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They tried.
For all intended purposes, this was the kind of show I was looking for. I've been looking for an ooey gooey romance, particularly one that could span lifetimes (xianxia) and while I have finished this show.. How can I describe it.. it leaves much to be wanting?The storyline may have been promising.. but over the span of three lifetimes, the main leads spend more time apart than they have time together. They marry other people and in the first lifetime, the main female lead even has a child with someone else and that gets glazed over like it's not a big deal. I think the base of the story is beautiful though could use some more modern updates, and I don't doubt writers had a hard time expressing that kind of base in a longer, visual, story.
There is a lot of time that needs to span through this show, so much of the time they spend together ends up feeling like a lot of big shows of I must surely love you and it's not that convincing.. A lot of the love scenes involve fireworks and beautiful views.. but I think what the writers have forgotten is that love isn't all fireworks and fireflies, it's curated from many more smaller moments. They spend so much time apart it makes you wonder how he fell into such a deep love in the first place. Especially as each lifetime seems to bring about a different female lead.
I say all of this even believing time doesn't define how deeply you can love someone, but if this kind of love is to stand the test of time, some time to nurture it seems necessary too.
I usually don't like when there are too many additional love lines but I liked the blue bird and lone star side story. Unfortunately, their love story often seemed stronger than the main characters. While I liked the inclusion of their story, I don't think it makes sense for a second love line in a show to be stronger and better than the main. They did a better job at relaying chemistry and love than the main leads.
I didn't like that the main female lead seemed like a completely different person by her third lifetime, that these changes in reincarnation aren't really addressed, and I think by the end, I actually kind of tired of watching her. She lacked main female lead energy. Wish they cast someone else for the lone star and for the main female lead, and wish they told this story differently in show form. I didn't enjoy watching either actor/actress perform.
The end felt a little rushed, and a little silly.
Overall, I watched all of it, and it was just fine. I highly doubt I'll watch it again, and I'll likely forget about it.
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What Did I Just Watch?
I have no words to describe this drama. I speak with all honestly I don’t know what the heck I just watched. Let me start by saying, don’t waste your time! Get Out of Here it Isn’t Worth It. I personally only really watched the first life. In the second life I got annoyed at the slow and unecessary pace of it all and started skipping through it. To say the least I wish I had just dropped it at the second life. If you think you’re getting a happy ending think again. At least I don’t consider that a happy ending. Also it’s basically just a repetitive story about how the leads can’t be together. I don’t even know, it was a mess!Was this review helpful to you?
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The second lead stole the show.
I'm a little sad because the actress playing the female lead is the only reason I picked up this drama but her character(s) didn't have much dept, and surprisingly I ended up liking the scenes where the male lead interacts with the second leads more than the ones with the female lead.The male lead doesn't have much of a life or motivation aside from maybe one day being with the protagonist, but he made me giggle a couple of times so I'll give him that.
The second female lead is a bit weird, but it didn't bother me as much since she's supposed to be a dumb bird (literally).
The character I liked the most was by far the second male lead, 10/10 comic relief but also did pretty well on the more serious scenes, he was a surprisingly positive character and pretty much the only reason the other three didn't die by the halfway point of the drama, between the female lead who never knows what's happening, the male lead who's a bit too eager to saceifice his life at every opportunity and the second female lead who's dumb as a rock, I guess the writers needed someone to keep the ship going.
The villain could've done better, they only started showing him as a suspicious person almost at the end so it was a bit of a shift with the character, I think there could've been a better way of showing that he was suspicious from the start and to reveal his plan at the end without making it so cartoonish.
Didn't like the ending, it was what dropped the grade for me, I was willing to forgive all the flaws from this drama but a unsatisfying ending I can't forgive, in my opinion it was poorly executed and rushed, they could've cut all those flashbacks and given more time for the fourth life and closed things more neatly.
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How to make a drama drag-on
This drama was simply a disappointment. When they cast Dylan Wang, I was cautious and my fears came to fruition watching him in the main role... his role being staring into nothing. And as for Bambi, who knows if she's a decent actress? I was frankly bored with her portrayal, of course story-wise she wasn't given much to work with, 3 incarnations of damsels and 1 of a general. By the way, what did the dragon love about this mortal? Because with 0 personality most of the time, I wondered if she'd been born with a different face, how he'd recognise her.I commend the second lead couple, they kept the show alive, dragged me into watching the whole show. I hope to see these two in more dramas in the future.
In essence, for a drama idea that has been hyped for years, the writers massacred what could've been an entertaining drama. Also the big bad was laughable, with pathetic motivation and scarce reasoning.
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Miss the Dragon: a cautionary of falling in love with a straight man
My thirst for Zhu Zanjin knows no boundries, so I even agreed to pay for the garbage I watched. Thank god the second main lead could pull off a much better story.I don't understand why I was supposed to think the main leads were in love. Just because you give us some cute moments between the two, doesn't mean I'll ship them. Their romance was consists of flashbacks over the same OST (I do like the songs over the series BTW). I feel if the episodes were a bit longer or if there were more episodes to really flesh out the romance properly, I 'd be less mad. We are led to think FL was the one who saved the dragon king, but it was actually her lady. She was the one who said "hey, let's save this snake" but we are supposed to think the FL- I'm sorry the story sucks from the start. The writers invested no time in making a good story.
The dragon king is just an asshole towards everyone who isn't the FL and I'm suppose to like him because he is the ML and handsome? How low do you think my standarts are? Even towards the FL, you were warned you couldn't be with her for one hundred years, but you constantly remind her of your existance. You're being an awful husband to your wife (he doesn't even marry her himself, he just marries her off to his clone while stalking the FL from distance), you're being an asshole towards your only friend and you have no hobbies other than the FL. Seriously, the dragon king is either a jerk or in love with female lead, he has no personallity whatso ever. Like, the FL in her second life was dumb enough to pretend she could bring down rain (deserved to be excuted over her stupidity) and he fights immortals for that... like, dude. She brought it on herself. AND HE SUFFERS NO CONSEQUENCES OVER HIS ACTIONS. Did I mention the actor doesn't even bother making any facial expressions? Even he hated the show and I feel sorry for his (and the other's) wasted time.
The action scenes are so terrible too. There is no movement. No life to the action. Dragon king might be too overpowered for my taste, but that doesn't give your the right making the action scenes so lifeless and boring. Also, there is the whole "turning into immortal" sub plot that occasionly is brought up but nothing is explained and it doesn't end up playing a role in a show consisting of immortals and eternal romance.
I don't understand why the female lead falls in love with him all the times. The first time she thinks he is marrying to her lady (at some point we also told about her life but we don't see it- like how was she as a mother, how did she die ect). The second time he made her fall in love with him only to be emo about it. The third time the other dude who solid, good looking and a great man, but she "remember" Yuchi-gege so he wasn't give a chance and she likes the guy who is OP. I skipped most of the fourth life, but I saw she fell in love with him as a kid and I was like NOOOOOO. Their romance suck so much.
The second lead couple wasn't only likeable pairing, but I also enjoyed them as individuals. Xue Qianxun was what the ML was supposed to be. Qingqing was adorable. They made not only cheer for them, but I didn't want to skip their parts. I was fully invested in their story. They also made want to follow the actors in future drama they will be in.
And lastly, my dear Zanzan's character, Ming Ge Xing Jun, Immortal of fate. I guess every show needs a surprise villain nowadays. He was so little relavent I was mad. He is the Immortal of fate and they dare give him such a small role? I think FL's fate was written by him from the start to get the Yin soul (to control the world which was something the wroters farted at the last episodes with such a little built up). Too bad that the man loved he in love with that mortal. Now, I can forgive him messing with other's fates as you know- HE IS THE IMMORTAL OF FATE, THAT's THE JOB DESCRIBTION! The main lead sucks so much, I cheered at the idea of him getting in between them. If the plot was him trying to rule all the world I'd be so much more invested. Dude was acually doing his job. I get why he was against romance. Him getting a love interest (hopefully better than the ungratful dragon) would be more interesting.
Why can't Zhu Zanjin get a character who is pure like him and get a happy ending? Even as a side character, I'll take that.
So, even with the second leads and Zhu Zanjin, the show is no good. Recommend it if you are in a mood for a stupid story and don't want to use your brains
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A Total Waste
LIKES:Costumes, colours, cinematography and locations, were all well done. Music was okay, but nothing memorable.
I loved the opening graphics of the little white "snake", it was super cute. First 2 or 3 episodes were good.
Inconstancy was a problem throughout. The FL doesn't initially save the "snake," it was her Lady that suggested it.
Second couple: Lonely Star and Blue Bird were the only reason I watch every episode of this garbage.
The actress playing the Blue Bird, was spot on even when in human form (constantly chattering away, very vain, always moving quickly from one place to the next, etc.)
All the reviews talking about the second couple are correct.
Plenty of immortal/magical moments as expected in a fantasy type drama.
Some of the special effects were good, but considering it's 2021 when it aired, it's pretty lame for the most part.
FX: the fireflies and wounds were well done, but the rest was cheesy or worse.
The cat demon's makeup was good and the actress is very pretty.
The hair for all the women was also well crafted, especially the cat ears.
DISLIKES:
WRITING
The writer started out with a good concept (pretty girl heals animals, they are demons and become loyal to her) and then the writer got drunk and wrecked the rest of the writing. And instead of calling the animals (both real and mystical) demons, it would have been better to call them spirts (good and evil) and why heavens immortals are friends with them. Too repetitive with the reincarnation lives, two maybe done well would have been plenty, but instead the writer muddles through multiple ones. Total crap. Even fairy tales have more kisses than this "romance" historical drama. Even the ending was stupid; just pick a concept already!
All they eat is pastries? Weird.
The "villain" is so obvious and gives a hint right in the beginning of the drama.
WAY TOO SLOW paced for the romance parts, thankfully there is fast forward.
Why start off making the FL a strong character and then trash all that over and over?
FX
The dragon's face when it became large looked like a cross between a fox and the dragon from Never Ending Story (American movie). The makeup and hair on the male lead was terribly done. The set design when it came to the rocks or rock formations was terrible. The fighting scenes, even with swords are not well choreographed and their swords look like rubber.
PRODUCTION
So many choppy parts, where editing was a fail. At least they didn't have shaky camera syndrome and used film stabilizer, but that's the only good thing about it. The CGI was terrible, as if their budget was limited, yet they made 36 episodes? UGH
Directing was bad too, huge lag when a character was supposed to react immediately, lack of showing the romance and chemistry, etc. Time management was a huge problem which was so obvious with how it dragged on.
ACTING
They did the best with what they were given. Dylan Wang was okay in this role, but they didn't direct him properly. Zhu Xu Dan was okay in the beginning, but became annoying later, but again I think this is due to the writer and director stuffing it up.
Deng Wei was surprisingly really good in his role as Lord of Luofeng Pavillion and showed good chemistry with Pan Mei Ye. Pan Mei Ye's acting was superb, especially acting bird like as her human/elf moments.
OVERALL it's a waste of time. The 2nd couple carried the drama, but still wasn't given enough time for a proper build of their chemistry and romance. I won't recommend it, unless you just watch a scene compilation on Youtube. I definitely won't rewatch.
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Poor execution, insanely dragged out
i rarely see xianxia dramas but this particular xianxia caught my eye by the promotional posters and promising plot and i began this drama with high expectations, but ultimately — it was a disappointment.the beginning of this drama started out well and i actually quite enjoyed it. liuying took care of the dragon king when he was injured and seeing him slowly fall in love with her sweet, gentle and innocent aura was nice to watch but after conflicts arose and he was cursed to watch her forget him and die for four lifetimes is when the drama, for me, began to lose its limerance. the FL is reborn again and the plot began to feel rushed everytime dragon king and FL met each other — the romance was much too fast paced and at times some scenes were boring as nothing exciting happened between the leads ( i found myself fast forwarding on many occasions ). if anything, it was just a repeat of dragon king’s first encounter with liuying such as the roasted chestnuts, watching fireworks, or going into the cherry blossom forest. the four lifetimes plot was insanely dragged out and i was quite shocked by that as i felt the plot had potential but the writers could’ve done more with the plot than simply making the FL get saved by the DK each time they crossed each other’s paths. it didn’t help that the acting was also not as good at times, DW was at times a little too stoic & i thought that he should have expressed more sorrow at being separated from his love and more emotion put into his expressions of devotion and loyalty to her, but alas it seems he became too absorbed in the “rough and indestructible” dragon king role. i definitely feel a little more emotion would’ve made the drama more enjoyable.
what made me continue watching this drama was the second leads — they absolutely stole the show and were much more interesting than the leads. i enjoyed their scenes and i thought their chemistry was really good which made their scenes all the more enjoyable. if i had to choose, my most preferred lifetime of the FL would be her third lifetime when she was general feng chen yue; she was an empowered, strong lead that led an army and didn’t need to rely on someone to save her — she was her own leader and i found her storyline to be much more interesting as there was even a complot from the crown prince conspiring to kill her which made the third lifetime interesting to watch, especially when general feng defeated her antagonist. it was an added bonus that she didn’t need much help from the dragon king either — we love an independent queen.
overall, i wasn’t very impressed with this drama and i wanted to like it, but i could only find more fault than good things to criticize about this drama. i understand it was a low budget drama but it was a let down from the way they promoted the drama and made it look better than it was. the ending was also unsatisfactory which made my disappointment run even deeper. this xianxia is one the least memorable dramas for me and if you’re not a fan of dragged out, repititive romances then i would overlook this drama.
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The stort went
Little spoiler, My only problem with this drama is that the author is making FL marrying other dude in her first and second life because of mistakes which she still love the ML. So I really loved the third and fourth life. Also, I hasn't watch all episodes because they didn't put English Sub on all of it yet. Still, I went to look at the ending little, and it's kinda hurt me. This is the first historical drama that I have watch where the second couple is ending up together. For the ending, I really want them to make season 2 where main character meet in moral world or specail episode. I watch this drama because of sister Bambi Zhu (Zhu Xudan), and her co-worker in this drama really make me fall for them. Some people mind said their chemistry not match, but I don't feel that way since the first few episodes hit me soo hard, making me want them to have drama together in future. I really love this drama, it become one of my favorites. Some people can said I'm crazy or blind, but I just love it without a reason. I would love to rated it 10.0 (full mark) but the only problem is the plot. I don't like went couple marrying other people, it make my heart aches. But characters/actors are really cute especially behind the scene ❤.Was this review helpful to you?
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Illogical Plot
The OST of Miss the Dragon was good. However, the production crew didn't think things thoroughly. For example, in the first episode, there is a character on the carriage, 夏 (Xià). This means the carriage belongs to the 夏 (Xià) family. However, the lady in the carriage's last name is 夏侯 (Xiàhóu). In the same scene, the maid gives away food without asking for her lady's permission. In the first few minutes, they already manage to mess up multiple times. The villain of the story didn't really do much, and the script is illogical. I don't even know why I watched until the end because if you love happy endings, you will be disappointed. If you are here for Dylan Wang, I would suggest you watch something else because this is not his best work.Was this review helpful to you?
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Much too dragged out
i rarely see xianxia dramas but this particular xianxia caught my eye by the promotional posters and promising plot and i began this drama with high expectations, but ultimately — it was a disappointment.the beginning of this drama started out well and i actually quite enjoyed it. liuying took care of the dragon king when he was injured and seeing him slowly fall in love with her sweet, gentle and innocent aura was nice to watch but after conflicts arose and he was cursed to watch her forget him and die for four lifetimes is when the drama, for me, began to lose its limerance. the FL is reborn again and the plot began to feel rushed everytime dragon king and FL met each other — the romance was much too fast paced and at times some scenes were boring as nothing exciting happened between the leads ( i found myself fast forwarding on many occasions ). if anything, it was just a repeat of dragon king’s first encounter with liuying such as the roasted chestnuts, watching fireworks, or going into the cherry blossom forest. the four lifetimes plot was insanely dragged out and i was quite shocked by that as i felt the plot had potential but the writers could’ve done more with the plot than simply making the FL get saved by the DK each time they crossed each other’s paths. it didn’t help that the acting was also not as good at times, DW was at times a little too stoic & i thought that he should have expressed more sorrow at being separated from his love and more emotion put into his expressions of devotion and loyalty to her, but alas it seems he became too absorbed in the “rough and indestructible” dragon king role. i definitely feel a little more emotion would’ve made the drama more enjoyable.
what made me continue watching this drama was the second leads — they absolutely stole the show and were much more interesting than the leads. i enjoyed their scenes and i thought their chemistry was really good which made their scenes all the more enjoyable. if i had to choose, my most preferred lifetime of the FL would be her third lifetime when she was general feng chen yue; she was an empowered, strong lead that led an army and didn’t need to rely on someone to save her — she was her own leader and i found her storyline to be much more interesting as there was even a complot from the crown prince conspiring to kill her which made the third lifetime interesting to watch, especially when general feng defeated her antagonist. it was an added bonus that she didn’t need much help from the dragon king either — we love an independent queen.
overall, i wasn’t very impressed with this drama and i wanted to like it, but i could only find more fault than good things to criticize about this drama. i understand it was a low budget drama but it was a let down from the way they promoted the drama and made it look better than it was. the ending was also unsatisfactory which made my disappointment run even deeper. this xianxia is one the least memorable dramas for me and if you’re not a fan of dragged out, repititive romances then i would overlook this drama.
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Writers have mercy on us
I just wish writers could suffer the tribulations of millions of lightning bolts right now! They are even more cruel than this unjust supposed heaven that they themselves created. After all, they are like the very villain they wrote, how much coincidence is the immortal of fate if not themselves, the script writers reserved such a terrible ending. The Chinese greatly exaggerate these tragedies. Why not their imagination can be more merciful, joyful, sweet? They owe us so much, faithful viewers, that we anxiously entwine each episode, waiting for the just redemption of these four souls.Was this review helpful to you?
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