*pouting*
I had to give this a 10 even if the writers got it wrong by killing off both big stars, Cheng Yi and YangZi who played Yan Dan and YingYuan. Then decided like 2 weeks later to add episodes 60 and 61 to make up for their error. Made a lot of us fans of both Cheng Yi and YangZi really upset. Knowingly how a drama is that long to kill off both leads. Wow at the writers. Had me crying my eyes out and felt like my heart sinking into oblivion. I still have tears in my eyes. From Episodes 1 through 58 it was going super great until the last few minutes of 58 and then here comes 59 with a different scenario. OMG did I just feel an earthquake under my feet? unt uh. This was a believable story and everyone made this fantasy work so thank you. Thank you writers for bringing them back into the mortal world.Was this review helpful to you?
Love is Forbidden, What could go wrong?
I will admit, I was pretty excited for Immortal Samsara. Xianxia dramas are always exciting to watch. You have out of the world costumes and new rules to follow. I was a little surprised the ratings weren’t higher while the show was airing, but I still wanted to watch it.Yang Zi has mixed reviews in regard towards her acting and I understand. I did like her in Ashes of Love, which she was in four years ago, so I would think her acting style should have changed a little. She’s pretty much true to her craft, but for the life of me, something felt a little off in this drama. I think maybe it was the way she dubbed her voice? Her voice is deeper, which I appreciated, but her acting didn’t shine through.
I thought Cheng Yi has some strong and weak moments in the drama as well. I thought he was okay in Love and Redemption, but I felt like he was a lot better in Immortal Samsara. I didn’t care for his cold stoic personality, after watching The Love Between Fairy and Devil, there is a way to act cold, but not dry. I appreciated the scenes when Chen Yi was lively and living in the mortal world.
I don’t think it’s fair to compare this drama to the classics because this drama’s tone is very different. The classic dramas rely heavily on angst between the leads. This drama didn’t have high angst, which I appreciated it.
In a world where one couldn’t love, what could go wrong? Once I realized that was the focal and theme of the show, I thought, oh no, how is this going to play out for 61 episodes? It’s a plot device that carries a lot of holes.
How can the immortals be robots, they can’t love, but they can be happy, kind, loyal, etc. They show a range of emotions and all of those emotions come from love. Oh, so you are saying, you can be a person with emotions, you just can’t be in a relationship with someone? It just doesn’t make sense.
The first 20 episodes were okay, some reviewers liked these parts more, for me, it was hit or miss depending on if the scene was fast pace or not. I enjoyed the main leads getting to know each other, but I did feel like they caught feelings real quick.
I enjoyed the second arc more when they were in the mortal world. Yes, very much like the classics, (reborn into another life) but for these 30 something episodes, it was just fun, light and I enjoyed all the little issues the main leads (including secondary ML) went through, because they did it together. It was like I was watching an entirely different drama.
The drama could have been cut down 10-20 episodes, there was a lot of dialogue and non-fun side stories. I didn’t connect with any of the side stories, which is rare for me in a long drama. The drama focused so much on the main storyline, you couldn’t connect to any secondary character (except for the secondary ML).
The main leads go through the up and down hardships of their relationships and I was actually fine with this, but towards the end, it did get a little too much and I was kind of worn out. It also didn’t help that I wasn’t a fan of the OST, so I wasn’t moved as much as I could have been. The music was very dated.
I did enjoy how much the ML loved the FL and he never wavered or thought ill of her. This was very different from the classics. I wanted the FL to be strong-willed and she was that.
Overall, it was an okay drama with okay acting and not so okay OST. I think it’s worth watching if you are a fan of the genre, actors or long dramas. It will pass the time.
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can't stop crying ???
Yan Dan regains her memories and discovers that Ying Yuan is the one who wiped out her memories and turned her into a ''spirit'' and sent her to the Mortal Realm. Lord Ying Yuan, who took a Human form as Tang Zhou to search for the mystery about the ''God-Demon War'', only needs one more divine artifact to repair his celestial vessel so that he can return to the Heavenly realm as the Sovereign Lord.Will he succeed in his mission and reveal the ''Anonymous figure'' who backed all the evil doings? Will Ying Yuan and Yan Dan be able to get back together despite all the misunderstandings and barriers between them?
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This review may contain spoilers
This should be called The Emperor’s First and Last Love.
Ah, Cheng Yi. Now I must pick up Love and Redemption even though I hated the first episode, just because of you.I haven’t written a review for a while, but damn that was good.
That aside, Cheng Yi as three different characters is an absolute feast. Visually and emotionally. I love him best as Xuan Ye, and to be honest I am more invested in the Xuan Ye x Ran Qing story, it deserves a show of its own.
The story has the complete plethora of Xianxia tropes executed in the signature Xianxia angst in a forbidden love between a lowly but naughty immortal and an upright but also naughty emperor in the heavenly realm. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 10 episodes between Yan Dan and Ying Yuan.
The mortal arc became a bit tiring and I was really hoping that they could have delved a bit more in Ying Yuan’s as the Asura heir. Nevertheless we still had Xuan Ye, and just couldn’t get enough.
I think it had a lot of fillers and the drama could have gotten away with 45-50 episodes. I personally loved the ending and the 2 special episodes. I was completely satisfied. My next wish drama gods is for Cheng Yi to have another show and play a devil or demon lord.. that would be wonderful treat!
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This review may contain spoilers
How I’ll miss our one good deed per day crime busting trio
Ok I’ll admit… it took me a while to get here ಥ_ಥ̥ amongst the 3 shows that aired around the same time (iykyk), I prioritised the other 2 due to the genre of this xianxia. I couldn’t start as I wasn’t ready to be left heartbroken by Cheng Yi (again!) but now that I’m done with IS, I’ll just say this — it’s on the same level as TMOPB. I said this about ALP previously but now… IS outranks it in my booksLike the premise of every other xianxia, there are usually 3 arcs to it. The mortal arc was longer than normal and slightly draggy (all the way to part 2) but even then, I enjoyed it. Imagine constantly getting heartbroken from all of heavenly realm’s problems… I also usually don’t like mortal arcs as it’s usually a filler and means to an end. In this case, the mortal arc in IS served as a growth arc for YD to understand YY’s position and was also a turning point for YY’s resolve towards YD and the three realms. You will realise this in part 2! Or even towards the end of part 1.
In every other xianxia, the ML sacrifices everything for the FL from start till end. In IS, it’s more complex than just that which is why there’s a lot to appreciate. It’s not so straightforward and you can really sympathise with the leads and their love story. In IS, the story is really focused on the 2 leads, their adventures and adversity. For once, I didn’t pay much attention to the side characters or cps. The main leads really carried the storyline for me.
CY’s brilliant embodiment of the 3 characters once again knocks the ball outta the park. Can we get a spin off for Xuan ye’s story please? CY looks best in c-costume and especially so in that silver haired anti-hero get up, no one can say otherwise!!!
At long last, the incense didn’t turn to ashes and their story lives on. Solid 10000/10 top quality, 10000% on my rewatch list!
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This review may contain spoilers
Next life, we'll be family again.
What I loved:1) I fell in love with Sovereign Lord Ying Yuan the moment he appeared in Part 1, Episode 1. I have watched several xianxia dramas already and the cold heartless male lead is nothing new to me, but something about Ying Yuan made me feel for him. He's the kind of character I'll keep thinking about long after I've forgotten the events in the drama.
While the character setup is nothing new, the character's emotions and motivations really came across. Cheng Yi really made the character feel alive. In the entire drama, I think Ying Yuan was the most consistent and stable character. While the others had moments where they turned a new leaf after a major event, Ying Yuan's essence was always the same. He was always the same even as his priorities gradually changed. He was fully developed in the sense that you can fill in the holes in his story yourself. (Okay, I'm being biased here since I love Cheng Yi haha)
TO BE CONTINUED (I'm still organizing my thoughts)
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I did not expect to like this drama more than I did, mainly because I was ho-hum about Yang Zi as an actress despite watching a few of her dramas, but she was much better in this one, IMHO. The show definitely benefitted from the acting prowess of the cast, with Cheng Yi in particular. He was more subdued here and not a long-suffering idiot like he was in "Love and Redemption," which I liked.
Though a bit convoluted, the drama was fast-paced and rarely boring. There's a few downsides though: I do not know how much more repeated reincarnations that I can take. This seems to be the go-to tropes of historical dramas, but this one is a bit much, especially with the same evil resurrecting a few times, it became annoying AF. Also, the CGI is not the greatest, I would say even to the point of particularly bad and laughable in some instances. But all in all a good story about love and sacrifice.
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Beautiful love story - 2 amazing leads
I usually avoid XianXia genres because they always follow the same type of storyline. While Immortal Samsara was no different in terms of depicting a love transcending different lifetimes and all the emotional angst, Yang Zi and Cheng Yi really carried the show with their acting and chemistry. I loved that they played characters that can stand on their own (both are equally intelligent and talented), and are unstoppable as a team. I appreciate that the characters remained consistent from beginning to end, with some growth and development. There was no damsel in distress or weird shifts in characterization midway through the series.This drama definitely had its flaws. There was choppy editing and too much focus on the side characters (and their love stories). They could have used that time to focus no the main couple and plot.
Overall, I enjoyed the series (had a good laugh too at times). A beautiful love story between YingYuan and YanDan!
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A love story that tugs at your heart strings
Highly recommend this drama as it had the perfect mix of romance, action and angst. The two main characters truly loved each other unconditionally and the drama did a great job of character development for both of the leads. The acting and music was on point, Cheng Yi's acting never fails to impress - it's as if his eyes can talk!!! Yang Zi did a beautiful job of protraying her character as well - main lead's chemistry was off the charts. Highly recommend this drama!!Rewatch value: 10/10 I would rewatch this!
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Yang Zi's chemistry as Yan Dan, and Cheng Yi as the Great God Ying Yuan, is of course an important point. Even though there is a desire to match Yan Dan with Yu Mo (Ray Chang). Because Yu Mo's love is more sincere, even Ray Chang is more dashing and handsome than Cheng Yi
A futile hope, of course. The second lead is impossible with the main lead. No matter how good and handsome the second lead is, the screenwriter ordained the male lead to partner with the second lead. At the end of the story there is no place for a third person, because the audience can get angry.😀😀
Apart from the acting of the two main characters, Vicki Xu, who got the role of the antagonist, also acted beautifully. As the Ying Deng Goddess, she spoke softly, softly, but was extremely vicious and piercing at opponents.
Other praise is addressed to the costumes and accessories of the players. As well as applause for CGI which has succeeded in visualizing the splendor of the kingdom, especially the kingdom of heaven.
This is what I really hoped for while watching the Chinese drama The Eternal Love, aka the Chinese drama "Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms", a good drama that was damaged because it failed to present the splendor of the kingdom of the sky and the kingdom of the fox.
Surprisingly, Korean dramas with the sageuk genre also fail to utilize CGI. Somehow, they didn't try to cover up using the same building for multiple plays. That's the tall building that became the home of Prince Lee Rim in the Korean drama "Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung", and was used again in the Korean drama "The King's Affection" and the Korean drama "The Red Sleeve"
Perhaps Korean filmmakers are too proud of their ability to hypnotize the world of entertainment with the acting of their actresses and actors, so they forget about the peculiarities that their audience pays attention to.
Back to the Chinese drama "Immortal Samsara", this drama has successfully won an average rating of 8.4 on mydramalist. A pretty good number because mydramalist reviewers don't hesitate to give a score of 1.0 for dramas they think are bad.
Further reviews can be found here: https://www.maria-g-soemitro.com/2023/03/immortal-samsara-review-drama-china.html
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One of the Best Xianxias
Finished watching part 2 earlier today and I am very pleased with this xianxia. I have to commend the production team for bringing such a great quality series to audiences. It was top notch in terms of CGI, acting and story, abeit repetitive. There were a few plot holes and some weak performances from the less experienced actors, but for the most part it was a solid xianxia.Zi Yang is lovely and I have been watching her since Ashes of Love. She is truly a gifted performer and the carmera adores her. She can't take a bad shot. She is drop dead beautiful. Her ML also performed well. Cheng Yi may be young, but he delivered a heart-felt performance as the conflicted Heavenly Emperor who wants to love his woman, but has to put his duties above all else. I got lost in these great performances and when our leads are going through their greatest trials and hurting each other, my heart actually ached for them. Bravo to the cast for making me feel that pain and in the life and death situations they were living. I always enjoy a well directed drama and this one was well done.
I am equally impressed with Ray Chang's performance as the spunky Yu Mo, forthright, loyal, passionate, handsome and likable. He was so boss with that fan! I wanted him to get his happy ending as well. But, perhaps there could be a sequel with a storyline for him.
My only gripe is that as much as I love a happy ending, this one felt forced. I think the two special episodes are put together to satisfy those who would not have liked the ending, despite the fact that it made more sense to the storyline and our ML's sense of duty. Otherwise, this one will top the list of favorite xianxias.
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This review may contain spoilers
"When they carry out the punishment, look away, don't be afraid"
Karma waltz in and laughed HAHAHA Puny Mortal. BOW TO ME!LITERALLY in my last review, for Ashes of Love, I had a whole damn rant being like, yeah, no, Xianxia and me aren't going to me friends, we dont jam, we're different elements, blah blah blah, unless Cheng Yi is involved I'm not interested.
Karma came for my ass so damn hard in this show, I'm going to be reborn bruised. I am speechless at how much I enjoyed this show and I can see from the reviews, that it's a show with a lot of criticism, especially with loss of plot and drag so of course me being me, my soul got sucked into this show and I binged it all weekend. My eyes are red, my head hurts but damn, what a ride LOL
I dropped this at episode 2 a few weeks back thinking, eh, I'll probably hate it but decided I had to be a good wife and watch Cheng Yi's parts. It was around episode 5 when I started to get interested so, yeah, it took a while to get going but I feel like that's very common with Xianxia. At ep 7, during a big battle, I knew stuff was going down. You don't introduce a big battle at episode 7 without it being a big plot device. From then, I was absolutely hooked.
Keeping this as short as I can, character wise, I loved most of the characters, and that rarely happens and that the fact that this is a xianxia, this was the Immortals sucker punching me into Monday with bloodshot eyes and getting drunk at my misery.
Cheng Yi - my man. This is why you are my bias. He has mastered how to speak with his eyes. Definitely prefer this to Love and Redemption, all though L&R is growing on me. He's a lot more 'fluid' in his acting here. I felt like perhaps it was just just how he was directed in L& R but he seems so much more comfortable here, so much so that he plays 3 different characters. Our 'original' ML, the Heavenly Emperor, Ying Yaun who is very tight lipped, straight collared and by the book. His mortal incarnation for his mortal realm trials, Tang Zhou who is much more playful and ambitious, and Ying Yaun's father, who pretty much starts everything with his ambition to rule all 3 realms, which by the way, Cheng Yi needs to play a villain. Like. I NEEED the man to play a villain because holy hell, I was not prepared for crazy eyed and silver wigged Cheng Yi.
Our FL, although played by the same actress, thankfully was not as dense as her Ashes of Love character. I actually fell in love with Yan Dan myself. She's pretty bright and playful and honest. And there were times when her reactions made me laugh or I said 'ohh cute' out verbally. So this is a first for me so far in all c-dramas I've watched, I usually never love the FL. Yan Dan I loved. I don't mind if the FL is a little weak. I prefer brains over brawn and as she's a lotus spirit who cuts out her own heart to save Ying Yaun, twice, it's perfectly reasonable that she's going to need some physical protection. And when you like the FL, I can walk her highs and lows with her rather than just watching for Cheng Yi.
I always feel that chemistry between leads is up to the viewer and personally, I felt the love and the heartache. Xianxia strikes me as a genre that you either love or hate and one of the most common criticisms is jumping between worlds. I understand that can break the flow for the viewer but this didn't for me. I followed the whole way. It is a little slow to start, the plot hits us in episode 7 and then the love actually starts to build afterwards. When everything reaches a pressure cooker pain, I was jumping off the cliff with Yan Dan. It's around episode 16 when we go to the mortal realm and we stay there for a good 30 episodes but I didn't feel disjointed. It felt very natural. Yan Dan was turned into a demon and just drops out of the sky having had her memories erased by a traumatised Ying Yaun and returns to her playful and spirited self. Ying Yaun inflicts the mortal trials on himself and as his childhood is mentioned, I believe he was actually reborn as human.
The relationship then repeats it's self but only this time, there's lessons learned. Yan Dan learns more about what it means to be in love and Ying Yaun, as Zhou, chooses his heart over his responsibilities. So when we get back to the Immortals, those lessons are pretty engraved in the characters as their love cements in the middle of the actual plot.
I understand how a lot of people can find this boring or draggy as the mortal realm and most of it's characters have very little do with the actual plot. There are villains but only temporary. They are easily dealt with and yet I was never bored. I was invested the whole way through and I have no idea why. I liked the little side quests and characters. I liked the relationship building between the leads. My only defence is Cheng Yi's eyes hypnotised me through the screen and I plead innocence because, I should have lost interest but I didnt. I couldn't stop watching.
Yumo was a very a satisfactory character to watch. He started off almost like a teenage boy who develops feelings for Yan Dan but it never embitters him. It's this love that pushes him to the mortal realm where he travels for 800 years looking for Yan Dan, unaware that she's stuck in the limbo river because she can't let go of her memories. So he has all that time to travel and cultivate so when we see him again, he's a very experienced and mature man and honestly, he was a little sexy to me. What was really lovely was although his feelings for Yan Dan were strong, and there was a little back and forth with Zhou, he never left Yan Dan's side. He was never cunning or deceitful. He was a true friend. And accepted in the end that he wasn't for her but chose to protect her nonetheless. That was very mature and sweet and appreciated the groundedness of the character.
Another character I want to add briefly is Fairy Ying Deng. She was set up to be the usual, obsessed with the ML bully but she gets shot down very early. Beautifully might I add, by YY, and instead of lashing out in the ridiculous way that these characters always do, by blaming it all on Yan Dan, she lashed out at Yan Dan and Ying Yaun equally. There's a nice cathartic downfall before she returns in the mortal realm and I'll be damned, I felt sorry for the girl. Again. I shouldn't have but I did. She just seemed so pathetic, I couldn't help it. She also made a gorgeous demon and I wish she had always been a demon. She looked way better with messy hair and red eyes than in all the pearled garbed of the heavenly realm.
Part one is 38 eps. Part two is 21 - 59 eps. Thankfully, I watched it on viki, so I seen early that there were 2 specials. If I had felt that 59 was the end, I might have been physically sick. How dare they. But I'm learning how common this seems to be with c dramas. Almost like a sneaky way of keeping people paying for a subscription. But keeping the 2 specials in mind, I found the true ending to be very fulfilling and satisfactory. Both YD and YY get the life they wanted together, the son they had dreamed off and YD gets to be a writer. Meeting up with her friends, taking in demons to build a theatre group and getting to see the reborn friend she lost earlier in the mortal realm arc. Whether or not they are mortal isn't answered but it doesnt seem like they were physically reborn as they live in the house they meet up in after their deaths but I honestly dont mind it so much, I was just happy to see them together and getting to live out the dreams they wanted.
One massive plot hole though was Lu Ming not recognising Ying Deng in the mortal realm, and felt that he was kind of brushed aside a little too easily having been killed off screen. I honestly didnt believe he was dead. But as he didn't play a huge role, I can forgive this and appreciate that it's mentioned at the end that he's in the mortal realm growing his favourite watermelon.
As for the music. That flute did not have to come for my heart the way it did every time it started to play. The instrumental music in this show for me was a 'where can I buy this' kind of background music.
Overall, I'd give this show a very solid 8.5 but I boosted it to 9 because the sister's death pulled a tear out of me. I can be critical but I always give credit where it's due. Watching the sister be defeated by her pride, get revenge for YD, redeem herself and then give her heart, and then her life for the love of her sister, really pulled on my heart strings.
I am in actual shock that I enjoyed this as much as I did and it has to go on my favourites list now. It's a long one but I do feel I could rewatch it again and still enjoy the romance as much.
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