Love Game in Eastern Fantasy

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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Disappointing Otome Isekai, with extra cringe on the side.

WHO RATED THIS A TEN???

Okay, I am a sucker for Otome Isekai, especially those where the MC is reborn as the villainess character. They are one of my favorite subgenres and I would like to think I have watched enough of them to be a bit of an enthusiast. However, this drama was not it for me. The plot is that of a typical mediocre otome isekai story, MC transported to another world into the body of the villainess in her favorite book series. I did have high hopes for this series as the plot description caught my attention. However, the storytelling just wasn't there. The writers made the weirdest choices, and it felt like honestly they were just asking Chat GPT to give them conflicts and character depth. Not to mention, the FL gave me so much second hand cringe. Her acting was so bad, it was difficult to keep watching. I felt like my skin was crawling as I watched her attempt to portray this character, it fell flat and she just seemed like a goofy moron who made the worst choices possible, and needed the ML for everything. (A departure from typical really good villainess otome isekai which is female-centric with a powerful FL.) In her defense, the character isn't that great to begin with, and the script was also really bland. But also, she's just really, really bad at acting. There was not a drop of chemistry between her and the ML and I wondered how they could even end up together. To be honest, it felt like they were more friends than anything, and sometimes felt like she didn't like him at all despite what she was saying. His acting was so much better than hers though, so the balance was off as well - it was like he held all the chemistry and she was just goofy and oblivious, nonchalant and uncaring. The special effects were cool, the music was pretty decent. I will never rewatch this. I barely slogged my way through it the first time.

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The Guide to Conquering a Black Lotus- In its Enthralling,Magical,Whimsical Glory.

I could not look away. My eyes, heart and soul were captured by all Episodes that "Love Game in Eastern Fantasy" delivered. I always had it in my back of my mind to watch this HitDrama ever since i saw it airing on youtube but i never came around to it until now, unsure if it would be to my taste and time. Oh, i should have known better.

We follow the heroine and her group of friends that eventually calls themselves the five Bamboo Masters. Dedicated to capture evil demons and save the world. It is an unforgettable adventure filled with obstacles during their hard journey, but firm bonds get created. Everyone of them connects with their past and deal with accepting themselves.

In the centre of this adventure we have the (Oh so) smoldering romance between the Demon Catcher MuSheng, who despises the heroine MiaoMiao early in this story, not knowing she transmigrated from another parallel universe to change the ending of this novel. So the system decides that MiaoMiao need to conquer the heart of the very ruthless and brooding MuSheng.

(I live for Romance Stories, like this)

I mean, sparks. So many sparks between MiaoMiao & MuSheng that my eyes literally hurt and i could NOT STOP smiling like a love-sick fool everytime they appeared on-screen. Their romance is overflowing and incredibly developed. I mean their charm, their hilarious bickering and banter. To watch the high and mighty MuSheng who cares for nobody and nothing but his sister MuYao TOTALLY FALL HEAD OVER HEELS FOR our sweet heroine MiaoMiao. Esther & YuXi totally won me over with their captivating performances and on-screen chemistry. The way he gazed at her with such fervent longing and adoration.

I mean, my heart could not handle that! Their love-story folks, is absolutely out of this world heartwrenchingly beautiful. MuSheng is a hero to die for, never expected to have my heart stolen by him like this. His stubborn and fierce nature, his hilarious moody features, how he oozed danger and charm in a very APPEALING WAY. I mean i found him so attractive!

Yeah, i am totally gushing and fan-girling! I am gonna miss everyone in Love Game in Eastern Fantasy. When the Ending Credits rolled in the Final Ep my tears just flew down even more.So many memorable memories! Roller coaster of emotions this story gave me, Truly a Gem of a Treasure.

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Truly disappointed

I love both Yu Shu Xin and Ding Yu xi. I have watched most of their dramas. I loved their chemistry in Moonlight.

But!!!!!
Alas! Sigh!
I had so much expectation from this drama. I loved the cast and even the genre. But the story was so bland... Nothing exciting, not to mention direction was often off the track. It started as a game with a mission for the FL but later it just became like normal historical drama where the main leads set off for adventures.
And what was about the amnesia part? Why did they have to put that in the story when it didn't bring any purpose?

The final Boss!!! Don't get me started. It was so rushed... they spent so many episodes on other side characters but when it was the main villain's turn, they didn't even put any effort into the fight. They killed her twice in a single episode!!!

More than the main leads, the story of Mu Sheng's parents was much more interesting. The only two things likable about the whole drama are Mu Sheng's parents and the story of Fu Zhou (Even though the ending was vague)

Lastly, the ending... An Open Ending!!! seriously... why? They didn't wrap up the story properly in the game or even in the real world.

Disappointed... Truly!!!

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i must love myself, before 100% loving someone

i just have to say, this is my favourite chinese drama for 2024. i wasn't expecting much but upon seeing the trailer on xiao hongsu, it caught my attention immediately. what do you mean, travelling into a book being an evil second lead and needing the evil second lead to fall in love with you 100%?!

i would say that miaomiao is actually a gift to musheng, muyao and liu fuyi. she helped musheng to not be ashamed of his identity, allowed him to walk it out and turned him to a softer musheng. she is muyao's best friend where muyao finally found a girl-friend that she can talk to and adore. she informed liu fuyi about his loveline before hand.

i love how miaomiao and musheng's chemistry with each other, which we have the thank esther yu and ding yuxi! the musheng we had, is filled with youth/young energy that i love! the progression of -200% to 99% was such a rewarding process to see as you get to see the change in calling each other such as from "mu gongzi / ling xiaojie" to "ziqi/miao miao"

i love how they didn't downplay muyao's character and continued to give her the main character energy! i really love it when muyao found out about ziqi's identity. rather blaming on him or anyone, she blamed it on herself. blaming herself for not knowing about it. the fact that liu fuyi also tried his best to help was heart-warming to see. hence, the changes in the script was well-written.

the chemistry between the 4 master of bamboos are pleasing to me as well. i want to pack them together so they can be together forever. where-ever the 4 masters of bamboo go, they are so much fun to watch and the way they know what's going online and would just say it out! it is just so funny to me.

and yes, i am waiting for their next work together as 4 masters of bamboo or musheng x miaomiao or liu fuyi x muyao. i am ok with any- please just give it to me

there are so many things i love about this show. such as, ending credits in the first 10 minutes, getting electric shock with the bones and many more. iconic moments such as musheng's beautiful crying scenes, miaomiao's "thank you ah, musheng-er", our 4 bamboo masters. my favourite ep? ep 22, i love how they got together, had each other's back and showing the team spirit.

the outfits are pleasing to the eyes too! i really love each characters' outfit and you can see the design team really put in effort in designing and sourcing for the outfit and hairstyle. usually main characters would get flashier outfits, but over here, everyone is a main character in their own story and the outfit and dressing really prove that statement,
(spoiler!) the ending could be a little confusing but i believe that fuzhou ded -> ziqi went in to his body! + lowkey moonlight call back with the fireworks and bunny apples.

there are some complains about the ost but i personally really love it! to me, i just feel like it hits on the spot. in fact, i love all the tracks for this drama.

a little out of the box, this show really deserved its popularity because the production crew listens to the fans well. you want it, you can have it. i am so glad that that people are able to discover this show. for me, i think it is rather fresh. and i am excited to see their variety show!

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Fantasy, Feels, and a Hint of Missing Logic—Still a Must-Watch

The story? Solid. The OST? A full-on banger—10/10 would loop it in the shower. But that ending? Excuse me, where was my emotional payoff? They didn’t even hug. Not even a dramatic backlit stare with wind blowing their sleeves—nothing! And don’t even get me started on Liu Fu Yi and Mu Yao just vanishing from existence like side characters in a budget cut.

Also, Yu Shu Xin, I love you, I do. You're adorable, you're charming, you're practically a walking heart emoji—but please, I beg you, give us another serious drama like My Journey To You. The talent is there. The face is already doing 90% of the work—just add a little murder and emotional trauma, and it’s perfection.

Still, I recommend this drama. And hey, if you're still craving more, go watch Moonlight right after Love Game in Eastern Fantasy. Ding Yu Xi is an author in both, and honestly, it kind of feels like an unofficial sequel. You’re welcome.

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well found it overrated

so what I liked :
- the friendship
- the acting was good
- beautiful setting, cinematography
- the costumes are great
- romance was still cute, the chemistry was there
- the characters are interesting I guess
- very minimal love triangle, almost nothing, which is good
- mostly centered on the leads
- I like the scene with ML and his hairband and demon moments. I was here for ML, I just like this actor and he’s very handsome to me. FL is a good actress.

but I don’t know :
- this was mostly boring to me. first few eps were interesting, we were setting the plot and the characters, but I was mostly bored from almost eps 8 to 20. I was watching at 1,5x and not always paying attention. I dislike eps 17-20. (i don’t remember exactly, but the eps she was under the bracelet). Got a bit more I interesting after ep 20 for a few eps. last few eps were okay i guess, but i was still not that into it
- the romance wasn’t really giving to me, even if we got some cute moments
- a bit too childish to me
- second couple wasn’t really interesting, but the scene were he was controlled and we learned that he was actually dead, I think that was good and interesting, I was actually sad when he was dying
- classic unsatisfying ending, but I was expecting it. Classic meeting for 2 sec, we don’t see both of them, they don’t even have a conversation. I don’t think I can consider HE, it’s definitely more an OE to me. like they don’t know each other in the real world, (he knows her from childhood, but at the same time, they don’t know each other, she doesn’t know him personally, she knows he is an author) so it’s like meeting for real and getting to be together, she wasn’t interacting with the real him in the dream. Well or maybe he was and I misted something, but I don’t think so. but the backstory with the book was interesting

So, do I recommend, maybe it okay to pass time

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Lighthearted and fun, solid first half

I’ll preface by saying that I saw Esther in LBFAD and decided her style is not for me. But I still wanted to watch this show because everything else about it seemed like my jam. I love a feel-good, lighthearted xianxia. Since I chose to watch Esther’s show, I did my best not to get annoyed at any cute-acting.

Given this context, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the character of Lin Miaomiao. I found her to be fairly down-to-earth and self-aware, especially in the first half. There’s a bit of the cutsey style, but the things she says are not-dumb and fairly funny, so I actually really liked her. She gets thrown in ridiculous situations and has to muddle her way out. She also has a sad backstory with her dad, but she’s still overall cheerful and good-hearted, which makes her likeable.

The first half was solidly enjoyable. I’ve played a lot of video games and loved the game-related jokes. Miaomiao’s view of a historical setting from a modern perspective adds a good dash of humor; her sometimes-snide commentary is funny, but never mean or rude. The meta-ness of her knowing where the story is “supposed to” go, and trying to direct it, is a fun twist. But it had me wondering the entire time how they would handle the question of what is reality, as the world of the game started to feel more and more real.

The male lead, Mu Sheng, starts off hostile but is soon uncovered to be more emotionally damaged than anything else. Ryan Ding does a great smirk, unfortunately (for me) the character evolves so we see less and less of it as the show goes on. Also in the band are Mu Yao and Liu Fuyi. Their story is a bit less developed and more bland, but I was still happy to see it progress when it did.

That said, the show becomes a bit less fun and enjoyable as it starts to steer away from the meta-ness. Video game references, jokes related to the world being “fake”, and Miaomiao’s awareness and references to her modern world, all but disappear. As my appreciation for Miaomiao declined without her snarky commentary, so did my tolerance for her cute act. Why does she simper and say things extra slow and cutsey when she could just talk like a normal human?

Her loss of self-awareness is not random- it’s explained by the plot- but it does make the show less fun as it turns into more of a classic xianxia story, good vs evil, sad backstories, etc. And the show doesn’t quite have the plot to stand alone in that capacity. It’s a bunch of cliché plot devices, which are fine when you consider that within the show it’s a story written by somebody, but not that fun to watch it play out episode after episode as the main story.

Add to this that I didn’t quite feel the relationship between Miaomiao and Mu Sheng. I don’t know if it’s just the FL’s cutesy style that makes me not want to root for her CP- I can’t understand why he’s so into her, so it feels founded on nothing. (This was, btw, also how I felt about LBFAD.) Or maybe it just didn’t quite develop and build up naturally enough. Either way, not being into the CP unfortunately makes the show less enjoyable.

Stylistically, most of the fighting seems to be wire stunts and CGI (as opposed to wielding “real” (prop) weapons). This is not good or bad, and I thought it’s done pretty nicely. I didn’t quite like Miaomiao’s makeup or all the doodads in her hair (she’s on the road, who’s doing her hair?) but that’s a minor quibble. There was some nice whimsical styling for the different kinds of demons, and other fun details.

I’d give this a rating of 9 for the first half, and maybe 6 for the second (5 would be a show I’m not into, this one I still cared a little), averaging to 7.5. Not modified for the ending; read ahead for my take (contains spoilers).

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





First of all, for a light-hearted show like this, I’d be really surprised if it were anything but a happy ending. And I consider it happy. But many people didn’t like it, probably wanting her to stay with her new reality in the game. I believe this is what happens in the novel source material, but the drama was limited by censorship which bans transmigration.

I spent the entire show wondering how they would handle the dual worlds aspect. To what extent would they make the show’s actual reality have elements of supernatural? The novel went all in, but the show went in the other direction, with the supernatural elements limited to maybe a shared fever dream between Miaomiao and Fu Zhou (if that’s how you interpret it- never quite figured out what happened).

Personally I liked that they maintained a realistic world, because it makes the whole thing so relatable. It’s easy for us viewers to get lost in a story too, but in the end we all have to wake up and deal with our mundane lives again. I like that Miaomiao has to face this same reality as we do. Of course I got attached to the characters and world of the game, but reality- for Miaomiao and us- is that we slowly forget these things and move on.

While watching, I figured the best ending might involve her finding her same friends in her modern world, and I was happy that this is kinda-ish what happened. Do I wish they had shown a bit more of it? Yes. They could have easily shown us an entire episode to tie things up in the modern world, and everyone would have been much happier. They had episodes to spare (under the 40 limit) and no source material tying them down (because they’d already changed so much), so why not? Cdramas seem to feel like the right thing to do is leave viewers wanting more.

By the way, the last couple of episodes were such a mess! I was honestly flabbergasted… I gave up trying to figure out what was going on. Then finally she “wakes up”. At least, if you think of it all as a dream, then that nonsensical stuff makes a lot more sense.

Consistent with the chaos towards the end, bringing in the author came a bit out of left field. I still liked this plot element as a way to tie things together. I just felt that this, like all the other “surprising reveals” crammed into the end, as well as the self-love message (nice message, poorly executed), should have been foreshadowed better throughout the show. It would have felt a lot less chaotic and random if they focused more on developing themes and threads throughout the story, then tying them up at the end, rather than inventing new ones last minute.

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Hello my favs; Did you read the script for the last few episodes?

This is tragic. TRAGIC.
Because I am willing to forgive SO MUCH.

Ding Yuxi and Esther Yu. I adore you both. Your chemistry is amazing. 10 out of 10. No notes. Most adorable couple ever. So Fun. So very sweet. When you're both on screen I can't take my eyes away, because you hit this amazing harmony where you both occupied the same wavelength. It was beautiful to behold two performers who were being so complementary. I really and truly enjoyed the first half of this with extreme gusto. You two have such a great vibe with your adopted son. I loved it. I was here for it. I wholly enjoyed watching you two fall for each other

But no matter how great this was, I cannot escape from the unfortunate reality that Love Game Eastern Fantasy shits the bed at around episode 19.

Now I still watched, I was never offended, and there were plenty of character beats and story pieces that I liked. The In-Story ending was... fine. Not great, but serviceable.

However, the larger meta ending is a giant sack of floppy dicks. We cannot escape the fact that the show just stopped even pretending to be about Ling Miao Miao, and makes everything about Mu Sheng. I almost cried. What the hell is the point of a transmigration story if the heroine forgets she's transmigrated?! Why can't she just be the star of the show? Why can't this story be about Ling Miao Miao? What even is the point of the first half of the show, if you abandon all of it in favor of--what, exactly? Why do we have to constantly sideline female leads for male ones?! Instead of writing a smart, competent, and INFORMED heroine, they have to neuter Ling Mia Miao in order to tell the same-ass boring story as the original novel (and every other transmigration thing) tells. It fails as a meta examination, it fails as a transmigration story, it fails being a character examination, if that's even what it was trying to do.

Nevermind that a late reveal calls into question the very fundamentals of their worldbuilding. Seriously. STOP INVALIDATING YOUR OWN PREMISES, C-DRAMA. JUST LET SOME SHIT BE ABOUT THE WOMAN AND THE MAN SHE LOVES SUPPORTING HER.

I am very frustrated. So much about this is great. Ding Yuxi and Esther Yu are amazing to watch. No, the characters aren't super deep, but I could live with it. Ensemble Cast Chemistry? Great. The backstory? Tropey, but good. 2nd fml and ml? Actually interesting! Adorable little Bamboo son? SO CUTE. Costumes? Excellent. Ancillary characters? Engaging. Yeeeah, some of the demon world-building is a little wobbly, but it's not egregious. Water Demons? SO COOL. Palace drama? Not bad! It's a solid foundation, so it really and truly is a pity that the whole thing falters in the last act and leaves a skidmark on the landing.

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This drama is surprisingly good, but the ending leaves much to be desired.

Tropes: Book transmigration, hater to friends to lovers, found family

This might be the best idol-period fantasy drama of 2024. The plot and themes of the drama are nothing new; we have seen this story time and time again but what differentiates this drama from others similar to this one is the pacing, storytelling, and acting. The director has done a good enough job of setting up the characters and their background stories so that they feel real and relatable. I like how they have shown bits and pieces of the FL´s life in the real world. It helps us understand her character better and the actions she takes. I also like that they have tried to explain why she transmigrates to the novel world game and it doesn´t feel random.

The best parts of the drama are definitely the cast, music, and CGI. This is the second collaboration between Esther Yu and Ding Yu Xi, and you can clearly see that they have great chemistry. Every scene they have together is just so charming and makes you root for Miaomiao and Ziqi. The SFL and SML have also done justice to their characters. And of course, Cuicui is the most adorable character in the drama.

I am most impressed by Ding Yu Xi´s portrayal of Mu Sheng/Ziqi. He completely embodies the character and his micro-expressions are on point. He is just perfect for the role. Even tho he´s dubbed in this drama I think they could´ve kept his original voice. As for Esther Yu, I personally find this to be her best performance so far mostly because the character Miaomiao is close to her acting style and it´s her comfort zone. I can't imagine anyone else doing this role. Though I'll be honest there are moments where she goes overboard with her child-like mannerisms, expression, and baby voice but for some reason, I was able to get by those in this drama mainly because I was invested in the story.

The relationship development between Miaomiao and Ziqi is quite nice from the beginning but once they are together the director just kinda leaves the romance to the viewers’ imagination and it´s a bit disappointing. There are so many missed opportunities for a nice romantic kiss that never happened. Still, I am most disappointed with how they handled the ending. I would never get why the writer and director couldn't just give us a satisfying ending. Feels a bit sadistic on their part. The stupidest thing they did was to not show us Ding Yu Xi´s face in the end when he calls Miaomiao despite him shooting the scene. like please, make it make sense!!!!!

They totally robbed us of a good ending and ik many people are okay with the ending and consider it HE but I think it´s more of an OE and ruined otherwise a good drama.

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