Fake Princess Review – First Impression

I rarely drop a drama once I start watching. Unfortunately, I have to do so with Fake Princess (山寨小萌主). The last drama that I quit watching without finishing is Royal Nirvana. That is not because the drama itself is bad but it is more of my own problem of not being able to cope with the deep melancholic mood throughout. Fake Princess is definitely far more lighthearted than Royal Nirvana but I just couldn’t get myself to enjoy it. Maybe you will have a different feeling towards this drama but I will try to explain my position in my Fake Princess review below.

Episodes: 27
Type: Romance
Aired: May 2020
Images Credit: MGTV

The Cast Of Fake Princess

• Zhao Yi Qin as Li Che
• Eleanor Lee Kai Xin as Chang Le / Liu Yu Yao
• Garvey Jin as Li Heng
• Sun Xue Ning as Zhu Yan
• Wang Yi Tian as Nong Ying / Liu Shuang Shuang
• Chen Si Yu as Gong Sun Mo
• Zhang Xin Ning as Empress Liu
• Jeremy Wang Jia Meng as Li Lu

Main Characters

Li Che

Li Che is the Crown Prince but faces enemies from within the royal court in the form of Empress Liu and Prime Minister Liu. His mother was the late Empress Shen who was a kind woman who cared for the people. He has support from his maternal grandfather, General Shen, whose movements are being watched by the palace. Li Che is an upright man but only has average skills in most things.

Chang Le / Liu Yu Yao

Chang Le is a bandit in the mountains. She is a smart and quick-thinking woman with a lot of guts. She also has a cheerful and optimistic personality. Chang Le is forced to take on Yu Yao’s identity after a theft. Yu Yao is Prime Minister Liu’s granddaughter.

Li Heng

Li Heng is the 5th Prince. He is a cultured man who is into literature and art. His mother is Empress Liu who has great ambitions for him.

Zhu Yan

Zhu Yan is a well-brought up lady who has interests in literature. She is well-read and smart. Her father is Lordship Zhu who is a court official and Li Che’s subordinate. He is interested to pair her off with Li Lu.

Nong Ning / Liu Shuang Shuang

Nong Ning acts as Chang Le’s personal maid but works for Prime Minister Liu. Her tasks are to watch over Change Le and spy on Li Che. She has great martial art skills and used to be known as Shuang Shuang who is wanted by the authorities.

Gong Sun Mo

Gong Sun Mo is Li Che’s subordinate and as well as good friend. He once saved Li Che’s life. He is good in analyzing situations and will advise Li Che accordingly.

Supporting Characters

Empress Liu

Empress Liu is an ambitious woman who is spiteful and evil. Her father is Prime Minister Liu while her son is the 5th Prince Li Heng.

Li Lu

Li Lu is the 7th Prince. He is a young and playful man who doesn’t care about palace affairs and power struggles. He has a close relationship with Li Heng. His mother is Noble Consort Wang and wants to matchmake him with Zhu Yan.

Synopsis

Chang Le is a bandit who was caught by Prime Minister Liu after stealing a telescope meant for the royalty. Her whole clan is captured and imprisoned to force her to cooperate with him. Change Le looks like his granddaughter, Yu Yao, who was betrothed to Crown Prince Li Che. But Yu Yao jumped from a cliff to avoid marrying Li Che as she had given herself to another man. Hence, Prime Minister Liu threatens Chang Le to take over Yu Yao’s identity and marry Li Che to avoid incurring the wrath of the Emperor. Nong Ning is appointed as her personal maid to keep an eye on her at Li Che’s palace.

Naturally, Li Che doesn’t trust Chang Le as he sees her as a spy for the Liu family. He doesn’t know she is a fake. The royal court is divided into 2 camps – one that supports Li Che and another that supports Prime Minister Liu as well as the Empress. As Li Che and Chang Le get to know each other, they begin to fall in love but each is hiding their own secrets.

At the same time, Li Heng meets Zhu Yan and is smitten by her. But their families are on opposite camps. Empress Liu is plotting to have Li Heng installed as the Crown Prince while Zhu Yan’s father is on Li Che’s side.

Fake Princess Review – Weak Male Characters

As I didn’t watch all the 27 episodes of Fake Princess, I can’t comment on the ending. I dropped it after sitting through 11 episodes. I think I have given it enough time for the drama to grow on me but unfortunately, I just can’t relate to it. Of course, some dramas do require a warm-up period. For instance, when I started Intense Love, I was close to quitting but persevered and it became enjoyable after 4 to 5 episodes. But if I have sat through 11 episodes out of a 27-episode drama and still struggling, then it is pretty clear it is time to give it up.

Why I Dropped It

My main reason for dropping it is because I find it hard to root for the male characters in Fake Princess. I really don’t mind strong heroines who are gutsy and can take care of themselves like the female characters in Legend Of Yun Xi and Legend of Fuyao. They can be better and cleverer than the men but you have to give me some other endearing qualities in the male characters for me to latch onto.

Li Che in Fake Princess is a very average Crown Prince. He knows a bit everything but master of none. He is upright and responsible but doesn’t have that kind of wittiness that Chang Le has. Li Che also listens to his friend and subordinate to test out Chang Le although he doesn’t like it. Overall, he comes across as indecisive and lacks the maturity and aura for a Crown Prince.

Li Heng is no better. He is timid and allows himself to be manipulated by his mother. Li Heng doesn’t dare to voice out his own thoughts but allows himself to be controlled. I don’t know if he changes later on but after 11 episodes, I can’t stand his passive behavior anymore.

I know some viewers might find Li Che cute. He does in his own unique way. But his weak character overshadows his cuteness to me. Furthermore, it is hard to rely on cuteness of the male character to carry the drama all the way through. I need to see more depth to his character than just acting cute and boyish especially when he is the Crown Prince in a main role.

Redeeming Qualities

While I can’t relate to the male characters, it doesn’t mean that Fake Princess is all bad. I kind of like Eleanor Lee’s portrayal of Chang Le. She is able to bring out the rebelliousness and self-confidence of a bandit in the drama. The character itself is also interesting with her wittiness and cheery manner. If there is one reason to watch this, perhaps the female lead and the character she plays would be one selling point.

The plot itself is also passable if you are not too fussy about having more originality to your stories. After all, taking over someone else’s identity to marry a Crown Prince isn’t exactly something new for a drama. Being a rom-com, it is also predictable how the story would develop. But as the fake princess is actually a bandit, it puts a slightly different spin to the storyline and that is where Chang Le’s personality and Eleanor Lee’s role are crucial to the watchability of the drama.

Should You Watch Fake Princess?

Well, it depends on what you are looking for in a rom-com costume drama. Personally, I prefer a commanding male character especially for a prince. So, if you are like me who can’t tolerate a weak Crown Prince, then Fake Princess is definitely not for you. But if you don’t really mind not having a typical strong hero but just want to see his cute side, then you might well end up enjoying this.

To be fair, there is also enough chemistry between the leads to give us those mandatory sweet moments for a romance drama. Their interactions don’t seem forced but flow quite naturally. I wouldn’t say their chemistry is superb but I have also seen worse.

Overall, I don’t think you will miss much if you do decide to skip Fake Princess. Rom-coms like this are aplenty for you to choose from. For instance, running con-currently with this is The Romance Of Tiger And Rose. In terms of creativity and humor, it is already a notch above Fake Princess. In short, Fake Princess is just an average rom-com that doesn’t have any strong points to make it really stand out from the rest. Hence, I would suggest saving your time for something else.

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