The Blue Whisper: Part 2

Beautiful

This part 2 was quite satisfying. Though there were some changes I would say the core values of the novel was still maintained.
Pros: 1. Loved the chemistry. Allen Ren and Reba really had mesmerizing chemistry.
2. It was fast paced for the most part.
3. The female lead is strong. She has always hold on against the villains.
4. Happy ending.
Cons: 1 . One plot dragged in the beginning.
2. Some changes from the novel.
Even though there are cons, as long as Xianxia drama has good chemistry and decent storyline it will get a 10 from me. It's my favorite genre. I watch drama to indulge myself. This drama definitely did that for me.

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What lol

I’m not even sure where to start… ok well here goes. It may contain spoilers so

(Also this should be renamed to no one works together everyone just sacrifices themselves for the greater good and no one learns from it)
Same issues as part 1 (why are there 2 parts…. ) I felt that the screen writer and director really didn’t communicate well on this. This show could have been great great actors,cgi etc. But instead it’s full of hypocrisy between the storyline and each characters lines and situations. I’m not even sure why they show them “dying “ and why there’s emotions since it seems like they all come back to life to their original self…. Then I’m kinda like well why not sacrifice yourself to save whatever when you know you’re gonna pop right back up.

There’s too many unnecessary side stories , characters and plots. The fox tribe is a waste and annoying. Not even sure why they’re just shown randomly and in so many episodes. Majority of the characters (except yun he )have bipolar since they become the opposite of what they were and trying to achieve in such a short time. Man mental illness is tough without proper medication. The show keeps jumping from one side story to another too. But because there’s so many it takes awhile to get back to one of the earlier side stories. I forgot who these characters were. For example. Zhu Ling lol I was like wait we are not done with him?? Uh still not done ??? Wtf still??? Didn’t he get his bones crushed and received an execution. And zi (I can’t remember but the cousin fox) feng again with the fox tribe. Wtf??! Stop just stop.

The two men says they wants YH to be free and wants to help her yet they just keep her locked up. Even after she “died” and transformed to the fox. LHQ is like alright I want to make sure this time she lives free so let me just put this barrier around her old place. They both seems to want control over her instead of actually giving her what she wants.

In conclusion this should have been Prologue(part 1 to explain all the backstories and flashbacks) then last part mixed with the first with 22 episodes. That’s all you needed.

I basically read the detailed recaps on soompi.com and skipped through a lot of the episodes. Really not necessary to watch it ALL

Don’t even get me started on the rushed no sense ending when they wasted so much time on useless characters

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Had so much potential, but doesn't hold up

Starting with positives, I loved the general storyline, it had great highs and lows and kept me engaged with the story of our characters. The actors (for the most part) pulled it out of the bag, I have fallen in love with the actress that plays Fairy Shunde, I can't wait to see more of her! The score and ost is the most memorable and amazing one I've heard this year. I genuinely loved all the songs that played and I thought they were used quite well in the show. Halfway through I thought this could be the new Eternal Love, and I was ready to recommend it immensely, however some things stopped it from it's full potential.

I'm gonna be honest, I could not feel the chemistry between Allen and Dilreba. Maybe its cause I just watched YAMG but the kisses were fishes and Allen's acting felt statue to me. There was some really good moments of his acting that I thought I was wrong, but his moments with Dilreba felt the worst. She actually looked like she liked him, but he kinda looked indifferent all the time. I feel like if the chemistry were up to par with eternal love it might've been a lot better.

Another negative is sacrifice. fucking sacrifice. If I counted all the intended and committed sacrifice in this show it would be like 50 plus. By the end of the show I was over it. I get that many dramas use sacrifice but I swear I have never seen it this much. The last like 2 episodes were just back to back people dying for each other over and over again. I literally felt like I couldn't keep track of who died and who came back to life. Tone down the sacrifice and I'll make this show a 10/10.

Overall could have been so much better and I'm glad I watched it, but I probably won't ever recommend it to someone.

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Disappointing

After watching the disappointing first part, I didn't expect much from the second part, but initially the drama showed signs of recovery. The story remained weak and full of holes, but the dubbing doesn't have as many mistakes as in the first part and the direction managed to get some good scenes, but it sinned horribly in the editing and ended abruptly without any scene that explained the final outcome.
I always really like director Chu Yui Bun's work and look forward to the dramas he directs, but this time he wasn't enlightened. The same happened with the cast, as the performances left a lot to be desired. Ren Jia Lun is responsible for the best scenes in the drama, however, those good scenes are the ones he acts alone. His interaction with the protagonist was very distant and unconvincing, as only the actor showed the emotion of the scene in his eyes.
A drama in which there are three couples in love and none of them feel connected, something has gone wrong.
The CGI of the first part was better than the second part. The costumes in both parts are very beautiful and the soundtrack warms the heart.

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And on the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the...script writer's lack of creativity?

In my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," and "nah," this rates a "liked" with potential to rewatch. I'm reviewing both seasons in this review since I suspect two seasons was just a way of getting around the forty-episode cap?

This was neither the best xianxia nor the worst xianxia I've ever watched (it that is even the genre we can put it in). I have actually never watched a drama with Dilraba as the FL and I thought she did fine (though when she was dying, instead of looking tired and ill, she just looked a bit stoned, but that's a minor complaint). I neither love nor hate Allen Ren, but I thought he did well in this one--and his wig designer did a nice job of finding him a flattering look (AND best of all, there were not two long dangly bits of hair on either side of his face that I spent the entire drama wanting to snip off! [I'm talking about you, Novoland: Pearl Eclipse!]). I felt that both actors were playing characters they were used to playing and were good at playing--nothing challenging for them, but that did not make it a bad drama.

As the title of this review implies, the dying and coming back to life did get repetitive. I seriously said out loud "Oh you've got to be kidding me!" when they showed the SML in his father's wheelchair with basically the same injuries at the end. Poor guy, he loses his girl and his mobility--his death when he fell of the cliff made way more sense. This is basically the world of the gods and immortals, so surely you can play around with some more plot devices than resurrection? I mean, there's not a lot of restriction on reality. And if this was a xianxia--where were the rest of the gods? Why was the Heavenly Realm just a kid and three older men?

The "I'm going to sacrifice myself for the sake of the world [and not tell my partner about it]" also got a bit old. I feel like a lack of communication can sometimes just be lazy plot/script writing (on the other hand, events in my own life have led me to sympathize a bit more with people who do not wish to tell the truth so as not to hurt someone else...).

I also appreciated that Dilraba's character never gave up her desire for independence and freedom. Even when ML was playing the dominant, possessive lover, she never gave in and always tried to escape no matter what--even though she loved him and understood why he was doing what he was doing. Whenever he told her she was his, she replied that she was her own, not his--which I love b/c that machismo BS in dramas makes me mad and I love that the character refused to put up with it.

I liked the scenery, costumes, and music. Sometimes, I felt the songs were overused, but as it must cost a lot to get a couple of fresh songs written solely for a drama, I can imagine them wanting to wear them out a little. :)

If you like xianxia, the main actors, and/or a drama that won't make your brain work too hard while at the same time not boring you to death, this drama is worth the time.

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Underwhelming romantic drama ,, good watch overall

Started somewhat interesting at first ,, had some potential ,, but it got draggy in the middle of the first part
boring and draggy ,, I barely watched the first part awake ,, there were not so much happening
the other couples were more interesting than the leads ,,, their love stories were enjoyable to watch even their kisses
the main lead's naïve persona was annoying sometimes ,,, the second male lead who loved the female lead was so much more than the male lead's character ,, he was the one who truly loved her from his heart ,,he kept her protected from his own father and evil followers ,, he helped her achieve what she hoped for ,, he was the one who had every thing wrong for him yet tried to save the female lead on every turn also he let her be free never controlled her or imprisoned her in anyway ,, he was truly the perfect lover not like the male lead who was self absorbed in his hatred towards the female lead and tortured her physically and emotionally while she was dying ,, their relationship wasn't healthy not that I consider love at all but may be it turned love at the second half of the second part
to be honest this drama had some good episodes and some really bad ones ,, it was over all enjoyable watch but I won't be watching it again ,, it's one and done
Jia Lun Ren the male lead is a very good actor but I don't know why here he wasn't that good ,, sometimes felt his acting was really off and weak
the kisses were as his usual fake ,, didn't feel real at all ,, his acting away from the female lead was good but with her was underwhelming
the female lead's acting was good not the best but I can't complain about her ,, she did her best with what she had
Actually the secondary characters were the most interesting in everything plot or acting

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Much more Interesting than Part 1. (But a poorly executed happy ending)

Okay. While the dynamics between the leads has improved to the point that it could evoke an emotion out of me, it didn't really improve for the better.

In the first 11 episodes the ML kept the FL imprisoned for her own good. She spent the last days of her life imprisoned by him because he was obsessed with keeping her by his side. He was okay with her living in pain but wouldn't give her a quick death even when she begged for it, a good a way to treat a enemy, right?

In her last month, she wanted to be free, as she had lived all her life in prison but he didn't even satisfy her last wish because she simply wouldn't give him an explanation. FL was also a bit illogical at the point, knowing that he was only going to love one person his whole life what was even the point of keeping things from him? They both tortured each other, one was doing is emotionally while the other got to experience the physical pain daily.

If you have got to admire one character the most in both parts, it is Lin Hao Qing. He had more of a sibling relationship with the FL even though they were not blood related. If not for that, I would have been shipping these two. They also had better story in both parts compared to the Main leads story arc. The ML was kind of clueless about everything. If not for Hao Qing, who knew how long it would have taken the FL to regain her human form or what she would have been through in the wilderness.

I read in the comments that the drama had happy ending and that was the only reason I continued till the end, but be ready for disappointment. Its more of an ambiguous ending that takes place in the last 5 mins of the drama. Its is so poorly done that all you can surmise from it is that okay they are living happy together she is back, but there is no explanation as to how she is back.

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A relaxing bedtime story

I have a problem to differ part 1 and part 2 as two separate dramas, so I review them together as one.


Plot: 7
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★★★★☆ Main idea:
--> Nothing extraordinary, but I still really enjoyed it.
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★★★☆☆ Logic:
--> Plot sort of makes sense, but there are many unreasonable and annoying twists that disturb the overall impression from the story.
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★★★★★ Pace:
--> It was interesting till the end.
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★★☆☆☆ Impression:
--> Not much intrigued. It was an average plot.
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★★★★☆ Skip rate:
--> I skipped some of the side plots, but not much.
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★★★★☆ Annoying factors:
--> I generally don’t much like evil characters, that are evil just for sake of being evil, with no personality of their own. A lot of the antagonists here were these kind of characters.
--> I was also a bit disappointed by the ending – it felt like they wanted it to be a happy ending, but didn’t really know how to lead the plot there, so it felt like “tragedy, another tragedy, more tragedy – boom, an unexplainable happy ending!”


Characters: 8
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★★★★☆ Lead 1 - Merman:
--> He wasn’t the best lead I’ve ever seen, yet I pretty liked his evolvement from a child-like naïve to a grown leader.
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★★★☆☆ Lead 2 - Ji Yun He:
--> I pretty liked this character in the first part of the series. I was a bit disappointed by her in the second part thou. She was presented as very clever and inventive character, yet in part 2 she became a martyr, unwilling to explain herself and unable to guess the merman’s feelings – simply playing dumb just to drag the plot to a few more episodes.
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★★★★★ Overacting:
--> The are some side characters with a melodramatic personality, however this had no bad impact on the show, since it was simply the part of the plot.
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★★★★☆ Acting:
--> Liked the acting.
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★★★★☆ Annoyance level:
--> Annoyed by some side characters, with no personality of their own, which existed just to make things difficult for one of the leads.


Background: 9
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★★★★☆ Soundtrack:
--> Really liked it.
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★★★★☆ Visuals (camera, scenery, visual effects, ...):
--> Really liked it.
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★★★★★ Wardrobe (costumes, hairstyles, makeup, ...):
--> Absolutely loved it.


Rewatch value: 6,5
I assess this value based on impression, skip rate, annoyance level and overall preference.


Final verdict: 7,5
In general, I liked this show. I really liked the visuals and costumes, and the story, though not one of the best, was still a beautiful tale I enjoyed very much.

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It pulls you in, but doesn't always keep you there

This is my review of part 1 and 2 in its entirety, not the individual parts.

While I enjoyed the beginning and the show kept me hooked til the end, I do think it missed on a few points.

First, the things I liked: I loved that Yun He was smart and powerful. Many of these shows make the female lead a person that gets herself into trouble but needs help getting out of it, normally by the male lead. Her intelligence, wisdom, and strength made her a fascinating and interesting character.

I also really liked Chang Yi. I felt that his character was very realistically portrayed and he, too, was a powerful, intelligent being. It's rare to find a show that is willing to make the male lead naive and sweet, and it was nice to watch.

Many reviews state the lack of chemistry between the main leads, but I would disagree. I actually felt it to be pretty solid. Not mind-blowing, but good.

As for Hao Qing, it was interesting to see him basically similar to his father (minus the manipulation) towards the end. He was also in a wheelchair, and his attendant was also in love with him. Not sure if I liked his somewhat bittersweet ending, but it wasn't too bad.

The world-building was well done, and while the CGI wasn't always great, I've seen worse!

Our main leads' ending was left open ended, but I felt satisfied.

Now onto the things I didn't like as much.

I honestly disliked how this show treated Shunde. I'm not saying what Shunde was good, in fact I very much hated her, but compared to the other bad guys she felt more two-dimensional. While the other big bad guys got redemption arcs (Lin Cang Lan not being truly evil, he just so happened to be forced into the situation; Ning Qing ultimately sacrificing himself to atone for his sins), she did not. And yes, while we did get some other powerful, good women in this show, the fact that the only evil woman was treated differently than the two other (significant) male antagonists was a bit questionable.

I also really disliked Luo Luo. A lot. I am not a fan of the ditzy, silly best friend who means well but because she can't read the room ends up causing the main leads more trouble. Shows always want to portray this type of character as cute but I just find it immensely annoying. Not to mention the really frustrating "pretty-fication". At the start, she was supposed to be not very attractive (she has freckles and slightly darker skin; apparently this is considered unattractive) but then she finds love and magically loses her freckles and gets lighter skin. Not only am I so tired of the casual racism this trope implies, but also the message that you can't be average-looking to find love.

Overall, a fun watch, but I did occasionally have to use the fast forward button to get past drawn-out parts (or parts featuring Luo Luo).

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