Masterclass Visuals, But Confusing and Messy story.
You had me at the first. I thought i set my bar too low, because the first couple of episodes made it seem like by the end of this drama, i'm gonna be coming out amazed, but nope.
The story, even though confusing and messy in general, was pretty manageable to follow with its mystery/comedy setup at first. It was really serious and dark at the beginning, but comedy kept throwing me out of it. I know comedy serves as the balance to the dark vibes, but here i roll my eyes out every time. Most of the characters are very serious, then suddenly one of the characters would try to be funny. Then halfway through the story, they toned down the comedy, and it started leaning more into Romance/Drama, which is actually good, if only they managed to do it cleanly so that it wasn't such a mess of a story. This is probably the first fantasy cdrama for me where the time-travel was handled decently, because time-travel can be very tricky. Here it made sense to me because it's the consequences of their actions. It wasn't just time-travel for the sake of it.
The only romance plot I probably appreciated was Wu Shi Guang and Wu Wang Yan, where their romance was handled well. The intention and execution were clear the moment they started going into their pairing. They got good chemistry as well. It's just disappointing that Shi Guang went from Main Lead vibes to becoming sidelined.
Ji Ling and Lu Wuyi, although their romance was cute and innocent, it just wasn't for me. I started getting into their romance once they got out of the time-travel arc, when it started getting dramatic. Ji Ling was the character i'm talking about in the beginning, who's breaking my immersion because of his comedy parts. Like, sorry, it just wasn't hitting me. You literally have You Chi, which is a good example of a funny character without trying to overdo it.
The last time i probably saw clean VFX in a cdrama was probably 'The Longest Promise', but this one takes the crown now, because its VFX is really good. It's probably one of the best fantasy shows where the visuals had a lot of care and attention. One thing that's disappointing though, is the scaling presentation of its powers. At the beginning, it was good because it matched the level of the characters, but when they started introducing literal high-level characters with lots of hype behind them, you see them fight, all you get are fart-level attacks. I don't wanna spoil, but if you're someone who watches anime, you'll know what i mean when it comes to the presentation of powers. Like, come on, i can see you have a high budget just from the visuals, but you can't seem to match that when it comes to the VFX.
The acting is good. I have no qualms about that. In the beginning, it didn't quite pique me, but when it started leaning into the more dramatic side, that's where the acting started shining. Chemistry between the characters started to flow as well. I don't know if it's just me, but the talking is dubbed, right? Because some of these characters, whenever they talk, i would notice their mouths are not even that open, but their voices are loud. I am very amazed by Tian Jia Rui's duality though, it's my first time seeing him, but he already showed how good his acting can be. Ju Jing Yi is probably one of the actresses I kept hearing everywhere. It's my first time seeing her. She's a good actress, like she has a very doll-like acting style which sometimes can be very uncanny. I might check out Joseph Zeng more in the future, because he caught my attention. Chen Du Ling, i already saw her in a few dramas, but i'm not really a fan. She's a good actress though.
The story, even though confusing and messy in general, was pretty manageable to follow with its mystery/comedy setup at first. It was really serious and dark at the beginning, but comedy kept throwing me out of it. I know comedy serves as the balance to the dark vibes, but here i roll my eyes out every time. Most of the characters are very serious, then suddenly one of the characters would try to be funny. Then halfway through the story, they toned down the comedy, and it started leaning more into Romance/Drama, which is actually good, if only they managed to do it cleanly so that it wasn't such a mess of a story. This is probably the first fantasy cdrama for me where the time-travel was handled decently, because time-travel can be very tricky. Here it made sense to me because it's the consequences of their actions. It wasn't just time-travel for the sake of it.
The only romance plot I probably appreciated was Wu Shi Guang and Wu Wang Yan, where their romance was handled well. The intention and execution were clear the moment they started going into their pairing. They got good chemistry as well. It's just disappointing that Shi Guang went from Main Lead vibes to becoming sidelined.
Ji Ling and Lu Wuyi, although their romance was cute and innocent, it just wasn't for me. I started getting into their romance once they got out of the time-travel arc, when it started getting dramatic. Ji Ling was the character i'm talking about in the beginning, who's breaking my immersion because of his comedy parts. Like, sorry, it just wasn't hitting me. You literally have You Chi, which is a good example of a funny character without trying to overdo it.
The last time i probably saw clean VFX in a cdrama was probably 'The Longest Promise', but this one takes the crown now, because its VFX is really good. It's probably one of the best fantasy shows where the visuals had a lot of care and attention. One thing that's disappointing though, is the scaling presentation of its powers. At the beginning, it was good because it matched the level of the characters, but when they started introducing literal high-level characters with lots of hype behind them, you see them fight, all you get are fart-level attacks. I don't wanna spoil, but if you're someone who watches anime, you'll know what i mean when it comes to the presentation of powers. Like, come on, i can see you have a high budget just from the visuals, but you can't seem to match that when it comes to the VFX.
The acting is good. I have no qualms about that. In the beginning, it didn't quite pique me, but when it started leaning into the more dramatic side, that's where the acting started shining. Chemistry between the characters started to flow as well. I don't know if it's just me, but the talking is dubbed, right? Because some of these characters, whenever they talk, i would notice their mouths are not even that open, but their voices are loud. I am very amazed by Tian Jia Rui's duality though, it's my first time seeing him, but he already showed how good his acting can be. Ju Jing Yi is probably one of the actresses I kept hearing everywhere. It's my first time seeing her. She's a good actress, like she has a very doll-like acting style which sometimes can be very uncanny. I might check out Joseph Zeng more in the future, because he caught my attention. Chen Du Ling, i already saw her in a few dramas, but i'm not really a fan. She's a good actress though.
Was this review helpful to you?
