Immortal Samsara: Part 1

First of all, let me say that it was a series that I loved watching. There were times when the level dropped. There were a lot of repetitions. Sometimes there were places where I said that was enough. Especially the bad woman ying yeng, the curator. I have never seen such a curator. Probably because he was in the heavens, he took root in the whole heavenly realm. It was very strange that someone in charge of the exhibits, which we will call the warehouseman, let someone who has a godly power leave what he did not do. Come on, you've finally sent this woman into exile. Mashallah, while the good ones were creeping up, this bad woman again took root in the nation. She kills whoever gets in her way. She is ruining. Others are watching. We passed that too. This woman is dead. She turned into an ice sculpture. He resurrected again and did evil. Oh, now I waited until the end of the series because this curator would come out from somewhere. I didn't particularly like these parts. I did not find it suitable for the series. I had a hard time understanding why. Then we should have said that even if you made a strong God, it was a strong personality you were dealing with. It didn't happen. Congratulations to the lone player. He portrayed evil so beautifully. I hope he doesn't get stuck on these roles. Other than that, I took it a little more normal. After all, it's a fantastic series. I especially liked the actors. It's a team of very good players. It was like a celebrity parade. When I saw the very good, very beautiful and handsome actors together, I wished it wouldn't end. I especially liked the young actors, especially Yang Zi, Chengi Yi, Ray Chang. I laughed a lot at Marshal Huo. Congratulations to Li Yu. Let's not miss our director together with the actors. I can say that the management was close to perfect. The view is magnificent as always. The ending did not satisfy me a bit, but it was as if they died and were reborn, but found each other again and were happy. Or something similar. It was as if it was left to the imagination of the audience. But I still get the result. It is satisfactory from my point of view. I expect such beautiful series from our directors and producers and new works with such a group of actors.

Read More

One of the best, heart wrenching drama of all time

I’m giving the drama a solid 9.
The story and plot is a mash up of multiple xanxia-verse so there isn’t much of an element of surprise on the plot but Cheng Yi oh boy Cheng Yi is a gem - His acting carried the show. The pain, anguish, regret and suffering portrayed looked sooooo real that I feel like Ying Yuan myself. He’s such an incredible actor that successfully made pain even more PAINFUL than it already is. I must commend that Yang Zi, despite her bubbly and girl next door image also did a fantastic job alongside Cheng Yi. The scene with her damaged and bleeding foot at the river destroyed me. Whyyyyyy??
The drama wouldn’t be as impactful without the stellar performance of our ML/FL. I think they’ve given all the characters justice.

What I love -
Brilliant first class acting by both leads!! We can hardly get performance like this anymore as they’re too many newbies in C-Ent and good looking actors/actresses without the real acting chops getting casted
The development from Ying Yuan and Yan Dan 1.0 vs 2.0 version of them - both have grown, mature and learn to love more u conditionally, so beautifully
The parallels between Ying Yuan & Tang Zhou/ young Yan Dan & demon Yan Dan - love how the tables were turned as they learnt the importance of living for yourself (for YY) and duty and responsibility (for YD)
The precious friendship between Yumo and the 2 Leads are beautiful to watch.
How Zhi Xi redeemed herself in the end - I love the twist to it
If you forget you have watched Eternal Love, Love and Redemption, the storyline is acceptable
Sexy Xuan Ye daddy is soooo sexy

The bad:
Some of the supporting cast - not exactly their fault but there’s so much repetition with some actors so it doesn’t feel as impactful. This is like watching Love and Redemption 2.0 in a way.
The editing could be better. Felt that the last few episodes were too rushed and could be laid out better for viewers
Too much focus on anguish and pain to a point it doesn’t make too sense - Yan Dan is willing to die for Ying Yuan, gave him her heart (literally and figuratively), suffered for 800 years but she’s not willing to be with Ying Yuan 2.0 just because he once chose duty over her. Err?? Like you’re already so in love with this person that you’d give him your life, why allow your ego to be in the way for smt so petty?
The 2nd ML - Yumo’s character is interesting and could have so much more potential if it was better casted. His acting is stiff and awkward which made whatever he does for Yan Dan very forgettable by the audiences.

Read More

A cliche mess

This drama is a testament to everything that is wrong with the xianxia genre. It's too stylized with little to no room for imagination. A stoic ML in a position of power? Check. A childish FL with a baby voice? Check. Immortal realm - good, demons - bad? Check. Self-righteous Taoist sects? Check. Incomprehensible love rectangles? Check. Everyone under the sun falling in love with an immature FL? Check. Rebirth and amnesia? Check. B*tchy and jealous side chicks? Check. This drama follows the same tired tropes without skipping a beat, and it only gets worse with the next episode.

The first 15 or so very slow episodes were mostly about the relationship between ML and FL. FL started out as a child-like fairy and became more serious as she developed feelings for ML. It was a good character development for her because of the life-changing trauma caused by heartbreak. Unfortunately, as the story moved to the mortal realm, Yan Dan regressed back to the childish turd that she was in the immortal realm, but even more so than before. Even though she lost her memories, I thought the trauma she suffered would be a life changing experience leading to a more mature and thoughtful person who was given a second chance at life. But, that was not the case here.

The drama reminded me of Ashes of Love, which was a dumpster fire, with Yan Dan being a slightly smarter version of Jinmi. This was a stark contrast to Love and Redemption, where FL was only clueless about love, but she was sympathetic and thoughtful otherwise, and, her interactions with ML were meaningful. Similar to Jinmi, Yan Dan acted like a child continuously bickering with ML and having a multitude of braindead males falling in love with her. And, because of her over-the-top behavior, her interactions with ML lacked romantic chemistry looking more like an adult babysitting a kid rather than two adults falling in love.

Another issue was Yan Dan's lack of motivation. In the immortal realm, she had some purpose to protect her sister. After she lost her memory, she went wherever the wind blew. First, she swore allegiance to Yu Mo and became his "concubine". Then, she ran off with Tang Zhou and did not give a second thought to Yu Mo or the fact that he could be looking for her. I also thought that the writers spent way too much time on Yu Mo's and Yan Dan's relationship. It was apparent from the start that they will never be a couple, so milking that unrequited love and giving them more screen time than necessary completely deviated from the plot and unnecessarily dragged the story.

In all honesty, I hardly have any interest in finishing part 1. So, it's unlikely I will be watching part 2.

Read More

DON'T SKIP THIS!I REPEAT, DON'T SKIP THIS!!

Immortal Samsara is the first fantasy historical cdrama I would watch (personally I've not really gotten into historical dramas not to talk of the fantasy ones). I decided to watch this only because of Yang Zi (never got to know the actor until I started this) knowing fully well that she has great acting skills and can create a good chemistry with her male leads.
Episode 1 got me totally drawn to this dramadrama
I am not surviving this drama because I just want to support Yang Zi. I am totally addicted to this and I'm literally loving the male lead(his voice as tang Zhou omg😍😍😍😍)
Every character's acting in this drama nailed it and I'm definitely not dropping this and this has made me know that fantasy dramas could be interesting not just the modern ones
I highly recommend this
This just have a low rating generally because of the unreasonable haters
This is a good drama to watch

Read More

"The agarwood didn't extinct, instead, its fragrance floats to four seas"

Immortal Samsara is another classic xianxia drama that contains themes we've seen in previous xianxia dramas. Despite the repeated themes, I still enjoyed this drama as it's such a beautiful love story. There's great character growth with the main characters: from the funny bickering scenes at the beginning to the heart-warming scenes of them falling in love to the heart-wrenching separation and finally their reunion. Both main leads were great with their performances. They sure know how to deliver on those emotional/angst scenes. Their relationship has a lot of angst (very typical of xianxia dramas), but it was never one-sided.They both equally suffered in their love by each other's rejections but they never stopped loving each other even though they're unwilling to admit it. They were separated for early 900 years yet that love never died. I love the idea of the butterflies always flying around our main leads. Their journey together has taught them to learn how to love better and trust each other.

Read More

A MUST WATCH XIAN XIA DRAMA!!! If you want to feel the pain/ heart-wrenching.

Lets talk about Yang Zi as Yan Dan/ Bai PiaoLiang (you will laugh when you heard this name)
Yang Zi has portrayed this character really good, maybe this character is similar to Jin Mi (Ashes of Love) Jin Mi and Yan Dan almost has the same personality, carefree, helpful and generous to everyone. I will make a comparison between these two.

Yan Dan is really smart, especially with Weiqi game (Chinese Chess) even Ying Yuan (our male lead, Cheng Yi) praised her that she's one of a kind. Even though she doesn't care much about Cultivation like her twin sister (Zhi Xi) but she is a fast learner, she values love and friendship. Unlike Jin Mi, since birth she doesn't what is Love because she had the 'Unfeeling Pill' thats why she doesnt know what is Love.

For Cheng Yi as Emperor Ying Yuan /Tang Zhou/ Xuan Ye. This is my first drama watching his portrayed. I would say his emotions, his character, everything fits this actor so well. I have no ideas how many times I cried watching this Chinese drama. I watched Good Bye My Princess, I was sad for days. But for this one, throughout the drama since the beginning to the end, i cried a RIVER!!! maybe after this drama, i have to watch Love and Redemption, Cheng Yi as Yu Sifeng. I have to be prepare again T_T

Guys, if you hesitate to watch. I would say please give it a try for the first 10 episodes. Because you will love their chemistry and plus you guys HAVE TO GO THROUGH WHAT I WENT THROUGH!!! ALL THOSE EMOTIONS, SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, THE LAUGHS EVERYTHING. yeah im joking but i love love this drama so much. I come back and forth watching my favourite scenes.

Read More

Yang Zi and Cheng Yi are good together

I stayed up until 5 AM two nights in a row because I was binging this show and finished it within ~3 days. This is the 6th xianxia I have watched in entirety, for your reference (not a whole lot compared to some seasoned viewers but maybe more than a new drama watcher). Having seen other xianxias, it's natural in my mind to compare this to my previous xianxia viewing experiences.

The main couple Yan Dan (Yang Zi) and Ying Yuan (Cheng Yi) is superior to their popular xianxia couplings in the past - Jinmi and Xufeng from Ashes of Love and Sifeng and Xuanji from Love and Redemption. They have great natural chemistry and we get to see the couple spend a lot of time together. I literally felt myself grinning during some of their fluffy scenes. As for the angsty couple scenes, they did them well. I think they may have become my favorite xianxia pairing.

I have an affinity for Cheng Yi after watching Love and Redemption and I really enjoyed watching him here. It is much less painful to see him as Ying Yuan and Tang Zhou compared to watching Sifeng. He got a promotion basically. I think he's hilarious. So even if a scene wasn't necessarily supposed to be funny (like when he's creeping and looking at the FL from a distance), he gives me life.

Yang Zi is a great actress. Of course like a few other xianxia, there are moments when you wonder why the FL is thinking something dumb, but overall Yan Dan is a strong character and much more likable than Jinmi.

The show isn't without its flaws but I know I stayed up to watch because it did some of the drama really well (wow, peak tragedy!) and I was eager to see what would happen. Somewhere in the middle I see where it may seem like it drags and is almost filler-like, but at the same time I appreciate how much time we are given to enjoy this universe. So to me, 59 episodes isn't too long.

Is Immortal Samsara better than Ashes of Love and Love and Redemption? I mean, in some ways, yes and in some ways, no. Yes on the main couple front for sure. I think Immortal Samsara is worth watching if you like xianxia.

Read More

A drama worth to watch from mature perspective

1. After I've finished the series, I really love how Yingyuan doing his responsibilities. I love how realistic some things can be. Love is not everything, even though Yingyuan seems burdened but he still doing his job well as Sovereign Lord while keeping his love. I love how the director make his character a responsible person and not forget his duties even while he fell in love. He really doing his job well.
2. I personally think we should understand the story as a whole because there are some details that are connected either from past or future like the War of Genesis and Celestial-Demon War. It can be confusing at first but it's worth it after we understand.
3. The value of 'Things can't be the same after what happen'. Well it's pretty realistic even in real world. No matter how we try to go back to past times, it's won't be the same.
4. There are some parts that I'm annoyed/can't get over but it's just a small black spot out of this masterpiece. Realistically, every drama has pro and cons itself. This whole drama becomes better as the episodes continue.
Honestly I hope people can watch this with open mind and try to understand from each character perspective.

Read More

Worth all 59 episodes!

Like some others, I nearly dropped the drama after watching the first few episodes and I wasn't clicking into this xianxia world. The various character titles and their roles was very new to me. Still, I kept on because I love Yang Zi and she did an amazing job in Ashes of Love, then Cheng Yi in Love and Redemption. It wasn't until I made it to about episode 8 that I was finally hooked and stayed for the entire drama. The beginning was really a slow burn and in hindsight, it wasn't necessary to take 8 episodes to provide the build up to the 'big event' in episode 8. Then I finally saw the love for this drama. I honestly prefer Cheng Yi here with Yang Zi. They both convey soundless pain in the best way possible. You find yourself aching for their character, ache for their destinies and irreversible choices. I also enjoy seeing some of the actors/actresses from Love and Redemption here and a toss in of someone from Ashes of Love. It wasn't too draggy in the remainder of the series. It could have been maybe just 50 episodes if they shorten the beginning and reduce some scenes in between that wasn't necessary.

Cheng Yi portrays a certain character here (not his main role) with a distinct taste. And if the viewers get their wish, we may be able to see Cheng Yi in a future role of a similar aura. Definitely worth it.

Read More

This review is for Season 1, 2, and 2 short extra episodes!

Season1 @ 2: This is a wonderful drama in matters of production, cinematography, beautiful costumes, faithful to Xianxia’s theme of heaven, mortal, and back to heaven realm plot and setting, fantastic CGI’s and action sequences, and great acting from most of the cast. The OST’s are good but the drama could’ve had some scenes in which using just sounds and rhythm would’ve been a better choice since there is a lot of metaphorical dialogue on this drama. ChengYi (as Ying Yuan) and Yang Zi (as Yan Dan) did a great job portraying their character. They truly delivered their emotions well and they have good chemistry throughout their interactions. The reason the drama is not a rating of 10 is because of how Yan Dan’s character was written. Although Ying Yuan made mistakes in the first part of the drama (Heavenly Realm) that gave Yan Dan a painful and heartbreaking experience, he was equally disconsolate and miserable as he was also harsh toward himself. As much as Yan Dan loved him to the point of sacrificing herself, she wasted precious time with him. She forgave others with ease and warmth, but her demeanor and harshness toward Ying Yuan made her character insufferable and nonsensical, almost to the end. Still, taking in consideration that these characters and plot are intrinsic to Xanxias, theses drama is excellent and very entertaining. Enjoy it! (PS: The 2 short extra episodes provide closure to many characters and bring a happy ending to the drama)

Read More