A REALLY GOOD DRAMA, a heroic drama yet touching with a wisdom

Burning Flames is really soaring high on the list of my FAVORITE DRAMA

As someone who watched both the anime and the drama, I dare to give 10 points to this drama, it's so well-executed!!!  I think I will write a long essay, so please bear with me.

To be honest, I underestimated this drama a little because it is an adaptation of a big IP anime (we can see that it needs a lot of cg, the anime is complicated with many characters, how can they execute it) and the drama production team is from Thousand Years For You (I was a little disappointed with that drama), but all those worries were blown away by the quality of the drama. Burning Flames. IT IS REALLY A GOOD DRAMA.

The drama is presented very well, I can't say anything else about the extraordinary CG, cinematography, and editing that is like an anime/comic, as if the anime/comic came out in a real life, plus cool fighting scenes and good color grading as well as a great ost which makes watching this drama feel exciting and you don't want to miss even a single scene.

Kudos to the script-writer for writing such a good, detailed, well-written script, and well-written characters. Burning Flames presents a solid story from start to finish, a heroic anime story, which has been successfully developed into a story which is of course heroic, but also touching, beautiful, and which definitely provides a very strong moral message for the audience, "you must control your fate, you can find your own path, only by surviving can there be hope", I think that is the rope that holds the story together from beginning to the end, until finally Wu Geng and his friends managed to win. Each arc is a moment of character development for the cast, for Wu Geng, Bai Cai and friends. Not a single arc is zero, they are written in great detail and have the goal of achieving something, to gain somethig, becoming stronger, becoming more unified.

All the characters are written very well from beginning to end, every character in this drama is written very very brilliantly, details and will shine in their own way. So, it's not only Wu Geng story, but it's also their story. Without misunderstandings, there is only work together to achieve one common goal until the end of their lives that make our hearts, the audience, also break when these heroes die. Including the villains are also written in a good way, Xinyue Kui's love which turns out to be just a futile obsession and Heilong who destroys the universe just for the person he loves, they are villains but they also feel very miserable, which also makes us feel touched and of course  makes us cry.

Wu Geng, the main character is very very well written, even better than the original anime/manga. The team changed his character in the drama, the anime version he is more arrogant and cocky (at first), but in the drama even though he is a little arrogant and impulsive but from the first day he was a benevolent prince, ready to fight for his people. Wu Geng's relationship with his parents is also changed in the drama version, and needs to be given a thumbs up, because their excellent relationship (which is very touching) is a reminder of Wu Geng's motivation that he must continue his father's legacy to save his people (this is also slightly different from the anime/bcs Wu Geng relationship with his dad wasn't good, in the anime there's a part where he does this to take revenge on his parents, but not for Wu Geng in the drama, he does it for the peace of the world, his Dad's dream for the people). Wu Geng's character growth is extraordinary, from being a spoiled prince, he had to survive as a slave, understanding the suffering of the people, had a hard training in Shenyin's tribe, gained comrades in every place, until finally he was able to show his charisma as a leader, the chosen one, the real god of war of the human race. A character who never gives up, smart, strong, and kind (who wouldn't fall for him). Until the end, even though he was considered the right leader for the 3 realms, he still humbly rejected it, and preferred to travel around the world looking for his lover, because he loved Bai Cai, because she was his home, but he would always be ready to help the world peace. I also like the change in the story of Agou, Agou in the anime is an ordinary human, but in the drama it is changed to a shell created by the Wu Geng mother to save her child (the detail is amazing). And as always, we need to praise Ren Jialun's acting a lot in this drama, because he managed to present a very expressive character, from sad, happy, angry, cheeky, gentle, even a cute, silly and innocent Agou. And we need to talk about Ren Jialun's chemistry with every of his co-stars, even with child-stars. It's really amazing. He's really a good actor.

Bai Cai is a very weak character in the anime, but was successfully transformed into a strong character in the drama with her cheerful strength, kind heart and of course Crystal Glory, who always accompanies wugeng/agou wherever and whenever they are. It is really match with Xing Fei's sunny character. I really like the addition of Crystal Glory details to Baicai, because she is one of the key contributions and links from what happened 100,000 years ago to the war in the final. Her tacit understanding with Wu Geng is also very good, she understands and accepts Wu Geng/Agou as its form, whoever it is, and will never stop being Wu Geng's support system, bein Wu Geng's home.

The relationship between Wu Geng and Bai Cai, I think it's really beautiful, a healthy relationship, without misunderstanding, always discussing everything together, "wherever you go, I'll follow". They are each other's home. Bai Cai has no family and Agao is his home, while Wu Geng lost his family and he met Bai Cai who kindly helped him, supported him, was willing to protect him, endured Wu Geng's tantrums, until she succeeded in making Wu Geng fall in love and she is his home now, "whatever happens, I will always protect you forever."  The mutual trust and understanding of this couple is extraordinary.  So every time they part, we can feel the pain they feel and every time they meet again we can feel the touching butterfly effect (it's not a romance drama, but I do feel their romance, their relationship, their bond is very strong, once again bravo to the scriptwriter). And I can say that Ren Jialun and Xing Fei's chemistry in this second collaboration is truly extraordinary, is very good, is very beautiful.

A Lan (I fall so hard for this girl), if everyone has 2nd ML syndrome, I have 2nd FL syndrome.  I love her character so much. She who was previously cold in the anime, was changed to a character who (although also cold) is also an ordinary woman who likes a man, and will very sincerely protect him, not only because Wu Geng is her mission, her disciple, but also a man who really she loved. She will do everything to keep the person she loved safe and happy, even though she won't be able to be with him and she knows there is no place to ask for love because she believes that love between humans and gods is a curse and she knows Wu Geng loves Bai Cai, if she expresses her love, him will also be hurt more. Silent and unrequited love is indeed a very beautiful love story and I always fall into its pit. And what's more, Ren Jialun and Zhu Xudan's chemistry is insanee, just when their eyes met each other, there is a spark of feeling that cannot be expressed. Ren Jialun was able to portrays his adore, respect and care to his shifu, while Zhu Xudan was really good at portraying her love in silence. "I will protect you even if I die" and she really did, protecting Wu Geng until the end of her life. I cried so hard when she's gone.

If talking about each character (though I really want to do it) would be very long, Nitian Erxing, Ziyu shushu, Shi Xing and also every couple in this drama is also written very well and touches the hearts of the viewers. Plus the family relationship between Wu Geng itself and his parents, Chen Jing and Zha Zha, Lilt Dragonfly and her father, also shows the value of human's relationships with our family and the people we love.

The end of the story, I'll say that the last 4 episodes are the best episodes, feelings of sadness, destruction, pride, happiness, all mixed together. So devastated to see Wu Geng's dearest ones fighting until the end of their lives with their beliefs that they would win. Proud because of all the work they worked hard on, they finally won, they gained their freedom. Sad to see Wu Geng once again lost his beloved one, Bai Cai. Happy, because I know Wu Geng managed to find Bai Cai in the end (I know that they will live a happy life now, though actually I want to see their hug even just 1 in the ending).  Even though Wu Geng lost many of his loved ones, he still upholds all the moral messages left by them and will always maintain the world peace. Burning Flames really has a GOOD ENDING. It's also not a rush ending, because they show how good the life of each tribe is, how beautiful life will be after they gain freedom and peace.

I still want to talk about a lot of things, but it will get longer. Burning Flames team aims to give a moral message to the audience, and I agree that there are many moral messages with much wisdom, that we can take from this drama, never give up, we control our destiny, if there's a will there's a way, if we become leaders put people first, we have to protect our loved ones and so on. It's really nice, beautiful, heroic yet touching drama.

This drama is included in the ranks of the best dramas on my list, I do love this drama so much. Congratulations Burning Flames, I'm proud to have been a part of your journey. I will miss you guys so much, our HEROES ♡

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Healing Couple

Finally I finished watching Twilight…

Twilight actually is a rare genre, talks about psychology a lot. Both the leads are healing each other. It’s also like a slice of life drama, because mostly it’s talking about life, how to survive from struggle, how to be strong, how to stand up again, how to choose a choice, how to handle fear, and others. The things that I love from the drama is its quotes, it.s warm, it’s healing, it gives much motivation for me. The focus is not about romance, but about healing and warmth. The romance is really really ligght.

About the healing couple, love how the leads have their own pain background story, death, accident, betrayal, loneliness, fear, trauma, and others. For the male lead, because he ever betrayed and lived in loneliness, he doesn’t want other people that he loved feel his experience, so he will always treasure a relationship, has a principle “no deception - no abandonment”, instead of live in sorrow, he lives full of energy as bright as sunshine, gives ray of light to everyone around him, especially to the one he loves, Liu Xia, and always kind to every one. He also a genius writer who is very expressive, creative and narcissist. I appreciate Ren Jialun’s acting so much. He can express Shanshan as brigght, cute, nerdy, weird, talkative, funny and adorable boy. For the female leads, she lives in a deep trauma as she lost his mother and recuperate as a good psychology conseulor. She’s so kind and so calm in handling everything, and mostly gives many motivation to people around her. She thinks that she doesn’t deserve to be loved, yet Shanshan entering her life and becomes her light in her dark tunnel. Love how the couple always talk about their daily life through movie, food, or just sitting together (the romance in this drama is super light, like showing casual couple daily life). I do like their story so much, a childhood online friends, without knowing each other, suddenly live in one roof, bickering cutely, healing each other, feeling comfortable and become a couple, and finally they know that they’re chilhood online friends, it’s a fate (yeah frm the screenwriter :D). And I also love how Shanshan interprets people around her as characters in the story, and actually the characters in the story are connected with the real characterd in real life, jealous and villain Jia Zhen, villain Yang Youli, sad boy Bai Muchen and so on.. The 3 stories too are interesting, it will be great if these 3 become a real drama, especially Zhen Hai and Luo Cheng story. I also want to appreciate Angelababy bcause her acting is really improving in this drama, you worked hard. The villainns, ML has one also FL has one, and both are annoying, Jia Zhen and Yang Youli, until the end they will be villains, and actually their annoying character is a representation in a real life, for example Jia Zhen's case that in this life jealousy is exist, from brother/family to enemy, also from Yang Youli's case, an obsessive of loving someone, linked with his mental health, loving can be hating. The good thing is Shanshan will be kind till the end, even Jia Zhen did many dirty things to him, it shows about his principle in life to be good person, will always be good till the end and the way Shanshan will protect Liu Xia “I won’t give up on her” when her trauma disorder is back, it's really touching.

Cons from this drama are too many episode, too many side characters, and the side characters take too much screentime, it makes the leads barely show up on the screen, so somehow it feels litl bit boring. It will be really great if they give more focus to the leads. I also feel, it has some loopholes and missing some details. Also the ending, actually I don’t like the ending, we need a bright ending because the last episodes are so depressive, and feel like everything is not real.. Ren Jialun in his Twilight live mentioned, that it's viewer's choice to accept the ending, it can be Shanshan's script telling about their story but also can't (the real writer), because life is all about choice.

The ost also really good, I especially love the ost by Zhang Yuan, love the mellow melody and the sad n warm lyric. The cnematography of this drama also good, remind me of Ren Jialun’s another modern drama, Forever and Ever, just the color is brighter.

Conclusion, this drama is good, it gives a warm sensation, a healing, a support that everything in this life will be okay, it will be a special drama for me, bcs I love the warmth from the story. Also I never expect that the combination between Ren Jialun ang Yang Ying will be this great, it’s so nice and warm seeing them together in this drama.

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The chemistry is there, just lack of romance story

This drama in my opinion is in okay level, because I'm still enjoying this drama and just do some skipped (not that much), the story actually interesting, but it's more into adventurous story rather than a romance. For me the story is so good until eps 23, but after that it goes downhill, I was expecting more romance after their confession, but they're entering another adventurous plot. The LY's vice general story is too long (almost 10 eps) and too many conversation than action on it, which is so bored (I did many skipped in here)

Many people said there's no chemistry, but on me, the problem is not in the chemistry because I did feel the chemistry between the leads, I could feel the sparks of their love from their eyes. As if there's no chemistry because the story is lack of romance, the romance parts are so minimalize, even the minimum barrier romance movement fr LY, for ex caressing ydd's cheek wasn't there), like the team just focusing on the plot plot plot, their adventure story, rather than the romance (when our expectation with title "Thousand Years For You" is a romance thing and so xianxia thing), also the xianxia that they made was more focusing on mysterious, solving problem with LY + villain ZR's great power, rather than a melodramatic xianxia, LY n YDD's love story through millenia. I can say that the story is not what I expected.

Anddd so manyy plot holes, so many deleted scenes, so the editing felt so messy. So many romance scenes got deleted (they're on the trailer, video promotion, bts and daipai, but they're not seen in the finalization). Actually, even RJL himself said, he liked many parts that in the end were not finalize on the drama. The biggest hole for me is when YDD suddenly in love again and accepting LY as her husband when she's angry and refusing him, around eps 18, I'm sure, the team deleting something.

For the acting, I did feel a litl bit disappointed, but after understanding more about LY's character and fr RJL's interview, I forgive him. He said LY was a difficult character, he's an overbearing, a calm and a composed man, also didn't have exaggerated and outgoing personality, so he could only use expression with minimum movement, which is make us feel that his acting is so stiff (not RJL as usual). For YDD many people said she's annoying, but I don't think she's that annoying, because out there, there're so many female leads that more annoying than her (LY and YDD's acting's effect also influenced by their dubbing)

And for the dubbing. LY and YDD are like a contrast, north pole and south pole, one is too flat who is LY and one is too powerful who is YDD. The dubbing really influencing their acting quality. With the minimum movement of LY and RJL's flat dubbing, his LY character becomes stiffer, not natural, as if lack in emotion. RJL's dubbing in modern dramas are acceptable, but for historical drama he needs to do more, need to improving, he needs to gives more attention to his vocal's power and intonation. Also with the powerful voice fr YDD, it makes YDD more exaggerated. It's okay, both are not professional dubber and actually they tried their best and they're challenging themselves, so I'll wait for their improvement.

Conclusion, we're cheated by the title and the genre that they mentioned. The title is so romance and they said it's also romance, but we can only see few of their romance. I think Thousand Years For You needs to change the genre to adventure, mystery, and not romance. Take a note, I still do enjoying this drama, because I love fantasy and solving thing, so I was always curious for what would happen next, just disappointed with the lack of romance story. Also how the team making this drama as if in hurry, it could be seen from the editing quality, plot holes, many deleted scenes. Btw, the ost and their costume reallyy gooddddd..... I love all the osts and I love every costume that LY and YDD wore.

Ren Jialun and Li Qin really look so good together, their visual really outstanding. They deserve to reunite again with a better script and better team :")

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