Ershi

Most repressed emo boy falls for the most unrestrained free-spirited girl...

A truly underrated gem that I went in with zero expectations and got addicted. I know I am SUPER late but I HAD to make this post.
I don't get hooked on dramas very easily and the only reason I wanted to check it out is because of the title and the opening scene. I have not watched any master-disciple xianxia before and thought to give it a try for 5 episodes. By the 3rd episode, it was 3 am in the morning and I am clicking next episode.😭 I don't usually get hooked on dramas and even if I do initially, by 15th-16th episode my interest fizzles out (with the very rare exception of some) BUT this one, this one kept my interest through and through. I recently finished it and will miss this drama dearly :(

1. The acting and the chemistry:
Deng wei BLOOMED as su yishui. Not only did he look stunning and drop dead gorgeous (his best styling to date) but he made su yishui his own through sheer charisma and magnetism he imbued into the character so well ( I would frequently revisit and rewatch his scenes). He brought layers and nuance to a character that can be deemed as the typical xianxia cold aloof grump trope and what's more, he brought different flairs for different variations of the same character to the point that although it's discernible by the viewers but not so much that it's transparent. His minute expressions, eye acting, gestures, movement all embodied the character so well that it's quite amazing. This was his first male lead role and he proved why he was the right choice for the character. He dominated every scene he was in and had that male lead screen presence. I saw him first in TTEOTM and then in LYF and honestly speaking, the way he came out of his shell of being just-a-pretty-face is nothing short of impressive.
Although I was initially interested because of DW, it was julia xiang's mu qingge that made me stay. I am new to her acting and I think by episode 7, it was clear why she had such a titular part and the literal heart of the story. JX balancing mqg/xrr then xrr as she started maturing and gaining memories and ultimately become mqg-xrr with all her memories from past life. Those tiniest attention to details to bring out the indomitable, charming, unrestrained mu qingge to clueless, bubbly, kind hearted xrr who seemed different from mqg at first but possessed her innate characteristics that started shining through more and more as the story progressed. The portrayal of that balance was done beautifully.
The chemistry between the characters was always sizzling with that delicious push and pull tension between them. It started with hostile/attraction/flirting and ended up with flirting/foreplay as the story neared it's conclusion. Even as xrr, the way she would express her overt crush on sys while he's pining after her but is trying to distance himself from her, also had its own brand of deliciousness.
2. PLOT and characters:
The story is very xianxia master-disciple with a refreshing twist and a breath of fresh air. The story progression was a bit slow in the middle, but with the exception of minute details, it was very logical for the most part. It did not have any unnecessary miscommunication tropes (ahem tteom ahem). The ml and the fl did not have any unequal power relations in any of their lifetimes even though they both played master and disciple of each other. They were equal in power, talent, love, sacrifice and to some extent extremely similar in some personality traits as well (smart, stubborn, determined). They were equal to the point that both of them had the chance to be in each other's shoes and experience what the other did. They actually liked each other as two human beings who needed each other. The core of the story is obsession and although the ml and the fl was also obsessed with each other, it was never out of selfish desires, in contrast to most of the other characters especially the main villain and the second male lead. The side characters were quite well fleshed out and acted well. Compared to the novel, the plot was more grounded without missing the parts that made the story special. I especially LOVED the ending that makes the most sensible logical conclusion of their story. Typically xianxias and cdramas skips the HEA and the sweet moments but I feel like the production team truly cared for the story to give a meaningful proper closure to the audience.
3. VISUAL FX and OST: The CGI team COOKED fr (probably where most of the budget went because they did not promote the drama at all ). It was almost MCU level and I thank the team from the bottom of my heart for making the scenes pop especially the fight scenes. OST wise except for some songs falling flat, the bgm was done perfectly and did not feel cringey like it does sometimes in these kinda dramas. Zhou shen, tia ray, and winnie I feel had the best OSTs especially zhou shen who as always sings the most heart wrenching haunting melodies.
4. DIRECTING and STYLING: The director, production team, editing team really knew what they were doing. They arranged the episodes in such a manner so that it was easy to follow and audiences would get hooked. Also the shots were taken quite expertly with no unnecessary filters or crazy editing and best part is they used real life settings instead of relying on CGI. Styling and costume team deserves a shoutout simply because of bringing out Deng wei's ethereal beauty and Mu qingge's (pre-death) styling. The wig team for DW truly understood the assignment.

What could have been better:
1. Soul devouring lock plot device took over almost 20 episodes while su yishui came back from certain death fairly quickly. It was quite unprecedented that even with su yishui's vast knowledge and calculating mind, neither he nor zeng yi could find one single way even in two years to break the lock and had to rely on a gamble with MRW like that was quite lazy writing in this case. The MRW plotline felt drab towards the end although I understand what they were trying to do here, i don't think anyone felt anything for her towards the end.
2. Which brings me to the second point of unnecessarily prolonging some plot lines for the sake of it especially the amnesiac su yishui plotline which again, I understand, to elevate the significance of his sacrifice BUT it also kinda undermined it. I did not HATE that he was brought back quickly but it felt very reductive and convenient as it did not hold the same level of tension and significance that mqg's death did.
3. NOT ENOUGH MU QINGGE this ties to both the first and second point of not making her character have more screen time. I wanted to see more flashbacks of her life before meeting su yishui or how the years had been with su yishui prior her death. Even after she regains her memories and su yishui regains his, with the exception of her forgiving him, they don't bring up that Mqg literally said she does not ever want to meet him nor the fact that how Mqg has the "elder sister who carries all the burden on her shoulder" complex.
3. The ye xin scenes where he explains the plot to the audience that they have already figured out.🙄 That was so laughable and frustrating at times like I don't think anyone would be that dumb to NOT get that there is an invisible hand who is controlling everything behind the scenes. This ruined the villain exposure arc and made it predictable. Not to mention, he was not as intimidating the moment other immortals arrived which again was a very predictable simple ending for someone who plotted and schemed on the main characters' lives since they were children. Although audiences were glad it's over, it felt way too simple.
4. In some parts the dialogues were just explaining the scene that is happening right in front of you especially the Xishan disciples. They sometimes felt like an annoyance rather than characters who grow on you. Instead of those scenes I would have loved for more

Even with flaws this drama excels what it sets out to do which is to depict a beautiful, surreal but also very human in its core, love story. From the beginning right down to the ending they wanted to show the love of a "tree" which symbolizes their affection for each other. From enemy to mentor to friend to lover in every single one of their variations they became each other's "tree" where they protect and love the other with everything they have. It truly elevated itself from other xianxias in many ways for me in many ways. I truly hope we can see more xianxias like these in the future.

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This Deserved More Honestly

This is a very well written story with intriguing plot, interesting character depth and quite soulful acting from the main leads along with sizzling chemistry that fleshes out the romance and brings it out. However, as it did not follow the novel properly and wasted time on unnecessary arcs and characters, it kinda feels unsatisfactory as a novel character. The intricacies between the characters, the development of romance between the leads felt quite short and not fully fleshed. It feels like the director did not understand which part to edit, or which plot arc to give more attention to but just rolled with it which is very apparent in regards to the romance between the main leads. For example, in the novel after You fang yin is killed Jiang xuening was devastated and it was Xie wei who brings her out of her shell. when Xie wei was injured, jiang xue ning would place flowers on the windowsill of his room to show her care etc. Bai lu and zhang ling he had such excellent chemistry and it was mostly wasted and the vision unrealized. Even in regards to Zhang zhe, they just explored surface level tension and nothing more.
The acting of the main and supporting characters carried the whole drama and honestly this needed more consideration and definitely more budget.

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Definitely the dark horse of cdrama for this year

People have already reviewed and said everything there needs to be said so I will just outline what I liked or didn't like:

Liked:
1. The acting; The acting of the main leads especially wu jinyan was so stellar that in some parts I would forget that I am watching her act. She made sure that we would remember xue fangfei/jiang li. Her beauty and her expressiveness literally shined through the screen. The way she could deliver a thousand emotions through her eyes in a second was so good. Same goes for wang xingyue as duke su. Although he did not have much screen presence, he still managed to DELIVER. The moves that would have looked ridiculous and cringy with another actor, he made it work. Both of their chemistry was OFF THE CHARTS even when they are just looking at each other which was 90% responsible for this drama being a success. Shout out also to Shen Yurong and Princess wanning's actors because my goodness, they dominated almost every scene they were in. The way shen yurong's actor made me feel pity for the character yet making sure that we know how evil he is, was done so artfully I had to be impressed. Also ji shuran's actor, she played the tropey stepmother role but still managed to shine though even when wu jinyan was delivering a spectacular scene.
2. The plot, characters, and pacing: Cdramas are getting good at pacing and its nice to see this being reflected in The Double. The plot had significant amount of twists and turns to keep the viewers engaged till the end. The diverse range of characters gave this drama life as well as the character developments. Not everyone received justice or happy endings but you understand the motivations and aspirations behind their actions, even the villains. The double is one of the few cdramas where morally grey characters were portrayed brilliantly. I also liked the subtle emphasis on how systematic misogyny, the effects of bad parenting especially by the fathers towards the daughters, the implications of sexual violence even towards the main character and how the producers did not shy away from it.
3. The OST: Chenle's "Live on love on" was solid art. The opening theme was beautiful as well.
4. The cinematography was better compared to other youku production.

Disliked:
1. Although the plot is pretty solid some times you have to suspend logic to appreciate the drama in my opinion. The slapstick comedy at inappropriate times did not help. Them using wugong for not other reason than being flashy was seriously weird.
2. The leads had excellent chemistry and the romance progression felt natural but did not at the same time which is understandable given romance is not the focus of the drama but I wished there would have been more substance. Like in LLTG although there was an overarching plot the romance was also prioritized as the ml and fl gets entangled early on and it feels more developed. But with this, other than the chemistry and the subtle understanding by the audience that the leads are falling in love, there is not much to go on. It feels like the romance has taken a back seat.
3. The ending felt weird and unnecessary. I know they did that for the dramatics as this is a very soap opera-ish drama but the ending was literally not needed. They could have ended with XH and XF married, a time lapse for 1 year, then cut to them visiting tong'er and jiang li's tomb with a voice over and that would have been enough. That battle scene should have been shown early on which would have increased the angst. The slow burn would have worked out better in that way just like how it did in LLTG. But a scene at the end just goes to show they just wanted to create some hype and nothing else.

It's quite an enjoyable drama and probably the best one in this year judging by the cdrama drought.

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Gyeongseong creature- between not absolutely horrible but not great either

The first 5 episodes honestly made me rethink starting the drama and then dropping it because it fell terribly flat, be it the characters or the pacing. The show really starts showing some actual substance after episode 6. Still the plot and character building was rushed, character development felt sloppy and there were some glaring plot holes that cannot be overlooked as anything but plot armor.
The drama in my opinion failed when it tried to do a lot of things at the same time but not hitting the right balance. The atrocities and crimes committed by the Japanese occupation subsequently got overshadowed by the supernatural aspect of the drama. Half the time I wasn't sure how to feel because you have some very dark material that horrifies you and then you see a 10-11 ft monster just rumbling about. You aren't sure whether to be curious and thrilled about what the monster can do when you have a man being tortured still fresh in your mind.
Now, the last 4 episodes kinda brought them together in a good cohesion and an overarching theme to bind them but in a 10 episode length drama thats quite late. Han so hee was amazing throughout, especially her action scenes and crying scenes gave me goosebumps.Park SEO Joon's Jang tae sang character development was finicky but it made him act more like a main character rather than a showpiece so..i guess it's okay. The ending felt like a leeway to season 2 and less like a proper ending to me. Loved the opening theme song extremely haunting and appropriate for a drama like this. Production, cinematography, cgi were pretty good. Overall not bad but not great.

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If you want something quick and fun...

Yup. If you want something quick and fun, this is it. The best point of this drama is the excellent chemistry between the leads. The ML is pretty stiff but with the FL, who is the amazing zhao lusi, he was quite great. I enjoyed the kiss scenes immensely!
The story is very early 2000s k-drama style. Rich CEO meets a hard working poor girl, falls in love, they have a childhood connection, love triangle, typical parent trope. But since the FL is pretty well developed character in the hand of a good actress, the ML is not a narcissist and is willing to admit his mistakes, the plot twists are okay, and the side couples are interesting thus the final product is decent and enjoyable. I must say after episode 13-14 it starts to drag badly. But it's a very light, refreshing, doesn't-take-itself-too-seriously, bubbly drama that you can binge when you want a palate cleanser.

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Enjoyable but nothing new

First of all, it does NOT deserve the scathing reviews or low rating it is getting simply because it's a remake which I think was stated in the show's description? So I have no idea why people are mad as if they have been deceived. I LOVE the original show. The first 2 seasons were one of the best TV experiences I ever had. After it ended last year I was quite nostalgic so I feel like if you are someone like me then I don't think you would mind much. But if you are looking for something original and brand new then this is not for you.
Having said that I also understand there are legit issues raised by some people regarding aspects of the show that the korean version could have made better but chose not to.
PLOT: follows the original plot with minor deviations here and there in terms of a certain scene or a character's backstory. The story length was not adequate in my opinion and the cliffhanger was unsatisfying. I know their intention was to drag the story in part 2 but it did not feel like an adequate ending for part 1 either. The 6-episode length has made the story rushed with not enough character developments. Although the professor- syj and denver- misun (og monica) couple had chemistry it did not feel natural. There are some cringey scenes which feels forced and quite uncharacteristic given the context.
ACTING: Actors for Berlin, denver, moscow, misun, youngmin were perfect. SYJ and professor's acting is also impressive but severely disappointed in nairobi and tokyo's casting choices. Tokyo and nairobi's characters needed someone who is impressionable as they are very impressionable themselves in the group. I hardly barely felt that from them.

..,and I guess that's the problem of remaking such impressionable characters and a show that became a global phenomenon. It's impossible not to be compared and not compromise quality due to burden and pressure. Despite that, it did okay but nothing special.

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A magical dream that you don't want to come out of

This drama has been out for more than 1.5 years and pretty much everything that needs to be said has been said. The only thing I want to add is that this drama is probably the most magical drama I have ever watched. It's like a dream that you don't want to get out of.

The things I liked:
1. The story was tight knit, solid and had good consistency throughout even though towards the end it felt a little disjointed but the thematic coherency they maintained was good.Execution was elegant, character development, plot development, dialogues everything was done with thoughtfulness and effort.
2. The acting. Aside from Dylan and Esther being downright spectacular, I liked how the supporting cast also proved themselves especially Zhang linghe as changheng and ronghao's actor was brilliant.
3. This drama has probably one of the best osts I have ever heard. It complemented the scenes and even provided context for the characters emotional states in such a way that was so raw and so poignant sometimes that you forget it's a drama.
4. The costumes. Especially dongfang qingcang's costumes that Dylan rocked. Man is made to be wearing long dark elegant beautifully embroidered robes! I loved the color schemes and the aesthetics that they were trying to going for that addr an extra layer to their identities, be it cangyan tribe or shuyuntian people or the XISHAN people.
5. Production value and cgi was through the roof. The budget reflects that and it delivered. One of the c dramas that I have seen with Hollywood level cgi.

Things I felt could be better:
1. The drama being 4 episodes longer which would have made the finale more impactful and not feel rushed. Especially dongfang qingcang's death and his revival.
2. Xunfeng and danyin should have been a couple.
3. More background on taisui and how the first goddess subdued him. I felt like they just introduced him as a plot device, about whom we got to know very little about. He just appeared few times and suddenly after ep 31 he is the big threat. The transition seemed forced.
4. Ronghao killing the xilan tribe and the supposed ties between xiyun and chidi was introduced and then was never addressed which is odd.


This drama is one of the best xianxia love stories that I have watched and many more dramas will come and go but this will have a special place in my heart.

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