Chun Hua Yan (2024)

A tale of revenge flowing into romance

When I first noticed this drama by watching shorts of it on TikTok, I was immediately sold. The promos showed me a villainous male lead, a badass female lead and a plot filled with revenge and action scenes.

The story follows that of Murong JingHe (a third prince from Yan whose life is under constant threat from his brother the crown prince) and Mei Lin (a survivor of the great fires of Qingzhou picked off the streets by the Shadow Works, an assassin organisation).
The first couple of episodes already had me on the edge of my seat and that tension didn't go away for quite a while. I loved the way they introduced certain characters. Jinghe, once a famous general, was responsible for the fires in Qingzhou and is now known to be a mass murderer and an outcast. His own people either hate him or fear him and he puts that to good use to put forth a certain image of himself. He gave all the red-flag vibes I wanted and more.
With lots of flashbacks we get to know the characters more and more. Usually I'm not a fan of flashbacks or timetravel things in dramas but these scenes actually had something to add to the story. It made me realise how difficult Mei Lin had it in the years after the fire in Qingzhou destroyed her home and family and added to her character.

Positives:
- The acting of this cast was A+++++. They had me immersed into the story and kept me wanting more and more. I vowed to myself never to start another ongoing show due to this one. I could barely wait for new episodes to air and was unable to watch anything else in between.
- I have never seen anything from Baron Chen before and I don't think I will ever be able to watch anything he's in after this role. Not because he did a bad job but because he did such a good job at portraying such an incredible douche-canoe that I gagged everytime he came into focus.
- The romantic development between the main leads. I thought it was really pure how it went from enemies-to-lovers. I loved watching JingHe realise his mistakes and go from a "I only want to fight battles and win them" to "I want to fight battles to protect those I love". Mei Lin pierces through his cold exterioir and finds the man within. It's a beautiful love story that gives us the raw and sweet moments of a romance within a revenge plot.
- A badass female lead who doesn't take bullshit from her surroundings. She knows how to take care of herself and her fight scenes are amazing!!
- The OST!! I've been playing its theme song on repeat for days!

Negatives:
- There was a love story between the emporer and his peace-making-concubine who wasn't even 20 years old. This one didn't sit well with me. I know it's part of historical reality. I mean.. emporers at that time did have wives of a third their own age but it just made me want to skip their scenes. Especially when she became pregnant with his child. It was a big no-no for me. He could have been her grandfather....
- The second lead romance. I really didn't understand why General Yin eventually fell for the crown prince. All he did was manipulate her into things even going as far as rape (okay.. he didn't go through with it, but still) her into a marriage. His entire character was build up to make the audience hate him. Redemption was far from being realised, in my opinion, so having general Yin fall in love with him, carrying his memorial tablet... it made me dislike her as a character.
- The eternal back and forth in the later parts of the series. Mei Lin is still poisoned by the Momai poison at that point and the amount of things they have to turn to in order to heal her... it made no sense. Everytime they came close it fell through at the last minute only to have them not succeed at all in the end. Or the fact that they kept saying she would only survive for so long and than have that period extended by a little more time. It just became ridiculous at some point.
- The ending. Although it's an okay ending to the story.. I wish they could have done a little better. With the way they've done it, it feel a little draggy and rushed at the same time and now the story feels unfinished to me.

Overal I really loved this drama. It's the best Cdrama I've seen in 2024. Maybe even drama of the year for me. It was everything I needed and everything I wanted.

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O roteiro é interessante, os personagens foram bem escritos e, principalmente, graças ao elenco, é possível sentir a emoção de cada um deles ao longo do drama. A história não é apenas um romance, mas as muitas personagens que se entrelaçam durante a difícil jornada do príncipe Murong Jing He para buscar justiça ao seu exército falsamente acusado de cometer um crime hediondo contra a população e sua determinação de reconstruir a cidade onde tudo começou.
Os diretores conduziram esse drama de uma forma interessante, pois no capítulo 24 o 'vilão' está liquidado. Quando o drama aparenta cair numa fase sossegada, inicia-se a luta contra outro 'vilão' e, além dos 'vilões' que podem ser combatidos, há algo inexorável que foge a capacidade dos personagens, levando o drama até o último momento com grandes expectativas. A finalização foi singela, mas adequada ao roteiro e capaz de arrancar algumas lágrimas.
Os protagonistas (Liu Xue Yi e Wu Jin Yan), entregam cenas bem acabadas e bastante convincentes e, as cenas deles com os atores de suporte são primorosas. Baron Chen deu vida ao personagem com maestria, os olhares invejosos que são lançados pelo personagem e a cara de hipocrisia para se fazer de bom, são impagáveis.
O figurino é primoroso e a trilha sonora agradável.

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Piękna i wzruszająca historia miłosna

Ehh... ostatanie odcinki tak bardzo działały na moje emocje, że myślałam iż będę płakać jak bóbr. Udało mi sie jednak powstrzymać potok łez, jednak pojedyncza łza spłynela. Po raz pierwszy kiedy zmarła Zi Gu, po raz drugi - tutaj nikogo nie zaskoczę - kiedy odeszła Mei Lin. Ta historia jest naprawdę bardzo wciągająca, uczucia jakimi darzą się główni bohaterowie to jest naprawdę mega skomplikowana, zawiła i tragiczna opowieść. Nasz kochany książę z początkowo oczywiście jak to zwykle bywa, nie wie czego chce i co czuję. Dopiero jak sobie to uzmysławia, to wtedy już się robi problem, bo otruł naszą kochaną Mei Lin i nagle znajduje się w patowej sytuacji, bo żeby ją odtruć potrzebuję bardzo rzadkiego zioła, które udaje mu się zdobyć, lecz jak potem się dowiadujemy w historii niestety traci to zioło. NIe będę oczywiście wypisywać w jakich sytuacjach, bo od tego jest drama żeby obejrzeć tą historię, ale sam fakt że po prostu podejmują bohaterowie złe decyzje których potem bardzo żałują trochę irytuje. Ogólnie i tak uważam, że historia nie była nudna. Nie miałam takich epizodów, że chciałam na przykład przewinąć czy po prostu wyrzucić komputer przez okno, więc uważam że naprawdę bardzo dobra jest ta drama. Właściwie to jedyny minus jaki widzę w tej historii to wtedy kiedy Mei Lin zamiast być z Generałem ona się przed nim ukrywa, jak dla mnie mega stracony czas dla ich obojga skoro ona dobrze wiedziała że i tak za niedługo umrze. No i musimy zwrócić uwagę też na to, że w większości dram znajduje się taka sytuacja, gdzie główny bohater żeby chronić swoją ukochaną to ją odsyła gdzieś i potem oczywiście okazuje się to błędną decyzją. Był w ciężkiej sytuacji, więc można mu wybaczyć ^^ Także dramę muszę Ocenić Ogólnie na 9,5/10 . Bardzo chciałabym dać 10 /10, ale niestety powstrzymuje mnie ten epizod o którym wyżej wspomniałam. Ogólnie dla fanów historii romantycznych osadzonych w takim przedziale czasowym za panowania cesarzy, królów itd to szczerze bardzo polecam, cała historia mega wciąga - ja obejrzałam ten serial w 3 dni. Trzeba dodać, że jestem osobą pracującą więc mimo wszystko te 32 odcinki byłam w stanie pochłonąć w trzy dni, poświęcając lekko swój sen, ale mysle ze warto.

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DON'T watch this expecting the same ending as the book it's apparently based on.

I haven't read the book I was told it's based on. I've been told the drama is VERY different compared to the book, definitely from episode 23. So don't watch this expecting the same story or ending. DON'T read past the spoilers alert below if you don't want to know ANYTHING about what happens!!! Though I have tried to be vague.

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Just to be sure everyone understands that there are SPOILERS ahead.......
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!


The book apparently had a happy ending for the main couple ( though they did really suffer for it). I don't know this because I didn't read the book. There is NO happy ending, not even a bittersweet ending. It's just a full on tragedy.......needlessly so. I've been told the author, who was (allegedly) not aware of the changes being made to her story, is 'upset'. I would be more than 'upset' if it was my book being butchered like this.

However, the acting was truly amazing; completely faultless - the main couple were so cute and really made the development of their deep love for each other (we're talking SOULMATES, people!) utterly believable. Liu Xue Yi who played the ML wonderfully as the (somewhat insane, at least in the beginning) , Prince Murong Jing He. His growing love for the FL was also very believable. As an actor, he really aces these historical/fantasy roles the best.

Wu Jin Yan, is a consummate actress, I've seen many of her dramas and she aces her roles every time. and she really was believable as the revenge driven female lead, Mei Lin. Again, her developing love for the prince was believable. As was the desperation to remain with each other come what may as their story progressed. The similar desperation to 'save' each other though, was annoying and led to so many moments of me just yelling - "OH MY GOD!! JUST *TELL* HIM/HER!!". Things would've been different for the FL if she'd just TOLD the ML some stuff, but she didn't because......enter stupid reason. But that, sadly, was the script, not the actors fault.

Even the malevolent couple were cute (together - scary with everyone else!) you really believed that, especially the Crown Prince, was genuinely, deeply in love. The always wonderful Baron Chen was the evil Crown Prince (and man, was he evil to all but his beloved general, Luo Mei).

We truly expected the unnecessary suffering would at least lead to a Happily Ever After for the main leads and at least SOME pf the other 'good' characters......which it did in the book (at least that's what I'm told). I swore so MUCH at my tv at the ending.....SO much. Basically NOTHING good is kept at the end and EVERYONE suffers and ends up utterly MISERABLE, DEPRESSED and verging on self deleting.

There's a cute ending bit of what would've happened to the main leads if Jinghe had had the entry to the town HE wanted and there was no fire. In it the princes were brothers first, etc and there was no power struggle. Jinghe's mother was still alive too. It was cute - but, again (at least in my mind), the scriptwriter fricked us over.

The scenes were about how the main couple were fated to meet, how they were fated to be together because they were soulmates. So why not have that cuteness as their NEXT lives? Maybe a few ones after too? Showing them having increasingly happier lives together after the suffering they endured for justice in this life (including the side characters who suffered). So give them better lives moving forward, ESPECIALLY the main leads? Oh this is a soapbox I could camp out on - literally build a small town here and move in to rant daily about how even this TEENY segment was done so wrongly.

It was definitely wonderful to see Baron Chen (he's the evil Crown Prince) back on our screens in the West again (I'm sure, as the gifted actor he is, he's been working a lot in Asia, but we still don't get enough Asian dramas/movies here so don't see too much of him). He played the Crown Prince as the malevolent royal usurper, completely without redemption. EXCEPT for his love for his female general, who you could see he genuinely love deeply. They were very believable in their devotion though, fully as much as the main couple.

There is NO SML Syndrome; which, I admit, was refreshing - I am a repeated SML Syndrome sufferer and have been for years. So it made a pleasant change not to have it here. He wasn't even that nice overall; he did something UNACCEPTABLE to FL. He is also NO threat to the ML on any level - warrior, lover, romantic interest. Naught, None, Nada. You know it the second you see him interact with the FL; there's not even an attempt to pose him as a serious threat to the main lead on any level - as shown by the fact its clear in the drama to main leads are soulmates (in damaged souls as well as love) and the loathsome thing he did to the FL.

There is NO rewatch value - seriously, NONE. I don't need to see the abomination of the ending more than once. I don't need to use that amount of bad language against my poor tv more than once. It literally switched itself off randomly, probably because of the bad language being angrily hurled at it. Apparently some people watch just the main leads and stop at episode 23 (which is where the script basically completely abandoned the book).

If I can find the book as an English translation I might buy it, just to find the better ending.

Please understand this is MY take from this drama, only mine. I loved ALL the actors; I think they ALL deserved better than this Script of Abomination - like. oh I don't know, maybe the author's ORIGINAL story. I mean they really committed to their characters and made their character so believable.

I wish another, more competent, scriptwriter could work WITH the author and do it all again with the same, VERY gifted cast. But then, as my late mum would say, "if wishes were horses, then beggars could ride." So yeah.....sadly, there will be no horseriding beggars and no better version of this. This had so MUCH promise that was wasted by a scriptwriter from hell.

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Great Start Then Dragged On

The first 10 episodes or so were quite promising. I like my FLs strong and she was until she wasn't. Not sure why they took that away from her. Is it because she was outshining the ML's character in action scenes? Because we got some incredible ones of her. Even General Luo Mei has some great fight scenes and was a strong character with high morals and they ruined that as well. It was just frustrating to watch.

The show has love triangles and love squares that get a bit annoying. The anti-hero/villain character of ML's brother was done well however the downright disgusting tactics of him trying to get the general to fall for him were too much for me. The leads' chemistry was good in the first half. Later in the show, I got a bit bored. I liked the second ML as well and his character also got ruined. Still one can understand him even his methods were terrible.

The FL really had 9 lives. And that is a bit funny once you watch it even though it's not supposed to be.

The ending was fairly realistic but to be honest I was already bored of the plot by then so I couldn't even appreciate things I normally do like the action sequences and the romance and some of the emotional scenes. I was too detached to care unfortunately. I just wanted to get over with the series.

There were some plot holes and terribly unrealistic aspects to the show. But it could have been ignored if the show entertained in other ways.

The OST was okay. Not really to my taste. Overall the show is a bit better than average. The actors portrayed their characters well but the plot let them down.

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THE DRAMA LIVED UP TO ITS NAME

There’s a bittersweet irony in how a title can so accurately encapsulate the fate of a story. This drama, which started with promises of intensity and twists, ended in a lukewarm sigh, as if exhausted by its own ambitions. It’s impossible to overlook the detail no one seems eager to talk about: the poison that killed Mei Li was given by Jinghe and had a one-year expiry. Yes, he regretted it, sought a cure, and perhaps even redeemed himself in the eyes of many. But the facts remain unchangeable — he killed her, full stop. There’s no softening that truth.

The pacing, on the other hand, completely unraveled after the crown prince’s death. It was as though the plot lost its emotional and narrative anchor. From that point on, every attempt to inject life into the story felt like a tired, sluggish effort, which, unsurprisingly, reflected in the lukewarm reception it received in China. Not even the chemistry between the leads could salvage what quickly turned into an exercise in monotony. It’s a shame because both actors are talented and delivered solid performances — but talent alone doesn’t make for a memorable story.

In the end, it’s the kind of production that fades from memory as easily as it entered. The aesthetics were beautiful, and the beginning held promise, but ultimately, it lacked substance. This is a drama I’m already starting to forget as I write this review.

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The acting was exceptional by main CP but the storyline went downhill at mid-point.

Kill Me Love Me is a WuXia drama that starts with Liu Xue Yi (as Jing He) and Wu Jin Yan (as Mei Lin.) The drama begins with a good story of rivalry between the crown prince, Xuan Lie, and his brother, Jing He. The Qingzhou princess (Mei Lin) tries to seek revenge on her parents, who were burned to death.

The acting was exceptional between the main CP however, the acting of the 2nd CP was awful, especially the acting of Baron Chen (the crown prince). He only has one expression and the same stoic looks for a dramatic and cold demeanor. His lover, the female general, did not act well either. After the crown prince's death, the storyline went downhill from there. It was so stupid and unbearable. I finished it quickly just to see the acting of the main CP.

Overall, I give it a 7.0 rating. Wu Jin Yan's character is much better in The Double Drama.

Synopsis: Prince Murong Jing He of the Great Yan Dynasty led his Weibei Army to reclaim Qingzhou, a lost territory. His triumphant victory should have been a moment of glory. Still, soon after his army entered the city, a devastating fire broke out. Whispers spread throughout Qingzhou, accusing Murong Jing He of harboring a grudge against the people for their alleged betrayal of Great Yan. Rumor had it that the prince, now known as the ruthless "Butcher General," ordered the city to be burned. In the flames, a young girl named Mei Lin lost her entire family. Heartbroken and consumed by vengeance, she vowed to kill the one responsible for the massacre. She joins a secret organization known as the Shadow Works, where she undergoes years of brutal training after consuming a deadly poison that turns her into an unstoppable assassin. Mei Lin's first mission is finally assigned: to assassinate her greatest enemy, Prince Murong Jing He himself. Disguised as one of a hundred Xiyan beauties sent to the Great Yan as part of a political marriage alliance, she patiently waits for her chance to strike. But Mei Lin doesn't know that the man who masterminded her entire assassination mission—setting her on this path of revenge—is none other than Murong Jing He himself.

My Reviews:
1. Good acting but a bad script.
2. The 2nd CP cannot act.
3. The storyline went downhill after the mid-point
4. I give it a 7.0 rating.

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Pensavo fosse un "calesse", invece....

La faccio breve. Ho aspettato con ansia l'uscita di questa serie. Dai trailer mi ero già fatta un film su come poteva essere la storia, poi però, dopo le prime puntate diventa monotona e poco interessante. Anche i protagonisti principali ML e FL di tutto rispetto e con la mia totale ammirazione, sono diventati piatti e monocorde ( mi chiedo: sono stati doppiati? Ad un certo punto non sentivo i rumori di fondo all'aperto).
Arrivano entrambi da successi favolosi per le loro ultime interpretazioni ma qui hanno fatto un capitombolo non da poco. Penso che la colpa sia da imputare soprattutto a sceneggiatura e regia.
Cosa dire dei personaggi secondari? Per me alcuni non sono stati per niente capaci, come ad es. il principe ereditario, la giovane concubina reale molto sciocca così pure il fratello principe ostaggio.
La storia poteva terminare con almeno 8 puntate di meno ma è stata stiracchiata all'eccesso con le vicende delle ultime puntate (molte le ho velocizzate per non correre il rischio di droppare la serie).
Il finale è emozionalmente intenso, tante lacrime e mal di cuore. Si offre allo spettatore una seconda possibilità: e se......( ma solo un accenno)
Le OST sono molto belle e le parole molto intense. Le location sono meravigliose, così pure trucco e parrucco.
Da rewatch? per me, no.
Serie consigliata? come sempre, si!
Cosa non piace a me, può piacere a te! buona visione.

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