This review may contain spoilers
BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECE THAT I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER
This has become my second favorite xianxia ever!! I laughed l, I cried, i was pissed off, I love so many characters here. So many range of emotions in me during these 40 episodes. I wish it would be longer.I really congratulate all the casting members, writer, director, production and each member that made possible this BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECE!!! Tian Yao and Yanhui now are my favorite couple! I’m going to miss them so much!! 😭😭😭
Yanhui and Tian Yao met because she mistook him from someone else and from that moment their beautiful journey started. She didn’t have a place to stay because she was expelled from her sect. He took her to live with him and his (fake) grandma. Tian Yao was unable to love anyone because he was betrayed 20 years ago by the woman that he fell in love. Time goes on and Yanhui started to like him because of a supposed love potion but then she realized that she has fallen in love because who he was and for the many things that they’ve lived until that moment. Because of the betrayal, he had decided to close his heart completely and to not love anyone anymore. His anger and desire of revenge for what the biatch SY did to him were his biggest impediment to fall in love but after so many beautiful things and Yanhui’s tender heart and all the great things that she did for him, his heart started to open and fell deeply in love with her as well.
They would do anything and everything from each other which made them my favorite couple ever! Their chemistry is something out of this world!
I’m so thankful for this drama in so many ways and that Liu Feng’s family had it to remember their son.
PS: I’m still waiting for them to consummate their marriage and a proper kiss from them. I would love to see them together in a modern drama ❤️💜❤️💜❤️
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2How to train your dragon koi.
This rom com xianxia is a barrel of laughs. It is about an ancient spirit dragon Tian Yao who falls for the wrong woman, a rancid Taoist harpy called Su Ying. She steals the guileless Tian Yao's heart and scales at the altar, dismembers him and stashes his core magical parts in different directions. A shadow of his former self, he encounters a dauntless, money loving, ousted Taoist disciple Yan Hui. They form an uneasy alliance that subjects the embittered Tian Yao to the indignity of becoming her demon familiar, a dragon koi. His plight wins Yan Hui's empathy and she vows to help him recover his shards. She soon discovers that learning how train your dragon koi is an arduous and dangerous task. Despite his deceptively benign appearance of an odd hybrid of koi, deer, pony and dragon, Tian Yao is a very dangerous creature. Apart from having deadly taste in women and friends, he also has a nasty habit of stabbing first and asking questions later.The interference of a mysterious shadow cupid Bai Xiaosheng comically advances their romance until the enabler turns into an obstructor. It is pretty much three's company as they go on many adventures, picking up lifelong friends along the way. Despite some run-of-the mill xianxia tropes and cardboardl villains, the friendships and adventures shine and are the high points of the drama.
Zhou Ye again proves her mettle as one of the most promising young actors out there. Her Yan Hui is spellbinding. She infuses the role with that effervescent joie de vivre and passionate idealism of youth that inevitably eludes older, perhaps lovelier and more seasoned actors. She looks shockingly good with Hou Minghao, whose acting is to say the least, a work in progress. But dang, he is so drop dead gorgeous that I barely register that he looks constipated at the most inappropriate moments. In some ways, his casting is brilliant as a rather uncomplicated and overly good character that loves and hates with equal ferocity. After all, dragons, kois, ponies, deers are all creatures with bigger hearts than brains. So he does some really (let's admit it) not smart things but he is so pure hearted it's almost impossible to fault him. Notwithstanding some acting rough spots, this splendid pairing had me rooting hard for them all the way.
As for the plot, its biggest criticism is that it strays from the original beloved novel in some unforgivable ways in terms of both Yan Hui and Tian Yao's characterisations. I didn't read the novel so I won't opine on that. What I can observe is this drama hooked me from the start despite the low budget and the somewhat cartoonish CGI with phenomenal storytelling. I loved Bai Xiaosheng and found him to be a wickedly good accretive addition to the original story. Unfortunately, about halfway through the characterisations of Bai Xiaosheng and Tian Yao take an abrupt nosedive. It is as if a different writer took over and defaulted into the worst, laziest tropes out there. Although the narrative recovers from a massive hiccup in the middle, it falls well short of the beginning momentum. The writer failed to capitalised on such a fresh and unusual character such as Bai Xiaosheng and turns him into a tired trope that gets sidelined toward the end. Nonetheless Wang Yilun is hugely entertaining in this role and though not as pretty, he is incredibly charming and out acted Hou Minghao. As for how Tian Yao's character is assassinated, I have no words and although he more or less redeems himself, I wish they had not gone there. I am told Yan Hui is also diminished in this adaptation but as far as I am concerned, she is perfect in her imperfections. She elevates Tian Yao to the extent, that I can forgive his character's stumbles in the middle.
While I enjoyed this drama from start to finish, there are too many shallow sub-plots in the latter half and the theme of love obsession is over-exploited. The ultimate antagonist had repetitive indifferently narrated motivators that while hateful enough, lacked depth and complexity. In fact, Su Ying was a more interesting villain than the final boring mastermind who is just beyond meh in terms of motivation, acting and complexity. Overall, this is a humorously told story that re-hashes well explored xianxia themes with no profound new revelations. Indeed the underlying substance, emotion and message of the original works is perceptible but is neglected and abused in the telling. I had big fun and many laughs with this drama but I can see how it missed the opportunity to be a whole lot more and can only rate it 8.0/10.0. I may have gone with an 8.5 had they rolled out Hou Minghao in that spectacular white wig earlier on in the drama.
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A Dark Painful Story Told in a Comedic Way
“Back From the Brink” is a dark painful story but told in a playful, comedic way. A spirit dragon, Tian Yao (Hou Minghao aka Neo Hou), was conned into a marriage where he was dismembered. Since then, he became an ordinary man, wandering the world trying to find his body parts. In his painful journey, he meets a girl, Yan Hui (Zhou Ye) who falls deeply in love with him and promises to help him in his search to return to his former form again.The tone of the drama is playful with modern vibes. Yet at the same time, dead serious when the antagonists appear. This series has perhaps produced two of the most egregious antagonists in the cultivator sisters. Their obsessions and atrocities make the viewers clenched their teeth and seethed, wishing them die a horrible death.
Tian Yao the spirit dragon, is a pure man void of evil thoughts. He is kind and upstanding with a mission to protect the world. His journey and determination to find his body parts are painful and touching. As he eventually returns to his dragon form, he becomes the strongest creature there is. I love Hou Minghao’s portrayal of the Tian Yao character here, though the CGI of the dragon is rather poorly done. Hou Minghao is very good looking and cute with an innocent youthful look. Some viewers commented that his acting skills are still somewhat lacking, I find him to have improved greatly since “A Girl Like Me” when I fell in love with this young actor. Here, his portrayal is believable, and his character is very lovable. As Tian Yao, his lack of words hits the viewers hard as he endures his pains silently.
Yan Hui, a disciple of the cultivator sect, is a happy-go-lucky girl who never holds any grudges. Her good nature wins her many friends and helps her become very strong in the end despite having a weak heart at birth. Zhou Ye is beautiful and has great acting skills. Her crying scenes are heart felt and convincing. Most important of all, she has amazing chemistry with Hou Minghao as they make a great matching pair.
Many viewers curse Bai Xiaosheng (Wang Yilun aka Riley Wang), a shadow demon, because he comes in between Tian Yao and Yan Hui in a love triangle. I love the Bai Xiaosheng character and Wang Yilun has given a great performance. The two side couples are entertaining and sweet, forming a great alliance for Yan Hui and Tian Yao. The OSTs are beautiful and soothing. Do listen to them for music lovers.
My Verdict
This is a lovely story with love and hate, happiness and sadness, kindness and atrocities, light and darkness. When one harbors negativities, one is consumed by darkness, as with Fu Yin (Pema Jyad), the Master of dark air. This is a very enjoyable drama for the whole family.
Recommended. Great watch. Don’t miss it.
BRAVO!
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This review may contain spoilers
Beautiful Heartwarming Xianxia! BFTB saved me from its Youku Predecessor!
TTEOTM and BFTB is completely unrelated in story, just to be clear... It's just that the comparison for me is... One is heaven (Back from the Brink ; Huxin), the other is Hell (Till the end of the Moon). How can two dramas by Youku gave me two polar opposite feelings? But this is exactly how I feel.Honestly, I want to take this time, to express my gratitude to this drama: Back from the Brink (Hu Xin): Thank you for giving me this Drama, where I can heal my heart/pain from its predecessor Youku Drama: Till the end of the Moon (TTEOTM). One of the many things I'm grateful for is that BFTB was aired after TTEOTM because after the traumatized experience, came the healing process for me in BFTB, and this is all I ever could have asked for, in a story and pairing that I came to really love.
This isn't my first time I have seen Xianxia Genres, as a matter of fact, I really love Xianxia genres and have seen a lot on them. I have to express that while I have seen a lot of xianxia dramas, not many can make it into my top favourite, but this drama definitely take a top spot in my favourite Chinese drama. It is also the first time where it makes me want to add this drama CP: Tian Yao and Yan Hui as my no.1 Favourite Xianxia Drama CP, because before all this, while I do love the other Xianxia Drama CP, I love them all equally as much, in different dramas, never I actually thought of putting them as no.1, but for TianHui (Tian Yao x Yan Hui), it's the first time I want to put them as my no.1, and I am officially putting them as my no.1 Favourite Chinese Xianxia Drama CP!
In terms of pairing chemistry, and this pairing as the overall, you just got to love them! They are naturally so compatible with each other. They visually look great when they are together (even the people on set has said that too), and in terms of the pairing story, it is a gradual process where their feelings for each other grown through their travels and Journeys together. But honestly, what I love about the pairing Tian Yao and Yan Hui is that, their love for each other is EQUAL. Normally in other Xianxia Drama's there will always be a side that has a deeper love for the other in comparison, but for these two, I love how the writers have written them like this, because it really made me enjoyed their relationship. Equal Love, Equal Sacrifice, Tacit Understanding, their love for each other is really strong, and it is definitely a HEALTHY relationship.
For me personally, there are definitely scenes I really love, e.g. the scene when Tian Yao sacrificed himself to save Yan Hui, it was so heart wrenching and sad, but yet it was really touching for me, I remember that night I cried so much that my eyes hurts.... But I don't regret watching that scene because it gave me the feels that I really love.
Tian Yao is really a loveable character in my eyes, his past and what happened to him and how he came to have relationship PTSD was understandable how he can't open his heart to Yan Hui at the beginning, Tong Luo Village is also the starting point to their relationship, but I really love how Yan Hui warm herself into his heart, because she showed him that how she feels about him is nothing in comparison to how Su Ying feels about him, and that Yan Hui is someone who sincerely loves him with her whole heart. Tian Yao is someone who really uses words in a very poetic way/in a more deeper meaning to convey his love across, and he's definitely better at writing it out than actually saying it, and I was honestly really touched with what he wrote in his nuptial agreement to Yan Hui. The fact that he was the one who requested that to be written on an ink that last forever just makes me love him even more for that! I also love it when he came to really accept his feelings, and chase after Yan Hui to earn back her forgiveness, I really love him during those moments, to see how much he's come and grown in terms of character developments. Tian Yao is also someone who will silently sacrifice and give things to Yan Hui without her needing to know it, that's actually one of the points I actually love about him, since he's not looking at getting anything in return, or for Yan Hui to repay him, he just wants Yan Hui to be safe and happy. He's truly a selfless person when he came to love Yan Hui on his end. He's definitely among my favourite character in this drama, not to mention the time when he's Long BaoBao is really adorable!! Before seeing those scenes, I didn't think I will come to love him as Long Baobao, but Neo(HMH) has convinced me and I love the way how he's more upfront and open with his feelings for her, which is nice to see some acting capabilities from Hou Ming Hao in playing the different characters there.
Yan Hui IMO, is one of the best Female Lead we don't get in Xianxia Drama often, she is actually not those typical Female Lead that we see often. So it is really refreshing to see. I am glad her character is written like this. At least she is Infinite times better than Li Su Su (Till the End of the Moon). For Yan Hui, I love her character growth from the beginning to the end, and when she's come to love Tian Yao, she really shows it in a very sincere way. Although she misunderstood Tian Yao for not valuing her life when he took back the HPS, so during that time, I honestly, like how her character was handled. She can't forgive Tian Yao easily despite she understood why Tian Yao have to do it, but she is actually quite reasonable with how she handled the situation. It is also thanks to this, I get to see Tian Yao putting in the effort to chase after her. I felt like this drama is really magical in a way that, we are going through the process like Yan Hui where it's a gradual process, where the writer made it believable when she opens her heart to Tian Yao to love him again. Although for me, I have forgiven Tian Yao way back then, because I understood why he did it, and I know he wouldn't have done it if there's another choice. The main thing was for Tian Yao, he really ensured that Yan Hui will not die if he take back the HPS, that's what I love about him, and why I can forgive him on my end. But ofcourse Yan Hui doesn't know what Tian Yao sacrificed, so we can't blame her.
People didn't like the Stab scene when Tian Yao took back the HPS, but for me, in terms of writing perspectives, I understood why it needed to go down that route, and why Tian Yao couldn't reveal the truth to her, not because he didn't want to, but because the writers have no intention to let him tell her the truth. If he did told her the truth, than we wouldn't have those developments we came to love in the later part of the story, so for me, I honestly did love how it was handled by the writers there.
The only thing I didn't like was how the writers not have Yan Hui said "Wo Ai Ni"(I love you) instead the writers have her saying "Wo Xihuan Ni" (I like you). If it's the beginning I can understand why she would use Xihuan, but the her in the later stages(after everything), I felt it is more meaningful if the writers should have her use 愛(ai) instead.
For me honestly when Yan Hui said 喜歡(xi huan), I take it as love already I just wish the writers would use 愛(ai) instead since when 喜歡(xi huan) is used and said it does felt like it's downgrading her feelings and that's probably why I don't like it. But to me , her feelings for Tian Yao is 愛(ai) strong enough to be put into the level of love. So in context of when Yan Hui said 喜歡(xi huan), for me I will just interpret it as 愛(ai) instead. Since we know how much she loves him.
Now with all that being said, Tian Yao and Yan Hui are the epitome of true love. Their love for each other is really admirable, how they are both devoted, loyal and will protect each other in those times, how they really portray their love and their relationship to be very equal to me. There is no Tian Yao loving Yan Hui more, or Yan Hui loving Tian Yao more in my eyes, since I see their love is EQUAL. This is what I love about them on my end. They also have a very strong bond that I come to love, and another one of my favourite moments was when they did the CP Test together, since it shows how compatible they are with each other.
The story has a theme that I really love as well:
"Will you choose to save one person" OR
"Sacrifice one person to save the world"?
The Correct Answer has been highlighted: "To save the person you love over saving the world". The key theme behind this is... If you can't save the one person you love, how can you think about saving the world? It's only when you can save that one person, then you two can work together to save the world (kinda theme). So the first and foremost is to save the one you love. It's really refreshing, and I love this revelation being the correct answer, because I am tired of characters choosing to save the world, and sacrifice the one they love...
Both Tian Yao and Yan Hui, respectively in the CP Test, they chose to save each other. This CP Test not only showed how compatible they are with each other, but how they feel about each other is the same, so I really love how that was brought forward for the viewers to see.
In terms of the story pacing, for me, it's not draggy at all, I felt like each episode really went by so fast, and I actually subscribed to Youku and watch it on Youku App on my phone (joined VIP) so I can support this drama view-counts, and also because I always look forward to a new episode. I always look forward to 8PM every weekday nights to watch this drama, and I am going to miss those times. Weekend seems so long for me, because Youku don't air it on the weekend. It's also the first time a drama will make me not like Friday because the next two days will be a weekend for me, and not new episodes, so this drama is really an eye opener to show how much I came to really love it!
For Ending side of things, I am Happy with the Ending, I got something more than what I could have asked for, since it is better than some drama's that ends with a "Last Minute Happy Ending", but for Hu Xin (Back from the Brink), they have more interactions, they actually talk, and we get a final kiss between them! So I am eternally grateful that they gave me this happy ending! Finally a happy ending between the relationship of a Dragon and a Human lover.
I personally also really love how the Final Battle is handled with the whole Yin and Yang concept, and how it shows Tian Yao and Yan Hui working together as one to defeat the final villain once and for all, there's a lot of parallel and highlight that I love, which I have talked about in this thread here: https://mydramalist.com/discussions/hu-xin/106609-ending-explanation?pid=2611095&page=1#p2611095
Zhou Ye and Hou Ming Hao, you two truly have chemistry! I really hope you can film another (and many more) modern day romance drama where you are the Main CP, and have many sweet and romantic moments, and I definitely will look forward to some (umm > w < ) Passionate Kiss scenes between you two! That's one thing Hu Xin lack for me, but if I am going to blame anyone, I will blame the directors for not knowing how to give advice for kissing scenes >.< LOL. But anyways, not saying I don't love the kiss scenes in Hu Xin, I will take what I can get, and when they did kiss, I can still fangirl on it, and when they hug each other, how can just a simple hug make me fangirl on them? This is when I know I have come to love this CP so much, and I am glad they can get their happy ending in the end.
I love the many OST's in this Drama! Definitely on my Album to listen to over and over again!
Rewatch Value: Definitely going to rewatch again!!!! <3 I can go through the journey again from the beginning to the end, and while I am not a fan of amnesia plots to be honest, because I tend to not like seeing the development starting over again and them getting to know each other again.... And the whole losing one identity that I don't like, but I got to say that Hu Xin (Back from the Brink) handled it really well. I am sure a lot of people agree to this, since I have seen it in the comments <3
I am going to miss Tian Yao and Yan Hui!! T__T I think I might just go and check out the novel on my end, because I want to see what the novel is like, I have started a few chapters in, but didn't finish it, I guess it's a good time to resume on my end.
I also want to add my note by saying, Bai Xiao Sheng, I was skeptical to like him at first, then I came to did like him since he's the matchmaker for my OTP (Tian Yao x Yan Hui) then I came to really dislike him to the point I feel like punching him because..... *well won't spoil that for you, you will see for yourself when you watch it * but by the end, he got his character development, so he's back to the character I like LOL.
With that all said, this comes the end of my review now.... So what are you waiting for?! Go watch this drama if you have not already!!! I definitely recommend this drama to everyone especially xianxia lovers!!! It is a drama you should NOT miss out!! At the end of the day, I will do my best to recommend this to you, however, whether you watch it or not, it's up to you. In my eyes if you don't watch it, you'll just miss out!!
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When the story of finding your body parts gets old...
Story: I will start my review by saying that I love the novel "Heart Protection" of which this drama claims to be adapted from. Keyword - "claim". The drama started of well with around 70% similarity to the novel. But somewhere from Ep 5-6 onwards, things start to skew and the drama ended up being an entirely different product. I do not mind changes from novel to drama - provided they are done well. In this drama's case, the changes actually weaken the story and slowed down its pace, because they mostly ended up being fillers to drag the drama into 40 eps. And after so much fillers to keep the timer rolling, we are then treated to a rushed and brief ending in the last 3 mins of Ep 40.Although the introduction of a new character played by Riley in this drama was a nice touch, the dilution of the FL's character reduced the enjoyment somewhat for me. It is rare that we get a xuanhuan novel with a woman as the main character. Yan Hui in the novel is one such character. The dragon is merely her love interest. The story is about her. She's the main character with genius abilities and OP powers from start to end. She's the one who rescued and helped the dragon and others. Basically, the novel's hero. But in the drama, Yan Hui needed rescuing. She's slow with cultivation. In the drama, the dragon becomes the main character and she becomes his love interest. With a male-focused main character, this story has turned into one that is similar with 90% of the xuanhuan novels out there. Why they decided NOT to portray Yan Hui as a strong and independent character who is the main protagonist of the story? Your guess is as good as mine. But the main weakness of the drama is not the weakening of Yan Hui's character per se - it's the use of fillers upon fillers which ended abruptly with a short ending that left viewers feeling cheated and wanting their money (and time) back. Many have defended the changes by saying the author herself is part of the screenwriting team, but I would argue that there are limits to what a novel author can do when she has already sold her rights to the novel plus a good novel author does not equate to a good screenwriter because book to screen adaptations is a whole different ballgame altogether. So, at the end of the day, the novel author being part of the screenwriting team has more marketing value than actual practical value.
Acting/Cast: Casting is done mostly well; from a visual point of view. Both the ML and FL have good looks and this drama has definitely garnered them a stronger fanbase. However, acting of the leads left much to be desired. They started out quite stiff, though they do slowly warm up towards the end, but it is still obvious that they lacked acting experience. The second male lead, Riley, actually acted better - mostly because Riley is a more seasoned actor. Chemistry between ML and FL is so-so. They gave off a "little girl and her best friend dragon" feeling. Minimal skinship and kissing. The "kisses" are polite pecks. Even the hugs are pretty stiff. Very chaste. So if you are after more deeper kissing, more skinship and off-the-charts type chemistry, this is not the drama for you.
Music: Nice OSTs that reflect the mood of the story. No complains in this department.
Rewatch value: Despite the butchering of the story with unwarranted fillers and unsatisfying ending, this drama has a pretty good rewatch value. Why? Because of the "magic" fast-forward button. There are episodes and scenes in this drama that are worth rewatching. If we can cut and paste them together, they probably form around half the length of this entire drama, but they are scenes that are the essence of the story without any fillers.
Overall: It's a pretty decent drama with eye candies to keep you going. The story-telling is a let down due to the many fillers but if you are after a drama that does not require much brain cells and only require your eye cells to ogle at good looking people, then this is the drama for you. But if you are after a more solid product with excellent story and acting, turn around; this is not the drama for you. You are better off reading the novel - which by the way, I highly recommend. Therefore, I rate this drama an overall of 7.5/10.
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The most fun fated lovers have finding missing dragon parts - Xianxia evolution!
Indulge in the rom-com aspects of Back from the Brink, from the interactions of the lead couple (both inhabit their respective characters with charm, wit, and delicacy!), the side characters, not to mention the cute and fluffy CGI creatures, and then there are the kiddies! Naive yet tongue-in-cheek feel at the beginning, and at the same time all deadly serious if our eye-candy Heroes (Yan Hui and Tan Yiao) are to succeed on their Quest (rescuing not only themselves, but their supporting cast). A light-hearted identity misunderstanding begins their journey (through different lands), but our romancing couple soon sort out who is who (and who's boss!) and work to help each other (with a bit of assistance from a relationship-testing character obliged to help while hindering!) in life-threatening situations. They have some well-intentioned friends to support them, some arch villains to thwart them, and some unexpected obstacles to try their resolve and commitment to each other (which they have in buckets!). All of which are intertwined as they progress from xian to human to demon realms and back (with some enchanted side trips for good measure).Early costuming is entirely appropriate to their wandering-in-search-of situation, together with a penchant for steamed buns and gambling away the money that's made (although no shortage of means to make more - they are resourceful, after all!). Their costumes become more gorgeous as their circumstances improve, black has a special meaning, as does bathing in moonlight and cold water! Music is very much in sync with the slightly gamed feel to many scenes in drama; elements of RPG run rampant in very charming ways, but as the angst ups, more orchestral melodies can be heard and the game aspect tones down. The OST is one of the most refreshing and appropriate to be paired with a drama recently.
It's Xianxia, there is heart-wrenching angst, there are knife-edge decisions being made, there are multiple sacrifices (this couple ooze a deep heart connection) and much misdirection...if all goes according to their entangled fate, despite overwhelming odds Tian Yao and Yan Hui will win through to their happy ever after.
Spoiler ALERT!!! - Keep reading only if you are willing to be spoiled!
The drama is NOT the same as the novel . . . scriptwriters have added in very different subplots and motivations and depowered Yan Hui at the commencement of the drama. Still recognisable from a personality perspective but from a power perspective - entirely dependent on the other males to help "activate" or "rescue" or whatever verb you want to use when a female has her agency removed, as the means to kick-start the action. A pity because the novel really has a tightly knit structure with internal consistency in both motive and plot devices - neither overpower the other, and all characters don't require particularly much suspension of disbelief to agree with their actions. The drama on the other hand starts out with some shaky premises and then veers into some very la la land motives, reactions, consequences. If you come to this after having read the novel, it's fun, the leads are ever so easy on the eyes, and Yan Hui eventually becomes a powerful force of nature (although you may gnash your teeth until she does), but the novel has been dismembered more or less like TY and his body bitz, without the redeeming arc and journey. The other characters are less characters and more caricatures of the novel originals, to their detriment.
JLFX (novel author) was ostensibly involved with the script for the drama. It's not unusual for an author to want a second bite at the cherry and her presence legitimises changes. The variations of the drama from the original novel rely heavily on some worn out tropes, but when this drama stays true to the novel it shines (in no small part to the two leads sensitively inhabiting their characters, despite the dialogue and out-field plot development). But the online reactions that have occurred to various episodes suggest that Youku/producers/pursestrings in the background were always aiming at maximum notoriety - and by the time the drama was one third through they achieved that aim spectacularly: heat indexes, weibo, tik tok, twitter charts/comments/whatevs stratospheric with activity. It's entertainment, so engagement with viewers is a sign of success, but the sense of cynical manipulation suggests the plot twists and turns, the deviation from the novel, the speedy reaction to online uproar, were all a calculated effort to keep this drama in the glare of the spotlight, not because of storytelling excellence and the integrity of the original material, but as a vehicle of sheer obeisance at the temple of advertising revenue. For this novel reader, Back from the Brink wasn't so much an adaptation as a compromised adoption of misinterpreted aspects of Hu Xin. Oh for what might have been.....
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This review may contain spoilers
HUMAN AND DRAGON SHENANIGANS
Pros: Loved the first half of the drama which I felt had the perfect amount of truly funny moments mixed in with the plot. I also absolutely LOVED the FL's character, and Zhou Ye's acting definitely made me shed some tears during some of the more emotional scenes. I do feel FL and ML had great chemistry and liked seeing them together. The ML was adorable and was definitely very pretty. Plus, he's a dragon!Not so great: The second half fell a bit short for me as I just could not take the main villain seriously. There were also way too many long and unnecessary backstories and scenes for all the villains, pseudo villains and the many, many side characters that I feel like they could have cut out. The whole production was also sort of a miss for me - it looked low budget, where some of the scenes are really awkwardly shot, and the costuming (mainly... the hair) and CGI looked hilariously fake, especially when the CGI was combined with human interaction (i.e. that scene of them petting one of the monsters... I could not help but lol). The acting was a bit iffy for the ML and SML ... my main gripe is with the ML in that he's definitely a bit of a wooden board and oftentimes just has one or two of the same expressions (concerned and angry). One more thing - music I felt was decent and times added to the story, but I have to mention that there was this one background music that they play during some of the comedic moments that COMPLETELY took me out because it sounded so ridiculous and I know it's a stock background music from somewhere else (maybe other shows? movies? IDK).
Conclusion: Liked it, but definitely not my favourite. However, it's worth a watch if you're looking for a xianxia to pass the time.
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Spoilers for Ep 16
The way I interpreted what happened in episode 16, is that the ML was not in his right mind to communicate clearly with the FL. Even though so far their communication has been really open so far, it shows that he still had reservations in telling her everything, and this unfortunately created a misunderstanding that was later called out by the FL. I have seen comments lambasting her for the way she treated ML, but considering what he did to her I think it’s natural for her to be afraid of him even though she understands why he did it. Forgiveness took time, which I appreciate and even then she later realized how hurtful her words were. Her responses are flawed, and most importantly human and she acknowledges it eventually and apologises and that’s what really elevates this story for me. Including the ML, even though he is an immortal who has been around for some time when it comes to inter personal relationships he still has a learning curve and will make mistakes. Yes, they have established a relationship where they are open with one another but that does not necessarily mean either one will get it righ all the time, and it was later addressed. So, I do not think it was “out of character” or a plot hole but a demonstration of how flawed they are. However again that is my interpretation of it, but I think for anyone considering on dropping it because of that just know it does get addressed later on and is not a moment that happens and is forgotten about
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Hou Ming Hao and Zhou Ye breathed life into the Tian Yao and Yan Hui character. Perfectly executed the strength , endurance , romance, love plus a dash of comedy when the script calls for it.
Visually stunning male lead and female lead and memorable support casts helped weave an enchanting Xianxia drama.
Each episode builds up to the next and pace of story captivates viewers. Various gadgets appearing in the show and the adorable monsters added elements of surprise.
Delighted that it ended well but more scenes of happy times of TY and YH would add icing to the already perfect cake.
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This review may contain spoilers
Back From The Brink is a Little ( BIG !!!! ) Xianxia Revolution
You are tired of dumb and illgical female leads ? Of the usual kind of toxic male lead ? Of never ending misunderstanding and characters who can't communicate with each others ? Then Back From The Brink is made for you and will reconcile you with the Xianxia genre like it did with me.I started without any expectations but what can I say it was unexpected in the same way that we fall in love, and I fell deeply in love with this drama, I found myself counting the hours that will get me to a new episode each time one ended.
I've been watching Xianxia for a long time and this is the first time I watch something like this one, It keeps the charm factor of the xianxias genre while breaking all its codes, BFTB is just so original, so refreshing from the story to the characters to the world building, I can guarantee you this is nothing like what you have seen before.
There is no heavenly realm, no demon realm, no overly powerful ( evil or good ) Gods. There is two clans at wars ( spirits and taoists), the taoist having the upper hand in this war and discriminating the spirits.
Destiny will unite the female lead Yan Hui, a feisty taoist with a very high EQ to Tian Yao a millenium Dragon with dating PTSD ( he was betrayed and dismembered by his taoist ex ) and force them to work together. Yan Hui with her beautiful kind heart and her noble temperament will break down the walls that the Dragon King built around ( his missing) heart. And who wouldn't fall in love with her ? Us spectators fell first : a rare kind of female lead who speaks her mind and the spectators minds, a female lead that will end up overpowering everyone for the sake of love ( yes yes you heard it right no damsel in distress in BFTB). And to fit this amazing female lead, of course we got to have non less awseome male lead : You will have to fall in love with every facet of Tian Yao... he will go through the best character developement from a cunning dragon to a truly caring and protective husband. I would even dare to say the most gentle and dreamy husband in c-dramaland.
The building of their relationship is beautiful , they go through hardships due to evident circumstances and given the characters characteristics I feel like the writers were able to do write in a realistical way, to the point that even with only few kisses thourought the 40 episodes we still are able to feel their strong bond and love for each other.
One of the most agreable surpise here are also the secondary characters, a writer once told me that you shouldn't write secondary characters just to write secondary characters , they have to have a purpose in your story otherwise everything will just crumble. I'm used to skip scenes that involve secondary characters in c-drama and sometimes feel like they are a waste of screentime but for this drama it wasn't the case at all, I loved them so much, felt attached to them. All the secondary characters have strong personalities, their own stories, when it comes to battles and facing hardships every character has his own ability and is no less important than the other for example :Xian Ge and her husband FQS who are mortals are still useful by being incredible strategists. Overall team work is an important theme of the drama from the beginnig to the end, every life is important and even "low" spirits support can become the strongest weapon.
The villainswere as charismatic as the other characters especially Su Yin and Chang Lan, we end up understanding why they became what they are without condoning their actions .
The smartly built relationships and the characters excellent writing are not the only thing that deserve praise in this story. I'm thankful for the world buildind and can you believe that for once magic is correctly used in a FANTASY world, I mean how much dramas were able to grasp that yes humans would have made use of magic as a technology in every ways possible if it existed : here we got the Huawei / Ai Feng hilarious moment, the smartwatch moment, the video news journal moment, the small purse that could hide a whole house ( because yes did you ever wondered how characters in dramas travel so lightly and yet are able to change clothes a hundred times ) . There were also moments were the writers just wittily made fun via characters of usual dramas tropes that they also used in the drama, I'm thinking of when Yan Hui became the Lady Of The Dark Aura and HXY points that YH make and outfits have changed, knowing the jokes about chracters wearing heavier eyeliner and darker outfits when they become demons/ evil etc it was a definitely a funny input made by the writers.
I'd say that Hu Xin was never meant to be a heartwrenching story in a caricatural shakespearian way l
, it is a heartwarmimg and hearttouching story. It proved that a drama does not need only heavy scenes to have depth but you can rather find depth in a well rounded story, the depth is in characters that are so well written that you'll end up getting strongly attached to and that will make you share and relate to their joy, their pain, whatever they are feeling. The depth is in the fact that this drama didn't take its viewers for fools and that every actions the characters initiate is later explained in a logical and smart way. Back From The Brink proved that you don't need to get stuck a certain narratif stucture to write a xianxia and that as viewers we can and we should expect more originality from writers from now on.
I'll be forever thankful to thankful to the cast, the writers and whole team for giving us a a fairytale that was able to bring us back to the magic we believed in when we were children mixed with the perfect depiciton of human complexity that made us believe in this fairytale as adults.
I'd finish by saying that I didn't follow any of the actors nor did I read the novel before watching this drama so this review couldn't be more fair. However the cast did conquered me overtime, The incredible chemistry between the two lead was more than convincing, I couldn't ask more from the acting ( couldn't believe this was the same HMH that played the majestic dragon king and the milky dragon at the same time, Zhou Ye was absolutely versatile and made cry along her character many times). The whole cast was also so deeply involved and sincere with the viewers, spending hours answering fans questions on weibo and making lives. They deserve the whole world, they deserve to be praised for their performance and for their hard work.
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A Good Drama That Leaves a Lasting Impression
This is a good drama that delivers an emotional and thought-provoking experience. The performances of Huo Ming Hao as Tian Yao and Zhou Ye as Yan Hui are noteworthy, showcasing great on-screen chemistry between the leads.Zhou Ye brings her signature perky cheekiness, courage, and loyalty to the character of Yan Hui, reminiscent of her performance in "Word of Honour." While her relative inexperience as a main lead occasionally results in moments of over-acting, overall, she does a commendable job in the role.
Huo Ming Hao shines as Tian Yao, portraying a protagonist who has experienced deep love, brutal betrayal, and emotional scars. His portrayal demonstrates remarkable control as an actor, effectively conveying the complexities of the character. This role has the potential to expand his fan base and further his acting career.
"Back From the Brick" successfully explores themes of resilience, redemption, and the power of forgiveness. It offers a well-crafted narrative that keeps viewers engaged throughout. The drama is visually appealing, with excellent production values showcased through cinematography, costume design, and set detailing.
In conclusion, "Back From the Brick" is a captivating Chinese drama that excels in its performances and storytelling. While minor flaws exist, such as occasional over-acting, they do not overshadow the overall quality of the series. This emotionally charged drama, combined with its exploration of meaningful themes, is a must-watch for fans of the genre.
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Yanhui and Tianyao over them all
Tian Yao and Yan Hui are the epitome of true love. Their devotion and loyalty to each other are unmatched by anyone else. They would do anything for each other, even sacrifice their own lives. Their love is so pure and powerful that it transcends time and space. They have a bond that connects their hearts and souls. You can feel their emotions and their pain as they face countless obstacles and enemies. You can also feel their joy and happiness as they overcome them together. You admire their love and wish you could find someone who loves you the same way. They are your role models and your inspiration. They are everything to each other. They are not just lovers, but also best friends, partners, and soulmates.Was this review helpful to you?
