Novoland: The Castle in the Sky (2016)

Story: Long long ago, there lived two clans of humans - those who can fly and those who can't. The winged clan was considered more superior to the earth humans due to their flying ability and possession of flight technology. For centuries, earth humans and the winged humans battled for supremacy. After centuries of animosity, a fragile peace existed between these two clans in order to end all the deaths and losses both sides suffered during the wars. What is the reason for the winged clan's ability to fly? It is the existence of a goddess who is reincarnated every 100 years. This goddess possesses the power to grant wings to the winged clan and the aura emitted from her powers all the flight technology. Envious of the winged clan's ability to fly, the queen of the earth humans started to plot for the re-incarnation of the goddess. The queen wished to have the reincarnated goddess under her control and to provide the power to fuel her grand plan for a sky kingdom in preparation for a war against the winged clan. As predicted, a baby girl was born and she was the reincarnation of the goddess. However, the queen missed her opportunity to kidnap the baby girl and the child grew up peacefully in anonymity, not knowing that she's the goddess reincarnate. To the humans and the winged clan, the goddess was born to grant the winged clan the ability to fly, but in reality the goddess is born every 100 years to reunite with her lover and even in this reincarnation, she was fated to meet and separate from him. What is the fate of this pair of star-crossed lovers? Can they consummate their relationship in this reincarnation after so many centuries of missed opportunities and what of the impending war between the two clans?

This is an original fantasy, wuxia drama featuring many new faces in the entertainment world. The CGI is wonderfully done. In fact, I will go so far as to say that the CGI in this drama exceeds those of Ice Fantasy. It is not overly done and the scenes moved fluidly without any odd pauses when CGI was used; lending it a more believable air for a fantasy drama. The story is wonderful and it keeps you wanting more at the end of every episode. My congratulations to the author!

Acting/Cast: The hero in the acting cast is Zhang Ruo Yun who acted as the male lead, Feng Tian Yi. He's relatively new to the entertainment world but those of you who had watched Wuxin: The monster killer, Legend of Green Hill Fox and Fifteen Years to Wait for Migratory Birds would have noticed him. In Novoland, his acting is considered the best amongst the leading cast. His leading lady, Guan Xiao Tong (as Yi Fu Ling) may have acted in more dramas than him, but her acting left much to be desired. She's not very good in expressing herself and often have a rather stiff face; giving her acting an air of immaturity. The second male lead, Liu Chang as Bai Ting Jun was equally bad with expressions and together, they form what I called "The Frozen Faced Couple" in this drama. Ju Jing Yi from SNH48 surprisingly acted well in her role as the jealous rival of the female lead. Despite her first time acting in a notable role in a drama, her acting surpassed that of the female lead. Chen Ruo Xuan as the bumbling genius inventor Yu Huan Zheng is another good actor, providing the much needed supporting role and the unexpected heroism for the drama. The mature actor who acted as the Regent uncle to Feng Tian Yi is also another actor deserving kudos for his acting.

Music: Good enough but I'll go out in a limb here by saying that I am not a fan of TFBoys and their songs.

Rewatch value: I find myself absolutely sucked in by Zhang Ruo Yun's strong, obsessive, brilliant and assertive character in this drama. His love for Yi Fu LIng/goddess is so all encompassing. The way he looked at her, the way his lips briefly lifted at the sides as he considered her, the way he 'tortured' her, the way he literally inhaled her and wish to possess her.....Zhang Ruo Yun had created a very sensual and possessive chemistry based on his acting alone! Thanks to his acting, it made the sub-par acting of the female lead more tolerable. I would re-watch all the parts in this drama where he interacted with the female lead.

Overall: In summary, this drama would have scored a higher rating if the role of the female lead and second male lead were given to more experienced actress and actor who can actually act. However, the unique story keeps you wanting for more and managed to grab the audience's attention until the end. A good production that deserves more recognition than the other bigger budgeted fantasy-themed drama featuring big names such as Ice Fantasy, Legend of Chusen and Demon Girl that were airing at the same time this drama was aired. If you are hesitating which one to go for, I recommend that you give Novoland a go!

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I was hesitating whether to write a review or not these past few days because of my feelings towards the ending, I decided to.

Where do I begin with this drama? this drama had me hooked since episode one, I fell in love instantly with the aesthetic of the whole world and costumes and not to mention Feng Tian Yi, he is one beautiful hypnotizing man, I wasn't expecting much starting it but then before I knew it I was going insane waiting for the next episodes to the point I watched a lot of them raw, I even made Youtube videos and gifs of them and I do not make those things so it's pretty apparent I fell in love with this drama.

Feng Tian Yi was definitely my favourite character and a reason to watch this, he has a fiery temper and attitude but a kind heart underneath who is willing to put everything at stake to protect who he loves, Zhang Ruo Yun's acting was the best in the drama, I was impressed and so drawn by his graceful yet fiery way of portraying Tian Yi. I could feel all of Tian Yi's emotions just from the look in his eyes. As for Fu Ling, I really liked her too, she was sincere, kind and stood up for herself and what she believed in and never liked to see someone put themselves at risk for her sake, as for her acting, I think it could have been better but it's fine. There is many characters in this you will hate, my god is there lol and a lot of the story could have been avoided had this imbecile characters stayed out of the way but a drama is a drama after all.

Music was really nice too, though the end theme forever has me going wth because it's kind of random lol but oh well it's catchy.

In short the story is basically about fated lovers and what they have to overcome in all of their lives, will history repeat itself? or will something worse happen? or something better? watch to find out ;)

I give this drama 10 because I truly loved it even if I am upset about the ending (the ending is heartbreaking bad, I love a good tragic end as much as the next masochist but this was just BAD) despite this, I was hooked for the past month on this, this is my favourite drama of 2016 and I don't see a drama topping it this year. If you love romance and fantasy and action this is for you, beware there is a lot of sadness in this drama too throughout, but the love story between them will have you smiling, honestly the drama is so visually stunning you would watch for that alone! The CGI also had me surprised considering how cringe worthy many drama CGI is but I think it was all good.

I'm going to miss this drama and Tian Yi and Fu Ling, I wish for a second season, if only :)

EDIT: while originally heartbroken over the horrific unjustified illogical ending, there is an alternative ending and it makes much sense and all is well :) it is happy and now I can breathe again lol. Make sure to skip episode 28 and watch episode 29 instead, episode 29 is the same as 28 but with the better ending instead.

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