"Perhaps in this life, we are destined to have one person shining bright in the sky and the other tainted by earthly dust."

First and foremost, the one aspect that made me continue this drama was the CGI. It’s practically seamless! As expected from the team that produced Ashes of Love. Usually, for xianxia dramas that require heavy usage of CGI, it’s easy to mess up here and there. However, this drama did not disappoint when it comes to CGI. It is beautifully and very professionally done. It definitely adds to the experience! Very precise and fine attention to detail, which truly brings the elements on the screen to life. Cinematography is also done very well. The shots and sets where the drama were filmed at were beautiful!

Secondly, the casting is spot on. All actors are natural and immerse into their roles extremely well. I’m especially blown away by Li Landi’s acting. In my opinion, they couldn’t have cast a better person as Ye Tan. I find myself pausing the screen every once in a while and can’t help but squeal at how cute she is! Her mannerisms, facial expressions, and even voice (since she dubbed her own character), match that of Ye Tans so well. She is also one of the best criers I’ve ever seen. All her crying scenes were genuine and immensely difficult to NOT react to. Besides that, Luke Chen, at times, could’ve portrayed his emotions better. His crying scenes weren’t that impactful, and could’ve been improved a bit more.

With the good points out of the way, one concern of mine was how fast some of the romantic relationships developed. Minor spoilers ahead. I’m talking about QK and CF and, most recently, HS and QH. I feel like QK fell a little too quickly and rather unnaturally. Obviously, CF was the one heads over heel for her first, but when he confessed out of the blue, it was almost like QK was like: “Oh! He likes me! I will instantly fall in love with anyone who says they love me! Yes!” In my opinion, their romance could’ve developed for a few more episodes so that it would seem more natural as opposed to a bit rushed. I also noticed this for QH’s and HS’s ship. QH fell wayyy too quickly, so it felt rather unnatural. However, after that, the relationships for both couples developed very well. I am a fan of slow-burn romance, and coupled with the excellent chemistry between QH and HS’s actor / actress, it was exactly my cup of tea!

Regarding pacing, it was a bit dragged at the beginning. I’m just glad that some plot started to pick up after.. like, 10 episodes. However, despite that first half, it was definitely entertaining, which made the episodes go by quickly. Since it’s your usual romcom and follows a lot of cliches, predictability is quite high. But as mentioned before, as long as it’s entertaining, I’m all for it! Plot unfolded steadily after that initial slow start!

Finally, I cannot express how much I appreciate the amount of character development and redemption arcs the scriptwriters gave us. I appreciated how they didn’t just show the good— such as how bad characters managed to turn over a leaf, but also how good, innocent characters became broken over time, and even in death, their resentment against the world couldn’t be quelled.

Everything is not just gray, but rather black and white. Although I applaud characters like Ye Tan who’s the type to "forgive and forget," some people aren’t that strong-willed. Hatred strong enough can engulf all rationality, and not all people can ignore that voice in their heads. It’s a realistic portrayal of both outcomes, and even a bit psychological as well.

All in all, The Starry Love is a must-watch for xianxia fanatics like me. I never considered myself a fan of romcoms, but after watching this, I think I changed my mind! It is fluffy, fun, and definitely sets apart from your usual cdramas. Definitely one of the best xianxia dramas released in 2023!