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 compelling plot and a kickass heroine - Chang Ge 

In The Long Ballad we are treated to a formidable heroine in Chang Ge, who is torn between her personal quest for vengeance against the Emperor (and beloved Uncle and mentor) who has killed her family, and the realisation that Tai Zong is an able Emperor, who brings prosperity to the Tang Dynasty and its people.  

What price vengeance? What if exacting personal vengeance will lead to the suffering of millions and the downfall of the Tang dynasty?  And is the truth that we think we see, always the truth? Or do we only see what we want to see? 

Chang Ge grapples with these issues (and more) and The Long Ballad charts her sometimes painful journey to enlightenment and finding her dao/道, against a colourful backdrop of places and scenes. From the Tang dynasty's capital of Chang An, to the frontier city of Shouzhou, the grassy plains of Mongolia, the Northern desert of Mobei, and to Luoyang, the imperial capital of the fallen Sui dynasty, we get to travel with Chang Ge and to see the world through her eyes and to fall for her indomitable spirit.  

Chang Ge - strategist and warrior

Dilraba really impressed as Chang Ge - it's one of her best roles to date (and gives her much more scope to showcase what she is capable of then some of her previous cutesy roles like her lovelorn Feng Jiu in Three Lives, Three Worlds: Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms). 

The drama plays down her looks, which is actually a good move given that it is her intellect and courage rather than her beauty which makes Chang Ge a formidable and empathetic character. 

Only Shiba could make Chang Ge 'ugly'

(And to be honest, Dilraba couldn't be ugly if she tried). But she really gives it her all on the acting front and is unafraid to ugly cry when the scene calls for it, and she brings Chang Ge to life, in all her flawed glory.   

An equally awesome hero - Ashile Sun (Ah 'Sun) 

Wu Lei as Ah'Sun

The Long Ballad also gives us a swoon-worthy hero in Wu Lei's Ah 'Sun, the mighty head of the Eagle division of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, who is every bit Chang Ge's equal in intelligence and heart.  

While young, the nation's golden child star Wu Lei has clearly put childish roles aside and stepped up to leading man status with his nuanced portrayal of Ah 'Sun in The Long Ballad.

Wu Lei brings out the maturity and charisma of the character and you can fully understand why Ah 'Sun has the unswerving loyalty of the Eagle Clan, the respect of the grassy plains, and the reluctant admiration and envy of his sometime frenemy She'er. Wu Lei's Ah 'Sun is the entire package - brains, brawn, speaking eyes and the soul of a true romantic.  A man who is unafraid to follow his heart and to love Chang Ge as his equal. 

Perfect pairing 

There are so many great Ah' Sun lines...  

Like when he and Chang Ge are reunited at long last and she asks him if he no longer hates her, and he replies that he only hated that she left without a goodbye - 我只恨你不辞而别.

Or when he tells Emperor Tai Zong that he will not kneel before him, as he reckons that Chang Ge would not like that, and he is Li Chang Ge's man - 我是李長歌的人. That loses something in the translation because in Chinese, the phrase connotes belonging and is historically used in the context of a woman belonging to a man, whereas Ah 'Sun is proclaiming that he belongs to Chang Ge. Toxic male characters in other dramas please take lessons from Ah'Sun - here is a man who is attracted to rather than threatened by a strong woman, and it makes him absolutely smoking hot.

...fantastic couple chemistry that might have you hating on parrots 

A couple who fights together stays together!💪💓

Unsurprisingly this all makes for some pretty perfect OTP chemistry, and the Ge-Sun CP will have you sighing and smiling because they are just so right together.  

That said, the romance aspects of The Long Ballad often take a backseat and is not overly saccharine - instead, we get a dynamic duo who fight together, plot together, and live for and understand each other.  

Some viewers have complained that The Long Ballad does not provide enough romance, but I note that the original manhua was not heavily focused on this aspect, and in my view, overt PDA would be out of character for both our leads.  

Possibly the most hated parrots in C-Drama

Hilariously, the perfect chemistry of the Ge-Sun CP meant that there was a lot of online hate for an infamous kiss scene which we were given, where viewers got a close up of two parrots enthusiastically kissing in the foreground while our CP embraced in the background in a hazy out-of-focus shot. Those parrots probably need to be in a witness protection programme of some sort 😅 

A second lead couple that will tug at your heart strings - the big bad wolf and the fluffy bunny 

The big bad wolf and the innocent fluffy bunny

There's also a second lead couple that will tug at your heartstrings. 

Imperial guard Hao Du, played by Liu Yu Ning is the ruthless and seemingly cold blooded big bad wolf, who falls deeply and hopelessly for Princess Li Le Yan, played by Zhao Lu Si, the innocent fluffy bunny who is in love with childhood friend Wei Shu Yu (played by Fang Yi Lun, and whose purpose in the drama appears to be limited to serving as eye candy and to be a foil to the other two male leads).  

It's a well worn trope, but Hao Du and Le Yan will have you rooting for them as their slow burn storyline is unabashedly romantic. 

Princess Le Yan

Both also grow as characters. After Le Yan becomes lost among the populace with no means to prove her royal identity or to return to the palace, she is forced to grow up quickly to survive.  What she experiences - both the good and bad in humanity, has her maturing from a timid girl to a compassionate woman capable of holding her own.  

It must be said that Zhao Lu Si gives a truly exceptional performance as Le Yan - it is not the type of romcom leading lady role that she has previously played, and her nuanced portrayal imbued the character with a quiet strength every bit as compelling (albeit completely different) from Chang Ge's.     

The HaoYan CP💕

Hao Du also changes from being an unthinking extension of his adopted father's arm programmed to kill Chang Ge, to a patriot who understands that to protect the prosperity of the Tang dynasty, he must also protect its protectors, including Chang Ge. 

Then there is his quest to find the missing Princess Le Yan, which becomes increasingly desperate, his quiet devotion and yearning tenderness for the princess who is so far above him in station, and his willingness to sacrifice his all for her with no thought of return.  

I have not seen Liu Yu Ning's acting prior to his Hao Du, being only familiar with his gorgeous singing voice, but I am now a fan.  

Incidentally, my favourite song from The Long Ballad's exceptionally good OST is Liu Yu Ning's 一愛如故 ("One Love, as always"), which perfectly encapsulates Hao Du's love for Le Yan.  I love this subtheme song so much, I have had a go at translating the lyrics (👉see here). All mistakes my own, of course!             

A dramatic adaptation that does justice to the manhua 

As a fan of Xia Da 夏达's popular but unfinished manhua, I feel that The Long Ballad did justice to the source material.  Iconic scenes are included and the drama does a good job of fleshing out the characters and providing a finish of sorts to a manhua that will likely remain unfinished.  It also helps that Dilraba and Wu Lei look like they stepped right out of the manhua.  

As a picture tells a thousand words, here are some to enjoy:

                               

An incredible OST - anthems, love ballads etc

Angst worth singing about

The original soundtrack is also epically good, as befitting the drama's name, and one which I give a rare 10 out of 10 ranking to. 

There's the powerhouse opening anthem 光的方向 ("The Direction of Light") sung by Zhang Bi Chen; the wistful ending theme song 茧 ("Cocoon") sung by Zhou Shen; 如若歸來 ("If you return") sung by Sa Ding Ding; 落砂 ("Falling Sand") sung by Jin Wen Qi. 
There's also a song apiece from the Haoyan couple - Zhao Lu Si's winsome 多麼願你是我恆久的歌("How I wish you were my everlasting song") and my personal favourite, Liu Yu Ning's romantic 一愛如故("One Love, as always"), which I've tried to provide a translation of 👉here. 

Colourful side characters 

Wang Rui Chang's Yaoluoge Pusa

There are too many wonderful and colourful side characters to list, but the valiant General Gongsun Heng, the irascible General Li Jing, the nuanced Emperor Tai Zong aka Li Shimin and Wang Rui Chang's snarky Yaoluoge Pusa, King of Mobei, warrant special mention (especially because the latter looked like he stepped out of Lord of the Rings).  

Yuan - so so cute!

It should also be noted that there are some wonderful child actors - A Dou, Princess Tuijia, Xiao Wu, all of whom impressed with their acting.     

The cutest of the cute must be little Yuan though - so adorable!

Final Thoughts

🐼:The Long Ballad is a binge-worthy epic that does justice to the source manhua.  Were there some weaknesses in plot and pacing near the end?  Sure - there were some wobbles and a less than climatic ending, confined as the drama is, to basic historic accuracy and events and due to the use of some less than stellar CGI.  

However, for fellow lovers of the unfinished manhua, The Long Ballad provides a fitting close to a great tale of adventure with a kick-ass heroine.    

In short, I highly recommend The Long Ballad.  49 episodes flew by!  

9/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮