Love in Between (2020)

At least it had a HEA [Major spoilers at the end]

I'm so glad this had a happily ever after with only a few heartbreaking (but necessary) ends for some characters.

Zhang Ya Qin is now my third favourite Chinese actress. She is beyond amazing. I haven't watched a more convincing "man", dedicated disciple and strong female lead in one drama in FOREVER. There is usually one drawback about costume drama FLs, but not with Su Yun Luo (ZYQ). I LOVE HER.

This drama is one of the best of all of my favourite costume dramas. The brilliantly choreographed fight scenes found in Listening Snow Tower and Legend of Fu Yao. The physically weak, but psychologically strong ML from LST. The addictive MUSIC like "Love and Redemption" and "Novoland:Pearl Eclipse". Everything about this drama was so good.

I just can't give it full stars, because it made me cry a little too much. So much heartbreak. So much sadness. Watch with tissues.








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SPOILERS









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- Zhu Yan's death was so sad, but necessary
- Chang Ge and Jian Er's deaths were sad, but unnecessary. She had a terminal illness! Why not wait for her inevitable death and his death of a broken heart or su*c*de. (*i*i)
- I reeaaallllllyyyy though Chang Ge was Emperor Ai. It would have been a much better plot twist.
- Before the final battle (in the palace) when Qing Ci said he had a surprise (the fireworks) for Yun Luo and she said she had one too (also fireworks) for him, I thought she meant she would tell him that she was preggers. I mean, they had a kid around the same age as the years that passed after the final battle. So....
- Whhhhyyyy did they introduce Jiang Er as Chang Ge's love interest. I felt ZERO chemistry between them. He was better off having a platonic relationship with Ah'Yan. (They had a stronger bong. Soulmates).

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Hooked till midway then series fell flat

The series started off strong. Character relationship development was interesting and all 3 couples were likeable. Supporting cast was good as well. Unfortunately like many other dramas mid way through the story got kind of sloppy. FL went from smarter than everyone to can't figure out anything. Some misunderstandings felt forced, some episodes felt draggy with too many flashbacks.

What I enjoyed:
1. Wen Si Yuan's character. By far my favorite character. The way he talks is distinct and his acting just grows on you. Same feeling as when he played Mu Ci in Ashes of Love.
2. Zhu Yan - before he became his other self. Very lovable
3. Overall story
4. Initial parts had really good classic wu xia fight scenes peaked at the tournament and then..... feels like the fight choreographer quit or something.
5. Chemistry between all 3 couples.
6. Bromance between Zhu Yan & Yin Chang Ge

Downfalls:
1. 2nd 1/2 of the drama
2. Non stop crying and flashbacks
3. Anti climatic out comes
4. Ending that really logically didn't make sense on how the story was progressing. I even tried googling how and why and no answer..... ???

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To tell the truth I think this drama is really different form other dramas I have never seen drama like this one,First I think that you will love the girl lead for me the lead boy there were some scenes that he was soo annoying for me but I undertand him, the thing is that The drama in the beggining it can be kind of boring but it goes up when I was in episode 23 things started to get soo interesting and just wanted to keep watching.

I think by ep 30-36 things started to get soo stupid and thing where just happening which in my opinion their were soo innecessary, Another thing is that in the last 15 episodes people where dying which were stupid aswell, this drama has 3 couple but the third one both die I seriously cried and thought that their death were useless I don't even know why the writer did that for.

For me this drama had lots of stupid twists that where soo stupid taht I neally break my phone because their were just stupid, SPOILER-for me the villain didn't have to die because it wasn't his fault that he turned like that the poeple killed his parents, the shifu of yunluo didn't have to die and when he dies I don't even know wy the ML knocked out the GL I think it was to protect her but if I were her I would of hated him ,third the death fo the third couple fam I actually cried,fourth the death of emperor ai was just stupid and evertime a character comes they die ...

I don't rgret watching but I don't think I will watch it again For me I think the ending kind off dissapointed me I was waitng for something else more You can say that it was a happy ending but they ctually don't show what happend to the main couple ,I think the girl hat showed was the dugter of the main couple

,I watche this drama in Youtube with eng sub up to ep 31 but after I had to lokked for the other ones but I wacthed them in raw so I didn;'t really undertsqand their dialogue but I could guess what was happening so Yh

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One Inch of Yearning, One Ton of Sacrifice....

The English title of this drama; Love in Between was truly misleading, sound superficial and really didn't convey any meaning. This is not just a romance drama, though there are a few sweet couples... this is really about sacrifice... sacrifice for your loved ones (family, friend, lover), and sacrifice for the country...

It started quite light, and I thought it was just going to be another drama about a group of young people going for adventures together, but things get deeper and deeper... I like that each character was given ample time, though the character may look unimportant in the beginning... I also like intelligent antagonists... though of course, we hate their ruthless and selfish behavior.

The acting was quite good, I really underestimate some of the young actors/actresses in the beginning... There are quite a few veteran actors, too... And as someone else has commented, this drama show the best male disguise by a female actress, unlike most C-drama where you easily tell it was a female disguised as male.

The scenery was beautiful... I like the music, it is a reminiscence of the old days' wuxia scores... And I really like the lighting... many indoor scenes seems to really rely on candlelights.

The ending was a bit bizarre, a lot of things were not explained... and certain deaths seems unnecessary... But overall, it is still a drama worth watching...

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Good leads makes good drama

I absolutely loved the story. While full of twists, everything comes neatly together. Everything was explained very clearly without leaving any holes. The political struggle that affected the martial arts world was very beautifully intertwined. There were, however, unnecessary deaths.

The acting was quite good, except for the two main leads. It feels that they either lack experience or simply are not main lead material. Without picking on the looks, the FL is really lacking. Her acting lacks that show of inner struggle between saving her master and being true to her love. Every time Su Yunluo walks away from Zuo Qingci she always displays hatred rather than the struggle between her love for him and her disappointment in his betrayal. The male lead is really not bad. The problem is that there's no chemistry between the two. As far as display of chemistry, Wen Siyuan and Shen Manqin did the best job. Yin Changge and Jiang Er were not bad either.

Though not my taste, I have to give 10 for music. Well done in all the appropriate places.

Overall, I really enjoyed the whole package. If they had picked two more experienced leads, this would have made it up there in my heart right next to Nirvana in Fire.

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Disappointing ending

The storyline was intriguing, and the casting was good. The special effects were impressive, and the entire production was captivating. However, I was extremely disappointed with the sad ending, where the main characters die. It seems that some writers believe that a happy ending in a love story is not necessary, but in my opinion, it was anticlimactic and unsatisfactory.

I appreciated the choice of actors, especially the fact that they were more mature, which added to the credibility of the story. While some might find this drama excellent, it may not be everyone's cup of tea. I prefer stories with happy endings, so that wasn't my cup of tea.

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Surprise gem in the rough

I had low expectations given the low ratings, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this drama. From the get go, I knew this was going to be dark. This is not your happy, feel-good kind of drama, so if that’s what you are looking for, skip this. If you like character development, realistic motivations, and a good story line, then give it a try.

The good:
- leads and supporting cast did a fabulous job
- character development
- Qing Ci’s cunning plans and his ability to quickly improvise
- supporting characters had their own strong personalities
- good villains that were actually good at complex scheming

The bad:
- felt rushed at the end and though the ending was ok, it could have been better
- Zhu Yan plot line felt the weakest
- not sure if it was the character or portrayal of the character, but the Emperor was lackluster for me

Don’t read beyond this point as major spoilers will be discussed.

Character Development/Motivations

Fei Kou Er -> Su Yun Luo: She has only ever really known one person in her life, her master Su Xuan. She has no concept of real love nor how to express it, having spent the last 10 years of her life with only the goal of saving her master. Enter Zuo Qing Ci, who slowly chips away her hardened exterior to imbue love into her lifeless soul. After fulfilling her lifelong selfish goal to save her master, she learns to open her heart to Qing Ci for her own selfish reasons, and then finally give him her love as well as support his goals selflessly. Zhang Ya Qin portrayed this beautifully - cold and driven at the onset, uncertain and wavering between her life’s goal and her unexpected desires for Qing Ci, to the full acceptance of loving Qing Ci and the vulnerability it brings.

Zuo Qing Ci -> True King: Abandoned by his father out of duty to the Emperor/country, poisoned by enemies, entrusted to a Master Doctor by his dying mother, and alone facing death, Qing Ci resigns himself to the inevitable. Enter a young Su Yun Luo, who kidnaps Qing Ci to force his Master Doctor to save her master. Her tears and pleas for him to live (for the sake of her master) gives him hope that someone can actually care about him, encouraging him to endure and live unfettered from his tortured past. Though weak and sickly, he grows into a brilliant and cunning strategist, as well as a doctor. He falls in love with Yun Luo, forcing her to make choices between him and her master, selfishly, …until certain events lead him to work towards a cause for the greater good. His love for Yun Luo shifts from personal desire, to supporting her goals, and then selfless love for the greater good. Zhang Yao portrayed this remarkably - a lovesick puppy at the start, uncertain and wavering between his love for Yun Luo and what must be done to protect the Emperor/country, to the full acceptance of giving his life for the people. He reminded me of Liu Hao Ran in NIF2 who also did a wonderful job in his role as Ping Jing.

All the characters in the drama have experienced some type of loss which has shaped them to be who they are, with all their flaws from being scarred from these experiences, hence driving their motivations to achieve their goals. I could empathize with them and the choices they made.

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Love in between principles and loyalty.

The story is about principles and loyalty. 'Love in between' may tell that it is not about romance. Even though there are three protagonist couples, there are barely important decisions of actions taken by them based on love. All is about putting principles and loyalty first. That is my take from watching the whole series.

The story could be made more simple, but yet still interesting. Too many 'new-facts' introduced in the middle of the story. The existence of hidden emperor is very important to the whole storyline, but not elaborated into the drama adequately and early enough, leaving the impression that it is shoved in to the audience in the middle of the drama for the sake of making the story a bit complicated. Also, I am not so sure with the ending and I think it could have been done better.

As a wuxia fan, I was a bit disappointed that the Yun Luo's martial art skill with her special weapon 'love in between' is not explored to make the entire series more interesting. Zuo Qing Ci also too weak physically to fit in such storyline - but maybe those are what in the original story. My favorite character is Shen Man Qing, portrayed well by Deng Yu Li.

Overall, it is a good movie to watch. Oh, and I love the theme song. :)

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Last part left us to guess that this drama had happy ending

I chose this drama because leads are my favourite . I watched two dramas of both of them ( separated ,not as couple)and I like them as well as their acting. This is my third of theirs . Story seemed to be little boring as lots of characters had been introduced with this all characters had Chinese name so to recall characters as well place they were belong too made little confused as well as little boring but it was not . Each and every actors acting were good . Ghost boy did amazing role . All were good neither little nor more. I upset with the ending part of the last episode because actual love story started at the end of few episodes and they didn't gave much scene to the couples and at the very end they didn't show how the lead's story end up ,only introduction of their daughter at the end ,left us to guess that it was happy ending. Only disappointed with the last part of the last episode.

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Male main lead character is not good

I guys if u going to watch this show I recommend don't focus main male lead or their love story in this drama I feel was most selfish guy I ever see in any drama in main lead .most of the drama male lead use people for their personal gain including his lover ,friends but at the same time they are loyal to each care for don't sacrifice or betrayed them like moon bright for at first he use main female lead nd seconds lead or people but at the same he plane backup plan to save them nd he was loyal nd discuss plan with before taking action but in this he just use them he only care for his family nd su yin lo he don't care his friend nd people su yin lo care he put them in danger for taking his revenge without telling them .but the worth part of the drama was second main lead nd third main lead couple both are favorite woe si yun also lie nd use mang shin but he tries to protect her nd his friend even it's cost mu between them nd third couple jinger nd changal they are sweet nd understanding I like zhu yan nd changal brotherhood if we ingnore main male lead then it's good

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Draggy wuxia drama plus cold female lead

I had high hopes for this when I decided to watch it ,, I thought it was really good story melodramatic wuxia drama
I saw some clips here and there and I love the male lead so I was really hoping it's good
The OST (Sound tracks) and the graphics are really good also the actors are amazing except for the female lead
but I was surprised of How slow and draggy it is ,, I thought may be at the beginning only but it went for ages ,,,, Yes some fast wuxia fights and they were good too but the story was lacking alot
The romance scenes were soo long ,, people taking dramatic pauses a lot ,,, thinking ,,, talking ,,,, crying whatever they took along time playing that
The male lead insert himself in the female lead's life for no reason other than he's still hang up on her since childhood so Cliche'
also the female lead didn't care much about him most of the drama ,, she was mostly acting out and treating him badly
that wasn't a good romantic story at all
The other Romantic stories were much better than the main one
The male lead put himself through so much pain and suffering for a cold female lead who doesn't appreciate anything he did for her to the last few episode she was that heartless ,, I'm not saying he didn't do anything wrong either
he was obsessed with her and she was obsessed with her master
I didn't feel any love from the female lead even when she's trying to love him ,,, Bad acting maybe or the writing
I didn't like the last part of the drama either ,,, it was A mess
why did they kill Chang ge ??? for no reason at all they just killed him and his lover ,,, he wasn't supposed to die ,, his friends were going to rescue him but somehow his girlfriend thought of a ridiculous death for them both
Overall this drama is really disappointing
other than some good whump scenes and some good wuxia fights with good music ,, it's really doesn't worth your time

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