4
KingC
"My Tommorow, Your Yesterday."
Watching Chinese dramas for a couple of years finally makes you realize what exactly is wrong with the plethora of them released every month: there is little to no uniqueness in many of their productions or even if it did hold up for a while, they somehow manage to make me lose interest halfway through.
For a country that is far behind when it comes to changing their game or shying away from neat finales, An Ancient Love Song satisfies all that I wanted: a no-nonsense story that sticks to its logic to the very end.
So, if you are looking for some regular, well paced drama with sweet fluff, this one might not be for you. "Reverse timelime" is quite serious. Meaning you know the ending before it even began.
An Ancient Love Song reminded me strongly of the Japanese movie, "Tomorrow, I Will Date Yesterday's You." Or the alternate title which is the same as my review's.
Both of them deal with the concept of reverse timelines, although, AALS is anchored to a plot with an objective: fighting your destiny.
Shen Bu Yan, a professor/writer, has released a hit novel he had written based on the few evidences and relics left behind regarding the "Kingdom of Sheng". Unfortunately, when he is pressured to write a sequel about the leading character, an obscure Demon Queen who plundered the Kingdom to ruins, inspite of lack of further information, he hits a dead end. While pondering about the future of his tale, he dreams of the so called Demon Queen and finds that he has time travelled to the past.
Whats more? Lu Yuan, the Demon Queen herself seems to be waiting for him.
While trying to piece together the truth of the events, Shen Buyan discovers that he plays a far greater role in determining Lu Yuan's fate… and that he was stuck in a reverse timeline. He decides to attempt to change destiny.
☆ The Story/Characters/Acting:
I have to mention, I felt that the writers messed up the timeline a bit: it's stated that he meets Lu Yuan after every 10 years into her past. Meaning that there is no way he could've met her at 21 and then at 18 again.
The run time of almost 25 to 30 minutes per episode was well utilized. The story did not stray away from the main leads and their missions.
Setting this aside, the story has a solid plot with strong characters, albeit not having many of them.
Lu Yuan is definitely the star of the show: Zhang Ya Qin manages to portray every single emotion convincingly. From the naive 18 - year - old to the 36 - year - old Empress, she did not falter. The scenes were she grieved for the dead were particularly striking.
Her character was a person of her own, intelligent, powerful and sharp.
Although Shen Bu Yan falls on the silent side of the crowd, I liked him as a person. Though, I would like to know who chose his wig in ancient times - he reminded me of the second senior in Love and Redemption.
The romance was just pure. [I can't find the right words to describe what I felt.] It's not overly passionate, but sincere and gentle. The time reversal does leave us with an unpleasant feeling once we lay down everything from both the leads' point of view, but it is this very feeling that makes the couple one who are not easily forgettable. If you have seen 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday', you might get a feeling of deja vu at times.
The secondary couple had little time onscreen, but even the focus on them did not appear annoying.
The supporting cast were strong enough to appear believable and invoke emotions to varying degrees.
In a way, all the characters were tragic in their own right. Though, I found the portrayal of Prime Minister Li Yong's pivotal moments lacking. The time skip of 10 years into the past left several voids in the storytelling -- we are 'told', but never shown how things came to be. One another downside of seeing the story through Shen Bu Yuan's eye's.
☆ Soundtrack/Visuals:
After seeing some flamboyant dramas such as Till the end of the Moon, AALS doesn't have much. But, it did not really matter to me as the story was the one that had me hooked. The OST was plain simple. And the title An Ancient Love Song did not even strike until the end of the series.
Kudos to the bilibili video editor who is the reason why this drama exists. I hope other studios are inspired by this and start making content with quality and not quantity.
All in all, I will recommend this to anyone who seek something unique, romantic yet unfluffy, frustrating yet logical, and entertaining, yet emotional tale of love, loyalty and loss.
For a country that is far behind when it comes to changing their game or shying away from neat finales, An Ancient Love Song satisfies all that I wanted: a no-nonsense story that sticks to its logic to the very end.
So, if you are looking for some regular, well paced drama with sweet fluff, this one might not be for you. "Reverse timelime" is quite serious. Meaning you know the ending before it even began.
An Ancient Love Song reminded me strongly of the Japanese movie, "Tomorrow, I Will Date Yesterday's You." Or the alternate title which is the same as my review's.
Both of them deal with the concept of reverse timelines, although, AALS is anchored to a plot with an objective: fighting your destiny.
Shen Bu Yan, a professor/writer, has released a hit novel he had written based on the few evidences and relics left behind regarding the "Kingdom of Sheng". Unfortunately, when he is pressured to write a sequel about the leading character, an obscure Demon Queen who plundered the Kingdom to ruins, inspite of lack of further information, he hits a dead end. While pondering about the future of his tale, he dreams of the so called Demon Queen and finds that he has time travelled to the past.
Whats more? Lu Yuan, the Demon Queen herself seems to be waiting for him.
While trying to piece together the truth of the events, Shen Buyan discovers that he plays a far greater role in determining Lu Yuan's fate… and that he was stuck in a reverse timeline. He decides to attempt to change destiny.
☆ The Story/Characters/Acting:
I have to mention, I felt that the writers messed up the timeline a bit: it's stated that he meets Lu Yuan after every 10 years into her past. Meaning that there is no way he could've met her at 21 and then at 18 again.
The run time of almost 25 to 30 minutes per episode was well utilized. The story did not stray away from the main leads and their missions.
Setting this aside, the story has a solid plot with strong characters, albeit not having many of them.
Lu Yuan is definitely the star of the show: Zhang Ya Qin manages to portray every single emotion convincingly. From the naive 18 - year - old to the 36 - year - old Empress, she did not falter. The scenes were she grieved for the dead were particularly striking.
Her character was a person of her own, intelligent, powerful and sharp.
Although Shen Bu Yan falls on the silent side of the crowd, I liked him as a person. Though, I would like to know who chose his wig in ancient times - he reminded me of the second senior in Love and Redemption.
The romance was just pure. [I can't find the right words to describe what I felt.] It's not overly passionate, but sincere and gentle. The time reversal does leave us with an unpleasant feeling once we lay down everything from both the leads' point of view, but it is this very feeling that makes the couple one who are not easily forgettable. If you have seen 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday', you might get a feeling of deja vu at times.
The secondary couple had little time onscreen, but even the focus on them did not appear annoying.
The supporting cast were strong enough to appear believable and invoke emotions to varying degrees.
In a way, all the characters were tragic in their own right. Though, I found the portrayal of Prime Minister Li Yong's pivotal moments lacking. The time skip of 10 years into the past left several voids in the storytelling -- we are 'told', but never shown how things came to be. One another downside of seeing the story through Shen Bu Yuan's eye's.
☆ Soundtrack/Visuals:
After seeing some flamboyant dramas such as Till the end of the Moon, AALS doesn't have much. But, it did not really matter to me as the story was the one that had me hooked. The OST was plain simple. And the title An Ancient Love Song did not even strike until the end of the series.
Kudos to the bilibili video editor who is the reason why this drama exists. I hope other studios are inspired by this and start making content with quality and not quantity.
All in all, I will recommend this to anyone who seek something unique, romantic yet unfluffy, frustrating yet logical, and entertaining, yet emotional tale of love, loyalty and loss.
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