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The Best Fantasy Romance Drama of 2020
Started this without much expectation to the story and cast because the preview and posters looked like a typical fantasy historical drama but I WAS SO WRONG. The pacing for this drama was just right. The directors just know when to pace up and drag the timeline! First episode got me hooked and I binged watched this in a week!Every single characters got their closure perfectly in the story without being seemed forced and over explained. The plot flows so smoothly. Especially towards the end when Si Feng was revealed his true identity, everything seems clear on the cause of everything, and what happened with the 10 lives with Xuan Ji. It just makes sense. Even the devil has a closure!!! The lessons learnt are also meaningful about love and redemption (literally)... Si Feng's words also warms my heart. It is not is worth, it is if I am willing. LOVE THIS.
Not to mention, the OST are so apt!! Casts are soooo good. Superb acting, especially to Teng She, he really feels like a snake (and he is)! I am just so amazed and can't wait for the sequel already gyaa!!
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Surprised by its popularity
I watched this after watching IS of Cheng Yu. I was disappointed of IS a little in later episodes despite great actors and great story start. Considering L&R popularity i was expecting this to be much better but was way more disappointed.What i didnt like
1. ML is there just to get beaten up and saved by FL or get heartbroken by FL. This is reverse of the older shows where FL was there just to be saved by the ML. For gods sake how many times will he get beaten up. Not once was he able to fight back and he is supposed to be a good fighter. uggh.
2. FL is there to be clueless and dumb most time only to become fierce goddess to save ML.
Even her friends and side characters didnt contribute much.
I still managed to watch till end to see atleast once ML doing something but to no avail. Only "redemption" is FL realising her mistake for once at the end.
What I liked
Actors specially ML and FL and SML SFL . they are good . thats it. thats the only good thing about this drama.
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Watch for the Male lead's acting, chemistry btw main couple & some charismatic side characters
Love and Redemption is easy to get into as there is a nice pacing throughout the beginning of the story, accompanied by nolstagic bgm and a strong male lead who is able to convey emotions very well with his microexpressions, leaving no one doubting his pain and suffering in any form- emotional or physical, nor his affection for the FL.Enter the FL. In my opinion, FL (Crystal Yuan) qualifies to be in the running for the worst actor award in a cdrama with her inability to emote and her excessive use of eyedrops that ironically highlight how poor her acting is than aid with any emotional scene itself . I will say she does have strong chemistry with the ML which is probably one of the reasons why it was easy to get hooked onto this drama if one is able to switch off when she had a crying scene or a scene where she is meant to act betrayed but just looks constipated.
I need to mention the actress who played SFL Ling long did not fare that much better than Crystal and Mingyan had a pretty useless existence in this drama despite being on the posters and all.
Side characters Brother Liu and Tengshe were a much needed presence and comic relief to this drama and helped pushed the story forward with renewed energy and charisma.
As for the narrative itself, there were lots of plot developments that make love and redemption quite an interesting journey, however it's a shame that this drama couldn't be the masterpiece it could have been because logic and character development were thrown out the window, with the story relying instead on misunderstandings to drive it forward.
You can watch this if you enjoy fluff knowing its just fluff and if you want to know what propelled actor Cheng Yi to his current fame. Just know that you WILL need to practice restraint when FL appears (post beginning stage) because you will wonder how she was ever able to become an actress and why nobody in her inner circle had the integrity to stop her from choosing this profession.
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Ultimate displays of true love
I would rate "Love and Redemption" as being almost on par with "Ashes of Love". When it lacks in charm, it makes up for in fantastic displays of feminine heroism. Whether it is trusting the humanity of an outsider, looking for nuance in geopolitical conflict, experiencing betrayal, or facing evidence of lies and deception, "Love and Redemption" puts true love to the ultimate test. Time and time again, the depth of their love is challenged by how far they are willing to go, how much they are willing to sacrifice, how intense they are willing to suffer, how many times they are willing to risk death, or even how much of their morality they are willing to sacrifice for true love. The philosophy of the heroin's deontological morality is juxtaposed against the consequentialist morality of the villain, showing how easy it is for consequentialism to lose its way.More reviews: https://transcendentphilos.wixsite.com/website/post/the-philosophy-of-chinese-dramas
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so painful, but deserved
the rewatch value is 1 as I can’t feel that pain more than one time. First the fl was so annoying, but later I found that she must have such anger and hatred in her body that made her with no heart for 9 lifetimes. ML was so good for her since he was born and she kept talking to him as a bird. The villain here made me want to tear him into pieces to get rid of my anger and hatred. I dropped this movie several times as I couldn’t bear such pain, anger and hatred. If it wasn’t for the happy ending, this movie wouldn’t have been bearable.Was this review helpful to you?
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Lost of eye candy !!
This show was great loved the majority of it. Great screen, wonderfully cinematography, great actors and acting. It blew me away the first half of the show, however as the show wore on, there were plot holes, there was repetitive and filler episodes. It’s hard to Carry 59 episodes all through however they did make a great attempt.The tragedy that was their love story had a happy ending. I felt like some of the romances were not fully explored, some characters were under developed. Nonetheless it was great and its a must watch. I can’t lie I skipped some episodes in the middle and forwarded some towards the end due to the poor writing but overall it was worth the watch. Chen Yi is so handsome and he portrayed his characters really well.
What I didnt like, the finale battle was stupid and did not leave the satisfaction i was hoping for. The Heavenly Emperor seemed useless and let King Bailing do what ever he wanted for years with his knowledge.
The lesson was a good one though that ultimately demons are what are inside use and the choices we make will lead to either positive or negative effect so we need to mindful and respectful of others.
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I will say that when I saw so many episodes I was worried. But I always value a show by how much I would want to re-watch it. This show was definitely one I would continue to watch again. When starting out, you can see right away how much Si Feng cares for Xuan Ji. Then we start to realize why he is hiding something from her. We also begin to see how much King Bailing hates anyone who is a demon, no matter how good they are.
The hardest part of the show was watch how much Si Feng sacrificed for her and her alone. Everything he did was solely for her. That was tough. But then we start to see that he didn't do this in just this life, but in 9 previous lives before, each time giving his all to her by dying, hoping that she would come to appreciate him in even the slightest way. Each time she treated him like he was nothing to her. We also end up seeing that it wasn't just in the lives on earth, but he also defended her when she was in the heavenly realm being punished when she realized that Bailing had betrayed her by making her think the Ashuras' were the "real" bad guys.
Thankfully we got to be introduced to Teng She (Lord Flying Snake) who really is a hysterical figure. His character is so funny that it's hard to describe. Though he is very powerful, he agrees to be Xuan Ji's spirit animal and is one of the few heavenly beings that is actually on Si Feng's side, even at one point, turning against the heavenly realm because he could see how much pain they were causing her.
The best part of the show, thankfully, comes in the last 2 episodes (just my opinion). Everyone is shown how much damage has been done by Bailing thanks to the Jade Emperor's (the father of Si Feng) intervening. He shows Bailing what would have happened had he not been so rash to poison Rahu Ketu's (The Star of Mosha) drink and turn him into the god of war and sealing his soul away.
Though Si Feng has been killed at this point, after Rahu and Bailing die, the Emperor reveals that Rahu put a piece of his soul into Si Feng, which later allows him to come back to life.
In the end we get to see probably one of the best endings with Si Feng and Xuan Ji married with a little boy. They are all celebrating her father's birthday. Everyone is finally together and happy....with the final scene showing the two together standing in a majestic scene holding onto each other.
Definitely a show to watch as one of the best I've seen in quite a while.
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Love Prevails
another lovable wuxia drama that had me smiling in the end.Positives: Story
the storyline was very interesting .. it was unique and i really enjoyed how it played out especially in the beginning with her six senses and her not having them and all. the storyline will surely keep you hooked because there’s always something interesting happening one after the other.
Negatives: Story
- at certain points it did was a bit of a mess
- too much spitting of blood and the ml dying ?
- filler episodes
HATED the king and how he interfered .. i made be boiling with annoyance.
Positives: Acting
the acting was nice and decent from the supporting actors although "Yuan Bing Yan" more so "Cheng Yi" was incredible . he always knows how to capture the audience and keep him hooked.
even though the constant spitting of blood got to the point of being annoying and too much along with repetitive, i have to say he really proved how incredible of a actor he is by doing it over and over and over again.
the music was alright .. nothing special in my opinion though i liked "colored glass" it was a nice one.
not sure if i’d watch it in the future especially since there are so many episodes and so many filler episodes but maybe one day ..
i’m really happy they got the happy ending they deserved and that nothing stopped them. one of my favorite cdrama couples :D
overall the drama was a really nice one though i don’t think they needed 59 episodes perhaps 40 but nothing less i enjoyed it. this drama is for you if you love romance and some suffering haha because you will get ALOT of it.
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Gay story
I felt it was a gay story in the end.. there is good storyline in the beginning but it lost the plot once the star of moshi is unleashed/ revived... In the end writer tried his best but couldn't get the required.... Apart from that story is good for lovers in knowing deep emotions... And also trust of the partner... Story lineup of creating god of war is impressive.. but revealing true identityOf mosha star made the feel of the story letting down.. could have been edited and tried something
Else like trapping
Female Soul in to body.. but it's different. .. other than that story is excellent
Music is very good...
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Im honestly amazed.
At first, there were characters that really annoyed me. Take Silver Snake for example, the first time I saw her, I knew she would bring trouble for the main couple.I will be honest and say that the middle of the movie (episode 11 to episode 41) was really, really great written.
You know that saying which goes something along the lines of ...
“If you hate a movie that means it has an amazingly written plot”
and I couldnt agree more. I was thinking to drop it, but im so glad i did not.
I skipped 1-2 episodes at most overall, besides playing the movie at speed 1.25.
The actors did a wonderful job aswell! Last 10 episodes were just so painfull yet so fulfilling.
I cant understand people who said that King Bailing didnt get a good enough of a punishment, in my eyes, what matters is that he realised what he has done wrong, and repelled for his mistakes.
Im really curious about wht happend to the couple of Wu Zhi Qi and Zi Hu. I really wished I could see them get married or somewhere living their best life.
I could say tons of stuff about this movie but That would be just me rambling.
I was thinking a few days ago what would happen, and if ill regret starting this drama, my answer to that is that:
I DONT REGRET WATCHING IT !
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For me, the highlight goes to Teng She, the Celestial Serpent. He steals the show every time he appears! I even wish he had had more screen time and a greater development of his story. Definitely, my favorite character!
Now, the only part that tired me a little was when Linglong got stuck. I thought they extended this part too much, and the pace was a little dragged. It looked like it would never end! Other than that, the dorama is excellent and has a great balance between the drama and the lighter moments, as well as an engaging romance.
Overall, it's a very good dorama and worth watching!
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