Jiu Chong Zi (2024)

a second chance at life and love

finished 10/10 💞✨
One of the best dramas I've seen this year and in general
a work by an unknown director, actors without much relevance, but all in all it gave a beautiful work 👏
34 well-distributed, structured chapters without fillers, a script that was up to par, an incredible chemistry between the protagonists that went beyond the screen 🫶
a satisfying ending where all the subplots closed in a very well done way
CDRAMA OF THE YEAR!
I hope the protagonists get more work in the future, they showed that they have everything to carry a class A project on their shoulders.

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Excellent historical series, with a great CL.

PLOT: The FL, daughter of a minister, married to a moron who cheats on her, unloved by her family, leaves her husband, meets the ML (poisoned general, helping the Qing prince to access the throne and betrayed by him). They are both killed. She wakes up as a teenager and tries to “put things right”: death of her mother, hostility from her stepmother, corruption from her uncle, etc. The ML also has a dysfunctional family and lives with his loving general uncle. Later, they marry and try to survive plots, succession conflicts at Court, etc.

+++ Excellent actors (all). I'm delighted to see Li Yun Rui in his second lead role (he deserves it).
+++ Very beautiful cinematography: sets, costumes, framing, lighting, fight scenes. Everything is perfect.
+++ Excellent OST
+++ Dynamic realization, without downtime. Very catchy start, full of mystery, suspense.

### Some lengths in the 2nd part. A few clichés (poisoned ML, succession struggle, etc.). The “2nd chance” part is not exploited enough.

=> Excellent historical series, with a great CL.
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PLOT: La FL, fille d'1 ministre, mariée à un crétin qui la trompe, mal aimée par sa famille, quitte son mari, rencontre le ML (général empoisonné, aidant le prince Qing à accéder au trône et trahi par lui) et ils sont tués ts les 2. Elle se réveille ado et tente de "redresser" les choses : mort de sa mère, hostilité de sa belle-mère, corruption de son oncle, etc. Le ML a également 1 famille dysfonctionnelle et se réfugie près de son oncle général. Plus tard, ils se marient et tentent de survivre aux complots, conflits de succession à la Cour, etc.

+++ Excellents acteurs (tous). Je suis ravie de voir Li Yun Rui dans son 2e main lead rôle (il le mérite bien).
+++ Très belle cinématographie : décors, costumes, cadrages, lumières, scènes de fight. Tout est parfait.
+++ Excellentes OST
+++ Réalis° dynamique, sans temps mort. Début très accrocheur, plein de mystère, de suspense.

### Qq longueurs dans la 2e partie. Qq clichés (ML empoisonné, lutte de succession, etc.). La partie "2e chance" n'est pas assez exploitée.

=> Excellente série historique, avec un great CL.

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Consistenly good till the end

I tried to watch a lot of period dramas and every time i get bored or disappointed with either the story or the lack of character depth or sheer unbelievablility of the way characters are with respect to those times.

Pros :
1. ML and FL - their character arc, their chemistry and the way they complement each other is one of the best. Both have their strengths and weaknesses and each try to work it out knowing that very well.
2. Good character arc for almost every character in the story surrounding FL and ML. Everyone are contributing to the story not just there for the sake of glorifying ML or FL. The way they act has valid reasons be it FL's uncle who just wants his family fortune to change, or even the useless Marquis husband of FL's sister. They are so believable. And everyone sort of meets a beffiting end in the story. I love so many characters in this show. Even a small scene between Crown Prince and his wife is so wholesome. So i did not find any scenes unncessary.
3. A real smart and brave FL without overglorification. The biggest gripe I have with period C dramas is that they say that women have little to know rights but then somehow in most of the shows FL is overglorified and she somehow gets away with anything and everything she does( ** cough Kuning cough** ). Strength of an FL can be shown even during those times befitting the period it is shown with but in many shows FL are simply overglorified with everyone being a fan of her. But in this case FL Is smart but she is also vulnerable when she needs to be. That makes it more believable. Best scene for me is she shooting the prince. She uses the gun during the bandit attack but fails to target and succeeds only the second time. Not like out of nowhere she take sthe gun and hits . Every female character are different but they all have their own strengths and weaknesses.
4. I like that till the end ML is sticking to the revenge plan and outright not forget about it as soon as he meets FL. At the end its the story where FL has to rewrite her fate and along with hers even MLs which she succeeds but it is also a revenge story for ML. His older life was driven by revenge which he took on wrong people but this life time he succeeds. So the story sticks to both FL's goal and ML's goal without deviating. And every character that was shown at the end of their first life contributes positively or negatively towards their goal in the second.
4. Pacing - You don't feel bored at any time.

Cons:
1. There are some scenes which i still feel is overly done. For ex: Everyone somehow coming to FL's rescue when she is punished to copy a book or the time when ML gets her mother's bangles for FL on the wedding day. These are small things which can still be explained so not a big problem for the feel of the show . It is really over the top scene which was not required. He could have gone and met his mother before she died instead of follwing the FL. It was too cheesy for my liking!
2. i do still see some modern values being juxtaposed to the olden times .

Overall a very good CDrama of 2024. Loved it !

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Let's walk together. Move forward together.

A captivating and enticing drama that is rare these days. The way the leads and other characters changed their destiny is just brilliant. Hats off to the writer.

Song Mo and Shogu are such a power couple indeed. I love how they didn't drag the story with the useless misunderstanding. This is how a couple would do it. Supporting each other until the end of their days. And the supporting characters were delighted to watch, especially Chen Jia, who had been an enemy in the past, become a great ally for our leads. Even Ansu, many viewers hated her, but understanding why she sided with her husband is a normal thing to do.

The ost was also great. What a wonderful drama to end this year. Definitely my favorite this year.

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expectations met!

started watching this with high expectations and im glad that my expectations were met. an intriguing show from start to finish with amazing chemistry between all casts!! no unnecessary characters, i love how everyone did something for the plot lol. the story felt well written and the pacing of it was genuinely good, i did not feel bored at all throughout watching all 34 episodes & that is rare since this show does involve court politics but it was rly well balanced i didnt feel like it was unnecessary or draggy. dont think i even need to talk about dou zhao & song mo because everyone knows how good they were portrayed and the romance between them. really worth the watch! its actually main character centric LOL not like some shows that puts the second leads out too much

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Everything is great especially the costumes

Worth the hype, worth the watch everyone played and executed their parts excellently.

The female lead and the male lead have very great chemistry, the supporting characters were on point too.

I was pained when one of the twins died and FL younger sister died. I really hoped she would have a better ending but it makes sense though because in other for FL to change her fate, she had to die. Her marriage was one of the things that caused it.

The costumes made it even more worth watching.

Including it in my top 3 best historical drama of 2024.

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The black horse of the year

With the current cdrama world being so watered down, this managed to go against the flow and captured its viewers heart by the captivating and fast paced story telling, and the good looking actors, plus CGI.

There was very little to no scenes that I skipped, and that is the biggest feat of this drama for me. Each episode was covering a lot of background and story, with little but the perfect amount of 2nd and 3rd couples.

It might not be the best drama I have ever watched, but when watching I could see the crew's and actors blood sweat and tears embedded in it. The production felt very top notch, and there wasn't too much watered down scenes with random people talking that became irrelevant in the very next scene.

Overall, I love this drama for going against the flow, to prove that good drama can come with hard work, no need for top tired actors, or directors.

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must watch

this drama has many good things
1) beautiful cinematography and beautifully shot (the fighting scenes, in the first ep the arrow scenes before they go back, the dream scenes, the shots with the petals, etc….). Well directed
2) acting was good from the leads. They did well for emotional scenes too. Also the supporting and older cast, I really like the portrayal of the emperor, I think the actor was great. Also other cast from the families of the leads.
3) the romance : it flowed nicely. them slowly falling in love, mature romance, trust, supporting each other. would do anything for each other and so much love. Good chemistry. I think compared to other cdrama, we got plenty of romance and cute moments. Also feeling confessed by ep 18 and married by ep 19 out of ep 34, I think that was very good. Less slow burn than many dramas this year. Absolutely no break or misunderstanding, strong couple till the end.
4) the transmigration/time travel was well written. I think « the dream » idea was very smart to pass censorship and very minimal since it was still obvious for us viewers that it was not a dream and they really went back in time. and only mentioned at the beginning of the story. I hate it when they do something like it was a novel or something, they add that at the very end to pass censorship.
5) I think the drama was well written in general, the plot was good, pretty fast pace, everything was going smoothly. as the story progressed, we were learning more about the villains, getting clues, etc… We got a bit of everything, some comedy, romance, action and more sad/emotional moments. ML and his uncle, mother (the pain from the deaths and seeing the flashbacks). When ML was dying, our sad couples moments, there was a pretty emotional ep, I don’t remember the number ahah but I was sad with the leads, they love each other so much. I think all the villains and their motive made senses. Like the 5th uncles who wanted his higher title (but still cared about the Dou family and his brother. I actually liked his death and I was almost sad. I think it was the scenes, the contexte and his brother/« lover » present. in the end, decided to do one last thing to protect his younger brother). The empress and her son, etc.. I actually enjoyed the political plot, I think it was interesting and I also think the villains were interesting.
6) great fighting scenes
7) Friendship. Between the girls, even the maids. ML and his guys, etc…
8) The character development of FL dad. how their story progressed and their reconciliation. He grow some bones, finally defending his daughter, standing up for his son-in-law (the drums moment), etc…
9) we got some diverse side arc/romance :
a)the sister and husband from the first life : I was feeling sad for Dou Ming. she was an asshole in her first life, but kind and gentle in her second life, she never did her sister wrong. But falling in love with the wrong guy. Not a complete trash in this life, but still a coward, a bad husband and a useless guy. Not gonna lie, they were kinda cute. She suffered a lot and her death was a bit infuriating. Dying like that and seeing her trash husband from afar drinking. Dying alone on the floor when she could have been saved. Anyway, I said KARMA when it happened, their bad deed in their first life and her mother sins. It was satisfying, the mom reaction and everything, learning she caused her own daughter’s dead. It was good how her dad didn’t even want to save her and she should be punished for her crimes. I laughed when he slapped her. Speaking of slapped, there was so many throughout the drama, that was hilarious to me.
b) An Su and Song Han : that arc made me mad. I was very mad at her for choosing/siding with the guy she barely knows against her friends for years. She was very stupid and easily manipulated at first. Their story was not interesting and making her a princess made no sense as she was literally a nobody/commoner. At last, it was satisfying when she learned the truth and killed him herself.
c) Chen Jia and Zhao Zhang Ru (FL’s cousin) : brief interactions, but they were very cute. They got their happy ending
d) the little past with the princess (sister of the emperor) and 5th uncle
e) the crown prince and crown princess. brief interactions too, but they were kinda funny at time and seemed like a good match. That was funny when they were the 4 of them and she mentioned the idea of betrothal between their unborn child, CP and ML reaction.
f)…maybe there is more ahaha
10) plot twist :
a) the fact that the dad (ML’s dad had an affair and switched the babies), didn’t saw that coming. How they explained he never loved his wife and the son they had, why he preferred Song Han. It was sad when he said those things to Song Mu. The sister was actually dead it seems, I was waiting for some plot twist and she’s alive + plus reunion, but that never happened. Anyway I think we had enough things going on ahaha
b) Ji Yong who was actually not with Prince Qing, all of this was a plan from the beginning with the emperor
c) the nephew of the empress who didn’t betrayed them
d) even the thing with the cat with Song Han, I think it was good that he was actually keeping the cat because he was using it for testing poison. I didn’t thought of that
e) the scenes when they were searching for the letter with the girl who was the maid, the flashbacks and reliving the scene and the letter that was hiding so close to them.
f) all the villains who were working together
11) villains getting what they deserved and punishment.
12) ending : great and satisfying ending. Closure for everyone and happy ending of course. Cute together and happy couple moments. Dad with his promotion, grandma being happy and travelling, them with the leads daughter was cute. Crown prince ascending the throne and the little monologue about the politics. Chen Jia and the cousin married couple. An Su doing her things and « looking for a husband ». Ji Young who will become a monk in this life too. Even them showing the kid of ML’s uncle
13 : no love triangle. We can say some side guys on liked FL, but that was very minimal, that’s not considered a love triangle. FL only has eyes for ML from beginning to end.

But, I think the kissing scenes weren’t great. I don’t know if it was a director’s choice, censorship or because the kisses were not so good (so they made it that way), but they were somehow disappointing for most of them. Pretty much cut short or we see nothing. The lips touched and them it’s all these camera angles and editing. Anyway just an observation, I wouldn’t call this an issue, I’ve seen way worst.

Also, the character of Mu (I don’t even remember if that’s the good name, but the guy at the beginning who liked FL). I think this character and arc was just completely useless and non interesting. Why did we need this useless side guy who had unrequited love. He personally annoyed me. At least, his presence was short. Even when it seemed like Ji Young liked FL, that was very annoying, can’t they just be friend?

So, to conclude, I would recommend, I think it’s a good watch, filled with romance, actions, intelligent leads, interesting plot and characters

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A story about the power of mutual love and trust

Only when you have the power to move mountains, can you change your fate. That's what the old man tells our FL. She desperately wants to avoid the mistakes from her previous life. And so she embarks on a journey to conquer the intimidating ML, a man who became so obsessed with revenge it ruled his every choice, action, and thought, and save the kingdom along with her loved ones. This story is really good. Chemistry between the actors (leads and supporting) was absolutely top notch. I didnt give it a ten because of various plot holes, and near the end I wasn't really feeling the villain or their motivations. I got bored until we got our time skip and then I was invested again. They take the time to neatly tie up loose ends, which I really appreciate. I thought the FL was awesome, I loved her character. She is smart, witty, driven and determined. She cherishes her friends and allies, going to great lengths to lend a hand when they are in need. She even has compassion for the antagonists.

One of the reasons I've rated 9.5 instead of 10 is because of the antagonist themselves. Some of them are alright but one in particular I had a big issue with. His motivation was flimsy and actually didn't make a lot of sense. But I can forgive that because of all the good things about this show. The ending felt kinda rushed but also made me a little bored.

Other than that, I thought the show was well-written and performances were spectacular across the board. I'm always a fan of time travel fix-it dramas, and while this one isn't as good as the princess royal (in my opinion), it's still really good, and has probably the best ending out of any chinese drama I've seen to date.

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Worth every percent of HYPE

Just watch the first episode, I bet anyone and everyone will love it and want to watch more. It’s truly the most perfect pilot in recent years. (Silver haired SungMo I am on my knees for you) The show and story doesn’t disappoint, it gets better & better. Every shot feels thought out and crafted with love & dedication, hats off to the director and cinematographer! Nothing felt lacking, from the acting/cast, to story, philosophy, costumes, set, AND OH, THE DIALOGUES ARE SO BEAUTIFUL.
My only teeny-tiny criticism is that they tried to make some villains have a “nice” ending but I could not care less. They were horrible people and deserved to die, let’s not add a layer of sympathy to them at the end.

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The Best of 2024!!!

This year wasn't the best year of cdramas but the end of the year has brought us amazing costume dramas such as Fangs of Fortune and Love Game in Eastern Fantasy but all of these dramas didn't end as well as Blossom did.

Blossom is honestly the entire package. The plot was nothing new but Blossom definitely executed it the best way. This drama honestly gives me the vibe of Love Like the Galaxy but in my opinion, this drama was a better version if Ling Buyi and Niaoniao communicated better 😂 This drama though filled with politics and schemes managed to give us such a sweet married life of Song Mo and Duo Zhao.

I am honestly in love with how they are together. Once they decided to be together, they never parted or doubted each other once. Duo Zhao was honestly such a heroine just like Song Mo says. I'm really really obsessed with the part of the plot where Duo Zhao helps Song Mo through everything especially the pivotal times that made him who he was in the first life.

She saved him from jail, and talked him out of rebelling when the emperor closed his Uncle's case. It was that river moment when Song Mo was about to give up his twin blades of loyalty and fillial peity when he decided to rebel in the first life, but because Duo Zhao was in his 2nd life, she was able to convince him not to continue.

The next one is when his mother passed away. The symbolism of him reaching for the spear that he used in his first life after being abandoned by his father was so powerful. Instead of being able to reach it, Duo Zhao saved him and turned him back in the right direction. Song Mo is such a pitiful but strong character. Him and Duo Zhao are such a perfect match and I really just loved them in this drama.

I also can't get enough of how many of the characters changed in the 2nd life. My favorites is Duo Ming and Chen Jia. Duo Ming didn't grow up with her mother in the 2nd life hence she didn't turn out badly. I actually cried for her when she died. Although she changed and her husband loved her, he was still useless. Chen Jia was hard to trust at first since he played such a pivotal role in the rebellion in the last life, but he was so cute with Duo Zhao's cousin haha. I was actually do touched when he killed the eunuch in the end and fought side by side with Song Mo.

In conclusion, this drama is the perfect mix of romance, friendships, and political drama. The rewatch value is definitely a 10! My top pick for this year!

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A clean, cohesive, well-thought-out, and deeply moving drama to close 2024 in CDrama land!

Initially drawn in by curiosity, I didn’t know much about the show—the cast, premise, or genre—I just simply dove in headfirst without expectations. Episode after episode, arc after arc, the story unfolded into a beautifully executed tale of rebirth, second chances, the enduring power of love, and how love, rooted in the unity of two souls, can overcome all.

Dou Zhao and Song Mo are hands down my favorite couple of the year—a love story so fluid, consistent, and strong that it feels like it’ll stay with me forever. The “here comes my reinforcement” moment was everything to me—it perfectly sums up Song Mo’s trust and admiration for Dou Zhao as his equal and his partner for life. Dou Zhao is that badass female lead you root for from beginning to end, with her unwavering strength and intelligence shining in every scene. What makes their story even more unforgettable is how every challenge they face together feels unique, yet each one reinforces the trust and love they share. Their bond isn’t just about destiny giving them a second chance; it’s about two people building a life together, grounded in mutual respect and the kind of partnership that grows stronger with every step. They’re the kind of couple I’ll think about every time I crave a story that’s honest, empowering, and even something that will reignite one's hope for love.

Overall, the emotional depth and storytelling finesse left me in awe, and I’m beyond thrilled with the ending—especially after a string of open-ended or sad conclusions in other recent CDramas.

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