Miss the Dragon (2021)

Which asshole wrote this script?

That was the best line in Miss the Dragon, a xianxia that just misses the boat. It is a thought that jumps to mind at various points of the drama. The writer must be someone with both self awareness and a sense of humor. Which you must have plenty of if you choose to watch this because it can be so ridiculous and silly that you almost have to just laugh at it.

The story opens with the injured dragon king Yuchi Longyan rescued by a maid Liu Ying who mistakes him for a common snake. Liu Ying rescues injured animals, including the bird elf Qingqing  while she daydreams about the mythical dragon king. The first arc is largely an amalgamation of the best moments of other hit xianxias, notably TMOPB. When it comes to recycling other drama's memorable moments, it best be either a really clever parody or a vastly superior moment. In this case it is neither. Some of the writer's own original humor is fresh and funny enough they should have just gone with that and focused on fleshing out the main couple and getting us invested in their relationship. Instead, after being vividly reminded of some old favorites, I am left with the impression of two rather blank characters whose shallow infatuation with each other was unlikely to last until supper time, forget several lifetimes.

While Liu Ying does get a tad more interesting with each subsequent lifetime, there is little of substance that survives each incarnation. So it is not clear what Yuchi Longyan is fighting for, what is innately so special about Liu Ying that the dragon king loves so much. Zhu Xudan did a good job essentially playing four different characters but she is wasted in these sappy rather simple roles that any newbie actress can play. As for Wang Hedi, after a delectable opening scene of him emerging scantily clad from the dragon pool, I was left with an indelible impression of an overdressed plank. His portrayal of the dragon king is an impressive study of the art of being bizarrely still and plank like while everything else is moving. At first, I thought he was accidentally sent the script from a botox commercial. Then I started to feel insecure about accidentally hitting pause on my remote. Bottom line, I didn't feel any spark between the leads. Oddly, his interactions with all of the other characters are so much more natural and enjoyable. I rarely comment on the OST and the BGM but in this case I must point out it was good enough to make me tear up much more than was induced by the acting or story during the sad moments.

The idea of a love that transcends lifetimes is very powerful and moving but that concept is much more originally and engagingly explored in the second couple's story. Indeed the love story between the block of burning ice that is Xue Qianxun the master of Luofeng Pavilion and his flighty chirpy little bird elf Qingqing is why I didn't drop this drama. Both characters are better developed and they have understandable motives and goals. Their relationship is so humorous and their chemistry builds so organically that I had to root for them and was intrigued by and impatient to discover their past. I won't spoil it by saying more than that is a wonderful and memorable mini fairytale in and of itself and that is what the focus of this drama could and should have been.

The way the drama ends goes a long way to redeem itself. I really ate up the epic magical battles and even though the villain is quite lame and was obvious to me from the beginning, I like how all the pieces of their scheming is revealed and how it all ties in quite neatly with the plot and the many lives of Liu Ying. I am solidly in the camp of really liking the ending; anyone who knows the legend of Nuwa would not be that surprised by it.  Overall its not a bad watch, it has quite some entertaining moments beyond just laughing at the production. My rating gets a bump up to a 7.0/7.5 due to the wonderful second couple and ending at the climax.

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Low Budget Xianxia Drama

To be honest, it didn't start off pretty badly, the front part was pretty similar to Eternal Love, where the mortal FL mistaken ML as an injured snake (instead of Dragon) and brought him back to take care of him. I was quite captivated at first and enjoyed watching how the Dragon is falling for the FL. Although their interaction was a bit childish and the lines are somehow cringey, it's still considered pretty entertaining to watch.

UNTIL they entered the second life, third then the fourth; the drama basically being split into four parts and repeat again and again with different settings (as the main girl reborn as different characters) where the ML protected her over and over. I felt the story was so repetitive and disconnected (especially FL needs to forget about the ML whenever she starts a new life) so I started losing interest on the main couple and can't help to move my focus to the second couple instead. They were both immortal with a master-servant relationship but their bickering was quite interesting and the protective second ML was surprisingly quite cool and charming that draws me in!

Acting wise, besides the second male lead being natural in his role, the rest were kinda ... (face palm). ML's role was supposed to very sorrowful as he needed to watch FL living lives without him whilst guarding her with his life but I don't think he portrays the "devastation" and "devoted" very well. FL's acting was okay but she doesn't really look innocent to act the innocent roles, not sure if it's because I watched her wicked-role acting in Eternal Love and has somehow shaped my impression on her, well... but I don't deny that she's pretty though! As for the second FL - Qing Qing, although I prefer the second couple, I couldn't really stand her acting as she exaggerated almost every expression, overturning the definition of "naive and mischievous" and acted like an immature 10-year-old kid that makes me cringe a little. Maybe some might find her pretty cute, yes she is - if she is not acting as an adult, otherwise it just looks a bit off for me, that's why in some ways I find this drama is more suited for younger age group.

Considered it a low-budget production, it still deserve a 7.5/10.0 as I didn't end up dropping it and was actually okay to watch, as long as you don't take the plots too seriously. I personally enjoyed Xianxia Drama A LOT so I didn't regret watching this and I don't think we should compare this with other big production and raise our standards. As a standalone, I would say it was not so good but not too bad either, basically "so-so": A decent storyline with good looking casts, the magical effects were not bad too, just a bit lacking in acting and detailed plots. Sad scenes weren't that on point and not so much on the couple's chemistry but you can simply watch it for some light-hearted moments and a simple fantasy drama, each episode is quite short too so technically it's not so difficult to finish it haha!

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Might as well give this drama a try

This is a good drama to watch if you currently ran out of dramas to watch or you want to take a break from those lengthy, serious, and intense wuxias. However, it's better not to expect too much from it. Although this drama has good actors, beautiful sceneries, and wonderful OSTs, I feel like it lacks something.

The overall storyline of a mortal and a demon falling in love through different lifetimes was good and quite interesting at first but 4 lifetimes with the same lovestory in only 36 episode was too much and rushed. It was like just repeatedly watching the female lead meet and quickly fall in love with the male lead as he secretly waits and protects her but both eventually gets seperated and meet again in the next lifetime. The only difference between each lifetime they spent was the character setting of the female lead. First, she wast a maid that married a different guy because her memories were distorted. Second, she was a country girl that got married into the palace. Third, she was a brave general that silently loved him and was contented with him fighting and staying by her side. Fourth, she was a cultivator that was taught to kill demons. As you can see each lifetime would have had wonderful set-up but sadly each of their lovestory was not wonderfully developed as each only spanned a few episodes. Personally, I feel like it would be better if they had just stuck to 2 reincarnations of the female lead or they could still originally include 3-4 reincarnations if the drama was about 50-60 episodes. But nevertheless it was heartwaming to see the male lead protect and love her for hundred of years no matter who she is or was born as, and how the female lead always ends up falling in love and choosing the male lead in each of her lifetime.

The second couple was my favorite. I loved their contrasting personalities and cute interactions. They were one of the main reasons I didn't dropped this drama and I actually preferred them over the main lead couple. It was lovely to watch Qinqing, the lively and takaltive bird elf melt the icy cold heart of Xue Qianxun, the lord of Luofeng Pavillion. Aside from their relationship, I am also fond of Dagon king and Qingqing's friendship and as well as his frienship with Xue Qianxun. It was nice to see how loyal Qingqing was to Liuying that she accompanied her even when she was reincarnated as Ayu, Chenyue, and Qingyan.

In a nutshell, although Miss the Dragon has a lot of room for improvement, it was certainly not a bad drama and was still beutifully-made and quite interesting to watch. The sceneries were surreal and breathtaking and The OST in this drama was spectactular, it matched each scene and magnified the all feelings and emotions conveyed by the actors. I would definitely add these songs into my playlist: 1) Liu Zhuan Ying Hui by Shuang Sheng, 2) Favor by Ding Ding, and 3) Meeting fireflies by Henry Huo.

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Unconditional love

The epilogue is perfect, beautiful, romantic, & highly comforting.
All the loose ends get tied up here. Everything comes full circle. Everything feels complete, whole.

The epilogue is the only one where one gets to see the dragon king beam a warm smile.


There are no sad scenes in the epilogue. The epilogue shows the heroine's fifth lifetime.


In addition, the viewers will be in for a treat as all the most romantic scenes and dialogues from past & present gets collated here.


The unattractive aspects of the story, for eg, the female lead ending up living with other males , and both the main leads merely offering a weak resistance to ways of fate come to an end by the initial half of this drama. After that, the pattern starts to change....

This aside, the love story of the second supporting leads is sweeter, more beautiful than that of the leads. The way their love story unfolds is perfect --- full of tenderness & no unnecessary, convoluted complications.


There is gradual progression in the storyline of the main heroine throughout her lifetimes. In each succeeding lifetime, there is remarkable improvement in her her status, will power, self development, and her quality of life.
Also, her memories with the dragon king keeps getting better & clearer, more realistic in each succeeding mortal life.

The last four episodes are pretty fast paced compared to preceding ones. The action scenes though not perfect, are engaging, nice.

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A Xianxia That Tested My Patience

Let me just say this off the bat: I am a huge Xianxia lover, and after I watched Miss the Dragon's trailer, I was more than excited, I was ecstatic! As this was going to be my first Xianxia of the year, I counted each and every second until it started to air.

The first few episodes were fun. It was evident that this was a low-budget drama. The pink and white trees were plastic-like, but I'm not going to complain about the sets. Some of the sets were very beautiful, just a little too fake. And another male lead with white hair? Nice!

Story- 7.0
Okay, the leads' story deserves a 6.0 at the very most, but I simply loved the second leads, and as their story deserved at least a 9.0, I guess the overall score for the story will be a 7.0. The drama went downhill so quickly that I'm still not completely sure what went wrong. Perhaps it was just the recycled plot, because I was getting more bored by the second. If you've been watching Xianxia dramas for long enough, you'll notice that the plot of MTD is very similar to Eternal Love, Love and Redemption, etc, with its four reincarnations. (but much more blander)

Yuchi Longyan, a dragon demon, falls in love with a mortal girl. She first meets him in his snake form, but that part of the story left so many unanswered questions. Firstly, why was a snake kept in a bamboo cage that he could have easily slid out of? Yes, he wouldn't escape, but this is basic common sense for a girl who was supposedly scared of snakes. And, Liu Ying kept on saying 男女授受不清, which means "Men and women shouldn't touch each other" TO A SNAKE. Liu Ying, how would you have known if the snake was a male or female? I'm probably being a little nitpicky, but these loopholes are quite bothersome.

Back to the main plot. The drama was enjoyable and fun in the 1st life, 2nd meh, 3rd boring, and in the 4th, I was seriously wondering why I was still watching the drama. (But of course, it was for my amazing second lead couple) This drama would have been much better off as one life, or even just two. With four lives, the screenwriter was recycling the story better than I recycle my scrap-paper. The female lead is born into a different setting, the male lead watches her grow up, and every time she's in trouble or danger, he appears and saves her from whatever that's endangering her. If you're considering whether or not to watch this, please do not set your hopes high when you see that 'strong female lead' tag. I understand that everyone has different views on what a strong female lead is, but from what I saw, Liu Ying is NOT a strong female lead. She falls off a cliff, ladida! Yuchi Longyan is there. Some demon is attacking her, poof! He's there again. *sighing* The plot really tested my patience. It also really tested my fast-forward button clicking fingers.

The only good thing the plot gave me was the second lead couple. Man, I could watch Xue Qianxun and Qing Qing for days! Like many viewers who have watched Miss the Dragon, I seriously wish that there will be another drama just about them, and I almost never hope for sequels and season 2s. Gah, Mr or Miss Screenwriter, why did you have to torture me like this! If only they were the main couple, I would be smiling nonstop...Xue Qianxun and Qing Qing's love story is a gem, I have to say, with a mysterious backstory involved. No ff button was used during their scenes.

Acting/Cast- 7.0
I've only previously watched Bambi Zhu in two dramas, Eternal Love and Sweet Dreams, both as antagonists, so I was anticipating her bubbly and cheerful character. I loved Liu Ying the first few episodes, and even though there was this faint voice in the back of my head telling me that I liked her more as an antagonist, I was delighted that she was given a chance the opportunity to be the protagonist in a Xianxia drama. But of course, I should've known that not all cheerful female leads are likable. She was just, too, how would I say this? She wasn't useless, but she wasn't very strong and useful either. She seemed to just be there, something for the male lead to protect. And with four reincarnations comes four different girls. My favorite girl was probably A'Yu (second life). She gave me the best impression, and although she was a normal mortal girl who went to the market everyday to sell produce, she was witty and brave, and that is the kind of female lead I love.

Miss the Dragon is my second drama with Dylan Wang as the male lead. I did not enjoy Meteor Garden, and Dylan Wang did not exactly impress me with that role. He looked fine in MTD's posters, with his long white hair and billowing robes. But sometimes, appearance is not everything. His character, is just so, bland. Does a dragon demon have nothing to do but protect his love? I understand that when you're in love, you want to know what your love is doing every second of every day, but what is the purpose of his existence? I'm pretty sure Yuchi Longyan was going to do something before he met Liu Ying, but all his goals and purpose just evaporated. After he met Liu Ying, his only purpose was to protect her. Save her from countless dangers, hurt himself to protect her, and the list goes on and on. Dylan Wang's acting is hard to describe, but it just did not convince me. His expressions need more emotions, I dare say.

I was shocked when I learned that Xue Qianxun was Deng Wei's first Cdrama role. He's a natural at acting! This Lord of Luofeng Pavilion has a cold but dominating air, and his powers are not to be underestimated. He wasn't exactly enemies with Yuchi Longyan in the beginning, but they weren't friends either. As time went by, they learned to help each other and slowly became friends. The bromance in this drama is hilarious! The interactions between Yuchi Longyan and Xue Qianxun is one of the few highlights of this drama.

I liked Qing Qing more than Liu Ying, or any of Liu Ying's reincarnations, to be completely honest. Pan Mei Ye did a great job as Qing Qing, a lively and caring demon bird. As bouncy as she was, she was not annoying at all, and was always by Liu Ying (and reincarnations)'s side as her best companion. Not to mention Qing Qing never failed to make me laugh!

I'm not going to be writing any spoilers here, but I have to say that the villain in this drama is so bland and boring that there would barely be any different if he or she weren't even there. Seriously, Screenwriter, is that the best villain you can give us?

Music- 7.5
From the top of my head, I only remember three songs, and tbh, there weren't that memorable either. There was one song that always played during the leads' scenes, and it got so repetitive that I got to the point that I wanted to mute my computer. Perhaps other people loved the songs, but not me. The singing was so-so, and the melodies just got annoying. Low budget dramas almost never have many songs or an amazing OST anyway.

Rewatch Value- 5.0
This 5 is for my beloved second lead couple. You want me to rewatch the whole drama with you? No way! Only if we just watch the second leads' scenes. I've already used up all my patience watching this once. (Why did I finish this, you might be wondering? I love Xianxias and I'm not big on dropping either. I also really love the second couple (sorry, I've said this so many times).)

Overall- 6.5
Would I really recommend this? Deep inside, not really. But if you like beautiful scenery (pink trees) and white dragons, you might want to give this a try. At least it's only 36 episodes. Maybe I kind of regret watching this but it was pretty enjoyable. I'm very thankful for the 2x speed option and the ff key. First Xianxia that disappointed me, but I really enjoyed the first few episodes.

Also, please forgive my sarcasm in this review. And thanks for taking the time to read it!

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2nd couple stole the show

To be honest what kept me going was the 2nd couple. Deng Wei and Pan Mei Yi stole the show for me. The lead couple faded in interest as it became a bit repetitive and lacked emotion for me, though I do commend the script for making Bambi's character a bit more empowered and independent with each life.

I loved the moments where Yuchi and the Luofeng Immortal would exchange relationship tips or get caught by QingQing in compromising positions, it made me laugh out loud. But the romance of the lead couple was the least captivating thing for me.

I wish Deng Wei and Pan Mei Yi would get a spinoff or special or perhaps get to play a lead couple in another drama in the future. Apparently it was his first drama and I felt he did an outstanding jon.

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2 nd lead couple

To be honest, what kept me going was the 2nd couple. Deng Wei and Pan Mei Yi stole the show for me. The lead couple faded in interest as it became a bit repetitive and lacked emotion for me, though I do commend the script for making Bambi's character a bit more empowered and independent with each life.

I loved the moments where Yuchi and the Luofeng Immortal would exchange relationship tips or get caught by QingQing in compromising positions, it made me laugh out loud. But the romance of the lead couple was the least captivating thing for me.

I wish Deng Wei and Pan Mei Yi would get a spinoff or special or perhaps get to play a lead couple in another drama in the future. Apparently it was his first drama and I felt he did an outstanding jon.

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There are two SEPARATE reviews for the ML and SML in this drama

TLDR: If you wonder if you should watch it, YES! It's the best worst drama ever. A totally new journey, new experience.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

First of all, the main lead, Dylan Wang. Contrary to popular opinion, I think he was dealt a bad hand in this drama. This storyline and Yuchi Longyan call for someone with SOLID life experience, depth and acting skills. The actor must be able to tell a sophisticated story with his eyes and acting about:
- Someone who was clueless in love but very confident of his power and helplessly felt in love with a girl
- Someone who was slightly arrogant but lost his confident after failing to protect his loved one
- Someone who sacrificed for love, getting so close to a happy ending and getting more hopeful by the day
- Someone who was so hopeful, turning devastated and into the dark side as if he is crushed with pain
- Someone who is over the moon, oozing love out for his one true partner.

Dylan Wang has good look, but he's also a super young actor who started out from 18 years old or so and had his first kiss on screen. I am not sure if he has even experienced love not to mention all the above layers that the role requires. The contrast between the casting and the storyline make his lack of life experience even more pronounced.

Now, onto the second male lead of this show, Deng Wei. This is going to be a long ass review.

At first, I was skipping all his scenes because I normally focus only on the main couple in almost any drama to save time. Upon coming across one of this drama videos on youtube, I got intrigued:

- At 2:17 I can actually see his eyes saying: "I love you, you are cute, but I can see through your bullshit" (Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR9i04YLpyQ).

How does he even do that? I don't know, so I have to watch to understand what he and QQ were doing that led to that expression. Holly smoke! That was exactly what the scene was about, as if he told me everything just with a tilt of his head and his loving and gentle glare.

I then had to cycle back and watch all of his and QQ scenes again. QQ annoyed me at first with her big round eyes, over the top expressions, but she and their pair started to grow on me in the most unexpected way. XQX (Deng Wei) then drew me in by his depth and evolution of the character. I find the experience deeply interesting for three reasons.

Firstly, he is smoking hot: his eyes, lip, nose, jaw line, the way he talks, moves, touches QQ with such elegance and charm. How I would instinctively pull my hand out to compare, then sigh in disbelief every time his hand, yes his hand, appeared on screen.

Secondly, he can act. His acting for both XQX and Lonely Star have clear evolution and direction, adding more layers and depth every time the character learnt something new about himself. The highlight was ep 34 as the Lonely Star, he looked sad when QQ was knocked out the first time, but he still looked clueless as he has never experienced losing someone or feeling lonely before. The second time QQ is out, his emotion exploded. I can see a whole range of emotions, from thankfulness to sadness to devastation to rage then a determination to change the course of QQ next life. It was an emotional rollercoaster and I was totally onboard thanks to his wonderful acting abilities.

Lastly, he and QQ has real chemistry, not only onscreen but offscreen as well. I could write another essay about this but I'd stop here for now and join in with the fans who are calling for them to be main leads in the next drama. I don't care what it's about, I'll be there :)

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Good light-hearted fantasy drama - safe for kids to watch too (NO Spoilers)

A nice light-hearted fantasy drama with comedic moments. I avoided this drama at the beginning as I thought the first few minutes were cliche with poor acting. However, I got suckered in by those YouTube clips and wanted to see what it was all about. I put Xu Kai's "Ancient Love Poetry" on hold over this. I finished this drama in 3 days.

This drama reminds me of "Oh! My Emperor" style feel. Light-hearted. Short episodes. Plenty of comedic moments. Nothing too serious or overly dramatic. The plot was decent. It had the typical usual magical items to conveniently heal whoever gets injured or needs it to grow stronger. It was fun to see the FL from "Dragon Saber" and the supporting ML from "The Untamed" in this show.

It touches upon timeless love and friendship too. My young kids liked watching some parts of it too, especially the cool magical battles and comedy moments. Whenever they see little kids in the show all dressed up in traditional outfits, it definitely captures their attention. The set design looked nice too. Lots of food moments that made me hungry. They need to make these pastries in Chinese Bakeries so I can try some!

I really enjoyed the CGI moments, it was pretty good for a TV Show. The cinematography was impressive with interesting camera angles. Costumes looked good too. Acting was so-so, it was either stiff or over-acted. Still believe Zu Zan Jin from "The Untamed" did the best in this show. All the actors are beautiful with flawless make-up.

As usual, we kept watching even though it got somewhat dry towards the end but we wanted to watch how it will all end. I won't give away any spoilers but I think it's worth watching to the end.

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A bittersweet romance

It made me laugh...gave me heartache...though I am not the type to get that absorbed in a drama I did for this time...the story was average, sometimes repetitive but the acting made me go on...it was top-notch...I felt bored at some point with the sacrifices and with the rebirth but I went on just to see the end...the ending was unexpected but somewhat satisfying...
Both the couple's story was well-written and the character development of QQ was good...
The friendship between Dragon King and The Lord was like whipped cream on cold coffee...
The OSTs were calm and relaxing... so in a nutshell, it was a beautiful but heartwrenching love story and while watching it I wondered "how can someone sacrifice so much for love?"

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Meh

Before coming into this drama (late), I had seen so many fan edits of this drama all over Instagram Reels and Tiktok, and was quite intrigued by the story. Obviously, it's not something that hasn't been done before, but it's also unique in its own way.

There were MANY historical and cultural inaccuracies (especially in FL's first life as a maid), but I convinced myself to let it slide, as I was quite invested in the story. At first, the main lead couple was keeping me interested, but by the middle of the show, I was head over heels for the second lead couple, and every time they were on screen, I found myself screaming my head off. I liked the concept of FL's lifetimes, and how nicely everything was tied together in her last one, but GOSH I HATE THE ENDING SO MUCH. Like yes, I understand it was probably the best for them, but it honestly felt like they both died, even if they didn't.

The second male lead actor has stolen my heart, and I'm now fully invested in his career, and will be looking forward to his first official main role (that doesn't seem to be happening soon. sad times). I watched "When We Were Young", a drama that the second female lead starred in, and didn't follow the actress because I didn't really like her character, but this show has changed my mind. Her acting is just a little cringey, but it's nothing too serious.

The opening and closing songs were both BEAUTIFUL, and the graphics that went with the songs were also amazing. This sound mixing for the fight scenes were also spectacular, and I found they actually matched the scenes. Quite rare for a Chinese drama.

As for rewatch, I occasionally go back to watch a few of my favorite scenes (most of them from FL's 3rd life and some second lead couple cute scenes), but I wouldn't rewatch the entire drama again.

Overall, I feel like this is one of those shows that are quite similar to the types of candies that don't necessarily taste that good, but you can't stop eating them. I binged this drama in a day (no I didn't sleep), which is a huge indicator for the quality of the drama. In the end, it was a fun watch, and opened my eyes to new actors and actresses, and I would recommend it if you like a fun drama with pretty short episodes.

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