Ning An Ru Meng (2023)

Story of Kunning Palace has one of the best pacing of any 2023 drama. The storytelling is intriguing, with suspenseful arcs from the very first episode. The show does a great job of introducing the many characters and establishing their motivations. For the first 30 episodes, the twists and turns, as well as Jiang Xuening's personal growth, captivate the audience. The female friendships are beautiful and the discussion of female power is interesting.

The romance isn't the main focus of most of the show. In the beginning, Jiang Xuening struggles with her best friend's romantic feelings for her, while trying to save him and his family this time. In order to achieve this, she begins to plot with her teacher Xie Wei, but only in the last arc does she develop feelings for him. Instead, she longs for her former love, Zhang Zhe, an upright official with a strong sense of justice. One of the main themes of the show is that Jiang Xuening is not a good person, not in this life and certainly not in her last, but she is trying to be better. While Zhang Zhe is not a good match for her, the scheming and violent Xie Wei is. The story of Kunning Palace is not about love, but about intrigue, friendship, ambition and doing the right thing. It's only in the last 8 episodes that there is a real romance, and then the show loses its intrigue.

I was rooting for them right up until the moment their actual relationship developed. Firstly, I'm generally not a fan of the trope of men forcing themselves on women and women giving in until they like it, even if it's under the influence of trauma. Is it reasonable for his character to react that way? Yes, it is. Did the writers have to make him do it? Absolutely not. Especially when it is all framed as sexual tension. They were great as partners in crime, but at that point, is just using trauma for the sake of drama.

Overall, Bai Lu really stole the show. She was absolutely perfect for the part. As for Zhang Linghe, his performance again lacked nuance, but it was better compared to other shows I have seen so far. As for the side characters, the only other one that really stood out for me was Lui Xiening as Princess Le Yang/ Shen Zhi Yi, as well as the scheming Xue Yuan (by Huang Haibing) and his sister, Empress Dowager Xue (by Liu Min). These two were such great villains!

Leia Mais

Impeccable story from beginning to end

WHAT A WONDERFUL DORAMA FROM START TO FINISH! ♥️

Guys, if there's a dorama that will hold you in a way, it's "Story of Kunning Palace". Seriously, I was completely enchanted from beginning to end! The story is simply perfect, full of twists and turns that leave us with our mouths open. Each scene is a slap of emotion and surprise.

What about the chemistry between the characters? My God, what a surreal thing! It's really creepy. And those kisses? I swear, it's to make the screen catch fire! It's that kind of romance that makes the heart beat harder and the eyes shine. What about that love triangle, or rather, love square? What about the jealousy scenes? Hahaha I loved it!

The characters are very well built, each with their story, their conflicts, and all are played by incredible actors and actresses. The protagonist is strong and determined, without a shred of songuice!

And the end? Guys, it's VERY happy! It's that kind of ending that we want in every dorama, but rarely see. I left with a warm heart, very satisfied, and wanting to watch everything again. Seriously, it's an ending that makes us sigh and thank you for watching it.

It's a masterpiece that you can't miss. This dorama is all we ask for and a little more - intelligent, exciting, with a breathtaking romance and an ending that leaves us in the clouds.

Unmissable! ♥️

Leia Mais

this drama is all worth your time . Its a rollercoaster of emotions.

the script, directing ,acting of this drama is amazing ,its a piece of art overall. the male lead acting was very good ,you could feel all the emotions from his acting specially in the last 10 episode .the story is full of twist .you will never feel bored . a minus in this drama is the FL even after reincarnation she is a little confused and very hesitant towards the ml. I understand why she was hesitant the first 20 episodes but after that she started to act a little too confusing (?), and frustating.BUT overall i have never watch a drama like this .I recommend this to everyone including the one that watches rom com.

Leia Mais

Watch it for the love of Zhang Linghe if nothing else

Let me first write why everyone should watch the drama: Zhang Linghe looks absolutely gorgeous as angsty angry ML.
I'm not a fan of Bai lu but she acted so well. Their relationship will forever be iconic.

The story was fast paced unlike most of c-dramas (I'm used to watching k-dramas so no offense here to c-drama lovers as I'm used to series ending around 16 episodes).

The bad parts: badly edited and directed. It gets confusing at times. wasted enough time on Consort Shu character which was not necessary.

All in all this drama is a treat and one of the best to come out in recent years. A must watch.

Leia Mais

Mixed Feelings

I'm at a loss to explain it but I want to express my opinion. the overall story of this drama is mixed, it can be either framed or trapped, and it has many twists and turns but a happy ending. because this drama based on a novel has a dark story. I don't think it's a wuxia(?) but a political conflict without any spirituality.
But I hope BL and ZLH can act together again in a wuxia/xianxia/xuanhuan drama, I love their chemistry.

and I'm here to express my frustration, I commented on this SOKP page they attacked me, then I better delete my comment. what's wrong with the fans of this SOKP drama attacking me so much? is it because this SOKP drama is overrated? this makes me afraid to comment again and the fans of this SOKP drama are so terrible.
It's different when I commented on Tiger and Crane page, no one attacked me.
even though my favorites are ZLH and BL but why are SOKP drama fans so horrible?
I hope SOKP drama fans don't become horrible.

Leia Mais

This was a slow start drama that really takes a while to build up (with annoying flashbacks every two scenes and internal monologues galore), but overall, it had interesting characters and a decent storyline. I had doubts about both the ML and FL at first, but I ended up liking both of them in the end. If you're like me and like morally grey characters, you'll probably also like the ML, who is, honestly, pretty unhinged (pls get this man a therapist).

The romance part was more of an aside for me, as I wasn't really buying it between the ML and FL. The side characters were constantly mentioning how the ML and FL acted differently towards the other and how they must love the other, that the whole thing just felt forced, as if they were trying to convince the audience of this fact rather than letting their actions speak for themselves.

I probably wouldn't ever rewatch this but this was an enjoyable drama. If you like palace politics, you'll probably like this as well! Nice OST, good acting, and satisfying ending.

Leia Mais

Overcoming the Past is An Uphill Battle

The cast did a great job with this show. The first few arcs learning about each character was great and enjoyable but towards the end though the final arc had some pacing issues. Some people said they were bored with the beginning arc but imo it gave us much needed character development and world building. I wish this show had at least 5 to 10 more episodes because the developments were rushed especially for the main couple.

Our FL was in constant inner turmoil for her past life actions for good reason but I also pitied her for it because for the longest time she punished herself for it. Even when she has fixed all her past life wrongdoings she always blamed herself for it even for the stuff she had no control over. For the ML the past was just as traumatic if not more. He was forced to mature too quickly and survive through any means. It caused misunderstandings between the two of them which took a while. they both needed a lot of healing and made love a bit twisted and difficult for them two.

I know a lot of people will probably hate the ML because the other two supporting leads were such green flags. Still if you think about everything they've gone through it just shows how they are the best fit for each other as their connection and love runs the deepest. ( It also helps watching the mini episode of their wedding because they were so darn cute.) Keep an open mind when watching this drama and looking forward to watching more of these actors.

Warning: kinda red flag ML but honestly my biggest complaint is the lighting and filters at some points lol
Faves: The ost of this show and the whole cast main leads and supporting cast did a great job

Leia Mais

Acting, storyline, development are all good story of the kunning palace is amazing!!

Ah! I really enjoyed watching the story of the kunning Palace. The story, acting, visuals were all magnificent! It is definitely one of the bests cdramas to come out this year. Moreover, the characters especially xie wei who was played by the actor Zhang Ling He, gave such a phenomenal performance. I was really impressed with how he protrayed Xie Wei as a man who has been thorough so much hardship thus devloping a cold and shrewd personality. He is someone that I am looking forward to seeing more of his works and how his acting can further progress. However, I would also like to mention that at some points during the drama i did feel like he over dramatised xie wei’s character a little bit which came as kind of scary? But nonetheless he put on a good performance! As for Bai Lu, I am pleased with how she presented ning’er as a character. I think she did a wondeful job in showcasing her fragile side and how strong and smart she is. I want to give an overwhelming praise to yan lin’s actor as his character development really warmed my heart with how the actor managed to show just how much of a silly but really sweet boy he was. (i fell so hard when he was fighting in last few episodes, he looked so badass 😭) and ofc the actor who played zhang he i love you such a handsome man but his acting was really flawless i really think he put on a good performance in showcasing how self righteous. zhang he’s character was. Furtheremore, I think the story for kunning palace was executed pretty well but towards the ends it felt a bit rushed like the pace was inconsistent, so that kind of took the ratings down. Additonally, i felt like towards the end the director could’ve made the character’s deaths more vile because truly makes no sense how them being killed of just like that was a “satisfactory” ending for the viewers. Anyways i really did enjoy this cdrama and heavily reccomend for anyone who wants to watch. :)

Leia Mais

Şaşırtıcı bir son

Merhabalar, tam 4 kere izlemeye başladığım ve ilk 15 dk. sıkıldığım ve sonra son bir şans vermek istediğim bir dizi idi 1. bölümün ortalarından itibaren sizi saran içine alan son zamanlar da konusu ile değişiklik gösteren ve Zhang Ling He'njin en iyi dizilerinden biri oyunculuk harikaydı ve kendisine en yakıştırdığım rol oldu ters köşe planlar ve süpriz sonu ile gerçekten beğendiğim tekrar izleyeceğim bir dizi gerek kurgusu gerekse oyuncu seçimi çok iyiydi dizi için kadın başrol oyuncusu Bai Lu içinse bu rolde sevdim daha önce The Legends de pek sevmemiştim ve Xu Kai ile iyi partner olduklarını düşünmüyorum fakat Zhang Ling He ile yakıştırdım ve enerjileri iyi idi tek eleştirim kadın başrol oyuncusunun geçmişin anıları ile olduğu zamana dönmesi oldu bu kadar kusuru da kabul edebiliriz dizinin müzikleri güzeldi genel olarak yine emek ve zaman harcanmış bir dizi yapımda ve yayında emeği geçen herkese teşekkür ederiz. böyle dizileri daha çok seyretmek isteriz

Leia Mais