Destined (2023) User Reviews

The taming of the indolent heir

[wishingstar589 · 8/10 · 16 July 2023]

Gu Jiusi is the heir of the Gu family, the wealthiest family in the land. Believing he does not need to work because of his family's money, Jiusi does nothing but have fun with his friends. By chance he meets Liu Yuru, the legitimate daughter of a humble cloth merchant whose household is ruled by his concubine.

Growing up a laughingstock due to her stepmother lording it over her and her mother, Yuru has dreamed of marrying her best friend's brother, Ye Shi'An, who happens to be the ideal man Jiusi's father wants him to be.

Alas, just when Yuru's dream was about to come true, she finds herself engaged to Jiusi. Though she gets married to a guy not of her choosing, she learns to be content. Her in-laws are sweet and trust her. They retire to a villa in the suburbs leaving their son and the household to her.

Problems start to appear and Yuru and Jiusu need to move to another place and disown their wealth. Would they be able to recover the Gu family's lost glory? Would Jiusi grow up and be up to the task?

This drama started out extremely interesting for me but somehow lost steam halfway. Still a good watch, much better than other cdramas I've watched recently.

Those Destined Will Go Far (8.5/10)

[ENIGMA05 · 8/10 · 22 July 2023]

This drama was on my anticipated dramas of the year list and for the most part it didn't disappoint. I wanted to see BJT in another costume drama and recognized many actors from the TBOY cast here. This must have been a great reunion for them. Those destined will indeed go far.

Pros: The first two story arcs were the most promising and held my attention as both leads and those that became their friends went through literal hell in order to survive. I really liked both leads evolution as they came together due to a misunderstanding that gradually turned into very deep love. BJT can play a lazy rich kid just as well as a military strategist. I loved the fight scenes though there were few of them. Going from one home, then to starting from scratch in a second and yet a third, it was a process we looked forward to. All characters I felt were necessary though I think for being such a ruthless antagonist, LZS didn't get that much screen time. I loved the sworn brotherhoods and sisterhoods around the leads. So it was very sad that in the final 3 episodes, QWZ was killed. Even though that was as many said, in the novel, after so much loss and destruction, this was absolutely heartbreaking and unnecessary. They could have changed that.

Sets, costumes, OSTs were perfect everywhere though I wish they didn't sub them over the lines because it made it nearly impossible to understand.

Cons: The entire palace arc being put into the last dozen episodes seemed like production was galloping to the finish line and I found much of to be too much. So much so, I skipped a few episodes. FY becoming LZS' puppet was obvious and obnoxious but him getting a semi-redemption arc when he was acting like a 12 year old with people's lives made me sick. LZS' demise also didn't seem satisfactory as this nut job killed so many people because of a total misunderstanding was pretty ridiculous. Another one with daddy issues that didn't know the truth. I just feel that these antagonists need more satisfying endings given their brutality.

Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. For 40 episodes, it had a little bit of everything so give it a go.

First half is PERFECTION second half disastrous

[hanalisss · 5/10 · 22 July 2023]

This series could have been one of the best series of the year EASILY.

It had an stellar beginning, very original, awesome cast, and was quirky. It hooked me so quickly.

Could not stop watching.

I loved the chemistry and relationship of the main leads and how their love completely unexpected and started from nowhere but was healthy and unbreakable, very beautiful to watch. In the first half the two main leads had a key space and spot in the storyline and you could tell they shared part of the story so it was very interesting to watch what happened next, it was a shared destination and they were building a life together.

The problem started when the second half started. Suddenly the show changed COMPLETELY and the life in the court and the politics ruined everything. Its like they changed writers and there was another person writing the script and the characters. The female lead almost never appeared again in the story and it was no more shared scenes, no funny and no nothing. All political and boring stuff, it was just a completely different drama. It dropped the quality so much I changed my rating from a 10 from the first half to 5. Such a shame.

Many parts of the drama and female lead acting not great

[samtcling · 1/10 · 28 July 2023]

I was very excited to watch this drama as i heard of the hype. But after watching i found that the female lead look so matured compared to the male lead, which makes it feel really weird when they are together. As i continue watching, i realise the female lead's acting is too forced and faked, well not the natural good actress type. There were many scenes, especially the crying scenes which were acted really very badly.

As i continue watching, it became a bit boring and the storyline became really stale, which i then dropped after watching episode 28. Definitely not good for me. A lot of better dramas and acting to watch.