Because I am a twin, this drama now has a special place in my heart.
I have never seen a drama that featured twin sisters like this, and I just adored them. These two remind me so much of the relationship I have with my sister (to the point where members of our family get jealous of our connection, too! Shaodian and Chaofeng: I know, it's hard. 😉). She is the person who will always be there for me, and who I can always count on to say what I need to hear and support me no matter what. It was lovely to see that kind of relationship portrayed on screen. I also loved watching the way the men in their lives all had to learn to put up with each other because there's no separating these two, and they know it. 😉 I wish everyone had a twin--they're just the best!
It did make me laugh out loud at points, and one particularly cathartic moment was near the end (comedy is very thin on the ground in the last 8 episodes, so be warned) after they establish who gets the worst dad award in the four realms (more on that below 😏); Qingheng then defends Youchin to Di Lanjue (who just said something negative about Youchin) as being "one hundred times better than me... except--" he pauses, and begrudgingly admits that the only problem is Youchin keeps forgetting his memories. Lanjue pounces on this by quipping back, "Yeah, so much for being the most powerful being! It doesn't do anyone any good when he keeps losing his memories at all the most crucial moments!" After quite a few episodes of SAD (which sounds typical of the genre from what I've seen), this was a little breath of fresh air that reminded me I was still watching Starry Love.
But speaking of Youchin losing his memories... while I tend to find amnesia tropes deeply frustrating, after the torture of watching it in this drama, I was won over by the ML's ability to take all the various Youchins he portrayed to eventually make someone quite endearing and beloved. These were my favorite episodes (the ones with all the Youchins combined into one). It was at this point that I was sold on his character (though his selfless nature is admirable from the start). I loved the FL and ML's antics in the Heavenly Realm during their dating era. 😏
But it was the FL who I adored. Not only is her character super fun and entertaining to watch, she brings something fresh to the FL persona. She didn't feel plasticky or stiff, relying on her jaw-dropping, plastic-surgery-looks to sell her character (in fact, her more natural beauty was in stark contrast to some other characters' looks, which was painful to observe); instead she had genuinely fabulous acting. She has to be one of my favorite FLs I've seen in a drama to date.
I also loved the mirroring of the FLs with their love interests: the 2FL is paired with a guy who is a male version of her sister: mischievous, a little slippery, plucky, inventive, and deeply loyal. The FL is paired with the male version of her sister: gentle, steady, selfless to a fault, good-hearted, and always there for those who need them (the rock that holds fast in the storm). The banter between all four were some of my favorite parts.
Thankfully I was prepped on the ending and it didn't crush my soul. In fact, the very, very end was actually quite light-hearted and delivered in such a way that made it hard to feel sad. It's a hopeful ending, if nothing else.
P.S. I also think they missed out on an opportunity at the end for Chaofeng to call Youchin "Old 7th." Iykyk
P.P.S. If you want a relatively angst-free version of this drama, watch up to about twelve minutes into Episode 32, you'll get a very happy sense of closure and avoid all the sad episodes that follow. You won't have the twin flower arc resolved, but it features almost zero in the plot up to that point so I doubt you'll miss it (unless you don't mind sad stuff).
P.P.P.S. Want to know who gets the title of "Most Detestable Father Of The Four Realms"? Keep reading:
They're so much in love 😍😍Their chemistry was awesome, And ml's sister and best friend their story was hilarious…
I thought so, too!
The ML's sister's story and the ML's best friend was so cringe, hilarious and also kind of my favorite. 😅 He wouldn't be the first guy who matured through taking responsibility for where he dropped his sperm on a whim. 😉
But outside of Kdramaland, most guys who are like him won't change that drastically so marrying him is probably not a good idea, even though it's the traditional approach because he is the baby's father. Might be better off staying single so she doesn't end up taking care of two infants! 😂
Why is it taking a million years and a million episodes to revive Shaodian Youqin?!?!?! This is driving me nuts. I can't enjoy her little dalliances with the soul shards because they're not anyone real. 😭 Good grief! Can't believe I signed up for this torture. 🙄
The biggest stain on her career”? 😂 How funny, considering My Demon wasn’t just a ratings hit it’s still…
This person you responded to just lurks around and writes comments that try to get people fired up and angry. Not someone that can be reasoned with (at least from my observation of several years on this site; they're not here to discuss but merely to spread negativity). Your time and thoughtful explanations are wasted on them.
This drama had such a promising beginning which makes it even sadder they couldn’t maintain that momentum 😥
Kdramas have been having this problem more and more, too, like no one can be bothered to give writers time to write a decent story from beginning to end, they all nosedive in the second half. I think they think we're all mindless consumers who don't care abiut the story as long as we get our eye candy. But some of us DO care. 😖
I saw a happy ending. Others have seen it as bittersweet / open. It does get very sad near the end.
It ends like other fantasy dramas where the leads get separated because one of them dies, but then the one that dies gets reincarnated and they meet again in the last few minutes of the last episode, hinting that love will reignite again. It's not my favorite type of Kdrama ending, because the reincarnated version of the lead is not the same person, so it's like starting over. 🤨
I enjoyed it, and LOVED the music. The acting is great, and I get why it's a classic, but the ending honestly kind of ticked me off (it has similarities to the ending of Splash Splash Love or Hotel De Luna, if you've seen those). I haven't been able to watch the entire drama again because of it, just snippets from parts I liked.
Well, I officially made it through my first xianxia!
I've tried some others (LBFAD, TTEOTM, and a few I can't remember off the top of my head), and I just couldn't do it. Too much suffering, agony (to the point where it feels mildly sadistic), reincarnation and so much visually that isn't grounded in a real-feeling world, with excessive use of CG to create the world. The world-building would also be quite confusing and difficult to follow, with a lot of exposition and experience with the genre in order to access it (sometimes wuxia is similar in this respect), but not so with this drama. I also can only take so much of this kind of misery (and confusing world-building) paired with insufferable leads who have a lot of growing to do--I must have one or the other, or I don't have the patience to deal. 😅 But in this, I could root for these leads almost immediately as they were goodhearted people. They were still interesting because they had to struggle with this tension of doing their duty while loving someone they shouldn't, and that was sufficient angst for me. I was hooked to see how they dilemma would be solved. (I'm not usually a big fan of noble idiocy, but this had one of the most convincing reasons, I've seen, and it was a perfectly valid explanation for why Xingzhi doesn't bother to cancel the engagement after it's clear no one involved wants it to continue).
There was obviously a decent amount of VFX in this, too, but this one was beautifully and more convincingly filmed (in terms of realism) compared to others I've seen clips from. The only parts that lacked were the battles in front of Xutian Abyss where it looked like they got 50 extras to represent an "army" (and the contrast of extras to actors feels particularly acute when you've got stunningly beautiful actors playing leads or support roles next to very average, normal-looking background characters whose faces leave no impression on you by comparison).
I also liked that Xingzhi was consistently powerful, and the limits of his power were never fears that he'd lose battles but rather that he'd drop his responsibilities. I found that interesting to watch as he struggled with this growing tension.
More than other FLs, the actress playing Shen Li was a convincing warrior, with the focus and intensity to pull her off; I was completely immersed in the person she was supposed to be, and she made all her powers look like they naturally flowed from her small but mighty body.
I also liked that there was no amnesia, no starting over or forgetting, no reincarnated versions of the main leads, etc. so that I could watch the leads' progression from start to finish as themselves.
@PeachBlossomGoddess's review was a good introduction to what I could expect, and I particularly agreed with it on two accounts: it was a delight to watch as someone new to the genre (literally have nothing to compare it to), and the mortal realm arc where they "fell in love" felt a bit... incomplete? Rushed? The leads make their love convincing from the end of the mortal arc onwards, but I did wonder what made them fall for each other? It just felt like their connection was not strong enough to form the basis of a deep devotion that would stand the tests they face later, but after ShenLi defended You Know Who as he lay dying, I never looked back to question. 😅
The BGMs were hauntingly beautiful at points, and overall this was a feast for the senses. It does seem like the villain managed to squeak by till the end for much too long. If you think about it hard enough, he should never have stood a chance, but they made it work on the surface, so, again, I didn't delve too deeply.
So! I enjoyed this, and it made me cautiously optimistic that some dramas of this genre might be palatable to me moving forward if I curate my choices carefully. 😏
At Episode 9. Putting my observation in a spoiler comment:
Lin Geng Xin does a great job playing a different persona as a god versus his mortal self. It was honestly hard to imagine him as anything but a clever mortal because he just never looked capable of being anything other than what he seemed. He was obviously clever, playful, and inexplicably gifted, but he also just felt like a pretty nonchalant, ordinary dude. Perhaps it's that responsibility does not weigh on his shoulders, and it shows.
But once he plays a god, there's just a kind of gravitas to the role, a weightiness to his glance and demeanor, that makes him feel like someone you do NOT mess with. The shift is subtle, but it's there.
It's also obvious he's 100% Xing Yun. He's not so different from his mortal self to feel like an entirely different person, but the same time he's obviously Shen Li's beloved (since he's been back as a god, he's been very proactive in being near his beloved. 😅 Everyone's so shocked by his shift in behavior; he was so checked out bedore becoming mortal, and now he's suddenly so involved, haha). The little twist about him accidentally being responsible for her betrothal was also kind of hilarious.
Is there anything similar in plot to this but without any Romance? really don't enjoy romantic Kdramas but I want…
Extraordinary You, but it had romance and is about high schoolers. Perhaps the Cdrama Reset? It's not a comic book world but they get stuck in a time loop, so the sci-fi element feels kind of similar (light on the romance).
In Cdrama Guardians of The Dafeng, the ML gets pulled into a video game, but he never goes back and forth between them. What's similar is him adjusting to the video game world (though I guess it's similar to a time-travel drama, but there's martial arts/magic so that gives it the fantasy feel that's KIND of sinilar to W). Those are the closest I can think of that I've seen!
ML and 2FL had more chemistry. and in the end he ends up with 1FL. ngl 1FL is more of 2FL. that's why it's scored…
I thought the ending was ridiculous and over-the-top. I think the weird ending and the frustrations with the FL over 2FL made people rate this low. The first half was really fun and unique, though!
Yep, it took a weird nosedive. And sad, too, because the first half was so fun! The ML's skills were ridiculous from the start but it would have been enough to stomach such fantastical doctor powers only if they didn't send it off the rails into further weirdness near the end. 😅
I have never seen a drama that featured twin sisters like this, and I just adored them. These two remind me so much of the relationship I have with my sister (to the point where members of our family get jealous of our connection, too! Shaodian and Chaofeng: I know, it's hard. 😉). She is the person who will always be there for me, and who I can always count on to say what I need to hear and support me no matter what. It was lovely to see that kind of relationship portrayed on screen. I also loved watching the way the men in their lives all had to learn to put up with each other because there's no separating these two, and they know it. 😉 I wish everyone had a twin--they're just the best!
It did make me laugh out loud at points, and one particularly cathartic moment was near the end (comedy is very thin on the ground in the last 8 episodes, so be warned) after they establish who gets the worst dad award in the four realms (more on that below 😏); Qingheng then defends Youchin to Di Lanjue (who just said something negative about Youchin) as being "one hundred times better than me... except--" he pauses, and begrudgingly admits that the only problem is Youchin keeps forgetting his memories. Lanjue pounces on this by quipping back, "Yeah, so much for being the most powerful being! It doesn't do anyone any good when he keeps losing his memories at all the most crucial moments!" After quite a few episodes of SAD (which sounds typical of the genre from what I've seen), this was a little breath of fresh air that reminded me I was still watching Starry Love.
But speaking of Youchin losing his memories... while I tend to find amnesia tropes deeply frustrating, after the torture of watching it in this drama, I was won over by the ML's ability to take all the various Youchins he portrayed to eventually make someone quite endearing and beloved. These were my favorite episodes (the ones with all the Youchins combined into one). It was at this point that I was sold on his character (though his selfless nature is admirable from the start). I loved the FL and ML's antics in the Heavenly Realm during their dating era. 😏
But it was the FL who I adored. Not only is her character super fun and entertaining to watch, she brings something fresh to the FL persona. She didn't feel plasticky or stiff, relying on her jaw-dropping, plastic-surgery-looks to sell her character (in fact, her more natural beauty was in stark contrast to some other characters' looks, which was painful to observe); instead she had genuinely fabulous acting. She has to be one of my favorite FLs I've seen in a drama to date.
I also loved the mirroring of the FLs with their love interests: the 2FL is paired with a guy who is a male version of her sister: mischievous, a little slippery, plucky, inventive, and deeply loyal. The FL is paired with the male version of her sister: gentle, steady, selfless to a fault, good-hearted, and always there for those who need them (the rock that holds fast in the storm). The banter between all four were some of my favorite parts.
Thankfully I was prepped on the ending and it didn't crush my soul. In fact, the very, very end was actually quite light-hearted and delivered in such a way that made it hard to feel sad. It's a hopeful ending, if nothing else.
P.S. I also think they missed out on an opportunity at the end for Chaofeng to call Youchin "Old 7th." Iykyk
P.P.S. If you want a relatively angst-free version of this drama, watch up to about twelve minutes into Episode 32, you'll get a very happy sense of closure and avoid all the sad episodes that follow. You won't have the twin flower arc resolved, but it features almost zero in the plot up to that point so I doubt you'll miss it (unless you don't mind sad stuff).
P.P.P.S. Want to know who gets the title of "Most Detestable Father Of The Four Realms"? Keep reading:
The ML's sister's story and the ML's best friend was so cringe, hilarious and also kind of my favorite. 😅 He wouldn't be the first guy who matured through taking responsibility for where he dropped his sperm on a whim. 😉
But outside of Kdramaland, most guys who are like him won't change that drastically so marrying him is probably not a good idea, even though it's the traditional approach because he is the baby's father. Might be better off staying single so she doesn't end up taking care of two infants! 😂
Why is it taking a million years and a million episodes to revive Shaodian Youqin?!?!?! This is driving me nuts. I can't enjoy her little dalliances with the soul shards because they're not anyone real. 😭 Good grief! Can't believe I signed up for this torture. 🙄
I can't take this dragged out much more, Show. 😫
I enjoyed it, and LOVED the music. The acting is great, and I get why it's a classic, but the ending honestly kind of ticked me off (it has similarities to the ending of Splash Splash Love or Hotel De Luna, if you've seen those). I haven't been able to watch the entire drama again because of it, just snippets from parts I liked.
Those are my hints without spoiling. 😉
I've tried some others (LBFAD, TTEOTM, and a few I can't remember off the top of my head), and I just couldn't do it. Too much suffering, agony (to the point where it feels mildly sadistic), reincarnation and so much visually that isn't grounded in a real-feeling world, with excessive use of CG to create the world. The world-building would also be quite confusing and difficult to follow, with a lot of exposition and experience with the genre in order to access it (sometimes wuxia is similar in this respect), but not so with this drama. I also can only take so much of this kind of misery (and confusing world-building) paired with insufferable leads who have a lot of growing to do--I must have one or the other, or I don't have the patience to deal. 😅 But in this, I could root for these leads almost immediately as they were goodhearted people. They were still interesting because they had to struggle with this tension of doing their duty while loving someone they shouldn't, and that was sufficient angst for me. I was hooked to see how they dilemma would be solved. (I'm not usually a big fan of noble idiocy, but this had one of the most convincing reasons, I've seen, and it was a perfectly valid explanation for why Xingzhi doesn't bother to cancel the engagement after it's clear no one involved wants it to continue).
There was obviously a decent amount of VFX in this, too, but this one was beautifully and more convincingly filmed (in terms of realism) compared to others I've seen clips from. The only parts that lacked were the battles in front of Xutian Abyss where it looked like they got 50 extras to represent an "army" (and the contrast of extras to actors feels particularly acute when you've got stunningly beautiful actors playing leads or support roles next to very average, normal-looking background characters whose faces leave no impression on you by comparison).
I also liked that Xingzhi was consistently powerful, and the limits of his power were never fears that he'd lose battles but rather that he'd drop his responsibilities. I found that interesting to watch as he struggled with this growing tension.
More than other FLs, the actress playing Shen Li was a convincing warrior, with the focus and intensity to pull her off; I was completely immersed in the person she was supposed to be, and she made all her powers look like they naturally flowed from her small but mighty body.
I also liked that there was no amnesia, no starting over or forgetting, no reincarnated versions of the main leads, etc. so that I could watch the leads' progression from start to finish as themselves.
@PeachBlossomGoddess's review was a good introduction to what I could expect, and I particularly agreed with it on two accounts: it was a delight to watch as someone new to the genre (literally have nothing to compare it to), and the mortal realm arc where they "fell in love" felt a bit... incomplete? Rushed? The leads make their love convincing from the end of the mortal arc onwards, but I did wonder what made them fall for each other? It just felt like their connection was not strong enough to form the basis of a deep devotion that would stand the tests they face later, but after ShenLi defended You Know Who as he lay dying, I never looked back to question. 😅
The BGMs were hauntingly beautiful at points, and overall this was a feast for the senses. It does seem like the villain managed to squeak by till the end for much too long. If you think about it hard enough, he should never have stood a chance, but they made it work on the surface, so, again, I didn't delve too deeply.
So! I enjoyed this, and it made me cautiously optimistic that some dramas of this genre might be palatable to me moving forward if I curate my choices carefully. 😏
But once he plays a god, there's just a kind of gravitas to the role, a weightiness to his glance and demeanor, that makes him feel like someone you do NOT mess with. The shift is subtle, but it's there.
It's also obvious he's 100% Xing Yun. He's not so different from his mortal self to feel like an entirely different person, but the same time he's obviously Shen Li's beloved (since he's been back as a god, he's been very proactive in being near his beloved. 😅 Everyone's so shocked by his shift in behavior; he was so checked out bedore becoming mortal, and now he's suddenly so involved, haha). The little twist about him accidentally being responsible for her betrothal was also kind of hilarious.
Brilliant work on the actor's part!
In Cdrama Guardians of The Dafeng, the ML gets pulled into a video game, but he never goes back and forth between them. What's similar is him adjusting to the video game world (though I guess it's similar to a time-travel drama, but there's martial arts/magic so that gives it the fantasy feel that's KIND of sinilar to W). Those are the closest I can think of that I've seen!
W is pretty unique in this respect, I suppose! 😅