Excellent but with annoying parts at times

Overall, it's an outstanding drama, but with some elements that typically annoy me in such productions.

*** THE SPOILERS AHEAD ***
If you don't like these things in dramas:::
"Antagonists stir up discord among others through an incredible web of circumstances and events, always managing to somehow escape from unbelievably challenging situations for them, showcasing their ability to control the situation as if they anticipate every move the opposing side will make, as if they have insight into the script :).
Also they have immense yet unexplainable power that can land you in heavenly prison without anyone noticing whenever you like and even kill heavily guarded prisoner there, to steal great artifacts right under other's noses, hijack other body without anyone noticing the change for extend periods of time and even possess another body while still possessing the first, etc.
The main male lead performs heroic deeds that his beloved is unaware of, and she ends up hating him, even killed by him while all this is happening, so only at the very end is his sacrifice revealed when he is already dying, and she then forgives him and experiences unimaginable suffering because everything, but if you search for positives there is a message here for couples, talk more with each other or this could happen to you :)",
:::then this drama is not for you.

Other than that it's a highly captivating drama, pleasant to the eyes with top-notch visual effects and beautifully designed sets and costumes.

Story: 8.5
Interesting story, creatively conceived, leaving a beautiful visual impression.
The main characters gradually fall in love through witty moments and events until it becomes genuine love. However, as the story progresses, unforeseen events drive a wedge between them, and misunderstandings grow, only to be resolved at the very end of the drama.
The second pair of lead actors also has an interesting story, but in my opinion, much more unrealistic, while the storyline is fantasy, there are still some laws within that world. It seems unbelievably unrealistic to me that two people could spend 1000 years together the way they did and still be like it was at the beginning. In 10 years, or even 5, everything would have been resolved, whether there is love between them or not. They should make it 100 years at most, but this is way too much.
As I mentioned earlier, the main antagonists, at least in the first part of the drama, seem to have the power to manipulate situations as they please. However, in the second part, this is rectified, showing that even the greatest antagonist has the potential to change for the better, which I found exceptional.
*** THE END OF THE SPOILERS ***

Acting: 9.0
Female lead is great in this drama, if she's not dubbed, her change of voice from the first to the second part of the drama is amazing, and her overall acting is awesome, she is the main star in this drama, male lead was a bit off for me especially in the first part, he acted like a dumb person and always had the same kind of facial expression, but he improves later on.
Supporting actors mainly did nice job in my opinion.

Music: 7.5
Music is ok, not so great as I expected for such beautiful drama, but not everything can be perfect.

Re-watch: 9.0
Even though I don't like those things that I already mentioned at the beginning, it's amazing drama and I will watch it again for sure and highly recommend it.

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Unique and different in a incredibly beautiful way

This drama serves as evidence that grandiose scenes, big names, magnificent costumes, and outstanding OST are not essential. Instead, the only thing you need is a genuinely touching and marvelous story brought to life by capable actors, proving the timeless truth behind the old saying 'less is more'.

Story: 10.0 *** THE SPOILERS AHEAD ***
A truly beautiful and highly unique story, presented in a manner distinct from any others I've encountered so far. Despite its moments of profound sadness, it remains incredibly touching, especially approaching the end, at the end of the 13th episode I've felt that deep emotion of sadness when you are about to lose someone, when you are aware that you're not going to see that person anymore, the one you love so much but you can't do anything about it, they did an excellent job of bringing it to the screen.
The last episode attempts to console the audience, but in my opinion, they didn't even need to do it. The understanding, the love between them, I already sensed that deeply, and if the drama had ended at the 13th episode, it would have been enough, at least for me.

Acting: 9.5
Overall acting is good enough and with excellent job of main leads I give it 9.5, especially the main actress, she is the star of this drama, if you re-watch the episode with his first time travel and their last meeting, you can see her caring love for him and sadness intertwined, just great.
*** THE END OF THE SPOILERS ***

Music: 9.0
It's very good, maybe my rating is a bit high but because of overall impression, I must give it 9.0

Re-watch: 10.0
Constructed in this manner, it leaves ample room for exploring this amazing story through multiple viewings, perhaps even in a non-linear order, and being such a wonderfully written love story, the re-watching value of this one is through the roof.

Conclusion:
My ratings here are purely based on the love story, other things are not so important in this case, maybe some people will find a lot of problematic things with the plot, and maybe they are right, but I ignored all possible time traveling issues and everything that comes with it, only thing that matters here is the love story between them.

So if you enjoy love story and romance without all the unnecessary drama (misunderstandings, love triangles etc.) in it but told in very unusual and unique way, then I highly recommend it.

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What a waste of potential

It's disheartening to see that this tv show had the potential to be among the greatest in the genre. But,...

While the writer(s) had great ideas obviously, they struggled to put them onto the screen in a manner that would be visually and emotionally pleasing, especially in the first 25 episodes, those could have been condensed into 10 or even fewer, resulting in a significantly improved viewing experience in my opinion.

*** SOME SPOILERS AHEAD ***
Establishing a strong connection between the audience and the main characters is usually achieved through the gradual development of chemistry between the two leads. Unfortunately, due to a lot of misunderstandings and sufferings, going back and forth many times, repetitiveness, particularly in the early stages but even later on in the show, this bond between the characters felt almost non-existent to me, it felt like it's there only to satisfy purpose of the plot, not real genuine romance.
I understand that these choices were driven by the demands of the story, but they should have done it in a much better way.

There are many plot holes, lazy writing, characters are mostly one dimensional without real depth, some parts felt so unnecessary dragged, like the first half of the show, and some felt rushed esp. towards the end, un-logical time jumps (they are mortals but they live for 500 years without aging a bit, Yue Ya was a child but after 500y she is still teenager) and so on.
*** THE END OF THE SPOILERS ***

Story: 6.0
I have a feeling that It's as if the writer initially conceived the ending of the story, the last ten episodes in particular which are the best part of the show, and then added the remaining parts of the narrative to fit around that initial great idea. Unfortunately, they didn't manage to execute it in the most effective manner.
Even though few parts were amazing but because overall feeling, 6 is the highest I can give.

Acting: 8.0
Main leads did a good job with the given material and the others were pretty convincing too.

Music: 7.0
Music is ok.

Re-watch: 1.0
Once is enough.

Conclusion:
It's shame to see such untapped potential. A skilled storyteller and director could have worked wonders with the material, turning it into a masterpiece. Unfortunately, the show's narrative structure and execution became a missed opportunity to create something truly remarkable.

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The Best Fantasy C-Drama I've ever watched

This drama is a Priceless Gem.

I cannot say anything new about this drama probably that others haven't already said but I have to write this and express my love for this drama nevertheless.

Plot: 10.0
This is so well thought and written drama, it is unbelievable.
Every step is so brilliantly constructed, every character has its own story and motivation, you can see it all the time for all of them, good guys or villains, their motivations, desires, motives, everything is there.
What I truly love, villains are so well made that you even feel sorry for them in the end, because they were trapped in their own story and had good reasons why they did something in the way they did.
In the most of the tv shows or movies I've watched, villains are mainly bad just because... reasons, or they want to have power over others or just being brutal without even a reason, here every villain had started as a normal fine human being but with some wrong moves and intentions they were slowly going that path of evil.

*** THE SPOILERS AHEAD ***
Rarely I like watching love triangles in tv shows, but here, it is somehow created unlike any other drama I've watched, this love story is so different, I suffered and enjoyed it at the same time, so bitter sweet emotions for me.
It was so sweet to watch falling in love between XF and JM in the heavenly realm but for me favorite part was their falling in love on earth, even though I'm a male, I cried so hard, this is such a beautiful love story.

RY is a brilliantly written tragic character. His obsession is an example of what one can do if one lose the love in their soul, he so desperately wanted to be loved by somebody (JM) that he became obsessed.
His obsession became the most important thing to him, he sacrificed everything for even little bit of love or just affection, of even just to be around of JM that he overlooked her love for XF, her happiness which should be very important to him if he genuinely loved her, he overlooked his own brother's love for him, and we saw very clearly in the end that XF always loved him sincerely.
*** THE END OF THE SPOILERS ***

I could write many more about plot and what I really like but it would be too long so I stop here :)

When I watched this drama for the first time, I enjoyed the love story of support leads but when I re-watched it for the second and the third time, I skipped most of the scenes with them because I just wanted to see love story between XF and JM again and again, heartbreaking but beautiful.

Acting: 10.0
They are just great, main roles, support roles, everybody was just great, I cannot say enough praises for all of them.

Music: 10.0
Music is awesome, outstanding, I developed some kind of emotions when I hear theme songs, whenever I hear that music, I feel like I'm gonna cry, and feel some kind of warmth in my chest, music just amplified the emotions of the story by billion, by infinite :)

Re-watch: 10.0
I’ve watched it three times already and only time will tell how many more times I’ll watch it in the future.

I cannot recommend this drama enough, DEFINITELY MUST WATCH Drama.

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My 2 cents about this one

This drama really is a puzzle for me, so many people sing odes to it and I'm in shock, why?

I tried to watch this year ago and dropped it on first few episodes, I saw recently that The Untamed is still first on MyDramaList , so I thought, maybe I was in the wrong mood before and I didn't get it, and I'll give it a try once more.

But even when I watched the whole thing (I was so reluctant to watch everything but I forced myself in order to see why), I didn't understand why this show is still the number one.

Then I did a little research and found out that this story was made from a very popular book, and it had many followers even before it was made. I get it now, people really love the book, and I also think that almost always book is better than tv show or movie adaptation, books are complex and deep and if they are well written, no movie can match that.

Ok, book is amazing. but... this show is really really poorly made, like writer/director didn't put much thought into it and heart.

Story: 2.0 *** THE SPOILERS AHEAD ***
(0 - 30 episodes)
Plot is stupid and draggy, boring in one word, first 10 episodes are really bad, when I think about it now when I finished watching them all. WWX acts like he has slept for couple of days after he had fallen in that abyss.
And what happened to him after he fell into abyss is never revealed, maybe people who read the book knows but we who didn't, we don't need to know, some things are better left unknown *sarcasm*.
He remembers everything but he didn't go to see what happened with all those people that he knew and cared about and to find out what really happened after he disappeared, how his sister got killed and everything else, things just happened to him at that point.
When he heard that his best friend LWJ is going to show up (1. or 2. episode maybe), he said something like, "Oh no, who needs that gloomy Lord" or something similar (his best friend who he's going to see for the first time after he fell), also when he saw his nephew for the first time he said that "his mother didn't teach him well manners" or something. I mean, he should started crying when he saw him, remembering his dead sister. His behavior is so strange, like he doesn't care for anything or anyone, and acts as if he has no emotions or heart, completely devoid of soul. Everything that he did in the beginning of the show doesn't fit in the whole picture at all, when we finally find out what happened before he fell.
Things are also happening by chance, the way how WWX and LWJ found out the place where Yin metal is hidden, is really naive and unconvincing. After that their travel to the lake/river/whatever and destroying evil plants was so dull and visually not engaging at all.
The main sects leaders sent their sons and daughters to be imprisoned/killed just like that, their fight against Wen clan looks so pathetic, silly, better fit for some parody movie, laughable.
When WWX started to use dark energy, so many weird things happened around it that I don't even know how to describe it, I could lose my mind every time I remember those scenes, fortunately, I'll quickly forget them, just like the complete drama.
The whole thing with zombies or puppet-like people through the show is simply dumb, lifeless and this word fits perfectly here :D.
(30 - 50 episodes)
The weirdest and grossest sequence of all, involves the blind girl, the blind guy in white, and the most evil person in the entire show (I forgot all their names). The whole scenario in Yin City is beyond stupid, I'm just baffled that someone could really like and enjoy watching that kind of thing in any drama, movie, or whatever.
Finally, the ending/elimination of the last villain was devoid of any real logic and sense. There's no genuine motivation for him to become so evil other than a poorly explained desire for revenge. While revenge can be a compelling reason if well-written, here it simply falls short.

Villains in general are extremely badly written in this show, they are mostly evil just because plot needs them to be, we don't see the real motivation behind their actions, sect leader of Wen is just obsessed with power and will to dominate. Why? Because... reasons. He also has powerful generals who can defeat other main sects almost on their own, that's just utterly boring.

The most interesting person is WWX, his personality is very likable. He's a free spirit, always ready for any kind of mischievous actions, and he doesn't like to be ordered around. However, later on, writers had to create all these unnecessary misunderstandings around him. I understand why they had to do it for the plot, but all these elements are poorly thought out and implemented, once again, it's an example of unbelievably bad writing.

One more thing that I didn't like is that there is no romance, I read that it is some kind BL (boy love) between WWX and LWJ, maybe this is interesting for females and gay people but I'm strait guy so I saw only friendship there, but real romance is missing, WWX's sister chemistry and screen time with her boyfriend/husband if we can call it that even, is almost non existent and we don't see why is she in love with him, but instead we can only see why she shouldn't be.
They could make something with WQ and WWX, or WQ and JC, but no, only brotherly love for WQ.

I know that drama is amazing when every now and then some scene touch something deep in me, and I start crying or at least I feel that I could cry, but in this one, only for two parts I felt I could cry, when WN bought butterfly toy and show it to AY and talking to him, and the other part was when it's revealed that WWX transferred his golden core to his brother, two short moments, that's it.
*** THE END OF THE SPOILERS ***

Acting: 5.5
Some performances are okay, while others are bad, but with such a dumb, empty, and mind-numbingly boring plot, all of that becomes irrelevant.

Music: 5.5
Music is not bad, but I feel at times it is a bit off in some scenes.

Re-watch: 1.0
Watching this was a very painful experience for me, and I won't do it anymore, FOR SURE.

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I enjoyed the story so much, visually and emotionally!

As a huge fan of a fantasy/historical/romance genre, all aspects for me are fulfilled here.

Cinematography is superb, I really enjoyed the heavenly realm and now I want to see more of it, that's why this drama and Ashes of Love are my favorite C-Dramas so far, I hope it will be more dramas like this in the future.

Story: 10.0 *** SOME SPOILERS AHEAD ***
Love story is just phenomenal, their falling in love in mortal world is my favorite part, later on, it becomes more tragedy-like but you have to be shaken to the core by all those disasters they encounter during they journey so in the end you can feel tremendous joy and happiness when they overcome them.

Acting: 10.0
I think they couldn't find better leads for this drama than they did, they are just perfect for their roles, male lead especially, he acted two roles here and after some time I really couldn't see that it is the same actor, you could feel the difference between those two characters so clearly, amazing.
*** THE OF THE SPOILERS ***

Music: 9.5
Music is really touching and beautiful.

Re-watch: 9.0
I've watched this drama two times so far, but it was a bit overwhelming at times with all those misunderstandings, (I really hate those in any drama) so that's why I give it 9.0

If you are in dilemma, should you watch this drama or not, don't be, this is Must Watch Drama.

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An excellent portrayal of love, family, and friendship from a small fragment of the past

Masterfully depicted journey back in time, this drama successfully evoked feelings of nostalgia and deep emotions of joy mixed with sorrow within me, especially when one becomes aware of the passage of time and the realization that everything that once was can no longer be reclaimed. Yet, in the end, only love remains.

Story: 10.0
Through the portrayal of the lives of several families, encompassing their struggles, challenges, moments of bliss, failures, successes, first loves, and heartaches, the narrative seamlessly transports us to the year 1988, during the Olympic Games in Korea. It grants us a glimpse and a sense of the prevailing atmosphere of that era. A captivating narrative unfolds, beautiful story of love, family, friendship, and the transformative journey to adulthood.

Actors: 10.0
The cast delivered an outstanding performance, effectively transmuting emotions from the television screen to captivate the audience in a truly remarkable manner.

Music: 9.0
Even though it's fitting into the general atmosphere that prevails throughout the series, I give it 9.0

Re-watch: 10.0
The profound impact this series can leave on the viewer suggests that it has great potential for repeated viewings, making it a timeless show to revisit in the future.

I wholeheartedly recommend this show.

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Very Beautiful Drama

I didn't expect this drama to be so good, I don't usually like watching drama reviews because I don't want to know anything about that drama in advance, I want to be surprised by the story, and I was very surprised, luckily it was a very nice surprise.

Story: 10.0 *** THE SPOILERS AHEAD ***
An interesting plot, unusual, full of unexpected events, as in crime stories, and yet somehow oriented to show the lives of ordinary people and their relationships in their wonderful neighborhood.

The main plot is about the lives of two people who are separated by their age, status, family life and yet similar mental characteristics.
They both feel lonely, especially the male lead, although he has a wife, a child, a mother, two brothers, friends, he still feels lonely and misunderstood, while the female lead has only a few people around her, a difficult childhood and even murder on conscience . These two people are fighting inside and outside so that circumstances would lead them to find each other in that fight, but this is not a typical love story in which they end up with each other, the goal here is not to find physical love but the real unconditional love, love within themselves.
*** THE END OF THE SPOILERS ***

If you have problems in life, this story can help you see them from a different angle, to see the light at the end of the tunnel, to keep the love inside you no matter what happens to you from the outside, if the love is in you, the whole world can hates you but that feeling of love will be in you and keep your soul alive forever.

The family and friendship aspect of the story is portrayed exceptionally in this drama.

Due to its slower pace, this drama is experienced more through emotions and less through the mind, and that is what thrilled me the most.

Cast: 10.0
I haven't seen so many K-Dramas so I'm not familiar with any of the actors but very good acting of all them, especially the main roles who did a really good job showing deep emotions of sadness and loneliness which can be very difficult to express.

Music: 9.0
Music is great and fits into the atmosphere of the story

Re-watch: 9.5
I will watch this again for sure

I strongly recommend this drama.

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