All I can say I was sceptical of the hype to begin with, and didn't watch this show for a long time after it came out, out of disbelief that it was really that good and also out of doubt that they could satisfy me despite of China's censorship on depictions of queer characters or storylines.

But BOY, WAS I WRONG. This was brilliant. This show is the most incredible piece of art. I loved everything about it. I am so happy. This might actually be my favourite series of all time now.

The acting was great, the OST was great, the storyline was extremely engaging and interesting, the character development was amazing, there were so many complex and intriguing plots and characters.

I loved this show just so, so much. I don't know why I'm trying to write a review when I just finished it and am feeling very sappy about it, and it's almost 5 o'clock in the morning. But I just really can't hold back, I'm so satisfied with this. Sure, there are one or two unexplained things (like, what really happened to the yin iron shards? were they actually destroyed? if so, how was that suddenly possible when it proved so impossible all those years ago), but I can see past that. This was as close to perfection as a show can get.