Amazing Journey

This review might be a bit late, since the drama already aired a while ago, but I just had to write one.

I have a habit of waiting till the drama is complete before watching, because I'm not patient enough to wait for each episode and I'm so glad that I didn't start this while it was airing.

As dramas go, this is one of the longer ones with 49 episodes, but it is definitely worth your time.

Let's start with the actual review then!

Story:

The story starts off with our heroine leading a carefree life as a Princess, but in a matter of episodes her world is turned upside down, when her uncle kills her whole family and brands them as rebels. She barely escapes with her life and vows revenge. On her journey she matures and learns many things and eventually lets go of her hate for the sake of her country. The beautiful thing about this story is the growth and development of each character as individuals as well as their relationships with each other. Each and every character evolves and it's beautiful to see and exciting to follow.

Acting/Cast:

It's definitely one of the dramas that is perfectly cast, from the older cast to the tiny babies. When initial reports came out that Wu Lei was going to act opposite Dilraba Dilmurat, I was one of the sceptics. I never doubted his ability to act, because I have seen him in other dramas and I know he's a terrific actor despite his young age. What worried me was the fact that the two might not share any chemistry. I'll admit, I was wrong. So wrong. They were entrancing together.

The whole cast of this drama did an amazing job, but here are the standouts for me:

- Dilraba Dilmurat as Chang Ge: Obviously, she's the main character and we're are practically following her story. Dilraba never disappoints. Whether Chang Ge is being mischievous, emotional, serious or deadly, it's all believable and she delivers an amazing performance, playing a character that's complex and ever changing. Chang Ge is one of the characters that changes and matures throughout her journey so much, but somehow still holds on to her values. She's a very strong character and Dilraba did a great job portraying her.

- Wu Lei as Ahile Sun: Absolutely magnetic. I never doubted Wu Lei could act, but he's outdone himself as Sun. Strong, brave and loyal, this character was an absolute delight to watch. I can't imagine any other actor playing this role now. Just like Dilraba, Wu Lei performed each scene to perfection. I was very impressed with the amount of emotion he can portray. A simple gaze seemed to tell a whole story.

- Zhao Lu Si as Leyan: Zhao Lu Si is adorable and that's the side that people are most familiar with from her previous dramas, but as Le Yan she can finally show off her range. Her character's journey is one of the most interesting to watch on the show and the way she changed from the sheltered, weak princess into a mature and formidable woman was one of the highlights of the drama.

- Liu Yu Ning as Hao Du: This is the first time I've ever seen his act and it's a breath of fresh air. From the cold Hao Du in the beginning of the drama to the warm ball of light at the end, Liu Yu Ning did such an amazing job portraying his character that I couldn't take my eyes off him. He was able to portray emotion with tiny changes in his expression. I'm looking forward to seeing him in other projects.

- Kudousi Jiang Ainiwaer as Ashile She'er: Another character who's reveals more and more of himself as the episodes go by, She'er is complex, misunderstood and lonely. This is another actor that I'm seeing act for the first time and I was really impressed by the range of emotion he can portray. He was able to make us feel whatever we needed to feel towards his character whenever he appeared. Great performance.

- Geng Le as Li Shimin: From the generation of the parents, Geng Le's Li Shimin stands out above the rest. The sheer emotion this man can portray is enough to move mountains. His relationship with Le Yan and Chang Ge was heartwarming to watch. As the Emperor he's brave, majestic, intelligent, kind and fair. As a father, he dotes on both Le Yan and Chang Ge and his desire to protect both of them is an absolute pleasure to witness.

Music:

The soundtrack of this drama matches it so perfectly. The instrumental music complements each scene and the songs are absolutely amazing and unforgettable. I'm in love with this soundtrack.

Favourite Scenes (no in any particular order):

- The duel between Sun and She'er. It was absolutely breathtaking. I could hardly take my eyes off the screen. I've rewatched this scene many, many times.

- The duel between Hao Du and She'er. The high stakes, Le Yan's outburst of emotion and Hao Du's unshakable determination. Another scene I have rewatched.

- Sun and Chang Ge rolling off the roof. Cute and exciting.

- Sun telling Chang Ge what his first wish is. This was basically his confession moment and I absolutely loved the wording of it. He wasn't demanding anything, but giving his all to her instead.

- A Dou's death and the battle outside the gates afterwards. This is one of the scenes that absolutely killed me. I was not prepared for it.

- Hao Du and Le Yan confessing to each other after his duel with She'er. This was the cutest thing to watch. And a scene I was waiting for since the moment Hao Du picked up the little pouch that Le Yan dropped.

- Le Yan slapping Hao Du. This was a scene that absolutely needed to happen and when it does, it's everything you wanted.

- Sun saving Chang Ge after she's kidnapped by Khatun's men. The way he just charges in with his arrows!!!!

- When Sun takes off his mask and Chang Ge finds out his Ashile Sun. Besides being and absolutely stunning scene visually, the emotion is everything.

- The scene between Chang Ge and Li Shimin when she finally calls him Second Uncle again.

- The death of Sun's foster mother and the following outburst.

There are more, but I think I need to stop now, before the whole drama is written down here.

If you're still doubting whether to watch this, stop doubting and just watch it. The moment you start, you won't be able to stop and you'll actually wish there were more episodes.

This is one of the dramas that I'll be rewatching in the future.

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Beautiful and Heartbreaking

As a rule I always keep my reviews as short as possible and try not to include many spoilers.

First if all, I recommend this to anyone who hasn't watched it yet, but be prepared for some heartbreak.

Visually this drama is stunning.

The music is absolutely beautiful.

The cast is impeccably chosen.

The female lead is a very interesting character. The difference between the innocent Xuan Ji and her powerful alter ego is so well acted that you don't even doubt it.

The eternally self sacrificing male lead whose name is mentioned so many times in the drama that you'll never forget it is an absolute delight to watch. The actor did such an amazing job that even a slight change in his gaze portrayed so much emotion it was hard to look away.

I absolutely loved all the secrets and twists. All the characters were interesting to follow. Even the villains were fun to watch. You keep wanting to see more. You keep wanting to know more and unravel all the mysteries.

All in all, this is a very entertaining watch.

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A little trust goes a long way!

After reading some comments and reviews which were not as positive, I decided to give this a go anyway. Partly because of the cast and partly because the plot sounded interesting.

There were obviously things about this drama that I liked and things that I didn't.

Let's start off with the positive and begin with the things I liked:

- I actually liked the female lead in this one. I'm not sure whether it's Zhao Lusi who seems to be able to bring life to any character or the character itself. I did appreciate that she wasn't a boring and weak damsel in distress type. Sang Qi was very independent and yes that sometimes led to her being reckless and impulsive, but it wasn't over the top.

- I liked the male lead. Yan Yun Zhi was very confident and straightforward and knew what he wanted, but at the same time he always seemed to respect Sang Qi as an equal and respected her decisions.

- I loved Yan Yan. I think a lot of people who watched this drama will agree. Yan Yan was a character that lit up the screen and stole the scene. Silly and adorable, kindhearted and loyal. He was the perfect best friend.

- Another character I absolutely loved was Sang Wei. He was such a loving father. And his interactions with his daughter were absolutely endearing to watch.

- I really liked the relationship between the main couple. I was a bit on the fence in the beginning, because he was basically her teacher, but right from the start the focus was never on their teacher/student relationship as both never treated each other as such. There didn't really seem to be an imbalance of power. I also liked how quickly he turned into the Xiao Bai that her brother described right after the got together. It was cute to see. Another thing I appreciated about their relationship was that they trusted each other unconditionally, so there were no infuriating misunderstandings.

- The majority of this drama is fluffy and cute and I really liked that they tackled getting females the right to study at the Imperial College.

- I liked the acting in this. It was convincing. Every actor did their part justice.

Now let's move on to things I didn't like:

- To be honest, I would have preferred if the drama was just about Sang Qi's journey of being the first female student and making all those changes, without the background death and mayhem. The investigation into the smuggling and poisoning was what made the drama a bit chaotic in the last 7 or so episodes.

- I really hated Zhuo Wen Yuan. I didn't really care that he was doing some shady business. I also didn't really mind that he got a lot of power very quickly. What I hated was his personality and the way he treated Sang Qi, his so called childhood friend and the girl he has been in love with forever. Obviously the feelings he had for her were never love to begin with. I understand that he was traumatised, because of what happened to his father and he wanted to rise to power to show everyone who looked down on him that he was a capable person, but the more episodes I watched, the more it became clear that he's clearly a sociopath. He only ever cared about himself, his feelings and his pain. He never cared about what Sang Qi was feeling and thinking. He didn't hesitate to hurt her. Never asked for her opinion. Went from "I'm going to have you whether you want it or not" to "if I can't have you, no one can". That's clearly insane. He actually poisoned the woman he "loved" and burned her corpse. I'm not really sure what the writers were thinking. If they hoped that the viewers would relate to him or feel sorry for him, it didn't work. He's despicable and creepy. The funny thing is, I would have liked his character if he had stayed the way he was before they revealed his connection to the Xizhao. He seemed laidback and fun to be around. Someone who wouldn't push his feelings onto Sang Qi if they were not reciprocated. Instead he turned into a disgusting characters that I wanted to stab every time he appeared on screen and I wanted to slap him whenever he called her "A Qi" shamelessly even after poisoning her. Such a creep.

- I didn't like Su Jie Yu either. Yes, she wasn't as bad as Wen Yuan in terms of despicable things, but in the guise of elegance, grace, intelligence, kindness and honesty, she was a backstabbing and selfish person. Just because she had met and fell in love with Yun Zhi first she seemed to think that she was the only one who had the right to his love. Even though she was rejected firmly so many times, she still went behind Yun Zhi's back to make his parents force him to marry her and eventually even got the Emperor to bestow a marriage. She even lied to Sang Qi that Yun Zhi only cared for her as a little sister and she shouldn't confess. I never understood characters like Jie Yu and Wen Yuan. What's the point of making a person who clearly has no feelings for you, marry you. Do they really think that after all the despicable things they did, that person will magically fall in love with them after marriage?

- Song Jia Yin was annoying, arrogant and spoiled, but she didn't deserve the ending she got. Wen Yuan didn't deserve her love.


All in all, I think this drama would have benefited from a more focused plot instead of adding too many unnecessary storylines and characters. I still did enjoy this. It was entertaining and funny. The best way to enjoy this drama is to not expect it to be something it's not. It's not a drama with a complicated plot, a lot of intrigue and drama. It's just a fun, light and entertaining drama with (for the most part) lovely characters.

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Fun and lovely

I watched all 30 episodes in a matter of days and I couldn't stop. When it was over, I was very sad to let it go.

There are so many things I liked about this drama:

- Female lead is funny, independent, brave and intelligent. She's very mischievous and a little childish sometimes, but you will definitely love her

- The male lead is PERFECT. Handsome, brave, smart, gentle and affectionate.

- the interactions between the couple are gold. Whether they're fighting, teasing or being affectionate, you won't be able to tear your eyes off of them.

- the misunderstandings are resolved quickly. You don't have to watch in pain for episodes on end

- The royal family is actually fair and good. The emperor is a capable ruler

- all the couples (there are a lot) are adorable

- the cast (main leads and supporting characters) did an amazing job portraying their characters.

- there were sooooo many funny moments. This is a drama that has made me laugh the most recently

- you don't see too much of the villains. There weren't that many to begin with, but at least you don't have to see them all that much

All in all, this drama is very easy to watch and you will definitely enjoy it. If you haven't watched it yet, give it a go. You'll fall in love with it during the first episode.

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Adorable

The Eternal Love series is all about the adorable main couple and this season is not an exception. It was funny, cute and romantic.

The actors did a good job portraying their characters, but with a drama like this where the focus is heavily on the main couple, the other characters suffer loss of screentime and therefore aren't developed well. It was true in all of the seasons and even more so in this one. I didn't really have a problem with it though, because I'm mainly here for the fun and cuteness of the main couple and they always deliver.

I loved the visuals of this seasons. The scenes are beautifully filmed and the costumes are gorgeous.

All in all, I'll definitely be rewatching the whole series again.

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No Impact

I came across this movie in my recommendations on Youtube and decided to give it a try.

Let's start with the story. It's interesting enough, as there seem to be some layers to be uncovered, but the editing is all over the place and all the scenes lose any impact. They fall in love supposedly deeply, but you can't feel any of it. The emotional scenes lack any impact, because once again the editing make them seem out of the blue. Even the fight scenes, while pretty, eventually end up lacking any excitement.

Most of that is due to editing, but I must also mention the acting. Unfortunately, not that great. Also unfortunately, it goes for the whole cast. Whether it was the directing or the acting ability, none of the actors had any presence on screen. The ML is expressionless. Even if the character is written as a cold snake demon, you would at least expect him to show some expressions once he warms up and falls in love, but his face literally didn't move. At all. Throughout the whole movie. It was like looking at a picture. The female lead, while a bit better, didn't really do that great either. Their chemistry was also non-existent, so with the two of them in the most scenes, you end up watching a very boring couple. The SML is just there. No real impact. Very bland.

The music didn't really help either and seemed out of place sometimes. It didn't always match with the scene you were watching.

All in all, none of the aspects of the story had any impact. The story had potential and with better editing and a more charismatic cast might have been much better, but it ended up being on the boring side.

This story may actually work better as a drama. Giving the characters more time to develop and adding a bit more background. As a movie, it's a bit lacking.

There's also a part two, but I'm not sure if I'll be watching that.

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Too much

This drama felt like four separate dramas, which is just too much.

Lets start off with the things I liked:

- visually beautiful
- the cast is not too bad
- the dragon king was fun to watch
- the second couple was the saving grace of this drama. Their story was coherent and the way they gradually and naturally fell in love was fun to watch
- the first life is fun to watch
- the third life was also interesting

Things I didn't like:

- the female lead was four completely different people in all her lives, so there was a disconnect. She looked like the same person, but her personality was completely different, making it hard to make a connection between the original girl that met and fell in love with the dragon.

- lots of cliches and previously done storylines

- the chemistry between the main leads was almost non existant. Not sure if it's the writing, making the female fall in love with the male lead over and over again in 4 lives or just the fact that the actors didn't have any chemistry to begin with

- repetitive and predictable storyline

All in all, it's not too bad, but there are many dramas out there that are much better.

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Pretty drama

Obviously there are good and bad things to say about this drama as with many others.

One of the good things was the production. It looks well made. The scenes are beautiful. The sets are beautiful. It's a very pretty looking drama.

Another good thing was the cast. With the exception of Lee Min Ho, I think everyone did an amazing job.

The thing that attracted me was of course the premise. I think that was very interesting.

The bad thing is it's very inconsistent and doesn't seem to follow its own logic. The drama is very slow for the first 11 episodes. Things finally start to pick up and get interesting in episode 12, but then starting from episode 14 plot holes start to pile up. Many seem to feel that the plot is complicated, but it's not. It's just full of plot holes, that's all. It's fairly easy to follow, but if you want to enjoy it, I'd advise not to think too much or you'll just get mad at plot holes that could have easily been taken care of. I think most dramas that involve parallel universes or time travel ultimately encounter this problem where they start creating plot holes, because the drama doesn't follow its own rules.

Another bad thing, and that's just my opinion was the casting of Lee Min Ho. He can't carry this type of drama. He looks the part, but misses the charisma to pull off this role. His acting is very boring too. Again, this is a personal opinion, I'm sure there will be people who enjoyed his performance.

Another thing that bothered me were the obvious product placements. I would be fine if they just showed the products in the background or something, but they just went too far in this drama by pretty much shooting commercials for multiple products. It looked embarrassing and uncomfortable for the actors and totally took me out of the story.

All in all, I enjoyed it. I would have liked it to be a bit more fast paced, but it's definitely worth a watch, albeit only once.

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