I’m partial to historical C dramas mainly because the modern ones are ridiculously tropey. The male leads are either CEOs, doctors, or e-sports players while the female leads are dimwitted, cutsey waifs who are struggling to survive. The plots aren’t that deep either. Mostly, the dramas rely on idol actors to ganer ratings. The Xu Kais, Wang Yibo, and their peers populate this genre which of course is the reason most are popular.

Intense Love is fluffy. The plot is asinine and watching the acting will make you wonder who greenlit this mess.

I stopped at episode 21 (of 24) cos my brain was melting. Watch if none of the above bother you.

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I'm trying to hang on to my last shred of nerves cos this is so boring

A weak Xianxia made even more lackluster by the apparent lack of chemistry between the main leads. If you've seen one Xianxia then you've seen them all and IMO, it's the dynamics between the various characters that elevate one above the other. The problem with TSL is that the characters don't look like distinct individuals who are unique or peculiar but as extensions of each other where they're rendered useful or useless depending on the current status or experiences of the leads. I could probably overlook this had there been raised stakes where we didn't know who or what would pose a threat to our leads. Except we knew from the outset who the villains were and we understood their simplistic thoughts which is what almost all XX characters want. Power. Or specifically becoming the Crown Prince (for the Void dwellers) and becoming the Powerful Overlord (for the Heavenly Prince).

Even more spirit-dampening was the '3 shards' arc, where all the interesting things about the preceding episodes went to die. I legit yawned and FF'ed my way through it.

Look, I've been upfront about my lack of love for this genre because if not done properly, it tends to veer toward the "doom to mankind and only our hero can possibly save the world" kind of drama.

Which is what this was.

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The lead actress can’t act

With increased irritation, I’m trudging through this dense and boring historical drama hoping something remotely interesting happens, however, it’s taking for-fu@king-ver to get plot advancement. It doesn’t help that I seem to have developed an intense dislike for, Sun Li, the lead actress who- with all apologies- can’t act her way out of a paper bag. I’m sorry but Ms Li’s acting is the same in every period drama she’s been in. She always does a doe-eyed ingénue who, despite being unfairly treated, goes through life singing kumbaya and has never met a potential enemy she didn't love. Seriously, who wrote this screenplay? Sigh. I’ll give it a dozen more episodes to see if the pacing and story development move faster otherwise it goes in the dropped category pronto.

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Wuxia done badly

This drama draaaaaaags and has zero propulsion. Everything is foreshadowed. I mean what are the chances that all three male leads just happen to converge at that particular town at that particular moment? Come tf on. I tried so hard to stay with this but it's so fucking boring. Can I also say just how low budget the set design is especially given this is Wuxia and most of the set could have been computer generated? That palace was empty af. Sigh. I just didn't like any of the male leads and I wanted XY to fucking stop smiling in the face of abuse and unending degradation. How was this even a popular book?

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Wasted opportunity

The story lacks emotion, particularly between the major characters. Instead, we get hijinks and slapstick "comedy" where the fat Queen becomes the butt of jokes. She is the epitome of what Hollywood has been doing to overweight actresses. She's either always eating or unintentionally making a fool of herself with no one to tell her the truth.

I don't know whether the FL's character and appearance are true to the source material. however, the reality is the main couple failed to communicate for way too long and had very low chemistry. Was it a mistake by the director? Did the scriptwriter not understand how to build up their attraction and just gave up on making it work?

Notwithstanding, it was refreshing to see a woman who wasn't borderline anorexic play the female lead although the styling department failed to utilize her beauty properly. The makeup was horrendous and her clothing styles did her no favors. She looked really lovely whenever she wore those high-waisted dresses made with floaty, airy fabrics rather than the conventional structured layered dresses. Then her beauty really shone through alas, this was done for only two episodes.

Why do I get the feeling that the producers and director intentionally sabotaged this series? Was it done to discourage having a different type of leading lady or did they genuinely not know what to do with Jackie Li's character?

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Nothing about this series was noteworthy

The most interesting character in this drama was the actual ice rink, others annoyed me to no end, particularly the leads. I can't quite place my finger on the reason I ended up disliking the series but it didn't help that both the first and second leads had zero chemistry. In addition, I've come to dislike the sycophancy in most C dramas, especially when support characters continuously heap praise on the lead stars for either being handsome or talented or rich or having a straight nose or being tall or whatever other characteristics made the studio cast the actor in the first place.

It's juvenile and instantly breaks the fourth wall for me. Skate into love felt like a high school drama and even the hockey matches that made the plot somewhat exciting were few and far between which made me lose interest very quickly.

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If I could insert a gif it would be one of me sprawled on the floor with a gun to my head because this stupid drama done got on my last nerve. I have nothing but a distaste for the story which btw gets its popularity by riding the BL train of The Untamed (a series I hated). Both ML characters are evil people in pretty packages and despite the writer's attempt to repurpose and repackage them as having turned over new leaves, the havoc and damage they perpetuated were too deep for me to suddenly forgive and forget. They neither deserved my sympathy nor my admiration.


The story itself was rather lackluster as in I didn’t care if the armory was ever found nor did I care if our leads got their happy ever after. In fact, I rooted for them to die....the more painful the better.

The acting left much to be desired and their chemistry was absent. There was also a lot of miscommunication.

The supporting characters were caricatures that we’ve seen multiple times in C dramas. Just the same old evil people who must rule the world come hell or high water.

In all, I gave up at episode 24 and immediately felt happier that I wouldn’t have to see Wen Ke Xing’s (Gong Jun) smug, smirking face.

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It took six months to get through this series.

Xianxia is quintessentially a contrast of light and dark, good and bad, gods and demons, and it is stylistically depicted by monochromatic character and color themes with slight differences in plotlines. If I'm being honest, this genre is my least favorite; notwithstanding, I have seen a couple that are slightly less ridiculous than most with my fave being Love Between Fairy and Devil (LBFAD) and my least fave being this tedious and pretentious Immortal Samasara.

Firstly, Yang Zi, the lead actress, is such a one-trick pony who seems content to play different variations of the same "dim and somewhat smart" character which she played not only in IS (Immortal Samsara) but also in Ashes of Love and Legend of the Dragon Pearl. If someone edits clips of her performances in these dramas, I bet you wouldn't know they were three different series.
And therein lies the problem not only with Yang Zi but also with Xianxia as a genre. It's too stylized with little to no room for maneuvering of plots or themes. There's the demons are bad and heavenly beings (HB) are good trope where the heavenly beings fight endlessly for dominance with a side plot of some HB prince who happens to fall in love with some lower HB twig or leaf spirit. Like clockwork, the writer never misses to give us the useless fairy with the baby voice (one of the worst aspects of LBFAD) who later comes into her power after being tossed around and abused by the higher HBs. Toss in a love quadrangle, some men in bad wigs, and the most watered-down set props which, given this is all CGI, seems like a wasted opportunity to liven up an otherwise bleary set of white clouds and grayscale.

Did I mention how much I hate the color and style? Sigh.

Anyway, IS is about a HB prince who falls for a flower; sadly, love is forbidden in heaven and they have to go through three different time periods of heartbreaks and forgotten memories whilst fighting some obscure bad guys who did some bad things. That's all.

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Well, everyone got what they deserved

What's done is done, but I believe this drama was miscast. Change the leading man to the smoking hot Monk guy (Zhou Lu La) and we at least would believe the guy was indeed a general because he had the right form plus an expressive face that conveyed more emotions than Ren Jia Lun has done in all his dramas combined.
Moreover, and I can't emphasize enough, this drama suffered from the screenwriter's depiction of the protagonists and antagonists who were done a disservice by being characterized with such clearly delineated qualities. There were no gray areas, everyone was either white or black. Our ML was entirely too selfless while our heroine had less gravitas than cooked noodles. The combination of the two of them kept me entertained because god knows nothing good would ever come out of their combined idiocy. Perhaps I'm being too critical but having just come from watching the masterclass acting and screenplay that is "Royal Nirvana", I'll give myself a pass for being dissatisfied with a drama that needed a couple more re-writes.

While it's normal to romanticize star-crossed lovers, I still need them to not offer themselves up as sacrificial lambs. Zhou Sheng Chen as a character didn't quite ring true for me and for a drama that's this character-driven, I needed to believe he was being tormented by the vow he'd prematurely taken. How could he have been allowed to have his cake and eat it too? Yes, I know he died and all but he never actually suffered unrequited love since whatshername was basically handed to him on a golden platter. What a joke.

In all, the clusterfuck that was the premise could have only worked if they all died, which they did. So, all's well.

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What fresh hell is this?

Yang Yang's acting is mainly him keeping a straight face or speaking with his mouth barely open while standing around looking like a god who was benevolent enough to let the viewer gaze upon his chiseled jawline. But that only works in a romantic drama not one where he alone has 80-90% screentime that's supposed to serve as a bridge that brings the other characters in line. Look, I know he has an insane number of fans who will no doubt rave about his dramas despite the fact that his performance was mediocre at best. However, what he does have going for him is that Tom Cruise-like face and height which will probably keep him on the idol pedastal for a long while. So, really, no one will ever complain because he brings in the money and keeps the womenfolk (and men) happy with his face alone.

Naturally, the story sucked but I can see why and how it appeals to men because it has minimal romance and plenty of games, so, I guess that's all that matters.

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Plot holes galore

There's a dearth of good historical palace dramas which is why I latched on to this after it popped up on many lists of dramas to watch. Initially, I liked the plot and how the main leads were introduced to the audience, however, by episode 20, everything felt flat, repetitive, and stupid. In particular, I disliked the actress who played the female lead (a character that seemed to lose brain cells as the drama progressed) who is one of these fluffy, limp noodle actresses who litter the c drama landscape like a weed. She's not pretty and her acting is laughable. Seriously, I wonder how the female industry veterans feel having to watch these no-talent, stick-thin barbies get multiple jobs. Aside from the FL, there were many characters who either overacted (i.e the Emperor) while some were clearly coasting (the guy who played the Crown Prince).

Why is it so difficult to find solid palace dramas with smart/intelligent heroines?

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It had so much potential

I don't know if it's the editing or the screenplay but something is off about this drama. Also, the FL is a poor actress and everytime she is onscreen with the supporting FL, my focus naturally moves to the second FL because she’s just much more charismatic an actor. Then the story feels like we were dropped in the middle of it, there’s no gradual building of plot. Nothing. And then we’re supposed to root for them because why?

Sigh. It’s a waste of such an interesting idea and I wish I could say it's manageable.
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It's nationalism all wrapped in pretty propaganda

Mehn, thank god for Zhao Lusi otherwise this drama would have been as dry as unbuttered toast. Prof Ren, with his never-ending lectures about EVERY-FUCKING-THING, is beginning to grate on my nerves.
Mrs Ren is supposed to be a doctor yet she's never been shown in that capacity; all she does is fold clothes or pack books for her husband. Rebecca is an I-want-to-stab-myself-in-the-eyes kind of boring. Li Quan is made out to be a bad person simply because he's poor and the way his father was depicted as being avaricious reeked of classism. I was not impressed with Prof Ren's indifference to LQ's homelessness.
Also, Prof Ren is a gold digger (yes, I said it) who married his wife for her parents' money cos that man has never in his life told his wife of 20+ yrs that he loves or appreciates her instead he went looking for his "long lost love" 🙄😤 The grandparents are dead paperweights in that their roles are given unnecessary importance yet the drama would have been fine without them.

Lastly, I cannot imagine a more unserious person than Prof Ren. Who resigns from a plush position as a uni dept. head without telling their spouse? Who decides to start a school without having a proper business plan or source of funding? Whoever wrote the script must have a mandate from the government to make TCM look attractive to the younger generation. If so, it's the height of dangerous propaganda because it'll make it seem like anyone can be a TCM doctor seeing as there's no entrance exam or requirements to qualify.

I'm at ep 20 and will continue to soldier on but I'm no longer as interested in watching as I was for the initial episodes.

Update June 5, 2023: I've lost interest and will be dropping this series.

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