[Review] The Long Ballad (长歌行)

I actually finished this drama two weeks ago, but didn’t have the time to write my review. Although I’m glad to finally get to know the end of the drama, I am quite sad because it is over! I really enjoyed watching this drama, and I want to see more! But it’s okay. Now that summer is almost here, I’m hoping that more dramas that I’ve been waiting to watch airs!

BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Title: The Long Ballad / Chang Ge Xing (长歌行)
# of Episodes: 49
Release Date: March 31^st, 2021
Where to Watch: YouTube / Viki

Plot/Synopsis/Character List

Click here to see information about the plot and main characters at my First Impression page.

Overall Thoughts

The Long Ballad definitely lives up to its name as, well, long. Although the drama isn’t 50+ episodes, it definitely felt like a long journey from the beginning all the way up to the very last episode. At the beginning, we get to see Li Chang Ge’s youthful and carefree moments—the time when she lived under the protection of her mother and family. But once everyone in her family is dead, she is forced to flee for her life. And it’s during this time that she learns the value of sacrifice and loyalty to one’s kingdom, as well as developing her own purpose in her life.

I actually quite liked The Long Ballad. I liked watching Li Chang Ge grow up and gain valuable experience. And while I definitely wanted more scenes of her fighting or being a leader, I did appreciate that there were plenty of scenes of her learning that her plot for revenge isn’t the most important and that she must learn to look at the bigger picture for the future of her kingdom. I remember that at the beginning, it was quite hard to watch her be so blinded by her revenge. But I understand that it was needed to help her grow. We needed to see her at her worst moments to be able to understand why she became the person she was at the end of the drama. And even though I wasn’t fully satisfied with how her growth was portrayed, I was happy to see that she eventually turned around and overcame a lot of things.

But, to be honest, as much as I liked Li Chang Ge. There were things about her that I do question and find unappealing about her character. As much as she is mature, smart, and intelligent, I sometimes found myself confused by some of the things she did. Because the drama portrays her to be this all-powerful woman, you’d think that her character would be consistent. But despite being a smart woman herself, she makes terrible decisions sometimes. For example, she indirectly caused Ashile Sun’s mother’s death (not her fault whatsoever, but she did have a small part in it occurring). Yes, I can’t pin the fault all on her for it happening, BUT you can’t deny that should she had heeded Ashile Sun’s advice, it could have been avoided. Her inability to think of the consequences at that time made me feel disappointed in her character, especially because it deeply hurt Ashile Sun.

Fortunately, though, there were more things that I liked about the drama than dislike. I didn’t think I’d like Li Le Yan as much as I did when I first started watching. I think it’s because the beginning part of the drama primarily focused on Li Chang Ge. But the middle and later half of the drama has more scenes of Li Le Yan, and allowed me to see her becoming a strong woman of her own. When we are first introduced to her, Li Le Yan falls short, especially because she has Li Chang Ge overshadowing her. With Li Chang Ge’s outgoing and strong personality, Li Le Yan was easy to miss because of her timidness. However, once she experiences hardships and has to learn to survive, that’s when we get to see Li Le Yan break out of her shell. My favorite scene of her finally becoming a strong woman was when she was punishing her younger brother, Li Cheng Qian. Unlike the other people who indulged the young boy and put up with his rotten behavior, she yelled at him and wanted to punish him. And I was so proud of her for doing this because it was such a defining moment for her. Her yelling at her brother showed us that not only does she understand how bad and outrageous Li Cheng Qian’s behavior was, but also how entitled privileged they were as royal descendants. And as the drama continues with her story, we get to see Li Le Yan becoming braver by insisting on helping people even though she could easily just ignore them and continue to live in luxury.

The story of these two growing and becoming strong women was definitely one of the things I enjoyed about this drama. Both of them had their own paths and they both experienced things differently, and they became stronger and learned to love their country and put the people first afterwards. Li Chang Ge’s learns that her plan for revenge was selfish and would only cause the entire kingdom to live in misery. While Li Le Yan learned the hardships that the common folks had to endure and decides to dedicate her life to help them live better lives. But while it was fun to watch them on their own, it was more fun and enjoyable to see them together. Unfortunately, we didn’t get much scenes between these two cousins. We got some here and there, but it was only short moments. Granted, being seen together would cause major problems for Li Chang Ge, but you can’t deny just how cute and adorable these two were when they were together. Li Le Yan was the only one who wanted to comfort Li Chang Ge when she realized the tragedy that happened, and she was more than happy to protect her despite all the backlash she’d receive. And Li Chang Ge remains as overprotective and endearing towards her younger cousin after letting go of her past hatred.

And then there’s the ROMANCE… I think we all know why Ashile Sun and Li Chang Ge both fell in love with each other. For Li Chang Ge, it was because Ashile Sun was the only one who stood by her side during her darkest moments. Not only that, but he continuously protected her and sacrificed for her despite the all the dangers that were directed at him. The devotion and loyalty he had to her was probably what touched her and made her open her heart to him. For Ashile Sun, it’s definitely because Li Chang Ge’s intelligence and witness that drew him towards her. Although he knew she was an enemy, he couldn’t help but admire her talents and skills. And this eventually bloomed into love for her. The relationship between these two was strong because they both understood each other well. They didn’t need to communicate often to understand what the other was thinking. And while they both knew that they loved each other, they also understood that they stood on opposite sides. Their loyalty to their kingdoms was an obstacle to them, and I loved that they still respected where they both stood despite getting into heated arguments about it from time to time. But, needless to say, they both know that they would sacrifice for each other should there come a time that they have to.

As for Li Le Yan and Hao Du… I really, really did like their chemistry together (and I hope that Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning can do a separate drama together so we can continue to ship them together!!!), but the only thing that I didn’t really like was that the drama never really showed us was why and when Hao Du fell in love with Li Le Yan. Like we knew they were going to be a couple, but when exactly was it when Hao Du fell for her? Because at the beginning of the drama, he was quite rough with her. He didn’t really care about her feelings and only did what he was ordered to do. But the more he spent with her, the more he became gentle with her. However, there was no defining moment of when and why he started to fall in love with her. Was it when he realized she was lost that he loved her? Was it when she told him that she loved Wei Shu Yu that he realized his feelings? Or had he always been in love with her all along (before the start of the drama)? I really don’t know…! Or maybe I just didn’t pay much attention to them at the beginning. Haha. Needless to say, though, at least we all knew the when Li Le Yan realized her feelings for her because it was such a big moment in the drama—and who could say to no to a man who’d be willing to risk it all for your freedom. Hao Du’s selflessness and willingness to fight for her was definitely one of my favorite parts in the drama. It was an extremely emotional scene, and it made me want to root for the both of them to be together even more!

Overall, I enjoyed watching this drama a lot. I know some people hard their reservations about it, and I admit myself that there are a few things that should’ve been done differently. But I would still put this drama as one of my favorites of the 2021 C-dramas (at least for now). It’s a drama I watched from beginning to end where I liked a lot of the main and supporting characters. Not only that, but it’s definitely one of Dilireba’s better performances as an actress. She wasn’t the best at acting in her early years, but she’s gone a long way. And this drama is a good example of her growth as an actress. Additionally, Wu Lei has definitely lost his youthfulness and childlike looks because of he was styled as the male lead. It’ was hard to imagine that he is give years younger than Dilireba! But I loved how he looked in this drama—he’s definitely not a child anymore! Anyway, would I recommend this drama? Of course, without a doubt!