Firebreathinglady

THE MOST TOP TIER OF MASTERPIECES I HAVE EVER HAD THE FORTUNE TO WITNESS

I.... I have no words.
I started watching this because it looked pretty cool on Netflix and I quite like Ju Jingyi, didn't really have much expectations or thoughts. But HOLY MOLY. I don't actually remember the last time I cried so hard watching a drama. But this show- this show has it all (and then some).

On no planet or timeline could I ever have been prepared for this show. The story, the plot twists, the characters, the music. I have absolutely zero notes.

Don't get me wrong, there were many moments that I thought to myself "wtf is going on" but HOLY SHIT who thought of this story?? Who's the creative genius?? (I know who it is). The show is just one of those that you just bare with, because absolutely everything will be explained. I loved that watching this drama felt like reading a great book where not everything is directly handed to you on a platter but trusts the audience to understand and interpret it.

I can't even begin to describe the beauty that was this story and these characters- I'm gonna be thinking about Ji Ling for a very, VERY long time. And Tian Jiarui... the BEAUTY that you are!! I've never seen TJR in anything before but Jesus. First of all, I didn't know an actor could cry so much (and I've seen that as a criticism for the show, but if you understand the character of Ji Ling and his story, it's really not that hard to fathom just why he's so sad) but I think TJR did an incredible job here. I love his smile, I love his more puppy playful side, I love his serious yet sad 'dragon god' stare, and most of all I love the way he looks at his 'A Wu', the new moon that only he can see.

Extra special mention here for the A Wu the fox plushy. Thank you because I will always cry every time I think about how she has been his A Wu this whole time.

I've only ever seen Ju Jingyi in one other show before and I didn't think her acting was all that. Nonetheless she is beyond gorgeous, and my WORD was Lu Wuyi THE character for her. JJY absolutely thrived in this role and you can really tell. She was casted perfectly, and in many shots, you truly can picture and believe that she is genuinely a fox. And it is definitely believable that Wuyi loves Ji Ling as much as he loves her. I think many dramas I've seen, typically the guy ends up paying heavier prices to show how much he loves the girl, but rarely have I seen the girl paying the price just as hard. The time-travel arc absolutely broke me. No words.

And honestly, all the other side characters were perfection too. I really enjoyed Wangyan & Shiguang's love story, loved that they had to play a married couple which paved the way to them becoming a real couple. And lord I was most confused about Li jie/Yuan Wuwuo's storyline the most - but it was also really satisfying when I finally understood! Loved loved loved him. The brotherly love he had for Ji Ling was so beautiful, and when he said "Thousands of years? I can't wait that long." when the heart stone disappeared? *DEEP BREATH SO THE TEARS WOULD STOP*

Lastly, I will never shut up about the OST & BGM of this show. 100000/10! The BGM, goodness me. SO COOL. So fitting for this show. The OST, made even better if you can understand Chinese, is a million chefs kisses. Every single lead singing their own character song? AURA. I have also NEVER seen both the male and female lead sing the same song on separate recordings. But it is so perfect. You can tell a lot of thought has been put into the lyrics. I can also never just go and listen to the slow song that Yan A sings. Because I will just cry. The two songs sung by TJR... I'm just gonna leave some of my favourite lyrics here.

"The moon stays by my side"
"Moonlight is my most treasured scale"
"Don't be sad, don't cry, I will always be with you"

This show definitely has an incredibly high rewatch value, because you'll understand SO MUCH MORE, and things will be interpreted so differently. Like when LWY first goes into the Shilin temple to get her moon jade back and one of the things she says to the dragon deity is “Are you lonely?”

OR the moment when LWY wanted to kill him in the dungeon for ‘killing’ JL, he says to her “What if I have your blood, soul, veins and bones imprisoned here forever?” AND THEN he looks around because HE REMEMBERS that HE was the one who was imprisoned there before. Once again, I’m lost for words.

There's so much more I want to say, and I know many have found this show too confusing to put up with. But if you happen to be a fortunate kindred spirit where this show has claimed a part of your heart because you understand the true depth of love, loneliness, sacrifice and friendship - welcome home.

Side note: I got so hungover from this show that I’ve crocheted my very own ‘Ah Wu’ plushy. It is and forever will be my prize possession.

Extra side note: pls leave me a comment if there’s something you don’t understand about this show. I’m way too happy to be talking about it forever.

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One of the best c-dramas I've ever seen

This actually might be one of my most favourite c-drama of all time.

(Note - review was written late 2025 before I learned that marking the show as complete on my list and adding the note was NOT in fact me leaving a proper review :'))

I'm very late to the game, but I only just finished this show a few weeks ago... and it's taken me at least 2 weeks to recover from it (in the best way possible). I've been spending this whole time rewatching my favourite scenes, and basically the first 30 eps in order to soothe my broken heart.

I knew around ep 15 that this drama would break my heart, and my oh my, break my heart it did, but put it together all at the same time.

The characters? Top quality.
The story? Incredible.
The music? GORGEOUS.
The romance? Beautiful doesn't cover it.

Let's break them down one by one.

The characters. OH MY GOD I love them all. Each one of them is so special for their own reason, I don't even care if it makes them slightly predictable.
NYJ - Probably my most favourite male lead character ever. Now this is A MAN!! Respect, empathy, maturity, loyalty, the whole package.
RRY - All the other reviews were absolutely correct. THIS is a badass female lead! My god. The absolute badass female lead of my dreams. Her growth to love was so natural and great to watch.
The 4 musketeers - *CRIES* love them, love them, love them a million times. The comaderie, the brotherhood, the love. I felt it all.
The Princess - OH MY GOD, what a woman she became. Holy character growth.
LTG - He surprised me. I thought he would wake up a lot earlier than he did, but then it made the moment that he did so so so sweet. The jealousy scenes were just too funny.

The story. Is simple enough and not overshadowing what is really important in this show: Each character's journey to love, no matter the type of love or what it may look like.
Essentially... Crew leave for quest -> everything that can go wrong will go wrong.
I personally felt that this allowed the audience to feel the trepidation and slightly hopeful pessimism of the delegation, like we're right there travelling with them.

The music. C-drama classic with some rocky elements? Sign me up. And of course, can't beat the aura of LYN singing the own opening theme song of his show. Every song, all the way down to the BGM, is beyond incredible. We have action songs, romantic songs, sad songs, and oh lord the song called "Afraid of Dreams"? DANG.
Extra honourable mention to Ruyi's badass Assassin's Creed-esque entrance music, I ate it up every single time.

And lastly, the romance. There's no fantasy, no gods, no special powers. But what there is, is the most mature, realistic view of a beautiful, nourishing and healthy relationship. The pacing was perfect, and the words "I love you" never needed to be said. Not when it could be felt from every fibre of their beings, and in everything they did.
I must have watched the scene in ep. 11 of what is essentially NYJ's love confession almost 100 times:

"Don't come closer, are you crazy?"
"I have gone crazy! I went crazy when I saw you injured like this!"

No words. Both LYN and LSS's acting in that scene? All the emotion in their eyes? Oh my.

This was my first time seeing LSS in anything. And she took my breath away with her acting skills

Basically this show is the most heartbreakingly beautiful thing you'll ever watch. Yes you might hate the ending (but you can't say it was a total surprise), but the journey is well worth it. 500/10 stars.

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Had potential, didn’t live up to it

Late to the game as always, and I genuinely thought I’d enjoy this a lot more than I have. Sadly, I have not.

It started off well I think, good at drawing you in and making you want to know more. A really good set up of characters and potential character growth (predictable but hey xianxia’s do be like that sometimes).

Unfortunately, I’m not feelin it at all really. Hot take, I know. I watched it because so many people loved it, and I do like Bai Lu. Either way, I’ll put my positives and negatives below:

Positives-
- Visuals very pretty, good work for CGI team. I actually think they did so good earlier on in the series for scenery (like the sky in Outlanders city) that it did end up leaving the deities scenes a little boring.
- I enjoyed Bai Lu with Ao Ruipeng. This is my first time watching ARP and I liked him. I thought that had a little bit of chemistry. Actually wished I got to see Mumu for a bit longer.
- OST is quite nice.
- Costume and makeup - great work

Negatives-
- The story was baaaaad. Or maybe it was the writing of the show. But it was not good in the slightest. The character growth and relationship development was very jarring. I’m a true sucker for romance which means I can overlook a lot of things. But the love story between the leads felt very sudden with little gradual progression. It just felt like one minute they were cool with not trusting each other (basically wanted to kill each other / at least not caring if the other died) to “You’re the one I want to spend my life with, here let me introduce you to my whole dead clansmen as if you’re my wife”
- Complete overuse of the great OSTs. To the point where I was barely halfway through the show and I could predict exactly what song they were gonna use where and how.
- The baddies were… nothing special. Just a couple of lunatics that did not feel scary in the slightest. Mo Li came close, but still too far away. In fact I found evil Qi Feng & Fu Ling (at their worst) scariest.
- Fan Yue was… weak? Actually I’m not sure if that’s the right word. But all I know is that he kept collapsing, coughing up blood or dying. And each time, Bai Shuo just never did anything, just kept on letting him sacrifice himself.
- The plot twists tried. You can tell the writers tried. The only one that truly got me was the discovery that the stone clan had dug up tombs of the Bai Ze clan, ground up their bones and drank it for medicine. After that arc, the show was on a steady decline.
- The very unique opening that basically revealed the entire story to you.

Characters-
BL as BS -> I wanted to like her. And some moments I did. BL did do a good job, I enjoyed when she was the fake goddess/lotus girl thing. You could tell she was a different person. And she’s always very good with her crying scenes. I remember her tearful kiss scene strongly. But then everytime FY ‘died’, she did not react how I thought she’d react (basically not even a fraction of how she reacted to her dad’s death)

ARP as FY -> I enjoyed his acting. The character started off so strong. Even sometimes reminded me of DFQC from LBFAD. And I think he has a really cute soft face (like when he smiles), but again, I’ve finished the show and all I remember aren’t the sweet, romantic, supposedly heartrenching scenes. It was the fact that he was ALWAYS DYING.

Also just wanted to give a special shout out to Fu Ling and her actress (whose name I have forgotten). I started off absolutely despising her character, but then when she reunited with BS as her sister, I did feel her emotions then too. I feel that what she did was the mark of a good actress.

I will be honest and say that I have just come away from what is probably the best show I’ve ever watched in my life. So I knew that little would come close or even compare, and my review of this might not be totally fair to the show. However, it doesn’t negate the fact that there was bad character development, plot holes, and very annoying things (like the ML constantly sacrificing themselves at the end of c dramas - so sick of that btw) that even great actors couldn’t help hide.

I’m glad people enjoyed it. I just feel that there are way better shows out there. Ones that don’t treat you like a child, telling you every thought/feeling each person has, serving everything to you on an easy platter, doesn’t let you work things out for yourself.

I think I’m just disappointed. So much wasted potential.

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A beautiful, emotive, happy little drama

A surprising little enjoyable watch!

It’s a good murder mystery show, each of the cases were emotive in their own way, and I’m really liking the train that a lot of c-dramas are on which is the “women are just as capable if not more capable than a man”.

Story starts straight in (a little bit like The Double) where our female lead Shen Wan & her parents are hunted for reasons unknown. Parents die, and Shen Wan takes the identity of Qin Wan to survive and seek revenge.

I really liked Li Landy & her character. She played the smart and kind Wan’er really well. Li Landy is new to me, but I felt that she did have the perfect intelligent & mature (but still clearly young) look. Wan’er is a bit of a perfect character, but there were moments where her taste for revenge would make her think darker thoughts, but they never lasted long. I do wished that I saw more moment of her more emotional and almost more angry side (like that scene in ep 9 with all the skeletons), but overall, still very good, very believable.

Our main man ARP shines in this role as Yan Chi, the king’s nephew. He comes into the show looking like one of those that might never smile, badass young commander of the most formidable border armies. But then HE SMILED, and again, and again. And he is endlessly overprotective of Wan’er, which was very tasty (it’s exactly the kind of thing I’m a sucker for). The romance was faster in this show than most others, but I kinda loved that? If you enjoy proper slow-burn, lots of angst, then this might not be the show for you. The romance is more simple, he sees her, basically falls in love at first sight, becomes impressed by her very quickly (I mean who wouldn’t), and he’s knee deep before he knows it. It sounds rushed, but the show actually did it very well and it didn’t feel like insta-love at all. It felt believable, and real, and I really enjoyed seeing all the different expressions of love, concern, protectiveness, fear, joy and more from ARP. I first saw him in Moonlight Mystique and whilst I didn’t enjoy that show, I enjoyed him. He’s been added to my pretty list.

The cases in this show were interesting, and not at all easy to guess who the perpetrators were. I really enjoyed the plot twists, especially that last case!! Damn! And I didn’t find the show grotesque or anything (but I am also someone who has done real autopsies before so I’m not a fair judge). It did make me laugh how unrealistic some of it was, but it’s a c-drama, and again, most people wouldn’t know what the actual inside of a human body looks like, so that was okay. A LOT of work was put into the camera angles and the way some of those medical/autopsy scenes were shot, and I do want to praise that creativity. I think it really allows the audience to be fully immersed at what was happening rather than just hearing about something happening.

Extra spotlight to all the side characters that felt sick or threw up, those were always funny - especially the evil prince! Hahahaha

Music, as per Chinese dramas, are a 10. My absolute favourite is “Don’t Sigh” by Wang Shaoyun.

SPOILER: this show has an extremely happy ending, no one dies, everyone ends up together, all is happy. Which, depending on what you like, could either feel unrealistic, or actually a welcome relief if you’ve come from a bout of angsty sad shows.

I did quite enjoy this. It’s an easy chill watch and you don’t really need to think too much as the audience. But it was not boring in anyway, they kept it exciting, and the emotions from the show were enough to make me shed a few tears. 9.5!!

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