First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

Things in dramaland change so fast, in the blink of an eye, Goodbye My Princess changes its fate of being shelved to immediately airing! I love how the female character looks and I’m very tempted to check it out. xD

Where’s the time….

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Goodbye My Princess is the drama adaptation of Fei Wo Si Cun‘s novel Eastern Palace (东宫). From reviews, the novel is a tragic romance, a political marriage with a sad ending between two royalties, princess and prince of two different countries. She’s a carefree, spirited, and pampered princess of Western Liang while he’s raised under the hatred of his mother’s murder (?), becoming an introverted Zhongyuan Prince of his own. They do have a brief sweet romance of their own when he comes to her under disguise three years ago and she falls for him hard, an innocent and sincere love she gives to him completely. She tells him she wants 100 fireflies before she would agree to marry him and what he does is set the whole night to be lit up by hundreds and perhaps thousands of fireflies.

Unfortunately, on their wedding day, he takes off his mask, and the boy she loves…dies that day. What’s left of him is a cold, calculating and cruel Prince, turning her whole world upside down, her father goes mad, her mother and grandfather die, forcing her to jump into a Forgetfulness river, ridding of her these cruel memories. But he also jumps into the river to save her!

And under a blank state of mind, she marries that cruel man in exchange for the peace of her countrymen; their lives never intersecting for 3 years. He has his own beloved concubine while she spends her days escaping outside the palace, helping the poor, catching thieves, sending lost kids home, etc.

When I say the ending is sad it’s because our male lead’s thirst for the throne scares the heroine as he’s willing to kill anyone who stands in his way. So much that the only way to escape him, is death. This sounds familiar… doesn’t it? A man goes cray-cray for the throne and eventually loses the lady he loves… *ahum* *ahum*

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  1. 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

    Conclusion it is a very tragic and sad ending??? awwwww… i plan to watch it….

  2. 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

    I have a lot to say about this drama already lol. I was actually really looking forward to it, because I really really like tragedy. I finished the novel in November I think, so it’s still pretty fresh in my mind, but not so fresh I remember all the details. I ‘binged’ all 8 episodes this morning and am not impressed (what I mean by binging is I skipped most of the politics). When I saw the first trailer I really liked the look of the cinematography, but after seeing it in motion, I was left pretty disappointed. Some of the aesthetically pleasing scenes in the trailer, just didn’t go well with the mood portrayed during the scenes. In particular that scene where her red robe was flying in the air, when she saved him. Also the scene transitions are not smooth at all. Sometimes it’s really obvious when a certain clip was cut, which is shocking imo since they went from 30 episodes to 52.

    Anyway moving on to the storyline. It retains about 60% of the essence of the novel. 70% if I’m being generous. They completely changed the fireflies scene, which I think was pretty essential to the novel. They attempted to rationalise and explain the male lead, which I’m not really feeling. They added a bunch of political scenes, I guess to extend episode count. He doesn’t even become the crown prince although he betrays her and causes the death of her entire maternal family. Onto the female lead, they’ve turned her into a pretty big Mary Sue/Damsel in Distress. Was she ever a strong independent female lead? No not really, but she’s not really as pathetic as her drama self imo. She’s vouched for him so many times that I just felt bad for her, but the worse I felt for her, the less I felt for their love story. Like really I think she gave him the route to destroy her family, all so conveniently. I’m probably being harsh and exaggerating here. I don’t remember half these ‘obstacles’ for their first round of romance being in the novel. And I think it was better if they weren’t added, because I don’t why I feel this, but I wanted to see her think that she feel in love like a normal person. Also they’re heavily showcasing how he feel in love with her as well, but like really do you have a right to dude? She saved your life (a troop that I really don’t remember being in the novel, but correct me if I’m wrong) and you back stabbed her.

    Not liking her storyline with ‘shifu’ either, which was also changed, because I don’t remember them growing up together or her loving him in the novel. I also don’t remember her calling to him to save her all the time. I thought initially in the novel, she lost something (can’t remember the tiny details) by a tiny margin and had to call him shifu. Now the other problem, is if you’re okay with this storyline, how am I meant to believe she went from loving shifu in one episode to not even being swayed by him the next episode?

    This being in chronological order imo taints the romance that will develop between them after jumping. And that reminds me, how is it called Dong Gong, if he’s not even the crown prince, when she’s bought to marry into his family? Like am I going to have to watch him take down this new crown prince, before they finally get married? Because I did not sign up for the politics!

    Onto the acting now. The female lead really needs to improve. Her expressions aren’t great and are very one dimensional. It’s like she’s showing expressions on her face, but like she’s only capable of showing one thing at a time. The tumbling scene in particular showcased this. Like her only expression was eyes wide open…. For a really long time… Male lead isn’t great either, but he’s tolerable in comparison to her. I’m starting to think that everyone was miscast, but like my opinion could be wrong and I could be biased.

    Maybe if you didn’t read the novel, you’d be less critical. But I still think she’s too much of a Mary Sue/ Damsel in Distress for me to like her character in the drama.

    Edit: Sorry oops, only realised now I wrote an essay in the comments.

    • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

      Spot on! Those are the same problems I have when watching the series, and I only watched up to four episodes. I was lured by the pretties: the actors, the costumes, and the sceneries, but the most important lured was the 30 episodes in a costume series! And now the series is ballooned up to 52 episodes! You could make a whole new series out of those extra episodes! I haven’t read the novel, but all the extra stuffs – the romance line with her Shifu, the main pair early romance, the palace politics are distracting from the main story which is a romance/melo/idol drama.

      Speaking of idols, oh man, the two leads are pretty, but the actings are lackluster at best. The actor is okay, but the actress is so awkward in her expressions and not natural in her movements. There are better actors/actresses that could have taken these roles, like forever second lead Mao Zi Jun, Li Xian (Side by Side with You), and Kim Jin (Our Glamorous Time). For the actress, Regina Wan (Secret of the Three Kingdoms), Janice Wu (Fighter of the Destiny), and Dai Si (Ten Miles of Peach Blossom).

      It loses the tension and mystery when the series is being showcased in chronological order. They should have started when she is marrying into the royal family and falls for him the second time, but what these pesky flashbacks/memories keep tripping her up. It would be like a mystery for her and the audience to piece back the memories, and the double heartaches that would ensue when she finally learns the truth.

    • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

      It looks as though they’ve added to the ending as well.

      I’m starting to read the novel but from what I heard she jumps off the wall to her death, correct?
      It seems as though she’ll survive the fall and later kills herself on the battlefield from the mv and other clips released. I think that’ll make it more interesting because it makes him have to live with the consequences of his betrayal a little longer.

      I think adding additional political scenes might be important story-telling wise. The novel is told from her perspective so it narrows how much readers can see past her limited knowledge. Plus she’s really quite naive so anything outside of her world does not make sense to her hence she (and by extension: us, the readers) don’t see the bigger picture.
      That’s one of the reasons I love drama adaptations from novels told from a first person perspective.

      I had the same feeling with Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms. After watching the drama I bought the book but found it a bit underwhelming because the novel was so one sided that it was frustrating. So far I’ve been enjoying the drama and episode 9 broke my heart so hopefully the momentum doesn’t slow down.

      • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

        That’s actually how it ends in the book too. She falls, but doesn’t die because Ah Du breaks her fall.

        I know that the political scenes helps to explain some things, but also they’vee added as a plot manoeuvre as well, because there’s a time skip between her first life time to when the novel begins. But they added in the fight to become crown prince, which never occurred in the novel.

    • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

      What is fireflies scene in book like? And what is the importance?

      • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

        I think the fireflies scene in the novel was the most iconic scene. Originally she asks him if he actually wants to marry her, after he has killed the wolf, which he claims he just happened to kill coincidently. To which he asks her if she wants to marry him. And she says if you catch 100 fireflies for me I will marry you.

        So before she jumps from the cliff she also says she’ll marry him if he catches 100 fireflies for her. And it becomes a scene of hesitance, like he gets that he hurt her, but it also shows his guilt.

        And then in the end before she jumps, she says she’ll go back with him if he collects 100 fireflies for her. Like it doesn’t sound like a major difference, but I feel like there’s just more significance in the lines of the novel.

        • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

          I was very angry they changed the firefly scene. It was one of the most beautiful scenes and her most precious memory. It played a significant part in their romance but here it has been cheapen.

          The 1st time she asked he whole heartedly went and caught fireflies for her, not because of his plans but at that stage he really did love her.

          The 2nd time she asked was when she was captured and kept locked in the tent on her way back to fulfill the wedding. At this stage she already knew what he did and kept asking to see him but he refused to see her until she starved herself. She then asked if he would still catch 100 fireflies for her, basically asking him if he even loves her. He had his back to her and told her it wasn’t the season for fireflies as he walks away. This was when she finally accepted that he never loved her and only wanted to use her to destroy her family.

          The 3rd was before she jumped she asked him not expecting an answer, she was just reliving the happiest point in her life before her death.

          The 4th time she asked him was when he still didn’t remember but she did. He was dismissive and she realised that even without his memory he had never changed from the calculating cold hearted crown prince and her true love had died that day on the battle field.

          The 5th and last time was before se jumped from the city walls. This time she was only saying goodbye as she had lost all hope and will to live.

          Each of these moments were poignant moments in the novel yet the drama completely destroyed their true meaning.

    • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

      Eu Gostei do seu comentário eu queria ler o livro mais não achei

    • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

      Drama is pretty awful. I can’t get past the first 10 episodes. Airing the drama in chronological order lost the mystery of Shifu and her dreams of the “One” that she love, which is the fishhook that reels the reader in for the novel….come to think of it, I didn’t finish the novel after she regained her memories, lol.

      The female lead actress is really really bad in acting…she is the main character, but she comes off as what most second lead characters come off as in other dramas. The main lead is very good looking and fit for the role, very charming, and very ruthless acted very convincingly.

      They changed the plot a bit from the novel at least on the Shifu childhood sweetheart plot line.

      I am going to wait for the last episode and see how it ends. This drama unfortunately is just too awful….this coming from the last adaptation of Fei Wo Si Chun’s “Seige in the fog” and “Too late to say I love you” which were awesome awesome adaptations.

      I guess the production team must have been different, the actress is not the right fit at all and change in plot line just did not work for the story.

  3. 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

    This looks interesting. I am in the mood for a heart-wreching drama so I’ll definitely check this out.
    I’m not familiar with the broadcasting style so what’s with the difference in airing dates on the calender?

    • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

      Monday & Thursday will have 4 new episodes for VIP. Everyday will be one episodes for non VIP. The drama will end 4/4 for non VIP. Hopefully that make sense.

      I really enjoying the drama so far, both leads are good looking :D. I FF the politics scenes haha. I hope to see more of peng xiao ran & chen xing xu in future c-dramas as main lead.

      Btwn, VIKI will be subbing it. :p I wonder why her shifu can’t love xiao feng or b/c she’s a princess and will need to marry the crown prince? I’m having second lead syndrome ^_~

      • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

        Thank you for the explanation, I truly appreciate it!

        I’ve been looking up more info on the novel/drama and it has a similar amnesia trope as 10 Miles of Peach Blossoms so that makes it interesting.
        I liked the way TMOPB put everything in chronological order to sort everything out but I kind of wish this drama kept the order from the novel. I think it would make the story more heartbreaking since we all anticipate it’s going to be a sad ending. I feel like doing everything chronologically ruins the element of surprise when she remembers later.

        On a side note, for anyone who has read the novel:

        Does he ever regain his memories?
        I think it would feel worse if only the victim remembered everything whilst the perpetrator lived in ignorance.

        Only the 2 if them forget correct? So the people who lived through the massacre just kept it a secret from them or ???
        That part sort of confuses me to be honest.

        • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

          Listening to the audiobook version right now and it seems like:

          – Li Cheng Yin / Gu Xiao Wu doesn’t regain his memories until the very end (when she commits suicide). Then it all comes back to him and he realizes the person he’s been jealous of this whole time isn’t Gu Jian, but himself.. and I guess that’s his punishment for the rest of his life? Doesn’t seem like enough when you consider what Xiao Feng has gone through.

          – Also kinda confused about how no one tells Xiao Feng about what happened. Ah Du’s mute by the time they’re in the palace, so she remembers everything but can’t tell Xiao Feng. On Li Cheng Yin’s end, maybe the other people don’t know because it all happened in Western Liang? He probably also remembers it as “we defeated this tribe in battle” but without the details of how it involved Xiao Feng. General Pei Zhao would remember the history between the leads, and that might be why he’s pretty nice to Xiao Feng?

  4. 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

    This drama was so hyped on Weibo that I was afraid to be disappointed. But I love it!
    The desert scenes are so pretty. Gives me a magical feeling to see the main leads fall in love. Can’t wait for the angst to set in.
    So far the political scenes are okay… Not too boring. I hope the palace politics will remain that way, because I really like the pacing of the drama so far.

    • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

      I agree. I love the beautiful sceneries. Really shows a drastic contrast between urban and rural royalty living in two countries. And the pacing of the drama is good. It doesn’t drag but the romance between the two main leads are dragging (I know there are more episodes to come so I have to be patient lol).

  5. 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

    So.. this is better than I expected! Episode 7 has so many sweet moments between Gu Xiao Wu (male lead) and Ah Feng (our little princess), which means terrible things are going to happen very soon. It’s far from a perfect series but very watchable so far.

    Highlights:

    – Female lead is SO PRETTY. Maybe not the best actress, but she’s very likeable and pulling off the adorable, carefree princess part effortlessly
    – Lots of chemistry between the leads. Also helps that they’re younger actors who are convincing as teenagers falling in love.. a bit scarred by older actors trying to pass as ~16 year olds in dramas
    – Story moves at a fast pace (hopefully doesn’t drag later on..)
    – Male lead is more sympathetic than in the original novel (You get to see Li Cheng Yu / Gu Xiao Wu learn about his mother’s murder and how it changes him, which is different from him showing up from the get-go with the intent to lie to the female lead and massacre her tribe)
    – OST / costumes / scenery all on point, which helps with getting sucked into the world of the story

    Lowlights:

    – Female lead’s relationship with her “shi fu” (Gu Jian) changed from the novel and makes absolutely no sense anymore. If she actually likes him (in the novel, she never loved him at any point in that way), why did he push her away? There’s one part where his internal monologue is all, “I can’t burden you with the revenge/family drama on my shoulders,” but how is being with Gu Xiao Wu any better? Not only does Gu Xiao Wu have the same need to avenge the Gu family, he’s caught up in all sorts of palace/success drama. This entire part just has me scratching my head going ???
    – Palace drama is boring. Anticipating lots of fast-forwarding later on when our princess ends up in the middle of everything and is completely at a loss and getting out-schemed at every turn
    – General Pei Zhao is supposed to be noticeably good looking.. no offense to the actor, but he’s not the eye candy I expected?

    TLDR; fun watch and pretty leads with good chemistry, definitely worth a try! Some suspension of logic required to get into the story.

    • 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

      Regarding General Pei, I feel he is too old to pair up with the little princess. He looks better with Mei Luo instead. I like his stern character but like you said, he’s not as eye candy as the 5th Prince. Even Kingone is more attractive than the General but that’s because I’m biased lol..

  6. 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

    Actually I really like the novel. Before the drama start on show I have already read this story many times. To be honesty, I dislike those story with a bad ending. After finishing it, I think a lot. Maybe this ending is perfect because they can not love each other any more. This drama is based on this novel.
    Both the main actor and actress are good performed in it and try their best to recreate in their own style. Finally, it is a bad story be careful you tears.

  7. 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

    I’ve read all the comments here and I pretty much agree with them. For me, I’ll just say one sentence which is the absolute death blow for the drama amongst all the problems mentioned above:
    Lack of chemistry between the leads.

    Pretty faces but no chemistry. You can have a good story, cinematography etc but if the leads do not have that on-screen chemistry that will make it a romantic tragedy worth investing on, it’ll turn into a major disappointment. Too bad.

  8. 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

    Since Zhao Yao is airing so slowly and there’s nothing else airing atm, I decided to check out this drama. Peng Xiao Ran is really pretty and fits the look of the character. Acting-wise her and Chen Xing Xu aren’t any worse than most young (or veteran) idol drama actors. But definitely gonna be hard to root for their tragic angsty romance unless they both really step up in the next 50+ eps.

    Not interested in her loveline with her shifu nor the politics (but ooo there’s Kingone Wang from TW).

    Anyway, I think the drama is OK, it’s cute and sweet so far. Needs stronger chemistry and acting (AND other characters to care about besides the two leads!) to be emotionally invested though.

  9. 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

    Como faço pra conseguir o livro em português?
    Ela vai morrer mesmo?

  10. 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

    I love this drama, i love chemistri li cheng yin and xiaofeng.. i hope they are will be real couple in real live…and i must ready in last episode that sad so im gona cry

  11. 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

    I did not like the Drama at all whatsoever.. Even the handsome main lead actor is not good enough for me to watch the drama until the end.
    Drama is pretty awful. I can’t get past the first 10 episodes. Airing the drama in chronological order lost the mystery of Shifu and her dreams of the “One” that she love, which is the fishhook that reels the reader in for the novel….come to think of it, I didn’t finish the novel after she regained her memories, lol.

    The female lead actress is really really bad in acting…she is the main character, but she comes off as what most second lead characters come off as in other dramas. The main lead is very good looking and fit for the role, very charming, and very ruthless acted very convincingly.

    They changed the plot a bit from the novel at least on the Shifu childhood sweetheart plot line.

    I am going to wait for the last episode and see how it ends. This drama unfortunately is just too awful….this coming from the last adaptation of Fei Wo Si Chun’s “Seige in the fog” and “Too late to say I love you” which were awesome awesome adaptations.

    I guess the production team must have been different, the actress is not the right fit at all and change in plot line just did not work for the story.

  12. 25 thoughts on “First Impression: What do you think of Goodbye My Princess with Chen Xing Xu and Peng Xiao Ran?

    Goodbye My Princess is really good! Possibly my fave ancient drama ever since Ashes of Love.
    I love the fact they kept the essence of the main storyline + added extra scenes which complemented the storyline. I thought I would be bored by the politics storyline but they are actually quite interesting to watch.
    The supporting characters are also well-written and I like that their side stories and screentime don’t eclipse the main lead.

    This was advertised a sad melodrama but if you haven’t read the novel (or spoilt by people who did), you would never know its meant to be a tragedy until possibly like episode 40. Because there are many funny and light-hearted scenes.

    Acting-wise, Chen Xingxu is really good for a relatively new actor. He portrays both the fake naivety and cruel cunning intellect of the character well. Peng Xiaoran is not that great in emotional scenes but kudos to her for managing to portray the cute and innocent side of Xiaofeng without making her look like an idiot.

    Overall, this is a really good watch if you are into idol-historical romance dramas.

What do you think?