Le You Yuan (2023)

How smart and intelligent are you?

This is one lovely piece of work,i thank God i didn't fall for the urge to drop this drama. The production team of this drama did an amazing job,the cinematography was beautiful,lovely storyline,it is a well paced drama.
Now the first half,were you see the game of intelligence and smartness being played,yea, yea,it could gets tiring i know,but its actually worth watching😃,its progreses after each episodes.
The cast was amazing,all roles were played and interpreted well,i enjoyed watching them especially old bao,am still angry he died🤧🤧, then chang er 😀 the bromance was a delight
Xu kai never let his fans down,he did what he normally does as a fantastic actor but my shout out is to the FL beautiful Jing Tian,she embodied this role,i love the character she played,yes am her new fan 😀
Their chemistry in this drama was beautiful and mature,it was neat,i love it.
Finally... its only few dramas that can boast of a satisfying ending,what happened after the happy ending,how did they live their lives in their happy ever after,now this drama gave me the most satisfying happy ending ever,not some rushed ending. To everyone infront and behind the camera of this drama... Thank you,you all did great 👍🏼❤

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ABSOLUTELY AMAZING

Story:
The story starts when the Emperor and nearly his entire family are murdered leaving only a few members of the royal family alive. The ML (Li Ni) is the grandson of the emperor from one of the younger sons. He was exiled to protect the border by his father and grandfather because of his supposed bad attitude (but later it's revealed that he was constantly bullied by his older half-brothers and didn't like the snake pit of the court). He is the commander of the West Pacify Army which is poor but each warrior is worth more than 10 average warriors. He is asked, once his family is murdered, to become emperor but refuses since his father, brothers, and the former crown prince's son are still alive. He advocates for the crown prince's son to be named emperor, but few believe him. While there is chaos because of the rebellion by General Sun, everyone is now vying for the throne. There is also General Cui and his son (daughter) who have fought back against Sun like Li Ni and also say they are doing it for the crown prince's son. However, no one really believes them either. A Ying is the commander of the army for General Cui. Their army is powerful and wealthy and would be a threat even in a stable realm, so everyone believes they would seize power for themselves. Basically a lot of confusion and rightful paranoia about who can be trusted and what people's motivations are.
The story is political-romance-action. It does a very good job of showing everyone's motivations for their actions. Li Ni and A Ying are both exceptionally well written characters, who's playful banter, intelligence and depth is fully explored.
The plot is fast paced. It doesn't stall and there is always a purpose to scenes, even if it's a filler scene. The side characters also have great plots and character development.
Acting:
Xu Kai and Jing Tian are exceptional. I started this show for Xu Kai because I've loved most of what I've seen him in (and if I didn't like a show with him in it, it was never because of him), and he didn't disappoint. From the first moment you can see his swagger and cheek that is so perfect for this role. He's a combination of playful and serious and Xu Kai does it perfectly, transforming from puppy to wolf in seconds (quoting Jing Tian when she's talking about Xu Kai in an interview). This is my first time watching Jing Tian and now I know I will keep up with her because she was amazing, and I can't believe it is just because of her chemistry with Xu Kai. She adds great depth to her character.
Romance:
The romance was incredible. They had beautiful intimacy. There are criticism that A Ying was too competitive, but that's what's attractive about her. She is ambitious and doesn't hide it. A quality that isn't seen often in shows. I love that the show goes out of it's way to demonstrate that women have similar appetite's as men, but because of their roles in society, very few can actually show it. Li Ni, who was raised primarily by women, and had very little fatherly influence in his life, knows to appreciate this quality in her, and is what attracts him to her. They are so well matched because they think the same. While Li Ni isn't competitive, because he has seen that court is dangerous and doesn't want it for himself, he is still cunning and he likes his partner to be able to keep up with him. Their courting is a series of bets, competitions, and banter. Their relationship is protecting each other and plotting together. While towards the middle, A Ying is forced to conform more to womanly life, she keeps her ambitions, and her intelligence doesn't leave. They aren't always rational either. Both make mistakes, and can be quick to judge each other for the other's actions if it negatively impacts them, but they are always impressed and even if subconsciously, they understand each other.
Side Characters:
Everyone made me feel something. Whether it was Li Ni's family making me feel absolute frustration for how stupid they are, or the villains for making me want to punch them in the face, or the bandits and the warriors of the West Pacify Army making me love them and die for them.
Rewatch value:
Absolutely! In fact, I'm going to go rewatch it right now.

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Mettons les pieds joyeusement dans les plats haha. Ce drama n'est pas forcément mauvais, mais ............ c'est ce gros "mais" qui le fait basculer dans le médiocre....

Les points positifs? Un début léger et frais qui sans mentir promettait beaucoup. Le duel de nos deux protagonistes étaient intéressant et on se prenait facilement au jeu de leur petite escarmouche. Je ne trouvais pas que leur couple soit un couple-incroyable-de-la-mort-qui-tue, mais cela se laissait regarder avec facilité.
Mais encore? ....en fait, c'est tout.

Passons aux points négatifs :
Pour faire court, on n'y croit pas une seule seconde à leur romance. Du moins, je n'y crois pas une seule seconde. Malgré les yeux énamourés de Li Ni, j'ai trouvé horripilant de le voir la suivre partout, courbant l'échine à chaque instant. Sincèrement, les seules fois où il se fâche après elle, et à raison, je n'avais qu'une seule envie, le voir s'éloigner d'elle au plus vite.... J'adore toutes les romances sous toutes ses formes, sous toutes ses relations, mais je déteste les relations qui ne vont que dans un sens... Et bien que la nénette soit amoureuse, permettez moi tout de même d'en douter… Une profonde affection, certes, peut-être de l'amour, mais pas celui auquel j'aimerais assister. Elle le fait tourner en bourrique, le tourne en dérision, s'amuse à tricher en l'embrassant pour gagner, se permet de bouder et de l'envoyer bouler lorsqu'il lui oppose ferment un "non" à devenir le prince héritier, se permettant de s'offusquer lorsque la moitié des hommes de Li Ni périssent lors de la trahison de l'armée de Cui et que Li Ni, de colère froide la rabroue....ou pire se drape dans sa dignité lorsque son père est piégé et l'arme de Cui dissoute tout en battant froid son époux. Mais WTH...elle le force à devenir prince héritier, le pousse, fait du chantage genre "c'est moi et le trône ou rien" ( heu, ce n'est pas ce que j'appelle de l'amour...). Son père pour les beaux yeux de sa fille pousse Li Ni sous les projecteurs. Résultats? le groupe d'amis de Li Ni exterminé en bonne et dû forme, deux frères (pas très jojo certes) s'entretuant à qui mieux mieux.
Alors résumons, elle lui pique ses villes, la nourriture de l'armée, elle ne participe certes pas à la trahison de l'armée Cui mais "cautionne" en restant au côté de celui qui a fomenté cette belle trahison et ne prenant pas la peine de s'excuser auprès de Li Ni pour tous les hommes perdus (alors je sais que c'est la guerre et toussa, mais tout de même, des soldats qui meurent sont des êtres humains...), l'oblige à devenir prince héritier. Une fois devenue une cible, Li Ni perds ses hommes, perds sa nourrice et se voit obligé à devenir le prince héritier par obligation. Et que fait-elle? ah, elle boude encore, refuse d'être son épouse, blabla.... OUI, j'avais envie de lui mettre 2 ou 3 claques "hé ma cocotte, tu l'as un peu cherché, non??".
Bref, une romance lamentable...

Les personnages secondaires ne sont pas intéressants, la romance secondaire est ennuyeuse à souhait, oui oui, car encore une fois, nous avons droit au gars maladroit suivant suit la nana partout. Alors, je suis une nana qui a la réputation d'être un peu bossy, mais sincèrement un gars qui me colle partout en faisant mes 4 volontés me ferait fuir à toute jambe.

Les méchants? heu, grotesques et stupides avec un manque flagrant de jugeote! vous savez les méchants de "City Hunter"? c'est un peu le même principe, sans le "mouahahahaha, je suis le méchant" mais pas loin...
L'obsession de Liu Chenfeng est tellement pitoyable qu'on a du mal à croire qu'elle ait pu le considérer comme un frère. Et punaise, il passe son temps à fomenter des complots pour tuer Li Ni et enlever Cui Yi les trois quart du drama. Il n'a pas une vie sinon?

Et l'intrigue dans tout cela? il n'y en a pas. J'étais venue dans l'idée de trouver un peu de réconfort après "A journey to Love"
( un traumatisme ce drama!), mais tout le drama tourne autour du couple. L'intrigue n'existe que pour mettre en scène le couple principal.

C'est donc un drama que j'ai fini (je ne sais pas comment) mais que je ne recommande pas vraiment. Du moins pas si vous cherchez un couple de ouf, un cerveau machiavélique, des personnages secondaires intelligents et qui ont leur propre histoire, une intrigue haletante...

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A masterpiece ruined by a bad script

I've been anticipating Wonderland of Love when I was just a newbie in c-drama. I even read the titbits of the novel posted on the discussion forum of MDL. However, things weren't as good as it seemed to be and you will know why as you scroll down my review.

This drama tells about 2 generals of the best armies (Zhenxi Army and Cui Army), Li Ni and Cui Lin. At first, they tried to be one step ahead of each other and resulted in both bickering nonstop. Li Ni was a prince trying to hide his identity from the others. Only the Zhenxi Army knew the real identity of his. Meanwhile, Cui Lin was a woman in disguise. She called herself Lieutenant He in the Cui Army and had an adoptive brother to take her identity. What I liked the most was the funny banter in the Zhenxi Army (including those gangs of bandits). The plot sounds perfect for me, but there will always be loopholes in it and brace yourself for the outweighed cons.

Halfway through the show, I started to fast forward 2x because the story was so, so INFURIATING and I wanna knock some sense into the characters. Li Ni's dad was perhaps the DUMBEST emperor I've ever seen. He couldn't even see that his two elder sons were plotting against him. Cui Lin's adoptive brother, Liu Chengfeng (or what other user called him as Lost Cause Fruit Loop) turned into a delusional and obsessive character as soon as he found out that Cui Lin had no feelings towards him. He always TRIED to get Li Ni killed by plotting everything from the beginning to the end (how I wished to strangle him to death). Prime Minister Gu's daughter, Gu Wanniang was an obsessive character as well. When Li Ni didn't reciprocate her feelings, she began to feel resentful towards Cui Lin and also want her killed. Prime Minister Gu's arc wasn't the best if you compare it to Sun Lang's arc. His character wasn't powerful enough and there wasn't any backstory for his plot with a certain tribe (sorry, I've forgotten the name, whatever it was called). This may be caused by lazy scriptwriting and the writer perhaps wants to add fillers so that the drama looks rather long. It could've been cut into a shorter one.

The chemistry between the leads (Xu Kai and Jing Tian) are super hot and you will love the flirting between these two. Also, honorable mention to the second couple, Tao Zi and Xie Chang'er - they're the best second couple and a green-flag one too. The Consort (forgotten her name as well) does well with Sun Lang too.

Opening OST is the best one and other OSTs aren't quite memorable.

No rewatch value for me. I can't stand this drama anymore. One time is enough, there's no need to watch for the second time except if you're in a drama slump. Overall, a decent show ruined by a bad script and filled with dozens of delulu characters.

P.S.
I apologize if my review is a bit offensive.

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No Wonderland of love but Love story

Inizialmente questo drama ha fatto fatica a convincermi, ma dalla ventesima puntata circa, in poi, mi ha definitivamente attaccata al monitor del computer!
Che storia! Una bellissima storia d'amore che nulla ha a che vedere con il titolo del drama.
Molto ma molto ben recitato da tutti gli attori.
I due attori protagonisti sono stati veramente molto bravi, convincenti tanto da chiedersi se fra i due non ci fosse qualcosa!
La storia è carina, niente di che, ma si distingue per il rapporto d'amore che nasce quasi subito fra i due protagonisti e continua imperterrito fino alla fine, diventando sempre più forte superando moltissimi ostacoli.
Il bellissimo Xu Kay è stato sorprendente, ha espresso alla grande ogni emozione che richiedeva il momento. Quasi pareva che non recitasse, ma che vivesse interiormente le scene.
Jing Tian inizialmente l'ho trovata fredda, forse un pò antipatica, probabilmente a causa del ruolo che doveva recitare nelle prime puntate, quello della donna scaltra e furba e bugiarda. Ma poi l'ho apprezzata veramente molto, anche lei ha ben espresso ogni sentimento ed emozione che richiedevano i vari momenti drammatici ma anche spensierati del drama.
I due attori che hanno impersonato i due fratellastri di Li Ni sono riusciti a farsi odiare quanto basta, bravissimi anche loro. l'imperatore invece è il più scemo fra tutti i drama che ho visto fino ad oggi! Tanto da rasentare l'idiozia, ma anche simpatico :-)
L'unico personaggio un pò "opaco" è stato Erduo o Chang'er... un sempliciotto che rasenta la stupidità.
Simpaticissimi i compagni di battaglia di Li Ni, uccisi in un agguato, accompagnato dalla malinconica ballata del fiume Laolan, composta e cantata da Xueran Chen, il quale canta anche Will you still remember.. queste due canzoni sono due perle che danno pregio ad una ost che non si distingue in particolar modo.
Le locations interne sono stupende, con tendaggi e colori raffinatissimi.
I costumi sono altrettanto di pregio, Veramente molto belli.
Questo è un drama con un super lieto fine, il quale dura addirittura per tutta una puntata. E' cosi che si fa! non come quei drama dove il finale, sebbene sia positivo, dura qualche secondo e stop! (vedi La storia d'amore fra una fata e un diavolo ad esempio)
Non è un drama perfetto, c'è qualche "buco" che si fa perdonare perché alla fine ne è valsa la pena guardarlo.

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Must watch!

Pleasantly surprised by this drama! This drama was not on my watchlist until i saw all the good reviews online. The buzz was well deserved!

The story itself was rich, complex and interesting. All the side characters had their own motivations for their actions that for the most part made sense. Xu Kai and Jing Tian have amazing amazing chemistry! I used to think Xu Kai only had chemistry with Bai Lu, but this drama proved me wrong. Xu kai is perfectly cast in his role. He has a mischevious flirty side reminiscent of his role in Arsenal Military Academy. Jing Tian perfectly plays the intelligent smart strong female general and is so beautiful! There is a good mix of sweetness/romance, angst, action and comedy. The pacing and editing is excellent. There are no boring parts to skip through. Overall a very enjoyable 40 episodes!

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A pot of good and not so good things

Pros:
- The chemistry between ML and FL was good and fast established. I can get into their love story from even the earlier episodes
- I especially love how childish the mighty Crown Prince behaves in front of his wife lol.
- The battle scenes when the two lords tried to kill Li Ni was done rather well i think. The death of Li Ni’s comrades while trying to protect him was heartbreaking, even more heartbreaking than the death of Cui Lin’s tbh. Haha


Cons:
- funny how cui lin/liu chengfeng’s actor decided to act out his character. It was especially bad when he tried to emulate a villain after his almost fatal injury, the acting was so bad i almost get a secondhand embarrassment. It was so cringy, like he was trying so hard to be bad, only to appear as constipated.
- And because of that, I feel like the 3rd half of the series is especially hard to go thru since that’s the arc where Liu Chengfeng appears the most, trying to be the villain. Unfortunately, the second prince somehow carries out the villain role better than Liu Chengfeng ironically. Lol
- as much as I quite like the FL, I was quite done with her when she throws a tantrum on Li Ni after Li Ni arrived late to only just save her, and not her so called ‘xiongzhang’. The hell! That xiongzhang of hers had just basically slaughtered half of Li Ni’s brothers/comrades helloooo dont you think it was too laughable to expect Li Ni to return salt with honey? Be realistic please! So you can watch your people slight Li Ni, but you cannot accept Li Ni to do basically (half) the same?
- Tbh, the plot was a lil on the weak side, especially when the story progressed into the palace storyline. By the end when it showed that the prime minister was the final bad guy, it was glaringly obvious i was mentally throwing my hands into the air. Like, how come the emperor is that stupid? With that stupidity, he wont even make it to the throne in the first place tbh. On one end, it was completely stupid not to establish power over your own soldiers/having no troops at all under your command, especially if you dont even trust your own son. Secondly, when you heard your son’s beloved wife passed away suddenly, the first thing you think is he came to usurp the throne? Like, the hell?!! (And where exactly is Cui Yi, doesnt such big news such as taizifei’s death spread? Not to mention, when the imperial physician diagnosed the taizifei’s death in the first place, they should have reported it to the emperor first, and yet, no one told him until Gu Wanniang made a sob story a day after. Lolllll) Plus, the last battle scene was so pathetic, Li Ni only stormed the palace with about a dozen soldiers to settle the problem. Lol. Such an anti-climax! The battle during Li Ni’s two brothers’ mutiny was even better climax
- The emperor’s sudden change of heart towards Li Ni was sooo sudden, it was laughingly unbelievable. Like, can you even make an effort dear writers?
- I dont even know how Li Ni still has the idea of making Xuanzhe the next emperor and for him to retire back to Laolan’s Pass (like seriously, after being an emperor? Do you think thats even doable? Even if he abdicated, wont Xuanzhe worry he will take back the throne someday? Or Li Ni’s sons?) Ahh i guess, i took it too seriously lol. Maybe in an ideal world, theres no more drama as long as Xuanzhe took the throne. Hihi

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A cut up

I'm not sure why but it took me FOREVER to finish this show.

Overall it's really good for a costume drama… My biggest problems were the costumes. Some of the fabrics look like they were printed polyester and that always took me out. The secondary villain is also a huge problem for me. Every action he took just made me wanna bang my head against my tv because I could never understand his line of logic… Why even try to understand crazy people I guess?

The drama is just really engaging and consistent. I found myself always caring about what was going on. When the leads experienced loss then I did as well. I cried while watching this show, it made me feel true anguish at times and lighthearted at others.

Its also the first Xu Kai led drama that I have liked since 2019's The Legends which isn't as tightly put together as this is.

Give it a chance.

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Typical story but for the sake of the execution - worth a watch

Typical historical drama story not much creativity there but the chemistry and acting of the leads is, I would say excellent. The title seemed misleading to me considering it is focused on wars not love. I like how the story is about something bigger than the lead couple's love.

The ending seemed a little rushed, sometimes the intervals in the wars (I mean the time line) felt a little inconsistent and a bit stretched. Sometimes, there were instances when it felt like the writer wanted something to desperately happen so he wrote that while it was according the plot quite unlikely. I am disappointed by the lack of suspense, it was kind of predicatable, so not that fun that it could have been.

Reading further, shall definitely spoil the drama for you. So, hold your horses if you are yet to watch. It's like I am summarising it.

Half of drama is suppressing the rebellion- A young lad from Laolan Pass marches with his army to suppress the rebellion, kill all rebels and recover his family's empire. Along the way to capital he faces a lot of things - love, betrayals and bereavement. Together with his army his love - who is a tough general's daughter - clever, wise and resourceful he wins cities, re-established his empire but still life was hard. But then be it.

Even after doing this much, our man only wanted to settle things in capital and go back to borders to live his simple life away from the palace.

But the responsibility of being born in a royal family is indeed a great responsibility. Our carefree lad becomes the lord of the land ruling along side his brave Empress.

But he, at last comes back to Laolan Guan with his loved one to have his happily ever after.

Our main lead is a gentleman in million, genius of a generation - strategic and wise. Cares for the people. A good crown prince, a good emperor above all - a good husband. Our female lead even though something fusses about things, is a match worthy of our man.

What can I say about the troops of west-pacifying army - with unwavering loyalty, they were brave souls who sacrificed their lives for the bond of friendship.

Now about some characters who might not be talked about -

The previous crown prince consort is a sensible woman, knows her duty. Sacrificed so much and risked her life to fulfill her duty to her empire. No matter how I praise her, it will be less. And it pains me to think that their definitely must have been such women in history whose stories never made to books of history and they were renounced for what their deeds seemed on surface.

Sun Jing even though is villain is a man commendable - a good general, didn't desert his army when he could. Man of high spirits. A pity a pity that his rebellion failed. Indeed, only a failed rebellion is a rebellion.

And at last, that Gu Wan'niang, every time I saw her, she got on my nerves. Indeed she was smart but she was a shell - acted virtuous but at last her baseless expectations from life drove her crazy (literally)

What more do i say?
I just completed the drama and my thoughts are raw and messes up. If you read it, thank you for bearing with me.
I shall add more it I remember though

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Rock-solid, binge-worthy romance

Wonderland of Love is yet another exceptional C-drama to put on my list of top 10 power couples. Xu Kai and Jing Tian play main leads Li Ni and Cui Lin who fall in love after a friendly rivalry gives way to a more serious relationship.

The first few episodes were a bit weak and, due to that, I dropped the series for a few months. I finally went back to it after completing Best Choice Ever with Xu Kai, since I found myself very impressed with his low-key, earnest performance. I had a renewed interest in finishing WOL because of his work in that.

This drama has it all: palace intrigue, epic battles and martial arts, beautiful scenery, gorgeous costumes and set design, and an exceptional soundtrack--which at the moment is only available on YouTube. (This is bad because that means I can't add it to my C-drama playlist on Spotify. Not cool).

What locked me in place was the excellent chemistry and stellar acting between the main leads. They both drew me in and made me thoroughly enjoy their playful banter which slowly becomes attraction and then intense love. Once again, I was bowled over by Xu Kai's performance. He was passionate, tempestuous, forthright, and courageous. He was everything one wants in a romantic hero. At the same time he is not without flaws. He jumps to conclusions and can be unfairly cruel to his leading lady. Just watching them fight would sometimes make my heart ache, but then the make ups were epic.

Throughout all the intense flirting, there is more intrigue to keep the plot moving. Bad guys abound in the this drama and seems our main leads jump from one dangerous situation to the next. You get some great action scenes, but keeping track of all the villains gets exhausting and repetitive. I could have done without the last episode. It was too neatly wrapped up and didn't feel true to the supporting cast and the stories that had originally been intended for them.

I also appreciated the guest performances by Zen Li and Liu Yu Ning. I have watched them both in other great C-dramas and it is a treat to have them appear in this series. I recommend this drama to those who love romances, palace intrigue, and period dramas.

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