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Love Game in Eastern Fantasy

永夜星河 ‧ Drama ‧ 2024
Completed
sariningsih
6 people found this review helpful
Jul 24, 2025
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

Must-watch for Xuanhuan lovers!!

I used to think that Xuanhuan wasn’t my cup of tea till I watched Love Game in Eastern Fantasy and The Romance of Tiger and Rose and both has Ding Yuxi as cast. You should all trust me, Love Game in Eastern Fantasy has satisfied my thirst for wonderful Chinese series. LGIEF is a masterpiece. The storyline, the directing, the writing, the plot, the cinematography, the fight scenes and visual movements and CGI are top-notch. You will experience emotional and beautiful journey from the start to the end.

Story: It was excellent, the story doesn’t drag or rush. I enjoy every moment of the plot.

Cast/acting: Four bamboo masters and the rest of the cast have performed outstanding roles. Their acting looks natural. As a Ding Yuxi fan, I am really satisfied with Ding Yuxi performance. Not only he looks so gorgeous both in his human and demon form, he also shows the best acting with his eyes, gesture and emotions. He is perfect.

Chemistry: Ding Yuxi and Esther Yu chemistry is on point. I love how their interactions on and off screen. Maybe because they were on the same series before, Moonlight, that is why their interactions feel so natural.

Music: The OSTs work so well with the story. It is enjoyable and help us to feel the emotions of the actors. My favourite OSTs are Stare Intently and What You Mean to Me by Ding Yuxi. I always love when our Xiao Ding sings for his own series. His voice is so heavenly.

Characters: All characters, main and supporting, are all well-written. I love all of them. What surprise me the most that Gillian Cheung from Twins was also casted here. I knew her from her movies and songs before. She is a talented and amazing artist.

Rewatch value: I will re-watch it many times. I still can’t get enough of my favourite half-demon Mu Sheng / Mu Ziqi.

Overall: This series is beautiful, unique, captivating and one of my favourite Chinese series along with The Untamed and Blood of Youth. Definitely 10/10 for me!

In conclusion, LGIEF is everything I expect from a Chinese series. Be prepared to fall in love with the characters, the stories, the characters, the music.

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Completed
VeruCasin
6 people found this review helpful
Dec 10, 2024
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 4.0
This review may contain spoilers

Boring and ordinary

I saw this on Netflix and the teaser got me interested.
The first few episodes were interesting but somehow as the story progressed it just got boring.
The writers tried to showcase the friendship and the romance within the friendship, their loyalty to each other but somehow I couldn't connect with any of it. It was all superficial and rushed.
The romance between the ML and FL as well as the 2Ls were meh. It was poorly developed. Perhaps if they added a few more longing glances and soft hand touches it might have helped, at least to strengthen the romance between the characters. Nuances of facial expressions and body languages are important to a story to capture and communicate with the audience. Unfortunately, the story lack such nuances to captivate the audience, well to me at least.
Maybe if they had developed the ML's demon side plot it would've been more interesting. Why did the ML choose to stay as a half human, hiding his demon side? Why didn't he choose his demon half as that character looked interesting?
The plot and the story didn't make sense.
I like the acting of the ML. That's one plus points for me here.
Also Cui Cui was so cute. Other than that, nothing really fantastic here.

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Completed
Nam Gonzales
7 people found this review helpful
Nov 18, 2024
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 6.0

Drama that made me purchase WeTV VIP and express pass after a year of boring Cdramas

**If LBFAD, New Life Begin, and Fangs of Fortune had a Baby — Love Game in Eastern Fantasy**

The last full length Cdrama that I watched completely was Love You Seven Times which I forced myself to watch because I loved the universe of LBFAD. My legit last foray into full length drama was My Journey To You because again I like Esther Yu in a different role and Zhang Linghe was ok in LBFAD but alas I got bored because even though MJTY was gorgeous it was just too dark and brooding for me. What turned me off from Cdramas is the very formulaic storyline that gets repeated for the nth time with different cast, crew, and production team. But after reigniting my fondness for Esther Yu, and watching the clips, I was finally able to go back to watching Cdrama through LGEF and yes I bought WeTV VIP and Express pass after a year of Cdrama hiatus.

**Love that Heals and Comforts**

LGEF may not be about some heroic love of the couple against the world like in LBFAD. Heck even Esther Yu and Ding Yuxi never kissed or had any passionate hugs in the whole 32 episodes, but their chemistry is just there — something warm, fuzzy, and comforting. In general I felt like the main theme of the drama is about Love that heals and comforts — love between romantic partners, friends, family members, even love for humanity in general has the ability to heal wounds and can comfort the most jaded people. The story also touched on self love which LBFAD barely went into. Every episode was unique in showing different types of love even the obsessive type.

** Story on rollercoaster with multiple savepoints**

This aspect of the drama is both its strength and weakness. Strength in that every episode is exciting even without the need to watch out for the skinship between Esther Yu and Ding Yuxi, because every episode have something that will make you cry or feel the feels. Even though the story is a bit predictable, but the dialogues and the way the characters showed their connections and relationships just made sense and made you relate to them giving justice to the Ensemble cast. There is also several mini “stories” in the drama with the first 24 episodes (if cut can be a story on its own) having a sensible overarching plot. The added episodes and plot points just added to the extensive world building in the drama connecting the book and real life. Even the songs in some episodes are neatly tide back to the beginning/end.

The con for this is that because there was a lot of exciting plot points per episode/arc, we kind of lost focus on the OTP which is Miaomiao and Ziqi. So if you’re expecting something similar to LBFAD or LYST, you will be disappointed. Even the supporting couple had more skin ship and more concrete “labelling” of their relationship than the main couple. Likewise, in the later part of the drama, the multiple save points and resets were becoming a bit too taxing. Because one moments you already cried and is happy that finally they have their happy ending and then the story then says booyah we still have a problem and then the cycle of grief and exhilaration repeats. The final ending is expected but I think the best explained one among all the book/game to real world transmigration story there is.

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Completed
littlecotton Flower Award1
8 people found this review helpful
Nov 18, 2024
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

No drama Chekhov's Gunned the way YYXH did

This is the first time I'm writing a public review ever since I've started watching dramas (which was a long time ago). I usually only write reviews on my private account for my close friends to see, but the brainrot that YYXH left me to have really calls for a review.

STORY:

Every little thing that was put in the novel or game world tied up nicely to Ziqi and Miaomiao's reality. Every single detail that they have introduced here and there served a purpose in the story.

This was very much evident in the last two episodes where everything came to a full circle and the audience are given a chance to have THAT realization on why the plot of the novel was like that, why the characters are acting a certain way, and why this and that happened along the way.

These details added depth to the Ziqi and Miaomiao of the real world, making us feel for them the same way we did for the Ziqi and Miaomiao of the novel or game world.

Usually, transmigration shows have the same formula. The MC would go into the novel or game, the MC will try to change the story to survive, the MC beats the final boss and reaches the end of the story and they're brought back to their real world—where, if they're lucky, they might meet their love interest again. The End.

In this show, up until the 2nd to the last episode, they followed that formula, until they deviated from it—Miaomiao goes into the novel, Miaomiao tries to change the story to survive, Miaomiao beats the final boss and reaches the end of the story BUT just when Miaomiao was about to be brought back to the real world, THE TWIST HAPPENS.

And it's ultimately revealed how the novel or game world is not that far from Miaomiao's reality. In fact, the real world is heavily integrated into it. Miaomiao herself is heavily integrated to it.

It's kind of meta, if you ask me. And that's one thing I like the most about the story. It's very much "aware".

My interpretation is that:
- When Miaomiao still had her memory, YYXH's plot was on track. She made fun of the novel, made her own changes, and this is what we, as the audience, loved to see. This is what made us watch YYXH.
- But then, Miaomiao lost her memory. The plot faltered. And of course it will, our player is no longer playing—she FORGOT that she's playing. The plot is on auto-pilot now. YYXH is following Catching Demon's plot. It's natural it's going to be "bad" at that point, Miaomiao judged it as "bad" herself.
- Then, towards the end, Miaomiao finally regained her memory. AND IT WAS PEAK.

I won't say anything more to avoid spoilers. GO WATCH THE SHOW AND BE THE JUDGE!

BONUS: I love how they utilized the System. Usually, for shows like these, the System is forgotten midway. But here, the System is constantly involved and it only stopped being involved when Miaomiao forgot about it—which, again, shows that the story is very much "aware".

The production team definitely knew what they were doing.

ACTING/CAST:

I'm not really an authority when it comes to acting. My only criteria to say that an actor is good is when I'm able to enjoy the show while watching him or her. (My opinion is that it doesn't really matter how much technical skills an actor has. If the actor delivers what he has to deliver and make me feel for their character, then they're good in my books.)

And I definitely enjoyed watching the show. In fact, it was a joy to see Ding Yuxi and Yu Shuxin on screen again. They deliver what they have to deliver and their chemistry is a wonderful sight to see.

The chemistry of the ensemble cast is lovely, too. The found family vibes is too strong and it made me want to see more of their adventures.

The side characters are also good.

(Can I also say: I love how there's no definite villain in this show. They have their own considerations and when you think about things in their perspective, it makes sense why they acted the way they did. It's just realistic in a sense that everyone has their own life and it's just a matter of having different interests on why they're on different sides.)

MUSIC:

The soundtrack SLAPS. All the BGM and sound effects were properly placed and adds to the overall watching experience.

REWATCH VALUE:

For all of its easter eggs, one watch is not enough to catch them all. There's so much detail put into this story that if you watch it again, you'd notice something new.

In fact, even before you finish it, there are already a lot of scenes where you can't help yourself but go, "Oh, I have to watch that again."

OVERALL:

To be honest, the story is not anything grand—like, you wouldn't go into this and objectively think, "Oh, this is a masterpiece."

But there's heart in it that even when it's as simple as can be, you just FEEL that it is definitely a gem that you want to keep. It's definitely a comfort show more than anything.

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Completed
Allgenre123
11 people found this review helpful
Nov 18, 2024
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 10
This review may contain spoilers

A really perfect first half, that makes up for second half's shortcomings

A solid fun filled drama, with an underlying mesage of self love and romantic love in its purest form.

This drama tells the story of Ling MiaoMiao, who was suddenly dropped into a parallel game universe of the novel of her favourite author Fu Zhou, as the vicious SFL. In this historical game world, she needs to complete two major tasks which include, helping to defeat the villain and winning the heart of the hostile SML, set up in the novel as MuSheng.

This drama starts strong, the beginning episodes were incredible! The comedy and romance had me giggling. The directors knew the audience short attention span, a key advantage in this period, where we have so many cdrama being released; so it does a great job of hooking the viewers from the start. Being dropped right in the middle of an action scene with little to no explanation, but a FL running around trying to figure her way out and dying multiple times during the game "trial" period was quite funny and kept me glued to the screen. You'd think it's a short length series with the way it began and how fast paced and enlightening the story was set up. To make it even better, Episode 7 is a defining moment, that ultimately makes the viewer to never let go of the drama (you have to watch up to that episode to understand what I mean).

OK let's move to the Pros and Cons.

PROS :
• Main Leads - The story set up such entertaining leads that everyone comes to love. ML might come off too antagonistic in the beginning which might be offensive to some, but that's just how his character was created in the game. HOWEVER, within a few episodes he will turn out to be one of the MLs you will cherish in drama land. Both leads were deeper than they seemed, you will find yourself rooting for them in their journey. We also have 2 other leads and a cutie little bamboo shoot CuiCui, who stole the heart of not just the viewers, but the leads themselves.
• Acting - Esther Yu and Ding Yuxi are good actors, and they gave their all in this script. Esther's cuteness, great comedic timing and relatable bubbly vibe held it down effortlessly. For Ryan, when it comes to delivering different emotional scenes, as well as looking as if he is head over heels for the FL, he nails this and even goes the extra mile! He was a definition of "the eyes speak louder than words." Then, there was CuiCui who was also good as a child actor.
• The comedy was gold.
• Favorability score - It was one of my favourite things in the show as it intensified the romance - The roller coaster of having it go up and down, with the main excitement being how one could already feel the tough cookie ML was in love with the FL even at a low percentage.
• The chemistry was insane! It will have you kicking your legs in the air with excitement. Esther and Ryan have acted previously in the romance drama 'moonlight', therefore, reuniting again meant the chemistry will be taken up a notch. As mentioned above, even when the favorability score was low the chemistry was already too thick.
• Great premise and plot - I might be a bit biased here, but I really love this kind of plot, even in short length dramas. So I was glad to see this plot in a full length drama.
• The drama breaks all the nonsensical character tropes we normally see; for eg No FL and SFL rivalry, we had a beautiful sismance with both ladies very protective and supportive of each other.

No triangle (I hate triangles)! The supposed love rivals got the hint and moved on and in turn the FLs were all about supporting and not being cruel to other ladies. We also got sort of a bromance. One of the love rivals, the Marquis was a nice guy who genuinely liked the FL and never manipulated or forced any situation on her as we do see in some tropes. Finally, we had the perfect balance of ML (Green flag and grey).
• Cinematography, visuals and styling on point. I must commend the makeup team for the beautiful work they did for the 4 leads! The MUA especially for Lin MiaoMiao was chef kiss, this is hands down my favourite look of Esther and Ryan.


CONS (aka the second-half shortcomings):
• Too many side plots were crammed into the second half and we had multiple themes such as "end of the world--revengeful woman--consort dowager--half brother--demon reveal--amnesia--modern day plot--CuiCui grandpa--Fuyi's background--mother's friend'' and every other imaginable side plot all at once. Then, totally neglecting the romance, which was not supposed to be, as the name of the drama is titled 'love game' in eastern fanatsy.
• Editing and too many cuts - If a drama episodes are reduced, it's only right to reduce the number of plots as well or at least space them out. Rather some scenes were cut and we were left with some unresolved matter, and this was glided over as if nothing happened (Yes, I'm mainly speaking about that damned bracelet, legit the most hated item)!
• Thinking the second leads were like npcs, but in the second half they gave us too much of their scenes with almost zero romance for the leads. Unfortunately, the second leads' situation didn't really hook me, I wasn't buying what they were selling.
• The FL was not well utilised in the second half that I started missing her vibe. In the first half she brought the comedy, drove the plot with others etc. However, in the second half she was put a bit in the background.
• The romance was watered down so much between the leads in the second half. In the first half, we literally started with a favorability score and I was anticipating how passionate their romance will be when the score gets high. Also, the ML is very intense in everything he does. So, I expected when he falls in love to be even more intense, cause at 50% we already saw it and at close to 100%, I expected more fire from their relationship. But they glided over their relationship,  and all focus was on the multiple side plots.

Finale :
I love that the transmigration setup was much more deeper than what we normally see. The message passed across showed this was definitely not a simple fluff and more about self love in its pure form. My only annoyance with the finale is how they never showed Fu Zhou even for a second in the last minutes of the ending. [SPOILER ALERT, DON'T READ] - He was under a life threatening situation the last time he was showed, and as self love was one of the main theme for the drama, wouldn't it have made more sense to show him, so that viewers can jubilate alongside that he got healed? Yes, I know its his book signing and it's obvious that he is fine as we hear him call out her name from a distance, however, seeing him healthy and smiling would have gone a long way in making an impact, and reuniting our leads.

In general,  I enjoyed this drama and I do recommend it, even if you get annoyed with second half, you will always have a smile on your face when you remember the first half. Btw it has a high rewatch value! OK I should stop repeating first and second half atp..

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Completed
Ankita Nayak
4 people found this review helpful
Nov 11, 2025
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 5.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 10
Rewatch Value 2.0

Overrated drama with wasted potential; second half drags, messy ending, and an overhyped actress.

What I liked –
1. Honestly, I watched this drama only for Ding Yuxi, but I was surprised by the second FL’s (Zhu Shu Dan) acting. Both of them were absolute saviours, along with the kid who played the role of the bamboo shoot.
2. The OST was amazing, especially the song “Stare Intently” — it perfectly matched the scenes whenever it played. Also, “Surge” by Yu Shuxin was pretty good.
3. The costumes were great, unlike most other Chinese dramas which tend to be dull or repetitive.
4. The CGI was impressive.

Disliked –
1. The second half of the story didn’t make much sense. Somewhere around the 20th or 23rd episode, it started feeling dragged and boring. I watched it at 1.5x speed — honestly, wish Netflix had a 2x option. I kept waiting for a real turning point. I BLAME the WRITERS for not doing justice to the actors, the plot, or even the drama’s name.
2. Yu Shuxin’s acting was the worst part. It started off fine, but she didn’t need to act cute in every scene. I was really hoping to see her in a serious role for once. Her cutesy act in "Love Between Fairy & Devil" was acceptable because her character was gullible at first. But in "Love Game in Eastern Fantasy", it was completely unnecessary — she was an employee first, and a game character later. She was constantly baby-talking. The ML falling for such a weirdly written character was beyond my wits.
3. The lack of romance — there was more chemistry between the second leads, making them feel like the real main couple. Although 2nd ML's expression were flat.
4. Overall, I expected a lot from this drama. It feels overrated. I just hope the reviews on MDL were genuine.

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Completed
Alaskan
4 people found this review helpful
Dec 2, 2024
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.5
This review may contain spoilers
This drama drew me in because the first few episodes were pretty funny. I think I would have enjoyed the drama more had it continued with the silly but funny video game plot. Instead, it turned into a standard, and maybe too long, wuxia fantasy before abruptly switching tone again toward the end. Esther Yu’s character did not develop much throughout the drama and between her expressions, makeup, and hairstyle, including too much debris in her hair, she kept coming off as baby panda. I assume that that was a deliberate directing choice. The male lead Mu Sheng (Ding Yuxi) and second female lead Mu Yao (Zhu Xudan) were fine. But every Chinese drama lately seems to have one major character who appears frozen and this time it was the the second male lead, Liu Fuyi (Yang Shi Ze). It didn’t help that he often wore light blue outfits, which accentuated his resemblence to an icicle.

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Completed
youfeng_yard
4 people found this review helpful
Dec 12, 2024
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
This review may contain spoilers

Light hearted drama with a refreshing start and a few stumbles

*Story*
As most of the comments mention, the first half was very strong and well written, despite the decline in quality, I still found the second half to be quite decent (maybe because I watched it once it was finished airing). However, I wasn't a huge fan of the last episode. I get their intention of having Ziqi talk to his younger versions in reality but it felt quite abrupt to me and a huge shift in the story. The ending itself wasn't too terrible since we know that Miaomiao and Ziqi/Fu Zhou meet up, and Cuicui and his grandfather also exist in the real life, but I wish we had a more fleshed out happy ending. Not only in terms of the main couple properly interacting, but also maybe meeting Mu Yao and Fuyi in the real world, especially since Miaomiao didn't really get to say good bye to them at the end.


*Acting and Characters*
For the main couple, I really enjoyed the writing for Miaomiao and Ziqi, and I think that Yu Shuxin and Ding Yuxi were the perfect actors to pull off those roles. That being said, I still am not the biggest fan of YSX's acting. She's so different from her peers in that she does heavy emotional scenes really well, but tends to overact in the simpler scenes. Ding Yuxi on the other hand really shone in this show, I really don't have any criticisms for him because I was really impressed by his acting. He pulled off all the heart-wrenching scenes perfectly but also did well in the ones where he was just supporting Miaomiao.
Their chemistry admittedly went down after they got together but I still liked their dynamic in most scenes, and I like the fact that after going back in time, they defeated the Resentful Woman together!

The side couple were the complete opposite for me. All of original Miaomiao's complaints of Fuyi's character still occurred in our version of the story as well. I found him incredibly bland, and I think the way the actor chose to portray him made it even worse. He was like a piece of wood to me, I can't emphasize enough how much I didn't enjoy his scenes. Mu Yao was great, though I disliked her self sacrifice at the end because we already had her go through an arc where the lesson she learned at the end was not to carry everything on her shoulders alone. Zhu Xudan was great in the role, I genuinely loved her, no notes. Their chemistry... was not great though, I blame it on the ML's woodenness lol.


*Music*
The main OSTs were amazing, especially the ballad for the emotional scene and the fast paced one for the action scenes. I can't remember very accurately so don't quote me on this, but I think there were a few music arrangements that I found a bit out of place (not OSTs but background songs). No huge complaints though, especially since I adored the ballad so much.


*Overall*
If you're looking for a light-hearted drama with really good production and beautiful costumes, I recommend that you watch this show. Keep your expectations tempered since it's far from perfect but I found it a very enjoyable watch overall!

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Completed
maverixxs
4 people found this review helpful
Oct 11, 2025
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 5.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 4.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers

32 episodes and no kiss??

i stopped watching after that forehead kiss in the last episode yall. this show was really great, i loved the story, most of the characters and the acting was decent. the top review saying that Chinese censorship is the reason why we never got a kiss between the main couple is absolute BS you telling me the second couple can swap spit 85 bazillion times but ALLL i get is mf forehead kiss at the very end of the last episode??

Liu fuyi was boring, i forgot he was apart of the team half of the time because he was so stiff and overall didn't bring anything important to the story.

miaomiao was funny in the beginning i feel like them making her forget her memory so she could unlock her power really made her seem dull and suddenly her whole personality was "uwu cutesy heroine who could do no wrong" for the rest of the episodes. i didnt like the needless conflict and at times it really felt like they were just pulling common tropes out of their ass to extend the story lol. the ending sucks, all that build up for no payoff. cruel and unusual punishment for the writers.

the more i think about the show the more things i can remember not liking. overall i don't think i'd rewatch it even if ziqi is hot.

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Completed
suezyy
4 people found this review helpful
Nov 26, 2024
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers

I really want to love it but I have so many bones to pick with this drama.

I was so hooked in the beginning and I love the main couple and 2nd couple so much. But I feel like for me the cp carried a lot of it. The end of the drama especially just felt super rushed because the main point of the whole story they were in was to defeat the 9th level demon (I forgot I her name in english) but the scene kind of felt underwhelming as it was just one stab/one move and boom done nothing else. And at some point it felt like rather than having everything tie all together from information from the beginning it seems like they just kept on adding more and more new powers that weren’t previously mentioned before for the purpose of fitting whatever was going on. Which is fine and makes sense but there are so many new powers for what reason that would have changed the entire trajectory of the story if it were mentioned a lot earlier and it did not seem like new information they learned as it was just spoken. I like how it was complex but at the same time it felt kind of unnecessary at times and to the point where it loses the plot. When miaomiao goes back to the modern world she sees cuicui and grandpa at the book signing which is adorable but I feel like it would have made more sense if it was mu yao or liufuyi because in the end they are the second leads and if cuicui and grandpa are there wouldn’t muyao and liu fuyi too technically speaking. The ending of just fu zhou calling miaomiao name felt like it definitely needs more to add on to clarify or even give base to support the information they just dumped the last episode. How did miaomiao even end up going back? How did ziqi go back? Why is ziqi just remember now he’s fuzhou and how did he even get in there? I feel like the story between miaomiao and fuzhou little crush thing could have also had some more to it. Maybe I am just a little nitpicky here but it really just ended off with a lot of holes.

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Completed
Minyu
7 people found this review helpful
Nov 22, 2024
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
This review may contain spoilers

(Warning! So many spoilers here) Showing Appreciation to Emotionally Relatable Characters

I loved all the characters in this drama. I always enjoy analyzing each character and comparing them to myself and the relationships I encounter in real life. That’s exactly what I plan to do here as well. I didn't see anyone talk about side characters that much, so I might talk about some of those I found interesting. This is my first time writing a review!

Let's start with the novel's FL (SFL), Mu Yao is someone who shoulders every burden by herself, always protecting others but neglecting her own well-being. Her overwhelming sense of responsibility is both extraordinary and excruciating. In today’s world, she represents those hardworking individuals who feel guilty or fearful of taking a break, constantly worried they might not be strong enough to face life’s challenges and protect what they ought to protect.

Then, the novel's ML (SML) Liu Fuyi is a character driven by a desire to repay the kindness he has received. I deeply connected with him in the sense where I often feel the need to repay those who have supported and strengthened me and sometimes feel tied/chained, especially when I do them wrong. Despite his background, he strived to be good to others. However, when he has failed and felt like he betrayed those he values, he shoulders the blame entirely, even to the point of self-destruction. His principle of "forgiving oneself is difficult, instead focus on atonement" is admirable, but a powerful reminder to let go of unnecessary guilt. He taught me that while our actions can have serious consequences, not everything is under our control. I actually really liked his back story. I don't know why some say it was boring and unnecessary.

Cuicui was the most innocent character, and I loved how he was designed as a bamboo shoot incapable of hiding anything. Him giving the letter to Ziqi was the best and most relieving thing that happened in the whole show for me. I felt so thankful to him, he saved our CP hahah! They relied on him so much, in the forest with the water demon and at the end, to help save the "novel world", it was sooo cuteee! Cuicui is the real hero! He is the cutest, the best!

Fuyi’s master and Mu Yao’s father’s friend was the most tragic character for me personally. The friendship fallout between him and Mu Yao's dad was a reflection of how friendships often falter after deep disappointment. Some might say, “Well, then it wasn’t a strong friendship to begin with,” but pride and failed expectations can make reconciliation incredibly difficult. His regret was heartbreaking.

Now the leads, (ML) Mu Sheng/Ziqi, a half-demon, struggles with self-acceptance. He is an insecure character, distrustful of others because he doesn’t trust himself. I can relate to this in the context of social interactions—how we sometimes hesitate to reveal our "inner demons," fearing judgment of being different. His journey felt deeply personal, reflecting the challenges of self-love. There will always be parts of ourselves that we must learn to love and accept, despite how hard it is. There are people who will accept us and love us, no matter how ugly this "inner demon" is, which was kindof shown in episode 7 (this was my favorite episode).

(FL) Miaomiao was the most relatable. She was tired of her mundane everyday life. Her days are brightened by reading novels, a feeling that resonates with me (and probably most people here). We often rely on dramas as an escape from the stress and monotony of reality. I believe her purpose in traveling to that alternate world was to reflect on her conscious and unconscious desires:
1. Rewrite the ending of her favorite author’s novel and feel less betrayed by giving a HE instead, (even at the end, her desperation for a HE remained strong, also because she felt all the characters' genuineness)
2. Fulfill her longing for her late father (this was the most emotional part of the show for me, this made me cry the most)
3. Experience a sense of accomplishment in her job (to compensate for feeling overworked and unappreciated with her real world job as an office worker). In the novel she becomes a demon catcher who helps fight against Revengeful woman. Even got the Apocal Power (she was so cute trying to brag about her powers hahhaha).

I feel like it wasn't just a world Fu Zhou created to fulfill his 3 wishes, but also for Miaomiao to fulfill hers. that's why both of them got sucked in it. Plus, Miaomiao experienced love and met Fu Zhou as Mu Sheng/Ziqi, who she overlooked and didn't interact with in the real world. It was a chance for him to show his love, her chance to feel that love, and theirs' to experience the love they both deserved. I didn't read the novel, so all of these are based on my understanding of the drama alone, so I'm not entirely sure I'm making a point.

Some other aspects of the drama that I LITERALLY ADORED TO THE CORE:
Showing the favourability percentage WAS SOO EXCITING!
Everytime it was shown, i felt so giddy, it's so unique, don't you think? It showed the development of their relationship in a more "quantitative" way than a "qualitative" way HAHAHH as a science person, numbers just makes everything right! haha
Also, -200% was HILARIOUS!

The reflection domain made me scream! IT WAS JUST AMAZING, I can't find words with how incredible it looked, the contrast colors (i don't know what you call that), how the transition was done! WAAAHH, I was just in awe!

The soundtrack is also really good! I am also biased, but when Ding Yuxi sang his version of "stare intently", I just cried of happiness.

Ding Yuxi, i've been his avid fan since 2020. I have been waiting for this drama since I saw the news of them being cast, it was like waiting for a lifetime, but the show ended too fast, I needed more. I totally loved Moonlight, (I think I've rewatched it at least 5 times including the time after watching LGIEF hahaha). I have been watching all his dramas, never has he disappointed me, EVER!!! I fell in love with him at first sight as Zhou Shiyun in "Intense Love", were in delusional relationships with his other roles like Chu Kong in "Love you seven times" and this year, I married Shen Du (Melody of Golden Age) in my head (haha) and again fell crazy in love with Mu Sheng/Ziqi (his Fu Zhou appearance was drop dead hot, him with those glasses just made me go crazy). I think they really did a great job with his costume in this drama. He looked so good in other dramas as well (like in Love you seven times ) but he looked 100x more handsome in this one! His chemistry with Esther Yu is again no doubt exceptional, they slayed in both dramas : Moonlight and LGIEF.
I hope Ding Yuxi gets more dramas, he had so many this year, which made me so happy. I'm now waiting for "Black and White Forest", him in another type of role, I just cannot wait!

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Completed
Kim_Bear_Milford
5 people found this review helpful
Aug 6, 2025
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

Worth to watch! My best Chinese series of the years

I was really hesitant to watch Love Game in Eastern Fantasy since I am not a fan of Transmigration story. I used to be a fan of Wuxia drama only. It takes me longer to get myself into Xianxia drama. And finally, I should think multiple times before I push myself to watch Xuanhuan drama. I was never a fan of Ding Yuxi, before because I used to prefer a manly-type actor. However, because I heard a lot from social media that this drama is so good with beautiful cast members, I decided to watch it during my winter break. I was so hooked on the first episode and beginning to fall in love with the four main leads (the four bamboo masters plus our adorable bamboo shoot, Cuicui). The beautiful OST by the four bamboo masters makes myself to stay in the series. I read negative feedbacks for the ML and FL appearances but it wasn’t true! They said that Ryan Ding and Esther Yu weren’t fitted to this kind of genre because they aren’t handsome and beautiful enough. Some said that the ML and FL dubbing voices were so weird, and again it wasn’t true. Both Ryan and Esther are so gorgeous and ethereal in this series, Bambi Zhu and Yang Shize are also so gorgeous, even the supporting casts are beautiful and handsome. I really don’t mind with the dubbing voices, because I personally think the voices blended naturally and fit so well with their characters. The dubber did the amazing jobs. And the most important thing is their actings. All main leads and supporting cast played their roles so well especially Ryan, his eyes expression, he can emote so well with eyes to express his feeling. He blew me away in every scene, solidified that he is a talented actor that I would be closely watching from now on.
This is a 10/10 for me.

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