It grows on you...

I had trouble with the story at the beginning. It seemed a bit far-fetched and even a little silly. But once I just gave in and accepted for what it was, it became really fun to watch!

The characters, as introduced, started out a little two-dimensional, but if you think about it, everyone you meet for the first time always appear that way. But the series expands on them at the right moments, you get deeper into each character, layers are peeled back, and you begin to understand what motivates them. Every character, whether main or support, gets this treatment. EVERY ONE. And the main characters all grow and become more and more complex. Relationships change, sometimes for the better, oftentimes for the worst. Some relationships were allowed to grow, some were nipped in the bud by forces beyond their control. This really scratched the hopeless romantic itch in me; several times I got something in my eye that made me tear up. The series relied on foreshadowing when it could, reserving the after-the-event data dump explanation only for times when it needed to be absolutely hidden from the audience.

While I enjoyed the fight scenes, they suffered from overuse of a few tropes. (If you're a fan of "staring at the tip of the blade, in slo-mo, as they sidestep the sword thrust", you'll enjoy it immensely, as it seems to happen at least once with every fight.) Nevertheless, they were all executed very well, and some of the entrances of the major players into the battle were grand, indeed.

Acting was solid all around, but I felt that maybe Ren Jia Lun seemed unaccustomed to comedy and it seemed a little bit forced at times. Na Lan Yue needs to work on his sense of comedic timing. Still, overall, a solid performance. On the other hand, Lin Yuan was simply enthralling as the main villainess, Mo Huan, and oh, the sneer! If she couldn't kill you with her magic and martial arts, then for sure the sneer would. That crooked smile made me hit the ten-second rewind more than a few times. Li Yi Tong turned in a solid performance as Rong Su and made the growth of the character totally believable. Her scene at the end of the series was a heartbreaker for sure. Interestingly enough, you could see her potential for acting in the music videos she made as part of the idol group, SNH48, so many years ago... The series struck unexpected gold with Eve Lu. She was absolutely adorable as Liu Li; a shining light in an otherwise fairly dark drama.

The music was mostly good, but... the death metal guitar riffs at the final big battle... really? That's why it only got 9.5/10 from me.

Rewatch value? Yeah, I feel that it is worth rewatching at least once more in whole, and quite a few scenes are worth watching again. (and I did. And do.)

Overall? Solid.

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