K H-C
This review may contain spoilers
Love between one trope and another trope (but with some nice scenery).
Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a “liked”.
What I liked:
I usually do not watch ‘soul switch’ dramas—just don’t like the concept in the same way I typically do not like ‘time travel’ dramas (“Lost love in times” excepted), but I gave this one a shot. If they had done more with the concept, I think I would have liked it a lot more since it was an out-of-the-box way to do both soul-switching and xianxia. Dylan Wang is developing some serious acting chops and did a really good job portraying two different personalities (the only thing they did not do a great job of was playing each other—in that it was clear they were able to play different people, but they should have paid more attention to how they played the roles and then imitated that more). He also did a good job of portraying someone increasingly experience emotions. I also liked the fact that the set and costume designers went a little bit more outside the box than usual. Design was very cohesive in the different settings.
What I did not like so much:
Okay, I’m done with the stoic, emotionally unavailable, brilliant male vs bright & bubbly but dumb female trope. Can’t we think of something else? It’s such an unhealthy way to portray relationships. For example, at one point when FL was reminiscing about her burgeoning love for ML, it included a scene when he called her stupid or foolish. *slaps forehead* And the whole “she’s mine!” nonsense. *sigh* I’m also tired of male leads and female leads sacrificing themselves for the greater good or each other while lying through their teeth to the love of their life about it. And resurrection at the end… *snore*. I get that that there are only so many ways to write a drama, but one of the things that makes a drama great is when it can be impressive all without using tropes (though, to be fair, it is also risky since tropes are comforting and often watchers are displeased when they’re discomfited). Plus, when it’s a xianxia or xuanyuan, you get so much more freedom to play around! There’s no excuse to get all tropey on us! :)
Watch it if you like xianxia & to see DW growing as an actor and for some neat costumes and scenery. Just don't expect a masterpiece.
What I liked:
I usually do not watch ‘soul switch’ dramas—just don’t like the concept in the same way I typically do not like ‘time travel’ dramas (“Lost love in times” excepted), but I gave this one a shot. If they had done more with the concept, I think I would have liked it a lot more since it was an out-of-the-box way to do both soul-switching and xianxia. Dylan Wang is developing some serious acting chops and did a really good job portraying two different personalities (the only thing they did not do a great job of was playing each other—in that it was clear they were able to play different people, but they should have paid more attention to how they played the roles and then imitated that more). He also did a good job of portraying someone increasingly experience emotions. I also liked the fact that the set and costume designers went a little bit more outside the box than usual. Design was very cohesive in the different settings.
What I did not like so much:
Okay, I’m done with the stoic, emotionally unavailable, brilliant male vs bright & bubbly but dumb female trope. Can’t we think of something else? It’s such an unhealthy way to portray relationships. For example, at one point when FL was reminiscing about her burgeoning love for ML, it included a scene when he called her stupid or foolish. *slaps forehead* And the whole “she’s mine!” nonsense. *sigh* I’m also tired of male leads and female leads sacrificing themselves for the greater good or each other while lying through their teeth to the love of their life about it. And resurrection at the end… *snore*. I get that that there are only so many ways to write a drama, but one of the things that makes a drama great is when it can be impressive all without using tropes (though, to be fair, it is also risky since tropes are comforting and often watchers are displeased when they’re discomfited). Plus, when it’s a xianxia or xuanyuan, you get so much more freedom to play around! There’s no excuse to get all tropey on us! :)
Watch it if you like xianxia & to see DW growing as an actor and for some neat costumes and scenery. Just don't expect a masterpiece.
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