1
BrightSun
Fantasia
This review may contain spoilers
The Sweet, Sweet Balm on My Xianxia Hatred LOL
Rated= 10~ 46/50 ~ 9.2
Scene // A unicorn, a trident and the Crystal Palace. I'm about to activate God Mode.
A Genuine 10
That Ashes of Love review is going to haunt me. First it was Immortal Samsara that blew expectations out of the water and now this just topped it. I had resigned myself to hating the genre. In fact, after the AoL review, I went through my 'to watch' list removing the xianxia stuff and I do believe, Shen Li was one of them. I was only determined to watch IS because I have a Cheng Yi bias. I also don't give out 10s easily. I only recently gave a 10 for a show that I haven't even finished yet, before my heart gave out, and again, it's because of Cheng Yi.
I don't have that excuse this time. I genuinely loved this. The story flow kept it's pace. I was invested from the start. I loved the leads from the start, it didn't get too melodramatic, there were no stupid love triangles or miscommunications and I cared enough about the side characters. And when things got heated or emotional, I felt it in my stomach.
That scene in the cave, I was feeling seduced ?That little random clip of the rhythmic movement of the waves with the dancing. Damn. Symbolism, I see you ?
What really turned this show from a 9 to a 10 was the depiction of the ML's God role. I have this thing in Xianxia's were the deities are always the assholes and I'm routing for the demons. This show pretty much sets you up that way, with the FL being an elite warrior demon God, running away from a marriage from one of the Heavenly Immortals. From the first few seconds I was running with her. I'd have been running too.
I had the ML sussed out early. To be fair, it's pretty obvious what's happening but when we really get to see him use his God powers, I could hear a choir of angels singing 'Hallejuah' in my head. Finally. FINALLY. A God character acting how I imagine a God to act. Aloof but kind, fearless because he knows he's the most powerful thing walking and has nothing to prove and unhurried because when you're eternal, what is time? He doesn't care that you've got all the legions of hell behind you, one snap of his fingers, boom, sit down. He was also hilarious LOL
Bringing in this idea that as a God, he can't have desires or be too in his feelings because of attachment, makes perfect sense in this reality. It's not just some stupid plot narrative to create drama. We can see why that kind of power can't be wielded for personal gain.
As for the actual romance, damn. I kind of felt it, I got caught up in my feelings a few times towards the end LOL
As for the villains, they honestly weren't too complicated or were even frustratingly evil. They were just the bad guys, which can be a nice comfortable watch if you struggle with anxiety. Everything keeps an even pacing and there's nothing majorly upsetting.
Would like to mention the side quest happening with one of the ML's fallen God friends. I kind of like the mystery happening here. Sometimes we do get a little side story happening in the back of the main plot but this was a whole other series happening and it really made me smile. He's obviously being trialled between the two women which makes me wonder what he actually did in order to fall in the first place LOL It served a purpose to the main plot while still holding a little of it's own mystery. It has that 'our stories are intertwining' feeling and I love when writers do that.
There was also an overall melancholy and wise approach to the nature of life and death. It touched me a little as well as how the characters, esp the ML, dealt with this eternal cycle. And as someone who believes in hope and looks for it in my entertainment, it was lovely seeing that hope restored in the ML, particularly in that ending scene. I was honestly waiting for it and am satisfied with the look on his face. The actor nailed it.
Music- There was a nice little mix happening here, I really liked it. They had some chunky guitars, softer, romantic vocals and as with MLC, I'm pretty sure they used the same track for an ancient tribal vocal happening in the back, off which I loved. It's like a deep throaty 'waaah' sound. There is one tribal wail backing track that really added to the 'wrath of God' feel when the ML was told something that broke his heart.
I'm pretty sure this is now my highest rated series so far. I will definitely be rewatching this one.
Scene // A unicorn, a trident and the Crystal Palace. I'm about to activate God Mode.
A Genuine 10
That Ashes of Love review is going to haunt me. First it was Immortal Samsara that blew expectations out of the water and now this just topped it. I had resigned myself to hating the genre. In fact, after the AoL review, I went through my 'to watch' list removing the xianxia stuff and I do believe, Shen Li was one of them. I was only determined to watch IS because I have a Cheng Yi bias. I also don't give out 10s easily. I only recently gave a 10 for a show that I haven't even finished yet, before my heart gave out, and again, it's because of Cheng Yi.
I don't have that excuse this time. I genuinely loved this. The story flow kept it's pace. I was invested from the start. I loved the leads from the start, it didn't get too melodramatic, there were no stupid love triangles or miscommunications and I cared enough about the side characters. And when things got heated or emotional, I felt it in my stomach.
That scene in the cave, I was feeling seduced ?That little random clip of the rhythmic movement of the waves with the dancing. Damn. Symbolism, I see you ?
What really turned this show from a 9 to a 10 was the depiction of the ML's God role. I have this thing in Xianxia's were the deities are always the assholes and I'm routing for the demons. This show pretty much sets you up that way, with the FL being an elite warrior demon God, running away from a marriage from one of the Heavenly Immortals. From the first few seconds I was running with her. I'd have been running too.
I had the ML sussed out early. To be fair, it's pretty obvious what's happening but when we really get to see him use his God powers, I could hear a choir of angels singing 'Hallejuah' in my head. Finally. FINALLY. A God character acting how I imagine a God to act. Aloof but kind, fearless because he knows he's the most powerful thing walking and has nothing to prove and unhurried because when you're eternal, what is time? He doesn't care that you've got all the legions of hell behind you, one snap of his fingers, boom, sit down. He was also hilarious LOL
Bringing in this idea that as a God, he can't have desires or be too in his feelings because of attachment, makes perfect sense in this reality. It's not just some stupid plot narrative to create drama. We can see why that kind of power can't be wielded for personal gain.
As for the actual romance, damn. I kind of felt it, I got caught up in my feelings a few times towards the end LOL
As for the villains, they honestly weren't too complicated or were even frustratingly evil. They were just the bad guys, which can be a nice comfortable watch if you struggle with anxiety. Everything keeps an even pacing and there's nothing majorly upsetting.
Would like to mention the side quest happening with one of the ML's fallen God friends. I kind of like the mystery happening here. Sometimes we do get a little side story happening in the back of the main plot but this was a whole other series happening and it really made me smile. He's obviously being trialled between the two women which makes me wonder what he actually did in order to fall in the first place LOL It served a purpose to the main plot while still holding a little of it's own mystery. It has that 'our stories are intertwining' feeling and I love when writers do that.
There was also an overall melancholy and wise approach to the nature of life and death. It touched me a little as well as how the characters, esp the ML, dealt with this eternal cycle. And as someone who believes in hope and looks for it in my entertainment, it was lovely seeing that hope restored in the ML, particularly in that ending scene. I was honestly waiting for it and am satisfied with the look on his face. The actor nailed it.
Music- There was a nice little mix happening here, I really liked it. They had some chunky guitars, softer, romantic vocals and as with MLC, I'm pretty sure they used the same track for an ancient tribal vocal happening in the back, off which I loved. It's like a deep throaty 'waaah' sound. There is one tribal wail backing track that really added to the 'wrath of God' feel when the ML was told something that broke his heart.
I'm pretty sure this is now my highest rated series so far. I will definitely be rewatching this one.
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