This review may contain spoilers
Flashbacks galore - should have combined Seasons 1+2
10/22/2021Aside from the continued great acting from the cast, I am very disappointed in Season 2. They should have combined both seasons, esp. when Season 2 was broadcasted only about a month after Season 1 ends.
Episodes 1-5 - Flashbacks Galore!! The story was moving so slowly as each character needs to have their own flashbacks. If there's no season 2, we don't need so many flashbacks.
Episodes 6-13 - The cast is basically running around in circles inside Death Marsh + more flashbacks
Episodes 13-18 - This last part is when the story starts to move along and things start to get interesting. There's more action, more conversations and the plot thickens! I was hoping for some good battles in the final episode, and I'm glad we did get some.
*Spoilers: Season 2 Ending and Season 3 Synopsis below* - Big Rant!!!
You give me an open ending after all that???? That is so unfair to Xiao Fan/Gui Li. He's been trying to revive Bi Yao for 10 years, and you can't give us a happy ending? And then when I read the synopsis for Season 3, you tell me Xiao Fan actually loves Xue Qi and not Bi Yao??? What the heck is that?? Who tries to chase after a glimpse of hope to be with the love of his life, and then the next season realizes that she is actually not the love of his life??? Arggh....I have never read the novel, so I don't know who Gui Li actually ends up with. But this just doesn't make any sense.
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However, if the script was properly written, this sequel could have been folded into the first series, with much less draggy moments and flashbacks in the first series.
Of course, by this stage, there were not much surprises except for what the demon beast was about and whether it and Bi Yao could be resurrected.
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Yang Zi did her thing!
I was all hyped all through the whole II when at the very end... we don't know if Xiao Fan's love of his life survived. Now we have to wait until 2020 to see the next season. This is worse than the Game of Thrones. Sad now. I read rumors that the main leads are not going to be in Season III but hope they do come back. People, there are a lot of "Fake" Season 3 on YouTube... ignore them. Keeping this review short because I am very frustrated right now. Thank you to the Main Leads, writers, producers, and the rest of the supporting cast. The Visual effects were on point. Yang Zi I have to give you lots of Kudos... you are always awesome.Was this review helpful to you?
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This review may contain spoilers
Superb acting and delivery by Li Yifeng (Zhang Xiaofan), Zhao Liying (Bi Yao), Mao Zijun (Qin Wuyan), Yang Zi (Lu Xueqi), Chen Yi (Lin Jingyu), Qin Junjie (Zhang Shushu)The theme of the story was held from the beginning to the end, which is an extremely rare in any type of series shown globally. The creatives even manage to hold Xiao Fan and Bi Yao's love through out. No side stepping.
I will start with the villains first:
How cruel is the Ghost Sect Leader. His is nothing more than a power hungry monster. And a pretentious lover/husband and a pretentious father. He is all about power and Lu Wei's mother said it clearly that he does not love his wife or daughter and he has brought about all this disaster himself for power. He manipulates Xiao Fan to about the Heaven Book under the umbrella that is it to revive Bi Yao while all the planning is to revive the Beast god and if Bi Yao get revive too, then that is a plus.
Then followed by Qin Wu Yan, whose cruelty has not limits, no boundaries. He is the mastermind of tricky. I still think that his love for Bi Yao is more of obsession, a competition, for his power, his trump Card.
Xiao Yicai seemed have always have greed in his heart. He wanted the be the successor of Qing Yun Sect. The blood of the beast god only enhanced what was already there. His beast god revelation fell flat. His true self and intentions should have been brought forth. Especially since the Ghost Sect Leader mentioned that only if Xiao Yicai's teacher found out that he was behind the Chusen Sword. And the hint was given again when Xiao Yicai attached Xiao Fan, but it seemed only Xiao Fan heard it.
Last but not least, the Evil Leader of the Righteous Sect, Dao Xuan. His ideals, his thoughts are mostly bad and bias. Without the Chusen Sword and with it any foul play of the Chusen Sword, he was willing to slaughter Xiao Fan for having two types of cultivation. He becomes influenced very easily by others, shows he is not a good leader. Furthermore, in his conversation with Senior Brother Wan, there is a sense of animosity and self proclaimed entitlement. He is a weak and insecure leader.
Moving on...
Lu Xueqi fell in love with Xiao Fan ten years ago and the flames continues to burn strong ten years later. She indirectly says this ti Xiao Fan, but base on his facial expressions, he either didn't care, it didn't mean anything or he simply did not get it. Nonetheless Lu Xueqi stands steadfast in support of Guili/Xiao Fan. She herself seem to learn that the sect you belong to does not make you good or bad, but it is what you have in your heart and your actions determine whether you are good or bad.
Lin Jingyu is a brother in deed, who also stands steadfast behind Guili. The unspoken feelings between Lin Jingyu and Jin Ping'er is beautiful. I am definitely shipping for these two. He is caught up in his own beliefs and she is between a rock and a hard place and yet belonging to the demon sect, she is righteous in her actions and heart. My heart sunk when she was badly wounded. But she got wounded saving Lin Jingyu.
Zheng Shushu never fails to put a smile on my face, he is fun, serious, and caring. He is also a good brother and friend who is always supportive and stands 100% behind Guili/Xiao Fan.
Xiao Fan maintains his love for Bi Yao. He searches high, low, and in between to find a method to revive her. Although he joined the Ghost Sect and changed his name, HE STILL REMAINS ZHANG XIAO FAN! And this clearly shows that no matter where you are or what or name or affiliation is, as long as you are good by heart and deed, you are good. This is why his friends cannot turn their backs on him. And Xiao Fan breaks the stereotyping of if you are with a demon sect then you are bad. Xiao Fan helps his friends through out the journey, if it was not him, they probably would not have survived. Although the Ghost Sect Leader was able to take the Heaven Book from Xiao Fan, Xiao Fan was able to defeat the beast god. Now Xiao Fan is in the process of reviving Bi Yao, and now we wait.
I have to say there were too many flash backs of the same thing.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is a season two and follows the love story of Xiao Fan and Bi Yao. While very short with only 18 episodes it is better then first season and story flows much better.My only complaint is that Bi Yao shows up only in flashbacks and few minor scenes. At least all actors from season one are back.
While I hope they will show up in season 3, sadly, that is very unlikely as it's been two years and they all have other projects to work on.
Overall, if you liked the season one, you will like this one too. It was left on the cliffhanger though .
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(10/10) Cast: I didn't notice any type of flaws in the regards of acting.
(8/10) Music: I usually do not pay too much attention to the music because I'm super focused on the story; however, the rap in this historical drama is quite not my taste. I think the opening and ending is fine though.
(1/10) Rewatch Value: Too long for little progress.
|| S P O I L E R S A H E A D - I N D E P T H R E V I E W A H E A D ||
I'm super into the Xiao Fan, Jing Yu, Shu Shu, and Xue Qi squad and also the war between the Ghost King and the Qing Yun sector. The romance is okay, I would love to see Bi Yao wake up and that would be ideal but the thought I had the entire time was "both sides had legitimate causes for joining the war, other than being simply power hungry". I actually wasn't entirely happy with S1's ending where the war suddenly went on a halt due to Bi Yao's death and how soulless Xiao Fan became. Yes, his lover just died protecting him and yes he is a super compassionate person; however, a war was going on. His friends were dying. It's hard to move on, but in situations such as war, you just have to. I was still okay with that; however, what took the cake was when he worked with the Ghost King to bring Bi Yao back. At that moment, Xiao Fan had a great opportunity to kill the Ghost King. I'm not trying to be unsympathetic since I like Bi Yao myself; however, so many people from both sides are fighting to their deaths and Xiao Fan gave up the opportunity to kill the Ghost King just because they were caught up in their emotions about Bi Yao.
As for S2, it felt like a waste of time. Xiao Fan finally kills the Ghost King, which could've happened in episode 55 of S1 and saved dozens of people's lives had he just done so earlier. In such a way, it's like Xiao Fan sacrificed the lives of people from both sides in order to save Bi Yao. And the ambiguous ending made this feel even more unnecessary. It was on purpose of course, since the novel ended in a way that was unpopular for most; however, I still wish the script writers/directors just ended the drama the way they wanted to without worrying about the novel. Bi Yao resurrected? Cool. Xiao Fan finally bidding Bi Yao farewell forever? Cool.
Because both sides had such legitimate motives, it was difficult for me to root any one team on. For that, my ideal ending is probably going to have everyone question this review. I'd like it if Jing Yu, Bi Yao, Xiao Fan, and the Ghost King all died together with Qing Yun sector's victory. Jing Yu and Xiao Fan because I can't imagine Jing Yu's happiness without Xiao Fan and I can't imagine Xiao Fan's happiness without Bi Yao. Bi Yao because the Ghost King would need to die for Qing Yun sector's victory and as a sacrifice for being unable to kill Xiao Fan, Bi Yao dies with the Ghost King. And Shu Shu with the others will continue to train the ways of the Immortal Sword while telling the story of this era.
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This review may contain spoilers
you can really see whats coming, right?
only watched 2 eps and couldn't continue anymore. the ending is quite obvious! the Chinese drama signature tragic ending. the weird camera angles and color correction was AT ITS WORST! this moment they'll show a scene of normal lighting in the next second the color tint and exposure changes into a drastic level.voice dubbing wasnt matched with actors pronouncing which bothered me like hell !
the cast was same and i dont have complains against that. but not everyone was an "actor" . thank god zhao liying was at season 1 and it wasnt that bad. but the s2 seriously disappointed me and wasnt worth the wait.
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