luyuxics

Forbidden Love at its Best

This drama is one that I actually started watching back in 2022. By the time I watched this, Netflix already had all the episodes. I got to episode 22 or so and then I stopped watching. I'm not really sure why I stopped, to be honest. And then I completely forgot about it, and well, fast forward to now, when I finally remembered that I hadn't finished it yet. I decided to just finish the rest of the episodes one day back in February, and I am so glad that I did.

The love story between Dongfang Qingcang and Orchid was absolutely devastating and so beautiful at the same time. I actually didn't mind Esther Yu's acting in this. In my opinion, it made sense for her character. The visuals, cinematography, and the OSTs are absolutely gorgeous and every episode honestly made me laugh and cry. The plot was so complex and I also loved the magic system in this as well. The ending had me absolutely devastated, and I definitely did sob a little bit. I only wish that we got to see more of Dongfang Qingcang and Orchid, especially after Qingcang came back after 500 years. The acting was honestly fantastic, and that scene (I forget which episode, but I believe it was around 33 or so) where Orchid sacrifices herself to save everyone and when Dongfang Qingcang finds out, I could feel every emotion and the anguish and heartbreak that he was experiencing in that moment. It was truly a heartbreaking scene, and Dylan Wang acted in that scene so well. Esther Yu's acting was also so good in this scene as well.

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A MASTERPIECE !!!!

To be honest, I don't even know how to put into words how much I loved this drama. This was not only my first Chinese drama, but my first Chinese historical drama. This drama will always hold a special place in my heart. I do not know how I managed to finish this 50 episode drama in three days, but the no sleep was worth it! This drama's storyline is just so incredibly complex and intricate, and the amount of emotional whiplash that you get from this drama is honestly insane. This drama just exceeded my expectations, and became my entire personality after I watched it back in 2019. This drama will have you on the edge of your seat but also have your heart aching for Wei Wuxian and the amount of pain and suffering he endures throughout his life. The subtle romantic undertones in this drama were brilliant! Lan Wangji and his micro-expressions just made my heart hurt so bad:(( And the relationship between Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng...yeah don't even get me started on how much they broke my heart like NOOOO YOU'RE BROTHERS TALK THINGS OUT DON'T FIGHT !!! I cannot tell you the amount of times I yelled at my computer or cried my eyes out watching this drama, and this is definitely one that will have you feel as if your heart has been ripped out of your chest. It's honestly just a masterpiece from start to finish, and the entire cast is just so incredible!! Oh, and don't even get me started on the cinematography and the OSTs of this drama <3 (SO GORGEOUS)

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So much fun and heartwarming <3

This drama was one of my first modern cdramas that I ever watched, and it did not disappoint! I absolutely adore Tong Yao, and I think she is a strong female character in that she is not to be underestimated. I also love how they made her actually really good at playing the game they were playing in this drama, as I feel like that's kind of rare when it comes to esports dramas. I also love how her friendships with the ZGDX team develops slowly, and how they all slowly become fiercely protective of her and see her as their sister. The found family in this is honestly so wholesome!

The romance was SO GOOD!! I loved the amount of bickering that Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng had, and I absolutely adored how Tong Yao is not afraid to speak her mind. At first, Lu Sicheng isn't the nicest to her, but at the same time, he also carries her on his back after she gets drunk, and also gave her his jacket when it was raining. He also basically confessed that he liked her when he said that his type is someone who can beat him at games. And when Tong Yao defeated him in that match that they had at the ZGDX base, it was clear that he fell for her right then and there.

His confidence is pursuing her is honestly unmatched. He's also super shameless, which I honestly loved (iykyk). It's also the way in which Sicheng's personality literally changes so drastically when they actually start dating. He literally becomes so clingy and soft, the complete opposite of his "cold" and aloof demeanor he usually has. He also wants to spoil the crap out of her, and I honestly loved that. I also love that he doesn't undermine her abilities as a gamer as well.

Another thing I loved about this drama was how it touched on the dark side of being famous. I I honestly thought the crazy fan situation in this drama was scary and also insane that there are some people who would go that far to get noticed by their faves. And I felt so bad for Tong Yao, who literally just fell in love with Sicheng and was getting harassed online for it. That honestly made me so angry and sad. I also love that Tong Yao never apologized for falling in love with him, and declaring that she has done nothing wrong, for she is only human. I absolutely love how unapologetic Tong Yao is.

One thing that absolutely broke my heart was how Sicheng starts to pull away from Tong Yao after the crazy fan situation unfolds, as he tries to deal with it all on his own. I also loved that scene where they're talking to each other through Sicheng's bedroom door, and how they finally have an open and honest conversation. We see Sicheng fully break down, admitting that he's not as strong as he appears to be, and I just felt for him so much, as he was trying to protect Tong Yao, but was also suffering in silence and affecting the team dynamic. That scene in the drama was heartbreaking, but it was also so incredibly important for their relationship as a whole.

Overall, this drama was amazing, and I highly recommend it!!

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One of the best enemies to lovers stories ever!

Honestly, I don't even know where to start with this drama! It was perfection, from start to finish! Lu Yuxiao and Hou Minghao's chemistry was literally off the charts in this, and I also adored the side characters in this drama as well.

I also loved that some of them got their happy ending <3 This drama had me giggling and kicking my feet at how utterly shameless Ming Yi and Ji Bozai are, but also had me bawling my eyes out at the angst! The angst was so heart wrenching, and I hope that Lu Yuxiao and Hou Minghao got their flowers for how incredible their acting was! Lu Yuxiao is a phenomenal actress, and the way that she acts in sad scenes??? SO GOOD!! like you can feel every emotion :(( and Hou Minghao??

The way that he's able to express so many emotions with just his eyes is honestly insane. He didn't always have to show his emotions outwardly on his face, because his eyes honestly did a lot of the work. You could just feel and see all the emotions in just his eyes alone. He's so expressive!

The love story between Yan Xiao and Mu Tian Ji (the Princess of Jixing Abyss) was also so beautiful?? Their story honestly had me in tears, and the angst between them was equally as devastating as Ming Yi and Ji Bozai's! Their love was so beautiful, and I honestly really enjoyed seeing their chemistry as well <3

Oh and Situ Ling..... man I have never felt so conflicted over a villian before. He was honestly so freaking sweet and cute but I kinda hate that they made him turn evil. I really wish he didn't turn evil, because I think that there was so much wasted potential with his character.

Overall, this drama had me bawling my eyes out and it devastated me in every way, but the ending was so worth it!! The ending is literally so freaking amazing and I loved how it ended <3

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Mature and healthy love <3

This drama has by far one of the healthiest relationships I have ever seen! Yu Tu and Jing Jing are two people who are mature and also respect each other so deeply. I watched this drama in 2021.

The slow burn was kind of excruciating, but it was so worth it in the end! I absolutely loved how they were able to reconnect, even after years without seeing each other. Their relationship is just so beautiful to me, as they are able to focus on themselves while also being in a committed relationship. Even though they spend a lot of time apart, their love and trust for one another doesn't ever falter.

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One of the most mature and healthy relationships ever <3

This drama was one of my absolute favorites that I have watched this year! Lin Yusen and Nie Xiguang are one of my favorite couples ever! Their love story is just so beautiful, and also very healing. I absolutely love how Yusen quietly protects her and also allows her to shine. He sees her as an equal in every way, and he is also her biggest supporter, as well as her safe space. The way that they protect and love each other was so heartwarming to watch! Zhao Jinmai and Song Weilong were amazing in this drama, and I do hope they have future projects together <3 I loved how mature their characters were and how healthy their relationship was!

Their chemistry was so natural, and nothing felt awkward or forced. I love how they go to bat for each other when necessary. I also adore how patient Lin Yusen was, especially as Xiguang was still conflicted about her ex-crush from college. He still pursued her, but never pushed her or anything of the sort. He allowed her to work through her inner conflict and was there for her regardless of the fact that they weren't in a relationship yet. The ending to this drama was so cute, and I absolutely adore this show so much!!

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Literal soulmates <3

MILD SPOILERS AHEAD !!!

This drama was only my second one that I have seen out of Hou Minghao's filmography, but I was once again blown away by how talented of an actor he is.

The chemistry between him and Tan Songyun felt very natural and not at all forced! The way that Hou Minghao is able to express so many emotions through just his eyes is insane. His character of Hong Ye is a composed and (in my opinion) calm demon king who is fiercely protective of his subjects in the Valley of Ten Demons. And although he is at first wary of Xiao Yao, he gradually warms up to her after seeing how holds no prejudice against demons and genuinely wants to help protect them.

The romance between them was so incredibly sweet and the emotional moments between them just hit so different! One of my absolute favorite moments they had together was when Hong Ye learned how to make the noodles from the noodle shop that Xiao Yao's father used to take her every year for her birthday. That scene was honestly so heartwarming! And the fact that he put in so much effort to perfectly recreate the noodle recipe was so touching <3

The ending absolutely destroyed me, and I definitely bawled my eyes out multiple times, but I also could see how beautiful it was and how they could possibly find a way to be together, even if it's not necessarily in the present lifetime. The past lifetime storyline in this drama WAS DEVASTATING, but also so incredibly beautiful! And I love the idea of their love spanning across lifetimes <3 I highly recommend this drama!

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Potential to be a great drama, but the excecution was not there for me.

I just want to start off this review by saying that in no way am I trying to undermine anyone who has genuinely enjoyed this drama. If you enjoyed it, I absolutely love that for you! This entire review is just my own opinions, so please don't get offended! I'm not trying to offend anyone or deter anyone from watching this (I'm simply just sharing my thoughts). Ok, with all of that out of the way, this drama just wasn't for me.

I decided to watch this after seeing a few people talk about it on my social media feed. I was initially curious because this had a reverse harem situation, and I honestly have never watched that in a drama, only in anime. Now, there are some instances where the reverse harem trope works. In this case, it just didn't for me. Xiang Liu, the white-haired demon advisor, was just not for me. I mean, he literally hurt Xiao Liu MULTIPLE times and she still went back to him??? Yeah...No. Also, Cang Xuan? I don't know, I didn't really like his character either. He was literally the cause of Xiao Liu's injuries at some point and also defends A Nian when she's clearly being so rude towards Xiao Liu for no reason at all either than the fact that she's not "rich." She literally looks down on Xiao Liu and makes some nasty comments towards her, and Cang Xuan still defends her?? If you ask me, that's annoying.

As for Shi Qi, I will say he's the nicest out of the male leads. He's very sweet and constantly looks after Xiao Liu after she saves him and nurses him back to health. I will also say that his backstory of being tortured by his older brother for three years (I think it was three at least) was very sad, and he didn't deserve that at all, but I just feel like his character was kind of lackluster for me. And again, I only got up to episode fifteen, so maybe they do add some more backstory to his character as the show goes on. For me, the start of this drama was just so slow. I wasn't immediately hooked from the first episode, which usually happens for me with most historical/wuxia dramas. I'm not even sure who the fourth ML is, but I guess I will never find out. This drama honestly had a great story, but it just wasn't executed properly for me.

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A BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECE !!!

I honestly don't even know where to start with this drama. I started it last month because it's been on my watchlist for some time now, and I cannot believe it took me this long to start it! Hou Minghao was the main reason that I watched this drama, as he is one of my favorite actors, but Zhou Ye was fantastic in this as well! I definitely need to watch more of her dramas. This drama was honestly perfection from start to finish.

While the drama does start off a bit slow, just trust the process! I promise it keeps getting better with every episode. The chemistry between HMH and Zhou Ye was honestly so great, and I also just loved how they went from being enemies to reluctant allies to lovers. This drama definitely took me on an emotional rollercoaster, and I loved (most) of the side characters, especially Xiange, Bai Xiaosheng, Feng Qian Shao, Huan Xiao Yan, and Zhu Li. The young spirits in Dragon Valley had my entire heart, and I was so devastated when one of them died :((

Su Ying and Ling Fei drove me insane in this show, and the way that they are equally both just as bad as one another. I felt so bad for Lu Musheng, because Su Ying wouldn't give up on him, and she's so selfish. And honestly, don't even get me started on how Su Ying betrayed Tian Yao on the day of their wedding. The way that she never loved him and was just using him to get what she wanted?? Absolutely not! I don't even want to talk about Ling Fei, because she's honestly just as irritating. I am glad that these women got what they deserved in the end.

The love story between Tian Yao and Yanhui absolutely devastated me in every single way. While the way that Tian Yao was acting towards Yan Hui, especially when she initially confessed her feelings for him, stung and I hated that he broke her heart, I could also understand where he's coming from. The person that he thought genuinely loved him and who he genuinely loved turned out to be just using him for her own personal gain. I understand that he was scarred so deeply from what Su Ying did to him, but that didn't mean it hurt to see him break Yan Hui's heart.

And when Yanhui started to completely avoid him after he stabbed her in the heart twice to retrieve the Heart Protecting Scale without telling her, it stung, but I hate to say that he deserved to grovel for a bit. I mean, he could've just at least told her that he needed to get the Heart Protecting Scale? Especially if it was to save the people of Dragon Valley? Yanhui would've probably agreed to give it back if she knew WHY Tian Yao needed to do what he did. That miscommunication and misunderstanding hurt, but I'm glad that Yan Hui didn't forgive him right away, even if it was clear that she still cared for him.

Tianyao's death in the middle of the drama had me in tears. When he casted the Life-Swapping Spell to save Yanhui, I actually burst out into tears. I'm glad that he was reborn, though, and his "baby" dragon arc was so freaking cute! Also, the way he got jealous was so so cute <3 I loved that Yan Hui never gave up on him, and was so incredibly patient with Tian Yao as he slowly regained his memories of his first life, as well as memories of how they met.

Ok, and because I don't want to make this review any longer than it already is, THE ENDING. HAD. ME. SOBBING. Yan Hui's death and the way that she defeated the Dark Lord? She's honestly such a strong female lead. The scene where she's slowly fading away and Tian Yao is sobbing and shaking his head??? Broke my heart into a million pieces Read More