Black Lotus
Come for the pretty actors, stay for the acting
I watched this on a whim not knowing who any of the actors were. I just came purely based on how pretty the main couple were. Hey, that's just how it is in dramaland. Sometimes the story and the acting are just an extra treat. Well in this case I was in for a huge surprise! The FL actor for Duanmu Cui is absolutely phenomenal. Perhaps it's because I'd never seen her in anything before so I didn't have any biased assumption of how she would act. The ML for Zhan Yan is definitely the weaker link but they have such amazing chemistry together that I think the FL's acting more than makes up for his deficiency.
The story is also different from anything I've watched. It's Xianxia but the core theme is completely based around Duanmu Cui's personal guilt and feelings of loss. At first you think it's the typical love trope that she can't let go of her past lover but it's much deeper. Once the drama turns everything on its head and the characters go back into the past we explore more of Duanmu Cui as a person. It's a female character study that I am shocked we are getting from a cdrama which is always disproportionately obsessed over male characters.
Anyway, the season does end on an awkward note. Literally it ends on a random episode. I can't wait for season 2. I know a lot of people will be turned off by the sudden change in focus with the shift to the past but I am loving it. I think they already ran out of ground to cover in the present and with there being so many allusions to events in the past it only made sense to take us there. We finally get to see those characters that have been haunting Duanmu Cui for a thousand years and can finally understand how the war took its toll on her.
This is a great drama so far with some interesting takes and a refreshing exploration of a female character in a Xianxia. Despite the usual cdrama tropes I think the acting, chemistry and portrayal of a healthy relationship between the main couple elevates it from its shortcomings. This is the FL I expected from Love and Redemption that I never got. Thank god for No Boundary and Zhang Yi Shang for restoring my faith that not all FL are idiots. Hopefully, this doesn't change in season 2.
The story is also different from anything I've watched. It's Xianxia but the core theme is completely based around Duanmu Cui's personal guilt and feelings of loss. At first you think it's the typical love trope that she can't let go of her past lover but it's much deeper. Once the drama turns everything on its head and the characters go back into the past we explore more of Duanmu Cui as a person. It's a female character study that I am shocked we are getting from a cdrama which is always disproportionately obsessed over male characters.
Anyway, the season does end on an awkward note. Literally it ends on a random episode. I can't wait for season 2. I know a lot of people will be turned off by the sudden change in focus with the shift to the past but I am loving it. I think they already ran out of ground to cover in the present and with there being so many allusions to events in the past it only made sense to take us there. We finally get to see those characters that have been haunting Duanmu Cui for a thousand years and can finally understand how the war took its toll on her.
This is a great drama so far with some interesting takes and a refreshing exploration of a female character in a Xianxia. Despite the usual cdrama tropes I think the acting, chemistry and portrayal of a healthy relationship between the main couple elevates it from its shortcomings. This is the FL I expected from Love and Redemption that I never got. Thank god for No Boundary and Zhang Yi Shang for restoring my faith that not all FL are idiots. Hopefully, this doesn't change in season 2.
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