Love between Fairy and Devil

beautiful love between two individuals

After being recommended by many people, I finally watched this show. It started off slow, and episode one did not entice me. However, the more I watch, the more intrigued I became, and eventually loving it a lot.

It was entertaining, interesting, and constantly making me want to know what happens next, especially during the middle of the plot. Throughout the story, it rarely bores me, except for the second time their soul swopped though I did enjoy the first. It was initially funny, but they dragged it out the second time, and it made her character looks & feels stupid, which I did not like.

Their CGs and sceneries are also so so beautiful, I love the colours and the overall feels of every scenery.

The side characters’ dynamics with the main characters are also very cute, especially Black Dragon’s with Dongfang Qingcang & Xiao Lanhua.

There was a huge character development for both characters, which is what I love the most. Xiao Lanhua evolves from a baby, naive fairy, to someone who is more mature, and protecting the people she loves. However, I love that her character stood up for herself when being bullied.

For Dongfang Qingcang, he was once heartless, being unable to feel emotions, and slowly learn to love, and show kindness.

They both grew together and eventually helped each other to become a better version of themselves, and I love that.

I have watched yu shuxin’s previous drama, “Moonlight” and didn’t really enjoy it. However, I feel that this character suits her, and she has portrayed the character well.

Similarly, it’s my first show of wang hedi, and his acting skills are impressive. He portrayed all the emotions pretty well, and the slight changes in his expressions are interesting.

Their acting skills are especially good during the soul swopping scenes (though I myself did not enjoy the second time they used this plot as mentioned above). Their actions of the other party are quite realistic, making me believe that they really had their soul swopped.

This drama makes me look forward to their future dramas individually.

Their chemistry in this drama was also amazing, i was very touched by many scenes throughout the drama.

The OSTs are sooooo good, I love all of them, especially 诀爱. The different OSTs are also played during different scenes, which are always appropriate, and heightened the emotions they are trying to display during the respective scenes.

Honestly, I would rewatch it for the acting and the plot. Their love for each other is so touching, to the point where they are willing to sacrifice everything for the other party. Dongfang Qingcang also constantly show his love for Xiao Lanhua through his actions and words, which is impossible to find in many people in real life. Truly love this character. Xiao Lanhua has loved him and trusted him despite him hurting her (intentionally so that she wouldn’t sacrifice for him despite it not working). Their love for each other is so real, and it’s something that I envy a lot. Their love is reciprocal, is sacrificial, is sweet, bitter, and beautiful. ❤️

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A beautiful story

I really loved this drama. To find a drama like Love Between Fairy and Devil (苍兰诀 ) is very hard. Jiu Lu Fei Xiang's novel, Demon King/The Parting of the Orchid and Cang, as a drama was something I never knew I loved it. This drama has a beautiful OST. The OST is amazing, it's perfect for the drama, I cannot stop listening to the OST. In the body swapping scenes, Dylan Wang really depicts the character of XLH, the way he crouches down and opens his eyes wider to bring the personality of XLH. It wasn't like a girl in a guy's body, and it was too "girly". Dylan Wang really was immersed in his character, all of his expressions, everything. The pacing went off track in the last few episodes, the way XLH came back as the goddess, it was such a drastic character change that it wasn't satisfied. It made the ending super hasty, not satisfying, like the story ran into a wall and stopped. I feel like some of the later episodes didn't flow well together, I feel like some of the scenes, and such could be taken out. Rong Hao's storyline wasn't totally necessary. And the storyline of Jie Li and Dan Yin of being twin sisters was just thrown out. However, it's a beautiful xian xia drama. Esther Yu was also amazing, very immersed in her character as XLH/Goddess Xi Yun. She portrayed the timid, "orchid", breezy fairy she was. Her acting improved a lot, and whenever XLH would cry, I would feel like crying as well, Esther Yu is amazing at portraying emotion, if you watch her in Youth With You S2, in the acting skit, you could see how well of an actor she was. I feel like if this series had 1 or 2 more episode(s), everything would flow better, it would be more satisfying. Nevertheless, the chemistry Esther Yu and Dylan Wang is what got me into this drama, they match each other's wave lengths. Dylan Wang being chaotic with Esther Yu, vice versa. Chemistry is an important aspect in any drama or movie, and the chemistry was there, and be honest, we all loved it. I personally wouldn't rewatch because I might just be extra picky when re-watching. And I do hope there will be a drama where Zhang Linghe and Esther Yu are the main leads because it was so sad to see the story of the forbidden love yet fated (?) love between the two.

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The script is interesting. Despite the metrics of this style of drama being always the same, the screenwriter sought innovative elements, created several likeable characters and even the villain was pitiful and pitiful. The embedded message of the text (feelings are more important than power, equality between beings is the way to a peaceful life, not labeling beings by their ethnicity, etc.), I really like.
The cast is made up of visually pleasing artists. Initially the performances are not surprising, but not compromising. Throughout the drama, with the different phases of the characters, the actors surprise with very good performances. This is the third work I've seen from actor Dylan Wang and, for the first time, his performance convinced me.
The direction managed to produce excellent scenes, did not make mistakes in the editing and finished without the 'running' of many dramas. The special effects are visually good, very elaborate and beautiful costumes, beautiful backgrounds and a pleasant soundtrack.

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Beautiful Union of Opposites

As is typical of the Chinese deity genre, this story pits the heavenly realm against the demon realm. We immediately have the striking juxtaposition between a humble, bullied, lonely, extroverted, physically-broken Orchid fairy and a prideful, bullyish, popular, introverted, emotionally-broken Demon Lord.

Fate brings them together and a love curse strikes the Demon Lord, causing him to be spiritually, emotionally and physically linked to the fairy - anything that happens to her also happens to him; if she suffers, he suffers; if she dies, he dies.

Chinese dramas don’t make the mistake of making their heroine strong because of her masculine traits. Instead, our Orchid fairy is strong because she is the ultimate healer and spreader of empathy. Yet, her opposite, the Demon Lord, is the ultimate destroyer and the epitome of someone who lacks empathy.

Orchid fairy expresses courage in her goals, conviction in her morals, and is willing to risk danger and death for what matters! In contrast, Demon Lord expresses cowardice in his goals, is unwilling to risk danger and death for what matters, and is constantly keeping the fairy safe just to protect himself from the love curse.

The love curse works its magic on him, as he is able to see a whole new way of being through the magic that links their souls together. Through keeping her safe, feeling her emotions, and experiencing the purity of her soul, he begins to see the beauty in her soul and begins to want to be like her.

We get taken to Demon Lords backstory where we learn that he was magically tortured as a child in order to purposefully remove his emotions and allow him to be a powerful enough psychopath to successfully rule the demons. Orchid discovers how he is actually an emotionally damaged boy at heart and promptly begins working on healing his soul.

The two prove their love for each other by voluntarily facing magical torture in order to save each other, evincing that the value of love is greater than the cost of pain.

In the end, their relationship triggers a war between the nations, and Orchid must choose between her love and the lives of the people.

Demon Lord loses his hell fire magic when he is healed from his psychopathy. But he gains a new crimson fire magic when he follows Orchid’s path as a hero for the people, symbolizing that often a greater power can be gained when we sacrifice our toxic and manipulative techniques for more friendly and prosocial techniques.

More reviews: https://transcendentphilos.wixsite.com/website/post/the-philosophy-of-chinese-dramas

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Very compelling romance

For the most part, very strong writing and script. This might be a controversial opinion but I think the justification for the strong bond between the male lead and female lead in Love Between Fairy and Devil is much stronger than Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (my all-time favorite xianxia drama). Even though the chemistry and acting were top notch in tmopb, I could never fully justify why the leads were so attached to each other. I loved the romance in lbfd because I was completely convinced on why the leads were so devoted to each other, and the foundation for their romance was so well-integrated throughout the plot (hats off to the writers).

The male and female lead are equally powerful in every respect and both grow incredibly throughout the drama. Their love is of complete devotion and selflessness without either character ever losing the essence or complexity of who they are; this alone has me so impressed with this drama. It's so difficult to pull off script-wise as dramas will often fall into the pit of the male or (more often) female lead completely losing their character for self-sacrificial love. Additionally, all of the key scenes in this drama are so epically captured. Some of the best special effects I've seen in Cdrama-land. Dylan Wang in particular really impressed me with his acting and depiction of Dongfang Qingcang. I love Orchid's tagline of "I love all beings. I also love one person." Oh my god. Gets to the heart of their romance, and their greater duty to the realm.

My biggest gripe is the drama's pacing and script fall a little flat for me in episodes 32-35. The ending (mostly) redeems itself, but I would have loved to see just a little bit more. My other (not so serious) complaint is the script writers definitely riffed off some of the key lines from Our Times (very famous Taiwanese movie). As someone who understands Mandarin, I couldn't stop laughing cause they copied it almost word-for-word. Anyhow, overall very solid watch.

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A true romance in a fantastic fantasy world (and a feast for the eyes)

** SPOILERS ALERT **

This drama is the one that made me realize that Chinese drama are definitively worth watching. I admit I'm not an expert because I only watched a few of them but I often felt like the production and acting weren’t very "high quality" in those I began to watch and then fast forwarded at x2 speed or ultimately dropped... But in Love between fairy and devil, the production team did an amazing job, in terms of the cinematography and editing, the costumes and set, the CGI, and of course the acting. I don’t really know about the budget that was put in this drama, but it was definitively an amazing experience to watch, because each scene felt like an artwork on its own. Even the intro/outro are worth watching! A lot of thought went into the production and the costume department (each set of the drama is stunning, the Moon Palace for example is the one I loved the most). We could see and feel the cultural difference between the fairy people, the “demons” (from Heishi city, I apologize if it’s not spelled correctly) and the moon people and so the world-building didn’t feel like an afterthought. It’s indeed very satisfying to watch and explore, especially as an international viewer who isn’t very familiar with China’s legends and culture. The thing that also made me fall in love is the soundtrack, it’s not often that I’m so captivated by the music in a drama but here, the intro wasn’t even finished that I went on youtube to search for the song.

Now for the story, it’s exactly what I want in a romance/fantasy drama. The premise is maybe a little bit cliché for some (the big bad villain falls in love with the cute and kind girl) but even though I absolutely love this trope on its own, in this drama the trope was reinvented and handled very well! The “fall in love” part was so natural and didn’t appear all at once, whether it is from the FL or ML side. I love fluffy stories in general and here the fluff was 100% present. But not to the point where it becomes cringey and hard to watch. Again, the feelings between the FL and the ML appeared progressively and naturally, and despite the curse put on the ML, the viewer didn’t doubt his feelings for one second because the screenwriter and the director knew exactly what to do to make subtle references in terms of editing and also in directing the main actor: his smallest gesture toward the FL had meaning, even at the start of the story. I’m saying that because in the first episode, in which the FL sees the ML for the first time and “falls” into his heart (she suddenly is transported into a desolate place, covered with snow with a frail looking tree), she had already put her mark there, because at her touch, the tree began to grow and that’s what made the ML feels for her, even at the very beginning. This metaphor was maybe overlooked by the viewer at the beginning (it certainly was for me haha) but it held all its meaning when we finally understand that the tree represents in fact the ML’s love force. The poetic meaning behind those subtle references was what made the relationship between the FL and ML so easily acceptable and “shippable” for the viewer.

Furthermore, the actors were also fantastic and made all of this truly work. The chemistry between the FL and ML was of course off the charts and the chemistry between all the cast was also perfectly handled. The secondary characters all had a story of their own and it wasn’t hard to like the majority of them, apart from the fairies’ supreme lord who I thought didn’t have much substance to his character… But oh well, he wasn’t the main focus so it’s not very important. I also liked that the drama took the most from its actors’ talent. For example, the “body switch” scenes between the FL and the ML were so well done, I just couldn’t believe what kind of self control and talent one has to have to succeed in these kind of scenes without making the viewer uncomfortable. But here, I just had to laugh because the contrast was so intense and we truly had the impression that they switched bodies: the mannerism and their way of speaking were perfectly reproduced by their counterpart. Of course, I can’t talk about the actors’ talent without mentioning the angst in some scenes… And well all I can say is that I cried multiple times, I just couldn’t stop myself. Despite the sadness of these sequences, I feel like they were necessary to the story because it reinforces the deep connection and love between the main leads. Their love was equal and they each sacrificed their lives for the other… What can I say, I absolutely adore those kind of stories in which the feeling of love transforms and incites to do and be better to your loved ones and even to yourself. And in this drama, it was definitively the case: of course the ML had the most incredible transformation, but the FL also had a pretty impressive arc (especially when we consider the final episodes’ events but I don’t want to spoil too much so I will stop here in case someone who didn’t watch the show read this comment).

All in all, I think the best thing about this drama, despite not being very action-driven, is that it doesn’t leave the viewer feeling bored because all the feelings and relationships are enough to entertain and satisfy. And that’s a real success for me, someone who doesn’t like when the drama is longer than 25/30 episodes. I will just say that the middle part of the drama, when they’re in the mortal world, was maybe a little too long for my taste, but it’s only because I didn’t really like the idea of the fake weddings lol. And I will finish by saying that the ending could have been longer. It makes perfect sense in the context of the story of course, however I wanted to see a “real” wedding taking place in the final scene, even 1min would have been sufficient. But that’s just me nitpicking, the ending is happy enough that I definitively feel satisfied after watching 36 fantastic episodes, I just wanted to see even more of them. xD

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A breathtaking dance between light and shadow, fate and freedom.

This drama is pure magic—from the mesmerizing visuals to the emotionally packed storyline that wraps around your heart like a vine and never lets go.

Dongfang Qingcang and Xiao Lan Hua? Soulmates across lifetimes. Watching their love bloom—from enemy tension to soul-deep devotion—was like watching a storm fall in love with a flower. Fierce yet gentle. Destructive yet healing.

The world-building was ethereal, and every side character had their own touch of heartbreak and charm.

It’s not just a love story.
It’s a cosmic, tragic, epic fairytale that reminds you love can change destiny.
Forever obsessed. 💔🌙🌸

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It looks better than it is because the competition sucks so badly. But I still love it.

I have such a fondness for Love Between Fairy and Devil. I own it on DVD. I've rewatched it a few times, but I have come to terms with the honest truth; it is not an extraordinary production. There is nothing mind-blowing or unique or of particular artistic merit about it. It is not Lightning in a Bottle. It is just a generally competent production.

The problem is, that is not a bar that most Dramas seem able to clear. By comparison, LBFAD looks amazing, but that's just because it avoids lazy nonsense, isn't insultingly stupid or needlessly convoluted.

Esther Yu is a charming actress, and this familiar, sweet-natured archetype is well within her wheel-house. She's cute, but a little dim until the plot needs her to figure things out. Dylan Wang is not doing anything particularly mind-blowing with his cold Moon Supreme who thaws into tender passion. But, he looks pretty and menacing when he needs to. These are stock characters being adequately performed with decent chemistry. All their emotional through-lines track. The story also takes particular pains to ensure both get generally equal screen time with their own melodramatic issues. Is Xiao Lanhua's part slightly under-written as compared to Dongfang Qingcang? Yes. What happened to her work with the Destiny Books? What about her murdered parents? What's her place in this hierarchy? But she at least has goals and she stands toe-to-toe with her love interest in terms of power. She isn't a passive observing partner in his tragic story like so many heroines. That in itself is great.

Of particular note are the side characters. LBFAD shines in that, again, it ensure that characters are introduced with particular motives, go through an emotional journey and have satisfying conclusions, instead of just disappearing from the narrative when their involvement with the main couple concludes. I really liked Danyin and Chengheng. They could have easily been useless side-characters intended as obstacles and nothing more, but both were allowed to evolve into their own people with their own paths. They are treated like characters, as opposed to satellites to the main couple. All of the acting is fine, no stand-outs, but no weak links. Chidi and Rong Hao's story is particularly poignant, Jie Li and Shang Que's is the weakest.

The cast was also more balanced between male and female then we're accustomed to seeing, so you're not watching a barrage of men doing Plot Things while female characters bully the Female Lead or wring their hands. There was still inequality; just check out the number of male authorities and fathers- but an attempt was made and I appreciate it. Women aren't just here to be romantic objects or rivals. There are actual friendships being formed. The ambient sexism is fairly low, but at least two female characters get fridged.

The plot is also nothing amazing. Here is the Celestial Shenanigans, there is the mortal arc, and then the demon realm and the Big Bad. It all carries on at a decent pace, each arc accomplishing what it intends without overstaying it's welcome. It does not needlessly complicate matters, rely on absurd coincidence or bring up things they don't intend to resolve. Nobody is comedically evil for the sake of being evil. There is balance between the heavy, the light-hearted, the tragic and the sweet. There was silliness, but there wasn't a ton of terrible comedy that made me cringe. They don't invest time in stuff they're just going to dump in four episodes, but they also linger on little moments. The world building is weak; what is the history with the Moon Tribe and why were they at war with Shuyuntian? What was Yun Zhong's whole deal? The cosmology was often very confusing, as were the locations and how they related to each other. On the other hand, nobody was an asshole for no reason. Characters became friends. Relationships were all built, instead of just instantaneously happening. And, importantly, the story wraps up in a way that feels complete and generally satisfying. It's really just workman-like storytelling, but I appreciate the hell out of it.

Unique to LBFAD is that it looks like someone actually did some Art Direction that wasn't just rooting around in the Xianxia Warehouse. There are things to delineate the spaces of Shuyuntian, Mortal World and Moon Tribe in terms of architecture and costuming, as opposed to just lighting and color palettes. Again, this is basic, but someone did it. BTW, gotta love that the Arbiter's Hall set was actually used as five different locations. Talk about economy. The costumes are distinctive and look pretty decent, though I personally think the plastic head and shoulder pieces look cheap more than arresting. Still, when I see Chengheng's armor, I know where it's from on it's own merit, so that has to count for something. Xiao Lan Hua's costumes are also immediately recognizable and distinct.

The CGI is serviceable. It's mostly sparkles, weather, doofy monsters and an evil cloud. The wire-work is on the poor end; lots of dangling people who just hang there awkwardly-BUT, LBFAD avoids an excess of badly choreographed fight scenes, or combat-related posturing. If given a choice, they chose verbal confrontation as opposed to zooming camera work and people flying backwards. Rong Hoa's whip-weilding lackey was one of the few that constantly chose violence, but it looks pretty cool. They clearly put their money in the Arbiter's Hall set and the Cangyan Sea locations; the Shuyuntian pieces are underwhelming, particularly the main hall filled with masked extras and the ridiculous wavering still image of the Xuanwu.

The music includes a lot of Kevin MacLeod's pieces, which is really hard to unhear once you know. I really wish they'd score some of these properly. While the pop songs are nice enough, they are used too much.

Now. Despite all that, you should absolutely watch this. It's Drama doing tons of things right. It might still be flawed, but it's a highly enjoyable ride.

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Great production, wonderful visuals quality

I think when it comes to costumes, sceneries and CGI, this drama has one of the best ever, I really enjoyed the visuals. I can tell that the production team payed a lot of attention for this Xianxia.
Dylan and Esther's costumes are breath taking, especially the details on Dylan's clothes.
I think what I didn't like was the body switch, was kind of unessesary though it was funny sometimes.
And I'm not a big fan of the "cute FL image" in general, too childish for my taste, I liked when she became more mature but the actress delivered her character well in all parts. Dylan is a candy for the eyes, great performance and chemistery from both.

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My Favorite C-Drama

I've tried hard to replace this show, digging deep into classics and trying to rewatch those too so that I can move on from it, but it is hard to repeat such an amazing cast, story, and set.

The story, though predictable in many ways, did have me guessing at times. For me, a good balance between "sugar" and strife is important, bc I have a hard time watching too much suffering and have sometimes forwarded through those parts in other shows. However, I was so invested in this show that I was inclined to watch every second bc I wanted to experience everything the characters experienced.

LBFAD is probably the best xianxia I have seen in terms of CGI. I never had to remind myself not to laugh at the creatures that were created, or looked at the props like they were flimsy and clearly fake. It is just plain pretty to watch.

Most importantly, though, the cast and the music are what make this show so rewatchable for me. Even if the plot no longer surprises me, I love watching Esther and Dylan bring their characters to life and really making us believe their story. Their banter is hilarious, their emotional scenes are well-executed. I know Dylan has received a lot of credit for his acting in this show (well-deserved), but I really think Esther did a wonderful job as well. They had me laughing, they had me crying, and I have rewatched it all too.

They are just fun to watch, and combined with a wonderful OST as well as a beautiful background, this show is just one of my favorites.

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WATCH THIS DRAMA

Omg I don't know where to start but this drama has everything perfect acting, perfect costumes, perfect storyline, perfect cgi, the scenery created was stunning in all three realms. This drama is probably one of the best, if not THE best fantasy type cdrama I've seen in a long while. Everything about this drama is outstanding.
Dylan Wang did amazing, I couldn't see anyone else act in this part and execute it so perfectly. He made the absolute perfect moon supreme lord.
Esther Yu was also equally as outstanding in her role. This is I think my first time watching her in any project and so far I'm impressed and can't wait to see her in future projects. She did Xiao Lan Hua proud.

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