The Eternal Fragrance

it’s fine, but not too impressive

The story is just okay. It is my liking as I enjoy Xianxia drama, however the story is not epic enough to exceeds my expectations. I’ve been waiting for this drama for so long and I was hoping that the story will be unforgettable, moreover both of the main cast are my favourites, but I just feel like this kind of story is quite common. I also think it’s not emotional enough because I can guess the next plot that might happen.
Like 2 males are fighting over a girl, and then the one who doesn’t be with the girl will do everything to get her, and then because both of the main leads are considered strong(demon king & jianmu tree), they both are the one who saves the world.

Their editing for the power part is not really good, but overall its still manageable to watch. Such a shame that in the most epic scenes, where most of them are using their full potential power, the editing is just suddenly blur at that part even though I always keep the highest resolution. I can’t blame too much tho, as soon as I remember that they stream the drama on Youku, I directly remember that most of the Youku drama production is not really good, especially the editing, and most of the drama has a common story (drama that can only be watched on Youku). Compared to drama that can be streamed on Netflix, Iqiyi ot WeTV, Youku’s editing feels really rushed. To think about their (The Eternal Fragrances) editing again, it is such a shame that they doesn’t give the higher resolution, the max is only 1080p, and the power editing is not so good, it feels as if it is a drama from year around 2020 rather than 2026.

Maybe some of you might think that I’m too generous on giving the rating despite giving a few flaws of the drama, after all it is just because I feel the enjoyment while watching the drama. As I watched dramas for refreshing so that I can forget about the problems that I have in real life for a while. I always see a lot of aspects before watching a drama, the title makes me really interested and the actors too, the genres also fit my preferences, so I don’t think it’s a waste of time.
Thanks for reading this, this review is only from my perspective. Hope it can be helpful if you still haven’t decide on watching the drama or not.

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A wonderful drama!!!

Initially, I was skeptical to start this drama, due to the bad reviews, but I gave it a try and glad that I watched it.
The plot for the first 17 episoded, mainly focuses on the academy, the training of the students, the bonds of friendship formed betwenn the six members, Xiao Bang Chui, Lei Xiu Yuan, Ji Tongzhou, Baili Ge Lin, Chang Yue,and Ye Ye.
As the story progresses, these six stand for each other and face life -death situations together, thus becoming a family.
The first 15 episodes may seem a bit boring or even sometimes dragging with only few villains here and there, but, trust me, it starts to get better and made me really glued to it, till the end.
FRIENDSHIP-
The friendship between the 6 was very good to watch with them supporting each other even in difficult situations, but as the end approaches, how one is consumed by their inner demons, also, is portrayed perfectly.
ROMANCE-
This is not a typical romance drama that we generally see, but rather a mutual support, understanding, love that forms between the leads. Though they have very few moments together, but still they were able to project their love in the background, with references to the leads'past life.
PAST LIFE-
The past life of the leads is gradually uncovered, with major part opening in the last episodes, but still it truly answers many questions.
ANTAGONISTS-
All the antagonists were truly annoying and really irritated me. Their characters were epitome of grred and selfishness.
PERFORMANCES-
The actors were excellent in their performances. I liked the romantic track of Bsili Ge Lin and Lu Li also.
A special appreciation for Ju Jingyi, as she was OUTSTANDING in her performance, especially in the latter half. 💯👏
Song Weilong was also very good in his role as the reserved, talented, hardworking, caring, kind and most dedicated and loyal towards Jiang Li Fei/Xiao Bang Chui.
The costumes, sets, music, action scenes were good👍
Li Fei and her master, Qing Cheng's plot was very heart touching👌for me.
Also, i loved all the people of Zhuiyu Peak, especially Li Fei's master, senior brothers and sister, who were always supportive of her and shielded her in possible ways.
This drama is all about, friendship, loyalty, trust, betrayal, uncovering secrets of the past and trying to mend them, facing situations bravely, and many others.
On a final note, just wait patiently for the plot to unfold itselfand I am sure you will never be disappointed. The first half may seem uninteresting, but it is a base for the events in latter half to happen.
A MUST WATCH AND WORTH WATCHING DRAMA,🤗💯👌

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A Wuxia Fantasy Well Done!

Although there were many who felt this drama isn't their type, I absolutely enjoyed watching this drama. Every Acting,Every emotion very well done! I'm so glad to Know Song weilong and actually tune in to his dramas. He's a really wonderful actor,brings out the best in every role and more. I appreciate his hardwork and the effort he put in to Bring the character Lei xiu yuan and Yecha to Life. Ju jingyi also did a great job as the divine tree. Their chemistry is super great and adorable. I'm loving every bit of it. If you are looking for a good xianxia drama to take you out of your drama slump,I highly recommend this series.🙌🙌

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Want to like this but i end up torturing my self.

I personally like Song Wei Long and Ju Jingyi as individual but this drama are not for it. I know this drama was on dungeon for three years, i waited for it since i love Xianxia, and i can tolerate bad visual, CGI, or anything but the sole problem are pace of plot since it was disjointed and the inconsistencies of main character especially Li Fei. I quite like the dynamic of Li Fei and Xi Yuan on episode 1-8 but the disaster starts of episode 9 but i was quite optimistic about this drama (yeah it was trap but sometimes i like to torture my self until ep 21). Li Fei characterization are too shallow and stupid, trust everything but Xi Yuan. Xi Yuan is really useless despite his brain and power which make me frustrated. For decreasing my anger issue with this drama, i dropped this.

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Editing can apparently make or break a show.

❤️ Romance ❤️

It was outright painful at times to see the way Li Fei treated Xiu Yuan, who was utterly in love with her. I think his feelings developed believably, and Li Fei really was just temperamental and free-spirited, oftentimes scheming and lying to go after her given objective of the moment.

The love triangle was okay in their youth. I actually found the trio sweet as friends. But once Tongzhou began his villain arc, it quickly went sour. The love triangle with Ye Ye, Changyue, and Gelin was pretty much painful to watch from the beginning. I'll give this show a 3 for romance.

📖 Plot 📖

I think the plot would have been saved by better editing. It was very hard to follow after a point. We had all the pieces by the end (I think?) but they were never breadcrumbed to us enough earlier on. So everything felt like a splatter of different paint colors someone put on canvas before turning to us in some kind of "a-ha!" moment where the story is meant to be revealed as a masterpiece but I remain skeptical. 2/5

🌏 World-Building 🌏

Pretty standard xianxia lore. Nothing exceptionally unique. It mostly did fine here. 3.5/5

🎭 Acting 🎭

I didn't have any issue with the acting. The editing made the plot unclear and some of the character development consequently felt unearned or just far too drastic. But the execution showed the actors gave it all they had. 5/5

✨ Visuals ✨

A lot of people have said this. And if I compare with Veil of Shadows (which seems unfair, but oh well) I do have to agree this drama felt dated. 2/5

🎵 Music 🎵

I had no issue with the soundtrack. It was pretty. It didn't stand out to me that much though, unlike other xianxia shows. 3.5/5

😂 Comedy 😂

3/5 Not good, not bad. The laughs were ok. Mostly early Li Fei was ridiculous, but amusing.

📺 Bingeability 📺

The show started strong for me. I was eating it up. But thanks to the bad editing, I struggled after ep 22, and only finished thanks to watching at 2x speed. 1/5

⚔️ Conflict/Tension ⚔️

Started strong, especially with Lei Xiu Yuan's hidden motive for getting close to Li Fei early on. All the academy and sect rivalry was pretty basic though, and the love triangle became a crutch for the plot. 2/5

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Could have been better

I started this drama with pretty regular expectations and to my surprise I was actually quite enjoying it despite its cons until episode 27. From that point onward it became a complete mess.

First the pros:
> I liked the little friend group the main characters had going on. They could put social norms aside to protect each other unconditionally.
> The masters of Li Fei are great. They really do their best to let her live as a normal girl and stand up for her where necessary.
> A lot of side characters were pretty enjoyable to watch such as Deng Xi Guang and Ge Lin. Honestly, I think I enjoyed the side characters more in this show than the main leads.
> I mostly enjoyed the Chufeng Academy arc where the main cast were still students and spent time on learning, discovering, and bonding with each other.

Then the cons...
> Lei Xiu Yuan and Li Fei. While I dont dislike either of them, I found that Li Fei's character was overshadowing Xiu Yuan's character. There were moments where the ML had almost no dialogue going on while the FL took most of the screentime.
> Related to Xiu Yuan's story, I was surprised that they didnt get into his experiences in the past with the Gaolu clan at all. We know practically nothing of how he spent his life there besides being Ye Ye's double.
> Towards the end the story becomes very inconsistent and weird. I didnt like how Li Fei ditched Lei Xiu Yuan so easy considering he stood up for her MULTIPLE times. I hated Luo Sha as character but she was kinda right when she asked her what she did for Xiu Yuan.
> Watching Ji Tong Zhou become insufferable was hard to watch, but even harder was seeing his treatment towards Miao Qing and her still liking him EVEN WHEN SHE MISCARRIED BECAUSE HE PUSHED HER WTF. That made no sense to me, was Miao Qing really there just to be the scapegoat of Tong Zhou's insanity?
> A more minor con is the overall production quality. Battle scenes looked goofy most rather than cool most of the time and there is no memorable music track, unfortunately.

Overall, I still had a pretty good time watching most of the drama despite its flaws. I don't think its a must watch but it could be an option in case you wanna watch something that isn't complicated after a tiring work day.

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Quite a nice surprise

I'm not a xianxia fan, not at all but I'm a SWL fan and I like JJ. I always try any drama before dropping or skipping it. What a nice surprise, this caught me off guard, I watched it till the end, of course regarding production for the CGI effect which is not a good quality one but it works. The chemistry between the leads is highly appreciate which made me stay until the end and I could get into the story. So you as you know xianxia story always takes time to develop, don't watch it as you expecting to watch a normal cdrama, not at all. Be patient and be open to another style. It was overall good for me, this is only the 3rd xianxia I finished without fast forwarding, so that's a good sign

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Ridiculous nonsense

I love fantasy dramas, except for this one. What a mess! The storyline is all over the place, mostly boring and greatly confusing. The story starts out somewhat interesting but within a few episodes it goes downhill. We have a female character Li Fei, who is good at absolutely nothing, yet she gets into the prestigious Academy and cult, and of course all the male members are in deep Love with her. Heck, she even wins a tournament over thousands of talented participants with no skills at all. OH Please.....why insulting your viewers intelligence over and over again?
Then we have the ML who is supposed to be a once in a Century genius/talent with great powers and yet who is the only one who constantly gets hurt throughout the whole show. Heck, he even gets killed once. Constant hurt, treatments, hurt, treatment, more injuries, more treatments...on and on it goes . The same theme recurring throughout the whole show over and over and over again, few hand moves ML gets hurt, spitting blood, more hand moves FL gets hurt, spitting blood then someone else get hurt, then a whole clan get hurt, spitting blood and more of the same. Extremely boring and senseless. Also very confusing with all the different secs and different people with different level of powers and yet somehow, the most powerful get beaten by pretty much everybody i.e. the Demon Lord and also Li Fei almot always get injured.
There is absolutely no substance or meaning to most of the scenes, then all the bad guys who already got killed they all come back to life and hand out more hurts. then they get eliminated again and back again...over and over. No romance, no intelligent plots or interesting storyline to hold the viewer's attention.
If it wasn't for one of my favorite actors ( Song Wei Long) I would have dropped this mess a long time ago.
Good things hence my 3 points:
Beautiful scenery, great visuals
Gorgeous set designs and period costumes
Great music
Very professional, talented cast
Hard working crew despite of the messy script and lack of a great directors' vision to bring this story to life.
Don't waste your precious time on this, probably one of the worst fantasy dramas I have seen in awhile.
Definitely NOT a rewatch.

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Familiar Scents and Déjà Vu

Eternal Fragrance is a fantasy drama packed with CGI, special effects, magic, demons, immortals and enough mysteries to keep you glued to the end. Its 7.6 rating feels a little low to me because the drama is actually rather well produced. Originality, however, is another matter. At times, I found myself thinking, “Haven’t I seen this somewhere before?”

The drama begins on a rather silly note, with Xiao Bang Chui — later renamed Jiang Li Fei — following her Shifu around scamming wealthy superstitious families. After her Shifu leaves her, she fights for a place at the prestigious Chufeng Academy, hoping to find his elder disciple. There she runs into Lei Xiu Yuan again — unfortunately, this time as her competitor.

They soon meet the highly talented Ji Tong Zhou, aka Prince Ying of the Yue Kingdom. The three become friends and allies and, as almost required by the laws of Chinese fantasy drama, both handsome men eventually fall for the same woman.

Several scenes gave me a strong sense of déjà vu. Li Fei's disastrous attempts to learn flying reminded me of The Journey of Flower. Chufeng Academy has a touch of Harry Potter's school of magic, while Li Fei being raised into the air as punishment and the mysterious seal within her reminded me of Legend of Fuyao. Perhaps Eternal Fragrance borrowed a little fragrance from several other productions. 😄

Still, the drama has enough hooks of its own. Who exactly are Xiu Yuan and Li Fei, and how are they connected by their past? More importantly, will Xiu Yuan become evil? Characters from his past keep trying to lure him back to his former ways, while his own inherited nature is hardly helping. Watching him struggle between darkness and goodness is one of the more compelling parts of the story.

Credit goes to Song Wei Long for convincingly switching between a menacing reincarnated figure and a gentle, almost docile lover.

I also find it interesting that demons in this drama — as in many Chinese fantasy dramas — are treated almost like another race. Some immortals fear and despise them, while others believe they should be allowed to coexist. And one lesson remains universal: obsessive lovers are scary, whether mortal, immortal or demonic.

Meanwhile, the immortals are busy fighting among themselves for power and control while a huge calamity approaches and an enemy is practically at their doorstep. Sound familiar? It is rather like a workplace or family crisis where everyone argues over what is right while the house is burning down.

My main disappointment is the ending. It works, but it could have been much more dramatic and moving. Since the Yecha clan was originally of divine origin, I would have preferred the Yecha Lord to sacrifice himself saving the world, be mourned, and eventually be resurrected as a deity. Now that would have been an ending!

I also felt sorry for Prince Ying. He began as such a promising righteous young man that I would rather have seen him awaken, redeem himself and go on to lead a worthwhile life - but for dramatising, this drama works.

One thing in period dramas always makes me smile: the unwavering one-man-one-woman devotion. Really? Ancient men were hardly famous for having only one woman, yet our heroes remain faithful through three lifetimes and a few thousand years! 😄 And why must the women cling to Choice No. 1 if he turns out to be a disaster?

It also kills the suspense—we already know who will choose whom. And the trailers often make it worse by revealing the winning couple before the romantic race has even begun!

Of course, like many Chinese fantasy dramas, this one comes with a generous helping of gobbledygook about divine cultivation, spiritual powers and mystical realms. And naturally, no one ever takes their medicine without first putting up a heroic fight against the poor person trying to feed it to them. Apparently, swallowing medicine willingly would ruin the drama.

Overall, Eternal Fragrance may not win prizes for originality, but it is entertaining, visually impressive and mysterious enough to keep you watching. Sometimes borrowing familiar ingredients still produces a pretty enjoyable dish.

Debating between 8.5 and 9, I settled on 8.5. It is very well produced and thoroughly entertaining, but the lack of originality cost it that extra half-point.

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