Till the End of the Moon

Going on in circles

I feel like we are going in circles at this point. The same issues, same miscommunication, same over reaction and same angst. There has been very little growth in characters and it keeps going to pretty much square one every couple of episodes. Great acting by the ML and he actually looked food deprived for the large part of episodes that I have seen. I watched SOKP and this is such a disappointment. I started getting annoyed by 12th episode and continued to hate watch it. I cannot see why it is highly rated and it had so much potential which sadly was wasted.Someone wrote it their reviews that it has xianxia logic and they tie up every loop - This was very true.

The second leads have a much better arc. I don't think I will be coming back to this.

Read More

Everything in this drama is perfect

The first few episodes of "Till the End of the Moon" can be described as straight to the point. The high-energy scene of Mo Shen Dantai Jin's killing spree begins immediately after the opening, and after the stunning special effects, the story quickly moves into a plot of reversing the future. In just a few episodes, the female lead has already taken the main storyline and is working hard to save the people.
"Watched 18 episodes in a row and caught up with the latest update, didn't even stop for a breath," "The special effects are really good. After watching the first episode, I really want to praise the production team." The fast-paced story and the special effects that exceed expectations have received high praise from many viewers and they have started saying "It's really good!"
This market has never lacked Xianxia dramas, but only "good-looking Xianxia dramas". As the conflict between users' demand for good content and the inevitable content homogenization intensifies, innovation becomes more urgent. "Till the End of the Moon" uses a narrative technique that counters homogeneity, rich and diverse character settings, and a redefined value system of chivalry to redefine the boundaries of innovation in Xianxia dramas.
The main characters in "Till the End of the Moon" all have multiple identities and span several lifetimes. The screenwriters take advantage of the natural complexity of character in Xianxia dramas and, through the characters' experiences, make their "human" and "non-human" sides more three-dimensional and make their humanity more vivid. For example, the male lead, Dantai Jin, is the most complex character, he is evil but reasonable, and good things come naturally to him. Viewers can see his struggles and vulnerabilities, and they naturally develop emotional resonance.
Despite the claim of upholding the chivalrous spirit of the wuxia genre, many wuxia dramas in recent years have drifted towards idol dramas. Fortunately, in "Till the End of the Moon", we see a comprehensive return of the "chivalrous" spirit. From the worldview-based spirit of chivalry and salvation to the concrete expression in the main plot and character settings, the "chivalrous spirit" runs throughout the entire series. According to the screenwriters He Fang and Luo Xuan, the highlight plot of "Twelve Godly Powers vs. Demon God" in the drama is not only a piece of history familiar to disciples of the immortal sect, but also a spiritual value that continues in the main story thousands of years later, whether it is the demon god Dan Taijin in the darkness, or the chivalrous woman Li Susu who pursues the light, or even the loser Ye Zeyu, all have a sense of chivalry in their hearts.

From the moment "Till the End of the Moon" was first announced, praises about its artistic style and costume texture have never stopped. Why is it so eye-catching? Because it is truly beautiful.

In the past, we seldom used "rich and magnificent" to describe a wuxia drama. Previously, the protagonists in wuxia dramas wore large swathes of white, with their appearances ranging from simple to monotonous, and their costumes were repetitive, making it effortless for wuxia drama audiences to mix them up. However, after seeing the magnificent composition and color matching of "Till the End of the Moon" materials, and the Dunhuang-style costume and appearance of the entire cast, such bold aesthetic innovation is not only unique to "Till the End of the Moon" "TTEOTM aesthetics", but also the most intuitive difference between it and most other wuxia dramas.
Art design is also an essential aspect of the "TTEOTM aesthetics." After repeated polishing by art director Luan Hexin and director Ju Jueliang, they finally settled on a design style that puts people first, with a combination of Eastern mystical colors and humanistic emotions. Behind the scenes, it involved using 12 studios, covering nearly 50,000 square meters, and creating a huge amount of props, with nearly 30,000 props used in the entire show. Just for the overall design of the male and female lead's costumes, there were hundreds of props.

During the filming process, to make the immortal world more grounded, the creators referenced the design philosophy of Dunhuang culture and Tang and Song dynasty architecture. They also spent nine months building real-world sets in Yongkang City, Zhejiang Province. In the creation of the human world divine realm's architecture, they also incorporated traditional Chinese medicine-inspired patterns, combining historical elements while retaining the mystical feel of the fantasy genre. The fantasy style that extends from real-world scenes makes the design of the four realms more realistic and dynamic.
With close collaboration and communication between departments, from content to styling and art, the aesthetic design of "Till the End of the Moon" presents a highly integrated and cohesive look. The design concept that is rooted in oriental culture and centered around people not only realizes an innovative exploration of aesthetics in the genre of xianxia drama, but also sets a new benchmark for the eastern aesthetics of xianxia dramas.

Putting people first and breaking through the conventional creative process to amplify content advantages reflects the resolute spirit of the creative team. As a xianxia drama that is deeply rooted in Chinese traditional culture, it embodies the classic eastern aesthetics through concrete actions and refreshes the audience's inherent perception of xianxia, creating a broader space for imagination.

Read More

Most interesting xian xian story but beware - puke blood production

First review :
After finishing the drama for a few days, I decided to write. I would definitely not watch this show again. I'm not even sure whether it's worth to watch this show.

It's has a lot of anguish, draggy, zig zag, cringe scenes, bad writting and storytelling skills, so I keep feeling frustrated with the production while watching, not withstanding keep thinking they ruined this story and wishing otherwise. This is despite I can ignore many blunt mistakes like sleeping with ornaments. It is such a waste. This can be a great drama given the budget.

Despite the big flaws, I faithfully watched it. The story is unique and more interesting than the past xian xia dramas. I like xian xia genre but could only stomach a few. I also like unique story.

The plot from ep 8 onwards is the best among xian xia drama. This is the plot that caught my interest and keep me going, including Luo Yunxi good acting. Before ep 8, I was thinking of dropping the show if it continues at this standard. Subsequently there are good and bad ones but the best is reserved to the very last, it wrapped up nicely and make watching a poorly produced drama with so much anguish, puking theirs and our blood, worth the effort to hold to the end. Additionally, there are many touching and weepy scenes, one of the best, but I'm a weepy audience. Still, this story has many regrets, so it can showcase many sad scenes and they are directed very well.

The other nice to have are the great fight scenes, beautiful apparel, setting and cgi.

So if you belongs to such audience profile, go ahead and watch the show, suffer and enjoy!


2nd review after watching again :
I never thought I will watch it again. But oh boy, am I wrong and what a surprise, I appreciate this drama even more.

This time, I speed all the distractions, side stories, focus on the main lead and female lead and it's much clearer. A rare true jem story.

If you can ignore all the confusion, some very poorly produce part, just focus on tan taiji arc, how he grows and change, it's a moving deep story. For people who likes to be philosophical about life, tan taiji arc is the one.

All these started 10 000 years ago and cumulated at tan taiji. He is destined to be the demon god, suffer misery, loss, abandon when born. All his love ones shall suffer, die or betray him. Meanwhile, the immortal world want him dead, fear him since demon god will end the world. What is the point of living?

But life is unpredictable. No one has full control. And tan taiji is a very determined character.

Grant the serenity to accept the things that cannot be change.
Courage to change the things that can be change
Wisdom to discern the difference

He made it! And yet not quite as expected but it's fitting.

Ps) I still wish they have tell the story better. Great acting by lou yun xi.

Read More

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE IT!

This drama have the best costumes ever and the surrounding world is so beautiful ! The actors are good specially Luo Yunxi. The CGI looks amazing, I think for a C-drama they made a really good work here! I also really enjoy the story between the main couple. Maybe there are some plot holes, but that's ok with me since there are plenty of stuff that i love about the story.
MOSTLY OF ALL I ADORE TANTAI JIN!! He looks so handsome and elegant but there are moment when he have this creepy vibes, still you can't move away your eyes off of him.. he is just perfect ..I find him very interesting not only in looks but as a character!

Read More

No cuz it gets to a point...

The heavy makeup, the blood spitting every other episode, and the misunderstandings that just never get resolved...yeah you lost me with this one. The thing is I really was loving this drama for a good 15 episodes before I started questioning my sanity. I really tried to use xianxia logic or at the very least stick it out for my girl bailu, but I fear I am not a cdrama warrior, or at least not a xianxia one.

First off, the CGI was good sometimes, other times it bordered on excessive and kinda jarring, but rly thats just my opinion. What is FACT however is the copious amount of makeup on the main leads faces ought to get someone fired and jailed for the crimes they committed against the audience and the actors. No cuz tell me why I'm watching a very cute romantic scene where ye xiwu is giving tantai jin a peck on the cheek but I get distracted cuz all of a sudden her lips look very chapped. COME to realize that very well might just be the makeup on his face transferring to her lips despite the peck being relatively light. that left me so flabbergasted I paused the show came back a day later cuz I needed 24 hrs to process that level of ridiculousness.

The only thing that bothered me more than the makeup, in fact, pmo to no end was the misogynistic trap called ye bingchan AND tian huan(dont get me started on this trifling b). Tbh, unfortunately I did not realize this was a misogynistic trap until I read the reviews for this show after deciding to drop it. No one has made my blood boil to such a dangerous degree. No cuz why was everyone dying BUT her. All the episodes during and after the dream had me praying on her downfall.

Anyway, bai lu ate up even though li susu was barely a character and rly just an idea of a fully fleshed out character. Luo yunxi ate up too even though he rly isn't my cup of tea. Deng wei... you r what I imagine an iphone face to look like(coming from someone who disagrees with the 'iphone face' rhetoric) but xiao lin was a cool character. PIAN RAN I LOVE YOU💕

Read More

GOOD ACTING CANNOT EVEN SAVE THE DRAMA

As the headline said, good acting cannot save the drama.

Good part:
The opening had one of the best c-drama opening I ever watched. Even better than the all time fave ancient drama AOL and L&R.
The depiction of Gods and Goddesses shadow (Idk what they call) is just so majestic. i haven't seen such CGI that I would just go gasping 'Wahhh!!'
The battle scene (and CGI accompanied them) between God of War Mingye and Devil God was beautifully executed.
The way they CGI'ed Devil God power including the eye arrow, the big fire circle behind him just made it believable that he was the strongest of the gods.

To be honest, i'm not a big fan of both Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu but undoubtly they have skills.
Luo Yunxi acting is superb, as both Devil God and the pitiful Tantai Jin and of course Mingye. I have seen him in AOL and he definitely can act. Since I watched this drama after Love Between Fairy and Devil, the comparison is just as clear between Luo Yunxi and Dylan Wang character as both were respective Devil who indecisive whether he wants to become a good guy or a bad guy.
I have seen Bai Lu few works before, Arsenal military and the one where she is a demoness to name a few. This is one of the weakest I must say. Or maybe I was actually affected with how stupid her character was.
With that being said, here's the many bad part:
The dream, is too long. The battle between Devil God and Gods is fucking two episode. It was great and all, but it shouldn't last two damn episode that I was waiting when they will wake up.
After episode 5, the drama just kind fell really really really flat that by episode 15, I was wondering what the hell I am watching. There's romcom here and there in between but it just got so draggy by the time I'm at the current episode 26.
Mind you, I usually just skipped a few parts when it got draggy but this time it also got so repetitive.
The same all misunderstanding game but you recycle and change a bit after more than twice it just got so frustrating. Like someone said, there is no character growth at all. And after 26 episode, shouldn't Li Susu at least hesitate in doing stupid things to accomplished her mission??
Why the hell would you, after all the 'promise not to leave him' and 'stay by your side forever' betrayed Tantai Jin in a broad daylight?? For Xiao Lin whom you know for sure wouldn't be killed by TTJ.
I mean, why???
And what the hell is wrong with Luo Yunxi makeup?? Its just white powder and pink eyeshadow too visible on his eyes, making me wonder if they trying to potray TTJ as a sick person.
And isn't it dumb that everyone knows TTJ can use demon power but y'all just go ahead and send your army of mortal human who had no power at all to attack him with a sword?? A sword??! Against the guy who can command demon power from afar without physically touching you??
And this guy Nian Baiyu, is a great assistant but why haven't he shown his power??
Ye Qingyu is another character that at this point of drama I just thought he shouldn't be given a screentime because of how useless he is to the plot of the story. You thought he was gonna be important because he sits with Prince and talk about this whole utopia world but ended up getting too hungover a fox demon.
Then there's Ye Binchang who's the actor played her made it so believable that she's this conceited woman, psychopath due to unfair treatment she received as a concubine's daughter. Talk about being totally ungrateful. After all, her family is still a wealthy and known family, and she still ended up marrying a prince but woman still victimized herself.
I think that they took Ye Binchang/Tianhuan villainess too far tbh. She didn't even have a self contradiction or dilemma after wake up from the dream and just decide, hey, I want to be the bad guy. I'm glad when the her story about two love lines uncovered in front of everyone and finally they wanted to close the chapter with her being stripped off her title and become a maid.
But no, they decide they wanted to make her killed her grandmother for no concrete reason. I mean yall know she was so conceited after the revealed betrayal on Xiao Lin, but yall decide to let her go home and not be careful around her?? That's stupid.
Tbh, there's so many plot hole that I could just point out that would make this show unbelievably stupid and frustrating.

And right now as i am writing, i'm contemplating whether I should drop this or not.

Read More

till the end of the misunderstandings

I’ll try to review without spoilers.
It started really well. But after a few episodes I realized that the sense of moral of the writers is distorted. ML is immoral. FL is immoral. Why? They both do immoral things to each other and others(mostly ML, FL just do shitty things to him). But the writers makes it seems like not their fault at all, just the fault of more immoral characters or the poor circumstances, misunderstandings etc.
But here’s the thing: if a godly moral person misunderstands or have poor circumstances over something, they don’t do bad things, they don’t do vengeance or “make them pay” with whatever.
FL tends to forget her mission all the time mostly due to misunderstandings. And makes ML suffer, says stupid things to him, which is unnecessary, and makes the mission go back and forth A LOT. If she really cared and focused on mission their life would be so much better (until the very end when she’d finish it). She would at least try harder to be nice to him and ASK things directly instead of assuming or through hearsay.
ML even if misunderstood IS a killer, he IS bad. Doesn’t matter why he killed, he did and did it with cruelty. But as soon as the FL knows the truth she forgives him as if it’s ok to kill or make people suffer for this or that reason. It’s not.
But suddenly the writers makes ML a saint, simply misunderstood and a scapegoat. Makes most of the audience hate on FL for things she does for the mission. As if the mission should be aborted because ML is hot or something.
There was also a dream arc that was awful. Instead of 1 episode it dragged through 7-8. I did not skip completely due to chat saying it would be confusing if so. But I skipped a lot. And could get the plot afterwards so there it is, you can get away with a good amount of skipping. There was also a scene that I and most of the chat thought it was the bad girl impersonating FL because she does something very morally bad to ML and it was later seen in the show as romantic and glossed over. WTH. More reasons to see the writers as morally distorted. Anyway, the dream just added a bit of info to the plot and could’ve been way less time spent. Specially because neither of the characters learned anything from it really. The romance there was full of misunderstandings due to lack of communication, but once they woke up they proceeded with no communication, lying, omitting.
And yeah, what made me roll my eyes the most on these almost 20 years of watching Asian dramas was the amount of misunderstandings that made this show 40 episodes instead of 20. The draaaaag! Everytime something gave us a glimpse of hope for a good ending, it was crushed a million times. If you want to watch this for some sweet moments with a splash of angst, be warned: I think the screen time for good things for the main couple, heck even if I add the secondary couple on this, is ONE episode. ALL the rest is suffering through misunderstandings and cruelty towards each other. Add to that a sick obsession ML developed and suddenly disappeared when he became the oh so saint poor thing.
I dare say none of them loved each other, it was just a trauma bond and that’s it. It’s not something I’d like to watch to escape my day to day stresses. Heck it stressed me even more!
What I also didn’t like but it’s a genre/cultural issue is that heaven/devil folks are just gray. They are not purely good or evil(save for some ALMOST purely evil devils and the even more rare ALMOST purely good heavenly person). Just humans with superpowers and longevity/immortality, dressed in white or black. It is ridiculous.
The ending? Bitterweet. But after so much suffering the payment should be happiness through and through. Not some bittersweet shit. Sometimes I don’t mind bittersweet ok? But for THIS shitfest I do.
Real life can already have sad, bitter, bittersweet and happy endings, and we will never know. But I don’t want a shit ending on a tv show most of the times.
I’d give this 1 star but the actors and costumes were awesome! It’s not their fault the story is shit.

Read More

Redundant and Underwhelming

I went into Till the End of the Moon with high expectations because of all the hype and glowing reviews, but honestly, it ended up being quite disappointing. It was surprisingly hard for me to finish this drama—I practically had to force myself through the last stretch just to cross it off my list.
The biggest issue for me was the repetitive storyline. I understand that the plot is meant to loop through similar circumstances, but it became too redundant. After a while, it felt like watching the same arc play out again and again, and I gradually lost interest.

Another thing I absolutely dislike—and this drama leans heavily into it—is the trope where the lead pretends to be invested purely for some personal gain. Yes, I know this is common and the characters usually end up falling in love for real, but it’s a plotline I find frustrating, especially when the characters are supposed to be mature adults. It just made their dynamics feel less compelling to me.

If I’m being honest, the one thing that kept me motivated to finish was TanTai Jin’s face card, because the man is undeniably beautiful. Sometimes, aesthetics are enough to keep a person going—and in this case, they were.

Overall, while the production value is high and the leads are visually stunning, the storytelling just didn’t hold up for me. 6.5/10.

Read More

The acting and chemistry saved this for me...

I see a lot of reviews that agree but the chemistry between the whole cast and the acting where so phenominal! I was hooked! BUT I had to skip the last three episodes before the finale... the arcs are so repetitive and thats because the conlfict is always the same. It's like no one has any critical thinking skills and just believe whatever lies or conspiracies that the evil guys cook up... It got real irritating that Susu,,, after thousands of years with this man atp... could not conjure up even a little bit of faith in Jin Tantai to investigate the claims of the lord of monsters.... His clan members too! it makes no sense if you want me to think she's a cunning heroine and these are the heroes that the world relies on...

Edit: ALSO WHY CAN'T WE HAVE HAPPY ENDINGS??? I get that it was bittersweet, but after all those betrayals and false accusations, I wanted Jin Tantai to at least fulfull his dream of growing old w Susu and some kids.

Read More

I'd be a millionaire if I was paid a cent every time Luo Yunxi vomited blood :)

This was truly a high budget, high-effort, and reasonably well-done project. I really enjoyed a lot of things in this drama, and I think it's quite a landmark for the Xianxia genre (which everyone is exposed to at some point watching C-dramas).

GOOD THINGS:

1. LUO YUNXI is fantastic. Genuinely one of the most expressive and talented actors of his generation. I have never seen a devil portrayed so mercilessly yet fantastically (yes, I have seen Zhang Ling He and Wang He Di). He's probably aided by his background as a dancer, and you can see it in the way he moves across the screen or expresses himself facially. This is also an INCREDIBLY dramatic role which I think many other C-drama actors would have done in a fake/unrealistic way, and I could truly not see another person in this role. I would watch this just for the acting. Other actors are very good as well E.g. Bai Lu, Chen Du Ling, Sun Zhen Ni.

2. The storyline is actually pretty interesting; there is a lot of world-hopping and parallel-universe stuff that's really beautifully portrayed. The costume designer and set designers for this drama were definitely working overtime, and the gorgeous scenes contributed to a sense of world-building here. The parallel storylines were actually influential towards the story's development besides being creative/entertaining in and of themselves, which I really appreciated. That being said, there is character development in this show, though I find it a little bit cliche and even overdone.

3. The OST is beautiful. I think that's the general consensus : ) I do think some of the songs are a little monotonous but overall this OST trumps a lot of other ones I heard. A similar drama I'd say that's not as complex but with a more beautiful OST is Love Between Fairy and Devil.

CRITICISMS:

1. Blood-vomiting and make-up was a little overdone. Doesn't detract from the overall drama to me, but I noticed a lot of people complaining about it.

2. An expansive number of plot inconsistencies*. I think this had the potential to be quite a good drama actually, but I felt it was TOO MUCH that was executed in a way that was NOT ENOUGH. I appreciated the amount of creative effort and inventiveness that went into this work, but the recent 40-episode rule in China really implicated this drama. It's based on a very long and very expansive novel, and by cutting certain scenes, things aren't quite contradictory but not well-explained either. I appreciate a culmination of beautiful ideas- I'm just not sure they were tied together well enough here.

3. I think a lot of the things are pretty cliche. The idea of a tortured soul falling in love and achieving a sort of spiritual salvation is pretty unoriginal, and Tantai Jin's troubled upbringing leading to his devilish downfall is another cliche I notice. It's a giant web of woven cliches with a twist, I'd say. I don't mind cliches, but I found them a little excessive to the point that they hurt some of the plot's suspense.

OVERALL, definitely worth a watch. Very aesthetically pleasing and honestly a pretty good watch the first time around. Only after reflecting does it feel a little weird : (
The hype is understandable whether you buy into it or not.

Read More