Jun Jiu Ling (2021)

How To Get 4 Men to Fall in Love with You at the Same Time

To enjoy watching this drama, viewers are advised to watch it with a sense of humor, and not with your normal logic, for this drama that seems dead serious (no “comedy” tag), may seem to have loaded with bizarre and unfathomable logic. Many actions and scenes are over exaggerated with overacting which are also embellished with playful music. The pace is rather fast with many events taking place in each scene, only temporarily slowing down for the romance. If viewers can endure the first couple of the episodes which may seem farfetched, the later part is rather addictive. Therefore, sit back and let the story take you away, and enjoy.

This drama is said to have adapted from a web novel of the same name. However, according to some readers, the main female character has been drastically changed “to make her seem more relatable for audience consumption”. In the novel, her personality is said to be, to quote a reader, “the most endearing element of the storyline. She's casual in demeanor but absolutely savage in her plotting. They did such a disservice to the female lead.” Even with the altered toned down version, I still love the female lead character as I find her strong, determined, intelligent and devoted.

Princess Jiuling (Peng Xiaoran) is an inspiring character. Despite the horrendous change of her life including the loss of her family, her identity and her look, she is determined to stay low, strengthen her power, and make a comeback for revenge. Her patience and her endurance to injustices, at the same time, honing her skills and waiting for the right moment, are qualities that are commendable. She exudes confidence and composure even in the most trying conditions, and her dignified demeanor captures all hearts.

Peng Xiaoran who plays the Princess Jiuling role, is an amazing actor. I got to know her in Goodbye My Princess when she was relatively unknown and was chosen to play that role because of a clash in schedule for the original actor who was a lot more popular. I was so glad they made the switch then as it brought us another talented actor who would have been buried if not for the opportunity. Here, as in Goodbye My Princess, Peng Xiaoran is so natural, graceful and authentic, successfully bringing her character to live.

Despite Jiuling is surrounded by numerous men who are deeply in love with her, she has only one true love, Zhu Zan (Jin Han) whom she had spent a great deal of time with when they were growing up. Zhu Zan is now a general guarding the frontier with his father since their separation. Free spirited and unrestrained, Zhu Zan is humorous and chivalrous. He continues to care for orphans, finding shelter and providing food for the displaced people due to wars and disasters. It is these qualities that Jiuling falls in love with him again as they align with her own values. Zhu Zan is infatuated with Jiuling, and regardless of how the world sees him and what trouble he may get into, he goes all the way out for Jiuling and helps her overcome her obstacles.

Jin Han’s portrayal of Zhu Zan is adorable, making the character very lovable like a big cuddly teddy bear. Unfortunately, many viewers criticize the choice and complain that Jin Han is not good looking enough. Perhaps these viewers hope to see a more effeminate actor as this seem to be the trend in today’s historical dramas, and Jin Han’s physical appearance is the total opposite to that. Some viewers also complain that they cannot place Jin Han’s face as a protagonist as the actor has previously played some antagonistic roles in other dramas. Whatever the criticisms are, I feel we all need to give these young actors opportunities to prove themselves, and Jin Han has proved that he is a versatile actor.

My Verdict

Sure there are flaws everywhere like in most Chinese dramas. But if we look pass these flaws and be less critical, this is a rather decent drama. A lot of the story only happens in conversations instead of in scenes, hence non-native speakers may want to get proper English subs to ensure accurate conveyance of the messages. The development of the main characters is quite well done with very well acting by the whole cast including the supporting cast. The storyline may be serious but this is a very humorous drama.

Overall, this is a drama deserved to be watched. I have enjoyed it very much.

Recommended! Bravo!

Leia Mais

Hidden hidden gem

I have watched many historical dramas before but this hits off completely different. There were so little viewers to the point that my expectations of the show were low, but I decided to give it a try since I love the main characters.

Let me start off with the characters,
PERFECT. The female lead’s new life has been entangled with 3 men who have different personalities yet all 3 of them are so likeable and charming (which is so rare considering how every drama have at least 1 annoying male side lead ). Infact, I wouldn’t mind if any 3 of them got her in the end, male lead or not. One of the man’s sister is a brad who tries to take constant revenge on the female lead (we all know we need someone like her to make the female lead seem superior). And the best part of it all is unlike the usual over dramatic phrase “I will not fall down now, I will rise”, the female lead acts extremely composure and elegant. She’s smart, emotional at THE RIGHT TIME, kind, and never makes use of any of the 3 man.

Story wised, every episode have something going on, I haven’t been bored even a minute. My favorite part is that the drama does not dwell too much on the female lead’s past (who she was before her current life), it took less than half a episode if I recall right.

Totally recommend this drama, it’s extreme underrated!

Leia Mais

Maybe in terms of plot, it is quite non-sensical, or dumb, and sometimes even bizarre, but who says it's not entertaining? if you like a strong female lead (the real one, not the one who's strong as the story wants and then becomes a damsel in distress a second later just for the sake of knight saving beauty), well-written characters, protagonist having minimal setbacks in other words almost winning every time, and clever leads who are always three steps ahead... then just turn off your brain and enjoy it as at the end of the day its main purpose is entertainment, it's not a science textbook where everything should make sense.

It's a character-driven story, as I said before plot kinda sucks coz a lot of time it's very illogical, a bit problematic, surreal. And politics is poorly written... nothing mind-blowing with no What? whoa! moment. It's a rather simple concept of revenge that mostly circles around Jiu Ling, it's her journey. So almost every other character is kinda-not-really-important. On the positive side of the story, I'll say comparing similarly-themed dramas... it's not torturous, or painful to watch, a writer doesn't kill your favorite characters left and right or even adds the most annoying characters taking a looot of screentime. If you are looking for romance, it's merely there but with a lot of chemistry.

Jun Jiu Ling is the heart of the story... and most important aspect as without her brilliant characterization this would fall flat. She's clever, quick-witted, and knows how to use her skills to get her goal.. her every action is planned and she's ready for any consequences. Even without any fighting skills, she rocks, Brain over brawn! I can't think Jiu Ling is without Peng Xiao Ran, she's just amazing as Jiu Ling... seeing her playing the character so beautifully was a pleasure to watch, especially she nails every emotional scene. Though I'm not very fond of super perfect characters, I still liked her... who doesn't love to watch lead surpassing everyone with her great abilities.

Ning Yun Zhao... well why I'm mentioning him even before ML? well non-surprisingly he's my favorite character after Jiu Ling, I bet you'll get the major second lead syndrome. As they match each other intellectually, perfect!... even their first meeting was one of my favorite scenes of the drama. Wang You Shuo did a good job... I truly felt bad for him from bottom of my heart, he did exceptionally well in the rejection scene, you can just feel pain in his eyes.

Here we go... matter of conflict, the male lead. Zhu Zan, not very fond of him... but I did like some aspects of his character a lot, he's not very ideal but I take it on the positive side as we already have 'perfect' FL we need some balance right? Jin Han... even if he's great at playing grey characters, he's pretty good as Zhu Zan with his charm. My only problem was who the heck was his hairstylist? ah, it's worse lol... I can't stand his styling he can look a lot better if they just put a bit of effort.

Lu Yun Qi is psycho... and a sick character, for a second I pitied him than just a later scene... I pitied why I pitied him, mostly he hateable (almost) all time...not a fan of his last-minute-eureka-moment that made his character inconsistent, why build the whole character in such a way if you're gonna give him last-minute development at least take some time or let him be psycho I'm happy with either. Du Ya Fei, never seen this guy before, honestly, I've as his profile says but I don't even remember him, but I don't think it'll happen again. As his performance was most splendid, and it outshined.

As for reverse-harem, as I already mentioned... there isn't much romance here why worry about reverse-harem, plus FLs character is worthy of everyone getting smitten over her lol xD so it's understandable... and other than Yun Qi 'Love' aka obsession no other male character is annoying.

It's a low budget, don't expect much of majestic setting or beautiful clothing, styling as you can see many clothes recycled all time, even lighting is dull, and I personally didn't like color pallet much. Apart from the intro, none of the osts weren't significant enough (for me).

It's not best but not worst either, but surprisingly addictive and intruding... with a femal

Leia Mais

Good Historical Drama that will not disappoint...

As an older person I am challenging myself to learn the Chinese language and therefore I watch the various drama on offer, predominantly historical.

I have to say that Jun Jiu Ling has surpassed all others I have seen to date, the casting was well done indeed, the two main characters Zhu Zan and Jiuling were superb there was definitely ‘chemistry’, basically very good performances. The little nuisances of facial expression, the gestures (especially Zhu Zan’s drunken hair flicks, Jiuling's smiles) added that completeness to the believability of the characters.

The supporting cast were just as good especially the main protagonist, Lu Yunqi, the obsession, the madness for love, well done. Ning Yunzhao subtleness of character for unrequited love was also wonderful to watch. Zhu Zan’s two sided kicks completed the comedic element which I enjoyed immensely.

The translation is also to be applauded, there were no hints of the American street language or good old English ‘Anglo Saxon’, that seems to creep in, something I believe is not necessary in these historical dramas, the context needs to be right. My understanding of the language definitely grew in this drama. Thank you, translators.

The story’s continuity fell off in places but overall, I believe this to be a superb drama and I would recommend to anyone wanting an introduction to Chinese historical drama, elements of the Imperial court, martial arts, wars, I believe will not disappoint.

Leia Mais

Great . . . ish

Because of the meticulousness of the social interactions and the ins and outs of court life, ritual and rites, and the various strata of society with which this complicated series was made, the total illogic of the first ep doesn't make sense. My theory is that because of the arbitrary cap on the number of episodes that the Chinese government slammed on theTV industry, the filmmakers, who knew the story backwards and forwards, took the opening two, four, even six episodes (or more) and smooshed them into one in order to launch the story like a rocket, and get that episode count down to 40. So absolutely nothing makes any sense--losing a bunch of potential watchers.

I sympathize--the arbitrary cap has to hurt when you genuinely have a complicated story, and have to get it set up. The opening of Nirvana in Fire has been talked about a lot for how the first two or three eps are tough to get through because story points come at you like bullets, leaving the viewer bewildered. It's only when you've seen more eps that that opening starts making sense.

Another example of a series suffering under the arbitrary cap, Court Lady, which actually began really well, for such a complicated storyline. But the last ten eps pretty much were munched, as if some poor editor, existing on nothing but espresso hacked and slashed madly in order to squash the story down to the mandated length. Leaving out one ep entirely (46?).

I think that might be the case here, because the first ep was jaw droppingly stupid, from the assassination attempt in which everyone, including the Evil Emperor just stood around, to the whole prison escapade. But once we got to the second ep, things started gradually making more sense. And when Jiuling started meeting her guys, the emotional sense locked into place.

I could quibble with the logic along the way, but the emotional arcs were so compelling that I was very soon hooked and stayed that way to the last. Some of that was the beautiful cinematography,b ut mostly it was the impeccable performances of the cast.

I thought Jin Han was an interesting, and then a terrific, choice for a hero. His looks are not idol-pretty-boy (which I do appreciate!); he's got one of the most high-voltage sneers of any actor in C-Dramaland, when he plays a villain. He just electrifies the screen. But in this role, he got to really demonstrate his acting talent--sneers there were, but laughter, tears, intensity, suffering, exalting happiness--sometimes all in one shot. He moves really well; his fight scenes are terrific. The two actors who played his brothers complemented him perfectly--when they are joshing around you can believe they are brothers, and when they get serious, they are as tough as their legendary father.

The love scenes, the kisses, the banter, were absolutely delectable.

Ditto the acting of the other guys in love with her. Du Ya Fei especially, in his role as the obsessive, borderline-mad Lu Yun Qi, was utterly riveting whenever he walked on screen. His micro expressions were amazing. His was one of the most interesting arcs in the entire show. I really want to see more from him, with meatier roles.

Contrasting, Wang You Shuo as Ning Yunzhao was quietly astonishing. Beautiful to look at, benevolent in character, he was a perfect contrast to Lu Yunqi's crazy, and their scenes together at the end were pure magic. Young Zhou Zhang, playing Fang Cheng Yu, was also fabulous.

I was so glad to see Liu Jun playing the evil emperor. I fell in love with that actor watching his range as the dad in Story of Minglan. He gave what could have been a boring cardboard character some interesting in this series. Likewise I was glad to see Zhang Yan Yan, who was so marvelous in Nirvana in Fire 1 and 2, and so marvelously evil in Minglan, playing the general's wife here.

Then there is Peng Xiao Ran, who did a wonderful job as Jun Jiu Ling. She was utterly convincing, especially when fighting tears. I loved the range she demonstrated here, especially once she and Jin Han got together. Their scenes together were sheer delight.

Everybody was good. The actress playing the grandmother, the snotty sister who had a change of heart--everyone was terrific.

To wrap this up, it seems to me that the makers did the opposite of Court Lady, who trashed the ending of the series in order to make it fit the mandate, and munched the beginning of this one. So I suggest that anyone wanting to give it a try stick it out for a few eps, to see if things smooth out enough for you.

I do know already that I will rewatch this, but i'll probably skip that first ep altogether.

Leia Mais

Perfect female lead

Female lead is perfect almost like Mary sue but
As a princess, Her difficulties lies in planning revenge against emperor , so she cannot be not perfect when facing them . She is kind, calm , smart and plan many steps ahead , so without martial art she still badass. She is the best physician but got framed in lots of life and death situation from minor to the biggest.
So, Male lead who is martial art and equally smart as her should be the one who will protect her when she is in tough situation.

FL is perfect that she is also loved by other three men which means it is unique in this drama .All men are likeable ,each with their own style. Here, FL has married thrice before ML that we can imagine as three life time in Xian Xia , just kidding.

Chemistry between leads is amazing ,
everytime ML suspect her as chu jiu Ling ,not only sparks flying between the two, it looked like it is rolling inside of them too
Jiu Ling keeping emotion in and ling jiu letting emotion out. Haven't seen such an intensely emotional scene based on convincing conflict in a long while.

There is no misunderstanding between leads not even a bit, only joking about how they jealous each other unlike other drama which they put mainly a little.

It was really worth watching!
Highly recommended !!!

Leia Mais

This is definitely a watch.

Peng Xiao Ran played Jun Jiu Ling, she was terrific! She played a believable part. I was cheering her on. A strong woman, I love this kind of role model in a drama. Jin Han who played Zhu Zan was so good and I don't care who says he is not handsome, he was every bit of handsome. I will be anxious to see more of him. Du Ya Fei who played Lu Yun Qi, I was so scared of that character. DYF was really believable. Zhou Zhan who Fang Cheng Yu, wow he is really young... but he played a significant part as being paralyzed in the beginning, that scene brought me to tears. He was awesome! The costumes, the visuals, and the martial art of Zhu Zan and Peng Xiao Ran were incredible. I applaud all the support and guest actors/actresses. This story could not be told with everyone in Team Jun Jiu Ling!

Leia Mais

Satisfactory

Jun Jiu Ling is the type of drama that is good enough to watch but nothing compelling to make it really stand out unlike The Long Ballad. The story is there and easy to follow but it doesn’t give you that adrenaline rush or enough anticipation to make you crave for more. Once you start watching, chances are you will continue on because you will want to know when the female lead’s identity as a princess will be revealed. But once you get there, it kind of falls flat.

Furthermore, along the way, the investigation aspect seems to take backseat as Jiu Ling goes through her life as Zhen Zhen and a doctor. So, it starts strongly as if the focus will be on investigating the protagonist’s father’s death. But as you watch, numerous sub-plots will emerge to take the attention away from the main storyline. By the time you are taken back to the murder case, it is already very late in the drama. That is why I find something is lacking in Jun Jiu Ling and it is a pity because the story could certainly be better executed.

A Revenge Plot
Basically, Jun Jiu Ling is a drama about getting revenge. But it is not a depressing watch. Conversely, it is relatively stress-free for a revenge drama whereby a princess has to hide her identity to avoid danger. The face changing part reminds me of Love Of Thousand Years although this is not a xianxia drama either. Thus, you will find there are certain elements in the plot that would seem rather farfetched. You will need to ignore those parts to enjoy the drama. If you take it too seriously, then this will lose its attractiveness and logic.

Personally, the plot is okay to me and I’m not one who will nitpick on plot holes. The subplots are there but thanks to the good pacing, the drama doesn’t fall victim to long boring stretches. It would have been better if the screenwriters have tightened the storyline and increased the suspense. As it is, the story still flows along rather well but just lacks a more effective approach to give viewers a more persuasive and satisfying watch.

A Strong Female Character
I think viewers nowadays would prefer to see smart and talented female characters rather than weak ones waiting to be saved. So, you will get your wish fulfilled with Jun Jiu Ling. The main female character is a strong and courageous individual. She has both brains and beauty. She also displays maturity with her patience in her quest for revenge as well as her forgiving nature. Hence, Jiu Ling is a character that is quite well-written and developed.

As for the male characters, they are also portrayed very differently to give viewers some contrasts. Zhu Zan is playful, Yun Qi is cold, Yun Zhao is noble, while Cheng Yu is the most innocent of the lot. While these 4 characters do not have the same depth as Jiu Ling, they still have important roles to play to help drive the story.

Chemistry Between The Leads
The chemistry between Peng Xiao Ran and Jin Han is good and they display enough of it to give viewers something sugary when it comes to the romance. But it is nowhere near explosive and I doubt this on-screen couple will stay in the viewers’ mind for long. Their interactions have a flirty feel at times but also cringey for some scenes. There are not many kisses in the drama and thus, don’t expect this to have The Eternal Love Season 3 kind of smooching.

My Verdict – A Decent Watch
I would categorize Jun Jiu Ling as a decent drama overall. It is watchable despite the plot holes. The ending isn’t particularly great either as some scenes should have been included to give viewers a better explanation and closure. For instance, we are not told exactly what happened to Chu Rang and Yun Qi for their crimes. Basically, you will get the feeling that there is not enough time to squeeze in greater details for each character’s ending.

Overall, it is enjoyable as long as you don’t demand all the little details to make sense. As an example, it is unrealistic that they could get ready for war within a day towards the end of the drama. So, if you are the type who likes to scrutinize all details in the plot, this may not pass your high standards. But if you can overlook them to just appreciate the main story, then this would become an enjoyable drama.

While Jun Jiu Ling seems like a love story, the romance isn’t particularly intense. This is not General’s Lady kind of historical romance drama. It is kind of light for the most part and the couple only officially start dating in the last quarter. It doesn’t roil your emotions the way One And Only does. Hence, I’m not so sure if this would be perfect for those who are looking for pure romance dramas.

In conclusion, I would give this Jun Jiu Ling review a score of 7.5/10. Don’t dive in just for the romance but an overall adventure of a princess looking to avenge her father’s death and the detours that come with it. It is satisfying enough to give it a go but insufficient to term it as great for me.

Leia Mais

Great script, Intriguing, and lovable characters!!

I got hooked on Episode 1. This drama is the perfect combination of great storytelling, comedy, love, and empowerment. The actor/actresses chosen are so perfect for their roles and really bring the characters to life. I love this show because it has serious, tear-jerking moments but also very fun comedy thrown in appropriately.

The storyline is interesting and I love it when the female lead is strong, smart, independent, and confident. You feel empowered just watching her scenes--Peng Xiao Rang did a fantastic job displaying her character, Jun Jiu Ling. She is a strong character that you can't help but love. Her pairing with Zhu Zan (played by Jin Han) matches so well and their personality compliments each other. She is more serious with a lot of burden on her shoulders, but then Zhu Zhan's casual and comedic self shows up, teases her, makes her laugh, and help to make her feel more at ease. Their love is so cute and endearing, I love it.

If you love a good story, with strong main leads, and wonderful character development then definitely give this a try!! It's hard not to love to show. It's serious, but funny and has moments where you laugh but also cry.

Leia Mais

One of the best historical dramas of all time!

I started watching this drama as the synopsis and trailer reminded me of "Princess of Weiyang", and I'm a fan of the female protagonist ^^ The drama starts off fast-paced and the story/plot is clearly set from ep1. All episodes are meaningful and there is no drag to the storyline. What I really love is that the female lead is smart, witty, and can stand up for herself. Because of this, she is able to make everyone who disliked her eventually come to respect/like her and becomes famous due to her top-notch doctor skills and hardworking/kind personality. Through the drama, she is constantly thinking and coming up with strategies to get closer to the kingdom to take revenge, and looking for ways to protect her siblings at the same time. Lastly, both the male and female lead are strong in their own ways, and they both are able to help and protect each other during critical times, which makes them suitable for each other as well.

Leia Mais

Flawed but good!

OVERALL
An imperfect drama that still much better than average! Watch it if 1) you want some perfectly balanced romance and palace drama, 2) you like smart and strong female leads. Maybe think twice about it if 1) you can't stand surreal or incoherent plot elements, 2) you're looking for lots of smexy scenes.

THE STORY
The first 20 mins or so of this drama are absolutely horrid. Luckily, it was a good day when I was watching and I decided to skip and keep going. If I hadn't, I would have missed a quite good drama!

The Good
- Female lead is so cool! Of course, we get more and more of these female characters that are smart, pretty, skilled, and everything you could ever wish for. It's almost becoming a cliché. But it's fine by me, I like that!
- Although a historical, this drama is pretty generous with the romantic scenes. Lots of cute, fun and tension-filled scenes here. Sure, most of them aren't realistic because they would never happen at that time, but it's fine by me. I like that!
- The fact that Male lead doesn't know Female lead is his childhood crush means we actually get a "falling in love" storyline and that's great because I hate the "I liked you when I was 10, so let's get married" romance.
- There aren't any hateful characters in this drama. All the characters, villains included, are quite likeable. They're likeable because they're well written, not because they're all nice and you can root for them. But still, it counts!
- Last but not least, this drama is just filled with action. It's one thing after another, which totally makes it binge worthy!

The Bad
- Top of the list is the absolute worst of the drama: the ancient-plastic-surgery plot device. Female lead getting a new face and a new life in that time is weird enough (makes zero sense), add to it 1) the fact that Female lead before and after surgery act like two different people, 2) Female lead honestly struggles too little with the fact that she literally became someone else, which is not realistic, 3) everyone just takes in the news like people wake up with a different voice and body every day, 4) there's just a lot of drama that should have come with this that doesn't and makes the plot device kind of useless?
- The OTP is cute, okay. I actually liked them a lot. But the writers of this drama obviously never heard of "show, don't tell", because once the leads get together, we don't see them in love, we just see them talking about being in love. ALL. THE. TIME. It's not too cool.
- I'm not too much about realism in dramas, I care more about a good storyline and a concern for social issues like gender equality. Still, when there're just too many things that feel unrealistic, things you know would never happen back in the day, it kind of becomes...a bit annoying.
- The ending feels a bit lackluster, in my opinion. Nice, but bland and too easy. The final showdown seems like a cheaper version of Nirvana in Fire's. Which reminds me that many scenes in this drama feel like they were taken from other dramas. Mm...

THE ACTING
Good! I always say there're four kind of performances: amazing/impressive, good/memorable, lackluster/not distracting, terrible/ruining the show. Here I think the two leads fitted the good/memorable category. I liked Female lead more than Male lead, but he was also okay. They had pretty good chemistry, which totally made up for the cringe "I love you" scenes the writers would throw at them. The rest of the cast was good too, especially the king and the 2nd (or is it the 3rd?) love interest of Female lead, LYQ.

THE MUSIC
Also quite memorable! I'm not sure it's playlist material yet, but I was vibing with it!

REWATCH VALUE
Honestly, pretty high. This dramas has all you can ask for when in the mood for rewatching a drama: it has romance, palace drama, war, medical situations, and a whole lot of adventure! I'm sure I'll be rewatching it sooner or later, but skipping the beginning :)

Leia Mais