卿卿日常 New Life Begins (2022)

[halfcactus]

A 40-episode ensemble romcom + costume cdrama set in an alternate-universe China, with a woman empowerment theme.

STREAMING ON:
Iqiyi

PLOT:
Girls from each region are sent off to be marriage candidates for the princes of Xinchuan. Li Wei, the representative of agricultural Jichuan, is a cheerful girl whose passion is food and whose goal is to be sent back to her family. She meets: Yin Zheng, the sickly, unfavored sixth prince who is secretly scheming for the throne; her childhood friend Hao Jia, the ambitious and calculating daughter of a concubine whose goal is a stable position in the palace; Shangguan Jing, princess of the matriarchal region of Danchuan who resents being forced to become the wife of a prince in the patriarchal Xinchuan; AND MORE!!! Together they CHANGE SOCIETY, SHINE LIGHT UPON WOMEN'S STRUGGLES and REFORM POLICIES WITHIN THE PALACE AND ACROSS THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.

Storylines include:

arranged marriage + slow burn

arranged marriage + trying to get divorced

food heals all ailments and bridges all relationships

ML is a sweet nice boy who supports all of the FL's choices

women supporting women x100000

OT3 (which works in all its iterations)

a female character (Yuan Ying ♥) who gets the typical ML tropes ♥♥♥

character growths for everyone!!!

changing the currency

inventing: buffets, meat floss, a brand-new restaurant concept, women's rights, post-partum care, internship programs, calendar invites... Li Wei invents everything lol


This is a lighthearted, low-stakes comedy with an ensemble cast and the energy of a fix-it fic. It cycles through the typical tropes and conflicts in a harem drama, subverted or resolved with the power of female solidarity and supportive men. The plot is very thin, mostly vibes and going through the motions of every policy-related plot point. Good production quality, with beautiful shots and even more beautiful costumes an accessories, and episode after episode of food porn. (This show made me so hungry ajsdjaf;as;)

I found the first half highly enjoyable and bingeable (peak cdrama comedy), but it gets less enjoyable as they add more plot (which is usually just so the girls can resolve them). Its charm is really as an ensemble cast where the girls all get together and play off against each other + the Sixth Prince's household coming together as a family of choice even though they initially were pushed together by circumstance; Steward Su, the Sixth Prince's father figure and wing man, was definitely the standout character + performance for me, all his scenes were GREAT. When the show pushes the girls into their own individual paths so they can each get the ending they deserve, it's less fun, though their respective endings still cheer me up.

I would describe this as character-centric, but not character-driven; Li Wei starts out as an extremely fun FL, but her characterization tends to get flattened by her role as the main character. Of all the characters, I think Hao Jia and Fang Ru (the two wives of the Second Prince) are the ones who have the most cohesive characterization and storylines, though theirs are also the heaviest ones.

The last ten episodes are mostly okay—not awful, but not very interesting. Still, it ends in a scene that I found extremely sweet and satisfying. :') (I'm also very happy for that one prince and his personal chef who find their happiness offscreen ahaha ♥)

(I would give this show 3.5 out of 5 stars XD)