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User Reviews for: New Life Begins

chillikun
8/10  a month ago
> Sisterhood with lot of delicacies but lacks in romance

I usually stay away from sisterhood (feminism) and brotherhood (boy's love) story but New Life is different ... here none of the girls try to bring down the another ; well except may be the 4th young lady ; even ambitious Hao Jia never every tried to spy or backstab her friend Wei even when 2nd prince threatened her. I think this uniqueness make this show more entertaining but that doesn't make it perfect ; as women are shown nearly perfect or always as a justified action like Wei ignoring 4th (neglect) , Jing beating 5th (abuse) , the Solars girls swindling 3rd ( well he deserved that for the deceit). Considering this is a funny satire that mocks ancient Chinese feudal society for all its fault in polygamy and misoginy this show is a welcome relief.

I had many thoughts about each of the character they are flawed but not all ten of the Xinchuan princes are bad fellows even though most of them make exceedingly bad husbands. With some, it is simply a matter of training while others need to be kicked to the furthest corners of the empire. The commercially savvy playboy Prince An who thinks he is the sun that the solar system revolves around when he is really the moon is the caricature that made me laugh hardest. That said, the entire ensemble cast delivers rib-tickling and lively comedic sketches that poke fun at the mundane. In a mostly lighthearted and positive but rather cursory manner, the drama evokes many women's themes.

Hua Jia's arc is the darkest and most complex one and sounds a dire warning about disgruntled female employees. The sub-plots are short and even though the villains made my blood boil, they are not that smart or complex. That is because the true villain is the tyranny of the patriarchal feudal system and they are all victims of its shortcomings.

All of the sub-plots unfold around the evolution of the relationship between Li Wei and Yin Zheng, the unfavored sixth prince. Both Bai Jingting and Tian Xiwei have good comedic expression and they are fantastic at seamlessly turning funny moments into heart stopping passionate ones. While theirs is a fun, wholesome story, it is too much of a fairy tale. Neither of them have serious flaws and every cloud has a silver lining. In fact Li Wei's perpetual chirpiness grated on me at times. While Yuan Ying is a fabulous and formidable character and I get that one woman's treasure is another's trash, that entire situation is just too good to be true. I also didn't like how their relationship jumps from courtship to the comfortable rhythm of a long married couple, deferring the best romance part till the end [spoiler] we had 2 drunk kisses and then wait until 34 the episode for a consent & 37-40 for actual romance to kick in [/spoiler] At times felt like she had more chemistry with Yuan Ying and she is the husband in three as she put a hold on their relationship until she becomes main wife

Yin Qi's plight is far worst than Yin Zheng's - he is just as unloved and he is no great talent to boot. In the bride lottery, he finds himself sacrificed to the fierce Shangguan, a princess from the powerful and matrilocal Danchuan. But he has a giant heart to go with his big goofy happy-go-lucky smile that makes the fiery Shangguan forgive him for always saying wrong things. Their clashes and banter made my shoulders quiver with laughter as they humorously navigate true challenges and hardships together. Even though they are not perfect and don't have everything, I somehow get the feeling they couldn't be happier.

In truth, this drama is a lot more about sisterhood and women's themes than it is about romance. The production should be more confident that these well written, funny, and touching arcs can engage on their own without dragging out the romance to keep viewers invested.

Overall this is a gorgeous, lighthearted and highly enjoyable story about women's struggles and sisterhood with some romance thrown in. It lacks depth, is slow in places and is far from a masterpiece but the humour is very well done and has mass appeal. A highly recommended _one time_ watch for slapstick comedy.

P.S i only found courage to watch this after seeing Tian Xiwei and most of the characters in Guardians of Defang
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