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Plot: I honestly liked the plot. It was original. Although the ending was kind of cliche and the entire story a little predictable, it was quite well written and left you with a satisfied yet somewhat cheesy feel.
Characters: Some of the characters were really enjoyable but others were quite infuriating. At this point, I am resigned to the fact that most dramas have one or two scheming, selfish, and extremely annoying women but I am honestly a little sick of seeing them. They are always the same - blinded by love to do stupid and evil things. I wish the villains were were more original.
Acting: Most of the main leads did a great job acting. Kudos to Yang Mi for portraying so many different personalities. She did a great job bringing out each and everyone and was really the star of the show. The only thing that bothered me was the "crying scenes" of some characters. It was at times painful to continue to watch this drama simply because people were crying so much.
Sets: Chinese drama CGI - what more has to be said?
Rewatch: Uhhh probably not - too much crying and moping/misunderstandings (probably 50% of the second half) to properly enjoy a rewatch, but some scenes were pretty nice such as Episode 30.
Overall not bad. If you are a romance fan, you are sure to enjoy. If you prefer action, it may be worth a try but just a warning, it's really watery and slightly cliche.
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I think everyone should know by now that the drama is adapted from the novel of the same title written by Tang Qi Gong Zi. The novel is plagued with plagiarism accusations, and apparently there is ample proof of it as well. I don't think it's fair to give the story a low grade because of the plagiarism claims; the production itself is innocent after all.
Anyway, I'm not a fan of fantasy-wuxia dramas. There hasn't been any fantasy drama which caught my eye since Chinese Paladin. The genre simply doesn't appeal to me. This is also the reason why despite being an avid reader I've never thought of reading the original novel. However, according to the book fans, it's a pretty loyal adaptation. I also like how there really isn't any overly cliched plots, though it certainly took time for the villains to get their comeuppance. I really really do wish that they gave a happier ending to Feng Jiu and Dong Hua but I get that they have their limitations [2]. I also wanted a "happily ever after" for Zi Lan and Yan Zhi, which unfortunately also didn't happen.
There are some actors in the drama whom I thought were hopeless in their craft. In particular, Vengo Gao. He was absolutely terrible in Les Interpretes but he improved a lot in 3L3W. Yang Mi too, seemed to have recovered her form from her earlier years. Her double act as Bai Qian and Xuan Nv was impressive. I'm not as awed as everyone is by Mark Chao's acting - he just doesn't look the part, but I guess he must be good judging by the positive responses. I liked Dilraba the most though. It helps that she's stunningly gorgeous and her character is super likable as well. Overall, the casting is incredible because of the visuals. It's hard to find a drama like 3L3W where every single female character is so freaking good-looking.
On the music, I don't skip the opening theme because I quite like it, but I can't say the same for the ending soundtrack. I don't think the music is anything to shout about, I'll say that it's just fine.
There are still some minuses though. First is the special effects. I don't think Chinese dramas right now have the technical expertise to make a xianxia drama look believable yet. So this is not a huge knock, just a disadvantage of the genre itself. Next is the styling. Mark Chao looks like Severus Snape when he lets down his hair. Yang Mi's high forehead (when she's disguised as a man) is also slightly distracting. Also, I'm not exactly sure how the deities "grow". Su Jin looked 6 at age 500, but Feng Jiu is still a toddler after thousands of years. I guess perhaps (nine-tail) foxes don't age as quickly, but it's sure confusing.
In all, it's a pretty solid production. I'm not sure if it's because I've just finished the god-awful G&I, but the comparison did help. It's amazing how a fantasy drama feels more natural than a pseudo-historical drama. The drama has a pretty good rating on Douban at 6.2 and that's despite a lot of people giving it only one star due to plagiarism. I don't love the drama, but I liked bits and pieces of it and I think it's at least entertaining. You'll probably skip some parts here and there but the length of the drama is actually tolerable. They do have a story to tell and the episodes are not merely fillers.
-- Footnotes --
[1] The movie version stars Liu Yifei as Bai Qian and Yang Yang as Ye Hua. Just looking at visuals alone, this is an awesome cast.
[2] Another production company has picked up the rights to the Feng Jiu and Dong Hua spinoff and thus they cannot replicate the story from that novel. Also why you most probably will not see Dilraba and Vengo Gao reprising their roles.
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This is my first review....so my apologies if I lack in anything. I'll try to make it short. ( No spoilers )First off I want to say this was my first CDrama and I can't complain it took my CD virginity, not in the slightest.
This show is purely a work of art with a beautiful story and amazing characters, landscapes, music, acting and costumes. Filled with love and betrayal and a little mystery, it gets very intense and sucks you right in. The only thing I felt lacking was only the graphics which isn't that big of a deal (For me anyways). The acting for me was on point the actors did very well with their roles and played their part to the finest. I really love how they gave backstories to the characters it gets you more attached to them (as I did) and get to know them better and see their point of view, which I feel a lot of shows lack of. I got so attached to this I had to keep telling my self not to binge-watch it so I didn't finish it fast well...that wasn't the case I just couldn't stop, I craved for more. It's just too good. If you can get past the graphics this show it is one of the best ADramas in my opinion (A lot of people will agree). I haven't found one to top it yet. It has opened me up to these types of dramas, yes I spent hours and hours watching it and it is so worth it I highly recommend it to anyone.
I cannot wait for the adaptation for this show. I am sure some people do not know of it so I will leave it here,
https://mydramalist.com/26385-three-lives-three-worlds-the-pillow-book.
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Love the costumes!!!! Love the hair styles and the makeup. Sceneries are not perfect but pretty good.
These immortals lived hundred thousand years but some of their antics are a little lame. Wish for a little bit more new interesting ideas in Wuxia world. Oh well, maybe in another decade. But also what can you expect from a "plagiarized" book.
Little disappointed that Yang Mi character who lived over 70,000+ years still wasn't stronger. She cried too too much at the end. I know that this gut wrenching love but still.... she is a queen with magical powers whose family let her get away with everything and yet... her life wasn't very much interesting. Other than those beautiful gowns....
Ye Hua is too hot. Yang Mi is so beautiful, love her acting. I cant get enough of her.
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All in all, this drama exceeds my expectation that it makes it difficult finding a new set of good drama. A one of a kind that I’m willing to give more than a score of 10! It became one of my fave drama.
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This drama exceeds my expectations, and is better than the novel, for me at least
I know this is actually/probably the first time I’ve given a full mark to a series review in all areas. But, I just really have to considering, I am really into/obsess with this drama on my end. It’s definitely one of the best, if not, THE BEST I’ve seen. I cannot count how many times I have re-watched this on my end, I’m so glad I gotten into this drama because I don’t regret watching it. It has really given beyond on what I have hoped for, and more (so this is definitely my all time favourite Chinese Fantasy Romance Drama).Aside from a few characters that gets on my nerves (but what series doesn’t have those characters to add in the drama?), I do love a lot of characters in this (which I will do a list later (in this review) to show some of the chara’s I love). What I am impress with is, the writer actually manage to solve everything (without any plot-holes) by the end of the story. Like, all the obstacles was removed, with no more questions left. At first, I actually had a question that was on my mind since the beginning and then when it was revealed I was like “ohhhh… so that’s why…”. I love how the love story was executed, and how each character did their roles well. I love Ye Hua’s love/devotion to only Bai Qian(Su Su), and no matter what happens, he loves her, and only her. There are times where I think the writer might do something stupid which adds to more drama, but in the end, it surprises me in a very good way, like when Miao Qing secretly add the love-potion into the soup that she made for Ye Hua but Ye Hua didn’t drink it because he knows there’s something in that soup, and I’m like “Yes!” and when Su Jin created that fake Su Su to seduce Ye Hua (when Ye Hua was doing his heavenly trial in the mortal world (without his memories at all)) to anger Bai Qian, he still didn’t disappoint me, because he’s only been waiting for one woman i.e. Bai Qian because he made a promise with her when she visited him when he was 11 years old that they will get marry when he’s older, his whole life, he waited just for her, and I’m like “awwww”. Seriously, Ye Hua didn’t disappoint me, and I love that about him! I also love how Ye Hua gives me a feeling that I can believe in him and that he’s strong from beginning to the end… Strong in terms of character, and his power level was consistent and doesn’t disappoint, I also love how the battles are executed…(honestly Mashima (Fairy Tail) can take a lesson from this -.-).
On my end, I’m a sucker for a good romance story, and Eternal Love has it all! I love how it was truly a touching love story for the main pair (Ye Hua x Bai Qian), with a lot of obstacles that comes their way (that made me cry), it was an emotional roller-coaster but what I love is where there are times I have my doubts but the writer didn’t disappoint and gave me more to show me how much they only love each other. I love the scenery and the effects, omg…. where am I going to find another series like this?! I love the music too! There’s alot of characters I love but there’s also those I hate with a passion but glad they got what they deserved in the end..but in the overall what I love the most is, the pairing/otp I love can get a HAPPY ENDING that they deserve, because that’s the most important!!! It made me feel so happy for them!!!
And this is going to be a long comment about Ye Hua to shed some light to those who blames him and doesn't like him, I thought I'll give you some light to Ye Hua here:
* long comment, be warned! *
I think what people needs to realize is that a story needs imperfections and dramatic plots to build on, if there isn’t any, then there won’t be a story to tell. If a character is perfect and all the drama is avoided, would there even be a story to tell? Also, we all know that Ye Hua isn’t perfect, he have his flaws because no character is entirely perfect… That’s too good to be true and that’s very unrealistic. Their flaws is what makes them realistic, and that’s what gives the writer a way to build/develop on said character. If Ye Hua is flawless; and all this drama is avoided, then the story wouldn’t have developed to the point where I fell in love with him and his love/devotion to Bai Qian and this pairing. Ye Hua have his flaws, but he’s easily a loveable character to me because his actions/and the things he did for Su Su/Bai Qian have touched my heart. I never once doubted his love for her. If I were her, I would fell in love with him as well (I wish someone like this exist IRL, but no, it’s too good to be real…)
Su Su being disappointed in Ye Hua, yes, Ye Hua have a role in this but he only did it because he thought that could protect her (even though he was wrong), and it was unfortunate that by the time he realized his mistake, it was too late and Su Su had already given up on him altogether (but what matters most is he learned from it). From Su Su eyes, I understand why she was disappointed, but from Ye Hua’s perspectives you need to understand that what he did, he did to protect her. He saw everything his second uncle went through when he stood up for Xiao Shing and saw how much they were both willing to die for each other, Ye Hua knew it would be a 100 times worse for him and Su Su because she is a mortal, and he’s the crown Prince (how great it will be if they realized earlier that she’s Bai Qian? All this torment would be avoided, but then the story wouldn’t have 58 episodes long to tell…). Ye Hua isn’t afraid of dying for her, he would do anything to take the suffering in her place instead and die for her (and this is what I love i.e. his devotion for her), but he doesn’t want Su Su to go through any of this, that’s why I truly understand why he wanted to fake his death so he can ensure a happy life with her, and him giving up on his title for her, that actually touched my heart. No one can predict what’s going to happen, and he did plan meticulously on his end, his plan didn’t go wrong, but all the problems came when Su Su was discovered and went through that barrier that Ye Hua set. This was beyond his control because fate have to have Su Su feel like something happened to Ye Hua thus leading her to be forced into the Celestial Palace where their tragedy began…. This misunderstanding also stems from that bitch Su Jin, because she did everything to make Su Su believe that Ye Hua never love her, when we know that isn’t the case. Su Jin is a bitch and I absolutely hated her every actions in this series!! But as much as I hate her and as much as it frustrates me; in the end, I understand that this drama is needed to push the plot along and to actually have a story to tell.
And things aren’t any justifiable/better when you have someone like this Heavenly Lord to rule the palace, no matter what Ye Hua did, he will always take Su Jin side because he’s BIAS!! And he wants Su Su gone… Ye Hua and Di Jun is better at judging people than the Heavenly Lord imo. But like everyone should know, without these annoying people like Su Jin and someone like Heavenly Lord… then there won’t be a story to build on. It would be boring if everything is perfect…I understand why Su Su would want to jump off the Zhuxian Terrace looking from her pov, I also understand why Ye Hua did what he did to protect her… I don’t blame neither of these two because they have really suffered through those unjustifiable confinement of the palace regulations and rules.. Yes, it hurts Su Su when Ye Hua took away her eyes, in her pov, and I feel for her when that happened. I also feel for Ye Hua because it hurts him more to have to do this to her, in Su Su eyes, him taking her eyes away is like he doesn’t believe her, but we know this isn’t the case, because it’s really the only way to save her life. The Heavenly Lord, I really do hate him because he’s not a good ruler in judging cases, when he asked Ye Hua what he would do to appease everyone, the Heavenly Lord already have plans to punish Su Su, so even when he takes the 3 years torment in her place, and having that as the only punishment, no one including the Heavenly Lord would be appease, so Su Su eyes was inevitable… But Su Su didn’t know Ye Hua took the three years lightning torment in her place; he just suffers and take this punishment silently for her because he didn’t want her to worry. The thing about Ye Hua is he keeps things to himself and he does suffer silently because he doesn’t want Su Su to worry, I see it as a selfless act, but it could easily lead to a lot of misunderstanding, I don’t hate it on my end, what matters most is… In the end, Bai Qian found out (not through Ye Hua) but through a third person, and when she realized it, that made me teary…. So in the end, I do love Ye Hua a lot a lot, his actions really touched my heart, and it’s not like I blame him for those decisions he made, because I understand why he did what he did, in the end, him realizing his mistake, and grow from it is what matters. All he did, he did to protect Bai Qian.
Mo Yuan and Ye Hua are twins, so naturally they would carry the same taste/characteristics. Mo Yuan is selfless in his love for Bai Qian. He doesn’t need her to know, and I think he’s just happily content that she’s by his side. For Ye Hua, he’s also selfless in that sense that (which is different to Li Jing in comparison), he would have Mo Yuan revived sooner, because he knows this is what Bai Qian wants and will make her happy. He went as far as to offer the Soul Gathering Lamp, Get the Divine Fungal Grass, lose an arm, used up his cultivation to create the Elixir and have Zhe Yan give this to Bai Qian, telling him to not let Bai Qian know it comes from him because he doesn’t want her to feel guilty about it. That’s a selfless act. He even said the night before he left her that it’s probably the last time he can have her to himself… Signifying that if Bai Qian wants to be with Mo Yuan, he would support her happiness with him. That’s selfless. So honestly, I do love Ye Hua on my end. His actions have proved to me over and over again, how much he loves her > himself. Yes, he isn’t perfect but he’s perfect in that sense (for me) that his character is relatable and I love his actions/devotion for Bai Qian. He’s perfectly written in that sense that a beautiful/touching love story was created because of how his character is portrayed, which I have come to love. And what makes me love Ye Hua more is, there aren’t many stories where I love a character but that character gives off a reliable feeling where I can rely on him to get the job done. For Ye Hua, I get this feeling. He is capable, and he’s strong and I love that the writer is consistent about this.
Ye Hua x Bai Qian is my otp, and I love them on my end. I also love Mo Yuan selfless love for Bai Qian as well, and Mo Yuan is also among my favourite characters, but I don’t ship Mo Yuan x Bai Qian because I’ve grown to really love Ye Hua x Bai Qian love story. I will ship Mo Yuan x Bai Qian if Ye Hua wasn’t in this story though, even though it’s wrong for master-disciple to be in a relationship, but meh, that doesn’t stop me in loving a pairing. Anyways, all that aside, I love that in the end, Mo Yuan felt happy for Bai Qian x Ye Hua because it just adds more appeals to Mo Yuan’s character for me. If Su Jin was like that, I wouldn’t have hate her on my end… But what’s a story to tell without these annoying characters? LOL. What matters most is they get what they deserve.
In the end, I just want to say, Mark Chao, kudos to you in bringing out Ye Hua’s character effectively!
>>>>>>Favourite Character(s) <<<<<<
(1) Ye Hua (no.1 fav on Male side) and Bai Qian (no.1 fav on female side)
The below is not in ranking order:
(3) Mo Yuan
(4) A Li
(5) Zhe Yan
(6) Bai Zhen
(7) Di Jun
(8) Feng Jiu
(9) Mi Gu
(10) Lian Song ( Ye Hua’s third Uncle )
(11) Nai Nai
(12) Kunlan First Disciple (Die Feng)
(13) Kunlan 16th Disciple (Zhi Lan)
(14) Li Zhing
(15) Yan Zhi
(16) Di Jun Star Lord(Si Ming)
Music: 10/10 <- I love the OST in this one!!!
Rewatch Value: 10/10 - Oh yeah!! Definitely on my rewatch list, to me, this being a 58 episode while it seems long at first glance, but trust me after going through all those episodes you will want more!!! This drama is totally recommended to those who enjoy Xianxia/Fantasy romance, with a touch of 'true & touching love story'.
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not bad but not that good
I'm not going to lie, I didn't like this that much. Maybe it's because I watched it when I was pretty young, but still. also this may be biased because it's not really my cup of tea.so, the plot is solid. it's not overly complex to blow your brain up, so it has a level of simplicity. it is kind of confusing at first, but later you'll completely understand. i'm not gonna lie, the first few episodes were kind of slow, but it built up good pacing eventually. there was this one point in the middle when i really wanted to cry, but that's it. i don't see how it's sad, but maybe it's because i'm not a romance person? the acting is good, and if it wasn't, i probably wouldn't have felt teary eyed once. props to the main couple. i'm also not a fan of the character development here, for some reason.
i don't hate this, but i just find it mediocre. i don't see why people think it's a masterpiece. it's hard for me to grasp, but if you're looking for some nice sloooow romance, you can find it here.
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im really not kidding. the storyline is amazing. the moral of this show for me is that we should treasure our lives no matter what. and the part where SS goes back to QQ and YH becomes a kid, they both showed consistent love which is what i really likethe casts are all very bonded if you watch behind the scenes, it made me enjoy the show more
the music is really nice, i saved them all to my chinese song playlist
i am really not kidding, i am super picky with my dramas and this is one of the top 3 in my chinese category.
really worth the watch and spend the time to watch 50+ eps
PLEASE WATCH IT!! THERE WILL BE A SEQUAL <3
EDIT: i will x1000000 rewatch this before the sequal comes out hehe
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The below is solely my own subjective opinion. Also, Spoiler alert. Major spoiler alert. The storyline was great, the casting- especially for Ye Hua/Mo Yuen, Donghua Dijun/Mortal Emperor as well as Bai Qian/Susu, Bai Feng Jiu and Cheng Yu. However, love story wise, I think I was most touched and actually cried when it came to Dijun and Feng Jiu's relationship. You could really feel the love and emotions between them. The acting between them was pretty great and so was their story.
I felt more emotions between Mo Yuen and Si Yin during the beginning moreso than compared to Ye Hua and Bai Qian throughout. Also, each episode went on pretty slowly, I watched in on 1.75x to 2.0x speed most of the time. The death of Li Jing was also really sad. We also never knew if Zhe Yan cleansed the eyes and gave them back to Bai Qian or not, or when Mo Yuen's hand had recovered. I was still quite in disbelief that Ye Hua took Susu's eyes and never returned them even when he knew he could take them back from Su Jin though. We also never saw more of Nai Nai and her existence after her devotion and loyalty to Susu after she served Bai Qian for a few days which was sad. Furthermore, Cheng Yu's story with the third prince was never revealed either even though they mentioned it and aroused curiosity from the audience. Cheng Yu and A Li's characters were the ones who brought the most joy and so were the scenes with Bai Feng Jiu's and Dijun's interactions.
What bothered me the most was the one liner explanation in the end of Mo Yuen explaining the return of Ye Hua. There was completely no clues or indication of this in the beginning and it just suddenly explained everything. It didn't make sense to me why Mo Yuen didn't hint to Bai Qian that there was a possibility of him coming back in roughly 10 years even though he had some idea.
Although we knew that Bai Qian and Feng Jiu's original form was the 9 tailed fox, we never saw any other original forms except knowing that Zhe Yan's form was a phoenix and Ye Hua's was a dragon. I feel like that would've made things more fun.
Overall, it was worth watching. Although its not the best, it was one of the best/better one's I've watched.
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