User reviews

Despite a script that is overly convenient in places, the series is thoroughly enjoyable, thanks to a great cast. In particular, the romance between Zhang Ziyi (Shang Yang Princess) and Zhou Yiwei (Lord Yuzhang) was very charming. Zhou Yiwei is not the flawlessly handsome male idol type, but he has a real stage presence and he has breathed life into a role that could feel formulaic. Watching him shape the role throughout the 68 episodes was a real pleasure. The role was regularly at risk of being idealised but Zhou gave it a refreshing authenticity without losing a touch of magical make-believe. For me it was not a love at first sight, but his interpretation grew on me and before I knew it I was completely converted. Zhang and Zhou looked as if they had great fun performing together - their interaction was detailed as well as spontaneous, full of little unexpected touches that gave their onscreen romance a unique charm. I could see that being the result of some artfully managed improvisation during the filming process. Only after I started watching, I realized that Zhang Ziyi was openly in awe of Zhou Yiwei as an actor and had said as much on national TV, and after watching them act together, it is fair to say that these two have an unparalleled chemistry together, and Zhou is truly wonderful. It is a heartwarming tale in itself to know that Zhang did want to give Zhou, a dedicated yet overlooked actor in China the recognization she felt he deserved, and did just that by landing him a role that let him shine.

The cast overall was solid - Shang Yang Princess (Zhang)'s father gave an commanding performance in particular. Young actress Hai Ling who played Lord Yuzhang's 3rd/4th general in command was outstanding. Set, design, costumes are beyond amazing, impeccable in every detail, transporting the audience to a dreamlike ancient Chinese world. Music was hauntingly beautiful but needed to be greatly extended, as there was just not enough for a 68-episode drama series.

Look guys, I've been to China quite a few times now, I've come to learn that the Chinese people don't give two aerial acts of sexual intercourse about proper translation of things like instructions, ingredients or contents on ANY of the things they export.

It's usually because they are too cheap to pay a professional to do it right and what you get is nothing like what's supposed to be inside.

When they're done, it seems like they just hire a Chinese speaking student who's been at a U. S. college for a couple of years. They assume that , because they now speak English, they are qualified to translate complex and subtle phrases.

You would think, wouldn't you, that after all of the money that's been sunk into a production like this, with all of its fabulous costumes, set design and wonderful actors. You would think that someone would take the care to make the subtitles reflect the ethos of the scenes and put some feeling and subtlety into them? Not a chance!

As it is, you get lines that say, "got it" instead of the more grave "I understand" or "I'm on it" instead of " I will obey your command" or, worse still, "He's pissed" instead of "he's angry"

These high school Americanisms happen all the way through and it ruins the value.

It's like translating Shakespeare's "To be, or not to be" into ..... "Is you is, or is you ain't?" Not only that, but if you're a slow reader, the captions are gone in a split second, it's just pathetic.

So I hope someone from Netflix or PBS or whoever buys these foreign language productions will listen and insist on quality for future airings. If they do, and they pony up the money for professionals to do the job, then we'll all enjoy it more

Apart from that, the series is just captivating with its beautiful actresses and handsome actors who give stellar, riveting performances. The costumes and the portrayal of Imperial China are just about as perfect as you can get and the set design is without equal.

The opening and closing music is just hauntingly beautiful and there's nothing better than going to bed with those songs and harmonies folding you into sleep.

It's a long series and takes quite a bit of patience to understand who's who but so far it's been worth the minor setbacks.

Enjoy yourself.

This one is Ziyi's first TV drama. Amazing acting as always! Lightning, shooting, background settings, costumes and art design are as excellent as best class movies. The art director for this drama is Yim Kam Tim who won Oscar for art design in film Crunching Tiger and Hidden Dragon. Cinematographer is Phillippe Le Sourd who was nominated for Oscar. Must try if you are interested in Chinese culture.

Don't let Zhang Ziyi's age problem deter you from watching the show. The 68-episode drama was filmed in 2018 when Zhang Ziyi was 38 years old. In the first 7 episodes, she plays a 15-year-old pampered countess, the prime minister's daughter and the emperor's niece. However, our heroine grows up fast, and by the 8th episode, everything looks normal. Yeah, it's a stretch, but if you can tolerate Emily living and working in Paris without speaking French, we can overlook this aspect of the drama :). It's about 1/10 of the total length anyway. If you'd like to see capable, good-looking actors wearing gorgeous clothes, moving around in beautiful locations, riding horses in breath-taking sceneries, then check it out. Remember to watch it with headphones on or with good external speakers, the soundtrack is amazing! The show is shot in the "Emily in Paris" mold and more.

As a film student, i love this film- good story, cinematography is like from the book, audio and music is amazing, excellent direction, costumes and the whole set and staging were impressive, excellent acting and perfect selection of actors- not the usual perfect/good looking mold of actor. Zhang Ziyi is of course simple and beautiful, while Zhou Yiwei is manly and very charming in his character. This drama should be on Netflix! Also, I dont mind buying a copy of this drama and the English translated novel. It is that good.

Finally geisha ziyi zhang did a 64 episodes film production drama, what a treat from her, one of the best production, makeup dresses camera production are all world class film term, really great performance from her, a must watch if you into Asian history drama.

First off, Yiwei Zhou was the roof that kept this contained, Zhang Ziyi was the foundation and the other actors were blocks that built life into this incredible story. ZY's performance was transcendental. Geezus, the man is gorgeous. I don't even know what to say but I can tell you that this series will blow your mind.

Shout out to the cast, crew and members of the production team, especially the casting director.

Lastly, the MUSIC!! Goodness, my heart melted every time I heard the intro score.

One of the best scripted Cdrama with a great production and cast performance. I liked how for once the excessive length of Chinese TV series did not go to waste, in that it is part of the flow and the timeline of this war for the throne and family politics epic. A monumental cast that includes moments of outstanding performance and some really genuine study characters; I liked the soundtrack and visuals that were well tuned and in sync with the storyline and everything else.

The plot is really impressive and the cast is totally appropriate with the characters. They talk about Zhang Ziyi's age a lot but to me, she perfectly reincarnates Wang Xuan and she looks really really young and beautiful in her 40s so it seems negligible for me about her age. And nonetheless, the appearance of Zhou Yiwei also entirely fit with Xiao Qi, a really charismatic and righteous-looking character. I would rate this 10/10, I just wish they could develope more of the storyline in the end. The end is just too short and I wish I could enjoy it more.

Ziyi Zhang's performance was extraordinarily fine, the best I have ever seen by any actress in any film, movie, or series of any kind in my lifetime of 77 years... The Chinese dramatic television series, "Shang Yang Fu" (The Rebel Princess), encompasses 68 distinctive episodes of 45 minutes each... Ziyi Zhang's performance throughout this spectacular series was truly exceptional in every way, a genuine priceless work of art, a gracious gift to anyone who's ever wished to see such nuanced artistry performed at the highest levels imaginable, most memorable and destined to become cherished, forever...

A+... 10 Stars x 10 Stars to the exponential power of 10, ad infinitum...

Okay, the acting, costumes, and sets are pretty spectacular. However, if the people who made this series intend to keep marketing their work to English-speaking audiences, they need to get someone who is thoroughly fluent and skilled in written English to do their subtitles. They also need to leave long subtitles on the screen long enough to be read. I'm 39 of 68 episodes in and I have never repeatedly rewound and/or paused portions of programs so many times in my entire life just so I know what's going on!

There are one or two episodes (so far), where the subtitles are just awful, apparently done by an entirely different person. Words are frequently repeated back to back, words run together, and there are spelling mistakes, etc. In other episodes, there are frequent issues with pluralization, possession, verb conjugation, inappropriate word usage, wrong word endings, (eg. "ing" instead of "ed" and vice versa) etc. The word abortion is used in place of miscarriage. Characters are referred to as assassinated when they are still living. "Royal" is mistakenly substituted for "loyal" a few times. Several main characters have at least three different names and/or titles, which is confusing because they're just thrown at the audience without introduction or explanation. Then there's the inbred nature of the royal family depicted (worse than the English and at least as bad as the Habsburg's), including at least one set of double cousins who are supposed to marry...eek! My head was spinning for the first few episodes as the familial relationships were revealed and I started to make sense of them.

My overall feeling is that it's too long, but that may be because the subtitles are difficult due to all the errors and problems. I think I'd find it easier and more relaxing to watch if it were dubbed rather than subtitled, though admittedly, I've always found the "out-of-sync" appearance of voice dubbing annoying.

Beauty, drama, intrigue, action, romance, superb acting, engrossing story.

The actors were fantastic. The casting as well. I became so attached to the characters I truly was obsessed. I thought about them and the situations they were in when I wasn't watching.

I like period films/shows and costume dramas that represent the time and the historical happenings they are set in. I had no preconceived idea of Chinese culture during this period. It was spectacularly filmed and produced to convey the splendor and beauty of the time and place but also the representation of class and hierarchy that was the way of life.

Unlike most modern productions, this one doesn't rely on graphic details. Sex is implied. There is no gratuitous nudity, The battle scenes, while brutal, didn't linger on guts and torture. I found it thrilling to be brought to the brink of an emotion and then be taken to a new scene with another twist and more intrigue.

Speaking of intrigue! There were more plot twists than any mystery I've ever known. I really felt for the characters, rooting for the good and despising the bad. Sometimes being totally surprised to find out they weren't what they seemed.

Some people might be put off by the subtitles or translations, I didn't know if I would watch more than a couple episodes because of the subtitling but I just finished the last episode (68) and I watched them all in less than 2 weeks.

The subtitles were basic and sometimes comical because of the translation, but I don't feel like I lost a moment of the plot or what was inferred. Within 3-4 episodes I was so used to it I forgot I was reading.

I am so happy there were as many episodes as there were in this 1st season. I felt fully satisfied at the end, not let down like a lot of other series. I am hoping I will have the opportunity to see another season though. They left just enough possibility for more drama that I could definitely see another season being as good as this one.

Great movie Love the lead Actor and Actresses so Good. The chemistry Is beyond me .! Beautiful Actors all around , lots of action and plots phew worth watching I would watch this casts any time , I love my Chinese's series sets around dynasties Beautiful sceneries Beautiful culture Love it.

It's truly an epic production and story with stunning cinematography and costumes. Obviously, we can never fault Zhang Zi Yi acting. One of the best C-actress of all time! We would be spoiled watching this sophisticated captivating lady in 68 episodes rather than couple hours movie. A' Wu and Xiao Qi love and chemistry is amazing. I enjoy watching every second of it, absolutely beautiful! As I stated, it's the best of the best! Must watch!

Every single actor/actress in the series is amazing, especially Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Yiwei. Absolutely obsessed with it!

Can only get one season but loved it. Looking forward to the remaining episodes.

THE REBEL PRINCESS (2021) was really such a captivating drama. While the title of this series may be a bit misleading to some, there were so many aspects that I loved about this one, among them being the excellent writing, the steller cast and performances, the accurate and mesmerizing costumes and settings, and wonderful music. I have to say the writing and the characters really made this series for me. The characters were all dynamic and the superb acting made this one just irresistible to watch. For me, binge worthy...

The story is about a naive, somewhat spoiled Princess "Awu" Wang Xuan (Zhang Zi Yi) whose luxurious life is suddenly altered by her arranged marriage to the fearsome yet noble General Xiao Qi (Zhou Yi Wei) a common man of low birth newly conferred as a Prince, with growing power in the world stage through his vast military strength. The series follows the aftermath of this fated union as the world soon goes into chaos, as the noblility increasingly fears the growing power of the commoners, namely their leader, General Xiao Qi.

The story was really compelling and the settings were sometimes gorgeous and other times gritty, yet realistic throughout. One of my biggest praises is that the drama never felt that it leaned too heavily into common tropes. Lots of red herrings, as well. There were times when I said to myself "Welp, I know where this is going..." and then, it didn't go there at all, or there was a twist to the scene and it went the complete opposite direction. Really well done. That alone made this series a much needed breath of fresh air.

The relationships between characters was so believable and utterly palpable. The family dynamic is deeply contemplated here with Princess Awu at the center of many conflicts and dangers. The bonds of the Wang Clan were at time deeply touching, while other times, simply terrifying. While not a character of typical strength, whether physical or military strength, Princess Awu is exceedingly strong and gifted in her own manner and she was a very noble, worthy character. Fierce, brave, noble, merciful, loyal and cunning, albeit a bit tender-hearted, which made her character all the more endearing and realistic. Simply a great portrayal.

As for the romance between the main couple, Princess Wang Xuan "Awu" played by the stunning and yet subtle Zhang Zi Yi, and General Xiao Qi played by the brilliant Zhou Yi Wei. Both characters were excellent, and acting great, though it was the character of Xiao Qi that truly shines and stood out. I can't think of a better written or acted "General" character in recent years. He was able to seem both fierce and gentle, both powerful and humble. He commanded both respect and fear from those around him. A truly compelling and enigmatic hero. A brilliant and memorable portrayal.

I truly loved the main couple and their dynamic relationship. Never did it feel corny, like some romances do. It was a natural realistic relationship with powerful chemistry to back it up, between the actors, as well as the written characters. It could be sensed both in body language (glances, posturing, displays of affection), in dialogue (tenderness, teasing, mutual respect) and in action as well (defense, trust, mutual alliance). The love that developed seemed so natural, and can be felt in almost every shared scene. The romance that bloomed from nothing truly pulls you in and warms your heart, as well as becomes the cause of much suspense during the twists and turns that follow. And there there are many.

The entire cast was really excellent, all playing realistic imperfect characters, many morally grey and others simply memorable or unpredictable. This drama is highly political and compels the viewer to analyze characters and their individual motivations as well as interpersonal relationships. Morally grey characters abound and some act spontaneous while others plan their schemes years ahead.

Since there are many episodes of court politics, schemes and intrigue, the pacing did feel quite slower towards the middle. So in that way it was a slow burn which might not be appealing to some. And as others have said, the subtitles and translations aren't the greastest. This wasn't an issue for me personally, as I quickly grew accustomed to the translation style.

Notable mentions were the characters of Prime Minister Wang Lin (Yu He Wei), Awu's father, who was a deeply shrewd and cunning character, Prince Jianxia Wang Su Yu (Jia Yi Ping) Awu's brother, who was flawed yet understandable, Empress Dowager Wang Haun Xi (Shi Ke) was devious and yet pitable, Crown Prince Ma Zi Long (Guo Jia Ming) who was first despicable then somewhat commendable, Pan Gui (Cao Jun), loyal and clever, Helan Zhen (Yuan Hong) who was vengeful and obsessive, Yu Xiu (Drolma Suijun) sweet and heroic, Hu Lao (Hai Ling) and General Hu Guang Lie (Hou Xiao) who were loyal siblings that served under Xiao Qi, as well as Su Jin Er (Liu Yun), Xie Wan Ru (Zuo Xiao Qing), Prince Ma ZiDan (Tony Yang), General Song Huai En (Liu Duan Duan), and the Emperor (Jiang Kai) who was a very believable Emperor. Aslo, I must say, the baby (multiple babies?) that played Jing'er was really cute!

Overall, this series was a very good find, filled with court politics, love and war. It was an excellent story, with an exceptional cast, playing diverse characters and great writing that made it less predictable than other series out there. The costumes and sets were outlandishly great. Though sometimes it was slower paced, and lower grade subtitles (not great but easily overlooked). Whiel the title might feel a bit misleading, (don't expect a Mulan/she-warrior/rebel type story here) it certainly didn't disappoint in any way.

This was such a wonderful C-Drama that was very complex and memorable, especially if you like to see epic power struggles, plotting and scheming, assassins and military battles, as well as a memorable power couple...with a strong, heroic male lead along with a cunning, strategic main lead female, each supporting one another. Loved this one. <3.

This is truly an addictive show. Great scenes, costumes and the acting is excellent. But oh those captions! I started to write them down because they were so incongruous. I was laughing as I watched; which can really undercut the drama quite a bit. Let's set the scene...I am no expert on Chinese history, but I estimate it takes place at least 350 years ago. There are no cars, only horses. There are no guns, only swords and bows and arrows. The soldiers wear leather armor with a bit of chain link. But first gaff: we have two toughened soldiers who say to each other "Hey, let's get hammered!" then further down the line, one royal says to the other "You're trying to piss me off!" A few episodes on, one royal abases himself to the another and says "I'm just a jerk!" More: A lady in waiting screams and faints and someone reports back that "she freaked out." A lady in waiting spills a crucial bit of secret information and comes crying to her mistress weeping "My bad!" Other than that, its one cliffhanger after another, lots of intrigue and backstabbing (frontal as well) the servants are humble and slightly hysterical all the time, and the villains are just SO villainous! The thing that really keeps it happening is the chemistry between the two leads. They are so good that I actually cared for what would happen to them. Zhang Ziyi manages to make her character admirable and likeable, but never treacly. Of course, the hero is just SO heroic, he is hyperbolic, (I mean the guy gets stabbed a zillion times but just keeps on slaughtering the bad guys no matter how many of them there are....) but Yiwei Zhou (fascinatingly un-pretty face) injects so much gravitas into the performance that I basically just kept watching to see him. That's charisma.

Sit back and enjoy the ride. And on occasion suppress a chuckle over those captions.

Yes the sets are good, but for me there are too many characters to keep apart who is whom. And the subtitles flash by so quickly that one cannot possibly keep up with the dialogue, unless one spoke fluent Chinese. I watched part of a CGI battle scene in which catapults were launching spears into an oncoming army. By some miracle, every spear hit a target right in the exact centre of the chest! That did it for me, as I will watch no more.

To begin my review, just so you all know, after I finished watching "The Rebel Princess", I was definitely lost for words. I gotta say, I love everything about this fantastic series, from the epic glorious; breathtaking battle, the tender romance of the main characters, the never ending villains, and most of all, the character of General Yuzhang (Xiao Qi). Perhaps the only thing I can complain about is the tittle. For me, personally, the most suitable title for this series is "Princess and General" or "The Rebel General". If any of you have watched it, I believe you all agree with me here. I honestly think, this series is by far has the best cinematography (fantastic angle for capturing the battle of thousands of soldiers and the wonderful view of the empires/palaces).

With the total of 68 episodes, I must give myself a big round of applause for finishing "The Rebel Princess" in less than a week without skipping any scenes. Just like that, when I'm in love with a drama or series, I will give it all out. I'm addicted as well as determined to enjoy and finish it as quickly as possible. As I mentioned in the beginning, one of the reasons I enjoyed "The Rebel Princess" was General Yuzhang who played by the one and only incredible actor, Zhou Yi Wei. His character was undeniably the scene stealer of the series and he set the bar so high as a male lead in any other Chinese series I have watched so far. My first time watching him and I was completely struck by his stunning act. I guess, I will need time to move on from his character as he was undoubtedly so amazing as General Yuzhang and I must say I have the greatest respect for him. Bravo!!

I think we all know Zhang Zi Yi and I don't think I need to talk about her further. She is a very well-known actress in China and knowing "The Rebel Princess" was her first television series, I have to say, she's still without a doubt, one of the most beautiful leading ladies in the television series. Although, in the beginning I was a bit skeptical when she played the younger version of her character, Awu, but in the long run, I started to like her character as the older version.

On the whole, "The Rebel Princess" was awe-inspiring as well as mind-blowing series that I recommend you all to watch it right away. I can assure you all will love it from the very first start. Impressive!! Magnificent!! Thumbs up!!

It was difficult to view the leading actress whom we are to believe is in her late teens! She looks her age, 30-33 too much for the viewers are asked to believe her to be a teenager princess. Her frivolous actions and mannerisms are too squeezed out to fit that naive and wild rebellious princess character! It was much too distracting.

I suppose the royal courts are like that, East or west and wherever else they frolicked amongst their own kin. Incests galore! Disgusting! Monarchy is a funny structure but it was like that then everywhere.

The plots are typical story line, humans with high privileges behaving badly, but addictive nonetheless.

I don't regret a minute spent on this show. There are 68 episodes but they are worth it. I loved everything about it: characters, actors, cinematography, story, moral. It's just like life itself. I liked how some characters changed a lot starting. Starting just from a little lie bit by bit the soul later becomes corrupted. Even if in the beginning I disliked or liked some characters, later this opinion changed a lot. I also appreciate how the whole story is about the most important things everybody cares about: love, family, friendship, honesty and so much more. I wish there was a good English dubbing because I would rewatch this show in the future just on the background, so I don't have to read the subtitles and tire my eyes. And I think the show would be even more popular in the world because of that because in my opinion it's not worse than Game of Thrones.

Yes ,this is truly the best series I've ever seen and I'm English but beautiful music, beautiful actors ,I've never seen such gorgeous men .wow such romance and beautiful love stories,I can't stop watching,I mean it's like a romance novel come to life the women are so beautiful,it's very interesting, American men don't look or act this good,I'm watching on Amazon prime and I love it ,I even googled the actors and yes they are just as gorgeous off screen so thank you for this show I love it.i have to say I will try to watch some other movies that these actors have made because it's very good 😃😃😃

I think this series was one of the best, at the first i didn't think to continue watching but after 3 episodes i really loved it, leading role actor and actress had great act, i have to respect writing team because writing a screenplay that made you watching a series for 68 episodes without tiring is a great work, music was good, i think editing had a few mistakes but we can ignored that compared to all of episodes, I'm watching Chinese and Korean dramas for at least 4 years and it was one of my favourite, besides leading roles all of actors were great and made you sympathized with them, if you like historical drama i suggest you this series.

I accidentally stumbled across this beautiful production on IMDB and boy, am I glad I was curious enough to peek at episode 1. This was one of the best shows I've ever seen in my life. The story reminded me of Game of Thrones with multiple fascinating characters and unexpected events that just kept me guessing the whole time. It is a top-notch production with some of the most beautiful scenes you've ever seen. The cinematography was unbelievable at times. The acting was superb. If you can get past the language issues in the ENG dubbed version, you will enjoy one of the best romance stories ever. I also enjoyed the "PG" versions of sex and violence for a change. It was a fascinating peek into another culture and just an overall interesting and beautiful story.