Paraíso de Amor (2023)

A masterpiece ruined by a bad script

I've been anticipating Wonderland of Love when I was just a newbie in c-drama. I even read the titbits of the novel posted on the discussion forum of MDL. However, things weren't as good as it seemed to be and you will know why as you scroll down my review.

This drama tells about 2 generals of the best armies (Zhenxi Army and Cui Army), Li Ni and Cui Lin. At first, they tried to be one step ahead of each other and resulted in both bickering nonstop. Li Ni was a prince trying to hide his identity from the others. Only the Zhenxi Army knew the real identity of his. Meanwhile, Cui Lin was a woman in disguise. She called herself Lieutenant He in the Cui Army and had an adoptive brother to take her identity. What I liked the most was the funny banter in the Zhenxi Army (including those gangs of bandits). The plot sounds perfect for me, but there will always be loopholes in it and brace yourself for the outweighed cons.

Halfway through the show, I started to fast forward 2x because the story was so, so INFURIATING and I wanna knock some sense into the characters. Li Ni's dad was perhaps the DUMBEST emperor I've ever seen. He couldn't even see that his two elder sons were plotting against him. Cui Lin's adoptive brother, Liu Chengfeng (or what other user called him as Lost Cause Fruit Loop) turned into a delusional and obsessive character as soon as he found out that Cui Lin had no feelings towards him. He always TRIED to get Li Ni killed by plotting everything from the beginning to the end (how I wished to strangle him to death). Prime Minister Gu's daughter, Gu Wanniang was an obsessive character as well. When Li Ni didn't reciprocate her feelings, she began to feel resentful towards Cui Lin and also want her killed. Prime Minister Gu's arc wasn't the best if you compare it to Sun Lang's arc. His character wasn't powerful enough and there wasn't any backstory for his plot with a certain tribe (sorry, I've forgotten the name, whatever it was called). This may be caused by lazy scriptwriting and the writer perhaps wants to add fillers so that the drama looks rather long. It could've been cut into a shorter one.

The chemistry between the leads (Xu Kai and Jing Tian) are super hot and you will love the flirting between these two. Also, honorable mention to the second couple, Tao Zi and Xie Chang'er - they're the best second couple and a green-flag one too. The Consort (forgotten her name as well) does well with Sun Lang too.

Opening OST is the best one and other OSTs aren't quite memorable.

No rewatch value for me. I can't stand this drama anymore. One time is enough, there's no need to watch for the second time except if you're in a drama slump. Overall, a decent show ruined by a bad script and filled with dozens of delulu characters.

P.S.
I apologize if my review is a bit offensive.

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Must watch!

Pleasantly surprised by this drama! This drama was not on my watchlist until i saw all the good reviews online. The buzz was well deserved!

The story itself was rich, complex and interesting. All the side characters had their own motivations for their actions that for the most part made sense. Xu Kai and Jing Tian have amazing amazing chemistry! I used to think Xu Kai only had chemistry with Bai Lu, but this drama proved me wrong. Xu kai is perfectly cast in his role. He has a mischevious flirty side reminiscent of his role in Arsenal Military Academy. Jing Tian perfectly plays the intelligent smart strong female general and is so beautiful! There is a good mix of sweetness/romance, angst, action and comedy. The pacing and editing is excellent. There are no boring parts to skip through. Overall a very enjoyable 40 episodes!

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I liked last 5 episodes after he married to her.

Starting was good . Then middle part of drama was boring . All the time chasing ,chasing and chasing . Then was trying to disband the Cui's army and the reason was not satisfactory . Why the king wanted this ? The Cui's army was always work for the welfare of people and never been hindrance in the work of king . The prince and the daughter of Cui family were having same target and when everything was happening good then suddenly prince father kept the condition to marry with her . She was not agreed at first only because of her father she accepted the proposal.
I liked the episodes after their marriage scenes .

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TUDO PELO MEU CASAL

Um dorama com um casalzão maduro mesmo com suas infantilidades, me divertia muito vendo o romance deles, as provocações, os flertes, o fato deles se entenderem tão bem, não precisavam de palavras, eles sempre competindo pra ver quem é o mais esperto, e vamos concordar que os dois são gênios! Achei muito legal todo o enredo e como conciliaram a trama militar com o romance. Teve gente que não gostou do modo que a A Ying agiu algumas vezes, mas é completamente compreensível, além também que o Lini sabe o gênio forte que ela tem haha. O casal secundário é fofo demais! Os personagens que morreram lutando ao lado do Lini, foi muito triste de assistir, chorei muito. O que achei que não combinou foi o titulo do drama kkk

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An amazing military/palace story told through the journey of a general and a Lieutenant

Okay, I just finished watching all four episodes and I gotta say, the story so far is really good. The storytelling is quite amazing. The pacing from scene to scene flows really well and makes the characters interaction natural. Everything is seamless so far. So props to the writers and director.

I really love Xu kai portrayal of this role. His character is quite believable and fun to watch. After his last role in Snow Eagle Lord, he's finally have a FL that can match him wit for wit, scheme for scheme, and It's exciting to watch him and the FL interact trying to see who will one up the other. Jing Tian is really holding her own. They complement eachother well. Their fight scenes (when they fight each other) reminds of of Yang Mi and Ethan Juan in Legend of Fuyao. The fughts feel like they are making love.

I have so many favorite scenes already. But one I want to mention is when ML and FL were on the mountain with the bandits and they were all walking outside singing and dancing and being happy. I love that whole sequence. lol I really love our mountain bandits. Also when they were in the tent and FL was tied up and her and ML were fighting with the soldiers, that scene was amazing. The whole thing with the old couple... omg...

The story reminds me a little bit of WRTW, but this is told more properly and the writing seems to be better than WRTW. I am excited to see how all this plays out and what's in store for them. Can't wait for the next episodes! If you are thinking of watching this, definetely give it a go!!!

I will update as the story progess

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Did we even watch the same thing?

I am utterly flabbergasted at the high rating for this show. I went into this thinking it would be a light-hearted and fun love story with a side of palace politics and power struggles. What I ended up watching was a show with ridiculous characters and nonsensical plot that circled around the frustrating love story of the two main characters. I am under the impression that Xu Kai fans are what has inflated the rating for this show because the drama itself is not worth watching.

To address Xu Kai; I actually liked him in this drama and thought his acting was done much better than I have seen in many of his other works. He had great chemistry with Jing Tian and the other male cast members in his army. His stage presence is great and he pulls off the carefree soldier that is being forced into his role of royalty. Jing Tian also acted her role well according to how she is written. I did not like the character very much but she was acted well and the chemistry between the two helped tremendously. The character herself was just frustrating and I often times wanted Li NI to just give up because she was not worth it.

But having two great main actors will not make a show great if it is written and directed poorly. And that is exactly what this is. It is so poorly written that it is laughable. Almost all of the characters are cartoonish in their representations of their roles. The main lead's father that becomes the emperor is spineless and ridiculous. He acts and reacts in ways that are childish. His two older brothers are witless and ambitious but just plain dumb. The writer of this show obviously does not have a firm understanding of politics because the way this drama moves in circles with with nonsensical reasoning for their moves and countermoves. Every villain that is introduced, and there are quite a few, are one dimensional characters making decisions based on one specific desire and the people around them just follow along as if that person is not dumb. And these actors were even directed to make the most ridiculous facial expressions that make them cartoony to portray evilness.

I was already struggling to get through this after the main leads father, whom you can not convince me is a person that could have ever held power, became emperor. Even if he was a puppet king he was so ridiculous that I could no longer watch scenes with him in it. Then came the tedious and LONG storyline where the female lead is angry that the Li Ni did not save her useless Young Master. I could have gotten past it and said it was her grief reacting but it went on for soooo long. When they finally find that cute and watchable area where the two are clearly in love you have the intrusion of the love scorned Young Master returning as a villain but in a way that made absolutely no sense. Did no one ask where he had been for months? No one questioned anything and just let him back to lead the army with authority higher than Ying even though she was very close to the general. The forced wedding episode was unbearable to watch for its nonsense. Move on and you have the female lead then forcing the unwilling male lead to become crown prince in order to marry her. It is one ridiculous plot point to another with no connecting strings or firm reasoning for their actions.

The only reason I am giving this a 5 is because the costumes are pretty, the main actors do well, and the OST is nice. But the CGI is horrible, the rest of the acting is bad and the story line is ridiculous.

I really just can't tell you enough to please skip this drama.

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Sizzling chemistry and a storyline that keeps you intrigued

I’m so happy I gave this show a chance! I’ve seen 6 episodes and can’t wait for more. The pacing of the story is fast and I like how they have given the ML and FL a lot of screentime together since the beginning. The acting and chemistry is on point between the leads. I also have no complaints about other characters but the leads definitely run the show (and that’s how it should be). I was very surprised by how much I liked Xu Kai in this. I have seen him in Yangxi Palace (though I haven’t finished it) and didn’t know that he could portray such a character as Li Ni. Also Jing Tian fits the FL’s role perfectly. The cinematography is beautiful and the costumes take my breath away. Extra points for little comedy to lighten up the overall story.

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a well combined drama

The drama was well combined with matters of politics, romance , history, comedy, friendship and so on. I am an anti fantasy drama lover. I am so glad this drama was fantastic partially but it was not a typical fantasy drama actually. The female lead's statement ' once I get pregnant I will kill you and let my son ascend to the throne,,,' This apparently confused him first but he later became so happy remembering the romantic night. Her statement is quite unique and unforgettable for me. Also his confusing look was so lovable. The two characters in the sketchbook were really cute. The fighting scene of the first night of their marriage was quite stunning. The male lead usually star in a fantasy drama but I wish he could star in more decent and realistic dramas in the future because he is so versatile. I'd rather love him in traditional costumes.

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I have no patience for the bad plot and the ML didn't do a good job (imo)

"Wonderland of Love" is a historical Rom-Com by Xu Kai and Jing Tian. The kung fu is awesome in this drama, and Jing Tian did a good job playing the army lieutenant. However, I dislike Xu Kai's character and acting ability.

Xu Kai can't act, in my opinion, especially in historical dramas. I dropped every historical drama he was in, like Snow Eagle Lord, Lost in the Kunlun Mountains, Court Lady, etc.

I have a higher tolerance for his modern dramas like Falling Into Your Smile and She and Her Perfect Husband, where I finished the dramas but not historical ones. He is very handsome but a one-dimensional actor with the same facial expression for every emotional scene.

I gave it a 6.5 rating because I didn't like the plot and could not continue after watching 8 episodes.

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Story is good, actors are good but this is the first drama I have watched so far wherein the female lead has a petty character and does not show that she loves the male lead as much as the male lead loves her. He has always helped her, saves her always, doing things for her even at the cost of his life. She always takes advantage of his love for her & knows that he will always let her have her way, she has not shown any acts to show that she loves him as much as he does, and very inconsistent. At first she wants him to be the crown prince & will not marry him if he is not citing that the court will make things difficult for him and he will not be able to save himself and his loved ones if he is not the crown prince but when he became the crown and with the knowledge that he will be put in different difficulties, she will not support him and even told him she will not marry him when he is doing it to protect her & her father. In one of the scenes, she and her father talked about their army eventually being dissolved as they expect since the court is wary about their military power so she should have understood his decision to give in to the condition of disbanding their army in order to save her & her father but she was petty to even blame it on him and was angry/hateful to him, always saying things like "just kill me" like when Chengfeng was supposedly killled, she was also being petty blaming it all on him when before that Chengfeng betrayed his army and caused the death of many of his men and she had the gall to be angry at him when he has the right to be angry at her. She cannot blame him of he did not believe her at first because she had been tricking from the start even with their bets, she is kind of cunning and sly and she even put at risk the life of the young imperial grandson and did not regret her action.
The worst female lead character ever!

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Meeting your match

Wonderland of Love (WoL) is a surprising enjoyable ride, following the love story of Li Ni and Cui Lin.

For the review, I will mainly use Cui Lin’s nickname, Ah Ying, when referring to her since this is what Li Ni likes to call her by.

Li Ni’s and Ah Ying’s meet cute began with a fight for food supply and reclaiming of the cities to save the “king” that was being held hostage at capital.

What was intriguing from the get go was the battle of wits between the two of them, who held different armies. Smart and capable as they were, we couldn’t tell who had the upper hand nor who to root for as they competed for the same resources and gain the upper hand.

Li Ni and Ah Ying quickly turned allies when they unwittingly figured they worked more effectively together. The interactions remained fun to follow as they maintained the playful friendly flirtatious rivalry between them. … until the dynamics started to change by episode 16-ish when it seemed like Li Ni became the stronger one, be it from moral code, family power, or affection shown to other.

For the record, I still like Ah Ying a lot. She is one of the cunning, decisive, and likeable female leads that’s hard to come by in an idol drama. The slightly disappointed part to me was the troupe-y plot devices used to create the necessary tension between female and male leads to move the story along.

There were instances I felt that she overused Li Ni’s affection for her and / or she got turned into a weaker party. Was her hidden weapons only used for Li Ni? Where’s the independent cunning female lead we were introduced to at the start? It wasn’t that Ah Ying had the obligations to return Li Ni’s affection the exact same way he was doting her biasedly (on some level) or troupes like obsessive SML cannot be used in stories. It would’ve been nice to see a little more layers in Ah Ying and her development that’s present on Li Ni’s side through their love journey …or maybe I fast forwarded too much to see that side of Ah Ying.

On the other hand though, I recognised that a lot of conflicts they had were realistic and consistent with their characters setup. Li Ni may be loyal, upright and capable - but he is also impulsive and idealistic. Cui Lin is indeed cunning, pragmatic and overbearing - but she is also caring to her loved ones, willing to make the necessary sacrifices for the bigger goal and is resourceful. I guess this made them perfect for each other.

The real pity is the one dimensional supporting characters and slightly draggy plots. With weaker supporting cast, WoL’s story plot were less engaging and felt cliche-ish at some parts. They could’ve totally cut the story to 24 - 26 episodes and it likely would’ve made no difference to the enjoyment of Li Ni’s and Ah Ying’s love story.

Acting wise, I like both Xu Kai’s and Jing Tian’s portrayal of the characters and their chemistry. Believable enough for me to invest in Shi Qi Lang’s and Ah Ying’s romance in WoL. Lovely enough for me to swoon for those romantic moments and ignore the cliche-ness way of showing them on screen.

All in all, WoL is the typical idol drama that has a strong start, which somewhat feel draggy troupey halfpoint, and finishes off with an okay-ish, predictable climax. It’s still an enjoyable drama when one has the right expectations for it.

With both capable leads who are complement to each other in terms of wits and great chemistry, WoL is overall a fun and enjoyable flirtatious idol romance story.

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