Monarch Industry (2021)

Loved This

This was the second drama I watched, and I am saving it to watch again and again. I pretty much liked the story line, but the ML made the movie for me. The chemistry between him and the FL was delightful. However, admittedly, I just loved watching this guy. He smoldered in every scene and I am mesmerized! I am going to watch it again just to look at him.

That being said, it was a passable story, but I didn't care for the indiscriminate killing off of so many of the characters (especially the good ones that I liked). The costumes were fantastic. The cinematography was great. Realistic. All in all I really liked this piece.

And I'll say it once again - Zhou Yi Wei : hot!

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Wang Xuan was really a rebel who was not wise towards his own family

Many of these drama stories are not very realistic, I agree more with Wang Lin (The Prime Minister), because the ruling emperor is not as qualified at all, like: Ma Zilong even cannot make wise decisions, Ma Zidan has no intention of taking care of the country ..... even though Wang Lin is ambitious but the reason makes sense when he is in power might make people's lives more prosperous .... while wang xuan is very unreasonable, can sacrifice his family for the sake of an unclear government and make the people miserable as he saw when he returned to the capital.... it is very unwise and cruel to his own family. ... the very good story in this film is only when the story is about the rebellion of the 2nd prince, the tactics and common sense should be that way .... don't be like wang xuan which in my opinion is actually a rebellious according to the title ... sacrificing family to defend an obscure kingdom

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Superb

Hampir 20 thn ga ntn c drama.. ini cdrama pertama yg gw tonton.. Gara" debut drama Zhang ziyi.. eh malahbjatuhbcinta ama Zhou yiwei.. hampir lupa sama pemeran utama wanitanya.. 2-2nyabpny akting ygvkuat.. love their chemistry as husband & wife.. sampe kebawa kedunia nyata mo jodohin aja.. ??? Gila.. gila.. gila.. ni drama bagus banget... dr kostum, cerita, music, pemeran utama dan support aktornya semua hidup.. gada yg ga bagus sih gw bilang.. gila lah ini.. sehari ntn maraton sampe 12 episode ??.. terserah mau di bilang lebay tp ini drama addict banget??? sekarang udah tamat bingung mo lanjut drama apa soalnya blm move on?? blm ada yg sebagus ini.. Yuzhang wang ❤?

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When the recipe works ....!

A super production with a complicated plot, with Game of Thrones costumes, Lord of the Rings background music, set in an unspecified Ancient Chinese Kingdom... What could have gone wrong??

Strangely not that much. The recipe worked for one more time.
The badass but cool prince fights and saves his beautiful wife (that she is not a rebel and she is not a princess either) and the whole Kingdom countless times, with surgical accuracy and perfect timing while the rest of the characters are able to do all about everything in their fight for the Kingdom's throne.

Unfortunately the princess herself is the weakest link. Not because she is not pretty, not because she is not elegant but because she is expressionless, and very aware about her looks.

It is a pity that such a renown and experienced actress as Zhang Zi Yi is, fell in the trap of looking eternally pretty instead of spoiling a bit her looks and as a consequence her chance to give the acting performance of her life, in her own -actually- drama.

Putting aside this, this drama has some great performances from the rest of the cast, with Zhou Yi Wei - that I've never heard of him before- stealing the show with his performance. This guy is acting so expressively that I didn't need to read the subtitles in order to understand what he was saying. (And no... I don't speak Chinese. I have no clue of Chinese). His acting reminds me that of Toshiro Mifune whose face expressions changed so fast and so accurately that saying his lines was actually optional. Zhou Yi Wei
acting is of this class.

So in order to conclude. The Rebel Princess is an almost perfect production based on a well tested recipe, with beautiful cinematography and photography, some great performances from the majority of the cast, huge filming sets, luxurious costumes, and an interesting but dragging for way too many episodes plot.

If you don't mind the literally decorative presence of Zhang Zi Yi , I would recommend to watch it.

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Best Chinese Historical Drama of The Year

Before watching:

1) Who is the actor playing the Male Lead character, Xiao Qi/Yuzhang Wang?

I did compared him with Ye Hua (Mark Chao) and Dong Hua (Vengo Gao) from The Eternal Love & Eternal Love of Dream at first. But I guess I was so wrong this time and seeing is believing indeed. Although I wasn't convinced watching an unknown Male Lead in the beginning, but from the very first episode I must say Zhou Yiwei really swept me off my feet. Totally, completely & absolutely perfect for the role and no other actor can play the character of Xiao Qi better than Zhou Yiwei, in my most honest opinion.

P/S: Zhou Yiwei deserves an Oscar for his performance throughout the whole drama! If not Oscar, well Best Male Actor of 2021 also will do... ;-)

2) Based on the novel, Wang Xuan/A'wu/Princess Shangyang was supposed to be around 15-16 years old at the beginning of the show, but played by 38 years old Zhang Zi Yi at the time of filming. Will there be any issue?

Totally not, from my humble opinion. Zhang Zi Yi look much younger than her actual age with her slim and slender figure, youthful & gorgeous complexion and her energy level that was as good as always. Although of course, she won't be able to look just like a 15 year old lady but she really did aged beautifully and certainly "a pleasant to the eye" kind of heroine still. Her portrayal as A'wu was undeniably good and her chemistry with the male lead, Zhou Yiwei who played Xiao Qi was SPLENDID! From this couple, we can learn a lot about what an ideal marriage would look like and how gentleman gestures can impress a lady much more than we thought.

P/S: Xiao Qi character was so well developed and played, a very rare encounter for Male Lead role in a drama and is second to none by far while Zhang Zi Yi performance perfectly balanced the role as his Princess Consort. :-)

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Un magnifique drama

j’ai été attiré par les magnifiques costumes ! À tel point que j’en ai pris beaucoup en photo pour pouvoir les repeindre. c’est vraiment super Inspirant. Les couleurs sont très bien choisies, Ça donne un univers très harmonieux. ensuite, les acteurs jouent très bien, J’adore l’actrice principale, et même les second personnages masculins sont très charismatique, c’est agréable de voir des acteurs bien joué. le seul petit bémol était sur la fin que je ne trouve pas travaillé, J’aurais voulu en savoir plus, mais je ne regrette pas du tout de l’avoir vu.

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Rebel Princess

For a drama with 68 episodes, the pacing was very good. The costumes, cinematography, the acting are great. This drama has political power struggles, intense fight scenes, betrayal, romance, greed and an incestuous royal family.

The cast is good. Even though it's not the popular baby faced regular eye candy, their performance was spectacular and each character has their own unique charm and attractiveness.

The ML and FL are both intelligent. ML is a powerful general and FL is initially a spoilt Princess that I find to be a bit naive throughout the drama. Both are determined to change their fate ( being pawns in the power struggle...which I guess makes her a rebel) and despite coming from different social backgrounds they grow to love and respect each other. They had good chemistry. The scenes with them together are limited, however when together the moments are usually sweet.

The major obvious villians have perished or were punished. However, I feel the end was a bit rushed and leaves some questions. We see that the FL' s brother is the new Prime Minister so he is obviously calling the shots, but who takes care of the infant emperor? What happened to those corrupt noble ministers? ( Did they just become saints and escape punishment) Will the emperor be required to still marry from the Wang family when he is of age?

The ML and FL get a happy ending, so overall its a good watch.

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It is my opinion that the male and female lead are doing a fantastic job in keeping the audience interested and following every episode anxiously. Also the spectacular cinematography like the grassland episode, the incredible costumes and set design are truly of a grand production. I think that it is good that Zhang Ziyi got involved in the making of the movie and probably involved in the selection of the super talented cast as well. Her experience doing movies with award winning directors are a reflection of how well this drama is coming along.
It is also nice to see older and mature actors doing a movie that is currently pretty popular especially outside of China.
Too bad that the newer generation is not familiar with the ZZY great movie career.

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Beautifully produced... but little suspense

The premise: as long as you center your country and your family, contentment is possible even in the midst of adversity.

The male lead, Xiao Qi, enters the story already perfect and understanding this lesson, Wang Xuan (female lead) rapidly learns this as well within the first 20 episodes. Then they just perfectly go along, essentially completely in sync with each other as they try to deal with all the corrupt, insecure characters around them.

The acting is excellent and I was fully invested in them as characters. Even though there are dozens of characters, I could keep track of them all, and I was as interested in the side plot lines as I was the main ones. I will say, whether due to the script or direction, no acting scenes stand out to me.

The music is competent, I would not rewatch. I grade on other criteria as well:

Complex Themes: 6.5
Centering your country and your family is what results in a contented life and a dignified death, centering ones ego, ambition and desire leads to discontent and eventually catastrophe. The burdens of life are easier with a life partner.

Character Growth: 7
There is a fair amount of development early on as the care-free, childhood friends are tested by the stressors and complexity around them. Within the first 1/3 of the show, however, their characterizations grow rigid.

Relationships among Women: 7.5
There is a good amount of screen time for older women, and some decent friendship and interactions between women. They are almost always, however, about the men in their lives.

Production Budget/Cinematography: 8.5
A lot of money was spent, lots of outdoor scenes, as well as extravagant sets, constant costume changes, lots of extras etc. Oddly, however, it wasn't particularly creative or beautiful, scenes don't linger in my mind.

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Great Drama.

Great drama, definitely worth watching. I found it difficult to watch older actors playing their adolescent selves, to begin with, but once Awu got married the drama came into its own. The acting, costumes, plot, scenery, and locations are amazing. Really can't wait to watch the next episode, love it, definitely will be one of my favorite dramas. I think the prince and Awu are a perfectly well-balanced couple, I also like General Song, I thought him handsome and also a great actor, I hope nothing horrible happens to him, and also I am keeping my fingers crossed they defeat their enemies and the drama ends happily.

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