An Ultra Fan's Guide To: Urassaya Sperbund (Yaya)
The Starry Night, The Starry Sea
NOTE:
1. Aside from the fact that both dramas feature humans and mermaids (merman) falling in love, it is in no way similar to The Legend Of The Blue Sea.
2. The drama is based on the novel of the same name by Tong Hua, who has penned other popular books like Scarlet Heart.
MAIN CAST
Feng William Bea Hayden Wang Sunny Wang Molly Sui Yong Liang
Wu Julan Shen Luo An Zuo Wu Liang Liang Zhou Bu Wen
CHARACTERS
Shen Luo - The Humble & Modest Female Lead... NOT!
Shen Luo used to work in a match-making agency but quits her job to move back to her home island. She is a cheerful person, always looking at the bright side, and never lets anything get her down. Shen Luo is often described as stingy by her friends. She is often shown to be too confident of her looks and personality, although not in a vain way. She's also kind towards other people, which is what first attracted our male lead to her. Due to her parents divorcing when she was a kid, she doesn't believe in love.
Wu Julan - Tall, Dark & Mysterious Male Lead
Wu Julan/Regulus (Lucas) is the prince of mermaids. 150 years ago he was betrayed by his close human friend, who stole the spiritual pearl with help of Black Wizard. Since then he doesn't trust humans. By a fateful turn of events, he meets Shen Luo, who takes him in (not for free, though) and restores his faith in humanity.
Zhou Buwen - The Mustached Villain
Buwen used to be a close friend of Shen Luo when they were kids. However, he moved away from the island when he was 15 years old. Now he has come back to the island intending to win over Shen Luo, and get rid of his love rival through any means necessary.
Wu Liangliang - The Badass Second Female Lead
Liangliang comes from a family whose entire existence is to serve the merman clan. She moves to the island to help and assist Wu Julan claim back the spiritual pearl. She is also a psychiatrist who works at the island's local hospital. She is often caught in a dilemma between of her duties and her past love.
An Zuo - The Sexy Antagonist
An Zuo is part of the Black Wizard, who once stole the spiritual pearl. He is in search for the spiritual pearl for some mysterious reason (which later gets revealed). An Zuo won't let anything or anyone stop him, least of all Wu Julan, whom he believes has the spiritual pearl.
Jiang Yi Sheng - The Charming Playboy
Jiang Yi Sheng first appears as the goofy best friend of our female lead. He is supposedly the number one handsome man of the island, which he never fails to mention. He is the biggest flirt, a smooth-talker, and a playboy. He is also a psychologist at the island's local hospital and never misses an opportunity to flirt with the nurses. He is one of the best friends in a drama and is always there for Shen Luo. Whether it's to provide her a shoulder to cry on or give her advice on how to seduce men - he truly does all for his best friend.
WHY YOU SHOULD GIVE THIS A TRY
1. To see Wu Julan's smile
No, I'm not kidding. I have honestly screen-capped every scene in which he smiled. Aside from the fact that he is just gorgeous, his smile is just so cute. The fact that his character is shown to be a more serious type, which means he smiles rarely, makes it even more attractive.
2. The beautiful, beautiful sceneries
This show has one of the best sceneries in a drama. Since the whole story takes place on an island, it makes it even more enticing. The seashore, the greeneries, and even Shen Luo's home; every place is just breathtakingly beautiful. The drama was shot in various places such as Taiwan, New York, and Shanghai.
3. The comedy
Despite the lack of comedy tag in the drama, it had various hilarious moments. The fact that Wu Julan is a merman who has returned to land after almost 150 years and hence has no idea about the new technologies and gadgets, make up for quite a few funny moments. Also, Jiang Yishang, Shen Lou's best friend, is, for the most part, a comic role in the drama. And not to mention Shen Luo's antics to get closer to Wu Julan. You can't help but laugh.
4. The secondary couple.
The playboy vying for the attention of a cool and aloof girl is really interesting to see. He keeps pestering her and she keeps ignoring him. Also, one of the things that I liked about them was the fact that Liangliang was always saving Jiang Yisheng, instead of it being the opposite. It was like a breath of fresh air.
5. The OTP
A girl who doesn't believe in love and a guy who distrusts humans - does it get any more interesting than that? Their love story moves slowly and beautifully from friends to something more. It's really heartwarming to see the couple grow closer. I've always loved the kinds of couples where one lead is the quiet and serious type and other has a bubbly personality, so that might have contributed to my love for this OTP. Whatever the reason, they are one of the very few OTPs that I loved.
Like most Cdramas, it's also dubbed, but it's something you get used to and don't notice after a couple of episodes. Unlike other Cdramas, this one only has 32 episodes, which isn't very long (in the land of Cdramas), with each episode being 40 minutes long.
If you like Cdramas or just fantasy dramas in general, this drama is definitely a good watch.
If you decide to give it a chance, do leave a comment!
