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Low-key shook at how much I enjoyed this drama
The fact that I watched this in a day without fast forwarding,,, that's never happened to me, lol.There were so many things going against this drama when I first stumbled upon it, and I've been avoiding it ever since. They include:
- Multiple seasons (I get so tired after 30 episode dramas, I don't even know how I could last 3 seasons)
- Time-travel/different lifetimes aren't my jam (I thought this show had reincarnations for some reason (it doesn't), but that also isn't my jam either. After struggling through Eternal Love (TMOPB), I tend to avoid romances in different lifetimes)
- Body-swapping between the FL (at first I was worried they would both fall in love with the ML... nah. That doesn't happen)
- Random YouTube clips of this drama that I stumbled upon were weird (they really didn't do the story justice lmao)
BUT one day I was like "why don't we give it a go?" just because I realized the FL was Liang Jie, who I really liked in The Day of Becoming You (another body-swap!). And y'all... once I started, I couldn't stop.
PROS
❀ Romance, romance, romance | I think I fell in love with this drama because it's wholeheartedly devoted to the main couple's romance. There's a bittersweet secondary romance that's between the other character in the FL's body that I thought would be annoying (not a fan of tragic second couples - cough @ Fake Princess), but I actually enjoyed their storyline and thought it added depth to the whole throne-seeking storyline.
The main couple had excellent chemistry and were so darn cute together. Think, modern-day spunky heroine trapped in ancient times x stoic, doubtful, and suspicious 8th prince who has his hands full with his new wife. Cue the antics!! There's the typical historical cdrama tropes like jealous childhood friend, jealous other prince, fight for the throne, awesome servants of the main leads, plotting/conspiracy, sus empress dowager, and all that jazz. Sometimes I get tired of this court intrigue but I like the way it was written in The Eternal Love! It reads kind of similar to Chinese webnovels, with satisfying face-slaps (they aren't afraid of getting people to die/escape death lmao), one-dimensional villains that our main characters outsmart, and the main leads working together to navigate the conspiracies. We stan a couple team in ancient China!!
❀ The way it mish-mashes different genres | Alright, so I came in knowing about the time-travel into another woman's body, which made it become a historical cdrama, but after ep 20 it turned into a xuanhuan?? It was honestly so shocking and the plot twists got me gasping in bed. I don't want to delve into it too much because I feel like it'll ruin future watchers' enjoyment, but I have to say, as a fantasy lover I REALLY liked where that storyline went. Granted, it made for some lackluster exposition near the end full of dialogue, but it also added so much depth to the story. Shook!!
❀ I kinda liked every character | Whether it was the competent emperor, scheming palace ladies, 14th prince (love him!), ML's bodyguard, FL's maid, and even the other personality sharing the body with the FL,,, I liked them all. At first I kept thinking the other personality was a heartbroken pig teammate (she's more calm and reserved than the FL so it's really easy to see when they switch), but she ends up being pretty understanding and helpful. It's rare in a cdrama where I like all the characters, and I think the way they divided the screentime was perfect and kept me engaged without skipping scenes. (Especially since I'm the type to skip over secondary plotlines just to see the main couple bahaha)
❀ Well-rounded acting from FL | Although Liang Jie's character comes off as more child-ish than what I'm used to (after watching The Day of Becoming You), I was still impressed by the way she handled two personalities. I can tell her acting got better since this drama too! The ML's character was pretty straight-faced the whole time so he didn't really make an impression on me, but boyyyy can he kiss. Ooh lala. I think romantic moments in this drama were leveled up with his directness (heehee).
CONS
✕ It's all fluff/fun, not much depth | If you're looking for complex palace intrigue and twisty schemes, look elsewhere. The politics are fairly simple and, like I mentioned, very reminiscent of webnovels. I haven't read the novel this show was based on, but from my experience historical webnovels and manhua are more about satisfying face-slaps and triumphant main characters than deep schemes. I guess I would define it as "light in historical, heavy in romance, medium in comedy."
✕ Misunderstanding level: 4/10 | ALSO high-key shook at how few misunderstandings happen in this drama. I guess because of the main couple's devoted love for each other, there leaves little room for misunderstandings. I feel like half of this rating comes from the inherent misunderstandings of the plot (eg., confusing Xiaotan with Tan'er), while the remaining half were misunderstandings from noble actions. The best part is that the show resolves them quickly ( a couple of episodes at most) and doesn't use those misunderstandings as major plot devices.
OVERALL
I'm so glad I came in with no (almost low) expectations!! I fell in love with the main couple and can't wait to see how they fare in season 2 (which apparently people like more than season 1, woohoo). I can definitely understand the hype with this drama and recommend it for romance-lovers in general. I love how the main couple stay true to each other from beginning to end, no matter what time, space, or dimension they're in, and despite the complex turns the story takes. Truly an eternal love!
(Note: My rewatch value is set to 5.0 always as a default as I'm not the type to rewatch dramas EVER. Thus, I do not take it into account when calculating overall score.)
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2017 was a different time. Liked the romance, but some questionable aspects
2017 was really a different time for time-travelling historical romcom cdramas--before censorship on straight-up time travel plots and before voice dubbing became prominent. I was quite surprised and unsettled to hear most of their real voices (that seemed to be recorded on the actual set) and took me a few episodes to get used to it. The narrating voice was a bit unnecessary since it only appeared a few times and was a bit intrusive.Overall, this low-budget time-travelling historical romcom drama was enjoyable for several reasons.
First and foremost is the main leads/couple Mo Lian Cheng (Xing Zhao Lin) and Qu Tan Er (Liang Jie). The actors' chemistry and scenes carried this show--as proven by their reoccurring roles in the second and third season of this drama as well as their modern drama You Are My Destiny. They look really good together and just work so well together.
Besides them, the MVP of the show is Tan Er's maid Jingxin. She was the best and I love her.
The second reason is Liang Jie's acting as Qu Tan Er and Qu Xiang Tan. She's very good at switching between these two personalities and was very convincing. I had a hard time feeling attached to them at the beginning since both of them were kind of annoying in their own ways, but as their relationship deepens and become more harmonious, the better they both become.
The third reason is the potential of the plot, especially knowing that there's a second and third season. There's the mystery of a bigger story tied to who she is and the orb that's being searched. I enjoyed the deepening of the story and how that eventually explains the title of this drama.
However, there were a couple things that didn't sit right with me, especially regarding the issue of agency with Qu Tan Er and Qu Xiang Tan sharing a body. The disregard that Xiang Tan treats the body made me disappointed and almost dropped this drama. I only kept going because I was curious about how the overall story especially since there are two seasons after this. Characters aren't as complex as they could've been nor had as much character development as they should had. For example, Richards Wang is listed as a "main role" in here as Mo Yi Huai but he didn't have as much appearances as the main roles did and, at some episodes, barely showed up at all.
Overall, I think I'm surprised at the high rating this drama has on MDL, but for its time in 2017, it must had been pretty interesting. And, of course, the romantic scenes are pretty sweet and cute. Other aspects may suffer, but not them.
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The story was very entertaining and I had no problems pressing the next button. It's very difficult to come across a time travel drama nowadays which is one of my fav genres. Despite the Low Budget production, the drama had nice cgi, and there were no unnecessary scenes or characters. The female lead character can be irritating at times but overall it was a good drama compared to a lot of others I have watched this year, however it can't be compared with Eternal Love for sure, which is my all time fav.
Acting/Cast
I dun think the male actor was good looking at all and he didn't win me over with his acting. Unfortunately Mark Chao set a very high standard in terms of average looks with charisma, I fell in love with MC's character and although initially I felt he wasn't good looking, with every episode he looked even more handsome and at the end he was the most handsome guy to me that ever stared in any TV series this year. As for the female lead, her acting was moderate. I think her maid was a better actress. Overall what made me watch finish this series was the story.
Music
Music was good and sound track was nice, very appropriate for this drama.
Rewatch value
I certainly won't be watching this again, however it will be one of my TOP fav dramas this year.
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It has soul on it's own
Kiddos to FL, I like how she portrays the two characters well. This is my first time encountering an ML with a mischievous attitude and nyahaha.I dunno what's missing. It has a good plot and all. Yes, it is interesting but I think.... how they deliver and weave the story was kinda makes it lack of something. Some scenes are out of context and sometimes, things happen so fast that the essence becomes trivial (the start and end of it specifically).
Overall, this was good. They depict topics that are rarely seen especially in this kind of setting. Maybe this is me expecting some improvement and how they deliver it (I'm not pertaining about the actors, the storyline itself tells me that there's still room for improvement and what-ifs to enhance it). That's why I felt they lacked something.
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If you want to have a non-toxic romance, with a female lead that is actually funny, watch this!
In summary:This is currently my favourite romance drama, which says a lot, because I generally have an issue with most romantic dramas (e.g. coffee prince, it's okay that's love) .
It is kinda a parody of historical romances, and therefore more light-hearted than other historical dramas,
at the same time it does have some real tragic drama in it.
The female lead is really funny and she has great chemistry with the male lead, they have really sweet scenes together.
The ending is confusing; however it does make you interested in wanting to know more.
----------------- Longer version ----------------
I usually find most drama's not that fun, because they in general romanticise toxic behaviour (over dominating male lead, being too possesive, and/or a female lead which acts too much like a child, underdog behaviour). However, in this drama I found the interaction between the ml and fl very sweet. The male lead is really caring, in a not too overly possesive way. Ofcourse, the ml is in the beginning a bit cold, however, he actually has good reasons... like actually good reasons, not some cop-out 'boohoo I have a bad childhood, so I am justified to be a creepy jerk' reason.
The female lead is really fun to watch, she is actually funny (unlike ashes of love) and really goes into her character. She has to play having two souls into one body, and she really pulls it off. I think in general all actors fit their roles well, they have a certain likeability factor, which makes it fun to watch them.
The story is not super complex, but is well written. After every episode I wanted to see the next one, I cannot remember it having any fillers, every scene builds on to the next one. The ending is confusing though, but it had some interesting potential for follow-up seasons.
I really wish for more romance dramas like this one, but I have not found them yet.
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A thing that I didn' t like was how overwhelming it was because of all the terms that I had to know. I mostly forgot most of the terms so I didn't really understand most of the drama.
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It should've just stopped at episode 15
This drama start off cute, lovely, and sooo romantic. The FL can portrayed both the character really well. The ML also have a great acting skills. It's just the CGIs are omg.... i've read it on wikipedia that this drama were a low budget one, so maybe it explained the CGI. the last 6 episode are just ridiculous, wth ure making a world up in the clouds and fighting against a dsrk evil king, and those episodes were full of CGI. if you cant afford a better CGI, just stop extended the drama till it move to the sky world (or whatsoever those place name)Absolutely rewatching it. But just till the 15th episode
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The main couple made watching it bearable
I don't know where to start with this.So I've held back on watching this because I've seen previews on youtube, and it was confusing, and watching it made it more confusing. So I don't normally need the synopsis' of dramas and I go by deciding whether to watch them by casts, posters, previews and stuff like that, so going into the drama without much knowledge was a mistake.
The drama chooses to go start to the plot without much reasoning or explanation and with a drama with this time traveling-body swap plot is a mistake. From the first episode, it is also evident that the production had a smaller budget compared to dramas of the same kind. The budget is not only evident in the sets, side characters but also in the script itself. With such a complex storyline, the drama really suffers because of the poor writing. The story suffer from many plot holes, what feel like last minute decisions and decisions for convience. The writing didnt seem very well thought out. I had had to check the synopsis to get the essence of the story and considering this is an adaptation, i guess i expect the story to be more put together.
The visuals of the set already made it hard to watch and then the poor script made it even harder. At the first few episodes of the drama, I found it hard to believe that many people actually found this enjoyable considering that this is about to have a third season and the rating this has on here. I tried to continue watching despite hating it, just to see what made people like this.
Because of the poor writing, I didn't even notice when the ML started becoming fond of the FL but as the relationship grew, I started to understand. It was all in their chemistry, they had really cute, sweet scenes that makes you giddy. I love the ML's glaze and how showy he is about his feelings, which not as common in other dramas. My favourite character has to be Jing Xin, the actress portrays her very nicely, it's sad that in the middle towards the end of the drama, she was absent for a lot of the episodes. Either than that, this drama was trash, really. The story is just so iffy because of the writing.
The main point is if you dont really care about the story and just care about the romantic parts, the skip button's your best friend. The main couple was really cute, the story's a blackhole and that's about it.
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First of all, do not watch this unless you can watch Season 2 immediately afterwards. It leaves you with a cliffhanger of sorts that would’ve drove me crazy if I hadn’t had known ahead of time. The villains were a bit cliche and silly at times. But the chemistry between the OTP was the bomb! And the kisses....they were probably the most kisses I’ve seen in a chinese drama ever. Even more than Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms. The pairs chemistry saved this drama when overacting and plot holes would have made it a “5” for me. I DID like the original time travel aspect of it. I also liked that the main female was feisty and intelligent. Also that she remained that way throughout the series. She wasn’t perfect. Sometimes needed too much rescuing at times, but otherwise she stood out compared to most Chinese drama heroines. Was this review helpful to you?
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