Glory and The Unclouded Soul are really two dramas that shouldn’t be compared together since they are quite different in plot and genre. However, it is extremely difficult not to compare them when Hou Ming Hao plays the main male lead in both, and they are both airing at the same time. For viewers who are following both dramas, like I am, it is truly impossible not to mentally compare them…no matter how much I tell myself not to.

Here is a quick intro on both:

Glory – As the eldest daughter of the biggest and best tea clan of the empire, our heroine (Gulnezer Bextiyar) is raised to be the next clan leader despite her many sisters who not so secretly would like to take her place. A formidable young master in her clan, our heroine’s path crosses with our hero (Hou Ming Hao), who is the newest magistrate highly favored by the emperor. Suspicious when the new magistrate showed up in front of her, near death, and conveniently suffering from amnesia, our heroine allows our hero to stay as her new stable hand. Seemingly with no memories of his own identity, our hero is soon engaged in a battle of wits with our heroine, even as he tries to make himself indispensable to our heroine as she navigates traps laid by both enemies from within and out.

First Impression (10 episodes in): I am enjoying this one immensely. The chemistry between the two leads is the slow-burn and sexy kind. The battle of wits between the two leads is also thrilling and amusing at the same time. Hou Ming Hao is doing a crazy good job portraying our hero, whose very existence is just a giant juxtaposition. One moment, he is the powerful magistrate, and the next, he is the humble servant kneeling in front of our heroine, asking for her forgiveness. There is an added difficulty in portraying these scenes because this story is set in a world where, while the empire itself is the stereotypical patriarchal society, our heroine’s clan actually migrated generations ago from an old kingdom (no longer in existence) that was a matriarchal society. Despite living in a patriarchal society, our heroine’s clan has kept its attitude and traditions of a matriarchal society. Thus, when our hero was interacting with our heroine in her clan manor, at times, he needed to display a sort of meekness that one would usually associate with being feminine…while still having us viewers swoon over him at the same time. I am happy to report that our male lead was able to accomplish this with flying colors.

Gulnezer Bextiyar usually has some critics over her acting, but I feel that she has done a great job thus far with a very complicated character as well. The scriptwriter really gave us an interesting story setup with this matriarchal clan set in a patriarchal society, so our female lead really had to bring it in portraying a very strong character who has the innate arrogance of being raised in such a household, but is also having to deal with a greater environment that is the direct opposite of her upbringing.

I am really hoping the show can keep up with the pacing and the vibe going forward. The only thing I am starting to be a bit concerned about is that the jealousy between the sisters and their never-ending attempts to bring down our heroine might get tiring if the scriptwriter doesn’t change it up soon.

The Unclouded Soul– Through a series of unfortunate events, our heroine (Tan Song Yun, or Seven) ended up waking up the demon lord (Hou Ming Hao) and is forced to join a demon academy to learn how to be a demon. Caught in the seemingly hopeless and unending battle between the demon and the human world, our heroine stubbornly stays true to the goodness of her nature.

Half Way Impression (Up to episode 20): It was difficult not to go into this one with a high expectation thanks to the star casting of Tan Song Yun and Hou Ming Hao. After 20 episodes, I have to admit I am a bit disappointed in The Unclouded Soul’s story. Instead of a whole continuous story, the show feels more like I am watching a game where the players have to level up again and again as they try to figure out how to solve a puzzle or kill the evil boss. I think what’s even more disappointing is that there were some giant missed opportunities. Spoilers ahead………..well, sort of…..

The first episode opens with our hero being killed by the love of his life, a princess who used their wedding as a trap to take his life. Now, this obviously is an epic level of betrayal that destroyed our hero’s ability to trust. However, upon being awakened by our heroine, who looks exactly like the princess, after the first initial few moments of shock and the “you are not her!” realization, it seemed like it hardly took much for our hero to get over his trust issues and fall in love with our heroine. To be fair, it does seem like our hero’s character is truly a very kind person, so I think instead of a resentful and angry demon king, the scriptwriter is going with the idea that our hero was more of an ancient being who had been through too many tragedies and betrayals, but his heart is awakened by our heroine’s pure goodness. The show also gave some hints that the betrayal might not be as simple as it looked…they never are…so I am assuming this “missed opportunity” might eventually get patched up later on in the story.

Along with the missed opportunities for plot development, there were also one or two seemingly abrupt personality changes in secondary characters that felt like they were just done to serve the plotline.

Complaints aside though, I am totally planning on finishing this show. The little stories ARE interesting for the most part and usually kept my attention. While I really wished there were a more natural progression of our two leads’ romantic feelings, I do find their chemistry sweet and cute together. The show also did an excellent job of developing the male second lead’s character (the character of Bing Zhu, the head demon slayer). I think if it wasn’t for the fact that Tan Song Yun and Hou Ming Hao can light up the screen with just their presence and their cute lovey-dovyness, this show would have been in real danger of being over taken by the male second lead’s storyline.

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