The Last Immortal (2023)

very lightly entertaining

I've followed Zhao LuSi for some time and she is on a lightning streak in her career. I never considered her particularly strong as a dramatic actress, but what she is good at are light comic roles, and the early part of this show suits her very well. Wang An Yu stands up well alongside ZLS's star power.

Like other epics, this story spans vast stages of time but this show deals with much narrower issues. It begins with the imminent awakening a Fire Phoenix god, whose birth event is disrupted by GuJin, a true god who has yet to arise to his own destiny in the divine realm. He comes across a lowly spirit beast & together they start a journey to revitalize the Fire Phoenix.

I've read that The Last Immortal is a sequel to Ancient Love Poetry, a show I enjoyed very much, but there's not a lot of reference to it. TLI takes a long time to even start approaching the intensity of ALP. The tone changes from light comedy to serious half way through & here's where the leads' lack of depth in their performances become apparent. The story & action also drags noticeably before picking up once more as we enter the second act. However, rather than develop the characters' relationships more deeply, the show deals with all the villians rather early or too quickly, as with the long suppressed demon god. Too much time is spent with everyone firing their energy beams at each other while crying in angst in between. The ending felt somewhat unsatisfactory.

I don't have a lot to say about this show. It's lightly entertaining but the storyline doesn't hold any surprises, the CGI is bad, the costuming so-so, and no deep philosophical questions. It's good that ZLS could have a career in singing (she sings the opening theme song) if her acting doesn't carry her much farther, but this show won't stop her current streak.

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A nicely written story that stood out from the highly convoluted Xianxia dramas in the C-Dramaland.

I have been reading a lot of reviews stating that you will enjoy this drama if you enjoyed 'Ancient Love Poetry' and I cannot disagree to that. However, I wanna say that this surely has better story flow and certainly lesser complicated, dramatic and problematic love affairs. All things being said, I want to emphatically say that this drama has its own strengths and weaknesses so it should never be compared to any existing dramas out there.

Although this drama started on a relatively slow phasing, I'd say that they did a good job in gradually making the future events to be more engrossing and attracting. Honestly, up until now I still feel like this drama lacks some interesting events... It do have some, however, in my opinion those moments aren't remarkable and satisfying enough for me to binge watch it all the time; which is both its advantage and disadvantage... Disadvantage simply because we got so used to Xianxia dramas offering more convoluted story lines that can bring our emotions up and crazy, and since this drama doesn't offer those, it makes it look plain and ordinary in comparison to them. But that is also why I mentioned it is its advantage as well. Because by making the story less complicated, it also makes the viewers easily grasp and comprehend what's going on in the story. Making it an easy to watch and a viewer friendly show.

Next thing I wanna talk about is the nice and comfortable chemistry between the main leads. I love their silly and bickering moments the most and I can honestly watch them going at it non-stop. They give me this refreshing vibe that makes me wanna commend both of them for having such great compatibility. Like, Dang! I know Zhao Lusi will nail it but Wang Anyu just destroyed me on how well he executed his character in this drama. His portrayal is insane! More than convincing. I don't know how to put it into words but I wanna say that he is not acting his character because he 'became' his character. He drawned me to him everytime he's on screen; not only because of his visuals but because of how excellent he is in commanding his facial expression, body language and overall demeanor. Not to mention how his expressive eyes can make you feel different emotions and feelings. What an expressionist!

In regards to Powerscaling, CGI, Costume and Design. I would say that it has its good and not so good but not entirely bad moments. I believe they have established and followed through a good hierarchy when it comes to powerscaling but there are some moments when the show demonstrated some inconsistencies. First is when Hua Yan (Peacock King) mentioned that even Feng Yuan (Heavenly Empress who is a demigod ready to ascend to godhood) is no match with his current power but then get injured and captured by a heavily injured Gu Jin/Yuan Qi who is a God himself! Not to mention how he's getting handled by Hong Yi and Yan Shuang (Which if I'm not mistaken are a Senior and Junior Immortals). Additionally, how is Hua Shu (During her Evil god moments) overpowering Yuan Qi a God of Chaos, Feng Yi a demigod and all the other senior/junior immortals? Haha! I also just want add up how some of the power/magic effects looks way too powerless and unsatisfying in contrast to how it should be. They could've added more power and bigger effects to make it look extra convincing, unfortunately they did not. Like... editing team, Hello? What's Up!? and Oh! Before I even forget, Zhao Lusi suffered 2x from that ugly and horrid 'blood spitting' scenes. Grr!

Lastly, I just wanna mention how satisfied at the same time disappointed I am with Lan Feng & Hua Shu's love story. I know that his death helped Hua Shu's character to remain the villain that she is, but I feel bad that Lan Feng was killed on their most special day and was never resurrected. I mean, he's one of the characters I like and truly look up to, as it's fascinating that he remained pure and untainted until the very end. + I love how his unconditional love and affection has become a tool to make Hua Shu realize things and could have turned her into a new leaf 'sooner' only if he didn't get murdered. Anyways, I also like the redemption moment of Hua Shu. Who would have thought that a character as ambitious and scheming as her can turn into such a loving and devoted person. It only shows that anyone can change as long as they're redirected by a commited person who genuinely cares.

P.S. I hereby proclaim that Gu Jin/Yuan Qi is by far the best Xianxia Male lead character for me. This character is as smooth as butter and will always make sure that A Yin/Feng Yin is always safe and sound.

Story - 9.0, This drama has a good phasing/sequencing and although it started 'slow' I appreciate that it didn't hinder them to mess the story up. Alhough it's undeniable that this story lacks some remarkable moments, I'd say that the smooth narrative helped this show and turned it into an easy to watch drama. + I love how they handled their main Villains (Hua Shu and even Ming Qi (Evil God himself). How I wish they incorporated more satisfying moments into this.

Acting/Cast - 9.5, I don't have any issues with the actors and although I personally like Li Yun Rui, I still wanna say that he needs some more acting lessons. He's really good at playing the playful and silly sides of his character unfortunately something is really off whenever he's trying to act out scenes that requires other emotions. Another person I want to talk about is He Kai Lang, he did fine playing the weak and modest Xiu Yan however his portrayals of Ao Ge isn't convincing enough for me. + On the other note I just wanna say that Wang An Yu's charming point is prominent when he's acting all innocent and free of worries. His clear sparkling eyes along with his bright smile was so enthralling it made me believe him immediately. It also made him very easy and comforting to watch. His smile is like a beam of light that gives me unconditional happiness and positivity. Lol

Music - 9.5, The music used are really good and it blended really well with scenes they are played in. It also never overlapped with any of the sequences and even accentuates the emotions and vibe for each one of them. Maybe the reason why I'm not giving it a perfect score is because it didn't contain a song that truly stands out. A song that will make me LSS.

Rewatch Value - 9.5, It was easy to watch thanks to the light and comfortable vibe established by the Actors and actresses with their roles. I never find this boring... I even binge-watched it and could have finished it 4-5 days early only if it wasn't for my work schedule. I also just can't consider this show to be 'extremely' re-watchable because I feel like I must pick up a new one from my unending list of unwatched dramas instead of re-watching it.

Overall - 9.0, I never disliked this drama and although I was influenced by all the reviews I read that compared this with other Xianxia shows, it didn't become a hindrance for me to appreciate it and see the better side of it that are even better compared to the other Xianxia's I have watched so far. The only thing I found missing here is the binge-worthy satisfying scenes that can make me watch parts of it over and over again. This drama is a whole ride of smooth and nicely put up sequences.

IF you find my review helpful please let me know.

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It was not so bad but Average

I have watched the last 10 episodes of Ancient Love Poetry, so I know about the story from those few episodes & also read spoilers. After watching it, I hated that in The Last Immortal they changed some characters' names. I mean, in many dramas, 2 or more actors play the same character. What's the point of changing their names. Moreover, it's from the same production house why they did it.

Zhao Lu Si didn't disappoint me at all. I liked her portrayal of A Yin & Feng Yin. A Yin a low water beast immortal & Feng Yin a phoenix queen.

Wang An Yu did his part well, whether playing a naughty, lazy person who loves to drink Gu Jin or Yuan Qi a true god who has the responsibility of three realms.

Loved the scene of the water beast & Gu Jin's relation is so cute & the way the water beast makes noises is so cute.

Liked A Yin & Gu Jin practice session.

It's cute to see A Ýin getting jealous every time Gu Jin mentions Hua Shu.

Loved Xiu Yan & Ao Ge love for each other & the willingness to sacrifice for each other.

Loved it when Feng Yin & Gu Jin were being lovey-dovey in front of a heartbroken A Jiu.

I cried when Daze Mountain sacrificed themselves.

I hated Hua Shu, she was a selfish and jealous kind of person, but I hated Hong Chou more because she was always interfering in Yuan Qi's life. She thought of herself as his mother just because she brought him up.

I hated that they didn't mentioned about Tian Qi who brought Yuan Qi up. He did so much for Yuan Qi & yet they didn't mentioned about him.

I don't know why people hate ML so much, he clearly did so much for FL, so sacrifices he did. I get it he didn't communicate with her properly, but he loved her enough to sacrifice everything.

In Xianxia reincarnation, misunderstanding & sacrifices are bound to happen. I want a Xianxia drama with zero misunderstandings. Only The Starry Love has zero misunderstanding.

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First Xianxia done :)

My first Xianxia? Done✅

I love my girl Lu Si, so I was very excited to start this, and she delivered. I loved her acting in this, especially her crying scenes – she had me BAWLING. I think her on and off-screen chemistry with Wang An Yu was great too, and I loved seeing their characters together??.

The second couple was cute too, but I think they developed the romance so late. Hong Yi only starts chasing Yan Shuang in episode 36… of 40!!! That’s too late, we deserved to see them as a cute romantic couple ?
I also think the ending scene between Feng Yin and Yuan Qi was too short. I feel like it would have been great to at least get a hug, no??? Regardless, I’m satisfied with how everything wrapped up overall.

Visually, the show was very pretty. Most of the CGI was very impressive and nice, and the costumes and styling delivered a 10/10 as well. The OST was really pretty too, such beautiful songs and voices that emphasized the story perfectly.

Overall, a nice show with
- Fun
- Heartbreak
- Some stupid immortals with 1 brain cell (honestly, after so much time you’d think they’re smart, but these old immortals were all so dumb??)
- Romance
- Pretty costumes and OSTs!

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Not what you'd expect

First of all, I am huge ZLS fan. Her acting is great. Second, it was a tencent production with a great cast and the original work has a huge fan base as well. So, it wouldn't be illogical to have high expectations from a show like this. But, whilst the show had its highs, it also had its lows.
Pros-
1. Acting: The acting was great. Period. No further explanation needed.

2. Music: It was good, the opening track was quite nice.

3. Happy ending.

Cons-
1. The plot- As the spiritual successor of ALP, you would expect better plot. But, all you get is recycled cliches. Has it never happened before that the FL is actually a super powerful and is just undergoing tribulation? Has there never been someone who erased the ML's memories/feelings because they thought that the FL was unworthy of him?

2. The Characters- The ML started off interesting, but as the show progressed, he became an increasingly textbook wood block ML. The kind that will go through thousands of trial for the FL, but would die, (or kill her, as seen here) than tell her. The FL's character was still bearable. The second leads were alright, I'll give them that. The characters of Ao Ge and Xiu Yan were very interesting. Then comes the Devil God. His character was well in the grey zone. It could have been so great, but the story didn't give him enough time. But still, he was the only good thing about the ending. Other than the 2nd leads wedding, that is.

3. CGI: The CGI was just so underwhelming. It was bearable, you can say, but it had so much room for improvement.

4. The ending- Enough with one of the leads dying and then regenerating after some centuries.

The plot was my biggest disappointment. ZLS's shows in the recent years have mostly had a plot different from the rest. It looks like the streak breaks here. Because this is easily one of the worst shows I have watched in 2023. The acting was the only saving grace.

And the intro track, while it is a good song, it fails as an intro. A good opening song is a mirror of the show, it highlights some feature of the plot or the interpersonal relationships or shows the story from the other lead's pov. This one failed to do any of them. It talks about not being willing to die, yet A-Yin is willing to sacrifice her life at the drop of a hat. It doesn't even matter for whom, at times.

2023 had a lot of great shows, it was a nice year for C-dramas. I hoped to end it on a good note. But it seems that I just wasn't meant to. Thanks to 'The Last Immortal', I am laying off xianxia scripts for a long while now.

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what you need to know

I've seen the other reviews on this drama and I'm not entirely sure why it got less than 8.5 for a lot of people. I'm not new to the xianxia genre of cdramas but they're not my go-to genre if I must choose however, because of certain people in my life who are very picky when it comes to cdramas who recommended this to me, I just had to come and see what the hype was about.

STORYLINE: A lot of watchers who are considering to watch this drama even though you haven't seen it's prequel, 'Ancient Love Poetry' or read the novel 'Hidden God', you are not disadvantaged in my opinion, if anything, it gives you a chance to see this masterpiece in it's fullest. The storyline was fulfilling; it portrayed each of the characters' development as well as honing in on the individual struggles that they face, with the main focus on the main couple of course. There weren't a lot of plot twists, rather, there were originally devised plans created by the antagonists that were meticulously elaborated and altered to suit the storyline as the drama progressed. I really commend this, considering a lot of other dramas would add in irrelevant side issues that honestly have no purpose of being there except for filling excess time. The intense love between the leads make for a heartbreaking story at times as their love is constantly being tested, exploited and manipulated. It comes to show how important trust is in a relationship, especially when superficial aspects such as status and third-parties intervene. The friendship that is formed between the four main leads also leaves quite the impact as their chemistry on screen is immaculate.

CASTING: I have no idea why people are hating on Wang Anyu because I thought the execution of his character was exceptional. He acted childish when he had to and you will notice that he does mature as the drama progresses and same goes for Zhao Lusi's character. She had to act childish at the beginning because she literally just hatched from her egg; she knows nothing of the world so her innocence and naivety is expected but when the time came, she was able to be cold and indifferent. Anyways, the chemistry between the two was incredible; you would've thought they were lovers in real life. The sheer joy and sadness you will feel while watching these two will have you swirming and squealing as well as cry your eyes out. Furthermore, you know the actors are good if you want to pull their hair out. The actress of the character Hua Shu (i forgot her name, my apologies) who was one of the main antagonists, was able to convey her character so well that when it got around to watching the behind-the-scenes, I could not fathom that these two people are the same. It's hard to visualise hatred and envy on one's face without it looking so fake but she did it perfectly that I have no complaints.

OST: I am a SUCKER for shows who go above and beyond delivering the bare minimum. When I say this, I mean that they got the actors and actresses to sing their respective OSTs. Jaw-dropping, earth-shattering music to my ears. The theme music was sung by Zhao Lusi and the ending credits was sung by Wang Anyu with the other main leads singing their OSTs. Whenever the OSTs play up in a scene, it just adds another layer of sentiment and emotion in that scene, making it even more impactful on the audience. It shocks me everytime that they all have such amazing singing voices; I am hooked on this dramas OST and I haven't heard a soundtrack this good since "Till the end of the moon".

Rewatch Value: Yes. Just yes, although you'll have to wait a bit so you can forget the main plots and stuff. It won't hit the same if you remember all the important scenes.

It's a pleasure to have watched this drama and I really hope you don't go comparing it to it's other counterparts i.e. the prequel and novel. It's a wonderful standalone drama with all it's little hidden gems that also deserve to be recognised.

Happy binging!!

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True Value of Friendship from Second Female Lead.

I just want to comment about how we should appreciate and give credit to a friend like Yan Shuang. She is fiercely loyal to her friends, supportive, caring and compassionate and here is what I think makes her even more beautiful and regal; even when Hong Yi was head over heels to Feng Yin/Yin, Yan Shuang never ever had a tiniest intention on being mad or angry at Feng Yin/Yin. She knew she had no place in Hong Yi’s heart and she bowed out silently and it breaks my heart to see her dealing with the pain alone. She never complained about it even to Feng Yin and all she ever said was that she knew that things would never worked out between her and Hong Yi and never ever she badmouthed Hong Yi infront of Feng Yin because she is not a person who hold grudges even though she waited and wasted her prime years for Hong Yi for 1000 years.
But it saddened me the most that when she lost her only best friend Yin, nobody asked her how she felt throughout the years that Yin wasn’t around. She carried that sadness alone even though she was with Hong Yi all that time when they were in that little cottage but she supported Hong Yi instead that misses Yin for all that years. Yan Shuang’s feeling was left out.
She is a strong fighter, a warrior and a queen of her own clan. I am so happy to see that at the end, she found her true happiness with Hong Yi and they both had a beautiful wedding.
She is indeed the best friend one could ever dream of and we need more character like Yan Shuang in dramas. Kudos to the actress who carried the character well.

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Beautiful

I enjoyed the story. Costumes are beautiful. Love the cast & music. Little details here & there aren’t perfect but I don’t pick on it, why? No drama is perfect…I enjoyed the story, didn’t feel bore at any point, it’s a good drama. I didn’t skip scenes so that’s a good sign. I also understand not for everyone. If anyone is thinking to watch, try it.

I love A Yin character - cute & humor & Lusi played well in that role. I watched her other drama playing cute & humor- love it. I always enjoy some humor in a drama & honestly, not all actors can pull that off. Only a few female leads can play humor character & it’s adorable to watch. Wang An Yu - he portrayed his role as a young god very well. The role is perfect for him. I personally think he is cute in the drama & as an actor.

The drama is perfect for me & I understand not for everyone. Just watch it & if you don’t like it’s totally fine. I tried other drama people recommended, I didn’t like but doesn’t mean it’s bad, just not my kind of story.

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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Just loved the plot and chemistry between lead actors. At first, I thought that Wang Anyu is not suited to be with lusi. But as time passes, I realized that he is one of the best ML of lusi. I hope that they can work again together.Love them both?........,........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................,...........................................................................................................

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While I believe this drama is commendable, it falls short of being a masterpiece. I thoroughly enjoyed the engaging storyline, impressive acting, and particularly the captivating visual effects in diverse realms. The unique style of clothing also added to the overall appeal. However, the conclusion surprised me, and I feel that something crucial is lacking in the ending.

This marks the first instance where I've sensed sadness conveyed through a character's eyes, specifically Gu Jin, the god of chaos. Despite my mixed feelings about the conclusion, I must admit that this drama is worth watching, offering a range of emotions and a compelling viewing experience.

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