Novoland: Pearl Eclipse (2021)

Captivating drama series

Firstly I want to say I love this drama. I think it is a beautiful sad story about great love, loyalty, friendship and ultimate sacrifice. I have watched the ending three times and as I am sad for FJM and HS I thought they stayed true to their values and character till the end. Their last conversation was portrayed beautifully by the talented Yang Mi and William Chan. The emotion was raw and real as it gets. That last moment alone was enough for me to recommend this drama. Then you have other actors in the series also did an exceptional job, amazing sets, cinematography and very fitting OST. Overall this drama has captivated my full attention in the last few weeks. The plot was clever which kept me on my toes as I didn’t know what will happened next. I highly recommend it.

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THE BEST GUZHUANG ROMANCE FANTASY DRAMA FOR 2021 ! ! ! A WORLD-CLASS XIANXIA GENRE C-DRAMA.

Book: Novoland is an original Eastern Historical Buddhist and Taoist in Xunxia and Wuxia adaptations in a seven (7) book compilation edition, in a published set of Novella Type Series/Novelettes on Fantasy, Romance and Adventures. The eastern compilation was inspired by the Western Book Compilation Series of Harry Potter, known as the Novoland Saga. One of the highly original compilations in this Best-Selling Book Series is Novoland: Pearl Eclipse written by the Best Selling Author, Xiao Ruse published in 2006. Directors: Adapted on-screen and lensed by the most formidable filming team ever formed in C-Drama, the Genius Hitmaker Director Lin Yu Fen of one of the most watched and modern classic C-Tele-Drama Series, the famed Eternal Love : Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms and by the equally very talented highly acclaimed cinematographic Modern Drama Director Jin Sha of the very sophisticated and elegant modern drama The Great Craftsman/Architect. Screenwriter: Li Yan Qian is the very gifted creator of Realm of Love: The Long Ballad. Storyline: A brave and gifted merfolk young girl of pure heart, named Yu Haishi from a seaside village becomes a young heroine in a rare encounter with the magical mermaid creature Lang Huan/Dragon Tail, while in search of the rarest Naga Pearls in the vast seaside of town of Yu, in one of the Nine (9) Feudal Townships, ruled and headed by the Dazheng Dynastic Empire. In a twist of fate, while trying to escape capture from the oppressive, corrupt and tyrannical feudal henchmen of the Coastal Town of Yu then violently demanding tribute of these Pearls from the merfolks. Haishi the innately gifted girl with a pure heart was brazenly rescued by a masked warrior master, Fang Hzu of Jianmeng Hall, the strongest allied of the Dazheng Empire. The journey and adventure of the Duo, Shifu Fang Zhu and now a crossed-dressed disciple Fang Haishi begins and ends in their entry to the gentry of the Dazheng Empire to Haishi Fang Hai City, in a resort type lover’s retreat by the ocean. Backdrop Plots: Perpetuity of First Love, Master-Disciple Relationships (Shifu and Simo), Love Triangles, Fatal Attractions and Cross-Dressing in Royalties. Costumes: Inspired by the Hanfu Culture of the thirteen (13) dynasties from the Sia to the Ming ranging from gallantry, peasantry, servantry, regional, barbarism to mid and ultimate royalty, styles are a rank evolution of leisurely, eventful and ceremonial akin to modern day formal, casual and sporty. Cathartic Dramatic Elements: Deception and Conspiracies, Personal Greed and Ambition, Turmoils, War and the Spoils of War. Action-Packed Elements: Cat and Mouse Chase, Rescue, Bravery and Heroism of the Lead Characters in Martial Arts Prowess shown on swordsmanship and display of supreme physical strength on fighting stances. Climactic Resolutions: Attainment of Nirvana, Peace and Serenity, State of Love, Avenged Filial Piety and Prosperity. A must watch. Kudos to the entire ensemble cast and to YM and WC who are all marvelous to watch, for this glorious tele drama series. The series has all the elements of a Top Notch Guzhuang Hit Tele-Drama Series.

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An extraordinary story and production

Where to begin!!!! This is one of the most amazing , well-told and produced story. The CGI is top notch. The fighting scenes, costumes, characters, and how each episodes leaves you wanting more. This was a stellar production. Kudos to the production team, the actors omg!!! Each character displayed and portrayed his/her to the fullest!!! You can understand their pain,turmoil, feel and live through their joy while watching them. Yang mi and william chan has always been one of favorite actors, Xu kai cheng's character as the complex Emperor endeared him to me and at the same time there were scenes that had me cringing.

Now to what i dislike: physical and emotional abuse never grows into love as depicted by the Emperor and consort shurong. But somehow the writer flipped and abusive and down right cruel emperor and transformed him into an i will died for you lover. Not something i appreciate. He should be one or the other.
The push and pull love game between jiaming and haishi was exhausting and overly used for me. One minute he seems to draw her close and the next minute he is pushing her away and constantly hurting her feelings. Yet everytime he seems to look her way she comes running like nothing ever happened..like really???!!! Come on!!! The villians were just!!!!top notch!!!
But all in all i strongly recommend this drama!!

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A good period drama to end the year

Like many, this show sat on my anticipated shows list of the year and I wasn't disappointed. I've heard of dramas adapting the 'novoland' theme but this would be the first series I've seen and though I was a bit confused at the start due to the lack of introduction on the merfolk story, that picked up towards the mid-end of the show but I admit, I still don't fully understand why it was titled 'novoland pearl eclipse'.

As far as the show goes, you can tell the show had a relatively high budget, so the post production wasn't disappointing—though not completely up to parr with TMOPB, but it sits very high on the list. Nothing looked too out of place and the props and lighting were great! The theme song blew me away. I love that they got Zhou Shen to sing in this as their ballad, and it's so fitting. Honestly, get him or Mao Bu Yi for me and I think that alone would have roped me into watching any period drama.

Yang Mi wasn't disappointing in my opinion. I love that she wasn't dubbed. I've seen her in all her other shows and reality tv shows and she's a very capable actress who I really think carried the show so well. In times of her sadness, bravery and passion—you saw it all and she wasn't too fake. The whole cross dressing thing didn't surprise me but I did find it obviously unbelievable (I mean, which man could pull off long fake eyelashes back then, haha). I was a little annoyed they had to drag that out till episode 36 but other than that, she did well. I hadn't watched anything with William Chan before so this was a first for me. Admittingly, his two hair strand hairstyle was a bit weird (I much preferred it when he had it all up) and am so glad (for once) that his voice got dubbed as I think hearing how he really speaks would have thrown that whole cold and serious demeanour he had going on. But man that last episode where he talks to Haishi about what it would have been like if they had met sooner, his emotions in his acting was beautiful. You could sense the hesitation and exhaustion he was feeling but also the anxiety he had about not fulfilling their future together. <3

I love the poem she repeated about them-again the small details that fitted them so well:
"high are the mountains, and small is the moon
small but shining pure,
my mind goes far away to someone
A day without him
would upset me so"

Overall, this was a show about love, sacrifices, loyalty and how they're shown in different forms (like others have said and I strongly agree) — from Tilan and the Emperor, Zhouying and Zhe Liu and especially Haishi and FJM. In the end, though it might not have been the ending we all wanted, I thought it was fitting. Haishi and FJM have always been faithful to each other but knew that the country and people were always meant to be put first. Though their wishes of being able to fulfil a long married life (with kids—I found it funny she kept repeating this), I like that she was made the 'mother' of the young emperor and that FJM was still there to mentor him like he did with Haishi.

Would definitely watch this again —and I don't say this often. It sits very close to how much I loved ALP.

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A forgettable "epic" story

I have never seen any of prior Novoland installments but heard that one can watch these without much knowledge of the universe so I picked this up anyway. Of course, my biggest attraction towards the drama was due to William Chan and Yang Mi. They are both good looking actors and I'm a big fan of William Chan's acting in whatever capacity I've seen him. Plus, I am still waiting for Yang Mi's next TMOPB successor drama. Alas, this drama falls short of what could have been and ends up being a skippable one if one asks for my opinion.

PLOT:
I understood their world but there wasn't enough fantasy and magic for me to be intrigued to check out any other Novoland dramas. The first episode was solid but the rest of the drama was a compilation of highs, lows and very frustrating hair pulling / facepalm moments. I have to say that the main couple had a lot of potential but the slow burn just dragged on and on till the spark was almost on the verge of extinguishing out. The secondary couple however, are much more complex and interesting than the main one. But if I had to be honest I gave enough crap about Shifu-disciple and evil emperor-abused wife plots to hang around. The court drama was also written well but for me the two couples always overshadowed the true purpose of the plot.

CAST:
I have to say that I was very much pleased with William Chan's performance. His character was like a mute wooden statue and he ended up pulling even that. I liked Yang Mi's portrayal till it got super boring with her as a crossdresser and she was just flat most of the times. Xu Kaicheng played the emperor well and I'd love to see him and Tilan in another drama in the future. I think with a bit of improvement, XKC can become one of the better actors in China. The rest of the supporting cast was also fine but I didn't give much heed to them.

WHAT WORKED:
-Performances of William Chan and Xu Kaicheng along with the Tilan actress
-Slow burn of will-they / won't they
-Baixi and the poison plot

WHAT SUCKED:
-Yang Mi's crossdressing
-Poor communication between main leads
-The abuse emperor posed upon Tilan till he did a 180 degree
-The Ending

OVERALL:
I liked this drama and was always looking forward to the next episode. I liked the mermaid and war-talk but the ending just didn't work for me. This drama was too brutal and isn't even a real story so I fail to see why the writer couldn't have written a better ending. The ones who suffered were doomed from the start and it was like there was nothing to look forward to anymore. Some plots dragged on forever and the fantastical and romantic elements that could've been explored more just underused. I swear this shows that in spite of S+ class budget, Cdramas need better scripts and do some fanservice at the same time. This drama has too many shortcomings to make it to my list of favourites from this year like The Long Ballad (which was much, much better).

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Tormented Love

24 episodes in and I absolutely love the drama. I don't usually watch the Cdrama since they tend to be really long with too much unnescessary plot lines. Since Ten Miles of Peach Blossom is my favorite drama, I was thrilled that this drama will be head by the same director and looking forward to this project for a long time (literally). All I have to say about this drama is it really worth the wait. You can clearly see the quality of the production from the very beginning. The story is fast paced with no time to get bored. It's a good thing that they didn't release all the episodes at the same time. Otherwise I would binged watch all the episodes in one go.

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Came for the romance, stayed for the politics

Yang Mi has proven once again that literally any costume drama she touches will be a hit. Since her last costume drama of FuYao, I was anticipating this drama for years especially since the delay with covid. I am satisfied.

My first reactions to this drama was a little skeptical as I wasn't completely on board with the student-teacher relationship and their potentially 10+ age gap. But I have to say it didn't really matter because the main romance really took a backseat compared to the side couples and political storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed the action and politics and how well they mixed it in with the three couples involved. Loved seeing people defying gravity, throwing swords, and the microfantasy elements of the mermaids and the baixi.

Romance-wise.... My favorite couple was the third couple and my only complaint is that they completely left the scene in the third half. I would've loved more episodes with them. Second couple was hard to watch in the beginning and toxicity was STRONG but they later on proved to be a wonderful and strong relationship full of trust and love. Big fan of KaiCheng now, he can really act! On to the main couple, I'll be honest I couldn't feel that much chemistry between them and that just might be because of the comparison to FuYao and TMOPB. However they were still enjoyable to watch and if it weren't for this I wouldn't have discovered William Chan's marvelous eyebrows.

Overall story, production, and romance were great! Not the best but definitely had a good balance and pacing and kept me waiting for the episodes constantly. Mu De Qing is the GOAT.

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Finally finished....!!!

Yeah!!! Finally finished....!!! So many times I have to pause this drama and watch another in between, But in the end I have to admit this is one of beautiful production. And yes the story not for all of us. I tbink this is my first drama that I've watch with 1.5 speed for almost all the episode due to the slow duration this drama has.

What I like:
+ the beautiful story yet frustrating relationship between Fang Hai Shi (HS) & Fang Jian Ming (JM). But since One & Only I subconsciously make the comparison between the 2 drama about Master & their student. LOL :p.
+ The chemistry between Yang Mi & William Chan. I can't say top notch or what, but yeah I still can see their chemistry
+ The beautiful friendship & trust between JM & the emperor. Yeah be an emperor is a heavy burden & really not easy to find someone u can truly trust with all ur heart
+ The story between the emperor & Tilan and also Zhuo Ying & Zhe Liu. Really one bitter first sweet then relationship.
+ The smart & cunning of JM & emperor when they have to face the enemy.

What I don't like:
The time frame is very long.... Yeah I know every time stamp is important & I also don't know how to cut it. But I don't know why I really think the time frame for this really long & a little bit unbearable...

Overall: This still one good drama to watch. But no, I'll not gonna re-watch this

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happy but crazy

i just finish all episode and it was crazy like you have been released from your old self and returned to your old self
like you just get out from a dirty pool and you go to that pool again
after the death of zhong xu and tilan, the maid and zhong xu eunuch find out that the baby of zhong xu and tilan was sick from birth and what i hate is fang jianming is being this baby baixi and takes all his pain like what he used to do with zhong xu
fang jianming and ye haishi just happy for a couple days after a long jurney of protect each other and it was gone after zhong xu and tilan's death after the battle between soulan and zhong xu
but in the end credit, they show that fang jianming is not dead so what's the real ending, i just don't understand the ending but the prince(son of zhong xu and tilan) said that what haishi said is similar with what his teacher's said, so it make me confuse with the ending
overall it's really good drama and has many unknown prediction, like what you see in the trailer not gonna make you know the real ending so i really enjoy watch this drama couse i cannot predicted what is the ending of the drama

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The story line to this whole show is really good. I honestly super mad at Fang Jianming, like we all know he is in love with Haishi, but the fact that they both love each other and both know that, yet he doesn't do anything but instead he just pushes her away. It's really frustrating when he doesn't care about Haishi as much as the emperor. On the other hand Tilan is a wonderful girl, honestly a girl anyone's dreams to be. I don't know why Tilan resembles her sister so much, like even if they were twins they would still be something off and I don't think they're twins. And I think it's funny how Tilan and Zizan are sisters yet the emperor treats Tilan really bad, but then falls in love with her so he falls in love with both girls makes it absurd.

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Watchable show !

It is clear that Novoland: Pearl Eclipse is a big budget production with elaborate costumes, great cinematography, and top stars as the leads. So, you can be assured that this would have a certain quality to make it watchable. Having said that, I think it still falls a little short compared to other top rated Chinese dramas in the past such as Nirvana In Fire and The Untamed. This is mainly because the story isn’t as riveting with the way it is told and edited.

As you watch, it is quite obvious that certain scenes have been cut that the story flow becomes disjointed. For instance, the leads are shown falling off a cliff in one episode but we are not told what happened thereafter. Then, they just reappeared a little while later with no explanation offered. Simply put, the editing is not perfectly done in this drama.

Apart from that, the story is not told in a straightforward manner. You are given bits of what happened in the past between the 2 male leads every now and then through flashbacks as well as dialogues. So, it takes time to piece everything together. Similarly, the protagonist’s plots are never fully revealed. You will only be shown half of it initially with his actions becoming questionable, only for it to take a different turn later on. The way he handled Zhe Liu is one example of this slow reveal kind of storytelling with a twist.

Perhaps this is a way to get viewers hooked to the drama but it does become a little overdone to me after a few times. The plot also doesn’t have enough excitement to pull this off successfully especially when those twists to the story tend to fall flat.

Master-Disciple Romance Plot
Novoland: Pearl Eclipse is really about master and disciple romance amidst a plot to overthrow the Emperor and the effort to flush out the moles within the palace. This is a slow burn romance as feelings have to be hidden due to the male lead’s blood bond with the Emperor. But he loved her immensely and was always thinking of her safety with enemies lurking around. He would often hide things from her to the extent of hurting her feelings in the name of protecting her from danger.

Therefore, you will get plenty of those torment on the girl’s part because she is always kept in the dark and thought that her master didn’t really love her. I guess if you like this kind of painful love and feel that hiding things to keep the girl safe is romantic, then Novoland: Pearl Eclipse will succeed in evoking those deep emotions within you. But if you are the type who prefers upright honesty from the hero rather than pushing her away in the name of love, then this will be a let down.

As for the power struggle, it is a collection of subplots that are not effectively fleshed out. It is not convoluted like the Legend Of Fei but it lacks depth with a few villains rather than one big bad guy. Basically, these villains are there to drive the romance of the main couple forward as their schemes would put the heroine in danger.

Leads’ Chemistry
Personally, I don’t see sizzling chemistry between Yang Mi and Willian Chan. In fact, I think Yang Mi has much better chemistry with Mark Chao in Ten Miles Of Peach Blossoms. Perhaps that is because Hai Shi and Fang Zhu’s romance is kind of forbidden and he is always hiding his feelings. Fang Zhu is also a very complex character with emotions being deeply buried in his heart. Hence, I feel that William Chan failed to flesh out the different layers of the character effectively. Most of the time, he just appears as icy and stiff but I think there is more to Fang Zhu than that as he is a tormented man who also has desire, guilt, and frustrations in him.

I think Xu Kai Cheng did a better job with his character and I much prefer his acting here than the one in A Female Student Arrives At The Imperial College. At the very least, he could portray the dark and lonely side of Emperor Xu rather convincingly. In fact, I get the feeling that William Chan seems to have better chemistry with him than with Yang Mi in the drama.

As for Yang Mi, she still could play a girlish character well despite her age. I guess this is nothing new to her as she was also playing a cross-dresser with a mischievous personality in the first part of Ten Miles Of Peach Blossoms. Being a seasoned actress, she could switch effortlessly from being girlish to being regal and back again as the story requires. It is just a pity that her chemistry with William Chan feels a little muted. Otherwise, this would be a much more memorable drama.

The Imperfect Ending (Spoilers Alert!)
For me, the ending is merely okay. It is realistic because it is Fang Zhu’s fate to be tied to the emperor of the day as the Fang clan has been for centuries. But at the same time, it lacks that finality that viewers crave for regarding Fang Zhu and Hai Shi’s relationship. While I’m not hard up for a happily ever after, I would have preferred for the screenwriters to give us some indication as to the nature of their relationship at the end.

As it is, it is really up to you how you want to see the couple and imagine their future. Personally, the ending has a bittersweet tinge to it with both of them still alive but sacrificing their carefree lives together for the sake of their friends’ young son.

My Verdict – Good To Watch!
While Novoland: Pearl Eclipse has its flaws, it is still a highly watchable drama. It could have been more highly rated if the editing is better and scenes are not cut out unnecessarily so much so that the third couple becomes an afterthought towards the end. But I guess the positive consequence from it is that the drama becomes less dragged out. The story flows pretty fast at times which minimizes boredom.

This is also not a fluffy kind of romance drama but neither is it as tormenting as One And Only. But it is certainly far from sweet like your typical rom-coms. The main couple has lots of interactions but few loving scenes in the entire 48 episodes. Maybe that could make some viewers feel the love more deeply as every one of these rare moments naturally become precious. There are a few kissing scenes but nothing too steamy either. It is not that kind of romance drama that relies on passion to drive the story but rather unexpressed love and devotion.

For this Novoland: Pearl Eclipse review, the score I would give is 7.5/10. It lacks that riveting feel to me unlike The Long Ballad because the story relies too much on pushing-the-girl-away-to-protect-her trope to drive it. Nevertheless, this is not a bad production overall. Despite the weaknesses, you will still be drawn to the story because you will want to know what will happen to the 3 couples and the moles’ identity. It is not a gripping saga but has enough anticipation and twists to make you sit through to the end.

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