entertaining but a little long
I loved the story that has a lot of unique aspects. I loved the way they depicted gods and the graduation of powers down to basic humans. I loved the fact that everyone is depicted with flaws, even gods. I loved how complicated it was from the beginning to the end, while watching it I remembered the first scenes and thought "so many things happened and now the story is completely different". but some development took a little too much time.when to watch: if you have a lot of time ahead, you wont regret it. it's very long so manage your time so you won't miss your sleep time.
audience: I think it could be better to watch after some maturation. there is also some violence so I'd say not under 18; and if you do some cultivation, it'll be interesting to watch again after you mature on your 40's. life and death matters are easier to understand when you have encounter it in your own life.
Was this review helpful to you?
How to live a simple and fun life! Love this drama message!
The content itself may not be that of an interest to many Xian Xia followers as it is quite a common storyline. But I appreciate the efforts of seeing things in a lighter easier perspective. Shen Li and Xing Zhi carry so much burden, realms to be protected, but somehow they are not absorbed and stressed by these heavy duties. They live their life quite meaningfully and in a fun way. Xiang Zhi's simple way of living is what impresses me most. One can be the highest in the world but it is hard to use his/ her power at a necessary time only like Xing Zhi is hard to do. He is quite of a character: powerful, simple, humorous and responsible. I like his character development. For Shen Li, she carries her duties quite seriously and she is nurtured by her master well even though she holds demon blood in her body. Until she meets Xing Zhi, Shen Li's life on her own is not worth to be told. Xing Zhi changes her perspectives about many things whilst both characters consciously and seriously take their responsibilities well regardless of their emotions. Shen Li's love towards Xing Zhi is shown subtly in her harsh and masculine manner. Xing Zhi's love towards Shen Li is quite simple and childlike. This is what I like most about this drama: simple, honest, and uplifting love like two kids in their first love.As a downside, I find Lin Gengxin a bit short of his portrayal on Xing Zhi but being not overdramatic may be the whole point of his character development. Hence, I have no complaint about this. For Liying, her eyes still lack a bit of caring and loving manner but again it may be deliberate to portray Shen Li, a macho in a feminine form. So yes as some critics say, this drama needs some hypes and more emotions but I enjoy watching this drama as it is:a lighter, funnier version. We don't need overdramatic videos but those who teaches how life can be framed in a different perspective to live a happy, healthy life.
Was this review helpful to you?
This deserves to be in the top 10 ratings
I normally don't give any reviews but I think this drama deserves to be in the 10 ratings. Story line was great. Strong female lead. Pace and character development were steady. Felt like I went on a journey with them.I was in love, felt pain of a losing a loved one, reunited with a loved one, felt a longing of a love, loneliness, desperation, cried of joy and separation, and fell in love all over again. I absolutely enjoyed everything about this drama. It is going to be a very long time until I get to watch something like this again. Every character was wonderful. Great cast.
Was this review helpful to you?
Finally some consolation after seven years.. if you know what I mean you will know what I mean
LIKEThe chemistry of course as Lin Geng Xin and Zhao Li Ying are suited for each other - can they get married in real life?
How Feng Lai talked to Xing Zhi and then changed his tone when he spoke to Shen Li
When Xing Zhi went against everyone and searched for Shen Li - wow that moment omg
Shen Li's fighting scenes really good when she fought with "CM"
What Xing Zhi did to save Shen Li in Human realm
There was this scene where a demon was afraid of ghosts and what Shen Li said - I really loled
DISLIKE
An extra episode which I think was not needed
This annoying Mo Fang's character which I don't even know why he was created in the first place
MUSIC - personal fav
如初 Ru Chu - 张碧晨 Zhang Bichen
世世 Shi Shi - 刘宇宁 Liu Yuning
不知返 Bu Zhi Fan - 王赫野 Wang Heye
炽心 Chi Xin - 希林娜依高 Xi Lin Na Yi Gao
碧苍 Bi Cang - 李佳薇 Li Jia Wei
REWATCH VALUE
Seven for now
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Was waiting for too long!!! You won't be utterly flabbergasted but also won't be disappointed a bit.
My short intro: I have been following kisskh for quite a while but this drama finally made me write a review. I am a big fan of fantasy/wuxia/xianxia/thriller/historical/romantic/political, etc. genres, so, believe me. Honestly, this drama made me open this site every day just to look at the rating, whether it is doing well or not. So, let's go.Let's START!!!
MUSIC: 10/10, made me repeat a lot of scenes just to hear the tracks. Not a big fan of the opening OST but it does entice the anticipation towards every episode. The drama has one of the best music BGM ost tracks ever. My favs among bgms are: See Vastness, The Wish of the Sad Soul, Reciprocity, Clear Dreams of the Mortal World and among the lyrical tracks are: Blazing Heart > Not Knowing to Turn Back > Hazy Sky.
CAST: Lovely, with the leads being the reason I will rewatch it someday.
ACTING: Wonderful, especially that of ZLY and LGX making me all flustered. The character of FengLai was acted excellently.
ROMANTIC SCENES: Few but surely, quality>quantity. One of them would surely take your breath away- it was one of the best in Cdramas I should say.
STORY: This is where it gets complicated. The plot sure has its uniqueness but follows the same route. A strong male and female lead, the realms, forced marriage, mortal life, betrayal, sacrifice, a corrupt/immoral/insane/evil villian, a naughty/helpful female villian, a happy ending and haha, your usual phoenix being one of the leads. But still, it was lovely. Episodes didn't feel as fillers whichever they were. It was overall, fast-paced. The portion of the story where the passage of time for Xingyun and him just living through was shown, was quite appreciable because it just made me think a lot.
WHAT I LIKED AND FELT NEW: I will always love the lead pairing no matter what their ages are. A lotta people tried to make a fuss about Kenny Lin's age but he is quite handsome and ZLY is such a youthful beauty with those sparkling eyes. Being a great fan of slow-burn, I quite liked the early romance. Loved Xingyun, the parental history of ShenLi and the concept of Chimei. The incidents of the Mortal Realm were quite interesting esp that of Qing Ye/Xiao He/Ye Shi. One of the best things was that although there were objections, there was unity in the realms and not the usual betrayal of your own kind. What I really loved was that ShenLi and XingZhi were very understanding and supportive of each other despite their appreciable strong conviction and values, so, there was no need of making unnecesary sacrifices. XingZhi expressed a righful amount of stubborness and playfulness which I loved and appreciated and although ShenLi was a female warrior, she was quite emotionally intelligent (not the usual clueless emotionally suppressed lead). Yes, the story didn't get boring after the romance. The highlight/uniqueness of the drama was the acceptance of one's natural tendencies despite the sense of responsibility, justice and values. It was good to see XingZhi complaining to Natural Law and getting his answer later. I was really happy that it didn't end up as a tragedy although I appreciate tragedies haha.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Haha, it is the best part. The not-so-unique story is the reason, it may not end up in my top 10 dramas list if I ever made one. Unfortunately, it can't par with Lost You Forever, Story of MingLan, Ashes of Love, The Story of Minglan, Ten Miles of Peach Blossom, Love and Redemption, Empresses in the Palace, The Untamed, EverNight, Joy of Life, Mysterious Lotus Casebook, One and Only, The Blood of Youth etc., in terms of one-of-a-kind so, the reason it can be watched is you wouldn't get disappointed (because it is better than the majority) and that for rewatch is because of the leads. I didn't appreciate the fast pace. I wanted to see the leads more and the new info got introduced kinda suddenly that you may not even notice the fillers. The character development of Mofang was not good at all. What happened to the Third Prince, I don't know. Was the story of Qing Ye a love triangle, or the addition of XiaoHe in the story was just a punishment of Natural Law or whom did he actually like? I don't know.
BUT Did I enjoy: Yes, it did get me hooked up. Was it worth it? Yes. It can surely be in my top 30 dramas ever. It can be in the list of these dramas for its rating: Love between Fairy and Devil (for me), Story of Kunning Palace, The Long Ballad, Who Rules the World, Word of Honor, The Starry Love, A Dream of Splendor, Bloody Romance, The Rebel Princess, etc.
Was this review helpful to you?
The best couple in Chinese historical drama series together again
The best couple in Chinese historical drama series.. They acted in 3 series together and their performance continued to increase... The first series I watched was Princess Agent. Seeing them together again in this series after a long time made me both very happy and excited.. the series When I first read the news about it, I was hoping that I would encounter a better series than Prinsess Agent. If we take their acting and harmony out of the series, although it is only visually rich, I would definitely not watch the series if another couple played it. Even though I do not like fantasy TV series, the fact that my favorite couple is in the lead role of the series makes it great. It is one of the factors that make people watch it.. After about 7 years, there should be a TV series on Prinsess Agent with the subject of the series they starred in together... As someone who loves watching this couple, I hope that we can have the pleasure of watching a new historical series together without waiting so long.. whatever. Even though I don't like the subject as much and find it simple, there are many people behind the camera. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the production and broadcast.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Awesome!
GREAT show!!! Wished for a bit less of a slow burn romance (we waited foreeeeever for them to make it official), but the amount of scenes they had throughout the show made up for a lot of it. I wish that they didn’t drag out the reunion in the last third of the show like they did, as it kinda killed the momentum and wasn’t as climactic as I would have liked. Yeah, the poor CGI pets were a little distracting, and some of the show was campy af, but this is one I would watch again. The CHEMISTRY between the leads OMG 🔥 I could watch some of their scenes on repeat. The fighting was epic. The music was epic. The special effects were epic… and the character development was great for the most part. The leads were a great blend of each being badass and independent, but there was also a lot of saving each other. And this has been the first show in a while that had me tearing up near the end. With some smaller changes this would have been 10/10.Was this review helpful to you?
One of the Best Xianxia in 2024
At first I was hesitant to watch the drama since it has 39 episodes and I don't have the patience to watch the drama and was planning to watch it if I had the patience to watch and I just wanted to watch the intro. But when I heard it, the music struck into my mind and I love listening to it. So after weeks I just watch it and finished it today. It was absolute perfect, the fl didn't give a cringe and childlike behavior that I usually saw to some xianxia dramas that I rarely find. The ml also not the cold hearted jerk that we usually saw to ml characters, their personalities gives refreshing vibes which I rarely saw to other xianxia dramas. The fl is strong as well as the ml. The drama gives fantasy, romance and comedy. The comedy really brought me up to this drama as well their love. How I felt bad to both lovers especially xingzhi as he holds a big responsibility. The cgi and music is top tier. Their background music just gives. Highly Recommend Xianxia drama.Was this review helpful to you?
Ah mannnnnn!
Oooo boy!If you have watched Princess Agents then KNOW that this show is nothing like that. It feels like They knew the fans of these leads could not take another sad ass drama with an ending that would make you end up in an asylum.
THIS is the FIRST Chinese Xianxia drama to make me more invested in the immortal/demon realm plot than what had happened on the mortal plane. Usually I'm gagging for that mortal trial trope 10 episodes in but not THIS time. I thought the meet cute was pretty well done and I loved the chemistry between Shen Li and Xing Zhi. I really enjoy it when the FL is the straight man in a relationship. Although Xing Zhi is a wise and elderly deity, he's also the youngest one of his kind. He's capable of being powerful and playful all at once. Shen Li's direct personality and serious nature mingle so well with Xing Zhi's. Her nature doesn't relax until she is with him freely.
It's a star crossed lovers story that works well, the romance is top tier and its progression is very natural and enjoyable. I can totally buy why they can't be together and yet it's so satisfying to see them attempt to do it anyway.
This show has some great side characters who all have their own mini arcs where they grow as people and end the show as better individuals, they also add a lot to the humor because the show is HILARIOUS. The music was so good that I added some tracks to my ost playlist!
The bad thing about this drama are the villains…
Nothing any of them did was particularly compelling to me. Theres a betrayal that was supposed to be surprising… but it wasn't… Nothing relating to villians goals or actions seemed logical and I found myself skipping through their scenes late into the drama. I also didn't enjoy the flash back/ back story… I was curious but that too was kinda meh.
I adored the ending though, it's such a relief to watch my leads be happy AFTER all the melodrama is over. This show is rewatchable… but only for the romance.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Familiar formula but still enjoyable
Once you’ve watched many dramas like this, it is hard to be surprised by the storyline as most of them follow the same pattern (unexpected meeting, grow to fall in love, have to part, death which leads the other one to forget their principles, back to life, overcome evil) but this drama added it’s own spin on this pattern with an interesting though hard-to- believe* opening where the FL injures herself while fleeing an arranged marriage.Thankfully, this drama is on the new trend to give us happy endings which are not short and even used the last episode to play out a little side story which was enjoyable and let me have my feel good vibes for a whole episode as I loved seeing them live their happy life for a full episode!
The ML carried himself well as the last ancient god but I was struggling to see him he as a sickly mortal. Interesting to see how the drama chose to have a role reversal where the ML is the one who pines after the FL. It was fun to watch the FL being more matter-of-fact and let’s move on after having sex but it was a bit of out character for the ML to suddenly be so clingy & willing to throw caution to the wind when he was shown to be such a strong selfless character who put the 3 realms above his own interests during the first half of the drama.
As long as I turned off all these questions that kept popping up in my head, I was entertained with the above average CGI and sweet love story between the FL’s parents (I saw that coming a mile away so was just waiting to see how that part of the story would unfold and this drama delivered nicely)
*hard to believe on so many levels as the FL is shown to be the best fighter so how can she be so badly injured that she loses her human form. Also, she has a good relationship with her master so why were they not able to discuss the marriage alliance the same way they talked about other important issues? Didn’t really make much sense to send all the generals & soldiers to hunt her down and bring her back for the marriage as she can easily just not go through with the wedding by saying no in person during the wedding. Unfortunately, most dramas have this problem where logic is usually the first to go as long as it moves the story along in a nice way.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
One of the best cdramas I have ever watched
"The Legend of Shen Li" follows the forbidden love story of Shen Li and Xing Zhi.Shen Li is an immortal general who gets hurt and falls into the Mortal Realm in her animal form. She is rescued by Xing Yun, a human who takes care of her and helps her recover from her injuries. With time, Shen Li falls in love with him but she already has an arranged marriage, she comes back home and thinks Xing Yun is dead.
Xing Yun is actually the ancient god Xing Zhi, the last of his kind. They reunite again, but can't be together, since Xing Zhi can't fall in love, always putting the world's needs first.
This was one of the things that really upset me. They are a beautiful couple, but it takes a long time for them to really be together. Xing Zhi always controlled his feelings for her, because he had responsibilities, but in the moment that Xing Zhi thought Shen Li was gone, he couldn't control himself anymore, he goes enraged and freezes the entire sea looking for her.
After that, the two have a sweet time together, like in the beginning when they first met.
The chemistry between Xing Zhi and Shen Li is amazing and I'm not only talking about the romance, but the action scenes and the funny moments, the characters ares really in sinc. It was really fantastic to be able to see Zhao Li Ying and Lin Geng Xin working together again after "Princess Agents" and finally being a real couple, with a happy ending <3
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Slow burn fantasy battle
Overall I enjoyed this even though I usually avoid xianxia genre. This is a slow burn, low romance between an ancient god and a demon (warrior) princess type. The series can be separated into several different parts with the first two more lighthearted and fun with playful banter and situations. It would be fine for a family to watch together. The rest of the series might get a little dark for young ones.The first part has Shen Li defying the marriage order, falling to the human realm and becoming under the care of Xing Zhi. No surprises here but it has a gentle warmth. The CGI phoenix chicken is a bit cheesy but I rather liked that. This sets the stage for the romance with a suppressed male lead who emotes little (after all he's thousands of years old and a god), with a fiery female lead who would like to kill whoever bothers her.
The second section is mostly in the demon realm where Shen Li and Fu Rong (playboy immortal) square off against each other regarding this arranged marriage. We get a hint of the bigger problem (the Chemi and sealing off the abyss), and of Xing Zhi's jealousy. About halfway through we FINALLY learn why Xing Zhi is keeping Shen Li at a distance - the price is high if he gives in to his emotions. I think this does a disservice to viewers as it becomes frustrating wondering why he can't just love her (until we gain this explanation).
The third part our villains get more dangerous and a lot of people are harmed. Shen Li makes a huge sacrifice (and why, why doesn't Xing Zhi go with her? that was super unclear to me. Because she didn't ask for his help? Because he wanted to separate himself from her problems? why??).
The last part is Xing Zhi's journey, and there are some real tear jerkers here. Him going to the ocean to try to find her, when he does find her, and then helping her to heal got me to mist up.
While I am glad they gave me a HEA, the end seemed shoe-horned on. And the last episode with Jin was completely out of the ballpark in terms of tone. In the end, it just lacks the emotional resonance that I found in Dream within a Dream, and The Double.
Plot confusion: I really think the hall of ancestors of the gods was way underutilized in the worldbuilding. They gave Shen Li certain memories of Xing Zhi so they had some sentient awareness. At the end they seemed to thank Xing Zhi for his actions or at least send him off with respect. It was my thought that since Xing Zhi was born without a known purpose, his actual purpose was to act outside the Natural Law and bring down a system that prevented free will.
Romance: this is going to be a slow burn, mature lovers, with only a few steamy scenes. Most of the relationship is going to be banter and looks (his are far more guarded). This might not be satisfying to some viewers but I was fine with it.
Music: excellent.
Sets: Probably my favorite was the Sky Above with the white circle and marble/brush line throughout. The Immortals was the most boring (as were the Immortals themselves LOL).
Costumes/Jewelry: Loved the costumes, especially the military uniforms of the demon squad. Shen Li had some jewelry I really loved. The turquoise necklace paired with the gold chain; and the dark blue stone that were earrings and a necklace of three pieces edged in gold. Very pretty.
Underutilized roles: the goddess You La- really glad she was showed up to help Shen Li break out (and I also liked her eye makeup during this scene). General Shang Bei who wanted to hear all the gossip. Would have loved to seen him more.
Villains: they bored me. The situation with Mofang went on way too long. Just kill him already. PLEASE!
Overall it was a good watch and kept me wondering what would happen at the end.
Was this review helpful to you?
