Decreed by Fate (2022) - Final Review

Final review/rating: Decreed by Fate (2022) - A fun romcom with eye candy and laugh-out-loud comedy aplenty!

This is 7.5/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         7.5 Stars Plot:                       7 Stars Acting/cast:            7 Stars Couple chemistry:   8 stars Music:                    7 Stars Re-watch value:      7 Stars Enjoyment factor:   8 Stars

I really liked this one! Decreed by Fate (2022) has a fun premise, with plenty of twists and turns, and some serious eye candy in that there is not one, but two gorgeous male leads vying for the heroine's affections.  Be still my beating heart! The sparkling chemistry between the three leads was also top notch.  

At 16 episodes that are 30 minutes each, Decreed by Fate is the perfect length for a fluffy romcom binge of the guilty pleasure variety, in that you will likely be ogling both of the leading men along with the heroine, who does so rather shamelessly😍😆 

Episode 16 ends with a happily-ever-after, but also a cliffhanger, and I for one will be keen to see a Season 2 if one eventuates.  

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Decreed by Fate (2022) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  Decreed by Fate

Chinese title: 千金难逃 / 千金難逃 (Eng translation: "Lady, hard to escape")

Episodes:  16 episodes

Genre: Romance, historical, comedy

Original network: iQiyi

Release date:      31 March 2022

Synopsis:

The only daughter of a famous general, Lady Ye Rong Er is fearless and fun-loving, and a law unto herself.  Suitors are far and few between because Rong Er is not a typical lady, and that is the way she likes it.  

But when an imperial edict decrees a marriage between Rong Er and the famous General and Duke of Jing An Yin Si Shen sight unseen, Rong Er takes matters into her own hands and flees the scene after the wedding.   

Knowing that no one else will dare to arrange a divorce for an imperially decreed match, Rong Er (using the alias Wen Ren Jing) sets up her own divorce office (with a side business in matchmaking, so that she can become a top matchmaker with the credentials to conduct divorce cases).  

At the same time, two handsome men emerge in her life - no.1 matchmaker Lu Ting Xiao, and the head of the matchmaker's committee, Fang Xian Xun.  Both are handsome and charming enough to turn Rong Er's head, and both appear to have hidden motives in appearing in her life. Both are also in love with Rong Er. And one of the two might just be General Yin Si Shen, her deserted bridegroom...

  

The Long Ballad (2021) - Final Review

Final review/rating: The Long Ballad (2021) - A binge-worthy epic journey of love, loss, and growth that does justice to the source manhua

This is 9/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         9 Stars Plot:                       9 Stars Acting/cast:            9 Stars Couple chemistry:   9 stars Music:                    10 Stars Re-watch value:      9 Stars Enjoyment factor:   9 Stars

The Long Ballad (2021) is as epic as I thought it would be when I first picked up the drama. It has been a while since I finished watching this one, but I wanted to give a final review that would do the drama justice.  As I explained in my spoiler-free synopsis (👉here), for once, this is a historical Chinese drama that has an aptly translated English title, because our titular heroine Chang Ge's Chinese name means a long song or ballad. 

So the Chinese title is 長歌行 (literally "Chang Ge's journey") and the drama is her song or her ballad, a retelling of her adventures, so to speak. 

And what a gorgeous song of a drama this is... Love, loss, growth, sacrifice, redemption set against a colourful historical background.  An addictively good, binge-worthy drama indeed with a young and talented cast, which does justice to the manhua on which it is based.  

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

A translation of "One Love as Always" - subtheme song from The Long Ballad (2021)

A translation of one of The Long Ballad's subtheme songs: "One Love as Always" 一愛如故

Those who have watched The Long Ballad (2021) may, like me, have fallen for the Haoyan CP - the second lead couple, Imperial guard Hao Du, played by Liu Yu Ning and Princess Li Le Yan, played by Zhao Lu Si. The slow burn romance between the (not so) cold-blooded big bad wolf and the innocent fluffy bunny is unabashedly romantic.    

I've written about why I love them so much in my final review 👉here, but I love their romantic subtheme song so much that I wanted to try and provide a translation of "One Love as Always" 一愛如故, which remains a regular on my playlist.  You can find a clip of the song here. 

The song is sung by Liu Yu Ning himself (Prince of Chinese OSTs!), which makes it even more romantic, encapsulating as it does, Hao Du's perspective - a yearning, hopeless and selfless devotion.  

The song's Chinese title 一愛如故 is a play on words, the literal translation means "One Love as Always" or "One Love as in the Past", but it evokes another Chinese idiom 一見如故, which describes friendship at first sight, that is, familiarity on sight, as if you have known one another for ages (as of old/as always).  In changing "sight"見 to "love"愛, the meaning of the title evokes love at fist sight. Rather Shakespearian really - "Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?"      

Anyway, my attempt at translation below.  I have opted mostly to translate for meaning, rather than a direct literal translation (so, for eg. 'One Love as Always" 一愛如故 in the lyrics is translated as "Love at first sight").  There are also some brief footnotes for when I want to explain gaps in translation.  

All errors my own, of course!💕

  

Ms Cupid in Love (2022) - Final Review

Final review/rating: Ms Cupid in Love (2022) - Frothy romcom that is watchable if a little bland

This is 6/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         6 Stars Plot:                       6 Stars Acting/cast:            7 Stars Couple chemistry:   7 stars Music:                    6 Stars Re-watch value:      6 Stars Enjoyment factor:   7 Stars

Ms Cupid in Love (2022) is a romcom typical of the genre - delivering cheap and cheerful clichés galore with a sprinkling of angst.  

It's nothing to write home about, but then again, when episode 1 has a handsome immortal literally falling out of the skies in a 'meet cute' moment with the heroine, complete with floating rose petals, you may find yourself watching in spite of yourself (or because you are looking for light frothy romcom).  

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Ms Cupid in Love (2022) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  Ms Cupid in Love 

Chinese title: 姻缘大人请留步 (Eng translation: "God of Love, please stay around")

Episodes:  24 + 3 extra episode

Genre: Romance, historical, comedy

Original network: Tencent

Release date:      28 Feb 2022

Airing schedule:  28 Feb 2022 - 21 March 2022

Synopsis:

When the aloof immortal Bo Yan inadvertently messes up the red strings of fate that decree the love and fate of mortals in Yue Yang City, he is sent there to make amends.  After literally falling from the skies, he meets the City's number 1 matchmaker Shangguan Ya (aka Xiao Ya to her friends and family).  

The bright and bubbly Xiao Ya is determined to restore the city's faith in love and marriage again, and she and Bo Yan (who takes the name of Chu Ye) team up to make an unlikely but formidable duo. As the two work towards their common goal, they grow from mutual dislike to mutual affection, with fate playing a key role in tying them together.  

With friends at their side, and one or two mortal and immortal rivals in affection along the way, Chu Ye and Xiao Ya must overcome obstacles in the quest for true love, both theirs and the city's.    

  

The Imperial Coroner (2021) - Final Review

Final review/rating: The Imperial Coroner (2021) - A delightfully clever gem of a drama in the historical detective genre 

This is 9/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         9 Stars Plot:                       9 Stars Acting/cast:            9 Stars Couple chemistry:   8 stars Music:                    8 Stars Re-watch value:      9 Stars Enjoyment factor:   9 Stars

The Imperial Coroner (2021) is the best detective genre drama I've seen in quite some time! It's delightfully clever - the plot unfolds with some truly ingenious cases, which do not insult the intelligence of the audience.  

Add to that a young and talented cast with exceptional chemistry and just enough romance to be sweet without being cloying, and you get a very enjoyable drama that's definitely worth a watch and re-watch. 

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

The Imperial Coroner (2021) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  The Imperial Coroner

Chinese title: 御赐小仵作

Episodes:  36 + extra episode

Genre: Detective, historical, mystery, romance

Original network: Tencent

Release date:      29 April 2021

Airing schedule:  29 April 2021 - 20 May 2021

Synopsis:

Chu Chu is an aspiring young coroner, who comes from a family of coroners.  She heads to Chang'an to obtain a post and to make a mark for herself.  There, she meets the brilliant head of the criminal investigative bureau, Prince Xiao Jin Yu, who is impressed with her talent and unafraid to hire her despite her gender.   

Prince Xiao Jin Yu assembles a formidable investigative team in Chu Chu, Leng Yue and Jing Yi. Together they investigate and solve an 18 year old cold case and uncovers its links to a current conspiracy that threatens to overturn the empire itself.