The Mysterious World (2019)

I tried to like it

This type of drama is right up my alley - a princess refusing to be a passive, pretty flower in the palace but choosing to be strong and help her family/have some righteous purpose, and meets her true love while she's doing just that. The cinematography, acting and costumes were fine. However, I was really disappointed with the story and tried my best to push through, hoping that it would get better but it just never did, unfortunately.

COSTUMES: worn at the wrong time
The costumes looked fine, but the costume choices for certain scenes just weren't well thought out. For example, the princess escaped from the palace at night in an elaborate, light-coloured dress with a long cape that dragged on the ground like the train of a wedding dress. When the ML and his assistant was breaking into the the palace at night (that was planned!), they did not dress up in dark clothes but just went in their regular clothes (which were light coloured).

LOGIC: lacking
At times, the princess is highly intelligent and alert, observing and stringing along clues to solve a case. At other times, she is so unskilled to be unable to tie a rope around someone's hands, or to recognise that she is a princess who can't really fight and should not enter certain clearly dangerous situations since she would only distract the others by needing to be protected. I know that female characters in cdramas usually "sa jiao", but she was written to be so insufferable that it grated on my nerves. She also gets mad at the ML for too long a period of time, and for reasons that really don't make sense.

As the ML puts himself into a dangerous situation to investigate the case, his colleagues in his society just keep quiet about everything they know (and have already been investigating!!!) to "keep him safe", except that he just makes decisions he regrets later because he doesn't have the information they know. To no one's surprise, he steps right into said danger.

The SML has all the evidence presented to him that the ML is not at fault, but he just stubbornly goes ahead to try to kill the ML, then as he returns from murdering the ML, questions why he murdered the ML and calls the ML his only xiongdi (brother). Am confused because this character is supposed to be intelligent.

THE ROMANCE: no chemistry
I couldn't get behind the couple. I was confused as to why they fell in love in the first place. I know they're going for the "FL and ML banter because they like each other" but I felt absolutely nothing for them. Apparently her heart hurt when the ML almost died but nothing that they went through seems to warrant that kind of emotional connection.

THE ACTORS
None of this is on the actors. I liked the FL in the Sleepless Princess.

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Ok start and good cinematic filters

Story a d Production:
While the beginning it was somewhat interesting, it kept getting worse with the plot and script. I personally liked the cinematography or the filter style, but that's it. Besides of that everything was kinda underaverage to bad imo.

Acting/Cast: The cast felt fairly young and doing an OK job. But they never felt emerged into their characters imo, but it might be due the direction and writing. The characters are pretty flat, so no one left a deep impression.

Overall: Had a good start with it's own style, but the flaws stood out too much.

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I often think about the end

10/10 Ending.
10/10 For writing the ending that way.
10/10 For the ML staying awkward until the last frame


I've seen hundreds of dramas, but this is the random little nobody, 'unknown' drama I keep thinking about when I'm alone and that funny mood takes over.
And trust me, nobody either 1. watched it or 2. finished it.
There are reasons for that, it was subbed horrifically initially, this was long before auto translate was half-OK as it is now in 2024. Another reason is because it came out during a stellar year for Chinese drama, so this flew under everybody's radar.
Had it been released today, it would be one of those 10min dramas, nobody ever does lower budget, 30-40min dramas anymore.
The dark and the aesthetics in this feel right, the acting seems likely, the characters seem as you'd expect people of their station to be.
He's impossibly awkward and lacks all social adequacy which is great.
She's clever, but also sheltered and a little dim, which is great and makes the story more plausible.

Let's ponder this young woman being real.

This was her serious attempt at living a life within a very short time frame, this is her last stumbling *hurrah* before real life sweeps her away in to the historical annuals for a far away future as another nations vessel.
She latches on to this man at this impossible time in her life, and there is so much great chemistry in the fact that there is barely any chemistry - It's so REALISTIC

Their love begins as they say goodbye.

We don't know if she died the very next year in childbirth.
We will never know if she lives to be a 90 year old matriarch, grandmother of 20.

Maybe when she closed her eyes for the final time, he was the one who greeted her.

See, this drama has me thinking at night... when that funny mood takes over.
Women's fates, my own fate.
Where does it all lead.

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A good investigation story - poor translation

A good story - although I got confused by the poor quality of translation. I must say that the basic story line is good, with a big underlying case that the 3 leads want to solve. I like the pictures, the pace and the investigations, also the plot twist - and it is mainly solving case - not romantic drama here, with a very weak chemistry between the leads for us to believe that they can have their deep feelings. And it is not a happy ending - sad but realistic.
Actually, I watched this simply because Hu Yi Xuan, since her acting in The Sleepless Princess. I must say that her acting is okay, but chemistry with ML and SML not as strong. Overall cast deliver their characters well enough

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