1) Xie Bao Luo: So WTH actually happened in his past? Was it really not a suicide and he was the one at fault for the accident, leading to his fiance dumping him? Most importantly, there is a memory that clearly haunts him - of watching Mei Bao have sex with someone. It was not something he shared with the officers because he had been adamant about keeping her image pure and it was something he would think about when by himself. Heck, he even had nightmares about it. So what in the world was that about if the whole Lin Da Sen affair was one big fat lie?
2) Lin Da Sen: Why did we spend so much time on their childhood together if it was alll false?! The end makes this feel like filler which is disappointing. Unless, highly unlikely but, some of it was actually true? Cause there were a bit too many details there for everything to be false. Like them playing that LP everytime they slept together or the time that he stopped and stared at seeing the LP being resold somewhere else. Which....oh boy. Having an affair with a married person is bad enough. But to do that with your best friend's spouse? Oof. Plus, there were a bit too many flashbacks to their time at the pool as kids for a lie. Too bad I can't remember if there were scenes where he was thinking about his past by himself.
3) Li Meng Yu: Now this was just plain confusing. So the vent traversing peeping tom thing was all false? Even if we say that his wife made up the part where she followed him through the vents back when he was sleepwalking and the time that he left a note for Mei Bao which she switched with her own, all to save her husband, how did his fingerprints get in the vent? Did he make that up after the murder when we see him fixing the vents to support his story? Cause at the end, he sure does not look like he ever had a crush on Mei Bao. Ding Xiao Ling is clearly all that he can see.
4) Yan Yong Yuan: I really wish that he hadn't been the real culprit. For a show that started out so mysteriously with unreliable narrators, they blatantly pointed him out as the villain quite early on. I had been hoping that it all turned out to be this one big lie by Mei Bao in order to cover up something else (will get to that later), especially with the way that Mei Bao never really comes off as that genuine, kind, etc etc of a person. There always seemed to be this falsehood around her expressions and actions whenever we would see others' perspective of how good she was, most probably cause she had this desperate need to make everyone like her through whatever means and maybe to manipulate them into doing who knows what she wanted. They painted such a Mother Mary picture of her that it HAD to all be false. Except, there really was no other twist there (and no, locking up her abuser really doesn't count for much under the circumstances) and it really was just acting that was not up to par. It would have been something if the mother had turned out to be the one who physically abused them, blaming them for everything that had gone wrong in her life, and the ones they had Stockholm Syndrome for was her, while the father was a greedy opportunist trash to take pictures as blackmail material instead of helping them.
DISCLAIMER: I am not at all romanticizing whatever I am about to say next. Not even a bit. It is just my objective opinion on the ways that this story could have gone to better showcase what it was trying to be.
5) Mei Bo & Ah Jun: Let me first start off by saying - ah, these two. For a show that is centered around the FL's love for her brother, it severely lacked more meaningful bonding moments between them to actually make me truly feel their connection. Now, on to my main point. I had actually started suspecting early on that these two perhaps had an incestuous relationship. It would have honestly explained everything so much better. Like why Xie Bao Luo was so disturbed after seeing her be intimate with a guy whose face is never revealed even in the supposed fake reality, why the family could never go to the police, the blackmail and its effect, why everyone around her tried so hard to cover up details of her past, etc. My theory was buoyed by all the little things like the LP playing whenever Mei Bo was with her lover, the OST duet at the end which was sure as hell not resonant with the base nature of her relationship with Lin Da Sen, the supposed despair-filled suicide to the sound of Ah Jun's piano, Ah Jun's admittance into a mental hospital, the silhouette of a man leaving while Mei Bo cried on the night of her death, the fact that we never actually get to see the other photos taken by the father, etc. A scenario like this would have made a lot of sense considering the kind of negligent, tough, and abusive childhood they had gone through with only each other to depend on. It would have really taken the tragedy and trauma to a whole other level. But alas, I thought the show to be way smarter than it was.
At the end of it all, while the ride was good (with a banger of an opening sequence), the end result was not and makes you question why you spent all that time on things that were supposedly false.
Everything in the begining seemed so pretty close to what I was imagining while reading the novel except the fact…
Reincarnation is not banned in China, time travel is banned. China thrives on reincarnation haha. I haven't watched the eps yet but if what you say is correct then I am a bit disappointed cause I had been excited to see her chasing after him with the heartbreak still in her eyes. I guess I will wait it out a bit and see how it goes first.
My opinion for Tribulation of Chaos;From what I believe, the Tribulation of Chaos is a one-time. Why did it have…
Hm do I remember it wrongly then. I cannot tell you exact episodes sadly because it has been a while so really, if you all insist on it then imma just accept that I remember wrong haha. Though I do find it unbelievable because I have never misunderstood such a major plot point but I guess there's a first time for everything (and adds a negative point for the drama regardless in the world building department. oh well). This scenario again brings up more questions however. If the tribulation was really a one time thing then why did some of the secondary characters equate Shanggu's comeback in the last arc with the tribulation coming back again? Bai Jue temporarily suppressing the previous tribulation was something only the true gods knew. Others thought the trial had been seen through fully and hailed Shanggu for it. Also, regarding the trial that happened way back when the Ancestral God was alive - Xuanyi (I think that was his name) refused to sacrifice himself. And yet, despite nobody suppressing the trial like Bai Jue did for Shanggu, the trial was calmed and only came back after 180,000 years, like clockwork. Now, while this wasn't really explained properly by the show because the true gods were supposed to be oblivious about it all, I think we can infer that a) somehow a sacrifice was made and that was probably the Ancestral God himself who was the God of Chaos. It was a combination of Xuanyi's attack and the trbulation that killed him and the true gods just hadn't realized the second reason. And, b) that the tribulation isn't a one time thing.
Lol, I loved their identity crises the most. In other dramas it's usually either doesn't matter at all that character…
Yeah the second half had plotholes. Shanggu had been smart enough in the first half to doubt and try to find out the truth. But come second half, suddenly the same Shanggu cannot think ahead heh.
My opinion for Tribulation of Chaos;From what I believe, the Tribulation of Chaos is a one-time. Why did it have…
It wasn't a rumor. They had been told so by their Ancestral God. Maybe praying to him would work to stop it permanently but the drama didn't show that so. And if it was that easy to end it then we are just going to be brought back to "what even was the point of everything then?" Haha
Lol, I loved their identity crises the most. In other dramas it's usually either doesn't matter at all that character…
That's great then! Felt like juvenile angst to me sadly. Had been waiting and waiting for someone who knew both their personas to sit them down and give them a pep talk. Would have solved all of the problems haha
This show took a steep nose-dive in the second half. It all started with the existential angst. This kind of a development only works when the characters' original forms are completely different from their reincarnations, like in the case of Love and Redemption where transforming into either of the FL's original forms would have meant complete annihilation of everything the FL had so painstakingly become. Not to mention, romance would have definitely been off the table then. Here, however, the reincarnations were exactly the same as their original forms with only some minor behavioral differences caused due to the way that they grew up. It would have been cute enough for one ep. Not stretched over as many eps as it was with everyone behaving like the reincarnations were going to actually die. Cause none of that lands with us viewers. With their original forms back, they would just have been better versions of themselves - with more power and more knowledge to figure out the situation around them. Because Shanggu/Houchi and Bai Jue/Qing Mu were literally one and the same in every which way. While I get the characters being melodramatic about it because they don't know their past selves like we do, this isn't a documentary. It only matters if it manages to make us feel for the situation. For heavens' sake, it's not even like their original forms where in love with someone else XD
And then, once that ended, the extremely-annoying-in-any-case noble idiocy arc started. The couple also regressed instead of growing and learning to go through difficulties together. Also, plot-holes. Major one being how the Tribulation of Chaos was supposed to occur EVERY 180,000 years. So hello? What are they gonna do the next time it comes, which is gonna be very soon considering how fast time flies for these gods. Finally, that crappy 2 min happy ending. Really, show? REALLY?
Honestly, Tianqi and Yuanqi were the saddest chars by the end. Fitting how their names connect. Tianqi permanently lost everyone close to him as well as all his liveliness while Yuanqi's parents don't reeeally care much for him tbh. That's at least true for Shanggu. Despite having told him to call her mother and spending some fun times with him at the start, she just throws him away into others' care the moment she gets into the mood for something and it doesn't really feel like she truly accepts him as her son. Bai Jue admittedly has better reasons and I do see him becoming a proper attentive father after coming back but WE WILL NEVER KNOW SINCE THE SHOW LITERALLY GAVE US A 2 MIN HUG AS AN ENDING WITHOUT THEIR CHILD EVEN IN THE SAME FRAME AS THEM.
While I enjoyed both the shows, L&R wins against AoL by miles. AoL had major draggy fillers (remember all the BTS drama everyone?) and could easily have been less than half it's length, not to mention how big of a plothole the no-emotions thing was here. L&R, on the other hand, is solidly written and paced, and it could actually have been longer (if they had decided to flesh out the past). As far as FLs go, while I prefer Yang Zi's acting in AoL, Xuanji was the way better written character with a full character arc and development that sees her go through realistic ups and downs. Most importantly, L&R had reverse-gender dynamics without reducing the ML to a plot object. It is very rare that you see such balanced leads in a drama who feel equally powerful and strong. Speaking of, while I like both the MLs and their actors, Sifeng REDEFINED romance, you cannot tell me otherwise. It's going to be at least a decade before we can see an ML rival his love.
Conclusion: AoL is addictive and enjoyable, mostly due to the crackling chemistry between it's leads, and is also grander since a majority of it is set in the Heaven Realm. And oof that OST! But L&R is overall the WAY better drama, hands down.
I saw the title of this article on the main page and actually exclaimed "YES!!" out loud. I had been eyeing a Novoland drama (eagle flag and of course pearl eclipse cause Yang Mi) but had been very intimidated and confused by all the linked spin-offs and sequels and prequels and whatnot. So THANK YOU for this great concise explanation! This was very very much needed. And scrolling tells me that this is your first article so congratulations!
Wow. I can't believe that The Village: Achiara's Secret qualifies for this list. It's really really good and I would definitely recommend it to everyone. HOWEVER! It is not horror. It is more of a supernatural psychological thriller. Just putting this here as a disclaimer in case people go in expecting and wanting horror cause that's only going to lead to disappointment and would be unfair to the show.
Ok. Bright said in a recent interview that he's still filming F4 and that it will probably be out around August of this year. So we have a long wait ahead of us. Time to settle down and make camp.
Um.....I dropped it bwahaha I don't remember why though. I only remember watching it for Noh Min Woo and then XD I think I found it just plain boring. I THINK. It could also just have been cause I wasn't crushing on his character as much as I had wanted to haha.
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4 
1 
1 
1) Xie Bao Luo: So WTH actually happened in his past? Was it really not a suicide and he was the one at fault for the accident, leading to his fiance dumping him? Most importantly, there is a memory that clearly haunts him - of watching Mei Bao have sex with someone. It was not something he shared with the officers because he had been adamant about keeping her image pure and it was something he would think about when by himself. Heck, he even had nightmares about it. So what in the world was that about if the whole Lin Da Sen affair was one big fat lie?
2) Lin Da Sen: Why did we spend so much time on their childhood together if it was alll false?! The end makes this feel like filler which is disappointing. Unless, highly unlikely but, some of it was actually true? Cause there were a bit too many details there for everything to be false. Like them playing that LP everytime they slept together or the time that he stopped and stared at seeing the LP being resold somewhere else. Which....oh boy. Having an affair with a married person is bad enough. But to do that with your best friend's spouse? Oof. Plus, there were a bit too many flashbacks to their time at the pool as kids for a lie. Too bad I can't remember if there were scenes where he was thinking about his past by himself.
3) Li Meng Yu: Now this was just plain confusing. So the vent traversing peeping tom thing was all false? Even if we say that his wife made up the part where she followed him through the vents back when he was sleepwalking and the time that he left a note for Mei Bao which she switched with her own, all to save her husband, how did his fingerprints get in the vent? Did he make that up after the murder when we see him fixing the vents to support his story? Cause at the end, he sure does not look like he ever had a crush on Mei Bao. Ding Xiao Ling is clearly all that he can see.
4) Yan Yong Yuan: I really wish that he hadn't been the real culprit. For a show that started out so mysteriously with unreliable narrators, they blatantly pointed him out as the villain quite early on. I had been hoping that it all turned out to be this one big lie by Mei Bao in order to cover up something else (will get to that later), especially with the way that Mei Bao never really comes off as that genuine, kind, etc etc of a person. There always seemed to be this falsehood around her expressions and actions whenever we would see others' perspective of how good she was, most probably cause she had this desperate need to make everyone like her through whatever means and maybe to manipulate them into doing who knows what she wanted. They painted such a Mother Mary picture of her that it HAD to all be false. Except, there really was no other twist there (and no, locking up her abuser really doesn't count for much under the circumstances) and it really was just acting that was not up to par. It would have been something if the mother had turned out to be the one who physically abused them, blaming them for everything that had gone wrong in her life, and the ones they had Stockholm Syndrome for was her, while the father was a greedy opportunist trash to take pictures as blackmail material instead of helping them.
DISCLAIMER: I am not at all romanticizing whatever I am about to say next. Not even a bit. It is just my objective opinion on the ways that this story could have gone to better showcase what it was trying to be.
5) Mei Bo & Ah Jun: Let me first start off by saying - ah, these two. For a show that is centered around the FL's love for her brother, it severely lacked more meaningful bonding moments between them to actually make me truly feel their connection. Now, on to my main point. I had actually started suspecting early on that these two perhaps had an incestuous relationship. It would have honestly explained everything so much better. Like why Xie Bao Luo was so disturbed after seeing her be intimate with a guy whose face is never revealed even in the supposed fake reality, why the family could never go to the police, the blackmail and its effect, why everyone around her tried so hard to cover up details of her past, etc. My theory was buoyed by all the little things like the LP playing whenever Mei Bo was with her lover, the OST duet at the end which was sure as hell not resonant with the base nature of her relationship with Lin Da Sen, the supposed despair-filled suicide to the sound of Ah Jun's piano, Ah Jun's admittance into a mental hospital, the silhouette of a man leaving while Mei Bo cried on the night of her death, the fact that we never actually get to see the other photos taken by the father, etc. A scenario like this would have made a lot of sense considering the kind of negligent, tough, and abusive childhood they had gone through with only each other to depend on. It would have really taken the tragedy and trauma to a whole other level. But alas, I thought the show to be way smarter than it was.
At the end of it all, while the ride was good (with a banger of an opening sequence), the end result was not and makes you question why you spent all that time on things that were supposedly false.
And then, once that ended, the extremely-annoying-in-any-case noble idiocy arc started. The couple also regressed instead of growing and learning to go through difficulties together. Also, plot-holes. Major one being how the Tribulation of Chaos was supposed to occur EVERY 180,000 years. So hello? What are they gonna do the next time it comes, which is gonna be very soon considering how fast time flies for these gods. Finally, that crappy 2 min happy ending. Really, show? REALLY?
Honestly, Tianqi and Yuanqi were the saddest chars by the end. Fitting how their names connect. Tianqi permanently lost everyone close to him as well as all his liveliness while Yuanqi's parents don't reeeally care much for him tbh. That's at least true for Shanggu. Despite having told him to call her mother and spending some fun times with him at the start, she just throws him away into others' care the moment she gets into the mood for something and it doesn't really feel like she truly accepts him as her son. Bai Jue admittedly has better reasons and I do see him becoming a proper attentive father after coming back but WE WILL NEVER KNOW SINCE THE SHOW LITERALLY GAVE US A 2 MIN HUG AS AN ENDING WITHOUT THEIR CHILD EVEN IN THE SAME FRAME AS THEM.
Conclusion: AoL is addictive and enjoyable, mostly due to the crackling chemistry between it's leads, and is also grander since a majority of it is set in the Heaven Realm. And oof that OST! But L&R is overall the WAY better drama, hands down.