If it weren't for the leads....
Watched it right after LBTI and at first the trailer is kinda promising. I only watched it because of Li Hong Yi and Zhao Lu Si. Honestly LBTI is a bit more better than this. I'd like to commend the other casts, specially the leads for their effort. After all they worked hard for it. But the writer is truly disappointing.The moment Tian Yiao fell for Xing Chen and started being a bitch, I knew it'd go downhill. I was so annoyed with her character. It was frustrating that her role was given a lot of chance to butt in with the leads almost everytime. And how the writer made Li Hong Yi's character too lax about Tian Yiao's intentions. I thought he was going to teacher her a lesson when she poisoned Yun Chang cause he looked livid. But the damn writer just decided to give her role a redeeming ending. A lot of characters died which was a bit too much. They also could have made Yun Chang's character a bit more strong during Tian Yiao's display of clinginess to Xing Chen. That might've been more tolerable to watch.
I agree with one of the comments here. They should've focused on the parts where they went back to the tribe and enriched the plot from there while inserting few ones from the city. The Japanese side story is uncalled for and it consumed most of the drama. Ah Hu and Yue Ying shouldn't have died. They could have ended up quite okay once the chaos was over.
Worst, they didn't even explain how Yun Chang survived the blast during the battle with Kong Chan. She just magically appeared standing on the Holy Tree's branches, just like that, looking brand new.
VERDICT : Okay to watch and tolerable if you're here for the leads. But the whole story is pretty messed up. They just wasted the production effort and budget. I hope Li Hong Yi and Zhao Lu Si can have the chance to get paired up again, but this time I hope they hire a good writer and evaluate the whole story line.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Had high hopes
So I watched because of Zhao Lu Si. Started out good and I liked the concept…. Then it just took this crazy turn. I felt ML was forced to do this show. He got boring. This could be the fault of the director. SFL was annoying and story just lagged. The special effects were hit or miss. I felt the little fairy could have been more developed beyond the cartoonish appearance..then I thought we could forgo the amnesia, nope. This Romeo and Juliet plot is ok but it did not seem the bond between lead characters was written strong enough to pull it off until the last episode so the writers put in stupid sub plots to move story along. Comes off as a B disaster movie where everyone but the main characters die by the end of the show. ?Over all I would not rewatch. There were undeveloped or unnecessary plot twists that seemed forced and trivial. While the main plot seems underdeveloped. Zhao Lu Si was great as always, but the script and direction was poor at times to make her character come across too childish weak for this roll.
Was this review helpful to you?
dull and slow
●FIRST IMPRESSIONJust bored throughout. The show took forever and ever to finish, I lost interest twice but finally picked it up only to finish and get bored again.
●PLOT VIEW
When I first started it I felt like I would see a concept similar to The Shannara Chronicles, which is about a tree. I was right but the story revolving around until the end that made no connection to each other was annoying. I couldn’t understand what the writers were thinking, they made all the rich city good people as villains, Japanese as villains, fellow people as villains, and then the villain is right beside them. It was messed up. They showed a good friend, only to turn her bad and by the end make her again guilty conscious, like really. The ending confusing that is it imagination, dream, or what? The romance was also not developed that I could feel their emotions.
The graphic quality was not impressive and the flying seemed funny.
●ACTING
The acting was pretty decent but the pathetic story took that away and couldn’t enjoy it. I like the ML dressing sense but FL dressing was feeble and unimpressive.
●MUSIC
It was average. the closing track was nice.
●REWATCH
I won't rewatch this or any of its scenes.
●AFTERTHOUGHT
The only thing which I could see was humans were either from the Shemu tribe or city or foreign land, they were greedy for something or the other. doing it for family or other hidden objectives doesn't make it right.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Watch without expectations.
That is my best advice. If you are coming from watching Spring Flower, Autumn Moon then be ready for disappointment. What made that drama so lovable for so many was Qui Ye devil in love and their chemistry. You see none of that here until probably the first couple episodes and the end. But I will point out in Prodigy Healer, never did I hear them profess the word love. I will never put down the acting because if Li Hong Yi and Rosie would be bad, I would not be watching. I won't even watch American, Latin, Korean etc dramas because they are too unbelievable and unengaging for me. I still stopped watching at 17 and skipped to 36 after reading several reviews. I was correct in doing that. I was still waiting for a little bit of more love scenes and maybe a different outcome but by 17 it got kinda boring and I wish I knew Chinese so I could only hear the story.I saw the end and I cannot believe her "sister" is healed and pregnant after wanting to take her man away and poisoning attempt. smh I cannot even believe the censors passed that part of the story but maybe having so much Japanese resentment still helped that. Somebody in reviews said the timeline was ambiguous and somebody said 60's and 70's I advice you to get a quick read on Chinese/Japanese history and relations in the late 20th century and early 21th so you can see why. To me the time is between late 1930's to early 1940's and that is just by looking at the vehicles, clothing and hairstyles. This brings me to a point of why did he have to cut his ponytail but I can see it would make the actors go through less trouble to be on camera. Rosie looked perfect as someone who is a Doctor, Studied abroad and is a busy lady but Li Hong Yi's eyes should have been shown more and that hair over the eye was driving me crazy.
The end was a bit confusing because I thought she might be a ghost or he is pretending she is alive in order to cope. Then I remembered she ate the fruit of the tree and thus, this might have helped her survive or make a comeback and now she can have the same powers he has and move back and forth between the forest and her modern life. I needed closure and wish they had made post happiness scene that the villain got. I just hope the ML and FL would do more dramas together. Unlike other couples in dramas, their relationship is more believable to the viewer and now romantic song can compensate for the on screen chemistry.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Horrible story line
This was a very slow show, there was no real development of the story line. No character building whatsoever. There were a lot of pot holes in the plot, a lot of things didn't really add up. It was really frustrating watching the male lead and female lead's actions. The male lead would hug another female and be really close to her right in front of the female lead? He had no principles whatsoever, always wanting two girls and not drawing any boundaries. The female lead continually forgives ah yao despite the things she does? I mean she even tried to poison her! And she knew ah yao likes the male lead but left him alone with her when he was drunk?Oh and the male lead is supposed to be a prodigy healer but he didn't really heal that many people. He always had help from others. So it didn't make much sense.
The first two episodes of the show was really nice, but it just got more and more disappointing towards the end. A rather waste of time (I fast forwarded my way through the entire series), definitely recommend skipping this!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
You may disappointed with this drama
First of all, I really expecting something WOW from this drama. Well, the actor and actress attract me to watch this drama. Lee hong Yi and Zao Lusi always my favourite actor and actress. I have watched the drama 'love better than immortality' and it totally worth watching. I rewatch it again and again.Story: I love the plot and everything. It got throught my heart, and I understand what happen in the story. But, I don't like when the evil doesn't get what they deserved. Well they got it but I don't think it enough. Ergg..
Acting/cast: I really expecting something sweet, amazing acting from Lee hong Yi and Zao Lusi but since episode 16, I started to skip the story and found so less of their scene.
Rewatch value: Well I totally disappointed. So I think this drama is not worth rewatch.
Overall: For people who love story of betray and mystery, this drama surely give what you need. For those who love magic and fantasy, I don't think there so much of it in the drama although it always be there. What about love? Hurmm I don't really sure about it but for me the drama will not give you what u need about it. Huhuhu
Was this review helpful to you?
First problem- She eats the fruit of the tree and is changed(fly jump thing) but in the episodes I watched nothing is ever said about her having ability again- maybe they explained it and I missed it, maybe it was temp or shows up again. BUT she never questioned him about it nor say anything about if he had eaten it. He goes on and on about learning their meds to heal the tree and wanting to save it but for me it feel unimportant. If your going to say a whole tribe needs the tree than why is he not testing to fit the problem. He never goes to check on the tree nor is anything really done with his tribe... the only thing you see is his friend and that girl. If I found a cool new world, I would want to go back again.
The whole show starts to drag and I find my mind wondering and feel the need to do something else. Sure they are cutie together but I just do not care anymore about them, which is sad as her and him meeting and bring him to her world was so much fun. Its loses everything. I need more time of just them or less of the uninteresting side plots. Without a solid plot I just don't feel the need to keep watching.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Unlikeable Characters and Broad Themes
The story didn't really pick up pace until about 15 episodes in, but by that time, I had already developed a dislike for most of the characters in the story. While I understand that all the characters are neutral or evil because this is a commentary on humanity, it almost defeated the purpose for which I watch dramas in the first place - escapism. The episode where I had the most fun was when they were curing the policeman of his stutter. Because I couldn't completely hold on, I started watching the behind-the-scenes to see Zhao Lusi having fun on set, which made me feel better. It also made me feel better that Li Hongyi isn't a complete blockhead like the way he portrayed his character. Every time Mu Xingchen didn't outwardly and clearly reject Chu Tianyao, I cringed and hated on them both. The themes for the book and the drama were brought forth well enough that I can understand them: human selfishness, capitalism/industry/technological advances against a more commune like society, where they take care of and coexist with plants and animals with a very strict, traditional mindset. There were also themes about Chinese culture versus Westernization too. Some things I felt the drama pulled off well were to have a fantasy setting that didn't have traditional Chinese costuming but was more akin to Robin Hood in the forest, and I assume the white people on set spoke Mandarin, because otherwise how could the director instruct them on their acting? These two elements plus the standard CG made the production very impressive. Still, I probably won't watch this again.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Interesting concept but...
At first it was an interesting concept, marrying eastern and western medicine. But after watching the first ten episodes, I was so annoyed with the FL.. The character not the actress.Then story got so draggy, I needed to force myself awake and tell myself over and over again that I wanted to know what happened next.
After a while, I've decided to drop the show. So I checked the last episode just for closure. Glad I decided to drop it, the ending was not what I call a happy one..
Interesting concept, good actors, not so good writing, visuals are just so so, OST too. Over all, I think its just not for me.
Was this review helpful to you?
Interesting premise, great lead, mediocre writing
The good:- Zhao Lu Si is always a joy to watch perform. She definitely is the best thing about this show.
- The setting and concept are interesting and not very common. Combining the early 1900s with fantasy has tons of potential for a fun an interesting story
- Focusing on healing magic / skills is interesting. While there is some fighting, this is a rare chinese fantasy that isn't just focused on wuxia or xianxia themes, it develops its own fantasy ideas.
The bad:
- The writing is very bad. Plotlines don't have internal consistency. Scenes make no sense, or are clearly forced just to have a specific story beat whether they work or not.
- The characters are dumb and not very likable. With maybe the exception of the 2 leads, especially the antagonistic characters or just peripheral characters are just really annoying. It goes beyond "they are making trouble for our MCs" and more to a degree of "why is everyone letting them be clearly and overtly evil and then acting like they're not. This gets back into the above point about continuity consistency. Every bad thing someone does is immediately forgotten about for no clear reason.
Was this review helpful to you?
Bad script
Honestly, I started this drama because of Lusi and Hong Li but the script is a mess. The story showed promised but otherwise a flop. Like,1. You fall down a clift, you end up in a magical place, kidnapp by a giant bird and accidently eat a magical fruit and you dont have any question about where you are? She isn't even confused
2. You find out that people want you dead because you ate the magical fruit, and you just ignore everything?
3. You are overly friendly with a stranger that saved your life (ok this is relatively normal) and you accept to teach him about the modern world but you try to get rid of him as soon as possible.
I mean, this girl doesn't care at all about anything around her, isn't she curious about the magical world she just discover, the powers she just obtained?
Was this review helpful to you?
All in all, this drama sin;t terrible, just gets boring fast. There not much excitement to the story development and the chemistry between the two leads is fairly there too. Watch if you're bored as hell.
Was this review helpful to you?
