This review may contain spoilers
A merman was caught by an evil fairy Shunde, a disciple of the Immortal Master who basically revered by all beings in the immortal realm as he is the most powerful. He was sent to Flower Valley, one of the places where Spiritual Masters whose sole job as the enforcer of the realm’s rule lives. They catch and neutralize spirits and immortals who violated this rule. The merman was sent to be trained by Ji Yunhe and Young Master of the valley, where he was supposed to submit and serve as Shunde’s attendant. Ji Yunhe has always been renowned for her skill of taming spirits and immortals by manipulating their hearts while Young Master and the rest of the spiritual masters usually resort to more violent means. As she started to manipulate the merman to win his trust, little did she know she would fall in love with his absolutely innocent nature. At first she was just doing it because it was her task, and that she needed to win the competition so she would be able to escape from the valley with her little attendant Luoluo to live in an immortal island free of restraint and control, but as she got to know the merman and how he was wrongfully taken by Shunde, she later decided to help him escape. The merman fell in love with Ji Yunhe and gave up his tail and pearl for her, only to be heartbroken by Ji Yunhe, done so that he would be willing to run away from Shunde’s clasp without her. The merman held huge grudge against Yunhe for deceiving him and betraying his love, and this sets out a series of misunderstandings, breaking of hearts and mind, in their journey to finding a true meaning to love and friendship.
This show has the most pitiful character of all that ive seen/read so far. Ji Yunhe had been tortured and in pain for most of her life, being used as experiment subject by Master of the Valley and later embroiled in the power struggle of the world. She was physically tortured when she was in Flower Valley and Immortal Master’s Mansion, she was mentally tortured when she was in North Abyss, went through separations and deaths, and yet she still stood tall, not losing faith in life and humanity. She was stubborn and steadfast despite all hurdles that come her way. Dilraba has once again proven me wrong, she’s not just a pretty face. Her chemistry with the co-star is stunningly strong. Although i think she would have to work on the ‘sick look’ more, other than droopy eyes and weak neck. The time when she was waiting for death at North Abyss while being mentally tortured by ML began to look cringy as it dragged for so long. I get the arc was long because they wanted to show how badly ML was hurt by Yunhe’s refusal to admit her love for him, but like i said before, the droopy eyes and weak neck got cringier as the show went on (taking half a star off for this). I like the reborn arc. She was the happiest and most adorable in this. The reunion was also cute.
My first expression when I saw the snippet of the show was that the ML didnt quite have any appeal. I have never seen his work before so I dont have any expectation, but as i watched on, he turned out to have given a spectacular performance. He nailed it as a wary person wrongfully captured even though he hadnt spoken a word, he nailed it again as a person who was innocent and childlike, and he did it again as a vengeful master of the North Abyss. And he had amazing chemistry with his co star. I mean I couldnt find a flaw on his portrayal of the prince of merman kingdom, Chang Yi.
Dilraba is an actress with a non-conventional look. The first time i saw her in Eternal Love, I thought she was at least of mixed blood or even not chinese at all. So finding a child actor with a resemblance wouldve been hard. How can she grow into the adult her if she looks very chinese as a child, right? So i think The production scored jackpot when they hired Kristina the child actress. I first saw her in Legend of Anle, playing the child character for Dilraba too, she was perfect for the role! To see her again here in The Blue Whisper is a joy. It showed the production’s care for details.
I especially liked the Heavenly King too. I first saw him as Crown Prince in The Long Ballad, a character that is extremely irritating and overbearing. To see him carrying a total contrast of that character as a sensible and kind king in this show is amazing. His face expressions nailed every aspect of how a revered king should behave, despite being just a child.
One thing that i love about xianxia is that death usually isnt the end of the story. There would be second and third chances so there wasnt really room for tragic endings. Glad that this show doesnt massacre important characters and let them stay dead. It’s A different take on mortality and long lasting love, which made us feel good and happy.
I regret that I didnt watch this show sooner. I thought it would be boring. Glad it wasnt so.
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A visually beautiful drama
Completed - 5/3/2022 - 8.25"The Blue Whisper Part 1" is a visually stunning production with good CGI and a good-looking cast. It's a very pretty drama. We've seen many xianxia dramas in recent years that have a very toned down color palette with a lot of white and light colored costumes and scenery. However, this drama brings back the colors into the xianxia world. And it's really pretty to watch and makes you go ooh and ahh over the beautiful sceneries, costumes and CGI.
However, I have to say the plastic 6-pack torso that Allen Ren has is really distracting in a bad way. Pictures of that have circled around the internet and caused quite an uproar, and it's a totally justified uproar. I just can't ignore that. Luckily, this plastic torso retired after a couple episodes and what's left is Allen Ren's handsome face. I think he looks best visually in this drama. This wig fits him really well, with his hair down. And of course, the always beautiful Dilraba looks fantastic here as well.
Acting wise, both of our leads did a pretty good job. Disclaimer: I am NOT a big fan of Dilraba. She has been in similar roles before, the cute and outgoing girl that everyone loves. I can't say her acting is bad, but it meets my expectations. Disclaimer again: I AM a fan of Allen Ren. I love his expressive, big eyes. They speak to me and are able to show all his emotions, esp. in the first few episodes when he couldn't speak. You can see him change from the innocent Chang Yi to becoming the General of the North.
Plot wise, I do like the story of demon masters and their servant demons. At least, it's something different, and we don't have to deal with the three realms, as in other xianxia drama. However, that doesn't mean we could get away from the noble sacrifices of our characters, all in the name of love. I didn't check the tag, so I was not aware that 'misunderstanding' is one of them. Misunderstandings and noble sacrifices seem to go hand-in-hand quite a bit in xianxia dramas. The pacing of the drama is not bad. I did feel it slow down at Ep 9 or 10, but the story picked up in the last third of the drama. I do wish there are more fight scenes throughout the 22 episodes. I understand this is not a wuxia drama, so I wasn't expecting excellent fight choreography. There's just more talking than fancy fighting here.
The drama also has a few beautiful songs. They are not overplayed and not loud enough to drown out the dialogs. I think my favorite song is Zhou Chen's 鲛人之歌 (Mermaid's song).
At the end of Part 1, I have a somewhat lukewarm impression of this drama. It's not bad, but also not the best. Thus, I give it a 8.25 (B grade) rating. Just not enough to cross the 8.5 (B+) mark, based plainly on my personal enjoyment.
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hated it but still in love with it
Actually there is only 5 chicness drama I have completed with leaving any episode( Arsenal Military Academy, Falling Into Your Smile, love 020, you are my glory, put your head on my shoulder) because Chinese drama are too long.I am big fan of Dilruba dilmurat. Her acting and beauty always stand out but this series has lots of loophole. one moment it feel like okay it is good enough and next moment it make feel like should I drop it but I don't wanna drop it coz I was was already in love with this series. soofy Music, pain, love, I have never been in love like this ever with any other Chinese drama.
I even left Eternal love in the middle. you can hate it but still you cannot ignore it. it is fucking guilty pleasure. You can love and hated relationship with this drama. I watch whole this drama for the sake of love. Actually I don't care even other people criticize but still i will say i am in love with this drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
The man so cute...
Yeay finally able to watched this with eng sub. Thanx to VIKI to provide us with full eng sub. But the bad thing about VIKI are, you can't download it nor you can up speed it. So yeah I watch this streaming & with normal speed.As usual every drama have + & -. Let's discuss them
The (+):
+ The Male character is so cute.... Chang Yi (CY), Li Shu (LS) or Kong Ming (KM) so cute when they have to deal with their love one. The pure CY at first, seeing Ren Jia Lun so cute like that really make me happy. The cutest of them all is when I see KM being 'cornered' by Luo Jin Sang / "Luo Luo" (LL), is really so cute and adorable....
+ Within time I really like how Ren Jia Lun choosing drama. Really hope he's not gonna fall into another boring drama, where he only have stone face. His smile is so adorable, really like to see his smile....
+ Like the chemistry between Dilireba & Ren Jia Lun. Even though they're not so much time together at this part, I can see they quite compatible
The (-):
- The story is so slow... I really hope I can watch this with at least 1.25 or 1.5 times speed
- Nothing new for Dilireba part... Same old same old
- They like 'forcing' everyone to get partner. Even like LL must get partner.. Although actually I quite like each other partner in the end.
Looking forward for the next part.
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Watch It Only for the ML... and the Rest... You Can Skip or Fast Forward
Before starting this series, I've read the synopsis back and forth - wondering whether I should give it a try or not. The answer is yes, I do give in. After watching the first episode, I didn't feel anything worthy and only watched ML's scene. Even I skipped lots of scenes involving the FL (she's a bit of hypocritical, I must say).Other characters are not worthy to be mentioned. I just jump all of their scenes because they have a high amount of screentime.
Considering this is one of Jiu Lu Fei Xiang's works, it should be a breakout - but sadly, due to the bad script and supporting characters' high screentime, it falls short in every aspect.
If you want to watch something better, you can try The Legends, Love Between Fairy and Devil (although it's not my cup of tea), Back From the Brink, Love You Seven Times, The Legend of Shen Li (which will be airing next week).
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They actually kiss! (no fake kissing! FINALLY!)
I felt like this was the most anticipated drama of 2022, what an A list cast with epic budget, explosive CGI and impressive costumes.I 100% watched this drama because of Dilraba Dilmurat and Allen Ren and what can I say. The no kissing clause is no more! I know it's silly to mention this but it was very disappointing to see The Long Ballad with no kissing and Allen's 6 years of dramas with no kissing. To have the main leads actual kiss, really made a difference in my opinion.
I have mixed feelings on this drama. Overall, I enjoyed it and it's hard not to with the over the top CGI, beautiful costumes and impressive sets.
For me the drama is broken into 3 different arcs. I'm not sure if I favored one arc over another, but the drama does have the classic fantasy C drama vibes. You have the epic, melodramatic love and obstacles coming from all angles. The most gripe I have is the pacing of the show.
First off, I didn't like watching the first few minutes of the drama, because it gave us a flash forward of what happened to the couple (that doesn't even happen until midway), so throughout the entire first half of the drama I was wondering when the first few mins would be explained, I wished they left that part out.
I did like the first arc where the FL and ML met and the ML is very innocent and happy. I love the inner torment of the FL (and I know some complained about this) but I really enjoyed watching the FL struggle. I felt like it gave Dilraba depth of character.
The second arc I struggled the most because of the pacing. I felt like it felt forever to resolve the main issue that couple was going through. I enjoyed watching the secondary and third couple (although the butterfly was a bit too young for him, so it was a little creepy) but a hilarious storyline to watch.
I kind of wished the main couple didn't struggle as much and we got to enjoy more than the few episodes here and there of their "cutesy" moments. That's something I couldn't help compare to the Long Ballad, where I truly loved the pacing in that one.
By the time we get to the 3rd arc I was a little tired of the couple struggling and I was wondering when the resolved misunderstanding would happen because it's been dragged way out.
I feel like if you are a fan of the actors and love fantasy high budget C dramas, this one is worth watching. The sound track is pretty amazing and it's just an overall pretty drama to watch. But for me, it doesn't hold a candle to the classics.
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Xiao ShunYao!!!!!
XSY was absolutely amazing!!! In TBW, sorry to say to my baby Allen Ren, but XSY really stolen the show. His Chemistry with Reba was amazing , The way he showcase his ACTING Skills 👏 in TBW was above and beyond, he was a super complicated and multifaceted character, excellently displayed a range of emotions, and nailed every scene. I WILL be looking out for every drama he stars in.QUEEN DILRABA!!!!!!!
Amazing also a complicated character, sometimes I Loved her and other times I was angry with her for lying deceiving and taking advantage of our ML. So many complicated and wonderfully charismatic characters I will never forget. The whole cast was phenomenal and had major on screen chemistry.
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Not perfect but the MC love story got me hooked
Am not a fan of Dilraba and often avoid her dramas and I have never seen any dramas of Ren Jialun before this. But there is this one scene that took my interest and got me watch this drama (The scene where Yunhe had to bathe Changyi)Story: The story is not perfect.. there are too many boring scenes that I actually skipped. I Even skipped the first episode because I do not know what that purpose is. However the two leads were so adorable so I mainly watched their scenes - I kept rewatching their scenes again and again.
I read the novel after finishing the drama and I really wish they kept some parts of the novel.
I wish they didn't change the reunion from the novel - Their reunion in the novel was so beautiful unlike in the drama where Changyi was acting as if nothing ever changed (Hey, I am sorry forgive me please stay) there was no show of remorse or regret that Changyi in the novel had, there was no character development which Changyi had early on (when he decided to destory Yun He's body in order to save the north)
The novel showed us the love Changyi has and the trauma that Yunhe's betrayal has given him. In the drama it just made Changyi look so narrow minded.
No amount of crying and cheesy sad lines from the ML and FL - made me sad. Unlike in the novel where I really cried a bucket.
They added so many extra parts - so unnecessary.
I hate that they made Lu Haoqing the second ML - forever longing for Yunhe.
Casting: The casts did great job, especially the two leads - if they casted someone else as Changyi and Yunhe I doubt I will be able to finish this series.
The chemistry at the start of the series was good. You can see that they do get along. The friendship between Changyi and Yunhe.
However in the later part of the drama, it almost made me wonder if the two leads had some issues with each other or the shooting because they suddenly felt so distant, even the ML look so tired and no longer trying to show any acting that he actuality showed in the first half of the series.
FL was steadfast, he acting isn't topnotch but it's passable.
I think I must praise the director but had to say I'm disappointed with the writers.
Anyway BW is not perfect drama. It is a drama that made me skip a lot of parts and just go straight to the MC scenes. It's a drama that will not work if not for the two leads. Since I was able to rewatch those scenes for countless of times. I will give it an 8
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LESS APPRECIATED
Well....speaking of Allen Ren's fake chest and his cosmetically-done beautiful face. Nothing real about Allen Ren, straining his face for expression of anger, pain, or screaming. I can see all fakes from the lightning-over board visual effects. All the layout were, nothing to impress here, all done digitally computerized designs. I could imagine how the actors did minimum acting with green background as if...This genre isn't my cup of tea, in my opinion, visual effect belittle actors skill in acting or layout/setting creative department. I would never enjoy this kind of drama especially when the actor performed minimal skill because lightning and computer would do all the tricks for them. Nothing beautiful about human's (or fairies) evolution in their story of the drama. Why did I watch this anyway? Wasting time alright, gave in after 7 episodes. I gave overall score 5 for Trying. But nothing to hold my interest here, beautiful Dilraba didn't do anything interesting...story boring...layout fake..music so so. Season 2? Hmmm....NO. They lost me.
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Good, but not great
I'm gonna explain each of my ratings so bear with me (ill start with good then bad):STORY
(good)
The story was somewhat interesting, there were plot twists and mysteries that we had to figure out or find out later. That made me anticipate the following episodes. I liked how well written the characters were. Sometimes in CDramas there is complete focus on the main couple and none on the others. I really liked Ji YunHe, she's a somewhat strong female lead. I also loved the side couples and their stories, specifically Li Shu. The setting was pretty enough and the outfits were nice, but not particularly outstanding. The enemy was generic but it was good and I really liked the contrast between Shunde and Ning Xi Yu and being able to learn about their story, it was really interesting.
(bad)
The beginning was a bit slow and confusing, I didn't feel as drawn into the world setting as I have in other dramas- ashes of love had a beautiful setting. While I liked how well written some of the characters were, they really messed up on Chang Yi. I'm not sure if this is because of his actor (which i'll talk about later), or just the character himself- but Chang Yi felt very 2 dimensional, not changing much through the story and not getting his backstory flushed out. Spoiler- they kill off his clan and father, but we get like a 2 second glimpse of it and then nothing else. It feels like they should've put more time into making us feel empathy and understanding for the change in Chang Yi's character after he was betrayed and his family got killed. Here's the best way I can explain my dislike of this character- no offense at all to Xiao ShunYao (Lin HaoQing actor) but if they had picked a more attractive actor for Lin HaoQing (think like Dylan Wang) I would've gotten second male lead syndrome. Objectively Lin HaoQing's character is much more flushed out and lovely than ChangYi is (or at least the portrayal). I also didn't like how everyone died at least once in the story, some dying twice. While at first I felt sad, when they kept getting revived, I stopped feeling bad. Literally when Luo Luo almost died, I anticipated it and laughed when it happened. Like seriously the deathcount and revival count is crazy.
ACTING/CAST
(good)
Dilraba did an excellent job, I liked how she was able to express her character well in all stages of her character's development. They did a great job flushing out her character and her character's change. I love strong female leads and Dilraba did a great job acting out the strength and the emotions of this character. I also LOVED Ci Sha's acting of Li Shu, he did AMAZING. I love myself a sassy man and his actor was able to portray all those emotions, as well as caring for SanYue and his dilemma of saving the world or being with her. Cristy Guo did SO GOOD, the contrast between Shunde and Ning XiYu was crazy. I was able to hate Shunde and love NingXiYu even when they shared the same "face". Playing the villian is never easy and Cristy did amazing. The other actors did a great job too, Luo Luo was great and Lin Hao Qing was amazing.
(bad)
Oh my flipping days is Allen Ren painful to watch. Chang Yi was so boring what a snooze fest, he was really 2 dimensional and I have to blame the plot a bit for it, but even portraying the character he didn't have any emotion. Allen Ren has like a track record of playing stonefaced emotionless characters, and I read a bit of the novel and Chang Yi isn't really all that stonefaced. Allen Ren didn't do a good job with ChangYi and I honestly felt nothing towards that character or when he died. Also Dilraba and Allen didn't have chemistry. I blame that mostly on Allen since I've watched some of Allen's films and some of Dilraba.
MUSIC
lovely I love everything Sa Ding Ding. I think they repeated the music a bit too much but otherwise no comment
REWATCH VALUE
Not likely rewatching, plot wasn't great enough for me to feel too attached to the characters. Sometimes after finishing shows and movies I will feel depressed because I want more and im so attached the characters it feels like something died in me, but this show felt complete.
OVERALL
My rating probably sounds a bit harsh for the numbers I gave, but the show was good and I was very entertained, like i said good but not great. And I will be avoiding films with Allen Ren after this :)
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Could have been better.
It was great watching a mermaid story where the mer-person was a man and the "human" was a woman. The costumes and jewelry were beautiful and the soundtrack went straight into my MP3 and is still there.The PLOT, however, was all over the place with way too many characters, side quests, individual motivations, and plot lines that dragged the story out WAY too long. If the show runners had condensed the storyline, I wouldn't have gotten bored with the series in the first half of Part 1 when Chang Yi sacrificed his "other life". Why take the mer-person out of a mermaid story?
I gave it a 6 because the actors and production crew deserve a lot of credit for what they were given to work with.
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