If you're a fan of women-centric historical dramas I can't recommend this one enough. The only downside is I can't find anyone else who watches it besides me and my bf so there's not as much fun twitter commentary among the english-speaking audience. This is also due to the fact that the series is complete, which on the bright side means you can binge watch it. With 40 episodes you're in for a long haul.
The series begins with an estranged daughter returning home to 1920s Shanghai to stake her claim to the family business, run by her father. She and her sisters vie with cunning and intrigue over who their father will name as his successor. This plays out against the backdrop of a looming world war, which becomes military occupation as the series progresses and the sisters begin supporting each other against more dangerous opponents.
Apparently this is based on an actual family, which would usually add interest but as an English-speaker I haven't had an easy time looking up the characters for more details on their lives. The last episode leaves out a lot about the fate of some of the characters, which was kind of a letdown after being committed to the whole 40-episode arc.
The acting is outstanding, which was pretty impressive given how many characters get screen time. The writing is also delicious for the most part, though a few parts are cheesy. There were intriguing twists but also the kind of authentic relationship-based drama that brought me to tears and equally authentic light touches of humor running throughout the show, from fancy mansion to refugee camp.
The relationships are all extremely compelling, particularly between the sisters but also between them and their love interests and parents. They are mostly loving relationships, but there are numerous scenes involving romantic coercion, including forcible kissing, grabbing angry women by the wrists who try to storm away, and kidnapping. These parts are less disturbing than they would otherwise be due to the strength of character written into the women's parts; they are frequently shown outsmarting and using violence successfully on men who they don't like, so a kidnapping conspiracy by a prospective lover and a sister's family ends up playing out as cheesy rather than violent, though I still find those parts offensive.
One character who is treated as a good guy in the end is flagrantly unconcerned with the women he dates, and the only sex worker and sexual violence survivor in the show are given unfair peripheral endings that cast aspersions on other survivors and sex workers (a little ahistorical given the series takes place in occupied China).
Aside from those parts, I found in this show exactly what I look for in historical dramas - the ability to relate to and believe in people who lived a century ago, in times very different from and yet somehow still similar to our own.
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