Ashes of Love (2018)

Ever since I started watching this drama it was often stuck in my head and since finishing it I feel that sinking feeling of sadness in my stomach and have thoughts about it constantly churning in my mind.

Ashes of Love was a *good* drama. It wasn’t perfect and it certainly had its lackluster moments, but overall it was engaging, sweet, and heartbreaking.

A large majority of my interest here is due to Deng Lun. Fair warning: much gushing ahead.

Hot. Damn.

I had not seen him in anything before this and I found that he looks a lot like Park Seo Joon at times, whom I just adore so pair that up with the fact that his character Xu Feng is not only the God of War but a freakin’ Pheonix…*fans face*

Literally: smoking hot.

Xu Feng (aka Pheonix) has probably ruined me for all other lead guys…he was loyal, sweet, smart, determined, and a real bad ass. His devotion to Jin Mi was so absolutely heartwarming AND heartbreaking…THE LOOKS HE WOULD GIVE HER. My God.
There is one scene where he’s kinda trying to win Jin Mi over and she rushes away, taking deep breaths and muttering “That was close…he’s so hot.”

YAS GIRL, we know.

It was both wonderful and terrible to watch him fall so in love with Jin Mi and to see how she (unintentionally) broke his heart over and over, but he never gave up!

I will say there were times in this drama where I hated most of the characters, even Jin Mi. But I never hated Xu Feng. Even during his coldest moments later on, when we hear his commentary in the end about what he was thinking/feeling during that time O-M-G. He is just so damn perfect.

Xu Feng and Jin Mi’s journey together is obviously the driving factor in the plot here but while there are some other great characters and a few subplots that were interesting, the story did lag now and then and I really didn’t care all that much when either of the leads were not involved. I mean, with 60 episodes there is bound to be a little dragging, so I can’t hardly fault it for that.

I do take a lot of issue with the ending, however. With the 60 episodes mentioned above, I feel like they had ample time to flush out a fully satisfying conclusion but instead it felt really rushed to me and I did not get all that I wanted out of it, which is a huge part of the reason I feel this gaping hole in my heart now that it’s over.

Also, a few characters were just like…never mentioned again in the last two episodes? They were side characters, but still…come on!

There is apparently supposed to be a sequel, but I think it’s unconfirmed whether this will be a continuation of Xu Feng and Jin Mi’s story (doubtful) or if it will simply deal with other characters in this world. Either way, if we get some more time with these characters I think that will help bring me more closure with their story.

Combine feeling unsatisfied with the conclusion with missing these characters dearly and I’m left simply heartbroken with the ending. I just have to wait for time to heal this wound…

Phoenix….TT_TT

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I know it's too late to watch this drama and after completing i feel overwhelmed. The total 60 episodes they were so good.
Actually this is my second costume/historical drama that I'm watching. I decided to watch after it's ratings.
I'm giving 9.5, why not 10 is because I wanted a different ending where they end up in immortal realm. But I'm contented in the mortal realm too.
There were too many deaths, and despair,agony,envy,love,love triangle,hatred, vengeance, friendship, parental relationship,alot alot and lot more. The one best drama honestly.
With or without the perishing pallet, grape fruit acted so well and she has my heart!
And pheonix! He did so great!!! Not even a single millisecond I hated him.
And run yu- he has a different background, no hatred for him too.
Everyone did so well and has my heart. And i feel fire deity's mother turned good person in the ended her fate.
Sui he was the character I hated! But the writer has given justice to the watchers.
I can keep reviewing randomly, and i really really love this drama!!!!!
...

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Story: The story is not really original in terms of concept of it being taken place in different realms. However, the colors and cgi makes it stand out from other shows just like it. Also, I love their way of rebranding what 'love' is and making it fit the theme of the story. Even how certain events lead up to the main characters of the show.

Acting/cast: The acting was really amazing whether it was main or minor characters. Everyone played their parts well and their was awesome chemistry between the main leads. Their was a lot of misunderstanding with certain characters that I felt from my perspective weren't right or that I didn't see.

Run Yu: People felt like he was malipuative and didn't really love jin mi as Xu Feng did. I felt as if he did,but he could only secure her had he mulipulate her. He also wanted what was rightfully his because his step-mother (xu feng mother) wanted everything for her son only. Which he shouldn't because he is not the eldest son like run yu is.

Jin mi: In the show, they blamed her for the cause of the two brothers fighting. Which I felt was really not her fault because she not aware of what 'love' was in the beginning. Also, she thought of the both of them as friends until she realized what was going on. Then, I felt it was unfair that she had to sacrifice her sight of seeing color just because Xu feng decided to be very petty. Also, I love how forgiving she was when others weren't towards her.

Music; The music really fit the vibe of the show and it was the most amazing OST that I've ever seen. It also was placed in the right scenes that matched the mood.

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Watched this right after Ten miles of Peach Blossoms since I wanted more Xianxia and was not disappointed!

Since the main cast is younger (most in their 20s), this drama has a youthful feel to it. CGI was good in my opinion - the deer and phoenix were good.
The story was good although I found it amusing that almost everyone had a loveline (even if it was small). The chemistry between the main leads was great. I liked their earlier/middle scenes the best - Jin Mi was so naive and innocent and their human arc was fantastic.

Tu Yao was the primary antagonist and although she was annoying, I didn't find her as bad as the combination in Ten Miles. Sui He and Ren Yu were antagonists too but they grew into their roles so I never hated them. I also appreciated that Ren Yu wasn't just written off as a bad character in the end, but got to redeem himself. Loved the combination of Moon Immortal and Pu Chi.

The music was great but they could've used a few more songs.

The story is highly romance-centric (not just for the main leads but side stories too) so don't expect a super heavy plot. But there's lots of angst in the romances!

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Beautiful and Addictive

This series has a lower rating than the drama I just dropped "Eternal love" but I fell in love with this drama and dropped "Eternal Love". Goes to show different strokes for different folks. Now why did I love this series? The music was addictive and I listed to the OST's all the times. The CGI for me was gorgeous and most of all the characters were fun to watch and the acting felt authentic. The female lead, at the start, was a dunce and I was annoyed by her but her friendships with the other fairies made me like her character more. As the female lead was put through heartaches she grew and I grew with her and I became fond of her and felt so much for her. The writers really made me do a whole 180 on her character. I really enjoy when a female character has other friends and storylines outside of her romance with the male lead. While the focal point is their romance, and I do love that, because their romance and chemistry was out of the park, the female lead still her her personal struggles aside from the male lead. One of the characters that I loved in the beginning gets progressively sadder and harder for me to like and I felt so sad for the death of the character as I knew him. While he does not pass away the person he was dies and it's really tragic especially since I liked his character even more than the male lead. The male lead was the typical strong man with a heart of gold, but he does become more jaded due to some unforeseen consequences. I watched this drama on the heels of watching "Love between Fairy and Devil" and it was even easier to slip into this world since I had a feel for the genre. I think if you don't typically watch Chinese dramas the long story format can feel daunting, but when I'm in the mood for a long drama this genre is such a great option. To me it feels like a long novel that you can get lost in and in these types of dramas you have the opportunity to see characters develop in a way that feels authentic and not too fast, since they can take their time to show how and why these characters change. The chemistry was great, the music was beautiful, the setting was pretty, and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you glued to your t.v. screen. This was a 10/10!

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Is the ability to love worth the pain it brings?

Ashes of Love (Netflix) was quite an intriguing romance to watch. It starts off with the death of the flower goddess after she gives birth to the next goddess. The secret of her daughter's divinity was kept from the 6 realms to protect her from assault. The flower goddess dies as a result of the murder by the goddess of heaven due to her jealousy of her husband's wandering heart. The flower goddess curses her daughter to never experience the feeling of love, under the philosophy that love brings more pain than it is worth.

The two princes of the heavenly realm fall in love with the heir to the flower kingdom, and a bitter rivalry ensues.

Aspects of Buddhist philosophy are explored. Revenge and forgiveness are pushed to the limit. Self-sacrifice for a noble cause is emulated. Love for one another is taken to the utmost extremes in that they are willing to suffer and be tortured on each other's behalf, to atone for each other's sins.

Of the six realms, the heavenly realm takes on the role of the hypocritically sanctimonious hegemony. The demon realm has some unique virtues that destroy the stereotype that all demons are bad - they are the few that are brave enough to stand up against the heavenly tyranny. The floral realm surpasses the others in outward beauty, yet the mortal realm is where inner beauty is cultivated. These immortal gods deign to descend into the mortal realm where they lose their memories and learn how to truly love.

Unique types of magic are explored. Each immortal functions like a human, but they contain the spirit of some unique plant or animal. Their magic is connected to their spirit form and inspires their personalities.

The plot immediately captured me from the first episode, was consistently gripping with complex subplots and schemes along the way, and silenced me in awe at the concluding finale.

More philosophical reviews: https://transcendentphilos.wixsite.com/website/post/the-philosophy-of-chinese-dramas

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I watched this drama 2 years ago and this was my very first C-drama. I loved it and became kind of c-drama addict ! The whole drama was amazing to me : not only this deity/fantasy/love story was totally new to me (I knew nothing about wuxia) but I was also very pleased with the actors, music, storyline, settings and visual effects.
I was very interested in the main love triangle with all the misunderstandings, hurtings, evil thoughts and wrong doings while progressing. I skipped the support roles love stories, because I couldn't get interested in those.
This drama is emotional with pleasant happy moments and upsetting ones. Somehow, it really moves you and your inner own is touched. In this drama, no one is complety right nor completely wrong, and you will hate the ones you loved and vice versa. I rewatched plenty of scenes of this drama, the lovely ones, the terrible ones and the awkward ones ! The sound track is really amazing and fits perfectly to this drama. Great director, great actors.

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I cried many times

When I first watch it I fell in love with the visual, Xu feng , Jin mi and Runyu even the villain lady is really pretty. The costume are mesmerizing and set are amazing too. Their acting are top notch I can't find fault with any of the main characters.
The OST are so beautiful I can feel the emotions everytime the ost are playing. It matches the theme of the drama vey well.

SPoilers alert
The story is really heartbreaking. I cried many times watching this drama, and I don't cry a lot when I watch drama, because I usually watch romcom or action.
They are characters that you symphatized, love and hate at some points of the drama, and .Except for the pair of queen and emperor you hate them all the time. I read some comments they hated the FL because of her stupidly naive character.
Initially, Jinmi was so naive but I don't hate her I even find her cute and endearing. However later in the story her stupidly naive traits cost other people lives , that's when I hate her.
As for the story, although there 63 episodes , it might seem long but I think it well paced, there are nice transition between the 3 realms. though I did fast foward scenes from side character which I think unimportant.
I keep coming back at youtube for clips and ost

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Best historical drama

Ashes of Love. Where do I even begin? I have watched countless dramas and I rarely give 10s. Even when I give 10s, they are never perfect 10s. Ashes of Love is a PERFECT 10. Before I start my review of this drama, let me be upfront and say that I had my reservations about it. Most of the dramas I watch are set in a more modern setting and are more realistic than this. Though I have watched dramas like While You Were Sleeping (Korean drama) which dabble in supernatural elements, I normally don’t watch full on supernatural or mythical dramas. I came across this drama when I was reviewing a list of the dramas that people deemed the best of 2018. I watched the trailer and put it on my watchlist and I am glad I did.

The first episode itself hooked me. The chemistry between the main characters, the story line, and the incredible actors all made me want to continue watching. As I kept on watching (more like binging) the episodes, I fell more and more in love with it all. I will admit, there were times when I was beyond frustrated. I was frustrated that the Yun Elixir prevented Jinmi from loving phoenix (Xu Feng). I was initially frustrated by how naïve and indifferent to love Jinmi was, despite knowing that it was not her fault. I was mad at the late floral immortal who put the Yun Elixir in Jinmi to keep her from loving anyone. However, all my frustration was worth it. When that stupid elixir finally broke and Jinmi finally realized that she loved Xu Feng, I felt as if her emotions were my own. And this is a big deal. I have NEVER cried during watching a drama. But this drama made me cry, laugh, scream, and everything in between. The credit goes to the incredible actors who will make you feel as if THEIR pain is YOUR pain.

Personally speaking, I think my favorite part of this 63-episode long show were the episodes that showed Jinmi’s trial in the mortal world. HOLY CRAP. The chemistry between Xu Feng and Jinmi in those episodes is ridiculous. When she admits to liking him (in the mortal world) and he asks her to marry him, I couldn’t stop crying. The pain of waiting and watching the before episodes was definitely worth it. Another aspect that made this show great was the villains. I have never hated any character as much as I hated the Heavenly Empress. She is a scheming and conniving lady who is utterly ruthless. Her and Sui He (bird lady) plot and scheme together so much and it annoyed me greatly. Don’t even get me started on the Night Immortal. He knew that Jinmi didn’t love him and yet took advantage of her ignorance of love to get her to agree to marry him which led to an excruciatingly painful love triangle. However, at points you find yourself sympathizing and even admiring these villain characters. That’s how good the actors were. Sui He and Fish Fairy (Runyu-Night Immortal) were the most tragic characters in my opinion. They both loved someone who didn’t love them back and it drove them to do evil things. Normally, when I binge shows, if I have time I fly through the episodes. With this show, I kept having to take breaks despite having time to watch because the episodes were so emotionally charged. I had to stop and let my heart adjust before I could watch anymore of the show. That is how affected I was. The characters are all dynamic and develop so much as the show goes on. Runyu changes from someone who is kind and merciful to someone who is cold and rather ruthless. Jinmi changes from being naïve and innocent to someone who discovers her love only after she’s lost it. While this show has a happy ending, there were points in the middle where I was seriously doubting it.

All in all, if you have any sort of reservations about this show, LET THEM GO. SEND THEM OUT THE DOOR. If I could love this drama this much and cry over it, you will absolutely enjoy it. The plot is incredible, and I honestly wish I could read/speak Chinese so that I could more fully appreciate the attention to detail instead of relying on subtitles. THE MUSIC WAS GOLDEN.

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Nice love story but I don't like male lead ending up as demon.. I wanted to see heroine to be continued in flower realm.. but ending is too sentimental for a lost love!!!!! Scheming of male lead villain is tooo ruthless!!! Anyways it's good to watch for a couple who want to have some good times!!
Music is good...
Also female lead is gorgeous ....
Male lead performed exceptionally well.. loved to watch him when there's a war plot.... for a change,
Writers of this story should come up with nice script next time with a plot of male lead in demon realm and showing demon realm as a good place compared to heaven realm...

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To be honest I started this drama with high expectations, story looks nice, cast was good (pretty boys) , ost great, scenaries gorgeous.

BUT this drama start so slow nothing happen, fenix fell in love so quickly as night inmortal , after a story about parents that by my side needed more deeply details, We realy no sure about love between water inmortal and flower queen, I didnt feel they love.

More or less at the middle of drama everything becomes predictable, she just fall in love but now he "hates" her and other girl lies about who saves him...bla bla bla.

In the end I expected something good but again allwas predictable and a little unlogic, Really she live in a mortal world and he never see her during 3 years?

Is no a bad drama but I really expected more!!

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