A beautiful fantasy story
This was my first Xianxia drama, and it didn't disappoint. The story was interesting and the costumes and music were great.Things I didn't like: the special effects that sometimes looked too fake. Also, I thought the story could have ended in less episodes. I probably wouldn't rewatch it soon because of the number of episodes.
Things I liked: the main couple has great chemistry and relationship. The setting of this drama was stunning. The music was wonderful. The opening song had drawings that were so eye-pleasing.
I recommend it if you like Xianxia, Esther Yu or Dylan Wang.
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Surprisingly good !
I wasn't expecting much especially at the beginning when I agreed with some audience about the FL high pitched voice and the plastic looking headdress on the gods, but after a few episodes I got used to them when the story started to unfold. The story and script were great as was the acting. The FL character was a bit annoying and naive for my liking and I may have dropped this drama prematurely if it weren't for the ML character and Dylan Wang's great acting. The casting of the second ML with Zhang Linghe rather than a lesser known actor was just right because it kept you in suspense about who FL will end up with. The production and directing was good as was the OST and special effects. The ending could have been more polished rather than rushed and it seems like the writer ran out of steam. I would watch this drama again for any details I may have missed and just to enjoy Dylan Wang's acting again.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you kidding me ? Please dont tell me only 36 episodes ? GIVE US MOOOOOOORRRRREEEEEE!!!!!!!!! I was just getting into it. I want to know more about the glaze fire!! You cant just end it on 36 episodes. The cute scenes, the actions scenes, the scenic scenes, the kissing scenes, the intense scenes, the storyline were all on point!But i have to say and forgive me people for saying this. I couldnt stop laughing at Zhang linghe full body armour outfit, it reminded me of bubble wrap 😄 the costume designs in this tv show were just so different from what im used to watching haha
Either way still a good tv show!!!!!
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Beautiful love story!
This xianxia revolves around a powerful "evil" lord, Dongfang Qingcang, and the little Orchid fairy who accidentally frees him from the prison he has been in for 30,000 years, and puts him under a spell in the process. The plot follows them as Dongfang Qingcang does all he can to take advantage of the situation and rise to power once more, and Orchid does her best to hide her new companion from the other immortals, and change him for the better.What stands out immediately in the story is the characterization of the two protagonists, who couldn't be more different from each other: Dongfang Qingcang is practical, strict, always serious and straightforward, and has little to no care about what others might think or feel; Orchid, on the other hand, is very emotional and innocent and always tries her hardest to make sure that the people around her are happy and at ease, even at her own expense. The two of them grow to appreciate each other from the little things, and slowly grow and evolve emotionally as well. I really liked how the changes in their behavior and their attitude toward each other felt very natural; both protagonists are very different people in the second half of the drama, and I didn't question this change even for a moment. The story takes place in four different "arcs", so to say, each of them very relevant for the evolution of Orchid, Dongfang Qingcang, and their romance.
Overall the plot felt very solid to me. There were a couple of times when I felt like it was getting too slow, and also a moment when I actually wished the events had more time to unfold properly, but it didn't hinder the story.
All the characters were amazing. The two protagonists gave amazing performances and I was very impressed by their versatility to portray such complex characters in particular: the cast was just perfect for all the roles.
The quality of the production was pretty good, I really liked the props and the costumes and the CGI was pretty impressive in my eyes as well. The OST also has to be one of the best I've heard in a drama; I don't think I'll ever be over the opening theme in particular.
There are some elements that might stop people from watching (namely: Orchid's voice in the first half of the drama), but I feel like you should still give it a try if you like the genre. I did and I certainly didn't regret it!
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✒♥️ The Cutest Jailhouse Romance Ever ☘ °8.9° °Adorable°
Ah, bad boys. I've never understood the attraction. Just because it's not my poison doesn't mean that it's not a /thing/. We all have our crosses to bear. LBF&D is a high fantasy romance. High fantasy is a genre in which the whole world is new & fantastical. Almost everything in this world is magical in some way.Not only is the universe in which this show takes place a fantasy, but the concept that a good girl can reform the bad guy is also a fantasy. Beyond the fact that it's a fantasy, it is also disrespecting oneself. You. Deserve. Better. Enjoy a story that's based on that idea here, but don't go chasing after /that/ magic sword. You'll only end up piercing yourself.
The premise is adorable. Imagine the most powerful being who has ever existed on earth. His enemies manage to lock him up, but they were not powerful enough to kill him. While they were resealing the weakening roof of his prison, a fairy falls in there! What's /she/ doing here? (She was chasing after her crush). Somehow, in that deep pit, the little orchid fairy and the big, bad felon were subjected to a frightful spell. Now, he /feels/. He feels everything that /she/ feels. And she's an emotional little cutie. He's experiencing everything (emotionally and physically) that she is. Now, killing him is easy - all that someone needs to do is kill her and HE dies.
“Boo’-can-aw!” Balderdash! No one is more powerful than he! This will not control him!
Dylan Wang is Dongfang “Qing” Cang. Qing will get retribution against his tormentors, wake up his 100,000 soldiers, and wipe out his foes. He will burn the world down!... As soon as he can break this curse and shake loose from this simple-headed orchid 🌱 fairy. Until then, he'll have to keep an eye on her. He must keep her safe BY ALL MEANS, and since she's a delicate orchid, she needs all kinds of special care. ("I can do everything in this world," he says. As for raising a plant, how difficult can it be for me?) Little Orchid assumes he has a crush on her and tells him: "There's plenty of fish in the sea. Why don't you go find someone else?"
So, we have the arrogant, very angry, “evil” overlord being controlled by an innocent (who thinks he needs her help 🙄 - What can /she/ do? She's even afraid of the dark!). He'll have to protect her to stay alive, and keep her from harm to keep himself from being harmed. Among odd couples, this is an odd couple. She thinks she's in love with someone else (Chang Heng), and she's trying to get promoted in the Heavenly Realm so that she can be closer to the object of her affection. Her early successes aren't her's at all, though. Qing is helping her from the shadows while she's oblivious. It's silly but not idiotic. It's fun yet still beautiful, and though it's lighthearted, the directors took their work seriously.
All the acting forwards the story. There's no under or overdoing it. She is cuter than the little white cub she finds in the forest, while his fervor for her touches our hearts. Dylan Wang (Meteor Garden-7.4, The Rational Life-7) is a nice looking guy, no doubt. But he's no Dwayne Johnson. So what makes him special? Qing is stereotypical as the condescending, aloof, perpetual bully, but that's because he was love-starved as a child and became emotionally stunted. Underneath that hard shell there's a cupcake. Mr Wang makes a nice romantic lead because he conveys love and (poorly suppressed) desire with intensity. Because of their occasional role reversals, he must act like a woman. He can play a girly-girl! He is fantastic. Later on, though he loves her, there's a point when he has to erase her memory, including her memory of him. We can see the hurt in his face. The eyes are what takes good acting to superb acting. He handles his eyes well.
The romance is a gem. Capital "R" good-girl-bad-boy Romance. It's a separate haven, like Arbiter Hall, tucked away from a world of war that springs up from hatred, revenge, and fear most of all. In ep13 there's a delightful kissing scene, being both fun and funny. His expression is probably overdone, but it packs the comedic punch. Although their lips locked a couple times prior to then, it's difficult to say what qualifies as a first kiss in the show. However, one could argue that the first truly romantic (mostly) mutual one isn't until ep26. The camera moves to show they are also holding hands. Flutters, for sure.
Qing's guard, Shang (Charles Lin from Romance with Blind Master & N Generations) looks like any guy walking in the neighborhoods of Philly: Italian, with a little bit of Irish in the mix. Esther Yu (My Journey to You, Love Game in Eastern Fantasy) is Orchid. She's cute. She plays a spoiled kid in Find Yourself-8.9, a show that I love. Her career seems to be taking off. The handsome-almost-pretty Zhang Ling He (Story of Kunning Palace, The Princess Royal-8.3) is Orchid's crush as the story opens, Chang Heng. Xu Hai Qiao (The Legend of Zhuohua, Marvelous Women) portrays Rong Hao, Chang's BFF and regular chess opponent. Hong Xiao White (Cat Legend, Rising with the Wind) nearly steals the show as Jie Li (When Orchid says her name it sounds like “Jelly” and it's darling).
Screenwriters, Cao Xiao Tian (The Glory) & Bai Jin Jin (Love Game in Eastern Fantasy) adapted original creator, Jiu Lu Fei Xiang's novel. She has several credits, including Back from the Brink & The Legend of Shen Li. The directing by Yi Zheng (Falling Into You) & Qian Jing Wu (The Silence of the Monster) is sheer competence with fresh elements, snappy cadence, and smooth segues. I've already watched this twice. In the second go-around connections, forecasting and ironic lines that aren't as perceptible upon the first watch popped out. It's a tidy work of art with a huge fun factor. Ep2, provides a metaphor: One guy /loses/ the handkerchief he treasured, as it was from his crush. Another man /finds/ the person he loves. The first guy was hesitant, and he lost, while the latter would define hesitation as weakness. He won.
LBF&D's dreamy fairyland is fanciful, magical, & delicate. Most Chinese features are 25 to 80 episodes long, which is lots of time to fill up. The effects budgets generally can't live up to Hollywood standards. Clunky special effects can break up the flow, but the excitement in this show is seamless. They get a lot of bang for their ¥uan💴, particularly with the action; most of the special effects in this are fantastic. The opening episode is quite pretty with impressive effects. There's a battlefield with 100,000 sealed soldiers who look like statues. Qing desperately wants to unseal them, which is a cool concept. The effect that impressed me most is when Chang Heng & Rong Hao take a break from chess and enter an antique pen & ink on faded parchment. They take a 2D boat ride on the River of Oblivion. They, themselves, become 2D. It's wonderful.
There are some minor flaws. Most transitions are excellent, but some are a little bit choppy, or awkward. They pick on an orphan again. Asia is not kind to orphans, and one of the bad guys is an orphan. The pain of his early life's loneliness is part of what drives him. Some actions and motivations aren't sufficiently explained. There's one rescue where we must wonder how the rescuer even knew he was needed. When the two leads body switch, their power doesn't seem to switch fully, but we never get an adequate explanation for it. The ending is too brief. A ten-second wrap-up leaves the viewer feeling cheated. Why they DO dat?! My biggest head-scratcher was Qing failing to grab one of those paintings to take back home with him after their visit to the mortal realm. Thankfully, the flaws are minor and few.
The main theme is how we are led away by our desires. We see the progression: Pride. Self-righteousness - which goes hand-in-hand with self-delusion. Prejudice - which brings hate along for the ride. The Heavenly realm is not heavenly. Though they presume their superiority, they are backbiting, spiteful, and ruthless. Orchid is the only one who appears to have true kindness, along with Chang, a truly good guy.
One of the baddies is just a dupe for the real evil boss His motivations make no sense on one level. Many of us can see someone treading the wrong path and wonder what they're thinking. In this case, this person is drawn away by h/h own desires while lying to h/h self that this is for somebody else. People have a habit of creating big knives that end up in their own backs.
The nature of weakness and strength is another theme. "I am so weak, I have no skills. I'm just an orchid fairy; I can't do much," Orchid says over and over. "She is my biggest weakness," says he. She's more powerful than she realizes. When she stops the whinge and starts working on herself, she gets stronger. Who is the most powerful one in the show? We begin to wonder. Futility is also a theme. War and revenge are a never ending cycle that just foments misery.
All in all, LBF&D is a personal River of Oblivion and a constant flow of smiles. The art is magnificent, the acting, directing, and writing are excellent, and the romance is unforgettable. This is one bad boy who is reformed for good!
QUOTES 🗣️
I will never make my past mistakes again.
Love makes everyone a better version of themselves.
I never thought bringing up a plant could be so troublesome.
〰🖍 IMHO
🎬8,8 🖊️〰8.6 🎭8.5 💓8.7 🦋7.8 🌞7 🎨9.3⚡6.4 🎵/🔊8.5 😅5.5 😭6 😱5 🤢2.5 🤔5.7 🔚 8.5
Age 12 +/- It's practically a kid's show, but there are some scary moments and heartbreaking moments as well
Re-📺? 🔛
Recs:
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome Siblings 8.7;
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
Love and Redemption 10
Overlord 8.4,
Under the Power 8.6,
The Rebel Princess 9.1,
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in ancient Chinese opera style),
The Rise of Phoenixes 9
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It’s a HIT!
It has been a long time that we didn’t have an excellent xianxia. And Love between fairy and devil delivers; scenario, characters, casting, dialogue, ost, CGI, everything is there to make you want more and more. I am definitely hoping for a second season with maybe a Dongfang with the blazed fire, the new god of war Danyin, adventures of Chengheng roaming the earth?It is a must watch of 2022, and it enters the list of best xianxia a ever made! Dylan Wang’s acting was so good, I’ve cried and laugh with his character.
Congratulations to all the cast and crew! Wishing to all the huge success that this drama deserves!
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Reminds me why I love CDRAMAS!
I had all but given up on this genre and Cdramas in general until this gem sneaked up on me. It’s a story that has been told many times, similar to classic fairytales like Beauty and the Beast. An yet, this production managed to make it fresh.Don’t be fooled by the first part of the drama that starts with a whiny, weak female lead and an seemingly stereotypical cold male lead. The character development is truly some of the best I’ve seen in drama land. Once you realize how the story is connecting, you can even go back and recognize how all the pieces were perfectly laid for excellent character and plot development.
Other things to note: beautiful OST that plays at the right moments and great CGI that really adds to the world building. The actors were all amazing, especially DFQC, and plenty of time was spent on our main couple with less time waisted on stupid side plots and fillers, a major issue in most Cdramas. At 36 episodes the plot was tight and I found myself going back time and time again to rewatch as I waited for the newer episodes to air.
This one has cemented itself within my personal top favorite dramas!
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this drama is on the TOP SHOWS list on mydramalist RANKED 26TH
After a long time I watched one of the best cdramas. I should have watched it earlier, anyways I love this drama. I haven't completed it yet, but ngl this one is my favorite rn. How can a drama lover avoid accepting the fact that this drama is at its peak? Moreover, I liked the body swapping of the fairy and the devil. There are many comedy scenes too because of their body swap. Unlike other dramas, the main lead screen time is more than average. I felt the story never swept away from the main storyline. That's why it's best I guess. If you like 1. BODY SWAPPING 2. HISTORICAL DRAMAS 3. LOVE TRIANGLE 4. JEALOUSY 5. COMEDY SCENES 6. A LITTLE BIT OF ACTION then what are you waiting for? Start watching this. btw the male lead falls in love first. I hope that helps!!check out mydramalist TOP SHOWS list. It's on the 2nd page of the list. (For those who don't know-- Go to Explore option then select Top Shows.)
Edit: GUYS WATCH THIS DRAMA. There are many twists and turning points in this story.
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Recommended!
I really liked it - it gave me happiness and sadness at the same time. I only wished the ending was different because it seemed so rushed at the end.I love the actors and their acting skills. I will watch it again and again.
It has always given me comfort, especially the beautiful scenery. Their love story is so touching and different from the ones I've seen so far! 🥰
I could list more good reasons for convincing you to see it, I just want to tell you that it is a fantasy that I put in the top of my list and I did not regret it
Recommended!
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How impactful the story is depends on how you feel about the FL
TLDR: A really well put-together XianXia drama whose story impact depends on how you feel about the FL's character.The drama is absolutely stunning. From the CGI, writing, costuming, choreography and music - everything showed how much love and care was put into the show. From the acting side, everyone was on point - Wang De Hi, especially rocked his role as the ML Dong Fang Qing Cang and chemistry between the main leads was great. Story-wise, the plot and dialog was carefully crafted with detail and no filler.
However, how you feel about the drama will probably come down to how you feel about the FL's character. While the FL has moments where she does shine, she is cast as the naive, weak and pouty, damsel-in-distress for most of the drama. A lot of the issues that arise in the drama are a result of her (innocent/bad) choices. If this kind of character does not appeal to you, STAY AWAY. As incredible as the rest of the drama is, you will not like it. Even if you can tolerate this type of character (because everything else is so good), be prepared to be a little disappointed.
The whole story hinges on the idea that "Love Conquers All". That in itself is not the problem. The problem was that they won't be able to convince you that love (in this case) was worth it if you're not in love with the FL's character yourself. This is not due to the acting - the leads had great chemistry and their love was believable. Or even the concept of the story - the FL's character matched very against the ML's perfectly, and DFCQ wouldn't have been as great of a character as he was without her.
But the story probably won't hit you the right way if you don't like the FL. The ML takes on the vast majority of the pain and suffering for their love, even taking on blame for things I didn't think were his fault. Anything the FL did for him, he would do for her and more. As a result, I felt that the relationship was too unbalanced - ML gave far more and endured much more pain than the FL.
So then it comes down to, did you like the FL enough to feel that all the suffering ML had to endure on her behalf/because of her was worth it. The answer for me was no. After a re-watch, I appreciated her character for what it was. She was what the ML needed to grow into the person the ML ended up being, she made the right choices when she needed to, and her character made the ML's character much more endearing. But at the end of the day, she's not the type of character I like or would adore. Frankly, I couldn't love her as much as DCQC seemed to, so I couldn't empathize with his willingness to suffer so much for her. The last few episodes before the finale where he kept beating himself over things that weren't his fault were especially difficult to watch.
For those who absolutely adored FL's character, this wouldn't have been an issue because she would have been worthy of it all. But for me, the ending was lukewarm, only mollified by the fact that he earned (through suffering) an even greater power (that never really got to show off) and that the love the ML showed in the last few episodes was soul-crushingly endearing, I still enjoyed the show but I think the first 3/4 of the story left a better impression than the last 1/4. But perhaps I just wasn't the target audience for this drama.
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Okay, back to the drama. This is a good forbidden love story. I was initially annoyed with Esther Yu because she sounded like those annoying female that is weak, needy and clingy. But she’s proven her acting throughout the drama. She can be serious, she can be fierce; she just has that annoying tone of voice, but she’s okay. Dylan Wang is excellent in this drama. I’ve become a hardcore fans of Dylan. I thought he portrayed Dong Fang Qing Cang really well. I can see his emotions and feel his pain and sorrow (and joy too). The character is a conflicted soul and he played that well. The series I thought have minimal boring moments. The pace is well and I enjoyed the story of the different supporting characters as well. There are also some funny moments between the two main characters. The OST is great! I love most of the songs in this drama and immediately added them to my listening rotation.
If you like Xian Xia, I would definitely recommend you to watch this drama. Hopefully you will end up liking this as much as I do. This is one of the ones where moving on from the main characters are difficult for me. This is definitely on my rewatch list if time permits. God knows i have a long to watch list that just gets longer and longer :)
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do I need to be 6 feet under to find myself a devil?
I love how love can make anyone soften up. I love these actors and their dynamics with each other. I adore their happy ending. I think the side characters are alright because I did not really care for them as much as the main couple. The music is very peak and I enjoyed it. I also love the male lead's backstory because I started crying when he was talking about his father. I also love the female lead's backstory. AUGH they are just so cute together. <3Was this review helpful to you?
