This review may contain spoilers
Good, but incredibly slow.
It's been like three years since I've watched Eternal Love 1. It was my first, or second cdrama too. Having seen Dream now I'm thinking that perhaps I've been looking at the original drama with rose tinted glasses. The reason being that Dream is incredibly SLOW and thinking back perhaps EL1 is just as bad in this regard.The original novel is titled "Three Lives Three Worlds, The Pillow Book". I have not read it, but I'm guessing that all the reincarnated, or semi reincarnated lives witnessed in this drama originate from the novel and oh boy the author did not fail to exhaust this plot device. This is the single worst thing about the drama. Spending 10 episodes in the mortal realm & 10 in another realm living different, or semi different lives is not my definition of a fun story. Had this been a normal 24 episode drama I would have been okay with that, but it's 56 episodes. That's not even all, the show has many makjang-ish moments, it's way beyond what I would consider a frustration free viewing experience.
On a more positive note, there are a lot of amazing things in this drama as well.
In my opinion this is how a cultivation novel should be brought to screen. Sure the CG is pretty low fidelity, however all the daoist powers, formations, creatures and realms were portrayed pretty closely to how I imagined they would be after reading about them for many years. Even an ascension pool is featured!
Of course ultimately this is a romance drama & the OTP had great chemistry and - whenever the characters were aware of each other's identities- their romance was really entertaining to watch, with lots of comedy included.
The supporting cast is absolutely amazing.
The love triangles may be weak, but the secondary love interests caused a decent amount of angst and many misunderstandings. So the overall score is not that great, triangle-wise.
The audiovisuals were excellent, bad CG notwithstanding.
Overall I would say that I greatly enjoyed about half the drama, most of the other half was on the boring side of frustrating, however considering how memorable this drama is for me I think rating it at 8/10 is more than fair.
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It is a good drama overall.
There are already many reviews on this drama, so I would not say much.Overall, as my headlines says, this drama is good, the CGI are good, the music is good, the cast acted well and the chemistry between the leads are very good.
The only part I didn't really enjoy was the aranya dream. It was a little confusing at times and you really had to listen carefully to the dialogues to fully understand what's going on. Throughout that part, I kept wondering, when exactly are they going to leave this dream?!...it was just too long and sometimes really boring and slow-paced, I fell asleep sometimes even.
Aside from that, there is nothing negative about this drama. It was well-made. However, it wasn't one of those dramas that was so exciting and captivating that you want to know what will happen next. Nothing of that sort I felt while watching the drama.
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Lack of Communication : Real Main Character of the Drama
Some Chinese Xianxias - with all the immortal mumbo jumbo - should take a leaf out of Korean drama books and wrap up in 12 or maximum 16 episodes. Eternal Love of Dream is one of those.I’m super late to the party. I watched this drama 2-3 years after it came out. Normally, I’d watch it and move on. But a few things in this drama irked me so much, that I had to take my frustration out.
Feng Jiu and Dong Hua were introduced to us in TMOPB. ELOD borrowed the characters from TMOPB, but the track is entirely different. The track solely focuses on Jiu and Dong Hua’s story, but it’s a reboot from their original one. The issue is there is not much of a story. It’s a collection of tropes and consequently, scenes. There are four parts, initial meeting, his tribulations in the mortal realm, hers and the final battle with the main villain, Miao Lou, who is just there. The drama does not clearly answer what she is after or what her motivations are. Very two dimensional and therefore entirely forgettable. The ongoing conflict between her and Dong Hua feels unnecessary and adds nothing to anyone’s character development.
As usual, the CGI leaves something to be desired. It’s not the worst, nor is it the best. The costume, production are also per the norm. Nothing memorable. On a personal note, I have no idea how any of those in the Tai Chen palace manage to get any sleep, with no doors and constant bright light. It’s mostly an eternal sunshine of the bright day there. The background score is so-so.
Now the characters and actors. Vengo Gao’s Dong Hua is fun to watch - well most of the times. VG captured Dong Hua’s smug superiority and mischievous nature quite well. As for the character, barring some very questionable and arbitrary decisions, it’s an alright character. Since from the beginning he supposedly outclasses every single person around him, there is no room for growth for him. The only change is he falls in love. That would have been more impactful if they had shown his weariness and aloneness born out of long years and being the best at everything. He remains the same through out and that makes him boring to me.
FL Bai Feng Jiu. What do I even say there. Oh mercy! Her childishness did not annoy me per se; after all she is pretty young by their immortal standards. But her character remains exactly that way until the last 10 min. What’s the point of any drama if the characters do not either evolve or devolve? I like Dilraba. She is extremely pretty and can act well. But in this drama, if you replace her with any xyz actress, it would not make an iota difference. Her presence is that ordinary. Her inner self when she transforms into a fox is so cringe that I was second hand embarrassed.
Almost all the supporting characters exist only to either assist or hinder the main characters. So none of them have engaging stories, even when they have their own romance track. One noteworthy character, for me, was Yan. His impatient, young and funny demon deserved so much better than the whiny, superficial Ji Heng. I truly felt sorry for him.
I don’t get this weird obsession some C-dramas have with infantilizing the FLs. Here DH’s treatment of Jiu was such that at times their intimate scenes felt like cradle robbing to me - they were uncomfortable to watch. Why is a fully grown woman, goddess, or immortal suddenly not adult enough to deserve the same explanations the ML freely gives his buddy? Conversely, why can’t the FL share the reasons behind her erratic—and frankly foolish—behavior with the ML, especially when he asks, yet she has no trouble explaining it to secondary or even tertiary characters? People, just talk. If even 50% of the time you spend on inner monologues is spent on talking with the other person, 90% of the idiotic conflicts and misunderstandings can be avoided. There is more to romance than accidentally falling in bed and kissing. RME. This drama could have been 20 episodes long, had the leads just communicated with each other. Why two supposedly grown adults need a translator just to explain their actions to each other is truly beyond me.
It could have been a truly delightful drama. DH had been so lonely for so long. A slip of a woman slowly brought him out of his shell and showed him the bright side of immortality. Jiu went beyond her infatuation and truly understood the man behind the perfect immortal whom everybody had put on a pedestal. There was so much potential. But ELOD only used the same old tropey formulae that it ended up being an entirely forgettable watch. Utterly disappointing!
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The story is developing at a perfect pace. It gets more and more interesting and makes me anticipate for more.
The music is magnificent! It has the angelic, heavenly humming sound I love. I find that it establishes the setting very well; it creates and magnifies the atmosphere like the scene when Dong Hua descends help Fengjiu fight the firing animal. It creates great emotion!
I would totally re-watch this series again when it all came out! This has got to be THE BEST series of 2020!! TOTALLY RECOMMENDED!
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Oh my goodness! Thank you for the Subbers! This is good therapy for my chaotic and stressful life. I need to get away from all the problems in real life. This drama has it all. Power, Handsomeness, Beautiful People, Heaven and Hell and Romance. Love it. I have seen TMOPB and just wanted to see more of these two main characters. It’s eye candy to watch and something new.
Story, acting, VFX, graphics all over first class. I think leading role will be acting 3 different types carecter. I must say that this pillow book is so good. And I cannot wait for next episodes.
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I started watching this drama while at the brink of insanity from being self-quarantined with my family and boy did it help! At first I wasn’t sure what to expect and decided just to give the first episode a try but just that first episode had me completely enthralled. I don’t know what it was that got me hooked first maybe it was the shiny costumes or the magical immortal realm that captivated me but before I knew it, I was pulled in. Feng Jiu’s character was childish but also endearing and the love and admiration she had for Dong Hua was adorable and although she did go over at times, I could never get annoyed by her, she was just so persistent and that made her so endearing. And her fox ? CGI was adorable I would have liked to have seen more of it later on but alas.
The next thing I have to mention is Dong Hua’s character and the actor portraying him, honestly he deserves an award for bringing such a character to life. Dong Hua’s character is a very old immortal and at times seemed detached and unresponsive but as you watch the drama and the story progress you see just how expressive he is without even physically showing it whether he’s pranking someone or being serious when it comes to matters of the heart. The actor just had such expressive eyes that I fell for him just as Feng Jim did.
The storyline and what the story is about is basically in the title, Three Lives Three Worlds and honestly some would say that it was slow or boring but to me it was unique and beautiful and I loved every minute of it. The shows build up was just really well done in my opinion and the romance was DIVINE! From now and forever Feng Jiu and Dong Hua will be my OTP and I can’t express that enough! However, the show wasn’t without its flaws and side characters did take more of a back seat in this but I think it’s just that the romance between the two main leads was the main focus so the other characters were put more on the back burner. As well as certain characters really needed to die and stop coming back but that’s another story. Overall, I may be biased but I truly loved and enjoyed this story which is why I’m giving it ALL THE ⭐️’s it deserves.
P.s. If anyone has any other suggestions of Chinese drama’s like this or any other but without sad endings I would seriously appreciate it! Wishing you love and support wherever you are! Stay safe and stay strong! Fighting!
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Fenjiu is absolutely gorgeous, brave and super cute! These two characters compliment each other so well. I love the interaction between them!
The acting is admirably excellent! I have to say Dong Hua's makeup, hairdo and costume was way better in Eternal Love! The music was also better there. I think it's because of the production company.
The first 8 episodes lost my interest a little bit. I think it would be better if they start the story like in the novel and recall the past as it goes along (it might be confusing the those who did not read the book). I didn't like to not seeing any interaction between the main leads. If you have the same feeling, stick along, it gets way way way better! I promise you will love this drama!
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PLEASE WATCH IT AS IT IS ON ITS OWN WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
The casts are excellent. Vengo & Diliraba are doing a fantastic job as DH and FJ. No one else can be in that role except them. They really brought out the cold aloof DH yet shameless n flirty side of DH n cheeky n mischievous yet spunky, full of spirit FJ. I'm glad the director didn't do flash backs of DH trial but layout for us viewers to see and understand easily. It's less confusing. The story slowly unfolds and shows FJ growth from a young girly fox who is quite childish to mature up when she was made to understand her actions have consequences and she has to be responsible for those consequences. Ep 21 is epic ... the acting of OTP is excellent.
Now I'm enjoying the courtship of our OTP. I'm also beginning to enjoy little Ah Li. He is too funny. Yes he still looks like a girl but in real life there are little boys who are too handsome that are often mistaken as girls too n vice versa. The child actor is excellent. Ah Li is too wise for his age. Ep 25 & 26 is hilarious. Ah li & DH are definitely not helping FJ at all. One did it innocently while the other does it blatantly and shamelessly. Poor FJ is always outwitted by DH. ????
Love the friendship between FJ and Simin. Like I said before, even the supporting .... everyone is excellent in their role.
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This review may contain spoilers
I dont know how to rate this dramaI waiting from 2017 when know about this drama, but when i end the "hot blooded youth and very angry for the f*cking ending i search the director and found he direct this drama,i hesitate for the first for watching this drama,and same as i thought, very disappointed drama, he ruins this drama,and also ruins the s1 character story(zilan) too,,all the dramas directed by him that I watched ,all is disappointed "classic mountain " (ridiculous story and ending), "noble aspiration " (hanging up for a long time) ,hot blooded youth (ridiculous ending) ,,beside "ash of love" the only drama i can accept from him
This drama make me so confused,messy timing, drain my brain for arrange the timing ,i like eternal love because the timing is clear and not leave alot of question (almost no),but for this season, i would rather it never release
1. Make me confusing,should i watch it connected with the season 1 or not? It make by same creator right?
If said connected, it not make a sense with alot scene from season 1
(1). Zilan identify, if zilan is the twin brother of yan chi wu, why he can be together with ghost clan yanzhi? He is from the demon clan,whereas fox clan is fine if they want( bai qian and the secong prince of ghost clan)
(2). the scene of donghua and fengjiu in season 1 totally different with the season 2,when fengjiu be a maid for taicheng palace in S1 she helped by cheng yu,but in S2 She helped by si ming,,,,, the mortal realm story different too,,, a li ages, and fengjiu age different too with the S1, in S1 fengjiu being help by Donghua when she 70000 years old, she born the same with ye hua (maybe)( before being moyuan being seal+70000years when baiqian seal it again,so her age 70000)but in S2 she just 30000 and born when demon war
2.So donghua choose god clan because touching by the kindness of god tribe or being invite by godfather?
3. Some acting are too exaggerated and lame
4. i think the director and scripwritter not really understand the relationship between the characters? In season 1 siming and dong hua more closer but in S2 dong hua close with lian song
5. will connect if watch it separately, if watch it separately, the existence of yehua, baiqian, zilan must be present at least once or not present or talk about them at all ,because if they talking about them but not present them, the watcher who not watch S1 dont understand who yehua,baiqian,and zilan
6.And when yan chi wu help ji heng out from the jail he also use magic,and cheng yu help fengjiu healing in the jail nothing happen?isnt they said if immortal use magic in mortal can get backfire
7.timing when ji heng fall to mortal is before donghua reincarnation to mortal realm but why she dont feel weird? Because she dont know she from demon clan, and then she asking for being donghua mortal identity concubine
8.When enemy want to take the lingbi stone, the mechanic sword go out very slow its very funny thats can hurt people
9.Ep 33 when competition for pimpo fruit ,isnt they said that green plum lake is the place that seal the magic,why ji heng can control yan chi wu with her demon lord spell?
10.Isnt they said cant get out from fanyin valley?,why in ep 35 yan chi wu can go back to demon clan?,
11. where the night owl bird clan live? Why they said the first prince of biyi bird go war because night owl clan declare for war because of neighbors fight of both clan? ,when fengjiu and yanchiwu accident fall from fuyu mount they use night owl clan student name, so that mean they not live in the fuyu mount but out of fuyu mount,and fuyu mount only open 60 years once
12. why donghua and su mo ye doesnt find shen ye appearance similar with dijun?,,di jun just change the clan imagine of xize but not change his Appearance ,or they also can say "why xi ze appearance similar with shen ye?"
13.how miao luo soul go inside the alanya dream?
Isnt they said the valley just open 1 time in 60 years? ,and just a high cultivate immortal can go in to the valley, but why miao luo can? And if she is the one of high cultivate immortal, she can go in the valley but not the dream，she is being seal by donghua, and even dong hua, he injured when get in to the dream.
14. how demon clan nie chu yun know about alanya dream? ,even biyi bird clan,clansman they also dont believe about the alanya dream
15. Ep 42 when fengjiu back to her real body, she said"maybe this is my real body?" but when saw dijun she recognized him and know miao luo is the person who fought with dijun when in the fanyin valley HAHAHA! she should no remember it,she still in the alanya dream!
Why the queen very hate alanya ?but why she treat chang di better?
16. If shen ye is dijun shadow and alanya is fengjiu shadow the timing not match,, dijun shadow born 300 years ago when dijun sleep for 100 years,and when fengjiu and netherworld lord meet, it been 100 years laters,it mean fengjiu shadow age is 200 years old and when su mo ye bring alanya as his student when she 25years old, and her shape already adult shape ,same immortal but a-li already 300years but still a child shape
17.If see from ep50 dialog between netherworld lord and fengjiu ,they came back from mortal realm already 200years and its match with ji heng already 200years in fanyin valley,,if like that, it mean bai qian married 200year after fengjiu back from mortal realm
18.at the last when they want to trap miao luo at fanyin valley,why miaoluo didnt know how to enter the valley? Isnt she cant easily go inside when alanya dream?
And fanying valley only open 60years once, and they said its to late if fanyin valley open and the dark energy exit,it mean its been pass 60years? And fengjiu and his son already in mortal realm for 600+years?
19.the ending is a bit forced
20. Alot fo character being change, zhe yan, bai shui, cheng yu, a -li (for the first i confuse she or he)
21. Some character have a weird characteristic changing at the last, not match
22. Dong hua and fengjiu character is famous because of they sad relationship in s1, IN MY OPINION it would be better if the story isn't changed far from season 1, because that's what the audience likes
23. They should not tell about fengjiu and donghua son at first, it reduce the excited
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This review may contain spoilers
After almost two or three years of waiting, the coveted sequel to Ten Miles of Peach Blossom finally premiered! My personal favorite OTP from TMOPB - Bai Feng Jiu and Dong Hua - were brought back together and we finally get to see the full story for the adorable 9-tailed red fox and the (essentially) creator of the heavens. Overall I'd say this was a super cute drama and it was filled with a lot of good bits for the fans, but I will say it doesn't quite measure up to the first season of TMOPB.*** SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW**** (Also sorry this review is pretty long)
STORY:
Knowing the cutesy personality for BJF (and also her actress Dilraba) I expected this to be overall cutesy, with a bit of "drama" towards the end. That was exactly what we got. We see the development of the relationship between BFJ and DH from their first meeting to the end. I think overall there was a good progression of their relationship, and I liked that the ML didn't immediately fall in love with the FL (it would be totally against DH's character to do so). I think we could see how this relationship turned from that picture- perfect crush on the "knight in shining armor" to an actual love strengthened by situations and sacrifice. I think the writers did well with giving us enough cutesy scenes without overdoing it on the romance plot.
For the story with Miao Luo (big bad), I feel like it was a pretty predictable story line and honestly, even as big and bad as she was, I feel like her presence didn't really disrupt the lives of the leads (until the end really). So I think her story of being essentially caged up the whole time, didn't really let the audience feel what a "big bad" she really was supposed to be. (Though thinking back, I'd say the same thing for the big bad in the first TMOPB). The whole situation wrapped up in a nice bow in the final episode, so meh. This was supposed to be a romance-forward drama anyways.
I think there were some story points, for me specifically the "Aranya's Dream" story point (granted I was watching in Chinese with no subtitles, so it was a bit easier for me to get confused about some stuff), but I think that section of the story kind of dragged a bit for my preferences.
Story overall was pretty predictable and really no major confrontations throughout. Everyone had a clean, happy ending. But I think this drama did really well with character development to make up for the average storyline.
CHARACTERS:
Feng Jiu - Mentioning character development, I think we definitely saw a HUGE change for BFJ's character. She was able to grow, mature, and strengthen herself (while still being able to keep some of her original playful personality). I personally really like Dilraba and think that BFJ is one of her best characters. (From watching her on Running Man and Go Fighting, I'd say BFJ is very similar to Dilraba's actual personality)
Dong Hua - gonna admit, I kind of liked DH better in TMOPB for the very cold, cool personality he had. It makes sense that you'd get a change in personality when he has more room to develop, but I feel like both characters being somewhat "childish" is kind of meh for me. Though I think it was a good contrast for his original personality of being such an "ice-face". Vengo Gao did a decent job with this portrayal, particularly with the cutesy scenes, but I think his "cold exterior" was better portrayed in the first season.
Others - Gonna be real, the writers ruined Ji Heng for me. She started off so well and they made her into one of the typical crazy romance enemies and then just meh. By the end, I was skipping through her scenes cause I couldn't really root for her relationship with Xiao Yan after how ridiculous she was meddling in BFJ and DH's relationship. She was madly in love with her bodyguard, and then madly in love with DH, and now I'm supposed to believe she's in love with Xiao Yan for real? Idk. Fickle.
Xiao Yan - originally thought he was pretty annoying, but clearly he turned out to be a solid friend to everyone, so I liked him by the end. Glad he got a happy ending - though don't care for Ji Heng obviously.
OVERALL:
Cutesy drama with good chemistry from the lead actors. Overall isn't my favorite drama as it was just too easy (story wise) and there didn't feel like there was any real conflict throughout the show. But it's definitely a cute romance when you need it.
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This review may contain spoilers
I have looked forward to this story since Eternal Love (Ten Miles of Peace Blossoms). It was everything I hoped for and better than the books! Ignore all the plot lines featuring DongHua and Fengjiu in Eternal Love. They f-ked it up. But thankfully it was redeemed in this stand alone series. Don’t get me wrong, Eternal Love is one of my favorite Chinese dramas. I have re-watched it several times. But now after watching this story, I will fast forward through all of the plot lines in Eternal Love that contain Donghua and Fengjiu and instead just rewatch this again as a companion show. I loved that they used the same actor and actress as the previous series. They have great chemistry together and really play off each other‘s personality types. I think their acting was consistent with before and maybe better even. I liked how the writers/producers maintained the world of the gods. Even though they weren’t done by the same writing (?) team you can see how the two series still kept continuity with the world building and characters and rules.
My only complaint with the series is the time that they spent within each section of the story. At times I felt like they spent too long in some areas and two little in other areas. For instance some of the stories really dragged on but yet the last 10 episodes they really waited to make everything happen last minute. I would’ve liked the reunion to have lasted longer than five minutes in the very last episode. Imagine the hijinks and the fun that could’ve been had if they would’ve at least devoted one last episode to Donghua getting to know his son! Too much time was spent on the pointless story of Alanruo and why she died.
Plus the actress and the character she played, JiHeng, was the most off putting person and a blatant grab at attention. From what I’ve read she really wanted to playing the main female character and that was why she bought the rights to the story. But upon finding that the fans didn’t want her to play that character she still managed to find herself a role in the series. Which is fine, I can get that. But then she made her character so clingy and obnoxious. And gave herself way too much screen time. It was obvious she was trying to make up for the fact that she couldn’t be the lead. I could’ve done very well fast forwarding through all her parts, and will do so when I rewatch this again. There was nothing I liked about her fake face, bad acting, and pointless character.
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