Ashes of Love (2018)

I hate to compare any drama to 10 miles of Peach Blossoms but it is inevitable because the quality of the cinematography was just breathtaking and strangely addictive. The story is a beautiful romance that does not deviate from the writers' intentions of giving the viewer an opportunity to feel mixed emotions along with the story that is being told. There are moments in every drama that make you reconsider your rating - but in the end, I realized that overall this drama was a 10 for me. I loved the story, the music, the actors, the direction and the pace of telling the story. The chemistry is amazing because the acting was amazing. The lead actress had to define herself in a way that would be contradictory to normal and she did an amazing job. Some might find her annoying but I found it to be an artistic achievement to maintain the role's intention. Although there were several characters, the depth of character development for each one was enough for the viewer not to be overwhelmed by so many roles and faces. The best find for this year - enjoyed more than Legend of Fuyao and most definitely I rank it with Eternal Love (10 miles) with the splendid cinematography and camera work. A must see.

Read More

Visually Beautiful with Decent Storyline

I really can't say this enters into any of my top drama lists, but was it enjoyable to watch? Most definitely. For cdramas, and well, often with dramas of a certain length, it takes a while for it to pick up but I was hooked from the start. The humour, acting, and premise of the show had me equal parts genuinely laughing out loud and cringing from second-hand embarrassment.

However, after the first half of the show (I would say maybe after they left the mortal realm), things kind of fell flat for me and the storyline kind of lost direction. It lost most of its humour, which was one of the aspects of the show I enjoyed the most. Jin Mi, though weak, I had found charming before, but throughout the second half, I was frustrated with her helplessness and character. I think I lost amount of times I rolled my eyes when she kept yelling "stop fighting!" into the void during the last few episodes with her wide-eyed, helpless flailing.

Run Yu was the one that truly stole the show for me, and also was the character that I felt was the most fleshed out. I felt his happiness and his pain, and truly dreaded when he made those bad decisions because I sympathized and pitied his character (also, major kudos to the actor that plays him). Despite his tragic past and upbringing, he still never achieved happiness - he was the one I rooted for throughout the whole show (though through his obsession with Jin Mi, he definitely made a lot of very dubious, shady choices), and while I guess I'm glad he managed to survive, his ending was disappointing.

The reveal of who killed the Water Deity and the reveal of Sui He's true character was one of the things that just felt anticlimactic for me - I felt Jin Mi would have had a stronger say in reaction to what happened to Sui He, considering how she literally killed the only remaining member of her family, and made her mistakenly kill Xu Feng. The ending of the war also felt anticlimactic and a bit of a copout to me, and just felt like a very typical sacrificial drama trope to solve all problems.

One of the things that truly kept my watching was the aesthetics and visual effects of the show. Definitely one of the best I've seen!

Read More

If you are looking for the same old formulaic television show that holds no surprises, no conflict, and a nice tame romantic relationship, this show is NOT for you. Ashes of Love engenders such emotions in me that I had to write two very long articles to exercise those ghosts left behind after I completed the show. Those contain spoilers and can be reviewed if you want to get more detail. For this review, I’ll be brief.

STORYLINE: Jin Mi is a grape fairy that saves Xu Feng (well not so much saves as doesn’t eat him like she plans) then he takes her where he lives to experience real life. Wow. Does she experience real life in spades. Lots of funny scenes, sad scenes, frustrating scenes, cool scenes…..lather, rinse, repeat. Jin Mi already has friends in Rou Rou (who is dead…sort of) and Mr. Puchi (not dead) then meets more with her trip to the heavenly realm like Moon Immortal, Run Yu (Night Immortal), and Liu Ying who fill her life with all kinds of adventures.

Jin Mi is a bit emotionally handicapped due to some unfortunate medication given to her at birth by her mother. Xu Feng is a bit in love with Jin Mi almost from the beginning and sadly, so is Run Yu. I’m not sure if Mr. Puchi is in love with her, but he’s a fun character just the same.

CHARACTERS: As I wrote in my article, these characters from top to bottom are fun, entertaining, sad, depressing, frustrating, and annoying. In short, you won’t be bored with a single one of them, even the wacky Moon Immortal and his strange red strings.

MUSIC: The music was nice and I do enjoy the YouTube videos online using those same songs. The battle scene could have had more ominous music, but that was spoiled again by YouTube as a fan of the show posted a much better version musically.

I still like Eternal Love more than this show, mainly because of Mark Chao (sigh…..) but this C-drama had to be the most incredible experience as I watched every character just sparkle on the screen. I found every single performance stellar. Leo Luo as Run Yu, INSANELY GOOD (could talk about his performance for hours) and Yang Zi and Deng Lun, I give them a standing ovation for portraying such an epic love story.

If you have a heart condition, I don’t recommend binge watching this show. I did for the last 10 episodes and it took 24 hours to calm down.

Read More

I've watched Eternal Love and Story of Ming Lan before this drama but I did not regret my decision. If I was to watch those drama after this drama, my expectation is going to be so high for the other 2 then. Just when I thought that Eternal Love was one of the best Chinese Historical drama that I've watched, Ashes of Love proved me wrong. This drama was so good, beyond amazing. I did not skip any moment. Everything about this drama is perfect. I've cried REALLY HARD, also laughed a lot throughout 63 episodes. It was an emotional roller coaster. If you are hesitating to watch, DON'T just start on it. I was skeptical at first but I'm so glad that I watched it.

SPOILER ALERT!!!
One of the greatest love triangle I've ever seen. I still feel bad for Fish Immortal, but I am glad that he realized what he did wrong and reflected. Leo Luo is such a great actor, I can feel his pain and emptiness :( Also when he was playing the Snake Immortal, he did such an excellent job, I was shook lol

Deng Lun (Xu Feng) and Yang Zi (Jin Mi) had one of the best chemistry on screen!!! You can really feel that they really love each other. Their love for each other is so deep, they made you laughed, giggled, cried, and smiled for them. Their time in the Moral Realm was one of my favorite, like it was so refreshing and depressing at the same time. But at least we really get to see how they starting to develop feeling for each other and I really appreciated the director for their love story in the moral realm. Well done! I was a little annoyed with Xu Feng's character at first but when he explained everything at the end, it made me cried even more.

Let's talk about my favorite second's love story of all time now, the Demon's Princess and Mu Ci. At first I was like ok...another basic love story for the support roles. BUT I WAS WRONG!!! I ship them so hard. I cried so much when he passed away but Princess was such a strong female character. She is a badass!!! I was glad that she was able to gave birth to her daughter hehehehe <3

Snake Immortal and Fox Fairy (Uncle) were my favorites! They are the heros in this drama. Enough said, you gotta watch them to see how they perfectly portrayed their roles. I LOVE THEM!!!

Overall, the rest of the supporting characters did such excellent jobs. The evil ones made me hate them, Heavenly Empress and Heavenly Emperor were match made in heaven lol they are both evil.

Now I can't move on from this drama. The music is perfect btw <3

Read More

A Classic Fairly Tale Drama, best ever

Ashes of love is my no 1 Top Fairy Tales drama Ever so far. It is long, could be shorter but everything else is perfect. Somehow it manages to blend the Casting, the emotional Story, CGI, the funny and the heart breaking elements seamlessly that makes AOL Classic and unforgettable drama ever. At the end of 2021 haven’t seen anything else that tops AOL.

OST is so good, amazing. Still listen to them 2 years later.

Acting: No one, absolutely no one has awkward acting here, this is so rare. YZ, DL and LYX are all first rate. But especially Lou Yunxi, how as a villain, millions of watcher rotted for him. Only exceptional character interpretation with out of the box acting can achieve this rare phenomenon.

Runyu is the best character written I’ve seen in C Dramaland. Leo Luo delivered Runyu beyond everyone expectation. No wonder the C official newspaper stamps Runyu as top 10 CLASSIC character in last DECADE. Usually after watching a good drama, I would forget about these characters, but Runyu is different, I remember him years later. I don’t forget his voice, his classic phrases his smooth flight scene, his elegant walk, his tears and pain, his madness and redemption at the end. Perhaps if Runyu is not made in China, LYX would have won an award for his performance.

I have yet to see another character as memorable as Runyu, but perhaps when Immortality airs, LYX cold but super complex "Shizun" might have a fighting chance to top Runyu.

Read More

The angst of love!

That was a long ride. My first Chinese Drama and first Xianxia one too.
And I loved the main leads.
The story is good with many layers, and plot twists.
But there are issues in this story.

I did get surpised in one scene of betrayal.
The story may break your heart many times, and this drama has those misunderstandings and angst.
I Loved the fantasy elements displayed and the CGI was good for what it was.

The ML and FL, had so much passion and the love was displayed really well by them.
I Liked the side characters too, the brother was very good in his role.
He really made me irritated with him!
All the main characters had depth and nice charcter arcs.
Especially the female lead.

The music was great, definitely loved it and it's really fitting.
Will rewatch this, once I have the time to. 63 episodes is long.
I was really invested in the story and characters.
I recommend this one to everyone, who can handle a love triangle and misunderstandings!
The love trangle was not to my liking though.
And the ending could have been much more satisfying.

So over all a very good Xianxia drama, wonderfully directed and acted this one.
With many sweet/bitter moments, a couple of things would have made it better !

Read More

This is my first review ever, so... Let's start!

I've completed this drama in less then three weeks which is quite short time (for me) on the drama with 63 episodes. I've planned watching this drama for so long and i find it really interesting. In this show wasn't the only episode that would bore me, the story went smoothly, actors were amazing in theirs roles, costumes were gorgerous... This drama has everything to have! And will awaken all your emotions inside you. While watching it I cry, laught, I felt uncertain, amazed and heartbroken. Sometimes dramas was boring after few episodes but Ashes of Love has plot which will keep you in tension and you want to see more and more.

The environment and backdrops give the show more of a beauty (backstage for a while reminds me a fairy tale Tinker Bell). Also costumes! Especially the Xu Feng's god of war costume. Really this one is my most favorite from this show. I read there is 3,000 pieces of clothing in total, so the male and female lead had around 30 costumes each. Music is too well done and I was surprised when I found out the ending was sung by Sa Dingding who plays Yuan Ji.

They are also two of my favorite actors! Deng Lun and Yang Zi.
First time I saw Deng Luns acting was in drama Because of You, he is my favorite actor and in Ashes of Love he didnt disappoint me. In his role as Xu Feng with his unyielding character catches my eyes again. In this drama he is the Fire Immortal/Phoenix, he is a bit arrogant but he can forgive mistakes. He have a "evil" mother and I think Deng Lun has destined to have this type of mothers in dramas (in Because of You he have also evildoing stepmother).
Yang Zi as Jin Mi is also beautiful character. She is the half elf who wants to see the world behind the barrier. Her character is little annoying, but her role only added to reality. She reminds me of Shan Shan (Boss & Me) with her appetite and love for food. She is the daughter of the Floral Fairy (the ruler of the Floral Realm), but this information about Jin Mi's birth had to be keep in secret. Before Floral Fairy died she created a magic barrier to protect her daughter from contact with the outside world.

The twoo main hero of this drama meet by chance, when the barrier is broken by mistake by the Xu Feng in his Phoenix form. Seriously injured he is saved by Jin Mi with her magic honey (but only after she wanted to make soup from him). He wanted to thank her for saving his life, so he did. As she had wished for many years, he free her from her prison behind barrier and Jin Mi becomes his reading asistant in Celestial realm.

Ours two main hero save life each other so many times and the relationship deepened between them. "I have really fallen for Fairy Jin Mi". These words say Xu Feng to Chief Zhang, after Jin Mi save his life.

There are also Run Yu/Night Immortal, the eldest son of the Celestial King. He is very close to Xu Feng/Phoenix. Despite their parents, the two half-brothers share a strong bond. Their relationship is so well done, they dont share the same mother, but they are very close. But relationship between Run Yu and Xu Feng will begin to sharpen when Jin Mi (like daughter of Watter Immortal and Leader of Flower Realm) becomes Run Yu's fiancee. Run Yu own the digital animal, white deer, which didnt eat grass or grain, he eats only dreams. First I saw this kind of stuff in drama Legend of Fu Yao and I found it so adorable.

I also like Moon Immortals character. He is so cute and childish! But I really dont like the Sui He/Peacock Immortal character right from the begginin. She is naughty and jealous of Jin Mi, also helps Xu Fengs mother with hers devil plans. I'm in love with all actors and characters in this drama, they acting skills were perfect!

So... I would end my rewiev like this:
"Phoenix flower only blooms in twoo seasons. One season for when destiny begins, the other for when destiny ends." I think this is the most memorable sentense in the whole story.

This drama is definitelly worth watching, i love the whole story. I think Ashes of Love is the best wuxia drama of year 2018 and I cant wait for season 2!

Read More

A nice gem especially if you are new to CDramas.

I almost gave up on this story. I initially only watched a couple of episodes and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it in the direction it was going, but I decided to come back to it. I’m so glad that I did as this was a very well told story between the FL and two brothers.

I watched this show when I was just getting into CDramas so I wasn’t familiar with the pacing and story arcs of Xanxias. As I’ve watched more, I can definitely see similar themes across Xanxias and this does follow that typical path that Xanxias go.

All of the actors did a really good job and were very well fit for the characters they were given. I also really enjoyed the OST as I’ve added a couple of songs to my playlist. I’ve definitely become a fan of all of the main actors.

Read More

Unforgettable drama

So where do i start - there are so many detailed reviews that do a better job of breaking down the plot, acting, production, etc. so I'll just summarize why I liked it so much.
1) Deng lun was a treat to watch.
2) FL was NOT perfect, did not remain childish, did something unforgivable but tried her best to make up for it
3) The dubbing - the actual actors dubbed it themselves (at least the main trio) - it was just so satisfying not to hear voice actors trying to emulate feelings that they have not actually acted out. Plus, the MLs voice perfectly matches Phoenix's personality!
4) MLs love never wavered, not even for a second (yes, even in the last story arc where he thought he'd been betrayed he still loved her)
5) The story had so much going on and all in a good way. There is love, betrayal, familial ties, politics, revenge, obsession - just a nice round of emotional ride I would say.
6) The FL made me love her, then hate her, then love her again. Second ML was just so tormented throughout that I had the perfect love/hate relationship going on with him as intended.
7) The drama differs from the novel in terms of characterization in my opinion. I did NOT like the MLs portrayal in the novel (I admit I've only skimmed through the chapters since I just wanted to read my fav parts, but from the gist of it, Phoenix in the novel seems to be much more dark(?), unbalanced(?))
8) Pretty much everyone got what was coming to them except a few minor characters.
I mean this drama gave me so many feels that I felt compelled to write this review after re-watching my fav scenes again and again. Also, I first watched AoL about a month ago and I'm still listening to the OST so yeah.
The only thing I would change is the ending - not change so much as EXTEND it. I wanted a heck lot more of the ML and the FL.

Read More

One of the most classic romantic dramas

It's classic romantic historical drama that i loved. I really like the story with gods and demons and also the love betwern these of two ptotagonists. I ship a lot the main actors and i loved Luo Yunxi. I LOVE YOU LUO YUNXI!!❤️The reason that i wanted to see it it was because of him and only. But i didn't believe that i could finish this drama because has a lot of episodes. The plot was well schemed so i didnt get bored or something like that. I loved acting and the music was perfect. The special effects could be better but were quite good. I recommend it as drama because of the plot and the acting. For sure you will love it.
I

Read More

I've never written a review before but i felt urged to write one for this drama because.it.is.just.so.beautiful.

I've never watched such a beautifully captivating and aesthetic drama before that had everything you need.

The story is well executed, the cast is very memorable and their acting is A+++ especially the three main leads.

What this story really revolves around is the love triangle between two male leads and the female lead which has been shown really well and the love they have for her really gets to you. I wont spoil much but i want to say this, if you have decided to watch this drama, no matter what...do not drop this...just don't drop it AT ALL. Watch it till the end and trust me, you wont regret it. I don't get how some people can review the drama after watching just two episodes. This drama is gonna affect and you must watch it by all means. Ok enough of that.

As for the music, this is one the dramas that has the best osts ever. Especially the ending theme song, everyone should listen to it. Such an enchanting song. No matter how many times I listen to it, i still keep coming back to listen to it again and again. That song perfectly suits and describes the drama.

The romance is the best part of the drama. Very well done. The CGI and the sets are amazing.

Oh and the leads have the cutest behind the scenes ever. If you can't get over the drama, watch those to heal your withdrawal syndrome.

Rewatch value is 10/10. I'll never get tired of this drama. Love it so much...

Read More

You might think 10 on all points is too much and I would say, I'd give it more points if I could. The story is comparable to TTMOPB but with it's own flair. It has all the elements of a great story and the ending will not leave you disappointed. The special effects/CGI are done extremely well that it is worth mentioning. The cast? Ah, Phoenix, my Phoenix! They will make you laugh, bring you to tears, make you mad - all the good stuff which will leave you satiated but wishing for more. Salute to the writers, directors, staff, anyone and everyone who made this phenomenal story.

Read More