Ashes of Love (2018)

I thought this was just going to be a light drama that I would watch when I was bored but ended being the most emotional and heart wrecking drama I have watched so far. With each persona, I could feel exactly what they are feeling. This show made me want to smash my TV as well as hug it and never let it go. Yes it is long (63 episodes) but every 46 minutes an episode was worth it. Not only have the creators and cast of this show made the hours I wasted on this show worthwhile but ended the series perfectly which is surprising since I am always disappointed in endings. This show will make any normal person cry countless times. (Unlike me) I sincerely hope they make a second series. I will be a fan of this show for life. This is a show that you binge watch every year and stay up till crazy times to watch it. The cast did an excellent job and made me fall in love with ancient China all over again. Even though this show was made up XuFeng & JinMi will hold a place in my heart for eternity. This show had captured every type of love there is. Not only romantic love but mother love, sibling love, and friendship love. It also showed us that not every love story is not destined and some will forever be written in time. My favorite Character would be Xu Feng

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I finished this show but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s my guilty pleasure, my secret addiction. I love the novel and this adaptation didn’t disappoints. If you like Chinese shows like Eternal Love about angsty romance, great actors, amazing cinematography and hard to forget storyline I would recommend this to you. The highlight of this show for me are:

Casting chemistry: The two leads have AMAZING chemistry. Deng Lun and Yang Zi are friend for a long time, and Deng Lun said in BTS that being with YZ make him feel like he is young and innocent again. They banter sometime but they are mostly very sweet on screen with YZ being lovely clueless and DL being caring but shy like a little boy.

Acting: YZ role of being ditzy is really hard to pull off without being annoying but she deliver well. Her emotional scenes are top notch. All the actors pull their weight and you can’t find anyone who don’t deliver. My special mention is Yan You, the snake immortal.

Cinematography: As this is mythology, it heavily use CGI. But the director said their set is 70% real set with 30% CGI to make it more believable. Although the background of the sky is CGI but I appreciate them doing the prop properly and did not heavily rely on CGI for everything.

The story: It is romance centric but I appreciate the attempt to flush out some characters motive. The novel was a very light read but cover some heavy topics. Novel and drama are two entirely different medium so I appreciate them adding depth to the characters. Some people likes the change and some may not but it’s up to you to decide.

Comparison to Eternal Love: the closest compassion as they both based on Chinese mythology about angsty love. The story are entirely different but to compare, this drama has much faster pace in the beginning, it slow down around mid way but pick up around the last 10 episodes. There are the same side couples that is associated with the main couple, but ultimately have their own arc just like Eternal Love. The story wise I find it a little funnier and light hearted in the beginning. But the topics it deal with in the later half are actually heavier and more twisted. The costumes are quite similar as well. What I love about both that at first they are simple love story, but they leave lasting impression and make ponder about each aspect of the relationship/ events long after you already finished the show.

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the main cast!!

this is bomb f!! i love this!!
literally falling in love with chinese drama bcs of this.
jinmi and xufeng love story is just too painful, the other love her too much while the girl notknowing at all is just too painful.
also, you could literally see their development esp jinmi, form the naive girl she sito the girl that can tell other people feeling ( when she confronted runyu).
my fav character of this series def jinmi, she is so pitiful...even at the end, she still pitiful...
earlier episode, when runyu still the gentle fish fairy, i like him more than xufeng. but when he become this evil, obsessed man, nah!
i literally dont understand that why people defend his action? bad childhood is not an excuse!! or bcs the actor is a good looking man? i literally want to throw him to the trash bin bcs of how selfish he is, great act from the actor tho.

the music is top notch, still repeat this until now.
i dont watch TMOPB till the end bcs i found that boring :v and totally different story with this, so i dont understand the comparison and similarity.

i still watch this repeatedly tho, again, great drama.

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Beautiful visuals with a decent story

After being on hold in my list for over a year i finally finished it and i get it why most people love it while others hate it. I said in a comment that i can't bring myself to love it like most people. I really have mixed feelings about it. So I will start with what i loved the most and then go on to my dissatisfaction and rants. Oh god this will be a long one and spoiler heavy.

Production: Clearly this show had a BIG budget. The costumes were totally stunning. The backgrounds, cgi and the show as a whole was aesthetically pleasing.
Music: I am not a chinese speaker nor do i understand the language, so i judge basically on the music, then go for the translated lyrics. The tracks were magical. The music felt more in tune with the show than the lyrics to me. This album is one of my most favorite of cdrama albums.
Acting: The SML and FL are 2 of the actors i really love, but performance of everyone was beautiful and believable.

Story and characters: this is what i want to rant about. Why? What did Runyu ever do to the author? His character had a depth and complexity. He was thoroughly the most pitiful and pathetic character who ALWAYS got the short end of the stick. He suffered so much, lost so much. He was extremely tolerant and patient with jinmi, and loved her so much, he sacrificed so much for her, he did so much for her, but with absolutely nothing in return. It is understandable that he went down the wrong path eventually in the end because he most definitely deserved A LOT better but he got the worst.
Now on to Jinmi and Xufeng. Well i didn't like them. In the initial episodes when she was a little ignorant girl, it was better. She became horrible after she did THAT. She was indecisive and dumb. Even when she thought she avenged her parents, she failed everyone. She sacrificed so much for Xufeng, who practically was the root of all her troubles and Runyu was always her savior. This is one of the less common shows where its FL sacrifices for the ML with the SML endlessly sacrificing for her. I felt that Xufeng had the least growth in the entire series. He stayed the same- a kind, strong, privileged guy with easy life; devoted but filial lover who failed to protect his love from his parents.
Suihe was super evil and got what she deserved. Then come the heavenly emperor and empress. They were the definition of evil and what they got was too light on them. The demon princess was dumb brave and rest of the characters were okay. I must say i loved jinmi's father and his wife.
About the story... well the author obviously loved xufeng and hated runyu so everything that went on during the story were in his favor. I had it on hold for so long because the amount of evil things going on were too much foŕ me to take. The story might have played out differently if the mortal arc didn't have xufeng, she wouldn't have fallen in love with him so deeply. Many people make Runyu look like the villain but what they don't say is how xufeng forcibly kept her with him from the very beginning when she didn't even know about relationships and treated them the same. Runyu fell for her at first sight then it kept growing. It wasn't the same for xufeng who fell for her after seeing her dressed up as a woman. Well i obviously like runyu more so i shipped them. But whatever happened was for the ending to be like that. So everything was wrapped up very well, despite the bittersweet ending.

I would recommend watching it. If not for the story and characters, for the pretty visuals and beautiful music that it offers. And though similar tropes were used in LAR and this, their stories are vastly different.

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I've recently become a fan of C-dramas/K- dramas specifically historical ones. Nowadays I get so tired of all the same storylines where I can predict what is going to happen BUT this one honestly blew my mind! (Although I am an absolute sap for a happy ending)

The graphics are insane- it has enough plot twists to keep you going and wanting more!

The characters are really well played, the love between Jinmi and Xufeng is quite endearing. I actually felt so sorry for Runyu in the end, it's almost like he was doomed from the start since he wasn't a legit child of the Emperor's.

I find this similar to Eternal love in the fact that the main love interests eventually found a happy ending as well as the links between the heavenly and demon realms- but nevertheless they went through ALOT of shit to get there lol.

So far I have watched:

Rise of the Phoenixes- this is the drama that sent me on this amazing C-drama/K-drama journey

Empress Ki

Princess Wei-Young

Eternal love

& of course this one.

Pleaseeeeeee send me some suggestions on similar ones I can watch?

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I might be late for the hype but I'm glad I watched this show. This show has everything: Excellent talents acts, amazing CGI, and great story and plots.

Just like the title Ashes of Love, Jinmi, a grape fairy who does not have the capability to fall in love, find herself in the middle love triangle which. There are many obstacles between her and her true love, Xu Feng. Their love is tragic in a way. Both of them has been reduced to ashes due to love and reborn again just to meet another obstacle.

I love this drama a lot. There are a lot of characters that are lovable and the subplots are not being dragged but each has a purpose. If you like drama like Ten Miles Peach Blossom, this drama will be good for you.

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I never had found an Asian Historical/Fantasy drama that made me want to rewatch it as soon as it was over like Ashes of Love. I thought this was going to be just like other Historical dramas that ended on a sour note for me and made me wait a few months to even think about emotionally investing myself again in another one. I am so glad to be wrong! Even though it is long, it still had my attention. I had favorite characters and actors that I'm now interested in to see about their other work. The costume design and sets were beautiful. The relationships and character dynamics were really flushed out and written well. I truly loved the ending and resolution. I realistically didn't get to get all I wanted from the end and my favorite side characters but I'm not too upset about it. If you don't want a drama that breaks your heart, then watch this one instead!

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This is the first C-drama that I have ever watched, and it has easily become one of my favorite shows of ALL TIME. I have never been so emotionally invested in a show. While on my school break, I was looking for shows to watch on Netflix, and saw this. Since I'm really into fantasy and mythology, the premise looked intriguing. I almost decided not to watch it though because it was so long (63 episodes) and my break was about to end, but I am so glad I decided to give it a try. For the past 3-5 days I have nonstop binged watched this show to the end. Every time I would try limit myself because I needed sleep since I had to work, I just could not do it. So I made it my goal to finish it before my break ended because I knew I would neglect school work to watch it. The show is so amazing, I can't even use words to describe it. From the amazing visual, CGI, and costumes, to the intricate characters and their phenomenal actors, to the heart wrenching and unforgettable plot. Ya'll I'm just so in love with this show. I literally made an account just so I could rate and write a review of it. And I literally just finished watching the show and am probably gonna re-watch it today. This is the type of show where you just can't stop until you're finished, it's long but so worth it; because when you're watching it, it doesn't seem long at all and you actually start to dread the day when you finish the show.There are just so many different elements to it, it's an adventure story, a love story, a tragedy, it is literally an epic. I am in love with Xufeng, but I am more in love with Xufeng and Jimni. Oh my gosh, when I tell you this show plays with your feelings ya'll; I laughed, I cried (and balled), I got angry, I got sad, I got fearful (**SPOILER**of a tragic ending, which thankfully it was not), and I got happy. 1000000/10 recommend AOL to everybody, I've been telling my friends, and my family to watch this show, and I'll keep preaching it to the heavens. This one of those shows where you forgot that it's a show because you get sucked into the world. There are only a few shows (from any country/genre) that have been able to do this to me, so my love for this is so great that the only thing that could equal it is Jimni and Xufeng's love.

P.S/Update: I have watched this drama three times all the way through already, and I still can't get enough

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I really do think Deng Lun and Yang Zi are a match made in heaven and belong together IRL but even if they are just good friends I am happy. They had that fiery chemistry between them which I think is one of the reasons this drama was so successful.

Cast and Acting
Yang Zi pulled off the naive fruit fairy to the heartbroken immortal very well. I first fell in love with her in Go Go Squid and that was the reason I watched Ashes of Love. Deng Lun is just so dreamy and every time I saw him I just swooned. My other favorite character was the fox immortal, he played his role as the cupid so well. I think all the cast in this drama did a good job, like even the evil giys.

Plot
I sort of did not completely like the plot but reading the story (that was translated by some very amazing fans) I begin to understand it. The ML falling in love with the FL was just too abrupt. I mean there were hints that he found her amusing and endearing but LOVE! But the FL did give some pretty confusing signals to the poor dude. I really didn't care for the Mu Ci/Demon princess love story. I mean I loved the demon princess and thought she was loyal and all that but I just wished since they were second leads and all they didn't have to have so much screen time.

The story doesn't follow the novel exactly but I really enjoyed both versions. Specially the time the FL and ML shared in the mortal world which isn't there in the book. Although the story started off well it sorta dwindled towards the end (I often see this trend in c-drama). What I mean is from the 40th some episode my attention was really scattered and the only reason I continued watching it was to catch some glimpses of my boy Deng Lun

CGI
I really enjoyed the CGI and it was very realistic. I am stunned at the visual world that was created which is really amazing and magical. Perfectly suited for a Xianxia drama.

Spoiler ** especially the part where when the FL is going to get married to the SML and the ML arrives in his literally shiny armor and then the lotus fire blossoms in his hands and a blue fire coats his body. So hot. Literally hot. I also liked the bit in the final battle where the ML and the SML are fighting and the FL flungs herself in between them, the anguish in Deng Lun's eyes, the magic. Wow! Spoiler end***

Costumes
Man I'm so in love with all the costumes specially Deng Lun's (ML). It was not flashy but royal in a subtle sense. Some of my most favorite costumes are
1. ML's white and gold battle armor
2. ML's heavenly palace garb that is white with billowy sleeves but with hints of gold underneath and red around the neckline and a similar one without billowy sleeves
3. ML's mortal king costumes
4. FL's immortal costume (soft pink/purple shades) with billowy sleeves
I could go on but i'll stop here

OST
The OST is haunting and beautiful and It will take forever to get it out of your head. Especially Sa Ding Ding ending OST. What's more both FL and ML also sang an OST together and this not only makes you fall in love with them more but makes their romance all the more bittersweet.

Overall
I really enjoyed the drama but as with all dramas where the ML and FL fall in love in the beginning the rest of the drama is about how they yearn to be together but don't and are not together until the very end. This doesn't they didn't share romantic moments towards the end. They did. But I really don't like dramas where the leads break up for a long time. I will definitely re watch this drama and I have to mention It took me countless days of listening to the OST on repeat, watching the behind the scenes on Youtube and reading the translated novel to get over this drama.

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