Details

  • Last Online: 1 hour ago
  • Gender: Female
  • Location:
  • Contribution Points: 3 LV1
  • Birthday: October 23
  • Roles:
  • Join Date: January 30, 2016
  • Awards Received: Finger Heart Award1
The Starry Love chinese drama review
Completed
The Starry Love
3 people found this review helpful
by Hyukfied
Mar 11, 2023
40 of 40 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 9.5
Story 10.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
This review may contain spoilers

Forbidden love, strong-willed characters, amazing sisterly bond, what more can you ask for?

The Starry Love was a phenomenal xianxia with multiple twists and turns. The cherry on top is the strong sisterly bond between Qingkui and Yetan. Even if the world turned against them, they still have each other's back.

I went into his drama not knowing whether it will be this amazing because I had watched the main leads only once before - wasn't a huge fan of Landi's acting before but I must say she has improved a lot in The Starry Love! it was a huge rollercoaster of emotions honestly. Prepare your issues, prepare to laugh your ass off, enjoy the bond between the characters, and you might also want to stab some characters along the way.

The story revolves around fraternal twin sisters, the older twin Liguang Qingkui and the young twin, Liguang Yetan.
I don't want to spoil much, but do pay attention to the first few minutes of the first episode. It is very imperative to the last arc of the drama.
Liguang Yetan is a very outspoken, domineering female lead. She is also an aspiring Void Queen and ruler of the four realms. Or so we thought..
Yetan's (played by Landi) character development over the course of the drama has been poignant to watch. She went from being arrogant, and indifferent to others other than her sister and her childhood friends, to extremely caring and kind to those around her. I believe this is the influence of not only her sister but her love for Youqin. She grew up treated like a pariah, jinx, and evil being because of the royal officials' influence on her father due to the state world during her birth. Her father was always absent and indifferent towards her and it affected her personality greatly. Without her sister, she wouldn't even know how to care at all, but she truly cares for her sister and that's what I love about this drama. Typically dramas don't allow sisters to care about one another even if one screws up, but this shows unconditional love through and through. Landi's acting has greatly improved in this drama, I had previously watched another historical drama of hers and she was extremely cringey to watch there. However, it felt natural here- especially her cries, and heartbreaks really hit me.

Qingkui (He Xuan Lin) is the most caring, kind, and selfless character you would encounter in this drama. She cares deeply for her younger sister, and while everyone else hated Yetan, she was there for her no matter what. She's essentially Yetan's pillar. She would share her hobbies, books, and gifts with Yetan, Protect her even if Yetan was wrong, she would stand by her sister no matter what - after reprimanding Yetan of course. You would think Qingkui is a doormat due to her selfless nature, however, she's able to stand on her own, she's caring, protective and intelligent. She is not a damsel-in-distress, she is also very strong-willed like her sister. Despite the mix-up of carriages, she made a place for herself in the void realm and found her one true love. Qingkui is the definition of unconditional love because even if one of her loved ones made a mistake, she will forgive them. She believes they can do better and that belief inspires them to be better people. The acting by Xuan Lin is very natural, I haven't watched any of her other dramas before so I don't have much to say but she acted well overall!

Shao Dian YouQin (Chen XIng Xu ) was Initially a stoic, socially anxious empyrean but grew to show more emotions and love after a very important event happened. He was raised somewhat similarly to Yetan because his father expects him to have no emotions to prevent any distractions from protecting the world and becoming the heavenly ruler in the future. He volunteered to isolate himself in order to train a perfect celestial body. In doing so, he would be able to protect the world against the chaos, Guixu. Youqin is another character who defines unconditional love, he does protect the world but he also wants to protect Yetan against the world. He showed empathy and care for Yetan and it was just so sweet to watch! Especially when he learned of her past, and took a small revenge behind her back. I had watched a drama by Chen Xing Xu before, and he did act well there and it was the same here. His acting is quite versatile, I quite enjoyed watching him act like a primitive human. It was adorable. haha

Chao Feng (Luke Chen) was also raised somewhat similarly to Yetan - he had no fatherly love, and was a pariah because of his birth mother. With that in mind, he is still the third prince but is treated less than a prince. He initially fought really hard for the crown just to get respect and better treatment from his clan. He would do anything to get the crown even if that means hiding his motives from Qingkui. He was the reason for the carriage switch-up because Yetan witnessed what he did before the day of the marriage. However, despite that, he found care and love from QIngkui and eventually learned to deviate from the crown and would prefer to settle down peacefully. It was a difficult task as someone is always on his ass, trying to assassinate him. He, like Youqin, would do anything to protect Qingkui even if it means defying his father. Chao Feng was definitely not a good character initially but his character development definitely redeemed him. I like that he and Youqin banter with one another like brothers. It's quite fun to watch opposite realms interact like family. I have not seen any of his other dramas but I think Luke Chen did pretty well here needless to say. Although, in terms of crying, or sadness - I feel like he was missing a bit of emotion honestly but other than that his acting was pretty good.

I think one of my favorite characters would be Man Man played by Wang Li Na, she's like the comedy relief in the drama, her expressions and sarcastic replies are hilarious. haha

How was the ending? It's a bittersweet ending. The last 10 episodes were a huge emotional ride, so prepare your tissues.

The Starry Love teaches you a myriad of things like don't judge someone by their appearance, don't judge people by their lack of education, and don't judge period. LOL, Another thing I learned is OPPOSITES ATTRACT IMMENSELY! Even if you don't have the same initial beliefs, there are some things you can compromise for the sake of love. You can also learn from one another despite different beliefs.
Again, I truly enjoyed watching this drama because of the comedy initially, the strong and unbreakable sisterly bond, the wonderful character developments, of course, the husbands' love and protectiveness for their wives. AND the friends and family who supported them, even the worse parent redeemed himself!


I would definitely recommend watching this if you like twists and turns, comedy, and historical fantasy dramas. There are definitely some characters that would pull your hair out, but other than that a phenomenal drama to watch!
Was this review helpful to you?