Grand plot of a long format made to work amazingly in short format, we stan

This drama deserves a far higher rating. I was soooooo excited to watch this drama. I saw a snippet on Insta and noticed that it is both FL and ML from Seal of Love which I really liked (and honestly, this drama could be considered as a continuation to Seal of Love imho). Richard Li and Ming Jia Jia are such an amazing couple cast, I hope they'll make it to bigger/more popular dramas. They look amazing on camera and have chemistry. I haven't watched many short format dramas yet (this is the third one so far). It is. The BEST. So far. I don't really have anything to complain about, I wasn't even mad about the ending. The character of Yu Wen Yuan is utterly reckless, despicable, rotten and toxic at first (we learned later where did everything come from, but still, that isn't the way to deal with your emotions), he softened up a lot towards the end. Richard Li is just so lovable and such an amazing actor even when he is casted as an pretend a-hole character. Su Yan is just trying to balance both men on each side according to her abilities, she doesn't want to go against her values but also tries to keep the decorum for the sake of her sister's wish. Yu Wen Yingren seems harmless at first, but don't let his eerie calm face fool you. The madness, the drunkenness of power, intrigues, the thrill, everything what usual long format dramas drag on for ages is condensed into this short format. Beautiful costumes and decorations, I appreciated that there was little to no CGI. I'm not a ost music type of fan, but I think the ost could've been a little bit better. Idk the budget for short format dramas, but as far as this genre goes, this drama worked magnificently for me.

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One word: BRILLIANT

Tl;dr: I highly recommend, especially if you're into the demons and magic fantasy. Amazing frames, exceptional soundtrack, incredible mood setting.

As per usual, I expected something quite different, based on the teasers (I don't really read summaries, if I do, I forget what the drama is about lol). I thought it would be a great demon bewitching regular people with fever dreams, a storyline composed of multiple single stories. I do LOVE what they did with this drama.
First thing hitting me in ep. 1 were the incredible frames and environment. The huge, huge spaces of the Demon Hunting Bureau, where you feel so small because it is so huge and yet so big because it looks like inside a mini copy of a city. The gardens, the rooms, the exteriors, just wow.
The color grading of the frames. I have seen quite many c-dramas by now, but I have not seen any drama do such exceptional mood setting for each and every frame. Some parts are warm tones because they are funny or uplifting, the other parts are grey and dark because there's action and drama. Just genius work.
The soundtrack??? I'm not an OST person, but this OST really hits home for me. This is the second drama where I really like the soundtrack and can immerse into the lyrics and music. This drama has in fact my most favourite soundtrack so far. It sounds so grand, so emotional, just really, really beautiful.
The casting. I will always prefer to watch Neo Hou as a thousands years old demon/god/mythical creature in a human form. His facial features are ageless, he can make his face very soft and also very sharp. He was a fantastic casting option. From the rest of the cast, I have seen Chen Du Ling and Gulnezer Bextiyar before (I knew also Yan An and Cheng Xiao, just have not seen them in dramas before). I love that Chen Du Ling is a very strong FL here. Gulnezer Bextiyar is forever a goddess. I absolutely adore the rest of the cast too, everyone is so good in their character.
The comedy. I really did not expect this drama to have comedy, I totally expected just darkness without a glimmer of hope. The comedy element was very refreshing. Bai Jiu's screams, Ying Lei's personality, Zhu Yan's pranks, really really loved it.
I'm currently at ep. 26, we are having a little Team Crisis™ since ep. 23. I'd have preferred a smooth sailing, but I guess it would have been boring. There are twists and turns in the plot, they are never out of character. There is usually a small foreshadowing. I hope that the ending will be satisfactory to me. Even if it won't be, I think won't be mad (I'll add an ETA when I'm finished).
This is the first drama where I put a 10/10 for rewatch value. I'd rewatch it for the soundtrack and aesthetics especially and pretty much everything I wrote above.

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A DELICIOUS 12/10 RECOMMENDATION

This drama deserves millions of views. I don't get the low rating on this site (7.4 at the time of writing this review). In my opinion this is a 12/10 incredible short format drama. I was SO immersed while watching, I forgot about my surroundings and time and just lived through every frame of this drama. Absolutely, wonderful, gorgeous, luscious, with great kissing scenes. The storyline is pretty much basic, but with such amount of drama being filmed and written every day, you can't do many innovative storylines. I like a good good vs. evil with a mystery, detectives on a background of romance. The only thing which I would slightly change was the last scene in ep. 18. It was not necessary in my opinion, but it was acted wonderfully. Dai Gao Zheng is such. An amazing. Actor. You could feel the madness, the anger, the despair, the hopelessness, the protective instinct, the softening, the every single emotion and tear on his face and body language (I'm his huge fan since this drama). The whole cast are amazing actors. The costumes are so beautiful and detailed, they look very rich and I'm sure a load of handwork went into them. The accessories, the details just *chef's kiss*. I don't want to spoil the ending too much, so I'll just say that it's fate (iykyk after watching). And now stop reading reviews and go watch, it is truly worth it.

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I too would save Huo Zhanbai over and over again. But everything has it's limits.

I really wanted to write this review without spoilers at first, but I cannot. I want to rant, I want to point out stuff, so let's go. First, my review:
If you like happy endings, this is not for you, don't waste your time. Even though the first 20ish episodes are very good and not too dramatic and heart wrenching, the closer we get to the end, the more heart breaks there are. I originally wanted to write a review after episode 24 but something in me told me to watch until the end and then write a review and I'm glad I did, because this is now a different review.
The positive things I have to say about this drama: exceptionally well written characters. Especially Huo Zhanbai, such empathetic, righteous, kind, able to read the room, will confront you about the problem (I might be biased towards Joseph Zeng, but he's really a good actor). I liked that there were no misunderstandings. Dramas built on medical/poisons are usually well written. This story was quite unusual and refreshing. I also liked that half of the mystery and investigation was resolved by the half of the drama and we did not have a gut punching drama packed last episode with everything being resolved at once. The storyline was paced out quite evenly. I originally wanted to give a 9/10, but the episodes 24 and up made me lower it to 7.5. Which is getting us to my semi rant.
The negative things I have to say about this drama: Huo Zhanbai almost died getting the rare herbs and they did not get used at all???? In my opinion, they should have been used to save Ziye. This would have closed up a loop and make the herbs and Huo Zhanbai's and Ziye's sacrifice to find them fruitful at least. Mo's death was unnecessary for the plot, sixth brother was already evil and this would not have tipped him over the edge since he was already on the evil side. The last episode.... Boy, was it a train wreck. Extending it into the 45 minutes was unnecessary, it should've been 10 minutes maximum - Huo Zhanbai seeing the cenotaph, fainting, waking up, throwing an emotional fit (finally, that was the one thing i was missing in his character). Miao Feng revealed to be the new valley chief. Mingjie, Miao Feng and Huo Zhanbai reconciling over the wine. Mingjie eventually becoming a member of the sword sect. The end. Instead, we had a very tragic final episode with two minutes of jolly music? Unfitting, almost rude. The last nail in the coffin was old Huo Zhanbai. Why. Just why.
I think I got everything out and I feel better. So, long story short: if you have time to waste and don't mind a tragic ending, do watch. It's on the better note. But if you like happy endings, definitely stay away. I love Joseph Zeng, I really do. I prefer happy ending and he was the main reason I watched until the end.

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I want to erase my memory to be able to experience this drama again for the first time

Where do I start, I have only superlatives to say about this drama. I jumped onto watching as soon as I recognized Zhou Ye, I loved her so much in Word of Honour. Neo Hou is so adorable, such a great actor too. The character of Bai Xiao Sheng has my heart (can I have him if he's still single /jk). Now, I'm the type of person who always questions actions and storyline. Would this character do this, why did this character not catch this thing happening since he usually knows about everything in the city, why did they do such a gut punch with the storyline etc. And you know what? Such questions never once crossed my mind once when I was watching Back from the Brink! It is such an exceptionally well executed story, I love it with all my heart. The story is so well paced, the storyline is interesting, the acting is top tier, the effects and costumes are superb. The drama is adorable, it's cute, it's lovey-dovey, it's goofy and funny but also has action in the right spots. It was exactly what needed at the time I was watching it. What I especially liked, there wasn't a moment in the storyline where writers would do a "reversing the car on the highway because you missed an exit" turn of the storyline. Just.... I really highly recommend this drama to anyone. It even has a good ending! And one last note, get your tissues ready for the final episode, I teared up so much.

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EDIT: BRILLIANT

EDIT AFTER FINISHING THE DRAMA:
I certainly don't regret the subscription fee in the app. My points in the first version of this review still stand (read below). Everything had it's logic, no gut punching turning tides events for the sake of dramatisation, very nicely paced, keeps you glued to the screen. I especially appreciate Wanmian's character, you go girl!!! The character and actor of Di Fei Sheng (thank you so much to casting directors, I LOVE to see Xiao Shun Yao like this). There's an extra small episode in iqiyi app, but you don't really need to watch it, it doesn't add much to the ending. Although I would've appreciated a happy happy ending, the ending they wrote was understandable. Personally, this drama is up there on my list with the best ones on my list. I hope this writers team will do more dramas like this in the future.

Original review I wrote after watching 10 EPs, unedited:
I've watched 10 episodes so far and boy, I'd binge this in one day if I could but I don't have the time for that lol.
Storyline is catchy so far, great cliff hangers which make you want to watch another episode. Some cliff hangers spread even through two episodes which I like, it's a smart move.
I've watched many series and dramas from many countries, so some mysteries are a little see-through for me but it's fine. It's good that the writers put the storyline logically.
I like that there aren't crazy fast movements from one location to another, no big storyline jumps, just a normal pace for when you want to chill while watching.
The only annoying thing so far is the immense amount of Fang Duobing's lines, like he's talking TOO much in some places, but I guess it's part of the charm of his character.
Two of my favourite things so far - Xiao Shun Yao is one of the main characters and he finally has screen time!
And most importantly THERE'S A DOG AND HE SHOWED UP REGULARLY IN THE SERIES.

I'll let you know my final rating once I'm finished :-)

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I liked it, but

Hooo boyyyyy this is the longest drama review I've ever written, the note in my notes app has seen all my rants lol. Now, that I finally finished it, I'll boil everything I've noted down.

First of all, I think this drama should come with a trigger warning for triggering topics like bullying, feeling of abandonment, loneliness and depression (also abuse). Honestly, if my struggling younger self would watch this, it would cause me a serious spiraling down.

TL;DR and don't want to get spoiled review: I think the storyline along with the topics have a great potential to discover more and it wasn't fully there for me. Truly outstanding acting, very beautiful costumes and really good CGI. Could've been made into more episodes.

Small spoilers ahead:
I've been waiting so long for this drama to air (didn't we all). I'm one of the few people who didn't come to watch for Bai Lu and Luo Yunxi (such a gorgeous man). I came because of Xiao Shunyao. I'm very much conflicted on this drama. While I absolutely loved the base storyline and the topics of time travel, butterfly effect, alternative storylines, changing personalities, character development, even the psychology level, I just disliked a good part of the storyline. I liked it until ep 20, eps 21 - 29 were just "what...is happening, you're losing me here" and I then watched pretty much only to see how it will end. Ep 30 gave me hope again, I liked how the storylines intertwined there, it felt complete. But the end of that episode made me afraid again. Episode 35 would've been such a great season finale, especially when a second season was planned. If the producers would have cut it here, then it would have been a good drama in my eyes. Buuut as tradition follows, I knew exactly that the writers are going to turn tides in the last 5 episodes completely and come back with a tsunami to hit the viewer right into the gut. 17 minutes into ep 36 the sh!t started to go down (do we always need such gut wrenching turn of events and so many deaths? I guess we do, just not my cuppa tea). Ep 39 just further cemented my opinion that this drama had THE potential to discover alternative storylines, dreams, different realities, like holy moly this episode was so good?? This energy should've been throughout the drama. Is it someone dreaming? Is it a main story? Is this someone's Bo're Life? That, my friends, is the potential I see in this type of story and prompt and it just wasn't fully there in my opinion.
Why I am conflicted on this drama: I mean, the storylines had their logic, it was clear where they were coming from but also not at the same time. I'm not going to go into much detail, to not spoil everything. What I was conflicted about (let's say contradictory statements and deeds in general) was resolved and explained in the last two episodes. Also sidenote, idk if I got it correctly, but the ep where Sang Jiu came to get her wedding night from Ming Ye, left quite a bad taste in my mouth, especially since she silenced him.... ?? raising my eyebrows

I don't want to end on a bad note, so here are I things I liked - Pian Ran x Ye Qingyiu storyline - perfect. Of course that I loved Xiao Shunyao as the evil brother, I think that the writers could've given this storyline more screen time, because we had a serious potential here (I felt that it was way too side storyish). At first, I loathed Ye Bing Chang/Mo Nv with every ounce of my being but in the end?? Mo Nv turning her character was very great development, I liked that. And of course, Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu are truly outstanding actors. Great applause for acting for everyone, in general. I nearly cried along with Luo Yunxi at the end.

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Looking forward to season two

I'm two years late to this party and there are lots and lots of reviews here so my review will very probably get buried here. Nonetheless, I do want to write out my review even if very few people will read it. Here we go.

Overall, this drama is very enjoyable. Stupid dumb funny at times, with some really powerful moments, a pretty good storyline, extraordinarily handsome cast and incredible acting. I feel dumb for letting it simmer in my to watch playlist for so long, my online friend nudged me to watch it. Maybe it's because she presented this drama to me as "friends roaming the martial arts world with cool martial arts" that I expected something a little different. However, I still think the plot has quite some room for improvement.

I think the writers could've easily pushed this drama for even 60 episodes if they kept the spirit and flow. The storyline felt a little rushed, jumping forward three months here, one month there. I mean yes, we can't have a detailed report as a cut screen, but these fast forwards in the storyline line were put in quite often. Xiao Se, Lei Wujie and Wuxin promised each other to roam the martial arts world together and it lasted for like 5 minutes. I think this part definitely should've been longer. Wuxin and the white haired deity from Tianwantian should've appeared on Xiao Se's journey more often and overall could've had a separate story line which would occasionally intertwine with the main group. Wuxin gave Xiao Se and Lei Wujie two of his martial arts only for those two to use them minimally. Especially the Abysmal Eye should've and could've been used better. I loved the hell out of Mu Chunfeng, this part was really great. I think the storyline should've spent a longer time in the Lei Fortress. How dare they cast such a handsome actor for the new lord of the Lei Clan and give him such a short appearance. The audacity lol. The storyline of Lei Hong and Li Hanyi dissipated into thin air, especially since Zhao Yuzhen died. I think this love triangle was unnecessary. Fairy Luoxia and her disciple storyline felt a little pressured, we could've done without it (or made it longer with more episodes). I hated that we lost Tang Lian, Zhao Yuzhen's death was enough. I think that Tang Lian could've been made into the drugged puppet instead of Wuxin, although it was a very Wuxin thing to become a drugged puppet. But on the other hand, we wouldn't have had the grand scene of Lian's memorial, that scene was mind-blowing and breathtaking. The Tianqi city story and "fight" for the throne felt a little hassled. Twenty minutes ago, three friends wanted to have fun and now we're in an imperial fight, where did the time fly to? And this is why I think this drama would've benefited from more episodes. Just take it easier with the same flow, I'm sure the writers would've made it as incredible. I really loved the last two episodes, no tacky words, no forced happy end and marriage, just really ending on a good note and open for furthering the story. I just hope that if season two will be made into reality, that it will exceed this season. Or at least be equally enjoyable.

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Love makes one do foolish things

Tl;dr: this drama gives a wonderful message about love, unity, courage and cooperation. Really loved it, some episodes could've been better, but overall, a well deserved 9.5/10. I highly recommend to watch ep 39+40 together so that your heart and mind can be at ease.

When I watched the first episode I had two things on my mind: 1. How does this have 9.6 stars in the iqiyi app 2. I really shouldn't watch dramas just because there is an actor I like in a side character. These thoughts changed very soon within the next few episodes. Episode one of this drama looks like a quite cringe live action imho and didn't really make a good job with the impression and getting one hooked on the plot. I mean, it did look very much like made exactly according to a comic book (I know that it is based on a manhua), but the comic-ness was a liiiiitle bit overboard in my opinion. The next episodes were so much more better, the plot and the settings got sky rocket high better and just so good, I ended up gulping down each episode. Until episodes 33 and 34 where I felt like something is different. I get that the storyline progressed to the finale and it should be more dramatic, but to me it felt kind of disarranged. As if the writers either had to remove some of the scenario due to not being able to cover everything within the number of episodes or as if they didn't have time and energy to write it with the same feeling as the episodes up until ep 32. Wu Geng's hairband kept magically appearing and disappearing in these two episodes and I also didn't quite understand his hairstyle change here. The following episodes made up for these two. Ep 39 was a huge wtf at first but it got cleared up fairly quickly. Definitely don't wait with watching ep 40 after this one.

What I very much appreciated was, that the main characters were written well, logically and the writers didn't go overboard with the actions and behaviour of the characters (way out of character actions are a pet peeve of mine). Prince Wu Geng isn't overly gutsy, just trying to hold up the justice and get revenge for his parents, and Bai Cai isn't overly tomboy nor overly cute (those two characteristics are a pet peeve in FL for me) and I liked them exactly that way.

Another thing I very much appreciated was that the side characters didn't go mia in the story (in a way of appearing at the beginning of the plot, making them look important and then forgetting about them like they never existed). We got full circles here baby. I also loved that the writers didn't unalive characters right after some kind of reunion. In general, there were no unnecessary character deaths for the sake of dramatisation. Kudos to that.

I highly appreciate the soundtrack, the combination of "traditional" drama ost music to symfonic orchestra sections, to the melodic metal (sorry if I got the genre wrong), to the amazing guitar solos, a variety of everything. I'm not much of an OST person, but this OST is something I could see myself listen to.

The only kind of negative critique which boggled my mind throughout the drama was why wasn't the fact that Wu Geng is a half immortal half human emphasized more? I understood why it was concealed when he had to hide his identity and exist as Gou, but later on it definitely should've been mentioned. It is a pretty crucial fact for this story in terms of strength and abilities in my opinion.

Lastly, I want to mention who the actor I mentioned in the beginning is. It's Merxat, I really loved him in Legend of Yunxi. I'm so happy that his character was sort of a mini-boss. I love an evil yet still righteous man of his word character and I think Merxat did an incredible acting job to embody the pain, sorrow, and descent into madness in Shi Xing (can we also talk about his costume and hair because yes to everything about Shi Xing. Except the hairstyle in the other half of the drama, should've stuck to the usual hairstyle).

To conclude this review, if you are a fan of comic adaptations, definitely watch this. Really really great drama, amazing cast and acting with a wonderful soundtrack.

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Go East doesn't go south

I was pretty excited for this drama, especially because it has Tan Jianci as a cute derpy lucky smart dummy and Du Chun as a cold on the outside but warm on the inside army man settling down for the people he loves. According to the trailer, I expected something slightly different, but the reality did not disappoint. The storyline is pretty basic, we have random encounters growing from resentment and teasing into romantic love on the backstory of the evil guys wanting to command a country. This drama is labelled as comedy and it truly is light hearted and stupid cute. Slightly exaggerated at times, but it's okay, I like such comedy. However, the comedic essence subsides with the progress of the storyline and it gets slightly more serious but still with the comedy elements.
There are few things I dislike about this drama - the first one is a pet peeve of mine and the other one is, that the storyline feels a little all over the place since episode 12ish. It is probably due to the fact which I described in the previous paragraph, that the atmosphere gets more serious than comedic as the story progresses and it feels like the main plot is getting scattered. The pet peeve of mine is the element of The Misunderstanding™. I personally do not think that misunderstandings are a funny element, because the writers usually write it in a way which makes the emotions negative because of the misunderstanding. I skipped parts of that episode because I literally cannot handle it. If you also dislike this, don't worry, you won't loose the storyline in this episode even if you skim through said episode.
Other than this I really don't have anything negative to say about this drama. It's good, it's silly, you'll laugh, you'll shed some tears. I'm pretty sure that we will get happy endings for the couples and even if we don't, it will be fine. I love to see Tan Jianci in this genre, I think the character of Yuan Mo fits him really well. Same goes for Du Chun, I especially love his martial arts scenes. I also love both strong female leads. At first I thought that Yuchi Hua will be overbearing and annoying, but she's awesome. I'm not much of an OST person, I'm here for the story and actors, so I can't give you an opinion on that. Overall, a very catchy and nice drama.

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Simply one of the best

I truly appreciate survival type programmes featuring all the older idols, actors, singers, dancers etc.. Very dynamic, very funny mainly because of Jordan, Gao Hanyu with Pax Congo, all the language barrier shenanigans and more. You'll definitely cry with these grown men at times (Love Letters to Filmmakers is a strong cocktail). The last episodes featuring some contestants wives are pure gold (relationship goals sad lol). I highly recommend to watch. Just the last episode which is a whopping four hours is a little bit tiring with all the talking and stuff. Max Dance Company for the win.

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Chaotic. But also relatable.

I was intrigued to watch when YT algorithm suggested this to me and I saw Bai Shu in the cast, I love him so much. This drama reminded me on Fighter of the Destiny, because of the from zero to unintentionally hero story and Gulnezer Bextiyar falling for that guy lol.
Firstly, I want to mention what I really liked about this drama. And that is Xueying's character. It was written so well. We did not have a hero who was just an I'll Fight Bravely At All Times, we had a guy who had to grow up fast to become a support to himself and everyone around him. The internal torment, the doubts, wanting to run away from everything because it's too overwhelming, shouldering responsibilities, losing the will and reasons, that was just so perfectly written. That was very relatable.
And now, my long, long comments about the chaos this drama was. The scene and situation jumping.... Without an explanation of a buffer sentence, we jumped from one scene to another. You could figure it out, but I still would've appreciated some "we need to get here to obtain that" and cut scene, go. Speaking of cut scenes, I like the comic ones, that was something new. But why did they fade out throughout the drama? Maybe as the storyline progresses from a lighter story to serious and dark, the producers thought that the comic cut scenes would have ruined the mood or what. If they would have been placed well, it could've worked. Anyways.
I love this genre, but I will never come to terms with the abundance of good guys deaths (I mean too many of good guy deaths). In this drama, 98% of the good guys died. Why. Just why. Did we need to highlight the hero and put in more deaths to his burden? Ugh... Youyue should not have died. Give my guy Puyang Bo the transcendent wife, damnit. We could have has two happy endings, not just one. I generally dislike when they write a couple who will confess their love shortly before dying. Like, why now? I get it, it is like that sometimes. But Situ Hong and Zhuo Yi.... They definitely needed a longer development than 5 minutes of Episode 39. I would have appreciated if Situ Hong turned the tide a little more too.
Chi Quibai took the Soul Scouring Nail on him, he fought it, tried to remove it, Ao Lan told him that he could control him over it and then it just wasn't mentioned anymore. At one point it looked like Ao Lan removed it but there was no word of it whatsoever.
Another confusing point was, why were there only Uncles as half beasts? Were there more beasts? Why weren't they mentioned throughout? There's literally one scene in the first episodes where Zong Ling mentioned that he's a weresnake and his organs are different and thus the demonic poison affects him differently. And then we forgot about it.... also, even a hot headed guy like Tong San would have been more careful when he would discover a secret chamber with the bad guys in it. That plot was just dumb.
I did like the wedding but I disliked the drama. It was so unnecessary that Jinqiu found out the poison. This plot should have been successful and she should have been sent home in peace. We already had the emotional torment of "they can never be together", we did not need betrayal by friends and family.
The pendant which was given to Xueying also didn't really have it's potential. I thought that it would have some special energy in the end, like it could revive his mother. It should "have all you need" and as long as I understood, it kept stuff inside. Like the spices Xueying used for the fish. And then it was just a light up stone. Why was it given so much attention and plot time then?
This is all I can think of atm. Idk how to wrap this up... Maybe with a Watch if you like to, its okay. Just chaotic at times.

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Very good

I'm like 5 years late to the party, but anyways, here we go. I really liked this drama. The storyline was paced well, it was interesting, funny, goofy, dramatic. I didn't even mind the endings of the characters too much, I usually dislike when there are too many deaths. I think that only one (1) of the characters didn't have to die. I always have a soft spot for the third wheel characters, would definitely give my hand in marriage to Qi Shao lol. I appreciate that the producers made two endings although I expected a little bit more from both of the endings (like for example a truly happy happy ending with all the characters being shown getting married, having kids or simply having a good life and a true, sadder ending). Overall, I really don't have much to complain about here. Maybe the CGI and some of the music wasn't fitting, but that's really not the end of the world there. If you're a "always thinks about how to make plot more logical, why the characters acted like that and why the writers wrote this action contrary to the character's storyline, I hate the punch in the gut with completely turning the tides of the storyline" type of person, this drama is definitely a must watch.

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As a stand alone drama: okay-ish. As a loosely based story on the previous drama: trash

Edit: dropped in the 19th episode. All edits are marked.

My notes app was the most used app while I watched Battle through the Heaven (BTTH) and simultaneously rewatched Fight Breaks Sphere (FSB, we know it as BTTH as well but for the matter of this review, I'll use FBS to differentiate) because I didn't remember many of the things referenced in BTTH... I didn't want to compare these two too much but you can't have one apart from the other since BTTH is based on FBS.

But first, let's judge BTTH as a stand alone drama. It is pretty much your standard drama centered around the martial arts world. It is not exceptional, but it is also not too underwhelming. I liked that we were getting into things and stuff right away and we did not wait for the plot to unfold develop for ages. One of the main evil characters is eliminated in the first half of the drama, I have been missing such element in many other dramas. One thing I couldn't buy is Xun'er portrayed by Ding Xiao Ying, edit: I think a different actress (switching her with Xiao Yixian actress for example) would be a better pairing with He Luo Luo (end edit). If you don't know anything about FBS, you'll be able to enjoy BTTH. And if you did watch FBS like me and enjoyed it, you could still enjoy BTTH if you watch it with an open mind. Don't compare and think about the differences too much and it'll be fine. But, I am the person who was not fine and I did have to compare FBS to BTTH. Edit: I had to drop it in the 19th episode, because the cherry picking of FBS was.... Ugh (end edit.)

When I saw that there will be another BTTH, I was really excited and I thought this was going to be a new season, where they would pick up on the cliffhanger from FBS iykyk. I was WRONG. BTTH is loosely based on FBS. The writers cherry picked characters and events and just went with it. Which is not a terrible thing to do if you pick the right stuff, discard some things, adjust it and go, I was just a little disappointed (who out of us who watched and loved FBS wasn't, am I right). What I liked about this cherry picking was: Xiao Yan (XY) and Yao Chen's relationship, I enjoyed the chemistry between them far more here than in FBS. The playfulness, the jokes, the genuine kindness. I have to say that I loved Yao Chen in BTTH far more than in FBS (he was my fav in FBS). We got rid of the Soul Clan pact XY accidentally picked up in the medicine making competition in FBS and it gave us load of space to work it.

The CGI was pretty good in both, but BTTH wins this one. We had some new characters, but I'd have appreciated even more new characters or recurring characters from FBS. Chance to bring back at least Lin Xiuya since we traveled a lot in BTTH and elder Hai was missed. Especially elder Hai when we had Xiao Yixian back (little medicine doctor in BTTH). I wanted to say that I liked that BTTH did not clench into FBS but in case of XY and Xiao Yixian, copying this story wasn't executed well by the actors. What boggled my mind here was, the writers mentioned the beast flame in BTTH which XY acquired in FBS when he met Xiao Yixian and in BTTH XY does not even mention having the flame in eps prior to ep12. Cherry picking the FBS plot done badly here.

Now, onto more plot holes. TL;DR: I HAVE QUESTIONS. First of all, how and why did Yao Chen get into the spatial ring, and how did the spatial ring find XY? By getting rid of the heroes went far north to fight Soul Hall backstory completely, how was the spatial ring created? How did XY acquire the mystical ruler in BTTH when it was an item of Soul Hall and he acquired it after fighting a Soul Hall member? XY was a pharmacy shop apprentice and learned to refine medicine, even got accepted into the alchemists guild and used his skills in FBS. But in BTTH we are thrown into the middle of things and the only background of XY's skill is seemingly medicine elder. In my opinion, another thing which didn't make sense was using Bai Shan and Bai Cheng. Bai Shan was the more powerful one in FBS, has his pride and stuff and in BTTH they made him into this not so powerful power thirsty dummy blinded by his ambition. Then, when XY fell into the Blazing Qi Tower, why was the Snake Queen not able to control the python? Also, she made XY the temporary Snake King in FBS, so he should've been able to control the python too. Edit: As I later learned in BTTH, XY wasn't made into temporary Snake King, only later in the plot (end edit).

If I should describe FBS with one word, it would be grand. The filming locations, the amount of characters, the CGI, the plot, the music were simply grand. To surpass this grandness is certainly not an easy task and BTTH would not be able to do it, unless the writers would carry on the plot precisely and if the production cost would be the same if not even higher. In terms of loosely based stories and spin offs, BTTH is slightly above the average in my opinion. And lbr, the bar is quite low here. If definitely could've been better, but as I said, it is difficult to follow up on such a staple martial arts drama like FBS.

Last edit: at first, I wanted to say that I liked that BTTH writers didn't try to clench too hard on FBS. Episodes 15-19 made me change my mind definitely. Placing Yan Xiao identity into a completely wrong place and even the medicines making competition.... It honestly felt like they made BTTH into a plagiarized version of FBS. Just no. I was dedicated to watch it until the end and try to not have a bias, but I can't. Also, a big pet peeve of mine, XY in BTTH is a reckless dumbass who unintentionally made Xiao Yixian fall in love with him while not publicly acknowledging his relationship with Xun'er. Just why was he so oblivious to what his kind words and live saving actions would do to Xiao Yixian. Hence the score deduction from 7.5 to 6.5.

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