Till the End of the Moon (2023)

Very painful romance but I have no regrets

I was hesitant about picking up this one because I had heard that there was lots of drama and angst in the story, but I saw it being recommended too many times (and I saw Bai Lu being praised all around A LOT), so I had to watch it and make an opinion for myself.

The story is about Tantai Jin, the demon lord who is destined to bring chaos to the world, and Li Susu, the immortal who witnesses the destruction brought by Tantai Jin and travels 500 years back in time to prevent his rise to power. What Li Susu doesn't expect is to be reincarnated as Tantai Jin's wife, and Tantai Jin to be a mortal who is hated and mistreated by everyone. Just like that, Ye Xiwu's plan becomes more complicated: she has to find a way to neutralize Tantai Jin's evil core, but she also needs to make sure he doesn't die in the meantime.
The story flows very nicely. There is a lot going on, but the pace is not too fast and it allows to follow all the events well without getting confused, all without ever needing to slow down too much. There's also a very good balance between the dramatic plot elements and the more fun, romantic, and fluffy ones, which was a huge relief to me.
The cast was amazing all around, with very likeable characters and great villains as well. I was impressed by the ML the most for his performance as Tantai Jin: he was able to portray a very complex character, managing to show warmth and coldness as needed without it ever feeling unnatural. I've seen a good amount of anti-hero protagonists, but this is one of the few who were actually unsettling to me, in the best way possible!

The quality of the production was very high, with special effects that never looked out of place nor overdone. The OST also matches the core moments of the drama and enhances them very well.

I can't lie, the story made me suffer a lot. There's lots of moments that made my heart ache for the characters, and after almost 40 episodes I was starting to feel a little tired from all the heartbreaks I had to watch. Despite this, I enjoyed this story and its characters a lot, and I can easily recommend it to any fan of the Xianxia genre.

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Mixed feelings

Story: It is an intriguing story. Fast paced, enemies to lovers trope to the max. Although it's a repetition from some dramas in the past, but some points in the story are fresh. The struggling mind of the MC about his identity is very intense which made me feel emphatic for him. And his passionate love for his lover is very pitiful yet infuriating. In the middle episodes, I felt a little bit dragging, but some of romantic scenes from side characters are fun. And the ending felt rush in explanation yet too much repetitive scenes.

Acting: This was the most part that gave me mixed feelings. I admire Leo Luo and Bai Lu's acting, they really can act well as the MCs. The character's depth emotions are portrayed excellently, especially with Leo's eyes expression. But I can't feel the chemistry between them. I can't feel the love and the hate from their interactions. It's very different from the drama when they first collaborated. The productions also have some good and bad parts. The visual is very much pleasing, specially the costumes and CGI. However some scenes were illogical because the costumes was too grand for the setting. At last, I found the editing was the big disappointment for this lush drama, to the point that it feels not coherent despite they already have many benefits from visual and acting.

Overall: I recommended this drama if you like character driven story. The character development is very enjoyable and Leo played it emotionally heartbreaking.

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Acting and CGI par excellence...Luo Yunxi stands out!

For me it is actually between 9.5 and a 10.

First, the choice of actors is amazing, it seems they were meant to do these roles. The fact that Luo Yun Xi used his own voice made a hell lot of a difference. His micro-expressions are phenomenal and he has portrayed all 4 characters effortlessly. You can actually feel subtle differences in his acting. Bai lu does justice to her role and was an apt choice. Their chemistry is so easy and effortless and amazing. However, the character build up of Li Susu is not as great as that of Tantai Jin.

Second, the CGI is point on! One of the best I have seen till date in Chinese dramas. you get hooked on to it and just do not feel like skipping. Kudos to the production team. They have done an excellent job in bringing everything together and have justified all production costs.

Third, the storyline moves fast in many areas, which is rare in Chinese dramas. So, that was a welcome change. The storyline does drag a bit between Ep 30-35, but picks up again.

I had just finished watching Love between Fairy and Devil and was not in a mood to watch another similar Chinese fantasy drama. But this got me hooked from Ep 1 mainly because of the par excellent acting of the main leads and the Visual FX.

I have already seen it three times and can watch again. Also, this one made Luo Yun Xi earn a lifelong fan!

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I liked it, but

Hooo boyyyyy this is the longest drama review I've ever written, the note in my notes app has seen all my rants lol. Now, that I finally finished it, I'll boil everything I've noted down.

First of all, I think this drama should come with a trigger warning for triggering topics like bullying, feeling of abandonment, loneliness and depression (also abuse). Honestly, if my struggling younger self would watch this, it would cause me a serious spiraling down.

TL;DR and don't want to get spoiled review: I think the storyline along with the topics have a great potential to discover more and it wasn't fully there for me. Truly outstanding acting, very beautiful costumes and really good CGI. Could've been made into more episodes.

Small spoilers ahead:
I've been waiting so long for this drama to air (didn't we all). I'm one of the few people who didn't come to watch for Bai Lu and Luo Yunxi (such a gorgeous man). I came because of Xiao Shunyao. I'm very much conflicted on this drama. While I absolutely loved the base storyline and the topics of time travel, butterfly effect, alternative storylines, changing personalities, character development, even the psychology level, I just disliked a good part of the storyline. I liked it until ep 20, eps 21 - 29 were just "what...is happening, you're losing me here" and I then watched pretty much only to see how it will end. Ep 30 gave me hope again, I liked how the storylines intertwined there, it felt complete. But the end of that episode made me afraid again. Episode 35 would've been such a great season finale, especially when a second season was planned. If the producers would have cut it here, then it would have been a good drama in my eyes. Buuut as tradition follows, I knew exactly that the writers are going to turn tides in the last 5 episodes completely and come back with a tsunami to hit the viewer right into the gut. 17 minutes into ep 36 the sh!t started to go down (do we always need such gut wrenching turn of events and so many deaths? I guess we do, just not my cuppa tea). Ep 39 just further cemented my opinion that this drama had THE potential to discover alternative storylines, dreams, different realities, like holy moly this episode was so good?? This energy should've been throughout the drama. Is it someone dreaming? Is it a main story? Is this someone's Bo're Life? That, my friends, is the potential I see in this type of story and prompt and it just wasn't fully there in my opinion.
Why I am conflicted on this drama: I mean, the storylines had their logic, it was clear where they were coming from but also not at the same time. I'm not going to go into much detail, to not spoil everything. What I was conflicted about (let's say contradictory statements and deeds in general) was resolved and explained in the last two episodes. Also sidenote, idk if I got it correctly, but the ep where Sang Jiu came to get her wedding night from Ming Ye, left quite a bad taste in my mouth, especially since she silenced him.... ?? raising my eyebrows

I don't want to end on a bad note, so here are I things I liked - Pian Ran x Ye Qingyiu storyline - perfect. Of course that I loved Xiao Shunyao as the evil brother, I think that the writers could've given this storyline more screen time, because we had a serious potential here (I felt that it was way too side storyish). At first, I loathed Ye Bing Chang/Mo Nv with every ounce of my being but in the end?? Mo Nv turning her character was very great development, I liked that. And of course, Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu are truly outstanding actors. Great applause for acting for everyone, in general. I nearly cried along with Luo Yunxi at the end.

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Tantai Jin is ?

*** Spoiler Alert (PERSONAL FEEDBACK)
Title : Till The End Of The Moon (Complete 40 Episodes)
Personal Rating : 8.5/10

Tantai Jin | Cang Jiu Min | Ming Ye (played Luo Yun Xi)

Li Su Su | Ye Xi Wu | Sang Jiu (Played Bai Lu)

This is my first drama of Bai Lu and and Luo Yun Xi. Actually, I dropped this drama once and I didn’t plan to watch it since I already know from some post and spoilers that someone will die but I didn’t know who. And it is not a happy ending but since it was a talk of the town for a long time, I tried to watch it again and it was okay.?

Honestly, TTEOTM is not for me. It was not my cup of tea or my kind of drama that I will enjoy watching happily.? The endless suffering, sacrifices, betrayal, misfortunes, revenges, and pain are not for me. I cannot handle it because it pains me and breaks my heart too. And that it one of the reasons why I don’t watch sad dramas. ? There was love, comedy and romance in this drama but it is more on sad story than a happy one. I think my favourite scene is the Bo’re life only. I don’t have anything against the story and characters. To be honest it was well written drama. It is for the viewers who can handle endless heartache.?
For the characters, I like Tantai Jin because even from all the misfortunes that he had in his life he still chooses to love and be kind till the end. ❤️ And I like Immortal Zhaoyou, the leader of the Xiaoyao Sect who becomes Tantai Jin's mentor because even he knows that he is a jinxed from the start he still trusts, educate, and protect Tantai Jin. ?
For Ye Xiwu, sometimes I like her sometimes I dislike her because he kept on using and fooling Tantai Jin coz she knows Tatai Jin loves her and will accept her whatever she does. Well, that is my opinion only. We have different opinions and understanding so you can always disagree with me.? For Gongye Jiwu, I don’t know what’s wrong with him on the last few episodes. He was blinded by hatred or something.

Overall, I rate this drama 8.5/10. It was okay for me even the ending was okay. They are meant not to be together anyway even they love each other. And its not a sad ending for me coz till the end Tatai Jin love Susu and vice versa.? I think TTEOTM has one of the best CGI’s for me. It was wow! ? It looks so goooood specially the spirit gods. ?The chemistry of the leads are great too! And salute to Luo Yun Xi, he is freaking good! ??? He embodied the character of Tatai Jin so well. He is one the best actor who played a Devilish character! Well done! ❤️??

OST – Only You by Shuang Sheng ( one of the happy songs )?
GENRE – Romance, Wuxia, Fantasy, Costume
LEAD CAST – Luo Yun Xi, Bai Lu

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Everything in this drama is perfect

The first few episodes of "Till the End of the Moon" can be described as straight to the point. The high-energy scene of Mo Shen Dantai Jin's killing spree begins immediately after the opening, and after the stunning special effects, the story quickly moves into a plot of reversing the future. In just a few episodes, the female lead has already taken the main storyline and is working hard to save the people.
"Watched 18 episodes in a row and caught up with the latest update, didn't even stop for a breath," "The special effects are really good. After watching the first episode, I really want to praise the production team." The fast-paced story and the special effects that exceed expectations have received high praise from many viewers and they have started saying "It's really good!"
This market has never lacked Xianxia dramas, but only "good-looking Xianxia dramas". As the conflict between users' demand for good content and the inevitable content homogenization intensifies, innovation becomes more urgent. "Till the End of the Moon" uses a narrative technique that counters homogeneity, rich and diverse character settings, and a redefined value system of chivalry to redefine the boundaries of innovation in Xianxia dramas.
The main characters in "Till the End of the Moon" all have multiple identities and span several lifetimes. The screenwriters take advantage of the natural complexity of character in Xianxia dramas and, through the characters' experiences, make their "human" and "non-human" sides more three-dimensional and make their humanity more vivid. For example, the male lead, Dantai Jin, is the most complex character, he is evil but reasonable, and good things come naturally to him. Viewers can see his struggles and vulnerabilities, and they naturally develop emotional resonance.
Despite the claim of upholding the chivalrous spirit of the wuxia genre, many wuxia dramas in recent years have drifted towards idol dramas. Fortunately, in "Till the End of the Moon", we see a comprehensive return of the "chivalrous" spirit. From the worldview-based spirit of chivalry and salvation to the concrete expression in the main plot and character settings, the "chivalrous spirit" runs throughout the entire series. According to the screenwriters He Fang and Luo Xuan, the highlight plot of "Twelve Godly Powers vs. Demon God" in the drama is not only a piece of history familiar to disciples of the immortal sect, but also a spiritual value that continues in the main story thousands of years later, whether it is the demon god Dan Taijin in the darkness, or the chivalrous woman Li Susu who pursues the light, or even the loser Ye Zeyu, all have a sense of chivalry in their hearts.

From the moment "Till the End of the Moon" was first announced, praises about its artistic style and costume texture have never stopped. Why is it so eye-catching? Because it is truly beautiful.

In the past, we seldom used "rich and magnificent" to describe a wuxia drama. Previously, the protagonists in wuxia dramas wore large swathes of white, with their appearances ranging from simple to monotonous, and their costumes were repetitive, making it effortless for wuxia drama audiences to mix them up. However, after seeing the magnificent composition and color matching of "Till the End of the Moon" materials, and the Dunhuang-style costume and appearance of the entire cast, such bold aesthetic innovation is not only unique to "Till the End of the Moon" "TTEOTM aesthetics", but also the most intuitive difference between it and most other wuxia dramas.
Art design is also an essential aspect of the "TTEOTM aesthetics." After repeated polishing by art director Luan Hexin and director Ju Jueliang, they finally settled on a design style that puts people first, with a combination of Eastern mystical colors and humanistic emotions. Behind the scenes, it involved using 12 studios, covering nearly 50,000 square meters, and creating a huge amount of props, with nearly 30,000 props used in the entire show. Just for the overall design of the male and female lead's costumes, there were hundreds of props.

During the filming process, to make the immortal world more grounded, the creators referenced the design philosophy of Dunhuang culture and Tang and Song dynasty architecture. They also spent nine months building real-world sets in Yongkang City, Zhejiang Province. In the creation of the human world divine realm's architecture, they also incorporated traditional Chinese medicine-inspired patterns, combining historical elements while retaining the mystical feel of the fantasy genre. The fantasy style that extends from real-world scenes makes the design of the four realms more realistic and dynamic.
With close collaboration and communication between departments, from content to styling and art, the aesthetic design of "Till the End of the Moon" presents a highly integrated and cohesive look. The design concept that is rooted in oriental culture and centered around people not only realizes an innovative exploration of aesthetics in the genre of xianxia drama, but also sets a new benchmark for the eastern aesthetics of xianxia dramas.

Putting people first and breaking through the conventional creative process to amplify content advantages reflects the resolute spirit of the creative team. As a xianxia drama that is deeply rooted in Chinese traditional culture, it embodies the classic eastern aesthetics through concrete actions and refreshes the audience's inherent perception of xianxia, creating a broader space for imagination.

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Most interesting xian xian story but beware - puke blood production

First review :
After finishing the drama for a few days, I decided to write. I would definitely not watch this show again. I'm not even sure whether it's worth to watch this show.

It's has a lot of anguish, draggy, zig zag, cringe scenes, bad writting and storytelling skills, so I keep feeling frustrated with the production while watching, not withstanding keep thinking they ruined this story and wishing otherwise. This is despite I can ignore many blunt mistakes like sleeping with ornaments. It is such a waste. This can be a great drama given the budget.

Despite the big flaws, I faithfully watched it. The story is unique and more interesting than the past xian xia dramas. I like xian xia genre but could only stomach a few. I also like unique story.

The plot from ep 8 onwards is the best among xian xia drama. This is the plot that caught my interest and keep me going, including Luo Yunxi good acting. Before ep 8, I was thinking of dropping the show if it continues at this standard. Subsequently there are good and bad ones but the best is reserved to the very last, it wrapped up nicely and make watching a poorly produced drama with so much anguish, puking theirs and our blood, worth the effort to hold to the end. Additionally, there are many touching and weepy scenes, one of the best, but I'm a weepy audience. Still, this story has many regrets, so it can showcase many sad scenes and they are directed very well.

The other nice to have are the great fight scenes, beautiful apparel, setting and cgi.

So if you belongs to such audience profile, go ahead and watch the show, suffer and enjoy!


2nd review after watching again :
I never thought I will watch it again. But oh boy, am I wrong and what a surprise, I appreciate this drama even more.

This time, I speed all the distractions, side stories, focus on the main lead and female lead and it's much clearer. A rare true jem story.

If you can ignore all the confusion, some very poorly produce part, just focus on tan taiji arc, how he grows and change, it's a moving deep story. For people who likes to be philosophical about life, tan taiji arc is the one.

All these started 10 000 years ago and cumulated at tan taiji. He is destined to be the demon god, suffer misery, loss, abandon when born. All his love ones shall suffer, die or betray him. Meanwhile, the immortal world want him dead, fear him since demon god will end the world. What is the point of living?

But life is unpredictable. No one has full control. And tan taiji is a very determined character.

Grant the serenity to accept the things that cannot be change.
Courage to change the things that can be change
Wisdom to discern the difference

He made it! And yet not quite as expected but it's fitting.

Ps) I still wish they have tell the story better. Great acting by lou yun xi.

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I ABSOLUTELY ADORE IT!

This drama have the best costumes ever and the surrounding world is so beautiful ! The actors are good specially Luo Yunxi. The CGI looks amazing, I think for a C-drama they made a really good work here! I also really enjoy the story between the main couple. Maybe there are some plot holes, but that's ok with me since there are plenty of stuff that i love about the story.
MOSTLY OF ALL I ADORE TANTAI JIN!! He looks so handsome and elegant but there are moment when he have this creepy vibes, still you can't move away your eyes off of him.. he is just perfect ..I find him very interesting not only in looks but as a character!

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GOOD ACTING CANNOT EVEN SAVE THE DRAMA

As the headline said, good acting cannot save the drama.

Good part:
The opening had one of the best c-drama opening I ever watched. Even better than the all time fave ancient drama AOL and L&R.
The depiction of Gods and Goddesses shadow (Idk what they call) is just so majestic. i haven't seen such CGI that I would just go gasping 'Wahhh!!'
The battle scene (and CGI accompanied them) between God of War Mingye and Devil God was beautifully executed.
The way they CGI'ed Devil God power including the eye arrow, the big fire circle behind him just made it believable that he was the strongest of the gods.

To be honest, i'm not a big fan of both Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu but undoubtly they have skills.
Luo Yunxi acting is superb, as both Devil God and the pitiful Tantai Jin and of course Mingye. I have seen him in AOL and he definitely can act. Since I watched this drama after Love Between Fairy and Devil, the comparison is just as clear between Luo Yunxi and Dylan Wang character as both were respective Devil who indecisive whether he wants to become a good guy or a bad guy.
I have seen Bai Lu few works before, Arsenal military and the one where she is a demoness to name a few. This is one of the weakest I must say. Or maybe I was actually affected with how stupid her character was.
With that being said, here's the many bad part:
The dream, is too long. The battle between Devil God and Gods is fucking two episode. It was great and all, but it shouldn't last two damn episode that I was waiting when they will wake up.
After episode 5, the drama just kind fell really really really flat that by episode 15, I was wondering what the hell I am watching. There's romcom here and there in between but it just got so draggy by the time I'm at the current episode 26.
Mind you, I usually just skipped a few parts when it got draggy but this time it also got so repetitive.
The same all misunderstanding game but you recycle and change a bit after more than twice it just got so frustrating. Like someone said, there is no character growth at all. And after 26 episode, shouldn't Li Susu at least hesitate in doing stupid things to accomplished her mission??
Why the hell would you, after all the 'promise not to leave him' and 'stay by your side forever' betrayed Tantai Jin in a broad daylight?? For Xiao Lin whom you know for sure wouldn't be killed by TTJ.
I mean, why???
And what the hell is wrong with Luo Yunxi makeup?? Its just white powder and pink eyeshadow too visible on his eyes, making me wonder if they trying to potray TTJ as a sick person.
And isn't it dumb that everyone knows TTJ can use demon power but y'all just go ahead and send your army of mortal human who had no power at all to attack him with a sword?? A sword??! Against the guy who can command demon power from afar without physically touching you??
And this guy Nian Baiyu, is a great assistant but why haven't he shown his power??
Ye Qingyu is another character that at this point of drama I just thought he shouldn't be given a screentime because of how useless he is to the plot of the story. You thought he was gonna be important because he sits with Prince and talk about this whole utopia world but ended up getting too hungover a fox demon.
Then there's Ye Binchang who's the actor played her made it so believable that she's this conceited woman, psychopath due to unfair treatment she received as a concubine's daughter. Talk about being totally ungrateful. After all, her family is still a wealthy and known family, and she still ended up marrying a prince but woman still victimized herself.
I think that they took Ye Binchang/Tianhuan villainess too far tbh. She didn't even have a self contradiction or dilemma after wake up from the dream and just decide, hey, I want to be the bad guy. I'm glad when the her story about two love lines uncovered in front of everyone and finally they wanted to close the chapter with her being stripped off her title and become a maid.
But no, they decide they wanted to make her killed her grandmother for no concrete reason. I mean yall know she was so conceited after the revealed betrayal on Xiao Lin, but yall decide to let her go home and not be careful around her?? That's stupid.
Tbh, there's so many plot hole that I could just point out that would make this show unbelievably stupid and frustrating.

And right now as i am writing, i'm contemplating whether I should drop this or not.

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Going on in circles

I feel like we are going in circles at this point. The same issues, same miscommunication, same over reaction and same angst. There has been very little growth in characters and it keeps going to pretty much square one every couple of episodes. Great acting by the ML and he actually looked food deprived for the large part of episodes that I have seen. I watched SOKP and this is such a disappointment. I started getting annoyed by 12th episode and continued to hate watch it. I cannot see why it is highly rated and it had so much potential which sadly was wasted.Someone wrote it their reviews that it has xianxia logic and they tie up every loop - This was very true.

The second leads have a much better arc. I don't think I will be coming back to this.

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I'd be a millionaire if I was paid a cent every time Luo Yunxi vomited blood :)

This was truly a high budget, high-effort, and reasonably well-done project. I really enjoyed a lot of things in this drama, and I think it's quite a landmark for the Xianxia genre (which everyone is exposed to at some point watching C-dramas).

GOOD THINGS:

1. LUO YUNXI is fantastic. Genuinely one of the most expressive and talented actors of his generation. I have never seen a devil portrayed so mercilessly yet fantastically (yes, I have seen Zhang Ling He and Wang He Di). He's probably aided by his background as a dancer, and you can see it in the way he moves across the screen or expresses himself facially. This is also an INCREDIBLY dramatic role which I think many other C-drama actors would have done in a fake/unrealistic way, and I could truly not see another person in this role. I would watch this just for the acting. Other actors are very good as well E.g. Bai Lu, Chen Du Ling, Sun Zhen Ni.

2. The storyline is actually pretty interesting; there is a lot of world-hopping and parallel-universe stuff that's really beautifully portrayed. The costume designer and set designers for this drama were definitely working overtime, and the gorgeous scenes contributed to a sense of world-building here. The parallel storylines were actually influential towards the story's development besides being creative/entertaining in and of themselves, which I really appreciated. That being said, there is character development in this show, though I find it a little bit cliche and even overdone.

3. The OST is beautiful. I think that's the general consensus : ) I do think some of the songs are a little monotonous but overall this OST trumps a lot of other ones I heard. A similar drama I'd say that's not as complex but with a more beautiful OST is Love Between Fairy and Devil.

CRITICISMS:

1. Blood-vomiting and make-up was a little overdone. Doesn't detract from the overall drama to me, but I noticed a lot of people complaining about it.

2. An expansive number of plot inconsistencies*. I think this had the potential to be quite a good drama actually, but I felt it was TOO MUCH that was executed in a way that was NOT ENOUGH. I appreciated the amount of creative effort and inventiveness that went into this work, but the recent 40-episode rule in China really implicated this drama. It's based on a very long and very expansive novel, and by cutting certain scenes, things aren't quite contradictory but not well-explained either. I appreciate a culmination of beautiful ideas- I'm just not sure they were tied together well enough here.

3. I think a lot of the things are pretty cliche. The idea of a tortured soul falling in love and achieving a sort of spiritual salvation is pretty unoriginal, and Tantai Jin's troubled upbringing leading to his devilish downfall is another cliche I notice. It's a giant web of woven cliches with a twist, I'd say. I don't mind cliches, but I found them a little excessive to the point that they hurt some of the plot's suspense.

OVERALL, definitely worth a watch. Very aesthetically pleasing and honestly a pretty good watch the first time around. Only after reflecting does it feel a little weird : (
The hype is understandable whether you buy into it or not.

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