xiaoyezi
Sensation of time is unique
When he met her for the first time, he didn’t know she would be his beloved memory.
When she met him for the first time, she didn’t know he would influenced her deeply.
Time travel and transmigration stories have a special place in my heart because they often give the perfect context for the main character, usually the time traveller, to be the hero of change / influence.
In An Ancient Love Song, Shen Buyan found a broken jade that allowed him to travel back in time for a set number of times. The plot twists here were
1) He can only stay for a short period (even if he was not killed, he will be forcefully pulled back when the time’s up), and
2) Each time he travelled back, he will go back further to the past instead i.e. meeting the younger Lu Yuan and other characters.
As Shen Buyan figured out the logic of the time travel and going back the past a couple more rounds, it is wonderful (and heartbroken) seeing his growth and acceptance of what he can’t change. By the time the story progressed to his last time travel, a lot of Easter Eggs started to click for both him and the audience.
What’s more, as we see the younger versions of Lu Yuan each time, it becomes even harder not to feel for her and really really hope that she would have made a different decision to change her ending which Shen Buyan and us knew - for herself. Here, it is important to give a shout-out to Zhang Ya Qin for portraying Lu Yuan so well. From the bright hopeful young lady to the wise authoritative queen. That “shackles of fate”, oh my, how irritating, how familiar, how…helpless. The untold irony was Lu Yuan’s skills and potential are influenced from each of her interactions with Shen Buyan.
Such are the fate of star crossed lovers.
Love story aside, the Ancient Love Song also managed to make the supporting cast come alive. The patriotic Lu Shi, the loyal Yi Hua, the complex Prime Minister, the lonely emperor and the strict grandfather - all of them add their unique tune to create this wonderful Song.
If it sounds like a lot to take in for a 14 episode, 30 mins each series, yes it is. There were no fillers throughout the story. We can’t expect a top notched production quality or watertight plot logic from a crew that clearly have limited budget. More importantly, we can feel that there’s a lot of care taken to ensure the important things are done right and the key themes of the story are expressed well.
I hesitated to check this out despite great reviews due to the predictable helplessness of star crossed lovers’ fate. However, what’s more valuable is I got to watch a creative unique story plot that’s made by production and cast with heart.
And I suppose, this is what journeys are made of. :)
When she met him for the first time, she didn’t know he would influenced her deeply.
Time travel and transmigration stories have a special place in my heart because they often give the perfect context for the main character, usually the time traveller, to be the hero of change / influence.
In An Ancient Love Song, Shen Buyan found a broken jade that allowed him to travel back in time for a set number of times. The plot twists here were
1) He can only stay for a short period (even if he was not killed, he will be forcefully pulled back when the time’s up), and
2) Each time he travelled back, he will go back further to the past instead i.e. meeting the younger Lu Yuan and other characters.
As Shen Buyan figured out the logic of the time travel and going back the past a couple more rounds, it is wonderful (and heartbroken) seeing his growth and acceptance of what he can’t change. By the time the story progressed to his last time travel, a lot of Easter Eggs started to click for both him and the audience.
What’s more, as we see the younger versions of Lu Yuan each time, it becomes even harder not to feel for her and really really hope that she would have made a different decision to change her ending which Shen Buyan and us knew - for herself. Here, it is important to give a shout-out to Zhang Ya Qin for portraying Lu Yuan so well. From the bright hopeful young lady to the wise authoritative queen. That “shackles of fate”, oh my, how irritating, how familiar, how…helpless. The untold irony was Lu Yuan’s skills and potential are influenced from each of her interactions with Shen Buyan.
Such are the fate of star crossed lovers.
Love story aside, the Ancient Love Song also managed to make the supporting cast come alive. The patriotic Lu Shi, the loyal Yi Hua, the complex Prime Minister, the lonely emperor and the strict grandfather - all of them add their unique tune to create this wonderful Song.
If it sounds like a lot to take in for a 14 episode, 30 mins each series, yes it is. There were no fillers throughout the story. We can’t expect a top notched production quality or watertight plot logic from a crew that clearly have limited budget. More importantly, we can feel that there’s a lot of care taken to ensure the important things are done right and the key themes of the story are expressed well.
I hesitated to check this out despite great reviews due to the predictable helplessness of star crossed lovers’ fate. However, what’s more valuable is I got to watch a creative unique story plot that’s made by production and cast with heart.
And I suppose, this is what journeys are made of. :)
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