The Glamorous Imperial Concubine (2011) User Reviews

Too many stupid decisions

[talonjensen · 6/10 · 8 February 2022]

For a story to be interesting there must be conflict, but when that conflict is the result of people making clearly stupid decisions, it isn't too satisfying.

More of the evil people needed to be revealed to others, more of the evil people needed to get what was coming to them.

If you like shows with happy endings or where most conflicts are resolved or justice served, this is not the show for you. Many Asian shows feel like they were running out of money and hurriedly finished the show, I would include this series in that category.

I've tried to be honest without giving away the plot.

IMDB says there are 31 episodes, but Netflix has 42 episodes. It is common for Asian series episodes to be combined and split, so not unusual to have different episode counts in different places.

Enjoyable Chinese Drama!

[mommycoppel-688-476700 · 7/10 · 27 December 2023]

I watch a lot of this types of shows. So I take great pride in my opinion because I know crap when ai see it. I will admit it started a little slow for me at first to get into the characters but now I can't stop watching it. I can't wait until the next episode. Listen, it isn't as good as The Princess Weiyoung or as The Rose of the Phoenixes. But it's a good story and has lots and lots of drama, betrayal, jealousy, pettiness, deep emotional depression, suffering, some comedy, historical Chinese culture, love, and more. The naysayers on here must not watch much of these types of shows if they are being that cruel and mean with their reviews. If you enjoy Chinese culture and these types of shows, I encourage you to watch it for yourself and you be your own judge on your experience.

THE GLAMOROUS IMPERIAL CONCUBINE: Not the best, not the worst

[Jinxxa_Wolf · 6/10 · 24 April 2023]

THE GLAMOROUS IMPERIAL CONCUBINE was a fairly entertaining and highly melodramatic show, though I can hardly call it quality. Much of it felt rushed, cliched and predictable. If you watch Chinese dramas then you will recognize many tried and true tropes and cliches. The writing in this series was fairly weak and brought nothing new to the table, so to speak. There wasn't much I didn't see coming. I did enjoy the main leads however, as I am fans of the wonderful actors Wallace Huo and Ruby Lin.

Many of the side characters were pretty over the top, outrageous and flamboyant. Some of the main female protags' family were overly melodramatic, cheesy and comedic. A few of which, die off in the first few episodes, though I won't say which. I feel they were added to lighten the mood, since there are constantly tragic things happening and characters crying.

There's still plenty of crazy emotional characters to go around afterwards though. The royal Eunuch of Chu, forgetting his name, was pretty silly and dramatic and might be offensive to western viewers who don't see the eunuch trope (eunuch, not gay) in dramas very often. As he is a castrated male, he is portrayed as being very feminine and flamboyant (squeely, whiny and peppy) and often used to comediac effect (which is still sad because historically royal eunuchs had very difficult lives and I wish a drama would focus on one of their stories for once, instead of a princess, but I digress.) He was particularly flamboyant and silly, and yet he eventually grew on me and I liked his relationship with Princess Fuya.

TRIGGER WARNING: One of my complaints was concerning the male leads. Both of the male leads were deeply flawed and hard to root for, and many of the men (main leads and side characters) throughout the show force themselves onto women, without much consequence and are often painted in a pitiable light. There are topics such as rape, near rape, sexual violence, coercion, physical abuse, cheating etc. Even perpetrated by the leads.

Overall, this was a fun little show, good for casual passive viewing. I can't really recommend to serious drama fans, but it may be good to watch if you are a fan of Ruby Lin or Wallace Huo, as am I. Just wish there was more Wallace Huo in the early episodes. Kinda dragged on. This series was not anything great, but not the worst either. Aside from some of distasteful subject matter, this show had moments of entertainment.

Amazing Drama in Ancient China

[trekpac · 10/10 · 19 December 2022]

I found this to be such a well-executed drama about love, concubines, emperors and princes that I had to view it two times. I think that in the West, many might not get the nuances that the Chinese actors convey or understand Chinese cultural aspects of the series, but I can guarantee that this series was be hugely popular all over China, Japan and Korea. People would cry all through it.

It lacked much sex, violence ,drugs and guns which seem to have such appeal in the West but was full of what many people in Asia yearn to see, such as a great love story (without explicit sex), deep emotional expression, people with integrity and learning, but also jealousy, pettiness and ruthless competition for social status. And people in Asia also have such a deep appreciation for their own history and tradition.

I have lived in Asia for 8 years and just LOVE dramas from this part of the world. One has to believe in China to be able to see it, and perhaps it is not possible for many in the West who can't understand such a different culture or are taught many false ideas about China.

Just Awful

[geewhiz46 · 4/10 · 8 August 2022]

This series tried to aspire to the likes of "The Rise of Phoenixes" and failed miserably. This was mainly due to the terrible actors. The gay attendant was so over the top it was embarrassing.

The scene where the princess flew in on an organdie scarf was like something out of Peter Pan - so bad it was good..

The plot was pedestrian - and pretty soon you were wondering who cares what happens to any of them.

They spent a lot of money on sets and costumes that would have been better spent on better writers and actors.

A total disappointment

[rosamurciacastro · 1/10 · 9 June 2023]

This review is not about the acting but the writers.

What a disappointment this was. I can't believe I watched the whole thing, my mistake. Now I'm reading every review I can before I watch anything else.

I found myself hoping against hope as I watched each episode that it would get better but instead, it got worse. I kid you not.

There is not one part of the series that I would want to watch again. Nothing! I don't understand what the director/producers were thinking using such a lousy plot. I don't want to say anything more in case you want to watch it.

The whole series was about how bad people can be so conniving and sleazy liars but also portrayed the good ones as liars, manipulative, naive, and stupid. The people in power were back stabbers, weak and just downright disgusting yet feared and respected.

All in all, I wish I hadn't watch it.

Disappointing

[kathydoherty-41973 · 29 December 2022]

I enjoyed it at the beginning, but then it started to take itself too seriously. Do writers really think we enjoy watching all these people cry? I got tired of all the female jealousy and infighting. As someone said, stupid people making stupid mistakes over and over again. Very few redeeming characters. So much supposed sadness and heartache. Superficial characters with infatuations, lust for power and jealous hearts. No real growth, no real character development. Characters who cannot see through obvious manipulations and have no self-awareness. Or, maybe that's the writing. They all seem so immature, and some just act like petulant children. Maybe pampered and protected people end up being this way, but we are not really given the opportunity to care about any of these characters.

Don't waste your time

[Ariebeth · 9 September 2022]

Probably the worst drama ever. The plot made no sense whatsoever and dragged on to nonsensical heights. The dialogue was terrible, and honestly the scriptwriters ought to be out of a job for putting out this rubbish. I can't believe somebody put money into this and the show even got approved to be made in the first place.

What was more shocking was that I bothered to persevere until it ended, instead of discontinuing when I knew it was going to be a train wreck. I just kept hoping it would get better but it kept finding new ways to crash and burn. It got to the point where I carried on with the show just to see how ridiculous it could get.