The Wolf Princess (玲珑狼心) (aka The Double-Sided Girl) got my attention because it shares the same director as The Romance Of Hua Rong. I expected this to be a filler type of drama given that it is only 24 episodes in total and a rom-com. After completing it, my opinion remains the same that this drama is nothing special. There is still much room for improvement for it to be considered a must-watch. Below is The Wolf Princess review that would explain a little more about my thoughts and recommendation.
My rating: 6.5/10
Episodes: 24
Type: Romance
Aired: February 2021
Images Credit: MGTV
The Cast Of The Wolf Princess
- Jason Koo Jia Cheng as Yan Qing
- Connie Kang Ning as Ling Long
- Gao Ji Cai as Yan Yu
- Sheng Hui Zi as You Rou
- Huang Qian Shuo as Xuan Yu
- Mickey Zhao Zi Qi as Tong Ge
- Peng Chu Yue as Yan Jue
- Yu Kai Ning as Mi Sa
- Kevin Wu Heng as Mi Ya
- Zhang Jia Lin as Ling Yu
- Lin Jin Yi as Xiao Jin
Main Characters
Yan Qing
Yan Qing comes from a powerful noble family of Western Turk. He is an experienced military officer who is good at martial arts. But Yan Qing is also a mischievous young man who is never serious and often seems to create troubles which earns the ire of his father, Lord Yan. His biological mother, Xue Yin, died when he was a young boy.
Ling Long
Ling Long is a Southern Chu princess who has been sent to Western Turk as a pawn following a war between the 2 states. She is a smart woman but pretends to be weak to fulfill her own agenda. Ling Long also suffers from a dual personality disorder with her alternative personality being a strong Wolf Tribe woman named Lang Yin.
Supporting Characters
Yan Yu
Yan Yu is Yan Qing’s younger brother. He is a scholar who intends to pass the imperial examinations to be a government official. Yan Yu is Ling Long’s childhood friend as he was once a political hostage at the Souther Chu palace. He is a courteous and cultured man unlike Yan Qing.
You Rou
You Rou is the daughter of the powerful General You. She is also Yan Qing’s fiancee and eager to be married to him. You Rou is a spoilt and temperamental young woman who is jealous of Ling Long due to Yan Qing’s interest in the latter.
Xuan Yu
Xuan Yu is Yan Qing’s personal guard and friend. He is a good swordsman and has been serving Yan Qing for more than 10 years.
Tong Ge
Tong Ge is one of Yan Qing’s soldiers at the frontier and looks up to him as his leader. He is from the Wolf Tribe and tends to talk a lot.
Yan Jue
Yan Jue is Yan Qing’s elder half-brother and Lord Yan’s eldest son. He is a petty man who keeps thinking that Yan Qing is fighting with him to inherit their father’s title. Yan Jue is also the city’s official but he is not a particularly intelligent man. His love interest is Lang Yin.
Mi Sa
Mi Sa is a crack doctor who is known to be able to cure strange illnesses. He has an eccentric personality.
Mi Ya
Mi Ya is an evil man who practices sorcery and kills innocent people to achieve his crooked agenda.
Ling Yu
Ling Yu is the chief of a Wolf Tribe clan.
Xiao Jin
Xiao Jin is Ling Long’s personal maid. She is a loyal and cheerful servant.
Synopsis
Ling Long is sent to be a political hostage to Western Turk. She is a princess from Southern Chu but is not favored by the Emperor who is also her father. Her mother is Concubine Li who has been banished to the cold palace for 18 years. Ling Long suffers from a dual personality disorder. Her alternate personality, Lang Yin, has been suppressed by her mother who has medical skills.
Yan Qing has just returned to the Western Turk capital after being sent to serve in the army at the frontier since he was a boy. He meets Ling Long and falls in love with her. However, he is engaged to You Rou and wants to break it off to freely pursue Ling Long. At the same time, he has always been interested in knowing more about his biological mother’s death.
Ling Long discovers that Yan Qing could trigger Lang Yin to awaken in her body while Yan Qing finds her alternate personality of interest due to her Wolf Tribe characteristics. The Wolf King has been killed 18 years ago and the tribe has disintegrated since then. But some mysterious forces are looking for the Wolf King’s energy and committing murders because of it.
The Wolf Princess Ending (Spoilers Alert!)
The Wolf Princess has a happy ending. The last scene features a time jump of 3 years. Ling Long and Yan Qing are running an inn away from the capital as they had always dreamed of. They are also bounty hunters now. Tong Ge and Xiao Jin are still working for them. You Rou is now a government official and investigator. Xuan Yu who had left Yan Qing 3 years earlier to be with You Rou are still together. They arrive at the inn to entice Ling Long and Yan Qing to take up a difficult case in return for monetary reward. They then set out together for the task and that completes the drama.
Who Is Yan Qing’s Mother?
Yan Qing’s mother was Xue Yin of the Wolf Tribe. Xue Yin was the Wolf King who was subsequently hunted down. She jumped off a cliff into a volcano below to escape being captured and died. Lord Yan kept his mother’s identity a secret to ensure Yan Qing’s safety and sent him off to the frontier at a young age. That is why Yan Qing is told that his mother was a singer instead.
Why Ling Long Has A Dual Personality?
Ling Long has a dual personality because Xue Yin had implanted a big part of her Wolf Heart inside her. The Wolf Heart is a magical-like herb flower that has to be returned to a secret location before the Wolf King dies. But Xue Yin was then running away from enemies and knew she didn’t have long to live. It was by chance that she ran into Ling Long who was just a newborn baby then. She found Ling Long to be an ideal candidate to house the Wolf Heart and implanted it inside her. This is why Ling Long has an alternate personality known as Lang Yin and could unleash a superpower when her life is under threat.
Why Yan Qing Could Trigger A Reaction In Ling Long?
Yan Qing is Xue Yin’s son and hence, he has a small part of the Wolf Heart embedded in him. Therefore, when Ling Long touches a spot on his chest, it will trigger an uncontrolled reaction in her which could awaken Lang Yin. Lang Yin’s mission is to return the Wolf Heart to the secret location as it is central to the well-being of the Wolf tribe which is facing extinction. Ling Long also decides to return the Wolf Heart despite the risk to her life.
In the end, they manage to find the secret location and return the Wolf Heart. In the process, Yan Qing discovers that he has the last petal of the Wolf Heart inside him when he tries to save Ling Long during the return procedure.
Who Is Mi Sa?
Mi Sa is an eccentric doctor on the surface but was also Xue Yin’s disciple together with Mi Ya who had subsequently become obsessed with sorcery. Mi Ya was also involved in Xue Yin’s death. He feels responsible for Mi Ya’s evil deeds because he didn’t have the heart to kill him when he had the chance.
Mi Sa dies in his quest to return the Wolf Heart. He sacrifices himself to extract the last petal from Yan Qing and then combines it with Ling Long’s portion of the Wolf Heart. An explosive flash then kills him when the Wolf Heart is returned to the designated spot.
Who Killed Yan Qing’s Mother?
The person who was behind Xue Yin’s killing is Ling Long’s father. The Southern Chu Emperor found out about the powers of the Wolf Heart and the rumored immortality. He instigated others to hunt down Xue Yin and then appeared as the savior and conned her to his palace. He killed all his concubines and others who knew about his plans. Concubine Li was spared as she had just given birth but was banished to the cold palace.
When Xue Yin found out the truth, she tried to escape and ran into Ling Long. She implanted her Wolf Heart in her. When she jumped off the cliff into the volcano pit, everyone thought the Wolf Heart had died with her. However, ordinary Wolf Tribe members also have the special herb in their bodies but it is the weaker variety. They are also hunted down with Mi Ya’s help. At the same time, sorcery is used to grow the herb in victims who are then killed to produce elixir for the Southern Chu Emperor.
Ling Long confronts her father when she learns what he has done. She exposes his crimes to all the ministers and is prepared to die for it but Yan Qing helps her to defeat the Emperor and his guards.
Did Yan Yu Confess To Ling Long?
Yan Yu has known Ling Long since they were kids and she had once saved his life. But Yan Yu also loves her although he has been keeping quiet about his feelings. He becomes jealous when Yan Qing begins to woo Ling Long as well. Yan Yu turns hostile towards his brother and tries to compete with him for Ling Long’s affections until he realizes that she has already chosen Yan Qing in her heart.
So, Yan Yu didn’t get to confess to Ling Long and eventually decides to let it go. He accepts that he has lost to Yan Qing who knows how to love Ling Long better.
The Wolf Princess Review – Nothing Special
The Wolf Princess is not to be confused with The Wolf which is a totally different drama with a melodramatic feel. Instead, The Wolf Princess is a light-hearted rom-com that is supposed to give you a happy vibe as you watch. While it succeeds to a certain extent, it is also nothing extraordinary to me. In fact, it gets boring after a while as Yan Qing’s antics become repetitive.
I guess it depends on your personal taste of what you consider as funny. If you see Yan Qing’s expressions as cute and his relentless pursuit of Ling Long as fun and romantic, then The Wolf Princess might be an enjoyable experience. Otherwise, it is really an average production as even the investigative sub-plots in the story fail to inspire.
The Romance And Chemistry
The romance is not of the intense kind in this drama. It is not like General’s Lady whereby the couple is all lovey-dovey. Personally, I don’t find the romance enjoyable because the female lead keeps pushing the male lead away as he tries all sorts of ways to get close to her until the last few episodes. She does have a reason why she wants to keep her distance but this continuous pursuit and pull back becomes very repetitive to watch. As such, the romance kind of falls flat rather than giving viewers a sweet and exhilarating feel which kind of reminds me of the bland love story in Dance Of The Sky Empire.
As for the chemistry between Jason Koo and Connie Kang, it is also nothing special. It is passable for a rom-com but I don’t find their interactions particularly exciting to watch. Maybe her character is to be blamed as Ling Long doesn’t have a cheerful demeanor unlike the female lead in The Sleepless Princess. As she hardly smiles and sees Yan Qing as trouble, the romantic chemistry isn’t obvious to me.
Unique Plot But Poor Execution
The plot itself is unique as it tells of the female lead having a dual personality and the mystery surrounding the Wolf Tribe. But the details are often overlooked. So, if you like dramas that give a more complete picture of the inter-linking events, The Wolf Princess would be a disappointment. I guess it is understandable as this is only a 24-episode rom-com. It doesn’t have the intention to delve into details as the focus is on the main couple’s interactions. Thus, the details are glossed over and you might end up finding plot holes or questions unanswered after completing the drama.
The Wolf Princess also has an investigate element woven into its story but the way the cases are presented aren’t exciting enough to increase the urge to chase after the drama. Taken together with the lack of details, you can say that the story becomes rather simplistic. While Maiden Holmes also suffer from the same fate of uninteresting cases, at least the romance and couple’s chemistry are highly watchable compared to The Wolf Princess.
However, on the bright side, the drama’s ending is unambiguous unlike Love Of Thousand Years and Douluo Continent. You know what happened to each of the character and it doesn’t leave you hanging for more.
My Verdict – Skippable Average Drama
For me, I think The Wolf Princess is an average drama. At most, it is only good to be used as a filler while you are waiting for a more highly anticipated production. It has a strong and smart female lead to give it some brownie points. It is also free of angst for those looking for something light to watch. The drama is funny which will pique your interest in the beginning but the fun factor also runs the risk of getting old to viewers as the drama progresses due to its repetitiveness. To me, The Romance Of Tiger And Rose will be a better bet for the laugh factor than The Wolf Princess.
Neither is the drama a good choice if you are into romantic stories as the sweetness isn’t evident. The kisses are also nothing to shout about. While the plot behind the romance is unique, the way the story is presented doesn’t make it a compelling watch. Maybe because it is designed as a rom-com that the story loses the excitement and anticipation when it could have been much more interesting.
Overall, I can only give a score of 6.5/10 for this My Wolf Princess review. it is skippable to me but if you enjoy the usual rom-coms and don’t have that high an expectation on this type of dramas, then you might have a different opinion. For me, I just find that it tries too hard to be funny throughout the whole 24 episodes that it backfires along the way.
RGSD says
That is so lovely and interesting story
Liliana Cina says
Your review is uninspiring you’re so negative all the time it’s boring pick pick pick you know soo much why not be an actor with your knoe it all attitude the reviews will be 10 out of 10 – NOT!
Liliana Cina says
I guess you didn’t like my last comment as you didn’t post it so I’ll say it differently I disagree with your review it’s a fun drama and acting is harder than reviewing which is subjective and judgemental with little experience of what it takes to make a series