The Story of Minglan

[superborb]

 The Story of Minglan: all the fun of harem drama but without the palace. It's long, at 73 episodes. Because the focus of the action changes scope from tightly within the family to the imperial household at large, it really feels like the characters grow and learn through the show. 

 

You'll like it if: you like more historical dramas, realistic sister relationships in a world where they are jockeying for power, a protagonist who has learned to seek peace instead of standing out. Obviously, harem politics type machinations play a major role in the drama. Also, there are MANY excellent older women characters, and some of the bratty characters really learn and grow up!

 

You won't like it if: you don't like if some (not all!) characters are irredeemably evil. There are harem politics including attempts at murder, and some pretty serious physical/emotional abuse directed towards the male lead. If you're squicked at all by manipulation in romantic relationships, definitely not the right choice. There are servants with slave contracts, some of whom are punished severely (all scenes are skippable too, ugh why)

 

The premise: Sheng Minglan is the sixth daughter* of a low ranking official. She's the unfavored daughter, so she is (of course) bullied by her sisters and the other wives. She goes through several potential love interests (some really interesting!) before marrying the male lead, Gu Tingye. His family is also terrible, with an ultra manipulative white lotus stepmom, and we also see his rise from a playboy with a bad reputation to the trusted advisor of the emperor. The final arc involves some court politics as the new emperor establishes himself, which I found much weaker than the family focused stuff, because we didn't have enough time to get to know the key players.  

 

It took me a couple tries to get all the way through the first episodes, but then I was hooked. I think it is a bit uneven at parts, and I had to 2x speed my way through... a not insignificant portion of the middle, but I still overall enjoyed it. 

 

Some potentially spoilery discussion below:

The good:

1. I LOVED how the sisterly relationships develop. I like Rulan looking at her mother's position and deciding: nope, that's not for me! And the mirror to Molan, who doesn't learn that lesson until too late. We don't see non-ambitious women who are fully developed characters enough, and I really adored how Rulan and Minglan want to have a good life, not a wealthy one. 

 

2. I really enjoyed the depiction of tea in the Song dynasty! Really unusual and interesting to watch.

 

3. The grandmas!!! They were so good! They knew what they were doing, but also the limits of their power. So they have to gently guide and sparingly use their influence. 

 

4. I did like the more morally gray characters where you could definitely sympathize with why they felt the way they did. I think the Princess of Pingning (Qi Heng's mom) falls in this category, where you hate how her influence is messing with the main character, but also know how much she loves her son. I also think Lady Wu (Liang household) falls in this category: she genuinely likes Minglan and wants her to marry into her house, but also... that would curse Minglan with an awful marriage. 

 

5. I think it did a good job of showing how no one benefits from a harem. Not the husband, not any of the wives, and not any of the children. No one is happy, really.

 

The bad:

1. I'll be honest, I really didn't like basically any of the men, including the male lead. Qi Heng needs to grow the fuck up and see past his own nose. He caused so much trouble because he didn't think about how his actions would be perceived! And Gu Tingye is kind of boring and manipulative; I just don't see the appeal. Also, his actions in the last few episodes were just... inexcusable to me. You don't treat your pregnant wife like that!!! 

 

2. It also did fall into the trap of "purely good" and "purely bad" characters, who were often women. Of course, in a harem drama, there are more women characters, so it could just be because if you need a random side character, it's easier for them to be a woman. But a lot of the side characters can be categorized this way, and falling in stereotypical lines too. E.g. several "bright athletic unmannered" young women that we're supposed to empathize with, vs the standard manipulative social climbing women.

 

3. I hated the treatment of the servants with slave contracts and the way they were punished to show the severity of their mistresses/masters actions. Probably the most awful part of the show.

 

4. The last arc was so rushed and convoluted. I think we just didn't see enough of those characters, so like, who cares? And the way Minglan was treated, while pregnant! Ugh ugh ugh. Definitely starts stronger than it ends.