Story of Yanxi Palace (2018)

I was hesitant to watch this at first because it's too long for me (70 episodes!) But due to quarantine and not having many things to do, I ended up watching it.

I, imho, this drama is too overrated... I didn't really see anything especial about it. Most of it is also very unrealistic, so I guess if you like a bit more realistic and traditional then this one is not for you.
I like the first quarter of this drama, especially the beginning..seeing how YL fought back with those bully seamstress but the story started to become too unrealistic with the way she kept talking back to the emperor without really getting punished or so. The plot armor for WYL is so strong.. so it became boring later on. It also became repetitive...

The actress isn't really good.... a lot of her acting scenes is too cringy for me.
And I couldn't really feel much for the characters.

The costumes are good tho.

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Stayed up 5 nights to finish this

I had heard of this drama but had put it off because you have to be in a certain mood to watch 70 episodes of anything. But i was so caught off guard by the strength of female lead. I’m typically a romance drama watcher but this one sucked me in. The relationships of the cast with each other were so well developed. The development of each of the harem’s motivations was deep. The lines are beautiful and i just loved Wei Ying Luo. I loved her strength of character, her intelligence, her resoluteness, and i loved watching her and the Emperor’s relationship. I wish i had gotten just a few more moments with her and Fuca Fuheng. :)

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At 70 episodes, this drama is probably longer than it needs to be, but it remains one of my favorite guilty pleasures from 2018. Sure, some of the palace/harem shenanigans get a bit wild, but it is deliciously fun to watch Wei Yingluo navigate each attack and climb the ranks. Wu Jinyan does a convincing job of portraying Wei Yingluo's growth as she matures from lowly palace maid to Consort. My favorite performance goes to Qin Lan as Empress Fuca Rongyin.

A detailed production (I especially love the costumes) and a satisfying if bittersweet ending help make this a worthy binge watch and re-watch.

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Do not give this a miss!

Yanxi is a drama that needs to be rated 10/10 in my must-watch drama list. I am usually not drawn to overrated shows because they will turn out to be under whelming as compared to the public response, but I am super thankful that I didn't give Yanxi a miss because everything about this show is beautiful.

Yanxi is one of those typical harem politics show where women fight for love, ranks, etc. EXCEPT with the twist of a badass female lead that is smart and very good at adapting to different situations. I believe smart female leads are not rare in chinese shows but Wei Ying Luo (FL) is extremely quick-witted. This makes it so fun to watch how she survives in different environment, be it with the maids or even the emperor. Just when you thought she is defeated, SHE IS NOT.

We also watch her romance with Fuheng which explores the other side of her personality. I love their relationship so much (although it's meant to break my heart at the end.. ). I would say if you're looking for a show that has a huge part of romance, then this show is not for you.

FINAL VERDICT: if you want to watch a never-say-die female lead, satisfying show where evils are punished, pls watch! i wouldn't give this a miss :)

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A must watch drama

Love this drama..it is very interesting story through start to end. Never a dull moment . The characters had done their job performance perfectly. The acting of each and everyone is very good. I love ying Lou how she played character . And had taken her revenge on who has hurts her and her love ones . I really like how much she loved the empress and being faithful to her . And the last how she had promise to take care of FUHENG in the next life. I love the empress how sweet she is and faithful to the king and holds the sense of justice .. many people will think that she is too soft and don't know what's happening but actually she knows .and the emperor was good to being an emperor we just can't accept him to be perfect because he being the emperor must be have tyrann symptoms. FUHENG being the sweetheart how much he loved the Ying Luo and protected her and their love is sweetest . I really recommend to watch this

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Mastermind

One word: Mastermind. I am absolutely blown away by this drama, I entered expecting to drop it but 2 episodes in and I was hooked! I love how powerful, smart and clever Ying Luo is. This is a beautiful well written drama that deserves 10 star rating, not only because of the beautiful costumes but also the intricate characters that moves with reason and logic. Everything is smoothly transitioning even in parts I was scared that it would be going haywire. (Ex: entering the harem)

I did not want to start this at first as I am a person of aesthetic and i did not like the baldness fajdnsajnds BUT i quickly got over it with how this is beautifully made. I just can't get over how until the end, like until the end of the drama, MC did not forget to enact her revenger. Truly a mastermind. The supporting characters and antagonists are also so good, I love them so much and I was even a bit sad when they got KO'd but ohhh, how satisfying everything was.

I am a very picky watcher and me liking this so much says so much! Watch it now!

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Sorry, didn't care too much for this Drama Series. At first, it was interesting but then I got bored. I was more disappointed that Wei Yingluo and Fuca Fuheng did not end up with one another. This story went completely to the left and did not come back to being right. A man can lead a country but a woman can destroy it or should I say women when they want what they want in this piece. This drama series was not a true romance story, there was no action but only deceitful power hungry women wanting to be the Empress. The only storyline I liked in this piece is that Wei Yingluo was trying to find out who her sister's killer was. It took over 60 episodes and 25 years later to find out who. I couldn't take it anymore.

NOTE: I gave this a very low rating and I see others have given it a 10-star rating... so let me rewatch it. I feel that I still feel the same way about how the story ends. I think I will give it a 2nd chance.

Since I decided to watch this a 2nd time. Since I said it wasn't the cast's fault of this storyline, I gave them a 10 which brings my rating up to 7. I have changed my mind to watch it a 2nd time. I just can't! lol

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One of the Greatest TV character ever made

The name Wei YingLou sent shivers in the hearts of people in the forbidden city. She turned that city on its head. She wrought havoc and avenged her sister. She came into the palace with a mission and boy was she laser focused on that mission. Everything on her part was annihilated. She knew who she was. She wore it like a badge of honor and made no freaking apologies for who she was.
Wei YingLou is IMO one of the greatest TV character ever made anywhere in the world.
I freaking loved everything about her character.
And boy oh boy that lightening striking scene was beyond iconic.

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BUTTKICKING FEMALE LEAD

AMAZING!!! The main female lead is a total badass and fracking awesome. She is scheming and so smart. She is one of the type of political figures that started from the bottom (literally the bottom of society) and climbs her way up while knocking her competitors flying. She is fierce when someone tries to harm who she loves and she never forgets nor forgive. Ultimately, she gives the audience a guaranteed protagonist character that everyone will love and root for. She is cunning and clever and remains so until the end (doesn't magically become "dumb" like a lot of dramas that need the male lead to come and rescue). Of course we all miss the characters that didn't make it. All the actors were incredibly talented, especially the villains. The convincingly pull watchers into the story and truly invoke really emotional responses. HIGHLY recommend (if you can pull through bc it is quite long).

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Absolutely Amazing

I am in tears. I cannot believe that I actually watched this monstrosity (I say this with love) of a show in less than a month. It was worth every second, every minute that I invested into it. Such an elaborate, intricate show with twists and revelations around every corner.

Wei Ying Luo was such a smart and interesting female lead! She got shit done in no time and also stood her ground (I ignore the strong plot armor)💅🏻. She even planned her own downfall on purpose, who does that?? Her relationship with Fuca Rong Yin was so beautiful. Both women saw something in each other and depended on one another greatly. RY was like a big sister and mother figure and YL represented freedom. I absolutely adored the development of YL and Ming Yu’s friendship and sisterhood. Ming Yu was such a childish and petty girl in the beginning but grew into YL greatest confidante. I wept like a baby when she died (I’m still upset about this)😭👶🏻. About that sneaky snake Yuan Chun Wang: I never liked him!! He was so incredibly weird towards YL from the beginning. I always felt like he had a very weird claim towards the female lead, a sort of entitlement to *have* her. It was so uncomfortable🧍🏻‍♀️.

Despite her nasty nature, I also loved Noble Consort Gao. I think she left us too early (though the show did not lack drama – even without her). It would have been nice to have a deeper dive into her character/family since she was so interesting but not explored enough. Her loving the emperor so much was her downfall – as was all those women’s downfall. YL played the long game by never explicitly saying "I love you" to Hong Li lol. Though she did admit it in her own way in my opinion. I also would have loved to have more of Chen Bi, not going to lie!

I liked YL with both Fu Heng and the emperor to be honest. Her first love was sweeter while her second was more teasing and chaotic. But I loved the scenes with the emperor, they were such a fun couple to watch on screen😅💞.

Hoifa-Nara Shu Shen💅🏻. The woman that you are. I don’t blame her one bit for all the things she did. She did everything so smartly and proved again and again how cunning she is. She never *really* got her hands dirty, she just made her enemies feel insecure and they’d ruin themselves. I also liked how she and YL were on eye-level. They respected each other’s wits and it went well for 10 years until Shu Shen kind of lost her mind a little lol (aging is a little annoying when the emperor has 7123918320 other wives that are younger than you (and especially when he favors your enemy – I get it)).

The last two episodes were… chef’s kiss. The twists, the emotions, the revelations were amazing. Only thing… if they really needed to kill my man Fu Heng (mind you, his existence was already sad since he married Er Qing – if delusion was a person – and thus lost his real love), then they could have done so on the battlefield. Why did he die of Malaria😭😭

The OST was also great! Both the songs and the instrumental greatly supported the scenes and made everything feel grand. I never skipped a single second of this drama. When I first stumbled upon this show, I wasn’t really that deep into C-Dramas. I thought “Damn, what are you going to tell me in 70 episodes?! As if that won’t get boring!!”. I was proven more than wrong. I had a marvelous time. I laughed, I bawled my eyes out, I cheered, I got mad. This show made me feel all the emotions, and I can actually see myself sitting down for a rewatch.

Standout episodes from the top of my head:
- Episode 19 because that is the very first episode that YL and the emperor spend the majority of the episode together with little interruption.
- Episode 40… Rong Yin ☹
- Episode 54 Er Qing dies, YIPPIE
- Episode 59 because YL and the emperor finally reunited again after he found out she was on birth control
- Episode 61… I cried buckets of tears when Ming Yu died
- Episode 64 because YL successfully planned her own downfall to uncover Chen Bi, plus her reunion with the emperor, who had already understood her plan. The way they teased each other and finally were back together just 💞 I believe the emperor was always 100% confident that YL would be able to get out of ANY situation, which is why he always let her do whatever!
- Episode 69/70 simply iconic. Simply amazing. When Shu Shen cut her hair… I had seen that scene several times in edits and had been waiting (!!) for it to happen because the actress had perfected hatred, betrayal and defeat all visible on her face and man… it did not disappoint. So good.

Overall, a 10/10 show, I will miss it so much😭😭😭

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70 episodes about palace intrigues and not a single dull moment

When starting Story of Yanxi Palace I wasn't sure about it. Palace intrigues are nice a while, but 70 episodes? And within a harem?

But wow! It never ever gets boring! Not one episode I stalled, om tje contrary Iwas binge-watching it until the very end.

It's mainly the story about a sister (Wei YingLuo) who enters the palace as a maid to discover what happened to her sister, who died. She will go through many hardships throughout the series while trying to climb the ranks within the forbidden city.

The -:
I can't name any.
I will just state that you won't have any action-scenes (no fights, only perhaps small hand to hand fights). And if you watch for Xu Kai alone, don't, he is not the main character.
I was a little annoyed by the constant background music during conversations, but it's ok.
I didn't like the way they aged the men during the last few episodes, those beards were ridiculous.
One character was forgotten (a son).
As you see, I'm really being petty just to find some "-".

The +:
The storyline is incredible! How is it possible to write this many episodes of intrigues without getting boring? I'm still amazed by this fact.
The actors are amazing. The growth of all the characters is well depicted and each actor lived up to his role.
You get to know the life of the servants as well as the consorts and concubines.
The story contains heartbreaking scenes as well as happy moments, so as to leave you with a good feeling after each storyline.

All over all, this is more than just worth watching.

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Sets a high bar for Chinese historical dramas

After watching Nirvana in Fire (which was really great, I still hold upon my review for this show), this drama was what was the most recommened follow up to watch within the same genre. And when I read its synopsis of having a revenge story in a historical setting, I was already hooked. Initially, I watched this for its revenge plot, not knowing what lied ahead.

Chinese FLs tend to be meek, submissive, overtly cute-sy, just a typical Cinderella complex type of character. This is what was on my mind prior to watching this drama. After all, this was based on what I read while scrolling in this review site. It was also one of the reasons why I avoided Chinese dramas for so long. However, Wei Yingluo was the totally opposite of what was mentioned. She came to the Forbidden City with an identity, and remained there still with her identity intact. She didn't allowed the behemoth number of obstacles to fail her mission. She was smart, cunning, cold on the outside but warm on the inside. Genius is a gross understatement for her character.

What I also loved about this drama is its pacing and plot development. The numerous conflicts in the royal harem all throughout its 70-episode run, on paper, could've been boring since it was formulaic at times, but the execution were done really well. There wasn't any deux ex machina involved and the plot twists, were realistic in that a smart person could figure it out, and Yingluo is one such smart person, so... Intriguing is a gross understatement for the story's pacing.

Furthermore, the characters were really fleshed out. One special mention would be Royal Consort Gao, who was as villanous as one can be. But in depth, there was a reason why she was who she was. Her characterization was really thought out well, and she is someone who I will not forget anytime soon. Interesting is a gross understatement for the characters.

Production-wise, this was really one of the better Chinese productions and is comparable to Korean high-budgeted dramas. Its technical aspects (cinematography, lighting, camerawork, music) were aesthetically-pleasing, and enough for a drama. The CGI was actually very decent. But one aspect that I really commend was the wardrobe. It was just divine to watch, and was really able to capture the essence of Qing dynasty fashion. Qing dynasty was not the best among the Chinese dynasties fashion-wise, but this show represented its best attributes very well. It was just ethereal and magnetic in the eyes, except the men hairstyles.

My slight criticism for this drama is that it wasn't able to maintain the intense tension for its last episode. It was still cleverly written since it circled back to the reason why Yingluo entered the Forbidden City in the first place. But, it could've been more impactful, which was what I was expecting. Nevertheless, the ending was still very great, wonderful even.

This show solidified my awe and admiration for Chinese historical dramas. They are as straightforward as they can be. No unneccessary back stories, and focuses on the present dilemmas. There are a plenty of royal shenanigans and betrayals, which is a staple for this genre. Story of Yanxi Palace, for one, sets a high bar for Chinese historical dramas.

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