This review may contain spoilers
(No spoilers in this first section of review)I went into this drama with low expectations despite seeing all the positive reviews and comments. I haven't watched much C-Dramas so I wasn't familiar with the cast. When I looked at the cover photo and some of the photos of the drama, I wasn't really impressed and had a feeling I wouldn't like the actors at all.
I went into the first episode and I was interested in the story. I eventually got hooked into the drama and binge-watched it. I know this genre isn't everyone's type. It was my first time watching Xianxia as well and I still liked it. The drama also ended up being an emotional rollercoaster. Had some nice plot twists. I watched the opening and ending scene and through each episode I would start theory crafting. I was usually wrong for the most part and I'm glad I didn't figure everything out despite them spoiling a few scenes in those songs.
For some, the first few episodes may seem uninteresting and slow. But I can assure you, it starts to pick up. The one thing I will say is that the drama does throw you off with some wording/subbing. For example, I went into the drama wondering where the demon tribe is since it was mentioned but they mainly focused on the Ghost Tribe. It took me a few episodes (like 6?) to understand that Ghost Tribe=Demon Tribe. They are supposed to be used interchangeably. I'm not sure if it's a translation error, but it did throw me off at the start of the drama. There were other times where they would call Bai Feng Jiu , Xiao Jiu and it took me time to understand they are same person (same with other characters as well). Also, the time. The timeline they use from the Celestial Palace to mortal realm didn't make sense. It would have been better to just add a small note on bottom of screen (like oh this is blank day of mortal realm = blank day of celestial).
Acting & Characters-
I really liked Yang Mi and Mark Chao's acting. They both did a wonderful job portraying their characters.
Yang Mi did a great job in portraying her 3 characters Si Yin, SuSu, and Bai Qian. Each of them had their own personalities, my favorite being Bai Qian. As for Mark, he really made you love his character by acting out as Ye Hua.
Their chemistry was on point! I was pretty much hungry for their scenes.
As for the antagonists, I would say they aren't exceptional. They may have done a good job in making you pissed at them but their motivations were similar. I did want to see more scenes regarding the other support characters such as Zhe Yan, Bai Zhen, and Mo Yuan. They made a side story drama for Feng Jiu & Dong Hua (with Lian Song + Cheng Yu), but I still wanted to see the rest of the characters in more scenes.
Music- I do have to add Bracing the Chill was my favorite! I usually don't comment on music but this one whenever I watched on a higher volume to hear the music, would always add to the emotional scenes.
Rewatch- I don't think I'll get bored. I already rewatched some of my favorite scenes since I wasn't over the drama. But the entire drama I probably will rewatch in the future.
*SPOILERS BELOW* (A long rant about what bothered me & what was confusing, and then the good stuff)
In the first 10 episodes, we see Si Yin's character and Mo Yuan. I already figured out Mo Yuan had developed some sort of feelings for her because he did whatever he could to protect her. I expected Si Yin to have feelings for him as well, but then unexpectedly she falls for Li Jing. I personally didn't want them to have a relationship because I just didn't like the playboy side of Li Jing and I'm glad they didn't get into a serious relationship. I didn't want to see our female lead become vulnerable to him. And in a way it's a good thing she saw his pathetic self who cannot understand her and decides to cheat without using his head.
I was surprised though that they let Xuan Nu steal the tactical strategy for war. I thought at least Mo Yuan would be smart enough to see through it. They didn't show how she stole it, but I assumed she transformed to Si Yin. It could have fooled the other disciples, but HOW did it get past Mo Yuan? If he was available to see through Bai Qian's transformation, why not this?
Then we don't see Mo Yuan for 70,300 years since his spirit is scattered and we learn he isn't the story's focus. The story's main focus is Ye Hua. We all know that he's from the golden lotus but why does he look like Mo Yuan was a mystery. I always thought it was a spirit of Mo Yuan and that's what needs to be recovered for Mo Yuan to come back alive.
When Bai Qian undergoes a trial in the mortal realm, a red dot appears on her forehead. They never really explained its significance? Why did she get it all of a sudden? Was it to show that her powers sealed? But if that's the case then how come Ye Hua didn't notice it? He didn't question why she has a mark on her forehead or look into it. They made it look so normal. Feng Jiu's plumed cockscomb was explained, but not this. Was having a red dot normally seen as a birthmark? But then in the portrait Ye Hua drew of SuSu, the red dot wasn't drawn. Does that mean it was just something for viewers? If so, why make it a viewer thing when we all clearly know that she lost her memories?
Episodes 19-25, we're introduced to Su Jin creating problems. I was frustrated with the drama with this but held through. I was also angry seeing how SuSu's character was weak and gullible. She fell for the same tricks by Su Jin over again causing her to lose her eyes. But seeing how Ye Hua wasn't the same as Li Jing, made me continue. Ye Hua was truly devoted to her in the mortal world, prepared to sacrifice everything for her. But after being caught, he had to pretend to be cold in order to protect her. Although his method was not the best way, he at least didn't betray her and stayed loyal to her.
Episode 26 and onward gets even more interesting. You finally see Bai Qian's character. Qian is shown to be unafraid and smart. They showed how attentive Ye Hua was to immediately figure out SuSu is Bai Qian (you can see how he really loves her just by picking up every detail of hers). The drama slowly built their relationship again with problems as well, but not the same as before. Bai Qian is much wiser and was able to see through Su Jin's tricks. The drama handled Xuan Nu and Su Jin's case pretty well. When Bai Qian regained her memories and took her eyes back, I was cheering for her. That was something I wanted to see badly. The same applies when Bai Qian showed Xuan Nu's true self and went to battle alone. The plot twist of Ye Hua being the twin brother of Mo Yuan never occurred to me. I was always wondering why they had the same face and even when it was in lotus form it showed his face. But that explained a lot about Ye Hua. The part where Bai Qian is upset with Ye Hua after remembering everything and then she didn't even have the chance to reconcile with him teared me up. They went to battle right away and he dies without them being able to have a talk. The ending did satisfy our hearts seeing them together again which I knew they would find a way to bring him alive from the opening/ending songs. But it was nice that they gave us a brief somewhat believable explanation. They just added a last minute (convenient) detail about how Sea of Innocence can help with recuperation along with the coffin being an artifact. The part where he only used the Heavenly Father's power and not his own spirit was believable.
What I wanted to be more clarified/ and see more of:
-A Li's relationship with Bai Qian. It doesn't look like a typical mother/son relationship which was funny and I was fine since she didn't remember him. But, after Ye Hua's death, Bai Qian was depressed for 3 years but didn't see her son? I get she couldn't see her son that much because he has to study a lot with a new burden on him because of his father's death.
- Zhe Yan and Bai Zhen. These 2 are always together. I wanted more of their bromance.
- Mo Yuan with someone else. I felt so bad because when he came back he finds out the disciple he loves is with his younger twin. And every time she mentioned Ye Hua's name he was a bit hurt. But I'm glad they showed Mo Yuan different and willing to give up and bury his feelings.
- Su Jin's maid receiving punishment. I'm sure she did, but they never showed it. The maid was pretty much an accomplice.
- Season 2 of this with Bai Qian and Ye Hua with the same actors again. While the ending was nice for them kinda wished to see more scenes of them with another plot. No more of their relationship issues. Just keep building their relationship. I felt like their scenes were not enough and wanted more. Gotta see their wedding and everything.
- How was Ye Hua easily able to get his arm movement back?
What I didn't like:
- How the main 2 female antagonists (Su Jin and Xuan Nu) are the same. They both hate Bai Qian being the interest of the man they love. It's like they're showing how women go crazy over the man they love and are willing to do anything.
At least give the other antagonist a different motive.
- Qing Cang is just a threat for a few episodes. He's a threat in the start and all we see is him in the bell mostly and then out for a few minutes till he dies. I feel like he could have been shown to be a better antagonist than the ones above.
- Feng Jiu constantly trying for Dong Hua. I just don't like how the character looked almost desperate. It's nice to show her sincerity, but seeing her get constantly hurt was just sad.
- I found it funny how Su Jin was punished by Ye Hua's grandfather when he knew about her scheme to kill Su Su for him. Yet, the grandfather didn't get punished? Where's the punishment for that? If Dong Hua can get punished by the heavens why not him? YH's grandfather pretty much supported Su Jin's scheme for SuSu.
- The drama is too short actually. They should have made it longer & developed characters better. And more YH & BQ Scenes!
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Though many people want to pan the series because it comes from plagiarized works, I don't think that is fair to the production. The script writers made something wonderful out of a mediocre novel, and that should be appreciated for its own merits. This was a beautiful piece of work and I appreciate the time, talents, and hard work of the production team.
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This review may contain spoilers
The below is solely my own subjective opinion. Also, Spoiler alert. Major spoiler alert. The storyline was great, the casting- especially for Ye Hua/Mo Yuen, Donghua Dijun/Mortal Emperor as well as Bai Qian/Susu, Bai Feng Jiu and Cheng Yu. However, love story wise, I think I was most touched and actually cried when it came to Dijun and Feng Jiu's relationship. You could really feel the love and emotions between them. The acting between them was pretty great and so was their story.
I felt more emotions between Mo Yuen and Si Yin during the beginning moreso than compared to Ye Hua and Bai Qian throughout. Also, each episode went on pretty slowly, I watched in on 1.75x to 2.0x speed most of the time. The death of Li Jing was also really sad. We also never knew if Zhe Yan cleansed the eyes and gave them back to Bai Qian or not, or when Mo Yuen's hand had recovered. I was still quite in disbelief that Ye Hua took Susu's eyes and never returned them even when he knew he could take them back from Su Jin though. We also never saw more of Nai Nai and her existence after her devotion and loyalty to Susu after she served Bai Qian for a few days which was sad. Furthermore, Cheng Yu's story with the third prince was never revealed either even though they mentioned it and aroused curiosity from the audience. Cheng Yu and A Li's characters were the ones who brought the most joy and so were the scenes with Bai Feng Jiu's and Dijun's interactions.
What bothered me the most was the one liner explanation in the end of Mo Yuen explaining the return of Ye Hua. There was completely no clues or indication of this in the beginning and it just suddenly explained everything. It didn't make sense to me why Mo Yuen didn't hint to Bai Qian that there was a possibility of him coming back in roughly 10 years even though he had some idea.
Although we knew that Bai Qian and Feng Jiu's original form was the 9 tailed fox, we never saw any other original forms except knowing that Zhe Yan's form was a phoenix and Ye Hua's was a dragon. I feel like that would've made things more fun.
Overall, it was worth watching. Although its not the best, it was one of the best/better one's I've watched.
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On the other hand, Yehua's cousin de ella did deserve what happened to her because she was bad. I still mourn the death of the disciple and her first love of her. The Master made me sad but life is not so bittersweet. Again Highly recommended. Watch it as many times as you want.
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This review may contain spoilers
Good drama
It was a solid drama with some flaws. It took place over several lifetimes and told a love story between Ye Hua and Bai Qian. The first arc between Sin Yi and Mo Yuan was a little boring. Nothing exciting happened. She became his disciple and trained with him. It was evident that they were close but there was no romance between them. The romance was actually between her and Li Jing who cheated on her and broke her heart.The saddest arc was between Susu and Ye Hua. Susu was a mortal who was dragged into the heaven realm while pregnant where she was abused, blinded, and then jumped to her death. That scene was very well done and conveyed the hopelessness and heartbreak that the characters felt. It was probably the highlight of the entire show.
The arc between Bai Qian and Ye Hua was sometimes frustrating. Bai Qian was the nine-tailed fox goddess. Nine-tailed goddesses take the form of beautiful and seductive women. Bai Qian was a beautiful woman but she was anything but a seductress. She was actually quite obtuse when it came to matters of the heart, which went completely against whom she was supposed to be. Her interactions with Ye Hua were often awkward. He was very handsy and pushy with her. She looked uncomfortable. Those scenes could have been filmed better with less awkwardness and a little more tact from Ye Hua. I did like their sexual chemistry. It was refreshing to see kisses between adults not looking like toddlers pecking each other on the lips.
The show could have developed Bai Qian's character a bit more where she came into her own as a goddess. She didn't really do much besides sleeping on tree branches and drinking wine. She was a high goddess and answered to no-one. Even the heaven emperor respected her. The only time when she showed any backbone was when she confronted Su Jin. It was a very satisfying scene watching Su Jin getting her comeuppance.
I didn't care about most secondary characters. Li Jing pining after Bai Qian for tens of thousands of years, while ignoring his wife, was very boring. I didn't care about his sister either or anything that was going on in the ghost realm. Even though it was a long drama with almost 60 episodes, there were way too many characters who brought little value to the plot.
Overall, it's a good drama and I watched it twice.
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Tears in the Heavenly Realm, Love in the Mortal World
This drama is easily one of my top three of all time. It doesn’t even need a star rating—because it belongs in a league of its own. Every single character delivered an outstanding performance, and the way their stories intertwined kept me glued to every episode.I especially loved Ye Han and SiSi’s relationship in the mortal world—their moments together were tender and unforgettable. But in the Heavenly Realm, my heart broke for SiSi. I shed many tears watching how Ye Han, in trying to protect her, only ended up hurting her more.
There are a few side characters I wish the drama had explored more deeply—like the Third Uncle, the Old Phoenix, and SiSi’s immortal brother. Their stories hinted at so much richness.
The love scenes were beautifully done, and the fight scenes were sharp and captivating—nothing over the top, just perfectly executed.
This drama is not just a watch—it’s a must re-watch, the kind you proudly add to your DVD collection and revisit again and again.
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This review may contain spoilers
Well... I watched the drama after the movie. Captivated by the beautiful colors, actors, chemistry and the story itself, I ran to watch the series to get a full understanding of the picture. Well, now everything has really become clear to me. The story is beautiful, but I have a lot of comments on the presentation... I won't say anything about the graphics, you'll see everything yourself. However, I think the chemistry between the characters could have been made stronger, because everything doesn't look serious. The main characters can be described in a couple of words - "mentor, mentor, mentor, mentor" and "Ye Hua, Ye Hua, Ye Hua, Ye Hua", very funny, though at first I felt some kind of cringe, and all the time I thought "oh my god, what the hell is going on", and only somewhere around the middle of the series did it start to drag on. In principle, after watching I didn't have such strong, negative emotions as while watching, I guess I got used to it - I got used to it and accepted this drama for what it is. I understand that the drama is old by standards, and it's true... after high-quality, modern works, it's really hard for the eye to watch this (at first). While watching, I kept thinking about what negative review I would write (probably partly because the main actors didn't accept it, because I wanted to see Yang Yang), because I was not satisfied with absolutely everything, but I'm shocked!!! That's it, all the negativity has evaporated. I'm just glad for the good ending and the explanation of everything that happened. The only thing is, it's a pity that the film and the series weren't filmed the other way around (Yang Yang and that actress in the drama, and Yang Mi and that actor in the film), well, it would have been better to film the drama better and wait for Yang Yang, phew. Eh, jokes, jokes. So watch with pleasure. And I'm off to watch the film again for a comparative analysis of the plot and consolidation, so to speak, and I'll move on to "Personal Diary" Was this review helpful to you?
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This review may contain spoilers
"Eternal Love" follows Bai Qian's journey, all the obstacles she must overcome in all her lives: as the disciple Si Yin, the mortal Su Su, and her original form, the goddess Bai Qian.Bai Qian hides her true identity to become a disciple of Mo Yuan, where she takes the name Si Yin. She spends years as a man, honing her skills and bonding with Mo Yuan. There, she also meets Li Jing, who eventually becomes her first love. Even though he is from the Ghost Realm, enemies of the Celestial Realm, Si Yin decides to leave with Li Jing, but she is betrayed by both him and Xuan Nu, whom she considered a friend.
In a battle, Mo Yuan sacrifices himself to save the Celestial Realm. In the process, Mo Yuan's soul is split, and part of it enters a flower. Bai Qian returns home and uses her heart's blood to keep Mo Yuan's body intact, hoping that one day he can return. Time passes, the flower containing part of Mo Yuan's soul grows and becomes Ye Hua, prince of the Celestial Realm. The seal Mo Yuan placed on the king of the Ghost Realm was breaking. Bai Qian tries to recast the spell, but ends up losing her powers and being banished to the Mortal Realm, where she becomes Su Su.
The mortal Su Su finds a snake and begins to care for it, unaware that this snake is the true form of Prince Ye Hua. The two fall in love, marry, and Su Su becomes pregnant. But their happiness is short-lived when people from the Celestial Realm find them and imprison Su Su in the palace. Her life there is literally one hell after another. Ye Hua is cold to her because he was trying to protect her, but he doesn't help her when Su Jin plots an evil scheme against her, resulting in the loss of her eyes. Su Su only waits to give birth and then kills herself, but since she wasn't a mortal, Su Su simply returns to her original form, the goddess Bai Qian.
The real romance begins at this point, with Bai Qian meeting Ye Hua, unaware of who he is, only that he's identical to Mo Yuan, and Ye Hua fascinated by her because she's identical to Su Su. They fall madly in love with each other. The chemistry between them is incredible, their kisses are passionate, and it was beautiful to see Bai Qian falling in love with Ye Hua, without remembering anything that happened between them. This was to show that their feelings were genuine.
The couple Feng Jiu and Dong Hua are very interesting, but since they weren't the focus of the drama, they end up taking a backseat. The good thing is that a drama was made focusing on them, so this ended up being just the beginning of their story.
This is a very good drama, even with 58 episodes, they fly by. The story has good characters, a very captivating couple, a passionate romance, and a very addictive soundtrack.
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Best Chinese Costume Drama
BestChinese costume Drama with great acting/ directing and nice ost .
. I watched Chinese drama when I was young .
I mostly enjoyed watching k-drama within current days.
I watched this drama because of my friend recommended at 2019. I like main casts love story and really enjoy watching.
Mark chao and yang mi are portrayed great chemistry and outstanding acting .
Best xian xia drama also
Love it . Visual effects are also nice .
Opening ost and closing ost are really heart touching!
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This review may contain spoilers
I enjoyed the story so much, visually and emotionally!As a huge fan of a fantasy/historical/romance genre, all aspects for me are fulfilled here.
Cinematography is superb, I really enjoyed the heavenly realm and now I want to see more of it, that's why this drama and Ashes of Love are my favorite C-Dramas so far, I hope it will be more dramas like this in the future.
Story: 10.0 *** SOME SPOILERS AHEAD ***
Love story is just phenomenal, their falling in love in mortal world is my favorite part, later on, it becomes more tragedy-like but you have to be shaken to the core by all those disasters they encounter during they journey so in the end you can feel tremendous joy and happiness when they overcome them.
Acting: 10.0
I think they couldn't find better leads for this drama than they did, they are just perfect for their roles, male lead especially, he acted two roles here and after some time I really couldn't see that it is the same actor, you could feel the difference between those two characters so clearly, amazing.
*** THE OF THE SPOILERS ***
Music: 9.5
Music is really touching and beautiful.
Re-watch: 9.0
I've watched this drama two times so far, but it was a bit overwhelming at times with all those misunderstandings, (I really hate those in any drama) so that's why I give it 9.0
If you are in dilemma, should you watch this drama or not, don't be, this is Must Watch Drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
Excellent story, acting, production…
This one is always listed in the top 10 historical c-dramas… so kf course I had to check it out.A bit long with 58 episodes of 45 mins… but it is worth it.
ML- God Moh Yuan / Ye hua is amazing. He manages to give you a complete different feeling when playing each of the roles…. And his devastation when FL is gone breaks your heart.
FL- Bai Qian… she is a mix of everything… from shy, quiet, stubborn, martyr… to fierce Goddess… she plays it very good.
I loved her as a Goddess… taking command and no BS from anyone… (although you have to wait a lot of episodes but .. it happens).
One thing..l a lot of time spent on secondary storylines… probably to give sedway for kther seasons… but they are endearing so, it was Ok.
The story makes you really hate Heaven… and cheer for the underdogs.
Overall… a bit long but very nice story, acting and production… and with good ending.
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