Alila Nguyen
This review may contain spoilers
Started well but...
The beginning 16 episodes are somewhat solid. Decent storyline, decent acting, beautiful costumes and set, and decent fighting scenes. However, as the story goes on, it felt like the Male lead lost his place. They tried to keep the love story between the two leads solid (I.e no one can really come in between them in term of how they feel for one another), however, with the lack of maybe strong acting, strong chemistry between the two leads, you end up not really feeling for the leads. You don’t feel happy when they realise they still love each other, and you don’t feel heartbroken when they break up again. I just don’t feel sad or heart breaking for this couple, which is strange, because I do enjoy the drama, yet somehow I don’t feel it 0.oAnd as the story goes on, somehow my heart is ache for the second male lead. He’s selfish, he doesn’t know how to love her, but at the same time, how can you fault him when every time he tries, the female lead would just coldly shut him out. When you see her heart is slightly moved by his actions, she turned away, and again pour cold water all over him. And knowing the general’s story background makes you feel for him even more. When telling the story, the prince might have witness his mother being murder by his dad, and because of that, develop a woman phobia. But his dad loves him, and adores him, and the girl he loves, love him back, and he’s always on time to save her (of course, because he’s main lead lol). Compare to the general, who dad also killed mom, his dad did not acknowledge him. The girl who he loves, rather bear the bad mouths of the world just to be with her (sure there are other scheming reasons, but time and times he stood by her), always wants to save her but always a step late (typical second lead lol). Seeing the prince gets pardoned for any wrong things he did, and he gets punished for just one time being wrong. Anyone would turn psychopath. And you really feel his pains.
Long story short: the love story runs out of steam for me by 16, the will they won’t they is a bit old (this part takes place from 16-32), also not much of it when it seems pretty solid that the prince only has heart for the princess and vice versus. Is it bad? Not necessarily but need to be done well, and require great chemistry between the two leads, which as I mentioned before, totally lacking. And so in this case, it’s boring. I started watching and continue for the female lead mainly, she’s literally carrying the show. But as the show goes on after 16, it’s the second male lead that carry the show. It’s just because his character is the only one that has layers, that is complex, and you just don’t know how his heart acts, he has to follow his revenge plan, yet his heart couldn’t be ruthless, though sometimes he tried (he failed because he’s second lead, and he can’t win lol). And the actor who portrayed the General did a really good job, I think I will continue to watch for the general, and even if he turns out to be very terrible, it’s understandable. And this brings another minus for this show. My impression of the drama title is that the female lead was so heart broken that her hair turn white (yup, a rip off of the famous white hair maiden story), however, so far, I felt like her pains aren’t great enough (and with 23 eps to go, I’m not sure we have room to develop that great pain either). Considering the background and literally 9 mo of emotional turmoils the General has to face (the various events happen in that 9 mo), he is the only person so far qualifying to go white hair lol.
And because of this reason, the rewatch value for this series is like almost zero. The music is ok, suitable but not memorisable. Oh last and not least, this series has zero kissing scene that is passionate. We finally get 1 kissing scene but it was a rush one and virtually no emotion =_=
Change my score to be 1 lower than the original score I gave because of the ending. While the ending was not rush, it was lacklustre! And they follow the usual cliche cdrama style where everyone but the main leads die! And 1 other insignificant couple. When you have the old emperor, who caused all these tragedies, who has been poisoned and has no strength to stand up, managed to hold 2 babies (total weight let say 12kg), then about 10mins later, die conveniently as the ML got to him, just to say BS stuff like: remember don’t follow my mistake =_= I rolled my eyes so hard when this last episode is trying to be all high and mighty and try to give moral lessons -.- the ML’s face when his dad die resembles of a smile rather than being sad and devastated -.- the FL’s cry scene when she remembered her first love was also not convincing, and follow the usual trope of cry loudly, holding on tight to the memory object, then finally hitting the floor >_> At least one thing could feel her pain....the floor >_>
Do I recommend this series? Yes for the general’s acting, and for Leo’s fans. I don’t feel much for leo’s Character because the chemistry between Leo and the FL, while better than with the ML, was not enough, and it is mainly the FL’s fault. She couldn’t do certain scenes right, and so you don’t feel connected with this couple, and they didn’t tie that end right either. Didn’t show she’s that heartbroken for RQ, so what she has not been living with her husband for a few years to be with RQ’s grave? But you don’t see it, you don’t feel it, it likes trying to show off screen. Leo’s best acting to me was the pose he did as he die on the throne. It is heartbreaking scene, a lifeless king, the epitome of his life, always the puppet, even in death. So watch the series, but be prepared to feel annoyed at the 2 leads, and FF their scenes. If you enjoy the 2 leads and their storyline, bonus :)
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The cinematography is drop dead gorgeous! The music? Ok, no complain, I’m not in love with it, but I have no problem with it either. I love the second lead couple more than the first lead couple, could be their storyline, their acting, their chemistry, but something about the second lead couple keeps you engaged, making you love them. Their lovestory is like a mini kdrama fold in this big drama.
The first lead couple frustrated me, while I love Song Joong Ki, I just can’t root for them. While Song Joong Ki is every part charming, soulful, thoughtful and dreamy, Song Hye Kyo is every part boring, annoying and I can’t think of one good thing about that character apart from she’s pretty! And why I can’t root for them? Mainly due to the amount of nagging Song Hye Kyo’s Character does! I know Song Hye Kyo meant to be a very good actress, maybe she was too convincing at being super annoying, but by the second or third episode, I just want Song Joong Ki to kick her to the curb and find another doctor. And it felt that the reason why he stays with her at all is because she’s pretty >_> and as the story goes on, their love story is nothing but boring, even during those “love” moments with OST music adding to the mood, I didn’t feel it and still think he’s better off with someone else. Even by the end, I don’t think they made for each other, I just don’t feel she’s his anchor.
In term of storyline, all I remember is some deadly missions (that seem ridiculous but i’ll give it a pass because at least it’s more entertaining than the lead’s romance), gangster type villains for the sake of villains, there are doctors and medical procedures but I’ve seen so many hospital shows that this show does not impress me on any level for me to even remember it! Trying to touch on humanitarian works of these doctors in war fueled country, but they didn’t dare going that far! Other than that, a military man tried to court a difficult girl to date him >_> and all she did was nag lol! Really want to love Song Hye Kyo, but the last drama I watched of her was full house, and while it was funny, ultimately I dropped it because all she did was whines and cry >_> Last and not least, the support cast (the nurse couples) is funny, I like them and the few things I listed above but overall, I can totally miss this show.
Rewatch value: well I didn’t rewatch any part of this drama to this date, nor do I want to go find mv of them!
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The story’s tone is that of a sad one, one could argue it’s a bittersweet. And the most moving part of the story is actually of the main male lead’s father. His letter at the end makes this a good story, otherwise, I would down right dislike this story.
What I don’t like about this story is the main male lead claimed he would give her stars from the sky, and pearls from the deep ocean. Yet... he gave up on her almost immediately and got married and have kid? They didn’t break up for longer than 2 yrs, with 1 yr he tried to apologise to her. There was part where he claimed “he doesn’t have the right to be in pain”, and at the end of it, I’m not sure he gets why she left him.
Maybe I sympathise with the female lead so much more that I couldn’t stand the male lead, and that’s why while I enjoyed the movie, think the plot was decent, however the tone was depressing, and the guy literally had no redeeming quality, I couldn’t rewatch it ever, hence the low rewatch value score.
I do get that this story is about the biggest regret in your life, but the dude goes on living in fancy house, a beautiful wife and kid, while she’s alone and all sad, reminiscing about their past love is just uh... not right. I just don’t feel he’s that remorseful? It’s almost turn out to be her biggest regret was to dump him??? Like it’s not, but it felt like it is with how it ends. And some of the messages at the end felt more like gloating than trying to tell the (past) greatest love of your life that you are ok and living well, if it wasn’t for the music, I would think very differently. So here is why I think the music serves its purpose.
Do I recommend this? Well not exactly, while it’s beautiful in many ways, it’s frustrated in many ways, and it’s 2hours long, at 90mins, I was like is this gonna end? But it’s not a bad watch either, so if you want to watch a movie about two young lovebirds struggle and didn’t make it, then be my guest.
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Upon finding out it’s based on a book, I went and read more about the book, and find out it was a tragedy, and Yin Xue has a rather sad ending, but the story is still so enticing, a man who knows will get nothing in return, whole heartedly sacrificing everything even his life for the one he loves. A story of unrequited love to the bitter end! For that, I would watch the show for Yin Xue, not for Vic not Zhang Bin Bin.
The Cons:
The first 5 episodes, there were draggy bits, like the dealing with the brothel girl in Pin Hua Lau. I still don’t get why we spent so much time on her for dialog like thank you, we will keep in touch, and don’t worry. The actress was pretty but I felt it added nothing to the storyline but to lengthen it and slow the pace. But as soon as it moves away from her, the story progresses at a nice even pace, not rushing and not slow. Enough for you to learn about the characters and the events surround these characters
There are a few holes/inconsistencies in the dialogs with the event that took place but it’s small enough that you can pass it with no problem. I only found 1 inconsistency (which is when RG said YX has changed her forgetful medicine, how can a bite to the ear change the medicine lol. Cure it? Sure. Change it? How lol)
The Pros:
The story: this is a story about a girl who at the start, her world revolves around her first love, and as the story progresses, her world revolves around the people she cares, her responsibility, her beliefs in what right and wrong, and how she can love and live on without her greatest love next to her. She doesn’t have strong power, her power is she is not deterred from her decisions. Once she has decided, she will go with it, sometimes she made mistakes but most of the time, she approached each decision and action with thoughtfulness, which show her maturity. Many found it odd to call her the flame’s daughter when she did not use much flame power. However they overlook the fact that out of all the characters, she was the only one that really put up a fight, her will power is burning even when it’s surpressed. And even in the last battle, she was determined to contribute when Yin Xue tried to not involve her. For this, I love the story, not the usual cliche that the main heroin must obtain the most powerful power in the world to take down the most evil villain in history :)
It is also the story of loves, many types of love presented in this drama, not just the undying, sacrifice for one another love between Yin Xue, Ru Ge, YU Zhi Han and Zhan Feng. But also the family bond, what would you do if your love one is evil? Can you easily hate or kill the person that evil in everyone’s eyes but treat you with nothing but love and care? And then there is the love story that one man endure because he just couldn’t stop loving that one person.
The story also has its main bigger plot line involve Jianghu, feel pretty much like Louis Cha’s setting, the story moves without the leads unlike other drama where you have this one main character that be a plot device, that drive the events between the leads.
The characters:
Because of the story, you get such refreshing character like Yin Xue. Unlike most, if not all cdrama out there, the main lead guy will be cold, and smart, and look like jerk to everyone. He would barely crack a smile but will charm the girl, most of the time, he treats her like dirt but hey she’s in love with him anyway because of the sweet things he does for her in secret. Yin Xue is whimsical, he’s funny, cheeky, loves to play joke on people, but not the cringe worthy kind. He’s wise but he’s kind, he sees other’s hate/dislike toward him as a fun matter. He understands the girl, let her makes mistake (after giving her advices not to), and sacrifice everything for his love one without asking for anything back. He protects not just her but the people she loves, and if being trapped in his memories to be with her, he will do just that.
Then the main lead girl, as explained in the story part. And then you have two second lead characters, Zhan Feng and YU Zhi Han, both shows their weakness and strength, and their redemption, but the drama has done so well to show these men love her, and not resulting in jealousy or scheming to get the girl. How to get a girl to love you? With a true decent heart. Be there for her, love her, do everything you can to help her, and if she loves you back, that’s great :) if not, you could only hope and do your best to help her get her desired happiness.
The relationships: I love the relationships between the main leads, the support cast couples, between the guys, between the child actor with everyone, between the girls. This is possibly the first drama where I love every single relationship represented within a drama. While many feel the strong chemistry between Ru Ge and Zhan Feng, and not so much between her and Yin Xue, I saw the first love and the love of their lifetime. Maybe I’m old, but based on my personal experience, that’s how it felt like. One could call the first love is the lightning, impressive but fast passing, while the love of a lifetime is like water, gentle but can not live without.
The acting:
I think everyone’s acting is great. Dilireba while in some scenes could improve, there are some she did very well, like her past life scene, you can see how much she loves Yin Xue. Zhang Bin Bin has gained positive in my eyes as I felt he was one note acting in TMOPB. But the most impressive acting is Vic, I saw a few dramas from him when he was first started, and as much as I love him, I’m not blind to how bad the acting is in those drama lol. Vic portrayed this role with so much layers, you can feel multiple emotions surge within him, and you feel for the character. I love Vic before, but after many years (over 10yrs of not watching him), this drama has made me love him even more.
The OST: I love every songs in this drama, the whole album, from the opening song to the instrumental tracks, is just beyond good. It gave the correct feel to scene, and the lyrics are appropriate to each character, their arc and their inner feeling.
The best part: the fighting scenes. Being a wuxia lover since I was young, started at 5, I grew up in love with Louis Cha’s series, and is quite sad as time goes on, the fight scenes got shorten, and cheapen by CGI. One kick and it’s done. The last drama that got me excited with the fight scenes was Legend of Qin, but it turns out to be far few and too short, and just doesn’t wet your appetite. This series, I didn’t expect much in term of fight scenes, but ep 10 fight scene blew me away. It has techniques, the atmosphere, the suspension, the styles, the right amount of CGI to make those move beautiful, and not detract it from realism. I love all of Yin Xue’s fight scenes as it uses the tai chi style, in water there is steel :) the sword dance and Bi’er fight are another highlight as they show more techniques, and swords have been my favourite weapon. Zhan Feng’s saber is a bit more brute force so I’m not in love with them, but it’s mainly because I’m into the delicate techniques and variety of techniques in sword than in saber. And the last fight scene, many felt it short, but I love how it demonstrate two people constantly use deadly blows and don’t protect themselves in order to use those attacks. And the CGI once again making that fight scene beautiful.
Ep 52: the ending of this drama is indeed unforgettable. My head was spinning because of happiness but because it throws at me so many things, I had to watch it twice to figure out what’s going on. But I’m glad I did and once I figure out, I appreciate it. To many, it’s long winded, and confusing, while not giving a deserving end to their beloved character as there is no mention of anyone else but the two mains. But to me, the story has given each character a deserving end, beautiful done, and in such a meaningful way, I have never seen a drama that does that to all its supporting couples. No couple was boring either, how crazy is this!
Conclusion: this is to date, my most favourite wuxia series in 10 years+, I put this drama next to classic as the condor hero and the return of the condor hero, because it brings that hero feeling, that epic love story, the intriguing wuxia backdrop, a refreshing story, a refreshing character, the hero and heroin you can root for and felt in love with. Might not be as deep and as good nor as complicated as Louis Cha’s novel, but it’s being up there in term of drama adaptation from a novel. I know this drama has mythical elements, so compare it to Louis Cha’s master piece is unfair, but it’s the closest to true wuxia we get as of now that shine in my book, (minus classic from Gu Long as well, they are called classic for good reasons :) )
Rewatch value: 3 weeks after the drama ended, and I still find myself rewatching the series. And while waiting for new episodes to come out, I would rewatch a lot of the scenes between Yin Xue and Ruge or the fight scenes. The spell this drama put on me is unfathomable.
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It’s really a long ballad (just not a good ballad)
TLDR: like most ballads, it’s long and its attempt to tug your heartstrings but most of the time, it fell short, boring and bland.Watch for your favourite actor and actress, and once you pass Leo’s best part in the middle, you can just drop it really.
Story: started ok, best part was the middle where major events happened to Leo’s character, and then it’s flat line :/
Acting: award acting to the king uncle to Chang Ge when he received the knife again, and Leo in his lost scenes. Everyone else is meh. No offend but I felt asleep with the SL CP, their story is pretty stock standard, and while their acting is suited for the characters, it’s pretty meh. The SML is the usual cold and turn super puppy once he’s in love >_> DD’s acting is ok, but her character is just so boring >_< she’s pretty but yup, they managed to make her not pretty, boring, tired and pretty meh lol. I do get her character but uh, just relax? She always so serious, it’s tiresome after 30eps lol. Also while I love Leo, he’s a bit stiff/overact in the pouting department ?
Music: it’s great, but just watch the MV, it saves you time and make you actually like the series more than watching it, watching it might just make you hate it lawl.
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This review may contain spoilers
So as much as I love the original TMOPB, and rated it 9, I also skipped a lot of the draggy bits, yet still enchanted by the love story. I can’t say the same about this drama. Around the 30ish episode, I just feel it’s too long, too drawn out unnecessarily, and wonder when it would end! Unlike TMOPB, which I skipped so much, but the bit that I did watched was truly divine, so I forgive it. This one, I barely skip, not because it was so good that I can’t miss, but if I do, I might miss some plot development, and find myself looking at a lot of plot holes, and therefore, it’s just long.... so it gets another minus point for forcing me watching everything, to find out half of the stuffs are pointless! If you are planning to watch this, and feel the same here is the list of characters you can skip their storyline and won’t miss anything: the dark princess, thirteen (that character should not even existed! However Si-ming is such a funny character that you must watch, and because of that, you must stomach thirteen >_> Actually I’ll list who you should watch: the two leads, the 2 main supports, Si-Ming!While the chemistry between the leads are good, you don’t get a lot of those truly divine sweet moments until like the last 2 episodes =.=?! Their bed scene is as hot as YH and BQ In TMOPB, but it was short and seriously at the second last episode >_>
The drama as a whole was supposed to be 3 arcs, arc 1 = way too long, but not too bad. When Ling Xi committed suicide by throwing herself into Jiu Chen’s sword, the drama got really exciting. However, arc 2 is just long and drawn out, seriously while you are poor and don’t have money for food, yet have this peach tree that gives out so much fruit, yet you don’t even eat just 1 peach!!!! Last I check peach is very fulfilling! You can eat peach for a meal or two if you can’t afford meat/veggies/rice -.- and then arc 3, it likes there is no urgency, seriously, I got to like 57 and feel like it can just end at anytime because there is no build up to anything -.- and the last two episodes, while don’t have a rush feeling, is pretty quick at ending everything, to the point it makes no logical sense!
In TMOPB, They at least explain to you what happened: YH’s soul got shattered and took him sometimes to collect himself back together to reborn. In this? First the two leads are supposed to be in a darkness pit that they can’t be rescued out, but she did get out... 2nd, it seems he got locked inside some sort of black portal, but he somehow managed go get out???? The same portal that supposed to seal the other evil dude??? “Trust me, I’ll get out”. Last 5mins, dude appears, I know it’s a magical series but seriously, this is like The director say we must have a happy ending and making sure it happen no matter what! I’m also so annoyed with how they keep going on about Jiu Chen should not help Ling Xi while she’s human because then it makes everything moot point, yet he continually be down there, messing with it! And also her sister helped the king and in a sense, helped her get out of the first “death”, how is that not messing with fate! This series continually bit its own tongue -.-
And unlike TMOPB, while the second lead couple is decent, it’s not as pulling the heart string as the original. I went into this series without much expectation, I’m not disappointed, I just felt my time is wasted on this series. It feels even more so when I get to the end and don’t know why the series spend time on all these characters that give no real significant to the story! As in, sure, they play a key factor in propelling the story forward, but you do not need to spend more than 30mins in total with them! I’m looking at you, thirteen! By the end of the series, I can confidently say I dislike thirteen the most! What’s an utterly waste of time character that was! Designed to waste your screen time, for absolutely nothing!!!!!!
Would I recommend this series? No... I wanted a tug your heart string series, only about 2-3 times I feel that way while watching it. And if my review feels like a mess, it’s how this series feels to me, a mess! There is no real urgency, no real dramatic moment, apart from when she killed herself, it’s just blah.
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From serious to comedic synopsis with 3 eps already watch, I’m like that’s great! My first impression of the 3 eps: the female leads was naive and full of hope at first. Totally maniser (instead of womaniser), saw the first beautiful looking dude (golden fairy) and had a major crush. Following the fairy’s advice, she tried to do good deeds, unfortunately her first good deed goes against the wishes of the “supposingly good” clans, she rescued the rumoured son of the demon king, with the reason that “just because you are born evil, but if you haven’t done anything bad, you are not evil, and killing such person is just bad and against what good should be”. Because of this, the whole of Jiangho turned against her. But she sticks by him (Mo Qing), after got him to a safe place so no one can find him, she went to meet her crush without knowing he’s the one that put out the order to kill MQ. He captured her and tortured her, during the torture, she was true to herself, and wouldn’t say the whereabouts of MQ, while trying to tell him he was at fault and not her. In the end, her grandfather die protecting her. She’s then vowed to be as evil as one can be xD
Pro so far:
The story moves quite fast, the pacing is great, lots of stuffs going on. Quite a number of characters, however, it’s not hard to follow.
Refreshing female lead, which I will describe in a few words: sassy, badass, smart, caring, totally maniser lol (in a sense that she loves beautiful looking man, and this is what cause a major problem later on!) but don’t worry, apart from the male lead, she doesn’t do anything inappropriate to other guys xD!
Strong male lead that is gentle and caring, smart and let the female lead has her ways of revenges, sad knowing the sweet things she does for him is for revenges but couldn’t help be happy and all puppy about it!
Their chemistry is just believable, from a one sided crush, and one hate-you-so-much-that-I-want-to-kill-you, to remember that tenderness of love and being cared for, and actually think for the other person. I can’t wait to the point where they are openly in love with one another as it will be a love of smouldering moments xD! Their interactions and moments are enough to propel you to love them, and wanting to see more and more of them!
The fight scenes: growing up watching a lot of wuxia drama, I always look down on fantasy drama as their fight scenes are always cheap and heavily CGI, literally 1-2 kicks then boom here and boom there, and smoke everywhere. But this series actually has longer fight scenes, and when the CGI comes in, it makes sense and it has great effects and looks. One thing is they don’t show much how the female lead fight when she was evil, which I guess to not truly show how “evil and ruthless” she could be, in case haters are gonna hate, and people will use that to not try to understand her character. (You will also later on find out more the reason why this is done so).
The side characters are all different and interesting, and given just enough time, not overly filler like a lot of series out there.
Acting: everyone is spot on for their roles, I love the casting, though apart from the female lead who I’ve seen in untouchable lovers, I haven’t seen others, and they all did a great job! Minus the second female lead sometimes (she just can’t do strong and sexy role lol)
Mystery: because I haven’t read the book, figuring out what and who and why so and so happening is great for me. I was able to guess everything, and while I got it correctly, I love how they leave enough clues for me to do so :) but not many that I felt like a kids being spoon fed (maybe for the book readers it will be :) )
Con:
The second female lead’s acting is so weak, that she couldn’t demonstrate the same ranges as the female lead, and that make her character weak sometimes (like not sassy enough, not angry enough, etc). So while I get they tried to show how other see the female lead’s character, they could have use her more instead of the secondary female lead. Though this is improved as the story goes on, as more and more people see who she really is, and that lesser usage shows the difference.
Only 6 eps a week is killing me! I have waited for 1 month and I’m only at 26 eps!!! And now I have to wait 4days for new eps!
The beginning of each ep could be confusing. Initially I was like WTH, did I get the wrong episodes. Because they are 3 mins of random scenes that doesn’t connect to the end of the last episode, however, after a while, I started to like how it was done. It is to give you information to clarify an event that might happen/already happen, that if told in a traditional sense, require a lot of filler to connect it into the story. This way, it helps explaining, and condense the story. Which is a rare thing to see in c-drama!
Would I recommend this series? Definitely! It’s one of this rare drama with great different storyline and strong female lead that everyone is looking for. One reason why it isn’t as popular as it should be because the actress is relatively unknown, same as the male lead (both most noticeable work is as secondary lead for 1 well known series, hers being untouchable lovers, and his being the story of Yanxi)
For now: 10/10 for me!
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I know many feels the female lead’s acting is a bit weak, however, she plays the role of a positive ever-so-bad-luck girl perfectly, she didn’t make me feel irritated one bit when she was misunderstanding the male lead. The chemistry between the two leads are also very good, and their interactions are believable, not OTT when they accidentally hurt each other to create humour (instead we get this understanding that it was an accident and it’s actually funny if you were the insider, 1 point for being realistic instead of striving for corny moment for some extra laughs).
The bad thing about this movie is it’s a movie that try to cramp in a lot of little things: family value, perspective on your jobs, etc. and because of that, everything get touched on only. Could be great if it’s a mini series, say 3eps -10eps to flesh out the family value, outlook on life despite your horoscope, and more in-depth exploration of fengshui.
All in all, it’s still a great watch, it is what it is, a light hearted comedy, silly but fun, make you feel happier and more bubbly after watching it. Totally recommended
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A must watch that needs the assistance of FF
TLDR: While the story is lovely, the acting is wonderful from the 2 leads, and the chemistry was fire when it need to be, the drama is way too long, and has so much fillers that at time, was super boring and one needs to FF.Why it’s a must watch, yet I only can give it 8.5:
I think I watched the first 4 eps and was bored… and this was when it was first airing. I checked back again at ep 8 or 10, can’t remember and found myself do not care for the mopping demon Prince ? so while the whole world raving about it, I was meh about it. Then I got back at 26, and then it turned to be a must watch! From then on, I was glue to the airing schedule, I couldn’t wait for more. Yet I was still FF-ing ? I FF anything that isn’t the main leads, and because I didn’t want to miss the storyline, I FF the slow way, so more double speed on certain whiny characters, than jump skip and has no idea where everything is. With the amount of FF I did, I was amazed I understand everything ?
I love everything about the 2 leads, when they alone, when they are together. I kinda dislike or don’t care about the rest ?♀️ as much as I like DD as FJ, and her love story was great, the second she went down to the mortal realm, I was FF-ing ? I saw parts of it, but I wasn’t invested in it, nor I’m moved by it or feel it needed in any real sense. So minus 1 point for making me FF so much, n it was painful to FF the right amount n not missing anything crucial! Normally I would abandon the series by now because seriously, when you FF 30mins of an episode to watch 10-15mins of it, you wonder why would you bother?!!! But Mark Chao and Yang Mi were so good and addictive together that I couldn’t stop. To this day, I still haven’t watched this drama fully. I started from 26 til the end, came back from 13(?) for their mortal time together n all the way back to 26, skipping along the way.
The other 0.5 deducted point was having way too many characters I do not care for ?♀️?♀️?♀️ I do not need 5-10mins of that mopping Prince every few episodes ?♀️?♀️?♀️ I love FJ but I also don’t need so much of her either ??? nor I need to care about all these sect brothers, the servant that took her spot marrying someone ???
If you find yourself having a hard time starting this series, do start at ep26, trust me, you will love it. It started with FL jump off to end her life, and that’s interesting. You wonder why or what the ML did to her that she rather abandoned her child than being with him! And that’s also where the book starts! If you have doubts, do what I do, and you will find yourself falling in love with this drama.
PS: all these nonsense about the drama isn’t great if you skip so much or require you to skip so much, meh. Who cares?! So what if you have to abuse your FF button in order not to miss out on one of the best xianxia love story! It might not be the best due to the company wants to milk it for all its worth. But fact is it’s truly a great love story that anyone who love drama, shouldn’t miss! (And seriously many, many great xianxia out there has the same, if not more, amount of fillers!)
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The plot: I mentioned how I thought the gas idea was stupid, however, it’s only affecting one zone of Korea, not like the zombie apocalypse, so kinda like a big fire, and therefore, the story feels grounded. What adds to the grounded feeling is the main character, his action is funny, but it’s not at all done as a joke or that he’s being silly. He’s scared to death, but he thinks for his family and therefore pulls stupid stuffs that make it funny xD and yoona’s character here is really different from all other characters she played. Maybe because it’s a movie, no one can mention or did mention how pretty she is. Instead her character speaks for itself: a capable, know what’s important, and good heart girl.
So if you are going in wondering if this is worth it, I can tell you it is. If you are going in doubting the two leads, don’t be. They managed to show two characters trying their best to survive while holding on to their humanity, what make them a good person! And while at time, they are pulling some silly stuffs, to them, it’s not silly, it’s life and death. You will be pining for these two to survive, and you appreciate the humanity they display even though in doing so, they are putting themselves at death door.
Totally recommended xD
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This review may contain spoilers
Coming into this drama, i didn’t expect much, apart from it has really good production (and only watching a 1’30” trailer a year or so ago with all the wires visible!).Ep1: was slow but you can see the quality of the production, my problem was it feel sooo slow. The whole time I watched it, I have to keep remind myself it’s a wuxia, and they need to explain the conflict, and the backstory of the main character, but it was still testing my patience a lot. The music they used for the fight scene was out of place, and was taken from the flame daughter, which make me feel maybe the fighting sequence/director was the same as the flame daughter. The flame daughter fighting sequence was excellent and top notch (despite many didn’t like the drama), and the music works well there. But for this one, it is just not. The music is epic, however, the dude was fighting a bunch of minions, which doesn’t have a high and low moment of the battles, it’s just hitting, so that’s why the music was out of place. The highlight of ep1 was the kick in the fighting sequence. And then we met with a stubborn and rather stupid girl, or at least I felt the FL was just uh -.-!
Ep2: focus on the ML, his illness, FL and her sect brother, which gives a fault sense that they might develop a love story. The child actress was good, and even though her character annoys me, I like her and don’t mind seeing more of her. And the two leads meet again so soon, also recognise each other identity immediately, which is a surprise, no draw out like other series.
Ep3-5: somehow it went into hi, here are other 2-3 potential couples, here are the backstory of the father, here are more flashback of the FL (ep1 stuffs). And it just went down hill for me. Oh also, here is a 2 mins of the FL walk through a few rooms to deliver medicine to the ML, just so we can extend the drama time and showcase how beautiful the tower is. While I admit the set is beautiful, it does not make me feel like keep watching, if I want to watch beautiful stuff, i’ll Just turn on my Apple TV, let it go idol and watch earth from the space station or London from bird eyes view -.- or the Chinese farm ladder! Because of so many things being throw in, and multiple flashback (like 1 every 5-10mins), then switching between couples on top of that, it feels disjointed!
The main stuffs:
The love story between the two leads: so in ep1/2: it wasted our time trying to hunt there might be something between the oldest sect brother and the FL, just to end it with her do a pinky with the ML, hoping him to be well (at this point, it’s fine and we can put it as she has a good heart). But the second she saw him when they finally reunited, it seems that she’s totally concerned/into him >_>? No mention of the sect brother, while that sect brother seems to have another potential partner? Then why did you waste my time at the beginning with all that unnecessary dialogue and screen times???? And while I enjoy their scenes together (the FL and the ML), I just don’t feel the passion, the chemistry. He meant to be cold, but his lack of acting skill fail to demonstrate the complexity of his emotion, and her lack of character basically means two dead fishes delivering lines to one another, with the direction insert emotional cue actions so the audiences can “feel” their emotions for one another.
And this is another minus! Way too many of this! I don’t need a zoom in in the clench hand, the twitching eyes, the fluttering of the eyelashes to get what emotions the character meant to be feeling, yet I’m being spoonfed while feeling nothing from their eyes! It likes watching those daytime drama with really bad acting!
The fight scenes:
I love wuxia and love fighting sequence. I thought I would get decent one, but it’s rather a let down. Sure the production quality was good, but the sequence is too short and too simple. The only one worth while so far was the kick in ep1. The short dagger technique is too fast and therefore not really being displayed properly. For a wuxia, so far, I’m unimpressed with their fighting scene.
The female lead: for the first 5eps, she’s literally like a servant. Not a main character, a servant with a lot of flashback and screen time! She does nothing, totally useless (understandably why but still!). Her advantage? She looks a lot like ZLY. My main grip is why does she have to wear red? What’s the obsession with dressing the FL in red: the flame daughter, the legends, and now this. At least the two formal has a legitimate reason for it, and also explained in the drama. Whereas for this drama, I kid you not, in ep2, I was having a hard time figure out who’s the fl when two girls with same hairstyles and dress in practically the same clothes -.-‘
Should you give it a try? Possibly! Should you put your Hope up? Nope, possibly keep it as slow as possible. I didn’t have much expectation, only hey I might like this because it looks promising. But I come out totally not happy, but I will keep watching as I might be too hard!
If you have seen legend of qin, I think you should expect that same level. High production value, however, slow, uninteresting, with the occasional goodness, but overall, a big disappointment. At least that drama has good music, this one doesn’t >_<
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It’s a chore to watch the first 2 eps
This review is based on 2 eps, of course I’ll update it if I keep watching, if I can find the power to actually keep going!Is this a wuxia drama? No, not really. If you think the FL’s hand blocking 5-7 moves slowly (so slowly, so disjointedly that it looks more like acting than fighting!) qualify this as the greatest wuxia drama of the year, then you really need to go watch the 90s wuxia lol. In ep1, FL fights a bunch of bad guys, who is trying to kill this 1 dude, but all she did was knocked them unconscious (maybe, you see them unconscious but the number ain’t seem to come down really), or knock them away somewhere, so they proceed to kill the dude she tries to protect. So you wonder what’s the point? Or are you retarded? Like if your enemy is trying to kill, being soft just getting yourself killed? But whatever, let’s move on to ep2, where ML gets to show off his awesome kungfu skill, which show him fly up in the air, swing out his hands, and his enemies drop like flies. Again, I wouldn’t call this wuxia, I call this fantasy style fighting, where ppl just magically get defeated! All fight scenes end in like 1-3moves aren’t count as fight scenes, guys. If you claim yourself a wuxia drama, at least show us a decent fight scene.
Then we need to talk about the defying physics of the FL, she who stood on top of the bamboo tree (or some super tall tree, at least 3m, I’m being generous here, more like 5m, but let’s say 3m), talking to lowbies on the ground. Not only we see the trees sway like crazy, she stands perfectly still! Amazing kungfu! She’s not on the tree, she’s actually hovering up in the air! We also see how she can converse normally with those lowbies, who are at least 3m below her, without looking at them, or raising her voice, they can still converse normally like they are next to each other. Amazing kungfu those lowbies have! Pity they used their kungfu in the wrong area (strengthen their hearing instead of their fighting skills >_>). Or my ears just got that bad from wearing headphones! That I’m having trouble hearing ppls about 2m away if I’m in a forest with so much winds and leaves rubbing against each other sound, and I’m facing away from them!
Do the characters follow the book? I don’t care, and I doubt the leads’ fandoms care lawl. Do their costumes look bad, and not suitable for the S+ title the drama was supposed to have due to the amount of money invested in it? No, because they supposed to be jianghu ppl, they meant to dress simple. So I’m actually fine with their costumes. Do they have chemistry? To me, no. I’m baffling with the way they interact with each other. They were supposed to know each other for a very long time. FL seems to look down/dislike ML because he’s scheming and she doesn’t necessarily trust him. Yet next moment, if she gets the chance, she tries to play cutesie with him 0.o and those cutesie moments are forced, and not natural. Not only that, for someone who know each other a long time, I’m expecting funny banter now and then, instead I got nothing but bland, long winded dialogue that make me don’t want to read the subtitles. Or at least it questions whether I would like this series more if I don’t have to spend effort in reading and trying to understand where it’s going. If I know Chinese, I could have it on the background, and therefore enjoy it more?
TLDR: if you are a fan of either of these two, you MIGHT like it. If you are not, you won’t lol! And if you do, good on you! Nothing to drive home about this drama, at least based on the first 2 eps.
PS: spare me the whole you must give it 10eps, before it gets good! Some other series is either half way through by ep10 or near finish by then lol!
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The lead actress’s acting is overdone in a lot of scenes, the lead actor - meh >_> lacking the charisma, so far, the god of night was the only one stand out. plus the usual tropes in literally every scene -.-
I felt increasing bored as the minute goes on. Too much yapping, music is forgettable, the ending theme song has this kinda annoying voice but good backtrack, though I wouldn’t sticking around to finish hearing that song either. CGI is kinda bad, not great details, maybe if you have no life and could sit there to watch another 10hrs for it to get better, then give it a try?
For people who have watched a lot of xianxia/wuxia series, it is nothing they haven’t seen before
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