Till the End: A disappointing story.

Till the End of the Moon had every element on its favor to be a masterpiece. With its main premise, it could have been a fantastic story about the fight against destiny and the complexity of two individuals that oppose each other in the moral scale. It had the potential to be one of the greatest romances about star-crossed lovers ever. It pains me, truly, because it could have been something epic, something really special. In the end, it turned out to be one of the most tedious, fury-inducing experiences I have ever felt watching a chinese drama.

TTEOTM is probably the most disingenuous "love" story I had the displeasure to watch. It actually makes me question if the original source was supposed to be one in the first place. Somehow, this show managed to make all the couples a mess due how terrible they are established and developed. All I could think was "Am I supposed to root for them?" "Is this supposed to be romantic?" "Was I supposed to be sad?". Not only that, but the forced drama and bad writing didn't help at all. How do you write a character and can't decide how they act? It's genuinely sad how the main ones went from clever to stupid and from complex to hollow after the first ten episodes, but to be fair, it's safe to assume that the first (important) arc simply rotted their brains just like it did mine. I should have predicted that, that arc, which had me both bored and absolutely disgusted after certain scene, was just the start of the downfall of something that had potential.

About technical aspects, they are 50/50. The fight/flying scenes are kind of clunky, there are some cuts that needed a SERIOUS second revision and sometimes the CGI doesn't blend well with the actors, but the sceneries are stunning and some songs are really good. "Immortal/Mysterious bird" is simply mesmerizing, just like the art used for the opening. The costumes were pretty and the acting was fine for the most part. The kissing scenes felt so bland though...

Sadly, I didn't enjoy Till the End of the Moon like I wanted to. I wasn't convinced of the "love" it tried to sell to the audience. I couldn't even feel sad when bad things happened, I could only feel deep irritation. Which was a shame, because it's a story that had the tropes I love and genuinely interesting themes and elements. A Devil God that threatens to destroy everything, fallen divinities from ancient times, forbidden love across time and space, how was I supposed to dislike that?

Ultimately, I tend to think about the "If only". If only it had another fmc whose stupidity doesn't ruin any sense of plot progression and actually had a consistent personality. If only the male lead didn't get stuck in a endless, boring obsession, devoiding him of any character for a long time. If only it was an actual intrinsic, complex romance, instead of the ping-pong of nonsense and insincere feelings it had going on till the very end. If only it didn't have an arc that dragged for so long, condemning the course and pacing of the story and altering the perspective the main characters had for each other. If only it bothered to give its other characters a conclusion. If only.

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