dramaholic101
This review may contain spoilers
A true underdog that had people begging for more
You may think I am a little overboard with the 9.5, but I can't bring myself to give this drama a lower score. Yes, this drama has flaws, but I will happily oversee the flaws because of how this drama honored the the original novel/writer, the actors, and the audience. The interactions between the two main actors made me laugh multiple times throughout the series and they also made me cry for them.
This drama is proof that there is no need for a drama to have a big production, well known big actors, lots of promo and/or famous scriptwriters/directors in order for a drama to be a hit. Despite having a low-budget, a newbie scriptwriter, a lesser known company that has the rights (Youku is weaker compared to big companies like iqiyi and Tencent, who usually has the rights to big and popular dramas) and zero anticipation from the public, the drama was one of the best in its genre to be put out in years.
Reasons why this drama is a hit:
1. The script follows the novel heavily (Finally a scriptwriter that shows respect to the original!)
Many dramas that are adopted from a novel are not well received because it strays away from the original source too much and basically becomes a separate entity. However, for this drama, the scriptwriter stayed true and respected the original book. Also, they included lots of interactions between the male leads! Which made me wonder what tricks Youku had up their sleeves to get it through censorship. They really need to share their secrets to other dramas that are currently in development.
2. The casting
Man, this is one of the best castings in a drama I have seen. The two actors fit their roles perfectly and they had great chemistry together. Who would've thought that they weren't the original choices for these roles! The original actor that was supposed to play ZZS dropped out and focused on another more popular project due to delays resulted from covid and the original actor that was supposed to play WKX thought he didn't fit the role and chose to play a supporting character instead.
3. The acting/story plots
Both main leads are very talented actors that showcased the personalities of their characters perfectly. Not only the main leads, but the side characters and side CPs are great as well. The drama did not drag out the meeting of the two for many eps nor did it have long periods of time where the two are apart from each other. After they meet, they stick together like glue, more like WKX sticking to ZZS and following him everywhere.
Also, a little side note. You know this drama is good when this drama debuted on duoban with an 8.3 and rose to a rating of 8.6 by the end. Duoban is very strict with their ratings as dramas rarely make it past the 8.0 rating. Even the very popular The Untamed debuted at 4.8 and managed to climb up to 7.7.
*Ending spoilers*
**********************************
Now, the ending, there were some loose ends, but since it is a happy ending I will forgive them for that. Youku made it weird by making the happy ending a 7-ish minute special episode and the beginning part of that special looks like a music video. However, I loved the last couple minutes, as it is a mirror of the fight scene they had on the boat at the river. My fave pairing will be missed, but I was happy to see that they managed to successfully cultivate and become immortals living in seclusion together on the snow mountain!
This drama is proof that there is no need for a drama to have a big production, well known big actors, lots of promo and/or famous scriptwriters/directors in order for a drama to be a hit. Despite having a low-budget, a newbie scriptwriter, a lesser known company that has the rights (Youku is weaker compared to big companies like iqiyi and Tencent, who usually has the rights to big and popular dramas) and zero anticipation from the public, the drama was one of the best in its genre to be put out in years.
Reasons why this drama is a hit:
1. The script follows the novel heavily (Finally a scriptwriter that shows respect to the original!)
Many dramas that are adopted from a novel are not well received because it strays away from the original source too much and basically becomes a separate entity. However, for this drama, the scriptwriter stayed true and respected the original book. Also, they included lots of interactions between the male leads! Which made me wonder what tricks Youku had up their sleeves to get it through censorship. They really need to share their secrets to other dramas that are currently in development.
2. The casting
Man, this is one of the best castings in a drama I have seen. The two actors fit their roles perfectly and they had great chemistry together. Who would've thought that they weren't the original choices for these roles! The original actor that was supposed to play ZZS dropped out and focused on another more popular project due to delays resulted from covid and the original actor that was supposed to play WKX thought he didn't fit the role and chose to play a supporting character instead.
3. The acting/story plots
Both main leads are very talented actors that showcased the personalities of their characters perfectly. Not only the main leads, but the side characters and side CPs are great as well. The drama did not drag out the meeting of the two for many eps nor did it have long periods of time where the two are apart from each other. After they meet, they stick together like glue, more like WKX sticking to ZZS and following him everywhere.
Also, a little side note. You know this drama is good when this drama debuted on duoban with an 8.3 and rose to a rating of 8.6 by the end. Duoban is very strict with their ratings as dramas rarely make it past the 8.0 rating. Even the very popular The Untamed debuted at 4.8 and managed to climb up to 7.7.
*Ending spoilers*
**********************************
Now, the ending, there were some loose ends, but since it is a happy ending I will forgive them for that. Youku made it weird by making the happy ending a 7-ish minute special episode and the beginning part of that special looks like a music video. However, I loved the last couple minutes, as it is a mirror of the fight scene they had on the boat at the river. My fave pairing will be missed, but I was happy to see that they managed to successfully cultivate and become immortals living in seclusion together on the snow mountain!
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