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Back from the Brink chinese drama review
Completed
Back from the Brink
9 people found this review helpful
by bunnyangel
Jun 9, 2023
40 of 40 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 10
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 10.0

One of the best dramas this year

This is my first time writing a review for a drama in MDL. I am not really much into xianxia but this drama became one of my favorites. So let me tell give a review and my opinions. I have already read the novel so I can say that there are a lot of changes made to the novel in the drama adaptation. A lot of characters were added and even the main villain is different, but I still feel like they all add up smoothly to give a conclusion.

Also this drama is for those people who like a light-hearted plot (there was angst and some sad parts too but it's still light-hearted considering that it's xianxia), a healthy relationship between the leads with fewer misunderstandings, a warm and naive male lead who turned cold after getting betrayed, a strong and sassy female lead, character development of the leads. Some may say that it was a bit fast-paced but for me it was perfect.
It will let you experience everything- comedy, romance, friendship, costume, fantasy, cute moments, grief and suspense. Give it a shot, trust me you won't be disappointed.

SPOILER AHEAD:
So the our male lead (Tian Yao ) is an all powerful dragon demon. He was initially innocent, naive and a warm person but turns cold and is full of hatred after he gets betrayed, used and badly wounded by his first love and that too on his wedding day. His ex dismembered him and sealed his body parts into different places. So his soul escapes one day and finds a mortal body. 10 years later he meets our female lead (Yan Hui). YH is a weak disciple (by weak I don't mean physically or emotionally, it's just that she had a seal placed in her body by her master which prevented her from using her magical powers to the fullest) at chenxing mountain who got kicked out because she defended spirits (taoists and spirits are generally at feud in there). She is a free-spirited, lazy, straightforward person who loves eating and wants to lead a lavish lifestyle. She was initially reluctant but after listening to TY's story started to sympathise with him and decided to help him find his body. In the beginning, TY was wary of her because she was also a Taoist just like his ex who betrayed him and only wanted to use her for finding his body. But after she saves his life, he begins to slowly warm up to her and trust her. They started to help and protect each other and facing all the difficulties together, thus forming a stong bond of mutual love, trust and understanding.
Now let me tell you in the novel, TY is the one who fell for YH first but in the drama, it was YH who fell first and confessed first. This makes sense because YH is a free spirted person who won't back down while TY is someone who has been hurt badly before and find it difficult to love again.
Our second male lead Bai Xiao Sheng was added in the drama. Now for future viewers this is a piece of advice:
In the beginning he is really funny and supports our main couple but then he falls in love with our female lead. At first he really doesn't plan on doing anything but then comes the only misunderstanding arc between our main couple. Both BXS and our female lead misunderstands the male lead and that's when he tries to create a rift between the two of them because he thinks that the male lead doesn't deserve her. So I saw a lot of people complaining about this arc and dropping the show there. For them, please have some patience. Many of you may find it annoying but once the misunderstanding gets cleared he backs off and gives his blessings to them. He even saves them twice. So yea, the misunderstanding arc will last from episode 17-24 but it will get better. Also, this arc, even though was not there in the novel but still important because this is where our male lead realizes how much our FL's trust and love meant to him. It was a moment of character development for him because he learns the need to explain himself and communicate well with FL.

Next, I would like to say that if you have seen or read somewhere about our female lead being a damsel in distress and always needing a male lead to save her, then that's not true. I saw these comments somewhere but I never understood. Yes, she was a bit weak in the beginning but there are times also when she saved our male lead and fought bravely. Her character development happens mainly in the second half of the drama where desperate situations force her to become a stronger version of herself. From someone who just wanted to lead a carefree life and eat baozi to being a strong, responsible, and protective person who is ready to burn down the world to protect her loved ones and eventually saving the day in the end. I feel like this is the best part of the drama adaptation. TY also got his own character growth, from being naive and innocent who got betrayed and became full of hatred but never changed his true nature, from initially planning to use the FL to selflessly loving her.
I know a lot of changes were made in the drama but I feel it was for the best outcome.

Ok, there are a lot of cute moments but the kiss scenes are not great. (I heard that the director instructed them to kiss like kissing a wall, so not the actor's fault).
Plus the OST's are perfect.
Also all the characters got their own time to shine, no one was extra and unnecessary. Everyone had their own role to play.
CGI was not that good but its not that bad either given the fact that it's not a high-budget drama.
But still kudos to the director, scriptwriter and actors for all the effort they put into making this a better version of the novel.

Overall this was undoubtedly one of the best xianxia dramas this year.

Regarding the ending, let me spoil it, it's a HE so watch it without worry. And the ending is quite satisfactory(at least for me)
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