Ruten no Ouhi - Saigo no Koutei
2003 · TV Asahi
didn't disappoint me AT ALL.
26 Jun 2004
it's indeed EDGY for Japanese producers to tell Chinese History of Second Sino Japanese War eriod. and seriously, this is one HUGE selling point. i would still watch it if it hasnt such powerful cast. and for me a Chinese, i would say the dorama has told history as, well, what it was without making it too bloody or too political. perhaps afterall it was only a setting, the main theme is still the love between PuJie (Pu-Chieh) and Hiro and for that part it was beautifully depicted. a powerful and personal love story of two important public people. EXCELLENT music, EXCELLENT settings. very very good acting from Takenouchi that basically makes EVERYONE dimmed. for these, i give the movie an 11.
one point deducted for important historical errors.
1~ PuJie's mom didn't die in the Forbidden City which leads to,
2~ Puyi wouldn't have been able to watch her die, in fact, he didn't even get to her funeral because he wasn't allowed to leave the Forbidden City.
3~ no Qing princes EVER refer their mothers as "mothers". but "e niang"
4~ no one can refer the Emperor by name but quite EVERYONE in the dorama namedropped the Emperor as Emperor Puyi.
that is, don't ever rely this for your full history knowledge. it is supposed to be a SERIOUS dorama but when it comes to big mistakes like these i just can't help laughing, especially that when PuJie repeated saying "mother" for the nth times. yet LUCKILY, these errors remain to the very early part of the dorama, so after several laughs you can still get immersed in the love story.
another point deducted for, erm, weird Mandarin. perhaps it would be better dubbed.
still, a very very high class dorama... not your ordinary j dorama. 9/10
