Beautiful drama with top-notch production
I immensely enjoy The Longest Promise. What I like is its fairy-tale flavor, the combination of serious scenes with some tongue-in-cheek moments. And indeed Xiao Zhan as Shi Ying is so appealing that I could spend the whole day watching him meditating. The Longest Promis is visually pleasing and the visual effects fit the style of the drama. The story is told in an interesting way and I don't feel I miss anything because I haven't read the book on which the drama is based. Viewers should remember that The Longest Promise is a kind of drama that puts emphasis on heartbreak and suffering and the story leads to the circumstances that bring distress and agony. The Longest Promise is a tale full of magic and pain and I recommend it strongly to every XiaoZhan fan.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
What's good about The Longest Promise
Well, personally, I've been so fed up with xianxia dramas with repeated concepts. I understand that most xianxia dramas involve reincarnation, multiple lives and all, but I just find this concept too used. The thing is I've already read the novel "Zhu Yan" and so far, I really love the story of Zhu Yan and Shi Ying. The novel is actually a xuanhuan, but the drama is a semi-xianxia because so far, I've seen few changes from the original piece. The added scene (the childhood part) is amazing, knowing how shallow the first meeting Zhu Yan and Shi Ying in the novel.One thing I love about the drama version is the fact that both actors are doing really great in portraying their characters. I've always picture Shi Ying as elegant, and as handsome as hell like Xiao Zhan. I've always known how good is Ren Min when it comes to expression herself, be whatever role that is.
I love how the drama give emphasis to the entanglement of Ah Yan and Ying's life without ruining the added scenes.
The one I'm looking forward the most actually is the scenes after volume 1.
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The longest promise
I love this Drama.. I waited this for too long... year... I'm so greatful to watched this... The longest promise starring Xiao zhan and Ren Min. The story was great than I expected. When it was Aired usually I'm lucky I read the news about it. So I try to watched it's premier... When I watched the first episode I love it so I continue... Until I waited each episodes everyday. I was captivated with story. I seen the story have a beautiful sceneries, so magicalPlace. The characters have pretty outfit. Each characters have great in acting. Theyact very well. Usually it's my first time to mesmerized
To the main lead Xiao Zhan as SHI YING. He fitted for the character I realized he was great in acting usually in this Chinese xianxia romance drama. He so handsome in his white outfits and he great how he used the white umbrella as a weapon it's so fit for him. He so elegant and powerful a crown prince and charming as a master. It's also my first time to watched Ren Min in chinese costume drama.
She act verywell being cute naughty princess ZHU YAN of crimson CLAN. She become more beautiful when she portray a serious character in the drama. For me SHI YING AND ZHU YAN have a great chemistry. Hoping they have another costume drama together. The fight scene and cinematography are amazing. I love it. ❤️ I love also the ost of the drama.
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Not the first xianxia I’ve tried, but the only one I finished
To be honest, I have never been a fan of xianxia. The battling and the sorcery always feel unrealistic and repetitive to me. So when I saw that this drama had 40 episodes, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to try it. But as a big XZ fan, I was compelled to at least peek at a couple episodes.That was my original plan, anyway. Until the storyline drew me in. This drama was more than battling over territory or power — though their DEFINITELY is that! What kept me watching was also seeing the themes of human frailty + loyalty + love play out on screen. The skill that Xiao Zhan showed in his role as Shi Ying was no surprise, as he is always a consummate professional. His depth of emotion, and the care he took in every subtle movement or look was amazing to witness.
Ren Min may have gotten a lot of criticism ifor her portrayal of Zhu Yan, but as a fairly new actress, I think she did a pretty incredible job as the young and feisty, straight shooting princess/student. ZY’s personally and strength came through. All said, this xianxia drama was time well spent!
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This review may contain spoilers
“In tragedy they found their life’s purpose…”
The Longest Promise is a love story between the exiled crown prince Shi Ying and princess Zhu Yan of Crimson Clan. It’s a slow-burn, master-disciple romance between two people who meet as children at the court, where Shi Ying (then crown prince) saves Zhu Yan from the undeserved punishment, and as the consequence of that ends up being forced to fake his own death and leave the capital. He goes into hiding to the Jiuyi Mountain where he later becomes a distinguished cultivator and priest. Zhu Yan never forgets what crown prince did for her that day, and feeling grateful and responsible for his death, decides to find a way to bring him back to life. Years later, that quest brings her to Jiuyi Mountain, famed for its magical prowess, where she meets a young and skilled ‘immortal official’ (basically priest in training) who she thinks can help her. Despite the initial hiccups in their relationship (because there is a prophecy that Zhu Yan will bring doom to Shi Ying & the fact that Shi Ying doesn’t want anyone to know his real identity) Zhu Yan ends up being his first disciple and from there their relationship starts developing and blossoming over time.When people say this is a slow-burn romance, they mean it. You can see both of them developing feelings for each other over time, but the real confession doesn’t come until the last few episodes. As a priest, Shi Ying tries to push Zhu Yan away and squash his own budding feelings, while Zhu Yan, while devoted to her master, doesn’t believe anything romantic can come out of their relationship because of Shi Ying’s status and upright demeanour. That’s one of the reason why their romance, despite this imbalance of power between master and his disciple, feels healthy and natural. Shi Ying never flaunts his power over Zhu Yan but instead guides her to become her own person while at the same time trying to protect himself from the love that goes against his status.
Aside from the beautifully depicted love story and ML and FL of integrity, this drama has beautiful visuals. The CGI is one of the best (with some small exceptions) when it comes to xianxias, and flowy costumes (really fitting for the whole “holy mountain” concept) and landscapes are stunning. Another strong point of this drama is the acting, especially when it comes to main leads.
Xiao Zhan as Shi Ying was exceptional. With the way he acts with his eyes he really stands apart from others. The sad scenes in which he cried or tried to be strong and hold back his tears were heart-wrenching. The dignity with which he carried out the role of a crown prince and prominent cultivator/priest was impeccable. His microexpressions conveyed all of Shi Ying’s internal struggles, and despite Shi Ying being quite aloof and withdrawn as a character, there was no blank face acting.
Ren Min as Zhu Yan was also really good. Whether as a cheerful and optimistic student, defiant and stubborn disciple or heartbroken woman in love she carried it all gracefully. There was a lot of criticism when it comes to her character. People found her annoying, meddlesome and stubborn, but in my opinion she was exactly as she should be. She was someone who was always left in the dark by other characters. She didn’t know about the curse, she didn’t know Shi Ying loved her, she didn’t know her best friend lied to her about his identity, so she made mistakes. However, as soon as she would find out what’s actually happening around her she would become clear-headed and reasonable. All of her actions had logic and sound motivation behind them. She was wiling to sacrifice herself for her loved ones, she was wiling to admit her own mistakes and she was willing to understand others and forgive them for hurting her.
Now, the thing that I found lacking when it comes to this drama is the plotty part that connects with the romantic storyline. I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty mid. The palace intrigue and power struggle over who’s going to emerge as the crown prince was pretty simple. The emperor, Shi Ying’s father, is said to be a bad ruler who can’t save the decaying empire, but we’re never really shown how bad the situation in the empire is. There was a conflict (and later war) between Merfolk and the rest of the population (in which Merfolks were treated as subhumans) which was a major plot-line that defined relationship between Shi Ying and Zhu Yan, but it was kinda whatever. Aside from the personal tragedy that it brought to SY and ZY I didn’t feel anything towards either side. And then the whole time there was a villainous shadowy figure (with distorted voice, which made it kinda childish) behind the scene that pulled the strings and turned out to be THE villain, but until the last 2-3 episodes it didn’t really make me feel anything. It was just whatever.
All of these things had the great impact on the love story, but viewed separately they were just mediocre. The main issue I have with all of that is that (MAJOR SPOILER) Shi Ying and Zhu Yan in the end decided to sacrifice their ‘happy ever after’ (for which they suffered and fought SO HARD!) to save the kingdom, but the drama didn’t make me care about the kingdom and the people in it at all. Intellectually, I can understand their decisions and actions, but emotionally it feels like everything they did in the previous 40 episodes was pointless. The ending is open tho, so I just consider it HE.
When it comes to the music, the opening song and one of the songs/melodies used in the drama were beautiful, the rest was alright. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t memorable either.
All in all, it’s a good love story, visually stunning and well acted. The MDL rating doesn’t do it justice.
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the confusing end
I’m going to keep this as short as I can. The drama was pretty good. Been waiting for it ever since it was announced so i was very excited. The acting and everything was amazing but sadly the ending was really very confusing. It’s safe to say that I was truly disappointed with it. When i finished it my first thought was if there was another season or if maybe i missed something. I checked a lot but still do not understand the ending. There should be a new season or maybe a movie or sequel explaining this ending in my opinion.Was this review helpful to you?
Enjoyable but more of the same
I am attracted to this drama because Xiao Zhan is the male lead. And certainly the second male lead Fang YiLun does very well too. Their performance is stellar. A number of other cast are very good too but their parts are of lesser weight. I would sum up to say an excellent cast, beautiful CGI, lovely costume and melodious music especially the ending theme song.The 5 male leads are handsome and the second female lead is very good looking. As for the main female lead, she acts well but is frequently caught in the wrong angle - I could not help but think a nose job could perfect her look. Acting alongside the handsome Xiao Zhan, her look is lacklustre - and they not seem quite compatible. In the entertainment industry, good looks certainly help.
China has a lot of acting talents and musicians. But creativity in story writing seems a bit lacking. All these dramas seem to use the similar themes. When watching this drama, many of the sub plots feel very familiar - I can almost identify in which drama I had seen a similar sub plot. And the ending sucks. I think the drama should end with Yuan destroying the God of Destruction together with Shi Ying and Zhu Yan, and not have dragged on. As commonly happen in Chinese dramas, this drama tries to come up with a clever and impressive ending but ends up with a lousy one.
Dying and resurrection, walking a path of torture to exit a chosen path, misunderstanding because the lovers are not communicating properly, keeping too many secrets and lying for the good of each other, couples fighting each other to the end (as in Fu Yao), a petulant female lead character - do these sound familiar to you? Fantasy dramas should have the most leeway for creativity; it is a shame not to capitalise on it.
So I would conclude: a great production but a rather cliche story.
But nevertheless worth watching if you have the spare time or have not watched much Chinese fantasy dramas in the past to spot more of the same.
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This review may contain spoilers
Live upon the name!!
arranged so well slow progressed, characters strt affection to each other is very defined and not that abrupt. ending is predictable with so many twist and turns but if you watched more of these drama you can guess what will happen nextand the promise made in childhood fulfilled in adulthood this is the main theme of the drama that's why i give it live upon the name THE LONGEST PROMISE!!
the actors put lots of emotions and affection in this you can tell with their work, but the story is like solving the puzzle coz it was about love between master and his pupil like they are attracted with each other without knowing their feelings
its like forbidden love coz they were master and disciple and when he decided to end the curse by killing himself from zhu yan's sword it was very emotional then zhu yan decide to give uo her half live for him by turning the yin yang curse that moment was worth of watching and when shi ying decide to give up on priest hood for her that was amazing
although the ending is not that much fascinating but they when shi ying appeared by the flower leaf when zhu yan decide to leave that was predictable and satisfying that shi ying appeared in front of her not a very happy ending also not sad ending it was good enough for make us smile...
very grateful for actors and directors for the work amazing !!
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Interesting begin of a long story
So far the plot & the dialogs are interesting, short enough to not get bored. the story is simple but enjoyable.The visual "magical" effect aren't high budget, but the acting of the ML & FL is really sweet and there is a good chemistry.
I hope that the quality standards settled in the starting episodes will be keep until the end of the se rie.
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A Perfect Mismatch
"The Longest Promise" is the most excruciating lack of mutual understanding I’ve ever seen in a drama! It's supposed to be a romance between a teacher and his pupil, but it's like watching two people trying to solve a Rubik's Cube with their eyes closed! They're attracted to each other, but they're so clueless about what's going on in the other's head, it's like a never-ending game of emotional hide-and-seek.This drama is adapted from a novel called "Zhu Yan," written by Cang Yue who has also written the story for “Mirror: A Tale of Two Cities”, another poorly conceived drama which tells the story of the fish people of Su Mo, a character appears in “The Longest Promise”. While everyone else seems to be raving about this drama, I find myself fighting off yawns. The plot revolves around Zhu Yan's emotional rollercoaster ride, and it's like they're dissecting her feelings with a microscope. Talk about overanalyzing!
Zhu Yan is supposed to be a sweet, kind, and innocent girl, but the poor script writing makes her come off as plain stupid and unbearable. Ren Min's portrayal doesn't help much either. Every time she calls out to her shifu, I can't help but cringe. It's like innocence and seduction got tangled up in a messy knot!
Likewise for the Shi Ying character. Don't get me wrong, I love Xiao Zhan, but even his talent can't save this inconsistent and lackluster portrayal of Shi Ying. Blame it on the poor script writing, I guess. In fact, almost all the character writing is very poor; they are inconsistent and full of logic flaws.
My Verdict
The writers are on a mission to extract emotions and tears from the viewers, but it just feels forced and dry. The dialogues are as predictable as counting sheep to fall asleep, and plot holes are everywhere. And can we talk about that resurrection ending? It’s bizarre. Luckily there were no halos and water-walking this time (which happened in “Mirror: A Tale of Two Cities”), thank goodness!
I hate to be a party pooper, but this drama is just not my cup of tea, even with the talented Xiao Zhan and Ren Min on board. Sometimes, you just gotta accept that not every drama can hit the mark, no matter how much we adore the actors. Let's shake our heads, move on, and find something that'll tickle our funny bones for real! This drama is for Xiao Zhan’s hardcore fans.
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A good pairing.
Note: I watched on Netflix, which had 43 episodes. Not sure why MDL says only 40.Let’s be honest… the plot was not plotting here. However the leads were fantastic, both in character on their own and in their relationship together. They were the only enjoyable aspect for me. The side couples were cute enough but truthfully I did not care about them or anything else going on really.
Ren Min is incredible. I had only seen her years ago in “Cry Me A Sad River” so it was nice to see her again and leading in a show opposite Xiao Zhan. They have great chemistry and do what they can with the story they were provided. Since they were the leads I was able to enjoy a good chunk of this. It was just any scene without them that had me struggling to pay attention.
That being said it got messy enough towards the end that even I began to lose interest in the leads themselves. I’d say around episode 37 or 38 is the last good moments had with them.
Rating it a 7 for the leads. If you were to watch only the leads scenes it’s a 7 for sure. Take the rest into account it probably goes down to a 6 but.. whatever.
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