Floresce na Adversidade (2024)

"Blossom in Adversity" isn't just a title; it's a promise of resilience and triumph in the face of adversity. As the men of the Hua family face exile, the burden of survival falls upon the women and young boys left behind. At the heart of the tale is Hua Zhi, with her skills, courage, and bravery she steps up and brings the family out from the countryside back to the city life with her business propositions and tricks that wow the city. She makes enough money to get her family out of starvation and they bond over time learning to lean and love each other.

What I love about this series:
What sets this series apart is its authentic portrayal of human interaction. The chemistry between the leads feels refreshingly natural. Rather than being a constant savior, the male lead subtly supports Hua Zhi. Moments like their journey from the jailhouse back to the countryside lingers in my thoughts after it ends. I also loved every conversation they had. He told her enough not to reveal his identity but he never lied to her. And with FL, her intelligence and kindness she extends to strangers not only touched ML heart, it also touched mine.

The OST is also another favorite, I truly think they make or break the drama. I love Curly’s voice and was super excited to see her sing the opening. But the song that won my heart is Night and Day by Baby.j and Liu ZhiJia. I have to say Baby.j has been singing a lot of OST I love so I look forward to them each time. This particular song when it played each time it was usually when they were overcoming a situation, brave and strong. Just like the lyric “I don’t admit defeat or quit; I just run towards the first light” it just tears me up!

While the spotlight shines on the main characters, all the side characters shine just as brightly. I grew to love each one of them even though I couldn’t stand some of them to begin with. Personally love Shao Yao nuanced portrayal of autism and how her character grows as she later becomes a part of the Hua family. Chen Qing and Fu Dong mini love line is also another favorite! I’m rooting for them and hoping to see to grow.

What I didn’t like:
I’m going to get hate for this, but personally I've seen some of the actors and actresses in other series and I had a hard time watching some of them in here because there was something different about them. And because of that, I felt some of their facial gesture just looked a bit stiff, so knocking off a star because I couldn’t thoroughly enjoy it.

Anticipating:
As the series hurtles towards its conclusion, anticipation hangs heavy in the air, especially for me. I truly hope the ending is not a disappointment.

In the meantime, the allure of the series proves irresistible, beckoning a rewatch as the countdown to the finale begins.

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A story of hope and resilience in adversity and a joyful fairy tale in wishful thinking

There is something intensely satisfying with stories in which the underdog overcomes unimaginable adversity to succeed against all expectations. Throw in well-paced story arcs, an incredibly smart, sensible, progressive, and courageous protagonist, supported by a cast of flawed but loyal and caring friends and family members, and we have a recipe I can’t resist.

Blossoms in Adversity is a wonderful historical drama that celebrates the strength and resilience of women by putting a spotlight on their incredibly oppressive lives in ancient China through the fall and rise of the once-illustrious Hua Family. I was willing to suspend disbelief and enjoy this magical and joyous fairy tale in wishful thinking, where the value of truth and the power of good will always prevails.

The Hua family patriarch is a high ranking court official of unimpeachable integrity who refuses to speak dishonestly simply to curry favour with the Emperor. Enraged by his subject’s impudence, the Emperor exiles the Hua men to the northern borders to do hard penal labour and confiscates the family’s wealth and home. The remaining family members -- the many wives and concubines of the four Hua sons and their children (boys under the age of 13 and all the daughters) -- are left to fend for themselves. Were it not for a rustic cottage outside the city bestowed many years ago by the Dowager Empress to the family matriarch -- best friends in their youth -- the women and children would have nowhere to go.

With the exception of our heroine, the eldest granddaughter Hua Zhi, who had travelled the realm with her grandfather as a child, the remaining family members are spoiled and pampered and at a complete loss over their reversal of fortune and the harsh realities that come with it.

I was brought to tears more than once by the heartfelt joys and heartaches of this imperfect, but delightful family and their servants. I have never been so moved by the funeral of a secondary character, especially with the arrival of an unexpected, yet pivotal guest. But I spent much of the 40 episodes grinning and cheering in satisfaction and joy over the family’s remarkable successes. Despite grim family circumstances, Blossoms In Adversity is about hope. It also deftly showcases the many ways “hope” is defined for different women: independence, divorce, marriage, love -- even when they are far from ideal.

I have no illusions that the premise is filled with impossibilities. Hua Zhi, played by the lovely Zhang Jingyi (张婧仪), manages to pretty much single-handedly bring the Hua family back to prosperity -- twice -- within the short span of (but generously estimated) three to five years. I can’t describe it any better than MyDramaList reviewer PeachBlossomGoddess who wrote in her excellent review:

“...no feat is beyond Hua Zhi! She parleys a candied hawthorn business into a pastry and restaurant empire, picks up stray royal children, foils a few palace plots, build schools and a canal, rescues the Hua family men and even manages to find time to fall in love!”

That’s all!

Hua Zhi is a heroine for the ages, a role model in perseverance, unwavering integrity, hard work, with a sharp mind for solving difficult problems and a sharp eye for spotting potential threats and reading her adversaries. There is almost a Mary Sue-like quality about her achievements and seeming perfection. Unlike the ensemble cast of spoiled aunties, sisters, cousins, servants, and friends (such as the endearing Shen Huan) who experience great character development as they learn to adjust to a vastly different quality of life and social status, Hua Zhi undergoes the least amount of growth. Yet if she were so perfect, she would not be so stupid as to speak defiantly to the Emperor, having already previously witnessed the grievous consequences of doing so -- not only with her grandfather, but with the man she loves -- Gu Yanxi, stoically played by Hu Yitian (胡一天).

Under the Emperor’s command, it is Gu Yanxi -- as the commander of the much-feared Security Bureau -- who confiscates Hua Zhi’s home and takes away the men. But it is under his own free will that he becomes Hua Zhi’s protector, confident, and love. But this free will rankles and offends the cruel and controlling Emperor, who does not hesitate to demonstrate the lengths to which he will go to wield his absolute power and force his nephew to kowtow to his will. Gu Yanxi’s strength yet helplessness in the face of his uncle, who raised him like a son, makes him a complex and fascinating hero, but one we never get to know as intimately as we do the women in the Hua family.

A LIKABLE ENSEMBLE CAST

This was my first drama with Hu Yitian, and his depiction of a stoic prince really worked for me. I’ve seen some comments criticizing his unflattering period styling and that he can be a bit flat and expressionless in his acting, so perhaps his portrayal would have landed differently and felt more stale had I been more familiar with his previous roles. In any case, Hu Yitian did an especially fantastic job demonstrating his strength as a fighter during climactic fight scenes and evoked a certain presence in this drama. It did not take long for his character to grow on me.

At first glance, Caesar Wu’s (吴希泽) Shen Qi is so honorable and immensely likable that I worried I might develop “second male lead syndrome”. Despite his high billing, however, his character actually disappears for a good chunk of Blossoms. Much of Shen Qi’s character development was done early, so by the time he reappears later in the drama, he is relegated to a likable, but somewhat flat, supporting character. It is his brother, Shen Huan, who takes a surprising turn with the more interesting and very sweet story arc with Gu Yanxi’s sister. Bian Cheng (边程), who has been acting since he was six or seven, is just 19 years old and shined in the role of the earnest but spoiled and lazy rich second son with the kind heart.

Actor Hai Yitian (海一天) delivered an effective performance as the Emperor who ruled with Machiavellian cruelty without turning him into just another two-dimensional evil character. He trusted no one, had no tolerance for soft emotions or having his authority and judgment questioned, and yet he appeared to long for his nephew’s company and unwavering trust.

Among the wonderful ensemble cast of women, Lu Yuxiao (卢昱晓) perhaps stood out a little more as Gu Yanxi’s sister, while Fu Bohan (傅铂涵) stood out the most among the cast of children as the Sixth Prince.

I derived enormous joy and absolute satisfaction witnessing Hua Zhi's preposterous achievements. It didn’t matter if it was realistic or not. (In the real world, would the men of the Hua family have truly accepted their new role as passive husbands and allowed the women to continue to handle the family decision-making? I have my doubts.) Despite these flaws -- or perhaps *because* of them -- I can’t help but give Blossoms in Adversity a high rating as one of the best dramas of the year.

NIT-PICKS AND STRAY THOUGHTS

* My biggest production beef was the unnecessary dramatic echo sound effect whenever a character said something impactful. It was too cheesy even for me and very distracting.
* Similarly, during particularly climactic scenes they would momentarily freeze the frame like a photograph on multiple characters’ faces for dramatic effect, that also felt a bit cheesy.
* The Emperor knows all, yet we never see him actually conducting any court business! How did he have time for everything and still expend so much effort on his poor nephew?
* Given how little the Emperor trusted even those closest to him, it’s a marvel his closest eunuch managed to survive his leadership!
* Was Yanxi stupid for charging into the palace? It seemed too reckless even under the circumstances.
* Pretty sure there were several consistency errors, including one where the sister was shown sitting outside her second floor sanctuary -- after it had already burned down and they moved back to the Hua Mansion.
* Large fires can take a long time to extinguish even with modern firefighting equipment, but the family’s rented city home was already a pile of smoky burnt ashes the very same day and cool enough to walk through.
* The Hua women’s flawless skin and untanned face despite labouring under the hot sun for a year building the canal was hilarious.

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It was fine

I'm coming to realize that most Cdramas have a lot of filler scenes (and this ultimately keeps them from being highly rated--in general-- by me).
The main couple had AMAZING chemistry and were BY FAR the best part of the show. Unfortunately, they just didn't have many scenes together.

The primary focus of the show is the heroine's family and their never ending drama / dynamics. I wasn't super interested in this storyline, but parts were okay / enjoyable. If the romance / main couple had been given as much screen time as the family, I think I would've rate this drama much higher.

Anyway, it's not really a romance. And it was fine for what it was.

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Best Drama I've Ever Watch

I wasn't expecting much at first and now that I've finished watching the whole drama, I can say that this is the best c-drama of 2024 yet and is one of a kind. No common cliches, the casting is insane and their acting skills are just *chef kiss*.

Instead of solely focusing on revenge like other dramas does, this shows the determination, patience that Hua Zhi have and her amazing characteristics and the struggles the Hua family goes through to survive. Each character is portrayed perfectly and the story is so well written. You can feel the emotions of the character as the story progresses and this also portrayed how society thinks of women back when Hua Zhi finally rented a mansion in the downtown of the city, their male servants thought they're just a bunch of women and that they need their protection but in the end, Hua Zhi and the others proved them wrong. Shen Qi and Shen Huan is that type of character whom you could related to. They were pressured to do things against their own will and was hurt because they stood their ground.

Hu Yitian whom you would recognize from handsome siblings and Zhang Jingyi chemistry was top notched and their visuals and how they portrayed their character so well through out the whole drama accompanied by the other casts/side characters with dupe visuals and acting skills. As for Caesar Wu, you could recognize him from a few dramas like Meteor Garden, Egg and Stone, Heart Of Loyalty and general lady. He is a great actor and his appearance in BIA surprised me a lot. Overall the casting is a 9.5/10.

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I came for the romance and stayed for the story.

I was in the mood for a historical romance story and Blossoms in Adversity seemed like a good idea since it features some of the actors I like. I was pleasantly surprised by this drama. I really thought it was going to be yet another run of the mill romance but what I found was so much more.

The story it's not about romance per se, that's a side story, the main plot of Blossoms in Adversity it's a family torn apart when their patriarch crosses the Emperor in the wrong way (for the right reasons). As a consequence the men, including the children, are exiled to the north and the women, find themselves without the family's fortune and no men to support them. So, out of necessity, they create a matriarchy and end up finding agency of their own for the first time ever with incredible results as they slowly rethink the "rules" they have been living by so far. Slowly, each women starts to show their true self, their personal interests and strong characteristics, they start business, struggle and succeed, the road it's never easy but their bond it's stronger.

I will be honest, you will have to push through at first. There’s some catty behaviour but it’s important to understand that most of these females characters never thought they would be anything other than brides or mothers, as set for the society, but these women prove to be mature and sensible enough to hold proper conversations with each other and realize why they need to work together.

The male lead's story it's also very interesting and it complements well the main characters but I found the women's story far more compelling. This drama is very uplifting and consistent in its characters's development, never betraying them.

I recommend it!

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Visually appealing, poor writing, cringe cliches, characters with potential let down by the script

Maybe I'm just not the target demographic for these types of shows. I'm a huge fan of rom-coms and have seen a few chinese/historical shows before, but most of the time I end up dropping costume&period dramas. I stuck through to the end of this one just to see how things play out, but it was difficult.

The show itself is filmed well and looks better than most chinese dramas I've seen. I really liked the character Shao Yao (ML's sister). I think she did a fantastic job portraying her character and every scene with her felt refreshing. Even though her side romance wasn't the most developed, it still felt worth the screentime and I enjoyed the chemistry between her and Shen Huan (at times I felt I enjoyed their chemistry more than the leads). The main romance between the two leads felt okay. I think their on-screen chemistry definitely took a hit with the poor writing and cringe cliche moments, but they did their best and made it kind of work. The progression felt a little slow at first, but it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately it's hard to really feel that connection between the two when the script is so full of cliches.

It kind of seemed like the ML didn't really get that much screentime compared to the other characters. Towards the end he definitely got more scenes, but near the beginning and middle of the show I feel like I barely saw him at all. The show focuses more on the FL I suppose, but it felt weird calling him a ML at times when he just showed up for a few short scenes and then dipped for the rest of the episode. Like he would only show up to remind us that he's the ML, and then disappear again. Him and the FL didn't get as many scenes together until nearing the end, and even then it was kind of on-and-off. They would meet up, have some flirty heart-fluttering moments together, and then separate and go about their individual scenes. Kind of hurt the chemistry in my opinion.

FL is too perfect. I love the actress, so no hate towards her (or any of the actors/actresses for that matter), but I wasn't a huge fan of how they wrote her character. She was supposed to be the "not-you-average-FL", but instead they just made her completely flawless and strong to the point that there was nowhere left for her character to go. The writers couldn't find a way to develop her character because there was nothing to develop. She was forgiving, caring, responsible, everyone looked up to her, she helped others all the time, etc., so she had very little character development throughout the entire show. The ML on the other hand had some potential to be an interesting character, but he didn't get as many scenes and was kind of used as an accessory to the plot most of the time. Sometimes it seemed like he was only there to add the romance into the show but didn't really provide much outside of that despite being a commander. The whole commander plot could have been a very interesting one to pursue, but it was put on the backburner most of the time and not really utilized to its full potential.

Also, sooo many side characters. This wouldn't be bad necessarily if they were actually interesting or if I actually cared about any of them. It seemed like they introduced a new side character with their own problems every couple episodes, in which the FL has to find a way to help them. Many of the side characters over-acted a little too much at times as well. Exaggerated movements, yelling, facial expressions, etc., like that one mother character they introduced at one point (I honestly don't remember her name) who was just crying in every scene she was in. I wish they would have focused more on developing the main characters instead of introducing more side plots.

And as with most of these romance shows, there are quite a few cringe cliche moments. Ones that kind of break the immersion for me sometimes, but I suppose it just comes with the genre. I guess you can give this show a try if you think you might be part of the target demographic. If you are then you'll probably love it.

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Indeed ,Blossom in adversity

The drama began by introducing two main characters: a female lead who lived with her family and the heir to the kingdom. The heir had promised the king that he would never seek the throne, allowing his cousins to inherit it instead.

However, following the king's orders, the heir exiled all the male members of the female lead's family, including children older than 10 years.

Although the king was selfish, the heir always obeyed him, even though he sometimes questioned the king's decisions.

As the story progressed, the female lead and the heir fell in love. Despite initially being unaware of his true identity, she eventually learned the truth. However, she continued to stand by him because she believed in his righteousness and trusted that he wouldn't harm her family.

While the drama had its moments of dullness and boredom, the chemistry between the lead characters remained strong throughout.

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What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

On a surface level, "Blossoms in Adversity" tells the story of a young, strong-willed and adventurous woman called Hua Zhi, whose family falls into peril when her grandfather, the infamous scholar and Imperial Censor Hua Yi Zheng, draws His Imperial Majesty's ire on himself during court session, and her blossoming romance with the Emperor's nephew and Commander of the Security Bureau, Gu Yan Xi. On a deeper level, however, this story is more than just a love story. It's about a family that grows together through adversity, including important lessons about kindness, resilience and karma.

The intriguing premise of an official's family falling from grace is what drew me into watching this drama in the first place. I'm always in for some well-executed "riches to rags and back to riches" story and this one does not disappoint, though there are some elements I wish would have been better developed.

The drama starts out strong with the main plot immediately being pushed forward right at the end of the first episode. The property is confiscated by the Emperor's Security Bureau, the men gathered and sent into prison, and then the women and children younger than ten are suddenly all on their own, forced to retreat from the captial with what little belongings they managed to gather in the little time that was so gracously given to them. Thanks to Old Madame Hua's connections (no spoilers here), they find a charming, though rather desolate and run down little farmstead not far from the capital to settle down - and that's when the real struggle starts for these pampered noble women who have never worked a day in their lives. Heads and flared tempers butt quite a lot in these early episodes as the women learn to come to terms with their new living conditions and the social stigma of being members of a "sinnful" family.

Hua Zhi is the only one who doesn't need much time to adapt and immediately takes the reigns to make the best out of their seemingly hopeless situation - be it by helping the few remaining loyal maids to clean up the property, hunting down a scammer, or saving the family from perishing in their sleep due to fume poisoning. Her efforts don't exactly get rewarded with much gratitude in the beginning, but that soon changes when she starts raking in money with her business ideas, leading them to eventually return to the capital.

The pace starts to flare out and drag a bit towards the second half, picks up again when one major villain makes its final nerve-wracking move, falls once again afterwards and then rises into an exciting, if not quite predictable conclusion. I definitely think they could have added in some more obstacles into the Hua family's rise to prosperity to make it a bit more realistic, but I understand that there is only so much one can do with a 40 Episodes per Drama-limit.

Watching the Hua women go from spoiled, fearful noble women to hard-working, strong individuals no longer dependent on men is probably one of the best aspects of this drama. Each and everyone of the them (with the execption of Hua Zhi - more to that later), grows so much throughout the course of the story, that you'll hardly recognize them again in the end. It's truly inspiring and touching to see them growing into a family that sticks together and supports each other throughout all the adversities they are facing. And all of this in a time period in which women are told from birth that they are nothing without the "stronger" sex. The amount of wealth the Hua family accumulates over such a short period of time definitely has to be taken with a grain of salt, though.

The men are barely present in the drama, so it's not surprising we don't see all that much growth on their part (though one could certainly argue that two to three years spent in exile mining and transporting heavy rocks at freezing temperatures should have taught them a thing or two). Same goes to Hua Zhi. The lack of growth on her part, however, is not attributed to her "Mary Sue" status. In fact, she does have quite a few flaws, her most prominent one probably being her self-righteousness and inability to remain silent in the face of injustice, even to her own detriment. The problem here is that the writers barely gave her room to overcome her character flaws (probably to avoid her becoming "too perfect"). Though it's not really a deal breaker, I would have loved to see some growth on her part, even if it meant adding in more flaws at the start of her journey.
Zhang Jing Yi, however, does a solid job portraying the young, kind-hearted, smart, business-savy and confident head of the Hua family.

The male lead, Gu Yan Xi, faces similiar issues. The biggest let-down on his part though is probably the lack of depth in Hu Yi Tian's acting when it comes to Gu Yan Xi's complicated relationship to his Emperor Uncle. Hai Yi Tian does such a wonderful job portraying a paranoid Emperor, who though cruel in nature still very much trusts and loves his nephew. Hu Yi Tian does not quite live up to that expectionally complex character portayal in his character's responses in certain situations, which makes the Emperor's love for him seem more oppressive and one-sided than it actually is.
Hu Yi Tian's fight scenes, however, are absolutely phenomenal, though as always, you'll have to take the realism of some of those with a grain of salt.

The main characters' relationship was quite decent. It was overall very mature and solid and not making use of too much well-established cdrama tropes such as misunderstandings due to lack of communication that drag on for episodes. Though one could argue that Hua Zhi lets Gu Yan Xi off too easily for lying to her and keeping his true identity hidden for the entire first half of the drama. Their love and trust in each other has to be commended, and I certainly loved seeing them respecting each other's jobs and freedom.

Another noteworthy character portayal is Lu Yu Xiao's Shao Yao, Gu Yan Xi's little sister, who has been isolated in her courtyard for years and thus lacks the social and communication skills "normal" people possess. Portraying such a character convincingly in such an endearing way certainly isn't easy, but Lu Yu Xiao more than nailed it.

The body count has been kept rather low compared to other dramas of the same genre, though there are some character demises that are really sad, if not a bit unnecessary (especially a certain one towards the end).

The OST was, as always, very solid. The mix of modern electro tunes and classic instruments added a nice layer to some scenes, though the background music was rather loud and thus more often than not, drowned out the on-going conversation a bit.

In conclusion this drama is best enjoyed for what it is: Not a master work by any means, but rather a soild and inspiring story that will entertain you for many, many hours.

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