Pros:
Daoming Si: I really liked Dylan Wang's portrayal of Daoming Si. It was a much more playful version of the character than the other "bad boy" versions. I saw a few reviews stating that the character was "weaker" or "watered down" but I disagree. This interpretation isn't worse than the rest, it's just different. Honestly, I liked the playful version much more than the bullying version. I think it just makes a lot more sense and it seems more plausible as they were also in university. It also fueled the chemistry between him and Dong Shancai.
Ximen and Meizuo: I think that they were good supporting characters and portrayed very well!
Music: The soundtrack was great and I found myself really liking the songs. But it was really annoying when there was just a random English song with nothing to do with the story being put in...

Cons:
Dong Shancai: Guys, I could not stand her. Oh my goodness it was SO hard to see Daoming Si with this stubborn girl! I completely understand that she is supposed to be "stubborn", but she took this to another level! When Daoming Si literally saves her from DYING, he had to ASK her if she was going to thank him. I REPEAT HE HAD TO ASK HER. This is honestly not stubbornness, it's called being rude! I think the director really needs to contemplate the line between stubbornness and rudeness.
Ximen and Meizuo's Side Stories: Personally, I found it very hard to watch their side stories. The way Xiao You was chasing after Ximen is kinda ridiculous and I could not understand it. In the middle of watching I literally forgot why she likes him in the first place...
For Meizuo, his love story was kinda out of no where? I think it's pretty sad seeing him be alone even though he's such a sweet guy. I could have done without his heart break. Although it wasn't a bad story, it was random and sad.

I really loved this story overall. Sure, it was definitely a struggle to watch it (and get through how annoying Dong Shancai is) but once you do, it will definitely become something on your rewatch list.

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Disclaimer: I didn't watch the original version
So I recently binged the entire series on Netflix (whoops lol) and I have a few things to say about it.
1) There was definitely a lull in the story
So after the first few episodes of introductions, there was a large amount of time being dedicated to a plethora of extra storylines and adventures. Although they were (kinda) justified and tied up in the end, I got bored super quickly and ended up skipping a lot of the scenes.
2) Characters?
When Hua Wuque was first introduced, he was NOT what I was expecting. His character just did not fit the situations and made no sense. He was extremely kind and gentlemanly, BUT he kept on interfering with other people's lives *facepalms aggressively. I mean I get that these plots are meant to make him more aware of the life outside of Yihua Palace but ughhh....
Tie Xinlan.
DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HER!!!!
I was planning on liking her original character (the type who could fight for herself and still have femininity without excessive girly-ness), but suddenly her fighting skills VANISHED,
THEY VANISHED INTO THIN AIR!!!
I was so confused that even Jiang Yulang could fight her (and beat her!). I clearly remember at the beginning of the show that Xiao Yuer couldn't beat her...
Su Ying: She just loved Xiao Yuer too much too quickly- it just didn't make sense.
3) The "ending"
It was very ungratifying. The screen legit zoomed out after the two couples went on their way and that was it.
No afterscnes.
Nothing.
Just the same ending song as the past 50 episodes.
I was pretty disappointed with the ending... but that's just my personal preferences.
4) Everything else was pretty good
ESPECIALLY the music :)

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