The 2024 summer C-dramas has been decent, better than the spring season earlier. Period rebirth palace intrigue C-drama The Princess Royal with Zhao Jin Mai and Zhang Ling He just ended its 40-episode run this weekend and the Douban ratings are also out with a mid 6.7. I think it’s probably a few points too low, this drama was really solid and I’d give it a 7.0 for a really cohesive story and the great twist from the beginning with both leads reborn together and decide to re-do their marriage and alliance but this time with full communication and lots of personal growth. My worries about Zhao Jin Mai being too modern for a period drama was allayed, she was fantastic and Zhang Ling He continues his acting improvement yet again playing a very likeable character. This drama wasn’t as addicting as The Double for me but was so different in tone and story it made for a reassuring watch.
For me, this drama deserves this rating. it’s either bad nor good. Just so so. A drama that i will watch once, and won’t re-watch it for the 2nd time. A drama that i can skip some parts and keep watching the other parts and still do not miss it.
ZJM wasnt as good as in her other dramas and Zhang Ling He didnt give his best as well.
Yes Zhao Jin Mai has a totally different vibe in the Blessed Girl, also an ancient Chinese drama with Xianxia element. Love her… love her, she is versatile.
I agree. It was one of those shows to play in the background while doing chores at home. The slow burn was too slow and the chemistry for me just could not make up for the lack of real tension.
This is simply a lie as TPR is one of youku’s top drama this year that broke over 13M and top 5 (for all dramas released this year) in all sosmed like douyin etc for most hyped drama.
Its a major flop considering how Youku labelled it S++ and it has only 2000 million views. Youku tried to inject water in it for it to hit 10k index but everyone know its a flop compared to earlier dramas which hit 10k like The Double, Blossoms in Adversity and In Blossom. And it has a higher budget than all 3. ZJM should stick to modern dramas and ZLH is just ZLH despite his improvements.
I am baffled by now why they keep pushing zlh when he isn’t hitting it even with all the promo, water and dramas. What a waste of money.
S++ drama?? Seriously?? I dont understand why they keep pushing ZLH. non of his successful dramas are because of him. he is not a bad actor but he is so lacking charisma to carry a big drama. I will never understand his popularity
He is good-looking. East Asian Entertainment in general deeply cares about good looks, and their audience too.
This is a complete lie 😅
TPR is one of the most successful drama (up to now) this year. It broke 13M a few weeks back and was late broadcasted by Zhejiang tv and topped the ratings in their timeslot in their last few eps (from ep 30 onwards)
It was also one of the most discussed drama this year in Chinese sosmed such as douyin.
No matter how hard to tries to spread lies.. that won’t make it as fact lol. Netflix is not stupid to buy a flopped drama. Just saying.
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This is a generous rating for this drama for me. 6 to 6.5 is where I placed it.
ZJM was really good
ZLH has proven once again he can’t act.
Lol koala, ur thoughts really goes to show how one being entertained is all about preferences. A lot of audiences was actually disappointed with this adaptation, especially fans of the book. Anyway to each is own.
I agree that I was disappointed with the drama after reading the novel. Maybe I should’ve never read the novel, because although the plot of the drama closely follows the book, many scenes didn’t play out to my expectations. To be honest, although I love Angel Zhao and enjoyed her performance, I felt in many scenes her acting didn’t have the gravitas or intensity I expected to see in those scenes. Which is not wholly her fault, might be the fault of the editing and directing.
Scene transitions were also choppy and the drama could have used more post production work to smooth out its rough edges.
I did enjoy the chemistry between Angel Zhao and ZLH. It was very sweet and poignant. And ZLH nailed the role of a petty but brilliant future prime minister, but again, I had higher expectations for his role after reading the novel. I’m not sure yet if I will finish the drama, and I think the Douban rating of 6.5 is fair for this work.
Agreed. It’s Koala’s personal preference to praise this drama and specifically ZJM. I still stand by my review of her acting that she has no aura for costume setting. For international fans who don’t know Chinese language, her ways of talking and mannerism may appear fine. But for me whose first language is Chinese with complete and rigorous education in traditional Chinese, she is apparently subpar in many ways. I just can’t stand how she talked in this drama. I actually think ZLH was better than ZJM in acting.
Well,It seem u r not the only who think this way , lot of audience felt ZLH was better in acting than ZJM n helped elevate their scenes together. I feel ZJM character was just not written well so it made her overall portrayal seem dim and ZJH was a complete simp, he was just there for the love story , his character was just like every second male lead we known imo, and how the second lead was given so much screen time when he lacks screen presence( charisma )is beyond me. Production team needs to stop elevate stars by giving them more screen time when they r not up to par.
I know many book fans and ZLH’s fans are outrage over this adaptation but as a viewer who didn’t know the existence of the book before, I’m satisfied. They have decent chemistry that’s just right as an old married couple so it’s understandable that the chemistry isn’t the burning hot type.Setting and styling are nice looking. Supporting casts are good both in skill and looks.
This drama isn’t extravaganza or over the top but it’s a really nice watching experiences for me
But this drama need to be extravaganza & on top coz its S++. It has a biggest production compare to The Double, In Blossom & Blooms Adversity. Princess Royal reached 10k heat index in almost 5 days & I think it didnt maintain the heat. This drama is a big time flopped.
As someone who didn’t read the novel, I wasn’t a huge fan. The palace politics felt remedial. The villains (e.g., Consort Rou) were not formidable and easily fell into traps. ZJM’s character, who was supposed to be incredibly smart and logical, was dumbed down to boost second male lead. Her character seems to have this unexplainable and illogical soft spot for second male lead because the producer/writer wanted to try to force second male lead syndrome on the audience, which backfired. There were some good parts to the story, but overall, it was MEH for me. I stopped at 34 and don’t even feel the need to finish it.
Palace politics were ridiculously simple tbh.
I’ve finished the drama and agreed with the other commenters. The drama’s palace politics is basically child’s play, if it wasn’t for the leads’ chemistry and the drama’s ending OST, I probably would have dropped the drama halfway.
It’s such a pity. It’s been a while since a drama OST got to me and the storyline has so much potential to be good, but the drama decided to dumb things down.
I still think ZLH is probably ZJM’s weakest onscreen partner. They just don’t match
Zlh acting skill was moooo, his character did not shed even a single drop of tears from the begining To the end,Youku hype cp inorder to reach the heat index, .. the dumbest thing about this drama is this”🫰.. idk if i will laugh or annoyed serously, well maybe the pd ans director are simply kpop/kdrama thingy fan😆😆😆😆
So far, I don’t like Zhao Jin Mai’s work in two dramas: Amidst a Snowstorm of Love and The Princess Royal.
Yeah, neither of these are her best work.
I think both Zhao Jin Mai and Zhang Ling He are brilliant actors. Their chemistry is good. This drama is totally different from what I have watched.
The show was such a good watch. Lovely for a romcom and ZJM and ZLH had great chemistry. Their acting was solid for me and for the script and the little details in their reactions to each other was wonderful. Love it when love interests are interesting and not just a perfect match with zero personality! I’m looking forward to their next collaboration.
Some of these commenters such as Yui, Mercy and Lady Bird are always in ZJM’s related posts putting negative comments about her acting and works and funnily these guys are someone’s fans lol 😅
The agenda you guys are on are useless. Writing here won’t brainwash anyone with eyes. If you guys are so sourbutt about her..that means her acting works wonder (while you said she had no chemisty) for you shippers to get so butthurt on her 😉
Have to laugh on some of the comments above from users like Mercy, Somebody and Yui. We all know whose fans you guys are (or perhaps a better word is ‘shipper’) and why you are always on Zhao Jinmai’s related posts trying so hard to discredit her acting and dramas lol. Making comments here won’t change anything. Especially nonsense opinions coming from haters with agenda
Have to laugh on some of the comments above from users like Mercy, Somebody and Yui. We all know whose fans you guys are (or perhaps a better word is ‘shipper’) and why you are always on Zhao Jinmai’s related posts trying so hard to discredit her acting and dramas lol. Making comments here won’t change anything. Especially nonsense opinions coming from haters with agenda
I like the first few episodes but as it drags on, for me… I think it’s going nowhere. There’s too much screentime for the FL while I’m wondering how about Pei?
Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of the military lineage is still the best story wise, just my opinion
Though the production is good and both the lead actor and the actress perform well in this drama