Aged to perfection.
Since Love and Destiny was produced by the same team and resides in the same world, comparisons to TMOPB are inevitable. Pleasingly, the only connection is that it takes place earlier in the same 3L3W universe. This is efficient as less time is wasted on world building and explaining the tribes, hierarchies, time and other conventions. The story-line sticks to the 3L3W formula of an unforgettable love story that spans three lives and three realms. While TMOPB was an intensely passionate love story, this has more of a romantic comedy flavor. This is the story of a pure heart-ed young fairy who falls in love with the powerful and much older God of War. This relationship dynamic sets up for a different love story that again succeeds in delighting and captivating in a way that is now becoming a 3L3W brand.The plot is common for this genre (save the world or save the girl) and is this drama's biggest weakness. Those familiar with the director may observe the backstory of some leading characters (Jiu Chen, Ling Xi and Jing Xiu) were inspired by Journey of Flower - (Bai Zhihua, Hua Qiangu and Dongfang). That said, L&D is neither another TMOPB, nor JOF but a delightful story that stands on its own, albeit with a few cliche tropes. The three main arcs could have been better balanced - the first two took too long and did not leave much time for the final, most satisfying arc. There were too many (well executed) comedic fillers in this drama. This made it feel like "nothing's happening" or the relationship progressed too slowly.
The weak plot was compensated for by superb acting by the main leads. Veteran actors Chang Chen (Jiu Chen) and Ni Ni (Ling Xi) were perfectly matched. They are both gorgeous actors whose emotions and facial expressions transform and make them compelling in their appeal. The role of Jiu Chen was made for a Chang Chen that is aged to perfection - his sculpted bone structure and fierce expression exudes the aura of a stoic, mature and powerful God of War. Any suggestion that some young idol actor could have pulled this off is ridiculous. Jiu Chen is a formidable character that wears the lonely responsibility of keeping the realms safe. He moves mountains to force a win-win in his terrible conflict between duty and love. His instinct is to protect Ling Xi, to the fault of hiding the truth from her. He is alternately stern and helplessly indulgent with her. His impassive expression softens, he even smiles and becomes open and vulnerable only with Ling Xi. He is touchingly candid and unguarded when he confesses his feelings to her. With insight beyond her youth, Ling Xi recognizes the loneliness and burden inherent in Jiu Chen's role. She captivates him with her spell-blinding smile and mischievous antics; he is touched by her devotion and inept attempts to aid him. As their feelings grow, you can feel the invisible bond of their awareness and affection for each other. Ling Xi's best, most courageous moments are when she makes unbelievable sacrifices in order not to add to Jiu Chen's burdens. Each loves the other more than they love themselves.
In the first arc (20+ episodes), the Ling Xi wakes up Jiu Chen, who had been frozen for 50,000 years after sealing the Demon King. He is suspicious that such a weak fairy could have awakened him and takes her in, ostensibly to care for his health. The guileless and infatuated Ling Xi is delighted and disrupts his household with her comical attempts to entice him. She loses her senses over him and fires up his stone cold heart with her devotion. However, as God of War it is his duty to execute the young fairy with the ability to release the Demon King. Initially I found Ling Xi too subservient; a bird immortal with a bit of a bird brain. Yet Ni Ni's portrayal of Ling Xi was never annoying, indeed I was charmed despite my preference for stronger characters. She won me over when she bravely steps up to protect Jiu Chen and takes responsibility for her own life.
In the second arc (up to episode 50), Ling Xi is reincarnated as a mortal Lin Mo who has to go through three trials. She overcomes many challenges and becomes independent along the way. This is where Jing Xiu emerges as a manipulative, petty and sinister love rival to Jiu Chen. Episodes 30-40 can be skipped - this part was draggy and I struggled to empathize with Jing Xiu. This actor overacted the villain when he is actually supposed to be a grey character - he was so selfish, manipulative and creepy I was irritated at Ling Xi for not being wary of him. There were many unnecessary side characters in this arc that lingers too long on Ling Xi's coming of age. The best moments are between episodes 40-50 where Jiu Chen and Lin Mo fall touchingly in love (again). The final arc was the shortest and the sweetest. Ling Xi becomes a powerful high goddess who forces Jiu Chen to let her share his burdens and they face their enemy together.
The supporting cast was strong and there is a lovely secondary love story between Yun Fung and Qing Yao that is nicely intertwined with the primary. The villains did a decent job being evil and hateful but their motivators were typical: revenge, envy and obsessive unrequited love. The OST is very good but the CGI is quite dreadful. Overall a quality and enjoyable drama with a big budget. The bottom line remains as a love story, it boils down to the main leads. In this, they delivered - virtually all of their scenes brought a silly, lovesick and goofy smile to my face. You will enjoy this immensely if you appreciate leading actors and a love story that is truly aged to perfection.
PS - got a number of PMs re: comparison to TMOPB. I avoided directly comparing them but I also reviewed TMOPB and if you read that, what I think the differences are is obvious and reflected in the rating.
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Most underrated drama series! If you love deity kind of fantasy drama you must watch!
Similar to the two Three Lives Three World series (Ten Miles of Peach Blossom & Love of Dream), this show has a fantasy background (talking about deity). The story probably similar to Eternal Love of Dream (an older god with a young god) but the production is very similar to Eternal Love! Which if you simply enjoy these two you will enjoy this too!Due to its similarity, people will tend to compare these few, but I personally think it is almost as good as both of them. People tend to pinpoint on the male lead's appearance but honestly he is the perfect fit for the role, his acting skills has proven himself being the best actor for this character. Also with the female lead, regardless of being so much younger (as compared to male lead), her crying scenes were so on point that makes the viewers heart broken. I LOVE the main actor and actress, they were sooooooo good!
Some things I love about the show: The couple's chemistry and the love story :) An old guy who never feel love before and a girl who was always expressing her puppy love to win his heart. The two main leads was protecting each other from the start to the end (even when they hardly know each other), then they fall in love, grow stronger and fighting their ways to be together. You will laugh with them, cry with them and cringe so much (in a good way) whenever they were saying their devoted lines! But the two of them were just so cute that you don't mind watching them being lovey dovey at all times. Side couples were very pretty hilarious too that even though the show was sad, you will have a great laugh from time to time.
If I were to pick on something for this show, it might be some parts where the logic wasn't that clear, and the ending is a bit rush, without proper explanation. Oh and I personally don't quite like having too much of the "mortal life", it became a bit draggy, because I personally enjoy watching them as deity instead of a mortal; or maybe I just don't like watching the female lead with the second guy, that's all haha!
But other than that, this show was REALLY GOOD, one of the best Chinese drama I've ever watched, very worth watching! I'm glad that I watched it and I will miss it a lot!!! :)
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The romance was amazing.
The story was epic and had layers and depth.
All the side characters were interesting and fun.
I never wanted to skip scenes and I binged this like a pro. I adored it and added it to my "favorite Chinese historical" list easily! If you're on the fence... WATCH IT. You won't regret it. :)
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Similar to TMOPB, there are three arcs: Ling Xi as a mischievous maiden (episodes 1-23), Ling Xi as Lin Mo in the mortal realm (episodes 24-49), and Ling Xi as a high priestess (episodes 50-60). The ratio for the three arcs is skewed with the first and second having a lot more screen-time, but was it necessary? No. The first arc was the best arc of this drama. During the first arc, Ling Xi has a crush on Jiu Chen, but that changes quickly. Falling in love with her and refusing to kill her, he tries to change her fate by making her face trials in the mortal realm. The second arc was interesting, but only for the first few episodes. After that it was excruciatingly long and boring. Ling Xi was supposed to overcome her calamities by herself, but everyone keeps meddling with it. Honestly, this arc could’ve been cut from 25 episodes to 10 to give the last arc more cushioning since it's the worst. Viewers normally expect answers as they're finishing off the story, but did they give it to us? No. They just tossed a few sparkly rose-hued scenes at us and hope we latch onto them and ignore the faults. The writer and director gave us a weak happy ending in lieu of answering remaining questions. With that said, I had to push myself to finish the last ten episodes even though the end is normally the most exciting.
I’m all for a mature and older actor but strangely enough, Chang Chen missed the mark for me. His portrayal of Jiu Chen was stiff and emotionless. He was quite boring and awkward to watch. He always had this weird slump when he’s sitting, and it made me think of an old man rather than a God of War. He was still quite stoic when he fell in love with Ling Xi, but every once in a while, he would smile. Which can be cute, but his smile was strange and brief. He would look at the ground, smile for a second, and then his face stiffens again. I don’t have much to say about Ni Ni because her acting felt natural for her role.
The romance between the two leads does feel a bit mature and both do show their love throughout the drama, but there’s just something about this couple that doesn’t impact me. The moments other viewers fawned over, I found forced and cringey. For example, some kiss scenes they just push the kiss onto each other for a second or two. Right after they would say something “romantic” to each other. Was that a moment? Cause it was just awkward to watch. Their romance also dragged during the second arc. It dragged on for so long I thought I was the one imprisoned for fifty thousand years. Not only that, but it solidified the fact that Jiu Chen is a boring male lead. Ling Xi spent most of this arc with Jiu Xia and he actually gave us emotions. Not that I rooted for him to be with Ling Xi, but I just found his reactions to be refreshing compared to Jiu Chen’s stone-face. But why give us 10+ episodes of her being with Jiu Xia when we could’ve gotten more moments of her with Jiu Chen instead? Develop her relationship with Jiu Chen better instead of trying to build conflict, but I guess the writer thought the more elements going into it the better it’d be, because even the supporting couples (Yun Feng x Qing Yao and Si Ming x Shi San) were mediocre.
Okay, I swear I’m not a fan of Jiu Xia, but poor Jiu Xia. I didn’t like his character and there was nothing unique about him (except his bald head), but he deserved better. He went through hardships and suffered throughout his life, but he showed that he was still capable of love and empathy. If only the writer was able to write his character with more depth. He deserved a better written role. Also, what’s scary isn’t demons or monsters. What’s scary is someone who’s on a journey to get what they think they deserve and not hesitating to sacrifice anyone and everyone to get it. Thus, the true demon of this show is not the demon lord…it’s Yuan Tong. Karma happened way too late and I found her unnecessary to the plot past the first arc. She’s legit in there just to keep stirring her evil little pot full of lies to aggravate everyone.
Would I recommend this? Unless you’re okay with painstakingly slow developments, an evil immortal who just doesn’t know when to quit, an antagonist who could’ve been so much more, and unnecessary conflicts and characters to fluff the plot? Then no. Besides the first arc and maybe a few episodes into the second arc, this was a complete waste of my time. There’s was so much potential, 60 episodes worth, but the plot fell stagnant and stale.
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The story is brilliant, undramatic and reasonable . Love & Destiny will blow you away (even if you're not a fantasy/xianxia/historical genre kind of person) Also, If you like The Journey of Flower, you will love this without a doubt.
Everything is so stunning from the costumes, to the set and the cinematography. I'm especially fond of the open song. Particularly their love story. The different clans coming together and all the magical elements and all are very interesting.
The acting was spectacular. Ni Ni & Chang Chen did a fantastic job as always. Although it was my first time watching Chang Chen, his character as Jiu Chen is so easily to fall in love with because he is that good at acting. Chemistry was flawless, but kind of slow at the beginning. Their love is not quite as transparent as other fantasy drama but they portrayed spectacular; you could feel their love and pain and share their happiness. Their love is very settle , you have to watch each facial expression to tell.
Every other character was very likeable having their own unique personalities. The other side characters and love stories are also super sweet especially Qing Yao & Yun Feng.
The only problem I have (not with the drama) itself, but the two villain. I feel they have not being punished enough.The ending feel a little rush to me.
Rewatch it? Definitely. No qualms about it.
This is truly a masterpiece and I can safely say Eternal Love is my favourite C-Drama.
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ABSOLUTE JOY TO WATCH
I’ve watched a number of c-drama with romance/historical/fantasy genre prior to Love and Destiny and I’ve been bitterly disappointed with all of them - mainly the endings.And many times I have vowed never to watch any c-drama with historical genre ever again. Investing sometimes more than 60 eps, the disappointment was too much and mostly ruined the pleasure of watching it in the first place.
I discovered Love and Destiny mainly because of the main lead Ni Ni from previous Rise of Phoenixes (mortally disappointed with this drama - bad ending!) However, Ni Ni impresses me with her acting abilities. So I figured L&D should be good.
Let me tell you, I was so scared to watch L&D, in case of another disaster. I started to do some research (same director/team from TMOPB making L&D. I liked TMOPB but Love and Destiny is so much more superior in quality and content), so l brave myself to give it a go. Also, Chang Chen as God of War was amazing! His subtle articulations of said character - stern, resolute, determine, caring translated clearly in his expression. Well done to the director for choosing these two leads. Most compatible main couple - chemistry, beautiful and solid.
I’m utterly in-love/obsessed/happy plus all the nice feeling while/when watching this drama. Although I wish the last arch of this drama go a bit more detailed and longer.....
I’ve watched it perhaps a dozen times and am still enjoying it. I’m in a fixed and I cannot move on!
Perhaps I’m a hopeless romantic but a bit of romance + happiness melts all the stresses of our everyday life.
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Jiu Chen gets what he wants.
Love and Destiny is a beautiful drama. It surpasses all others in terms of aesthetics. The costuming, the locations, the casting is all top notch. Sadly, as much as I'd like to tell off all the nay-sayers who say Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms is a better story; in truth, they're right. Love and Destiny's plot is not unique, it wains after the second arc and the ending is rushed with no build up.Love and Destiny is more of a character drama than a romance for it focuses on the development of Ling Xi. Every time the drama pulls away to other characters there's nothing new to see. There is a side couple; Yun Feng and Qing Yao, who develop a satisfying relationship. Aside from that, the drama is not daring enough to flesh out other characters and develop their own unique story-lines. It's always playing it safe. It's about Ling Xi and War God's love for her.
As far as Ling Xi goes; she is an interesting and relateable character. She starts off immature and bubbly, becomes guarded after hardship then by the third act, she's a mix of both. While I liked seeing her become wise to the world, a part of me missed her bubbliness because it complimented her male lead's icy personality. She became cold. Seeing her tell off enemies just felt petty and I missed the Ling Xi that had compassion even for monsters.
Then there's War God, Jiu Chen. While being a major character, he is the weakest part of the drama. He never changes, unlike his leading lady. There's no humbling low point that he goes through, nothing that you can really empathize with. War God is always powerful, in charge and controlling. No fault with Chang Chen's acting, but his character felt like a fantasy of the ideal guy, not a real person. Secondly for a supposedly mature character, he makes a lot of callow, impulsive decisions regarding Ling Xi; leading to my second issue.
For a "love" story their relationship strikes me as unhealthy. He kills her twice, doesn't communicate properly, makes decisions for her, doesn't respect her choices and is dangerously more powerful. When he pursues Ling Xi to such testosterone driven levels and with her inability to fend him off; it feels borderline abusive. To call that a mature relationship is an insult to actual mature relationships. Did I mention he called her dumb, weak and useless?
The second lead, Jing Xiu undergoes what I think War God should have undergone. He loses his power, position and suffers a trial in the mortal realm. There was also more focus on his back story than Jiu Chen's. On top of that, I found his relationship with Ling Xi to be more respectful and honest. Unfortunately, If you like his character, you will not like his ending... at all.
I truly wanted this to be my all time favourite drama but after giving it a hard look I'm realizing how superficial it actually is and it hurts to say it. Yes the acting was good and yes the characters are attractive but Love and Destiny's beauty is only skin deep.
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The best way I can describe this series is imagine you order a dish at some hole in the wall place that you stumble upon and it turn out to be the best dish you’ve ever eat. I have had a few encounters like this so I use it metaphorically for this series. The ingredients do not go together, presentation are not impressive but for each bite that you eat, the flavor just explode in your mouth and before you know it, you’ve finished the dish and you want to order more. That’s my experience with this series. This may be the best c-drama that I won’t be seeing for a very long time, at least not for this genre.
This series is a love journey like Ni Ni said in an interview, and we get to embark on it with our leads. There’s no misunderstanding or love triangle or second lead syndrome. The series focus on our lead and their love journey and the other characters add richness to it. If our leads are not together, it’s very organic and makes a lot of reasonable sense. Issues get resolved fairly quickly and in very mature way. It takes some time for thing to kick in so you need to have some patience and it’ll totally pay off. Be warn, you’ll laugh and then you’ll cry and cry.
For the role of Jiu Chen, I can’t picture anyone else can be it but only Chang Chen. All of the micro-expressions and the acting are just everything. I’m so glad for the long letter the producer wrote to Chang Chen to convince him to accept this role. Without him, this series will just be another series that you watch at your spare time. Both Chang Chen and Ni Ni are mesmerizing together. By the time you finish the series, you want to see more of them in future projects. Almost every character got a personality and only a couple characters are one dimensional. This series explores all kind of relationship and you’ll get sucks in by the raw and natural emotion of it.
My only complaint with this series is they develop the wrong character as the main villain. If they focus on the female character, it’ll elevate this series to another level. At least it goes against the typical drama trope. I didn’t like the OST but I do like some of the instrumental piece. I also feel the designer is lazy with the costumes concept. They could have dress Ni Ni’s character better throughout the series instead of toward the end.
While most series started off with high douban rating and then drop after it finished airing, this series continue to climb in rating. I don’t know what kind of demonic power does this series has but I can’t let it goes just yet.
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Good Story, High Quality Production
When I first came across this drama, I was ecstatic - another xianxia (historical fantasy) story which is one of my favorite genres. But when I checked out the cast, my heart sank. I was disappointed with the choice of the main male and female leads. Over the months, I’ve accustomed to young, beautiful male and female actors. I couldn’t fathom why the directors had selected these two, Chang Chen is in his 40s and NiNi 30s. A kind viewer explained the rationale of the selection to me. It finally dawned on me that such choices are intentional and this drama is going to be great. She is right.Jiu Chen, the God of War, is supposedly 190,000 years old. Had a younger actor been chosen, it may not have played out so well. Chang Chen perfectly fits into the role of Jiu Chen as an ancient god with his stern and serious look; he is emotionless. Compared with the God of War, Ling Xi is a very young girl at 50,000 years old. Initially, I was not very convinced to see NiNi playing that role, despite that she is an amazing actress. However, I came to realize that she is the perfect choice as she goes so well with Chang Chen visually. Had a younger actress been chosen for this role, I think it would have been a mis-match.
As the God of War, Jiu Chen is supposedly not to have any emotions nor to fall in love with anyone. And yet he does. His clumsiness in handling a relationship is most hilarious to say the least. Ling Xi, warm and kind, melts away his harden cold heart. The relationship between the pair is open and loving. As both characters grow over time, the actors fit perfectly into their roles with their maturity and seriousness. I’m totally convinced with the directors’ brilliant choices.
There are a few very lovable side couples. My favorite pair is Si Ming with 13 (her real name). Their relationship is cute, funny and spontaneous. I also love the Yun Feng character, Jiu Chen’s little brother, who is care-free and does not hide his passion for the girl he loves. For her, he would do anything, landing himself in trouble and embarrassed.
I don’t usually fall in love with an antagonist as I do in this drama. The Jing Xiu character is very complex. He is feared but also loved by many, even Ling Xi also falls for him for his apparent kindness. Despite being evil, he is at the same time open about his mis-deeds and ruthlessness. The make-up and costume for this character are one of the most impressive, and Li Yuan is just amazing with his very unique good look.
Overall, this drama has a vibe similar to that of Eternal Love – Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms. Many viewers are confused by this. Some think this is a prequel while others think it is a sequel. In fact, both dramas have nothing to do with each other, except for the similarities of the theme, the background settings among a few other things. Both dramas talk about the heavenly realm with gods and grand palaces, the animal/bird realm, the peach blossoms Shangri-la, the mortal realm, to name a few. Needless to say, both dramas were also directed by the same people.
The OSTs are beautiful and memorable as in most Chinese historical dramas. The editing, sound and visual effects, costumes, CGI are all high quality production, with a perfect pacing and good story telling. Although it has not given me the same deep emotional impression as the Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms has, this is still a very fine production.
I strongly recommend it.
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If you enjoy the look of TMOPB then this is the drama for you.
The love dynamic is nothing original, powerful man, powerless female, she falls madly in love with him and he resist at first but can't in the end and fall hard for her and now is doing the chase. BUT what sets this apart from others is the male lead's maturity, literally and figuratively.
His subtle expression, rational manners, un-dramatic self is refreshing to watch. He never belittle her or abuse her but instead encourage and love her for who she is and help her grow as a person.
as for the female lead, she starts off very naive but you can argue that it was because she was. so sheltered but she grew once she was able to leave home.
the pace is a little slow in the beginning but it picks up after a while.
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60 Episodes of Ni Ni Trying to Generate Chemistry with a Brick Wall
When I first got into xianxia romance in early 2022, this drama was widely recommended as one of the best in the genre. Online, everyone discussed it in reverent tones, as if it was the only xianxia worth taking seriously and a show that could only be appreciated by experienced viewers who could look past its underwhelmed reception and understand its "high art" aspirations. And that's exactly the type of drama I get very, very excited about, because I am pretentious and snobby.But, no. Like, a big no. Don't get me wrong, the production is gorgeous, the leads deliver more nuanced and subtler performances than what you'd usually expect for this genre, and I was deeply impressed that there was a trans or non-binary character with their own love line. It's great stuff!
However, there's exactly ONE requirement for actors in a romance drama: they have to generate convincing chemistry with their co-star. The quality of an individual actor's performance, whether they're a "good" actor or not, is actually less important, in this context, than how well they can establish and maintain a story of attraction and mutual understanding within the boundaries of a couple. Which means an actor can become wildly successful in the romance genre because they create reliable and consistent chemistry with their co-stars, despite delivering underwhelming or inconsistent performances overall (i.e., Xu Kai or Dilraba Dilmurat). The opposite is also true: some "good" actors find themselves in the romance genre, yet fail to work in tandem, rendering their intimate scenes unpersuasive.
And that's exactly my problem with Love and Destiny. For 60 episodes, I watched Ni Ni try to generate chemistry with a brick wall, which was painful when the story frames her as a besotted maiden whose devotion and self-sacrifice knows no bounds. To be clear, I had no problem with Chang Chen's looks, age, or performance outside of their relationship. He's good looking in a football player way and I appreciated his understated approach to the trope-y cold God of War role. Unfortunately, I never - not once! - felt as if the almighty Jiu Chen was sexually or romantically interested in his fan girl, Ling Xi. Without sensuality or any evidence of amorous interest on Chang Chen's side, the couple's scenes are tepid, veering into a surrogate father/daughter dynamic that left me uncomfortable.
Disappointing. Frustrating. Vaguely creepy. These are the words I'd use to describe my slog to finish this lengthy show, and it could've all been prevented, if Chang Chen or the director guiding him had understood the brief. Romance is a team sport. If one person decides they can't or won't play, the whole thing is a loss, no matter how much money, experience, or artistic integrity goes into the game.
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I understand that Juichen is supposed to be very fierce and serious. He does not show much emotion, but a very talented person can convey this while still being alive in the role. I felt Chang Chen could have made him a little more human, and less icy. Too often many actors portray a cold character as emotionless and dead. There has to be something going on behind the eyes or the character becomes boring. I often found myself wondering what Linxi saw in Juichen. Unfortunately, he is so much older than Lingxi and it was difficult to find his appeal convincing. Understood that his love for our heroine changes him, but overall I found him quite a stick in the mud.
Ni Ni, as always, is perfection. This girl can cry at the drop of a hat. She wears her heart in her sleeve and has such beautifully expressive eyes. I have loved her since I first saw her in Rise of Phoenixes. She can be warm and fierce and sell it to me completely. This is what I found lacking in Chang Chen's performance. My favorite character was Ethan Li as Jingxiu. He was interesting and had so many layers to him. I love characters who aren't 100 percent good or bad. He was very human in his choices and was the perfect tragic character.
The supporting characters were all wonderful and endearing. The best part of the plot happens in the mortal realm. I felt more connected to those situations than in the heavenly realm. The music was beautiful as was the set design and costumes. Ni Ni's costumes while she was in Shangling Tribe were breathtaking. It was certainly entertaining but does not come even close to its predecessor TLTWTMOPB.
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