Devastating Love
Another drama of ZLH's that I decided to watch on a whim. And honestly, I was glad that I did! I absolutely loved the found family trope that was in this, as well as how hilarious the female lead, Nan Yan, was! The side characters in this drama are so loveable, and I adored the friendship that Nan Yan had with Yin Ya and Mu Zhan Ting.Their bond was so precious! One aspect of this drama that I did enjoy was not only the friendships, but the romance as well! Nan Yan and Ji Yang do start as enemies, but eventually, romance does begin to blossom between them, and let me tell you, this drama had me bawling my eyes out at three am! While the ending wasn't necessarily what I wanted, I still had a great time watching this, and I have even listened to the OST after I was done watching!
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Rebellion with the production team.
When I first saw the trailer, I thought this show would be top quality. It looked like it had everything I enjoy: complex relationships, a big cast, and many story arcs.The first ten episodes were good and gave me hope. But later, the editing and direction started to bother me. The cinematography felt weak, almost like it was shot on a phone, and not in a good way.
The story itself was strong. The bird clan, red emperor, fox clan, dragon clan, demons, and cultivation—these ideas together could have made the show amazing. But the storytelling wasn’t smooth, and most plots felt dragged out. Only one storyline gave me real excitement.
The actors did well. Jing Tian’s acting was powerful enough to carry the drama, and Ling He showed real devotion in his role. They gave life to the script even when the production didn’t.
For me, the main problem was poor execution and low budget. The show had the right ingredients but didn’t use them well. Maybe I feel this way because I prefer dark, emotional plots, high-budget dramas, and scripts that keep viewers hooked without wanting to change the channel.
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The show is worth a try.
I normally rate a show based on how much i was entertained by it. thus yes i do end up overlooking some flaws.during the whole 36 episodes, you got the feeling that direction was different, editing was done by different groups and so many things which sometimes made so many episodes have a unique feeling. Epi1-15 had a feeling and flow, then in between another feeling, and post 30 there is another essence in the show. i will definitely recommend this show. It has another flavor as compared to many shows i watched.
Good points; all the actors were good, be it the main ones or secondary ones. ML doesnt turn 100% evil, FL 99.9% never distrusted the ML... I think music was something i liked the most in this show, and the ML's clothes especially when he was in demonic state were so pretty,.
Bad:
not sure to write it as bad or not, but i read about all the production issues this show faced. hence there was many scenes which were badly edited, a few important scenes never given at all (you'd understand if you watch the show :))
rewatch value: yes at least a few scenes are so beautifully done.
Watch this show for the actors, they did a brilliant job but unfortunately other issues impacted in general the outcome which was brought to us. But overall a good watch.
also after watching the show completely, i got the feeling that they wanted to deliver something really good here. because some scenes were indeed topnotch, but unfortunately could not.
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This review may contain spoilers
The Unconventional Love Story in Xianxia World(Happy Qixi Festival)
The StoryIt's a story about Love ,Kindness, Friendship, Mystery, Cultivation World with a dose of Humor and Healthy Heartwarming Romance.Both ML and FL are one and only for each other,No love triangle,No unnecessary misunderstanding,Decent side characters with their own growth.
Acting/Cast
ZLH +JT=guarantee for Chemistry Visual feast with heart fluttering and so many swoon worthy moments
plus Darren Chen's charming cuteness and Chang Long's fresh comedic vibes are pure gold.
Music
All OSTs deserve to be single album.
Special Thanks
Original Novel 183 chapters to drama adaptation 36 episodes is not an easy job.The scriptwriter department really deserve credits.
Thanks to the Director,you know us and give the best to us,we always grateful for those beautiful shots of ZLH.
We know the post production budget for this drama fell shorts for reason yet all the crew do their best in term of CGI and sound effects.
Overall
Refreshing, Feeling Good Drama will fill your days with warm vibes.
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ZLH rocks, the drama doesn't
If I thought ML Zhang Ling He was goodlooking before, he is eye candy 10.0 here! (His styling in his guest role in Red Moon Pact last few episodes was his handsome-est tho)Rather than critique just this drama since other's have(yes, the editing sucked, and the plot falls apart everywhere), I want to share my thoughts compared to other works by these actors.
FL Betty Tian was far better in Wonderland of Love with Xu Kai--while I felt there was lovely chemistry between the leads, her acting (or the script) was lacking in this drama.
ML ZLH was so adorable in this even when he was 'evil' -and I totally accepted this character and his love story here even tho' I had just seen him in Princess Royal, Story of Kunning Palace, and My Journey To You each with 3 different-FLs--his subtle expressions and eyes convincingly drew me in here so I kept watching.
I thought there was too much air time for the support male lead playing the young Dragon Lord but he was predictably goofy as he has been in other dramas.
Darren Chen played his role as typically annoying at first but matured as the story continued--I still only have liked him in Sleuth of Ming Dynasty.
Master of the Great Path was equally as sinister as he was in Janice Wu's Faithful--I guess he is enjoying the bad guy roles.
For this 2024 Summer costume dramas, this drama was far more palatable than Red Moon Pact and less heartwrenching than Lost You Forever, but The Double and Princess Royal were better story/scripts.
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Recomended
I liked the drama very much.Since it has Zhang Ling He, it is automatically on my watchlist. (Ep 1 to Ep 12)
The good:
The story has just begun and I am hoping that this will be another drama that I can add to my rewatch list. The beginning arc is not so great but I still like some of the characters.
The FL when possessed by that genie has the best visuals so far. Hoping to see her powers more in the future.
Mu Zhan Ting is the best character so far, he adds the much needed fun to the linear drama that lacks depth.
The bad: (I can ignore all of this if the story picks up by the end since it is my fav genre with a talented cast)
Zhang Ling He's character seems washed out for some reason.
The visuals are sadly lacking. They remind me of Ashes of love which came out in 2018. The lack is especially jarring because I am currently watching the Dashing Youth as well which has really good visuals. The genie looks so bad, the Last immortal's water condensing beast looked way better than this hastily put together genie. What's more, since it Xianxia the visuals were one of the most important part of the drama.
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The cast saves the day!
The audio and editing is not great, but the cast did amazing!The production should've done better. In one of the first episodes (I don't remember if it was the 1st or 2nd) I think you can see a cameraman in the background towards the right of the screen (the right of the person watching or left for the tv). Plus the editing overall isn't the best I've come across.
The story is pretty good but the script definitely could've done a bit better in the plot's development and its pacing. What is a good story could've very easily been a great one, especially considering the AMAZING cast they had!
Not going to lie, the cast (because of their great acting and chemistry) saved this drama! If not for them I wouldn't be able to rate this more than 7.5! I loved the main squad aka FL, ML, Fox and young Dragon Lord. Their relationship was so so wholesome! I enjoyed it, every time they were on screen together. They had a very strong bond like a real family or even stronger than that and they brought the best out of each other. I am seriously going to miss them!
All in all, despite being a bit disappointed (I bought IQIYI VIP for this) I really enjoyed this drama, though the production left a lot to be desired, it was quite easily hidden because of the main cast's great chemistry and talented acting. Given a better written script (although the script wasn't that bad), directing and editing, this could have possibly been a masterpiece. Such loss of potential is disheartening. A shame, really!
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Not too bad worth a watch
LIKEThe friendship of all four leads - how they helped each other
How the story flowed through and though some parts looked like cliche but I liked how it was played out
DISLIKE
Not many ups and downs and not painful enough - I enjoyed watching main leads loving-hating-loving back each other...
MUSIC - personal fav
我愿 Wo Yuan - 王天戈 Wang Tian Ge
执手 Zhi Shou - 方逸伦 Fang Yi Lun
REWATCH VALUE
Five for now
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Bit draggy, could have been better
The story and the acting are very good and I can see that they employed multiple famous directors. Unfortunately the script is a bit draggy in a lot of the episodes,they can really cut it down to 30episodes or even lessThe end OST by Xu Ming hao (The8) is really good but the other songs' lyrics totally block out the dialogue subtitles which is SUPER ANNOYING,
Cdrama MUST get rid of translation from door banners,song lyrics which is irrelevant and BLOCK out the dialogue,so so so annoying
Will I recommend it? NO. It's a waste of good story and acting just poorly presented. Quite boring actually
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A Love-Hate Kind of Drama for Me, Engaging Fantasy with Slow Sequences
I initially tried watching this once before but quickly dropped it for its low appeal in the first episode. Much later, I gave it another try—and that time, I stuck with it. It was a strange watch for me, because there was so much I didn’t like, yet also a lot I genuinely engaged with. Some themes fell flat and disrupted my viewing flow—especially the romance scenes, which lacked chemistry or believability. They took up too much screen time and made the story drag for me. But then the show would segue into really compelling sequences that recaptured my attention. There were also stretches where too much time passed without any strong subplots to push the narrative forward, leaving me underwhelmed in the middle. I found myself moving through the drama slowly and somewhat out of obligation. That said, I did enjoy the overall story and theme. The content felt rich, the underlying framework was engaging, and the comedic moments hit all the right notes. I loved almost all the subplots—they were layered with enough poignancy that it was easy to fall in love with the characters and be drawn into their storylines. I don’t regret watching this—I just don’t think it was particularly well-rounded.Was this review helpful to you?
Nice series thanks to the quality of the actors and a great CL.
Wuxia series (lots of magic) with Zhang Ling He & Jing TianPLOT: The FL, a poisoner in her small, quiet sect, takes in the ML (banished Protector who has just escaped from the prison where he had been locked up for 100 years by the Great Path, a powerful & aggressive sect). The FL keeps him as a medecine tester. They are joined by the son of the Dragon Lord and 1 mischievous fox. The 4 friends will discover their past little by little and the Great Villain who manipulates the world to achieve his goal.
+++ Great CL, with great chemistry
+++ Excellent actors and cute Friendship in the team
+++ Good production and pleasant OST. Decent CGI & good fight scenes.
### Quite twisted story, with a lot of plotholes including the HE.
=> Nice series thanks to the quality of the actors (no flaws) and a great CL.
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Série Wuxia (bcp de magie) avec Zhang Ling He & Jing Tian
PLOT: La FL, spécialiste des poisons dans sa petite secte tranquille, recueille le ML (Protecteur banni qui vient de s'échapper de la prison où il était enfermé depuis 100 ans par la Great Path, secte sur puissante & agressive). La FL le garde comme testeur de remèdes. Ils sont rejoints par le fils Dragon et 1 renard malicieux. Les 4 amis vont peu à peu découvrir leur passé et le Great Villain qui manipule tt le monde pr atteindre son but.
+++ Great CL, avec belle alchimie
+++ TB acteurs et cute Friendship dans la team
+++ Bonne réalis° et OST agréables. CGI corrects & bonnes scènes de fight.
### Story assez tordue, avec pas mal de plotholes y compris la HE.
=> Série sympa grâce à la qualité des acteurs (pas de fausse note) et à un great CL.
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Very weak plot
The plot is as full of holes as a sieve. Completely inconsistent with too many anticlimactic turns. Too many characters and most of them really badly sketched with unconvincing actions and decisions. The only thing that saves this drama is Zheng Linghe acting. He is so cool! This is one reason I'm giving 7 points. The second reason are the pictures. The drama is really beautiful and the music is also good.Was this review helpful to you?
