Immortal Samsara: Part 1 (2022)

“In the future we stay forever to the end”

Immortal Samsara is a very beautiful drama, the budget in this project must be a lot and it shows. The costumes are all beautiful and the designs with the colors particularly play off the next very well. When two characters are with each other the costumes never overpower the person next to them, so I would say the character design is also done very well.

Whats worth watching for Immortal Samsara is the stunning effects. This drama is so crisp to look at, especially with a 57 inch tv.. This drama is so beautiful, and that alone was the reason that I was intrigued. But is that all compensating for the story and acting? Is the drama overlooking cinematography because it has flashy effects? I would say it doesn't.

What I look for when I review things is if the drama is succeeding at what it's trying to do. Immortal Samsara is a romantic costume drama, and it is definitely above average. I wasn't expecting the story to be as easy to follow as it has been so far. Barely into the mortal realm as of episode 12, I'm excited to see where the story continues. I love the dynamics between the characters and they aren't written badly. In fact, each episode I get through I understand them better and am pretty impressed with how they are developing. Specifically the main pair: YanDan played by Yang Zi, and YingYuan played by Cheng Yi.

Yan Dan is the main character, and from a first glance I thought she was just typical.. the annoying and childlike type that is innocent. But Yandan isn't she has her motivations and her pride, and what really rounds her out is her counterpart sister who is pretty much a foil character to her, ZhiXi played by Meng Zi Yi. Both sisters come from a lotus flower, and one of them is the weak one while the other is the strong one. Zhixi so far is growing to be one of my favorite characters, knowing she is weaker as she was hurt before but she really holds her own. I understand why she is jealous of Yandan but doesn't really put it out there, instead she holds her pride and rejects her sister when she tries to help her succeed. Yandan isn't annoying or boastful when trying to help her sister, she is a bit more carefree and wants her sister to have the opportunities she deserves. Opposed to a character that gets in the way where there naive nature is used for comedy, Yandan grows from that pretty quickly.

From the first shot you see her falling from a cliff in what's assumed to be a self sacrifice. That sets up for the viewer to know that she can make impactful decisions and isn't playful and clumsy all the time. She is a deep thinker, and feigns that for her wish to live carefree most of the time. The drama moves quickly with her character and it is very satisfying.

What's even more satisfying is the development between YanDan and YingYuan, which is very natural. I've seen a lot of other costume dramas just have the female lead be naive with the male lead to be the grounded one for me to wonder why they would even like each other. Yandan and Yingyuan have there moments together that make me understand. Yingyuan is an emperor with a lot of responsibilities, and Yandan shows him how to be happier through her natural attitude. There aren't any coincidences pulled to keep them together, instead the characters themselves just want to be with each other.

Finally, this show wouldn't deliver if the acting wasn't there. Yang Zi is such a good actress, she is amazing. I've never seen a drama with Cheng Yi, but he is also very very good. They both play off each other naturally and unnaturally also when they need to be. The emotional scenes are where they both do there best at, and I'm looking forward to watching more so I can see their full depth of acting range.

The criticisms I have right away is that sometimes the effects are a little too ambitious. With the first long battle, the overlays were obvious and kind of an eyesore. The whole dragon fight was almost hard to watch, I much rather would have hand to hand combat over green screen effects. But I think when the characters get to the mortal realm that there will be more of that. So other than that I just have my concerns. Will the drama hold up? Will it bite off more than it can chew with it's very vast story and world? Will the story run out its time and become boring and cliche? I hope not. As for other peoples complaints, the one I’ve seen a lot is comparing it to Ashes of Love. Immortal Samsara is similar with its opening act, the immortal words and mortal realms. There aren’t two male leads with the same dynamic as in Ashes of Love and Yang Zi’s character although isn’t completely different- her character is much different in terms of writing, Yandan comes to terms with her surroundings a lot quicker and isn’t as aloof. She’s more grounded here.

So far this drama is really good, a solid 8.5-9/10. It is very much so above average in terms of acting, styling, effects, etc. I recommend this as it isn't bland. Give this drama a chance if you like romance with emotions, impressive fight scenes, and flawless visuals.

Finishing up this part I rate this even higher now. This drama truly is beautiful in every way. The story never fell flat and there were always interesting storylines to follow. Even into the mortal realm the dynamic between YanDan and Tengzhou was done very well. The whole tragedy between them is something I’m a sucker for, I love tragic and dramatic things. Yumo is my favorite character. He is selfless and I admire him for all the things he does for Yandan without expecting her love.

There is a lot going on in this drama but it is all interesting, beautiful, epic, and fun to watch. Overall very good and this drama is underrated so I recommend

Read More

I like the storyline of Immortal Samsara starring by yang zi and cheng yi. Both are very suitable to hold the main characters as Yandan and Ying Yuan. Their acting is very good and amazing. I'm a big fan of yang zi, so I hope there are more dramas acting by yangzi. I hope cheng yi and yang zi will be partners again in the next drama. Im so in love with their interaction and bonding. Yang zii is so cuteee. I will always support all the dramas she plays and I will rated 10/10 for all of her dramas. Hopefully more upcoming drama for yangzi. Overall, this drama is very addicting and I keep rewatching this drama even though this drama is still ongoing. Hope this drama will be successful because the storyline of Immortal Samsara is such a GORGEOUS, romantic, magical, fantasy Xianxia show! Love love the Hanfu (Traditional Chinese Clothing) costume, and the beautiful cast - especially Cheng Yi, Yang Zi, Meng Ziyi, and Li Xinze! The traditional Chinese heavenly palaces and places are well, heavenly, and the special effects are STUNNING.

Read More

I mean I watched it

The film style and production seemed so similar to Ashes of Love, I actually thought they were made by the same people.
Visually it was beautiful. Part of it felt promising. The first half of the show is better than the second, but if you want to compare it to Ashes of Love, Yan Dan feels like she was meant to be a 'smarter' Jinmi.. but this is largely arguable considering it takes her 800 years to forget a guy who she basically kills herself over, and then literally breaks her body apart again and again for said same guy. The character style and acting is so similar, there's fewer differences and than similarities between these characters and you can't help but compare as the actress is the same, and the filming style between these two shows are so similar. Yan Dan's character development is also similar to Jinmi, as she gets more serious throughout the show, and she cries so much, it's no wonder audiences were upset about the actress having a worn out appearance for much of the show. With so many crying scenes, no wonder.

The main male lead character is so useless in terms of love for much of the show. Punishments and plots, like many Xianxia, either don't make sense or feel poorly explored. I really wasn't rooting for them by the end of the show, and really didn't care that they died. Wish they had cast someone else for the leads and created second lead syndrome because the story could have tugged at my heartstrings for the second lead, but sorely didn't.
I won't watch this again, but I did finish the show.

Read More

Too much story fillers

I've been so excited to watch this drama.... But I got a little disappointed.
I don't know how the story is portrayed in the novel, but the drama feels so dragged, with a lot of side stories that kida deviate from the main storyline.
The first 20 episodes of the drama were good, but the later episodes were draggy and full of unnecessary details and events.
So far I've only watched the 34 episodes from the first part, and I really hope that the second part won't be draggy like the first one.
I'm still curious about the back story of YY's parents, so I will for sure watch the 2nd part, I just hope it won't be disappointing.

I'm dropping this for a while. I'll wait for all the episodes to air and continue watching. Cuz I feel like I'll be doing a lot of skipping while watching the remaining episodes.

Read More

Ying Yuan: "Agarwood has turned into dust"
"But there is still the warmth of our love"
"If the agarwood hadn't turned into dust, could we go back to how things were?"
- His eyes were filled with tears, painfully staring at her expressionless eyes. Hopefully asking for the answer that he wanted but she is still cold towards him.

If you are searching for the drama where FM is not only strong but also intelligent and so mature enough to understand ML, then Immortal Samsara is for you. CGI of IS is so breathtaking and touching! IS also teaches us that love isn't everything sometimes, you can't sacrifices everyone's precious life just for your greediness over love.

The story is so beautifully written as Ying Yuan & Tang Zhou's love for Yan Dan is so pure while Yan Dan's love towards both Ying Yuan & Tang Zhou has always been sincere.

Yan Dan may be childish at the beginning but after she experienced the pain from love and everything, her maturity never fails to amaze me. Yan Dan realizes that the true definition of LOVE = Protecting what your beloved ones cherishes!

Ying Yuan loves Yan Dan in his own way, he chose not to recognize to keep her save from the punishment, he still has to protect Three Realm as without the peace of the world, he will lose Yan Dan too. Yan Dan misunderstand him but she later witnesses with her own eyes that what will happen if Ying Yuan chooses her over the responsibilities.

Tang Zhou, who is the real SML, suffers a lot between Ying Yuan & Yan Dan, he didn't do anything wrong, just purely loves Yan Dan but he never got her love back until the end because of his past life. He became the punching bag between them for Ying Yuan and Yan Dan to finally realize that they can protect each other while choosing the responsibilities too.

The real love triangle is between Ying Yuan - Yan Dan - Tang Zhou, three of them are actually innocent. They just fell in love with their beloved one but the fate is so cruel towards them no matter where they are, Heavenly Realm or Mortal Realm.

Huge respect to Yang Zi & Cheng Yi and all actors, actresses. I can totally sense the differences between Ying Yuan & Tang Zhou, all thanks to CY's amazing acting. His eyes speak everything, YY and TZ is the same person but the personalities, expressions and love towards Yan Dan are so different. Thank you Immortal Samsara for keeping me accompany all the time!

Read More

Maybe the most stale drama I have ever watched

Story's pacing started out okay in the beginning, but then went on to become very slow, draggy, and oftentimes incoherent.

The biggest problem of this drama is not that it's cliche and there's no innovative element compared to narratives we've seen previously, but rather, it got really boring in the middle chunk where they abandoned the main plot, and as someone hilariously mentioned in the comments, it went from Love and Redemption to Mysterious Lotus Casebook, before it found its identity again back as the tedious Immortal Samsara. A mish-mash of different xianxia storylines doesn't make it a good one.

Even Cheng Yi could not save this drama that lost its charm starting from a third way into it. Yangzi acts the same as she always does in these noisy characters meant to be annoying but 'charismatic', while I felt bad for Chengyi always having to act out these scenes that are meant to be heart-wrenching, but did not evoke any emotions in me, as the reason preventing the couple from being able to get together was forcefully fed to us every half episode. It does not help that Cheng Yi and Yangzi look and feel more like cousins or friends rather than a star-crossed pairing.

After having watched MLC, I would say Joseph Zeng had much better chemistry with Cheng Yi than Yangzi does with him. And I know that they are different relationships, but what I'm trying to say is, because the combination wasn't a great fit, it affected how we saw the trio (including Yumo), as convincing comrades. It felt more like a uni luck draw where you pull out your classmates' names and that's how you came to work with everyone in the group project. (Nothing wrong with your groupmates as at least no one is lazy and leaving everything for one person to finish, just not the most amazing dynamic to produce the best results).

Watch only if you want to see Cheng Yi with curly silver locks as a devilish demon king stealing the limelight (and hearts) and leaving fans wanting him to play a seductive villain one time.

Read More

Let's observe a minute bow worth of respect for Cheng Yi's eyes (Watched all 61 EPISODES. )

Well, there are a whole lot of appraisals I have for this very beautifully woven piece of art that consolidates the typical as well as atypical Chinese Wuxia drama and its essence.

Regardless of the fact that I have been an ardent admirer of the acting prowesses of our two leads, Cheng Yi and Yang ZI who gave us a mouthful chunk of brilliance in one of their previous sensational and critically acclaimed independent movies (were the former casted unbelievably beautifully as Si Feng, alongside Yang Binguan, another breathtaking actress in Love and Redemption, and the latter, Jin Mi in Ashes of Love, alongside, De Lung), the chemistry between these two surpassed our expectations and it felt nothing short of real, there were clearly scenes that were too painful and excruciating for me to take in and it hurt for each episode tailed on the suspense flank, it was torture to wait for subsequent episodes and during those very suspense thrilled nights, I would find myself imagining possible plots and giving explanations to the things that hurt and why they did, all in futile efforts of easing my pain. It felt so real. The suspension of disbelief reached its peak and every one of us hurt and empathized with every character.

This drama is the quintessence of a well invested in, choreographed and directed drama, all things were done perfectly. I can reference this fact to the BTS (Behind the scenes ), a very beautiful and unburdening series.

The drama is rich and sopping-wet with themes that are well exemplified through a beautiful interrelated complexity of plots and storylines and the aboveboard chemistry among the casts. The well emphasized themes are love, sacrifice, and responsibility.
The OSTs are perfect and I listen to them every time, particularly, Agarwood sung by Jane Zhang and Jason Zhang.
Listening to the OSTs are no different from watching those scenes that hurt.

This is a drama I will never be weary of watching.
I am rewatching this drama of 61 episodes for the third time and watched and rewatched hundreds of clip-scences.

Read More