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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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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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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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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Not terrible but the story lost flavor towards the end...

I watched this for Esther Yu. In LBFAD she started out annoying but grew on me bc she eventually matured. I thought it would be the same with this drama. But she stayed babyish and kind of annoying having very little character growth. Also the main plot is supposed to be about her being in a game and her having to "stay in character" that just stopped after episode 7. That was what made it interesting. And the main couple just wasn't completely convincing. There is definitely chemistry between the two but the romance was just okay. These two were together in Moonlight and I thought they were amazing in that drama. But here, I just wasn't sold. There were cute moments between them but all she did was cry instead of confessing how she felt when the moment came. And then, boom?, we're supposed to believe they're in a committed relationship headed for marriage? And then after that they acted more like buddies than a couple. The best acting and most emotionally moving scene for me was when Mu Yao found out Mu Sheng's true identity. And then the ending was just nonsense. Why make him the author? And then why not show them back together in reality after that or at least meeting? And what happened to everyone else?

What I did like was the friendship theme and how she changed the other character's fates by creating a bond between the 4 of them. Ding Yuxi's acting was fantastic per usual. Mu Sheng is still a great character with great potential. I believe it was simply the loose/lazy writing here that made the story fall flat for me. Not the actors' fault at all. Despite being babyish, I still find Esther hilarious and entertaining and will still watch her any day. She always does a great job with delivering her funny lines and her facial expressions. The 2nd leads were decent. Cuicui was better. The production was great. They did a n awesome job with the costumes, fight scenes, setting & effects and the music tied it all together. Nothing bad to say about any of that either.

Overall it was watchable until the end. No boring moments. But probably won't rewatch it and definitely not a top favorite drama.

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THE BEST CHINESE FANTASY DRAMA IN 2024

*This is my first time writing a review here in MDL*

Although this might contain spoilers, it's actually not that much of a spoiler. But I just stated it here incase you hate 'hints'.

I just want to say how this was created perfectly. They added the explanations I wanted and showed me what I wanted to see. Ranges of emotions bursting inside me (not exaggerating, literally cried then laughed). Even a minute, I don't want to skip but instead, replay it for multiple times. How could I not, it was fascinating to see those scenes. Even as a huge fan of Ding Yuxi, I assure you that this is not a bias review. From the story to the rewatch value, it is exactly 10/10. If possible, it'll be 100%.

Starting with the STORY:
*Take note, I did not read the novel

[I LOVED THE FATHER-DAUGHTER SCENE, IT MADE MY DAY. I WAS ALWAYS IN AWE WHEN I SEE THOSE TWO TOGETHER. ] Actually, I loved many parts especially the entrance and episode 7.

In every part, there's a connection. One huge connection is when MS/ZQ was able to make a swing just by the explanation of MM and it's because it is _____. The story has a nice flow, which you can easily go through. Your questions in mind can be answered in the latter parts. DON'T OVERTHINK. The build of the love story of LF and MY is really lovely. I love how ZQ and LF loves MM and MY. They'll do everything for them. AND LIKE, HOW ON EARTH THEY CREATED THOSE SWEET LINES? Everything in this drama is on point. JUST HOW I WANTED! I really thought that MS would be that ruthless man at first, but bit by bit, we get to see his true-self. The ending part of MM, showed us the reality. This drama did not forget to serve us with the fighting, romance, friendship, and the bond. It's actually fulfilling if you just put yourselves in the shoes of MM, you'd understand the story more. CUICUI, the best cupid out there with his loyal grandfather. -will not introduce the other characters, see them yourselves. The drama is like when you ate something in the restaurant, and you loved the food then you'll say, "Compliments to the Chef". That's what I felt with this one, but instead of singular (Chef), I'll say 'Chefs'.

ACTING/CAST:

ACTING was superb with their micro expressions -- if you paid attention, you'll notice this. They made us feel happiness, sadness, sorrow, disappointment, anger, and etc. They were also funny in their own ways, may it be in acting or in real life. Casting of the actors and actresses were perfect, they match so well together.

MUSIC:

BGM was another way for a drama to get to you. Those background music when they start to 'save the world', it's like I was with them too. Props to the actors and actresses in participating in the making of the osts and also doing covers. They also made a Music Video for this. The effortttt!!! TRUST ME, WITH THE MUSIC, YOUR HEART IS HEALED. SOMETIMES BURNING WITH ENERGY/FUEL.

REWATCH VALUE:

- I seldom see a story like this in a cdrama.
- I also love watching their costumes.
- Fighting scenes is what I live for.
- I also want to focus in looking at their expressions so that I'll feel the story more.

So yeah, no doubt, I'll rewatch this drama.

OVERALL:

THIS DRAMA IS WHAT I ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO AFTER A VERY TIRING DAY. VERY THANKFUL FOR THIS DRAMA.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[I really appreciate Ding Yuxi for doing/making the 'easter eggs' for us. It also presents how he really carried his character and how he cares.

You can watch those here:
https://kisskh.at/discussions/black-lotus-tactics-manual/131698-ziqi-s-mini-theater?page=1

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Haveninmuse - for compiling and posting this for us to know. 'Kudos' <3]

Disclaimer: We have different opinions and reviews, if this did not seem up to par with you. It means, you/we have different preference/s.

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it’s fun to watch

This drama is cute and funny.
I laugh out loud in first episode because I did not expect that comedy scene of closing credits.
I was not a fan of Esther Yu, because in her previous dramas especially her famous one with dylan wang, her acting of cuteness and voice is so cringe to watch. But in here, I think she tone down her way of acting cute and that’s why it became natural and isn’t cringe at all. I love her in this drama.
For yu xi, he is always one of the best.
The plot is really fun to watch and no boring at all. Chemistry between the leads is awesome.

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Worth watching!!

This drama has been trending on social media and overall, it was a really fun and touching drama to watch!! It is also the second work of Esther Yu and Ding Yuxi as main leads, they have worked together before in Moonlight, which I haven’t watched yet.

The drama includes a variety of creative elements/settings you have never seen / heard before, which were honestly also kinda creepy sometimes.

However, for me there were times where it got a bit too complex and too “chaotic”, if you get what I mean, especially towards the end where I could not really keep up anymore, which is mainly the reason why I only gave it 8 stars... Maybe other pp can but for me it was just a bit too much

Moreover, the whole series reminded me A LOT of asian video games and it lowkey felt like I was watching people playing a video game (uh actually the whole series was kinda like a video game…?)

Considering of when starting the drama it can get a bit boring and you gotta get used to the female lead bc it could be a bit "cringe" for pp (which is quite normal for chinese dramas) but time after time you'll get used to it and it also gets quite emotional...

In addition to that I personally really loved the makeup styles and the hairstyles, it was a perfect mix of modern and tradition. Many people think the cinematic was very beautiful as well, which also is, but sometimes it got a bit too AI-generated for me and looked really unrealistic…

Coming to the ending of the series, the ending is very open ended (which is also quite typical for historical cdramas), but for me it was actually very beautiful but definitely shocking as well (the series ends with a big plot twist)…

Just FYI, the main lead does not have any kiss scenes except for like the outro (song/credits) of the last episode.

Well all in all, I def think it was worth a watch!!

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