This review may contain spoilers
Very confusing but appealing
If there's one thing I can say about this show is that it's the opposite of what I was expecting. After watching FoF and MJTJ from the same director, I was sold almost immediately when I discovered he was making another one. When I saw that Yan An, Chen Du Ling and Tian Jia Rui were part of its cast, I was invested. I loved their performances before so surely they would create another masterpiece, right?Nah...
The plot at the beginning of the show was very confusing. So much so that I lost interest in almost all of the characters. The pace was too quick, the storyline was all over the place and I felt like there was no emotional depth to it. Scenes that should be moving didn't touch me at all. Scenes that should have been epic fighting scenes didn't strike me as such due to an over-used OST. I was about to drop the entire thing when the story finally picked up around episode 10, when the party gets stuck in an illusion. Finally it felt as if the characters had some depth to them.
The only thing I truly missed during those episodes was the love story progression. I could understand the growing devotion between one pairing but the other one... most of the romantic growth between them happened off camera and was only used in flashbacks when one of them remembered their time together.
But then they broke out of the illusion and the story fell flat again. It swayed us back and forth between plotlines that didn't make much sense and then the whole timetravelling thing began and it all became so much worse.
Timetravel only works when it's done right. But when you mess with the lines of time, even in cinema, it can become messy really quickly. Unfortunately, VoS became an huge mess after they introduced a rewinding time element into a spiderweb of plotlines. It was hard to keep track of it all. I had difficulty keeping track of it without the timetravel thing and almost completely gave up again, wanting to drop the show, but stuck by it because of the amazing cast.
Positives:
- After I got used to the over-use of some of the OST songs, the songs grew on my and it's been on repeat ever since.
- Although I don't have much positive to say about the story, the cast truly made watching it worth it. I keep being blown away with how deep these actors are willing to go. I said before the story was lacking emotional depth and that's still true, but mainly due to the fast-paced script and character growth happening off screen. Not because the actors delivered a bland performance. I stuck by the show because of them. They all deserve every award out there. Especially Tian Jia Rui. He carried this show on his back.
- The visuals were breathtaking. I love the style and art form of the director's works and fell in love with them again.
- At one point I realised why things were so confusing at the beginning of the story. It felt like it was made to be like that due to the timetravel element. Things were supposed to be frayed and all over the place because so much had been changed in their timelines and I finally saw the brilliance of it all.
Negatives:
- The whole timetravel thing. Once it was introduced, it became an outright mess. Especially during the end. The story did not care for the butterfly effect of changing a major thing in the past. It did not care for timetravel rules by showing us what happened in the past and what was happening in the future at the same time. Removing that stone and killing the big bad should have been enough to reset the timeline, but it didn't. Only after they returned from the past did time reset. Unfortunately, the new timeline didn't make much sense. I didn't understand why some characters would remember all of it, while other didn't. Why the Formless Moon Sect still worked as if nothing ever happened. I just hoped it could have done more.
- It was too much, too fast. I felt like a tennisball being used in a tennis match. I was swatted back and forth between plotlines, storylines and trying to make sense of it all while keeping track of everyone.
Do I recommend this drama? Yes, I do. I might have some major problems with it but even considering those I would still want people to watch it and see for themselves. The cast did an amazing thing and gave us a performance more people should watch. BUT, that said, if you want to watch most of this cast perform you should consider watching Fangs of Fortune or My Journey to You.
Was this review helpful to you?
Disengaged
I really tried to watch this 2017 version because it's said to stay the truest to the original story. It started off with good pacing but unfortunately, the characters of the two female leads are just really distasteful and they have way too much screen time. If this is how they are supposed to be in all versions, I may never end up completing this iconic trilogy.Also fully understand the main lead is supposed to be naive and grow through time and experience, but the portrayal of him here is over the top... foolish. For someone who was raised with the Genghis Khan family, it doesn't make sense for him to lack this much common sense. The rest of the jianghu personalities are also depicted in an uninteresting and hypocritical way.
Note that I'm not familiar with the novel of the trilogy so this is just an opinion on how this particular one played out. The underlying base plot seems to be really interesting, so I hope either the other versions are better or a better remake comes out.
Was this review helpful to you?
BEST CDRAMA!!!
Watched this a few years agooo. GMP is by faaaaaar the best and my favourite cdrama so far! No other cdramas can replace this one.I cried a river after finishing it for the first time. Got depressed for maybe a week from the aftermath of watching the ending. Then I keep rewatching it and the aftermath is still the same!!!
Very good cinematography and makeup!
The acting is WOW! Superb superb, even if you see the BTS you can tell they are really into their characters, can't stop crying even after cut, especially the male lead. PXR on the other hand is an amazing amazing actress, she naturally draws us in with her acting! PXR is my favourite Chinese actress. I’m always looking forward to her new dramas. But unfortunately this is the best drama she is in so far, I hope she gets better projects soon TT
Was this review helpful to you?
Where small moments become everything
This is exactly the kind of program I love, simple on the surface but full of genuine human connection. What really made it special for me were the relationships that slowly formed with the villagers, nothing felt forced, just natural interactions that grew into something warm and meaningful. Those small conversations, shared moments, and quiet bonds are what carried the whole show. And then there’s Mrs. Ra and Sang Yi… they completely stole my heart. Their scenes together were so soft and genuinely cute, the kind that just makes you smile without even realizing it. It’s not about big events or dramatic storytelling, it’s about people, and the way they connect in the simplest ways, and that’s exactly why it worked so well for me.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
What the hell did I just watch!?
This movie reminds me a lot of a Chinese film called “Love Story in London”. Both represent productions that destroy themselves by pouring money into filming abroad, but fail where it matters most which is the story.With that said, I completely disagree with the above-8 rating of this show on MyDramaList. It’s completely illogical to me, maybe just reflecting mad fans’ love for the male lead. And it serves as proof for producers that even a stupid work can still be profitable if you hire a lead with a solid fanbase.
------------------------------------------------
Official Review
------------------------------------------------
There are basically 3-4 storylines in this movie:
1. The ML’s refugee life
2. The FL’s family problem
3. The FL's problem with mafia gang
4. The romance between the leads
And 3 out of 4 storylines are extremely problematic.
------------------------------------------------
🍅 The FL’s family problem
The movie tries to tell us that the FL had a deep bond with her mom since she’s extremely furious about the mom's euthanasia. But it never shows her relationship with either parent. Not before the mom’s death and not after.
The dad seems decent, reasonable and caring, but we barely see any real interaction between them. The FL gets involved with mafia gang and drugs, but her dad seems to be completely unaware. He seems to only label her as rebellious because of grief, which feels shallow.
Then at the end, when she suddenly has to flee the country because the mafia is chasing her, the dad isn’t even that surprised or concerned. He just helps her get a plane ticket and lets her go - alone. This is a wealthy, well-connected man with access to top lawyers, yet he makes no real attempt to properly resolve his daughter’s situation.
And the issue is simply that the FL is financially indebted to the mafia. So, why doesn’t her dad just pay it off and solve the problem, at least in one way?
Instead, it’s the ML who decides that she has to leave the country without turning back.
How does such a decisive solution come from a naive, inexperienced refugee applicant who barely knows the country, can’t even speak the language and has only just arrived?
Also, the FL holding onto anger for three years makes no sense. She’s not a child. Her mom made her own decision, yet the FL is enraged at her father and reacts by publicly destroying her mom's memorial ceremony like a kid throwing a tantrum even three years later. If the FL is this childish, how come the father feels at ease to let her go out of the country to an unfamiliar new place alone at the end? This only feels unconvincing.
------------------------------------------------
🍅 The FL's problem with the mafia
I have no idea why two mafia groups want the FL so badly. The only thing I can infer is that the leader of the first gang might have feelings for her, but there’s no real romantic behavior to support that. The only indication is him killing members of the other gang at the end to keep her with him. But then later, it turns out he’s just following orders from a higher-up to kidnap her to Germany.
So what is it exactly - what’s so valuable about the FL that makes her worth all this?
Honestly, this is just a mess. It’s illogical and full of contradictions. I don’t find any bit of the mafia storyline convincing at all. They’re not intimidating. They don’t act with any real urgency or seriousness, and they let the FL, who owes them money, slip away too easily.
------------------------------------------------
🍅 The romance between the leads
Their relationship doesn’t convince me at all.
There’s nothing clear about how their feelings develop. Especially for the FL, who is already drowning in her own problems and has teenage shallow hostile attitude toward life, including the ML, most of the time. There's nowhere in the movie showing that the uneducated, poor-look ML is attractive to her. So where does this “deep love” come from?
When they suddenly start having sex, it completely caught me off guard because there was no buildup at all. The ML also seems decent in bed, as if he’s experienced, which doesn’t match his background of having no education while living with his mom his whole life.
------------------------------------------------
🍅 The ML’s refugee life
I'm already tired of all the disarray in this film, so let me not go too deep into this. Just that the process and details aren’t accurate while the tone of this film is realistic.
------------------------------------------------
Things in this movie are just too illogical. They try to juggle 3-4 storylines but never really commit to developing any of them properly. It feels like the writing team brainstormed a few random ideas, then didn’t bother to shape them into something coherent or at least filter out the weaker ideas.
In the end, it just comes across as a number of half-baked plots forced together onto one plate
𓂃 ✦ 𓂃
Was this review helpful to you?
LSD-enhanced Wattpad story
Oh god!! Where to begin with this review!!The opinions about this show are very polarised, you either like it very much, or hate it to the core.
The reason IMO is the genre VS the execution.
For me, it's like the first bite of a brownie offered to you on a random college party lol you start seeing smells and hearing colours, then after a while, sad reality influences your imagination and drama happens ~~
It's mainly a sci-fi story, but it was so ridiculous so we kinda roll our eyes while watching because it has no rules, and in it's core doesn't make sense, basically when something need to work out, they will make it so, if something has to get messed up to serve the plot we will make it fail so it's like the writer was high on something while writing.
Also I mentioned it's a Wattpad-like story because it mixes the obsessive ML genre with a bit of supernatural elements and some ABO vibes, you know, the "werewolves" stuff. And I read these all for the first time on Wattpad hence the reference.
I won't dwell much on the details but I'll just answer the important questions.
1- is it a good show? Tough question, it depends on your taste really!! If you simply like the mentioned genres and sub-genres above, watching it to relax and basically don't care about the silly stuff going on, just here for the fun and a hell of a lot of making-out scenes, you gonna like it, want something deep, search somewhere else.
HOWEVER liking the genres only won't guarantee liking the show, it's sudden switch from something to another, and the insertion of some random scenes makes you scratch your head a few times, also 40 episodes of ridiculous plot and random stuff can be a bit too much, and does anyone else remember that it's an incident happens on an earth-like planet that is told by a robot or something? No? Just me? Alright.
2-is it well acted? Welllll! Characters are not even great, so you can't expect too much from the actors, FL in some scenes was meh! And aside from crying, none of the leads have shown much of a facial expressions except maybe staring at each other, but the making out scenes were nice, ML was good, and I liked one side character that sadly didn't have a great end lol
3- is it worth watching? Not really, unless you want to skip the plot and watch the kissing scenes which you can easily find many edits of on social media, but of you have seen some and was intrigued to watch the whole show, then give it a shot lol you gonna find exactly that~
4- will I watch it again or recommend it? Short answer, No.
One last note, I didn't hate the experience, I just wish it was more consistent.
Was this review helpful to you?
I believe this story will continue to resonate with many people no matter where and when.
Long live Shuji, Akari and Nobuko. May we be blessed with some sort of surprise cameo appearance or kind of reunion in the future haha.
Was this review helpful to you?
The Most Annoying Child Actor I've Seen on Screen
From time to time, I almost couldn’t tolerate watching this series anymore because of this pretentious, fake-acting kid. He’s the most annoying child character in any series I've ever seen and he made me dislike a child character like never before. Normally, even when a story is bad, characters played by child actors still manage to be cute and likable. This series is the complete opposite.The story itself is actually enjoyable, but this child actor is just unbearable. I honestly don’t understand why he was cast at all unless it’s because of nepotism. His acting is highly pretentious and not convincing in the slightest. I first thought he was a spy or something. He's the person who made me start hating the show.
Apart from that child, this is the first drama that I actually feel the actress playing FL has real chemistry with her ML. Usually, I don’t sense any romantic chemistry between her and her co-stars at all.
For the ML, this is the first drama since "My Journey to You" that I feel he has a impactful on-screen presence. Even though his popularity rose after that drama, the roles he’s taken on since then have been less interesting (I'm talking about "Shadow Love" and "How Dare You!?"). This role isn’t particularly special, but it suits him well. He fits the fierce, intense, violent type of character. I enjoy watching him in this kind of moments.
As for the story, there’s nothing new. It’s basically a typical cross-dressing genre drama that follows the genre's typical pattern, but the leads carry it well enough that I still enjoy watching it.
𓂃 ✦ 𓂃
Was this review helpful to you?
Cutie, Nice, Perfect!!!!!!!!!, Enjoying, Being No.1 for my perior drama.
💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I dont know why this much hate ?
This BL drama is honestly one of the most complete ones I’ve watched in a long time. Even though it has two seasons, the second season feels just as strong as the first—it doesn’t drop in quality or lose direction. Everything is well-connected, and the story progresses beautifully.What I really love about this drama is that it has everything. A lot of BL series either lack a strong storyline or don’t develop the romance properly, but this one balances it all—emotions, love, friendship, and character development. The acting is also solid across the board, which makes the story even more engaging.
Even though this isn’t my absolute favorite (I still rank others like my top-tier BLs higher), I can’t really find major flaws in it. Other than how the supernatural elements are handled. Compared to the ABO series, where Alpha and Enigma abilities feel much more developed and meaningful, in this drama those powers feel a bit underused. It sometimes seems like the characters are supposed to be superhuman, but they don’t really know how to fully use their abilities. Because of that, I felt slightly disappointed, and I think this is one of the reasons I couldn’t rank it as highly as my top-tier dramas. But it is only about super powers thing not about whole drama it self. this drama and acting is 100% better than ABO. I must say i only give 3.5 ⭐ for ABO drama.
Somthing funny I noticed was during the wedding scene—both Tony and Winner show up, even though Tony is supposed to be dead. Winner appearing is somewhat understandable, but Tony being there was honestly quite confusing.
Another thing I really appreciate is how the drama handles multiple couples. Usually, when there are too many couples, some of them feel underdeveloped or unnecessary. But here, even with five couples, each one gets proper screen time and a unique story. None of them feel like fillers, and surprisingly, I liked all of them—which is very rare for me. In the first season, we get three couples, and in the second season, their relationships grow while new couples are introduced. The writer did a great job balancing all of them without making it feel messy or overwhelming
Also, one interesting detail in this drama is how Chris and Way are portrayed. Even though they are twins and played by the same actor, you can still feel a difference between them. Personally, I preferred Way over Chris. Maybe it’s because in the second season, the actor’s portrayal of Chris felt a bit different—less sharp compared to Way’s character. Still, it’s impressive that one actor handled both roles.
The newly introduced actor Willie in the second season also did a really good job. I liked his performance a lot—he’s very charming and, honestly, really handsome too. His TIC KA TIC KA TIC KA TOK sound especially stood out to me; it was really memorable.
Even though I can’t quite give it a perfect 10/10—there’s just something small missing that I can’t fully explain—it’s still a very strong and satisfying drama. It just didn’t hit me emotionally the same way as my all-time favorites, but it comes very close. I ended up watching both seasons back-to-back over two days, which I honestly didn’t plan at all. Once I started, I just couldn’t stop, and I kept going continuously until I finished everything. I even spent almost a full day just watching this drama, which I haven’t done in years. That alone says a lot about how engaging it is.
Overall, I highly recommend this drama, especially if you’re looking for a BL that has a good balance of story, romance, and character development.
Was this review helpful to you?
No matter how the universe changes, I will always be by your side
Edward Guo has such a signature style of directing that is so easy to spot. I've always been a fan of how he plays with the aesthetics in all of his dramas. Especially the dark, almost gothic kind of feel that all his dramas have which you don't get to see in a lot of other dramas.This is a drama that's going to require you to use your own brain to fill in the little gaps. It's not something that you can just keep running in the background as you're doing other chores. I love when a drama requires you full attention while you're watching. There are so many details throughout the drama, and it leaves you itching to watch the next episode and find out what happens.
They really know how to make you feel with this drama. They show you how brutal life can be. Life isn't perfect, and things aren't always going to play out in the way that you imagine them. But they show that resilience is real, and if you truly wish for something, you'll always find a way to make if work even if it wasn't the most favourable outcome that you had hoped for. And if your someone like me who loves angst, you're going to absolute love this drama. It has the perfect amount of angst and sadness were it doesn't consume you whole, but it still lingers inside of you. The drama shows you how brutal life can be. And piece of advice, stay prepared with a box of tissues because you will need them (at least I did).
I'm aware that Ju Jingyi has always been notorious known for her unsatisfactory acting (trust me I've seen her previous works and I understand the criticism). But I believe that she's finally broken free from that curse with her acting in this. The role of Lu Wuyi suits her so perfectly and I actually quite liked her acting in this one. This drama has also made me discovered Ya Nan because his performance was just amazing (I knew he looked familiar when I saw it, turns out he was a member of Pentagon - for any kpop stans out there).
I have one complaint and one complaint only. And that is that I wished we could have seen more of Chen Duling and Joseph Zeng and the way their story progressed. I loved the dynamic between their characters and I wished that they had gotten more screentime to see the way their relationship grew.
(Also for anyone wondering why the rewatch value is lower in comparison, it's because I bawled my eyes out so much while watching this that I don't know if I'm ready to go through all of that again any time soon)
Was this review helpful to you?
The drama started at a slow pace. The first two episodes felt like I was watching a cartoon. After that, the pace improved, but the story still lacked impact. However, what kept me watching until the end was the background music during intense scenes, the performances, and the love stories.
The direction was good, and the costumes were attractive. The only flaw in the drama was the storyline. Even the ending felt rushed and poorly executed.
I
watched this drama because I like Joseph Zeng—he is my favorite. However, Tian Jia Rui, as Ji Ling, stole the limelight. His portrayal of different emotions while playing multiple characters was so impressive that I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
There were many other actors who gave fantastic performances as well, including Yan An as Li Jie, Wu Han, Bai Ze, Chang Hua Sen, Ju Jing Yi, and Chen Du Ling.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Good one
first I was shocked by visuals both are so good looking,look good together there's good comedy in it ,it's slow burn, doesn't show 2nd couple from start of the drama but during end, and doesn't show them too much, I liked from start till end just the proposal part was weird for me because it should be confession not proposal? i never watch short ones but watched this ,it was better than the CDRAMA I drop in middle alwaysWas this review helpful to you?
A Journey which must be seen till the end.
I've read people describe their experiences when watching this drama as assembling a puzzle. Which is true, but I can also describe it as analyzing a painting. Its like when you go to a gallery and see a beautiful painting hanging on the wall. You automatically create this story in your head, your own analysis. But even with all those, you will only fully understand it when the creator him/herself tell you its story.Story: You will never understand it if you do not watch the whole drama. Because the story itself is the process. At the very beginning, there is only one goal, one villain, but what you're seeing is the journey to reach that. Every scene shown in the drama has it's purpose. No fillers and unnecessary scenes which will make you wonder what that scene is for because as you continue watching, you'll slowly understand what that was all about.
Romance: we have 2 couples so 2 romance in this drama. The mature type where communication and trust is key. And the first love type which leans more on their loyalty to each other. I really like how both relationship was shown. No unnecessary drama included.
Acting: Not gonna lie, I watched this because I want to see Dudu and Joseph as couples again. Both of them acted their characters well specially when its just their scenes. But I would say JJY and TJR is just soooo good in this drama. This is my first JJY and TJR drama and I would say both did really good. Great even. JJY, whether emotional, acting clueless, happy, or flirting did so good at portraying her character as Lu Wuyi. TJR, with his many characters, did great showing their individuality.
Music: great OSTs too and I really appreciate that most of the casts sang their own ost for their own scenes because the experience just became even more emotional.
Rewatch: yeahhhhh, I've already rewatched a lot of it specially with my favorite scenes (ep 17, 39:46; ep 29, 12:30)🤭
Overall, this drama is the BEST. Definitely adding it to my fave list.
Was this review helpful to you?
pure comfort
my favorite show this year so far, even though college students trama is not new, the way it was done in this show was very refreshing, both solid group of friends looking out for eachother, no unnecesary drama and truly real friendships. I absolutely loved the way their relationship slowly grew, you could see the genuine development, slowly trusting eachother and becoming part of eachothers everyday life, it just was at their own pace so it didn't felt forced at all, real healthy comunication, DuangQin are just a big greenflag. Also did not knew teeteepor before this and i'm absolutely in awe with their chemistry.Cast rating not that high because majority of the cast is still very rookie so theres always room for improvement.
They made a lot of OST's for this and they were all good too so i'm grateful.
Was this review helpful to you?
