4
KingC
Dark Xianxia With Emotional Performances Impeded by a Plot that made me Squint.
I was never planning on watching this one, but my friend began narrating the episodes for me while it was airing, so I finally caved in.
If I'm being honest, I don't know what to feel about this drama. Is it a good Xianxia? Yes, definitely.
Is it perfect? Nope.
I've been hearing right from the very start about how the drama had deviated very much from the original novel, "Black Moonlight Holds the Bad Ending Script". Yes, it's the English's translation of the original title and you have to keep it in mind.
But, I really wish that the book is much more legible in terms of characterization with plenty of in-depth analysis of each character’s motivations, because in that aspect, TTEOTM falls far off the mark.
Long after the Gods had sacrificed themselves in an attempt to kill the Devil God, a new Devil God mysteriously arises, wrecking havoc and destruction across the immortal sects. When the Xiaoyao and Hengyang sect are attacked, Li Su Su, the daughter of the sect leader of Hengyang Sect, accidentally sees the origin of the Devil God through a magical artifact which he was attempting to steal. The immortals learn that the Devil God was a mere mortal named Tantai Jin 500 years ago. The sect leaders decide to send someone back in time to kill the to-be-soon young devil god by removing the 'evil bone', which makes him destined to become one after his demise.
Li Su Su agrees to the mission and is sent back, but not without witnessing her entire sect massacred .
500 years in the past, she wakes up in the body of Ye Xi Wu, a spoiled daughter of a General of Sheng Kingdom… and learns that the person who Tantai Jin, now a captive prince from the Jing Kingdom, fears the most is her. And that she was also married to him due to her own evil plans going down the drain. Now, she tries to keep Tantai Jin alive despite her deep hatred for him as she plots a plan to remove his evil bone.
But, the more she gets closer to him, the more she realizes how the world has failed him.
That's the basic plot for the first 30 episodes or so, or 18, if you take away 10 or 12 episodes that are part of a dream arc which is literally the characters role playing as Gods from 10,000 years ago before they vanished.
I'll get straight down to what I liked about this drama:
***The Story: Takes place across a span of several years and has certain "arcs".
The beginning of the Mortal Arc, Tantai Jin's past and Cang Jiumin arc (first two episodes) and the Bo're Arc are my personal favorites.
To future viewers, I request you to view the Dream Arc as a part of the drama within a drama. It has the most solid and purposeful plot line out of all 40 episodes and it was highly satisfying and reached a conclusion that made sense and did not drag on unnecessarily.
***The Cast: Honestly, if the actors were just average, I would never have stuck past episode 24, or was it 25?
The cast were spot on, delivering immaculate and heartfelt performances that I would not be forgetting soon.
I don't remember exactly. Leo Yunxi had been on my radar since Ashes of Love and he never disappoints in pulling such villain/pathetic helpless roles. I hope there were people to take care of him on set because the amount of tears he shed in this are too much. He managed to portray four different characters with ease: the mysteriously alluring Ancient Demon God 1.0, the Demon God Tantai Jin 1.0 and whatever version we see in the drama, the abused mortal Tantai Jin, and the majestic God of War Ming Ye. His costumes were a highlight of the drama, in all shades of colors and hues.
Bai Lu, I finally found a drama of hers that I could actually complete. It's not that her acting is bad, but I've never managed to find her works captivating enough to make me sit through all the episodes. As for her character… that's another rant entirely. But, I could tell the difference between the occupied Ye Xi Wu and the free Li Su Su.
Supporting characters were portrayed well by the relatively lesser known cast, but they managed to steal the scenes several times - particularly Ye Qingyu and Pian Ran. I liked Deng Wei as Gongye Jiwue and Shang You a lot more than Xiao Lin. (His mortal avatar.)
***Costumes and CGI: Whoever was behind the computer screen lost his mind cause the CGI was stunning for a Chinese Xianxia. It did fluke at some points, but overall, it was a highlight. Costumes were inspired by traditional Dunhuang paintings and the characters looked like real God's in the posters. It came in all colors and I coveted several headpieces worn by many of the cast. But, my favorites definitely are from the Bo're Arc.
***Soundtrack: Plenty of Original Songs, but my most favorite one was Mysterious Bird by Sa Ji. There were several action scene soundtracks that I loved.
Now… let’s get down to the cold pricklies:
***The Character of Ye Xi Wu and Plot:
Tantai Jin is heavily softened for the drama, and apparently, Ye Xi Wu was too. I don’t know what the original treatment looked like, but I was confused by her. I was never once convinced that she truly loved him - particularly during the mortal arc of Tantai Jin. Except for a few well targeted words spoken by Pian Ran that unsettles Xi Wu, and a handful of scenes, she seemed to be hell bent on getting her mission accomplished and had no time for romance. Granted, their fates were pre-determined and she was on a mission. But, how am I supposed to believe that these two were fated to be together at some point in their life regardless of the ending? I'm not sure because it was all 'tell' and no 'show'.
It’s understandable as she had witnessed the destruction of the world via this dude’s hands, but she appeared almost cunning and insincere in most of her actions even after she found out that she was his Achilles heel. Her character seems to have been under utilized. At one point, it turned into a "Tantai Jin" show. We see his motives and reasonings in depth, yet I do not think the same attention was paid to Li Su Su's character. She appeared to be fooling around a lot in the Mortal Arc, which made no sense. Then, boom! She gets an epiphany and things just plunge into a dead end. The story went around in circles for the first arc and by EP 24, I lost all hope.
Bai Lu and Leo Luo’s explosive chemistry helped to elevate their “romance” to a phenomenal level, but it was painfully obvious that the script was leaning towards Tantai Jin’s backstory. I could tell when he began to thaw and when he began to truly care for Ye Xi Wu.
For someone who was abused throughout his life and did not possess an ounce of trust in anyone, I could not understand why she underestimated Tantai Jin’s actions. He had proven his sincerity over and over, but how come she never saw through it? She did prove herself, but her duty outweighed her trust and love.
Personally, Li Susu was better than Ye Xi Wu.
But, had many novel and dramaland characters had her temperament, I doubt that there will be many happy endings.
Bai Lu is an excellent actress, and she attempted to give it her best shot for sure. But, till the very end, I did not know what was going on in Li Su Su’s mind.
Even in the final episode, I just couldn't help but feel terrible for Tantai Jin.
As for pacing, the first 20 - 22 episodes were definitely the strongest ones for me. Even the Bo’re Dream which I loved. Then came the latter half of the mortal arc and boy… I feel like I missed swathes of character development or should I call it regression? Everything can’t be attributed to editing, but also, to inconsistent writing.
I found it an absolute chore to follow through after EP24. There were several questionable decisions and miscommunications that seemed plain awful and squeezed in to somehow conclude that part of the tale.
[As usual, we have brainless immortal sects like any standard xianxia, so it was of no surprise. And what's a xianxia without a pesky God of War around?]
One particular plot point legit seemed like a deux ex machina that was a gateway for the drama’s flamboyant ending, which just irritated me. A very regular xianxia style ending, which barely lasted for 3 minutes. An attempt was made to make it emotional, but too late, I grew used to the drama’s reliance on their powerful cast and music to make up for damages.
Side characters appear and disappear as they see fit - and apparently, several scenes were cut, though I have no idea how it would have impacted the story. Pian Ran and Ye Qing Yu in particular were just forgotten.
That being said, I still do not know how to rate Till The End of the Moon. The cast and crew obviously put their heart into it. I’ll have to go through a re-review before finally rating it, but for now, I give it a solid 8.
If I'm being honest, I don't know what to feel about this drama. Is it a good Xianxia? Yes, definitely.
Is it perfect? Nope.
I've been hearing right from the very start about how the drama had deviated very much from the original novel, "Black Moonlight Holds the Bad Ending Script". Yes, it's the English's translation of the original title and you have to keep it in mind.
But, I really wish that the book is much more legible in terms of characterization with plenty of in-depth analysis of each character’s motivations, because in that aspect, TTEOTM falls far off the mark.
Long after the Gods had sacrificed themselves in an attempt to kill the Devil God, a new Devil God mysteriously arises, wrecking havoc and destruction across the immortal sects. When the Xiaoyao and Hengyang sect are attacked, Li Su Su, the daughter of the sect leader of Hengyang Sect, accidentally sees the origin of the Devil God through a magical artifact which he was attempting to steal. The immortals learn that the Devil God was a mere mortal named Tantai Jin 500 years ago. The sect leaders decide to send someone back in time to kill the to-be-soon young devil god by removing the 'evil bone', which makes him destined to become one after his demise.
Li Su Su agrees to the mission and is sent back, but not without witnessing her entire sect massacred .
500 years in the past, she wakes up in the body of Ye Xi Wu, a spoiled daughter of a General of Sheng Kingdom… and learns that the person who Tantai Jin, now a captive prince from the Jing Kingdom, fears the most is her. And that she was also married to him due to her own evil plans going down the drain. Now, she tries to keep Tantai Jin alive despite her deep hatred for him as she plots a plan to remove his evil bone.
But, the more she gets closer to him, the more she realizes how the world has failed him.
That's the basic plot for the first 30 episodes or so, or 18, if you take away 10 or 12 episodes that are part of a dream arc which is literally the characters role playing as Gods from 10,000 years ago before they vanished.
I'll get straight down to what I liked about this drama:
***The Story: Takes place across a span of several years and has certain "arcs".
The beginning of the Mortal Arc, Tantai Jin's past and Cang Jiumin arc (first two episodes) and the Bo're Arc are my personal favorites.
To future viewers, I request you to view the Dream Arc as a part of the drama within a drama. It has the most solid and purposeful plot line out of all 40 episodes and it was highly satisfying and reached a conclusion that made sense and did not drag on unnecessarily.
***The Cast: Honestly, if the actors were just average, I would never have stuck past episode 24, or was it 25?
The cast were spot on, delivering immaculate and heartfelt performances that I would not be forgetting soon.
I don't remember exactly. Leo Yunxi had been on my radar since Ashes of Love and he never disappoints in pulling such villain/pathetic helpless roles. I hope there were people to take care of him on set because the amount of tears he shed in this are too much. He managed to portray four different characters with ease: the mysteriously alluring Ancient Demon God 1.0, the Demon God Tantai Jin 1.0 and whatever version we see in the drama, the abused mortal Tantai Jin, and the majestic God of War Ming Ye. His costumes were a highlight of the drama, in all shades of colors and hues.
Bai Lu, I finally found a drama of hers that I could actually complete. It's not that her acting is bad, but I've never managed to find her works captivating enough to make me sit through all the episodes. As for her character… that's another rant entirely. But, I could tell the difference between the occupied Ye Xi Wu and the free Li Su Su.
Supporting characters were portrayed well by the relatively lesser known cast, but they managed to steal the scenes several times - particularly Ye Qingyu and Pian Ran. I liked Deng Wei as Gongye Jiwue and Shang You a lot more than Xiao Lin. (His mortal avatar.)
***Costumes and CGI: Whoever was behind the computer screen lost his mind cause the CGI was stunning for a Chinese Xianxia. It did fluke at some points, but overall, it was a highlight. Costumes were inspired by traditional Dunhuang paintings and the characters looked like real God's in the posters. It came in all colors and I coveted several headpieces worn by many of the cast. But, my favorites definitely are from the Bo're Arc.
***Soundtrack: Plenty of Original Songs, but my most favorite one was Mysterious Bird by Sa Ji. There were several action scene soundtracks that I loved.
Now… let’s get down to the cold pricklies:
***The Character of Ye Xi Wu and Plot:
Tantai Jin is heavily softened for the drama, and apparently, Ye Xi Wu was too. I don’t know what the original treatment looked like, but I was confused by her. I was never once convinced that she truly loved him - particularly during the mortal arc of Tantai Jin. Except for a few well targeted words spoken by Pian Ran that unsettles Xi Wu, and a handful of scenes, she seemed to be hell bent on getting her mission accomplished and had no time for romance. Granted, their fates were pre-determined and she was on a mission. But, how am I supposed to believe that these two were fated to be together at some point in their life regardless of the ending? I'm not sure because it was all 'tell' and no 'show'.
It’s understandable as she had witnessed the destruction of the world via this dude’s hands, but she appeared almost cunning and insincere in most of her actions even after she found out that she was his Achilles heel. Her character seems to have been under utilized. At one point, it turned into a "Tantai Jin" show. We see his motives and reasonings in depth, yet I do not think the same attention was paid to Li Su Su's character. She appeared to be fooling around a lot in the Mortal Arc, which made no sense. Then, boom! She gets an epiphany and things just plunge into a dead end. The story went around in circles for the first arc and by EP 24, I lost all hope.
Bai Lu and Leo Luo’s explosive chemistry helped to elevate their “romance” to a phenomenal level, but it was painfully obvious that the script was leaning towards Tantai Jin’s backstory. I could tell when he began to thaw and when he began to truly care for Ye Xi Wu.
For someone who was abused throughout his life and did not possess an ounce of trust in anyone, I could not understand why she underestimated Tantai Jin’s actions. He had proven his sincerity over and over, but how come she never saw through it? She did prove herself, but her duty outweighed her trust and love.
Personally, Li Susu was better than Ye Xi Wu.
But, had many novel and dramaland characters had her temperament, I doubt that there will be many happy endings.
Bai Lu is an excellent actress, and she attempted to give it her best shot for sure. But, till the very end, I did not know what was going on in Li Su Su’s mind.
Even in the final episode, I just couldn't help but feel terrible for Tantai Jin.
As for pacing, the first 20 - 22 episodes were definitely the strongest ones for me. Even the Bo’re Dream which I loved. Then came the latter half of the mortal arc and boy… I feel like I missed swathes of character development or should I call it regression? Everything can’t be attributed to editing, but also, to inconsistent writing.
I found it an absolute chore to follow through after EP24. There were several questionable decisions and miscommunications that seemed plain awful and squeezed in to somehow conclude that part of the tale.
[As usual, we have brainless immortal sects like any standard xianxia, so it was of no surprise. And what's a xianxia without a pesky God of War around?]
One particular plot point legit seemed like a deux ex machina that was a gateway for the drama’s flamboyant ending, which just irritated me. A very regular xianxia style ending, which barely lasted for 3 minutes. An attempt was made to make it emotional, but too late, I grew used to the drama’s reliance on their powerful cast and music to make up for damages.
Side characters appear and disappear as they see fit - and apparently, several scenes were cut, though I have no idea how it would have impacted the story. Pian Ran and Ye Qing Yu in particular were just forgotten.
That being said, I still do not know how to rate Till The End of the Moon. The cast and crew obviously put their heart into it. I’ll have to go through a re-review before finally rating it, but for now, I give it a solid 8.
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