Good Bye My Princess (2019)

A tragic but beautiful romance for you to cry on. But be aware of the last 12 episodes.

I have adored this drama and have shed a lot of tears. Those who love tragic romance and are interested in palace politics and romance but are looking for one with more depth in terms of story and character development are in the right place.

Let me start with what I appreciate about this drama.

♡ In-depth character design of antagonists:
GBMP is the first drama at which I cried over the antagonists. Stories of antagonists were so developed that you truly understood the reasons for their actions. This drama succeeded in making them human, not merely tools. There are three main antagonists: the 2nd prince, the Queen, and the minister uncle, and I felt so much empathy for each of them. Unlike some dramas, at which additions could be seen as a way to add unnecessary episodes, this was not the case for GBMP. Their stories blend well with the main plot and provided the depth and appreciation we have for Li Cheng Yin's character development.

♡ Excellent blending of palace politics and romance:
I enjoy romance dramas with more depth and breadth. GBMP managed to blend the romantic aspects with political elements, such as war waging with neighboring countries and the internal power struggle of empirical families. It is a romance that is not about love at first sight and happily ever after, but about conditioned by political success and selfish personal objectives.

♡ Character design of Li Cheng Yin:
Primarily our main male protagonist Li Cheng Yin has all the aspects above built into his character development, which made him extremely interesting to watch. Throughout 55 episodes, I felt a rainbow of emotions towards him: love, respect, hate, sympathy, disgust, fear, and pity. I don't think there hasn't been one character ever that evoked this many different emotions in me. This inconsistency is what made me want to continue caring about the fate of him, Princess Xiao Feng, and the people around him. Despite having been spoiled of the ending of the drama, the anticipation of how LCY would become at the end is what kept me glued to the screen.

♡ Excellent acting and high-quality production:
As mentioned by many viewers, the acting of Peng Xiao Ran (starring Princess Xiao Feng) and Cheng Xing Xu is marvelous. Peng Xiao Ran perfectly depicted the innocent and playful Princess full of hope for the future, who, however, later becomes disillusioned of love and life. Cheng Xing Xu has the more difficult task of acting out the multi-faced character LCY: dark, ruthless at times, loving at times, unyielding to achieve his objectives and obtain the love of XF. At the start, LCY seemed a bit immature in acting, especially when crying, but it slowly got a lot better. In fact, especially since it was their first lead-role drama, both actors have excellent chemistry, which made the audience love and cry for them. I will continue to watch both of them.
One of the things I adore about this drama is the cinematography, especially the landscape shots at the start: the dunes, the valley, the prairie... It must be an expensive production. If it's not for the romance, I would recommend everyone to watch it just for these jaw-dropping shots. Finally, the OST is fantastic. This drama has one of my favorite songs and background music that again and again evoke those emotions in me whenever I hear them.

Now I few words about what I don't like about the drama and why I cannot give it a 10.

❤︎ The last 12 episodes were painful to watch:
I enjoy tragic dramas lot when they are well executed. I also don't have any issues with the final episode; in fact, I think it was well executed and XF's logical behavior. However, I don't particularly appreciate it when the makers create drama for the sake of creating drama. This already became apparent during the first arc, on which I closed one eye. But when the same script came back at full swing in the last 12 episodes, I started to get annoyed. A lot of the decisions and actions by the main characters were utterly illogical and groundless. Story development just felt very forced to justify female lead's final decision. Whether this has come from the novel or is original, I wish the makers would have put more thoughts into this (viewers are not dumb and realize all this); there are so many ways to conclude the same ending with more logical story development.

Overall, I would still recommend this drama as I find the story original, the production high-quality, and the acting of main leads outstanding. My heart still aches when remembering some of the scenes, and I can understand why some fans cannot let go of this drama, and rewatch it so many times. If you like tragic romance, this is the drama for you. If the story had found a sound ending at around episode 45, I would have given it a 9.5 or 10.

Below are some of my detailed rant about the unlogical parts of this drama which made me deduct so many points from the story despite me loving this drama so much (focusing on the two main leads' actions):

------------------------Please don't read beyond this point if you don't like spoilers-------------------------------------

Li Cheng Yin:
- To easily decide to take revenge at the Queen although she raised him for 20 years
- To naively believe Tanchi tripe has killed his brother and end up killing tripe of the woman his loves based on one person's statement
- To say out loud" he will overthrow the Queen as "he has proof to appoint her sins" and later "be sad/ disappointed" she decided to assassinate him
- Not to show any affection to XF to the very last minute although Queen has died and the uncle has almost lost too
- To suddenly become" a good king without any bloodshed" after XF has died despite being so ruthless all along

Xiao Feng:
- To be oblivious and naively believe that LCY only loves ZSS but not her
- After regaining her memory, to complete forget LCY's good after losing memory and only remembers his betrayal before that; also to hang on to the love of Gu Xiao Wu (who was lying to her at that time) but not that of LCY
- To hate LCY so much though the truth before losing memory is not much different from what she got to find out after losing memory at that time, she already forgave him
- To decide not to tell LCY anything about her hate towards him despite knowing he cannot remember and LCY asking so many times" why", i.e., she forced him to act this ruthlessly at the end
- To not to tell LCY that he is GXW despite GZ being killed in front of her eyes

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Started off well but seriously drags in the middle

Story: I started this drama due to the high praise from fellow drama watchers and for the first 15 episodes I was so engaged in the story line. The drama was face-paced with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. In fact, it seemed that the story was moving too quickly, but then we hit ep 15 and the show starts to drag. It became a typical drama with politics and scheming that felt unnecessary. I wasn't invested in the story line as I was waiting for when the truth would be revealed, so all the other drama felt like filler. What made the drama unique was Danchi, but after ep 15 we never go back and as someone who loved that part of the story it was disappointing. The pacing was inconsistent with the beginning being fast and then coming to a screeching halt in the middle. However, the ending of the show was phenomenal. It was tragic but it was the natural conclusion to the story.

Acting: Despite my issues with the pacing, the acting was amazing from Oliver Chen and Peng Xiao Ran. Not only did they have great chemistry but they both had their moments where they shined.

Music: Loved the OST- all the songs mean so much to me as they hold such sad memories.

Rewatch: I won't rewatch it because my heart can't handle the ending. But also due to how much it drags in the middle.

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This drama is one of the best long episode drama i have watched.
First of all i would like to commend the writer and director of this drama... it was made to offer something that would make drama fans fall in love with the settings and actors who (for me, perfectly played the characters especially the main roles, Peng Xiao Ran she is a good actress, hope she will have more drama's in the future)
Cinematography for me is great, the landscapes ,where most of the story took place , for me, are breathtaking... story lines are awesome as well.
This is one of those drama's that would let you be excited of what will happen on the next episode..
The last part of the story is something that some viewers would rather end differently, but for me , i believe the ending was just fair enough to make the story as a whole... Yes somehow it was tragic, But, there's a but... for me true love is everlasting and that is what this drama is all about...
Hope you guys find this review helpful, and you get to watch Goodbye My Princess...i hope u will experience the emotions i had when i was watching this drama...
It is something worth watching!!!
❤❤❤

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very tragic love story

SO MUCH emotions from start till the end. Each of the character in this show has their own struggle and it will make u fall into this deep hole.

Li Cheng Yin/Fifth prince (ML) - One of the most complex character in the show. You love him then you hate him and then you love him all over again. To live in a treacherous and dangerous palace where people are plotting against you & watching your every step, LCY is grown to be very careful and plans his steps ahead. He is really a very pitiful prince and if you really understand him, you just cannot hate him. Fate must be one that fooled him because when he meets Xiao Feng, everything changed. He loves her and only her but does not know how can he conquer both the kingdom and the love of his life. Everything was wrong to begin with - i can just say from the moment he knows he needs to take over the crown, him and Xiao Feng was meant to be a fateful pair of lovers. I had one of the most withdrawal for him after the show because i felt so much of what he was bearing all these time that i wanted the best ending for him. But at some point, everything he was plotting was going his way but he hurt so many people along the way.

Xiao Feng/Ninth princess (FL) - Very pitiful yet very innocent FL, went through the most change in this show in terms of character development. I cried on most scenes on how everything is just not right for her. All she ever wanted is peace but her only happiness lasted less than 10 episodes in the show. From then on, it's only hatred, sorrow, and maybe love but a very sad one. In this show she have 2 lives, one before she lost her memory and one after she lost her memory. In both times, she fell in love with the same man but both eventually have the same ending. I really think her life is very pitiful and sad.

Gu Jian (2nd ML) - Straightforward character, only love the FL but knows he cannot be with her from the start. The shining armour in Xiao Feng's life. His only 1 wrong decision made Xiao Feng hated him and he repaid it using the rest of his life. I really liked Gu Jian and I think his love for Xiao Feng is one of a kind (actually comparable to ML). Damn, i cannot walk out of the 2nd ML syndrome after this,


All the castings acted really well, music is pretty good (came in at all the right time). I would highly recommend this show if you are looking for something that is heart wrenching & full of emotions. This show had one of the best stories and it will keep you going. But i swear to you that it will be very painful to watch, I am still in dilemma if i will rewatch this because i do not want to break my heart twice. Overall, one of the best historical c-drama around, would rate a 10 if not for the tragic ending.

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Masterpiece— played to perfection.

This has possibly got to be the BEST historical cdrama I’ve watched in such a long time.

Story: This masterpiece has TRULY been written to perfection. The storyline is so complex and incorporates almost every historical element there is— romance, betrayal, war, schemes, selfishness, and exploitation. This was marked a tragedy so I honestly did not want to watch it. However, the synopsis seemed to keep pulling me in so I gave this a chance. I honestly am so glad I gave this drama the chance it most definitely deserved.

From the beginning I was hooked. Throughout the drama I was also hooked. However, the drama was quite extra from eps 40ish where Gu Jian has screentime with XF. It wasn’t necessary to have in the plot and while I understand that it gave GJ his wish and gave some justice to his character— it felt unneeded to me. As for the ending, each character had their proper closure. XF realizing that protecting her nation and her people was the most important thing to her was truly touching considering how she never seemed to understand this before. LCY does not deserve XF by his side forever and this justification perfectly mirrors his father’s situation with Mingyue. The similarities between LCY and his father and his discoveries regarding his father was the biggest thing I took from this drama. It is extremely interesting to watch and discover these. I didn’t shed a tear even though this drama was sad. This was also one of the rare cases where the ending didn’t make me sulk. It was simply played to mere perfection.

Acting/Cast: XF was wonderful. Xiao Ran played this to perfection as she displayed all sides to XF— playful, strong willed, stubborn, innocent, and most importantly, her pain in not being able to actually hate the one who pretty much isolated her from all of her loved ones. LCY was played to perfection. He was such a jerk that I hated him. But I felt for him because of his circumstances. I hated him. Then I felt for him again. In the end I still hated him but STILL pitied him. Bravo. The supporting roles all did great. Extremely strong cast.

Music: Intended to break hearts.

Rewatch: Needless to say? 10/10.

Overall: Please give this a chance despite it being a tragedy. Sometimes the best dramas don’t have happy endings. This drama reminded me once again that a great drama doesn’t have to have a happy ending. It just needs to be reasonable and cohesive with the entire story. I wholeheartedly RECOMMEND.

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A tragedy that failed to touch the heart.

Plot: 7.5/10
Acting: 9/10

This drama has so much potential but they couldn’t execute it. The beginning was good and so was the last few episodes. But the middle was draggy and so many unnecessary scenes. The fact that both main characters had a messed up start but they lost their memories and was given a second chance. The writer could at least give us a once in a lifetime/until death do us part kind of love story before reviving their memories. That would have left a deeper impression on the audiences. However, they wasted it on her escaping the palace every night to go to a bar getting drunk with the same people. Or when the 2 leads meet they would bicker over nonsense.

Male lead: This character was the best part of the show. He was complex. He’s cruel, cunning, but for some reason we’re still rooting for him. We were able to witness his character development from beginning to end. Chen Xingxu did a great job here. Probably the only reason why I was able to get myself to finish.

Female lead: The actress herself was great. The character started out interesting. She was rebellious but naive and innocent. However, they didn’t give her any real character development until end. So for the most part of the show she was really boring to watch.

Second female lead: She was not the antagonist here, instead I feel so pity for her. She loved him with all her heart and was willingly to be the second wife. She didn’t want power or status, she just wants to be with the person she loves. However, he used her as a shield to protect Xiao Feng and every punishment goes to her. She did not deserved her ending.

Second male lead: This character was the worst! He was the shittiest to Xiao Feng. He was the one that threw her into Li’s scheme. Then he tried to revive the memory she jumped down the cliff to forget. No second male lead syndrome for me here. He deserved his ending.

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Beautifully done!

From the production, to the storyline and actors performance, I personally would classify this a classic and definitely worth rewatching.

The costumes and backdrop are well researched and beautiful. The chemistry between the ML and FL is amazing. Peng XiaoRan gave a stellar performance as the FL. Chen XingXu may be a newbie at that time but his performance was just as good. The 2 veteran actors (FL grandfather & father-in-law) as supporting actors gave great performance as well.

Don't miss this drama - it will make you smile, laugh, frown, sad and maybe even shed a tear or two 😁

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Very uneven quality

I have very mixed feelings about this drama. I really like that a lot of the shooting is done outdoors and the actors ride horses. A few fight scenes and battle scenes are shot quite well. A few plots are carried out very well and a few solutions are made to give the viewer satisfaction, but.... only a few.
I had absolutely no interest in the fate of FL, who to me is a naive, spoiled, hysterical and boring character. I understand viewers who find her beautifully tragic, but her tragedy just doesn't speak to me.
What does speak to me is the story of ML, who is a remarkable, interesting character, who is full of a whole palette of colors and shades. To a large extent, he is the one who saves this drama for me. He is well acted and intriguing.
As for the music, it's ok, but I have a reservation about the lead track. I'm not accusing anyone of plagiarism, not at all, it just reminded me a lot of the music from the movie Red Cliff.
Is it worth watching a second time? I think it is. For me because of the ML, which is really interesting, which is very rare in dramas lately.

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I am usually quite good viewer liking almost all dramas that I watch but sorry not this time. I found the story at the start quite nice and interesting but everything went bad after both characters jumped into the river which erased their memories. Then I did not like how things went, the stupid concubine the Prince is fund of, and who is trying to trick Xiaofeng. Only Gujian (who is really handsome by the way) loves Xiaofeng and is protecting her all along as well as Ah Du her best friend. The story did not have the effect I found into other dramas because there are not intense plots or fights, and the ending is sad too,
So no, this drama did not attract me at all, I will not rewatch it for sure.

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When this was out not many people started watching it until later this year. This is truly one of the best historical dramas out. The OST, cast, plot, everything was amazing. This story literally tore my heart to pieces and then glue them back to then breaking it again. When you are watching this you'll feel to many emotions that most shows don't put in. I love how close she was with the Danchi tribe and how much she was in love with him but he just ended up breaking her heart over and over again. Li Chengyin made me so mad at times when he was so stubborn. Xiao Feng shouldn't of had that ending, she did so much for him but he just did her dirty. I wish there was a season 2 and a different outcome to the show.

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Why you should instead watch the director's cut

This is not a proper review. Yes, this show is amazing. The story is heartbreaking but beautiful. The acting is professional and the entire ensemble did a great job. The show is gorgeous with beautiful sets, costumes, and wonderful principal photography that highlights these gorgeous setups. The ending is sad and the romance is nothing to write home about but it's intentional and very well done.
But I am actually here to tell you to not watch this and instead go watch the director's cut version of the show.
Yes, it's only three episodes longer and it does have more parts that are not directly related to the romance plot but:
1. The story makes more sense
2.The flow is better
3.This is a very classic cut with weird jumps and messy editing but the editing in the director's version is better and more professional. It actually is just an overall better production in that version because it's how the director meant to tell the story.
It's technically the same but that one makes more sense and it's a better watching experience.
So if you are turned off by the first episode or if you haven't started this yet, jump over to the Director's cut version and watch the superior one!

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