Haters gonna hate but it's still a rare diamond.

All the great praises have been mentioned by other reviewers. So there you have it: a very entertaining storyline that is darker and can be quite heartbreaking at times, superb acting, out of this world costumes, catchy music, CGI and all.

Since the time it went on air up until now, it has been staying at the top of many charts in mainland China for the number of views, market share, the popularity on social media, etc. As a result, however, it also gains many anti-fans and haters. There are multiple smearing campaigns going on non-stop trying to bring it down, so much that Chinese viewers said it's a good and evil battle both in the show and out of the show. Either way, it doesn't matter what the haters say because the show's actual numbers are still going strong. It even helped the tourism of 2 cities in China, whose names happen to collide with characters and events in the show. So I guess that's a good influence and achievement.

As for the logic in the storyline, I guess fans can defend it by saying gov censorship demanded the show to be cut down to only 40 episodes, while originally it had 58 episodes. Therefore it can feel jumpy at times. Given the fact that I had read the original novel before watching this show, I have no problem understanding it, but I guess to the 1st time viewers it can be too much info to process at once. Yes there will be quite a lot of small details and theories cramming into the storyline without enough screentime to explain. Then each of these small details will be linked to later episodes, that only when you rewatch the show for the 2nd or 3rd time that you realize how it makes sense as a whole.

The premise of this show is when Li Susu, our female lead, has to go back to 500 years before to prevent the birth of the new Devil Lord, who destroyed everything and killed everyone in her current timeline. How to do it? Her father guessed that she had to destroyed the Evil Bone, which was supposed to be the source of power for the Devil Lord to reborn again. So where was this Evil Bone? It was inside the heart of a common human named Tan Taijin.

Here's the catch, which is important: Li Susu cannot kill Tan Taijin before destroying the Evil Bone. Tan Taijin cannot die, or else once he dies, the Evil Bone will be awakened and he will immediately goes from human to Devil.

That's why even though Li Susu witnessed how the Devil Lord killed her father and everyone 500 years later, once she transcended into the past, she still had to keep Tan Taijin alive by all means. Does she hate him? Yes, there was the scene when she tortured him, but later she felt bad about it. Because at least for now, Tan Taijin was still just a human that had done nothing wrong, and not the Demon Lord of 500 years later.

Thus afterwards, it's a story of Li Susu trying to change Tan Taijin for the better, trying to prevent him from dying, or trying to kill him along side the Evil Bone. As for Tan Taijin he is a very very complex character who also got entangled into many problems. He was a hostage prince who wasn't born with emotions. His nature only wires him to have a thirst for power. Most people around want to bully him, betray him, or kill him. The Devil Lord still resides inside his head and whispers evil things to him, waiting for the day to revive again. So it's really a story of character development for Tan Taijin from zero to hero, to learn good and evil, to love life and people, and to prevent the Devil Lord taking over his body.

I don't agree with the statement that this show is only light entertainment and doesn't require intelligence. Why? As I mentioned above, there's too many details going on that if you don't pay attention you will miss it, which makes a rewatch worth it. How come a few side characters who are normal human can live up to 500 years later? Why is there a Dream arc in the middle of the show, does it mean anything to the story as whole? Well if you didn't pay attention or didn't watch the later episodes, of course it wouldn't make sense. I've seen people tearing the show to shreds based on quick preview trailers, only to find out that the actual story was not what they criticize it for.

Is this show worth watching? Yes, if you look at it with fresh eyes, and don't let the toxicity of C showbiz or prejudices affect you.

Last but not least, omg Luo Yunxi acting just keeps getting better and better. The scene that he acted out a physical pain seemed so real and raw, it became a top trending search on Weibo. At first people scorn him for the overly done makeup, but once they get into the story it's his acting that matters. He got a lot of body shaming comments when this show first launched, but that is because people couldn't find any other faults at him. In every character he played, be it the Devil Lord of the original timeline, Tan Taijin, or the God of War in the Dream arc, he managed all very beautifully.

This show is not 100% perfect, but I would say, to many people including myself, it's already better than most.

Read More