SophiaZhao
This review may contain spoilers
Good, but not great
I'm gonna explain each of my ratings so bear with me (ill start with good then bad):
STORY
(good)
The story was somewhat interesting, there were plot twists and mysteries that we had to figure out or find out later. That made me anticipate the following episodes. I liked how well written the characters were. Sometimes in CDramas there is complete focus on the main couple and none on the others. I really liked Ji YunHe, she's a somewhat strong female lead. I also loved the side couples and their stories, specifically Li Shu. The setting was pretty enough and the outfits were nice, but not particularly outstanding. The enemy was generic but it was good and I really liked the contrast between Shunde and Ning Xi Yu and being able to learn about their story, it was really interesting.
(bad)
The beginning was a bit slow and confusing, I didn't feel as drawn into the world setting as I have in other dramas- ashes of love had a beautiful setting. While I liked how well written some of the characters were, they really messed up on Chang Yi. I'm not sure if this is because of his actor (which i'll talk about later), or just the character himself- but Chang Yi felt very 2 dimensional, not changing much through the story and not getting his backstory flushed out. Spoiler- they kill off his clan and father, but we get like a 2 second glimpse of it and then nothing else. It feels like they should've put more time into making us feel empathy and understanding for the change in Chang Yi's character after he was betrayed and his family got killed. Here's the best way I can explain my dislike of this character- no offense at all to Xiao ShunYao (Lin HaoQing actor) but if they had picked a more attractive actor for Lin HaoQing (think like Dylan Wang) I would've gotten second male lead syndrome. Objectively Lin HaoQing's character is much more flushed out and lovely than ChangYi is (or at least the portrayal). I also didn't like how everyone died at least once in the story, some dying twice. While at first I felt sad, when they kept getting revived, I stopped feeling bad. Literally when Luo Luo almost died, I anticipated it and laughed when it happened. Like seriously the deathcount and revival count is crazy.
ACTING/CAST
(good)
Dilraba did an excellent job, I liked how she was able to express her character well in all stages of her character's development. They did a great job flushing out her character and her character's change. I love strong female leads and Dilraba did a great job acting out the strength and the emotions of this character. I also LOVED Ci Sha's acting of Li Shu, he did AMAZING. I love myself a sassy man and his actor was able to portray all those emotions, as well as caring for SanYue and his dilemma of saving the world or being with her. Cristy Guo did SO GOOD, the contrast between Shunde and Ning XiYu was crazy. I was able to hate Shunde and love NingXiYu even when they shared the same "face". Playing the villian is never easy and Cristy did amazing. The other actors did a great job too, Luo Luo was great and Lin Hao Qing was amazing.
(bad)
Oh my flipping days is Allen Ren painful to watch. Chang Yi was so boring what a snooze fest, he was really 2 dimensional and I have to blame the plot a bit for it, but even portraying the character he didn't have any emotion. Allen Ren has like a track record of playing stonefaced emotionless characters, and I read a bit of the novel and Chang Yi isn't really all that stonefaced. Allen Ren didn't do a good job with ChangYi and I honestly felt nothing towards that character or when he died. Also Dilraba and Allen didn't have chemistry. I blame that mostly on Allen since I've watched some of Allen's films and some of Dilraba.
MUSIC
lovely I love everything Sa Ding Ding. I think they repeated the music a bit too much but otherwise no comment
REWATCH VALUE
Not likely rewatching, plot wasn't great enough for me to feel too attached to the characters. Sometimes after finishing shows and movies I will feel depressed because I want more and im so attached the characters it feels like something died in me, but this show felt complete.
OVERALL
My rating probably sounds a bit harsh for the numbers I gave, but the show was good and I was very entertained, like i said good but not great. And I will be avoiding films with Allen Ren after this :)
STORY
(good)
The story was somewhat interesting, there were plot twists and mysteries that we had to figure out or find out later. That made me anticipate the following episodes. I liked how well written the characters were. Sometimes in CDramas there is complete focus on the main couple and none on the others. I really liked Ji YunHe, she's a somewhat strong female lead. I also loved the side couples and their stories, specifically Li Shu. The setting was pretty enough and the outfits were nice, but not particularly outstanding. The enemy was generic but it was good and I really liked the contrast between Shunde and Ning Xi Yu and being able to learn about their story, it was really interesting.
(bad)
The beginning was a bit slow and confusing, I didn't feel as drawn into the world setting as I have in other dramas- ashes of love had a beautiful setting. While I liked how well written some of the characters were, they really messed up on Chang Yi. I'm not sure if this is because of his actor (which i'll talk about later), or just the character himself- but Chang Yi felt very 2 dimensional, not changing much through the story and not getting his backstory flushed out. Spoiler- they kill off his clan and father, but we get like a 2 second glimpse of it and then nothing else. It feels like they should've put more time into making us feel empathy and understanding for the change in Chang Yi's character after he was betrayed and his family got killed. Here's the best way I can explain my dislike of this character- no offense at all to Xiao ShunYao (Lin HaoQing actor) but if they had picked a more attractive actor for Lin HaoQing (think like Dylan Wang) I would've gotten second male lead syndrome. Objectively Lin HaoQing's character is much more flushed out and lovely than ChangYi is (or at least the portrayal). I also didn't like how everyone died at least once in the story, some dying twice. While at first I felt sad, when they kept getting revived, I stopped feeling bad. Literally when Luo Luo almost died, I anticipated it and laughed when it happened. Like seriously the deathcount and revival count is crazy.
ACTING/CAST
(good)
Dilraba did an excellent job, I liked how she was able to express her character well in all stages of her character's development. They did a great job flushing out her character and her character's change. I love strong female leads and Dilraba did a great job acting out the strength and the emotions of this character. I also LOVED Ci Sha's acting of Li Shu, he did AMAZING. I love myself a sassy man and his actor was able to portray all those emotions, as well as caring for SanYue and his dilemma of saving the world or being with her. Cristy Guo did SO GOOD, the contrast between Shunde and Ning XiYu was crazy. I was able to hate Shunde and love NingXiYu even when they shared the same "face". Playing the villian is never easy and Cristy did amazing. The other actors did a great job too, Luo Luo was great and Lin Hao Qing was amazing.
(bad)
Oh my flipping days is Allen Ren painful to watch. Chang Yi was so boring what a snooze fest, he was really 2 dimensional and I have to blame the plot a bit for it, but even portraying the character he didn't have any emotion. Allen Ren has like a track record of playing stonefaced emotionless characters, and I read a bit of the novel and Chang Yi isn't really all that stonefaced. Allen Ren didn't do a good job with ChangYi and I honestly felt nothing towards that character or when he died. Also Dilraba and Allen didn't have chemistry. I blame that mostly on Allen since I've watched some of Allen's films and some of Dilraba.
MUSIC
lovely I love everything Sa Ding Ding. I think they repeated the music a bit too much but otherwise no comment
REWATCH VALUE
Not likely rewatching, plot wasn't great enough for me to feel too attached to the characters. Sometimes after finishing shows and movies I will feel depressed because I want more and im so attached the characters it feels like something died in me, but this show felt complete.
OVERALL
My rating probably sounds a bit harsh for the numbers I gave, but the show was good and I was very entertained, like i said good but not great. And I will be avoiding films with Allen Ren after this :)
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