficult for them two.

I know a lot of people will probably hate the ML because the other two supporting leads were such green flags. Still if you think about everything they've gone through it just shows how they are the best fit for each other as their connection and love runs the deepest. ( It also helps watching the mini episode of their wedding because they were so darn cute.) Keep an open mind when watching this drama and looking forward to watching more of these actors.

Warning: kinda red flag ML but honestly my biggest complaint is the lighting and filters at some points lol
Faves: The ost of this show and the whole cast main leads and supporting cast did a great job

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Acting, storyline, development are all good story of the kunning palace is amazing!!

Ah! I really enjoyed watching the story of the kunning Palace. The story, acting, visuals were all magnificent! It is definitely one of the bests cdramas to come out this year. Moreover, the characters especially xie wei who was played by the actor Zhang Ling He, gave such a phenomenal performance. I was really impressed with how he protrayed Xie Wei as a man who has been thorough so much hardship thus devloping a cold and shrewd personality. He is someone that I am looking forward to seeing more of his works and how his acting can further progress. However, I would also like to mention that at some points during the drama i did feel like he over dramatised xie wei’s character a little bit which came as kind of scary? But nonetheless he put on a good performance! As for Bai Lu, I am pleased with how she presented ning’er as a character. I think she did a wondeful job in showcasing her fragile side and how strong and smart she is. I want to give an overwhelming praise to yan lin’s actor as his character development really warmed my heart with how the actor managed to show just how much of a silly but really sweet boy he was. (i fell so hard when he was fighting in last few episodes, he looked so badass 😭) and ofc the actor who played zhang he i love you such a handsome man but his acting was really flawless i really think he put on a good performance in showcasing how self righteous. zhang he’s character was. Furtheremore, I think the story for kunning palace was executed pretty well but towards the ends it felt a bit rushed like the pace was inconsistent, so that kind of took the ratings down. Additonally, i felt like towards the end the director could’ve made the character’s deaths more vile because truly makes no sense how them being killed of just like that was a “satisfactory” ending for the viewers. Anyways i really did enjoy this cdrama and heavily reccomend for anyone who wants to watch. :)

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Şaşırtıcı bir son

Merhabalar, tam 4 kere izlemeye başladığım ve ilk 15 dk. sıkıldığım ve sonra son bir şans vermek istediğim bir dizi idi 1. bölümün ortalarından itibaren sizi saran içine alan son zamanlar da konusu ile değişiklik gösteren ve Zhang Ling He'njin en iyi dizilerinden biri oyunculuk harikaydı ve kendisine en yakıştırdığım rol oldu ters köşe planlar ve süpriz sonu ile gerçekten beğendiğim tekrar izleyeceğim bir dizi gerek kurgusu gerekse oyuncu seçimi çok iyiydi dizi için kadın başrol oyuncusu Bai Lu içinse bu rolde sevdim daha önce The Legends de pek sevmemiştim ve Xu Kai ile iyi partner olduklarını düşünmüyorum fakat Zhang Ling He ile yakıştırdım ve enerjileri iyi idi tek eleştirim kadın başrol oyuncusunun geçmişin anıları ile olduğu zamana dönmesi oldu bu kadar kusuru da kabul edebiliriz dizinin müzikleri güzeldi genel olarak yine emek ve zaman harcanmış bir dizi yapımda ve yayında emeği geçen herkese teşekkür ederiz. böyle dizileri daha çok seyretmek isteriz

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The man with a double life, and the woman with a second chance at it.

Admittedly, I was surprised to have missed Kunning Palace in 2023 - having only heard of the show in early December. Usually, period romance is right up my alley, but given a few disappointing dramas still in my recent memory it's been a while since I've watched anything of that genre. On this front, Kunning Palace succeeds.

From a period drama, this is exactly what we would expect; the domestic intrigue, the court intrigue, the 'hidden' past of the male lead. And, although nothing is particularly unexpected, the tropes don't necessarily grow wearisome. In particular, the relationships the female lead has with her other love interests are far from the usual "second lead syndrome" or "bothersome and obsessive reject who works to make her final relationship miserable". All of the stereotypically annoying clichés were toned down, which is a credit to the writers.

Yet, I do feel that this drama suffers from pacing and time delegation issues. Although we, as viewers, guess at the emotions of both love interests and see how they develop throughout the story - the realisation for both of the characters feels somewhat rushed. In the end, more time is spent on palace politics and battle scenes than on seeing them together as a couple. Unfortunate, given the emphasis that the drama clearly tries to place upon "love" and "loyalty".

Regardless, the stories outside of the main characters were gripping enough that I rarely skipped over them; particularly with regards to the princess, Xuehui and Fangyin. All of their characters were layered and interesting, and although I found the initial set up of the Jiang family relationship odd and forced; I liked how the tension between the family members resolved itself. It felt naturalistic and feasible.

However, the one cliché I cannot forgive is the set up for the entire 'rebirth' itself. It was superficial and poorly executed; feeling only like a weak attempt at trying to copy Joy of Life or Scarlet Heart (who at least had a purpose behind the usage which was relevant to the plot).

Ultimately, the drama is gripping and enjoyable. There is not really any criticism which can be thrown to the acting or the costume design, and the chemistry (both romantic and non-romantic) between all of the characters is palpable and poignant. It's unfortunate then, that they failed either to extend the drama, or to spend less time on its more superficial elements in order to focus on the relationships and plot that actually mattered.

Watch it though. I only have so many criticisms because it was so nearly perfect.

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Trọn vẹn.

Dưới N cái cấm từ Quảng Điện thì Ninh An là bộ phim hiếm hoi vẫn là chủ đề tái sinh mà vẫn trọn vẹn ở cốt truyện từ đầu tới, không bị hẫng ở đoạn nào. Trong bản tiểu thuyết có một cái kết đẹp và ngoài đời cả hai nhân vật giữa tiểu thuyết gia và biên tập viên cũng có một câu chuyện riêng của họ.

Lâu rồi mình mới xem hết một bộ phim mà có cái kết trọn vẹn như thế này sau Lưu Ly.

Điểm cộng:
- Bối cảnh phim đầu tư ổn nên ngoại cảnh quay khá đẹp chứ không sử dụng nhiều phông xanh giả trân.
- Cốt truyện chỉn chu từ đầu tới cuối. Không quá nhiều chỗ vô lý, tiết tấu nhanh nhưng vẫn thuyết phục người xem.
- Dàn nhân vật ai cũng có điểm để toả sáng, cũng có những câu chuyện riêng mà không quá dài dòng hay thừa thãi.
- Một bộ phim dễ xem, không quá lắt léo, khó hiểu

Điểm trừ:
- Nam chính trong phim có hơi bàn tay vàng một tí nên mình thấy phản diện bị tính toán hết đường đi nước bước dễ dàng quá.
- Quá trình phát triển tình cảm của nam nữ chính thật sự chưa thuyết phục mình lắm, sáu tập cuối mới có chút tiến triển nhưng tiến triển này có phần nhanh quá. Hình như phim bị cắt hai tập nên thành ra có đôi chút tiếc ở phần này.
- Tạ Nguy có hơi điên nửa mùa :)))). Có thể Hách diên chưa ổn lắm hoặc kịch bản có nhiều vấn đề nên mình chưa cảm nhận được Tạ Nguy điên cỡ nào.

Cảm nhận nhân vật:
Tính ra trong ba mối tình thì Yên Lâm là một người bạn thanh mai trúc mã tốt bụng, là một tri kỉ. Trương Già là người trong mộng của Tuyết Ninh còn Tạ Nguy thì là tổ hợp hai phần tính cách ấy và phù hợp vợí cô hơn cả. Tập 25 khi Tuyết Ninh quyết tâm cắt đứt với Trương Già, đoạn đó thật sự làm mình cảm động. Giá như Trương Già cố gắng ích kỉ thêm một chút, đừng quá cương trực ngay thẳng, thêm chút bỉ ổi như Tạ Nguy thì có lẽ đoạn nhân duyên của hai người đã khác...

P/s: Lưu Tá Ninh đóng trưởng công chúa xinh vãi ò.
Tính ra cuộc đời trước khi Khương Tuyết Ninh sống lại trông ngon nghẻ quá. Một người bỉ ôi, không từ thủ đoạn đạt được mục đích, có phần khốn nạn, dây dưa nhiều người để được sống. Mình thích một cốt truyện bỉ ổi đó quá :))))

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You will cry and laugh

This drama is about the FL, who went back in time to redo all her wrongs in her first life. The FL has three main guys in her life. One is her best friend, the other one is her first love, and the last one is her one true love.

This drama is also a kind of harem, in the sense that there is harem drama with the queen dowager. Anyways, the FL tries to redo all her wrongs and finds out the truth to save the people in her life.

I enjoyed this drama, and really like the ML. Love the ost, and cinematography in this drama.

I would watch it again :). 8.5/10.

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Disappointingly Average

This drama's problems begin in the marketing itself. I will be candid, I'm not really a fan of the story within a story format. Especially for romances, because that always feels so unfulfilling at the end. But nowhere in the description of the drama on MDL or IQIYI did it announce it was that, so I went in thinking it was a regular historical thriller. Despite tending to dislike that plot, I decided to watch on because I love tension and everything I'd seen had promised me that in spades. However, I think this drama only partially delivered. The past life scenes between Ning and Xie Wei were so tense and just what I was looking for however it wasn't the same with the current timeline. Obviously, they did have chemistry and tension but for me, it just wasn't doing it. Like when you compare the two timelines, past her is not nearly as frightened of him so they have this intensity that just doesn't happen in the current timeline. It is basically a one-sided obsession for the majority of the current timeline, and I don't even understand how she fell for him. Another thing, what was with the mental health rep? I don't understand why they included the mental illness at all, he could have hated the snow and been cruel without bringing in a disorder that is already stigmatized to use as an excuse for his violence.
I do want to say I did enjoy this drama, it was beautifully shot, the soundtrack was epic, and the acting was great. This was my first Bai Lu drama, but I've been in the cdrama sphere for about a year so I'm familiar with her name, and I was really impressed. I will definitely check out another one when I have the opportunity. The male lead did great as well, as did all the supporting actors.
Overall, I would recommend this drama, 8.5/10

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Feeling cheated...

The series started out so fantastic in almost every way: the plot, the characters, the visuals, the pacing, the charisma. It was a strong 9 or 9.5 score for me for the majority of the series until the last 10 episodes or so, where it all went terribly wrong. The downfall was almost predicted as around episode 30, I was wondering how they can possibly wrap up the story in only eight more episodes.

However, not only did they completely rush through to its finale, the steady and beloved personalities of the characters declined in such a way that it made all of the prior episodes feel like a bad investment. The plot that was so carefully paced out and so well done... became mush. As just one small example, when the ML sacrificed his precious hand and was stabbed multiple times, apparently it ended up not being a sacrifice at all. His hand was merely wrapped, still usable, and the rest of him just miraculously recovered overnight. This type of nonsense didn't occur previously.

The FL and ML's relationship was developing quite naturally but then devolved into an abusive/victim/guilt-ridden one in the end. Both of their characters were almost unrecognizable from where they started. Let's not forget the scene where they slept together and the ML decides to propose after (as if this is a modern day setting with no consequences for the women). Or how he tripped his own kid multiple times because despite having settled down with the FL, his jealousy is still out of control. What in the world happened? Did a writer just get swapped out towards the end? It really is such a shame. If they hadn't ruined the ending arc with such nonsense, the series would have been on the top of my list.

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hmm

So this won’t top Scent of Time, but I enjoyed this c-drama, at first it would be a little confusing, but man the acting and chemistry is on point. I truly enjoyed this one and it only took me A day and a half to finish the whole 38 episodes plus the bonus short special.

I solely approved of the ending and who she ended up with, glad that out of all the sacrifices he did for her she was finally able to realize and recognize her feelings for him.

At first I was intrigued to watch this since Bai Lu was the FL and I truly enjoyed her in Till the end of the Moon, Zhang Linghe from Love between fairy and devil (I’m halfway from that series but had to take a break, I couldn’t stand the FL there sorry), and of course Wang Xingyue from the scent of time. (he was remarkable there!)

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