General and I (2017)

Amazing cdrama

I have to admit that for me it's one of the best cdramas I've watched recently and I was very drawn into watching it... I couldn't tear myself away. Especially the main characters Chu Bei Jie and Bai Ping Ting. Great performance by Wallace Chung - number one for me among the whole cast. The great experience of this actor is immediately visible. The character of the general played by Wallec was genuine and I liked him immediately ... he was very masculine, handsome, honest, emotional and passionate ... the ideal man ... when necessary he goes and fights, as he loves it with all his heart ... actually in of this relationship of the main characters, it was CBJ that constantly initiated romantic scenes, because BPT was unfortunately very withdrawn, especially at the very beginning, then it got going, but also not enough to initiate romantic moments ... However, I think that you could feel the chemistry between the main characters ...especially I was very positively surprised by the scenes of passionate and bold kisses by CBJ and BPT and the scene in the cave when Ping Ting protects the wounded Bei Jie with his own body - great ... I haven't seen such scenes in other cdramas and I missed it, because the kiss scenes in dramas they are usually so weak, as if children give each other a kiss. So 10 points straight to the director for bravery. The plot is incoherent in places and some threads could be omitted, but it does not affect the whole of my rating. The performance of the other actors was also good, I think that everyone rose to the occasion, especially Sean Sun who played On Xia full of power, who sacrificed even his pregnant wife for his sick ambitions of power and sowed death and destruction around. The music is great, especially the main theme, which was performed by William Wei and Claire Kou in various parts of the film, especially in the scenes with the main characters, especially when they were separated and CBJ missed Ping Ting so much and seemed to sense that he was somewhere nearby and the scene when they met after 3 years at PT's grave and in this house - it broke my heart ... By the way, I didn't like that the main characters were separated for 3 years! I don't know what it was supposed to be for... it was terrible... I don't understand how a wife and mother can not give a chance to be a father, the father of her child... during their separation She had a child and focused on his upbringing, and He had neither her nor the child ... it's terrifying that for a stupid argument that she didn't deserve him or whatever she described, she delayed revealing herself and the child for 3 years ... it's good that she finally took pity and she came out of hiding... but I think this thread is unnecessary... I don't know if it was like that in the original book too, but since they didn't stick to the book version anyway, they could have handled it differently and given the main characters time for themselves, for their family before they start fighting for peace in the kingdom of Jin and the rest of the kingdoms. A positive ending for the bog=haters, because fortunately they did not die and were able to live on, although when CBJ finally became the emperor and Ping Ting the empress, it was not end of her dream, because she wanted to live with him peacefully away from of the imperial court... well, duty towards the country and subjects won, as it happens in these cdramas. But the most important thing is that the main characters are together! For my part, I recommend watching it.

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Um amor destinado

Um drama histórico com uma historia de amor e os conflitos da corte.

Angelababy e Wallace Chung se saem bens em seus papeis.

Este drama está longe de ser perfeito, mas seus pontos positivos compensam suas falhas.

Esse é um drama relativamente longo e que em certos momentos,
tende a se arrastar em partes, devo admitir que ele possui algumas falhas.
Mas no final de tudo seus acertos acabam compensando seus pequenos problemas.

A historia é um tanto quanto simples e as vezes clichê.
Se arrastando em alguns momentos, idas e voltas que podem ir longe demais.
A trama como um todo não é nada de se surpreender, em vários momentos ela vai decair,
por mais problemas que possam haver, são os bons momentos e as partes chaves da historia que compensam.

A qualidade da produção é boa.
As coreografias são aceitáveis.
O figurino é okey.

A OST é presente e se faz presente quando necessária.
As musicas são realmente boas, você definitivamente vai querer ouvi-las e talvez essas possam soar um pouco diferente quando você ouvir, que é algo normal. Mas com toda certeza, toda a trilha sonora tem seu charme e se torna marcante.

O romance aqui funciona bem,
em pouco tempo as coisas avançam, sem enrolar muito.
Vamos ver como esse amor irá caminhar por esta longa caminhada.
A química entre o casal principal é muito boa rendendo boas cenas e alguns beijos~

Angelababy como Bai Ping Ting fez um excelente desempenho, dando vida a sua personagem. A quem diga que ela tem uma falta de expressividade ou qualquer outra coisa, eu acho uma bobagem. Gosto muito de sua atuação.
Sua personagem é de uma jovem mulher forte, extremante inteligente e muito acima de outros,
suas conquistas são definitivamente grandiosas e levam-na a encontro de Chu Beijie.

Wallace Chung como Chu Bei Jie e para os mais íntimos o deus da guerra~ esta muito bem em seu papel, sua atuação é convincente e você definitivamente espera que as coisas deem certo.
Seu personagem é um General, um grande general da família Chu.
Um homem a procura de sua amada, da qual ele jurou amar por toda uma vida.
Seu caráter impar, sua personalidade forte e sua dedicação a seu amor é louvável.

O elenco é bom como um todo e no geral se saíram muito bem em seus papeis, menções para Chu Moran e Zui Ju.
Menção especial fica com dois personagens,
He Xia é aquele típico personagem que eu não gosto. Quanto ao personagem, perceba o que a vingança causa.
Um casamento politico com uma mulher que ele pensou não amar até ser tarde demais para parar.
Sua atuação é louvável definitivamente ele consegue nos fazer odiá-lo kkkkk por suas escolhas.
Princesa Bai Lan é aquele personagem que esta ali, mas não tem muito pra onde ir,
você já imagina onde tudo vai acabar, suas escolhas a levam a seu final.

Fico surpreso com certas criticas extremamente negativas
Acho surpreendentemente reclamações quanto a voz de Chu Beije,
serio que é tão estranho assim? Aos meus ouvidos sua voz soa muito bem.
Acho curioso que algumas pessoas achem estranho esse drama ter uma nota relativamente alta,
pois elas parecem achar que isso não esta muito correto, fazendo comparações com outras injustiças.
Acho bem estranho criticas negativas sobre Angelababy, apenas não vejo qual problema possa haver ali,
sua atuação é boa. Uma curiosidade para os menos informados quando esse drama foi gravado, ela estava gravida.

Por fim, as considerações finais.
Esse é um bom drama para aquelas que procuram algo desse gênero,
ele entrega o esperado, possuem seus altos e baixos, mas acaba compensando suas falhas.

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the story is actually not bad, it is like rollercoster. BUT there are some moment which will make you mad when watch it. it feels like you wanna curse the the one who make it. its when how they are being apart because of small matters again and again. their acting is great that can bring you feel it. what i like the most is their music. because i like guzheng music.  this drama has many episodes. so i just recomended you to watch it only when you have many time and if you feel bored.  
overall this drama is tragic.  beacuse there is little happiness. but more hardships.

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How to end war? How to achieve peace?

"General and I" had a thrilling plot from the get go. As the invaders arrive, a mysterious woman plays the zither, calculating the weather, and giving prophecies to her army as to how to win. The cunning villain immediately sees that this woman is a threat and ends up kidnapping her. To the villain's surprise, even his cunning nature is no match for her wits. She escapes all of his traps, outsmarting him over and over. Yet, fates begin to shift as she realizes that this villain is the key to peace between nations. If she can persuade him to pursue peace, then great harmony might be possible. She decides that she is willing to sacrifice herself to a loveless marriage if this villain will promise to stop waging war on her people.

Yet, as time goes on, the villain's true colors are revealed, and he proves himself to be an honorable patriot that would die for his people and his moral principles. As one can't judge a book by its cover, the female lead becomes impressed by his passionate character and falls in love. Yet, this love is cursed by her adopted family, the gods, and the spirits of the dead, as her lover is technically the murderer of those closest to her. She feels cursed as fate blocks the two from being together over and over.

When this most powerful general decides that love is more important than the state, he becomes a liability to his emperor. The emperor sets his sights on destroying their relationship at all costs. This general gives a passionate speech to his men about his priorities - “If a man can’t protect his own wife, how can he be worthy of protecting the state?” The men are rallied to his side as they empathize with his passion to not chose his wife over the state, but rather to protect both.

When he solidifies in his role as protector of both his wife and the state, enemies of the state realize that targeting his wife is the perfect way to destroy his battle-ready soul and weaken the emperor's right-hand man. Like a valuable chess piece, she sits and watches as countless pawns die to protect her. She can't bear the pain of causing countless suffering on those around her and desires to retreat from the political arena. Both her and her husband decide that love is more important than power and prestige. As the emperor's kingdom slowly collapses from his lack of wisdom and moral inadequacy, the emperor realizes that those who desire power the least are the most needed in positions of power. He makes it his dying mission to persuade this power couple to come out of retirement to not only save their nation, but to save all of China.

More reviews: https://transcendentphilos.wixsite.com/website/post/the-philosophy-of-chinese-dramas

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An amazing love story

Listen....this drama is not a rom-com and it has a very slow paced set of events but the love story between the leads are amazing and it's definitely worth it. Specially the male lead is a great man who can't love anyone else except the female lead and he turns the world upside down for the FL. He is a fabulous individual himself. He is loyal, kind and caring, he loves people and care about them deeply and he is insanely in love with the female lead. I personally thought that ashes of love had an amazing male lead but this one is far more better than the Phoenix god in ashes of a love...like if you tell him to die he dies for her no question asked without a doubt. Female lead is a little edgy at first...she struggles with her feelings but eventually gives in...i mean who wouldn't...if i ever find a man like that i might fall in love so much faster than her tbh. The only thing that bugged me was the repetitive events. She gets lost, he gets lost...she sacrifices...he sacrifices....bad guy can't leave them alone. Even the bad guy has a valid reason to be the bad guy. Overall it was great. I personally liked this so much that i finished it in three days. Of course you can find negetive sides but i liked the overall story so much that i didn't care. Looking forward to see more dramas like this one.

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The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Like a puzzle or a rich tapestry, the individual pieces may not be exquisite when viewed individually. Put together, they create a stunning picture. General and I is one of these masterpieces where the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.
Yes, it has flaws. Angelababy's acting, especially the opposite of Sun Yizhou's, is lackluster, and a dead fish could emit more EQ or facial expressions than Angelababy. When paired with Wallace Chung, she can shine like the luminous jade hairpin she wears. The production quality suffered for the CGI budget (which was mediocre at best). The story left something to be desired (especially when it comes to the female cast being suicidal or depressed over misunderstandings or that falling in love with someone you grew up with was the primary way to fall in love in this world). Weave all these imperfect pieces together, and the whole became greater than the sum of its parts.

Wallace Chung (Chu Beijie) shines in every scene he is in. The other actors around him become the scenery to complement him. His ability to shine the spotlight on the other actor or actress when needed makes him one of the acting gods of Chinese filmography.

The Story between Bai Pingting and He Xia at the beginning felt flat. He Xia's feelings for her felt insincere and fleeting at best. His refusal to let go of the past, accept change he doesn't like, and disregard for the feelings of others makes him a perfect villain to Chu Beijie. Add to that Bai Pingting's self-doubt and Beijie's willingness to accept blame for any event that goes wrong, and you have two people who love each other deeply but spend too much of the show separated.

The plots within plots within plots and one-sided love interest stories add to the misunderstandings between the two. The plot arc between Shisan (Thirteenth Lady) and Beijie/PingTing felt unnecessary, especially given that Beijie was more than upfront with her on many occasions, letting her know that she had no chance to weasel her way into his heart and that he would only ever see her as a colleague and friend. Her selfishness cost him several episodes of extra estrangement from the person he loved, and while she eventually rights her wrongs, the story arc could have been that of friendship, not only with Beijie but with PingTing as well. It would have made her actions in episode 61 more meaningful to the story.

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The opening song's very first scenes are the leads playing musical instruments in a place with cherry blossom trees and misty forests. Before commenting on the drama i would have to say that I love the locations. I have never been to China...but if there are places like that i would definitely want to go there.

Having said that ......General and I is a historical romance that really kept me hooked. I might have skipped a bit in the middle because it was tedious to watch the leads moping about when there was absolutely no valid reason except for the usual "I left you for your own good" line of thought.

The romance was sizzling. It was great to see them so devoted to each other throughout the drama with so many obstacles in their way . Ping Ting might have irritated me sometimes with her escapades but she made up for it on other situations. No complain on Bie Jie! He is so romantic!!

The political aspects was well executed and wasn't as boring as some dramas. He Xia awed me with his cold-hearted cunning and with the way he climbed the political ladder. But that also led to his downfall.

The thing that made me cringe was the exaggerated fight scenes. The actors almost seemed to fly.... way too much superhuman abilities.

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This drama is something that I cannot make sense out of. I didn’t like the storyline because there are many pieces that a viewer cannot emphasize. With so much of the production cost, it could have been more intellectual and gripping. The series seems to drag itself too long with meaningless love and separation stories. Also, the characters themselves seem to be prescribed and confined to their destined roles and I don’t see much of dynamic, evolving characterization over time. Overall, it didn’t grip me that much and none of the characters themselves were very charming. I do like some of the acting like Sean Sun even though he became evil, he portrayed the emotions and the character very well in the drama. CBJ as main lead is supposed to be charming, but I didn’t find him much charming but the fact that the drama made him so invincible like a god of war in any battle made it so unrealistic. BPT’s character is also hard to understand in a sense she fell for the enemy’s general so quickly right after she witnessed the massacre of HX’s family and was sworn to his parents’ grave that she would avenge. Her make-up made her look so pale and frail all the time, which didn’t fit well with her characterization as a brilliant strategist. All in all, there is many flawed storyline but music and some of the scenes were shot very nicely, but more attention could have been paid to storyline, plot, and characterization. I would not watch it again.

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The beautiful Angelababy...

It won't be fair that the beautiful Angelababy was stumbled on the acting because of her breathtaking beauty < female genius military strategist. She's more up to modern setting FL than centuries ago heroine...but here I am apparently stereotyping or even misogynistic although can't help it when concerning show business - all about acting, presentation and appearance. Anyway, her delicate beauty appearance might not be representing rashness reality of 'Military. Strategist' which predominantly men....at front line of war(s). Imagine if you will, the beautiful Angelababy in a war with her glamorous delicate white or pastel flowing gown tell bloody-slashed exhausted soldiers what to do, I couldn't take her part convincing enough. She might be genius, brilliant, but rival General Chu BeiJie wasn't a fool either. He retreated and lost soldiers but came back strong, he knew what he's up against. The little boy (General) Chu fallen in and promised himself to marry a little girl when she helped him and Mom, way back then. Luckily, he recognized in adulthood and pursued her...took her as a wife. Her loyalty laid to someone else...divided between a husband (from opponent kingdom) and where she's from (sweetheart). Heart wrenching scenes supposedly but...I waited and did not drop a single tear...what's going on??? No...it's not about Bai PingTing....I don't know I didn't finish the drama...62 episodes was way too long and by episode 19 I lost interest.

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Having a hard time to continue

I’ve only watched 9 episodes and I have a hard time with Angela baby acting skills. Her eyes don’t show right emotion and at some point it even became frustrating. Wallace Chung is doing a good job.
The story for the nine first episodes is basically Chu Bei Jie running after Bai Ping Ting because he met her once as a child and wants now to marry her!
The role of the noble consort who is the jealous vile woman is the usual female role for a vilain and it’s also frustrating as it’s very limited.

I don’t know if I should continue. Is the rest of drama worth it or it will unfold as I’m expecting it?

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I dont like it and here is WHY

Scripts/ Story:
Trailers looks like its maybe good.... but after first episode or 2nd or 3rd, it didn’t help. I love the idea of the story but they way it was made ..... just falls apart.

Basically Characters building in this series is not well done. It is kind of sloppy slapping together. There is no little moment, that make audience feel attached to the characters, or cheering for them. Everything is too easy. Like this is a story about politic, power struggles , love struggles but the conflict doesn’t feel like a conflict if every one in the story just say so.... you have to show us their struggles but we didn’t see that. I dont want to rang too much just because I dont like it but I believe it could have been done better.
Look at : Nirvana in Fire, or Love and Destiny, they way they builds characters’s conflicts and political struggles.... there was so much more Layers.... or Red Cliff .....
I mean the Bei Ting Ping is basically Zhuge Liang(Romance of the Three Kingdoms ), woman version no?


Acting/ Casts:
I dont know how talented these actors are because the script is so badly written.... even if they are good they cant really show their full skill... sadly. Even if the main actress is very good looking.

Production Values:
It’s not great. Costume could have been better. Camera/ lighting and yea.... everything could have been better.


I wouldn’t recommend it...

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