a drama that should gain more recognition!

i don't usually write reviews, but i will for this drama that has such a unique storyline that i dont understand why it's so underrated for the international viewers (it's super popular in mainland china itself)! i am here to show some support!

the story is already unique for telling the drama from a second female lead's pov, the second female lead that is supposed to get into our FL and ML's way every single time, and then when she's almost getting what she wants, the FL and ML takes their revenge and our poor second FL have to get every bad consequences for everything she does. but our FL here WILL NOT accept this fate, she will write her own fate and decide her own ending! (despite all the twists and turns and problems that she has to encounter. but no fear, because our puppy ML will be there for her every time, even if he does have to forget who she is once in a while).

this was a very fresh storyline amidst all the dramas that are airing right now, and i appreciated the breath of fresh air given to us, even if there were some minor plot holes. we don't write the rules here for the world that they are in, but we sure want to see some consistency and logic in the the rules that are presented to us. but it's something that i am willing to overlook for we were given such a fantastic cast with such acting skills + all the shade thrown on typical drama tropes (the always looking for physician because fl or ml get injured trope, the feed medicine through their mouths trope, the petals thrown into the scene trope to make out ml's heart throb, etc.). they were funny and also very unique and I LOVE IT. i will rewatch this drama again if i have time and if you have time and would like a short vacation away from typical drama storylines or storylines that are too heavy to handle or you need a cast that can act - i strongly recommend watching this drama~

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not a spectacular xianxia

am a super big fan of zhao lusi and have watched almost every of her show, so i was super excited to watch this drama since she has darn good chemistry with almost all her male leads!!!

but at the end of the last episode, i just felt like i wasted all my time watching this show. the plot isn't confusing, neither was it spectacular, it as just plagued with multiple miscommunication and noble idiocy, especially from yuanqi. fella will never tell ahyin the true intentions behind his actions, and will always hide it. if he had told her, misunderstandings could have been avoided and they would have had more time loving one another? the whole drama was just a whole cycle of an incident happened --> requires either one of them to risk their lives / sacrifice --> gets injured / die --> rescue (but the rescuing part doesn't get conveyed bc ?? idk??), REPEAT non stop. it's so tiring to watch this cycle over and over again, knowing that it could have been avoided if they just COMMUNICATED. towards the last few episodes, i was just chuckling when this pattern starts again and i already could predict what was going to happen next. i actually let out a sigh of relief when yuanqi mentioned that he knew something was off, so he asked his spirit sword to search for him if he went off grid for too long - it took him like 1000+ years to learn that he has to do something like this? and why does he even have to do this? bc the two of you don't communicate properly your plans and always making sacrifices for one another behind each other's back?

the only saving grace is probably the disciples of daze mountain. the only time i shed a tear for this drama was when they all came together and sacrificed their lives to protect their home. it was touching and a tragedy founded not on miscommunication.

i dont know why but zhao lusi's acting was a bit off the mark for this drama...watching her trying to portray the majestic phoenix queen was painful and cringey...it's my first time watching wang anyu's acting and it wasn't spectacular either...sometimes his crying scene looked like he yawned and harboured the tears in his eyes for the shoot. he looked sleepy half the time...maybe that's why his chemistry with zhao lusi wasn't off the chart...BUT when i watched their promo douyin vids, i can feel the spark between them!!! so it's so unfortunate that they couldn't convey the same chemistry through the drama if not i'd have loved this drama more.

overall not a fantastic drama...i'd have rated it lower, but i needed to compensate myself and be accountable for all the time i've wasted for finishing this drama, so 6/10.

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disappointed )':

i was extremely excited for this drama because i'm a big fan of zhang linghe and was also very traumatized by esther yu's baby voice in LBFAD, so to learn that she is taking on a more mature role of an assassin, i was super excited to see how she was going to portray it since her acting isn't all that bad (if we mute the drama).

but...i couldn't even bring myself past the first few episodes for this drama...the storyline fell flat for me and gong ziyu is probably the weakest, most boring male lead i've ever watched. every move he makes is so blinded by love...and it's probably also bc i watched Story of Kunning first, where zhang linghe portrayed the complex and intelligent xie wei character quite well, so to see him so dumb and weak here...it's just exasperating...

some of the things that i rly can't stand in this drama:
(1) why are they all talking with that jyp's half air half sound technique, it's so exhausting to listen to them. it's like any one of them was going to run out of breath any time. it DOES add to the whole mysterious vibe of the drama, but it gets super tiring after a while.

(2) the two girls are meant to be top spies of wufeng...but then why are they discussing their plans with their windows WIDE OPEN and not being on a look out as they talk. not very smart..? but...

(3) THEY ARE LUCKY THAT ALL THE GONG MEN ARE STUPID LOL. bc the way that wufeng spies could infiltrate into the gong residence was just HILARIOUS. one could the wife of the swordwielder, the other one is the son...and out of like a dozen number of girls, the two men JUST HAD TO pick the 2 wufeng spies as wives - like what's the probability??!!? i rmb in the first ep, wufeng said that the spies they sent into gong never made it back - perhaps because they all married into the gong residence and none of them actually died ??? T__T all the wufeng spies around them, but ziyu/shangjue/yuanzhi suspected none of them, but one another LOL when they were the only three with real gong blood coursing through their veins.

(4) i understand that dramas (even the most solemn ones) need some comical relief, but every time gong zishang comes out, it's just TOO much. the juxtaposition is too jarring ('': no hate to the actress bc she's rly v funny in real life, it's probably the script writing and the directing that made this jarring effect painful

when i heard news that the drama ditched the first couple for promotions and asked the second couple to attend promotion activities instead, i felt that it was so rude for them to do that. but then after watching this drama...i realised WHY. zlh x esther's cp feels were definitely stronger in LBFAD even tho they didn't end up tgt, in this drama - they just fell flat..and probably because the second couple's story was much more well written and had more substance to it. also because they really have more chemistry, i scrolled through weibo and really, the two of them are so cute in real life ('':

the only saving grace for this drama is probably the cinematography, the second couple, the faces of all the actors/actresses here and the brotherhood between shangjue x yuanzhi.

apart from that...i dropped the drama and i'm sad because zhang ling he was so pretty in here... (':

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