If you love Ancient Love Poetry, then you have got to watch this!

Yuan Qi being the Son to the Two True Gods: Bai Jue and Shang Gu in Ancient Love Poetry, The Last Immortal is a story which focuses on Yuan Qi journey to Adult-hood, after he was sent to Daze Mountain as the disciple to Donghua.

The Last Immortal beginning takes place after Bai Jue sacrificed himself and before he return at the very end of Ancient Love Poetry.

Yuan Qi in the beginning is 200 years old, which is a bit odd in Xianxia standard that he's fully grown into teenager, but that's okay, since I just take it that it is just the world-building in this story. So when Yuan Qi is under a different identity, named Gu Jin (being 200 years old), would be considered a Young Teen at the beginning.

Some people keep asking whether they should watch Ancient Love Poetry first, or not. The Last Immortal is a standalone drama, BUT if you haven't watched Ancient Love Poetry, then you are surely missing out on it's prequel, since whether you like it or not, knowing what happened in the past, will give you a better understanding to the world building & characters and where this story takes place, since Post Time-Skip (1000 years later), Bai Jue(Yuan Qi's father) would have already returned to Shang Gu, in the God Realm. So the story is connected/tied back with each other.

I am into Xianxia genre, so naturally, when a Xianxia genre looks appealing I would give it a go, and me being a fan to Ancient Love Poetry, and know that the story are linked/connected in the world-building, how can I not give The Last Immortal a try? Since Bai Jue and Shang Gu is my OTP in the Ancient Love Poetry, naturally I would want to watch about their son in his own story/spinoff i.e. The Last Immortal. When I first started watching this drama, I was pretty neutral with Gu Jin (ML), but if I have to be honest, I didn't like that side to him where he doesn't want to cultivate to get stronger. At first I didn't understand why but as the story progresses there are hints thrown in to show why he felt that way, and by then, I came to understand his feelings better.

I actually felt that Yuan Qi's character is quite sad when you think about it. If we look at his past from his childhood until now, it is impossible not to feel sorry for him. People also need to know that the Novel Yuanqi (portrayed in Shang Gu) is different to the Drama Yuan Qi (in Ancient Love Poetry) when he was a kid. The change in the Novel Kid Yuan Qi vs Drama Kid Yuan Qi, is that in the Drama: Ancient Love Poetry, it was an added bonus where the screen-writers give us those moments where Yuan Qi's father (Bai Jue) spends time with him in the mortal realm before he go and sacrifice himself. He have those father-son moments that the Novel Kid Yuan Qi never received in the prequel.

So, if you take this into consideration, you will know just how sad his childhood is like. Since the Last Immortal takes the adaptation of it's Novel (Hidden God), based on the events that happened in Shang Gu Novel.

Why is it sad? Well, Yuan Qi was born without a mother and father. When his mother woke up, he had to call her "auntie" for a while. His father acted like he didn't love him. Just when Shang Gu (Yuan Qi's mother) found out that his father was doing all this for them, she completely lost it. His mother could not take care of him as a result, since she didn't have the heart to take care of Yuan Qi, because she knelt before the ancestral god for years (500 years in the Drama, but more in the novel). When looking at this, it really feels like she ignored him. And then he was sent to Daze Mountain for training. It was also shown that Yuan Qi's lost his god powers due to what happened (in the past). Gu Jin was the name he uses as another identity when he was sent to Daze Mountain.

In all those years, he never properly get to have a family moment, nor did he get to celebrate his own birthday with his parents...

So honestly, I don't blame Gu Jin if he doesn't want to return to being True God Yuan Qi, because looking at his past/backstory, there is no example in front of him, when he's a child that godhood is a good thing. For Yuan Qi, being God means self-sacrifice, loneliness, and leaving loved ones behind, and not being able to live the life he want.

He once said that logically speaking; he understands why his father (Bai Jue) did what he did, but he then revealed his true feelings deep down, and I felt that the actor WAY (Wang An Yu) did a really good job in portraying those subtle expressions of hurt and sadness within him. BUT despite this being said, he still loves his parents deeply, for a child that didn't get to grow up in that kind of happy-family environment, his parents is among those few people that is very important to him (Yuan Qi really deserves a hug to be honest!!).

I honestly don't fault him for feeling this way, because as much as I love his parents (Bai Jue and Shang Gu, in their story), but as parents, they weren't able to give a loving childhood and environment for their son Yuan Qi to grow up in. Even Daze Mountain felt more like a loving family atmosphere than the God Realm that he grew up in so I can understand why he loves being in Daze mountain, those were his carefree moments where he gets to do the things he loves to do.

So when we began watching the very first scene, the producers gave us a snippet of 1000 years later at the beginning scene when Yuanqi(ML) was trying to chase after A-Yin(FL), but we didn't know what happened that lead to that scene, and then it got shifted back to 1000 years ago, the past, before that scene occurred, I do think it was cleverly used because it gives the audience a sense that "we know this beginning scene is going to happen eventually", but we don't know why, and what lead to that scene, so as we got transported back 1000 years ago, this is like going through a journey where we learn about their backstory and what lead to that scene at the beginning.

Acting wise, Zhao Lusi doesn't disappoint in her role as A-Yin and Feng Yin, she really bring out the emotions well! This is also the first time I've seen WAY (Wang An Yu) in a drama, but I felt like he really brought out the feelings of his character: Gu Jin and Yuan Qi well (in his own way), at least he did successfully made me feel sorry for him/through the way he played out those subtle sad/hurt emotions.

Both WAY (Wang An Yu) and Zhao Lusi have great chemistry in terms of expressing their love/feelings for each other, that when they're together on-screen you see how naturally comfortable they are together. FL being born to be the Next Pheonix Queen have to go through her Nirvana/Tribulation as A-Yin, the water divine beast and their story begins from there, where they came to meet each other, what started off as bickering to being the "only one" in each other life.

While in the Ancient Love Poetry (it's prequel) shows me that being a True God is cool etc etc, but in The Last Immortal, it really showcase it in a different light that being a True God isn't fun and games but someone with a heavy responsibility, that needs to consider the well-being of the Three Realms, and how to be fair, where personal opinions doesn't matter. I honestly felt so tired for Yuan Qi during those times, because..... Well, won't spoil it for you - you can see for yourself when you watch it.

Please don't hate Yuan Qi, try to see and understand his feelings... This is a story/journey to adulthood. If we have everything perfect with no mistakes, then it will just be bland and boring, and it will not touch on our emotions the way it did... If you didn't like him at the beginning then he's a character that will grow on you by the end.

Yuan Qi is character that have made mistakes, mistakes that leads to regret and regret that leads to character developments, but in my eyes, no matter he is Gu Jin or Yuan Qi, they are the same person, and he has always tried his very best to protect A-Yin on his end. I can never bring myself to hate Yuan Qi, because I understood the situation that was presented to him, and how much he shows me he cares and values A-Yin's life. But the portrayal of Gu Jin and True God Yuan Qi does present different aura's to show a contrast on the development/growth that after Gu Jin returned to being True God Yuan Qi, he is no longer that same carefree him who just lives his life away, not having to shoulder those heavy responsibilities that he will have when he returned to being True God Yuan Qi

But you know, one of the things I love about Yuan Qi's character is that, although he know he doesn't have much time left, he really just simply want to spend those remaining moments with Feng Yin, so they can have those happy memories to look back to.

This is really difference to his father, Bai Jue, because respectively(each to their own) love the FL, in BJ perspectives, he thought that having his family hate him will be their strength to live on and move on without being heartbroken when he's gone. Since he didn't want the whole short time bliss leads to an long term suffering.

But Yuan Qi, in his own story shows us this in another light, where he didn't want to waste any moments away and he just simply want to create those happy memories together for Feng Yin, so that even if he's gone there won't be any regrets.

I think deep down Yuan Qi is subconsciously impacted by his father's decision and wish he didn't have to go that direction to make them(YQ and SG) hate him(BJ), because that left them with regrets when they found out the whole truth but is too late to go back to fix those regrets because they didn't know BJ real intentions and how much BJ loved them

Anyways what I wanted to say is that I honestly love BOTH Bai Jue and Yuanqi here, they both will do anything to protect the woman they love but have taken different paths to achieve it. If I have to choose here, although I understand BJ intentions were good, but I have to agree with Yuanqi decisions and what he's showing me, since I rather see some happy moments which leaves them happy memories without any regrets IF he have to "die".

Yuanqi in my eyes is a great and loving husband and I feel happy that Fengyin can have someone like Yuanqi who loves and protects her like this.

From the audience perspective, my advise is when you watch this drama, try to take a step back and see it from all sides perspectives, not just one, and then you will see why they did what they did. Whether you like it or not, it is entirely up to your preference, but like I said, when we look at his past from his childhood until now, it is impossible not to feel sorry for him. I do think this is the fate of the god of chaos, the direct leader of the true gods. The same was true for his mother, Shang Gu. In my opinion, the greater the power, the greater the difficulties one must overcome.

Some may love ALP better, due to preference, I love ALP too but I also love this drama as well, in its own way because it is a great story which shows a different perspective to being a True God in the three realms and showing how the characters have grown through their respective story. Each one have their own tribulation they must overcome, both Bai Jue and Shang Gu have theirs in ALP, now it's Yuan Qi's turn in TLI. Being in a tribulation, I see it is obstacles they have to overcome whether it's in love(worthy of being with each other at the end, after going through all these obstacles set for them by fate) or the roles of being a True God (Yuan Qi) and Phoenix Queen (Feng Yin).

As far as the other actors goes, there is quite a few familiar faces, like I recognized Qi Pei Xin who plays as Bi Bo and Feng Ming Jing who plays as the Three Headed Dragon, since they were both actors from The Untamed LOL, so that was a nice surprise to see them in this drama. I do think that all the actors did a great job in this drama!

If I have to say something I don't like is that, they didn't feature Tian Qi or Zhi Yang in the God Realm (or any mentioning of them), and I am still bitter at the fact that aside from Yuan Qi, they didn't keep the canon names for some of the other characters, and have to changed it instead. Di Juan and Yi He, seriously?? (-___-)

In terms of ending perspective, my final verdict is I asked for an ending that makes sense and I got that, they did well in explaining how Yuan Qi can come back instead of just leaving it to our imagination... Thats at least not lazy writing imo.

It's a happy ending for all characters and I'm happy for them. Happy that for all 3 pairings I shipped they got their happy ending.

I will have to express my gratitude to the Devil God, Ming Qi, since he really played a big role in bringing back Yuan Qi, and he doesn't seem as evil/selfish as his character portrayal in Ancient Love Poetry. I also like the bromance between him and Xiuyan!

In terms of the ending for Yuan Qi and Feng Yin, yeah, it's a Happy Ending BUT personally it's not a satisfying one, for me at least, since.... I was like why didn't she run up and hug him at the end???

Honestly, I would be content if they shared one last hug before the end. It would be a nice parallel back to Bai Jue and Shang Gu (Yuan Qi's parents) where Shanggu ran up to Baijue and hugged him and them both being content at the end of Ancient Love Poetry (ALP) in each other's arms... But sadly we didn't get that in The Last Immortal. You know the irony here is that back then when I saw that ending for Shang Gu and Bai Jue, I wanted something more for them, not just a hug, but now in The Last Immortal, looking back at the ending, to Ancient Love Poetry, that was at least a more satisfying ending for the Shang Gu and Bai Jue, at least they can have a one final hug, which we didn't get for Yuan Qi and Feng Yin.

This is why I feel conflicted about the ending. I love that they put in the effort to explain how it's possible for Yuan Qi to come back and not left it to our imagination, but at the same time, I didn't feel satisfied with this ending. I honestly would be content if Feng Yin ran up to Yuan Qi and they have one final hug before the end. If that happened I think it will be a nice parallel back to ALP ending IMO.

IF they can't get that, then, can they not at least close the gap and not standing at a distance like that? Yeah, I can see that they both expresses how happy they were that they're back together, even if there's a distance, they're connected through their mutual happiness (for their well deserved happy ending). It is poetic, but it didn't leave me with a satisfying feeling, this is because I do think that after all they've been through they both deserve a more satisfying ending, you know....

Well, I think that is about me and my Xianxia genres in todays standards.... They always go with the typical "last minute happy ending", where the ML sacrifice for the FL, and the FL wait for the ML and then he return, and they got their happy ending... I really miss the good old days where the ending for Xianxia back then have a more fully satisfying ending when compared to nowadays. This is why for me, when I came to love them as a pairing in Xianxia, I want them to film at least another Drama together but this time in a Modern setting since at least the Modern Dramas are more fulfilling with their ending when compared to Xianxia. Xianxia has always been my favourite genre, but sadly, this is how I feel towards Xianxia ending nowadays, there's only a few Xianxia endings that puts a smile in my face when I watch it in 2023.... Back from the Brink, Love you Seven Times and The Journey of Chongzi epilogue to name a few where I was happy/content with their ending..

Anyways, I won't ramble on, so I will conclude my review here, do I recommend this drama? Yes!!! If you're a fan to Ancient Love Poetry, then do give this Drama a go, but watch this without any biasness. We may have our preference on which one we love better: ALP or TLI, but don't hate on one of them just to make your drama the "better" one since everyone have different preferences, and you're not doing your drama any justice because you're giving a bad rep to the one you're supporting/loving.

For me, I love both Ancient Love Poetry and The Last Immortal. They both have their own unique charm that is compelling, and it will be a sad miss if you don't watch either one IMO!

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A love that connects through 7 life times and an honest ML, I love!!

After Back from the Brink, it has been a while since I got hooked into another Xianxia genre (drama). LY7T doesn't disappoint with their love story.

One of the many aspects I love about this drama, is that everything is connected back into a full circle and I love those parallels that was cleverly used throughout the drama and none of them felt disconnected; so that was cleverly done by the writers in this drama.

To be honest, I am not into Mortal Tribulations in Xianxia genre, since I always find them draggy, and every time it happens in the story (of other Xianxia dramas), I always want it to end quicker so we can return back to the Immortal life, and focus on that instead, but LY7T has done it in a way that I don't dislike it, because each (well, maybe aside from the beginning arc of the 2nd tribulation, with the whole political stuff), I actually enjoyed it on my end.

To introduce the ML of this story, acted by Ding Yuxi (DYX), which this is my first time seeing him act in a drama, so I have no previous drama to compare him with, but he has played his role well in bringing out the character to life, whether, it's the Chu Kong from the present time, the Chu Kong of the past, and his each/every Mortal Tribulation identities, I did enjoyed all of them. I have to make a note and mention that DYX at times does kinda remind me to this Hong Kong actor Roger Kwok. Not saying that as a negative, just want to make a point about this on my end; because they look similar to me. DYX does look handsome to me though! I am glad to know he dubbed his own voice in this drama! Anyways, back to the Male Lead he portrayed: Chu Kong, being the God of War, who did not have the memories of what happened 30,000 years ago, was due to a reason, I will not spoil in my review, but you will find out when his past is uncovered; and it all makes sense in the end, of what happened 30,000 years ago. I really do love his character, whether it is the him as the God of War in the present time, or the him 30,000 years ago (before he became the God of War) he's a loveable character in my eyes, and I actually love his honesty, when it comes to the FL, it is always a positive/plus point in my eyes!

Moving onto the FL, Xiang Yun/Cang Hai played by Yang Chao Yue (YCY). This isn't my first time seeing her, since I've seen her in the Journey of Congzi in the past. Comparing to her portrayal between the two drama's, to me, she definitely has improved in this drama LY7T. So I really don't understand the hate some Cnetz / or International viewers have on her, aside from the fact of spreading hate/nonsense that doesn't make sense to me. My favourite portrayal of her character is Cang Hai. I love how bold and direct she is when it comes to what she wants, and she can be a little bit shameless too haha, but I don't mind, since it just makes her character even more refreshing to see this side to her.

This pairing is definitely among my top favourite for sure, because I really love their chemistry whether its onscreen or off-screen. I love how Chu Kong(ML) is honest with XiangYun (FL) during those times, is a bit different to other xianxia ML, because in LY7T, I really love how Chu Kong(ML) is honest with Xiang Yun(FL), whereas in other Xianxia dramas the ML might hid the truth from the FL to protect her of the danger, which may lead to unnecessary misunderstanding afterwards, so that was really loveable to see a different type of ML where he's honest with the FL like that in the Xianxia verse.

I love how in each life-time, throughout the drama, you can pick out these parallels and compare it which lead to a beautiful result. I love how Chu Kong (ML) opened up to her and became attached to her as the story progresses, because I really see that as a development in his character! I especially love the backstory depicted in the drama, when their past is revealed. Their past is among my favorite focus, although it didn't end up well :( I do also love the Master and Disciple Relationship during the SL sect times, because I love the trio JL and ZH(in their mortal life), they were some nice times/memories with some funny moments as well!

I hope DYX and YCY will have another Modern Day drama in the future like DYX want; because they really do have chemistry, and I enjoy watching them on my end!

For drama side of things, it is really compelling, and fun to watch, because it is like you are going through a journey with the characters, where there are hints that lead to a piece of puzzle that you can put together to form the answer to the story, and it is intriguing enough for us to want to guess what's going to happen next. It may start off a bit slow for some people at the beginning, especially during the 2nd mortal tribulation, but take it from someone (me) who is not into Mortal Tribulation in Xianxia dramas, for me LY7T did it in a way that is not boring, and I enjoyed it on my end! At times it really doesn't feel like they are doing a Mortal Tribulation, but it feels like they are just taking a trip to the Mortal realm.

For ending side of things, it's a Happy Ending. Sure it is not the satisfying kind of happy ending, but it is without a doubt that CK came back, and the fact that he was emotional in that scene hint(revealed) that he does remember her. I love the way he wiped her tears on his end!!!

I somehow like that they take this as a form of Mortal Tribulation where XY enter into the mortal gate (like how they normally do the mortal tribulation, because this way I can actually take it that after that 7th "Mortal tribulation" is done, CK can regain his immortality and they both can return to heavens and I like that the other characters were revealing that it is possible for CK to return to heavens one day.

The first hint was CK celestial star that XY saw that flew by the sky showing CK has returned and she went to find him again, although that took a lot of detour with the other side character scenes... I actually fast forward some of them especially the red thread master, immortal sun and XM Scenes...

Overall I was happy with the ending, since it did put a smile to my face when I saw CK again. Do I want more than what I was given? Yes!!! but it is without a doubt CK has returned and he have his memories on his end, I just wish he would have said something to her like what I heard him said in the trailer: "Regardless of now, or 30,000 years ago. I'm destined to find you" (so I hate IQIYI for deleting that) but with the way they look at each other, it really said it all. I strongly believe that after that scene CK will be able to regain his immortal status and be the God of War again. Who knows maybe he will takeover and the heavenly emperor since XM did said that he is temporarily taking that role as Heavenly emperor on his end and he's looking forward to one day XY can return with CK on his end.

It was a nice open ending for Jin Luo and ZH(reincarnated) though.

But overall, I just want to say, that this drama is definitely recommended, because it is really good! If you don't watch it, you will surely miss out on this drama! I have read a little bit of the novel on my end, but in terms of characterization and the deep complexities of the story/plot, I prefer the drama better.

Music in this drama is excellent!! I love a few actually!! My favourite, I will have to say is the Opening theme: 唯爱 (Only Love) - Faye詹雯婷, but I also really love the other OST's in this drama as well, such as: 哀情记 (Grief Record) - A Lin and 破空 (Break Through) - 李常超 (Li Changchao). I also love the bgm(midi) that was played in the drama during those specific times (but don't know the name of that song, if I know I will definitely download it and listen to it on my end).

P.S: thank you LY7T, you officially made my journey enjoyable and I therefore have put you on my top 5 rankings:

Top 5 favourite Xianxia Chinese Drama
1. Back from the Brink (Hu Xin)
2. Love you Seven times
3. Ancient Love Poetry
4. Love and Redemption
5. Ten Miles Peach Blossom (3L3W)

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I love this drama as a spinoff but......I will (probably) never make peace with the ending.

More to how I feel about the ending at the end of my review, if you don't mind ending spoilers, or spoilers in general then read on!

Let's start of with the actors, the male lead Vin Zhang (Zhang Binbin), really did an amazing job in featuring four different characters in this story: God of Moon(Yue), Lu Li, Luo Ge and Dark God of Moon(Dark Yue), each have their own distinct personality, and I'm so glad he uses his own voice in this drama!!

This isn't the first time I see Zhang Binbin to be honest, since the first drama I ever watched him in was as Li Zing in Ten Miles Peach Blossom, and I did like his character in there, even when he had made that one mistake that caused his tragic fate at the end. Back then he made an impression for me, enough to still remember him all these years, but my love for his acting and his character portrayal has cemented in this drama(Song of the Moon)! I love how he portrayed his emotions well, and I really, really love him as Luo Ge! I got to say that while I don't like to see pain being inflicted upon Luo Ge, Lu Li or God of Moon, but I will be lying if I say I didn't enjoy his pain-scenes or scenes where he expresses pain/suffering because he is JUST THAT GOOD in acting out those scenes that made it believable!! I love his love for Liu Shao and how he expresses it through his micro expressions (when he's holding back in openly expressing his love for her), so no matter what I never got tired of scenes that have him in it! He can literally carry the show! I love Luo Ge as a character, because he is one of the most reasonable male leads I have seen in a long time! I also love the way he loves the FL (Liu Shao) as well, and I do see chemistry between them!

Also, I just want to touch on the fact that Luo Ge is NOT weak, and it really bothers me how some people don't know how to pay attention to the story at all to be saying this. People need to bear in mind that spiritual powers aren't limitless, if you overuse it, then it can worn you out, and it could also put your life at risk.

It has been stated several times in the story already that Liu Shao's spiritual powers influence Luo Ge, their spiritual powers are both mutually destructive on each other, if they were to use it on each other. Without spoiling too much of the later-story, you can see later what will happen when the extreme Yin energy does to Liu Shao. So this alone, along with what the Immortal Master said to Luo Ge earlier when he(LG) was helping Liu Shao open her Qi Hai to help her cultivate on her immortal path, he got hurt in the process, when the symbol on Liu Shao's forehead (which was God of Sun's divine spirit) activates. Luo Ge got hurt because he withdrew some of his powers in the last minute, so Liu Shao life was save. If not, not even her bracelet would have saved her in the end. She would have died..

So in context of understanding that situation, every time when Liu Shao is hurt/injured, and Luo Ge use his powers to heal/help her, it hurts him in the process, and we can make a conjecture here because Liu Shao is fine each time when Luo Ge heals her or use his powers on her, and only Luo Ge is affected by this, shows that Luo Ge is holding some of his extreme yin energy/powers when he use it on Liu Shao, when he does that you can say that it leaves him defenseless against Liu Shao's extreme yang energy so this hurts him....When he is hurt, just like everyone else, it takes time to recover, and it was pointed out that when Liu Shao is beside Luo Ge, he can't recover back fully (that's why Immortal Master was so against them being together). So what Liu Shao is like to Luo Ge when he's injured is similarly opposite to what Wan Shui is to Liu Shao when she is hurt (after Luo Ge received the three lightning punishment in her place instead). Wan Shui said that him being near her will benefit her recovery quicker because of the medicinal effect of Wan Shui being the 10,000 years king herb. But for Liu Shao, unfortunately that doesn't benefit Luo Ge because of their conflicting spiritual powers of being extreme yin and yang.

Even when he was already injured, he can still cast the formation in the yin-yang cave, that strong formation does not come without great spiritual powers, you need to have enough spiritual powers to be able to use it... So let's refresh our memory here, and put these into step by step, Luo Ge was already injured earlier because of the conflicting powers, then he went and set up the formation in the yin-yang cave.... And then when he returns as he was trying to recover back his spiritual powers, the evil spirit have to continue to throw all these at him where he have to use up (again) most of his spiritual powers to seal them all into the sphere when he was in the Bone Melting Pool.... So honestly, can anyone just cut him a break there... Even Wan Shui said it himself, that he can't continue on like this, because he will eventually die... And again, spiritual powers aren't limitless. People need to understand this... BUT even when that is the case, why don't people ever consider the fact that yeah, Luo Ge wasn't at 100% of his powers, but he can still stand his own against the Evil Spirit and what the Evil Spirit throws at him... Isn't that good enough to prove that he's strong, and NOT weak!

Moving onto the Female Leading actress Xu Lu who portray her character as Liu Shao, this is the first I've seen of her, but I do think that she's not as bad as some people make her out to be, I don't mind her acting cute/having a different side to her where she only shows towards Lu Li/Luo Ge because I see that is a form of affection she has for Luo Ge. Some people don't like her character, but for me, I don't mind it, since I don't think she's weak at all. Strong female characters doesn't necessarily have to be physically strong... Because those who are physically strong but lack the brains and not mentality strong, are female characters I don't really like. What's the point of having physical strength but your heart is weak. I also disagree to how some calls her the weakest female lead in Chinese Drama's like if they really think that then just WOW! They have NOT seen any yet! To me, Liu Shao is 1000x better than the FL to Ashes of Love (Jin Mi). At least Liu Shao actually works hard to cultivate and get stronger to becoming a God, unlike Jin Mi (Ashes of Love), where she just so stupid and takes it for granted and get her cultivation handed to her on silver platter! Jin Mi to me is the WORST FL ever!

Main pairing Luo Ge x Liu Shao is my favorite in this drama, and I have made quite a few MV's on them as the drama was airing, so if you're interested, you can check it out here: https://mydramalist.com/discussions/ben-yue/84027-mv-sharing. I love Luo Ge and Liu Shao relationship, because when I think of the main pairing, I picture them as touching and sweet and I really love how they are always supporting each other and that's the kind of relationship that appeals to me and I love Liu Shao strong love for LG and how she always there to support him! They also both have trust in each other, which is an appeal to me as well. This is refreshing to see instead of the usual misunderstanding so I honestly don't know why some people say is boring! When there's no trust in a pairing and there's misunderstanding they complain! When there's trust between a pairing they still complain! Can they just make up their mind and stick to it! Even when the focus was dragging on for the 2nd pairing..... I never get bored of seeing Luo Ge and Liu Shao moments when they come onscreen. During those times, I see them like a married CP almost like this is what their life will be like when they are married! So for me, I will always love the main pairing no matter what! I also love their domestic life during these times almost like they are married and how I pictured them to be like when they are married and protecting the three realms together and Liu Shao is cultivating her powers as we can see. If those actually paid attention to it at all, the main pairing did have their own developments very early on. But I guess we can watch the same drama but feel very different to interpreting the drama. That's all I have to say.

2nd pair A Fu x Luo Ning: To be honest I did started of shipping the second pairing at first and was looking forward to their story, but over time I just got to the point of not seeing a future for them anymore. If I am going to say my feelings on how I describe this pairing is disappointing and unhealthy. Disappointing comes from the fact that A Fu actually fed her the Phoenix tears against her will. This wouldn't have happened if he trusted LN's love for him a little. He should know what Phoenix tears does and in the end he ended up punishing himself for this... Unhealthy because I can't picture a future for them. It got to the point where it felt forced coming from A Fu side because he would rather lock her up and not respect what LN really wants. Yeah they love each other but I don't see it as a healthy relationship and honestly I don't see A Fu genuinely cared for LN and her feelings when he plotted to hurt those she cared for. He was the one who destroyed their future. Did he ever consider how LN would feel when he plotted to kill or hurt those she care for? -_-

This drama has 2 alternate endings, which is according to the choices made by Liu Shao! (Well I know there's a secret ending was filmed but got deleted, and I am still pissed about their decision to delete that perfect ending for me)! T__T

Ending 1(Ep 39) is when Liu Shao decided to sacrifice herself to save Luo Ge from the evil spirits by drawing it all into her, because her being the God of Sun (reincarnation)/that has the Sun Spirit, her powers are Yang, and the Evil Spirit is tied to Yin(which is the power from God of Moon), so when Liu Shao draws the Evil Spirit into her, because of their conflicting opposite powers, they will both in the end die from it. In this ending, Liu Shao made the decision to sacrifice herself to protect Luo Ge and release him of the Evil Energy. This ending is more tied to the Novel ending, although not exactly the same reason, but it's the same where Novel Liu Shao sacrificed herself and God of Moon in the end, was looking all over the world, and with great efforts to find her again, which is similarly to how the ending played out in this episode (Ending 1). In the Novel Extra's it was revealed that God of Moon was able to find Liu Shao again, and they managed to get their happy ending!

In terms of the main pairing ending goes , I felt like ep39 touched me more... I felt more emotional in that one even when it didn't have an on-screen happy ending. Between one of them who have to "die"(sacrifice), I rather that to be Liu Shao not Luo Ge...Lu Li "died" in Liu Shao's arms back then so I felt like ep39 ending where it shows that scene where Liu Shao "died/sacrifice" herself is like a contrast to that part. Tbh, I prefer Liu Shao's choice in ep 39 ending better since that's how I see she would decide on her end especially when she have been saying all along that the person she wants to protect the most is Luo Ge. I still love what she said to Luo Ge that "10,000 years ago, Yao Ling have to painfully kill the one she loves, 10,000 years later, Liu Shao can finally protect you" ~ that's a powerful quote for me that I love. It kinda gives a sense of growth to her character for me since this time it's her turn to protect him instead of the other way around.

I really urge viewers to NOT skip it since you're missing out such an emotional heartfelt episode if you do IMO. Even if Liu Shao "died" in ep39, I didn't have doubt that she will come back, and get their happy ending in the end, just like in the novel. I love Luo Ge so much and seeing him died again just doesn't sit right for me. I just felt episode 39 ending coherently makes sense to me. I much rather they stick to Ep39 ending, where they have Ep40 wrap up to Luo Ge finding Liu Shao again that would be nice since that would tie in similar to Novel!

Ending 2 (Ep40) - This ending is when Liu Shao have no choice but to kill the Evil Spirit (Dark God of Moon), so in the end, Luo Ge have to "die" for that to happen... I'm not saying I don't like some of the scenes in episode 40, I'm just saying I don't like the ending scene in episode 40 since it raises questions for me... If they changed that ending to the ending to the deleted secret ending (will touch on this later) I would say I happily accept that at least it doesn't leave doubt. In this ending, Liu Shao said at the end that she hopes that her dream (which is in context what she wish for) will come true, and she said and implied through what she said is her dream (wish) is for Luo Ge to come back to her and then we see that scene of Luo Ge being back shows her wish has been granted. When it comes to the ending I want it to leave no doubt and this is why I am not happy with how it ended since it's open for interpretation. At first I was confused about this ending, but after watching that final episode several times. I ended up picking some details on my end. GOD, YOU REALLY NEED TO BE ABLE TO PICK UP SUBTLENESS WHEN IT COMES TO THIS DRAMA!!

So when Luo Ge "died", we see that Liu Shao was playing with her Corroding Harp where you see both Luo Ge's Moon Sword and Moon Bell was there. And you know what the effects of Corroding Harp actually does. Then we have Liu Shao was wandering the mortal realm and she saw A Fu and Luo Ning reincarnated, so this signify there's a time skip here (seriously writers, you can't even put in that effort to tell us this?!) And then in that ending scene, we saw Luo Ge using his fan to tap on Liu Shao's shoulder lightly to show that he's back.. And he have his moon bell back with him even when this was kept with Liu Shao in the immortal palace..

I honestly wish the ending to Ep40 was handled better... But after watching that ending scene in Ep40 again a couple of times I do think he's back but can they not exchange a few words or something... I think Luo Ge have his full memories intact and there's a time skip after he "died" before he can form a physical body to return to Liu Shao again. And lastly Luo Ge did promise her that he will return to her... So while this ending scene to Ep40 felt rushed but he did return... So yeah.. while subtle but the hints is there..

Secret Ending - Is coming from this deleted scene, where they did filmed it, but was not included in the Finale. To whoever made the decision to delete this scene, you really make a stupid decision for doing so, because this would have been perfect at the end for ending 2 then what we were given! (Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLCqJyUn4Hc). In this ending, Luo Ge 100% did return to Liu Shao in the immortal palace, and when he returned Liu Shao ran up to him and hugged him and scolded him for why he took so long to come back, I really like this ending and I am still sad why they would delete it....THIS will always be my fav ending!

In terms of story, I enjoyed it, it is fast pace, yes, but it was good enough to make me want to watch each ep after the ep ended. I didn't have a problem understanding the story, and what I love about this drama is when I finished the episode it made me want to watch more! I also love how this story made me want to make guesses and theories about what actually happened, and I like it when some of them I analysed was right! Although I have to admit that I was wrong about my views on Hei Yue (Dark God of Moon). With that being said, I will be lying if I said I don't enjoy Dark Yue scenes when he's being intimate with Liu Shao... For me, I guess this is one of the reasons why I love Vin Zhang, that is, no matter which character he plays as in this story, even if it's the evil God of Moon, he still perfected it to the point that it's hard for me to really hate him you know! LOL

In terms of faithfulness to the Novel? SOTM is NOT faithful at all.. The Story direction, and Character portrayal is completely changed in the Drama. So I can only take this as a spinoff. Which is sad, seeing how I love the Novel on my end. Maybe one faithful part in the Drama was at the end, Luo Ge was searching for Liu Shao again.

Characters I love in SOTM: Luo Ge, YueGuang, YaoLing, Lu Li, Liu shao, He Na. To an extent I love Zhang Binbin portrayal as Dark Yue, and even when he's back as Luo Ge, I love him in that dark costume! I also love Shang Yurong and his Shijie relationship, I am happy they get to be together in the end. Xie Lingqi was a jerk at first, but after learning his back story, I came to like his redemption arc.

Rewatch Value: I will watch this again, but only on the scenes I love/enjoy.
Fast forward scenes for me: A Fu, Baifeng, A Fu and Bai Feng plotting, A Fu x Luo Ning scenes...
Sad that Lan Chi (which he is a Novel Character) did not make it into the Drama, since I love his interactions with God of Moon in the Novel, but then, the Novel and Drama is very different so... Not surprising though...

Editing to the drama side of things, I do agree it went downhill, and honestly, I will never forgive the editors/those who deleted some of my favorite CP scenes that I know it was filmed but never made it to the aired version. It's a huge insult to the actors doing their best to play out their scenes, but in the end, it just went down the drain. It's not the actors fault but those who chose to delete them!

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Beautiful Heartwarming Xianxia! BFTB saved me from its Youku Predecessor!

TTEOTM and BFTB is completely unrelated in story, just to be clear... It's just that the comparison for me is... One is heaven (Back from the Brink ; Huxin), the other is Hell (Till the end of the Moon). How can two dramas by Youku gave me two polar opposite feelings? But this is exactly how I feel.

Honestly, I want to take this time, to express my gratitude to this drama: Back from the Brink (Hu Xin): Thank you for giving me this Drama, where I can heal my heart/pain from its predecessor Youku Drama: Till the end of the Moon (TTEOTM). One of the many things I'm grateful for is that BFTB was aired after TTEOTM because after the traumatized experience, came the healing process for me in BFTB, and this is all I ever could have asked for, in a story and pairing that I came to really love.

This isn't my first time I have seen Xianxia Genres, as a matter of fact, I really love Xianxia genres and have seen a lot on them. I have to express that while I have seen a lot of xianxia dramas, not many can make it into my top favourite, but this drama definitely take a top spot in my favourite Chinese drama. It is also the first time where it makes me want to add this drama CP: Tian Yao and Yan Hui as my no.1 Favourite Xianxia Drama CP, because before all this, while I do love the other Xianxia Drama CP, I love them all equally as much, in different dramas, never I actually thought of putting them as no.1, but for TianHui (Tian Yao x Yan Hui), it's the first time I want to put them as my no.1, and I am officially putting them as my no.1 Favourite Chinese Xianxia Drama CP!

In terms of pairing chemistry, and this pairing as the overall, you just got to love them! They are naturally so compatible with each other. They visually look great when they are together (even the people on set has said that too), and in terms of the pairing story, it is a gradual process where their feelings for each other grown through their travels and Journeys together. But honestly, what I love about the pairing Tian Yao and Yan Hui is that, their love for each other is EQUAL. Normally in other Xianxia Drama's there will always be a side that has a deeper love for the other in comparison, but for these two, I love how the writers have written them like this, because it really made me enjoyed their relationship. Equal Love, Equal Sacrifice, Tacit Understanding, their love for each other is really strong, and it is definitely a HEALTHY relationship.

For me personally, there are definitely scenes I really love, e.g. the scene when Tian Yao sacrificed himself to save Yan Hui, it was so heart wrenching and sad, but yet it was really touching for me, I remember that night I cried so much that my eyes hurts.... But I don't regret watching that scene because it gave me the feels that I really love.

Tian Yao is really a loveable character in my eyes, his past and what happened to him and how he came to have relationship PTSD was understandable how he can't open his heart to Yan Hui at the beginning, Tong Luo Village is also the starting point to their relationship, but I really love how Yan Hui warm herself into his heart, because she showed him that how she feels about him is nothing in comparison to how Su Ying feels about him, and that Yan Hui is someone who sincerely loves him with her whole heart. Tian Yao is someone who really uses words in a very poetic way/in a more deeper meaning to convey his love across, and he's definitely better at writing it out than actually saying it, and I was honestly really touched with what he wrote in his nuptial agreement to Yan Hui. The fact that he was the one who requested that to be written on an ink that last forever just makes me love him even more for that! I also love it when he came to really accept his feelings, and chase after Yan Hui to earn back her forgiveness, I really love him during those moments, to see how much he's come and grown in terms of character developments. Tian Yao is also someone who will silently sacrifice and give things to Yan Hui without her needing to know it, that's actually one of the points I actually love about him, since he's not looking at getting anything in return, or for Yan Hui to repay him, he just wants Yan Hui to be safe and happy. He's truly a selfless person when he came to love Yan Hui on his end. He's definitely among my favourite character in this drama, not to mention the time when he's Long BaoBao is really adorable!! Before seeing those scenes, I didn't think I will come to love him as Long Baobao, but Neo(HMH) has convinced me and I love the way how he's more upfront and open with his feelings for her, which is nice to see some acting capabilities from Hou Ming Hao in playing the different characters there.

Yan Hui IMO, is one of the best Female Lead we don't get in Xianxia Drama often, she is actually not those typical Female Lead that we see often. So it is really refreshing to see. I am glad her character is written like this. At least she is Infinite times better than Li Su Su (Till the End of the Moon). For Yan Hui, I love her character growth from the beginning to the end, and when she's come to love Tian Yao, she really shows it in a very sincere way. Although she misunderstood Tian Yao for not valuing her life when he took back the HPS, so during that time, I honestly, like how her character was handled. She can't forgive Tian Yao easily despite she understood why Tian Yao have to do it, but she is actually quite reasonable with how she handled the situation. It is also thanks to this, I get to see Tian Yao putting in the effort to chase after her. I felt like this drama is really magical in a way that, we are going through the process like Yan Hui where it's a gradual process, where the writer made it believable when she opens her heart to Tian Yao to love him again. Although for me, I have forgiven Tian Yao way back then, because I understood why he did it, and I know he wouldn't have done it if there's another choice. The main thing was for Tian Yao, he really ensured that Yan Hui will not die if he take back the HPS, that's what I love about him, and why I can forgive him on my end. But ofcourse Yan Hui doesn't know what Tian Yao sacrificed, so we can't blame her.

People didn't like the Stab scene when Tian Yao took back the HPS, but for me, in terms of writing perspectives, I understood why it needed to go down that route, and why Tian Yao couldn't reveal the truth to her, not because he didn't want to, but because the writers have no intention to let him tell her the truth. If he did told her the truth, than we wouldn't have those developments we came to love in the later part of the story, so for me, I honestly did love how it was handled by the writers there.

The only thing I didn't like was how the writers not have Yan Hui said "Wo Ai Ni"(I love you) instead the writers have her saying "Wo Xihuan Ni" (I like you). If it's the beginning I can understand why she would use Xihuan, but the her in the later stages(after everything), I felt it is more meaningful if the writers should have her use 愛(ai) instead.

For me honestly when Yan Hui said 喜歡(xi huan), I take it as love already I just wish the writers would use 愛(ai) instead since when 喜歡(xi huan) is used and said it does felt like it's downgrading her feelings and that's probably why I don't like it. But to me , her feelings for Tian Yao is 愛(ai) strong enough to be put into the level of love. So in context of when Yan Hui said 喜歡(xi huan), for me I will just interpret it as 愛(ai) instead. Since we know how much she loves him.

Now with all that being said, Tian Yao and Yan Hui are the epitome of true love. Their love for each other is really admirable, how they are both devoted, loyal and will protect each other in those times, how they really portray their love and their relationship to be very equal to me. There is no Tian Yao loving Yan Hui more, or Yan Hui loving Tian Yao more in my eyes, since I see their love is EQUAL. This is what I love about them on my end. They also have a very strong bond that I come to love, and another one of my favourite moments was when they did the CP Test together, since it shows how compatible they are with each other.

The story has a theme that I really love as well:

"Will you choose to save one person" OR
"Sacrifice one person to save the world"?

The Correct Answer has been highlighted: "To save the person you love over saving the world". The key theme behind this is... If you can't save the one person you love, how can you think about saving the world? It's only when you can save that one person, then you two can work together to save the world (kinda theme). So the first and foremost is to save the one you love. It's really refreshing, and I love this revelation being the correct answer, because I am tired of characters choosing to save the world, and sacrifice the one they love...

Both Tian Yao and Yan Hui, respectively in the CP Test, they chose to save each other. This CP Test not only showed how compatible they are with each other, but how they feel about each other is the same, so I really love how that was brought forward for the viewers to see.

In terms of the story pacing, for me, it's not draggy at all, I felt like each episode really went by so fast, and I actually subscribed to Youku and watch it on Youku App on my phone (joined VIP) so I can support this drama view-counts, and also because I always look forward to a new episode. I always look forward to 8PM every weekday nights to watch this drama, and I am going to miss those times. Weekend seems so long for me, because Youku don't air it on the weekend. It's also the first time a drama will make me not like Friday because the next two days will be a weekend for me, and not new episodes, so this drama is really an eye opener to show how much I came to really love it!

For Ending side of things, I am Happy with the Ending, I got something more than what I could have asked for, since it is better than some drama's that ends with a "Last Minute Happy Ending", but for Hu Xin (Back from the Brink), they have more interactions, they actually talk, and we get a final kiss between them! So I am eternally grateful that they gave me this happy ending! Finally a happy ending between the relationship of a Dragon and a Human lover.

I personally also really love how the Final Battle is handled with the whole Yin and Yang concept, and how it shows Tian Yao and Yan Hui working together as one to defeat the final villain once and for all, there's a lot of parallel and highlight that I love, which I have talked about in this thread here: https://mydramalist.com/discussions/hu-xin/106609-ending-explanation?pid=2611095&page=1#p2611095

Zhou Ye and Hou Ming Hao, you two truly have chemistry! I really hope you can film another (and many more) modern day romance drama where you are the Main CP, and have many sweet and romantic moments, and I definitely will look forward to some (umm > w < ) Passionate Kiss scenes between you two! That's one thing Hu Xin lack for me, but if I am going to blame anyone, I will blame the directors for not knowing how to give advice for kissing scenes >.< LOL. But anyways, not saying I don't love the kiss scenes in Hu Xin, I will take what I can get, and when they did kiss, I can still fangirl on it, and when they hug each other, how can just a simple hug make me fangirl on them? This is when I know I have come to love this CP so much, and I am glad they can get their happy ending in the end.

I love the many OST's in this Drama! Definitely on my Album to listen to over and over again!

Rewatch Value: Definitely going to rewatch again!!!! <3 I can go through the journey again from the beginning to the end, and while I am not a fan of amnesia plots to be honest, because I tend to not like seeing the development starting over again and them getting to know each other again.... And the whole losing one identity that I don't like, but I got to say that Hu Xin (Back from the Brink) handled it really well. I am sure a lot of people agree to this, since I have seen it in the comments <3

I am going to miss Tian Yao and Yan Hui!! T__T I think I might just go and check out the novel on my end, because I want to see what the novel is like, I have started a few chapters in, but didn't finish it, I guess it's a good time to resume on my end.

I also want to add my note by saying, Bai Xiao Sheng, I was skeptical to like him at first, then I came to did like him since he's the matchmaker for my OTP (Tian Yao x Yan Hui) then I came to really dislike him to the point I feel like punching him because..... *well won't spoil that for you, you will see for yourself when you watch it * but by the end, he got his character development, so he's back to the character I like LOL.

With that all said, this comes the end of my review now.... So what are you waiting for?! Go watch this drama if you have not already!!! I definitely recommend this drama to everyone especially xianxia lovers!!! It is a drama you should NOT miss out!! At the end of the day, I will do my best to recommend this to you, however, whether you watch it or not, it's up to you. In my eyes if you don't watch it, you'll just miss out!!

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A beautiful Xianxia that is worth watching! [Haven't seen one this captivating in a long time now]!

The last time I rated a drama 10/10 was Ten Miles Peach Blossom, this is the second drama that I fell in love with that wants to give full rating to, but sadly after watching the ending, I have mark it down and give the story 9/10 instead, but I will mark the overall 9.5/10 because I am still in love with this series in the overall, just can't give it 10/10 - Story becomes 9/10 because the ending is what sums up the entire story to me, my feeling of the ending? Well, I will tell you at the end of this review... Omg.

Ok, I admit that I am one of those people who thinks Zhou Dong Yu is average looking, and I wasn't quite used to her when I first started, because I wanted a prettier actress, BUT don't let that put you off from watching this drama, because beauty is not determined through the physical look right? her acting really convinced me that she was made for this role, and I am glad that I gave this drama a chance and stuck to it, because it became one of my favourites! I love seeing the process of Shang Gu's character development from the beginning to the end, I love how she comes to take her responsibilities as a Chief God seriously, because you see that growth in her, although the destiny of a Chief God, is just too cruel IMO T_T. But these types of angst is needed for these types of dramas. IMO, Zhou Dong Yu played her character well, where in the emotional department she was excellent, and this brings me to....

Xu Kai, this was the first drama I watched him in, and then while this drama was airing, I found out that he also acted in 'The Legends', so I also jumped to watching 'The Legends' on my end at the same time, to save myself the agony from waiting for the episodes to be uploaded. While I love Xu Kai's character in The Legends, I personally love his character more as Bai Jue, because with each role he was given, he really played his part well. I can see the love he has for Shang Gu/Hou Chi, and I can FEEL the love he has for her, that he will go through great (sacrificial) lengths to be willing to do all this for her. His love for her really touched me, he is referred to 'Ice Cube', despite his original being/element is fire hahaha, but this whole 'Ice Cube' is referencing to his personality being cold, where he keeps everyone at a distance, and is more of a loner type, so his personality really connects with Shang Gu's personality, which shows they have great chemistry, because they complements each other, and you can see that Shang Gu, really thawed the ice/barrier Bai Jue have set up on his end, which is very nice to see. And I understood why Bai Jue did all that, so for me, I can never hate Bai Jue, I love him, and he really have suffered so much, but to me, these are great sacrificial love, I just felt like giving him a hug at the end because he deserves it.

To me, what is sad about this is, this fandom (as like many other fandoms) tends to see things on the Female perspectives, and doesn't understand the pain/great love the Male (in this case, Bai Jue) have for Shang Gu, so for me, I decided to do up a thread in here, to shed some light to his perspective: https://mydramalist.com/discussions/the-legend-of-gu-and-jue/63779-to-shed-some-light-in-bai-jue-s-drama-perspective
^If you're interested, you can check it out

Qing Mu is a very loveable character to me, and I will always have a soft spot for him, but to me, I don't separate him from Bai Jue, since he is still Bai Jue to me. Qing Mu condition is the same as Hou Chi if you look at it, because Qing Mu is Bai Jue, and Hou Chi is Shang Gu, just without their memories of their past. Their love is an extension to Bai Jue and Shang Gu, just like what Gu Jun said in episode 33 "Your love with Hou Chi kind of makes up for their regret", because the short time they had as Qing Mu and Hou Chi is an extension to the love Bai Jue and Shang Gu want to have with each other, but they never got the chance to due to the tragedy that happen. If it didn't happen, and if they weren't tied to their responsibilities back then, they would have been able to get that kind of love. Remember how Shang Gu said, when she spent that one day with Bai Jue (before she sacrificed herself), Shang Gu asked Bai Jue why he is so sweet to her(the last day they both shared with each other), and Bai Jue said that it's not impossible, showing that if they have time, without the tragedy happening, Bai Jue can show that kind of love to Shang Gu back then. So, this is why when Bai Jue returns with complete memories, despite he is breaking off these emotional connection to those he cared about, he still cherish the time he (as Qing Mu) have with Hou Chi and why when Hou Chi asked him to divorce her, it hurted him so much and he was reluctant at first, but in the end, it just have to be, because he's determined to go through with his plan. In addition to this, Bai Jue have already shown me he can be sweet when it comes to his love for Shang Gu, so for me, I don't separate Qing Mu and Hou Chi from Bai Jue and Shang Gu. To, me they are the same, just under different identity when they love each other as Qing Mu and Hou Chi. As Bai Jue and Shang Gu, their love is not inferior to their love as Qing Mu and Hou Chi in my opinion, because, they've been through a lot to be together, and to see the sacrifice and pain Bai Jue did all that, it made me love them even more, because their love provided me the angst, and a sense of touching love story, which I love.

The side characters are also loveable, and I noticed that there's two side actors in this one that also starred in Falling into your Smile lol (I think I am getting good at recognizing familiar faces XD), and the second side couple is nice between Feng Ran and Jing Jian.

And Zhi Yang >>>>>>>> Mu Guang for me, I don't like Mu Guang on my end. So this is why between the God Realm and Heaven Realm, I much prefer the God Realm back then when Zhi Yang was in charge. I don't like what the heaven realm has become 60,000 years later.

What makes this story interesting and captivating is it starts of with the back story for the 'building you into the story' department, you get to see what the characters was like 60,000 years ago, and as you are watching it, it's like a journey you are also experiencing with these characters, so it's captivating in that sense. You see how the characters grow, change, take up their responsibilities, and I do love the female lead (Shang Gu) in this one, sure she may have started off slacking off, and does nothing but just lazed off, and play and don't take her role as the Chief God seriously, but that all changed for her when she became a disciple to Bai Jue, and I personally find it endearing how she calls him 'Shizun', it's much better than 'Shifu' lol. I have to admit that I am starting to have a thing for Shizun x Disciple relationship XDDD. I mean, well, that's not the main part, the main part is, the story itself have depth and is engaging me in every part of it, not just the romance department, but I also love the bromance too, I love the trio, Bai Jue, Tian Qi and Zhi Yang, they are like close friends, Xiong-Di, so I love seeing them, and LOL, Zhi Yang sure paid the price for lying to Bai Jue saying that Shang Gu is hardworking, submissive, smart and never makes trouble, but turned out it was biggest lie, because he wants Bai Jue to teach her so she can take up her responsibility as a Chief God seriously XDD.

Music: I actually love the OST's in this one, some are very memorable, and my very favourite is "Gǎnyìng" (感应) by Liu Yuning, that song always reminds me of Bai Jue/Qing Mu and Shang Gu/Hou Chi moments, so touching (T^T), and don't even get me started with the lyrics *sniffs* (T^T). And I have Tencent to blame for uploading this beautiful MV lol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok9DTHDLYw8

Another one I really like is: "Perseverance" (执生念) by Ye Xuanqing also made me cry each time I listened to it, when I listened to that song, it reminded me to all the sacrificed Bai Jue have done for Shang Gu/Hou Chi. And it shows the strong/deep love they have for each other. They both will wait for each other forever.

And another one: "Years" (年岁) by Máo Bùyì (毛不易), for these three music, they are on my replay list on my phone where I will listen to this on repeat.

Ending: I will wait until I watch that scene in full to judge that ending. I already knew it's a happy ending before I saw that clip on twitter/Weibo, but how that happy ending played out is determined if they will give us something more than that scene, because I want a more fulfilling/happy ending to show their family life, and interactions before the credit rolls, so I am keeping an open mind for now before I watch the ending. So I will come back and edit this review when I have seen the ending. To be honest, I really hope it is a fulfilling ending, since they really have been through so much to be together in the end, I wanted to see some extended scenes to it to make up for all the heart-ache and pain they've been through. Honestly, Sometimes I wish that I don’t have such high expectations for an ending because it really does hurt when it doesn’t deliver(┬┬﹏┬┬). But it remains a fact that I will always love this drama on my end, why I wanted an extended ending because Bai Jue and Shang Gu deserves an extended happy ending after all they’ve been through, instead of ending at that scene. But I will always love ALP on my end, and yes, I am also not ready to depart from this/their story (┬┬﹏┬┬).

EDIT - As I said, I will come back to rate the ending after I watched it, note, I even woke up at 4am due to the time difference, because I couldn't sleep to watch the remaining 3 episodes 47-49. You can bet I was left with so many feelings in the end (┬┬﹏┬┬).

What I like:
- The battle against Wu Huan, how Bai Jue and Tian Qi to help Shang Gu fight against her, and I am so glad to see that Bai Jue actually faked his "death" to have Wu Huan put her guard down, that's my loveable Bai Jue for you!!! And the part when Bai Jue went to Tian Qi to revived him, was really nice, I really love their bromance moments <3 And that sad look Tian Qi gave Bai Jue when Bai Jue told him that, after Wu Huan is gone, he can finally go in peace/without worries. I love this subtle moment, to see how Tian Qi also cared for Bai Jue on his end <3

- Thank you! For giving me the Father-Son moment between Bai Jue and Yuan Qi, because I really did cried. How it started off that Yuan Qi didn't want to even see Bai Jue, really hurted him (┬┬﹏┬┬), and then later they had that talk, and then when Bai Jue took Yuan Qi to the human realm, this time, as his real self, and not disguised as Feng Ran, those were all sweet moments that I wanted to see before the finale, and you can also see that Yuan Qi probably guessed that it was actually his father (Bai Jue) who took him to play a day in the human realm as "Feng Ran" back then. The part when Bai Jue lets Yuan Qi win the game, was sweet <3 And at the end, before they said good bye, how Bai Jue hoped to hear Yuan Qi to call him "Father" at least once, before he goes, was so sad omg (┬┬﹏┬┬) At first when Yuan Qi showed that he can't say it, and while Bai Jue was sad about it, but he didn't force him to call him father, and when he leaving, and then Yuan Qi called him "Father", I literally shed tears in that scene (┬┬﹏┬┬)(┬┬﹏┬┬), he didn't call him "Father" once but several times!!!

- Hong Ri came back!!! And I'm glad to have him back!!!

- It is implied Gu Jun will come back later as well, because Bai Jue saved a piece of his spiritual/soul, so he will come back later, although this is left off-screen.

- Jing Jian is reborn so he's also back, however without his memories, so that's a bit of a shame.

- Glad to see Zhi Yang is back, although I somehow have mix feelings about it, since the part when he's drunk at first, and Tian Qi is like looking through the documents, I am like, did they switch roles? LOL

- I don't like Jin Yang, but in the end, he somewhat redeemed himself for me, for what he said to his mother (Wu Huan). Like it needed to be said. I like how he said that he doesn't want the throne, he only wants to be his father(Mu Guang) son, and Jing Jian's brother. And he even told Wu Huan, that he doesn't want to be her son(because of all the things she did that killed the family) Wu Huan didn't even regret, not even in the end, so I felt like what Jin Yang said is a slap to her face!

What I don't like about the ending:
- I can't believe that bitch Wu Huan didn't die... I wanted her dead so much, but her suffering eternally like that is better than nothing, death would be too easy for her. I wish Jing Zhao's punishment was heavier, in the end, she was just mute, but seeing her suffering to see her mother like that, I guess is her punishment, and she can't even say any words to her anymore. I hated Jing Zhao so much because she even have the audacity to curse Shang Gu like that, what the f*ck!

- Mu Guang, I don't care if you sacrifice yourself for the peace in the end, but what you did, even at the end, how you begged Shang Gu to not kill Wu Huan, I was literally face palm at that scene.... Seriously, after all this you can forgive her?! Shang Gu even in her way scolded him, about how and what he's doing now have disappointed Yuemi and how well she treated him back then.

- Now, what I don't like is after all the hardships, heart-breaks that Bai Jue and Shang Gu went through, they have it end in THAT SCENE?! (┬┬﹏┬┬). I just can't really accept it... I mean, it is a happy ending, and I am thankful that that is a bit better than the novel, where they got a hug and Bai Jue smiled at her, not to mention Bai Jue deserves a hug at the end of all this but honestly, all I wanted was an EXTENDED scene after that part where they have their talk, and not just hugging each other. Ok, that is at least better than nothing, but still.... I wanted to see Tian Qi and Zhi Yang also say something to Bai Jue like welcoming him back. But at least the part where Bai Jue said "Shang Gu, I am Bai Jue" is heaps better than in the novel, because in the novel, Bai Jue didn't smiled at her in that scene in the novel (not that I recall), then Shang Gu, in the novel, expresses her happiness, no hug, nothing, but just words to describe that in that moment, it is just perfect and, I am like "?????" in the novel, a feeling of unsatisfied, and lead me to question, that the novel ending, so does Bai Jue have his memories after he came back??? This is why in the Drama ending, it creates no confusion, Bai Jue is back, and with complete memories, because he smiled and said to her "Shang Gu, I am Bai Jue", and they got that hug, so it's a bit better than the novel, but this is not what I wanted to see, because I wanted something more. They separated for so long and we only got like 2 minutes (at most) for their reunion.... (┬┬﹏┬┬) You can't be serious right? I mean, thanks for giving me a happy ending, but I already knew it is a happy ending, still I cannot accept that THIS is how it ended!!! I was hoping to see more of a closure, of them talking, them having their sweet times, their bliss before it ended, but this kind of ending... While it is a happy ending but I am still somewhat disappointed... (┬┬﹏┬┬)

I guess hoping for a TMOPB ending is a bit too much to ask for...... (┬┬﹏┬┬)

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This is better than MTC (Mirror a Tale of Twin Cities) at least

This was a nice story, and a fun watch. It is separated into two parts though, so I am going to review this in Part 2 instead of Part 1, my review consists of both part 1 and 2.

While both Mirror: 'A Tale of Twin Cities' and 'The Blue Whisper' have the ML being Merman, I personally love/enjoyed The Blue Whisper story, characters in the overall better. And thanks to 'The Blue Whisper', I am enlightened about Merman LOL, since before all this, I thought Mermaid are all one gender being 'female'. So watching the Blue Whisper is very insigntful.

Also, this is the first time I would say that in terms of drama adaptations, they did a good job following through the plots in the novel, although there are definitely changes between the two, Novel vs Drama, some changes are for the better, some for the worst.

The positive change in the Drama (when compared to the Novel) for me:
- The love between Yunhe and Chang Yi, I love their love better in the drama, where they have Yunhe and Chang Yi shared mutual love/feelings for each other earlier than the novel, because in the novel, Yunhe and Chang Yi didn't get together that early on in the story. I also love the added date between them just before Yunhe "betrayed" Chang Yi to protect him from being captured.

- Li Shu and San Yue love, oh man, I love their love in the drama!! Their story made me fall in love with them!!! In the novel, I didn't feel anything for them the way I did in the drama, so when Li Shu "died" in the novel, it was pretty much 'meh' to me, but in the drama, I actually felt sad and cried, where I didn't want Li Shu to die, and when he came back in the drama; I wanted him to have a happy ending with San Yue, because they deserves that happiness in the end. I consider that a happy ending for them at least in the drama, even when Li Shu forgets, but there's still hope, unlike the novel...

- Kong Ming and Luo Luo - I read that the actor to Kong Ming had a lot of complaints about his look to playing the character? Well, while I do agree he's not handsome, but he's actually better looking than how I imagine his character to be in the novel as I was reading, and in terms of their relationship/love, I prefer and love it better in the drama for sure, and I was like "wow, when they had that intimate kiss" o///o [they had one before Chang Yi and Yunhe LOL, the main pair needs to catch up LOL]

- Jade Pheonix and her lover (sorry I forgot their name) - I actually love Jade Pheonix character, so I was sad with what happened to her in the novel, so I definitely didn't like/support what happened to her in the novel. I hated Shunde so much because of this, so I am thankful this didn't happen in the drama, as a matter of fact, I consider this to be her happy ending with her lover in the drama, which I am glad for.

What I don't like about the change in the drama (when compared to the novel) for me:

- I didn't like in the beginning of the drama, Yunhe character was portrayed to be manipulative, and she have the intention to use Chang Yi to gain San Yue's trust in her help of escape, and when Chang Yi asked Yunhe why she's so nice to him, she replied "It's because I love you", when at that time, she only said it to gain San Yue's trust, so she was using Chang Yi then. I didn't like that in the drama, the novel her was more sincere, where she never thought of wanting to use Chang Yi and make use of Chang Yi's trust there.

- I don't like how they changed Hao Qing's character in the drama, that is definitely a minus appeal to me, in the novel, he sees her like a sister, and I especially didn't like how he was manipulated and controlled by Shunde in the drama like that, especially when in the novel, he wasn't controlled... So yeah, sorry, not my cup of tea for this change...

- I didn't like the added Fox girl (whatever her name was, don't remember), to be added to the LT, it's like we don't already have enough misunderstandings, but at least she became a reasonable character later where she just accepted and wish them happiness.

- I personally didn't like how Yunhe (before she "dies") she chose to go with Hao Qing, because that have hurted Chang Yi, and made him misunderstood her further, and her recklessness had push Chang Yi in a difficult situation later, when she rebounded the fox king's powers and ended in his death... Since they have a war happening, and because of what happened, Chang Yi gave back his powers to that Fox Girl so he doesn't owe her anything, so yeah, I didn't like Yunhe's decisions where she goes with Hao Qing. It's like in Chang Yi's eyes, se chose Hao Qing over Chang Yi. Understanding =/= to liking how that scene was played out.

For the main pairing Yunhe and Chang Yi, I do think they have good chemistry, but if I am going to be honest here, their kisses didn't really make me fangirl for them. Ironically I actually felt more on Kong Ming and Luo Luo intimate kiss and San Yue and Li Shu kiss than compared to Yunhe and Chang Yi. The only time I felt something (like a 'good effort') was (1) the scene when Chang Yi gave Yunhe his spiritual powers so she can survive longer and (2) their wedding night. But I think Allen needs more practice with the kissing scenes since he's good at acting emotional scenes, but not so much on the kissing scenes (don't hate me for saying this, just being honest here), ignoring this though, I do love Chang Yi and Yunhe as a pairing.

I think in the overall, the pairings, I like it better portrayed in the drama when compared to the novel, even when the novel have it's nice moments, but yeah, like I said some changes were for the better, some for the worst, and I have just listed some examples above. I like all the pairings (Li Shu and San Yue ; Kong Ming and Luo Luo ; Jade Pheonix and her lover) ending in the drama better, with the exception to Yunhe and Chang Yi, honestly, to me, I don't mind in a pairing when one side have to wait for the other, I usually find that touching/romantic, however, in The Blue Whisper, I find it just so unnecessary, and just make me go 'What the f*ck' at it. They could have done it so differently, and save all this 'waiting' like in the novel, so in terms of the transition to the ending for Chang Yi and Yunhe, the novel ending tops the drama ending for me. I mean, why oh why did they have to make it the 'tragic route' where Chang Yi have to wait 300 years for Yunhe!!!!! In the novel it was her clone that sacrifice, so Yunhe and Chang Yi can get their happy ending right away, but this???? Omg... And yeah, I mark it down to 9/10 because some changes I didn't like in the drama, and that ending where Yunhe decides to be sealed in with Shunde was one of them, like, are you serious?! You did that much to follow the novel , why can't you just have her clone instead?? And that scene, how she fall down, it felt like a contrast to when Chang Yi fell down the cliff there. The script writers sure is cruel to make Chang Yi wait for her like that...Still, I didn't like how the script writers have Yunhe go down that volcanic pit and Chang Yi sealed her inside with Shunde because imo, it was really, really stupid... They really should have followed the novel instead, I like that part in the novel better... I mean, why do you have to add more pain for Chang Yi/this pairing, and have Chang Yi wait for her for all those long, endless nights?! Haven't Chang Yi (this pairing) suffered enough?! To add onto this, I didn't like it because their ending felt so vague, i.e. they didn't even show us a moment, when Yunhe came back to Chang Yi (came out of that place), and HOW did Yunhe got her mermaid tail, when she's a nine-tail fox??? That wasn't explained, and I am like "HUH??!"

Rewatch Value: This drama, doesn't have the same magical/magnetic pull to make me want to watch the whole thing again after the drama ended, like some dramas do, and to name a few that made me want to rewatch again because I have withdrawal symptoms is: Ancient Love Poetry, Ten Miles Peach Blossom, Eternal Love of Dream, And the Winner is Love, and Love and Redemption.

So for The Blue Whisper, I will say that it's worth rewatching but right now, I'm good, I probably will rewatch this one day, but on the scenes I love, when I have time. Just not now, now, I am watching Who rules the world.

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The 'Unfair treatment' in this story really pisses me off.

Let's just say that I got into the drama thinking it will be interesting for the main couple, but turns out I was severely disappointed. I first came across this on Youtube, because they uploaded a scene on there, so I wanted to give it a try, because (1) I love the back ground music that was played in this drama, and (2) Another Xianxia / Fantasy drama that looks interesting, but then it turned out that watching clips without the entire context of the story can be so misleading.

Well, before I get into this, first, I do NOT recommend this story if you think it's similar to Three Lives Three World's because it is NOT similar at all, not in terms of where the main love in Ashes of Love is concerned... Three Lives Three World's (Ye Hua and Bai Qian) is 1000000x better than this crappy love story! I can't believe people compare this to Three Lives three world's, Ten Miles Peach Blossom... And they even said Allen Deng (who played Xu Feng) is more handsome than Mark Chao (who plays 'Ye Hua')? Well, how we perceive 'handsome' is subjective, to me, I don't think Allen Deng is handsome at all.... Mark Chao is better looking than him, but this is my opinion

I got into this drama (Ashes of Love) expecting it to be good, and I was keeping an open mind about it, and it did started off okay but as the story kicks in, I just feel so bad for my fav character (Run Yu) in there.

So, let's just let me simplify this for those who haven't watched it...
- Jin Mi (Female Lead) who doesn't know what 'romance love' was (because of what was placed into her at her birth by her mother), was engaged to Run Yu before she was born. And when she was asked, she accepted the engagement on her end with Run Yu because she also likes him, even though it's the 'platonic' kind of love...

- Jin Mi takes things for granted, she doesn't cultivate herself by working hard to get stronger, but instead cheat her way out to gain a higher immortal level by the help of others, that was so annoying of her....

- Well since Jin Mi is the female lead, and Xu Feng being the male lead, the romance goes in their favour....

- Run Yu love for Jin Mi is no less than how Xu Feng and Jin Mi "loves" each other.....

- The Uncle Moon Immortal said he loves both his nephews, but obviously you can clearly see how bias he is, since he favoured Xu Feng (being the legitimate son) on his end...

- When Xu Feng and Jin Mi first met, he was so arrogant towards her, and he even abused Jin Mi of his powers, by turning her into objects to abuse her with... People call this romantic and appealing? -_-

But to put this into perspective, what I hate about this story (and yes, I am talking about Xu Feng and Jin Mi) is.... The writers did a lot to try and justify their love as something 'natural', and that Jin Mi chose Xu Feng on her end, when in the end, it turned out to be the biggest lie...

When Jin Mi have to go down to the human world to do the trial to experience these hardships, Xu Feng went after her to follow her and he even 'SELFISHLY' asked his uncle, the Moon Immortal (which is a Love Deity) to tie the red string around their ankle to pair them up, and you know what this looks like? It's 'manipulation'! Because I'm sure we all know the story behind the power of the red string right? He have the power to make them fall in love if they are tied together by the red string... So considering all this, and it was evidently shown that there was this invisible red string around their ankle when they were in the human realm, it actually gave Jin Mi a chance to "fall in love" with Xu Feng, and that feeling carried back to after she did the trial, and it really frustrates and annoys me how she keeps using her time in the human realm (when she did the trial) as her love for him, when I'm like "NO, it's not.... It was all manipulated", the writers expect me to see their love is natural and true? Are you kidding me?!

Run Yu loved Jin Mi and he is willing to wait for her to love him back in return, to me Run Yu is the most interesting character in this series, he's suffered so many injustices, and mistreatment in this story that actually makes me feel for him. He never wanted anything on his end, not the throne, not fame or power.... He just wanted the woman he loves to love him back... And to me, what he did later on is justifiable, because if Xu Feng did NOT even respect Run Yu's feelings in all this, why should Run Yu consider his feelings? It's only fair...

The thing I hate about Xu Feng, is, he's selfish, yet people / fans still love him and praise his love for Jin Mi... When, he actually used the power of the Moon Immortal to make their love possible... Xu Feng said he feels sorry for what happened to his brother (Run Yu) one minute, yet not long later, it shows he doesn't really mean it...

When Xu Feng found out the date of the engagement between Jin Mi and Run Yu is drawing near, he asked to meet Jin Mi and took her virginity... That's just disgusting imo. I cannot understand how fans can find that scene is romantic... Run Yu and Jin Mi is still engaged, for goodness sake.... So, can they NOT wait until their engagement is called off first?! Did they respected Run Yu's feelings at all when they were doing it? Run Yu is still mourning the death of his mother, how she was killed by Xu Feng's mother! Yet, he saw the whole thing... the woman he loves with his whole heart, making love with his brother, where he once consider him as his dear brother! What I got out of this was, the brother (Xu Feng) literally stole the love of Run Yu's life (Jin Mi) and his fiancé! If this was IRL, this is actually scandalous, and people call that romantic? And even during those time period, they would have been criticised heavily (or be locked up in a pig cage), and yet, people call that love and romantic and support them? Well, ofcourse it will be like this, since the writers only care about Xu Feng and Jin Mi's happiness... Don't do this people, normally, if people are engaged, you should learn to step back and not do anything, or at least wait until the engagement is called off, that's called respect, and that's you for doing the right thing, if that uncle cared for Run Yu at all, he would have not encouraged Xu Feng to chase after her, and stealing Run Yu's fiancé while he knew clear well how Run Yu felt for Jin Mi ..

And Xu Feng have the audacity to come to Run Yu the next day, saying in he's sorry for all that has happened to him(Run Yu), and then when Run Yu knew that wasn't the real reason he came to see him and asked him to get to the point, he was like... "I can give you anything, the emperor, etc etc, but I can't give you Jin Mi".... And you call that feeling sorry for Run Yu?! Isn't that Xu Feng contradicting himself here?!

Honestly for me, I hated how Run Yu have suffered so much on his end... I hated how Xu Feng said he's sorry but his actions shows me otherwise... I hated how the Uncle Moon Immortal reprimanded, and other reprimanded Run Yu telling him that, "Xu Feng didn't do anything wrong to you"... I'm like... "Oh my god, are you serious?! So you call stealing the woman he loves is not doing him wrong?! Having sex with the woman he loves while he's still mourning for his own mother's death, and they did it behind his back is not wrong?!" Please tell me that jerkish uncle did not just say all that?! Because are you kidding me?! But it DID happen in this story...! And honestly, I would have respected them if they have waited.... And not hurt Run Yu and not consider his feelings at all... But in the end, despite they knew all this, they still did it, and it was Xu Feng who initiated, makes me lose all respect for him, them as a pairing...

And the Moon Immortal is such a hypocrite for saying all this to Run Yu, because he was the one who encouraged Xu Feng to chase/steal Run Yu's fiance, since they are only engaged and not married... -_- And when it came to Xu Feng being badly wronged, he will speak up for him and say something like: "That's impossible! I know him since I watched him grew up, he will not do something like this, you all must have wronged him!" and I'm like... "Wow...... so you only saw Xu Feng grew up and not Run Yu...."? -_-

To be honest, for me, I actually find the second leading couple, Liu Ying and Mu Ci love story to be far more appealing than the main leading couple (Xu Feng and Jin Mi) and would much rather focus on them instead. In the overall, what I can say to simplify my feelings is, characters that deserves a happy ending, got an unhappy ending, or they died... Characters who don't, gets their happy ending...

Why did I say this is so unfair? Well....
- Xu Feng who died can come back alive.....

- Jin Mi, who died later, can ALSO come back alive....

- Mu Ci who dies can't come back alive?! And I felt like the writers just want to kill him off to give that pairing a tragic one... But they can revive both Jin Mi and Xu Feng because they want to give them a happy ending... So stupid and illogical imo.

- The writers have Jin Mi find out the things that Run Yu did, and she wouldn't even let him explain or believed in him, but when Jin Mi found out it was "Xu Feng" who killer her father, she would believe in him, etc.... BUT what I hate about this the most is that... Jin Mi NEVER found out that her love for Xu Feng and what they've been through in the human realm was only made possible because of 'manipulation' by the Moon Immortal (Love Deity), yet, she never found this out.... But she used this as her reference for "loving" Xu Feng because of what happened in the human trial -_-

The only redeeming thing for this drama for me is, Run Yu can return to being his kind and gentle self in the end, because that is a first step to his healing process, and at least Kuang Lu and the dream deer is still by Run Yu side in the end, and that allows me to crack my own happy ending, thinking Run Yu will return Kuang Lu's feelings because Jin Mi doesn't deserve Run Yu's love and devotion...

The only thing I love about this drama is:
- Leo Luo, I have to say did an excellent job in portraying his character that made me fell in love with this actor, and it's also the first I've seen him act, because he can really play emotional scenes well on his end, and shows that he really poured his heart and emotions into acting these scenes.
- Zhou Ting Wei as Mu Ci, I love this character back story, and wish he didn't have to die to be honest, since I hope he could have a happy ending, I guess, the useless Xu Feng couldn't save him with his "High Fire magic... -_-"
- Yukee Chen as Liu Ying - She did a great job with her character here, and it's nice to see her love story with the character Mu Ci, again I wish they have a happy ending, they deserve it, but the writers is horrible for mistreating them...

But you know what, I just realized that after searching through Leo Luo's profile that these three actors played in 'And the Winner is Love', so I immediately went and watched that drama afterwards, and imo, between 'Ashes of Love' and 'And the Winner is Love'.... 'And the Winner is Love' is the REAL WINNER for me! Because what I want for Run Yu, i.e. someone who cares for him, someone who speaks up for him, him loving a woman who deserves his sacrifice and love... He got in 'And the Winner is love', so I am glad, I felt like I can take that as an extension to an AU happy ending for "Run Yu" who happens to be played by Leo Luo as Shangguan Tou (in 'And the Winner is love').

Background Music (5/10): I love the background music "Unsullied (不染), that's the ONLY song I love in this drama! I didn't know it came from this drama at first, since someone used this song on a Wangxian MV, which I came to love this song.

Rewatch Value (1/10): The ONLY rewatch value for this is the pairing Liu Ying and Mu Ci and their scenes together. Ofcourse I will want to watch this for Run Yu too, since he's my favourite character in there, but rewatching his scenes will only mean I am watching him being unfairly treated in the story, so I will rather rewatch 'And the Winner is Love' instead...

What I learned from this drama?
- Never trust a clip when you don't get the full context
- Don't let the high ratings by others to mislead you to thinking this is worth the time, 63 episodes is a lot of episodes, it's better to watch something that is worth your time IMO.

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The ML (Tantai Jin) deserves better!

I am among those fans who have been waiting for this drama to air, when it was first announced, with the cast-side of things, since I am a fan of Luo Yunxi (Leo Luo), and I also like Bai Lu as an actress as well. This isn't the first time they paired up, since they were pair as a CP in Love is Sweet! (Those who have not watch that drama yet, do go check it out)!

Anyways, where do I start? I guess I will say that this drama really can hurts differently, because when those scene hurts, it can really hurts! (Ahh Tantai Jin deserves a hug!!!) But what kind of "drama" will it be if it doesn't have those angsty dramatic plots, right? Let's start off with the characters! I felt like how I feel towards the characters, is depending on which role they played as, or just some scenes that make me like them, some don't so I guess when it comes to characters in this story, I have some-what mixed feelings....

THIS IS WITH AN EXCEPTION FOR ONE CHARACTER, AND WHO HAS THIS HONOUR?! IT'S............ TANTAI JIN!!!
Because for Tantai-Jin, I actually love him from the BEGINNING-TO-THE-END, YES, FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END~!

Tantai Jin played by Luo Yunxi is a complex character, which Yunxi did a marvellous job in his acting ability that can bring out the multi-dimensional character, that has different contrasts to each of the characters he played as: Ming Ye, which he is the righteous God of War from the Past (Bore' Life), Original Devil God (when he was first introduced to us at the beginning), and the him 10,000 (or many millennia) later, which we came to learn about his back story as Tantai Jin and we grew to love his character, whether he is Tantai Jin, or the Devil God, for me, personally, I just love him from the beginning to the end OR Cang Jiu Min, which he has a mix of Tantai Jin and Ming Ye in him, as he is Tantai Jin, but want to stick to the path of the side of "good(heaven)".

Like I said, for me, Tantai Jin is my personal favourite character in this series, and I love how Yunxi expresses, and brought out this character to life, it was said that his novel character is much darker towards the Female Lead (Li Su Su), I haven't read the novel, but from the sounds of things, I am personally glad he was changed in the live-action/drama. I also want to highlight that Tantai Jin does somewhat low-key reminds me of Luo Binghe in Scum Villain, for the fact that the similarities in both of these characters lies in the fact that his path that he walks on really depends on whether he met the love of his(Tantai Jin we came to love) life vs he didn't in the past (the Devil God as portrayed as at the beginning, episode 1), before Li Su Su went back in time to change him, and taught him what it's like to love/feel love on his end).

The original Devil God will never understand Tantai Jin feelings when he embraced his Devil God status because the difference between them is the Original Devil God lacks love/doesn't have love whereas the Tantai Jin has love in him.

Even when they are the same person(as Devil God), but it is their experience that shaped them on who they turned out to be in the end.

I love the contrast how it shows the two version of them to be honest. It's an interesting highlight to point out what you go through and your experience can shape on who you become in the end.

I actually don't blame how the original Devil God turned out (as we saw at the beginning in episode 1), since I took that as a different time line where that Tantai Jin went through a much crueler experience and LSS never came into his life and light the darkness in his heart. If there was a LSS 1.0 from that time line then that Devil God will not be as heartless and cold as he was at the beginning..

Considering his life and what he went through I can understand why he turned out that way in the end..No one was there to show him love. It's all betrayal one after another. There's no love in the original Devil God but hatred so it's understandable when compared to the Tantai Jin 2.0 that we came to love because SuSu changed him and gave him a different life experience.

Anti-Villain or not, I still love him on my end, because to me, those Tantai Jin kills is really deserving of the kill, the Devil God that we came to love in the end, when Li Su Su went back in time to change his past, which lead to a new future/present time, of the Tantai Jin who have love in his heart, the love he holds for Li Su Su (Ye Xi Wu) is really deep that it really hurts at the same time, when at times I don't feel that Li Su Su give him equal the love/devotion she has for him (in return).

Which comes to the next character, Li Su Su / Ye Xi Wu, played by Bai Lu. Honestly, I have mix feelings when it comes to her character, my feelings for her is more leaning towards dislike. I don't like her character and how it's written... My biggest problem and complaint about her is that her belief/trust and love for Tantai Jin isn't strong enough for me to love her. I mean, if she doesn't trust him, then be honest about it, I don't like that fact that she said she trusts him one minute, but as soon as something goes wrong she is quick to judge him harshly. What's sad for me, is that when she came to say she trusts Tantai Jin by that time, I no longer can believe she really meant it, and its all just empty words, because she has shown me otherwise in the past. She said so herself, that she has a prejudice against Tantai Jin, which from her side, it's kinda understandable I guess, given that he is the Devil God of the future... BUT it's the inconsistency that I don't like. If she doesn't really trust him, then don't give Tantai Jin hope and tell him she does, when not long later, she misjudged him harshly (that's really off-putting for me).

The moment Li Su Su decided to set her mind to kill Tantai Jin in their wedding night, I no longer can like/love her nor can I support the pairing like a fan would..... I can never forgive what she's shown me then. The fact that she will really attempt to kill Tantai Jin at that time, with those ice spikes/needles, which was grown from his love for her, she was going all out... If it weren't for the Heart-Scale thingy that protected Tantai Jin, he would have died!! but the first thing Li Su Su showed me was shocked that the Heart Scale protected him, and her despair that the last two spikes shattered, she didn't even shown concern at all about Tantai Jin well-being but her despair in failing her mission!!! (Honestly, I know some people is okay on that scene, but I AM NOT!). I did hope that she will get better in the later half and she getting her character development, but she just continue to disappoint me in the end.

When she question and doubt his love for her... The way Tantai Jin expressed it though his micro expression really hurts...

Why can't she believe in his love for her?
Why can't she believe there isn't just one Devil God out there? But the Tantai Jin who now is the Devil God is NOT the same as the original devil god which lack love?

These are all questions I was asking on my end when those moments arises for me, but they are rhetoric questions, that I already got my answer, and that is... She didn't love Tantai Jin enough to trust him on her end... I honestly wish and was hoping she will improve for me for the remaining of the episodes, but she didn't....

Honestly, I have mixed feelings for her. Right now, I felt like the more I think about her, the more I end up DISLIKING her, so I think I should really stop and not think about it anymore. There are moments I like coming from her, but there are also moments, where I felt like I want to smack her on my end... For being cruel when there's no reasons to be.. She's just making it hard for herself and Tantai Jin tbh

Also, the final scene before Li Su Su sacrificed herself, those flashbacks that she shown Tantai Jin, almost to the point that she's labelling the present Tantai Jin (which is from a different time-line) into the Devil God(from her time line at the beginning) who have killed his sect and father etc... The way she said it, the way she looked at him, even when Tantai Jin said it's not him etc etc, felt like to me, she have labelled him to that same Devil God that committed those crimes... Why do Tantai Jin, from a different time-line be convicted into those crimes that he didn't commit on his end? She was really cruel then... And the fact that she said that "May we never meet each other in next life, thereafter" was just CRUEL!

As far as main pairing: Tantai Jin and Li Su Su goes, to be honest, I am only holding onto this pairing for Tantai Jin since I know how much he loves her, but I can't say I felt equally on how I feel towards Li Su Su, since in the overall story, I can't say I like some of her actions when it comes to her showing me her love for him, where she is willing to kill Tantai Jin through a misunderstanding, but for Tantai Jin the difference in contrast is that for someone like Tantai Jin who absolutely cannot stand betrayal on his end, he will forgive Li Su Su over and over again, and he will NOT kill her (like he would for those others who betrayed him)! This is why when it comes to love/display of affection what Tantai Jin surpass (in the overall) in terms of appeals, Li Su Su failed *cough* Wedding Night *cough* where she will use the one thing which came from Tantai Jin love for her to attempt to kill him....

You know what also pisses me off the most is that during their time when Tantai Jin shows her the Bore life he created for her... She actually said to him that she regret loving him.

But when she said in the final episode there's so many words she wanted to tell him

And Tantai Jin said he's listening....

She told him that she won't tell him, but she will the next time they met...(I actually thought we will get that but nope, it's a troll)

And I HATE this because this is a moment we will NEVER see on screen...

So yeah to me, she really is the cruelest FL when it comes to her love for him

I admit she does love him but it's honestly no where near as close as Tantai Jin love for her....

We saw in those 500 years TTJ go through hell to find her again but for LSS, in the end, in that ending , it felt like she have accepted the ending on her end. That's just how it is.... She didn't even try to find him again or show her longing for him to the same extent he had for her in those 500 years.

I rather trade in the fact that she don't have a daughter yet and see Tantai Jin return to her in the very last minute... And shes been looking for him through out these 500 years....That she ACTUALLY TRIES TO LOOK FOR HIM OR WAIT FOR HIM! THAT ENDING IS ANNOYING BECAUSE IT JUST FELT LIKE SHE ACCEPTED IT AND THAT'S IT... WHERE TANTAI JIN IS A PART OF A CHAPTER IN HER LIFE AND THAT'S IT LIKE WTF IS WRONG WITH THE WRITERS?!

This ending for Tantai Jin was cruel IMO. I wasn't putting my hopes up for a conclusive ending since I will be happy as long as it's an ending that makes sense and is justifiable where it made our journey and suffering WORTH IT at the end BUt this ending is NOT acceptable to me. To be honest this ending made me appreciate SOTM ending and I wasn't even happy with that ending on my end...

Rewatch Value? I don't think I am going to have withdrawal problems, like I do with some of the other drama's where after the ending, I also won't be watching this drama again because if I watched it again, I will forever be reminded of that UNJUSTIFIABLE ending...

Is this Drama recommended? If an Ending matters to you as a conclusion to the story, then I don't recommend this drama, but if you are someone who doesn't mind BAD ENDING then you can give this one a go.

Honestly for me, if there are words and phrases that sums up how I feel about this drama in the end is...
"Tantai Jin deserves so much better, but his ending was so sad in the end. I wish I would have loved the Female Lead and the Main Pairing better, but in the end, I don't, and that's what's so disappointing because I want to like them, but I can't because of what the Female Lead (Li Su Su) shown me in the Drama. I only accept the pairing because I know how much Tantai Jin loves her, but that's it. It's not because of me loving the pairing..."

Nothing against, Yunxi as Tantai Jin, since like I said, I love his character from beginning to the end, but as far as main pairing goes, I wish I have love them better on my end, I actually want to love them better than how I come to feel in the end, but there are some scenes I don't like coming from what the FL (Li Su Su) shows me... Especially at the ending.. Since the way the writers have it in the drama made Li Su Su felt that Tantai Jin is just a other chapter in her life, and she have accepted it and moved on like wtf. She's got to be the LEAST romantic FL I ever encountered! This is one of the reasons where I wish they stick to the NOVEL ENDING BETTER, and the better portrayal of her love and longing towards Tantai Jin and didn't give up searching for him!

If the drama have her dying together with Tantai Jin and they both live in a different realm or something that would have been acceptable to me than what we were given. Saying this again, I rather trade that ending where she reunite with Tantai Jin over her having a daughter and starting a new chapter of her life instead... -.-

Rant aside, I have some moments where I really did cried, but I wouldn't recommend this drama on my end since the end didn't justify the means to me. If anything I must say is that I adore the costumes and make up in this drama. I love Devil God and when he have the Curls in his hair. It's really charming to me. Music in this drama is nice, I love some of them.

Time to move on and watch Back from the Brink to heal my heart from this traumatizing ending. Being among those who long-waited for this drama, but in the end, I came to not love this drama as much as I wanted to. So I could be a minority in here. Despite saying this, I will always love Tantai Jin on my end; he's my favourite character in this, and I will always remember this drama for him, and someone who really deserves better, but the script writers is just so cruel to not give him a happy ending he deserves ~ forever bitter at this fact!

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The amount of sweetness in this drama will give you cavities!

I have to say that I've seen a lot of dramas adapted from the novel before. Some strayed away from the novel, some started off promising but ended with disappointment, some just take a completely different direction from the novel but with Hidden Love, for someone who had read the novel, it did remain faithful to the novel and I am impressed that I can get so many of the scenes I like in the novel adapted into the drama itself.

I know the novel have some scenes that wasn't adapted in the drama but given the drama only has 25 episodes it's only understandable why they cannot included everything in.

I think the only sad part that I was looking forward to see in the novel was the part when DJX went to visit SZ parents again and that time Sang Yan(SZ brother was there), I really love that part in the novel because SY express how much he cares for DJX to the point that he was defending him from being "bully" by his own parents. Although SZ parents concerned was understandable, I liked how that scene played out in the novel better because I love seeing SY stepping in and wanting to protect DJX on his end. So yeah that's a sad missed in the drama.

This isn't my first time seeing actress Zhao Lusi (ZLS) since I've seen her other dramas before, and I have to say that her acting on the character Sang Zhi really brought it to life and I'm glad she is cast to play this role.

For Chen Zhe Yuan (CZY), this is my first time watching his drama to be honest as I've never seen his other dramas before. Similarly to how I feel for Zhao Lusi being cast to play Sang Zhi, I am glad that Chen Zhe Yuan got this role for Duan Jia Xu. He really did played the character well on his end.

Both ZLS and CZY really have chemistry and their interactions as a CP was sizzling with the romance between them and their kiss scenes definitely doesn't disappoint!

I truly recommend this drama to all fans because it is really sweet to see the journey between the main leads SZ and DJX come from the beginning to the end. DJX is SZ first crush and her one true love ever since she saw him the first time she fell in love at first sight. Some may not like that trope but I think the writers did well to bring out how she hid her feelings from him developed from a mere crush to her one true love.

Aside from the main pairing I also have to say I really like Sang Yan's character. I love him for being the tsundere brother who cares for his sister and I love all his interactions with his sister Sang Zhi.

The sibling relationship between SZ and SY kinda does remind me to Touya and Sakura in Cardcaptors and SZ crush for DJX is similar to Sakura crush for Yukito(in cardcaptors), although the outcome between the two pairings in their respective stories is a different outcome at the end.

I also love the part when it was revealed that at the beginning when SZ was born, SY didn't like her because he felt that his parents was giving all their attention to SZ(his little sister) and it was revealed by his father that back then SY said that he rather have a dog than a sister but it was also revealed that when his sister was not at home for the few days (since she had to stay in the hospital), he was worried about her and how he ask his father where SZ is and his father lied and told him that he threw her away, and then when SY heard that he was crying (because of what happened) and at that moment I was like really awing at the scene because I love how he said he doesn't like his sister but that's not really how he feels, because deep down he really cares and loves his sister.

SZ parents are great parents and I envy that kind of family environment that she grew up in. She have loving parents and a loving brother.

I wish DJX could grow up in a more warm environment but because of his father , his life turned upside down that made me feel so sorry for him. I don't blame DJX if he cannot forgive his father to be honest because I do think he has the right to be mad at him.

Anyways, to cut my review short and not spoil too much of the story, I do recommend this drama to everyone. It definitely don't disappoint and it's definitely on my list of favourite dramas and CP.

If I may, I will also add this down in my review here, based on my preference

My top 3 Favourite Chinese CP:

1. Wangxian (Mo Dao Zu Shi - Novel)
2. TianHui (Back from the Brink/Hu Xin)
3. Duan Jia Xu x Sang Zhi (Hidden Love)

So, DJX and SZ made it into my top 3 favourite CP, and that's a good outcome since it's not easy to make it into my top category.

I have to also thank this drama since I cannot get into any other new drama after Back from the Brink (because I miss HMH and ZY so much!!) But Hidden Love made me got into it from the first episode that not even Here we meet again and Snow Eagle could which I have been having plans to get back into it

I guess some dramas will have different magnetic pulls for each of us.

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For adaptation side: Journey of Chongzi is definitely better than Song of the Moon (SOTM)!

Journey of Chongzi being adapted from the Novel "ChongZi" by Shu Ke, is the Prequel to Song of the Moon, which is an adaptation from it's Novel "Fly to the Moon".

It is noted that it's 40 episodes, but there's a released bonus episode 41 for 9 minutes something where it shows the happy ending, so DON'T MISS OUT!

"ChongZi" Story/world building takes place around 3-4 generations BEFORE Fly to the Moon (Novel). The main protagonists Luo Yin Fan (ML) and Chong Zi (FL) are the ancestors to Luo Ge and Luo Ning in Fly to the Moon (Novel). So both Luo Ge and Luo Ning are direct descendants of Luo Yin Fan and Chong Zi (on their father side), around 3-4 generations later.

Both are Novels written by Shu Ke, but each have it's own Drama Adaptation respectively: Journey of ChongZi (from the Novel: Chongzi) and Song of the Moon (from the Novel: Fly to the Moon).

As far as adaptation goes, Journey of Chongzi did a better job in following the novel when compared to Song of the Moon(SOTM). In SOTM, the drama completely deviated from the Novel in terms of Story direction and Characters portrayal. As a Novel Fan to Fly to the Moon, I am still bitter at this fact, because the drama(SOTM) didn't do it's Novel justice. I understand that in each adaptation, there will be changes, some for the better, some may not, but looking at the comparison between these two dramas, I honestly appreciate Journey of Chongzi better than Song of the Moon(Because I am a Novel Fan to Fly to the Moon), I was sad how they completely changed my favourite character Yue(God of Moon) in Song of the Moon being reduced to little-to-no significant/screen time in SOTM

So, looking at it from this perspective, this is another reason why I appreciate Journey of Chongzi is because the character: "Wang Yue"(or "Yue" for short) true identity is God of Moon - The last surviving God from the God Realm, where he now carry a second identity Demon God. I love seeing "Wang Yue" being portrayed as a "Grey character", because this is more closer to his Novel Spinoff "Fly to the Moon" where he is the ML (protagonists), being paired with the FL (Liu Shao). I was sad/disappointed and feel sorry for those who never read the novel to 'Fly to the Moon' will only see Yue (God of Moon) as how he was portrayed in the Drama: Song of the Moon, because in the Novel, he is MORE than what was portrayed in Song of the Moon. In the Novel, Yue NEVER died, and there was NO evil spirits controlling his body! But why do the script writers have to go and changed the story direction in Song of the Moon Drama?! It's such an insult to fans who loves "Yue" in the Novel! I know this may sound like I hate his character portrayal in the Drama(Song of the Moon), that's not really the case, without reading the Novel, and without that comparison between Novel vs Drama, I do like God of Moon, but after reading the Novel, where there is that comparison, I came to find out just how unfaithful the Drama was to Yue(God of Moon) character, so when I look at it in this angle, it just makes me sad how the drama handled his character in SOTM!

In this drama: Journey of ChongZi, "Wang Yue" will always be a character I appreciate! I appreciate the drama for giving me this character portrayal and I appreciate Wang Zhuo Cheng for bringing out this version to "Wang Yue" in this drama. He did an excellent job in portraying the character "Wang Yue", and I definitely love his character here as Wang Yue better than his character as Jiang Cheng in The Untamed XD. Oh but hey, no hate from me on Zhang Binbin in his 4 different character portrayal in Song of the Moon, since I love his acting in Song of the Moon too! But it is really too bad, he didn't get to bring out that side to Yue (God of Moon) from the Novel that I come to love! (I blame the script writers for this!), I mean, considering his acting ability on Hei Yue, I think he will do just as good as Wang Zhuo Cheng imo!

In terms of Casts goes, there are some familiar faces that I recognize, e.g: Deng Wei (Miss the Dragon), Dong Yan (Miss the Dragon), Asher Ma (Word of Honour), Li Dai Kun (Word of Honour), Wang Ruo Lin (Word of Honour again XD), Wang Zhuo Cheng (The Untamed), and Gao Han (Falling into your Smile).

*** CHARACTER THAT I LOVE***
- Luo Yin Fan - In the overall, in terms of character, I do love him. He is among my favourite in this drama. I actually have not seen this actor Jeremy Tsui before, so this my first impression of him with no other references to his other work. Based on this drama alone and his portrayal in the character: Luo Yin Fan, I have to say that sometimes when he expresses his love, and his micro expression, especially through his eyes, he really reminds me of DiJun in Eternal Love (Pillow Book) and Ten Miles Peach Blossom.

The first scene that left a deep impression in his acting for me, was the scene where he held Chong Zi in his arms in her first life, after she "died", and he was grieving over her death because he blames himself for not being able to protect her in the end. I know it's ironic because he was the one who killed her, and while I was shocked when that happened i.e. him being the one to do it, but I didn't blame him on my end, because Chong Zi thanked him after he did it. This already signify that she wanted him to do it, to free her from the control of the evil spirit/energy controlling her body, which may even use her body to force her to do the things she didn't want to do. I love how strongly he express his regret in killing her. Usually the one who lives on in regret is the one who hurts the most; so when I see how Yin Fan held her in his arms and cried, he played that part so well, that I literally cried in that scene.

- Wang Yue - Played by Wang Zhuo Cheng - Do I need to say more? XD See above why I love him, I won't get into this on my end again, since I probably will be repeating myself. But I will have to add this about what I found funny about him is that I laugh everytime when he say "I can help you, but you have to beg me" LOL, like he sure has a thing for wanting / enjoying people begging him XD. But oh well, considering his status, I think he is worthy of that since he is, afterall a God LOL. How can I not love him? He did definitely make me fangirl, and I definitely love him in the black cloak, swoon worthy!!. There are also time when it shows he looks a bit sad, or him expressing concern which is quite rare, and I really enjoy the scenes that have him in it, even when there are times I want to give him some smack for some of the things he says LOL, but I never hated him and I don't think I can, not especially after I found out that my suspicion was right that he is my favourite character (God of Moon) in his spinoff Novel 'Fly to the Moon' (Yue!!!)

- Mu Yu (Senior Mu) - Which have another identity as Tian Zhixie, I came to really love this character on my end, given how loyal he is towards Chong Zi. Although I didn't like that he was manipulative at first, and created all these situations to make others point fingers at her, which push her further down that path, but I did came to love him on my end during his time, how he shows his loyalty to only her when Chong Zi became Demon Zi, and how he's always by her side. I was sad when he died though, and I wish he didn't die. But I will be honest, how he sacrificed himself to help Luo Yin Fan remember ChongZi is one of my favourite moments in this drama, it highlighted how unselfish he was and he only wanted Chong Zi to be happy on his end. Truly a worthy character to like!

*** WHAT I LIKE IN THIS DRAMA ***
There are many memorable scenes that I love, which I won't go into details since I don't want to spoil the surprise for those who have not watch it yet. But if I am going to say about one of the things I love about Drama Yin Fan is that he is not ashame to admit that he loves/have Chong Zi in his heart, and that he treats her specially. I mean, even when his two Shixiong question that his actions towards her already cross that boundary that a master have for their disciple, he never denied that Chong Zi is special to him in that sense, and I love how he was written like that in the Drama.

Another scene I really love was when Yin Fan came and take the bride (Chong Zi) away during her "wedding" with Wang Yue lol. It is a powerful scene where it shows Yin Fan fears in losing Chong Zi, when he never thought Chong Zi will want to marry anyone else but him. Yin Fan (imo) was cool in that scene, and I can just watch that scene and what follow afterwards on repeat. I am not ashame to also admit that when Yin Fan forcefully kiss her afterwards, I literally fangirl on my end :P

This is also an important scene that I have to mention, what Yin Fan showed me in episode 31 when he told Chong Zi to not leave him again, and that he doesn't want anything else but her, he can even be nobody as long as she can stay with him. He even told her that it is not impossible for him to leave Nanhua for her. I have always wanted to see in the drama where Yin Fan shows me he chose Chong Zi (as his main priority ) over his responsibilities as the immortal chief and I'm glad I got this moment in this episode. I really appreciate that they give us this scene in the drama. I see that as a character development for him, since before all this, he wanted both Congzi and to protect the common people(which is his responsibilities as Chief of the Immortal Realm). It is nice to see that he finally realized that he can't really have both, and that in the end, his decision was he chose Chong Zi above his responsibilities (that path he's been walking on, all those years).

*** WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ***
- Those Immortals that claim they are "righteous" when their actions is SO HYPOCRITICAL. I don't think I have ever hated the immortal realm so much! There's only a few in the immortal realm that I DON'T DISLIKE: Luo Yin Fan , Qin Ke, Zhuo Hao.... And.... Wow, that's it!!!

- Pheonix Tears - (!!!) I cannot believe I will be seeing this in this drama!!! I have always hated this spell and the effects of this spell!! Honestly, I don't know why they would create something like this!! I don't like the effects of it, and I especially DON'T like it when the person forced the victim to drink it without them knowing it!!! Poor Luo Yin Fan, Luo Ge and Luo Ning in their respective stories being succumbed to this spell!! But for Luo Ge (in Song of the Moon), at least it worked out for the best to cure him of his Soul Devour spell, otherwise, I wouldn't have forgive what happened on my end!!

- Quite honestly, I didn't enjoy any of those moments, when Yin Fan was under the effect of Pheonix Tears and when he hurted Chong Zi... It was the most painful time to watch for me, and I really was tempted to fast-forward those scenes on my end, I don't know how much I curse the screen when his Min Shixiong and Ting Xie was lying to Yin Fan and make him misunderstand Demon Zi even more.... But I couldn't really blame Yin Fan during those times, since I know what the effects of Pheonix Tears does... Can they just destroy that spell?!

*** MAIN PAIRING: YIN FAN x CONG ZI ***
I felt like this is like a Reverse Harem, since there's several Men loves Chong Zi!! Sometimes I wish it wasn't the case, because if they end up being the characters I also like, I feel sorry for them because their feelings is unrequited.

I don't ship Chongzi romantically with anyone else except Luo Yin Fan. Chongzi and Luo Yin Fan is the endgame pairing that I love and rooted for since the beginning.

In my eyes, there's nothing wrong with Master and Disciple getting together in a romantic relationship, if they love each other of course, as I have read/seen many of those tropes made canon in Chinese Stories. It's only a problem if they want to make a controversy out of that topic.

You don't have to like Master and Disciple Romance, because everyone is entitled to their preferences, and if that's not for them, then that's not for them, but don't hate on Master and Disciple relationship just for the sake of ruining it for those who are more open minded in acceptance of how their relationship started off at first.

Chemistry is also subjective, people may not see the chemistry between Yin Fan and Chongzi, but for me, I still do, and they have chemistry in my eyes, I saw and love their chemistry very early on, because I love how Yin Fan dotes on Chong Zi, and I love how he loses his cool when it comes to expressing his love for Chong Zi. It's always a highlight for me. The way he shows me this through his micro-expressions that he cared for her, and protects her from his shixiong, I love him for that.

In terms of pairing, between SOTM (Luo Ge and Liu Shao) and Journey of Chongzi (Luo Yin Fan and Chong Zi), I love them both equally, but if I am going to be honest, I personally enjoy the kiss scenes between Yin Fan and Chong Zi better than Luo Ge and Liu Shao :( Because at least there was an effort when they kiss, compared to none in Song of the Moon :(

** FINAL BATTLE. DRAMA PERSPECTIVE **
What I got out of that battle is that in order for him to master the Heart Mirror Spell final stage, Yin Fan have to let go of his love for Chong Zi(to be indifferent), but he cannot bring himself to do that, he wanted to hold onto his love for her, so he chose the other way, which is to sacrifice himself to master that technique and save Chongzi instead, because he couldn't bring himself to kill her again the second time. HE COULDN'T KILL HER. I am glad they showed me this, because if he did kill her again the second time, wouldn't fans be more upset because it's like back to square 1 in Chong Zi first life. So for me personally I saw that more like a development AND a contrast to how back then he had no choice but to kill her with his sword to protect Nanhua but this time, he chose to do the opposite, to protect and save her from being the matyre to the sword forever.

I may be a minority but that part when it revealed that it was an act from Yin Fan when he put his sword in reverse to have Chong Zi kill him(she was going all out), and when Yin Fan told Chong Zi to not be afraid and that it's now over. For me personally I did cry in that scene because I love how they play out their emotions... She is saved from Ni Lun Sword because she was cleansed by Heart Mirror spell. That did came at the expense of Yin Fan death though, but I did love the message implied behind what happened and that (1) Yin Fan would rather die than to let go of his love for her... (2) He couldn't bring himself to kill her again the second time.

It was Chong Zi choice in the end to want to go into the sword and them being a spirit together, because she couldn't live in a world without him in it. Yin Fan would do the same too if the situation was reverse since he made it clear to the immortals when he blasted his Min Shixiong that if Chong Zi is dead, he won't live on either... So to me it's just the reverse scenario of that scene from what Chong Zi showed me when she went into the sword as well.

*** ENDING ***
Let's just say that if they had ended on episode 40 with that ending, I would have been annoyed and pissed off, but considering they had an extended bonus episode 41 showing what happened later, I am happy with the ending for Chong Zi and Yin Fan. All I asked for in a Happy Ending where my favourite CP is concerned is to see them alive and happily together. And I got that in episode 41, I was also touched by all the flashbacks they put in that episode as well especially a surprised scene that I thought was deleted... but you see both Yin Fan and Chong Zi can get out of that place and go to the mortal realm fine, so looking at this aspect I think it ties in similarly to the novel ending(for that part). And I personally love how Yin Fan calls her in an affection way 娘子 in the restaurant when he came back with the jar of wine (in episode 41) which I see it as in the context of 'wife' when he call her that (it's something subtle but I love that)!

I actually love this ending over SOTM. I remember when SOTM ended, I literally ranted, so for those who don't like this ending, I can relate, looking at this in another perspective (my feelings towards Song of the Moon ending). SOTM wasted one final episode to do two endings, which is sad seeing how the drama itself already deviated from the Novel (Fly to the Moon), poor Yue(God of Moon) in the novel was so much more than what we got adapted in the drama when they changed it (still bitter about that)

Overall, I understand and I agree that this drama can definitely be better, there are times, where I also wanted to see certain scenes happen but it never came, so I was quite disappointed in that. But honestly, for me, this drama positives outweighs the negatives. I just wanted to say as an overall message that (if it makes you feel a little better), at least Journey of ChongZi have a better adaptation from the novel when compared to SOTM which is completely changed in the Drama. Both dramas have it's flaws in it's own way, but I just don't think Journey of Chongzi is THAT bad to get a rating below 5. At least for the ending, we were given an extended bonus ending, where it shows Yin Fan and Cong Zi is together, it is at least similar to the Novel. Consider that lucky, because we didn't get that in SOTM, instead it was all over the place and there was a deleted ending in SOTM that I know was filmed but IQIYI never release it!

P.S.S. For Chongzi Novel, I can't say I love how some of those scenes played out either, after reading the novel, as the overall, I can clearly say I love and enjoyed the drama better than the Novel.

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Thank you for giving me this drama to heal my heart from Ashes of Love

For me personally, I felt like this drama was meant for Leo Luo, who once played his role as Run Yu in Ashes of Love, and I am extremely thankful for the directors for choosing Leo Luo to play as the main male lead in this drama.

Yes, a lot of familiar faces from Ashes of Love, Leo Luo (who played as Run Yu), Yukee Chen (who played as Liu Ying) and Zhou Ting Wei (who played as Mu Ci).

I came to find out this drama through searching Leo Luo's profile since I wanted to watch something that can heal my heart from how his character (Run Yu) was poorly mistreated in Ashes of Love, and I am thankful I came across this drama.

In this drama, I can get what I want for Run Yu, because the things he couldn't get in Ashes of Love, he got in this drama instead, i.e.
- There are more people around him who cares for him and his well-being
- There are people who speaks up for him
- Him whole-heartedly loving and sacrificing for a woman who deserves his love in return.
- Having a father and sister who cares for him sincerely

There are parallel and similarities ofcourse between the two characters Leo Luo played in both dramas (Ashes of Love vs And the Winner is Love) ofcourse and the similarities is, he is an illegitimate son, but unlike his father in Ashes of Love who didn't love his mother (and took her virginity) and didn't love his own son Run Yu to be willing to sacrifice for him, in 'And the Winner is Love', his father loves his mother dearly and he will sacrifice his own life to protect his own son. The two love he received from the fathers in their respective stories is different. One is selfish (Ashes of Love) and one is someone who loves his son and wants what is best for him (And the Winner is Love).

Another similarity is Zhou Ting Wei played the character who is beside Yukee Chen (as a body guard) as well, but unlike in Ashes of Love, in this one, she only saw him like her brother (family), not a lover sense.

Leo Luo really can act, I love how he perfected his role as Shangguan Tou with his emotions, and you can say I purposely jumped into this drama, and am watching this for him, because I love his character in Ashes of Love. To me, I consider this a 'healing to my heart', because like I said, things I wanted to see for him when he played as Run Yu, I get to have in this drama instead, and to me, this is like an extension to Ashes of Love, in an AU universe, different time line, the character played by Leo Luo, who shares similar costume, hair style get to have his happy ending in this one. And can be happy, that's all I wanted for him, to be HAPPY.

There are times I am subconsciously comparing the love he holds for the woman he loves, and at least in this drama, the sacrifice and love he put into the woman he loves (i.e. Xue Zhi) can accept and return his love, so I love that. It's like whenever Shangguan Tou asked Xue Zhi which shows his love for her, and when Xue Zhi accepts and reciprocate his love in return, and then seeing him smile and happy, makes me happy (and made me wish something like this happened in Ashes of Love instead)

I am sorry I am NOT betraying you Liu Ying and Mu Ci, LOL, but in 'And the Winner is Love', I came to love the main pairing 'Xuezhi and Shangguan Tou' so much that I just want them to be happy. Personally, I actually like his character, Mu Ci better, because his character 'Yu Wen Mu Yuan' actually took advantage of something, which I don't want to spoil and for that I am not very proud of.

For Xue Zhi (Female Lead), I also would like to say there was a period of time I didn't really like her on my end, because she have disappointed me to a certain point.... Since, she didn't believe in her Tou Gege, when he needed her trust and belief the most, and when he wanted to explain to her, she didn't give him that chance to, so that really annoyed me to be honest. But then, what she showed me afterwards, after she came to realize the whole truth, i.e. how much she actually loves Shangguan Tou, made me forgave her LOL. But with that all said, I do see that Xue Zhi is someone who makes mistakes, yes, and that is fine, because humans made mistakes, at least for her, she actually learned from it, and won't repeat that mistake again so that makes her loveable.

The story is about the sects and governments, so it's a mix of both, but I have to say, I really love Shangguan Tou character, his acting doesn't disappoint, and I love how charming he is in this one, I also love how gentlemanly he is, especially when it comes to Xue Zhi. All in all, his character doesn't disappoint, I love how he uses his fan as his weapon, and imo, he and Xue Zhi (played by Yukee Chen) have chemistry!

This story definitely have it's flaws indeed, but in the overall, I am giving it a 9.5/10, because like I said, this drama is a 'healing to my heart', and ignoring some certain scenes I didn't quite like/enjoyed and wish was done better, I still love and enjoyed this drama very much.

I am sad that some characters died, and I didn't wish that they did, but I am glad some characters I came to love didn't die. And honestly, considering Feng Zi didn't die, yet Xia Qingmei killed himself (because he thought Feng Zi died)... made his death be for nothing, so that was rather "Uh, what?" to me when it happened, which kinda gives me the 'Romeo x Juliet' vibe.. With that said, I wish that part was done differently though.

Rewatch Value: 10/10
Leo Luo and Yukee Chen have great chemistry in this one when they played their characters, so their scenes is definitely on my rewatch list. I am rewatching this again on my end, so - it's already on my rewatch list.

Music: 10/10 - I love the music in this one. Some I really love and have downloaded and listened to this as a playlist that make me remember the scenes in this drama.

I honestly wish this wasn't a 48 episode drama, the irony, because I think 63 episodes for Ashes of Love is too long, yet, for 'And the Winner is Love' being 48 episodes is too short, wish it was longer, but I guess when it comes to something you enjoy and love, you just don't want it to end, that's how I feel about this drama on my end. To me, between Ashes of Love and And the Winner is Love, the REAL WINNER between these two dramas, preference-wise and the story between the two main pairing, 'And the Winner is Love' is my preference, because I love Shannguan Tou who respected and is patience with Xue Zhi, and I love how Xue Zhi came to go through that character development, to become stronger and mature later, and become smarter by putting two and two together to figure out the whole truth, it's all part of her character development. At least the female lead in this one, actually works hard to cultivate and become stronger, so that was nice to see, not like the other female lead (Jin Mi), but I won't mention about her in here.

To me, I actually don't understand the low ratings for this drama LOL. It's like, drama's who doesn't deserve a high rating (Ashes of Love) got a high rating, but dramas who does (And the Winner is Love) got a low rating, well for me, I did learn something in the end, everyone have different preferences, you either love or you hate. Anyways, despite this is an underrated drama by those who voted below average(not that I understand lol), IMO, this is still far better than Ashes of Love where the 'main pairing' ; 'male lead' and 'female lead' is concerned. So with that all said, And the Winner is love is definitely worth the watch, especially to those who are fans of Run Yu in Ashes of Love, because in this, he is at least treated better by the writers.

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What Ashes of Love failed, LAR (love and Redemption) had succeeded!

What do I mean by that title? Well, to be honest, I knew about this drama, much earlier than 2022 i.e. in 2021, I knew about this drama, however, because fans have been saying this drama is similar to Ashes of Love, is what really puts me off from starting LAR (Love and Redemption), because I saw that as a minus appeal, since I didn't like Ashes of Love, where the Female Lead, Male Lead and Main Pairing is concerned.

If I am going to say something here, is that I am glad I picked up this drama, although late, but better late than never. I mean, it's always good to give a drama/story a benefit of the doubt before judging, and also since I felt like watching another Xianxia drama, and I am like "Why not? Since I was impatiently waiting for the episodes for 'The Blue Whisper'". And then when I started watching, you can say, I was hooked, and just want to continue watching it, and I have stayed up endless nights just to finish this!

The Male lead actor name is Cheng Yi is really a talented actor who really can express his emotions (especially those scenes where he expresses pain and his love) very well. He really made me cry in all those scenes, since he have successfully exceeded my expectations so I really love his acting. This is the second drama I saw him in, the first drama I saw him in was 'The Legend of Chusei - Noble Aspirations', he's the second male lead in that one. As the ML, this show has potentially propelled Cheng Yi to celestial popularity levels. His portrayal of the much adored character of Yu Si Feng through his seemingly innate ability to emote convincingly and project poignant scenes of excruciating torment while shedding tonnes of blood and tears has deservedly earned him legions of new fans, and you can bet that I am now a fan lol, so hooray, now I will be paying attention to his other dramas.

The Female lead being Yuan Bing Yan, I have never seen her act before, but as Xuan Ji (FL) she really played out her character well. She did played her character well, and while for a period of time I really didn't like her, for her lack of trust in Si Feng, and not believe the good in him, it really annoyed me, because given the situation was reverse, Si Feng will believe in the good in Xuan Ji. I also think this is the difference in their love i.e. Si Feng loves Xuan Ji (at the beginning) and is willing to give up everything/sacrifice his life for her, but Xuan Ji can be easily manipulated by 'what she sees' and not believe in the good in Si Feng, and this is why I think that even when she regain her six senses, she can't break the loveless curse placed on Si Feng. It is only when she lost Si Feng i.e. Si Feng left her is when she started to see how important Si Feng is to her, and how wrong she was to not trust in him etc, so that made her into a better character, i.e. character development, and her love for Si Feng had grown to the same level as Si Feng has for her. This is also why I think she was able to break the loveless curse. Honestly, I am so glad Si Feng didn't get back with her right away, because it allowed me to see how much Xuanji puts in to earn back Si Feng's love. Even when Si Feng had another reason why he kept his distance, but it's because of this, I get to see Xuanji putting in for this relationship, and while I still think that Xuanji didn't suffer as much as Si Feng when it comes to this relationship, but she really did redeemed herself for me, and earned back Si Feng's love and this relationship. I am just happy they are finally together again.

In terms of story itself is a powerful one, and the main pair have a powerful love/chemistry with each other. In 10 lives, 10 world's (the present time is their 10th life), and in every life(when the past is revealed) you can see how much the ML loves the female lead. I love their love and chemistry on my end. While people like to compare this to Ashes of Love, and while I can see those similarities BUT the FL in this one was so so so much better than Jin Mi (Ashes of Love), and the main pairing is actually true love to me, one that comes natural, and not forced, the way Ashes of Love is. I guess what AOL main pair FAILED to bring out for me in terms of making me like the 'pairing' and 'individual characters', this one (Love and Redemption) succeeded and have far surpasses Ashes of Love, in terms of characters on it's own and the pairing. The FL(Xuan Ji) is strong, and actually got strong in her own way (that development), and the pairing in this one (Love and Redemption) is much more genuine/natural touching(in a loveable way) when compared to the other fail one (AOL/Ashes of Love).

There's also quite a few interesting characters I really love, i.e. Teng She, Wu Zhi Qi, Liu Yi Huan etc, just to name a few that is not the male and female lead that are loveable too. So it's an enjoyable drama to me. I even love Luo Huo Ji Du, he's not evil to me, and I sympathise with his past and what happened to him. The one that is truly evil (irony) is.. PLOT TWIST Bai Ling Di Jun. Although I won't say evil as in evil, but he views all demons are evil, so I don't like him, although in the end, he got his retribution and he understood and learn he was wrong so that was satisfying, but throughout the drama, when I saw his actions, it really makes me punch him when he said he's doing this to protect the three realms when his actions contradicts it. But this really all stems from how he worries too much/have those insecurities, because he doesn't trust in demons... He's not an evil character that wants to destroy the 3 realms, I guess that's why it's conflicting to label him in the evil character list, I guess you can say he's more of a 'grey' character. But I don't like him, but to be honest, I really tried to like him and not want to hate him, but his actions some times really contradicts his "I am doing this to protect the three realms". And another plot twist, we finally have a wise and great Heavenly Emperor (Tian Di)!!! . He's a great character, and a wise ruler hahaha.

But yeah, like all Xianxia genres, there will be those people around to cause these misunderstandings for the main pair, so this is why the ending was happy and very satisfying as the good were paid for the good they did and the evil received retribution. While 59 episodes may seem long for some, it is definitely worth your time. In fact, you might even think that 59 episodes is far from enough, I actually felt that by the time I am nearing ep 59, I was like "Oh no... the last episode, I don't want it to end".

Music 10/10 - Love them all!!!

Rewatch Value: Definitely watching this again!!!

The last time I gave a drama 10/10 was TMOPB. I wanted to give Ancient Love Poetry 10/10 too since I love that drama very much, but the ending wasn't satisfying to me, so I have to say in terms of fully satisfying ending, Love and Redemption (LAR) tops Ancient Love Poetry even when I love both of the story and romance, and characters very much!

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This was an enjoyable watch that got me into E-Sports!

I got into watching this because of Xu Kai, since he's become one of my favourite actors, and I wanted to watch something while waiting for Ancient Love Poetry episodes to be uploaded. So I decided to watch this one. The story did started off slow at first for me, and the romance takes a bit slow to build into the story, but the characters/story is really loveable. I love ZGDX and the members in there are all very loveable to me. The second couple story, is quite enjoyable too.

Once again, Xu Kai acting on his character, Lu Si Cheng does not disappoint, I love how he leads his team and give advises when they are doing playing E-sports against other players, he can be quite intimating at times hahaha XDD But when he smiles, and when he acts sweets, he's very adorable to me. He have a very nice smile IMO. I also love the way he expresses his love for Tong Yao, like he is really good at showing me, that when he starts to love her (which you can evidently see it), he really does these little things to show his love, which is nice, and honestly I don't have any complaints about his love for her.

But for Tong Yao, I don't know, I feel like she lacks something for me, I feel like the way she shows me her 'in love' with Lu Si Cheng, I don't really feel the chemistry, well aside from the story says that they're together and she loves him, I don't get that from the actress, Cheng Xiao, in expressing her love. So that's something I don't quite enjoy. But ignoring that, I don't mind the pair, they are still enjoyable to me, thanks to Xu Kai's great acting, and his ability to show his emotions/love when portraying his character.

The ending finale, of the Esports game, against YQCB in the finals championships, have me at the edge of my seat, in terms of how the game ended, it was done beautifully, no complaints there! But in terms of the main cp ending, it is more of an happy open ending, so that was not very satisfying if I was fan to that pair, but since I am not, then it's okay for me, no hard feelings (lol), since I know that they will be together, if I was a fan to the pair Lu Si Cheng and Tong Yao, then I would have wanted a closure for them since that's a must when it comes to my favourite pairing. But the second couple got their happy ending since they got their wedding, so that was nice.

Rewatch Value: I will be rewatching this again from time to time, since it's an enjoyable watch for me. If you're interested in giving something light-hearted to watch, you can check out this drama!

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Recommending this to all MDZS Fans! (It's actually better than I initially thought!)

Well, this is going to be one hell of a long review, so be warn of spoilers! xD So if you don't want to read spoilers, just skip this review!

Knowing this adaptation is based on my favourite novel 'Mo Dao Zu Shi' by MXTX, at first with the rumours flying around how they were going to make Wen Qing the love interest, I was so annoyed, and I told myself, I am NOT going to watch this!!! Because Wangxian is the ONLY ONE FOR ME!!! How dare they trying to make it heteronromative!!! But when this started airing, and also because I have also follow other online social media sites, I heard fans said that the first episode doesn't disappoint when it comes to Wangxian side of things, so I decided to just check out one episode to see what it's like, and wa-lah! Just one episode in, and I'm sold! Wangxian is indeed strong in the first episode, coming from Wei Ying's pov, and I actually love that change they put in showing just how Wei Ying feels about Lan Zhan <3

To be honest, there are definitely changes in this adaptation (when comparing to the novel), some changes are for the better, some weren't. Well, it's the same as each version have it's pros and cons, and I accept that.

E.g.

Likes:
- Jiang Cheng's character for me, in this adaptation, I actually love him better, whereas in the novel, I didn't really like him until the end, when he changed. Jiang Cheng is actually a positive change in this adaptation for me, because I love seeing him showing concern/care for Wei Ying like a family member (and not as a subordinate kind of feeling which I got in the novel). There are instances when Jiang Cheng showed me he cares, I just can't help but like him more in this adaptation. I love how he go against what his father said, and still went out to seek Wei Ying (when Wei Ying went out on that journey with Lan Zhan) and bring him back (because he was worried about him), that's plus points for me. While others may not like the Jiang Cheng x Wen Qing ship, for me personally, I do love it, despite that ship went no where in the end, because it is through this ship, that makes me like Jiang Cheng better, since he shows that he doesn't hate all Wen's. (Wen Qing excluded).

- Another change I love about this adaptation is how strong they made Wei Ying and Lan Zhan's bond is, even in the past, I love how Wei Ying doesn't set a clear line with Lan Zhan, I love how Wei Ying actually welcomes Lan Zhan to help him, and I love how he actually shows me that he really cares how Lan Zhan sees him, i.e. Lan Zhan's trust on him, means a lot to Wei Ying, and I love that, you can really feel how happy he was when Lan Zhan shows he trust him, similarly, how sad/disappointed he was when Lan Zhan shows his doubts. So, yeah that was a change I welcome in this adaptation.

- Wei Ying and Sizhui relationship, I love their whole reunion, and how Sizhui remembered, that whole scene was really touching to me <3

Dislikes:
- I didn't like how instead of calling out "Lan Zhan" (like in the novel) when Wei Ying was held captive by Jiang Cheng and when Fairy was drawing nearer to him, Wei Ying called out "Shijie", that's actually left a bitter taste for me, because I love that moment in the novel. Since I find that something subtle to show just how much Wei Ying can rely and trust in Lan Zhan to subconsciously call out his name when he needs help.

- I didn't like how they downgrade Wei Ying's powers, because in the novel, he's stronger than this. I was most upset because Wei Ying is supposed to be the FOUNDER of this path, NOT some stupid Wen's, and how SuShe out-did Wei Ying (through the help of Jin GuangYao) at Nightless City, and when Wen Ning lost control, I just literally swore, because OMG, I will be less bitter if this was Xue Yang or Jin Guang Yao, but seriously, that scum, SuShe?!

- Poor NMJ got robbed of his screentime as a fierce corpse, they really tamed down the whole theme of what makes it 'MDZS' when it comes to those fierce corpse (bye bye Fierce Corpse NMJ :( ) Bye, bye, painted eyes, blood bath granny/Wen Remnants...

- I will never understand (due to plot inconsistency) why it took Lan Zhan 3 years to go down and find Wei Ying's body, when in the novel, he went right away after he found out. I know it's because of the discipline whips (and this is another change I didn't like, I didn't like they change the reason behind Lan Zhan's discipline whips, Ok, I know why Lan Zhan got it, but the novel touched me more). So this is why I am personally glad they never bring up the reaosn why Lan Zhan got the brand mark(scar) on his chest, since I don't want them to distort the original meaning. Just leave it there, to show LZ love, but novel fans will know the reason without an explanation. I am fine without an explanation in CQL. Anyways, when Wei Ying fell down the cliff, Lan Zhan clearly didn't have the discipline whips yet, but did he seriously not went down to search for Wei Ying's body, right away? This doesn't make sense to me.

- Lan Zhan's decision in the end where he just 'suddenly' decides he can't travel with Wei Ying, even when Wei Ying never think of walking separate paths with Lan Zhan, since he was thinking where they will be going next. I don't know but this is really just OOC to me when it comes to Lan Zhan's feelings, and Wangxian pov, when compared to the novel. Sadly because of what I have been shown here, I just can't take him as MDZS Lan Zhan anymore :( I personally didn't like why he can't do this together with Wei Ying, I didn't like that it comes from Lan Zhan to make this decision, because this doesn't fit my understanding to Lan Zhan's character (in canon), By that time in canon, heck even when Wei Ying came back into MXY body, he don't want to leave Wei Ying side again, and the irony here is, CQL! Lan Zhan did said that he regret not staying by Wei Ying side during Nightless City, but in that final episode, Lan Zhan's decision hinting to 'each to their own paths'... Just felt out of place, and I felt like it was a slap to the face, for those who actually believed in him for always staying by Wei Ying side T.T No matter how much fans shed light, that moment just really hurted/disappointed me on a personal level and it's really heartbreaking. Wei Ying was sad/hurt, but he is trying to be understanding, I am too, but I just can't, you know, like what I was shown in that moment. I just wish that it didn't have to come to this, even if it's temporary, or it didn't come from Lan Zhan.... I know Lan Zhan have things he needs to do, and he's honoring the promise that they made together, but here's the thing, their wish is the same, can they not do this together? Anyways, I just can't like it because for me, I RATHER THEY DO THIS TOGETHER!. In CQL, I can take any heart-break, but this, really hurted me so much that I can't really accept it...

ENDING:
When I first watched the ending, I was really confused, because I didn't understood if there was a time-skip or not, but after others pointing this out, I went back and watched it and realized they indeed made it very very very subtle about this, and I'm like, I wish they made it clearer T.T But then again, I guess they are trying to play if safe and make it ambiguous, So, for me, I am very thankful to Xiao Zhan (who plays Wei Ying) by reassuring us, when he said:

"In the end he's still smiling because the light he has been waiting for has finally arrived"

And I find that so romantic, because this really confirms and emphasize that Lan Zhan is his light, and that whether Lan Zhan returns or not, this is how Wei Ying feels, i.e. he will continue to wait for him <3

In terms of ending goes, I understand it is a HE, and I'm honestly extremely glad that they stayed true to Wangxian, and managed to give us a HE by having Lan Zhan return to Wei Ying, even though we don't see them standing side by side, but there's no doubt that, the person who called out "Wei Ying" at the end was Lan Zhan. I still prefer to see them standing side by side before the credits roll, but I'll take this calling out "Wei Ying" over nothing at all.

While there may be some parts I wish was done better (for all said), but taking this like an AU is not so bad, I come to appreciate this ending in a different light, because through their separation, and when Wei Ying plays their song (Wangxian/Wuji), it really does connect him to Lan Zhan, because it shows me how much he actually misses Lan Zhan, and I love that, the whole yearning, the whole waiting, and how Lan Zhan can find Wei Ying again, no matter how far apart they may be, is just simply romantic.

There is a lot of sub-text, and hints showing how strong Wangxian is, where they referred to each other as 'Soulmates', and I love that.

Actors - 10/10 for me, I love both Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo as Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. At first I wasn't convinced with the casts, but when I got into the drama, I just came to love them and I have grateful to both Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo for their great chemistry that makes it very fun to watch! Xiao Zhan is awesome for understanding Wei Ying's character indepth! And he is the perfect RL human Wei Ying for me! Wang Yibo is awesome for bringing out a natural Lan Zhan that I can appreciate, and he deserve an award for this, because Lan Zhan, imo, is a very difficult character to play, but Wang Yibo expresses his emotions very well in this area! <3

Music: I fell in love with Wuji/Wangxian, and knowing that it's sang by Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo makes me love this song more!

Ofcourse, the other character songs are nice too!! <3

Rewatch Value = Definitely! I am rewatching this again on my end anyways! <3 In this review I just wanted to be honest, because there are indeed things I didn't quite like and wish was done better, but when looking at all this censorship, I can't really put it against CQL since they really, really did their best in remaining faithful to the original source, and for that, I am forever grateful. They really didn't have to give us that HE, but they did, and I'm grateful to them for giving me this (otherwise, I wouldn't have liked it). Looking at this in an adaptation pov, it's definitely a good adaptation, and I feel like it has taken a life of it's own in their world (kinda like an AU), and I do recommend this to all those MDZS fans, and don't worry about queer-baiting on Wangxian, because I can guarantee you, Wangxian is the only one in this series, and that is why I love this live-action on my end, because they stayed faithful to Wangxian despite all the odds, so I am grateful for them.

Personally I love the novel better in terms of overall story, consistency and the ending for Wangxian, but I still love/enjoy CQL on my end, because they were able to bring out something, which made me love/appreciate and made me so head over heels in love with this drama, that I wouldn't even mind streaming on my phone using my phone data! I am sad that it has ended! But at the same time, I'm happy because now I don't need to worry about 'the ending' or 'anything bad happening to this drama'. I'm just happy that this drama was able to aired smoothly. Honestly without all these restrictions, I do believe that CQL would have been even better than it is now!

So in the end, I do recommend this to all MDZS fans, and please don't hate on this drama, because it's still great in it's own way!! Don't make this a novel fan vs CQL fan because, that's just sad! Enjoy it for the love, and that we can get this masterpiece adapted, even when it's loosely based on canon, but CQL did their best to give us so much, so let's just be grateful to the cast/production team! <3

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You can watch this for 2nd leads: Xue Qian Xun and Qing Qing, and their love story ~

I don't even know where to start with this review, so bare with me here, and this is going to be LONG, not intended for it to be that way, just ended up that way in the end

***WARNING **** IT WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS, SO IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS, THAN SKIP MY REVIEW...

Okay to start things off, I won't say this drama is the worst, because I have seen worst drama's out there, but I won't say this drama is the best either. There are certainly areas which I wish was done better.

Personally for me, I don’t have any problems with the Male lead, since I enjoy some of his scenes, but mainly his scenes with Xue Qian Xun LOL. I felt like they have more chemistry (bromance-wise) than the main pairing LOL. I just wish they had a proper closure for them in the end, because Xue Qian Xun wouldn't have done any of that if he was in control of himself, I actually wanted proper closure, and not Longyan misunderstanding him...(But I am going to assume he understood and know the truth because he got that 'alternate' ending, to be with his soulmate, thanks to Xue Qian Xun's help)

I really tried my best to watch for the main pairing, and I did enjoyed it at the beginning especially since I can see a reference to 3L3WTMOPB, how Liu Ying (FL) save the Yuchi Longyan (ML), which happens to be a Dragon, in which she thought was a Snake lol(Sound familiar? Yes, Su Su(BQ) on Ye Hua), so that was a cute reference, although poor dragon's have to be mistaken as a snake 2 times in their respective stories LOL. Their story was okay, and I felt like it could have been better, but as their story progresses, and when I found out that Longyan changed Liu Ying memories and have her “fall in love” with someone else, making her believe her love for him (Longyan) was for someone else instead, I didn’t like it…At that moment, when she was married off, and was pregnant, I was like “????” Okay, so what is there to ship now??? She is married and pregnant with some other man’s baby for goodness’ sake. And then I realized it was meant to be for 3 lives before she can be together with him. I was like, when she was married off, and have to forget about him, in her first life, can she not stay single until she died?? At least that kept to the faithful part. Do she have to be married with someone else instead??

The main pairing story felt so redundant and repetitive, I mean, even if in each life, she's a different person, but it's the same outcome, she is born, grows up, meets him, she falls in love with him, he loves her too, but he can't be together with her (yet), so he have to watch her be with someone who can be with her, or is in love with her... And then, she dies, and then go to Luofeng Pavillion and drink that special tea that makes her forget (except with her second life, that she didn't drink that one), and then, gets born into a different family, setting and environment, the cycle restarts all over again and Longyan have to wait for her to grow up etc etc, and go through that life-cycle again. It was getting so repetitive, that I literally just lost interest in their story, that I ended up fast-forwarding their scenes, even when I fast-forward it, I wouldn't have missed much on my end... The third life when she was a general 'Feng Cheng Yue' was the most boring life and focus for these two for me, but at that point I was mainly just skimming through their scenes on my end.

The other reason why I don't enjoy the main pairing as much is also because I am not someone who is fond of the theme of having the developments up to a certain point wasted, and then restart again. It is like, you built the developments/affection point up to a certain level, and then resets, because she has to die, and then get reincarnated to her next life, and then start all over again… Do you get how redundant that is?? This is also the reason why I am not so fond of ‘amnesia’ plots because it is the same thing for me, I am someone who values ‘development’ and ‘consistency’ on my end. The main pairing, each time gives me something I don't enjoy seeing (in terms of developments being wasted, consistency felt disconnected because she have a different identity in her next life....), and while I understand that it is her soul that Longyan loves, but the portrayal of their story is not my cup of tea, with that all said, I don’t hate them though. I actually wanted that at the end of all these 3 lifecycle, in her fourth life as Qing Yan, she and Longyan can finally be together (even though that was futile..... It made all their trials, and tragedy be for nothing in the end, so it made me question, why did they have to go through all that, just to get that ending there? -_-)

On the contrary, I am thankful for the second leading characters Xue Qian Xun and Qing Qing, because their characters and love story is the saving grace to this drama for me. I have to admit that I did find Qing Qing annoying at first, but she somewhat grew on me, and had matured throughout the story, so I ended up loving her, and I do love her past-self as well.

For Xue Qian Xun, I love this character right from the beginning, because the moment he was introduced, he was said to be cold like an ice (his personality), and impartial to his role as the Lord to Luofeng Pavillion, but when he met Qing Qing for the first time, that all changed for him, because he can finally feel something on his end. Upon their first meeting, I immediately sense a potential between these two as past-lovers or something, so for me, I already love the focus on Xue Qian Xun's character, and his love for Qing Qing, I love all their screen times together. Whenever Xue Qian Xun is in the picture, I will watch the scenes properly for him, even his scenes with Longyan LOL. Ofcourse I will watch it for the second leading couple(Xue Qian Xun and Qing Qing) in this drama, because I love them on my end, they are literally the only focus that tied me to this drama to be honest and would want to make me finish this drama for them. Like I said, how can I not find them appealing? I mean, I actually found them appealing already when Qing Qing was captured by the Luofeng Pavillion guards when she first arrived at Luofeng Pavillion, because when Xue Qian Xun saw the meteor mark on her forehead, he felt something, and that “something”(and that flashback too, which was very vague), so I already find them appealing on my end, in that moment, when he kept her with him to be his maid for 100 years, instead of killing her, I already love what I saw, and was most interested to see how this pairing gets developed, and I was looking to find out about their past, and what exactly happened. As they show me more of them, I just ended up loving them, and then they became my favourite focus <3 And my favourite pair in this drama. This pairing is a gradual build, and I love how he came to love her, because she's different and she can make him feel all these emotions (she can make him smile, she can even make him jealous of Longyan LOL, I find that adorable hahaha), but when he help her paint the peach flower on her forehead was really sweet in my eyes. Yeah, he also didn't know what it's like to feel love, but then, I love how his eyes (he's good with these micro expressions) shows his love for her. It's different from his normal poker face. They really do have chemistry IMO.

I find it rather hard to rate this drama out of 10 for some reason, so I did the below to help me rate this out of 10 better. If I am going to give each pair out of 5, it will be as follows:

Main pairing (ML/FL): Liu Ying / Yuan A Yu / Feng Chen Yue / Gu Qing Yan: 2 out of 5

Second leading pair (2ML/2FL): Xue Qian Xun and Qing Qing: 4.5 out of 5 (0.5 mark lost because I wanted to see more of their scenes!! But even those little scenes, I can’t have enough shows me just how appealing this pairing is, for me, and in addition to this, I wish they have like a proper kiss scene ahahaha, since I wanted to see that, and when they finally kissed, something happened >.<, and I’m like “NOOOOOOoooooO!!!! T.T”)

Ending ~
Okay, I don't know what to say about this ending... Let's start off with the Main pairing, since they are the main pairing... Well, I will just say, I didn't really like that ending, I consider that to be, a sad ending for them, because they have been through 3 life times!!!! 3!!!! (and going through her 4th life time as Qing Yan), and she still can't be with Longyan properly in the end, I just find their ending to be somewhat, sad to be honest, I mean, this really shows they've been through all these trials for nothing, although their spirits will forever be together, but this isn't really a happy ending to me, I think it was 'satisfactory' at best, but personally for me, I don't really like their ending, I felt like they should at least get a happy ending after all that to be honest....And I don't even like the main pairing, but looking at all they've been through, it just felt unjustified IMO, but I guess this is all subjective, since some people consider that to be a happy ending. A happy ending for them to me, is they get to keep their 'human' form and get marry after all this, not that kind of ending... But well, at least their spirits/souls will always be together.... I am glad I am not invested in this pairing, because I will be so heart broken on my end, if that's the ending to my favourite pairing. I won’t spoil the full detail of their ending for you, happy or sad, you decide.


The ending for the second leading couple Xue Qian Xun and Qing Qing:
Okay, I will just say I am glad that Xue Qian Xun didn't die on me, nor did Qing Qing, and that they both can be alive at the end, but I don't know how I feel about Xue Qian Xun going back to his former self, but I guess I will take that as a good ending for him, since he don't need to be the Lord of Pavillion anymore, and they definitely deserves to be happy since they have waited and separated for 1000 years just to get this happy ending. I am going to just pretend that his poison and control is lifted after he "died" at first and then how he can return to his former self (although this lead me to think, that he never died in his first life, I always questioned whether he did or not, but when he said "3000 years ago...." he didn't remember the details" etc etc, so he did live through all those years, and then in that flashback that revealed his back story, it showed that he used up his powers to save "Qing Qing" from falling into the black vortex (which I think if she did, then her soul will be shattered, and won't be able to be reborn), and then, it was said that from that moment on, his memories was erased and that's how he became the Lord of Pavilion, name changed to Xue Qian Xun (but that's how I deciphered it, since it wasn't really touched on it),

So for the ending, I have mix feelings on my end. I definitely wish it was better, but I will just take what I can get, it's at least better than the main pairing ending, so can't ask for too much I guess, since it was a low budget drama (sigh).


Music: Errrr, 4.5/10 I guess, I mean, I like the bgm/midi when it’s between Xue Qing Xuan and Qing Qing, and sometimes they have that background midi for them and I like that, since it brings out the mystery of their past that connects to the present, and I also love their 2 songs which was played in the 2nd couple Xue Qing Xun and Qing Qing scene/moments, and I considered these two songs is their song: Say Goodbye (相别) By Wei Yi Ning (魏一宁) and Favor (青睐) By Ding Ding, but honestly, other than that, this drama doesn’t have any memorable soundtrack… They don’t even have a proper opening theme -_-;;

Rewatch Value: 5/10 I guess, I will watch again for my favourite scenes, that includes Xue Qing Xuan, and Xue Qing Xuan and Qing Qing, as well as other moments that I love. I am rewatching some of these scenes again, with some fast-forwarding on the boring parts of the main pairing. The FL is ‘okay’ at best for me. I do like her character in her last (final life), but I hate those Kunlun disciples that doesn’t know how to tell good youkais from bad youkais -_- They killed for the sake they are youkais is rather just annoying to see IMO.

The Antagonist.... Shocking!!!! Yet, not so shocking, but disappointed!!!!
Mingge Xingjun, I hate him… Zhu Zan Zin, you already played a scheming bastard in Chen Qing Ling, as Jin Guangyao, why do you have to play a similar role in this one???? My god, to think I actually liked you and thought you were genuine but turned out it was all a scheme and biggest lie! But I should have known, since HE was the one who told Qing Qing about the meteor mark can be rid of by detaching the Pipa string and used it to erase that mark… He would have known what that would do to Xue Qing Xuan, so I was like “????” why did he look so shocked and looked worried when Qing Qing told him that he(Xue Qing Xuan) attempted to pull a string for her? I mean, HE was the one who was pulling plotting all this, even in the past, omg…. And Lord of Fate, if you want to plot this, then DON’T involve Xue Qing Xuan in your schemes!!! -_- because thanks to you I can’t help but angst for him and worry for him, since he’s my favourite character. I’m glad he showed me he wanted to break free, and did for a short while, but then he got control of him again… URGH!!! Xue Qing Xuan wouldn’t have fallen into this trap if it weren’t for the gradual poison that you fed him with that “herbal” tea that you gave to Qing Qing that said will help him recover…. I didn’t want to see Xue Qing Xuan being controlled, and wish that didn’t happened…. And that was annoying that he didn’t regain control until almost half way through the final episode, and when that time comes, he “died” :( I was like “What?! NO!!” But at least he never hurt Qing Qing on his end, so that’s a good point there.

So, my verdict to this drama, 6.5 out of 10 for the story, but I will increase 0.5 points to make the overall up to 7 out of 10 because I do like the bromance between Xue Qing Xuan and Longyan, because I like how they started off as ‘not close’ to two friends, who happens to care for each other in that sense, and two of their scenes have this BL vibe LOLOLOLOL, which happened to be caught by Qing Qing when she enters the room. Story, IMO, could not reach 7 out of 10 in my eyes and remained as 6.5 out of 10 because I didn’t really like that ending, I wanted it to be better…. Oh well…. I watched this drama for the second leading characters, and pairing, and stick with it to the end for them, I do wish they have more screentime on their end, less the angst (lol), and it sucks that I didn't get much screentime for them due to Mingge Xingjun -_- like really, writers? Why? 36 episodes, each episode feels short and not the standard C-Drama being 40 something minutes, and you still can't even give us fans more of their screen times because of what happened to Xue Qing Xuan T___T (So that was 'minus points' there on the story for me). I know it's to build on the angst and drama, but so many things is happening for the remaining episodes, and it did feels rushed so can't give this a high rating because of all said.

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