07222023

I went into this series with little to no expectations, and while it's a good watch, it feels a lot longer than 29 episodes. Between a lot happening and not enough happening, the series’ pacing is hard to comment on. And because I took many breaks between episodes, I felt like I’d been watching the show for half a year.

I have no complaints about the cast. I love Tian Jia Rui in just about everything he’s in. He’s truly a gem. I’ve loved Ju Jing Yi since “Legend of Yun Xi” and have listened to some of her music as both a soloist and a member of SNH48. I’m so glad Yan An decided to become an actor, especially in Chinese historical fantasies, because although I’ve known and listened to PENTAGON’s debut song and even had a couple of biases in the boy group, for some reason I never noticed Yan An (he and Wooseok confuse me lol). If he hadn’t left CUBE and become an actor, I wouldn’t have discovered his talent. Chen Du Ling is without a doubt gorgeous, but I could never get behind her acting; however, she really fit Wu Wang Yan. This is my first time watching Joseph Zeng, and he didn’t disappoint at all. He’s the perfect Wu Shi Guang and even came across as older than Chen Du Ling and Ju Jing Yi.

The acting was a bit clumsy at times, especially by Wu Han (You Chi). I understand this is his series debut, but sometimes he takes me out of the moment. And although he's the comic relief character, I still don't know how I feel about him.

What impresses me most is the world-building of this series. It’s overly complex yet unique and fascinating. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up because there's so much to remember, but we still get explanations. I liked that the characters experienced a different time, so we got to see what it was like 1000, 150, and 50 years ago. The character design was also spot on. Although Ji Ling is the focus of the show, the other main characters each make a unique contribution to the series.

Tian Jia Rui’s “Suffering” song saved this series’ music. Towards the end, they use the instrumental and crossover from Tian Jia Rui and Ju Jing Yi, but it’s worth it because this song fits everything happening at the end.

The chemistry and romance in here were killer! Each couple really went all out for each other, and it was both heartwarming and nice to see!

I have some complaints, but my biggest issue is the delivery of the action and story development towards the latter half of the show. As with other series like “Fangs of Fortune” and “My Journey to You,” the action gets absurdly uncreative and relies heavily on flying, choppy edits, and CGI. The setup for the final battle was creative, but the delivery was soooo boring. At many points, we just have our powerful characters standing all cool. I don’t know if it’s budget or why Edward Guo refuses to have multiple powerful characters take on the enemy all at once and wipe them out quickly. Given Lu Wu Yi being Jiu Ying and Ji Ling being the former Dragon Deity who’s built a reputation and relationships for a hundred years, it’s no surprise they have more screen time towards the end. My problem was it wasn’t used effectively, so it just looks like favoritism (I personally don’t mind it, but would have loved to see Wu Shi Guang do more as our new Dragon Deity). Another issue I have is how Shi Guang sent You Chi up against a fox demon and expects him to flee. Then, instead of realizing that You Chi and Wang Yan would be fine once Li Jing reverts the past and stops Wu Yi from being created, we get some flat moments of Shi Guang crying over You Chi and Wang Yan. The romance in here was good; the friendship not so much. I think we get one scene of Li Jing and Shi Guang acting as “brothers,” and then for a while we’re just told that Shi Guang sides with Li Jing, without that trust and bond.

Can I just say Bai Ze is ridiculously powerful and absolutely my favorite???

For the rewatch value, I gave it a 5 because I may rewatch some episodes or scenes but probably never the whole series again.