I loved your review and I totally agree with the romance part - who were your other 2 favorite Asian drama couples??
Xiao Qiao and Wei Shao from The Prisoner of Beauty are the only other couple that created all the feels that this show did… so this one and When Destiny Brings the Demon are my two favorite romances. There are some similarities to WDBtD, such as enemies-to-lovers, an insane amount of screen time for the main couple, and no dragged out drama or love triangles. It’s also has the arranged marriage trope. In terms of the other two- it’s kind of a cluster of a few: The couple in Flower of Evil is AMAZING if you don’t mind a fast-paced psychological thriller with the worst cliffhangers nearly ever episode 😂 Seriously, I had to pause in the middle of episodes when I had to return to Real Life because the cliffhangers sucked. That couple is probably ranked my #3. The ML is a Yellow Flag (maybe red flag) until you get to understand his character and his history of trauma. He is in a loving marriage with a CUUUUTE daughter. I can’t explain the whole show in one post, but it’s one of the best Asian I have ever seen. There is also Guardian: The Great and Lonely God is up there if you don’t mind age gaps (older immortal ML and she’s graduating high school at the start of the drama). Very touching, WONDERFUL OST and cinematography. It’s a beautiful show, truly. If you check any of these out lemme know what you think!
I need to know - *please use spoiler tag* - but how bad is the angst when the truth comes out? And how long does it drag out for? Do we get a good amount of happy reuniting and being together before the end? Thanks in advance :) P.S. I do not want to know exact episode numbers, just generally how severe is the angst and how many episodes it lasts for.
About to start my re-watch. I've been trying to watch other CDramas but nothing is working for me. Has Shadow…
If you’re into xianxia you could check out When Destiny Brings the Demon. Outside of some iffy CGI sometimes it’s one of my faves. That one ruined me for a while lol
Honestly I don’t really get all the criticism of the last episode and the amnesia. To me, there could not have been a better way to end things than that for a couple reasons.
First- our ML never got to live as himself. He never got to live free and establish his own identity outside of his father’s reputation. His whole life after he ran away was riddled with deception, fear of losing the life he created for himself, and being in hiding. Him temporarily losing memories allowed him to have his clean slate and figure out who he is.
Secondly- it would have been TOTALLY unrealistic for him and his wife to return to an idyllic, bright and happy family after he experienced all of the crap that ultimately led to his mental breakdown in the final showdown. Outside of our ML ending up in a psychiatric hospital with his memories intact, the amnesia route was the only other ending that would have made sense.
Thirdly, the amnesia plot also paved the way for our ML to cope with the psychological trauma safely in bits and pieces. It was crystal clear to me that his memories would eventually return, as we saw glimpses of that during the final episode. But the lovely part about this is that his painful memories will return slowly and in smaller doses so he can handle it… rather than having him cope with ALL of it all at once. Like when did he ever have time during the show to process what had actually happened? Nearly drowning? Thinking your wife was murdered? Nearly getting killed by a human trafficker? Watching that trafficker almost murder your wife in front of you? Returning to the house where your father murdered people in cages? Having a psychotic breakdown in front of your wife and a ton of people? Being framed for murder and going on the run? Almost being buried alive? Not to mention the exorcisms, being bullied, stabbed in the woods, groomed to kill animals and the other significant childhood trauma. He couldn’t possibly have processed all of that within the timeline of the plot, so imagine what it would be like for a person to have ALL of that sink in all at once when life settles down? He would realistically end up in a psychiatric hospital. I see the amnesia as a way for the ML to heal from his trauma in small pieces while also reestablishing his life and relationship.
I LOVED how they ended it. And for those of you who are curious- the leads absolutely do end up together with a very happy ending. I don’t get how some finish the show with that in question? He was freaking being reunited with his daughter and crying with his family at the end…?
I really wish I could like this show but alas all it does is annoy the heck out of me. I like the story so much…
That’s one of the reasons I loved this romance. It was vanilla with a green flag ML / FL 🥰 I don’t think it’s fair to make the generalization that ALL real life relationships have to have drama. Mine doesn’t honestly have much drama at all. It was refreshing to me seeing a couple work so well together as a team and communicate. And seeing the ML basically crush on the FL right away was 😍Super cute! Instant attraction is a thing.
Dual cultivation is not any new term for xianxia genre ,but whether they do it in their physical bodies or not…
I also thought I understood that they were not in an actual physical realm during that time? That it was more of a temporary spiritual holding place of sorts until he recovered? Maybe I’m misunderstood, but that’s what I got from the translations. Either way, it was a little confusing (thanks censorship) because she was making out with his unconscious body and during that scene they never showed him reciprocating in the actual bed with her. I think I just generally concluded that it was more of a spiritual cultivation rather than a physical one.
so , in the ep 13-14 they did that ? or just kiss and hug ... I thought it would be strange if they had done it…
With the Chinese censorship it makes scenes like this a little confusing. From my understanding it was just spiritual intimacy at that point, as both of them were in some temporary spiritual holding realm by that immortal on the boat. However, I can definitely see it going both ways.
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First- our ML never got to live as himself. He never got to live free and establish his own identity outside of his father’s reputation. His whole life after he ran away was riddled with deception, fear of losing the life he created for himself, and being in hiding. Him temporarily losing memories allowed him to have his clean slate and figure out who he is.
Secondly- it would have been TOTALLY unrealistic for him and his wife to return to an idyllic, bright and happy family after he experienced all of the crap that ultimately led to his mental breakdown in the final showdown. Outside of our ML ending up in a psychiatric hospital with his memories intact, the amnesia route was the only other ending that would have made sense.
Thirdly, the amnesia plot also paved the way for our ML to cope with the psychological trauma safely in bits and pieces. It was crystal clear to me that his memories would eventually return, as we saw glimpses of that during the final episode. But the lovely part about this is that his painful memories will return slowly and in smaller doses so he can handle it… rather than having him cope with ALL of it all at once. Like when did he ever have time during the show to process what had actually happened? Nearly drowning? Thinking your wife was murdered? Nearly getting killed by a human trafficker? Watching that trafficker almost murder your wife in front of you? Returning to the house where your father murdered people in cages? Having a psychotic breakdown in front of your wife and a ton of people? Being framed for murder and going on the run? Almost being buried alive? Not to mention the exorcisms, being bullied, stabbed in the woods, groomed to kill animals and the other significant childhood trauma. He couldn’t possibly have processed all of that within the timeline of the plot, so imagine what it would be like for a person to have ALL of that sink in all at once when life settles down? He would realistically end up in a psychiatric hospital. I see the amnesia as a way for the ML to heal from his trauma in small pieces while also reestablishing his life and relationship.
I LOVED how they ended it. And for those of you who are curious- the leads absolutely do end up together with a very happy ending. I don’t get how some finish the show with that in question? He was freaking being reunited with his daughter and crying with his family at the end…?