This review may contain spoilers
A nicely written story that stood out from the highly convoluted Xianxia dramas in the C-Dramaland.
I have been reading a lot of reviews stating that you will enjoy this drama if you enjoyed 'Ancient Love Poetry' and I cannot disagree to that. However, I wanna say that this surely has better story flow and certainly lesser complicated, dramatic and problematic love affairs. All things being said, I want to emphatically say that this drama has its own strengths and weaknesses so it should never be compared to any existing dramas out there.
Although this drama started on a relatively slow phasing, I'd say that they did a good job in gradually making the future events to be more engrossing and attracting. Honestly, up until now I still feel like this drama lacks some interesting events... It do have some, however, in my opinion those moments aren't remarkable and satisfying enough for me to binge watch it all the time; which is both its advantage and disadvantage... Disadvantage simply because we got so used to Xianxia dramas offering more convoluted story lines that can bring our emotions up and crazy, and since this drama doesn't offer those, it makes it look plain and ordinary in comparison to them. But that is also why I mentioned it is its advantage as well. Because by making the story less complicated, it also makes the viewers easily grasp and comprehend what's going on in the story. Making it an easy to watch and a viewer friendly show.
Next thing I wanna talk about is the nice and comfortable chemistry between the main leads. I love their silly and bickering moments the most and I can honestly watch them going at it non-stop. They give me this refreshing vibe that makes me wanna commend both of them for having such great compatibility. Like, Dang! I know Zhao Lusi will nail it but Wang Anyu just destroyed me on how well he executed his character in this drama. His portrayal is insane! More than convincing. I don't know how to put it into words but I wanna say that he is not acting his character because he 'became' his character. He drawned me to him everytime he's on screen; not only because of his visuals but because of how excellent he is in commanding his facial expression, body language and overall demeanor. Not to mention how his expressive eyes can make you feel different emotions and feelings. What an expressionist!
In regards to Powerscaling, CGI, Costume and Design. I would say that it has its good and not so good but not entirely bad moments. I believe they have established and followed through a good hierarchy when it comes to powerscaling but there are some moments when the show demonstrated some inconsistencies. First is when Hua Yan (Peacock King) mentioned that even Feng Yuan (Heavenly Empress who is a demigod ready to ascend to godhood) is no match with his current power but then get injured and captured by a heavily injured Gu Jin/Yuan Qi who is a God himself! Not to mention how he's getting handled by Hong Yi and Yan Shuang (Which if I'm not mistaken are a Senior and Junior Immortals). Additionally, how is Hua Shu (During her Evil god moments) overpowering Yuan Qi a God of Chaos, Feng Yi a demigod and all the other senior/junior immortals? Haha! I also just want add up how some of the power/magic effects looks way too powerless and unsatisfying in contrast to how it should be. They could've added more power and bigger effects to make it look extra convincing, unfortunately they did not. Like... editing team, Hello? What's Up!? and Oh! Before I even forget, Zhao Lusi suffered 2x from that ugly and horrid 'blood spitting' scenes. Grr!
Lastly, I just wanna mention how satisfied at the same time disappointed I am with Lan Feng & Hua Shu's love story. I know that his death helped Hua Shu's character to remain the villain that she is, but I feel bad that Lan Feng was killed on their most special day and was never resurrected. I mean, he's one of the characters I like and truly look up to, as it's fascinating that he remained pure and untainted until the very end. + I love how his unconditional love and affection has become a tool to make Hua Shu realize things and could have turned her into a new leaf 'sooner' only if he didn't get murdered. Anyways, I also like the redemption moment of Hua Shu. Who would have thought that a character as ambitious and scheming as her can turn into such a loving and devoted person. It only shows that anyone can change as long as they're redirected by a commited person who genuinely cares.
P.S. I hereby proclaim that Gu Jin/Yuan Qi is by far the best Xianxia Male lead character for me. This character is as smooth as butter and will always make sure that A Yin/Feng Yin is always safe and sound.
Story - 9.0, This drama has a good phasing/sequencing and although it started 'slow' I appreciate that it didn't hinder them to mess the story up. Alhough it's undeniable that this story lacks some remarkable moments, I'd say that the smooth narrative helped this show and turned it into an easy to watch drama. + I love how they handled their main Villains (Hua Shu and even Ming Qi (Evil God himself). How I wish they incorporated more satisfying moments into this.
Acting/Cast - 9.5, I don't have any issues with the actors and although I personally like Li Yun Rui, I still wanna say that he needs some more acting lessons. He's really good at playing the playful and silly sides of his character unfortunately something is really off whenever he's trying to act out scenes that requires other emotions. Another person I want to talk about is He Kai Lang, he did fine playing the weak and modest Xiu Yan however his portrayals of Ao Ge isn't convincing enough for me. + On the other note I just wanna say that Wang An Yu's charming point is prominent when he's acting all innocent and free of worries. His clear sparkling eyes along with his bright smile was so enthralling it made me believe him immediately. It also made him very easy and comforting to watch. His smile is like a beam of light that gives me unconditional happiness and positivity. Lol
Music - 9.5, The music used are really good and it blended really well with scenes they are played in. It also never overlapped with any of the sequences and even accentuates the emotions and vibe for each one of them. Maybe the reason why I'm not giving it a perfect score is because it didn't contain a song that truly stands out. A song that will make me LSS.
Rewatch Value - 9.5, It was easy to watch thanks to the light and comfortable vibe established by the Actors and actresses with their roles. I never find this boring... I even binge-watched it and could have finished it 4-5 days early only if it wasn't for my work schedule. I also just can't consider this show to be 'extremely' re-watchable because I feel like I must pick up a new one from my unending list of unwatched dramas instead of re-watching it.
Overall - 9.0, I never disliked this drama and although I was influenced by all the reviews I read that compared this with other Xianxia shows, it didn't become a hindrance for me to appreciate it and see the better side of it that are even better compared to the other Xianxia's I have watched so far. The only thing I found missing here is the binge-worthy satisfying scenes that can make me watch parts of it over and over again. This drama is a whole ride of smooth and nicely put up sequences.
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
Although this drama started on a relatively slow phasing, I'd say that they did a good job in gradually making the future events to be more engrossing and attracting. Honestly, up until now I still feel like this drama lacks some interesting events... It do have some, however, in my opinion those moments aren't remarkable and satisfying enough for me to binge watch it all the time; which is both its advantage and disadvantage... Disadvantage simply because we got so used to Xianxia dramas offering more convoluted story lines that can bring our emotions up and crazy, and since this drama doesn't offer those, it makes it look plain and ordinary in comparison to them. But that is also why I mentioned it is its advantage as well. Because by making the story less complicated, it also makes the viewers easily grasp and comprehend what's going on in the story. Making it an easy to watch and a viewer friendly show.
Next thing I wanna talk about is the nice and comfortable chemistry between the main leads. I love their silly and bickering moments the most and I can honestly watch them going at it non-stop. They give me this refreshing vibe that makes me wanna commend both of them for having such great compatibility. Like, Dang! I know Zhao Lusi will nail it but Wang Anyu just destroyed me on how well he executed his character in this drama. His portrayal is insane! More than convincing. I don't know how to put it into words but I wanna say that he is not acting his character because he 'became' his character. He drawned me to him everytime he's on screen; not only because of his visuals but because of how excellent he is in commanding his facial expression, body language and overall demeanor. Not to mention how his expressive eyes can make you feel different emotions and feelings. What an expressionist!
In regards to Powerscaling, CGI, Costume and Design. I would say that it has its good and not so good but not entirely bad moments. I believe they have established and followed through a good hierarchy when it comes to powerscaling but there are some moments when the show demonstrated some inconsistencies. First is when Hua Yan (Peacock King) mentioned that even Feng Yuan (Heavenly Empress who is a demigod ready to ascend to godhood) is no match with his current power but then get injured and captured by a heavily injured Gu Jin/Yuan Qi who is a God himself! Not to mention how he's getting handled by Hong Yi and Yan Shuang (Which if I'm not mistaken are a Senior and Junior Immortals). Additionally, how is Hua Shu (During her Evil god moments) overpowering Yuan Qi a God of Chaos, Feng Yi a demigod and all the other senior/junior immortals? Haha! I also just want add up how some of the power/magic effects looks way too powerless and unsatisfying in contrast to how it should be. They could've added more power and bigger effects to make it look extra convincing, unfortunately they did not. Like... editing team, Hello? What's Up!? and Oh! Before I even forget, Zhao Lusi suffered 2x from that ugly and horrid 'blood spitting' scenes. Grr!
Lastly, I just wanna mention how satisfied at the same time disappointed I am with Lan Feng & Hua Shu's love story. I know that his death helped Hua Shu's character to remain the villain that she is, but I feel bad that Lan Feng was killed on their most special day and was never resurrected. I mean, he's one of the characters I like and truly look up to, as it's fascinating that he remained pure and untainted until the very end. + I love how his unconditional love and affection has become a tool to make Hua Shu realize things and could have turned her into a new leaf 'sooner' only if he didn't get murdered. Anyways, I also like the redemption moment of Hua Shu. Who would have thought that a character as ambitious and scheming as her can turn into such a loving and devoted person. It only shows that anyone can change as long as they're redirected by a commited person who genuinely cares.
P.S. I hereby proclaim that Gu Jin/Yuan Qi is by far the best Xianxia Male lead character for me. This character is as smooth as butter and will always make sure that A Yin/Feng Yin is always safe and sound.
Story - 9.0, This drama has a good phasing/sequencing and although it started 'slow' I appreciate that it didn't hinder them to mess the story up. Alhough it's undeniable that this story lacks some remarkable moments, I'd say that the smooth narrative helped this show and turned it into an easy to watch drama. + I love how they handled their main Villains (Hua Shu and even Ming Qi (Evil God himself). How I wish they incorporated more satisfying moments into this.
Acting/Cast - 9.5, I don't have any issues with the actors and although I personally like Li Yun Rui, I still wanna say that he needs some more acting lessons. He's really good at playing the playful and silly sides of his character unfortunately something is really off whenever he's trying to act out scenes that requires other emotions. Another person I want to talk about is He Kai Lang, he did fine playing the weak and modest Xiu Yan however his portrayals of Ao Ge isn't convincing enough for me. + On the other note I just wanna say that Wang An Yu's charming point is prominent when he's acting all innocent and free of worries. His clear sparkling eyes along with his bright smile was so enthralling it made me believe him immediately. It also made him very easy and comforting to watch. His smile is like a beam of light that gives me unconditional happiness and positivity. Lol
Music - 9.5, The music used are really good and it blended really well with scenes they are played in. It also never overlapped with any of the sequences and even accentuates the emotions and vibe for each one of them. Maybe the reason why I'm not giving it a perfect score is because it didn't contain a song that truly stands out. A song that will make me LSS.
Rewatch Value - 9.5, It was easy to watch thanks to the light and comfortable vibe established by the Actors and actresses with their roles. I never find this boring... I even binge-watched it and could have finished it 4-5 days early only if it wasn't for my work schedule. I also just can't consider this show to be 'extremely' re-watchable because I feel like I must pick up a new one from my unending list of unwatched dramas instead of re-watching it.
Overall - 9.0, I never disliked this drama and although I was influenced by all the reviews I read that compared this with other Xianxia shows, it didn't become a hindrance for me to appreciate it and see the better side of it that are even better compared to the other Xianxia's I have watched so far. The only thing I found missing here is the binge-worthy satisfying scenes that can make me watch parts of it over and over again. This drama is a whole ride of smooth and nicely put up sequences.
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
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