Chinese Drama Review : Story of Yanxi Palace

Title : Story of Yanxi Palace, Tale of Yanxi Palace

Episodes : 70

Genre : Historical, Drama, Romance, Politics, Strong Female Lead

Story : 7 out of 10

Characters : 8 out of 10

Cinematography : 7 out of 10

I usually don’t watch Chinese dramas if they don’t have a school-slice of life theme, especially if they are more than 50 episodes long! Maybe it is me disliking the really bad CGI that the fantasy dramas usually have. But, after a friend from My Drama List suggested watching it, I gave this one a try. So, here’s my review on The Story of Yanxi Palace.

Story

The Story of Yanxi Palace main poster

Wei Ying Luo enters the Forbidden Palace during the Qian Long’s reign as a palace maid. At first, she is appointed to the needlecraft section, and it is obvious that she is smart and resourceful. She manages to get away with every trap that the other maids set for her. But, Ying Luo has a secret : she entered the palace to discover who killed her sister and take revenge. Gradually, she raises in power and she even becomes one of the emperor’s women, entering the harem and challenging the other ladies for the heart of the emperor.

For a seventy episodes length drama, this one had a good pace, due to the many schemes and events that were happening. It centers around the leading lady, Ying Luo, although there were many characters, especially when it came to the residents of the harem, which was confusing. Actually, I only recognized Ying Luo and the Empress (all of them ^.^), as the rest didn’t have much screening time and they were added here and there to make it seem as the emperor had many women. Also, the sons of the Emperor and his whole family were a bit confusing as well, as some of the kids appeared only once or twice and it was difficult to pin point who was their mother.

So, that was the main thing that I didn’t like about this drama. Also, the love story was so so. I liked the lead with the prince, but then they changed it to the main romance, which wasn’t as good as the first one. Finally, at some point the drama got boring, but it picked up towards the end. Taking into account its length, though, this was bound to happen.

Characters

Ying Luo is the main character of this chinese drama. She is clever, sneaky and ruthless. She is actually a strong female lead, who is not afraid to express her opinion even to the emperor himself. She also handles the palace politics very resourcefully. So, the whole drama was carried out by Ying Luo only, and it was as interesting and entertaining as it was because of her. However, there wasn’t any major character development to her character, even though roughly 24 years had gone by. Wu Jin Yan was delightful to watch. She was funny and a femme fatale altogether. Going through her filmography, I admit I haven’t watched any of her works, but here, she was really good and her performance was flawless.

The emperor and his women of Yanxi Palace

Fu Heng is the young brother of the Emperor. He is a good soldier, obedient, clever and a good guy overall. He likes Ying Luo from the start and helps her out when she was just a maid. However, when he develops feelings for her and asks the Emperor to allow him to marry her, the latter refuses. Xu Kai must be one of the rising stars in the Chinese Dramaland. He is as handsome and as talented as it’s needed to become a likable actor. His role here was also one of my favorites, and he added some spark to the story.

Emperor Qianlong is a cold guy. Even though he shows affection towards his wives, he is ruthless and is considered to have a cold heart. He dislikes Ying Luo at first, but her character wins him over and he wants to make her his woman. Nie Yuan looked royal enough and he has enough experience to act his part perfectly.

Cinematography

The settings, with the palace and the forbidden city, were amazing, as well as the costumes. However, the CGI were unnecessary and really bad. Fortunately, they were very few.

Overall

My overall rating for the drama “Story of Yanxi Palace” is 7 out of 10. It was an enjoyable drama, even though it was long, but the many characters were confusing to follow and it got boring halfway through.