Hello everyone, I'm new here. I've recently finished watching the Huan Zhu Ge GE III series and I totally disagree with the reviewer, so much so that I decided to write a list of what I found appealing about the series, a show which simply did not deserve such a poor rating by Chardonnay.
HZGG overkilled the Xiao Yan Zi factor? And how did it do so? The show is named after her title. The show does focus on her but doesn't one expect that? The first few episodes, looking from a director's point of view were probably meant to introduce the character, the show doesnt assume that people have watched HZGG 1 to 3 like most of us you know One must also factor in the pre conceived notion of people that the actors and actresses are of inferior quality to the previous ones, fan bias etc..
Arguably, the plot for HZGG 3 remains the most developed in the series, albeit not the most logical (A flying Zi Wei on butterflies is erm...?) The plot emphasises the emotional development between the two main characters, husband and wife, mother and son, father and children that tended to be overshadowed by other events in HZGG 1 and 2. I totally fail to see how it milks the series for financial gain. Neither does it overplay the elements from HZGG 2. (Once again, I qualify this statement that the first few episodes were meant as both an introduction and a recap)
Personally, with regards to the acting, I thought Qiong Yao did a fantastic job casting the female leads. Huang Yi and Ma Yi Ling did well to fill the roles of their predecessors. The exceptions were the emperor who was TOTALLY unacceptable and Leo Ku whose acting was too wooden. (I agree with the reviewer here) The emperor simply does not make the cut. However, what we have here is some characters who did not make the cut, not a generalisation of the cast as a whole. Music wise, Leo Ku did a good job. Some pieces are particularly soulful (Wen Yan Er for example) while the song that featured most of the cast was...fine(They are after all..actors not singers) Liu Pan and Chen Si Si also did a great job.
I personally think the series succeeded because it carved out a new niche for itself. Contrary to what the reviewer said, I think the plot was suitably enhanced from the first two series. Feel free to disagree.