Royal Nirvana (鹤唳华亭) is one costume drama that I was very reluctant to start watching. Firstly, it is long – 60 episodes. That requires quite a bit of time investment. Secondly, the storyline isn’t something new as dramas on palace conspiracies and power struggles are aplenty. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a go because of the main leads and it is one of the most anticipated dramas for 2019. So, how do I find it? Well, based on what I have watched thus far, I can only give you my first impression for this Royal Nirvana review. Let me tell you why below.
Episodes: 60
Type: Costume, Palace
Aired: November 2019
Images Credit: IJQ TV
Where To Watch
Royal Nirvana is available on Amazon Prime (affiliate link) with English subtitles and a 30-day free trial is being offered as well at the time of this review.
The Main Cast Of Royal Nirvana
Luo Jin as Xiao Ding Quan
Ding Quan is the Crown Prince of Northern Qi. He is the son of the late Empress and hence, the designated heir to the throne. However, he is an insecure man having lost his mother and sister when he was still young. His relationship with his father is also fraught with jealousy and complexity which made life for him very difficult in the palace.
Li Yi Tong as Lu Wen Xi
Wen Xi is a daughter of a high-ranking official named Lu Ying. She is an educated and beautiful lady. But she also needs to endure much to seek justice for her family and for her love for the Crown Prince.
Supporting Cast
Huang Zhi Zhong as Emperor Xiao Jian
The Emperor is the Crown Prince’s father. He also has 2 other sons with Consort Zhao. The Emperor is a man well-versed in the politics of the royal court and does what he has to do to maintain power. He has a complex relationship with the Crown Prince whom he shows both contempt and concern in his own way.
Roy Liu De Kai as General Gu Si Lin
General Gu is the Crown Prince’s maternal uncle. He is a powerful army commander whom even the Emperor is wary of. General Gu’s close relationship with the Crown Prince is also a source of discomfort and envy for the Emperor.
Jin Han as Xiao Ding Tang
Ding Tang is the elder half-brother of the Crown Prince and also known as Prince Qi. He is ambitious and has an eye for the throne. Hence, he is often involves in plots to undermine the Crown Prince.
Xin Peng as Xiao Ding Kai
Ding Kai is the younger brother of Prince Qi and also known as Prince Zhao.
Pu Miao as Consort Zhao
Consort Zhao is Prince Qi and Prince Zhao’s mother. She would also get involved in palace matters to advance her own son’s interests in the fight for the throne.
Wang Jin Song as Lu Shi Yu
Minister Lu is a royal court official and also the Crown Prince’s teacher. He tries his best to teach and protect his student from his enemies in the palace.
Zhang Zhi Jian as Li Bai Zhou
Bai Zhou is also a powerful royal court official who heads the secretariat. He is Prince Qi’s father-in-law and would often try to bring down the Crown Prince to benefit his own son-in-law.
Qiu Xin Zhi as Lu Ying
Lu Ying used to be Minister Lu’s pupil and is recalled back to the palace to help the Crown Prince. He is also Wen Xi’s father.
Zheng Ye Cheng as Gu Feng En
Feng En is General Gu’s son and the Crown Prince’s cousin. He enjoys a close relationship with the Crown Prince.
Synopsis
The Crown Prince of Northern Qi is a young man with enemies in the palace. While he is the designated heir to the throne, he faces obstacles and threats to his succession from his half-brothers supported by powerful court officials. As he tries to thwart their plans and launches counter-strikes, he is also at the mercy of his father who is the Emperor. His father is also playing politics by pitting one camp against the other to maintain his own grip on power. As a result, the Crown Prince often feels that his father favors his half-brother over him which makes him feel dejected. His insecurity is made worse when people close to him are targeted and forced to leave him.
The Crown Prince meets Wen Xi when her father is recalled back to serve at the palace. But when her father and brother are victimized, she sneaks into the palace as a maid to investigate. This puts her in the Crown Prince’s path and they fall in love.
Will the Crown Prince be able to overcome all his enemies? How would his relationship with his father end? What will happen to his relationship with Wen Xi?
Royal Nirvana Review – Mental Health Warning Needed!
As I have mentioned in the beginning, this is merely my first impression on this drama. I have only watched about 10 episodes so far and hence, I have no idea if this would be a happy or sad ending. But I can tell you that this is a very melancholic drama right from the start. It is very moody with overcast skies and heavy snow. Coupled with the sad circumstances surrounding the main character, the whole story just feels tragic.
The Crown Prince is a lonely young man fighting for the few people close to him from being victimized and leaving him alone in the palace. The more desperate he wants to keep the few people from leaving, the more of his weaknesses are exposed. He becomes vulnerable emotionally and has to make concessions when he begs his father for help. He feels unloved by his own father who sees him as weak and is prone to practice favoritism when he actually yearns for his recognition. So, this is a very sad Crown Prince who cries quite a lot and that sets the tone for Royal Nirvana.
Should You Watch Royal Nirvana?
I think the answer really depends on how much sadness you can take in a drama. For all the 10 episodes that I have watched thus far, each one has a depressive mood in it. I’m really not inclined to continue because a drama based on no other emotions but just sadness and bitterness is too much for me. Dramas like Blossom In Heart is sad too as the female lead tends to get bullied, but you would also get enough of the other bits of emotions to make it less depressing to watch. Royal Nirvana just doesn’t give me enough of those positive feelings to balance things out a bit more. I didn’t shed a tear when I watched though despite the sadness. But there is always a heaviness in the heart which is worse than crying to me.
The other thing that you should be aware of is the intricate plot of the palace intrigues. There are instances of a trap within a trap and deceptions which are quite detailed. This means you would need to pay close attention to the dialogues or subtitles if you really want to understand what is going on and how the tables have turned.
If You Really Want To Give It A Try…
If you are interested to give it a go, my advice is to take this in small doses. Royal Nirvana is not a drama that is conducive to binge watching. That is best reserved for rom-coms like The Romance Of Hua Rong or even investigative pieces such as Under The Power. Royal Nirvana is just too emotionally heavy to watch non-stop especially if you are prone to having the story stuck in your mind thereafter.
Apart from the depressive mood, there is nothing much one could complain about this drama though. The acting is on point, the costumes and settings point to a big budget production, and the cinematography can rival a movie. That is why I don’t want to recommend people to drop this either for this Royal Nirvana review. Just watch about 10 episodes or so and then see if you have the heart to continue with the melancholic mood. For those who do, I’m pretty sure it would be a great drama overall!
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It is interesting story but sad in deed. Most people like happy and funny stories but in this story The crown prince endure pain again and again. seems good story and i hope it will end with happy ending.
I think the warchablility of a series should be based on the quality of the script, acting, production and story. And this series rates 9 out of 10 for me on all fronts. There is no doubt that it is sad and depressing and not for the faint hearted but having binge watched the entire series and its sequel, I believe it can rival (on all fronts) Western equivalents such as Game of Thrones. Well written, no nonsense script and no cheesiness which is synonymous with chinese series. Starts with such intensity that it keeps you on the edge throughout. There are so many layers to each character that makes you hate and then feel sorry for them. There is so much within the storyline (especially if you go on to watch the 12 part sequel) which you can peel away and dissect. A truly first class series and a great step forward for Chinese drama.
Watching with a few other people with pandemic precautions, but it’s a serial in which each episode of about 30 minutes leads up to a crisis, with life or death consequences and then the next episode picks up resolution and you think there’s been an escape, and then the tables turn once again. The villains are incredibly smart, which leads to crisis again and again. A lot of people die, and often for what seem like inane reasons, and there’s more than just contesting for the throne, love, faith in family and country and more than power struggle between two clans or families, with an extensive, formalized bureaucracy which plays the different factions off against each other, or playing both end against the middle to attempt to end up on the winning side, but there definitely is a subplot of advancement over dead bodies. Good intentions are in short supply and jailers and torturers or investigators and interrogators are definitely kept busy.
Besides palace intrigue, there are tournaments of arms, wars, rebellions and invasions.
The last person to know what is going on is the emperor and the person most often blamed, and due to what seems to be weakness of character, wants or even begs to be blamed and punished.
Probably what one looks for first of all in entertainment is not to be bored, so I think the series does a good job there.
Production, technique, acting, authenticity, all pretty much an A, + or – is up to interpretation.
Definitely requires commitment to get into the characters, so it requires active interest, not for the passive viewer.
The crown prince is the person most often blamed and willing to take punishment, a masochistic tendency.
Torture, abuse, too many intense scenes, and there never seems to be no redemption for the main actor and actress. You would think after all the torture and traps, the Crown Prince (C.P.) would just say keep your damn title Emperor I’m taking the maid and going to live in the countryside. Or some kind of rebellion for episode 40. Episode 40 made no sense at all. A doctor should have prescribed the C.P. Prozac and have him take that 10x per day for crying in every scene.
I know people will say wow, pretty costumes, great acting, but they must love to watch people cry all the time with sadistic pleasure in tormenting the C.P. This is not even good to watch in batches like 10 episodes at a time because you’ll just be depressed every day for 6 days. Then if you watch the SPECIAL 12 episodes, guess what, it is more of the same. I was hoping after all the suffering there would be a happy ending, no it’s sad and somber throughout.
This should have a genre of its own – the depression genre. I’ve never seen a C-drama or American movie like this. Oh, one thing you might get from this, two scenes, the caterpillar scene and the scene when the C.P. was talking to the maid on the opposite end of….towards the last episode. And maybe the song is sung by a guy but sounds like a female.
I’m watching Bloody Romance hoping the main actress get some kind of redemption in another movie.
Is it me or the dialogue and plot super confusing ? Almost like a Shakespearean play that requires some reading before watching. But I have to admit I watched the summarised 2 hour version with excerpts of the whole series pieced together. (No time to plough through 60 episodes !) so maybe that didn’t help. A drama that weighs heavily on melancholy n a leitmotif that repeatedly (gratingly) adds to the intensity n mood. Flawless acting by the protagonists that kept me glued even though I was fighting to understand cohesively the story. The credible acting by Luo Jin was greatly enhanced by his captivating voice, always gentle yet with an air of nobility coupled by the occasional princely outbursts of anger only to be mellowed by his constant welling of tears. A very sad character played beautifully n deserving much accolade. The whole production is prob one of the finest I’ve seen not in terms of scale but of quality and class. China movies hv come a long way.