odetodramas
This review may contain spoilers
The part of this review with spoilers will be at the very bottom and clearly marked.
I was initially very excited for this drama because I liked Jeremy Xu in The Autumn Ballad last year, and the description of star-crossed lovers caught my eye. Unfortunately, after watching 17 episodes, I do not see this as a romance, and found it too repetitive, frustrating, and uninteresting to proceed with.
This is a story about a teenage girl who is destined to suffer from prejudice, at the hands of those who claim to be righteous. Born with "evil breath" (this is how the Viki subtitles translate it), Chong Zi constantly faces suspicion from immortals. While Chong Zi is sometimes a bit rash, she is straightforward and speaks her mind, and stands up against injustice. Luo Yin Fan, a powerful immortal of the Nanhua sect, accepts her as his disciple to try to prevent her from becoming a demon. Some have an issue with Yang Chao Yue's acting but I thought her emotional immaturity was true to the character, who was isolated and sheltered by Luo Yin Fan.
As Luo Yin Fan's only disciple, Chong Zi inevitably grows close with him, but I never saw it as romantic nor did I want it to be. Luo Yin Fan's role is a teacher and parent/guardian figure. Even without romance, I would've been fine with continuing this drama had it not been for Luo Yin Fan making several choices that I couldn't forgive. I can't bear to see the same conflicts occurring again and causing Chong Zi to be on the defensive and suffer again. If Chong Zi becomes a demon later on, I would consider watching from that episode because that'd be a more interesting turn of events.
What I did enjoy was the heartwrenching and captivating story of Chu Bu Fu (and I'm happy to see Gao Han here after last year's LLTG). His interactions with Chong Zi were always my favorite scenes. Qin Ke is a potentially interesting character, but he didn't get enough screentime in the episodes I watched. Instead, we get Miao Yuan vehemently hating Chong Zi from the start and Zhuo Hao repeatedly bothering Chong Zi, which made me cringe. This supporting cast full of familiar faces had much potential but is really underutilized.
***SPOILERS BELOW***
As the person who was closest to Chong Zi, Luo Yin Fan should've known the kind of person Chong Zi was, trusted her and stood by her. But I understand, that's the whole point of the first arc, so I was expecting it to end like that. I felt that he truly regretted it when he secretly allowed her to be reborn--but then what does he do? He barely hesitates before accepting her as his disciple again, and despite hiding her appearance from others, decides to give her the name "Chong Zi." Instead of an ordinary, peaceful life, he is the one who throws her in the path of suspicion and suffering once again. Instead of choosing to give her a second chance, he is choosing to give HIMSELF a second chance, to prove that he can prevent her from becoming evil this time. I had no interest in seeing history repeat itself, without Chu Bu Fu this time, and with Luo Yin Fan more overbearing and controlling than ever.
By the way, Wang Yue tells Chong Zi "I'm a good person" so many times I thought my eyes would roll out of my head. He looked good in the role though.
I was initially very excited for this drama because I liked Jeremy Xu in The Autumn Ballad last year, and the description of star-crossed lovers caught my eye. Unfortunately, after watching 17 episodes, I do not see this as a romance, and found it too repetitive, frustrating, and uninteresting to proceed with.
This is a story about a teenage girl who is destined to suffer from prejudice, at the hands of those who claim to be righteous. Born with "evil breath" (this is how the Viki subtitles translate it), Chong Zi constantly faces suspicion from immortals. While Chong Zi is sometimes a bit rash, she is straightforward and speaks her mind, and stands up against injustice. Luo Yin Fan, a powerful immortal of the Nanhua sect, accepts her as his disciple to try to prevent her from becoming a demon. Some have an issue with Yang Chao Yue's acting but I thought her emotional immaturity was true to the character, who was isolated and sheltered by Luo Yin Fan.
As Luo Yin Fan's only disciple, Chong Zi inevitably grows close with him, but I never saw it as romantic nor did I want it to be. Luo Yin Fan's role is a teacher and parent/guardian figure. Even without romance, I would've been fine with continuing this drama had it not been for Luo Yin Fan making several choices that I couldn't forgive. I can't bear to see the same conflicts occurring again and causing Chong Zi to be on the defensive and suffer again. If Chong Zi becomes a demon later on, I would consider watching from that episode because that'd be a more interesting turn of events.
What I did enjoy was the heartwrenching and captivating story of Chu Bu Fu (and I'm happy to see Gao Han here after last year's LLTG). His interactions with Chong Zi were always my favorite scenes. Qin Ke is a potentially interesting character, but he didn't get enough screentime in the episodes I watched. Instead, we get Miao Yuan vehemently hating Chong Zi from the start and Zhuo Hao repeatedly bothering Chong Zi, which made me cringe. This supporting cast full of familiar faces had much potential but is really underutilized.
***SPOILERS BELOW***
As the person who was closest to Chong Zi, Luo Yin Fan should've known the kind of person Chong Zi was, trusted her and stood by her. But I understand, that's the whole point of the first arc, so I was expecting it to end like that. I felt that he truly regretted it when he secretly allowed her to be reborn--but then what does he do? He barely hesitates before accepting her as his disciple again, and despite hiding her appearance from others, decides to give her the name "Chong Zi." Instead of an ordinary, peaceful life, he is the one who throws her in the path of suspicion and suffering once again. Instead of choosing to give her a second chance, he is choosing to give HIMSELF a second chance, to prove that he can prevent her from becoming evil this time. I had no interest in seeing history repeat itself, without Chu Bu Fu this time, and with Luo Yin Fan more overbearing and controlling than ever.
By the way, Wang Yue tells Chong Zi "I'm a good person" so many times I thought my eyes would roll out of my head. He looked good in the role though.
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