Calm watch! Nothing too exciting

an easy and cute watch! there was something so calming about this drama. all characters were lovable and misunderstandings were solved quickly. there was no stupid headless chicken running around instead of communication between the leads. the kisses were STEAMY (other cdrama actors need to take note hehe).

the acting was incredible from the whole cast, esp considering it was the ML’s first drama?! he did so well. i wouldn’t mind another drama with sebrina and ZLH as the leads again (or even the secondary couple being leads) ;) they all have such great chemistry.

there were some minor plot holes, like how SC just forgets that Prince Qi saved her but it’s a not a big deal and doesn’t ruin the drama. it is also a little bit slow paced, but not draggy. i felt there was a good balance between mystery and romance, but romance does overtake a little so if you like romance then this is very much for you. overall, i highly recommend!!

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Inspiring and happy drama! Highly recommend

an amazing and moving drama. expected nothing less of the same writers as AOL. ZXC and WQ were casted perfectly in their roles, such an amazing pair of actors with sizzling chemistry (the whole cast was brill too!!) i look forward to both their future projects :)
cried a couple of times because of how courageous the characters were when faced with difficulty. it’s not simply a sports drama, so much more than that. i will admit 40 episodes for this was a bit much as everyone has said, but it’s not a dealbreaker. was a teeny bit draggy in the middle but i enjoyed the couple moments so could push through and skip some side parts. even though it was a bit long, i can see they did that to accommodate the side couples and i am glad they took time to develop their stories rather than leave storylines hanging at the end. so i have nothing to complain about. overall, don’t get put off by the length! it is worth all your time :))

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Poor adaptation

originally dropped this last year but picked it up again this year and stuck it out for ZXC.

I am a big fan of the anime and yeah..... this fell flat as an adaptation. Boring and dragged on. The romance was nice though. FL was annoying as she literally acted like a child, whining and moaning like she is 3 years old and spoke like a baby too. I don’t think this is Jelly’s fault, but the way the directors had attempted to translate Nodame’s character into this drama (although, Jelly’s acting was not top notch either). Her outfits were really nice in this though. ZXC did a good job as LZY (and it is cool he actually plays the piano!) but goddamn, they aged my guy 20 years with that hairstyle LOL

The camera work is like an american sitcom (strangely resembling The Office), random and dramatic zoom ins, shaking camera like it was a vlog. Not sure what the directors were going for but not a fan.
Overall, an alright watch if you treat it as if it was a standalone drama and not an adaptation of Nodame Cantabile. Drama was nothing groundbreaking but nothing terrible either. 5/10.

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Protective general with witty wife: perfect mix!

was gonna not watch this drama because of how terrible it sounded in the comments lol but i’m so glad i went through with it. such a cute, smooth sailing drama! i am so such a sucker for ‘hard faced on the battlefield but soft in their wife’s arms’ military generals. fantastic chemistry between TM and Caesar. Caesar has truly grown since Meteor Garden (and he looks so freaking good in costume). will anticipate both their future projects (incl. s2 of this drama hehe). the FL was not as bad as i thought she’d be, i’m glad she had such a personality and stood her ground on things. it’s rare to have a charismatic FL who isn’t swallowed up by the society women lived in in that time. the story as a whole was entertaining and i enjoyed how quickly misunderstandings were solved!

knocked off 2 points because of the ending. i can see why they did that (to set it up for season 2) but also. not a fan. i’ll put the details in a spoiler.

overall, defo worth a watch!! don’t get put off by the comments. you’re in for a treat full of fluffy romance and kisses <3

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A romantic and straight forward watch!

was a surprisingly nice watch! very fluffy, cute and romantic. it was very straight forward and no annoying draggy storylines so a nice pace. all the characters were incredibly charming, i enjoyed watching them all. the acting is good from the whole cast as well, maybe a bit stiff from the ML but i think that’s his character lol
loved that lil connection between the leads at the end ;) kind of wish they spoke more of it but it’s cute enough aha

some criticism: while i enjoyed all the couples, JQ and SQ made me raise an eyebrow or two. i think they’re adorable together but the fact that he’s looked after her since young is kind of weird lmao
also i don’t understand why the ML tells the FL that he’s controlling as a flaw of his and then just..... doesn’t try and change his ways? bit odd imo. it didn’t ruin too much of their relationship for me but can see how it might for others. he wasn’t crazy controlling like some MLs can be in cdramas so i guess i can overlook it. oh and qibao should have got a much bigger role!!!!!!!

overall, a drama worth watching. please give it a try if you enjoy simple romances :))

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Sizzling chemistry was the star of the show!

pros of this drama:
- don’t be fooled by the age gap, the leads have AMAZING CHEMISTRY
- the visuals of shen yue and jerry are off the charts
- nice cinematography and colour scheme
- the fashion side is somewhat interesting
- side couples were cute
- top notch acting from the cast.
- i loved that they used everyone’s real voices! jerry’s taiwan accent is so cute!

cons:
- everything else lol
i understand that it’s a slow paced drama and not meant to be romance centred but the leads got to together far too late. i lost interest in this drama around episode 22. barely any fluffy cute scenes after they became a couple. the storyline was overall uneventful, considering the romantic aspect wasn’t strong. ML had little character development until episode 34 and never communicated with the FL. i did not find ML’s personality enjoyable to watch. overall a 7.5/10.

it’s a good drama but would not watch again. i look forward to jerry yan’s and shen yue’s future projects. always a pleasure to see them act :)

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A lighthearted, lovely watch!

lovely, light hearted and romantic story. no misunderstanding between the main couple lasted too long so that was refreshing to see in chinese dramas. it was also nice that the FL wasn’t so in love with the ML where it was her only personality trait, it was lovely that she was head over heels in love with the ML but retained her own ambitions (something that is also rare in chinese dramas lol) the main couple’s chemistry is amazing too. i really we hope can see them in another project together :)

the only things i’ll nitpick about is the set and sometimes the mystery element of the drama. the aesthetics, costumes and colour palette of the drama was beautiful but the blocky set sometimes threw me off. the crime investigation element of the drama is a little weak and sometimes the comedic tone with the murders were a bit odd. nothing too major as long as you don’t go into the drama wanting lots of mystery.
overall, very much recommended for a stress-free watch with lots of laughter along the way.

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I will not be beginning this drama again.

dropped after about 23 eps. i personally found it too boring, but i can see why people like this drama. acting was great, couple was cute but it was just a bit bland for me. storyline took ages to move and when it did, it felt like it didn’t? i didn’t feel any attachment to the characters to sit this one through (especially hearing about the later 6 year time skip). if this was about 24 eps, i think i would have finished it.
maybe i’ll pick up when i have nothing else to watch but for now, it’s a no from me.

GJ and ZYT looked sooooo in good in this though! nice visuals :))

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Take the title literally. Drama redeemed itself in last 10 eps.

Pros:
- the acting in this drama is one of the most skilled acting I've seen. Every actor was convincing and I felt all their emotions when watching.
- the visuals of the cast! They all looked majestic.
- the romance was good! the lead couple had good chemistry <3 SF is a very loyal ML. He nearly went BL at the end for XJ lol
- the flying snake carried the show. He is such a likable and funny character, I would have dropped the drama if he didn't appear in episode 31-ish. I would 100% watch a spin off about him! He was such a cute companion to Xuan Ji.
- the last 10 episodes had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't help but binge. It was worth skipping masses just to get to the last 10 eps, trust me.
- the ending was satisfying and cute. I was hoping we could at least see SF's reaction to XJ getting pregnant because they had suffered so much but I'm satisfied with what we got. It's the typical wuxia happy ending where the main couple lives out their happy life in the mortal realm so no complaints.
- a good wuxia, if that's what you're looking for. Watching the main couple use their powers to fight the enemy together was lovely. I enjoyed that XJ was also immensely protective over SF.
- the opening song!! Couldn't ever hit skip :)

Cons:
- SF had a terrible case of a martyr complex. Once or twice, fine. Anything to get the story going, but he literally sacrificed himself for XJ every opportunity he could? It got repetitive and warranted the extreme skip button. It was noble idiocy and it felt like the story had nowhere to go by the middle so the writer kept adding in chances for SF to keep sercrets to himself and cause rift after rift with XJ. Again, I understand that this is typical of wuxias but LaR took it to another level with miscommunication. I was really ready to drop it half way through because of how much he suffered for XJ to no avail- it ruined the good chemistry.
- Why on earth did SF even love XJ so deeply? Maybe I skipped too much but I feel like they never touched enough into it. Yes, he spent time with her in heaven but why did he like her so much when he was a phoenix? It wasn't clear. I guess it's just one of those things you gotta accept at the beginnimg as a fact. I felt like this affected my ability to like the main couple at first, there was no foundation to their relationship and you realise there was no proper build up when it's revealed that SF was the phoenix in heaven with her.
- Dragged on. Skip button was a gift.
- Wasn't interested in Ling Long's story (they styled ZYX so bad). I didn't feel like it added much to the plot.
- XJ was dumb even when she recovered her senses. The last 10 episodes were only good because she finally trusted SF (took her bloody long enough) so I'm inclined to think this drama could have been a lot better if she stopped being stubborn and SF stopped thinking he was always doing what's best for her without communicating.
- Overrated. With the 8.8 MDL rating and the way people have been raging about this drama for nearly a year now, I was expecting it to be one of the best I've watched. Not by far. It was good, but not as good as people made it out to be. Go in with low expectations is my advice. The drama only pulled it off at the end bc they pulled together a perf cast. Any other cast, it would have been a trainwreck...

Overall, 8/10. Worth a watch, satisfied my love of wuxias, but be prepared to skip skip skip!

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