Tintentaucher
A light-hearted Xianxia with one of the best power couples out there
The story: The story is refreshing for a Xianxia as it takes place entirely in the Human realm and there are no Gods and endless reincarnations and lifes to go through. Instead it is more of a fantastical journey of healing and treasure hunt for the missing body parts for the ML. Although it deviates from the novel I enjoyed most of the changes as it fleshed out the characters arc and emotions. There are a few story points that seemed a bit convenient ( but no more than in the usual Xinxia Drama) but for the most part the story was logical. One needs to be a bit patient though because things that leave questions in the viewers mind are often explained but in a much later Episode where it all comes together. I also enjoy that heavier moments are never dragged out for too long and there is a good rhythm of emotional moments and moments of levity. BFTB even keeps this rhythm in the second half of the story where XianXia typically become heavy and joyless.
There are no misunderstandings that are unnecessarily dragged out. Instead the strong communication between the characters is one of the Highlights of BFTB.
The characters: The main couple is one of the best I have seen. I enjoyed that Tien Yao is not the typical cold OP lead but starts instead as very weak and traumatized. Originally pure and naiv we first meet him at his low point corrupted by the horrible things that happend to him.His journey of finding his old self and learning to trust and love again is very beautiful. I also liked that he makes mistakes on the way and isn't perfect ( which is also a change from the novel, that I personally found enriching to the story, aka the famous EP 16 so many viewers were complaining about.)
Yan Hui is a gem. She kicks ass, is honest and protects our dragon. Although she also grows as a person on their journey she is the rock that braces the storm. She is steadfast and true to herself, not to mention straightforward, brave and hilarious. She takes a lot of rejection from TY early on but she is not a push over and Tian Yao has to fight for her to get back in her good graces. There are a few instances where she wasn't the smartest cookie around, but I think that was mostly played for comedic effect. Most of the time she is smart and thoughtful.
The side characters were also lovable but in this drama the MLs are really the focus of the show which I prefer. Especially BXS functioned as a stand in for the viewer who is rooting for the MLs. He was convincingly cunning and broken but at the same time funny. He does try to insert himself between the couple for a few episodes but I didn't mind because Tien Yao really really needed the competition as a wake up call. Also BXS remained harmless and never steered into obsessive 2nd ML territory that cannot let go.
On the downside I found the villains too one dimensional and their obsessions went too far. Their motivations did not make much sense to me because they lacked any form of self reflection and self-awareness. It also made it difficult to imagine how Tien Yao could fall for Suying in the first place, because I can't imagine her icy face being able to pull off the deception required to fool him.
The Acting: Both the female and male lead are pure eye candy.
I was impressed with both of their acting, especially the emotional scenes where handled well by the leads. The acting for Tien Yao required a subtle change over time as our Male Lead is healing from his emotional Trauma and is beautifully portrayed by Hou Minghao who has very beautiful and expressive eyes. So it makes sense that he come across as repressed in the beginning. But he becomes more majestic and emotive as the story progresses. Also he manages to convincingly portray someone very young at one point which impressed me. I was almost wondering if that was really the same person, if Hou Minghao has some secret youth elixier I want it.
The other actors do a good job as well especially BXS cunning and mischief was well portrayed by Riley Wang. The actor who portrayed both the fox king and his twin also deserves to me mentioned here because he pulled of the double role really well.
Skinship: This couple has some of the most natural interactions and really delivers a feeling of closeness throughout. The kissing scenes are sadly few and very underwhelming ( the typical lips touching not moving kind) but all the other interactions and hugs, which are plenty, make up for it in this case, so I didn't mind the lackluster kissing as much as I would have otherwise.
OST: The Soundtrack is epic and beautiful. My personal favourite is the song sung by our very talented ML Hou Minghao which features lyrics that reflect the MLs heart perfectly. Especially because Tien Yao is not very expressive about his feelings having the ML sing them is especially meaningful.
Costumes: I really liked the costumes as they become more luxurious as the ML regains his strength. They are not as eye catching as those in LBFD but given that this Drama does not deal with Gods and ancient Demons but instead is set in the human realm the more sutle costuming suits the setting better. I also liked that the colors of the clothing reflected the purity/ naivety of the characters.
If a character becomes "dark" chinese Drama s always have the same evil makeup for the actors which BFTB does as well. I wish they would change that up a bit, especially since the greatest aholes usually live in heaven, but it was not as over the top as TTEOTM, so I can look past that.
CGI: The CGI is not the best but I got used to its quirkiness. The monsters look like pokemon which seems weird in a Live Action setting, but I got used to it by the end and now like their uniqueness. I liked that the spirits where portrayed in various stations of development with weaker spirits not having a completley human form, that is something I haven't seen before. The Backround CGI looked really beautiful. The wirework for the fights could have been a bit better as well, but it was not something I mind since Xianxia fight scenes seems a bit ridiculous most of the time anyway. If anyone has watched TSL one will notice that some of the same sets were used for both Dramas. But given that BFTB had a medium budget I think the Drama looks really good for its budget.
The ending: Although it is a happy Ending it felt similarly rushed as the one LBFD had. This seems to be a trend recently, that really annoys me especially when the novels ending had no such issue. This is also the reason for not giving BFTB full points.
All in all I really loved this show and BFTB has become my second favourite Xianxia Drama behind LBFD. It' s story is a welcome change from the usual Xianxia storys and while I dig all powerful cold characters like Dongfang Qingcang I loved the pure, tortured and emotional Tien Yao because these types of characters are much rarer. Also Yan Hui is easily the most kickass and awesome FL in all of Xianxia. Objectively I have to give LBFD the edge in terms of overall quality and its villains but my obsession with BFTB was as great if not greater.
I prefer these lighter more fun Xianxia shows over the angsty, noble idiocy induced melodramas such as AOL, TMOPB, ALP or TTEOTM. I think we are really lucky to have such high quality and light Xianxia Shows released so close after another, after TSL was also very nice this year.
Rewatch value is high for me ( already rewatched 3 times) as I get to really appreciate the subtle changes in TY. Watching it again especially after the reveal in the last couple EPs makes me see the earlier EPs in a new light.
There are no misunderstandings that are unnecessarily dragged out. Instead the strong communication between the characters is one of the Highlights of BFTB.
The characters: The main couple is one of the best I have seen. I enjoyed that Tien Yao is not the typical cold OP lead but starts instead as very weak and traumatized. Originally pure and naiv we first meet him at his low point corrupted by the horrible things that happend to him.His journey of finding his old self and learning to trust and love again is very beautiful. I also liked that he makes mistakes on the way and isn't perfect ( which is also a change from the novel, that I personally found enriching to the story, aka the famous EP 16 so many viewers were complaining about.)
Yan Hui is a gem. She kicks ass, is honest and protects our dragon. Although she also grows as a person on their journey she is the rock that braces the storm. She is steadfast and true to herself, not to mention straightforward, brave and hilarious. She takes a lot of rejection from TY early on but she is not a push over and Tian Yao has to fight for her to get back in her good graces. There are a few instances where she wasn't the smartest cookie around, but I think that was mostly played for comedic effect. Most of the time she is smart and thoughtful.
The side characters were also lovable but in this drama the MLs are really the focus of the show which I prefer. Especially BXS functioned as a stand in for the viewer who is rooting for the MLs. He was convincingly cunning and broken but at the same time funny. He does try to insert himself between the couple for a few episodes but I didn't mind because Tien Yao really really needed the competition as a wake up call. Also BXS remained harmless and never steered into obsessive 2nd ML territory that cannot let go.
On the downside I found the villains too one dimensional and their obsessions went too far. Their motivations did not make much sense to me because they lacked any form of self reflection and self-awareness. It also made it difficult to imagine how Tien Yao could fall for Suying in the first place, because I can't imagine her icy face being able to pull off the deception required to fool him.
The Acting: Both the female and male lead are pure eye candy.
I was impressed with both of their acting, especially the emotional scenes where handled well by the leads. The acting for Tien Yao required a subtle change over time as our Male Lead is healing from his emotional Trauma and is beautifully portrayed by Hou Minghao who has very beautiful and expressive eyes. So it makes sense that he come across as repressed in the beginning. But he becomes more majestic and emotive as the story progresses. Also he manages to convincingly portray someone very young at one point which impressed me. I was almost wondering if that was really the same person, if Hou Minghao has some secret youth elixier I want it.
The other actors do a good job as well especially BXS cunning and mischief was well portrayed by Riley Wang. The actor who portrayed both the fox king and his twin also deserves to me mentioned here because he pulled of the double role really well.
Skinship: This couple has some of the most natural interactions and really delivers a feeling of closeness throughout. The kissing scenes are sadly few and very underwhelming ( the typical lips touching not moving kind) but all the other interactions and hugs, which are plenty, make up for it in this case, so I didn't mind the lackluster kissing as much as I would have otherwise.
OST: The Soundtrack is epic and beautiful. My personal favourite is the song sung by our very talented ML Hou Minghao which features lyrics that reflect the MLs heart perfectly. Especially because Tien Yao is not very expressive about his feelings having the ML sing them is especially meaningful.
Costumes: I really liked the costumes as they become more luxurious as the ML regains his strength. They are not as eye catching as those in LBFD but given that this Drama does not deal with Gods and ancient Demons but instead is set in the human realm the more sutle costuming suits the setting better. I also liked that the colors of the clothing reflected the purity/ naivety of the characters.
If a character becomes "dark" chinese Drama s always have the same evil makeup for the actors which BFTB does as well. I wish they would change that up a bit, especially since the greatest aholes usually live in heaven, but it was not as over the top as TTEOTM, so I can look past that.
CGI: The CGI is not the best but I got used to its quirkiness. The monsters look like pokemon which seems weird in a Live Action setting, but I got used to it by the end and now like their uniqueness. I liked that the spirits where portrayed in various stations of development with weaker spirits not having a completley human form, that is something I haven't seen before. The Backround CGI looked really beautiful. The wirework for the fights could have been a bit better as well, but it was not something I mind since Xianxia fight scenes seems a bit ridiculous most of the time anyway. If anyone has watched TSL one will notice that some of the same sets were used for both Dramas. But given that BFTB had a medium budget I think the Drama looks really good for its budget.
The ending: Although it is a happy Ending it felt similarly rushed as the one LBFD had. This seems to be a trend recently, that really annoys me especially when the novels ending had no such issue. This is also the reason for not giving BFTB full points.
All in all I really loved this show and BFTB has become my second favourite Xianxia Drama behind LBFD. It' s story is a welcome change from the usual Xianxia storys and while I dig all powerful cold characters like Dongfang Qingcang I loved the pure, tortured and emotional Tien Yao because these types of characters are much rarer. Also Yan Hui is easily the most kickass and awesome FL in all of Xianxia. Objectively I have to give LBFD the edge in terms of overall quality and its villains but my obsession with BFTB was as great if not greater.
I prefer these lighter more fun Xianxia shows over the angsty, noble idiocy induced melodramas such as AOL, TMOPB, ALP or TTEOTM. I think we are really lucky to have such high quality and light Xianxia Shows released so close after another, after TSL was also very nice this year.
Rewatch value is high for me ( already rewatched 3 times) as I get to really appreciate the subtle changes in TY. Watching it again especially after the reveal in the last couple EPs makes me see the earlier EPs in a new light.
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