MyDramaObsession
I'm going to just be brutally honest and tell you what I wish I had known/realized before starting this drama.
Firstly, this is not a drama to me this is a web series. I don't honestly know if it really was a web drama but everything about it from production quality on screams mediocre to lower end web drama. I'm not saying that web dramas are bad, on the contrary I prefer sweet fluffy romantic comedies so I really love a good short sweet squee fix! I also love supernatural/fantasy genre, webtoons/manga and anime so I actually really like some of the storylines in web dramas more than what you can find in most regular drama. I really just needed to put that out there because of the series length, media and other creative marketing it seemed like it was a shorter higher quality production (at least shorter than most regular fantasy Chinese dramas). Unfortunately, I bought into the hype and was slightly disappointed.
After you realize what it is the second most important thing to know is that the production was failing before it finished. The number one comment you'll read is that the first and second half of the series feel like entirely different shows and it's 100% accurate in a very literal sense. The show started filming at least two weeks behind production schedule because of casting and other complications. Unfortunately, the lead actors schedules were fixed to begin with and couldn't be altered so somewhere an executive decision was made to start with half the story and write as they went to fill in the gaps where the leads could not be. So essentially the story initially is being told from the lead characters perspectives but switches to being narrated by secondary cast mid series.
It's very unfortunately that all this backlot stuff happened because the story was very interesting and actually pretty entertaining to start with. The fated romance story and even the intricate mythology really gave me high expectations. I really love how the current and back stories weaved into each other, the younger versions of themselves were especially adorable. To be very honest I almost wish if they had to fill the space with secondary characters they would have just stuck with the younger actors for a clearer narrative. At least it would have kept the intimate perspective of the lead characters. However, instead the lead interactions become scarce and nonsensical in much of the conclusion.
Because of all the mentioned above the main storyline lost most of its initial momentum and really started feel draggy. The chemistry of the leads started becoming more frustrating/awkward and by the end there was so much that was left unresolved or quickly concluded it was very disappointing. Everything ended tragically anticlimactic from the initial build up and they threw away much of the potential subplot and interesting details for a quick ending. If you dislike plot holes, open endings and storylines that dead end for no good reason you will probably not like this drama. It really had some good ideas but because of poor production choices it just ended in an odd and disappointing way.
I wanted to comment on the drama introduction before I concluded my review. I really don't comment much on opening/closing montages because honestly they are often long and are victim to my fast forward button after the first few episodes. (Unless the music is good and then I might play it every other episode) The repeated narration on every every episode as the introduction was so damn annoying! I understand the need to fill space and the mythology was very unusual/complicated but that introduction made the beginning feel unpleasantly longer to me. I'm not against providing background details but that was just not flattering. I think the reason I wanted to mention it was because on the flip side I loved the closing montage! (It really had the supernatural vibe of show introductions like Forever Knight, Charmed, Angel, etc if your familiar) I wish they would have made the ending montage the introduction because it was much more appealing. I was actually more excited by the ending sequence and it made me want to continue watching the show. It really isn't anything important but i thought it really just highlighed all the wasted potential this show had and that makes me both sad and pissed off.
So in conclusion this show isn't the worst but it isn't great. My rating might seem extreme but I feel it really is called for here. I'm okay giving a mediocre story or low budget production a better rating because it is what it is. However, to me this was not really a complete story. I don't want to be to savage with the writer but it felt like the story just gave up instead of resolved. To me that is unacceptable if you want sympathetic consideration for trying. As completely insane as it sounds I'd rather have seen them bring in the younger cast and have had them add another lifetime onto the final half of the series. I mean it's a fantasy and the possibilities are limitless! Body switching, alternate reality, time jumps, etc you can easily use other actors and keep the lead perspective focused. I mean really the final special was pretty absurd and lackluster. If you are going to go out cray cray go all out and regret nothing unapologetically. Ha ha!
Firstly, this is not a drama to me this is a web series. I don't honestly know if it really was a web drama but everything about it from production quality on screams mediocre to lower end web drama. I'm not saying that web dramas are bad, on the contrary I prefer sweet fluffy romantic comedies so I really love a good short sweet squee fix! I also love supernatural/fantasy genre, webtoons/manga and anime so I actually really like some of the storylines in web dramas more than what you can find in most regular drama. I really just needed to put that out there because of the series length, media and other creative marketing it seemed like it was a shorter higher quality production (at least shorter than most regular fantasy Chinese dramas). Unfortunately, I bought into the hype and was slightly disappointed.
After you realize what it is the second most important thing to know is that the production was failing before it finished. The number one comment you'll read is that the first and second half of the series feel like entirely different shows and it's 100% accurate in a very literal sense. The show started filming at least two weeks behind production schedule because of casting and other complications. Unfortunately, the lead actors schedules were fixed to begin with and couldn't be altered so somewhere an executive decision was made to start with half the story and write as they went to fill in the gaps where the leads could not be. So essentially the story initially is being told from the lead characters perspectives but switches to being narrated by secondary cast mid series.
It's very unfortunately that all this backlot stuff happened because the story was very interesting and actually pretty entertaining to start with. The fated romance story and even the intricate mythology really gave me high expectations. I really love how the current and back stories weaved into each other, the younger versions of themselves were especially adorable. To be very honest I almost wish if they had to fill the space with secondary characters they would have just stuck with the younger actors for a clearer narrative. At least it would have kept the intimate perspective of the lead characters. However, instead the lead interactions become scarce and nonsensical in much of the conclusion.
Because of all the mentioned above the main storyline lost most of its initial momentum and really started feel draggy. The chemistry of the leads started becoming more frustrating/awkward and by the end there was so much that was left unresolved or quickly concluded it was very disappointing. Everything ended tragically anticlimactic from the initial build up and they threw away much of the potential subplot and interesting details for a quick ending. If you dislike plot holes, open endings and storylines that dead end for no good reason you will probably not like this drama. It really had some good ideas but because of poor production choices it just ended in an odd and disappointing way.
I wanted to comment on the drama introduction before I concluded my review. I really don't comment much on opening/closing montages because honestly they are often long and are victim to my fast forward button after the first few episodes. (Unless the music is good and then I might play it every other episode) The repeated narration on every every episode as the introduction was so damn annoying! I understand the need to fill space and the mythology was very unusual/complicated but that introduction made the beginning feel unpleasantly longer to me. I'm not against providing background details but that was just not flattering. I think the reason I wanted to mention it was because on the flip side I loved the closing montage! (It really had the supernatural vibe of show introductions like Forever Knight, Charmed, Angel, etc if your familiar) I wish they would have made the ending montage the introduction because it was much more appealing. I was actually more excited by the ending sequence and it made me want to continue watching the show. It really isn't anything important but i thought it really just highlighed all the wasted potential this show had and that makes me both sad and pissed off.
So in conclusion this show isn't the worst but it isn't great. My rating might seem extreme but I feel it really is called for here. I'm okay giving a mediocre story or low budget production a better rating because it is what it is. However, to me this was not really a complete story. I don't want to be to savage with the writer but it felt like the story just gave up instead of resolved. To me that is unacceptable if you want sympathetic consideration for trying. As completely insane as it sounds I'd rather have seen them bring in the younger cast and have had them add another lifetime onto the final half of the series. I mean it's a fantasy and the possibilities are limitless! Body switching, alternate reality, time jumps, etc you can easily use other actors and keep the lead perspective focused. I mean really the final special was pretty absurd and lackluster. If you are going to go out cray cray go all out and regret nothing unapologetically. Ha ha!
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