Having watched the trailer months ago I highly anticipated this drama. Especially with the amazing costumes, high profile actors/actresses and beautiful CGI effects. However my excitement got quickly met with disappointment upon watching the first few episodes and onwards. Not only did the plot fell flat, I also still can't wrap my head around the mainleads loveline.

Let me explain: The story starts out with a child (ML) crossing the border of Tushan in an attempt to survive an attack. After this he gets taken in by a seemingly older lady (FL) who could've passed as his aunt. The difference in age, appearance and demeanor had immediately set the tone for me as to what their relationship was: either aunt-cousin or teacher-student. Even though ML grew into a full fletched adult as the story progressed, his personality remained more or less the same to me: playful (even childlike I might say) and expressive whereas FL remained stoic and authorative (haven't seen any expression from her other than the go to pokerface). The lack of character development made it nearly impossible for me to break free from the initial aunt-cousin perception that I had formed at the beginning of the story (I mean hell, she basically raised him, saw him grow up into an adult and from time to time still mentions this throughout the drama). Their love therefore, just felt downright wrong and out of place to me.

I honestly wished that they casted a more younger looking actress for the role of FL. I mean don't get me wrong Yang Mi looks absolutely beautiful for her age but when put next to ML, the age gap can be seen and felt, making it much more difficult for viewers like me to break free from the initial "protective/stern aunt - rebelious cousin" image. That being said, I'll still continue to watch the rest of the story as we're only halfway through. I wanna give it a fair chance though I don't have much hope for it.